Chapter 46 – Simply Impressive

May 7, 2006

Continuation

Every year, the Seventh of May had become the default date of triumphant celebration for the wizarding community in the United Kingdom following the now well-known battle of Hogwarts, when the light had trounced darkness. This year, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy was hosting its 8th Anniversary with a magical fair on the school grounds; as had adamantly been suggested by the Board of Governors.

In prior months when this arguably clever idea of carnival fair merriment at Hogwarts was brought to Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, she quickly comprehended that she could not dissuade it from happening…for word about it had taken its own vessel, sailing throughout their Wizarding community, eliciting exceptional excitement despite being several months away from intended schedule.

Had Minerva battled it with common but obnoxious jurisdictional ruling, she knew that she would prevail as the current Headmistress of Hogwarts. She also knew that she could have opted for a short cut by twisting Kingsley's arm to have the Ministry do the hosting as it had every year since 2000… But it was obvious to Minerva that had she given a 'no' to an already popular merry matter, it'd have created an unfavorable impression of Hogwarts. Irritated that something as such might potentially affect her plans to integrate other progressive programs at Hogwarts in furtherance of students' learning, she begrudgingly agreed.

Then to reclaim the upper hand over this decision, Minerva had obligated the board to provide the necessary amount of funding for the event, as she would not dip into the allocated extra-curricular budget for the students. And also stipulated that despite sponsorship, Hogwarts would have to be granted with full dominion of its organization. The embedded point truly was to prevent the foreseen voluminous directs and counsels from these sponsors, which may be all well intentioned, but would consequently complicate everything for Hogwarts staff.

Minerva had been given with both— generous galleons and absolute authority. It had her impressed and motivated.

For months, with valuable aid from fellow Hogwarts' staff, they had meticulously planned on how to bring about the most anticipated magical fair. But alongside the admittedly ambitious design was Minerva's strict unrelenting directive to the Professors that they would have to do it without sacrificing any of the students' classes.

Something had to give of course, and it was Professor Flitwick who then advised Minerva that as they had the money, it was shrewder to hire contractors to produce whatever they envisioned for the grand event, because while the Professors would devote every non-teaching hour into its preparation, the reality was that that the entire enterprise could not be done in mere months.

However, that route had the downside of basically having outsiders accessing Hogwarts for months and months throughout construction during regular term, causing Minerva to have the more important concern of security of the school, especially for its students.

The compromise was dividing the projects into two parts. The first one was under the hired contractors wherein they'd be prefabricating every mechanism outside of Hogwarts. It must include the faculties in attaching magic for all necessities to function as projected. The second part was when Hogwarts staff would take over the actual erection and formation of these components and structures on the school grounds.

The solution would be achieving all targets— actualization of the fair according to their designs, removal of long-term outsider workers at the school, non-disruption of regular classes, plus it generated adequate provisions to employ the highest quality and safety of the entire fairgrounds with Hogwarts staff doing the final assembly.

The expected labor to be done at Hogwarts was calculated with a timeline of seven to eight days, but the actuality had seized a fortnight. Although there was an overshoot in the schedule, Minerva was undeniably grateful to all the staff that had taken turns during every possible hour with the tasks that completed the execution on the day before the said commemoration, of superbly set amusements and attractions.

Also, Minerva was internally grateful that despite her magical powers not yet being at 100 percent, they had not given her trouble whenever she was working at the fairgrounds, particularly when she had repeatedly tested all the attached magical safety and protections for the fun rides… But she knew that whenever she was away doing other Headmistress work, Filius Flitwick had performed a bulk of the tasks that she was supposed to do. And it was not lost on her that her good colleague had done so to relieve the pressure on her recovering magic…

Around August last year, before another opening of school term, Minerva had accounted to Filiius in confidence her anti-apparation breaking stunt and the resulting predicament on her magical core…just in case— he being the school's deputy and esteemed colleague. She realised belatedly as well that it was truly the reason he urged her to get outside contractors. He was saving her from straining her still unrecovered powers... Thus with no untoward incident at Hogwarts so far, with her much better condition than several months ago, and given the extra work with the fair materialization for the 8th commemoration, she knew that her deputy was equally relieved of it all…

. . . . . . .

Impressive— was indeed the consensus by everyone the second they arrived at Hogwarts for the 8th commemoration. Truly impressive, truth be told.

The final output was comprised of numerous enchanted game booths, challenging charmed funhouses, and various magically lined fun rides (which were inspired by muggle carnival machineries as suggested by their current Muggle Studies Professor). The several strategically placed banquet areas were splendidly filled with seemingly infinite delicious food and delightful drinks free for everyone.

This made every Hogwarts staff member proud; obvious satisfaction etched on their faces for the toiling done for this grand event, as they received commendations from guests, not to mention the clear approval from the members of the Board for the brilliant job. But the staff would not negate that a huge part of its actualization was thanks to the brimming funds sponsored by the Board of Governors. And their broadcasted appreciation was fascinating, highlighting the positive atmosphere.

After the Minister of Magic and the Headmistress of Hogwarts had officially opened the fairground at noon, it was hard for anyone in attendance to not be MORE impressed. And since then, which had been about five hours or so ago, almost everywhere one could hear joyous chatter, rackets of laughter, and sounds of general delight coming from hordes of witches and wizards, as they were undeniably having a marvelous time.

Except, Minerva McGonagall.

No one would ever guess this; as always, Minerva outwardly looked every bit of the prim and regal Headmistress that she was…in spite of currently not wearing her habitual starchy witching-robes.

After noticing earlier how the Head Minister of Magic had abandoned his formal robes, and realising that Hogwarts staff had donned a less than reserved style of dress, and of even recalling how Harry was outright wearing a muggle Oxford polo with rolled up sleeves tucked into a pair of casual trousers, Minerva had a brief self-discussion of how her usual robes were not as suitable for an open ground fair.

