"It places a blemish on the school, Dumbledore! Our Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor having a child out of wedlock! It's disastrous! What will the parents think?"

"I think that our teachers social and family lives are no one's business but their own," Albus answered calmly. "That is school policy."

Hart opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. Albus had him there. It was school policy for the personal lives and relations of the school's teachers to remain secret. It was a matter of safety. Only he, the Headmaster, and the most senior of the Governor's knew who and what the staff's families were—other than those teachers themselves informed themselves, of course.

"Be that as it may," said the only witch there, a parent and recent addition. "The students will notice she is pregnant eventually. They'll talk."

"Just as they would about any other teacher who turned up pregnant."

"The others are married," objected a tall wizard with dark hair.

"Three of my other female staff are not," Albus pointed out, knowing full well that the man was by no means a senior Governor and had no idea of what he spoke. He pinned the man with his crystal blue stare. "And it will seem the same to our students. They have no idea who is and is not married amongst the staff."

"Well as far as I'm concerned, Dumbledore," said Victor, speaking up loudly and eyeing his fellows, "the only issue here is whether or not she can still do her job. She's a lot of responsibilities and I want to make sure they're taken care of. Unmarried women having children is not our concern. That's just life, like it or not."

Well, at least Victor wasn't going to take issue with Minerva's marital status. That made things a lot easier. He'd just shown Albus how to win his own vote—and therefore everyone else's vote—and it was not unreasonable. He'd, of course, shown Angus Hart how to defeat him in the same move, but Albus was confident that he would win this. Work was Minerva's life. It was how she dealt with her stress, especially the stress she was feeling now because of the situation they were in. When she needed to escape it, she would simply sit down and find herself some sort of work to do. Honestly, Albus wasn't certain what she'd do if she didn't have her work.

"I do not believe that is an issue," Albus stated calmly, deciding he should use his best point first. "I've not noticed anything lacking in my Deputy's work of late, and it seems to me that you cannot have either. After all, you did not even suspect that she was pregnant until she requested maternity leave for later this year, is that not correct?"

He could see on many of their faces that they were surprised he had known that, but some of the other simply nodded to him. They were either too surprised to lie or unwilling to.

"Then there is no issue," said Albus simply, wearing a smile that was both pleasant and satisfied at the same time.

Albus could see that he had taken the wind right of Hart's sails, but the man was not to be outdone. He'd known even back when they appointed McGonagall that she would be trouble of some sort, and now he'd been proven right. What she'd done . . . it was simply ghastly. Highly immoral, that was what is was and he certainly did not want his children being taught by someone like that. He intended to be sure they were rid of Minerva McGonagall before she could cause any more trouble. He floundered about in his head, looking desperately for an argument to answer Dumbledore with.

"Of course she can do her work now," he managed, thinking quickly, "but what about after the child is born? When she's on maternity leave, who will do her work? Then after that, when she's 'working' again, will she be able to handle her workload? It's largest of any of the staff and she will be taking care of an infant by herself at the same time. No one could handle that. It's too much."

Hart knew that he'd been clutching at straws when he brought up her work being done during her maternity leave as a problem, but he knew he'd found gold with the idea that all of that was too much for one woman to do. It was something he actually believed.

"Such things have never been an issue before," came the calm answer.

"We've never had this specific problem before."

It did not take a man anywhere near as smart as Albus to figure out what he meant by that. He could easily see that despite Victor's statement, Hart and many of the other Governors were still determined to make this about Minerva's marital status. He wondered if this meant that some of them might actually go against whatever Victor wanted for the first time in the last decade and a half. He hoped not.

"That changes nothing," Albus replied almost flippantly, refusing to be intimidated. He had to focus on convincing Victor. He could not control the ignorance and short-sightedness of the others. "Temporary replacements will handle Professor McGonagall's work while she is on leave—even her responsibilities as Head of House and Deputy Head. This is not the first time that someone in one or even both of those positions has needed maternity leave. After that, she will work a normal day just as everyone else does, transferring the child to a family member for daytime care."

"Has this been discussed with her family?" Hart asked quickly.

Albus simply nodded. Hart could feel himself fighting a losing battle. What else could he say? Everything seemed to be covered and it troubled him. If she continued working at Hogwarts then a year or two from now the Governors would be dealing with yet another problem she had caused them.

"If temporary replacements can handle her work during her leave, then why not replace her in one or two of her positions on a permanent basis and reduce her workload?"

Relief flooded Hart and he felt an immediate rush of gratitude towards his colleague. It was nice to see his fellow sticking to their words about agreeing with him about McGonagall. What had been suggested was not a full victory, it was true, but it was a miraculous save from the outcome Hart had expected. The less important they could make McGonagall at Hogwarts, the less trouble she would be able to be.

"I know for a fact that Professor McGonagall would not be agreeable to that and ti was only last year that these Governors agreed to my appointment decisions regarded her based on the fact that she was the best qualified. Hogwarts deserves to have the most qualified people it can acquire."

"Things can change in a year," Hart pointed out, taking up the reins of the argument.

"The only thing that has changed for Professor McGonagall is that she has been blessed with a child. This does not impact her qualifications."

"Blessed?" the lone witch asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "Are those her words?"

"Yes, in fact they are. She would not desire to keep her positions at Hogwarts if she saw a child as a stressor that would impact her work."

"I see," the witch replied and pursed her lips.

Victor placed a strong but very wrinkled hand on the table in front of him. "Well, I've heard enough. I'd like to put this to a vote. Who seconds?"

The tall wizard with dark hair voiced a quick agreement and Albus stood there nervously as the Governors voted. He hoped no one would be brave enough to challenge Victor on the decision he knew the wise old man had made.

Luckily for both he and Minerva, he hoped correctly.