            McGonagall sighed. "Because Merlin knows you have been through enough, child. And much of that suffering occurred while under the school’s...under  my care. And despite it all, a bright, astonishingly powerful witch stepped out the other side." The headmistress settled her hand over Hermione’s wrist, drawing her gaze back. McGonagall’s eyes glistened as she spoke, more gently than Hermione had ever heard her. "I will not let you throw away what future you have left, Hermione. Even if you seem insistent on throwing it out yourself. Now," she said, clearing her throat and straightening to her full, imposing height. "I do still have classes to teach, if we can put aside this "losing the trial’ nonsense long enough to get out of this place?"