Hey everyone, here's chapter two of The Journey, hope you all enjoy. Thanks to nimivi, eternal vampire, and greenlover2 for the reviews. Chapter 3 should be up shortly, and hopefully the pace will start to pick up from there. Review please, and happy reading!
(Disclaimer again? Sure: Not mine. There.)
Ch. 2 A Fearful First Night
Minerva McGonagall entered her office after leaving Ms Crawford, only to find someone was already in it.
Dumbledore sat her desk, the lights lit, the fire roaring, casually perusing the most recent of the architectural plans she and the Magical Maintenance crew had developed. When she entered, showing little surprise at his unexpected presence in her office, he smiled and tossed the parchment to one side.
'Ah, Minerva. You're later than I expected,' Dumbledore said, standing as Minerva swept by him, collected the plans, and went into her personal chambers. He followed, striding into a warm, comfortable room that seemed to display a definite theme of tartan and Gryffindor. Seating himself down on a cream coloured couch with a tartan blanket thrown over the back, he watched as she filed the papers away and disappeared for a moment, reappearing moments later with a pot of tea.
'I showed Ms Crawford to her room,' she offered by way of explanation. Unlike himself, Minerva gave newcomers the title of Professor only when term started and the title was officially true. 'When did you return?'
'About,' Dumbledore checked the carriage clock on the mantle, 'twenty minutes ago. I expected you to return around that time, although I must admit it didn't occur to me to account for your hospitable actions.' Minerva shrugged, pouring herself and her guest a cup of tea. He accepted it with thanks.
After they had both taken their first sip in companionable silence, Dumbledore spoke. 'What did you think of her?' Albus Dumbledore had long since come to appreciate Minerva McGonagall's ability to bluntly give her first impression of any new person in the castle. Her opinion was usually later proved to be both true and useful, and Dumbledore used this talent frequently. Although he himself had a similar gift, Minerva was a woman, and therefore had different perspectives.
Minerva took another sip of tea before answering. 'She reminds me of Pomona when she first started working here.'
'Yes, I see what you mean,' Dumbledore said with a chuckle. It was true that Trudy did in some ways resemble the cheerful, enthusiastic young woman Pomona Sprout had been when she'd started working here. (Not young, exactly; Pomona had been forty-three her first year of teaching.)
'However, I do think she may need to…toughen up, so to speak,' Minerva added thoughtfully. 'She seems a bit…innocent. Pomona was a bit more resilient. I wouldn't want any of the students to take advantage of Trudy. Or hurt her,' she added as an afterthought.
Dumbledore frowned as he considered this. 'Does she appear so obviously innocent to you?' he asked, concerned. 'I'd assumed she'd be able to handle any rowdy seventh-years, but if you think differently…' he trailed off.
'Oh, no, I'm sure she'll be fine. It's simply that the first week of teaching may be more difficult for her than she thinks,' Minerva assured him. 'She'll get through it. We all did.'
Dumbledore chuckled to remember Minerva's first term here. An unfortunate incident had required Dumbledore to rise to the position of Headmaster just before Christmas, leaving an empty hole in the place where a Transfiguration teacher was supposed to be. Thankfully, they'd found the perfect replacement—Minerva—but it had been hard on her nevertheless, and for the students as well.
But Minerva was right; Trudy would be just as fine as Minerva was. 'Remember your first term here?' Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling.
Minerva offered him a wry smile, evidently having just been thinking of that herself. 'Of course. I remember that you were late to meet me at the gates my first day here.' She grinned and raised a challenging eyebrow.
Dumbledore cringed. No one would ever let him forget that. Horace Slughorn, in particular, was rather fond of telling the story. 'I had a very crucial meeting,' Dumbledore replied, raising his chin defensively. 'It wasn't my fault it ran late. It was important.'
'More important than me?' Minerva challenged, her other eyebrow joining the first. Her eyes sparkled with humour.
There was a moment of silence as they locked gazes. 'Nothing is more important than you, Minerva,' Dumbledore said. His eyes were no longer twinkling, but rather burning with an intensity Minerva rarely saw. She swallowed.
