A/N: Whew! As you may have deduced, these last few chapters have all been unfolding over the same "day." It's important to me to pack in the significance and struggle that each of the characters is enduring as this particular plot point is unveiled. I promise the timing will begin to pick itself off the ground shortly.
As always thanks for reading and for taking time to provide feedback! - R
Across the Great Hall, Hogwarts students dug into their dinners with customary gusto. The general volume of the room suggested nothing out of the ordinary as debates were had, jokes exchanged, and classes discussed.
At the front of the room however, conversation at the High Table was slightly stilted.
On the left side of the table, Pomona and Poppy were discussing potential triage measures in San Francisco sotto voce. Their careful conversation was overlain with a Muffliato and subtle Disillusionment charm to which external eyes would only be able to discern a conversation about the upcoming holidays should anyone be lipreading in earnest. On the right side of the table, Hagrid recounted a message from a friend in St. Petersburg in low tones with Slughorn, Jones, and Hawtrey as audience, the four of them thick as thieves.
In the middle, Deputy Headmaster Filius Flitwick sat feigning enthusiasm in his glazed trout and keeping an open ear to the discussions happening around him. The High Chair to his left remained conspicuously empty and he couldn't help but wish for Minerva's steadfast presence. It was unusual for the Headmistress to miss dinner, but he supposed she had a great deal of correspondence to attend to prior to the emergency conference.
Scanning the student tables again and seeing no evidence of mischief, Filius turned when he heard Septima's soft conversation with Sybill.
"- her parents remained. I'm not sure where they live, though I guarantee you Minerva would know. I'm sure that such high-profile Muggles are well-guarded. But beyond Granger, I'm lucky that no friends and family were in the violation zones," Septima was saying in hushed tones. Sybill nodded with an unusual amount of clarity, adjusting her voluminous scarves to wrap about her more tightly.
"The Inner Eye suggests that Granger's parents are indeed safe. Despite her truly appalling lack of Sight and respect for the vibrations of the veiled unknown, the witch was always a testament to our House," Sybill replied thoughtfully.
Filius suppressed a wry chuckle. He doubt his colleague would forgive Miss Granger's contempt of her beloved discipline anytime soon.
A flurry of motion from above effectively cut across any comment he may have been about to make. With a sinking heart, Filius and the rest of the High Table watched with veiled worry as a fleet of owls poured into the Great Hall bearing thick rolls of paper that could only be special evening editions of The Daily Prophet.
A low rumble started across the tables as students looked to one another in confusion, a number of hands lifting to grasp the incoming papers. Filius exchanged a number of significant looks with the other professors, preparing them to rise and attend to their House tables shortly.
A number of gasps and even a few shouts broke out as students absorbed the front page headline which, in characteristic sensationalism appeared to read, "I.S.O.S. BREACH IN FIVE CITIES: GLOBAL WIZARDING COMMUNITY THREATENED WITH EXPOSURE"
Filius sniffed in distain as his own copy was unceremoniously plopped upon the remains of his dinner. The front image shifted between five rather chilling photos of the affected world sites including the smoking remnants of St. Basil's and the Sydney Opera House. Beneath the headline two other articles read, "Rio's Christ the Redeemer Missing Wand Arm - Further Theories Supporting Merlin's Masquerade as the Muggle Messiah," and "Noted Obliviator Dispatched to Sydney - How Could We Forget Dawlish?"
He felt a flash of anger at the last. The Auror had been one of the four responsible for Stunning Minerva McGonagall not three years prior. His colleague rarely spoke of the incident but Filius had gathered there had been complications. Minerva customarily took a pain potion with dinner every evening.
Filius' head whipped around and his focus was quickly drawn from the blinking paper as a scuffle broke out between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables. Slughorn was already well on his way to handling it - green sparks were flying from the portly wizard's wandtip as he huffed his way over, gruff voice shouting for the boys in question to break it up.
In dismay, Filius scanned the room and quickly took note of the rising pandemonium. Several students were sobbing, several more in heated debate over the paper, and the rest in apparent states of shock and fear as they flipped through the pages with open mouths. The overall noise level echoed between the stone walls, adding to the clamour and confusion.
It was time to move in. Filius nodded to his colleagues and was about to depart for the Ravenclaw table when the main doors flew open and ricocheted off the stone walls with a heavy clang.
"SILENCE!"
As the familiar Scottish brogue broke upon the escalating chaos in an echoing Sonorous, everyone froze and the room did just that.
Filius felt a thread of tension dissipate as heads turned and looked to the end of the room where the elegant silhouette of Minerva McGonagall was poised at the threshold of the main doors.
Backlit by torches and their brilliant reflection off the marble floors of the Entrance Hall, the tall witch stepped into the candlelight slowly, each step of her heeled boots echoing throughout the now-silent room.
Minerva's voluminous robes followed her like a train and even from a distance, Filius could see her emerald eyes scanning the room beneath the rather rakish tilt of her hat. From his vantage point, there was a visible wave of comfort that seemed to radiate throughout the student body as the stately witch gracefully made her way down the center aisle. She eyed the tables carefully, giving a slight reassuring smile here and there and Filius had to admit, his colleague had taken to her role as headmistress with ease.
The room waited with baited breath as she rounded the table and came to stand before the High Chair. Lifting both arms she gestured for everyone to be seated. She remained standing.
