GotC: Hiya! Guess who's not dead? *Ducks incoming rocks* Yeah, ok. It's been another year and a half since an update. In my defense, I've been rather preoccupied launching a new product this year and it's taken a great deal of my time. I also realized I started this fic 10 years ago and feel so very, very old. Anyway, I'm still plugging away at this, since I've been working at it for too long to want to stop now! That being said, I am slowly working on fixing all the little inconsistencies that come from writing chapters so far between one another. So please bear with me! But I've taken enough time as it is to get another installment to you! Go get to reading and have fun!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Rising Dragon

Chapter 34: Allies

"That was unbelievably stupid!"

The sigh that slipped free of his lips and echoed against the nearly empty corridor was more plea to the gods than anything else. Cooper had only wanted breakfast after an exceedingly long night. It was only his endurance for functioning on little sleep that kept the telltale signs of fatigue off his face, though it was eroding his patience one interruption at a time. He was really expecting it would have been that squat witch Umbridge would have been the one to run him down. Instead, it was McGonagall who'd run him down and cornered him in the hall with a chill in her voice to rival the dead of winter. The glint of frustration and suspicion in her glare was enough to warn him this conversation wasn't going to be brushed off, and the deputy headmistress- as well as her temper- was sharp as a freshly honed blade. Rather than wasting breath on deflecting her ire, Cooper stopped in his tracks and let the storm that was McGonagall descend.

"What on Earth were you thinking? Deliberately provoking that horrid woman in front of the entire school?!" McGonagall snapped. "Every student, teacher, and ghost in these halls with a brain even vaguely located inside their heads knows what Delores Umbridge is playing at, and you decide to go and provoke the proverbial sleeping bear over seating arrangements?!"

"I'd hardly consider her a bear…." Cooper started to shrug, but McGonagall was already inches away from him with a finger thrust under his nose in a manner that left no doubt it would have been her wand would it not have made a bad situation worse. He closed his mouth with grim humor at her boldness and stared down the offending digit.

"I have absolutely no idea how these sorts of problems are dealt with in the muggles' world, but I refuse to believe they go about flaunting their every advantage to their enemies!" McGonagall's voice lashed like a whip, "I cannot even begin to fathom why you would take the time combing through every bylaw of the wizarding realm, only to then immediately tip off your hand as soon as that woman shows the first sign of resistance to that ridiculous charm of yours!"

"I had no idea you thought I was charming, Professor." Cooper grinned, ignoring the immediate threat inches from his face. "That's quite the compliment coming from you-"

"Have you a brain in that skull of yours at all?!" Cooper suspected there had to be silencing spells on the corridors the teachers used, otherwise Professor McGonagall would have never dared to raise her voice as she did now. "You have just painted a target on not only your back but Dumbledore's as well!"

There it is, Cooper had to refrain from rolling his eyes right in her reddening face. His earlier display may have still irked her regardless of the audience, but by outlining the terms of his immunity he'd brought the headmaster into the limelight as well. He'd come to realize quite a few of the instructors at this school had an almost fervor-like devotion to the headmaster and were quick to unify against any perceived threats to his position. So this little display dedication of was cute, but hardly a surprise and bordering on a nuisance. He had things to do yet today, in addition to his classes, and appeasing the concerns of Minerva McGonagall was not one of them.

"I take it you're unhappy with the way I handled things." It wasn't so much a question as stating the obvious. A blind man could have picked up on her displeasure with him. "You're upset that I went and waved a trump card in her face, rather than keeping it in my back pocket to use at the best opportune moment. And in doing so, I also involved Professor Dumbledore in the matter which will more than likely not end well given his current status with your Ministry of Magic. Am I at least in the right ballpark?"

McGonagall took a small step back and hesitated hearing her own thoughts articulated so bluntly. She'd somewhat expected the normally easy-going professor to at least act as if he regretted his actions. Instead, he stood waiting as if he expected her to agree with his assumptions? "I'm upset you couldn't have thought of a way to do it without a little tact." She bit back at him, not wanting to see he'd caught her off-guard.

"You thought I was going to continue to pander to her, you mean." A wry grin followed his words, "You've already hinted at it, so I don't know why you don't just come out and say it: As a Muggle, I ought to leave this sort of thing to those of you with a stick in your pants."

