"Mrs. Granger, with the greatest respect, the wards around your property cost a small fortune and to give them to every muggleborn family would be far beyond the resources of Hogwarts."
She smiled, sweetly. "Well then, I will go to bed tonight happy in the knowledge that we serve a man who has not only the words, but also the powers to keep me, my husband, and my daughter safe."
He snapped. "Doesn't it worry you that you know nothing about this man?"
Mr. Granger smiled and looked him straight in the eyes. "Speak for yourself, Chief Warlock."
His eyes widened in shock for a flash of a moment. Mr. Granger knew something and the man's eyes were fixed on him. They were right there. He reached out his magic between them, there was a flash of white light, and he felt a sad little yank just behind his navel.
Daniel Granger stared at the space where, just before, the most powerful wizard in the world had sat. He leaned back in his seat and sighed. "What happened?" McGonagall jerked up and whipped out her wand.
He clutched the golden head-of-house Granger ring on his hand like a child might clutch a blanket. "The headmaster attempted to use some kind of offensive magic on me legilimency, I suspect. The wards shielded me, then ejected him. He'll be several miles away in a local park."
McGonagall swung towards the door, wand still in hand.
"Please stop waving that thing around, Professor." Emma reached forward and patted the far side of the small table between them.
McGonagall whirled back around and fixed his wife with a wide eyed stare. He could hear the woman's breathing.
"Why don't you sit down and tell us about how Hermione is doing. And yourself. We haven't seen each other for a whole year after all."
The old witch stared for several more seconds. Eventually she sat down and took a deep breath. "If…If Albus did try to use legilimency, then I apologise on his behalf."
He made a noncommittal gesture. "Maybe we'll have a conversation about that some other time. In the meantime, what about Hermione? How is she fitting in?"
The professor seemed to take a moment to collect her thoughts. "I have not actually had a class with her, yet. But I do have transfiguration with her at one o'clock." He glanced at the clock and shared a quick, magic-is-awesome glance with Emma.
"She is in Slytherin."
Emma grinned. "Well, of course she is. Ambitious and cunning, sounds like our Hermione."
"Well, yes, but, a muggleborn in Slytherin… it is not going to be easy for her. You wished for honesty, and that is the honest truth."
He smiled a smile of glass and flint. "I think you underestimate our little girl's capabilities. And anyway, she has allies."
"Oh. Yes. The Greengrass heiress."
He maintained "Indeed."
a
carefully
blank
face. Emma poured the professor another dram. "Perhaps we could quickly talk about healer training? It's something Hermione brought up after she got her wand."
McGonagall's face relaxed. "Certainly. Well, the options are…"
Dumbledore picked himself up from where he'd fallen on a well manicured grass lawn. He brushed himself down. Damn. He shook himself. That was a mistake. Ugh. He was getting old.
He looked around. It looked like a muggle park.
Wards like that wouldn't have deposited him far, so he must still be in Crawley. Professor McGonagall hadn't joined him, so presumably she was still with the Grangers. That was good. Maybe she could learn something more useful.
He frowned. The Grangers were convinced that Slytherin was a protector. And to be fair, the man certainly had invested a lot of money into giving the Grangers magical protection powerful enough to stop even him. Slytherin had done far more for this muggleborn family than he had ever been able to. Was he mistaken about Lord Slytherin? But then, why did Slytherin seem to distrust him so much? It made no sense. Slytherin still wouldn't speak with him. After all these years.
He sighed. What he really needed was a iron clad reason to speak with the man. One that Slytherin couldn't refuse and still maintain his image with those he led.
He stilled. Oh, he was being stupid! He reached into the pocket of his robes and brought out the letter Lord Slytherin had written, baring him from speaking with Miss Granger without her magical guardian's presence. He smiled and let out a held breath. Of course. That's how he could get his meeting with Lord Slytherin. Now he just needed to find a valid academic reason to speak with Miss Granger.
He looked off into the distance. But first, he had an appointment with the goblins to keep. He focused on the nearest apparition point to London and vanished.
Hermione sat next to Daphne in the transfiguration classroom. A blank piece of parchment lay in front of her. Her quill was ready inked and lay perfectly parallel to the parchment. A cat padded down the aisle past her and jumped onto the desk.
She stared at it.
"Professor McGonagall is a cat animagus," Harry had said.
She smirked.
Out of the corner of her eye, Daphne did the same.
A large bell sounded, indicating the start of class. Several minutes after that, two more students hurried into the classroom, looking relieved at dodging their presumed teacher based reprimand. One of them was Dean Thomas.
The cat leapt from the table and resolved itself into the upright and stern visage of Professor McGonagall.
The late student's faces fell.
"Thank you Messrs Thomas and Finnigan. Please take your seats and if you are late again, I shall turn you into a clock."
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