A Generation of Professors

Minerva McGonagall was doing her best to reopen the school after the Battle, but time was getting away from her. With only three months to practically rebuild one of the largest and oldest magical schools in existence, things were closing in much too quickly for her liking.

Luckily, Minerva found herself in charge of a rather spectacular team of past Gryffindors and more than a few honourary ones. Numerous past students had come at her call, helping her mend the castle back to its original splendour. From reconstructing walls to replacing the finer details in classrooms and House common rooms, any little bit of help was used and appreciated.

The Weasleys, in particular, had been an indispensable source of wisdom, cleverness and brute strength. Every turn Minerva took she could spot at least one member of the family, extended or otherwise, hard at work to help out the school.

Harry, as many times as people told him to take a break from helping, was happy to start rebuilding the staircases, taking Ginny and Percy and going up each one individually to test their ability to move on their own with the renewed charms. Minerva knew that Harry had definitely changed the placement of the trick step while doing the repairs, but was too afraid to ask which yet.

Molly and Arthur had taken some time to rest before jumping in to offer their help as well. Molly went straight to the kitchens where the remaining house elves who had valiantly fought were tending to their wounded as well as repairing any damage done to the kitchens. Once she had assessed which elves were in working condition, she sent the hurt and injured up to Poppy and corraled the rest into making proper foods for meals to serve to the volunteers. 

Arthur went with Ron to the Gryffindor common room to fix it and reassign the Fat Lady to the portrait in front of the entrance hole. They then went to the other House common rooms with a member of each House in tow, to fix any damage done to them as well. It gave everyone a place to stay or rest whenever they were in need of it during repairs. 

Minerva nearly teared up the first time she spotted Bill and Fleur Weasley playfully bickering with one another as they sorted through the wards along the school boundaries, the colours and fantastical colours their wands emitted while weaving wards and charms nearly mesmerizing to watch. Little Teddy Lupin certainly seemed to think so, at least, whenever his grandmother or godparents took him out to sit in the fields for a time.

George took the time to reconstruct all the secret passages, nooks and crannies he and his brother had used so often. Harry offered him the Maurader’s Map as a guide to find all the secret spots but George refused, saying he knew them by heart. And, Minerva suspected, Hogwarts was about to gain quite a number of new secret hiding places for new students to discover in the coming years.

Shockingly, Fred didn’t spend all his time following his twin in his endeavour— instead, he halved his time between George and Hermione, who had personally taken it upon herself to clean and reshelve the entire Hogwarts library. 

The first time people noticed Fred in the library, they hadn’t understood why the twin would be spending his time in the room he notoriously hadn’t spent a great deal of his education in. No one got a straight answer about it either from Fred or Hermione. That is until Charlie came running out of said room from a tea-and-sandwiches-delivery with a hand over his face, screaming about his eyes burning and needing them rinsed out.

Ron had popped his head around the corner while Molly and Minerva tried to see whatever the matter was with Charlie, and promptly doubled over in laughter. 

It turned out, there was a very good reason why Fred was always following Hermione around, and it didn’t have anything to do with suddenly having a hankering for caring for books.

Minerva had to actually walk away when Molly went in and caught her red-faced middle son and practically-adopted daughter mid-interrupted snog, and delivered the most half-assed reprimand of her entire life— stuck between annoyance and wild, maternal glee.

The school was being rebuilt, one brick and charm at a time. And as July came to a close with Harry and Neville’s eighteenth birthdays, August loomed and so did what should be the start of a new school year.

Minerva would be relatively embarrassed later when she reflected on how scattered and temperamental she was over the whole thing. But as Harry and Hermione reminded her on numerous occasions, Hogwarts would be ready when it needed to be. No one would or could fault her if there were small inconsistencies or large structural rebuilds still in the works. 

But it became the principal of the matter, in her mind, to make Hogwarts at least appear thriving and ready for a new set of returning students. Because the students returning were going to be just as beaten and battered as the castle had been, and would need the illusion of control and familiarity a fully-functioning Hogwarts could give them.

