IV: More McGonagalls
Chapter 4 of 141
MMADfanWe join Minerva as she visits her childhood home early one Saturday morning in February.
ReviewedIV: More McGonagalls
Minerva left Poppy's office determined to regain her professional composure. She didn't know what had got into her. She had been annoyed, to be sure, when she'd left the Headmaster's office earlier that morning, but certainly nowhere nearly upset enough to have exploded as she had. It was reciting her litany of grievances against Albus that had stirred her up.
Letting out a long, weary breath, Minerva began the climb up the stairs to her rooms, waiting patiently on the third floor landing for the stairs to rotate over so that she could continue to the fourth. As she trudged up the stairs and on to her rooms, she had to tamp down the thought that she should have known when he assigned her to quarters on the fourth floor that she had been sent to Siberia. He had explained that he thought it would be convenient for her to have her quarters so close to her classroom. All it meant was that in the morning, she had to make her way from the fourth floor to the ground floor in order to take breakfast in the Great Hall, then make the return journey to reach her classroom before the students streamed in. She then had the same round trip again at noon and once more in the evening. Although she did have a few free hours during the week since she was not teaching the NEWT-level classes, she rarely took "advantage" of having her rooms so near her class. She preferred to work in her office, where she could keep all of her teaching materials organised and at hand. It was also good to be available to students during the day, Minerva felt. Her favourite teachers had always made themselves available when she was a student.
Minerva was also acutely disappointed that Albus had decided to give her a different room from the one he used on the first floor. In the months leading up to her arrival at Hogwarts, her head was filled with visions of teaching in her mentor's classroom. She felt she would be inspired by memories of her years spent there as a student, as well as by the imprint Albus had left in its atmosphere. The classroom she had been given, on the other hand, seemed stark and cold; Minerva thought it hadn't been used in at least thirty years, given the random bits of parchment she was still finding in odd cracks and cubbies. Its windows were north-facing; since her bedroom windows faced west, there were times during the Scottish winter when she had thought she would never really see any sunlight. Even after the house-elves had worked their magic on the classroom and her office, they still seemed stuffy and dank. Minerva felt she might as well have been given rooms in the dungeons.
To be sure, the furnishings were fine. There was plenty of room on the bookshelves in her office, and the convenient cupboards in the classroom were well stocked with all of the classroom supplies she would need. She hadn't anticipated using a previously empty classroom, however, and the classroom walls and shelves were glaringly devoid of any interesting objects, charts, or illustrations. The first floor Transfiguration classroom, in contrast, was almost distractingly full of various devices, objects, paintings, and memorabilia that Albus had collected over the years. Even when she had been a child, it had been possessed of diverse artifacts and specimens that aroused a student's interest and imagination. She was sure that the new Transfiguration classroom had seemed Spartan and unfriendly to students who were so used to Dumbledore's quirky collections.
Early in February, therefore, the first Saturday she had free from duties, she arrived unannounced early in the morning at the rambling old house she had grown up in, startling the house-elves and her mother. Her father had just looked up from the large, dusty tome he was reading, saying, "Hello, Min. Staying for lunch?" then pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and returning to his book without noticing whether she answered him or not.
Minerva made a bee-line for the attic and spent the next three hours rummaging through old trunks and wardrobes, rejecting almost everything she found as totally unsuitable either painfully prosaic or disturbingly bizarre. By the time Fwisky popped in to inform her that lunch was about to be served, Minerva was tired, itchy (what was in that dust!), and chilled to the bone. After quickly washing the smudges from her face and brushing the cobwebs from her hair, she joined her parents in the dining room. Murdoch, her older brother, and his daughter Melina were there as well.
"Melina! How wonderful to see you!" cried Minerva with genuine delight as she sat down. She hadn't seen her niece in several months not since Melina had moved from London to Edinburgh in June following her first two years of Healer training. She was now in a small clinic finishing her basic training. "When did you get here? How long are you staying?"
Melina smiled with equal pleasure. "We only just arrived a few minutes ago, Min- erva. Dad had a few things to do at the apothecary before we left."
"Had to check up on the apprentices. They could ruin a dead-easy burn salve if it weren't that they're never sure when someone's going to pop in on them. I think they get lazier and stupider every year. They pass their NEWTs and think they're experts on everything to do with Potions," grumbled Murdoch. "Didn't want to worry you about it at the time, but right after the New Year, one of the apprentices, Turner was his name, blew up the back of the apothecary whilst making Wit-Sharpening Potion, of all things."
"Was his name?" asked Minerva with some alarm. "Is he dead?"
"No, though he probably wished he was when I was through with him. He left hospital last week and returned to Mummy and Daddy. I wasn't having him back." Murdoch stabbed a potato with his fork.
Relieved, Minerva wondered aloud, "But how? I don't remember Wit-Sharpening Potion having any volatile ingredients. Let me see, ginger, armadillo bile, umm, beetles of some kind, and a few stabilizers. Was it a bad batch of beetles?"
Murdoch snorted. "For someone who only received an 'Exceeds Expectations' on her Potions NEWT and more than ten years ago, at that you would have done better than Turner did!" Murdoch paused to eat a brussels sprout. "He used Acromantula venom instead of armadillo bile, which would have done nothing worse than create a toxic and expensive! goo, if he hadn't also pulverized the scarab beetles instead of crushing them. I tell you, I'm thinking of going down to that school of yours and asking Slughorn what he thinks he's teaching!"
