June 1947
With the exception of the cheating incident after the Transfiguration theory paper, the rest of the exam period passed by without incident. The one other stand-out for Minerva was her Transfiguration practical later the same afternoon, where she was examined by none other than Professor Marchbanks herself. She breezed easily through everything the Professor asked her to do, from the simple matchstick to needle that she'd accomplished in her very first lesson to the comparatively harder Vanishing and Switching spells. But just as she thought she was done, Professor Marchbanks looked up from her mark sheet with an impish smile on her face.
"All fine, Miss McGonagall, that will be everything," she said at first, but there was something in her tone that made Minerva hesitate a little. As suspected she continued after a moment's pause with "But, before you go, could you demonstrate your Animagus transformation for me?"
Minerva had been half expecting this to crop up during her practical, so gave a nod before putting her wand down and stepping away from the desk. A few gasps from around the room told her before she reopened her eyes that she'd caught everyone else's attention, jumping onto the desk as soon as she'd transformed to give Professor Marchbanks a good look at her. The Professor's expression was curved into a delighted smile, far cry from the fury she'd expressed after the morning's theory exam, and her grin lingered even after Minerva had jumped back down and resumed her usual form.
That marked both the end of her practical test and the end of the first week of OWLs. The weekend didn't offer much respite though, as it was back to revision after the evening off Ro convinced them to take that night. The big five core subjects – Charms, Herbology, Defence, Potions, and Transfiguration – were all out of the way, meaning that the second week would be History of Magic and Astronomy along with the elective subjects they'd been taking since third year. Minerva had wondered whether she and Irma would need to use their Time-Turners to fit all their exams in, but since History of Magic, Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, and Ancient Runes only included written exams and Divination only a practical it was possible to do everything in one week. It did mean they got no days off though, unlike Ro who looked as though she was struggling not to gloat too much as Minerva and Poppy left the dormitory on Monday morning for Ancient Runes while she enjoyed a lie-in before revising Muggle Studies that afternoon.
Divination on the Wednesday was undoubtedly Minerva's least favourite exam, since she'd never liked the subject from the moment she'd started taking it. But at least she could firmly say she was never looking into a crystal ball again after half an hour of trying to tell her examiner, a willowy woman by the name of Professor Saige, what her next few months might entail. She didn't have time to worry about the exam afterwards though as it was straight into revision for History of Magic. Irma, Septima, and Millicent all joined them in Gryffindor Tower for a joint studying session, Larry Spencer-Moon helping them out by listing dates so they could take it in turns to recite the events of that year.
Their final day of exams was Thursday, begun with the Astronomy theory test in the morning before revising for Arithmancy in the afternoon. Minerva's attention was largely taken up by Irma though, who seemed to be ignoring the fact that she had an exam that afternoon at all. Instead she had her Astronomy book open in front of her, chiming in whenever Ro or Poppy started going over things aloud for the practical that night and resolutely refusing to look towards Minerva or the Arithmancy charts she had spread out in front of her.
Since Irma was sat somewhere behind her in the Great Hall, it was impossible for her to glance over and check if she was actually writing anything during the exam. She didn't even manage to see her after the exam, since she hurried straight off towards the Dungeons before Minerva could even begin to catch up with her. Resigning herself to remaining ignorant, she was about to follow Millicent and Septima up the Grand Staircase to their own Common Rooms when a voice calling her name caught her attention.
It was Larry, who looked slightly flustered as he struggled to catch his breath after running to catch her up. "Hi Minerva, um, do you have a moment?"
"Of course," she said, nodding up to Millicent and Septima to continue without her. Giving him a warm smile, she let him lead her out into the castle grounds as she asked "Is everything ok?"
Larry nodded hastily, which didn't quite offer her the reassurance it should have done. "Fine, yes everything's fine. I just wanted to talk to you quickly."
Intrigued, Minerva didn't prod him further until they were sat down in a sunny patch beneath what she assumed to be Gryffindor Tower. "How have your exams been?" he asked before she had a chance to say anything.
"Really good thanks, I'm really pleased. Just Astronomy left tonight then it's back to thinking about the Tournament," she said, still in the dark as to what was making him so nervous but content to see where he was taking the conversation.
"Oh- oh yes, of course," Larry nodded. "I'm glad they've gone well. I can still remember how scary OWLs felt last year." He chuckled at that, finally seeming a lot less nervous now.
Minerva laughed too, shaking her head slightly. "I'm not surprised. If this is how nerve-wracking OWLs are then I don't want to imagine what NEWTs are going to feel like. Though Nancy and Anthea seem to be doing ok so far." The seventh years still had another week of exams to go after the fifth years were finished, meaning they would have to keep their post-exam celebrations to a minimum until everyone's exams were over.
"It's hard to believe that that'll be me next year," Larry commented with a slight sigh. Minerva hummed in agreement; imagining Gryffindor Tower without Nancy Campbell and Anthea Newton was one thing, but losing Larry, Maggie Jordan, Cleatus Weasley, and Ernest Lawrence would be easily just as hard if not harder. "Quidditch practise will feel very odd after we've gone too, it'll only be you and Ro left from the team we started out on."
She could feel the cloud of sadness looming as those thoughts crossed her own mind, so interrupted them with a firm "Well, you've still got another year here so we don't have to think about that yet."
"Here here," Larry chuckled before his smile faded and he cleared his throat. "Um, Minerva, I was wondering, err…" The nervous frown reappeared on his face as he trailed off, clearly hesitant to continue, but Minerva's gentle nod seemed to give him the courage he needed.
"The next time we have a Hogsmeade weekend, may I take you out on a date?"
A soft gasping sound could be heard from above, and both Minerva and Larry looked up to see Poppy and Ro practically hanging out of their dormitory window. Ro looked to be holding a magical amplifier which was presumably how they'd been able to hear her and Larry's conversation from seven floors up, and if Minerva squinted she could just about make out their sheepish expressions on being caught eavesdropping.
