1 September 1995
Minerva picked out some letters from her pigeonhole and flicked through them with a frown. The first was from her niece, the second was from her nephew, and the third from her goddaughter whom she would be seeing later that day when term officially started. As she flicked back to the first envelope to open it, the staffroom door swung open admitting Severus.
"Minerva," he greeted her.
Minerva nodded briefly in response, and Severus took a seat at a table by the fire. He pulled out a book from his bag, and Minerva would be lying if she said that she was not interested to catch a glimpse of the title of the book; she had never seen Severus read before.
Nothing her eyes, Severus looked up. "I saw the Headmaster walking to the staffroom with her," he commented.
"Is that your way of telling me to vacate the area while I can?" Minerva asked. Severus looked up and Minerva was positive that she detected a flicker of amusement in Severus' eyes too.
"Perhaps," he admitted.
A smile tugged at the corner of Minerva's lips. In the end, however, she merely sighed. Despite how much she wished to avoid Umbridge for as long as possible, Minerva did not hurry to leave; it felt too rude. Also, she was currently one of the last members of staff to meet Dolores. Not because she had been avoiding her, but because Minerva had had to travel back to Caithness the previous week after an unexpected family crisis. She had only just returned to the castle ten minutes ago.
"I expect I shall have to meet her sooner or later," she said at last. "Might as well make it now."
Severus shrugged and as he did, as if right on cue, the door to the staffroom opened a second time. This time, Albus entered followed closely by Dolores Umbridge wearing the most dreadful pastel pink dress.
Minerva did not miss the slight raise of Albus' eyebrows as he noticed that the room was not empty. Clearly, he had also been under the impression that most staff members would have tried to hide or be somewhere else for the day. Indeed, Dolores Umbridge had somewhat of a reputation. Most staff had taught her while she had been at school. She had been cruel, vicious, and bordering on insolent, and as such was not well-liked. Adding to the fact that she had received the job merely because Cornelius had intervened, did not improve her chances of being respected among the staff.
Minerva slipped her letters into her pocket as Albus came walking towards her.
"Let me introduce you to Professor McGonagall, Dolores, whom you might remember," he said.
Minerva hitched up a tight smile and extended her hand for Dolores to shake. "It is a pleasure to see you again, Dolores," she said courteously.
Dolores smiled sweetly too, however it did not quite reach her eyes which seemed to be searching Minerva. "It is good to be back," she replied. "I was surprised not to see you last week when I first arrived at the castle."
"Yes," Minerva said, briefly casting a curious look at Albus who had promised her that he had made Dolores aware of the reason behind her absence, "family emergency, I am afraid."
Dolores gave an apologetic look. However, the insincerity of it was plain as day. "I'm sorry to hear. I do hope everything is sorted now? It really wouldn't do to have the Deputy Headmistress absent during term time, you see."
Minerva faltered as a very short but heavy and awkward silence filled the room. Finally, she cleared her throat. "No, it would not," she said eventually.
Dolores smiled. "Good. The Minister is adamant to bring Hogwarts back on track. I believe it would be a good start if staff know where they ought to be."
Minerva's eyebrows shot up involuntarily.
"Now, I expect there is much you need to do to prepare for this evening," Dolores added, looking at Albus who cleared his expression to a somewhat calm and considerate one, "I shall bid you all goodbye. I look forward to joining you at the feast later on."
"Good evening, Dolores," Albus said, bowing slightly.
Dolores then turned to Minerva as though expecting a similar sort of behaviour yet received none. Severus only lifted his head to give Dolores a cold stare before she left the room.
"I thought you told her why I have been away?" Minerva said mildly, turning to Albus who was looking pensively at the door where Umbridge had last been.
"I did. She knew you would be returning today as well," he said, turning to look at her. He then shook his head and changed the subject. "How are Helen and Malcolm?"
"Oh, fine," Minerva replied, "just fine. It was dragon-pox," she added, by way of explanation. "It never occurred to anyone at first because they have both had it before. Anyway, Chloe has found someone to look after Rosie now, so she has gone back home to help while her parents recover." Minerva sighed. "Gave us all quite a scare," she admitted. "Getting dragon pox at their age can be dangerous."
Albus patted her shoulder and Minerva nodded. "I am glad they are all right," he said. "I realise you have just returned, my dear, but there are a few issues regarding timetables that we need to sort out before tomorrow. Would it be terribly unfair if I ask you to come to my office with me so that we can smooth over some of the issues?"
Minerva shook her head. "Not at all," she said. "Lead the way, Albus."
It was almost 9 o'clock in the evening. The feast had just ended and Minerva had just been to check her Gryffindors to make sure everyone was accounted for and in their dormitories. Now, 5 minutes later, she was briskly knocking on the door to Albus' study. When she heard his voice calling her to come in, Minerva entered the room and closed the door behind her in a rather cross fashion.
"That was simply outrageous," she fumed.
Unperturbed by her outburst, Albus looked up as Minerva came to take a seat opposite him. "I assume that you are referring to Dolores Umbridge?" he said mildly.
"Who else would I be? Honestly, to interrupt you in that way," she said, folding her arms crossly, "and not to mention the utter rubbish that came out of her mouth following that."
Albus raised his eyebrows. "The speech was not to your taste?"
Minerva glared at him. "This is serious, Albus. Lord only knows what she had in store for us, and what nonsense she is going to teach our students. What was it that she said in her speech? 'A new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability?" Minerva pursed her lips. "Accountability," she repeated. "Next thing we'll know, and Dolores will have the power to punish both students and teachers alike."
Albus nodded gently. "I fear that you may be correct in that regard," he said quietly. "However, it would not do well to dwell on these matters just yet."
Minerva frowned. "What must we dwell on instead, then?" she asked.
"Hagrid and Madame Maxime have still not yet returned from their trip to the mountains," Albus sighed. "There has been no news as to their whereabouts for quite some time."
Minerva's frown deepened, and she leaned forwards. "Do we need people to search for them?" she asked worriedly.
"It may come to that soon," he admitted. "We will discuss the proper course of action during the next Order meeting."
Minerva nodded and looked away, folding her hands on her lap. "I have been meaning to talk to you about the Order meetings," she began, looking back at him. "I am concerned that perhaps it is not the wisest decision for both of us to be away from the castle at the same time. I believe Dolores may begin to suspect something," she added.
Albus frowned. "Have you noticed something?" he asked.
Minerva pressed her lips together and tilted her from side to side as she thought. "Yes, and no," she said. "But considering what the Ministry already suspect about your activities," she said, "it seems likely that they will become even more suspicious if they notice you mysteriously disappear from the castle every other week."
Albus nodded thoughtfully. "That is true," he admitted. "Perhaps we can alternate who goes to meetings?" he added, with a slight smile.
Minerva narrowed her eyes. "You don't care what Dolores thinks, do you?"
Albus shrugged. "Perhaps not," he said. "Not yet, at least. The Ministry will believe what they want. I doubt my actions will change their opinion in any way, for the moment."
"Hm," Minerva said, mildly thrown by Albus' unusual blasé attitude. "Very well."
He smiled. "Chess, my dear?"
"Oh, I couldn't possibly," Minerva replied apologetically. "I am too tired and distracted to be properly strategic tonight," she added. "Tomorrow instead?"
He nodded as Minerva got up.
"Night, Albus."
"Goodnight, my dear."