The wardrobe assessment had resulted in Minerva reluctantly yanking from the back of her closet a neutral form fitting muggle pantsuit, blended with a wizarding front slit, and a long coat/robes; roughly the type that Severus Snape used to wear on dry and mild days just before summer. Except, hers were not in the black that Severus had favored, but a superb shade of gray…

These clothes had been from her Auror days, which she had not worn since. Quickly changing into them, and employing swift brushing spells to remove any signs of too long storing, Minerva breathed a sigh of relief that she could still fit into them.

Although from what Minerva could remember, the clothes used to be looser in fitting, and now they felt snug on her… She could have inspected herself better in front of the mirror, but she refused to spend more unnecessary minutes of vanity, and rashly pushed the second-guessing exercise to the back burner. She also shelved the question of why she was bothering with the matter of her attire, or why she had initially taken down her hair from its severe bun, though eventually she backed out and put it up again, settling for a less tight and lower bun assembly.

"Bollucks!" She castigated herself, her own mind flashing as to why she was fretting about her appearance today… that the reason had a name; it was Hermione Granger… "Yer aff yer heid, Minerva!" She cursed once more before heading to the gathering area for the official opening of the Commemoration.

Minerva ignored the first and every blatant stare her outfit had gotten from the moment she stepped out of her rooms. She knew it was not because she was under-dressed, as she could see that people had discarded their everyday robes and opted for easy garb. It was simply because it had been far too long since she had foregone her teaching robes. It was shocking people, to say the least.

Nevertheless, Minerva's current ensemble did nothing to change her maintained impression of an all too proper witch. She could not really help it; it was just the way she had trained herself to be… By the time she transitioned from being Ministry employee to Hogwarts's Transfiguration Professor, the manner she conducted herself only got further decorous…and this outward demeanor had been running in Minerva's system for decades…

And now, as the Headmistress of Hogwarts, the deportment all the more presented itself…particularly today.

The present affair at Hogwarts called for casting Minerva as this venerated figure in their society, one who communally received every attendee who approached her. She accommodated everyone who sought her attention, granting an exchange or two of whichever topic they elected.

But five hours into it, Minerva was internally screaming for a reprieve, itching to blast away or silence the people currently surrounding her. It was not because of who they were in particular, nothing personal or discriminatory… but because they were the latest ones bleeding Minerva's ears, commenting on two and only two things—

The first one— how they were truly impressed how Hogwarts grounds had been transformed into a spectacular fair ground... She planned to give special appreciation to their Muggle Studies Professor for all the research that was done. It seemed that despite having a magical world, something novel that had been created brilliantly could still bring that delicious shock to everyone.

The second thing— Minerva should have anticipated, but truthfully she had forgotten about it. And somehow she couldn't decide if she only had herself to blame as people had suddenly gotten braver (or it could be a rush of foolishness) with their non-stop chatter of and audacious staring at her extraordinary magical ageing— at her exposed true appearance…

Despite having shed her de-glamour a year ago, it was only at today's event that she was consequently giving a first time glimpse of one of a kind magical ageing to about a thousand magical people. Of course, it didn't help that her outfit shocked them as well, as she was right and left being told how impressive she looked… It made her unsure that giving into casualness had been wise…for it obviously brought her more attention… and as before, Minerva detested attention.

Minerva internally sighed. It was indeed tempting to apparate away; desert her duty. Once the formal opening and initial endless courtesy greetings with high-ranking magical officials and guests was done, she had tried to move around in order to check any pressing issues with the set amusement and recreation mechanisms. But not even after two steps she would be detained, and be told, repeatedly, well, in the last five hours or so, of the same incessant feedback, those same two things.

To be fair though, the Headmistress in Minerva McGonagall was indeed feeling pleased for the apparent feat of what Hogwarts staff had worked hard for. She knew she should be valuing how Hogwarts was being credited with one of the most successful gatherings, as evident by the euphoric madness reflected on the face of every guest. And she could not fault people for their outspoken bewilderment. The fairground was undeniably impressive… Her colleagues were truly impressive for what they had brought into reality.

Meanwhile, concerning her extraordinary magical ageing, when she permanently dropped her de-glamour spell last year for all Hogwarts residents to see, Minerva could say that she had gotten less prickly after a year of dealing with incorrigible students (particularly from Gryffindor House). The youngsters stared, queried, and shared outrageous theories about her raw appearance. Along with the revelation was the mysterious construction of a free flowing communication from the students— they had actually voiced their thoughts to her in various innocent versions of, 'how on earth did we not know that we have an impressive looking Headmistress?'. The declarations were almost endearing, as Minerva felt them to be without malice… And just as she had guessed, the kids had long spread the news to their families, and thus at today's commemoration, she was certain she would be a lot richer if there was a galleon to her name for every time she caught a parent saying that their child or children weren't lying at all about the Headmistress' appearance. It was almost funny…if she weren't fighting a green-eyed monster wreaking havoc in her chest…

Yes, to be honest, that superior strife lied deep inside not with the Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, but with the Minerva McGonagall who was unknown to the public, the one who was in-love… but right now silently dealing with the acrimonious discovery about Hermione… One that triggered that massive green-eyed monster… and she may devastatingly lose the battle before the day's end…

.

.

.

End of Chapter 46

Year 2006 – Truly Impressive

Posted 2023.0416

Yep, the star for the next chapter is the green-eyed monster…but coming from where? Pick a guess, we will close one open question by the next chapter!

Thank you, thank you for still reading this! And thank you to my Beta BrendaTheGoodBitch!