Jun-56

Chapter Fourteen: June 1956

Marlene received her Hogwarts letter in June, and straight away Minerva and Albus took their daughter to Diagon Alley to get her school supplies. As Minerva and Albus lived at Hogwarts, Marlene decided not to get an owl as her pet, but a cat – a ginger tabby that she named Dinah, after Alice’s cat in Alice in Wonderland.

One of their last stops was at Ollivander’s Wand Shoppe. Ollivander had always disturbed Minerva – he seemed to know so much more than he let on.

“Ah, Lily McGonagall,” he said to Marlene. “I expect great things from you. I remember when your mother came in here, so many years ago,” he nodded to Minerva, “Mahogany, twelve inches, with a core of a unicorn hair. Good for Transfiguration, obviously,” he said, his shiny silver eyes regarding Minerva. He turned his attention back to Marlene.

“Try this one. Willow, with a unicorn hair core.” She picked it up, and he snatched it out of her hand immediately. “Rosewood with phoenix feather,” he said, placing it in her hand. Again, he snatched it out of her hand. “Mahogany with a phoenix feather,” he said. Once more, the wand was taken out of her hand. “Elder wood with a unicorn tail hair,” he said, and sparks shot out the end of her wand, a warm feeling spreading throughout her body. “That’s the one,” he said.

`

Minerva beamed proudly at her daughter. They paid for the wand and left the shop. Albus was waiting for them, holding their purchases at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour.

“I got my wand, Daddy,” Marlene said proudly, taking it out for him to see. “Ten and a half inches, elder wood, with a unicorn tail hair,” she said.

He examined it. “Congratulations, my dear,” he said, giving her a kiss on her forehead. “Now, what type of ice cream would you like?” he asked her.

“Ooh, chocolate!” she exclaimed. Albus smiled at her. “All right. And Minerva?” he asked, smiling at his wife.

“Vanilla, please, Albus,” she said. He stood up.

“I’ll get the ice cream,” he said and went inside. A few minutes later, he emerged, three bowls of ice cream floating in front of him. He set them down on the table, and the Dumbledores enjoyed their ice cream.

In the past year, Minerva had researched ancient protection spells that would keep her daughter safe from the wrath of Colleen. She finally found a series of spells and, with both Marlene’s and Albus’s consent, she performed them. These spells would protect Marlene from anything that Colleen would attempt to do to her. So at least her daughter was safe.

In August, the school was notified that Albert would not be attending Hogwarts that year; rather, he would be attending Durmstrang. Colleen and her new husband, Evan Travers, had relocated to Bulgaria, where Durmstrang was located. Marlene was devastated – she missed Albert, missed the brother that she had had for such a short period of time.

Marlene tried to write to him, but the letter was brought back by the owl she had sent the letter with. Albus suggested that she use Fawkes, but Fawkes was unable to deliver the letter too. She was utterly crushed. Minerva and Albus tried to comfort her, but it was to no avail – she refused to talk about it.

September came all too soon, and Marlene began school. Minerva attended the Sorting Feast and was so proud when her daughter was sorted into Gryffindor. Marlene was an excellent student, particularly excelling at Transfiguration. She was her parents’ daughter, after all.

In December, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Armando Dippet, died as the result of pneumonia. Albus, as the Deputy Headmaster, became the new Headmaster, and Minerva applied for the positions of Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor House, and Professor of Transfiguration. As Albus had a conflict of interest in her hiring, Minerva had to be approved by the Board of Governors, which she was. Minerva began in the second week of December. It was difficult at first for Marlene to adjust to calling her mother “Professor McGonagall”, but she managed. She loved having her mother as a professor, as she was a good and fair teacher.

Minerva settled into life as a member of the Hogwarts staff quite nicely. Some of her old school friends – Pomona Sprout and Rolanda Hooch – had also begun teaching at Hogwarts. And, of course, she worked very closely with her husband, which was wonderful.

While she and Albus did not always agree and had quite a few arguments, they loved and respected each other, so they worked well together. It was wonderful, and all of them were happy. The world was at peace, and so were they – at least for now.