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“How I wish the joyful mood of that first day could have prevailed.” Poppy sighed deeply as she closed the file of the last student whose injuries they had needed to discuss on this day.
Minerva sighed. Out of all the things she needed to take care of daily, dealing with the consequences of the fights between her students was her most hated task. She could not remember that the rivalry between the houses had been so bad in her days as a student in these halls, but then she had also not grown up in the wake or during a war. First Grindelwald and now Voldemort had deepened the chasm in their society by a frightening degree.
“I was surprised it was this calm on the first day,” Minerva said. “I’m convinced it would have been quite different if it hadn’t been a Sunday.”
She may have spent the whole day watching the detestable muggles who Albus had insisted should take care of young Harry, but she had talked with every single of her colleagues about the events in the school during that day after she had returned. The news about Voldemort’s defeat had been spread far and wide before the night of All Hallows Eve had even ended, and those students from families who had openly supported him had spent the day sequestered away in the relative security of their own dorms. But on Monday the students had been forced to face each other and they had proven how deep this conflict went.
Not for a moment had Minerva expected that Voldemort’s demise would end the conflict. It had started long before Voldemort had risen, even before Grindelwald had risen, and both of them had only used it to gain power. Right now everyone was focusing on punishing those that had followed the latest Dark Lord, but as Lucius Malfoy and others had already proven, they wouldn’t be able to touch many of them, and the true conflict would prevail because no one was prepared to even look at the true problems, much less discuss or solve them.
“I wonder if it would be easier if Albus was here,” Minerva muttered. At least for her it would be easier because then she wouldn’t have to handle his job as well as her own.
“Maybe.” Poppy wiggled her head from one side to the other. “But he is more needed at the Ministry right now. People are going crazy, and with everything we are reading I often think he is the only one keeping any kind of order there.”
Minerva nodded. From everything they knew it was bedlam at the Wizengamot right now, the emotions running high, especially after revelations like the betrayal of the Potters by Sirius Black. Sometimes she still could not believe that part, but he had admitted his crimes and had been found guilty. It felt like a personal betrayal to her as well, and she had laid awake often in the last two weeks wondering when she had lost one of her lions to Voldemort’s thrall and if she could have done anything to prevent it at all.
Poppy sighed. “It was a good thing that the first day was so quiet. I don’t know what I would have done with Harry here when it would have turned out to be the same chaos as it’s been ever since.”
Minerva frowned, thrown out of her musing about Sirius Black. “Harry was here?”
“Yes, of course,” Poppy nodded. “Hagrid brought him and Albus asked me to treat him for any injuries and look after him while he was checking out places where Harry could stay now. It’s such a shame what happened to that poor boy, not only losing his parents but also being betrayed by his godfather! I hope whoever Albus entrusted with his care will keep all of this away from him for as long as possible.”
“Shouldn’t he have been in St. Mungos?” Minerva asked. “I mean no offence, Poppy, but children of that age aren’t your speciality!”
“Oh, I know!” Poppy shook her head smiling. “Thankfully, nothing was amiss with him. He was a little bit cold, but that was expected after how Hagrid transported him here. I put a warming charm on the lad before Hagrid took him to Albus the next night. I have no idea what I would have done if he had needed anything else. I couldn’t have brought him to the hospital, he would have never been safe there with Black still on the run and everything.”
Minerva opened her mouth, but her voice failed her. Something was bothering her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “Don’t you need the agreement of a guardian to treat a child?”
Poppy frowned but nodded. “I had Albus’ permission.”
Minerva pursed her lips because that right there was one problem that had been teasing at the edge of her mind. At that point, right after the murder of his parents, Albus shouldn’t have been Harry’s guardian. There had been Black, of whom they had not known yet that he had betrayed the Potters and was unfit to be Harry’s guardian, and there had been Alice Longbottom, who had not been attacked yet and was the boy’s godmother. Poppy should have tried to contact one of them, instead of waiting for new instructions from Albus.
The next question arose from that right away and Minerva was confused that she had not thought about that earlier. Why had Albus even sent her to look for Lily Potter’s sister instead of going to the Longbottoms, even if he had already suspected Black? He had known where both the Potters and the Longbottoms had been even while in hiding, and Alice Longbottom should have taken custody of young Harry right away.
“Did you ask him to reach out to the Longbottoms?” Minerva asked.
Poppy frowned. “Why should I have done that?”