'Tell that to the ministry the next time they request your presence,' she shot back. Minerva McGonagall was never at a loss for words, and the tension broke.
Dumbledore chuckled. Ah, Minerva. 'Well, my dear, I fear I am cutting into your beauty sleep.' He ignored Minerva's harrumph at the odd term. 'I shall see you tomorrow?'
Minerva scowled as she rose. 'Of course. I haven't got much of a choice, have I? Idiots can't even repair a school without someone telling them the Levitation incantation…' she trailed off, muttering under her breath about incompetent workers and ridiculous salaries. Dumbledore chuckled once again.
Rising, and placing his empty teacup on the table, Albus started for the door. 'Thank you for the company and tea, Minerva. It was excellent, as usual.'
'You're quite welcome,' she replied, not sure if he meant the tea or the company. His eyes twinkled as if he could read her mind, and, with a last farewell, he left.
Minerva prepared for bed, undressing and brushing her hair. Dumbledore was an infuriating man.
She extinguished the lights with a wave of her hand and climbed into bed, rolling onto her side. It had been quite a tiring day, and it was getting late. She didn't particularly mind Albus' late night visits, but she did have to get up early to supervise the Magical Maintenance crew. She didn't want them collapsing her school. She was quite used to surviving on only a few hours' sleep, but that didn't mean she didn't prefer getting more than four or five hours a night if the situation warranted it.
Minerva was just starting to drift off when a shrill scream battered through her bedroom door and shocked her fully awake. She leaped out of bed, stubbed her toe, grabbed her nightdress and wand, and, still swearing, hurried into the corridor.
Dumbledore was already there. 'Any idea?' she asked. One of the first things she had learned about late night emergencies was to talk as briefly and as to-the-point as possible. It wasn't long before Flitwick and Sprout came hurrying towards them, wands raised.
Sprout lowered her wand when she saw the two of them. 'Find anything?' she asked, looking troubled. They'd never had an emergency after the students had left, most likely because no one was ever actually at the castle during the summer, except for Filch. That meant that the scream had come from one of the teachers still here; Minerva knew she would personally hex the screamer if that person happened to be Sybil Trelawney- again.
It had been only a few years ago, just half past midnight, and the anguished scream that had somehow been magnified to several times its usual volume had managed to penetrate the thick stone walls of Minerva's bedroom. She'd flung herself out of bed, nearly frantic with the thought that one of her students might be hurt or in trouble, hair a mess and glasses askew. Dumbledore had just returned from a late-night ministry meeting and hadn't been woken. Minerva had quickly organized the teachers into three search parties and sent them off.
It had perhaps been fortunate for Trelawney that it hadn't been Minerva's group to find her at the bottom of the North Tower, gibbering about a horrible vision she'd just had about the minister for magic and some sort of gum disease, or she might have been hexed on the spot. As it was, Minerva had shouted at the woman for a solid ten minutes when she arrived. It was only when she'd calmed down slightly that she had suggested to Sybil, through a tightly clenched jaw, to scream only when there was an actual crisis. And no, a vision did not count as an event that warranted immediate action at two in the morning.
It had been past three when Minerva had finally made it to bed, only after reassuring awoken students that there was nothing wrong, sent Albus back to bed (he'd woken up during Minerva's screaming chastisement of Trelawney), and calmed herself enough for sleep. It had been an extremely irate Professor McGonagall that had greeted the Headmaster the next morning.
All of this flashed through Minerva's mind as she lit her wand with a flick of her wrist, hardly noticing that Filius mirrored her actions. She personally vowed to remove Sybil's voice if she was the one responsible for dragging her out of bed at one in the morning. 'Where's Horace?' Filius squeaked, glancing around, drawing Minerva's attention to him.
'He probably didn't hear,' she replied. 'He's all the way down in the dungeons, after all.' Dumbledore nodded his agreement of her logic.
'We should split up, see if we can't find who screamed- am I correct in assuming it wasn't any of you?' Dumbledore looked at his Heads of House, seeking affirmation, which came in the form of a nod. 'Then might I suggest-.' Then, something happened that hadn't before: the woman screamed again.
