August 9th 1986

Minerva gently tapped her pen to the bottom of her chin. Her eyes were darting along the manuscript before her, detailing the premise of the births of one Harry James Potter. July 31st, 1981, at exactly 11:58 in the eve. His first thoughts were in July, and his second thoughts were in August.

Minerva squinted once more at the paper. That was wrong, he was born the same year that Neville Longbottom was born wasn't he? She quickly flicked through another stack of papers on her desk before finding a specific piece, the memo from Dumbledore to the Order, "Subject to the Prophecy, Neville Longbottom, and Harry Potter were born only five minutes apart."

Looking back at the manuscript, Minerva found that Harry would be attending his first year of Hogwarts at 11, his first day of term being September 2nd 1992, and his sorting on September 1st, of the same year. Minerva squinted, that wasn't right, not a month ago she was in the Leaky Cauldron listening to Augusta Longbottom rant and rave about how Neville had finally displayed magic, so he would be attending in the year of '91. Quickly, she flicked back a page to view the predicted mailing list, and lo and behold, for the year of 1991, she was supposed to send Neville his acceptance letter.

Again, something was out of place. She turned the page and looked at the mailing list for 1992, and Harry was underlined in bright red ink. Next to it was his birth date of 1981. Flicking back a page she reread, and Neville was to be first attending Hogwarts in '91, not '92, unsurprisingly, next to it stated plain as day. "Born July 31st, 1980, 11:54 in the eve."

Something was wrong, Minerva quickly stood and approached her fireplace, with a pinch of Floo Powder, she called Dumbledore. It took less than a second for the old man to respond. "Ah yes Professor McGonagall, how might I be able to assist you this eve?" His voice was pleasant and calm, as per his usual demeanour.

Minerva spoke quickly, needing to address the discrepancy she had found. "I was wondering if you happened to be in possession of the newspaper for August 1st, of 1980, the day after Longbottom was born."

Dumbledore merely raised an eyebrow, but quickly removed his head, and a second later returned through the floo.

Minerva had retreated back a few steps as to allow for the Headmaster to have some inkling of manoeuvrability. Her eyes glanced about and noted that Dumbledore did have a rolled newspaper in his hand.

"I have the newspaper, but what intrigues me is why you requested for such?" Dumbledore asked plainly, holding the paper out for Minerva to take.

"Just a curious speculation.." Minerva responded, pushing he best Occlumency shields into place and shifting her eyes to be on the Headmaster's nose, reducing his power in Legilimancy. She didn't want to concern him unless it was actually a major discrepancy. Reaching out she took the paper and left a neutral expression on her face.

With his eyes narrowing ever so slightly, Albus shrugged and left her office through the floo without another word, leaving the newspaper in her hands.

Without another wasted second. Minerva returned to her desk and unrolled the paper. The headline was the real kick in the teeth. "Potters and Longbottoms both have a child on the same day." Looking at the date it was no doubt, August 1st 1980.

In a flurry of motion, she rolled the paper back up, and flooed herself into Dumbledore's office, the manuscripts with Neville and Harry's birth dates in one hand, and the newspaper in the other.

Dumbledore looked completely flabbergasted when she emerged and slammed the documents on his desk. He didn't even have time to react after he'd returned, it was plainly obvious he'd just sat down at his desk.

"Read these documents and tell me if you find any discrepancy." She demanded. Her glasses now slightly askew from the flurry of movement and their lack of perfect stability. Afterall, she never had the need to apply sticking charms on her glasses, she'd never been a very spry witch.

Dumbledore carefully removed his half moon spectacles and began to read. "I see no error Minerva, this says Longbottom was born on this day, and the newspaper matches. Why is this paper with their births included?"

Minerva couldn't help but think that the Greatest wizard of the age was rather blind. "Harry's birth record states being born in '81, but he was mentioned as being born in '80 according to the newspaper, as well as on the Order's memo regarding the Prophecy, he was mentioned being born around the same time as Neville, 4 minutes apart in particular."