“Alice Longbottom is Harry Potter’s godmother,” Minerva said.
“But they were attacked themselves,” Poppy replied, shaking her head. “And it would have been very obvious and too easy to find Harry with them, even if they hadn’t been attacked.”
“That attack took place three days later,” Minerva muttered. But she had not thought about this herself even once, neither while she had watched the Muggles nor while she had argued with Albus even after they had left Harry on their doorsteps that this was not the way to go about it.
“Don’t you think we can trust Albus to know what’s best for the lad?”
Minerva sucked in a breath because her immediate response to that, at least in her head, was a resolute “No!”. She didn’t say it aloud, though, driven by a strange instinct to keep her doubts to herself, and instead inclined her head. “I just wonder how Albus was able to make these decisions if it should have been the place of Alice to make them. And at that point even Black would have still had a say. His capture was even a day later than the attack on the Longbottoms and no one had suspected him up until this moment!”
Minerva remembered that Hagrid had mentioned him when he had arrived with Harry in the Muggle village. Black had given Hagrid his motorcycle, and it was still with Hagrid now. There had been nothing out of the ordinary for Hagrid to talk with Black back then, for neither of them. Minerva had not expected for Black to be the secret keeper of the Potters because it was too obvious in her mind, but she had also not wondered why the young man had not taken care of his godson himself.
Poppy shrugged. “I just assumed the Potters had arranged for Albus to be Harry’s guardian if something happened to them. The Longbottoms have their own child after all, and I never understood why they would make someone as immature as Black his godfather. Maybe they came to regret that, even without knowing he would eventually betray them.”
“Maybe.” Minerva sighed and nodded, deciding to let the topic go. There was an uneasiness still lingering in the back of her mind, but she felt discussing it with Poppy would be pointless.
“Don’t worry so much,” Poppy said smiling.
Minerva returned the smile, feeling a calmness settle on her that always came with those words. They had become a mantra among the staff, even before Voldemort’s demise. It was a reminder to allow themselves a break, and a moment for themselves to preserve their energy.
They wrapped up their business for the evening, and Minerva saw the same relief in Poppy’s face about being able to retire for the evening as she felt. Taking care of the school and the students was exhausting in normal circumstances, and they had been far away from normal circumstances for nearly a month now. The Yule break could not come fast enough, they all needed that break desperately.
But sleep would not come on this evening, while Minerva’s thoughts were circling around the timeline and the strange situation of one Harry Potter. The most concerning thing for her was that she had not thought about any of this earlier, that she had helped Albus scout out the Muggles they had left Harry with and not asked once about either of his godparents on that day or even later when she had argued how irresponsible it was to leave a young boy with those people. She didn’t even trust them with their own son, and she was generally not a person to question the suitability of certain people to be parents.
Minerva had no idea how long she had been tossing from one side to the other in her bed, when another revelation hit her and she sat up abruptly, staring wide eyed into the dark of her bedroom. She had thought about those Muggles on and off during the day, but she could not remember their names, or where exactly they lived. She remembered how Albus had given her those details in the very early morning hours of November 1st, but she could not remember any of it now.
She sucked in a breath as she left her bed and started to pace through her room restlessly. These were not details she would just forget, especially not in the course of a month. She should remember this, and that she did not was worrisome on many levels. Minerva didn’t doubt that magic had to be involved in this sudden memory loss, and she spent nearly an hour searching for any other explanation than the one that came to her mind first—without any success.
She could not be sure of course, but Albus had done a lot of suspicious things surrounding the situation of Harry Potter, and Minerva couldn’t help but wonder how far he would go to keep the information of his whereabouts hidden. Would he go as far as to violate the minds of others? She wanted to trust him, she had trusted him for many years now with many things, but she couldn’t come up with any other explanation than that he had taken this memory from her.
Even the thought alone left her feeling violated in a way she had never experienced before. She had been the victim of attacks against her mind and body before, but it had always either been in training or from an enemy, never from a trusted friend. There had to be another explanation, and she just had to find it. There was no reason for Albus to take those memories without asking her, she would have allowed him to do it if he had asked.
Minerva’s legs were shaking as she sat down on the edge of her bed, taking deep, measured breathes to calm herself down. She had to be overthinking all of this. There had to be another explanation, but she was driving herself crazy with worrying about little details. She needed to sleep, and hopefully in the morning things would be clearer.
