41. Beacon of Light
When Albus bent down to give Minerva a light kiss hello and make use of the fact that they were alone in the staff room, she just pursed her lips and kept her eyes trained on her work.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, sitting down next to her with a frown.
"I wouldn't know, would I?" she replied when she finally looked up. "Since you won't tell me what this staff meeting is supposed to be about."
Albus suppressed a smile. He knew exactly how much work she had now and yet she kept trying to do his on top of her own. "Sometimes I wonder if you really trust in my ability to be a good headmaster. You won't even let me schedule a staff meeting without conferring with you first."
"Oh no, you don't get to turn the tables on me and make this about me not trusting you when it's clear that it's the other way around."
"I don't think that's clear at all."
"Well, I'm beginning to think that you only wanted me to be your deputy so you wouldn't have to fix the timetables anymore," Minerva said, and Albus finally understood where her bad mood was really coming from.
"I definitely wanted you to take the timetables off my hands," he admitted with a chuckle. He had been waiting for that opportunity since her first day here as a teacher. "But the rest of what you're insinuating couldn't be further from the truth and I think you know that."
Minerva put down her quill with a huff. "What I know is that everyone kept pestering me today, asking about this meeting and whether it was mandatory, while you sat safe and sound up in your ivory tower."
Albus' eyebrows shot up. "My what now?"
She never got to answer because their colleagues began to trickle in for that meeting he had asked everyone to attend. Once the entire staff was assembled, Albus rose from his chair.
"First off, there's no need to worry. I have no intention of making any of us late for dinner," he said.
Horace laughed. "I already like the way you conduct your meetings! Well done, Albus."
"Thank you, Horace. Now, I have asked all of you to join me tonight to let you know that I intend to change the enchantments protecting our school."
"You mean you're going to strengthen them?" asked Cyrille. "Is this because of the Minister's mysterious illness? Are you saying it's true that he was poisoned? Is Hogwarts in danger?"
Albus heaved a sigh. "No, this has nothing to do with that unfortunate incident. And I won't strengthen our enchantments. I plan to take something away."
That announcement was followed by a stunned silence before everyone started talking at the same time. Everyone except Minerva, whose bright green eyes bore into his sharply, but as always without passing judgment prematurely.
"You were off to a strong start, Albus, but now things are getting a little shaky," Horace's booming voice drowned out the rest.
"Then please let me explain," Albus said, raising a hand to ask for quiet. "Hogwarts will be as protected as it has always been. But when some of those old enchantments were placed upon the school, our founders thought that they needed to protect the castle against all Muggles. Since then we have seen a great increase in students who have one or two Muggle parents. The fact that these parents cannot see, much less step foot inside Hogwarts other than for an hour a year for graduation is both unreasonable and unacceptable. That is why I plan to alter those protective spells so that Muggles who are parents or guardians of Hogwarts students and already aware of the school's existence are able to enter the castle as easily as any other parent," Albus finished explaining his intentions. "And now I am happy to hear your opinions on the matter."
"It sounds reasonable enough, of course, but are you sure you can just mess with those ancient spells like that?" Cyrille wondered.
"We're talking about Albus here. If he can't do it, then who can?" said Horace.
"Just because something can be done, it doesn't necessarily ought to be," warned Professor Oldroyd. "Some things are best left the way they are."
"But just because something is done a certain way, doesn't mean it's the right way," argued Pomona.
"Do we even need to quarrel about this?" asked Rolanda. "Are you sure this can be done, Headmaster?"
Albus nodded slowly. "It can be done, provided all four Heads of House give the headmaster their unanimous support."
"You have my support," Pomona said right away.
"And mine," Cyrille added more thoughtfully.
Horace shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
All heads turned towards Minerva, who hadn't said a word since Albus had started the meeting. When their eyes met now, hers were so full, they could have had hours of conversation in the span of that single second. "Gryffindor House agrees," she said. "Wholeheartedly."
"Very well," Albus said through his smile. "I shall perform the spell tonight…"
"A terrible idea, Headmaster," Professor Narramore interrupted. "You see, Mars is in the third house tonight and…"
"Yes, thank you," Albus cut her off somewhat impatiently. "I shall take that under advisement. Now, all that is left for us to do is to schedule an Open Day to invite all those parents to come to Hogwarts for a long overdue tour of the school. Minerva, could I ask you to find us a suitable date?"
