mothwing | Monday, November 29th, 2010

Monday, November 29th, 2010

Title: Impartial.
Rating: G
Credits: =cloaks's Vintage Texture Pack V, ~redheadstock's light brushes, ~Eterea86's beautiful corner brushes, and Hogwarts Crest, (C) Bloomsbury PLC.

Characters: Minerva McGonagall, family.
A/N: I always wondered what it would be like for Hogwarts staff to have their children attend Hogwarts, and what that'd be like for the children. Being a teacher's child is bad enough without being a teacher's child at the only wizarding school in Britain.

Albus, another Gryffindor, she mused, maintained that the hat was impartial, but given that it was Gryffindor's, Minerva had her doubts. Over the years, she had gotten rather good at guessing which student would end up in which house, but there was still the moment when the hat made them one of hers, and she would spent the rest seven years denying the stronger connection she felt towards her own. She knew her grading was as impartial as possible, but she still worried, second-guessed, and feared.

This time, however, it was impossible to stay all too impartial, because seeing her, her nervous apprehension and joy at finally being here was like looking into a mirror.

She suppressed a smile as she raised the hat in invitation to sit down on the stool and shushed the voice that kept saying her own house's name, daring the hat to say any other.

Other parts in the series:

00. Cover

01. Loved

02. Timid

03. Daring

04. Proud

05. Careful

06. Playful

07. Brave

08. Reckless

09. Busy

10. Talented

11. Responsible

12. Impartial

13. Stern

14. Disappointed

15. Trusting

16. Scarred

Title: Stern.
Rating: G
Credits: =cloaks's Vintage Texture Pack V, ~redheadstock's light brushes, ~Eterea86's beautiful corner brushes, and Hogwarts Crest, (C) Bloomsbury PLC.

Characters: Minerva McGonagall, family.
A/N: another headcanon one from 2010. Although Minerva's stern personality might work with any other teenage student especially in this case this is a bit hypocritical, considering.

"Where have you been? What happened to that broomstick?"

She looked up and decided that it would be best not to say anything, given the flaring nostrils and the flashing eyes. Instead, she raised her chin challengingly.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor. Yes, fifty. And you will be joining Mr Filch every afternoon at five this week to help him clean the castle."

"But the tryouts-"
"Will be held without you if you continue in this fashion!"

Other parts in the series:

00. Cover

01. Loved

02. Timid

03. Daring

04. Proud

05. Careful

06. Playful

07. Brave

08. Reckless

09. Busy

10. Talented

11. Responsible

12. Impartial

13. Stern

14. Disappointed

15. Trusting

16. Scarred

Title: Disappointed.
Rating: G
Credits: =cloaks's Vintage Texture Pack V, ~redheadstock's light brushes, ~Eterea86's beautiful corner brushes, and Hogwarts Crest, (C) Bloomsbury PLC.

Characters: Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape.

He was standing as close to the door as he dared, and his carefully blank expression reminded her of a much younger man. Albus had given her Snape's wand and told her what he thought viable options might be, but had left the final decision to her, as the Deputy had the right to veto staffing decisions. In this case, she was very close to believing that Albus actually meant that.

A Death Eater turned was unlikely enough, but the fact that it was Severus Snape made it even less so. Minerva turned first the wand and then the mask in her hands, looking at the eye holes, trying to imagine Severus Snape's eyes, so like Hagrid's, looking through them. She couldn’t, didn't want to.

After melting out of Albus' shadow he had silently remained standing next to the doorway, curiously poised for flight, face impassive. When Albus had swept out again Glaucus rustled his feathers and fixed large yellow eyes on him silently, waiting for the boy to move. The boy. The murderer. The Death Eater. The young man.

"What position are you applying for, Mr Snape?" she asked, even though she knew. The spectre had not said a word, she wanted to hear his voice.

"That of the Potions Master, Professor," he answered silkily, tone and stance as pointedly non-committal as his face.

"Come closer," she said.

He came to stand in front of her desk, ignoring the chair behind him, hands in his pockets like a boy she had known. This was not him, clearly. The mask was not the only evidence of that. He looked older, thinner, and she resisted the urge of offering bisquits or holding up the mask and demanding an explanation. Minerva also bit back the disappointment.

"Have a seat," she said instead.

Other parts in the series:

00. Cover

01. Loved

02. Timid

03. Daring

04. Proud

05. Careful

06. Playful

07. Brave

08. Reckless

09. Busy

10. Talented

11. Responsible

12. Impartial

13. Stern

14. Disappointed

15. Trusting

16. Scarred

Title: Trusting.
Rating: G
Credits: =cloaks's Vintage Texture Pack V, ~redheadstock's light brushes, ~Eterea86's beautiful corner brushes, and Hogwarts Crest, (C) Bloomsbury PLC.

Characters: Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape.

Trust him, had been Albus' parting words.

If it had not been for the mask, this would not have been a problem, but it remained a fact that this was no longer the student she had known. The casualness with which he held it was more unnerving than the story he told, of clandestine meetings in graveyards and carefully omitted, hinted-at horrors the mask was a silent witness to. Minerva was not certain how much she could believe of it, but she had never been with any of his stories.

His wand was still lying on the desk. The young man's gaze had been fixed on it as soon as he had sat down to answer her questions, though sometimes his curiously dark eyes had looked up and pinned her with that same intensity she knew of old. Never long, though, they stole back quickly, hungrily.

She remembered something and noticed his pose, hunched on the edge of the chair, the troubled student rather than the man she was supposed to hire as a teacher. The former Death Eater whom Albus trusted. She made a decision. There was the briefest flicker in his expression when her hand closed around his wand and she raised it to him, but it was gone when he realised what she was doing.

"I believe this is yours," she said, holding out his wand. When his hand closed around it, his shoulders lost their hunch and she gained a first idea of the man he had become since she had seen him last.

Although this had been the question she had begun the interview with she thought it best to start fresh. She had not been interviewing the person who would be taking the position.

"Why are you applying for the Potions position, Mr Snape?"

Other parts in the series:

00. Cover

01. Loved

02. Timid

03. Daring

04. Proud

05. Careful

06. Playful

07. Brave

08. Reckless

09. Busy

10. Talented

11. Responsible

12. Impartial

13. Stern

14. Disappointed

15. Trusting

16. Scarred

Title: Scarred.
Rating: G
Credits: =cloaks's Vintage Texture Pack V, ~Eterea86's beautiful corner brushes.

Characters: Minerva McGonagall.
A/N: If you noticed the snitch in the other pictures you can see why this is one of her worst fears.

Whenever the summer had emptied the castle and the heat haze and sunlight preserved it in transient amber Minerva sat in her abandoned classroom with a glass of chilled wine, for one hour, looking at the studentless chairs.

Then the first war emptied some of them forever, as did the second; funerals were held, cemeteries filled.

She made two trips each November, wandering from grave to grave, leaving unheeded greetings, candles and remembered, and as the cold seeped into her bones a colder chill touched her: she feared another one might one day be for a member of her family.

Other parts in the series:

00. Cover

01. Loved

02. Timid

03. Daring

04. Proud

05. Careful

06. Playful

07. Brave

08. Reckless

09. Busy

10. Talented

11. Responsible