白虎 ロキ
Chapter Four:
ミネルバ
Minerva
"Now, explain yourself, Albus!" Minerva floundered for the proper words to describe how repulsed she was. "When you had said that you had acquired a language teacher, you neglected to mention that you were talking about a child!"
"If you would let me explain…" Albus started, trying to allay her distress. "The truth of the matter, Minerva, is that teaching is not Mr. Gaara's real objective in being here…"
Minerva huffed, "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Mr. Gaara's true purpose in being here…is to help us to guard the Stone."
"Th-the…!" Minerva's eyes flitted nervously back and forth between the Headmaster and the young redheaded boy. "You can't be serious!"
"Oh, but I am entirely serious," Dumbledore twinkled, making quick eye contact with Gaara, and smiling assuredly. "There is much more to Mr. Gaara here than meets the eye."
"Explain—now, Albus!"
Dumbledore took his time in coming up with a way to phrase it, and Minerva was just about to interrupt to berate him some more when she froze at the abruptly serious look that he sent her. "Tell me, Minerva…how much do you know about the Hidden Continent?"
All of a sudden it felt to her like all the air had been sucked from the room, and she was standing in the middle of a vacuum. "The—Albus. Tell me you didn't," she insisted, borderline begging. She glanced at Gaara again out of the corner of her eye and then looked quickly back at Albus, suddenly nervous. There was sweat beading on her forehead. "Albus, tell me you didn't!"
Dumbledore stared at her, calmly assessing. "I did."
"Oh, Merlin—" She had to sit down. She had to—
She suddenly felt hands on her arms, holding her up. She didn't know when…when she had started to fall…She looked up only to be met face-to-face with the dead eyes of a child. She flinched, and nearly startled away, but he held tight, gently righting her up, and only letting go once he had confirmed that she was once again capable of supporting herself upright. This murderer, this barbarian—
"Are you alright, McGonagall-sensei?" The child mercenary spoke in a quiet, gravelly voice unfit for a child, his emotionless but assessing eyes unblinking. This close up, she could see that the dark circles around his eyes were just that, and that they weren't painted on like she had previously suspected.
No, Minerva thought to herself, he is still a child. It was not his fault that he had been born amongst those…barbarians.
Finally Minerva was able to calm herself enough to look the boy-mercenary in the eyes. His eyes may have appeared empty, but his face was so young…he could be mistaken for a sixth year, easily, maybe even a fifth…
This poor child…
Minerva had made up her mind and finally come to a decision—She was going to save this child.
Fine, she thought, let Albus do what he wants…employing this mere child as a guard…Nothing, no one, is going to go after the Stone anyway, so it's no matter…the boy will be safe.
She looked to Gaara again, this time making an effort to relax her face into a more comforting and reassuring look.
And meanwhile, while this boy is held here by the "duties" of his "mission"…I am going to take advantage of him being stuck here, and make the most of my time with him…
I am going to save him.
Minerva smiled.
This woman was unnerving him. At first, she had seemed absolutely repulsed by him—frightened, even. Hell, she'd nearly collapsed…
But now…
She wouldn't stop smiling at him.
Every time she caught his eye, she'd keep sending these weird looks at him, smiling all the while—every time.
At this point, he was just avoiding making eye contact.
"Mr. Gaara will play out his role as a professor of Hogwarts, meanwhile he will be keeping watch over the school for any intruders or suspicious behavior. Should he notice anything, he will notify either you or I immediately—or Severus, once I catch him up to speed on the matter. And should any sort of real trouble arise, he will do his duty as a guard employed of the school, and defend against any invaders to protect both the Stone, and the student body.
"He will go on routine patrols randomly scheduled throughout his free time when he is not teaching, and will routinely check in with myself or one of you with updates."
"...Minerva? Are you listening?"
"Yes, of course, Albus."
"And…you have no issues with any of this? This is all alright with you?"
"Yes."
They stared for a moment, appraising one another.
She was up to something, he knew it. He just didn't know what…
Somehow the old witch had managed to catch his eye again, and she smiled at him encouragingly. Gaara felt his eye twitch, and he shivered subtly. He was going to get to the bottom of this.
"Then," Dumbledore began, "I suppose that is all for now...Have a good night, Gaara. Rest up! I will show you the vault after breakfast tomorrow, and remember—the students will arrive in the evening!"
Gaara nodded; He wanted to be alone already.
Dumbledore left promptly after that, but the old witch lingered.
"Have a good night, Mr. Gaara," she said. "If you have any trouble sleeping…" She smiled at him again, this time conspiringly, with an air of understanding about her. "I've found that a glass of warm milk does wonders. Just call out for it, and one of the house-elves will fetch it for you in no time at all."
She lingered still.
"…Rest easy, Mr. Gaara. You are safe here."
Gaara continued to stare at her unblinkingly, hoping she'd get the message.
One more reassuring smile thrown his way, and she was finally out the door. Gaara let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, and allowed himself to collapse into a nearby chair. He was tired of this mission already—suddenly, he was regretting having volunteered in the first place.
I think...I can finally understand why they felt it was necessary to put up a barrier...
Gaara sighed. Maybe it was a bad idea coming here, he thought.
…Plus, that woman unnerved him.
Now, how to go about avoiding her for the rest of the year…
A/N: Finally, enough backstory and context, and onto the actual story! Next chapter will feature Gaara meeting Snape and Quirrell, and hopefully the arrival of the students!
Please notify me if you catch any mistakes, thanks!
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Ja,
- BL.