"Of course."
"And Heads of House, please talk to your students and perhaps suggest that they postpone any plans that involve dungbombs, portable swamps, nose-biting teacups or other marvellous pranks until after we've hopefully put our best foot forward during their parents' visit. That is all," Albus concluded.
To some laughter and some animated conversation, his colleagues began to push back their chairs and leave the room to make their way to dinner.
Albus leaned against the table. "So, how do you feel about joining me in my ivory tower tonight to make some history?"
The look on Minerva's face was torn between elation and chagrin. "You set me up so I'd have to apologise to you later," she accused him.
"I did no such thing. I merely did what people generally do when they want something to be a surprise."
Minerva rolled her eyes. "Well, don't do that. I don't like surprises. I was really angry with you for a minute there."
"Ah, but surely, that was only because Mars is in the third house tonight…"
She stood so abruptly that her chair toppled over and for a moment Albus worried that she was still upset. But then she threw her head back and laughed, laughed deeply and freely. It was the most beautiful sound Albus had ever heard.
She walked over to him and leaned against the table by his side. Only their shoulders were touching, which would look more or less innocent if one of their colleagues returned. But it was enough to feel and share each other's warmth. They had learned not to need more than that sometimes. "Have you talked to anyone about this before just now?"
"Who would I tell if I didn't even tell you?" Albus replied simply.
Minerva smiled beautifully, but she said, "The governors won't like being told after the fact."
Albus shrugged. "If they see fit to remove me, then at least my legacy will be to have granted all parents access to their children at Hogwarts and that will have been well worth it."
"If they remove you," Minerva said, leaning more heavily against him, "they would do Hogwarts the greatest disservice in all of its long history."
"Not necessarily," Albus argued, enjoying the feeling of shouldering her weight. He wished he could do that all the time. "They might make you headmistress instead."
"I wouldn't accept."
"Minerva, your loyalty must be to the school, not to me," he said with a gentle push. But one look at her told him that there was no use arguing about that now. In fact, he didn't want to argue at all when it was much more tempting to bathe in the devotion in her eyes and to pretend that he deserved it.
"I was told there was to be a meeting."
Albus and Minerva both jumped a little when Professor Binns came floating in through the back wall.
"The meeting has already concluded, Cuthbert," Albus informed him while he regrettably looked away from Minerva.
"Oh, terrible shame," said Binns and floated over to the very chair he had once died in. "My apologies to the headmaster."
"I am the headmaster," Albus said drily.
Minerva hid her face behind his shoulder and laughed.
There had been plenty of protest from Slytherin parents, but a lot of other parents had responded to Albus' Open Day invitation with great enthusiasm. As a result, the Entrance Hall was filled with more visitors than Minerva had ever seen in the castle at any one time. It had been an organisational nightmare to enable all the parents to get to Hogwarts, especially those without any other witches or wizards in the family. But Minerva had been glad to put in the work. There had never been a task she had believed in more strongly than she believed in this.
When she walked past Albus to stand with the other Heads of House, the back of her hand brushed his as if by accident. The small, private smile on his lips told her that he knew it hadn't been accidental at all. Of course, he didn't actually need her show of support. That man had practically been born to make speeches.
"I promise I won't bore you with a long lecture, but I would like to say a few words. Apparently, you can take the teacher out of the classroom and make him headmaster, but you can't take the tendency to create teachable moments out of a man who used to be a teacher for as long as he can remember. This is such a teachable moment. No need to panic, though, there won't be any tests today."
A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd and the father of one of Minerva's first-years called, "I wouldn't mind earning one of those hard-to-get Ts for 'Terrific.'"
"Is that what your…" Albus' eyes darted towards Minerva and she mouthed the answer he was looking for, "… son told you? Then I fear you were misinformed. T actually stands for 'Troll,' and yes, those are rather hard to get since one would need to communicate with nothing but grunts and roars during the entire exam."
The father looked gobsmacked while the rest of the hall laughed.
"Nevertheless, if you're interested in taking an exam, I'm sure that can be arranged," Albus offered. Minerva's eyes widened and she tried to shake her head at him. She had not prepared anything like that. But Albus just smiled at her in complete confidence. Well, she supposed they could use some from last year.
