For what had to be the millionth time, Albus Dumbledore wondered at his reasoning for doing what he was about to do.
Minerva McGonagall has excellent organizational skills. She'll make a fine teacher and a fine administrator. We work well together. I know that. The fact that I'm in love with her is utterly irrelevant.
As he waited in a small antechamber to speak with the board of directors about his want to make Minerva McGonagall both the Head of Gryffindor House and his Deputy Headmistress, he simply kept on telling himself that. Over and over again. He wasn't certain he actually believed it.
It had been years since he'd last seen Minerva, back when he'd worked with she and Alastor Moody to apprehend Miranda Levings. He'd written to her faithfully and consistently, however, over those years and his heart had somehow not wavered from her. Every time he read a letter from her his imagination seemed to bring her straight to life right next to him.
His heart had leapt immediately when he'd first received the letter in which she told him that she and Alastor had broken off their relationship. Afterwards, he'd felt as though he should have felt bad at hearing that news. Minerva had broken up with a boyfriend of more than a couple years and he was also friends with that boyfriend. He could not help himself, however, and he'd quickly banished his guilt by remembering that it had been a long time in coming between the two.
Often, he'd thought about confessing his love to Minerva, before she became involved with someone else. He never had. He'd no clue to her feelings but faint glimmerings in her eyes that he could have imagined. Moreover, he still only spoke to her in letters. That was not a state in which he could begin a romantic relationship. His love for her had remained unspoken.
"The Governors are ready to see you, Headmaster."
"Thank you," Albus replied politely, getting up from the plump orange armchair he'd conjured for his wait. He dematerialized it with a quick spell, then walked into the chamber where Hogwarts' Governors were having its meeting.
"Hello, gentlemen." There was not one witch to be found amongst the Governors this year. Not even one of the parent members.
Various greetings from the school Governors were uttered in response. When the Head Governor cleared his throat, however, all fell silent so that they might get down to the business that had gathered them in the comfortable little meeting chamber.
"All right, I believe we all know why we are here."
The man's fellows all nodded. Albus remained still and silent.
The Head Governor, Angus Hart, cleared his throat again. "Now, Dumbledore, we all heartily approve your hiring of Minerva McGonagall to the recently vacated position of transfigurations teacher. She's well qualified and your own reports of her as a student under your tutelage are outstanding—but honestly, making her Deputy Headmistress? That's absurd by itself. Doing that in addition to making her Head of Gryffindor is ludicrous. You can't possibly expect us to approve this."
"Minerva McGonagall is the staff member most qualified for both positions."
There was more than one guffaw from the Governors. Hart managed to politely contain his own, though barely. Professor McGonagall was a very qualified teacher, and well suited to the post of transfigurations teacher. Someday she would likely fill either one or both of the positions Dumbledore wanted her in exceptionally well, but as of right now she'd never taught so much as one student before. She was completely green. She might have been Dumbledore's pet student once upon a time but that did not mean there was no one better qualified for either position on the staff.
"She's the only staff member who can fill the position of Head of Gryffindor House."
"Excuse me?" asked Hart.
"There are only five members of the staff who are former members of Gryffindor. Two of them, Rubeus Hagrid and Darlene Hooch, are not Professors at the school and thus cannot fill the position. I, of course, am another one of the former members. As Headmaster, however, I, too, am unable to fill the position."
"Which leaves only Minerva McGonagall and Galatea Merrythought to fill the position."
Albus nodded in confirmation. A sigh escaped Hart's lips.
"Professor Merrythought is retiring this summer," said a wizard with thinning brown hair.
"And even if she weren't," the wizard two seats to his left began, "she's notorious for not accepting management positions of any sort. She's passed up the offering of Head of House twice, and that of Deputy Head once already."
"Which leaves Professor McGonagall to fill the position." It was the first time Victor Reynolds, the most senior of all the Governors and the true leader of the group, had spoken during the entire meeting.
There was no question about Minerva's appointment as Head of Gryffindor now. Whenever Victor made a decision the entire group followed him. He was the man that Albus had to convince that Minerva was the right person for the position of Deputy Head. Luckily, Victor had a tendency to be a very reasonable, logical individual rather than hard headed and politically minded as Hart was.
"We will allow the appointment of Professor McGonagall as Head of Gryffindor," said Hart, taking his lead from Victor, "as she's the only one qualified to take the position. I believe we are agreed?"
There was a chorus of 'aye's from around the table.
"Right," said Hart with a nod, "but there's still the matter of the appointment of a Deputy Head to be handled. She may be the only one available for the position of Head of Gryffindor House but I still do not think it a wise decision to appoint her as Deputy Head."