She closed her eyes and let the magic rush through her. She preferred to sleep in her human form, but it was easier to clear her mind if she was a cat. Sometimes it scared her how easy it was to get lost in the much simpler mind of the animal, and she had heard more than one story of people losing themselves in their animagus form, but for once the peace she found in it was more alluring than any cautiousness.
The night was short, and the few hours of sleep she had found as a cat had not brought the clarity of mind Minerva had hoped for. In fact, being not quite as exhausted as she had been the night before only served to make her worry even more about the situation surrounding Harry Potter and the very specific hole in her memories about his whereabouts.
Albus was not in the castle and the house-elves informed her he had not come back overnight either. It was nothing unusual in the last couple of weeks, but she wished she would have been able to speak with him. She had wished to confer with him about the events in the school more than once, even for just a couple of minutes, and she had started to resent him for ignoring his duties to the school more than a week ago. As much truth as there was in Poppy’s words, the importance of his work in London was no reason to neglect his duties to the school in the way he had done this month.
For a moment, Minerva stopped to wonder if her irritation with Albus was clouding her mind, letting her see things that weren’t there. She huffed and shook her head about herself. She never let her mind be clouded by these things, there was no reason why she suddenly should fall into that trap now.
Aside from Albus, there was one other person who had been part of this situation she could talk to, and so she found herself walking down to Hagrid’s hut after breakfast. It was a Saturday, and while she would normally need the day free of teaching to take care of the paperwork that was piling up in Albus’ office, she didn’t feel in the right place to concentrate on any of it. Minerva had no idea what she was even searching for, but she felt she needed answers.
Hagrid greeted her with a booming laugh and an invitation for tea. She accepted the tea with a smile but declined the biscuits he offered her; everyone knew to never accept those if they wanted to keep their teeth intact.
“You look troubled, Professor,” Hagrid said softly while he served her the tea.
Minerva sighed. “We are living in very troubling times, don’t you think? Sleep is not easy to come by with all the revelations we are faced with.”
Hagrid nodded. “Aye.”
“I keep wondering about Black, to be honest,” Minerva continued. “He was not an easy student, but … his friendship with James Potter was legendary before they had even finished their second year. I wonder how I could have been so mistaken about that young man.”
Hagrid heaved a sigh. “I thought he was devastated over his friend’s death when I fetched little Harry for Professor Dumbledore. It’s terrible to know now that his shock and tears were for the monster who had killed the Potters and not for them.”
Minerva frowned. “You saw him?”
“Yes, of course. He gave me his motorcycle so that I could bring Harry to Hogwarts to keep him safe.” Hagrid shook his head. “I told ya, didn’t I?”
Minerva blinked dumbfounded. “I thought he had given it to you earlier. He was at the house of the Potters?”
“Was bringing Harry out when I arrived.” Hagrid nodded. “I told him Dumbledore had sent me to keep Harry safe, that I needed to bring Harry to Hogwarts. At first I thought Black wouldn’t give him to me, and really, what could I have done if he had decided then and there to take his revenge on the little boy? We were lucky with that, right, Harry and I both? Told me even Harry would be safer in Hogwarts than anywhere else and that no one would suspect me of having him with me.”
“Why was Black there, did he tell you?”
Hagrid shrugged. “He would have known his Master had gone there, wouldn’t he? And it’s said they all knew right away when You-Know-Who died.”
Minerva shook her head because that was another thing that made no sense. “And you brought Harry first here to Poppy and later to his Muggle relatives, right? Did you speak with Albus in between?”
“No, Professor Dumbledore has been quite busy since that day, hasn’t he? He had told me to bring Harry to Madam Pomfrey and gave me the address where I should bring him the next night.” Hagrid shrugged.
“Did you tell Black about any of this?” Minerva asked, not asking about Dumbledore’s instructions for the moment. Judging by Hagrid’s words, Albus had planned all along to leave Harry with his relatives, while he had given Minerva the impression that he had researched several possibilities during the day and had sent Minerva to the Muggles as part of that.
Hagrid huffed. “‘Course not. Professor Dumbledore had told me to trust no one as long as we didn’t know what had happened to the Potters, and to let no one leave with little Harry.”
“But you trusted Black enough to take his motorcycle?” Minerva bit her lip when she noticed that she sounded harsher than intended.
Hagrid frowned.