Hogwarts had always been Minerva’s home, as it had been and would be for any and all of its students. And a strong home needed to be there for its weakened or ailing occupants. 

Thankfully, things seemed to finish up early August with all the volunteers finishing the final touches within a week of one another. There was still debris one could find in the corners of some classrooms or a chip in a stone where there hadn’t been before; but overall, Hogwarts had returned, looking better than ever.

With Hogwarts being completed, Minerva’s past students and volunteers trickled away, heading back to their homes and looking to return to life once more. Her small staff of professors were settling into their repaired classrooms, getting ready for a new year and a whole new look on how to teach to students who had had their educations stunted in the last two years. She had already extended an ‘eighth-year’ option to her seventh years from last year, offering a sort of adjusted year to make up for or complete their interrupted studies, to anyone who would like to return. 

Of course, many if not all of her seventh years were now war heroes, and were already offered jobs or had plans for themselves to move on and begin living in a free world. There were a few who took her up on her offer, but there were more who said a fond and final goodbye to the castle on their way out. Still, Minerva could look forward to seeing them again, whether during special occasions or when they were sending their own children to their first years.

This shift in bodies filling the halls of Hogwarts over the summer came with a new realization for Minerva. She had been so busy worrying and dealing with the school itself, she hadn’t recognized that her staff of teachers and professors was severely diminished after the war.

Due to the takeover by Severus and the Carrows, there really weren’t many teachers remaining at the school. Filius would return to Charms as he told her, ready and willing to continue his tenor at the school. Hagrid, strong and solid as ever, had had his hut rebuilt with the help of Charlie and Ron, and was happy to take on Care of Magical Creatures again. As he said, there were quite a number of hurt or injured plants and animals in the Forest that could use the extra attention, and he began compiling a whole curriculum for the upper-year students who could follow him into the Foret and perform his duties with him in there. 

Minerva found the idea wonderful and agreed to whatever Hagrid came up with. The man had many ideas, once he was given free rein, making Minerva wonder what could have been done before all this mess, had Dumbledore and everyone else given Rubeus Hagrid a bit more credit. 

Other than Filius and Hagrid, the only other remaining teachers (and that thought was too debilitating to think on for long) were Poppy, Horace and Sybill. 

Poppy Pomfrey told Minerva she would stay on in the Hospital Wing— ‘I’ve not spent all this time and effort healing and caring for these students to give up on them now when they need me the most!’— but did not feel up to teaching a class as well. Which was understandable. Poppy had always been a Healer.

Horace Slughorn had nearly cried when he’d told Minerva he would not be returning. And how could Minerva blame the man? He had already been very old and in a stressful enough retirement when Albus had gone and pulled him back into teaching. Minerva had thanked Horace for everything he had done and offered him the castle as a place to stay until he was back on his feet. And not to worry about his position as Potions Master… she would figure something out.

Sybill, shaken and not really the same since Umbridge’s attacks on her in 1996 (let alone the past year), had told Minerva she would be happy to continue teaching Divination… but she would feel much better about her duties if she could be afforded an assistant. 

… And wasn’t that a thought? 

Minerva had agreed, absolutely, and asked Sybill if she already had someone in mind to help her? Surprisingly, Professor Trelawny had already extended her offer to a past student who had decided not to return to Hogwarts as a student, but rather heal and begin working to support herself.

It was with blistering pride and no little amount of surprise that Minerva led a newly-healed Lavender Brown to one of the apartments allocated for Hogwarts teachers a few weeks before the beginning of term. Lavender and Sybill had always got on like a house on fire and worked very well together to pull together a new syllabus. 

Perhaps their shared trauma was another way for the two women to heal; Sybill of her nervous anxiety and Lavender of the lingering effects of a werewolf attack. 

The idea of an ‘assistant’ had Minerva thinking; Hogwarts was in desperate need of teachers, and fast. Finding teachers for each subject would be a feat and one she was not prepared to accomplish with only four weeks until the beginning of term.