"How are things at Hogwarts, Minerva?" her mother asked, finally getting a word in. "We haven't heard much from you."
"Fine, Mother. Of course, it's a lot of work, especially getting to know the children and what their strengths and weaknesses are, but that will come with time. The other teachers have been very welcoming, and of course it's wonderful to have Poppy so close." Well, down three flights of stairs and a corridor or two . . . .
"I'm glad, dear. I had worried about you taking that job, you know. I didn't want to say much about it, but " She was interrupted by simultaneous snorts from both her daughter and her son. "Well, I didn't!" she protested. "It's just hard for a mother sometimes. You'll understand that someday, Minerva. And I'm still worried about you. It's so isolated, and there are so few people your age. At least in London, you did get out some, and you met people at work. And it's not as though Hogsmeade is a thriving metropolis, as quaint as it might be."
"You certainly are one to talk," replied Minerva. "It's not as though this house is particularly close to anything the next Muggle village is ten miles away, and your nearest wizarding neighbours are the Stoats, and that's got to be at least "
"Heavens, Minerva," her mother laughed. "Since when did you begin thinking like a Muggle? We may not be on the Floo-Network yet, but I have yet to walk to the Stoats, like some Squib. We don't see them much, anyway. But your father and I do get into Edinburgh. It may not have Diagon Alley, but there's plenty there for the likes of us. Why, Melina even took us to a Muggle concert two weeks ago. Chopin and Liszt. It was quite lovely."
Her father, who had appeared to be preoccupied and not attending to the conversation, interjected, "Lovely! Whenever a man has to put on trousers and wear them for more than a few hours, there is nothing lovely about it. I swear I was getting a rash by the time we returned to Murdoch's!"
"Oh, Dad," laughed Minerva. "That's what you always say! There's never been any evidence of a rash!"
"Hmmpf. Only because of its location, lassie. I won't even allow your mother to see it!" He winked playfully at his wife and took a sip of his tea, apparently retiring from the conversation.
Egeria laughed at that and brought the conversation back to her youngest child's choice of jobs. "So you're settling in well? Fitting in with the other teachers? Any of the children causing you problems? If they are, you know I know many of their mothers or grandmothers." Although she had "retired" a few years ago, Egeria had spent sixty years as a midwife, attending new mothers and their babies all over Scotland and northern England.
"Yes, Mother, everything's fine," replied Minerva with an exasperated sigh. "And if I couldn't handle the children without your intervention, I shouldn't be there! Really!" she huffed.
"Well, then, how's Poppy?"
Minerva, thankful for the apparent change in direction the conversation was taking, said, "Oh, she's doing well and loves her job. I think she's happy I decided to take the position. In fact, I have to be getting back later this afternoon since we are meeting at Madam Puddifoot's. It's a new tearoom in Hogsmeade she wants to try."
Egeria ate the last of her caramel custard. "So, Poppy's not seeing anyone?"
"What do you mean, Mother?" Minerva wished she could join the conversation between Melina and Murdoch. Discussing the finer details of proper ointment application to scrofungulus sores was not what she normally would have considered appropriate for the dinner table, but it was better than what she knew her mother was going to ask.
"I just meant that if a girl has a Saturday afternoon free, she would normally want to spend it with her young man, especially if she's usually cloistered in a place like Hogwarts all week, that's all."
Minerva was used to her mother asking her about whether she had met any nice men lately. Her stock reply was always, "Yes, Mother, many. I meet many nice men." Then she would change the topic. It wasn't as though her mother had married young. She and Merwyn only married when it was clear that Malcolm, Minerva's oldest brother, was going to make an appearance in the world. As Egeria always pointed out whenever Minerva brought up her mother's own late marriage in her defence, the two had "courted" for over ten years before that.
Minerva sat stone-faced and clenched her teacup. "I'm sure she enjoys my company, Mother. And it's not a cloister."
"Minerva, love, I am only pointing out the obvious. And then I will stop, I promise. It's not that I want you to settle down, you know that. And if you never married, it wouldn't matter to me, truly, if I knew you were happy. But I know you, sweetness. You have some of the best traits of both your father and me, but also some of our worst. You know them yourself, I am sure, so I won't flatter or insult you by naming them all. Please just remember to make an effort to get to know people. Get to know the ones around you better and try to meet some new people, as well. And if you start seeing someone socially not Poppy! I mean a man; one who's interested in you well, that'll be icing on the cake. Sweetness, you deserve to have some fun, some joy in life."
"Thank you, Mother." Minerva took a sip of her cold tea and stared at the tablecloth.
"Now, I promised Melina that I would help her find some of my books. They may be a bit out of date, but the charms are foundational." Egeria rose. "Melina, are you and my son finished discussing oozing sores?"
"Of course, Grandmother." Turning to Minerva, Melina asked, "Will you be here for a little while, at least? With our schedules, I don't know when we will be able to see each other again."
"Of course! I won't be leaving until at least three-thirty, Melina."