"It seems that everyone has received the evening post," she remarked dryly. There were a few scattered chuckles in the Hall, but most everyone was waiting with worried expressions.
Minerva sighed softly and flattened both palms on the table, looking out across the Great Hall with a serious expression.
"I will not mince words. As the Prophet has just released, there have been five violations of the International Statute of Secrecy by persons as of yet unknown. The affected cities include Barcelona, St. Petersburg, Río de Janeiro, San Francisco, and Sydney. Our hearts and deepest sympathies go out to the affected Wizarding communities across the world," she began, voice still magically enhanced to carry. Stepping back, she slipped out from her place at the table and began to walk behind the other professors slowly with hands clasped behind her back.
"To summarize the matter, these events are currently being attended to by the International Confederation of Wizards. Great Britain and the Ministry of Magic are rendering aid wherever possible - by means of supplies and wands. Responsive measures will be decided at an emergency conference of the ICW in collaboration with the affected nations. Anything beyond these facts falls into the realm of pure speculation."
Minerva paused as she reached the far end of the table, looking at students and professors alike with just the barest hint of sympathy. She continued softly, "It is no secret that our own community within Great Britain still rings with the memory of Voldemort and the Second Wizarding War. I have no doubt that everyone in this room has been touched by the memory of loss and violence..."
Filius felt his heart go out to his friend and colleague. Of everyone in the room, she was likely one to have suffered the most and yet how few realized.
"I understand you are confused and frightened."
Here she smiled kindly and Filius was struck by how quickly the emotion changed the witch's noble face.
Her typically stoic features radiated warmth and he was reminded, with a tinge of embarrassment, how truly beautiful Minerva was. His friend rarely allowed herself to be anything but the venerable Headmistress of Hogwarts. But beneath the veneer of heavy robes, purposefully aging glasses, and stiff posture, his friend was unable to hide the simple fact that she was indeed a witch in her prime.
A bit of that same warmth infused her voice as Minerva continued, "As of this moment, there is much that appears uncertain. But I ask that you remain strong. Turn to each other. To your housemates, classmates, and friends. Turn to your fellow Houses and depend upon the unique strength and spirit that guides each of us."
Filius felt his shoulders square as Minerva stepped down and began walking across the front of the House tables. Her rich Scottish brogue rang with nobility and challenge. He could see the students responding. Faces were dry and several were nodding to each other, a few tentative smiles breaking out here and there.
"At the moment we do know this: Hogwarts is safe. You are safe. You are protected by wards that have stood for a thousand years and by castle walls that are first and foremost, a fortress. You are attended by a faculty who are eminent masters within their respective disciplines. As Headmistress, I am charged with the safety and protection of each and every soul in this great school and that is a role I take with the utmost seriousness and respect. The coming days and months will challenge us all. I do not promise it will be easy, but I do promise to keep you all well-informed..."
Minerva returned to the center of the room and took a step up to stand in front of the High Table and look out across the Hall confidently. Even though her face was turned away, Filius could see the subtle lift of her chin.
"Each of us has a choice - we may either cower in fear, afraid of what the unknown will bring. Or we may live. The greatest revenge against those who would break us is to live well and fully. To celebrate friends and family. To pursue our dreams, to revel in the present… and to avoid giving into the darkness that lingers at the edges of what we do not know."
Minerva's smooth, clipped tones rang with honesty and there was an enormity and weight to them that Filius found remarkably steadying. The witch turned and gestured broadly to the High Table and to all the House tables.
"I may not have the assurances and answers you desire at this time. But I do know that we are all in the company of the best and brightest. And we would do well to trust in ourselves... as united, we have the power to withstand anything."
With that, the Headmistress of Hogwarts turned smartly on a heel and canceled the Sonorous. She gracefully made her way back to her seat at the High Table… and as she moved, a single clap broke through the silence...
Followed by another… and then another…
And soon the entire Hall was ringing with applause as Minerva settled into the High Chair elegantly, a small smile playing across her lips as she nodded her acknowledgment.
Filius' eyes shone as he clapped - he and the other professors exchanging glances of surprise, relief, and pride as all across the room, students of every House applauded… clasping hands and providing hugs, murmuring words of encouragement…
Later, no one was quite sure how it happened…
Perhaps it was the first-year Hufflepuff who lost her balance and was caught by a Slytherin third-year. Or the fourth-year Ravenclaw who turned to hug a friend and found himself embracing a Gryffindor…
But Filius watched in amazement as the lines between the House tables quickly blurred, and in an unprecedented display of inter-house unity, the entire student body of Hogwarts shared in a collective moment of solidarity - colors forgotten and rivalries set aside as students offered each other reassurance.
The other professors shook their heads, more than a few eyes brighter than usual as they gave in to their own shared moment of support. They rose to exchange handshakes and hugs, their earlier anxieties momentarily quelled by simple acts of camaraderie.
Filius exchanged a meaningful hug with Pomona before she was enveloped by Sybill's voluminous shawls. Hagrid's laugh resonated loudly as Hestia Jones attempted to give him a noogie from behind his seat. Even Slughorn rose to give a few blustering handshakes.
Turning, Filius paused and searched for the Headmistress. His grey gaze quickly zeroed in on the witch, sitting quietly in the High Chair.
Minerva McGonagall simply watched it all and smiled softly.