This is just the kind of comment that makes a writer's day. Thank you so much for your attention and for sharing how much you loved it.
I wanted to fulfill what I saw as fluffyllama's desire for a "relationship that shouldn't work but just does", and seeing Sybill as a fleshed-out person with genuine gifts that others don't appreciate was a way for me to see how she and Minerva might "work." I did worry that I moved too far away from canon characterization, but she was just so cartoonish in the books! I think there's also room for her to develop over the ten years after this story into someone that would be recognizable to Harry. And also, Minerva is just so tender with her when Umbridge sacks her in OotP, and I wanted to figure out why.
Anyway. Babbles from the author :) Thanks again for such a wonderful comment.