Merwyn rose from the table, put his arm around his granddaughter's shoulders, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "It is always good to see you, Mel. Don't let that clinic work you to the bone, now. Make some quiet time for yourself just to read and think or to take walks through that Muggle Edinburgh you like so well."
"I will, Grampa, I promise."
Egeria bent and kissed her daughter's cheek, one arm affectionately around her shoulders, and whispered, "I'm glad you're settling in well, Minerva. And it is always good to have you home, even just for a few hours."
Minerva smiled at her mother and stood to embrace her quickly, then turned to Melina. "Don't forget me while you're having fun with all those old healing charms! Come see me before you leave!"
"Dad and I will be here all afternoon, so just find me when you're through with your mysterious project in the attic! Do you know you still have dirt above your left eyebrow?" With that, Melina followed Egeria out of the dining room, leaving Minerva with Merwyn and Murdoch.
"More tea, Minerva? Murdoch?" When they both shook their heads, Merwyn called for Fwisky, who efficiently cleared the table.
"Let's go into my study. Those two are going to be in the library for a while."
They settled into the study, Murdoch and Minerva gingerly clearing two spaces to sit. Minerva wasn't even sure what she was sitting on a bench or a wooden chest? Both her father and brother were curious about what she had been doing in the attic all morning. After Minerva had told them that she had been looking for interesting things to display in her classroom, they all trooped up the stairs to see what she had found.
"Hmm, don't know what most of this stuff has to do with Transfiguration, M'nervy, but some of it is kind of interesting," Murdoch said, unrolling a dusty tapestry entitled, Gwion Bach Learns Wisdom. "I think this one was in the nursery when I was a boy."
"Have you checked everything for dormant charms, Min?" her father asked.
"No, I thought I'd do that this afternoon. I don't want to Apparate with anything I'm not sure about, let alone bring it into a Hogwarts classroom filled with children whose spells sometimes go awry," she replied.
"Why don't we give you a hand, then, if you think we can trust your brother's competence with a wand," Merwyn teased.
"Oh, I don't know. I suppose with you and me both here, he can't do too much harm," said Minerva with an amused glint in her eye.
"All right, you two. Very amusing. Just because I don't require a lot of foolish wand-waving in my profession doesn't mean I've forgotten how to cast a few simple diagnostic spells." Murdoch feigned injury.
"'Diagnostic spells'? Do you think we are in an infirmary, lad? Detecting and revealing spells are what we'll be using. I'll do the Dark detecting, I think, if you don't mind, Min?"
"No, that's fine, Dad. After you're finished with an object, just pass it to me or Murdoch, and we'll check for any other unexpected charms or transformations." When Murdoch just stood there, Minerva elbowed him in the ribs.
"Yes, sounds like a good way to go about it," agreed Murdoch, with little enthusiasm.
"You do have your wand with you, don't you, Murdoch?" Minerva teased.
Murdoch just snorted and perched gingerly on a box. "Just the way I'd plan to spend my afternoon in the country, away from the smog of the city. Shut up in a dusty attic breathing in who-knows-what." He sighed melodramatically. "The things I do for my baby sister!" Said baby sister punched him in the arm, after which the three settled down to their task.
At three o'clock, arms full, they emerged from the attic stair to find Melina coming toward them. "I was just going to look for you! I wanted to see you before you had to leave. We never have enough time!"
"I know, Melina, I'm sorry. Want to help me shrink everything and put it in a bag? We can chat while we do that."
Agreeing, Melina followed her aunt, father, and grandfather to Minerva's old bedroom. As they started sorting through the items, and Minerva rummaged through her wardrobe, looking for the carpet bag she knew was there, Melina said, "So, how's Professor Dumbledore? It must be odd working for him and taking over his old job like that."
Minerva's reply was lost, muffled by the wardrobe and its contents.
"At the risk of sounding like your mother, Min, you know your Great-uncle Perseus was at school with Dumbledore. I'm sure that he'd be happy to "
Merwyn never had the opportunity to say what Perseus Parnovon would have been happy to do, because Minerva withdrew her head and shoulders from the wardrobe and whirled around.
"Father, I do not need anything from Uncle Perseus. Nor from anyone else. Not to do with Hogwarts, my career, or my personal life. And who took my carpet bag!"
Deciding that discretion would be the better part of valour, Murdoch and Melina neatly sorted, folded, shrank, and stacked, and pretended not to hear anything.
"Um, Min, I just meant that "
"I don't care to discuss it! And my name, in case you had forgotten it, is 'Minerva,' not 'Min,' not 'Minnie,' and especially not 'M'nervy!'" she added, shooting a withering glare at her brother.
Merwyn took off his round, rimless glasses and polished them on the edge of his sleeve. "All right, lassie. I know you can take care of yourself. Sometimes it's nice to have another perspective on things, that's all. Fwisky!" he called out.
There was a load crack as Fwisky Apparated into the room. "Fwisky, do you know where the carpet bag that used to be in this wardrobe is now?"
"No, Mister Merwyn. I do not. Does the young Miss Minerva be needing a carpet bag? I can fetch one." The old elf looked up at Merwyn, wanting to be of service.
"Yes, Fwisky, that would be well. Thank you."
Without another word, Fwisky popped away. A moment later, she was back, a large carpet bag of greens and browns floating above her. "Does this suit Miss Minerva?" she asked, turning toward Minerva.