“I’m sorry, I’m just confused about a couple of things.” Minerva rubbed a hand over her forehead and took a sip of her tea. “And I’m tired, the days are just too short right now.”
“And the students are going crazy,” Hagrid agreed.
Minerva laughed humourlessly. “You noticed that as well, yes?”
“I thought they would be happy to find peace now with You-know-who gone,” Hagrid murmured. “Don’t know why they still have to fight each other.”
Minerva inclined her head, well aware that there was no sense in discussing this with Hagrid. He had a much too positive an outlook on life to ever leave this kind of naivety behind. “Do you ever think about going to visit Harry to see if he is alright with his relatives?”
Hagrid chuckled. “I did. He was such a lovely boy, if a little bit quiet.” He shrugged. “But I don’t think I could find it again.”
“But Albus had given you the address.”
Hagrid grinned sheepishly. “‘M not the best to remember those things, ya know?”
Minerva took a deep breath, wondering if there had not been outside help for Hagrid to forget the exact location of Harry Potter as well. Nothing about this day was adding up anymore, and the uneasiness kept growing in her.
“And Professor Dumbledore told me not to visit anyway. Would be too dangerous, right? There are still Death Eaters walking free, and they’ll just be waiting for an opportunity to harm him!”
Minerva inclined her head. “That is true. But someone should still be able to check on Harry. What I saw of that family wasn’t very … reassuring. And Albus won’t have time for that for months to come.”
“They’re his family, they’ll take good care of him!” Hagrid said with conviction.
Minerva sighed. “I hope you are right.”
“Don’t worry so much.” Hagrid reached out over the table and patted her arm.
Minerva smiled for a moment, but this time when the calmness settled on her, she shuddered, and dread broke through it right away. There was something wrong about this feeling that she had never noticed before, and she was not sure why she noticed it now.
“You are right,” she said with a forced smile, shoving her worry aside. “Are the students troubling you? I had thought they would keep their fights to the castle.”
Hagrid shook his head. “They are not trying to get into the forest more than usual. I’ve just seen them fighting and arguing so much this last month. I can’t understand them.”
“Some of them are losing their parents or even their whole family to Azkaban right now,” Minerva reminded him. “Others lost their families to the crimes of those being put in Azkaban. And the older years remember the Potters and Black still from their time here. Many are angry or hurt, or both. It’s a lot to deal with for a child.”
She spent another hour with Hagrid, talking with him about the reactions of the students and discussing possible solutions to relax the situation in the school. Hagrid may not be a teacher, but he had spent most of his life working for Hogwarts and had the kind of experience in working with children that Minerva often found she missed as a teacher.
Minerva left Hogwarts an hour after curfew. She told no one about it despite her worry that something could happen while she was away, but the house-elves would know how to reach her. Her duties as the Head of House of Gryffindor had been delegated to Professor Babbling for the time being while Minerva was taking care of Albus’ job, so she at least didn’t need to worry about her lions. Everything short of two students severely injuring each other should be handled by the other teachers anyway, and nothing of that scale should happen during the night.
The idea to tell anyone that she would leave had made her uneasy, and so she had kept quiet about it. She had felt constricted inside the school the whole day since her talk with Hagrid and had barely been able to work for the rest of the day, too distracted by the shock about how forced the calmness had felt that had overcome her for a moment during their discussion. The phrase and the calmness accompanying it had been a common occurrence among the staff for at least a year, and looking back on it now, every single instance of it seemed to feel wrong.
Additionally, too many things concerning the events of November 1st were not adding up and she felt there was no one inside the school she could talk to about it. She had seen in Poppy and in Hagrid that her concerns would be dismissed, and she had felt herself dismissing them throughout the day a couple of times, which only furthered her worry about a possible magical influence. Something was going horribly wrong inside the school and as much as she didn’t want to believe it, every time she thought about it, it led her back to Albus in one way or another.
Minerva had decided some time during supper that she needed an outside perspective, someone whose view was not clouded by any kind of loyalty to Albus and who could help her decide if she was chasing ghosts or if her worries were justified. She had immediately known who she wanted to consult, but she had still hesitated to go through with it. She trusted Jonah more than anyone else despite the different paths their lives had taken, but the time when they had confided everything to each other was long past.
Minerva stepped through the wards of the McGregor family home without any resistance. As a very young woman she had once thought this house would someday become her home, and it had hurt for a long time that Jonah and her both had needed to make other decisions. They had fallen out of contact for long years after that, but after rebuilding a friendship with Jonah, she had learned that she would have always been welcome in this house, no matter what.
