A Room With a View

A(nother) New Beginning

May 3, 2005: The Charm'd Pot, Edinburgh

"Surely, Minerva, there is a better alternative to your staff shortage than bringing me back into the Hogwarts fold. I sincerely doubt that anyone wants to see me flapping through the halls again."

Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, straightened in her seat and considered her drink for a moment. She was not fooled by the bored cadence of Severus Snape's objection. Nearly anyone else would have taken his drawled response as a rejection of her offer, but Minerva knew her old friend and sometimes-adversary better than that. She could spot the slight telltale lift of the left corner of his mouth. If he'd decided to reject her offer outright, he would've said so.

"Nonsense, Severus. It's been seven years since the Battle of Hogwarts. You're a national hero now and there are no students left in the school who ever witnessed your former, erh, teaching style. You're a school legend, to be sure, but you can disprove their assumptions when you return and teach as yourself, not Snape-the-spy," she responded in her no-nonsense Scottish brogue.

He sneered and sipped at his glass of Ogden's before replying. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Minerva. I'm tired. I've been tired for what feels like three decades. Between Dumbledore, the Order, and the last few years of travel, I feel like I'm about as ancient as Merlin himself. Not to mention I'm hardly up on the latest advances in potion making. For heaven's sake, woman! There must be someone else to replace Slughorn!"

The older witch sighed with exasperation. "If you'd actually responded to my first four owls instead of forcing me to floo you, you'd know that Horace isn't going anywhere. He's far too happy collecting students and rolling about the castle like an overgrown walrus. I'm not asking you to return as Potions Master, you stubborn man! I want you to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. We've no one qualified to fill the post and the rest of the staff is stretched too thin as it is. You're the foremost expert in the Dark Arts and the defense against them. I would be a fool to ask anyone else now that you're back in Britain." She raised an eyebrow at the grumpy man. 

"I don't doubt your enthusiasm, Minerva. I've been 'back in Britain' approximately 30 hours. You certainly didn't waste any time launching owls my way."

"Hogwarts needs you," she huffed a bit desperately. "I know you're tired, but you're forty-four, not four-hundred. It's a good age for a third career. Please don't make me beg."

Severus considered the headmistress speculatively. It was true, he wasn't quite as tired as he's implied and the prospect of returning to the comforts and routine of his former home were...appealing. After nearly seven years--the first of which had been spent in slow and painful recovery from multiple magical viper bites--thoughts of Hogwarts had an almost nostalgic sheen to them. He schooled his face so it didn't reflect any of the very real temptation to accept the offer outright.

"If I accepted your offer, and I'm not saying I will, I would want a few guarantees. I'd like to have my choice of rooms within the castle; I find I'm tired of being a dungeon-dweller and I have no desire to have my classroom attached to my private rooms again. I'd also like a small space, preferably within my quarters, to use as a potions and defense lab so that I can continue my personal research. And I would like--no, I would demand--the freedom to design my own curriculum. I won't use that standard ministry syllabus. You know it's rubbish as well as I do."

His terse demands were greeted with an indulgent smile. I think I could accommodate you on all counts there. You never saw the updates to the castle after the battle. We added in several suites of rooms during the repairs, so you can have your pick of any of the vacant ones. I can offer you total freedom in your curriculum so long as your students can pass their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. And as long as they aren't put in harm's way unnecessarily, of course. Oh, and I'll even sweeten the deal." She paused dramatically. "The Ministry has approved a substantial raise over your former salary should I secure your appointment. The position includes a separate fund for training materials, your continued field research, which you can use on potions ingredients if you desire, and the development of interdisciplinary lessons with the other professors at the school. The Ministry--and I should really be saying Kingsley here as he's the one who spearheaded your recruitment--wants no more unprepared young adults in Magical Britain should another threat come to our shores. We want you to redesign the curriculum. Heaven knows it needs it!"