"That's fine, thank you, Fwisky."
As Merwyn and Murdoch silently handed things to the two women to place in the carpet bag, shrinking them as necessary, Minerva sighed, then stretched. "I'm sorry, Dad. I guess after Mother's speech, combined with the fact that I'm a little tired, I was a bit over-sensitive. I know you meant well. And I would like to see Uncle Perseus and Aunt Helen sometime soon not to talk about my job! but I probably won't have much time between now and the summer holidays."
"No harm done, Min. I should have known better especially since you were in the middle of not-finding your carpet bag! By the way, do you know when you last saw it?" Merwyn asked innocently.
Minerva thought a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Of course I do! It was one of the ones I used when I moved from London in December." She turned and embraced her father.
"Well, M'nervy, if you want to be taking tea with your friend Poppy, I'd suggest you hurry," said Murdoch, as he cast a lightening spell on the carpet bag then handed it to her. He winked then and recited:
"Hurry, hurry, run, M'nervy!
"Come for lunch or you'll get scurvy!
"Don't go 'round and 'round a-whirry.
"Cabbage for dinner, cabbage for supper;
"Watch it now, she's in a fury!
"Hurry, hurry, run, M'nervy!
"The world has gone all topsy-turvy;
"Just eat your lunch and don't you worry!
"Hurry, hurry, my sweet M'nervy."
Minerva laughed, good humour restored. A dozen years older than she, but still closest in age of all her brothers, Murdoch had made up that rhyme for her the summer before his final year at Hogwarts. He had teased her about her impatience to start school and told her that Hogwarts wasn't all cream cakes and hot chocolate, but cabbages, too. When she protested that, unlike some people, she didn't care about food; she just wanted to go to classes and the library, he laughed and told her that even lessons and the library weren't particularly fun you had to learn what the teachers taught you, not just what you wanted to study. The next morning, when he found her trying to read one of his old Charms textbooks, he told her to go out and play. "You don't need to learn everything all at once, you know, M'nervy. And you don't need to grow up so fast." "But you all are," she'd protested, whining. When he took the book away, Minerva spent the rest of the day sulking, wondering with whom, precisely, she was supposed to play. None of the house-elves knew the first thing about chess, and she'd outgrown having "tea parties" for her dolls and the house-elves. Late that afternoon, Murdoch found her curled up in the library with Hogwarts, A History, not reading, just holding it and looking miserable. That's when he made up that rhyme for her, hoping to make her laugh. She just pouted the first time he recited it; the second time, she stomped off; but when they were having cabbage for lunch a few days later, he started the rhyme again and was pleased to see her trying to hide her smile behind her glass of pumpkin juice.
"All right, Murdoch, that's enough! I don't need your nonsense rhymes clanging in my head for the rest of the afternoon!" She smiled and shook her head fondly at him.
"Come on, Melina, walk me downstairs. Say, do you want to come with me? Poppy left St. Mungo's to work at Hogwarts before you started your training, so I don't think you two have ever met, but I'm sure you'd like her. Do you have the time?"
"I'd love to," Melina replied enthusiastically. "I don't have to be at the clinic until tomorrow afternoon, in fact. Dad, can you take my books back home with you? I'll Floo home from the Three Broomsticks later this evening."
After Minerva and Melina said good-bye to Egeria in the library, they walked out to the front garden.
"Meet in front of Scrivenshaft's, shall we?" said Minerva briskly. "As you haven't been to Madam Puddifoot's yet." Melina agreed, and with a pair of cracks, the two Apparated to Hogsmeade.
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Latest 25 Reviews for Resolving a Misunderstanding
954 Reviews | 6.45/10 Average
Okay...I think it's time for a Gertrude and Malcolm story. If you got any ideas like the proposal or her pregnancy I'm all ears. I've read this story 100 times but just wanted to say that this story is great every single time I read it, it always feels like my first time.
I have a love hate relationship with this fic. I do not enjoy stories where people spend time angsting when they could just tell each other how they feel and be done with it, no matter how it plays out. I enjoyed this because of Quin. If you hadn't had he or Getrude, this story wouldn't have worked for me. The witty dialogue is what kept me interested to the end. Well done with your OCs.
Review in progress... :-)
Putting myself in Albus's shoes - from his vantage point of what had played out between them - I can very well imagine how awfully guilty he must have felt, how repulsed by his own behaviour, how defeated, with no option but to assume things were over. Really sad and horrible, for him.
But then Gertrude...oh, how I love that woman! Her questioning of Albus, her coclusions: brilliant! Utterly love that small scene! :-)
Forgot to rate...
Must have been very upsetting, embarrassing and worrying for Albus indeed, to have found a young woman attractive for a few moments, only to find out that she's actually his student. I can so imagine how he must have been shocked and appalled by himself.
I loved seeing these two lively, bright and, both of them, determined and decisive girls: Melina seeing the need to educate on healing spells, before even being allowed to hold a wand; and Minerva, trying to take matters in hand concerning Albus's health as well as the running of Murdoch's household. Yet, I always find Melina bordering on overpowering and you already show that here, in her as a young girl.
"And what a pity we can’t hold hands as innocently as Melina does." I love this observation, which, I'd say, actually counts for all of us.