"Traditionally the Headmaster is given free reign over such decisions—including that of appointing Heads of House. A decision which I feel compelled to point out that I was right about."
It was true, Hogwarts' Governors had not felt compelled to question the Headmaster of Hogwarts on such decisions since the mid 1700s. It was a testament to how unusual Albus' decision was that they were questioning this one.
"Be that as it may," said Hart with an expression which was a mixture of firm belief in his own correctness and the drawn expression of a man who feels taxed by the things he feels others put him through, "I question the idea of making her Deputy Headmistress, Dumbledore. It is, after all, a very important position. We cannot allow someone who cannot handle the position to take it. The results could be quite disastrous for everyone involved. Also, I would like to note that most Headmasters have made obviously sound choices on such matters and not decided to appoint teachers only hired within the same school year."
"So you view my decision as too controversial?" That was obviously the thought goign through the Head Governor's head. His response to Albus' statement had reeked with concern for his own political interests. Albus did not think he was unconcerned with how the school faired—though that might have been his propensity to see good in all people showing itself—but he also knew that he was concerned first with his political standing. This position was one of politics and power to Hart.
Hart appeared flustered but he was saved from answered Albus's question by a short, balding wizard sitting at the end of the table opposite from Victor.
"Why do you say that, Headmaster?"
"Because that is the only reason I can see for you to oppose this decision," Albus answered calmly.
"You can't be serious, Dumbledore!" said Hart in exasperation. "Hogwarts if full of teachers! Someone with more experience is far more qualified!"
"Minerva McGonagall is not some new teacher just out of Hogwarts, Angus. She was an auror for nearly fifteen years."
"She had no experience in either teaching or administration," Hart pointed out sharply. "Your other staff members each have at least one of those."
"That does not make them more qualified. Minerva McGonagall is the best person for the job. That is why I chose her."
"What of your other Professors? Obviously Professor Merrythought is out of the question but there are ten other staff members in teaching positions at Hogwarts."
"Indeed, there are," said Albus with a polite nod.
"What of them?"
"Well, our most experienced staff member is Professor Binns, as he has been teaching at Hogwarts since 1798, but as a ghost he is unable to perform all of the duties required. I'm sure we can all agree about that."
There were nods from around the table.
"Horace Slughorn, is the next most senior Professor not already eliminated as a candidate. He, however, is uninterested in the position."
Albus saw more than one shocked look appear on the faces of the wizards seated at the table. They were in the minority, however. Many of the Governors had been members of Horace's 'Slug Club' as students. He'd helped them get their current jobs and they knew him well enough to know that he was not the average Slytherin interested in gaining power and prestige directly. Despite his old house, he was not the type who would jump at the offerings of such power. They were not shocked at all.
Albus paused so the few surprised Governors could wipe the shocked expressions from their faces, then continued with his listing of the Hogwarts teachers. He intended to list all of them, and show why they had been eliminated in favor of Minerva if he needed to.
"Professor Amanda Chantry, Head of Hufflepuff House, was the next member of my current staff hired. Now, she is quite agreeable to work with and I know would be willing to take the position of Deputy Head were it formally offered to her." Albus detected a look of triumph creep onto Angus Hart's face upon hearing his words. Albus continued to speak without pause, however, not acknowledging the change in Hart's facial expression. "However, it is my opinion that she does not possess the traits I would deem necessary in a Deputy Head under myself. She is exceptionally disorganized, a weakness I myself possess, and it is not in her nature to be firm with people if she can avoid it. She has a tendency to be reluctant to even deduct points from the Houses. I think that the school would not fair as well as it could under the combined supervision of myself and Amanda. It would suffer from a lack of firm organization that the administration should be providing."
Both Albus and Angus Hart saw Victor's old, silvery head nod in agreement. The victory was instantly wiped from Hart's face. Albus chose that moment to mention the comment Amanda had made to him when he'd spoken to her about his need for a Deputy.
"She is quite aware of the need for those traits within the school, as well, as it were. She actually suggested to me that I should appoint Minerva based on the fact that she is very much endowed with those traits. Amanda taught Minerva while she was in school, along with myself and five of the other staff members."
"Really? What do the others think of Minerva as a possible Deputy Head?"
Albus turned his twinkling gaze to the Governor who'd just spoken and gave his answer. "They all generally agree with the idea. We all agree she is well suited to such a position of management, though Galatea Merrythought expressed some concern at her general lack of sociability."
