The Black Family

"Sorry your pud went missing," Minnie said as the compartment door slid closed behind the three girls. "I'd be heartbroken if mine had done."

The smaller girl, whose black hair hung in thick braids over either shoulder, dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and said, with a sniffle, "Ebony's ve-very good at hiding. But I didn't think she'd give it a go on the train. I just wanted to give her a bit of water and the moment I opened the little cage door, she ran!"

"And of course that's when I happened to open the compartment door!" Mona said with a sigh. "Customary checks of the compartments, see," she added, "Prefects are required to make rounds and see that everyone's behaving - I open the compartment and zip! Fast as lightning, the little bugger's gone!"

Mia snuffled loudly.

"I'm sorry," Minnie said again. "We'll find her."

They set to searching the train and they met a good deal of older students - some of whom Mona knew (including Lyall Lupin, who was playing chess with another boy whose sandy blonde hair and freckles told Minnie it must've been Florean's older brother), and some whom knew Mia (a boy with thick dark hair and a secretive bend to his spine who was sitting in a compartment with a boy with long, pale white hair who glared at Mona with distaste and told Mia she could do with some better friends, which made Mia's face burn red). "He doesn't even know us," Minnie said angrily as Mona warned the boy he'd best watch his mouth or he'd be losing Slytherin some house points before they'd even got to Hogwarts. "How does he know you could do with better friends?"

"It was a dig at me," Mona Sprout said, sighing. "Knows I'm halfblood is what it is. Orion Black's a purist."

"A purist?"

"Believes that pureblood is the only acceptable sort of wizard there is," explained Mona. "His whole family was supporters of Gellert Grindelwald. His father went to Azkaban last year for their part in the War... Reckon Orion's still a bit sour for it."

Minnie looked horrified, "But I heard about Mr. Grindelwald!" she said, "He was just as bad as Mr. Hitler!"

Mona said, "Aye, but like Hitler Mr. Grindelwald had a good deal of followers who didn't see him for the evil he was, but rather believed the words he said and thought him to be good. Willing to die for his cause, they were. So when Arcturus Black was caught the night Grindelwald went down, they say he yelled for the greater good and was hauled away to Azkaban to serve a life sentence -- laughing."

Mia stared at her toes.

Minnie looked at her and saw how terribly sad she appeared. Carefully, Minnie put her arms about Mia's shoulders. "Are you alright, Mia?" she asked.

Mia whispered, "Not all of Orion Black's family were supporters. My mum and dad weren't, for example..."

Mona looked abashed. She'd forgotten that Mia was a Black herself.

They walked in silence for several long moments, pausing to poke their heads into this compartment or that one, searching for the cat to no luck, and Minnie wished she could get away from the other two long enough to give calling it in it's own tongue a go; she didn't want to sound stupid calling out meows, though, and she trotted alongside the other two girls, knowing if she could just call Ebony, she'd be quite the hero...

They'd searched what seemed like everywhere on the train, though, and there was still no signs of Ebony and Mia was sobbing. "What if she tried to catch a bird and jumped off the train somehow?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Then there'd have been a terrific splat, wouldn't there?" Charlus Potter was suddenly there before them in the train corridor, his coin purse open in his hand as he fished about for sickles. He smirked at his own joke as Al Moody laughed from behind him.

Mia burst into renewed wails.

"What do you have to antagonize her for?!" Minnie demanded, "You nasty boy!"

Charlus guffawed, amusement twinkling on his face.

"Ten points from -- from whatever house you end up in!" Mona said.

Charlus's eyes stopped twinkling. Jaw set in annoyance, he pushed about her and went off down the corridor, followed by Al, and Minnie glared after them, arms about Mia.

"Bloody hell, I wish the points system really worked that way," muttered Mona, scowling after him and clucking her tongue. "Unfortunately, I can't take points away 'til he's assigned a house." She sighed. "But it scared him anyway."

"Don't worry," Minnie said, "Give him time. That boy's bound to give you more to take points away for anyway."

Mia choked on the tears she was crying and Minnie frowned, patting Mia's back solidly as her mum always did her back when she cried. "Charlus Potter is horrible. Really. Don't listen to a thing he says."

"But he's right, if Ebony did try to jump from th train she - she would be - be dead," Mia whimpered.

"Ebony's got to be here somewhere!" Minnie insisted. Then, throwing her caution to the wind, she sat down there on the carpet in the middle of the train car, cleared her throat, and meowed.

They looked at one another and then at her with nervously confused expressions.

It took a few moments and a good deal of meowing with the loads of other cats that students had brought along before Minnie finally opened a half closed compartment at the far end of the train, which housed none except ---

"Ebony!" Mia dashed around Minnie and scooped the cat up from the bench, her arms twisting around the sleek black creature, who was just as pleased to see Mia as Mia was to see her. Ebony rubbed her head against Mia and purred loudly... Minnie smiled, watching Mia hugging her puddy and her heart felt warm and glad she'd been the one to help bring about the reunion.

Mona smiled, too.

Minnie looked up at Mona and asked, quietly so Mia couldn't hear, "Are a lot of people --" she paused, trying to recall the word that Mona had used before, "-- Purists?"

Mona sighed, "Far too many. There are varying degrees of it. Some, like the Blacks, like Grindelwald, believe only purebloods should be taught magic, believe that even half blood is too far removed. They condemn any who marry muggles right out of their family tree. Generations of Blacks have been pruned, but their names still carry the stigma of the family line." She nodded toward Mia, still hugging on Ebony. "Others are a bit more lenient. Half-blood is acceptable. The headmaster, Armando Dippet, he's one of those. 'Tis why the half-bloods are allowed at Hogwarts. Magical blood is magical blood, even diluted, he says. Though he does strongly encourage wizards marrying wizards to preserve the lines, he at least acknowledges that the half-bloods, like me, are real wizards and witches."

"I'm half-blood also," Minerva revealed, "Me dad's a... a muggle." She'd had to recall the verbiage.

"Well, you're alright by me either way. What's rare, and terribly wrong, is that many, many, many don't believe in muggle-bor witches and wizards. But they're out there. Loads of them. And they're forced to keep their powers hidden, forced to never learn what they are. They're oppressed, and, as a result, many develop obscurial. They call it depression, or sometimes even insanity. They're unstable and self destructive or complain of heaviness and they -- they die in some cases, as a result of the magic going unused, untrained, unnurtured..." Mona shook her head.

"But if they can do magic... then they are a witch, then they are a wizard."

"They haven't the blood, see?" Mona said. "It's all about the blood, Minnie."

Minnie tried to picture being denied the ability to be who you were, simply because of to whom you were born, simply because you were given the luck of the draw - or the unluck of the draw as the case may be - and you happened to be somehow less in a way that you have no control upon, no way to change, no hope of escaping...

Stand, Minerva, for what yeh believe in, for goodness sakes, the Reverend Robert had once said. The words echoed in her mind as she thought of it - of the horrible oppression they faced. Stand, even if ye be the only one standin' - fight even if ye be the only one fightin' - and yeah do not let any person tell yeh to be anythin' other than you.

"Perhaps one day the policies will change, and the general opinion with it... Grindelwald really messed up our world, really split us up, showed us where we are flawed as a society."

Minnie decided then, in that very moment, standing in the corridor of the Hogwarts Express - before she'd even begun to learn about magic, exactly where she stood on the issue. And she would not waiver - ever - for the rest of her life from that choice she made. She, Minerva McGonagall, believed wholly in equality, in the right to be oneself, whatever that may entail, without judgement or oppression... and, she thought, she would stand up for that. Just as her Da had told her to...