PRIDE
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by Saeshmea
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Dolores
At dinner time, Dolores Umbridge was sitting on Dumbledore's old chair as she awaited for McGonagall to walk in. She was curious to see if she'd be able to look her in the eye after their earlier encounter.
Minerva seemed to be the only unbreakable teacher in the school and that irritated her to the bone. Even Snape just complied with her for the sake of not arguing. So Dolores had pictures that had pictured Minerva bent over her knees many times, and she had stopped herself from slapping her porcelain face on many occasions when she'd argued back at any of her new rules in the school. But as much as she had always infuriated her, she had never been as disrespectful in front of a student as she had in that office in front of no other than Harry Potter. That boy was just as unruly and untameable as his Head of House, and that was not a behavior she could just let go of. The moment they were left alone, Umbridge simply couldn't control herself. How dare she speak to the Headmistress like that?
Dolores had felt Minerva's disbelief with just the way her body halted after being magically pushed against the table and, even though she had fought against the restraints at first, she had given in after the first smack, as if she'd accepted her punishment.
It felt almost disappointing that it would be so easy to finally break the powerful Minerva McGonagall, and in her own office, nonetheless. But it was empowering too.
Her skin had felt soft, cold, and aged. Her silenced gasp was sensual.
At some point, Dolores wondered if Minerva was getting aroused by the spanking. It couldn't be because they antagonized each other daily and that was a punishment. Surely, she must have felt humiliated, overpowered, and helpless. It was hard to deny there was a certain level of erotism in the scene, and Dolores herself was enjoying having her Deputy Headmistress under her control.
It wouldn't be the first time she crossed that line between business and pleasure. Many wizards and a few witches had found themselves literally at her feet in her office at the Ministry. They always feared her and were willing and obedient. Minerva wasn't yet, when the professor had pressed her legs together, Umbridge got her answer, and she knew there was more to that transfiguration teacher than met the eye.
McGonagall walked in, wearing the same green tartan dress she had worn in the afternoon during their fun games, and as soon as she stepped into the hall, she looked straight into the Headmistress's eyes. Minerva wasn't broken, yet.
"Good evening, Dolores," Minerva greeted her as she took her usual seat at the right of the Headteacher. She sat slowly, her bottom facing Dolores and carefully reached for the cushion. Umbridge stared and smiled.
But McGonagall never turned to talk to her, she proceeded to start a conversation with Professor Flitwick about the great progress her students had shown in the essays she had just been marking. So Umbridge ate her dinner in silence, as usual, as teachers usually avoided small talk with her, especially since she had become Headmistress. Because of her role, it would also be impolite to leave the table first, so she would usually wait until the student tables were cleared out. Some of the staff would retire early to their rooms or the staff room, and rarely a few would stay longer than themselves.
Today, Minerva stayed.
"Is spanking a common way of punishment you use among the staff?" she asked with no warning, once Professor Flitwick was far enough, he couldn't hear them.
"I only use corporal punishment when other methods won't work," Dolores replied, but she didn't want to give her the chance of misinterpretation, so she clarified, "You just happen to be stubborn, professor."
"I guess I shall measure my words carefully if I want to avoid being disciplined again," Minerva replied as she stood up.
"I would certainly advise you to do so, Professor," Dolores said and then they said goodnight to each other, and Minerva returned to the Gryffindor tower and Dolores retired to the Headteacher's quarters.
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I guess I shall measure my words carefully if I want to avoid being disciplined again. Umbridge repeated that sentence in her head like a lullaby before falling asleep. Minerva had said those words as if they were a challenge. Was she daring her to spank her again? Was she asking her to? Or was she just projecting, and McGonagall had understood who the person in charge was now that Dumbledore was gone?
Umbridge fell asleep before getting to any conclusions and her rigid morning routine allowed her thoughts a break from her Deputy Headmistress.
She got dressed in a pink suit, put on her favorite pair of high heels, and read the morning paper while having some tea in her room. She found the headteacher´s office unnerving with all those portraits staring at her constantly, judging her every move. But Minerva had pointed out a policy in the school's handbook about the former Headmasters' and Headmistress's portraits being untouchable relics representing the history and wisdom of Hogwarts, blah blah blah. So, for the time being, until she could find a way to change that policy, she would keep having her tea in her bedroom and only use the office when working.
Before presiding breakfast, Umbridge replied to a few owls and prepared her lessons for the day. She stared back at the portrait of Armando Dippet before heading towards the Great Hall and there she found Minerva, amicably chatting with Professor Snape.
Breakfast was always more relaxed in Hogwarts. Students would come and go and so did teachers, depending on what time everyone's first lesson was. Dolores was teaching the first two periods, so she made herself present, and after a few bites of a toast, she left again.
As her heels clacked away on the stone floor of the hall, she realized she was bothered that McGonagall hadn't acknowledged her presence at all. Maybe another spanking would teach her some manners.
Her first lesson was uneventful and during period two she got a chance to take fifty points from Hogwarts because a student had forgotten to do her homework. That pleased her a bit.
After her morning lessons, she decided to do rounds, checking behavior in the corridors. She had lunch in her old office to use the time to mark some work and then decided to observe a few lessons. She spent fifteen minutes in Flitwick's classroom, fifteen minutes in Sprout's greenhouse, and had a peek at Snape's dungeon. Then she headed to McGonagall's.
When she walked in, she was shocked at first that the students were writing quietly in their books with no adult supervision, then she saw the cat on the desk.
Umbridge cleared her throat. The students put their quills down and turned around, the cat raised its chin and looked at her.
"This is not a petting zoo, Professor, I don't think your animagus is appropriate to invigilate students," she said, and Minerva jumped forward to be standing at the front of her class after transforming back.
"This is a transfiguration lesson, Professor Umbridge, I like to think that my skill can inspire my students to become future animagi someday," she defended as she crossed the room between the rows of desks to be face to face with the Headmistress, "also, my almost four decades of experience teaching have shown me that students feel more relaxed during an assessment, like the one we were doing just now," she emphasized that last bit as if letting her know how her interruption had been so badly timed, "so if you excuse me, Professor Umbridge, I will go back to invigilating my students while you carry on with your observations."
Umbridge flared her nostrils and left the room without saying anything else. She did not continue her observations. Minerva's soliloquy in front of the students kept repeating in her mind and she hated that she'd allowed the Professor to have the last word. She paced around the courtyard, waiting for the lesson to finish. She knew that was McGonagall's last teaching period. When the last student left the room, she walked back in and locked the door behind her.
TO BE CONTINUED...