Larry had gone very pink about the cheeks again, but Minerva could only laugh at the antics of her friends. While she didn't mind them listening in, concern over whether Larry was actually breathing or not prompted her to shoot a Silencing Charm upwards and put the amplifier out of action. Ro's disappointed groan told her she'd hit her target, and she grinned up at them briefly to make sure they knew she wasn't angry before focusing back on Larry. He still appeared to be barely breathing, and with a start she realised she'd left him without an answer.
His look of panic only increased when she reached out to take his hand, and in any other situation she might have giggled at his terrified expression. But instead she only smiled, no hesitation in her voice as she replied "I would love that."
"Really?" Larry practically squeaked, then cleared his throat as Minerva's urge to laugh only increased. "I- I mean, I'm really glad. I've been wanting to say something since the Yule Ball but I kept stupidly talking myself out of it for fear you wouldn't be interested."
Minerva shook her head, smiling a little ruefully. "As it happens, I've been debating the same thing. Professor Merrythought assuming we were together got me thinking a little and Irma's been trying to gently push me into it since then," she said, then smirked as she added "A lot more subtly than those two up there anyway!"
Larry laughed, nodding emphatically. "I can say the same for Maggie and Ernest, at least Cleatus has been a little more patient. Maggie just sat me down yesterday after you all left the Common Room and said that if neither of us do anything then nothing will ever happen. So I suppose we can thank her that I asked you today at all."
"I suppose we can," Minerva agreed. Their conversation lulled a little then, but with nowhere she had to be she was perfectly to stay there on the grounds with her hand held in his.
The news that Larry and Minerva were finally going out together was the height of gossip in Gryffindor Tower that evening, and even her youngest brother Robbie was delighted in the face of Malcolm and Winston's ever present disgust. To her amused surprise there were a few exchanges of money too; Ernest lost out to Maggie since Larry had made the first move rather than Minerva, and a very smug Ro walked away with five Galleons and several Sickles since she'd placed the closest bet on when the first date would be proposed. But at least the Astronomy practical that night offered her some sort of escape from the rowdy yet well-meant excitement of the rest of the Quidditch Team.
While it still felt like they were about to sit an exam as they all filed into their desks atop the Astronomy Tower, Minerva could sense an odd excitement that she was sure wasn't just in her own head after the events of the afternoon. Glancing across the Tower she could see Ro grinning as she filled in her name on the parchment for the last time, and even Professor Marchbanks' voice held an amused tone as she read out the customary instructions that Minerva was sure she could recite from memory by now. They were so accustomed to filling out star charts that working through the exam paper felt like second nature; from what she could see nearly everyone was finished before the exam officially ended, though how much of that was due to people just wanting to get their last exam over and done with was unknown.
When they finally were dismissed and back in the castle, it was clear that the hysteria of exam stress had gone to everyone's heads. The frantic shh-ing of the portraits along the seventh floor corridor went unnoticed in the face of their celebratory cries; Poppy nearly lost her footing in shock when Ro practically shrieked in her ear, and Septima blissfully ignored Abraxas Malfoy's outrage when Millicent swung her into his back during their dance of triumph. The Hufflepuff's joyous voices could be heard long after they turned down the Grand Staircase towards the basement, but the sight of the seventh years still awake and working when they returned to Gryffindor Tower was enough to make them quieten down a little.
"Done at last!" Ro crowed with joy as she collapsed onto her bed in the dormitory.
Minerva let out a heavy sigh as she sat down heavily on her own bed, watching as Poppy shut the door before sinking to the floor with a hysterical laugh. "I can't believe we won't have to revise tomorrow," Minerva said quietly, the concept of free time feeling so foreign after a month of solid working.
"Oh that's a glorious thought," Ro gushed out, rolling off the bed in order to pick Poppy up from where she was still on the floor.
As she watched Ro heave Poppy to her feet through glazed eyes, a vague thought registered in Minerva's mind somewhere beneath the haze of exhaustion that had settled over everything. "I find out what the Third Task is tomorrow," she mused aloud.
Poppy let out a groan as Ro deposited her on her own bed, seeming to come back to life a little after her moment of relieved hysteria. "They couldn't even give me a day of peace after worrying about exams before I'm worrying about you again," she grumbled quietly, crossing her arms over her eyes.
"There there," Ro laughed, sitting on the edge of Poppy's bed to rub her arm comfortingly. "You've still got a week and a half before the Task and then you'll have a whole summer's worth of peace ahead of you," she pointed out to Poppy, before adding to Minerva "You want some company tomorrow?"
"If you can bring yourself to be out of bed by 10am then yes please," Minerva chuckled, a smile appearing on her otherwise weary expression at the look of indignation that crossed Ro's face. With how drained she was feeling she wasn't convinced even she would be awake in time to have breakfast before meeting Mr Rabnott and Madame Crickerley on the castle grounds, so the chances of Ro making it up were even slimmer considering how notorious she was at nearly sleeping through their morning alarms.
To Minerva's utter surprise, Ro was already awake when Minerva rolled out of bed the following morning. According to her she'd woken up horribly early, convinced that she still had exams to revise for and unable to relax enough to get another couple of hours of sleep, unlike Poppy who had been in such a deep sleep that she hadn't even stirred when Ro had knocked her Astrology textbook off her bedside table. And judging by the tired dullness in her usually sharp yellow eyes and the irritation in her voice, she wasn't happy about that in the slightest.
But she was quick to wake up properly when they walked beneath the stands to see the usually clipped grass of the Quidditch Pitch covered in hedges that were nearly as tall as Ro herself. Where they were stood in one of the scoring circles was clear but it looked like they covered the rest of the pitch as Minerva could barely see over them.