The crimson blush that hit McGonagall's face was almost a reward in itself. Cooper was willing to bet it had been decades since someone had dared be so crass with the peppery witch. Still, she was one of the few he was willing to be might actually give him a run for his money if pushed to it, unlike that milk-fed toad masquerading as a teacher. Perhaps maybe she was starting to accept the same conclusion, given she'd been bold enough to confront him directly rather than whisper and mummer about him behind his back.

"I wanted her to know." Cooper finally said resolutely, deciding she deserved at least something of a straightforward explanation. "You know as well as I do she's used to getting her way. A wave of her wand and a flash of that Ministry seal is all she's needed to make people knuckle under. She has her sights set on bringing this school to heel, but I've just put a big roadblock in her way. She can't order me around without undoing every wizarding law pertaining to Muggles ever written. She'll have to think about her next move, rather than blindly handing out declaration after declaration knowing I'll be there to pick it apart. And more importantly, so does the entire school."

"The school? Surely you can't think this little act is going to- to inspire the students to act against…her…" Despite the shock and the absurdity of the notion a professor would covertly be trying to encourage not just mischief, but outright rebellion, McGonagall found herself unable to actually finish her sentence. The past four years had certainly taught her there were no less than three members of her own House that would do exactly that if pushed to it.

Cooper's grin widened. "Now you get it. The students are already on that path themselves. I know you don't think this latest 'decree' was mere coincidence. You've got too many promising ones here for them to take her brand of order lying down. These kids are here to learn from us, so either we teach another generation to follow the status quo, or we teach them the alternative."

"And what is that exactly, Professor Cooper?"

Now the easy-going grin came back. The tension in the corridor was still palpable but no longer suffocating. There was still a healthy dose of suspicion in the look McGonagall fixed on him, but an undercurrent of curiosity ran parallel to her words. He loftily held out a well-used fir wand the older professor could have sworn was still tucked neatly in her robes. He offered it back to her as politely as if she'd merely dropped it while that knowing smirk stretched just a little wider on his face.

"It's no fun if I give you the answer." Came the glib remark, tinged with laughter as she took her wand from his fingers. "Besides, I think you know the answer to that already." A now empty hand gave her a casual wave in farewell, while she stood running the bizarre encounter through her head. Every time she thought she'd pinned down the muggle Dumbledore had insisted on hiring, he did something else she hadn't prepared for. She blinked once and realized she was staring at his retreating back and squared her own shoulders, not wanting to let him think he'd somehow gotten the best of her too.

"This isn't a game, Professor." She called after him.

"Life is a game, Professor." Was the reply as he rounded a corner out of sight, "Now are you a player, or will you be the one getting played?"

Somehow, those parting words seemed to echo in Minerva's head during every quiet moment of her day. Her interactions with the new professor had been limited until that morning. The man seemed to pop in and out of existence whenever it suited him. Although, now that she gave it a bit of thought, he seemed particularly fond of his little party trick whenever it most inconvenienced Delores Umbridge. Showing up at mealtimes just long enough to make his presence known, before vanishing again. Going out of his way to greet the Ministry-appointed professor, when the rest of the staff would much rather pretend she didn't exist. Blatantly and flagrantly disregarding warnings and tradition whenever he felt he could get away with it.

"I don't see why it has you so ruffled, Minerva." A fragrant curl of smoke drifted to join the haze forming near the rafters. Wilhelmina sat in one of the high backed chairs of the staff room with a hand-carved pipe in one hand, and the Prophet in the other. The on-and-off Professor had a rather straightforward view of the world McGonagall appreciated when her head was in knots and cared nothing for gossip. It made her an ideal confidant on the rare occasions she needed to hear herself think. "The way Delores is going over the teachers like she's looking for ticks, Cooper's given her something else to chew on for a while."

"But why? Why is he deliberately going out of his way to provoke her?" A matching tendril of steam rose from the cup of hot tea cradled McGonagall's hands as she stared at the cup. When the honey-brown depths offered no answers, she sighed and looked back at Professor Grubbly-Plank as she tried to force herself to relax.

"I suspect because he can. I'll admit to being a bit jealous on that note. I don't much care for how she acts as if she owns the castle. If he's willing to give her something else to bother with so we can manage ourselves, I'm willing to let him be. And it's not as if he's doing a poor job as a teacher himself either. All the running he's got the students doing has certainly cut down on them arriving late or causing trouble during class, you know." Came the matter-of-fact reply, as the crinkle of the paper punctuated her words.

