elders part one
(The room is still. The coven stands in a tight circle, wands sheathed, palms open. A silver line is drawn on the ground — a circle sealed with will and choice. No flame burns yet. The moment waits.)
Professor McGonagall steps into the room like she was always meant to be there.
Robes trimmed in deep green. Wand at her side. Her gaze clear, sharp, and strangely gentle.
She doesn’t smile.
But something in her eyes says: “I’m proud of you. Even if I’ll never say it aloud.”
📜 McGonagall’s Words:
“You stand here tonight not as students. Not as children. But as witches and wizards who would bind yourselves to something greater than ambition.”
“An oath is no light thing. Magic listens. The world listens. And you must be ready to be what you claim you are.”
She steps just outside the circle — not within it, but watching.
“You vow to stand by each other. To learn all that magic can teach — save that which tears the soul or breaks the will of another.”
“You vow to help those in need. To celebrate the gifts of the world, and to question what deserves to be questioned.”
“You vow to grow not for glory, but for good.”
She flicks her wand — and in the air above them, a silver raven appears, circling silently, then vanishing.
“This is not a game. This is not a school exercise. This is a covenant.”
“And I, Minerva McGonagall — who has stood beside the best and the fallen — bear witness to this oath.”
She looks at them, one by one.
“Do you speak this bond freely?”
(They answer: “We do.”)
“Do you speak it with full knowledge of what it means — and what it demands?”
(“We do.”)
“Then let it be marked. Let it be remembered. Let it be held.”
🪶 McGonagall’s Gift:
A silver-edged book, blank but humming with old enchantments. She hands it to them.
“Fill this with what you learn together. Not for others. For yourselves. For who you will become.”
At the bottom of the first page, a spell appears in her handwriting:
Veritas in Vinculo — Truth in the Bond.
🔐 Closing Line:
“You are no longer just friends. You are bound.”
“May your loyalty be your shield. May your wisdom be your wand.”
“And may you never forget why you began.”
She steps back. The flame in the center of the circle ignites on its own — steady, quiet, and impossibly bright.