"What have they done to my Quidditch Pitch?" Ro shouted in alarm, running a few paces ahead of Minerva to stop in front of the nearest hedge and scrutinise it furiously.
Laughter answered her outrage before Minerva could, and they both turned to see Madame Crickerley walking up behind them with Reynaud and Svetlana with her. "My humblest apologies Captain Hooch, I can promise you that you'll have your pitch back in good time before the next season," she said with a grin, winking as Ro's cheeks turned a deep shade of pink.
Addressing the three Champions, she continued "By the end of the month when the Third Task is, this hedge maze should be a good 20 feet high. Your goal is to get to the centre of the maze where the Triwizard Cup will be, and the first Champion to reach it wins the Task. But the maze will be filled with obstacles you've got to surpass so it won't be a walk in the park. Got that?"
Minerva nodded, as did Svetlana and Reynaud. The concept sounded relatively easy, but Minerva was willing to bet that the so-called obstacles would be the real challenge never mind the maze itself.
"You'll be entering the maze in the order of the current ranking," Madame Crickerley continued. "So that's you first, Reynaud, followed by Svetlana, then followed by Minerva. And you won't need to worry about getting back through the maze after finding the cup, it'll be fitted with a Portkey so you'll be automatically transported back here as soon as you touch it. And don't worry, the two runners up won't be left in there forever." She broke off with a laugh, then added "If no-one's got questions then that's everything for now. I'll see you all on the 27th!" With that she gave them a two-fingered salute, then turned on her heel to head back out into the grounds.
Ro was still looking lost for words as she watched her leave, uttering a quiet and awed "She knew who I was," when Minerva looked at her questioningly.
Svetlana let out a laugh, giving Ro a thump on the shoulder that might have sent her stumbling if it weren't for her Quidditch-honed sturdiness. "Vell, you are future Quidditch star! She must know talent vhen she sees it," she said, grinning brightly.
Ro beamed at the compliment, and Minerva couldn't help feeling a touch of pride in her friend. It was good to see her and Svetlana getting on so well too; the three of them had talked Quidditch for ages after the Gryffindor vs Durmstrang match back in January, and she realised not for the first time how much she would miss the foreign students being around the castle once everything returned back to normal in sixth year.
Her wistful thoughts were interrupted by Renaud asking "'ow did your exams go?"
"Good, I think," Minerva said, letting out a nervous sigh as she smiled at him. "We won't know until August how we did so I'm trying not to think about it."
Reynaud nodded, falling into step beside her as they began the walk back to the castle. "Seems silly to me zhat you are examined zhen 'ave two more years at school. At Beauxbatons we only 'ave the baccalauréat magique in ze final year."
"I never really considered that you and Durmstrang might do things differently than us," Minerva admitted. Even though she knew that Muggle school had a slightly different system of labelling the school years from listening to Poppy and Millicent, she'd assumed that all the magical schools would do things in the same way. "I suppose the way we do things just seems normal to us since it's all we know. I almost wish that the Tournament was at one of the other schools so I spend a year seeing how you're taught in a different magic school."
"It certainly 'as been interesting," Reynaud nodded, chuckling lightly.
They were both interrupted by a sudden guffaw, turning to see Ro and Svetlana laughing heartily at something one of them had said. Minerva couldn't help but giggle at the pair of them – just as she'd thought, she would miss having Svetlana and Reynaud as her friends once the next couple of weeks were over.
With no more school work to do after the end of their OWLs, that time passed in blissful peace and quiet for the fifth years. Other than the odd spellwork session that Ro insisted on to keep Minerva in shape for the Tournament, the six of them spent most of their time relaxing by the Black Lake in the late June sunshine or helping the seventh years with their last week of revision whenever they could bear to pick up a textbook again. A key feature of the following week was also refining their summer holiday plans; Poppy's parents had finally agreed to let them all stay at their house in Muggle London for the first month or so, after which they would all return home apart from Ro in order to receive their OWL results. Despite growing up in a Muggle-populated area herself, Minerva was looking forward to experiencing city life after sixteen years spent in quiet Caithness and seeing what else London had to offer besides Kings Cross and Diagon Alley.
When the day of the Tournament finally came around, there was already an instantly detectable murmur of excitement in the Great Hall at breakfast despite the Task not being held until that evening. Minerva was convinced that all eyes were on her as soon as she started heading towards the Gryffindor table with Ro and Poppy, keeping her eyes on her friends as they ate to postpone the nerves she knew would set in as soon as she acknowledged the hope that all of Hogwarts had placed in her. So focused on the story about the London Underground that Millicent was telling, she nearly jumped in surprise when Professor Merrythought's voice suddenly sounded behind her.
"Sorry about that Miss McGonagall," the Professor laughed, smiling kindly at her. "I was just going to tell you that the Champions will be meeting in the Library after breakfast. I know the Task isn't until this evening but everyone's families have already arrived."
A dead weight seemed to drop in Minerva's stomach. "My parents are here?" she asked in shock, briefly meeting Ro's equally surprised gaze. She'd stayed with Minerva's family during the summer after third year so knew how much of an unlikely scenario that was.
"Yes, they're both in the Library with Miss Tolstoy and Mr Lemay's families," Professor Merrythought nodded, a look of mild worry crossing her expression as she glanced around the table. "All the Champions' families are invited to watch the Third Task. Is that something you're not comfortable with?"
There was such intense concern in her eyes that Minerva quickly shook her head to reassure her. "No no, not at all. I'm just surprised that my mother would want to come back here, and my father is a Muggle so I assumed that was impossible." The thought of her straight-laced and rational father in a castle teeming with magic was difficult to imagine, let alone her mother overcoming her desperate need to quash down every aspect of magic in her life excepting her three children.