But, if she could scrounge up assistants like she had found herself surrounded by volunteers, Minerva could guarantee the actual teaching in Hogwarts would come together as quickly as the castle itself had. She didn’t need teachers necessarily— she needed passionate, helpful people who were looking for work or a chance to find themselves. Trying to find seasoned teachers wasn’t an option for her right now.

So with this in mind, Minerva approached her first pick at dinner that night in the Great Hall, where Molly had been sending dinner from the house elves each meal throughout the summer. All who stayed at the castle for meals would find seats wherever they felt like; Gryffindors at the Head table, Ravenclaws and Slytherins sitting on the top of the Hufflepuff tables, or Hufflepuffs crowding in a semi-circle around one of the fireplace hearths. 

Which meant she was approaching a rag-tag group of people when she walked up to one end of the Gryffindor table and gave Fred and George Weasley a large, rather mischievous smile.

“Good evening gentlemen,”

Fred and George, ever witty and still shining with amusement at every turn, grinned back up at Minerva brightly.

“Good evening, Minnie!”

“Great, in fact, now you’re here, dear Minnie!”

Rolling her eyes (unable not to under the never-ending joking), Minerva gained their attention on herself again, “I had a small proposition to offer the two of you if you were up to hearing it?”

This had Fred and George exchanging a look that Minerva had seen on more than one occasion before being bombarded by their dizzying manner of speaking together. So she cut them off before it could start.

“Of course, if you’re not interested…”

Fred shook his head frantically, “No no, Minnie! We insist—”

“— on you telling us post-haste!”

 Smirking, Minerva decided not to hold back as she said, loud and clear for the entire table to hear, “I was wondering how the two of you would feel about teaching for me at the school?”

Silence met her, as she assumed it would. 

Continuing past their dropped jaws and confused eyes, Minerva said, “I was thinking Potions between the two of you, and perhaps assisting Professor Flitwick in Charms if he agrees. Professor Trelawny has taken on an assistant for her classes and I’ve come to very much enjoy the thought of employing teaching assistants for my professors.”

Fred and George were still staring at her in silence, not a peep from either of them. The others they were sitting with— Hermione, Ginny and Angelina— were looking back and forth between the twins and Minerva with a sort of slack-jawed awe and amusement.

Minerva went on, “Of course, I realize you have a business to run and I would be willing to compromise on whatever you may need to continue to do so while you are teaching, but I think after a discussion or two it will all work out rather splendidly.” Here she stopped, looking between them and finally smiling, “Have I finally broken you?”

George shook his head like he was ridding his head of cobwebs, “Professor…”

“Yes, Mr. Weasley?”

Fred cut in quietly, “You’re not joking, are you?”

Minerva smiles again, perhaps more softly than she’d ever found herself doing while talking to the mischievous twins, “I don’t think I’ve ever been more serious in my life.”

The boys— men— blink at her rather owlishly.

 “Fred, George,” she spoke softly and kindly, “I know, academically, neither of you has ever been told great or kind things,” a glance between them made her have to swallow thickly suddenly, “but you must know, especially after everything the two of you have accomplished on your own, that you two are fantastic and brilliant wizards. The things you’ve done and created all in the name of laughter show how inventive and imaginative you are! Just thinking of the amount of work you must have had to do just in your last two years at the school to ready yourselves for an entire business… is astounding!”

Fred and Geroge seemed to be the ones who were swallowing down tears now, watching their old Professor and Headmistress with carefully blank faces as she continued, “I’m in need of teachers who are open-minded and kind, and willing to work with students who need the sort of laughter and happiness the two of you seem to drag behind you wherever you go.”

Straightening up, not realizing she had hinged to speak more at their eye level, Minerva looked at the three wide-eyed girls, watching her with suspiciously wet cheeks, “This goes for you all as well. I could use a few firecrackers on my teaching staff— wherever they may fit.”

