A Scoundrel's Staycation Ch. 61 (Harry Potter AU) (Patreon)

(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Minerva is terrified.

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Minerva McGonagall does not consider herself a woman prone to hysterics. She’s lived a long life, including through the bombings of World War Two, and has always kept a stiff upper lip. Even when the curse started to ravage their population, taking everyone from Albus Dumbledore to Cornelius Fudge with it, Minerva had kept her head high and continued onwards. It was what Albus wanted of her after all, his enchanted painting said so.

As the Headmistress of Hogwarts, she had done her best in recent years to keep the school running. Even as the death of the male Professors left huge vacancies in their curriculum and the loss of every potential male student had rendered their entire purpose almost pointless.

She’d had to go back to teaching classes herself in fact, and at this point in time the student population was so dramatically reduced that most classes were all four Houses.

All in all, it was a hard situation they found themselves in, but Minerva had always continued to push forward no matter what. She had never given into despair, or terror, or any of the other multitude of negative emotions that sometimes threatened to overwhelm her.

… Until now. The Hogwarts Wards were, to put it succinctly, supposed to be inviolable. In fact, they had been a constant source of strength for Minerva ever since she’d become Headmistress, a solid and stalwart presence that she could lean into and rely upon even at her weakest moments.

To suddenly have them entirely ripped away from her by an unknown force, to have her connection to the castle’s wards completely sundered… wasn’t just unthinkable, it was horrifying. Minerva had been in the Headmaster’s Office when it happened and she’d immediately leapt to her feet even as the paintings all began to react, a cacophony of noise as the enchanted images of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses had felt the forcible change in their loyalty.

They had begun to demand that she vacate the office immediately, as according to them, she was no longer Hogwarts’ Headmistress and the wards would soon punish her if she did not. Even Dumbledore, with a sorrowful look in his eyes, had recommended that she evacuate the school and get away from the wards until everything could be settled.

Minerva had been begun to do exactly that, sending out an alert to every Professor to begin gathering the students to take them to Hogsmeade… but she herself had had no intentions of abandoning the institution where she’d taught and lived for decades now.

She’d fully intended to get to the bottom of things… though she hadn’t expected it to be quite so literal as it turned out to be. Because no sooner had she started the evacuation of Hogwarts and resolved herself to staying behind no matter the consequences… did Minerva feel a summons coming from beneath the Castle itself.

Brow furrowing in consternation, all that she can do is follow the summons. It’s obviously coming from whoever usurped control of the wards from her in the first place and answering it might be bad for Minerva’s continued health… but she doesn’t care. She needs to know. She needs to do something other than just… run away.

Of course, when the summons take her to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, Minerva gets thoroughly unnerved. Especially when she finds the sinks in the middle of the bathroom have fallen away, revealing a massive hole in the floor. Pursing her lips together, Minerva casts a swift levitation charm on herself and follows the large pipe down into the bowels of the castle, navigating through a damp, dank, dark sewer system.

Until eventually she comes upon a chamber. A rather large chamber at that. But… not an empty one.

“Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets, Headmistress. I thought about venturing up to your office to explain things to you… but as they say, seeing is believing.”

Minerva stares, first at Lord Harry Hallows standing there rather unperturbed… and then at the absolutely massive corpse of an eyeless Basilisk draped across the chamber floor beside him. Her mouth opens… but nothing comes out at first. When Minerva finally does find the words, they definitely aren’t the correct ones.

“… Slytherin’s monster was never an Acromantula, was it?”

Lord Hallows gives Minerva a distinctly unimpressed look.

“Of course not. Surely you knew that, right?”

Minerva purses her lips together. Dumbledore had always professed Hagrid’s innocence to her, but he’d never actually been able to supply any proof. She’d… believed him after a fashion, but never really put too much thought into it. Hagrid had been wronged certainly, but in the end he’d come out the other side alright.

Still, in hindsight… she’d been an utter fool to ever think that Slytherin’s Monster could have been a spider. Never mind all of that…

“I assume you wrested control of the castle wards in order to put the beast down then?”

Minerva had heard quite a lot about Lord Hallows in recent days after all. She wasn’t a member of the Wizengamot like Dumbledore had been, keeping her head down and focusing herself on being the best Headmistress she could be above all else. One of the things Minerva had never liked about Albus was how thin he spread himself.

Still, Augusta Longbottom was a member of the extremely diminished Hogwarts Board of Governors. Alongside Griselda Marchbanks. As such, Minerva had received word from Augusta about Lord Hallows’ egregious attack on her at her home and how he’d cut her connection to her wards. Then, just last night, she’d received word from Griselda about Augusta’s disingenuity alongside official correspondence from the Ministry announcing a change in leadership within the Wizengamot.

Harry Hallows wasn’t just a Lord now… he was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot… and to hear Griselda say it, he’d earned that role through sheer force and overwhelming magical power.

So… she’s not surprised he was able to take control of the Hogwarts Wards, not really. More than anything, she’s surprised he even needed to in order to kill the Basilisk. He couldn’t have done it by himself?

“Ah… not quite, I’m afraid. Rather, I have to make use of your wards because of the Basilisk’s current masters… or mistresses, as the case appears to be.”

Minerva blinks owlishly, prompting Lord Hallows to shrug and explain.

“I’ve been investigating the so-called ‘curse’ on the British Magical World for some time now, Headmistress. I’ve managed to uncover the truth of it… there are intelligent minds behind the deaths of every wizard in the British Isles. And they continue to exist, trying to snuff out any attempt at saving the magical world from calamity.”