Professor Merrythought gave a slow nod of understanding. "Exceptions can be made to the Concealment Charms in circumstances such as these. Mostly in the case of medical incidents; it would be unethical to prevent a Muggleborn witch or wizard from seeing their family if they were in the Hospital Wing and wanted to be visited," she explained. Glancing at the clock above the staff table, she added "I need to go and meet with the parents, but I'll see you shortly Minerva," before hurrying off towards the Entrance Hall.
As Minerva walked down the fourth floor corridor towards the Library she could hear the happy voices of Svetlana and Reynaud with their families inside, and found herself hesitating with one hand on the door handle. She loved her parents, she really did, but already she knew that the world she belonged in was so far from the world that her father was from and her mother had chosen. Ever since coming to Hogwarts she'd just felt stifled back in Caithness, and that had only got worse as she'd got older and become more integrated into the magical world. And now the thought of her parents standing in the centre of her world felt just as wrong as whenever she was back in theirs.
She exhaled heavily, eyes closing for a moment as she composed herself. Then she clicked open the door in one confident moment.
There were her parents, stood by the window as far as they could get from Svetlana and Reynaud's families. Professor Kettleburn was attempting to engage her mother in conversation without much reward, since even from the distance at which she stood Minerva could see her glancing nervously at her father after every stunted answer. Minerva remembered that the Professor was a close friend of her Uncle Matthew's, and it was partly sympathy for him that prompted her to cross the Library towards them.
"Hello Mother, Father," she greeted them both, accepting her father's warm hug and lighting up a little at the beaming smile on his face. With how desperate her mother had always been to keep any instances of accidental magic a secret from him while she and her brothers were growing up she had been expecting him to be far more wary of the witches and wizards he was surrounded with, but it was with a look of awe that he watched Mr Pratchett levitating a stack of books through the air.
Her mother, on the other hand, looked far more uncomfortable, and that deepened into an expression of stifled panic as Professor Kettleburn turned to Minerva with his usual jolly smile. "Ah, Miss McGonagall, we were just talking about our old days of Quidditch rivalries. It's certainly no surprise you're so confident in the air what with your uncle's occupation-"
He was interrupted by a sudden cry of "Wait!" by her mother, who instantly clamped her hands over her mouth as Minerva, her father, and the Professor all looked at her in silence. Her eyes were fixed on Minerva in a wide-eyed expression of guilt and horror.
"It's ok, mother, I know about Uncle Matthew," Minerva said after a moment, unable to keep the slight frostiness out of her voice. Of all the secrets that her mother kept about the magical side of her life, her uncle's existence was the one she'd uncovered the most recently and the one she'd taken most offence to. "He helped me out a couple of years ago to fit Ro for a broom after her old one was destroyed."
"Ah, I knew that famous Rocket of hers had to be one of Matthew's!" Professor Kettleburn said, either unable to sense the tension between mother and daughter or wanting to brush it over as soon as possible.
Minerva nodded, smiling at the memory of Ro's overjoyed expression when she'd first been given her new racing broom. It was better to think about that than her mother's pale and stricken face staring at her in the corner of her vision. "When you put me in contact with him I asked him if he could fix her Silver Arrow but he did us one better. It couldn't have been more perfect."
"Hello again Minerva," called a cheery voice just as she finished speaking, and she turned to see Professor Merrythought walking up behind her. "I've just been testing out my French with Monsieur and Madame Lemay and fancied speaking some plain old English for a minute," she added, smiling at Minerva's parents but giving her a brief look of questioning concern as their eyes met.
She returned it with the tiniest nod to confirm all was ok, ever grateful to the Professor for checking in after their conversation in the Great Hall. "Hello Professor," she said, surprised to feel far more at ease now that she had someone there who'd knew her discomfort at having her family at Hogwarts. "Mother, Father, this is Professor Merrythought. She teaches Defence."
"A pleasure to meet another of Minerva's teachers," her father said with a smile that his wife looked almost alarmed by, holding out his right hand which made Minerva wince. Instantly she'd been cast back to the Yule Ball and the Professor's struggles with Mr Rabnott that had ended with an attempted scandal in the Daily Prophet.
To her relief Professor Merrythought took it well, chuckling as she shook the offered hand a little awkwardly with her own right hand and waved her handless wrist to emphasise her point. "It'll have to be the other one I'm afraid. I can assure you that being Hogwarts isn't a risk factor for losing limbs though, Mr McGonagall, there's no need to fear for Minerva's safety during this evening's Tournament. My colleague and I have just had the odd run-in with some unsavoury creatures in recent years." She shared an amused glance with Professor Kettleburn then, but Minerva could still recall the form that Professor Merrythought's boggart had taken and knew that her casual attitude towards that night was far from genuine.
Her father's smile seemed to have frozen a little as he nodded, so once again Minerva was forced to chime in again to avoid the silence she could sense brewing. "Would you like me to take you for a tour?" she offered to her parents. "Malcolm and Robbie will be taking their last exams today but you'll be able to see them during lunch and dinner."
"That would be lovely Minerva," her father said, adjusting his clergy collar in an attempt to seem unfazed by his earlier embarrassment. "Will you be joining us, Professors?"
Professor Kettleburn looked about to nod, though Professor Merrythought jumped in before he had the chance. "Unfortunately we'll both be needed on the grounds to finish the preparations for tonight, but thank you for the offer," she said, glancing sidelong at Professor Kettleburn until he nodded in hasty agreement.
The morning was spent taking her parents around the castle, sparing a moment to be thankful that Ro had left her bed looking semi-neat when she took them into their dormitory. The Fat Lady had instantly recognised her mother as they'd walked down the corridor towards the portrait hole and Minerva had hung onto every word of their brief conversation, desperate to grab onto every tiny detail she could get about her mother's time in Hogwarts. She didn't realise her gaze had been lingering on her mother's look of nostalgia while they were in the Gryffindor Common Room until she felt her father's hand on her shoulder, turning to see him glancing between his wife and daughter with an expression of resigned defeat. Minerva supposed it had to be hard for him too, getting glimpses of a side of his wife she'd kept secret for years and attempted to do so even now. Suddenly she found herself glad that she had the opportunity to show him around her school and let him into the magical world for a day, even if he could never understand it like she did.