"I'm not saying the subject was a poor one to branch out into. Even I had to agree with Albus that a bit of exercise would be good for the children. It's his methods I'm concerned with, not to mention what else he might be teaching them-"

"Now you sound like Delores." Minerva nearly choked on her tea, as she caught the look Wilhelmina fixed her with from over the top of her paper. The other professor waited for her to get her breath back, taking a few long pulls on the pipe in her hand. "It's not as if we don't have enough on our own plates, Minerva. The fact is, the children are going to do as they will with or without our blessings. From what I've seen, Cooper's given them an outlet to do something constructive with that stubbornness, while keeping our High Inquisitor busy."

That was hard to argue with. There was enough happening beyond the walls of Hogwarts as it was, not to mention the day to day running of the school itself. Granted, Umbridge's attendance this year had certainly added a few extra headaches, the usual ones from the student body were far less than she'd come to expect of her current crop of Gryffindors. With Potter and his friends having been exposed to the Order, she'd been braced for far more trouble from that group than they'd given her. Maybe it was in part due to the exchange students that seemed to have taken a liking to them. Perhaps helping them acclimate to their new surroundings was chore enough.

A small score of muffled voices outside caught her attention. The gargoyles had stopped someone at the door, interrupting her thoughts as she got to her feet to pull it open and revealed none other than Harry Potter standing there as if she'd conjured him herself. The concerned look on his face did her no favors, as she immediately braced herself for the worst.

"You haven't been given another detention!" She demanded at once, making him flinch.

"No, Professor!" Was the hasty reply that nearly made her heave a sigh of relief.

"Well then, why are you out of class?" The gargoyle to her left was quick to offer a snide remark on their visitor, though she paid it little attention as Potter offered up his owl looking rather worse for wear as it wobbly perched on his shoulder. It didn't take much to put two and two together to realize what had happened to the poor bird, especially when a letter was still firmly tied to one unsteady leg. Professor Grubbly-Plank had joined them at the first mention of the owl and was carefully checking the placid bird over

"Do you know how far this owl's traveled, Potter?" She asked, earning a guilty look from the teen.

"Er." He floundered for a moment given their company, "London, I think."

And a galleon said it came from a certain flat on Grimmauld Place. She fought to mask her frustration, not that Sirius and his godson were communicating right under the nose of an overly ambitious Ministry official, but because it had only taken a matter of hours before one of her own students had just proved Professor Cooper right. It would have been smarter for her to have confiscated the letter as Wilhelmina started to carry the owl off with her for an extended stay. The fewer risks Potter took, the fewer chances he'd have to draw Umbridge's displeasure. Except she knew full well that meant he'd only take bigger ones when the opportunity arose. No, that boy was going to find some way to end up in trouble.

The least she could do was steer him clear of the worst of it.

"Just a moment, Wilhelmina!" She called after the retreating professor, polite as she could be. "Potter's letter!"

There was an instantly guilty look on his face as he raced to collect the scroll from his owl. He quickly snatched it up and clutched it tightly before trying to slink off as classes began to let out around them, but she wasn't going to let him sneak away quite so soon.

"Potter!"

"Yes, Professor?"

He was expecting a scolding of some sort, and he deserved one for being so careless. Though she doubted it was a mistake he'd make twice. What worried her more was what might be in that letter, though as the halls filled her chance to say as much was lost.

"Bear in mind," Her eyes flicked to the scroll in his fist, "that channels of communication in and out of Hogwarts are being watched, won't you?"

There was only a small stammer before he merely nodded his understanding and headed off with the flood of students on their way to their next classes. Rather than watch him go, she turned to head back into the staff room when she spotted a set of amused cerulean eyes across the hall watching her with a grin. A small smirk of her own twitched across her lips before she shut the door in her wake.

Gotc: Yeah, so I did something a little different here and decided to do a chapter from McGonagall's perspective! I have a few little things planned for her later on and I wanted to give Hogwarts' resident badass a bit of screen time of her own. I did struggle a little with getting into her head, but hopefully, it came out alright!

There WAS a little gem hidden in here though! Did any of you spot it? I'll be interested to see what you come up with, so be sure to leave a review to tell me! *shameless plug* For those of you who do spot it, be careful. It might mean more than you think!

See you next chapter!