Minerva McGonagall
The first days of February were incredibly hectic.
It all started when one of the Slytherin students, Hestia Travers, got petrified on the first day of the month. Another pureblood victim seemed to be the last straw, as the board of governors, led by the still furious Lucius Malfoy, handed Dumbledore the order of suspension, forcing the headmaster to leave Hogwarts, at the same time sending poor Rubeus to Azkaban. Because of that, Minerva, though reluctant to accept the role, was forced to take over Albus' duties until his eventual return.
She of course knew from the very beginning that this was not going to be an easy job, not with the so-called Heir of Slytherin terrorizing the school, but surprisingly the most shocking event during her brief role as replacement headmistress was not related to the chamber of secrets at all.
It was the bizarre protest that began the day after Albus was suspended.
When Argus told her that a group of students had decided to gather outside the Great Hall and start 'fighting for muggle-born rights,' she thought he was joking. After all, it was hard to believe that someone would be foolish enough to start a protest in such a volatile time!
Argus' words were however confirmed when she reached the great hall and saw various older students, about twenty in all, standing in the middle of the corridor and causing a commotion. As she got closer to the group, she noticed that the gathering consisted of members of every Hogwarts house except Slytherin. Students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were walking in circles, loudly shouting various slogans and waving colorful banners they held in their hands. The banners themselves contained a wide variety of messages, ranging from the rather innocuous, such as 'Muggle-borns have rights too,' to the rather disturbing, such as 'pureblood supremacy must end' and 'we all bleed the same'.
When the protesters noticed Minerva's approach, they all quieted down and turned toward her, awaiting her arrival with a certain determination. They were looking at her almost challengingly, as if daring her to try to stop them from protesting. The sight of the students of her school, especially the ones belonging to her house, behaving so irresponsibly at a time of crisis made Minerva furious. Didn't they know that it was more important than ever to remain united? Instead, they were disrupting the already shaken order with their actions!
When she reached the group, Minerva gave all of the students a furious glare.
"What is the meaning of this?" She began sharply, glaring at everyone in front of her. Minerva was frankly offended that her students had done something so reckless. Did they not understand the gravity of the situation the school was facing? "What made you think it's a good idea to start a protest now of all times?!"
The students looked at each other for a moment, most likely debating who should be the one to answer her, before Thomas Williams, a seventh-year Gryffindor student, stepped forward with a confident expression.
"Professor McGonagall, we are here to express our disappointment with the way the school has been run so far," Thomas replied to the applause of the rest of the students. Minerva was quite surprised to see him at this assembly, as he had always been a rather polite boy, if a bit reckless. It didn't suit him at all. In truth, most of the students at this gathering had never caused any problems before, so seeing them behave so radically was quite bizarre for Minerva. "It doesn't bring me joy to say this, but we've had enough of the preferential treatment given to pureblood students. That's why we won't move from here until our demands for equal treatment are met!"
Preferential treatment?! Pureblood students were currently being hunted by a dangerous monster! Of course they were getting some additional attention! Minerva was frankly baffled by their foolishness. What exactly in this whole debacle made them think that their rights had been violated?! And they still had the audacity to have demands! As if they had the right to demand anything from the school that educated them and took care of them for almost seven years! Preposterous!
"Demands? You are sorely mistaken if you think you can make any demands in this situation. There will be no negotiations on this issue. I am taking away ten points from every member of this group. Now disperse or I will have to draw more serious consequences!"
Surprisingly, the protesters seemed unmoved by her threat. If anything, they seemed even more determined than before, straightening up and throwing her a defiant look.
"We no longer care about something as insignificant as house points. Not when we're fighting for the rights of every Muggle-born wizard and witch attending this school!" replied Thomas enthusiastically, puffing out his chest and raising his fist in the air. The rest of the group applauded him, apparently moved by his passionate declaration "Purebloods wouldn't be harassed like this! But the moment the Muggle-born students decide to speak up, the heavy boot of authority appears to trample us! You can subdue us by force, Professor, but you will not silence us!"
"No one is planning to subjugate you!" replied Minerva, unable to understand why they were behaving this way. It wasn't even that Hogwarts discriminated against Muggle-born students! Albus was always extremely progressive when it came to such things! Had she missed something? Maybe they would be able to explain it to her, however improbable that was "What exactly are your demands, anyway? What kind of change do you want to bring to Hogwarts?"
"We want the rights of muggle-born students to be protected!" Thomas exclaimed simply, with other members nodding their heads along. That…didn't clarify anything.
"But what exactly does it mean? What sort of action do you expect us to take?" Minerva tried, starting to see where it was going. She could already feel a migraine coming.
"We want the rights of Muggle-born students to be protected!" Thomas exclaimed simply, and the other members nodded. That... explained nothing.
"But what exactly does that mean? What kind of action do you expect us to take?" Minerva tried, already starting to see where it was going. She could already feel the migraine coming on.
"We want you to stop giving preferential treatment to pureblood students!" Thomas stated.
"But what are your exact postulates? Do you want to do something about the distribution of students in classes? Do you want some improvement in teachers' attitudes toward Muggle-born students? More emphasis on Muggle studies? Have you given any thought to this at all?" asked Minerva, realizing something really important. These students... were idiots.
The protesters looked at each other hesitantly, apparently not really knowing how to respond. After a few seconds Thomas took a piece of paper out of his pocket, seemingly a message of some kind, and began to read it, mumbling the words under his breath. Minerva couldn't hear much, but she was able to catch the words "instructions," "master" and "perfidious." After a while, Thomas finished his lecture and looked at Minerva haughtily.
"We will not be fooled by your seemingly rational words, Professor. You are trying to divide us with your perfidious manipulations, but we will not give up! We are united in our cause and will fight for our rights!" exclaimed Thomas, apparently choosing to just ignore all her arguments. The corridor was filled with applause as every member of the group began to cheer, their previous hesitation being replaced by fervor.
At this point Minerva was sure that the situation could not get any worse, but apparently the universe wanted to prove her wrong. As the protesters began to cheer, another group entered the corridor. This time it consisted mainly of Slytherin students, although she also managed to spot one or two Ravenclaws among them. Like the previous protesters, they too had banners in their hands, though on theirs Minerva could see phrases such as 'pureblood power,' 'Keep tradition!. and 'We don't bleed the same'. The group approached Minerva and the protesters at a brisk pace, led by Slytherin seventh-year Anastasia Selwyn.
Minerva's heart sank as she knew what was about to happen.
"Professor McGonagall, we are here to express our disappointment with the way the school has been run so far," Anastasia exclaimed to the applause of the rest of her group. " It doesn't bring me joy to say this, but we've had enough of pure-blooded students not being given adequate protection. That's why we won't move from here until our demands for equal treatment are met!"
Minerva began massaging her eyebrows. Just as she expected, the migraine finally arrived.
We should finally enter the "endgame" of CoS in the next chapter (and by endgame I mean last 10 chapters). To be honest, I expected to finish the school year in about 30 chapters, but somehow we're already at chapter 44, and it's still going on. Weird.