Minerva McGonagall (ex_mcg485) wrote in bearandbarnacle, @ 2009-08-25 23:54:00 |
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Entry tags: | forgetting, luciusthread, minervapost, minervathread, sevthread, topic, zelgadisthread |
Minerva McGonagall: Topic: Forgetting
Minerva's memory has yet to fail her, but she's been prepared for it to do so since about eighteen. The habit of keeping extensive, diaristic notes on her research and activities came from her mother, an apothecary renowned for the efficacy of her precisely-prepared remedies. In compact black books Minerva logs her research activities, notes down interesting page numbers from the books she's using, jots questions for later consideration. She also tends to mark things like visits, and interesting weather patterns, and her time of the month back when it mattered, and any interesting newspaper headlines.
Lately the books have been all about Zelgadis Grayweir. There are notes of other things, mind -- "Explosion in Severus' lab, am assured was to be expected," and "Unnaturally hot," and "Rain of fish -- for God's sake," and "Am being haunted by the ghost of Ginny Weasley, with passenger. Am assured of current sanity, but not of its continuance."
But rarely do three days pass without something like:
"What about that experiment in Saudi Arabia? Must look into."
"Partial transformation still a consideration but cannot seem to stop partway, why?"
"To do: Ask Z for more on the lungfish, reorder Adv. in Theory Vol 242 6-8."
"Lent Z my wand today to see if any effect, determine closeness of systems. Half my kitchen now stone."
"What if Polyjuice from blood? Will check on feasibility."
"Margate youthened considerably as of today. Z is toddler, still stone. What about a different method of youthening? Will work on spell."
"Law of conservation of energy does not seem to apply and it irks me."
"Youthening spell coming along, but am running out of ideas."
It's frustrating. Incredibly so.
And that frustration is going to be her excuse, on a permanent basis, for forgetting a vitally important detail about Zelgadis: His stone skin tends to make him selectively impermeable to magic. Which then ricochets.
The back of her head hits the kitchen cupboards at speed and she cries out, her hand tightening to death-grip on her wand in the old dueler's reflex -- never let your only weapon be knocked away, not even if it's instinct, it could mean your life. She crumples to the floor, and it dazedly occurs how lucky she is that she didn't hit the window as she feels Zel lift her.
"Are you --" he starts to say, and then stops and his large eyes go very wide.
"What?" she asks, feeling to see how far askew her glasses have gone. "I'm fine. I cracked the cupboard with my skull."
He lifts his right hand, warning her, "I'm not very good at these," then she hears him murmur something followed by "Recovery!" Light glows in the palm of Zel's hand and she feels the pain lessen. "There's good news and bad news," he tells her in his uninflected voice.
"Bad first," she suggests.
"Nothing happened to me."
"I noticed. And good?"
"The spell obviously works."
She's about to ask, and then she looks at her reflection in the window.
"Merlin's blue balls," she says crudely to the face of herself as she looked fifty or more years ago.