A house-elf appeared in front of her, a deep frown on her face. “Please wait here, Miss. Master Jonah be coming soon!”
Minerva smiled and nodded her agreement. “Thank you.”
It was late and Minerva was not surprised to see Jonah still fastening the belt of his bathrobe over his pyjamas, as he hurried down the stairs leading down from the family rooms to the entrance hall. He looked tired and worn out, and with his own role in the Wizengamot she should have thought about his own workload and the strain it would put on him earlier.
“I’m sorry to disturb you this late, Jonah. I couldn’t leave the school at any other time right now.”
He shook his head, a soft smile on his face. “I’ve told you time and again that you are welcome here at any time.” Jonah stopped in front of her and reached out a hand to lay against her cheek. “You look very troubled.”
Minerva closed her eyes and pressed her face against his hand. “I am. But I’m also wondering if I’m overthinking all of this, and overreacting.”
“Let us sit down,” Jonah said softly, leading her to the sitting room. “Can I offer you a drink?”
Minerva shook her head. “I don’t think alcohol is a good choice for this conversation.”
Jonah nodded. He took both of her hands after they had sat down on the sofa and watched her intently. “Did something happen in Hogwarts?”
“No, at least not in the form you are implying. The students are agitated, but it is nothing we are unable to handle.” Minerva took a deep breath. “At least as far as I can say, but I have started to doubt my own perception in the last hours. I don’t know why it’s suddenly put me off in this way. Maybe I’m just imagining things, because why didn’t I notice any of it earlier?”
“What didn’t you notice earlier? What was it that set you off today?”
“There is … this phrase we use to calm ourselves. The last two or three years have been so very stressful in the school, and we developed this mantra to help us deal with it. But today … Every time I’ve heard it in the school, it calms me down, and I thought it was because of the support of the other staff members, but…”
“What mantra?” Jonah prodded.
“‘Don’t worry so much!’” Minerva shuddered in remembrance of the dread that had followed this sentence earlier when she had spoken with Hagrid. There was no calmness in those words found for her anymore.
“And you said it calmed you down?”
Minerva nodded slowly. “But I think it was helped by magic. And I can’t … To speak those words now horrifies me, but … I have no idea if it’s even true.”
“Did it have any effect right now?” Jonah asked.
“No.” Minerva shook her head. “If there is something, it’s located at Hogwarts and the grounds.”
“I can ask a trusted healer to come here and check you out,” Jonah suggested.
“Now?” Minerva scoffed. “It’s in the middle of the night!”
“Yes. And she’ll still come by if I ask her,” Jonah said. “You are worried, and I’d never dismiss that.”
Minerva took a shuddering breath. “I … would feel better about that, yes. I also think … that my memory was tempered with.”
For a moment the grip of Jonah’s fingers on her hands tightened painfully. “Yes, we are not waiting for a healer until the morning.” He made an effort to loosen his grip again and turned his head. “Trish!”
A house-elf appeared with a low pop right beside him. “Master Jonah have called.”
“I need you to go to Heather and tell her I need her immediately,” Jonah said darkly. “And please prepare a guest room each for Minerva and Heather.”
Trish bowed down deep. “Yes, Master.”
“I really don’t think…”
“We are suspecting you are compromised, so I’m making the decisions right now!” Jonah’s voice was rough, and she could see fury burning in his eyes. “What made you think your memories were tempered with?”
“Albus asked a favour of me a while ago and I can’t remember two very important details of it that I know I knew before.” Minerva frowned. “And apparently I can’t talk about it with someone not in the know.”
“So, Dumbledore tempered with your memories and put some kind of barrier about it in your head?”
Minerva shook her head. “I have no idea why he should do this, but … it does seem like it.”
Jonah nodded with a grim face, but thankfully he said nothing about it for the moment. Her friendship with Albus had been a sore spot for their friendship for a long time. When Albus had become the headmaster of Hogwarts, Jonah had repeatedly tried to convince her to search for another place to teach. He had never trusted Albus, but he had never been able to fully explain it to Minerva.
“So, your memories and this mantra are influencing your emotional state,” Jonah finally said. “Is there anything else you are worried about?”
“Albus made a decision I don’t agree with. I think it puts the child in question in danger, but he wouldn’t relent.”
