response to the bi-weekly challenge
2. Pipe tobacco and cigarette smoke are two of the most comforting smells in the entire world: one reminds her of her father, and the other reminds her of her mother.
3. Her grandfather used to take her along when he went pub-hopping in the afternoons, using the dog’s walk as an excuse. Everyone knew him, his dog, and his granddaughter, and they always had a piece or two of toffee, or a muggle soda-pop waiting to be consumed.
4. No man has ever, or will ever, surpass Gordon McGonagall in Minerva’s mind, and only one man has ever come close (it’s the reason she admires him so much).
5. Her last real memory of her father is of being carried, kicking and screaming, out of his funeral. She stopped wailing when she saw her grandfather crying.
6. Her first memory of Africa is of waking before sunrise and tramping over the fog-covered veldt in her nightgown, a pair of boots, and her brother’s coat, to watch the orange sun come up and burn off the mists. She was eight.
7. Gordon McGonagall was Josephine Greer’s second husband, and Alec was the only child to come out of her first marriage. When she remarried, Gordon gave Alec his name and swore with his wedding vows that he would love the boy like his own. Minerva didn’t find out that Alec had a different father until she was almost ten, and she spent the rest of the night trying not to cry.
8. The first thing she did at Hogwarts was develop a raging crush on Albus Dumbledore that lasted 18 years - right up until she started teaching.
9. When she was 13, she discovered jazz, and the Big Band. Later that same year, she started going with her brother and his friends whenever they went out dancing. It turns out that the only thing remotely comparable to playing quidditch is the lindy hop.
10. The first time a boy suggested that they “go all the way” Minerva broke his nose. Then she vowed never to get married, and she has never regretted it.
11. When Alec died, she stopped relying on her mother and started taking care of herself.
12. The only reason she became an animagus was to prove to herself that she could do it. She thinks the whole task was rather easier than everyone made it out to be.
13. She’s been seeing the same man since she was 16: the problem is that she only sees him for a month and a half every 3 or 4 years. He lives in Giyani.
14. Her first day of teaching was the most terrifying day of her life.
15. She realized she and Severus were something approaching friends during the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw match his seventh year of teaching, when she stepped back from the conversation to realize that she was having just as much fun bickering with Sev as she was watching the game. She didn’t speak to him the rest of the match.
16. For Minerva, the First War came and went in the blink of an eye. It’s the Second that sticks with her and still wakes her up at night (she’s never been able to get rid of the image of Harry, dead at Voldemort’s feet).
17. After her first week as Minister, she went home and slept for eleven hours straight for the first time in almost twenty years. She’s never gotten enough sleep (the average is about three hours a night). She doesn’t need it, and it’s a waste of time anyways.
18. After her time in the Ministry, she concluded that - with few exceptions - her notion that all politicians were racist, sexist, small-minded, bigoted pigs was true, for the most part (even if she does have considerably more respect for said pigs now that all is said and done).
19. The northern wall of the study at her house in Giyani is 2/3 covered with letters and drawings, all of them done by the children or grandchildren of her students. She’s looking forward to covering it completely.
20. She has always been happy with her decision to never have children, because she wouldn't have been able to teach as much as she did, and she's absolutely wild about the kids she got out of that. She can't imagine her life without them, and really, she doesn't want to.
3. Her grandfather used to take her along when he went pub-hopping in the afternoons, using the dog’s walk as an excuse. Everyone knew him, his dog, and his granddaughter, and they always had a piece or two of toffee, or a muggle soda-pop waiting to be consumed.
4. No man has ever, or will ever, surpass Gordon McGonagall in Minerva’s mind, and only one man has ever come close (it’s the reason she admires him so much).
5. Her last real memory of her father is of being carried, kicking and screaming, out of his funeral. She stopped wailing when she saw her grandfather crying.
6. Her first memory of Africa is of waking before sunrise and tramping over the fog-covered veldt in her nightgown, a pair of boots, and her brother’s coat, to watch the orange sun come up and burn off the mists. She was eight.
7. Gordon McGonagall was Josephine Greer’s second husband, and Alec was the only child to come out of her first marriage. When she remarried, Gordon gave Alec his name and swore with his wedding vows that he would love the boy like his own. Minerva didn’t find out that Alec had a different father until she was almost ten, and she spent the rest of the night trying not to cry.
8. The first thing she did at Hogwarts was develop a raging crush on Albus Dumbledore that lasted 18 years - right up until she started teaching.
9. When she was 13, she discovered jazz, and the Big Band. Later that same year, she started going with her brother and his friends whenever they went out dancing. It turns out that the only thing remotely comparable to playing quidditch is the lindy hop.
10. The first time a boy suggested that they “go all the way” Minerva broke his nose. Then she vowed never to get married, and she has never regretted it.
11. When Alec died, she stopped relying on her mother and started taking care of herself.
12. The only reason she became an animagus was to prove to herself that she could do it. She thinks the whole task was rather easier than everyone made it out to be.
13. She’s been seeing the same man since she was 16: the problem is that she only sees him for a month and a half every 3 or 4 years. He lives in Giyani.
14. Her first day of teaching was the most terrifying day of her life.
15. She realized she and Severus were something approaching friends during the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw match his seventh year of teaching, when she stepped back from the conversation to realize that she was having just as much fun bickering with Sev as she was watching the game. She didn’t speak to him the rest of the match.
16. For Minerva, the First War came and went in the blink of an eye. It’s the Second that sticks with her and still wakes her up at night (she’s never been able to get rid of the image of Harry, dead at Voldemort’s feet).
17. After her first week as Minister, she went home and slept for eleven hours straight for the first time in almost twenty years. She’s never gotten enough sleep (the average is about three hours a night). She doesn’t need it, and it’s a waste of time anyways.
18. After her time in the Ministry, she concluded that - with few exceptions - her notion that all politicians were racist, sexist, small-minded, bigoted pigs was true, for the most part (even if she does have considerably more respect for said pigs now that all is said and done).
19. The northern wall of the study at her house in Giyani is 2/3 covered with letters and drawings, all of them done by the children or grandchildren of her students. She’s looking forward to covering it completely.
20. She has always been happy with her decision to never have children, because she wouldn't have been able to teach as much as she did, and she's absolutely wild about the kids she got out of that. She can't imagine her life without them, and really, she doesn't want to.