You made me realize it's a bit sad, isn't it? Holding hands is comforting and gives a sense of closeness, but once you're above a certain age (and experience?), there's just no way the innocence will ever come back, unless it's holding hands with a small child. Which means that I, and most likely by far the most of us, hardly ever hold hands anymore. Alas.
Very nice, serious chapter and probably decisive in Albus's later 'hesitations' towards Minerva. Right???
Soap in the eyes indeed! Malcolm is such a twit ... its hard not to like him at least a little ... still ... I think Gertrude is far too big a catch for the likes of this McGonagall ... *snorts*
Forgive me Madam Raven ... I'm bound to get uppity with at least one of your characters.
Even with my aggravation, I did enjoy Malcolm and Gertie's banter.
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Awww, you'd like Gertrude to be single and still all shades of mourning? Poor Malcolm! He adores her, you know! :-) ;-) He also amuses her & brings her some vitality. Glad you enjoyed their banter! :-)
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
I know I know ... and you know why, of course ... his arrogance and swagger embarrass me because .... yes ... exactly ... reminds me of a younger version of ... someone foolish ... not saying whoooooo ... *whistles innocently*
And of course we can't have Gertie in all shades of black forever! She needs her lime green suits - just like in this chapter - she redresses in three shades of ... GREEN! Gertrude Spring! Seee! That's where I got the lime green from! *grins*
That and I would want her to find joyous love ... I love Gertie too much not to. Even if it has to be Malcolm. *grins*
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
There's a place in life for people who are a bit brash. Aside from their entertainment value! haha! But don't be down on those characteristics of yourself. You've noted yourself that you've learned to tone down a bit and not just say whatever pops into your head! :-)Yep, Malcolm got her to wear green, green, and green, and look all nice and cheerful. I was pretty sure you were remembering her post-Malcolm greenness when you mentioned the lime green suit. hee!
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
I will share something simple I have learned. Humility is a virtue and pride is a liability. *nods* And I has lots more liabilities than virtues, me thinks.
I so love this chapter. The dragon riding is just so incredible ... and then the duel is ABSOLUTELY awesome! I love the giant field of sunflowers and the fireball - aka - fire don't hurt phoenixes - snap you're stunned, Buddy bit.
Give me a Madam!
Give me a Raven!
Ravenclaw's Madam Raven!
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
Holy COW! Bloo knows English!
Dragons Dragons Dragons!
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
It was a stunner to get any review from Bloo that didn't consist of "Cheers for posting." It became so tiresome to keep opening TPP review alerts, go to the review page, and discover yet another of the exact same three words. I didn't want to turn off alerts altogether because I was still getting a lot of real reviews for fics that were still WIPs at the time.I'm glad you enjoyed the dragon riding and the "whoops, you're Stunned!" at the end. :-)Thanks!
Madam Raven, remind me which house Siofre was sorted into?
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
She's Ravenclaw. And Lydia is Slytherin. Siofre's first husband - Merwyn's father - was Gryffindor, and her second husband Herbert was Hufflepuff.
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
I thought she was Ravenclaw. Still no idea who Lydia is ... I know her daughter is Maisy, or Maise or something like that.
Forgive me, I get all the McGonagalls and their affiliates, across yours, mine and Squibby's universes confused.
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Lydia's her sister-in-law, remember? Murdoch Tyree's wife. She's a major CSG character. (I thought you were reading that at one point, but I must have misremembered.)
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
No I was reading it (you are correct), but in the last six months I've lost about 40 IQ points and have forgotten nearly everything I used to know ... so I am behind on RaM-verse extensions. Bad me ...
*sighs* Albus ... Albus ... Albus ... most romantic man to ever grace .... fiction. If only men could be so romantic anymore. That poem is beautiful ... I am guessing, since there are no foot-notes, that it is one of your originals?
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Yep, Albus and I wrote that way early in the story. I'm not much of a poet, but I thought it felt and sounded like a poem that Albus would write.
*snip*
“Ah, well, it’s best not to rush things. Enjoy it, Minerva, savour it. He’s likely nervous, as well. The age difference is probably causing him far more concern than it is you. His perspective is different from yours, and as I said when you were here on Friday, he is from a different time and place. He also has had experiences in his life that you and I, fortunately, have been spared, and that I can only dimly imagine.”
*snip*
I really like that. That shows uncommon wisdom.
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
*snip*
“No, simply . . . odd, disorienting, I suppose,” Albus replied, though Minerva thought that he did look tired and drawn. “It was so long ago, it is almost like remembering a dream. Collum was actually almost five years younger than I, in Aberforth’s year, but he was in my House, and I was also good friends with Perseus. Perseus and Crispinian were cousins of some sort, and Crispy was great friends with Collum, who was only a couple years younger than he. Anyway, for some reason – I don’t remember why, now – we were all here for a few days that summer after my NEWTs. I had just married, and I remember that Dervilia persuaded me that we should accept the invitation because I would be beginning my apprenticeship soon and would have much less time for my friends. I hadn’t been inclined to, wanting to spend the time with her, and feeling that they were all still children while I was a married man – at all of eighteen! But we actually had a good time. I remember that the girls – Siofre and Gwyn – visited once for the day and gave Dervilia some relief from our masculine company.” Now Minerva was beginning to feel peculiar. Gwynllian and Siofre, the “girls,” were her grandmothers. Perseus was Gwynllian’s brother, and Crispinian was her other grandfather. For a dizzying moment, Minerva felt as though she had stepped back in time, to a point when her Great-uncle Perseus was just a boy, friends with Crispinian, not knowing that Crispinian would marry his sister, Gwyn, nor that Collum would marry Siofre and die in an accident when his son, Merwyn, was just a baby. And Albus and Dervilia . . . that their happiness would be very short-lived.