Hermione’s eyes were sparkling, something Minerva hadn’t doubted for a second. Angelina looked a bit unsure but hadn’t turned her down immediately, and Ginny seemed to be thinking. Leaving the girls to ruminate, Minerva looked at the twins who were staring at one another in silence now.

“Think it over, all of you. And let me know what you decide by the end of the week. The school will still be opening on the first of September.”

And with that, she went to walk away. But suddenly found her arms being held down and two pairs of arms coming around her in a very squid-like hug. Chuckling, Minerva patted the nearest arm she could while being pressed between the twins, waiting for them to release her before looking at Fred and George with pride in her eyes.

“We’d be happy to help, Minnie, you know that,” Fred says roughly while George nods.

“The shop will figure itself out, don’t go worrying about us,” George pipes up.

“Besides, if one of us needs time off teaching to work—”

“— It’s not like the ickle firsties will be able to tell who’s skiving off!”

“Wicked!” They finished together, gaining laughs from the girls behind them and Minerva herself, who found she couldn’t help herself when it came to the amusing sight of her newest Potions professors. 

After acquiring the Weasely twins, Minerva found it was much easier to nail down the others to help her. News travelled fast in a large family it would seem, as the next day, Minerva found Ginny and Ron waiting for her when she left her own quarters in the morning. Ginny was speaking before Minerva could even greet them. 

“Ang and I were thinking about what you said, and we came up with an idea for you.”

Minerva’s brows rose in silent question, allowing Ginny to go on, “I’m listening, Miss Weasely.”

“Well,” Ginny starts, sounding like a businesswoman selling her pitch, “Angelina is going back to playing Quidditch again, but still wanted to help where she could. And I was going to try out myself this year, meaning if I did land on a team, I wouldn’t have much time either.”

“And I’ve decided to take Kingsley up on his offer for a place in Auror Training,” Ron says proudly, smiling happily for himself.

Minerva smiles, happy for them both but unsure what this had to do with teaching yet, “This all sounds very exciting for you both, but I don’t want you to think you have to teach if you already had plans.”

“That’s the thing, Professor,” Ginny quips, “we find we all want to teach. It sounds… right, you know?”

Minerva smiles and nods, but stays quiet.

“So, we came up with the idea that the three of us could run a class together. One we all enjoy and can contribute to.”

Ron grins, looking mightily pleased, “We want to teach Flying.”

“And Quidditch!” Ginny says quickly.

Minerva ponders this. Madame Hooch had sadly been killed in the battle, along with many of her professors like Sprout and poor Burbage. Minerva had nearly forgotten about needing a flying instructor amongst her rush to gain teachers. Finding someone to teach young children to fly would need more experience than someone who could just teach standard spells and charms.

But having someone she personally knew was an excellent flyer… would work wonders. Having three people… that could work even better.

“I like this idea, Miss Weasley. Very much, in fact. Tell Miss Johnson to come with the two of you and we’ll discuss the logistics a bit further. But, I would officially love to extend the both of you the job.”

Not even an hour later, Fred and George were handing her a mind-blowing stack of parchment, telling her frantically that they’d brainstormed all night and would she mind looking it over to show them how to turn it into lesson plans?

While she went through the (frankly, brilliant) plans the twins had for Potions, Hermione walked up behind them. 

First, winding her arms around Fred’s shoulders to peek at their work, she almost glibly said, “Minerva? Are you still planning on teaching Transfiguration?”

Minerva looked up, mostly at hearing her name for one of the first times from one of her past students. This group of willy Gryffindors seemed almost reticence to stop calling her ‘Professor’.

“Hm? Yes, I was, with the shortage of teachers currently.”

Hermione nods as she figured as much, “Then, I would like to put my name down for a position.”

“Oh,” Minerva looks up with more of her attention, looking away from Fred and George’s manic planning for the moment, “Wonderful Hermione! Which class were you wanting to run?”

Hermione smiles, reminding Minerva of Luna for an odd moment, “Muggle Studies,”

Minerva smiles, not having thought of that, but thinking it a good fit, “Excellent, I will—”

“As well as History of Magic.”