As Minerva had expected, they ran into Malcom and Robbie while on the way to the Great Hall for lunch. Both of them had been confused then overjoyed to have their parents at Hogwarts, with only Malcolm giving her a brief wary look before he was drawn in by Robbie's infectious happiness. Minerva was glad that neither of them had had the same internal crisis she'd suffered upon realising they were here; she'd always tried to keep them unaware of the rift that magic had driven between their mother and father, preferring to bear the burden alone if it meant that they got to hang onto their childhood innocence a few years longer.
Ro and Poppy both offered to join them on the grounds that afternoon to Minerva's relief, since Ro's summer with the McGonagalls' meant that she knew the family dynamic better than nearly anyone. She'd greeted them both with a firm handshake much to her father's amusement, and had been all too eager to agree to his suggestion of a brief Quidditch demonstration so he could learn more about the sport that Professor Kettleburn had been discussing back in the Library. Poppy kept her mother engaged with strictly Muggle-related conversation while Minerva and Ro twirled through the air on their brooms, and even from the air Minerva didn't miss the way that her mother glanced towards him every time he gasped in wonderment at Ro's airborne agility. She could only hope that the day might result in magic becoming marginally less taboo between her parents once they returned home.
After a while of soaring high above the castle grounds, Minerva let Ro continue to burn off her 'ground fever' while she rejoined Poppy and her parents back on the ground. Just as she touched down she heard a voice shouting her name, glancing round and smiling as she saw Larry walking from the castle toward them. He wasn't alone though, as following along a few feet behind him was a well-dressed man who Minerva instantly recognised from her trip to the Ministry to sign the Animagus Registry as the Minister for Magic.
"Hi Minerva," he said, his smile only faltering a little when he turned to see Minerva's parents looking at him with scarcely concealed interest. Minerva supposed that she'd never told them about Larry in either her occasional letters home or during the summer holidays she'd spent with them so they would understandably be curious about who he was.
She didn't have time for introductions though before Mr Spencer-Moon came to stand next to his son, giving Minerva a friendly smile as she looked nervously at him. She didn't know what had her feeling more jittery, the fact that he was the Minister or that he was Larry's father. "Minerva McGonagall, I presume?" he asked, shaking her hand after she nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last. Larry has told me much about you."
There was a hastily stifled choking sound from Larry as his cheeks turned red, but Minerva was determined to make a good first impression so ordered herself not to blush scarlet and managed to give him a confident smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Minister," she said, then turned to her parents who were still watching her with an air of intrigue. "This is Mr Spencer-Moon, the Minister for Magic. Minister, these are my parents; Mrs Isobel McGonagall and the Reverend Robert McGonagall."
Larry shuffled over to stand next to her as the Minister shook both her parents' hands, still looking just as nervous as she felt. She hadn't expected to have to introduce Larry to them before they'd even had their first proper date, let alone meet his father, but she reminded herself that he was there for the Tournament and meeting her as Champion rather than his son's girlfriend.
"Minerva, dear, who is this charming young man?" asked her father, pulling her out of her thoughts.
She briefly met Larry's gaze before turning to reply. "Mother, Father, this is Larry Spencer-Moon. He's my, er, I mean, we're-"
"We're dating," Larry blurted out, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. This time Minerva did blush lightly; usually it was Larry who fumbled over his words and she had to take over so it was both unusual and odd for the tables to be turned.
"Well well," her father smiled after a beat of silence. Minerva zeroed in desperately on his smile, unable to look at the sheer relief on her mother's face that was probably caused by Minerva having fallen for a fellow wizard rather than a Muggle as she had done. "I trust that you'll treat my daughter well."
Larry nodded quickly, just about managing to stammer out "Of course, sir!" as he shook her father's hand.
To everyone's utter relief the conversation was far less awkward after from then on, as Minerva didn't think she would be able to cope with that and her building nerves as the Third Task approached. She went back up to the dormitory to change into the same variation of her Quidditch uniform that she'd worn for the First Task before joining everyone back in the Great Hall, and was surprised to see the Minister sitting humbly with his sons at the Gryffindor Table rather than with Mr Rabnott and Madame Crickerley at the staff table. Her parents were there too, and along with Irma from the Slytherin Table and both Septima and Millicent from the Ravenclaw Table they really made for an interesting group.
Despite the delicious smelling food Minerva could hardly bring herself to eat anything as nerves were making her stomach turn, avoiding the worried look in Poppy's eyes and thanking the fact that her parents were sat closer to Malcolm and Robbie than her. Already she just wanted the Tournament to be over; regardless of whether she won or lost, she just wanted to be back in Gryffindor Tower enjoying the afterparty that Nancy had announced that morning that they would be throwing. But the presence of her friends around her during the torturous wait was a great relief; Ro had her shoulder pressed up against hers and Irma kept a hand on her knee, and Poppy and Larry both kept giving her comforting glances from where they sat opposite her.
Finally, Professor Dippet rose from his place at the staff table and the Hall fell into an anticipating silence. "Students and staff, distinguished guests, in a few minutes time we will all be making our way down to the Quidditch Stadium for the final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Champions, Madame Crickerley will be taking you down now to give you your final instructions."
"Good luck Minerva," said Ro quietly, and Poppy, Irma, Septima, and Millicent all echoed the statement as Minerva got up to the applause of the Gryffindor Table. Across the Hall she could see Svetlana hugging the members of her Quidditch Team, and Reynaud kissing Ghislaine before sweeping his little sister Clarisse into his arms. Mr Spencer-Moon wished her the best of luck as she passed him, and Larry looked as though he was desperate to say something though he only gave her a brief nod and a pinched smile.