*snip*
Woah ... yeah that would make me uncomfortable as well ... that is ... well that is just ... well ... my head would be swimming if I were Minerva.
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Yes, it is dizzying for Minerva, and it gives her an appreciation for some of the points her mother made, and for how and why Albus would not be completely comfortable yet.
*snip*
“Hold still, Merwyn! Your collar is all askew here,” Egeria said with slight impatience.“Don’t see why we have to get all dressed up,” Merwyn grumbled. “I thought what I was wearing this morning was perfectly acceptable.” “Those old brown robes make you look like Friar Tuck,” Egeria grumbled back.“They do not! Besides, I thought you liked my brown robes. That’s what you said the last time I wore them!” “No, it isn’t. I said I liked taking them off of you. There is a difference,” Egeria said with a smile. She patted his tummy and added, “And you are right, you don’t look like Friar Tuck. You have a much nicer figure – though heaven only knows why, when you sit behind your desk all day or in the library with your feet up.”
*snip*
Tee hee hee ... now Madam Raven, don't take my head off here, as you know I tend to picture your characters in my mind regardless of how you describe him ... but I thought you'd like to know how I picture Merwyn ... and here I see that I was wrong.
I picture Merwyn of average height, black hair that is now full of silver and white, and a very round figure ... probably from all that sitting behind his desk.
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
*snip*
Minerva laughed. “Fly without a broom? No, haven’t mastered that, wouldn’t try. It’s not possible.”It was Albus’s turn to laugh. “Not impossible, merely very rare in this part of the world. And the Ministry would like to keep it that way. Hard to regulate that sort of thing. Most witches and wizards couldn’t accomplish it, anyway.”Minerva stopped and looked back at him. “You are joking, aren’t you?” “Not at all. I rarely do it, myself, although when I was with Master Nyima, I became quite adept. I would sometimes fly with Mother Dragon. I think that is one reason she took a liking for me, actually.”Minerva looked at him a moment, digesting this information, then she shook her head and continued the climb. Well, she hadn’t believed it was possible to become as completely invisible as Albus could, either. In fact, at the time, she had actually thought that she had always believed becoming invisible was as impossible as flight without a Charmed object. Apparently, it was, though not the way that she had believed. She should never underestimate Albus Dumbledore.
*snip*
*grins* I like this.
See ... we HP fans know that Dumbledore is brilliant and amazingly powerful ... but just to say it, well its a bit of a let-down, and harder to take as fact. But showing it ... especially in a sideways manner such as this ... an off-handed type of author's compliment, well that seems to me, to be perfection. I can truly appreciate his amazing talents here ... especially considering that Minerva (who is particularly powerful and talented) is amazed.
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
I'm glad you liked that. :-)I remember knowing that I would slip that in way back when I wrote the chapter where Dumbledore invisibly observes Minerva doing her tutoring session, and I always envisioned it happening at her family home -- I'd originally been going to have him actually fly, but without a good reason, it would have felt too stilted, especially since his Animagus form flies, so that would be more natural.
*shakes head* Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm ... there is such a thing as tact .... *groans* sadly .... I think I get most frustrated with Malcolm because he reminds me of myself ... er ... I should clarify, my younger self, who was obnoxiously blunt and said what ever came to my mind ... and I likely came off as gruff and uncouth as Malcolm does ... so its an annoying reminder of just how ungracious I can be. *grumbles*
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
He doesn't always employ his internal censor, and he doesn't always have the best way of putting things, but his heart's usually in the right place. And when he wants to, when he puts his mind to it, he can be tactful. But that takes work for him!
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
Sounds like someone I know ... *groans* Another reminder for me. I guess some of us are just ungifted with the 'gracious' gene.
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
He doesn't always employ his internal censor, and he doesn't always have the best way of putting things, but his heart's usually in the right place. And when he wants to, when he puts his mind to it, he can be tactful. But that takes work for him!
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
Sounds like someone I know ... *groans* Another reminder for me. I guess some of us are just ungifted with the 'gracious' gene.
FINALLY! Hooray for Quin and Wilspy ... *steals Wilspy and takes her to the island where she's stashed Gertrude*
I thought about stealing Quin but ... I am on this celibacy kick ...
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Oooohhhhh noooooes! *MMADfan enlists Quin to help find and steal back Wilspy and Gertrude*
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
*Quin turns on the charm , turning
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
's celibate knees to jelly so she can't chase after MMADfan as she steal back Wilspy and Gertrude*
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
*floats like a jellyfish (uber slow) across the water while she sees Quin, Gertrude and Wilspy sail off on the boat. Is quite sure Wilspy and Gertrude are crying and waving in mourning as Quin steals them both from the enchanted island*
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Heheheh!!
