"My grandson has expressed an interest in becoming an animagus, and I can see the benefits of having such a rare ability. I hope you would be agreeable to teaching him the skill," Lady Longbottom voiced, her eyes watching him.
...
Considering her request for a good minute while he delicately sipped his tea, he silently weighed up the pros and cons of her request, before a small confirming smile appeared on his lips, giving her his answer. "Whilst I have no issue with teaching your grandson the skill, it needs to be clear from the start that becoming an animagus is very much a self-driven skill, a journey of self-discovery that requires a great deal of time, skill and dedication to successfully achieve even if one uses the potion shortcut to discover one's animal form.
No matter how skilled the teacher, success or failure is ultimately more in the student's hands than anyone else's. I can provide him with the guidance and direction needed to begin the journey, but it will be very much up to Neville whether he successfully learns the skill. It can take several years or more to learn."
Noticing a sudden shift in posture, the old witch's demeanour became more assertive, more defensive at this answer. "Your godson successfully learnt the skill. Are you implying that my grandson is not capable of the same feat?" she asked, with a hint of challenge.
"No, I am most certainly not implying that," he quickly replied, as he searched for the correct words to defuse the situation. "Harry is a very unique and driven individual in nature, especially so at his age.
If he wants something, he will work ceaselessly for it, putting all his energy and drive into making it happen despite anything the world would say on the subject. If he wants to learn a new skill, he will, as failure simply isn't an option in his mind," he gave her a stern look to convey his seriousness, that he wasn't bullshitting her.
"My intention is merely to make it clear that the skill cannot simply be taught like any ordinary spell, it's a very unique piece of magic after all. It requires a rare self-awareness and inner focus. I can give Neville the tools and the knowledge to set him on the path, but it will be very much up to him to unlock the ability, if he even has the potential for it. In fact, most of the work will be self-study."
"I'm sure Neville will be a satisfactory student," she voiced confidently, clearly disregarding his words and missing the whole point.
He decided to keep his peace on the subject until he met Alice and Frank's son for himself. "I'm sure he will be," he voiced, knowing that his deceased friend Frank had been a hardworking individual with an incredibly strong personal work ethic. That would be required for Neville to have any hope for success.
"I would also like to introduce Neville to some better company," she added, before sipping thoughtfully on her tea.
He considered the aging witch's words. They sounded suspiciously like his own mother's from way back when, but he still had no clue what she meant. "Better company?" he asked, hoping to show that he genuinely didn't understand.
"Yes, better company," she confirmed, rather unhelpfully.
"Is there something wrong with Neville's current company?" he asked, whilst trying to remember what Harry had told him of Neville and his friends.
"My grandson currently spends far too much of his time hanging around with the Weasley children. Whilst their family is upstanding and firmly in the light, their youngest son lacks any work ethic or drive, and is unfortunately dragging Neville down with him. I wish to correct that," Lady Longbottom voiced.
He immediately saw the potential political advantages of establishing closer relations with the Longbottom family, one of the most influential light side families in magical Britain. However, at the same time, he knew that Harry would not like being forced into associating with anyone unless it was his own personal choice. Unfortunately, he couldn't outright deny her request without insulting her and her house and possibly ending this temporary alliance before it even began. "I'll talk to Harry about it," he finally demurred.
"Talk?" she challenged. "A child does as his parent or guardian instructs. They do as their elders command."
Having some flashbacks to his own bitter, hate-filled mother at that moment did little to help his state of mind. "You haven't met my godson," he muttered unintentionally, beneath his breath, before quickly adding. "Harry is very independent and strong-willed, that's one of the very reasons why he was able to successfully become an animagus so young.
I'll encourage him to talk to Neville, but he has his mother's stubbornness," he replied with a small, charming smile, which had absolutely no affect on the Lady Longbottom. He considered what his godson would do in retaliation if he actually tried to force Harry to do anything he didn't want to. He mightily resisted the shudder that went up his spine.
...
( Wednesday – Morning )
The first female head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was in a very good mood this morning, good enough that she almost had a visible bounce in her step, as her ambitious plans finally started to come together. Her excellent mood didn't go unnoticed by her employees either, already several of her 'braver' employees had taken the opportunity to ask for additional time off, or pay raises.
But, unfortunately, they all had to be denied, due to one reason or another. The main reason was that the department was already both understaffed and underfunded. If she had it her way all of her aurors would be better paid, better equipped, with better working hours and conditions, but she just didn't have the gold in her department's annual budget to make that even a remote possibility.
Predictably, there was already a rumour going around the department to explain her good mood, most of her employees believing that she had a date lined up for Valentine's Day; she did nothing to discourage that particular rumour. Or as one crude, young auror had voiced, 'she was finally getting some,' totally oblivious to the fact that she was in fact standing right behind him as he spoke the inappropriate words, which led to him getting a stern reprimand about his unprofessional conduct and quite possibly short future in the department.
Of course she was getting some, just not in the sexual sense her employees assumed. She was finally getting the criminal she had been after for close to a decade, along with all his murderous friends, if her plan came together as nicely as she hoped.
To make her day even better, she would soon be questioning Professor Snape. Soon all his dirty secrets would be hers, but she had that nagging feeling in the back of her mind that it wasn't going to be that easy of a task. She had originally promised the Chief Warlock that she would wait until he was there to supervise the questioning of Snape, due to the man's conflicting magical vows, but she knew she had an information goldmine in the potions professor. She wanted to mine that information all by herself.
Not even her upcoming meeting with the egotistical Minister could ruin her good mood brought on by the thought of questioning one of Dumbledore's inner circle; a man she privately expected to know a lot more of the Chief Warlock's backroom dealings than the elder wizard truly realized.
It was a calculated risk on her part, but if she did manage to get something big and damaging on the Chief Warlock, she could use it to increase her department's funding in exchange for her silence on the matter.
She paused just outside the Minister's office to compose herself, before purposefully striding into the Minister's richly decorated office, which she suspected was illegally paid for with ministerial funds rather than the Minister's own gold.
She made a mental note to investigate the matter further, in fact as soon as her current case was wrapped up, since it could provide her with some additional leverage to use on the greedy, self-serving politician that was her boss. Personally she didn't like having to play the games of extortion and blackmail, but in the Ministry of Magic it was the only way to survive all the internal politics and daily backstabbing that was common practise.
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can join my p atreon :
p atreon.com/loveran