I love canon-compliant, well-written, well-characterized stories like this one, and I particularly like the textured world of women's relationships that you create. Minerva's voice is excellent: intelligent, wryly humorous, no-nonsense -- just as I imagine she would be. The "dear reader" conceit works very well for her, too, as do the elements of loss and regret, which your Minerva handles just as I would expect her to: not with any sentimental wallowing, but with practical, kind good sense.
I love the Hooch cameo, the skewering portrait of Dippet, and especially the thought of Hooch/Marchbanks in the prefects' bath.
the adult Amelia was a thing of intelligence and fire. I was entranced. So am I! Like Minerva, I'm impressed and attracted by female competence and reliability, and I love the way you present those aspects here.
She would lean forward, catching her companion’s eye, drawing that companion in—drawing me in—as if our conversation were suspended there precariously, midair, between the two of us, a fragile thing that only we could sense or share Great image.
I have lived my life on my terms and never looked back. Yes!