Jonah frowned. “A student?”
Minerva shook her head, cocking her head. She was not able to talk about Harry directly, and the only reason she was not losing her mind about that right now was Jonah’s presence. “Younger. A newly orphaned child.”
Jonah stared at her. “Potter?” he asked incredulous.
Minerva shrugged because she could not even nod to that.
“You know where Potter is?”
“Not anymore,” Minerva muttered, surprised that her thoughts were just stumbling out of her mouth this time.
“That’s what he made you forget,” Jonah whispered. “But you remember enough to be worried about the boy.”
Minerva shrugged again, but before she could try to find any way to let Jonah know with what kind of people they had left Harry, Trish appeared again.
“Mistress Heather being here.”
“Please show her in,” Jonah instructed the elf. He raised Minerva’s hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss against her knuckles. “Let’s hope you’ll be able to speak freely soon.”
Minerva nodded, feeling numb about another revelation that seemed to speak of a deep manipulation. This time, there was no denying that she was not imagining it, and she wanted to be furious about it, but her thoughts were clouded, and that emotion never arouse. It was not a natural state for her, and the uneasiness she had felt about it the whole day kept growing.
She let Jonah talk for the most part, only interacting with the healer as she asked Minerva’s permission to examine her. Minerva closed her eyes while Mistress Heather worked, trusting Jonah to keep her safe. It was not the first time she met his personal healer, and she knew how much Jonah trusted her, so she did the same.
“I can confirm the manipulation of your memories and the blockade to speak about certain things,” Heather said finally. “I don’t think I can do anything about your memories, but I can unlock that blockade.”
“And the manipulations of her emotions?” Jonah asked.
Heather shrugged. “There are certain wards that can accomplish something like that, but they don’t leave traces. You would need to ask someone to examine the wards of Hogwarts about that. They are used in certain parts of hospitals, normally, and the patients are informed about the existence. They shouldn’t be anywhere near a school.”
“Is there a way to protect me from those wards if they are there?” Minerva asked.
“Of course,” Heather nodded. “These wards are used to manage patients in dire circumstances, but the healers shouldn’t be affected by them. I can get you an amulet that will protect you.”
“I would appreciate that,” Minerva whispered.
“The magic influencing you right now is much more important for the moment,” Jonah interrupted. “What do you need to break it, Heather?”
“Nothing I haven’t got with me,” Heather answered. “And a good night’s sleep here afterwards, I assume.”
“A room for each of you is already being prepared,” Jonah said.
Heather nodded and watched Minerva carefully. “Do you consent?”
Minerva took a deep breath. “Yes, please. Should I lay down, or…?”
“You can stay as you are, but you need to stay seated until I’m finished. You will feel uncomfortable, please don’t be alarmed about it.” Heather pursed her lips. “And don’t hold back your reaction afterwards. This kind of suppression tends to lead to magical and emotional outbursts as soon as it is lifted. Holding those back could injure you.”
Minerva nodded. “I’m ready.”
Heather raised her wand and the next couple of minutes were a haze for Minerva. Uncomfortable was not exactly the right description for what was happening to her. Her skin felt suddenly too tight, as if it would burst open at any moment, pressure built behind her eyes and in her ears, and her throat was closing up, making it difficult to breathe.
It all ended abruptly, and Minerva gasped for air, feeling free in a way she hadn’t even known she was missing. And with it the fury she had felt simmering under the surface the whole day finally broke out.
“Mhac na galla!” Minerva leaned forward, bracing her arms on her knees while getting her breath back. Her thoughts were racing, circling around her memories to determine when she had been cursed in this way because it didn’t feel as if it had only been a month ago.
“How long?” Minerva raised her head to stare at Heather, who was pale and panting. “Can you say that?”
“Years. At least six, but it could have been more. I’ll need to analyse the record I made, but I’m not able to do that now.”
Minerva jumped out of her seat and started pacing the whole of the room. The anger she had expected earlier was finally rising, and it was a relief. “Blaigeard! How dare he! Who does he think he is? What does he think he would accomplish with this?”
“The second coming of Merlin, and control,” Jonah said, who was much more composed than Minerva had expected him to be.
His calmness threw her out of her stride, and she stopped to turn to him. “What?” Minerva snapped. She was breathing erratically and the next curse war already on her lips.