Once she was out in the Entrance Hall though, she was stopped by someone shouting her name and the clatter of footsteps rushing up behind her. She'd hardly turned before Poppy was throwing herself into her arms, clinging to her tightly for a moment before she stepped back and ran back into the Great Hall without another word. But hovering nervously behind her had been Larry, who gently took Minerva's hands and looked into her eyes for a moment before leaning forward to kiss her cheek.
"Be careful," he said softly when he withdrew, running his thumb over the knuckles of her right hand before letting it drop.
Minerva nodded. "I will," she replied, hoping her eyes conveyed her promise more than her trembling voice did.
As Madame Crickerley walked up behind him she forced herself to break eye contact, glancing backwards at him as she walked with Svetlana and Reynaud out of the castle and into the grounds. Svetlana had her eyes fixed ahead in a resolute expression that hardly conveyed her nerves, in contrast to Reynaud who was muttering incantations in French under his breath and holding his wand in a white-knuckled grip. Minerva could feel her stomach twisting with fear but she did her best to look confident, picturing her friend's faces in her head and reminding herself that they believed in her.
The Quidditch Pitch looked even more unrecognisable than it had done a week ago. The hedges stretched at least 20 feet high with only a single gap by the eastern goalposts, which was where Madame Crickerley led the Champions towards.
"How're we feeling?" she asked, her expression grim as she glanced between the three of them. Reynaud and Minerva both nodded while Svetlana just gave a wordless grunt of acknowledgement. Madame Crickerley nodded in understanding, adding a quick "Best of luck to you all."
As the stands started to fill, Minerva watched as Professor Dumbledore, Professor Merrythought, Professor Aurelius, Professor Beery, and Ogg the Gamekeeper all headed towards them rather than join the rest of the Professors in the staff stands. They all had their formal hats on which were adorned with bright yellow stars, glowing like beacons in the dusky light.
"The five of us will be patrolling the outside of the maze while you are all doing the task," Professor Dumbledore explained to them. "If you find yourself in extreme difficulty you are unable to get out of, you only need to shoot red sparks into the air and one of us will come and find you. However, I should add that you will not be allowed to return to the maze afterwards, so use it as a last resort only. Do you understand?"
Minerva nodded, slightly placated by the thought that there was a way out if things really did get too much. Though the fact that the Professors had thought rescuers to be necessary when there was no such precaution for the First Task only made her dread entering that maze even more.
With that the Champions were left alone, stood together with the crowds looking down at them and the entrance to the maze at their backs. "Good luck," Minerva said to break the silence, glancing to her left at Svetlana and Reynaud.
"Yes, good luck," Svetlana nodded firmly, reaching out to grasp first Reynaud's hand then Minerva's in a grim sort of handshake. "Professor Rykov vould not like me saying this. But I am glad to make friends vhile I am here. Perhaps ve can write after Tournament is over?"
Minerva smiled at her suggestion, glad that she wasn't the only one of the three of them who didn't want to lose touch once they were no longer competing against each other. "You must both visit Beauxbatons one day," Reynaud insisted, shaking Minerva's hand so that they had all wished each other luck. "Is much warmer than here or Durmstrang, would be an 'oliday for you both I zink!"
Their quiet laughter was broken up by Madame Crickerley's magically magnified voice echoing around the stadium. "Wizards and Witches, welcome to the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" she cried, waiting for the applause to die down before she continued. "Currently in first place, we have Mr Reynaud Lemay of Beauxbatons Academy!" Reynaud stepped forward and gave a shallow bow as the Beauxbatons' side of the stadium erupted in applause. "In second place, Miss Svetlana Tolstoy of Durmstrang Institute!" she continued as a chorus of cheers came from the Durmstrang crowd. "And in third place, Miss Minerva McGonagall of Hogwarts School!"
Minerva grinned as the home crowd gave a rowdy cheer, spotting Ro, Poppy, Irma, Septima, and Millicent sat near the bottom of the stands with her Quidditch Team a row above them. Her nerves seemed to lessen for a moment as she basked in their smiling faces, but they returned in full force as Madame Crickerley continued.
"Mr Lemay, on my whistle!" she said, and as soon as the shrill noise sounded he was sprinting into the maze and out of sight. After a minute the whistle blew a second time and Svetlana lit her wand before entering the maze, the wandlight shining for a few moments before she disappeared into the gloom. Minerva was left alone, feeling every eye fixed on her as she steadied her breathing and waited for Madame Crickerley's final signal.
As soon as it came she turned away from the crowd and into the maze, pushing her glasses up her nose and muttering "Lumos," in an attempt to see through the gloom that enveloped her as soon as she was between the hedges. It did very little to help her long-distance vision as the light only managed to penetrate about five feet in front of her, but she supposed it was better than pitch blackness.
Well aware that Svetlana and Reynaud were likely to be deep in the maze by then, she quickly used the four-point spell to orient herself and hurried away from the entrance. A soft cooing from around a corner was her first warning that there was something up ahead, and slowly rounded the hedge to find herself face to face with a Hippogriff. Even in the darkness she could see the doveish grey of her feathers from her wandlight, recognising her from her Care of Magical Creatures lessons as a young mare called Flightfeather. She was known for being unpredictable and difficult to reason with, so immediately Minerva lowered her wand away from her face and stooped into a low bow without breaking eye contact.
After keeping her waiting for a very tense minute, Flightfeather eventually inclined her own head and prompted Minerva to straighten up. She reached out to gently lay her hand on Flightfeather's beak, waiting a moment before she risked stroking her feathered muzzle with careful movements. The Hippogriff resumed her contented cooing and Minerva used the distraction to slowly sneak past her, making sure not to brush her wings or step on her tail as she dropped her hand and hurried away.
