Deloris finally found an opening, she overheard Madame Marchbanks talking to that blood traitor Longbottom about the meeting they were planning with Dumbledore concerning his defense professor. Obtaining that spot would give her one on one time with the boy wonder himself, as well as some potential insight on Dumbledore.
She knew what information her lackey's would want, the downfall of the destroyer of their master would come with a high price, in turn she could then use them to spread discord throughout the Wizengamot and have that nitwit Fudge kicked out of office, leaving the spot open for them to vote her in.
Yes, it was a good plan, she thought, I just need to get a way to get myself or someone in my trust into that position to hand over the boy who lived to the death eaters. She doubted Dumbledore or the board would assign her the position, they were part of the problem after all, allowing such filth to be educated at Hogwarts. But if not her, then who else could she send…
Albus Dumbledore was not having a good week, between the complaints he received from his teaching staff and students alike, the Board of Governors also complaining, and the pompous git show boating during meal times, Albus felt like kicking Gilderoy Lockhart out would solve all this bedlam; his only problem was who would he get to fill the position?
Albus walked into the meeting with the Board of Governors hoping to divert their attention for a bit longer if he promised to replace the dunce in a timely fashion.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, we were made aware of the letters that you were sent by a multitude of different students concerning the behavior and competence of your defense professor, would you say this is true and accurate?" Madame Marchbanks started the meeting.
"Yes" Albus answered honestly, "and I must say several of my teaching staff has also informed me of his incompetence. I am unfortunately in the unique position of trying to find a suitable replacement, but the pool of applicants doesn't leave much to be desired. I promise that I am working on it, and until the time that I can fully replace Mr. Lockhart I will have a senior staff member sit in on his classes to hopefully raise the standard of education given in his class."
The board agreed that it would be difficult to replace a professor on such short notice, as well as the candidacy of applicants available. Madame Marchbanks opened it up to the other eleven board members for suggestions.
Narcissa seeing an opening, put forth her two cents and addressed the group. "I have a suggestion I would like to offer up to the headmaster as a solution to his problem." She started.
"I understand that I am simply filling in this role for my now ex-husband, but as I have been accepted back into the Black family, I would overrule him on the board anyway, and rightfully take up the seat for the Blacks. I have a proper candidate for the position of defense if you are willing to hear me out." Narcissa put forth her opening line to the group.
Receiving the nod to continue by both the other governors and Dumbledore, Narcissa trudged on with her suggestion, "Remus Lupin holds a mastery in defense from Master Sheng in Japan. Master Sheng is highly regarded in his field and had accepted Remus as an apprentice knowing full well of his condition." She paused here to see if anyone was unfamiliar with Remus' furry little problem. Seeing no confusion she continued, "Seeing as he is also a graduate of Hogwarts, it would seem that the school already has precautions in place for his condition, not to mention he doesn't have a single occurrence in which he has ever placed anyone in harms way."
Albus confirmed that Remus did have options in place that would remove him from school grounds on the night of the full moon, and that he would have no problem offering the werewolf a position if he had the backing of the board. He also made sure that they knew he was an exemplary student during his time at Hogwarts and was even made a prefect during his tenure.
Amelia saw what Narcissa was attempting to do and put her backing behind her efforts. "I can confirm that Mr. Lupin has never had an incident in his entire time of being a werewolf, which if any of you don't know, he has been suffering from lycanthropy since the age of six, when he was bitten by Fenrir Greyback in response to his father's stand on his anti-werewolf propaganda."
All the Governors understood that was quite an accomplishment, and that he would be the perfect person for the post of defense due to his mastery and mentor, it would bring a much needed diversity of teaching to the staff.
"Before we put to vote if we agree with offering a werewolf a position as professor, can we know what precautions would be put in place for protection of the students during the full moon?" Mr. Bulstrode asked.
"Absolutely, it is my opinion that the children come first, and because of this I'm putting forth Mr. Lupin's name because I think he would be the best fit. The fact that he suffers from a condition that he had no say in the matter of, I would also like to sponsor his wolfsbane potion every month that he is employed with Hogwarts." Narcissa put together on a whim.
Everything she said was true, he didn't have a choice in becoming a werewolf, so why should that stop him from passing on his knowledge. She had more than enough money from Lucius alone to sponsor him for several years, if anything Sirius would definitely help her if needed.
"That is very kind of you Madam Black, but what about the off grounds provision and the off chance he misses this potion?" Mr. Bulstrode asked.
Amelia, wanting to avoid any negativity to Remus once again helped her friend out and decided to put forth some contribution herself, "Albus, where did Mr. Lupin go when he was a student? You stated he had off grounds accommodation?"
"Yes, he had an authorized way to get to the shrieking shack that I had under protection charms as well as monitoring charms to let me know if he was in distress." Albus replied.
"Well, we know that the shrieking shack is still there, we could update the protection charms, and I feel he would be capable now as an adult that he wouldn't need the monitoring charms in place for distress but perhaps someone to aid in the event of a bad batch of wolfsbane, I could provide an auror escort to the building and to remain with Mr. Lupin during his time, one who is experienced with werewolves, that way the public can know we are taking things seriously." Amelia offered, thinking to run it past Sirius to re-instate him as a private auror just for that detail.
"That would be acceptable, and I think from the parent's standpoint a good effort into showing both protection of their children along with understanding if any children with the illness want to attend accommodation would be available." Madam Longbottom stated matter of fact.