"But the teachable moment I was talking about is not for you. It is for me, my colleagues and our school," Albus continued and the excited parents quieted down again. "Our school has a long-standing tradition of providing each and every student with the best wizarding education they could possibly receive. Just don't tell my fellow headmistresses and headmasters around the world I said that."
Everyone chuckled. Albus had the parents eating out of his hand, even those who had been critical of all this upon their arrival. It never ceased to amaze Minerva how he did that.
"Unfortunately, we have not been equally fair and pioneering when it comes to respecting you, the parents. We are well aware that while we get to shape your children's minds, you are giving them what they need to venture out into the world – because they know that they have your support and, most importantly, your love."
A hush had fallen over the crowd as they listened to the more solemn but heartfelt turn Albus' speech had taken. "I hope you will let us correct that oversight today, accept my apology on behalf of the entire staff, and let me say with the greatest of pleasure and overwhelming pride: welcome to Hogwarts!"
There was a round of applause and then chaos followed. All the parents now wanted a private word with Albus, which was too much to handle even for him. Minerva jumped in to do some crowd control. She assured the parents that they could all talk to the headmaster, just not at the same time, and she quietly slipped a scroll of parchment with all their names into Albus' hand so he would know who he was talking to. When he took the scroll, his fingers caressed hers for a second in thanks.
Smiling to herself, Minerva proceeded to direct the parents. Rolanda would take a group down to the pitch for an introduction to Quidditch, Hagrid and Pomona would give them a tour of the grounds, greenhouses, the lake and the edges of the forest, while the remaining teachers would show them around the castle itself. Everyone except Silvanus, who had been benched today. They could not risk another accident like the one during graduation a few years ago. In the meantime the prefects and Head Girl and Boy would make sure that the students behaved themselves.
Minerva had worked on that schedule for days and she was relieved to see that it proved effective. She was completely focused on making sure it stayed that way. She was so focused in fact that she jumped a little in surprise when she felt a hand at the small of her back for a fleeting moment, a sure-fire way to get her attention.
Her gaze questioning, she looked up to connect with Albus, who had already moved on and indicated to her that he wanted to talk to her alone off to the side. Minerva raised an eyebrow at him. She was a little busy here, and so was he. Albus just smiled at her, asking her to trust him. Minerva rolled her eyes at him, letting him know how much she hated it that he could make her follow him on nothing but faith. Albus' eyes sparkled, reminding her that it was the exact opposite of hate she was feeling. She couldn't argue with that and gave in.
"What's going on?" Minerva asked when she had caught up with him.
"I need you to lead another tour," Albus told her quietly.
"Then why did you pull me away from…?"
"A private tour," Albus interrupted her softly and turned her around so she faced the entrance.
Minerva gasped when she saw her father standing there. "What is he doing here?"
Albus just smiled at her. "He is a Muggle parent, and while this might be a little late, I thought better late than never."
Before she could come up with a response, Albus gave her a little push and then walked away to talk to the next parent. Dazed, Minerva went to greet her father.
He also looked a little uncertain and his eyes kept going back and forth. "What are you looking for?" Minerva asked.
"Just looking out for those little worm thingies," he replied.
Minerva grimaced. "That will never happen again."
Robert McGonagall seemed sceptical. "Something always seems to happen around here."
"Not anymore. Not now that Albus is headmaster."
"You have a lot of faith in him."
"I do," Minerva nodded. "Well, in him and in myself," she added with a little laugh.
"That's right," Robert smiled. "So are you sure the Deputy Headmistress has time to show me around?"
Minerva took his arm and swallowed a lump of emotion in her throat. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that."
"Actually, I think I do," he replied, squeezing her hand.
And so she took him on that tour of the castle Minerva had never imagined she would ever get the chance to give him. Her father knew a lot about Hogwarts, but it was all theoretical from hearing his children talk about it all these years. In reality he had never been past the Great Hall. There was so much to see, it was quite impossible to take it all in at once. But Robert seemed willing to try.
He smiled when Minerva showed him where she used to sit in what was now her very own Transfiguration classroom. He seemed a little intimidated when the stairs started to change direction on their own, but he braved them all to visit Gryffindor Tower with her. Judging by the way he sank into one of the armchairs by the fire, he thought it was cosy enough. Or maybe he just didn't want to find his way out again. But they made it back down and her father's eyes were round with wonder when he was greeted by several Hogwarts ghosts and offered all his favourite foods by the house-elves, who bowed deeply to him when they found out who he was to Minerva.
