Dark Wizard Collector: A Hogwarts Fanfiction

Chapter 24

The next day, as the clock tower struck two o'clock, signaling two hours before dismissal. I rushed to the Dark Forest and found some solitude in nature. Sighing, I undressed myself and placed my robes near a rock on the shore of a solitary lake. Hidden from all eyes with its icy cold waters was my favorite lake in the entire world. Many times during school, I had come here to enjoy the serenity of the dense wood.

A chill shot up my spine as I swam deeper into the dark abyss of the lake. When I returned to the top for air, I nearly screamed seeing a figure on the shore holding my clothes. It was McGonagall, and she stood looking out to me with a puzzled face. Then, I wondered to myself about the woman, seeing the bit of sadness and want of adventure in her. I swam closer to the shore and spoke out to her. "Minerva, you startled me. I was not expecting to see anyone here."

"Why are you out here?" She eyed me, and put my clothes back down.

"I had the afternoon free and the water is great, so why not?" I replied.

Professor McGonagall shrugged.

"What about yourself? Are you spying on me?" I laughed in a joking manner, but was half serious.

The woman's dark brow rose incredulously and she adjusted her glasses, "I've finished teaching classes for the day and I fancied to take a stroll. I figured I might have a word with you, when I saw you walking the grounds." McGonagall seemed to be such a stern witch, but I could see something else in her.

"Fancied a bit of adventure, eh Gryffindor?" I smiled and continued swimming about. The thirst for adventure and excitement was now noticeably gleaming in her green eyes. "Pray, do tell me. Transfiguration is not just a class to you, is it?"

"What makes you say that?" She replied, taking her shoes off and letting her hair down.

"Come, come now darling, do you really expect me to believe that you are a regular witch. I know you are an Animagus."

"You are pretty bright for being new." The dark haired woman smiled and my spirits rose.

Minerva's façade as a professor fell with her clothes and showed she contained youthful energy. The witch surprised me with how comfortable she felt around me. I had never expected her to bare herself and follow me into the lake. What was her game? She waded into the cold water, shivering and giggling. Another thing I could see was slight loneliness and lack of a kindred friend. She only had the mostly male staff as friends and I wondered if the women staff members were quite as spirited as Minerva.

"Let me guess, a cat?" I queried in an attempt to deduce the animal she was able to shape shift into at will. Nodding, the woman ducked under the still water and returned quickly with a gasp.

"Did you really guess or did you look me up in the records at the Ministry of Magic?"

"I guessed," I said with a smile.

"What about yourself?"

"There is nothing special about me," I lied; I was not ready to reveal the rarity of my inborn magic.

"I know a bit of rubbish when I hear it. I may be an old maid compared to you, but I am still sharp." Her smile showed a few laughter lines.

"You are not an old maid!" I laughed back to brighten her spirits and distract her from asking about me.

"For Muggles, thirty-six is old, Maera. You must be joking about yourself. To be twenty, the Head of Discipline at Hogwarts is a great feat. However did you do it?"

"Magic." I grinned, and swam closer to her.

"Keep your secrets then." She laughed. "But tell me, are you an Animagus?" Her inquiry forced me into my thoughts.

Minerva had a point about how non-magic people viewed age, but what she did not know was that I was actually three years from being half a century old; I was what Muggles called middle-aged. In thought, I dropped my head and figured that if I were to make real friends, I would have to tell someone a bit about myself that would not scare them. However, making friends was the least of my priorities now. My mind rested only on the soul arts, which I knew for a fact Minerva would not condone. But was my research really for myself, or for Tom?

For a moment, I imagined what the reactions of the staff would be if I said my true name. Oh yes, and did I mention my younger brother is a dark wizard that is head of the rebellion! No, that would not do at all. But I needed to do something. I was supposed to be turning over a new leaf. This life as Maera was my second chance, and maybe my last if the soul arts proved too challenging for me.

Finally, I decided to trust Minerva and temper the rumors of the mystery witch, Maera Zeria. A part of my heart yelled at me for deciding to make friends with a Gryffindor.

"I am a metamorphmagus." I quietly replied with a shy smile.