Her brain stutters for a moment, “A-as well— you wish to teach both?”

Hermione simply nods, “And continue my work in the library as well. Or at least offer assistance if someone else offers.”

Minerva had not been truly struck dumb in many many years. It seemed like kismet that it was Hermione Granger that was doing it now.

“That… Miss Granger, that is a lot of work a-and dedication, as well as the pressure—”

“Minerva,” Hermione stares into her old professor’s eyes, looking for all the world like the bright and brilliant witch everyone has been praising her as since she was eleven, “When have you ever known me to slack off on a class?”

Minerva’s lips twitched but she was still concerned by this decision, “Hermione…”

“I believe, out of all of my past professors, you would be the one to know I can certainly handle more than one class load at a time. Aside from my NEWTS— which I’ll still want to take as well— I’ve received O’s is all my classes,” a grin blots her stern countenance for a moment, “Well, and E’s in Divination and Umbridge’s Defense, but we’ll not count those.

“I was only fourteen when you handed me a time-turner just so I could take the equivalent of two class timetables, and I still kept my grades up.”

Fred and George made noises of distress and intrigue, but both Minerva and Hermione ignored them for the time.

“And sure, I got into some trouble along the way,” Now it’s Minerva’s turn to let out a distressed, derisive snort, but Hermione ignores her as well, “but not once did I let mine or Harry and Ron’s grades slip. I can handle teaching two classes, Minerva. I guarantee it.”

Minerva sighs, aware of the three pairs of eyes on her. She really wants to tell Hermione no, or at least ask for some time in case she can find others who would take on one of these classes. 

Until Hermione says, “Besides, I was thinking of combining a couple of things between the classes, and sort of merging them into one. There are a number of times throughout History of Magic I recalled would have made wonderful connections to Muggle history, had Professors Burbage and Binns known to correlate them.”

Now that was interesting. 

“That… sounds more sustainable, if I’m being honest, Miss Granger.”

“Hermione.”

Minerva looks at her past student ruefully, not liking that twinkle in the young woman’s eyes, “Hermione. If you can come to me with similar ideas,” she lifts a few of the parchments from the twins she still held in her hand as an example, “by the end of the week, I will accept your proposal.”

Hermione’s eyes really were twinkling now, practically sparking with the potential and— if Minerva knew the young woman as she thought she did— mischief, “Absolutely Professor—”

“Minerva.”

“Minerva,” Hermione says without pause, “I’ll go get started right now!”

And with that Hermione was bounding away, heading straight for (no surprise) the library. Minerva, Fred and George watched her go until she’d disappeared around the corner and they were left together. Minerva was still reeling at the spunk of her past student while holding the rather mind-boggling plan for another crazy class idea in her hands.

George chuckles, “I don’t think we’ll be seeing her for the next twenty-four hours,”

Fred sighs, “I’ll have to go and shove a sandwich down her throat later, otherwise she’ll end up forgetting to eat.”

“Perhaps it’s a good thing we’ll have you two here teaching as well,” Minerva says flatly, “If for no other reason but to make sure Hermione doesn’t overdo things,”

Fred sighs even louder, “I’m not going to see my girlfriend for the next two days because of this, Minnie.”

“Well, you’ll be working with her soon enough, hopefully, that will make up for things.”

Fred made a humming, pitchy sort of sound that made George giggle. Then Minerva suddenly found herself with two glaring Weasely twins.

“What’s this about a time-turner?”

With many of her classes being filled with helpful new teachers, Minerva finally had to approach the two boys she knew would put up the biggest fights. But she felt strongly about these choices and hoped dearly they would see things from her perspective.

“Neville,” she said as she approached the Longbottom boy from behind.

Neville spun around on his knees where he’d been kneeling amongst the greenhouse plants, tending to the poor baby mandrakes who, up until now, had been too traumatized by past events to even begin screaming. 

“Minerva?”