So occupied by watching Flightfeather for any signs that she was going to give chase, Minerva didn't see the person running towards her until they slammed into her side and nearly knocked her flying. It was only the hand grabbing arm that kept her upright, and once Minerva was safely back on her feet she looked over at her assailant and realised it was Svetlana. But she had a deep-looking wound across one cheek, slicing all the way from her temple to her nose and dripping blood all down her neck.
"Sphinx," Svetlana said before Minerva had time to ask, letting go of Minerva's hand to wipe at the blood around her mouth. "Not good at riddle. How you say it… brain over brawn? I am other vay round."
She grinned at that, and Minerva found it in herself to laugh despite the situation. Svetlana didn't add anything else before she continued in the direction she'd been going in, disappearing round a corner just as the silence was split by a shriek that sent an icy chill down Minerva's spine. She would have run after Svetlana on instinct but before she had time to move she realised it had sounded male and far further away. An upward glance told her that there were no red sparks in the air though, meaning there were still three of them in the race. She didn't dare think about the possibility that Reynaud hadn't been able to reach his wand to call for help.
Feeling far more unsettled, she picked a direction at random and hurried down another hedgerow. Two dead ends later she paused to orient herself again, her wand leading her down a long corridor which was lined with bright yellow flowers. She paid them no heed until she got halfway down the hedgerow, then suddenly had the terrifying realisation that she didn't know why she was there anymore. Her pace slowed to a confused wander, turning several circles until she couldn't work out which direction she'd been going in to start off with. Her first instinct was that someone had put a Confundus Charm on her though there was no-one around who could have done it, but as she cradled her head in her hands she caught sight of those yellow flowers again and stumbled over to take a closer look.
She still didn't quite recognise them, but had enough cognition left to realise that she hadn't felt bad until she'd been in the hedgerow with the flowers. While still none the wiser as to which way she'd been going she wasn't bothered about that anymore, putting all her focus into travelling in a straight line until she rounded the corner and was forced to sit down. True to her suspicions her mind started to clear up almost immediately, belatedly realising that it must have been either lovage or sneezewort planted there as an obstacle. Both were ingredients of the befuddlement draught, and if they were pollenating then the spores in the air would have caused the confusion she'd felt while down the hedgerow. After taking a few moments to make sure she knew who she was and what she was doing, she slowly got to her feet and continued on.
For several minutes Minerva walked on uninterrupted, the maze silent other than her own careful footsteps through the suffocating gloom. A sudden rustling noise had her spinning round with her wand raised, walking backwards one step at a time until she felt something touch her back. She couldn't restrain her shriek as she whirled around, only to be confronted by Reynaud with his hands raised in front of him.
"Sorry, I thought you were another creature," Minerva said, lowering her wand and pushing her glasses sheepishly up her nose.
Reynaud gave her a shaken smile. "Pardon," he apologised, running his hands through his hair.
The sound of another voice made them both jump, but Minerva recognised the heavy accent seconds before Svetlana came close enough to be seen properly through the fog. "Fancy meeting you both here," she quipped, looking mostly unharmed despite the awful wound across her face. It seemed to have stopped bleeding though the bottom half of her face was still stained with crimson, giving her a demonic look as she grinned at them both.
As much as she was glad to have company for a few brief seconds before they'd be on their own again, Minerva wanted the task to be over enough to not hang around for long. A quick glance around told her they were at a junction between three hedgerows, so turned back to Svetlana and Reynaud and said "I suppose we pick one path each then?"
The other two champions both nodded, but they didn't get the chance to travel further than a step away from each other before the hedges either side of them gave a sudden jolt. Slowly Minerva glanced at Svetlana and Reynaud, not sure whether she was glad or not that they both looked as alarmed as she felt. There was a beat of silence as they waited with baited breath before the hedges jerked again, accompanied by the same rustling sound she'd heard earner.
Wordlessly, Svetlana took a few steps towards the hedge with her wand held out in front of her.
Suddenly a fanged plant head burst out from the hedge, sinking its teeth into Svetlana's wrist as she let out a blood-curdling howl. Minerva attempted to run forwards towards her but was yanked back by a vine that had somehow wrapped itself around her ankle without her noticing, sending her to the ground with a thud that knocked all the air out of her. Another plant head appeared over her with teeth bared but she managed to hit it with a severing charm before it could attack, and it was only when the head dropped on the floor that her adrenaline faded enough for her to recognise the plant as something other than an Engorgio'd flytrap.
It was a Venomous Tentacula.
The vine around her ankle had slackened enough for her to scrabble to her feet, pocketing her wand so she could use both hands to help pry the head off of Svetlana's wrist. Minerva noticed with horror that they were surrounded on all sides by vines as thick as their arms and slavering jaws full of poisonous fangs. It had to have been the Tentacula that had made the hedges jolt, it had snuck up on them while they'd been distracted by meeting each other. And now it had them all cornered together.
No sooner had she freed Svetlana did Minerva feel teeth sinking into her calf, but she was prevented from bending over to free herself by several vines snaking over her shoulder and seizing her by the upper arm. Reynaud was frantically pulling at the vines that were constricting around his torso though it did little against the immense strength of the plant; the sickening crack accompanied by his scream of agony signalled his rib snapping like a twig. Another fanged head bit into his shoulder and forced him to the ground with his face twisted in pain and terror. A brutal bite to Minerva's hip from a particularly large head meant she could do nothing to help him, attempting to twist her arm around enough to pull her wand out of her pocket to no avail.
Svetlana seemed to be doing the best out of them all, using brute strength alone to push back the head that was snapping viciously towards her face. But she didn't notice the vine that Minerva saw twisting itself through her ginger hair until it jerked her head back in one swift movement, exposing the already bloodstained skin of her neck and forcing her to lose her grip.