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
Its an island enchanted to have no mosquitos, sand flies, fire ants or thorny trees/bushes but lots of beautiful fish, both shell and fin, and a huge variety of fruit trees and veggies year round, and maintains a perfect temperature and humidity level ... *sighs*
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
I wanna go there!
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
Me too!
This is the chapter that I want to throttle Minerva and grant Quin sainthood ... honestly ... what she does to that poor man ...
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
I know. Minerva was not at her best there, was she? Poor Quin!
*snip*
Finally, at midnight, he went down to his office and opened the cupboard in which he kept his Charmed parchments. He rarely used them, and he hesitated to now. It would be prying . . . it would be for his own personal gain, not for school business. But he cast the necessary spells, and the results were clear and easy to read, there were so few people in the castle. Johannes was in his bedroom in Ravenclaw Tower. Gertrude and Malcolm . . . were both together. In her rooms. In her bedroom, in fact. Well, that answered one question that he hadn’t wished to ask. Johannes’s name was steady, but Gertrude’s and Malcolm’s names seemed to pulse, becoming thicker and bolder, then returning to the normal script. He could imagine what that might mean, and he averted his eyes. But Minerva’s name was not on the list. There was Fawkes listed. For some reason, he was perched in the Astronomy Tower. But no other being or creature was named. Albus still hadn’t set the wards properly to detect the ghosts. It had been a low priority, and he had never managed to get to it.
*snip*
OOOOOOOOOooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh, so THAT's how the Mara's Map was created! Or at least, that is one way ... nice little intry there, Madam Raven!
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Yes, the magic that allows those Charmed parchments is the magic that was tapped into to create the Marauders' map. It's part of the magic that was being tested and fixed that summer when Minerva helped with the wards, changing back and forth into her Tabby self to see whether the wards detected her identity when she turned into her Animagus form -- the wards had been so damaged that they no longer detected someone who was in Animagus form.Many years later, this became important for seeing Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black on the map. Also, by the time that he enlisted Minerva's help, Dumbledore had already fixed the ward that detected the true identity of someone who was disguised using Polyjuice -- meaning that during GoF, Potter saw that B. Crouch was searching Snape's office. Of course, he thought that it was B. Crouch senior, not the crazy son who had supposedly died in Azkaban. The fake Moody (Barty Crouch) took the map from Harry so that Harry wouldn't notice that Moody never left his office (where he was stuck in the trunk), and that where Moody apparently was, Crouch actually was.
*snip*
“I thought I was being seduced, but it has been a while . . . I may have been wrong,” Gertrude answered, her breath warm upon his face.
*snip*
I just love her wit.
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
She is one sharp Slytherin, and she loves answering a question at a different level than it was being asked. :-)
*snip*
“Yes, you mentioned that at the party. You are aware of how Gertrude’s husband died, though?” Minerva asked.
*snip*
What the hell does that have to do with anything?
Goodness - Minerva has a serious voyeur problem, doesn't she? Naughty!
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
She's concerned that Malcolm might bring up a sensitive subject in an inappropriate way, for one, but mostly, she's worried that Malcolm might just be in it for the fun and that Gertrude is vulnerable if he just up and leaves. Gertrude hasn't formed any other attachment since the trauma of having her husband killed in such a gruesome manner, as far as Minerva knows, so Minerva's worred that Gertrude is opening herself up in a rare manner and that her brother might just be too cavalier with her feelings. (I'd have to reread the section, but that's what I remember o fher motivation.)I'm sure Minerva wishes she had better timing! lol!
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
As I continued to read, Minerva's concern was apparent, as usual, in my typical Gryffie fashion - we leap before we look ... or rather, we shoot our mouths off before we have all the facts. *sighs*
Oh hooooo! Malcolm may think he doesn't want to become too ... attached ... but his heroic defense of 'good' Slytherins sure tells me something or other about a recent acquaintance of his.
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Yes, he is definitely defensive here! Seems he is becoming more than a little attached to a certain Slytherin!
I so love Gertrude. I want a Gertrude in my life! *steals Gertrude and runs away*
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
*MMADfan puts on her running shoes and jogs after
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
*
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
*snip*
“It was a long time ago, as I said, that it all began. When I was a child, really, I suppose. I would like to be able to say with some modesty that my time as a student was unremarkable, but it was not. I excelled at whatever I put my hand, mind, and magic to. I was eager to learn, even more eager than you were – indeed, the Sorting Hat very nearly put me in Ravenclaw, but it decided, in the end, that my nature and my need were Gryffindor. “I chafed at what I saw were restrictions on me and my progress. I found most of my teachers wanting, and believed them dull and unimaginative. Nonetheless, I wanted to please them, and please them I usually did. But I pushed every boundary and stretched it. If it weren’t for the guidance and firm hand of Professor Futhark, I might have become even more insufferable than I no doubt was. But despite my general attitude, I found myself with friends of all types, and, with a rather foolish and overblown sense of my own importance, I came to believe myself not only advanced academically but also better than my peers and their natural leader. And, I suppose, I was – academically advanced and a leader, not better than they,” he clarified.
*snip*
I really like this ... it sounds very Albus to me ... save for the Ravenclaw bit *grins* but sometimes you just gotta tout yer house, right?