Jonah watched her with an unmoving face. “For everyone looking, it has become quite clear that it is control he is after. Most aren’t looking, of course, more concerned with holding onto their illusions, holding up their conviction Voldemort and the Death Eaters were a small insignificant group of thugs but not really the problem everyone else is trying to make out of them.”
Minerva huffed. “The few times he has graced us with his presence in Hogwarts in the last weeks, he made it sound as if he was the only one stopping everything from going to chaos! He complained repeatedly about the Wizengamot not giving everyone the chance to defend themselves!”
Jonah sighed. “He is not wrong with the last part. It is utter chaos, and the biggest problem is that many want to be done with the process as soon as possible. But the last thing Dumbledore is doing is helping. He is working a lot behind the scenes to encourage certain people in their belief that we can get through all the trials before the end of the year while he is officially complaining about the haste.”
Minerva shook her head. “What has any of that to do with me?”
“I doubt it’s only you,” Heather said quietly.
“You couldn’t speak about Potter earlier,” Jonah interjected. “What is it exactly that you know you don’t remember?”
“The address and name of his relatives. They are horrible people, and I don’t know why Albus left the boy with them!” Minerva took a deep breath. “Or why Albus made that decision at all! When we left there, Black hadn’t been convicted yet and the Longbottoms hadn’t been attacked yet either. He went over the heads of his rightful guardians to leave him…” Minerva paused as another terrible realisation hit her. “By Merlin! We left him on their doorstep! We left a toddler on a doorstep in the middle of the night! In November! Why didn’t I…”
“Minerva! Take a deep breath!”
Jonah suddenly stood in front of her and cupped her cheeks with both of his hands. It helped to ground her, but it didn’t draw her out of her panic completely.
“How could I not question it, that we left a small child in the middle of the night on the doorstep of a Muggle home?”
“I don’t think you had any choice with the magic you were suffering under,” Jonah said softly. “It was a decision forced onto you!”
“We don’t even know if he survived the night!” Minerva whispered, shaking. “And we can’t look after him because I don’t remember the address!”
“We’ll find him and we’ll check on him,” Jonah promised.
“How?”
“What do you remember about the Muggles you watched?”
“It’s Lily’s sister, her husband and their young son.” Minerva took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “When she was still one of my lions, I talked to Lily about that situation several times. Her sister grew to hate magic the older they got. And it got only worse after she met … Vernon!” She opened her eyes abruptly. “His name is Vernon!”
Jonah smiled. “That’s good, keep talking.”
“I can’t imagine they would take in a magical child if they had a choice,” Minerva whispered. “Even a non-magical child wouldn’t be welcome there, I think. But especially Lily’s child … We need to find them, Jonah! Harry is not safe there!”
“Do you remember the name of Lily’s sister?”
Minerva shook her head. “No, but … they grew up in the same village as Severus Snape. He and Lily were friends when they came to Hogwarts.”
Jonah nodded. “Then we’ll have a way to track her down in the Muggle world. Dumbledore has never cultivated any contacts there, so I doubt he tried to hide the traces one can find there.”
“You think we can find him?”
“Yes.” Jonah smiled reassuringly. “Arranging that search will be the first thing I’ll do tomorrow morning. And then we’ll look into what Dumbledore has done with the other professors in Hogwarts. Does he come back to the school on the weekends?”
Minerva shook her head. “Barely. I don’t think he spent more than five hours in the school in the last two weeks.”
“His absence will be of help for us, and I’m sure I can think of something to keep him busy and distracted in the ministry. But that’s another worry for tomorrow.”
“Shouldn’t we act now, before…”
“You are exhausted,” Jonah said softly. “It’s not your anger anymore that’s making you shake. You need to sleep. A good night’s sleep without the influence of any of Dumbledore’s magic may make you remember a little bit more, and there is nothing we could accomplish during the night.”
Minerva closed her eyes, only becoming aware of the shaking of her hands and knees after Jonah had mentioned it. Knowing that he was right didn’t help to overcome the urgency she felt about finding Harry as soon as possible.
“I’ve a potion with me that will help you sleep,” Heather said, who Minerva had nearly forgotten. “It will calm your mind for a duration of eight hours. And I’ll examine you again in the morning to make sure I didn’t miss anything.”
Minerva sighed. “Thank you.”
“I’ll show you to your room,” Jonah said. “And tomorrow we’ll start burning down Dumbledore’s world.”