He looks around the Chamber of Secrets meaningfully for a moment, gaze lingering on the Basilisk before turning his eyes back to her.

“You might know them… as Lady Slytherin.”

Minerva’s eyes widen, the reveal leaving her shocked. She of course knew of the mysterious Lady Slytherin… though not much in the way of details. But for Lord Hallows to directly lay the deaths of every wizard, including Albus, at Lady Slytherin’s feet…

Then again, it was just like he’d said before. Seeing was believing, wasn’t it?

“I faced off against two witches down here, both of which commanded the Basilisk’s loyalty. They were quite powerful… but more than that, they were clever. They attempted to trap me with a magic-draining ritual. Obviously, that failed. And when I wrested control of the wards from you and turned them against them and the Basilisk, they were forced to flee.”

Looking around the chamber, Minerva cannot find any lie in Lord Hallows’ words. There are signs of battle on the walls, ceiling, and floor after all, and not all of them are the signs of a Basilisk and a wizard doing combat. More than that, she sees the dormant runes etched into the floor on the edges of the chamber.

He’s telling the truth… which means he’s probably telling the truth about the true nature of the ‘curse’ as well. Minerva grimaces, hand clutching at her wand for a moment before she lets out a low sigh.

“… What do we do next?”

Looking slightly bemused, Lord Hallows shakes his head.

“We? Headmistress, ‘we’ do nothing. Rather…”

He gestures with an empty hand almost absently and Minerva barely has time to stiffen before she jerks back, the return of the Hogwarts Wards both a relief and an overwhelming sensation. A gasp rips its way out of her throat and she lets loose a shuddering breath as she feels the castle above her, the connection as strong as ever.

Though admittedly, despite seemingly nothing having changed… that feeling isn’t quite as comforting as before. The wards’ solid presence and the security they’ve always provided her are a bit diminished by the knowledge that the man in front of her can just… take them at any time.

Perhaps that’s unfair to Lord Hallows, however. He’s given them back just as swiftly, earning further good will with Minerva. Somehow, she thinks Griselda’s words ring truer than Augusta’s at this point.

“You, Headmistress, have a school to run. Not to mention all of the students and Professors need to be recalled back to the castle or they’re likely to miss dinner. And while they could pick up a bite to eat in Hogsmeade… the Hogwarts House Elves do not deserve to have all of their hard work go to waste like that.”

Lord Hallows smirks at that last bit, even as Minerva tries not to snort too loudly. He is… an interesting man, to say the least.

“Very well. What will you be doing next, Chief Warlock?”

Lord Hallows rolls his eyes at the title, letting out a sigh.

“I will continue to follow my leads. I have a few at this point despite my failure to capture either witch who was down here assisting the Basilisk today. In the meantime, I leave the Basilisk’s remains in your capable hands… in fact, I donate the remains to Hogwarts as a whole.”

Minerva gawks at that, truly caught off guard by the extremely generous donation.

“Wha- are you sure? This Basilisk has to be the largest specimen the world has ever seen. Its value, both in and of itself and in its components, is likely incalculable!”

Smirking, Lord Hallows arches a brow at her, his emerald eyes twinkling just the same as Dumbledore’s used to.

“All the more reason to give it to you and Hogwarts, Headmistress. I’ll leave the headache that comes from calculating the incalculable in your capable hands.”

Minerva fully scoffs. Sure, the wizard can dress it up like he’s just being lazy and passing off the hard work to her and her peers, but the truth is… the hard work will be worth it. More than worth it really, with this…

“We could announce this to the world. Invite some of them to come and see it. The ICW would be hard pressed to completely isolate and quarantine us with such an enormous find.”

Lord Hallows looks surprised.

“Oh? Now that’s quite the clever idea, Headmistress. I suppose that’s why you’re in charge, eh? Very good then… I’m more happy than ever to leave it all in your capable hands.”

Minerva narrows her eyes and purses her lips, pausing for a moment…

“You know, it’s rather strange, Lord Hallows. I know for a fact that you’ve never passed through the halls of Hogwarts as a student, and yet… something about you is altogether familiar. And no, I don’t just mean that you’re the spitting image of James Potter with Lily Evans’ eyes, though I have noticed that fact. No… there’s something else.”

Unfortunately, Lord Hallows doesn’t panic or get a hunted look in his eye like so many of her students would when she put them under intense scrutiny. He just grins at her like a smug little shit and shrugs his shoulders.

“I’m afraid I can’t speak on that, Headmistress. Still, feel free to tell me if you ever figure it out. For now… we both have work to do.”

Minerva is forced to concede that point with a reluctant nod. She has an evacuation to rescind after all, and a whole lot of things to handle now that the Chamber of Secrets is opened and Slytherin’s Monster is dead on the chamber floor.

Processing this Basilisk will be the work of ages… but it will all be so, so worth it.

Meanwhile, Lord Hallows has his own tasks ahead of him from the sound of things. Meeting his eyes, Minerva gives him one last look.

“Good luck to you, Chief Warlock. I hope you manage to bring the culprits to justice, once and for all.”

After all, they both know that her plan to invite international interest to study the Basilisk’s corpse will largely fall flat if they don’t have a proper explanation and solution for the ‘curse’ that has plagued Magical Britain these past eight years.

Lord Hallows… is their greatest hope at this point.

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SQdRlZo1Rnhw0mp9GfIbTR1F2LnlMIonGkEjS70se90/edit?tab=t.0