Minerva smiles at the sight of Neville amongst the dirt and plants again, a streak of fertilizer across his cheek, “I thought I’d find you in here.”

Neville has the grace to look a bit sheepish but doesn’t defend himself, “I’ve always been better around plants than people, I’ll admit.”

It makes her chuckle as she finds a seat along one of the long tables at the center of the greenhouse, “Which is what I’ve come to talk to you about, coincidentally,”

Looking very curious, Neville brushes as much dirt from his trousers as he can while he stands to his full height, looking much more grown and adult than when he’d been kneeling on the ground. Sometimes, Minerva forgot just how much her students and lion cubs had changed, Neville reminding her better than anyone. 

“I’m listening,” Neville says kindly, taking a seat across from Minerva and idly pruning the aloe plant between them. Minerva drags another potted plant towards herself, doing the same for its leaves.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but I’ve been collecting new teachers for the upcoming school year.” 

She observed the small hesitation in Neville’s hands as he politely went, "Uh-huh,"

"And I find myself still short a Herbology professor.”

Minerva wasn’t certain what she’d been expecting from Neville as a reaction, but it really hadn’t been laughter. She stared at this young man who had far proven his place in Gryffindor as he laughed while dead-heading a mistletoe plant.

“Sorry Professor, it’s just,” he shrugs, wiping away a tear that had fallen amidst his laughter, “I was almost expecting you to ask me to teach DADA.”

Even Minerva has to sputter a laugh, thinking of the numerous times one of the past Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers (as many as there had been with a ranging ability of competence) had come to her to tell her how worried they were over Neville’s capability in their class.

“No, no offence Mr. Longbottom, but I have another person in mind for that position,” she looks over his face kindly, “I find you’re much better suited to the outdoors than one of the dungeon classrooms.”

“I’ll have to agree with you, ma’am,” Neville finally puts down the plants, folding his hands in front of him while he leans in, giving Minerva his full attention, “I was going to ask for the position on my own if you didn’t come and find me.”

Minerva twists her lips up into a pleased smile, “Well, I apologize for stealing away that chance from you,”

Neville shrugs, his own pleased smile pulling at one corner of his lips, “I’ll get over it.”

And so it came to her last remaining core class that had not been spoken for yet. Others had come to her, filling in the spaces for elective classes or on a few occasions, ideas for new electives. Luna had asked to assist Hagrid in Care of Magical Creatures (which the half-giant had teared up at once he’d heard) as well as begin an Art class. Luna had been quite adamant about the idea, claiming there were going to be many students who were struggling either mentally or academically when they returned. She explained that art helped her when she was feeling lonely or sad and she wanted to teach that same skill to others.

Minerva physically couldn’t have said no if she’d wanted to. Luckily, she also thought the idea of a creative class was an excellent idea. No other magical school could boast a class like it. Beauxbatons would come the closest with its class on Household Charms and Spells, but it certainly wasn’t pandering to one’s creative side. 

Fleur and Bill helpfully offered to teach Arithmancy as a distance learning class, as they would eventually need to be at their other job, or travelling, and couldn’t necessarily commit to Hogwarts full time. Rather than try and pull teeth to find another willing teacher for Arithmancy, Minerva agreed and the couple came up with a rather ingenious way to teach the class without a set classroom or schedule.

‘Workshop’ days became a familiar term amongst the new teachers, where time was set aside in students’ timetables for specific classes like Bill and Fleur’s. Time, where all students enrolled in the class, would meet with their professor to go over old or new work, ask questions, work in groups, and receive their next set of week’s work.

They didn’t get rid of study hall, as that was still necessary to allow time to work on all subjects, but Workshop was making many of the new ideas and electives being created available to more students who mkight not have normally had the space in their time tables to take everything they wanted to. 

After the logistics of Workshops was hammered out, Fleur also offered the two of them to teach Ancient Runes the same way. And perhaps, if things were going well, adding in a few other languages symbols.