Dumbledore replaced his spectacles and read a bit more carefully, but his rather confused expression remained. "I see no mention of Potter on this paper, and I have no recollection of any memo being released regarding the close births of Harry and Neville. I distinctly remember the Prophecy being given after the birth of Neville."

McGonagall was growing more agitated by the minute. She'd left the memo on her desk, and she didn't think she needed to grab it. Instead her mind pinned the misunderstanding on something else."Perhaps it is my exhaustion getting to me," she stated plainly, "I'm retreating tomy quarters for the evening, I'll resume where I left off in the morn."

Dumbledore nodded as Minerva approached the floo. "Perhaps a good rest might settle your mind, and maybe provide an answer for such a peculiar predicament.

/Act 2/

The clicking of McGonagall's heels echoed throughout the main chamber of the Ministry of Magic, It was still rather early in the morn, but that wasn't stopping Minerva from reaching the bottom of whatever was going on. Her destination, of which she was making a beeline towards, was the Department of Internal Affairs, more specifically, the Chamber of Records. Inside she could request the public birth record of Harry Potter, it would state his Name, his Mother's name, locale of birth (if known), and the date and time of his birth. This record would most definitely prove to her that she was not crazy.

Even after having a good, restful, dreamless sleep, she was still having the issue of having two different date of births for Harry Potter, each a year apart exact. This was a big issue, because she had no clue what year Harry would be coming in, Merlin knows that this would be the greatest screw up in documentation ever recorded.

Finally reaching the elevator, Minerva nodded to the operator and spoke quietly. "Department of Internal Affairs please." The short man looked at her with a raised eyebrow before hitting the third number from the bottom on the control panel. The short man had a distinctive receding hairline and wispy grey hair.

She finished off the ride in silence, and slipped out of the elevator the moment the elevator opened, her eyes focused on the face of the Department Secretary. Her glare was something she knew left fear in the hearts of her previous students. Luckily enough, Jamie VanDonk was most definitely someone who had been on the receiving end of the stare more than once in her life.

"Professor McGonagall!" Jamie exclaimed, sweat already beginning to bead down the back of her neck. Severus Snape wasn't liked and feared, Minerva was respected and terrified her students. "I was not expecting to see you today... How can I help you?"

Minerva offered a small smile, she noted her posture was similar to that of when she was on a warpath, as her students would phrase it. She let her posture relax, Jamie had been a good student, and would be very helpful in her search for the document.

"I'm actually here in search for some records, and figured that the Chamber of Records would be the best spot to look for them. More specifically I was looking for two documents in particular, birth records to be precise." She explained quickly. "I'm not expecting these students to attend for another few years, but our records at Hogwarts appear to have some discrepancies."

Jamie raised an eyebrow, pulling a sheet of paper from her desk before she gave a nod, "Alright, shouldn't take any longer than fifteen minutes or so," she stood from her desk and smiled. "Follow me Professor." Grabbing a clipboard and the sheet of paper, Jamie began to walk down a hallway.

Minerva quickly followed and noted the slightly downward slope of the hallway. She suddenly felt an odd sensation of being watched, but the lack of magical buildup ruled out any monitoring charms, so she decided to specify just what she was looking for, and as if sensing her thoughts, Jamie spoke.

"So what precisely are we looking for?" Jamie asked.

Minerva let her expression return to it's more serious and stern form. "Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter's birth records."

/Meanwhile/

Unspeakable Gunnigap was lazily flicking through a novel when one of the various trinkets on the desk before him began to whirr. Flicking it with his index finger he listened absently to the mild silence and foot steps before he heard the voice of his 6th year sweetheart Jamie ask a routine question.

Minerva McGonagall's voice broke through and he froze. "Neville Longbottom, and Harry Potter's birth records."

The whole world seemed to freeze. Gunnigap lept from his chair and let the book he was reading drop to the ground. He sprinted into his bosses office and spoke as quickly as he could. "Minerva McGonagall called the change."

