【 CHAPTER TWO 】
minerva mcgonagall
( — SO WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO
WHEN THE WORLD DON'T
ORBIT AROUND YOU? )

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Miri was about to dig into her pancakes when the doorbell rang. As she was situated closest to the door, she was (unfortunately) obliged to great their guest. Groaning at her bad luck, she sent a longing glance to the golden-brown goodness that was just waiting to be drowned in maple syrup. 

'I'll be back,' she whispered to it tenderly.

Opening the door, Miri couldn't help but curse herself. She'd never had the best memory but she was almost positive that it was a woman Professor Horn had warned her of, not some terrifying hybrid creature unknown to man.

The woman's sharp eyes bored into her own. 'Miri Cheng, I presume?'

'Whose asking?' said Miri even as she slapped her brain mentally to restart it. She was not going to die at the hands of this really, really intimidating woman, she told herself sternly. Especially since the obituary would be: 

'Miri Cheng, age eleven and one day.

Died of provoking a woman who may-or-may-not-be a creature whose special power is striking fear into others' hearts.

Survived by her whacked up grandparents, even more whacked up parents and loving brother. And her younger sister, who may-or-may-not dance on her grave. Or ashes, if she's cremated.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Jackson's townhouse, though useless, will be very much appreciated. '

Yeah, she'd really rather not die.

The woman raised an eyebrow. 'I am Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress of Hogwarts and I am here to enlighten you on the disastrous consequences should you refuse to accept an education at Hogwarts or any other magical school.'

Miri honestly didn't know what to do. They've never covered 'How to politely refuse a terrifying maybe-woman who looks like she could kill you for rejecting her offer of attending magic school without batting an eye' in class and it was just, waaaay too early to deal with this sort of conversation.

Luckily, she didn't have to make the decision of turning the woman away just yet.

Liam poked his head out of the dining room and chocked. 'Professor McGonagall! What a... well, not really an unexpected surprise since Professor Horn already said that you were coming but a surprise nonetheless. I assume that you're here to convince my little sister to attend Hogwarts?'

The woman nodded.

He sent Miri a look of pity. 'This way, professor.'

Miri threw her head back and groaned. She just wanted to eat her pancakes.

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Without any context, the sight of a somewhat sleepy girl still in her pyjamas having a non-verbal standoff with a who-knows-how-old-creature-slash-terrifying-woman before ten in the morning would raise some questions. As it stood, Miri's brain struggled to comprehend the bizarre situation she'd landed into even though it wasn't totally her fault.

'Miss Cheng,' said the professor, breaking the bubble of silence that had enveloped them. 'Professor Horn has informed me of your rejection, though she did not indulge me with your reason as to why. Would you care to enlighten me?'

It's a trap, Miri's brain whispered. She's fishing for information to form her counter-attacks. Miri had used the same technique enough times while arguing with her classmates before brutally slaughtering them with somewhat relevant facts that managed to confuddle them long enough for her to walk away victorious. 

The first solution that popped into Miri's mind was to make some bogus sob story to get the older woman off her back. Like maybe her grandmother was super ill with something uncurable and she wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. But something told her that Maggie McGolowal was not one to fall for some kid's falsifications. And besides, even if she did fall for the joke of a lie, she couldn't very well claim that her grandmother was sick for seven years straight.

Instead, she stuck to the safest approach. It wasn't the best one, nor the most logical, but it was the safest option she had, and Miri would like to not die today, thank you very much. 'No.'

The woman only looked mildly annoyed with her answer. 'Very well,' she declared. 'You are entitled to your secrets, Miss Cheng. However, I feel obliged to inform you that the perks from having a magical education are nothing to scoff at-'

'Not to be rude, Professor McLaughlin-'

'McGonagall.' Though the woman's tone wasn't particularly threatening, Miri still felt shivers dancing down her spine.

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. Oh Lord, Jesus, Allah, Buddha, whatever asshole is up there laughing at me, I'm sorry. Please don't kill me. It won't happen again. I don't want to die.