Seeing an opening that could possibly help him, Hart pounced. "Do you not think that an unsociable Deputy would be a problem, Dumbledore?" There was the slightest hint of condescension in Hart's town. Only Albus noticed it, and it did not bother him in the least. He had expected Hart to act no differently and did not fault him for doing what he was doing. Few other people were likely to greet the idea of Minerva suddenly becoming Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor and transfigurations professor with any sort of joy.
"I do not. Firstly, I think it is unfair to call Minerva unsociable. I find her to be quite agreeable, if something of an introvert. Secondly, I think that it unnecessary for both the Headmaster and Deputy to possess all good administrative qualities in abundance if between both there is no want for those qualities."
There was another nod from Victor. Albus, with his abundant people skills, was doing well with him. He was managing to hit all the right points and it was seeming very much to grey haired old man that inexperienced or not, Minerva was the witch for the job.
"I see," said Hart, and he was scowling, also having noticed that Victor was nodding too. Hart was no fool. He knew who the man who really made the Governor's decisions was. "Still, some of your other staff members must possess good organizational skills."
"Of course. Patience Cosmos, Rachel Hanson, Professor Rodgers and Pomona Sprout would all fall under that category."
Hart raised an eyebrow. "And none of them would do?"
"Actually, Patience would have been an excellent candidate," said Albus with a slight upbeat and a smile. "She and Minerva are actually quite similar in work style. However, she does not wish to take on the position of Deputy Headmistress in addition to her duties as Head of Ravenclaw."
"She feels it's too much work?" Hart asked.
Noticing how Hart had phrased his question, Albus made sure to phrase his answer correctly. "She has other concerns. Taking both positions would take up much of her time."
"She has an autistic grandson, doesn't she?" asked someone. Albus did not quite catch who.
If Hart was surprised or exasperated by question it did not show on his face. He simply looked at Albus for either confirmation or denial.
"She does," he said with a nod. "She likes to spend time with him when she can."
"Well, no one can fault her that," said Hart, all intentions he's had of pointing out that Professor McGonagall would be a brand new teacher doing the same amount of work Professor Cosmos did not wish to take on vanishing from his mind. "You mentioned Albert Rodgers as a possibility?"
"He's quite qualified," Albus admitted, his eyebrows knitted. "However, he and I are prone to . . . disagreements. Mostly of an intellectual nature. It makes for excellent debate which I am quite fond of, but I do not think that it would work well to have him as my Deputy Head for that reason."
Most of the people in the chamber seemed intrigued by Albus' reasoning. The great Albus Dumbledore was human enough to have disagreements with people other than forces of darkness like Grindelwald? Who knew?
"I see," said Hart, "and the others?"
"Professor McGonagall has more overall work experience than Professor Hanson and I feel that the position needs to be filled by someone who has more experience working than three years of teaching."
"We can agree on that," said Hart. "Sprout?"
"She doesn't want the position. She feel it's too detached from the students, which she considers to be her primary concern."
"Have you gone through your entire staff and asked them about what should be done about the filling of the position and how they would feel about taking it?"
It was Victor, sitting thoughtfully at the end of the table, who'd asked.
Albus turned and spoke directly to Victor, respect reflected on his features. Victor was a simple but very wise man. Albus had always considered him to be a person to be emulated.
"Yes, I have."
"And based on all of this you are firm in your belief that Professor McGonagall should get the position?"
"And on my own perceptions and opinions of her, yes," Albus answered.
Victor gave a slow nod and stared thoughtfully at Albus for a moment. There eyes were locked on each other, and Albus felt a slight bit of nervousness rise in him. Victor was decided right now, what he thought. It was there in his eyes. Albus was fairly certain that he'd won this battle but he could not be sure until Victor announced it was so.
Albus was not held in suspense long.
Looking toward Angus Hart at the center of the table, he spoke. "Well, I've heard enough. I'm quite convinced that Albus has done right here by choosing her as his Deputy Headmistress."
There were nods and murmurs of agreement.
"Shall we put it to a vote then?"
More sounds of agreement filled the chamber.
"All those in favor?"
Not one person did not register their vote to be in favor of Minerva's appointment.
"Against?"
Silence.
"Well, that's settled then," said Hart. "Tell Professor McGonagall congratulations, Dumbledore."
"Thank you," said Albus with a small smile visible through his auburn beard, then he turned and left.
A small sigh escaped Angus Hart's lips as his fellow Governors sat up from their seats. The public was going to hate this. People were going to be questioning this right and left. It was bad politics. He didn't like it.
He had to admit, though, he did think she was the right person for the job.