Chief Unspeakable Heimdall looked up from the paperwork on her desk and smiled. "It seems to me that we have ourselves a potential recruit."

/Act 3/

July 18th 1989

Minerva gingerly flipped the page in the book she was reading. To most the novel would look like a fiction, but she knew the author, and remembered grading an essay or two of hers. This story was a masked research paper, it was actually the thesis of the student.

'The Makings of a New Home,' detailed the acute account of a young man fresh out of Hogwarts, pursuing a career in magical research. The majority of story was focused on the intricacies of magical theory, and what exactly caused an object to transform under transfiguration.

It was an intriguing read, the balance between explanation of the research, sources in the footnotes of each page detailing just what supported these revolutionary discoveries, and storytelling was absolutely astonishing.

Just as she was about to start the next chapter of the novel, a gentle rapping sounded on the outside of her door. She looked up from her book with a slightly furrowed brow, her wards should definitely have alerted her to any unannounced presences on her doorstep.

Quietly she lifted herself from the sofa she was previously reading on. Grabbing a nearby robe she covered her sparsely covered form, and peeked through the eye hole of her door.

The woman standing there wore robes of a deep purple, and had a mask covering the entirety of her face. The mask looked like one you might see on a Guy Fawkes Day parade. Commonly now associated with anonymity.

Wandlessly, she summoned her wand to her hand and called through the door. "Whom shall I be greeting onto my doorstep?"

The masked figure looked directly at the eye hole and pulled a small brooch from her pocket. Showing it to the eye hole she spoke. "Chief Unspeakable Heimdall, I'm here to discuss something in accordance to a personal research assignment you partook in almost three years ago."

Minerva took a step from the door, the image of the brooch burned into her mind. It was an hourglass surrounded by two rings that rotated freely, on each was a single word, 'Divisio' and 'Mysteriorum.'

There was little doubt in her mind this was the real deal, and her thoughts shifted to her dead end on the Harry Potter birth case back in her visit to the Ministry three years prior. She gave her head a little shake and opened her door, tossing her wand onto the couch."Come on in Madame Heimdall."

The Unspeakable gently closed the door behind herself. "Have you anywhere I might hang my weather garb?" She asked, giving her deep purple cloak a little ripple, "I don't fancy tracking any of this mud into your lovely home."

Minerva smiled at the softness of the ladies voice, she sounded extremely young for someone who was most likely on par with Dumbledore in power. And of whom legally did not exist.

"Just behind you Ma'am, to the left of the door." she pointed out, gesturing slowly with her hand farthest from the masked witch.

Unspeakable Heimdall shrugged her cloak off, revealing tightly fitting robes, similar to that of a warrior monk from the East Asiatic Magistrate. Her hair was contained in a black garb that wrapped up the braid and pinned it down her back. From head to toe the black and purple robes covered.

Tapping her mask the Chief Unspeakable spoke. "So long as I am a guest to your home you may call me Heimdall, the mask however, will remain until our meeting is concluding."

Minerva smiled and nodded. "It would be at this moment I would offer a cup of tea, but that might be inappropriate."

Heimdall chuckled, "if only Professor, this is a wonderful home you have."

Minerva smiled and mentally noted how naturally she called her by her professional title. "I will however offer you a seat at my table so we might discuss why I garnished the attention of such a reclusive organization."

Heimdall nodded silently in response, prompting Minerva to lead her to the empty dinner table sizable enough to accompany about six and no more.

Minerva sat down on the side of the table and Heimdall took the spot diagonally across.

Pulling a folder from inside her outer robe layer, Heimdall placed it on the table. The folder was discreetly named Project Paternity.

Before McGonagall could ask any questions, Heimdall started explaining. "June Twelfth, Nineteen-seventy-nine. Divination Applicant Sybil Trelawney made a prophecy regarding the Dark Lord and Harry Potter. A year previously the Potters had gone into hiding after receiving a warning from a close friend." Her voice had quieted at the last bit, but returned to normal as she continued, "During this event, the department of Mysteries was experimenting with alternative methods to modify Time Turners, This project was labelled Project Apple, and was looking into the muggle science field for inspiration in forward time travel."