Miri backtracked quickly. 'Professor McGonagall, I really can't go to Hogwarts!' She wracked her brain for an alternative. 'Isn't there like a homeschooling option or something?'

'Only for those with a magical parent.'

'What about Liam? He's almost of age in the Wizarding World, right? He could just teach me during the summer.'

The woman looked at her pointedly. 'Miss Cheng, allow me to rephrase what you are proposing.' She cleared her throat and enunciated each syllable slowly as if to convey to Miri the weight of her words. 'A student that has not graduated trying to educate another child. Especially on topics that could easily end up with the second Great Fire of London?' She smiled sarcastically, 'That inspires as much confidence as telling me a known serial killer will slaughter everyone I hold dear.'

Miri felt her eyes widen behind her glasses and gulped. Oh, um. Wow.

'Tu- tutoring centres?' she managed to stammer out.

'It is a tutoring centre, Miss Cheng. Not a private school. It simply will not do as an alternative. And besides, the only competent magical tutoring centres in all of Europe is at the schools. Specifically, Scotland, France and Scandinavia. And the ones that aren't are only in business during the summer.'

'What about private schools?'

'Exclusive and remote. Terrible combination, really,' she said drily. 'The closest one is in Hungary.'

Hungary!? No way was she going there!

'Aren't there any nearby school?' she asked desperately. 'Like, oh I don't know, in England?'

'I'm afraid not, Miss Cheng. The closest school would be Hogwarts, and if you would allow me to explain, I think you will find it unwise to refuse to attend.'

Out of options, Miri could do nothing but listen.

'Magic will help you get very far in life, Miss Cheng, and there is no finer place to learn about it and hone your skills than at Hogwarts. Our teachers take our job of educating our students very seriously. As such, our graduates have a high success rate of being hired for a high-paying position by the Ministry or go on to open up their own business.' 

She smiled nostalgically, 'Two of my students opened their joke store as soon as they got out of school and it is now the most successful store in all of Wizarding Europe.'

Miri' s eyebrows drew into a 'V' and the woman braced herself for whatever defence the stubborn girl had.

'But professor,' she said, careful to leave out the woman's surname, 'those are very limited job options. And history shows that the ministry is where most corruptions of a country take place. It would unsettle me every time I clock in.'

'Also, what if I open a shop that specialises in academic needs? I would likely only ever have customers during the summer and that's not exactly an ideal occupation. What if my shop goes bankrupt and I have no funds to pay off my debts? Sure, I could crack into my savings to repay the bank but the wizarding currency had a higher value than muggle money. And that's just counting the loan on the premises. What about suppliers? Investors? They'd probably bail at the sight of an eighteen-year-old trying to open up a shop.'

'And what if I want to go to college? Get a degree? I can't attend my first choice if I don't even have a basic understanding of Maths or Science and from what I've read from Liam's textbooks, Hogwarts doesn't include a curriculum for those subjects, the closest being the study of magic numbers. And I doubt that any normal job would have 'Do you know what the magical property of the number 394 is?' as one of the questions for my interview.

The woman pinched the bridge of her nose. 'All very good points, Miss Cheng.' Then she whispered, 'Too good, in fact.'

Miri was... well for the lack of a better word, shocked. This couldn't be the first time someone refused to go to Hogwarts now, could it? Surely that has been some other kid that had pointed out these flaws in the wizarding education system, right?

She was interrupted by the woman's muttering. 'I had hoped that I didn't have to bring this up.' Exhaling, the woman looked Miri dead in the eyes and said, 'Miss Cheng, has your brother ever talked to you about the disastrous force known as the Obscurus?' 

Miri wracked her mind, trying to remember if she'd ever heard the term or even read about it before shaking her head. 

The woman continued in a tone of someone who was used to commanding a classroom. 'Well to put it simply, it is a parasite that grows inside a young wizard or witch when the child in question consciously attempts to repress their abilities. The Obscurus force is released as a separate entity when the child loses control of their emotions. As mentioned, the Obscurus is a violent force and can and will wreak havoc to anything that stands in its way of hurting the cause of the child's distress. And when it finds the cause, it kills them.'