The students they met were curious about him, too. Some seemed to think that it was funny that their Transfiguration professor was walking around with her father. To them, Minerva was probably too old to even have a father. Except, she wasn't old at all and she wouldn't tolerate any disrespect, not even today, and certainly not in the presence of her father. She quickly got the students back in line by uttering thinly-veiled threats about homework assignments, surprise tests and needing someone to serve as a guinea pig to demonstrate how to turn humans into frogs.
"I owe you an apology, Minerva," Robert said eventually as they walked towards Minerva's study. It would be their last stop for now. He looked as though he needed a break.
"What for?" she asked, pausing outside her office door.
"I haven't always been fully supportive of your choice to live here and teach. But I can see now that this is where your heart is," her father said, reaching out to hold her hand.
Even after everything he had seen today, he still had no idea how very true that was. Still, hearing him say it made that very heart in Minerva's chest feel as light as a feather. With a grateful smile, Minerva opened the door and invited her father into her study.
"Hogwarts isn't perfect and most definitely not accident-free. But it's where I can make a difference," she said. "And when I find the time, this is where I work and sleep," she added.
Robert let his eyes survey the room before they landed on Minerva. "Is it?" he asked curiously. "Where you sleep?"
Surprised, Minerva didn't know how to respond at first. He was clearly insinuating that she might be spending her nights elsewhere, in somebody else's bed, which she did, as often as she could manage. But she had never, officially, told her parents that. She had also not tried to hide her love for Albus from them and so they seemed to have figured it out on their own.
"You probably don't approve of the way we live together…" she hedged, not sure if she truly wanted to discuss this with him.
"I'm your father," he said, and Minerva feared that there might be a lecture coming. "My only job is to make sure that my daughter has a life that is good and filled with happiness and love. Usually that involves getting married and having children – children of your own," he amended with a small smile. "But your professor, your… Albus, he came to the manse to explain why he wanted me to come today. I couldn't relate to everything he told me, but I did understand that his reason for doing it was you." Her father put his hands on Minerva's shoulders and let them weigh there for a moment. "How could I not approve of a man who loves my daughter that much?"
"Even if it means living in sin?" she joked, hoping that would help her to blink away the tears in her eyes.
Robert looked at her and he said in all seriousness. "Whatever it is you two share, I know that it doesn't come from a place of darkness or evil. Rather the opposite. Also," his smile became a little crooked, "I'm a minister, not an angel. I do know that some rules are meant to be broken. When I met your mother, well, let's just say, the flesh is weak."
Minerva stared at him in amazement and then she roared with laughter. They both did, and Minerva happily fell into her father's arms.
It seemed their little Open Day adventure had turned into a full success. With the exception of the very end perhaps. There was a heavy storm coming for Hogwarts. It hadn't made landfall yet, but it had sent rain ahead – a driving, torrential kind of rain. But Albus trusted his staff to make sure that all the parents returned home safely.
He had retreated to his office for some urgent headmaster business that included… well, not to be out there and get wet, for one thing. He was writing a letter to the governors when Minerva entered, completely drenched from head to toe. She must have just seen off the last of their visitors and she hadn't taken the time to dry herself off.
"Oh dear," Albus said. "I know you enjoy the occasional walk in the rain, but this seems a little exces…"
Minerva wouldn't let him finish his sentence. She had quickly rounded his desk and, bent over him with one hand on each armrest of his chair, she now brought her wet mouth to his. "I love you, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," she whispered fiercely against his lips.
A shiver ran down his spine – because of the raw emotion in her voice and because Minerva's body was ice-cold and she was now dripping water all over him. In one swift motion Albus stood and after wrapping his arms around her midriff, he lifted her off her feet. Fawkes squawked in protest when the movement sent raindrops flying in his direction, too, but Albus ignored him as well as the curious looks from his fellow headmasters. He carried Minerva away from all those prying eyes into the bathroom.
His private bathroom, which happened to have an obscenely large bathtub. One tap of the wand was sufficient and it magically filled to the brim with hot water. Albus removed Minerva's wet clothes while she took off his dry ones and then they sank into the marvellously warm tub that turned the angry cold of the storm outside into a distant memory.