Minerva took off down the hallway in the direction of the scream, Dumbledore, Flitwick, and Sprout hot on her heels. Minerva continued to run after the scream had died away, and it took them a moment to realize where she was going: Trudy's room.
Minerva came to Trudy's door and pushed it open, going inside before coming to an abrupt halt. Dumbledore nearly crashed into her back, but when the others arrived, they all stared in confusion.
A huge snake, ten feet tall and hissing furiously, was glowing in the moonlight on one side of the room, in front of a wooden wardrobe. Its black scales glittered dangerously with every movement, poison dripping from its fangs. Trudy was shrinking against the opposite wall, pale as ghost, and shaking violently. Her eyes never left the giant snake, which was slowly writhing towards her. She looked as if she might pass out at any given moment.
Dumbledore was the first to understand. 'Boggart,' he said suddenly, as the realization hit him, and the others understood immediately. Minerva took a step forwards and raised her wand, crying, 'Ridikkulous!' The giant snake turned to her and, with a crack, was all of a sudden a giant, growling dog with thick, ragged fur. Another wave of Minerva's wand, and the Boggart had vanished. The four teachers hurried to Trudy, who looked as though she might never speak again, and helped her to the couch.
'Are you alright?' Dumbledore asked, his brow furrowed in concern as they gathered around her. Sprout quietly called for a cup of tea, and within seconds a wizened house-elf appeared, bearing a cup of the steaming liquid before vanishing. Sprout handed the woman the comforting drink.
'I'm fine,' gasped Trudy, apparently disregarding how transparent the lie was. 'I just- goodness, that was foolish of me- was that a- a Boggart, you said?' Her trembling hands tightened around the mug of tea as she took a shaky sip.
'That's right, dear, just a Boggart. It wasn't real,' Pomona assured her soothingly. 'There aren't very many of them in the school, and Minerva's taken care of this one, you needn't worry.' Trudy nodded hastily and swallowed another gulp of tea, ignoring the burning sensation in her throat.
Dumbledore glanced at Minerva, who looked slightly shaken. She caught him looking and quickly, visibly calmed herself, offering him a slight smile. It was never easy to face your fears, and Minerva was no different. He wondered what had happened to make her so afraid of that dog, because he had been fairly certain that when Minerva had first started working here, her Boggart had been the corpse of her brother, Bran, who was still alive. Dumbledore turned his attention back to Trudy.
'I'm alright,' Trudy was saying, and she had regained enough colour for the statement to obtain some semblance of truth. Dumbledore nodded and rose to his feet.
'I am terribly sorry about the scare, Ms Crawford,' he told her gently. 'I can imagine the fright that surprise must have given you. I can, however, assure you that there are no real, giant snakes in this castle.' Trudy gave a weak laugh and rose to her feet.
'I'll be fine, thank you, everyone. It never occurred to me that it might be a Boggart. I'll just head off to bed,' Trudy decided, moving towards her chamber door. 'Thank you all again,' she repeated, nodding to Professor McGonagall, who had, after all, banished the Boggart at her own personal expense. Trudy entered her rooms and closed the door quietly behind her.
By mutual agreement, the other four silently exited into the corridor and parted with a quiet goodnight. Minerva and Albus headed off in the same direction. Dumbledore wanted to ask Minerva if she was alright without mentioning the dog.
'Are you alright?' he asked her quietly, as they made their way along in the dark, the only light coming from Minerva's lit wand. Their footsteps echoed quietly up and down the corridor.
'I'm fine,' she replied with a faint smile. 'It was just a bit of a shock.' Minerva glanced at him, taking note of the shadows under his eyes. 'You should get to bed, Albus. You look exhausted.' Dumbledore at last gave a faint chuckle as they arrived at her door.
'I'm very glad that you're well,' he told her with a smile. 'And as usual, you are right, Minerva. I should go to bed. Good night, my dear.' He patted her shoulder and gave a bright, sparkling smile before turning away.
'Good night, Albus,' Minerva said quietly, ignoring the odd tingling her shoulder seemed to be experiencing. He waved over his shoulder and disappeared into the dark.
TBC
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