Miri's eyes couldn't possibly go any wider. What the hell is up with the Wizarding World and who in the freaking hell made these rules? She just wanted to act, not have a freaking parasite growing inside her. The fact that it was magical just made it worse since she couldn't just hop onto the hospital operating table, pay the doctors to cut a hole inside her and be on her way.

The woman hasn't even dealt the final blow yet. 'And what if, Miss Cheng, this cause was your brother with an accidental shove? Or your friends with an ill-timed joke? What if they were the straw that broke the camel's back, and they ended up dead because of it?'

At this point, Miri was seriously concerned with how dangerous magic actually was. They never described details as grim as this in Disney films, which Miri had to admit was what she thought Liam practised for majority of the year. But in her defence, she wasn't very good at listening to others. Their lives just weren't all that relevant to hers.

'Wait,' she said, furrowing her eyebrows. Her brain ran over the woman's words with a fine-tooth comb, eyes lighting up with the possibility of a loophole. 'This... Orb- Oob- Whatchamacallit thing will only grow inside me if I consciously suppress my magic, right?'

The woman nodded.

Miri looked the woman right in the eye. 'Then what happens if I don't suppress it? What if you or Liam just teach me a few spells and be on your way? Plus, then I won't need to fork over who knows how much money for school supplies. I would just need a wand, and that's expensive enough as it is. That way you won't have to deal with me and I won't become a danger to everyone around me. It's a win-win!'

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'I can't hear a thing,' Maria complained.

Liam shushed his youngest sister. 'Quit it. Or do you want us to get caught?'

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of Extendable Ears - a birthday gift from Teddy - and gave one of them to his sister. He placed it by the crack between the door and the wall and gestured Maria to be quiet.

The living room was silent and Liam could almost taste the incredulity dripping off Professor McGonagall's face.

'Oh, Mims,' he groaned softly. 'What did you say now?'

Finally, he heard a Scottish accent cut through the air. 'Miss Cheng, this would not work on many many levels, the main problem here being the possibility of someone finding out about the magic you possess. There is a reason that the Wizarding World is a secret from the public, and it is not for their protection- it's for ours.'

Liam frowned. He'd only known about the Muggle/Magic conflict from his friends since it wasn't something people really liked to talk about. He couldn't help but wonder what could Miri had possibly said that had garnered her a lecture about that?

The professor continued, 'I am certain you have heard of witch hunts-'

'That was ages ago,' interrupted his sister. Abort, abort, jump ship before you die, he screamed at her internally. 'People nowadays are more open-minded, more prone to accept the supernatural-'

'In media, yes, quite right. We should gamble the safety of millions on the choreographed reactions of people who are paid to romanticise the idea of the supernatural. Miss Cheng, people are afraid of the unknown, more so if they cannot control it. What will happen if they get wind of the existence of people who practise the art of bending the usual laws of nature? They may lock us up, or torture us in the name of science. Innocent people experimented on for no reason other than to sate their curiosity. It would be a massacre. And it would all start because of a child who refused to go to school and thus cannot control their magical abilities.'

There was a small pause. Then, 'Is there a... I would need to choose extra subjects for Third Year, correct?'

Liam was instantly suspicious. Miri would never give up that easily. So unless she had been abducted in the span of a few minutes, Miri had something up her sleeve.

Unfortunately, before he could learn what that was, the Extendable Ear in his hand was snatched.

'Hey!' Maria protested, meeting the same fate as him. 'It was just getting good! Miri was about to say something stupid again!'

His mother's stern expression told him that she was not amused. 'What were you two doing, eavesdropping on your sister's private conversation like that? I raised you better than that!'

Liam laughed awkwardly. 'Would you believe it if we told you that Miri wanted us to eavesdrop?'

'And that we could do nothing but listen to her?' added Maria.

Her expression didn't change.

He dropped his head. 

'Yes, mom,' he and Maria chorused, trudging to the dining room to finish their breakfast.