Minerva screamed her name, shooting a hand out towards her as if she could do anything from where she had been knocked back down to her knees. She could only watch as the Tentacula bared its teeth before lunging forward and clamping around Svetlana's throat.
Instantly her struggling stopped, arms still in the air and her face frozen into a blank look of terror that Minerva knew would be etched into her memory forever. Several more vines wrapped around her limbs and stomach as she sagged to the floor a few feet away but she did nothing to stop them. Her eyes locked onto Minerva's for a second before all recognition faded from them and her expression went slack.
Watching her friend die in front of her only made Minerva more desperate to fight her way out, struggling even harder against the vines that wrapped tighter around her shoulder and thigh. Another fruitless attempt to reach her wand drove a frustrated scream from her lips. There had to be some way to get away, to get help, she couldn't die in the middle of that maze. Svetlana's broken body lying just outside her reach yearned to contradict her but she was still unwilling to give up, not even as her limbs started to tremble from the poison wreaking havoc in her body.
A shout from Reynaud made her wrench her head around to look at him, but he too was staring at their lifeless friend as if the shock of reality had only just set in. "You 'ave to get 'elp!" he cried out, looking at her with more desperation than Minerva had ever seen on someone's face. The countless vines wrapped around him rendered him practically immobile, but he still had one hand free to point urgently towards Svetlana.
Minerva turned, and that was when she saw Svetlana's wand lying a foot or so away from where her hand had fallen to the ground. With immense effort she struggled forwards towards it, gripping the handle just as the plant jerked her sideways and pinned her down to the ground. There was no time to wonder if a Polish wand would respond to an English incantation before she pointed it skywards and screamed "Vermillious!"
She was given a second's relief as crimson filled the air before there was a vine twisting around her upraised arm, the head biting into her palm and twisting her arm painfully down to the ground. By then she could hardly feel her legs from the effect of the venom. If help didn't come soon then they would never see the outside of the maze again.
The silence after her shout made her wonder if that time had already come for Reynaud, until she heard him let out a panting breath. "Minerve!" he said her name, voice coming in gasps as if he was being strangled. "If I die 'ere, please tell my sister zhat I love 'er very much!"
His request made her throat close in a desperate sob, but she forced herself to choke out a response. "I will," she said, breaking off with a cry as her body convulsed briefly. "And if you survive then please tell my brothers that I love them too!" There was no response to her request other than the sound of Reynaud's laboured breathing.
Minerva could feel her heart hammering an unsteady rhythm as she let her head loll back, her vision blackening around the edges as much as she tried to hold onto her consciousness. Another shudder passed through her, her hand twitching violently around Svetlana's wand but still she held on as best as she could. She was determined to keep a part of her friend safe if by some miracle she did make it out alive. Because that tiny chance would have been even smaller without her wand to use for their cry for help.
She didn't want to die. The faces of her friends flashed through her mind as tears pricked at her eyes, realising too late that the goodbyes she'd uttered in the Great Hall were quite possibly her last.
She didn't want to die. But as her grip slackened and consciousness faltered she wondered if she had much choice left in the matter.
"Galatea! I've found them!"
The voice sounded so far away, but was enough to rouse her from where her eyes had slid shut and her breathing had turned shallow. Several more shouts and blasts followed, and she was convinced she felt the vines that had been slowly squeezing the life out of her start to unwind from around her limbs. The pressure on her chest lifted just enough for her to draw in a short gasp of air.
Seconds later there was a hand on her chest and a frantic voice calling her name. She forced open her eyes to see Professor Merrythought leaning over her, feeling for a pulse in her neck before gripping tightly to her uninjured hand. "It's alright, Minerva," she said over and over, "we've got you now. You're going to be alright."
Minerva could only gaze blankly up into her Professor's face, lacking the strength to even close her fingers around the hand holding hers. All she saw was a look of panic crossing Professor Merrythought's face and her mouth open in a soundless shout before her eyes were rolling back.
The desperate hands shaking her shoulders did nothing to stop her from falling into the dark.
Author's Note:
Much like in the aftermath of chapter 26, I don't really know what I can say here. I knew that this would happen since the very first plot notes I wrote back in 2015, and have been looking forward to writing it for eons, but that didn't mean that it was easy to write. I love writing characters in life or death situations such as these but I hate the thought of putting my beloved characters through the wars, and in Svetlana's case it's possibly more tragic than anything I've written in this fic so far. But I knew that for there to be no Tournament for another 50 years there had to be something awful take place, and here we are. It's currently 2:30 am on Christmas Eve and I'm feeling very emotional, but I guess that's the life of a writer.
While I know pretty much everything else in this almost 10,000 word chapter will be forgotten in the wake of the third task, there is a lot else that I really like. I can still recall well the feeling of doing my last GCSE exam so that was a lot of fun to write, and having Minerva's parents in Hogwarts gave way to some very interesting delving into both Minerva's own personality and the McGonagall family dynamic as a whole. I will also take this moment to say how much I love Professor Merrythought, and she would definitely be a big inspiration into Minerva's own teaching style a long way from now. But the favourite happy moment of the chapter has to be Larry finally making his move after a terribly long time of waiting and hoping. Praise Maggie Jordan for finally talking some sense into him! Now if she can come and talk some sense into me so I might do something about my 2 year long crush on girl I'm friends with I'd be very grateful...
In other news: uni's amazing guys. I'm having the best time. I live in London now and it's bloody brilliant.
I hope you all have an amazing Christmas (and that I haven't put too much of a dampener on it with this rather sad update!), and a brilliant start to 2019. My first couple of months are looking incredibly hectic so I'll put no promises on the next chapter's release date, other than that it will be as soon as I can make it. I dislike having to wait to write this story just as much as I imagine you all dislike waiting for updates!
Until next time :)