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
I think that sometimes, it's really clear that there's one House that a witch or wizard belongs in, and other times, there are others that would suit, too. I think Albus could have fit in with Ravenclaw -- he certainly pursued knowledge, both Light and Dark -- but there were bits of his personality that drove him that were Gryffindor that shaped his intellect and his use of it. (I can't have written that part of the monologue and really substituted "Hufflepuff" -- though I think that with a few tweaks to the text, Slytherin could have been included as an option -- he is a wily wizard, after all!)I'm glad you like it. It's one of the reasons that I think this section, these chapters, work better as a first-person recounting than as I had originally written it -- in the third person as a kind of flashback. We get to see Albus's personality then and now, and his own take on his character as a teen and young man, and how it developed.
*snip*
“Not a bit of trouble, my dear man, not a bit of it! A friend of the Headmaster’s is a friend of mine, I’d like to think! And dear Gertrude, of course.” He winked at Quin. “She’s quite the witch, isn’t she? Knew each other as students of course. Had a bit of a crush on me at the time, I think.”
*snip*
I have to laugh at this ... I just do ... he's a younger and less wise Slughorn than the Sluggy I know from HBP, so it does make sense that he'd brag a bit louder and exaggerate a bit stronger ... but saying that of one's co-worker - wow! That takes some ... something ...
You know I have a soft spot for Slughorn I think it would be fun to pick his brain and study him ... especially try to determine what conditions cause him to puff out his chest the most ... call me weird.
I also love any and all descriptions of the various houses, since we only see two of them in the movies - Slytherin and Gryffindor ... never did get a chance to see Ravenclaw's or Hufflepuff's ... shame really. I'd love to see the Badger room, all decked out in black and yellow - I think I'd feel like I was snug inside a giant bee hive! Oh and I would imagine there would be plenty of honey.
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Yes, Sluggy's sense of grandiosity is quite at its peak here. And it's not yet been burst by the emergence of the Slytherin "Death Eater sect" led by one of his former star pupils. So he's amiably pompous, tries a bit too hard to chum-up to Quin, and yet there is a part of him that genuinely likes other people (in my view) and simply wants them to like him in return. I really enjoyed envisioning the Slytherin dorms and some of the more decent Slytherins in "The Sorting of Susie Sefton." It was fun to look at them from a different POV than we had in the books, and yet try to make it all still recognizably Slytherin.It would be neat to experience Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. And I wonder if Hufflepuff would be all honey with no stings attached ...
*snip*
“It is worth far more than that, Horace, as you know,” Gertrude said, “and even if you offered what it might fetch on the open market, you know the Headmaster still wouldn’t part with it. Your grumbling about it every time he generously chooses to share it is most unseemly and detracts from our enjoyment.”
*snip*
HAHAHAHAHA! Stop complainin and enjoy the bloody mead, yeh buggar!
I do like this chapter, I love just the idea that being a head of house, or even just a teacher, creates some sort of bond, or weave, in the magical wards and structure of the castle. And its nice to see the faculty supporting each other.
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
Oh and, I also love lore with the Sorting Hat - for some reason I find that 'character' of Rowling's to be fascinating.
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
I like to imagine that each teacher in the history of Hogwarts, especially Heads of Houses and Headmasters/mistresses, leave some of themselves, some of their magic, in the wards, helping to strengthen the school long after they're gone. That would be a heritage.The Sorting Hat is fascinating, and I think it is intriguing to contemplate whether it's sentient or not, and what its existence says about sentience, at least in the HP/Hogwarts universe.
*snip*
Besides, when I first began teaching, it wasn’t long after Reginald died. It didn’t feel as though it had been long, anyway. I was not particularly concerned with what I looked like. It became a habit. And now I’m too old to be worried about such things.”
*snip*
Oh how I can relate to that!
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Yeah, I think Gertrude is quite human here. But it's interesting how when Malcolm comes into her life, she begins to take an interest in her clothes again! Or at least, they reflect a cheerier self. :-)
*snip*
Albus smiled and sliced them each a piece. The cake itself was chocolate, and it was filled with raspberries and thick whipped cream. There was more whipped cream, Minerva thought, than cake. The icing was chocolate, one layer of an almost brittle icing, then a softer chocolate butter cream over that in decorative curlicues and rosettes. Whole raspberries topped it all off.
*snip*
GAH! I want a cake like that for my birthday - ANY birthday!
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Me too!
*snip*
“All right. Are you finished, then? Would you like more wine? I have another bottle – ”Albus laughed. “Are you getting me in practice for your brothers?”Minerva smiled. “I don’t think I could drink any more, either, but I thought I would offer. We can have some cognac with our dessert.”Albus pushed back from the table. “We could try out your wireless,” he suggested.“Good!” Minerva would be agreeable to almost anything he suggested right now.
*snip*
I'll bet she would!
Response from Fishy (Reviewer)
*snip*
Minerva looked up at him and was struck by how very attractive he was. In that moment, she would have agreed that the sound of monkeys banging ashcans was nice. Fortunately, this was the station’s “music for the dinner hour,” and really was pleasant.
*snip*
*bursts out laughing, barking in fact*
Response from MMADfan (Author of Resolving a Misunderstanding)
Minerva is in a very agreeable mood!