Protection: The Sword and the Shield

The Plan

......Hospital Wing, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Minerva stood over the frozen body of Colin Creevey, the young muggleborn wizard and bit her tongue as she listened to the headmaster drone on about what this petrification meant. It was clear to her that he had no intention of doing anything about it and she once again chastised herself for how easily she had allowed his words to sway her in the past.

She wondered if he was ever the man he was thought to be. Was he once great and just became another victim of time or was he always inane and just lucky. What if the entire legend of Albus Dumbledore was just the story of an average boy that got lucky at a desperate time?

Her disappointment was increased by how lacking in cleverness the man actually was. It was Sirius who pointed out to her that the man really should be suspicious that she was allowing him to try and cover up what was happening in the school. It was a behavior contradictory to how she had been acting since the beginning of the previous year.

She noticed that he had stopped talking and looked up into his face. He was looking at her expectantly and she realized that she was expected to act the frazzled and unsure subordinate. She sighed internally and made her voice warble. "Albus, what does this mean?" She could actually see the joy in his eyes when he said "It means......the chamber has indeed been opened again."

Minerva internally rolled her eyes as she watched Albus Dumbledore leave the hospital wing. As she followed in his wake and listened to him prattle on about keeping the school open and making decisions for the greater good, all she could think to herself was "Hagrid better bloody appreciate this"

...Flashback

......Office of the Deputy Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Minerva cast the appropriate privacy spells around her office before she sat in her chair behind her desk. Kathleen and Samantha were stationed outside for additional security, so she felt certain she would not be disturbed. On her desk was a small case. Most would recognize it as a jewelry box and examining it would not disavow one of that notion. Minerva opened it and looked down at the seven small, round frameless mirrors that sat on a satin bundle.

The woman smiled at the collection and then pressed her wand to the cases latch and spoke "Hail Hydra". She did not know what the significance of the words where but she knew it was likely something that would annoy her if she ever found out. Especially as it always caused Harry, Remus and Sirius to burst out laughing. Karli would shake her head in disgust and Minerva took that to mean that she definitely didn't want to know.

Despite what she knew was likely an extremely childish joke, the activated magic was impressive, to say the least. Four of the mirrors rose into the air and arranged themselves into a half circle in front of Minerva. The mirrors then tilted back 30 degrees and ghostly projections of the Potter Group Council formed above them.

Each figure was shown from the shoulders up and one mirror had two figures projecting from it. Minerva knew that she would appear similarly in the arrayed mirrors of each of the people she was looking at. Sirius and Remus were together and that was why they appeared from the same mirror though the projections oriented to maintain equal spacing for the entire group.

Also present was Osirus, Harry and Justine. Minerva was curious about Harry's presence as he did not typically join in these meetings during the school year. Since the meeting was called to discuss the attack on Mrs. Norris, she thought he likely wanted to join the discussion in this case.

Justine's body vanished and then in a moment reappeared in the same spot but now being projected from Harry's mirror. The now unused mirror returned to the case in front of her. Minerva figured that she did not know Harry planned to join either. She was normally the contact for Harry on the Council and with his presence, Minerva noticed that Justine seemed to be paying less attention and instead just rested her head on Harry's shoulder which brought their images closer together.