The Teacher's Son

Chapter 7

There was a knock at Minerva's door.

"Albus it is the middle of the night, is it completely necessary-"

She opened the door and stopped as she realized who was at her door. 

"Mr. Malfoy. What are you doing out of bed?"

The blond boy smiled up at her. "Hello Professor. I've just seen Potter, Weasley and Granger down at Hagrid's Hut and I figured you would want to know."

McGonagall sighed inwardly. Who knew what Hagrid had decided her son and his friends needed to see.

"I see. Well, I'll go intercept them, come along so I may speak to all four of you."

If Malfoy knew he was in trouble, he made no indication.

McGonagall conjured up a lantern and swept down the hall, the young Slytherin following closely with a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

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McGonagall waved her wand in front of the door to her study, unlocking the latch.

"Four students out of bed in one night. Unbelievable." She murmured. Immediately her memory slingshotted an image of a young James Potter and his friends forward and she sighed.

The door creaked as she opened it.

"Mum?" A nervous, shaky voice echoed down the short corridor when she was halfway down it.

McGonagall sighed again. "Harry, why aren't you in bed?"

"I wanted to say..." He stepped into the radius of her lantern, looking at his feet and wringing his hands. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Minerva observed him for a moment before turning. 

"Come on, Harry."

He looked up sharply. 

"What do you mean?"

"You can sleep in your room tonight. I'll wake you up early enough that you can go back to the dormitories without being seen."

The eleven year old surged forward and wrapped his arms around his mother.

"Thank you." He whispered, smiling.

"Of course. Now get some sleep." 

"Yes, Mum."

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Minerva watched Hagrid lead the four first years into the woods from the castle. Where she was standing, the six bodies looked smaller than dolls and the darkness and shadow covered them quickly.

She had woken Harry up early, shooing him off to his dormitory. Though it pained her slightly to send him away, she knew he would be better off with his peers than his adopted mother.

"What is going on?" A quiet voice asked at her shoulder.

"The four were found out of bed, their detention with Hagrid starts now." Minerva responded coolly.

"You sent your own son out into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night?" Albus questioned.

"Harry can take care of himself, Albus. And I will not baby him, he needs to learn."

"Minerva McGonagall..." He paused and the woman prepared herself for the words. 'The worst mother ever. A cold hearted woman.' It would be something to that point.

"One of the most caring parents I've ever met. Any woman who is willing to discipline her child and not fawn over him when he shows the slightest twinge of sadness is a true mother."

McGonagall felt something swell inside her chest. "Thank you, Albus."

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "It is the truth, after all. Good evening, Minerva."

"Good evening." She turned to watch him walk off.

Albus Dumbledore was one of the best people readers she'd ever met. He was practically a con artist, the way he could analyze body posture and reaction to words and actions.

Did he really think that highly of her parenting skills?

Minerva turned back to the window. The only light she could see now was Filch's light as he trudged back to the castle.

After a few minutes of inactivity, red sparks shot up through the branches of the Forbidden Forest. McGonagall flinched in surprise, then watched on, wondering if maybe Harry had sent up those sparks.

When nothing obvious happened, she assumed that Hagrid must have sorted out the situation and that all were okay, seeing as there was no giant man sprinting out of the forest with a limp body in his arms.

"Stay safe, Harry." She murmured before walking off towards her study.

She didn't know that just then, a young boy with untidy dark hair and a scar above his bright green eyes was seeing a sight that would terrify him.

Harry Potter had just come upon a phantom in the woods, drinking the blood of a unicorn.

[A/N so how is this going so far? Be honest, if it sucks tell me please!]