As the first bolts of lightning streaked across the sky, Albus ran his fingers down the beautiful length of Minerva's back, dousing her cold skin with warm water. While the rain kept drumming on the window, he nuzzled her neck and left a trail of wet kisses down her shoulder before his hands slipped around her and started working their way back up. He drew circles on her flat stomach and then around the swell of her breasts until they were taut from something other than the cold.
He got to squeeze them gently before Minerva turned around so fast that she sent water splashing over the edge of the tub. As the storm outside raged and roared, the thunder echoed deeply inside Albus' chest when Minerva pushed him down and took him inside of her. Together they lit up with a spark of electricity that was of their very own making.
The magic of the tub would have kept the water warm for as long as they wanted it to, but they climbed back out eventually and lay down on the bed instead. Wrapped in each other's arms, they listened to the storm slowly blowing itself out.
"Do you remember the first lightning storm we spent together?" Minerva asked with a smile.
Albus chuckled darkly. "How could I forget? I've rarely been more frightened than I was on that day."
"Because of the storm?" Minerva teased.
"Yes, I have a terrible fear of being hit by lightning," Albus replied drily. "And an even greater fear of losing you."
Minerva grinned. "I had everything perfectly under control."
"That's one of us then. I was busy questioning my sanity and why in the world I had agreed to teach you how to become an Animagus."
"I'm glad your trust in me was bigger than your fear."
"It always is," he promised her. "Though that didn't stop me from pondering which country I should expatriate to in case something went wrong, so your father would never find me."
Minerva laughed quietly. Then she turned her head towards him and pierced him with a quizzical look. "What exactly did you feel for me back then?"
Albus' hand rested on her stomach and he splayed his fingers thoughtfully. "I… cared for you very much."
She gave him a lopsided grin. "But not enough to think we might be doing this one day during another lightning storm?"
"No, most definitely not," he chortled. "I have no complains, though," he added more seriously.
"Me either," Minerva replied with a happy sigh.
There was nothing but quiet for a minute, a quiet that Albus treasured immensely. That they could give each other these little moments of simple joy and inner peace would never cease to amaze him.
"Thank you," Minerva said eventually. "For inviting my father today. That he finally got to see all of this…" Her voice cracked, but Albus didn't actually need her to put into words what this meant to her.
"Merlin knows I can't give you a lot and not nearly as much as you deserve, but I wanted to give you this," Albus told her.
"Well, you also have a fantastic bathtub to offer," she quipped.
"That I do," he nodded with a helpless laugh.
Minerva sobered. "But you didn't do all of this just for me, did you?"
"No, but let's say, you inspired me to do the right thing," Albus replied.
"Then I am as proud to be your muse as I am of what we did today," she said.
"What's the meaning of this then?" Albus asked. With one finger he traced a line that creased her forehead, down her nose all the way to her lips.
She pressed a kiss to his fingertip. "That question coming from the man who's made worrying into his favourite pastime."
"Takes one to know one," Albus pointed out cleverly.
Minerva thought about how to put her concern into words, clearly regretting that she had to speak of it at all. "The Squib marches, the anti dark magic laws you have been pushing through the Wizengamot and now opening Hogwarts for Muggles – all of that will only make those so-called Death Eaters more fanatic. And fanatic can be dangerous," she said softly, her eyes trained on him as wise and penetrating as ever.
When Albus didn't immediately respond, she continued, "And yet, knowing all of that, it feels as if you're challenging them on purpose."
He met her gaze then. After all, he had only just told her that his trust was greater than his fear. "I am. Because they need to know that we will fight them. Match their depravity with kindness, their narrow-mindedness with acceptance, and their hatred with love. Even in the darkness Hogwarts will always remain a beacon of light."
The expression on Minerva's face wavered only for an instant. Trust over fear. "As long as it has you," she said.
"As long as it has both of us," he corrected her.
"And what happens then?" she wondered, shifting restlessly.
Albus held her in his arms and helped her to be still. "I do not know. But I do know you have my love. Now and always."
Minerva's heart quieted, and together they had weathered this storm. There would be more.
But not tonight.
A/N: This chapter was important to me because Robert's mixed feelings about Hogwarts had been mentioned several times throughout the story. I don't know if canon says anything about the "Muggle parents in Hogwarts" issue. But since I had decided that they could not enter (other than for graduation), I always knew that Albus would change that as headmaster – not just for Minerva, but it would have been an added bonus to doing the right thing.