And Minerva wasn’t going to say no to having two very knowledgable curse-breakers teaching classes that normally had very low success rates. She felt quite excited to see what the changes would bring in the future.

It wasn’t being offered this year, but after seeing what would happen with the Workshop classes and their current Potions class plans, Minerva made a note to offer the twins the Alchemy class as well. Perhaps they would find it a worthy challenge. But she would wait until after this year.

Smaller classes or club-like electives were put to the side, for now, Minerva telling Filius she would rethink bringing in Music as a class again after the students and the school had settled further. She more point blankly told Sybill they would not bring back Xylomancy until necessary. Twig Divination had always been a more… peculiar practice anyhow.

It was a very pleasant surprise when one of Minerva’s Hufflepuffs, Hannah Abbott came up to her and offered a cooking class, either as an idea for a club or an elective. Hannah had been working at the Leaky Cauldron for the last year as she hadn’t returned for her seventh year to avoid the Carrows, but was happy to help Minerva if she thought the idea a good one.

Minerva thought it wonderful and asked Hermione to go with Hannah into the kitchen to come to an agreement with the house elves on sharing parts of the kitchen for Hannah’s students.

So many people and wonderful new ideas for classes and subjects had Minerva feeling jubilant in the last remaining weeks before the school year. She didn’t have as many meetings with her new teachers, as they all became more comfortable in their new positions and didn’t have to rely so heavily on her for planning or lessons.

But her last class… she still hadn’t been asked about the remaining subject. Not even once.

Minerva had the feeling everyone else had assumed it already filled with the obvious choice. Minerva herself had thought the choice rather evident, but Harry hadn’t come up to her once in regards to any class.

And that made Minerva a bit hesitant to actually approach him about teaching, wondering if his lack of appearance around the new classrooms was for a reason. But she had to ask, because to her, it had always been obvious.

Minerva found Harry on that afternoon in August, ironically standing in the middle of the classroom that had been the Defense Against the Dark Arts class when he had been a student. She herself hadn’t come down here often while it was being rebuilt, and was pleasantly surprised to see it had nearly been pieced back together immaculately. Many of the other classrooms had received small changes, such as lengthening or widening the room.

But Harry (and it had been Harry; Ginny had mentioned Harry hadn’t left the classroom for anyone else to fix up) had kept the original design true to form.

It was around the same size— perhaps a tad longer, like Harry had neglected to resurrect the wall that led into the neighbouring empath room— with its rows of desks that faced the general front of the classroom. The winding staircase that trailed up the wall still led into the office meant for its professor; the large skeleton of a Thestral and a unicorn hanging from the ceiling as if mid-fight looming above the stairs. 

Shelves had been added under the wall of windows, which were cleaner than ever before and let in a large amount of natural light. A few empty crates and small cages were kept neat and tidy in the open cupboard behind the staircase, ready for whichever creature or object the DADA professor wished to share with their class.

There were crash mats piled up safely at the opposite wall, enough that could easily line the entire classroom floor if the desks were moved, which Minerva assumed would be an easy task with the empty hanging hooks along the ceiling where the tables and chair could hang well out of the way.

And Harry stood there now, sweeping up beneath the desk calmly, looking for all the world to see like any other person doing some household chores, and not the boy who had saved the world months ago.

Minerva stops when she reaches the first desk at the back of the classroom, “Hello Harry, I thought I might find you here.”

Harry whirled around, putting his broom down when he realized he was alone. The broom continued to sweep up on its own once his hands were off of it, “Hello, Professor.”

“I’ve told you, Harry. Call me Minerva, please.”

Harry looked skeptical but didn’t cause a fuss, so neither did Minerva. She looked around the room, taking in the changes with a keen eye once again.

“Impressive changes you’ve made in here.”

A red blush covers Harry’s cheeks as he rubs at the back of his neck, “Er, sorry, I probably should have checked—”

“No, no. I purposely left everyone free reign when it came to fixing the classrooms. No one would know what each room would need better, than the students who battled through not only dark wizards but terrible professors their entire childhoods.”

