The Secret

November 5th, 2030.
She sat in the middle of the room. People all around her were crying and mourning the loss of one of the bravest, most intelligent witches in history. Minerva McGonagall was dead. She had been getting on in her years; a nice age of 105. She had died two days ago of old age. The woman watched as the frail body was put into the coffin. A single tear rolled down her eye slowly and she didn’t bother to wipe it away. She clutched the note in her hand tightly, glancing at it every so often throughout the ceremony. When the ceremony was over, she left quietly and hurried to the Ministry. She got to the elevator inside the Ministry and pressed the lowest level. Department of Mysteries, a smooth, clear voice said as she departed the elevator. She strode quickly to the end of the hall and slowly opened the door. She continued at a quick pace inside and went through many doors and halls until she was found the chamber she was looking for. It was an unknown chamber and nobody ever ventured into it except the few ancient Unspeakables. The chamber was unnamed because there was no way to describe it. The few that did know about it just called it, simply, the Unnamed Chamber. The woman walked further into the room until she reached a shelf labelled Those Born in the 1920’s. She found Minerva McGonagall’s name among the scatter of files and papers on the shelf and pulled out Minerva’s file. She slipped the note into the file and waited.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here we are, in the year 1942 in the month of September on the eighth day. This is where our story begins. Welcome to the story of the secret.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minerva McGonagall grabbed her homework and walked swiftly out the door, her four roommates in tow. As she walked, she swept her hair into a tight bun.

“Min, Min, MIN! Wait up!” Evangeline Jones quickened her pace to reach her best friend.

Minerva slowed slightly so that Evangeline fell in step beside her.

“Why are you going so fast?”

“I need to get to Transfiguration early. I have to ask Professor Dumbledore a few questions,” Raven haired Minerva replied.

Evangeline rolled her eyes.

“Of course, Min, of course.”

“Well sorry, Eve. You know Transfiguration is my favourite subject.”

They made their way into the Great Hall and walked over to sit at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table. Gwendolyn Bell, Louisa Cattermole, and Rosalind Meadowes joined the table a few moments later.

“Min, slow down!” Louisa exclaimed as she reached for a piece of toast.

“Louisa, you know how she gets when Transfiguration’s first thing in the morning.”

Louisa sighed and buttered her toast.

“Bloody hell,” she murmured as one of her rust coloured locks fell out of the bun it was strapped in and into the butter dish.

“Scourgify.” Blonde haired Rosalind said, pointed her wand at Louisa’s hair.

“Thanks Rosie,” Louisa blushed as she tended back to the toast on her plate.

Minerva suddenly stood up.

“I’ve got to go. See you girls in Transfiguration,”

A chorus of ‘Bye Min! See you soon!’ followed her abrupt goodbye.
Minerva raced to the Transfiguration classroom and placed her books down with a sigh. A few moments later, Professor Dumbledore stepped inside the classroom.

“Good morning, Miss McGonagall.”

“Good morning, Professor. I have a few questions about last night’s homework and I wanted to ask you quickly before class started.”

“Alright. Go ahead, Miss McGonagall.”

Professor Dumbledore’s blue eyes shined behind his half-moon glasses as he listened to Minerva ask her questions. Twenty minutes later, the first few people came into the classroom and Professor Dumbledore put the class lesson onto the board. Evangeline, Gwendolyn, Rosalind, and Louisa sat beside Minerva.

“Are you good now?” Gwendolyn asked Minerva, tossing her strawberry blonde pin straight hair over her shoulder.

“Yes, Gwen. Do shut up.”

Gwendolyn gave out a tinkling laugh and nudged Louisa who had already fallen half-asleep at her desk.
Later that day, after dinner, the girls, except Evangeline who was working with Benjamin Finnegan on some last minute Charms homework, were sprawled on their favourite couch.

“Well hello there, ladies.” Sandy haired, lanky Lyle Prewett came towards them with red haired, muscular Emerson Spinnet in tow.

“Prewett, Spinnet,” Rosalind nodded to both of them as they reached the couch.

“Meadowes,” Prewett said, grinning slightly. Gwendolyn looked up from playing with her nails to give Emerson a short nod before going back to her nails.

“What would you boys like?”

“Is it a crime to come and say hi, Min?”

“In your case, yes it is.”

“Ouch.”

Minerva’s mouth went into a thin line and she rolled her eyes.

“Prewett, as much fun as this is, your presence is not needed so please take Spinnet and go elsewhere,” Minerva proposed, her tone sharp.
Emerson turned to leave and motioned for Lyle to follow him when Lyle went down on one knee in front of Rosalind and declared, “My dear lady, I will see you again very shortly. Our time runs short as your raven haired friend does not admire my presence.” He kissed her swiftly on the hand and stood up. Rosalind blushed slightly but did not say a word.

“Was that really necessary, Prewett?” Gwendolyn asked.

“Quite so, m’lady.” He turned to Emerson, “Well, chap, I see we must be off now. Good talking to you.”

With that, Lyle and Emerson walked away off in the direction of the stairs to their dormitory.

“He is such a drama king,” Louisa said. Rosalind was still slightly red.

Minerva set her piercing stare on Rosalind.

“Do you fancy him, Rosie?”

“Well. Well, yes.” Rosalind blushed again and looked down at her shoes.

“I find him to be an insufferable git.” Minerva paused for a moment. “But I want you to be happy, Rose.”

Gwendolyn rolled her eyes, “She doesn’t need your permission, Min.”

Minerva’s mouth went back into a straight line.
“I realize that, Gwen, I am just stating what I think.”

Gwendolyn ignored her and turned to Louisa, who was reading her Charms book.

“Lou, want to come to the library with me quickly?”

“Sure. “
Louisa and Gwendolyn walked across the Common Room and stepped through the portrait hole.

“Do you want to head upstairs?” Rosalind asked.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

A few minutes after Rosalind and Minerva entered their dormitory, Evangeline bounded in.

“Hi Eve, how did the study date go?” Minerva questioned, lifting her head up from her bed.

“It was not a study date!” Evangeline exclaimed dramatically, waving her hands about as she sat on her bed.

“Eve, he fancies you. It’s so obvious.” Rosalind countered.

“Well even if he does fancy me, which he does not, I don’t fancy him. So stuff it.”

The next day, the five girls headed down to breakfast late because Louisa’s hair was so tangled that it refused to be fixed by magic. She then had to brush it for almost twenty-five minutes until it was normal again. As they got closer to the Great Hall, Minerva noticed a gang of Slytherin boys. They were huddled in a group at the entrance of the Hall. As she got closer, she saw that it was the fifth year boys. Riddle, it seemed, was doing most of the talking. The boys around him were Raginwald Lestrange, Ted Rosier, Nathan Avery, and Antonin Dolohov.

Minerva didn’t realize she was staring until Dolohov shouted out, “Oi Blood Traitor! You have no right to look over here!”

The group minus Riddle laughed heartily and Lestrange even turned to sneer at her.

“Detention for foul language, Dolohov.” Mineva retorted.

Another round of raucous laughter went around the group besides Riddle whose face still remained expressionless. Without another word, Minerva followed her friends inside the Great Hall. If she had looked behind her, she would have seen Tom Riddle staring at her.