"Yes," Minerva replied. "Purpose."
She raised her wand and gave it a small flick. A spell erupted from it and struck the ground. The next moment, two chairs made out of pure stone, resembling thrones, facing each other emerged from the earth.
"Have a seat, Lord Olario," Minerva said as she placed her wand back into its holster.
She sat in one of the chairs while Antonio occupied the other, waiting for Minerva McGonagall to begin the conversation.
"Lord Olario," she said, "I have lived quite a long life, and in this long life, I have seen, witnessed, and experienced many things."
"And it is natural that when you live such a long life," she continued, "you make a lot of decisions. Some decisions prove to be right, a few turn out to be wrong. But then there are decisions you regret for the rest of your life."
"And there are decisions in my life that I still regret," she said. "Quite a few of them."
"But," she continued, "there is another thing I do not want to regret in the future."
"Lily Evans. She is almost like my daughter. I have had a lot of students in my teaching career and I have close relationships with quite a few of them. But none come close to what I feel for Lily. She is probably the closest to the family I have ever had."
"I do not want that when she leaves and graduates from Hogwarts, she is thrown into extreme danger. I do not want that if something happens to her, I spend the rest of my life regretting that I could have done more for her, but chose not to for Merlin knows what reason."
Antonio nodded in response. He could see, yet also not see, where this was going.
"And I have a part to play in this choice you have made, about doing something for Miss Evans," Antonio remarked.
Minerva nodded.
"You expect me to guarantee her safety once she graduates from Hogwarts," Antonio continued further.
Minerva shook her head.
"That as well," she said softly, "but something more too."
"What?" Antonio asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Where did all of this begin?" she questioned instead.
"When you praised her for her talents," she answered herself, and Antonio nodded. "And every word you said was true."
"In my entire life," she continued, "I have seen very few witches or wizards as talented as Lily Evans. Only a handful and that too when the number of spells she can learn is limited. When she does not have access to the same resources as pure blood and she cannot even practice during her vacations unlike a pure blood child who resides in the Wizarding World only."
"She has all the potential within her to become one of the greatest witches Wizarding Britain has ever seen," Minerva remarked.
"And what do you expect of me in this?" Antonio asked, though he could already guess where this was going.
"Train her," she said simply. "She has almost six months before she leaves Hogwarts. Teach her. Help her become what she can be. The great witch she is meant to be."
"Why not do it yourself?" Antonio asked immediately. "I do not know whether Lily will become one of the greatest witches or not, but I do know for sure that I am sitting in front of one, one of the greatest witches, and one of the finest teachers."
Minerva shook her head.
"I do not believe you are so naive," Minerva replied. "There are restraints upon me. Politics, limitations, obstructions. I think you understand. I do not need to go into detail."
Antonio nodded. He understood or at least, he thought he did. Both of them, Lily and Minerva, lived at Hogwarts. It should not have been that difficult. But perhaps she was referring to Dumbledore or something else.
"Okay!" Antonio said. "I agree with everything you have told me. But why do you expect that I would agree to teach her? What do I get in return?"
Minerva frowned.
"I think it was just yesterday that you said you somewhat cared for her," she remarked. "Is it not a good enough reason?"
"I do care for her but I would probably care about most of the humans, at least, innocent humans," Antonio nodded. "But I also said that we do not really share any deeper connection. It was just coincidence and circumstance that brought us together."
Minerva frowned even more. It seemed she had expected Antonio to accept her request more easily. On the other hand, Antonio was not actually opposed to teaching Lily. But he had his own considerations. He was going to be busy and his time was short, and he was also curious to see how much Minerva was willing to offer for the decision she had made.
Minerva finally nodded.
"Lord Olario," she said, "just now I told you that I do not want to make a decision I might regret in the future. And I am firm in that."
"I am certain that in the future you are going to have many enemies," she continued. "With what you did to the Death Eaters, and whatever actions you may take later, there will surely come a time when you'll face dangerous opponents."
She sighed deeply, then raised her fingers.
"In return for you training Lily," she said, her voice echoing firmly through the clearing, "you will have the authority to call upon me three times for aid, if your opponent is a criminal. And I promise that I will unleash all my power in your support."
Antonio remained seated there, stunned into silence. He had never expected Minerva to offer something like that. For any other wizard, three times might mean little but for someone like Minerva, three times was a lot. A great deal indeed.
"If you wish, I can swear a magical oath," Minerva offered, seeing him remain silent.
Antonio quickly shook his head. "Your word is more than enough."
Minerva sighed and nodded, a small but stiff smile creeping onto her face.
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