Without opening the folder, Heimdall slid a black and white photo of the Potters, including Harry out of it. "Research was going well and we rolled out three prototypes." Minerva's eyes grew slightly wide as a few things began clicking into place. Holding a finger up, the Chief spoke. "Just a second, we were looking for potential uses for the turner when the two children were born as the seventh month died. Two days later the Potters went into deep hiding."

Minerva pressed her fingertips to her temples. "Intel suggested that Frank and Alice Longbottom we're being targeted, but they decided against using the experimental Time Turners. The Potters accepted eagerly."

She slid another photo from the file, this time opening it up, placing the new photo on top of the image of the Potters, two photos of hidden figures tapping newspapers with their wands were now visible. "What followed was the biggest coverup in magical history short of the Loch Ness Monster. Any and all records of Harry's birth were forged and since it was a home birth, no obligations were necessary.

"James and Lily disappeared off the face of the planet for exactly a year. They were a year younger than their official records. So was little Harry."

Heimdall paused and slid a birth Certificate from the folder. "Harry was registered as beginning his existence exactly a year post his birth to account for his schooling. All records were changed and changed, a total of three people can see through the charms, you, me, and my colleague, this is due to the fact that we all have a distinctive memory of when the Potters had their child."

Minerva finally slipped in her question, "why did you explain this to me?"

Heimdall chuckled and tapped the folder, because I'm here to present an ultimatum, a permanent memory charm, of which will literally destroy the brain matter containing your memories of the truth, this will have some negative side effects, and be plainly obvious in everything you do henceforth. Or you can join the Unspeakables, as a agent in Dumbledore's ranks for the upcoming war.

Minerva chuckled nervously, the choices were both surprising, and she couldn't help but laugh at something, was it the irony, or the stress?

Heimdall leaned back in her chair silently, as if she'd expected this response.

Once Minerva recovered herself she stifled another laugh. "I'm being given the choice of lobotomization, or spying for the Ministry? On a war when we're at peace?"

This time Heimdall laughed, war is coming, that is foreseen, as for the spying, you'd be my agent, not the Ministry, we may be a department, but the Unspeakables govern themselves."

Minerva thought on it a moment. Like a true Gryffindor, she made her decision then and there. "Why not, it would certainly make my dreary life more interesting."

Leaning forward, Heimdall offered her hand to Minerva before quickly muttering something, which in turn caused her hand to glow gold. "This is the equivalent of a oath of service to the Unspeakables, when you are part of us, you are a mystery to the whole of Britain, some of us don't exist, and some of us you already know. Some, you will know in the far future. We are our own.

"Repeat after me:

"As the cold wind blows,

I withhold my soul,

I shall not speak of the whole,

I shall be the rose.

Until death I am one,

I will not be betrayed by the sun."

Minerva gulped, took the woman's hand and spoke.

"As the cold wind blows,

I withhold my soul,

I shall not speak of the whole,

I shall be the rose.

Until death I am one,

I will not be betrayed by the sun."

Golden tendrils laced into the veins of Minerva's arm and she shivered slightly.

Heimdall sat back in her chair and Minerva could almost hear the grin in her voice. "Now, you are now unable to speak to anyone about this, your memories are protected by that oath too. If you ever want to test it, try saying a project name without permission from the Chief Unspeakable, ergo me."

"Now, instead of beating around the bush," Heimdall pulled her hair garb off, allowing her bright red hair to fall to her shoulder. Gently, she lifted her hand and removed her mask.

Minerva looked slightly confused as she looked into the chocolate brown eyed across from her before everything clicked into place. She'd seen those eyes only one place before.

"But you're..."

A/N: So this is a re-upload of the first chapter of a previously posted story called Relativity. I decided it would better be put as a series with a titled first chapter. I'm working on cranking some stuff out and I'm workshopping ideas so don't expect consistent updates anytime soon, but I won't forget about this.