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'I'll do it. I'll go to Hogwarts.' said Miri, pretending not to notice the woman's sigh of relief. 

She reached into her robe and pulled out a letter. 'The required textbooks and school equipment are listed inside. Good day, Miss Cheng.'

'And you, professor.' The woman pulled out her wand and disappeared with a crack!

She entered the dining room just in time to see Liam cram five pieces of pancakes into his mouth at once.

Miri wrinkled her nose. 'Ew. Gross.'

'So...' asked Maria, little gossip queen she was, 'how'd it go?'

Miri reluctantly plucked two fives pound notes from her pockets and handed them over respectively to her siblings.

Liam cheered. 'You're coming to Hogwarts! Yes! I gotta write to Teddy!' He rushed off, presumably to his room to write to his best friend.

Maria sprang up in excitement. 'Yes! I can finally have my own room! No more stupidity to stink it up too! Where's that magic woman? I wanna warn her about you!'

'Wow, no need to be so choked up about me abandoning you,' said Miri robotically. 'Please, spare me the tears.'

But Maria was too far gone in her fantasy of redecorating their - soon to be her - room.

'Jerk,' Miri muttered before ducking Maria's enthusiastic hair whip. 'Hey!'

'Oops.'

'Whatever.' Miri's eyes zeroed in on her untouched pancakes. She looked at it lovingly before drowning it in maple syrup and stabbing it with a fork. She held it at eye level, studying the golden piece of heaven in her hands. 

'Alone at last.'

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Minerva McGonagall trudged tiredly towards Great Hall. She'd had a tiring day so far and her only wish at the moment was to lie unconscious in her bed for the next five or so hours
But alas, it was a Sunday - the day all the Hogwarts professors had lunch together at the school to help the more inexperienced professors plan their syllabus for the year and share tips on how to handle the more unruly students.

It was also the day the professors placed bets on who would be the biggest troublemaker of the year.

Entering the Great Hall, she took her seat at the head of the table.

'Professor McGonagall!' exclaimed Neville Longbottom, shocked at the rumpled sight of his co-worker. 'What... what happened to you?'

'Miri Cheng, that's who,' she grumbled. In her peripheral vision, she spotted Nelia Horn wincing sympathetically. 'And Neville, I've told you before, I am not your professor anymore- I am your colleague. You really must get used to calling me by my first name.

He blushed. 'Sorry, Pro- Minerva.'

'Alright,' she clasped her hands together, 'whose keeping score this year?'

Instantly, the chatter in the room grew non-existent. It was notorious that Minerva McGonagall didn't bet unless she was certain that she would win, the previous examples being the Marauders and the Weasley Twins. Aurora Sinistra raised her left hand, pulling out a blue notebook with the other.

'Please jot down the name 'Miri Cheng', Aurora. M-I-R-I. And the rest of you had better get used to those two words. She's going to be the one that'll rain hell on our school.'

'I still stand by James Potter,' declared Neville boldly. 'He's the Marauders, the Weasleys and Harry Potter's descendant. Troublemaking is quite literally in his blood.'

'Yes, but she's Liam Cheng's younger sister, and she didn't even want to attend Hogwarts in the first place. I had to resort to telling her about the Obscurus and she still didn't want to attend! It took up the better half of my morning to convince her to attend and it is not an experience I would want to repeat.'

'What if they team up? Miri and James, I mean.' voiced Aurora thoughtfully. 'They're in the same year and their older brothers are partners in crime.'

She was oblivious to the terrified expression that has overcome the faces of the two women who'd actually met the girl.

Minerva inhaled shakily. 'Merlin help us if they do.'

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a/n
oh, minnie, minnie, minnie, you've got one hell of a storm coming, and it's one where no one can come out unscathed.
i'm legit proud of this chapter because like nitpicking is so fun.

on the subject of nitpicking, sorry if i made mcgonagall ooc.
also, I feel like every major troublemaker doesn't call mcgonagall by her real name and that's how she wins every time she bets.