Harry cracked a grin at Minerva’s own humoured look, “They weren’t all bad,”

Here, Minerva smiles more fondly, “No, not all of them. Which is actually one of the reasons I want to speak to you.”

“All right,” Harry says and slides into the chair in front of her, sitting backwards. Minerva slides onto the desk she stood at, so they were facing one another.

Minerva took a moment (for herself and for Harry) before she spoke, saying in a quiet whispery tone, “Remus always told me you would make a wonderful teacher.”

This hadn’t been what Harry had expected her to say if the look of bewilderment on his face spoke of anything.

“H-he did?”

Minerva nods, remembering fondly, “He did. When he was teaching you how to defend yourself against Dementors.”

Harry still remained shocked, “That… I was only in my third year.”

“Exactly,” Minerva nods, “which tells me there must have been something there if he thought that of such a young boy.”

Harry doesn’t look convinced but does appear pleased at the thought, “Remus has always been my favourite teacher. No offence, Professor!”

Minerva chuckles, “None taken, Mr. Potter. I’ve seen how you react to a teacher you don’t care for, so I feel quite safe of what your regard is of me.”

They both chuckled at this before Minerva continues, “And you friends tell me you proved Remus correct; you made quite the impression on your peers during Umbridge’s year here, Harry.”

The bright blush was back and it was as if Harry couldn’t quite meet her eye, “That only happened because everyone was fed up by that woman. I was just the last resort to actually learn something.”

Minerva hums lowly, “I’m not so sure that’s all it was, Harry. Your friends went to you because they knew you could teach them better than what they were getting.”

She reaches out to place her hand gently to the top of his to gain his attention, “You know from experience, Harry. And your friends knew that. Your students knew that. That is what made you a good teacher.

“Not just that you knew how to defend yourself from real-life experience,” Minerva continues, “Because that was obvious even then, even to those who weren’t sure they believed you. But that you knew what each of your peers and students needed in order to succeed. You knew when to talk, and you knew when to show. You knew when to be soft, or when to be firm.

“When you teach, Harry, you teach from your heart, not your head. It means the people you are teaching can suddenly see what the theory means and not just hear it. They can experience something from a strong, powerful and kind wizard and know they’re learning from the best, and feel comfortable knowing they will get to really learn how to defend themselves.” 

Minerva pulls away, giving Harry space again as she delivers her last line, “And that is a feeling these new students deserve to feel when they come back to Hogwarts.”

She left Harry to think that over, without offering him the position officially. Dealing with Harry for the last seven years left Minerva with some clarity on how his mind worked. Offering a job point blank would not work on him in the same way it had worked with Fred and George or Neville. And Harry wasn’t the type to come to Minerva like Hermione, Ginny or Luna. 

In fact, Minerva wouldn’t fault the man if he came back to her and never spoke of the position again. He would deserve the time away if that was what he wanted.

She almost folded and asked Ron if Harry also planned to join the Aurors but held her tongue. It was better to give Harry the privacy he deserved. 

Which meant she could only smile warmly at the knock on her office door the next day and the sentimental sight of the familiar messy raven hair that peeked around the door.

The first thing he said was so very ‘Harry’ that it nearly made Minerva McGonagall laugh as she sat behind the Headmistresses desk in the circle-shaped office, with both portraits of Severus and Albus asleep behind her—

“I can’t believe your password is ‘Tuna Fish’.”

“I can’t believe you guessed that on your own,”

Harry chuckles as he comes fully into the office, closing the door behind him gently, “I thought I’d give it a few tries based on past passwords Dumbledore used. I do fully admit I definitely said, ‘Salmon Flakes’, ‘Chicken Gravy’ and ‘Mice’ before I got it right.”

Minerva says drolly, “Very funny, Mr. Potter. Please, have a seat.”

Harry did sit down, barely relaxed into the chair before he was saying, “I’d like to teach Defense, Minerva.”

Pride roared in her chest.

“Very well. Shall we go over what your syllabus would look like?”