She always believed that it was rubbish that werewolves were condemned due to an illness they had no control over. She believed that the person should be tried not the animal, people like Remus Lupin were a prime example of the good he could bring to the society, unlike Fenrir Greyback who was still unaccounted for and a huge liability.
"Fenrir Greyback is still on the loose, and who's to say how many other children he has turned. Is it their fault some psychopath bit them? Having Mr. Lupin in place at Hogwarts will also give us the opportunity to reach out to those innocent victims and provide help, even if they don't want to come to Hogwarts, they can still reach out to someone who understands." Madame Longbottom finished up.
So, the board put it to vote and came up with a solution for Albus, one that he could fully back. He was hoping that they would be so preoccupied with the lycanthrope that they forget about Severus, as he didn't have an answer for him, nor could he cut him loose as he was an invaluable resource to him for when Voldemort would no doubt make his return.
The vote passed with only Mr. Bulstrode still against the werewolf being allowed to teach for the safety of the children, he in turn proposed a member of the Ministry should be put in place as a High Inquisitor, and defense professor. He didn't have any backing, and was shot down quick after recommending Deloris Umbridge for the position.
"Now onto our second matter" Madam Longbottom pushed forward. "Severus Snape has been reported to us by several students and parents. He is actively mistreating his role as a professor, not to mention his role as Head of Slytherin." She said with anger in her eyes.
"In fact, I am one of the parents that would like to officially lodge a complaint as my grandson is so badly picked on that he was having problems focusing in class in fear of 'breathing too loudly'." She said this as she glared at Albus.
"Thankfully his house mates pulled together and have been helping him out, but even still he reports that if he has a passable potion Professor Snape will allow the Slytherin's to sabotage it or he himself will dump it out saying that it is rubbish." At that she had to pause to steady herself.
During this pause Amelia took over, "I have an official document from St. Mungo's advising us to intervene as well, as over the years since Professor Snape has taken over they have seen a dramatic decrease in qualified students coming out of Hogwarts who are able to become healers, as an advanced potions class is necessary for apprenticeship."
"Not only that but those that do get into the advanced class show a far less aptitude for the base knowledge of potions than any other school they have accepted from. As it stands St. Mungo's newest recruits are primarily made up of students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang and a few transplants from America's Ilvermorny." Mr. Abbott said as he produced a piece of parchment with the facts he just provided. "None from Hogwarts in the last two years. And only three students in the last ten."
Albus was shocked, he didn't realize that Severus was causing so much harm to the general public. He would have to figure out a way to keep Severus close but maybe not keep him as his Potion master.
"I was unaware of those details, and I apologize profusely, I haven't received but two or three letters about him over the course of his tenure from students or parents; those few that I have received I had taken with a grain of salt as the claims were not supported fully." Albus said truthfully.
"It is a tad understandable, however, given the seriousness of the situation we expect you to rein in your potions professor or terminate him." Madam Longbottom stated, she was aware of the proclivity of children to exaggerate so she could see how the claims could be overlooked.
The rest of the board agreed, and since there have been no official complaints from a number of parents like Lockhart had they would have to settle for those terms. Narcissa however wanted to give the children a little more so once more made her opinion known.
"May I add on a suggestion to this governed body?" Narcissa asked politely.
"You have had very good suggestions tonight Ms. Black, so by all means please share with us your insight." Albus stated, hoping that she would give him another winning solution to this headache.
"I happen to know of a world class potions master who would bring a great deal of insight into your school, she also has knowledge of what it takes to work as a healer with St. Mungos." She left the bait knowing that Conrad Bulstrode would make the connection, she was her sister after all.
"Are you suggesting having your sister Andromeda get involved?" Mr. Bulstrode predictably asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Indeed, she is a master in potions, and I know she's recently been looking for a change of pace, I would recommend that she work with Severus and show him how to maybe present the work better." Narcissa started her argument.
"Besides, no one can deny that Severus is extraordinary at potions, it's his personality and classroom structure that lacks." She finished up knowing her friend would accept Andi and hopeful that she can keep him safe, out of all of Lucius' circle, she was rather fond of Severus, she did name him Godfather to Draco and knew he was a spy for Dumbledore.
She also knew that Severus showed favoritism and often times sabotaged students' potions out of preconceived hatred from his time in school. Yes, Andi would do a world of good for him, she was the biggest Hufflepuff that was ever sorted into Slytherin, she would make sure the children were taken care of and to top it off Severus and her were friends in school.
"So, we would bring Andromeda in as a consultant in the classroom and make sure things were kept fair, also to be the voice of reason for some of his less than desirable tendencies?" Albus wanted to make sure he was being clear on her role in his school.
"Correct, if needed I'm positive I could find a financial backer to support her role for the rest of the school year in order to hopefully correct the situation. It would also allow her to continue brewing for St. Mungo's as she could have her own potions lab at Hogwarts." Narcissa said to sweeten the pot.
"I think that is a fabulous idea, she can assist in the class and help the students that need it, as well as give us a fair report on what she thinks needs to happen." Madam Longbottom added.
Albus couldn't believe his luck, he came in unsure of the outcome and is leaving pleasantly surprised and is able to get rid of Lockhart with a solid replacement in tow. That was until Amelia threw him a curve ball.
"Albus, I hate to say it but I think it would do you a world of good to have someone come in and sit through all of your classes, I know the solids like Minerva, Filius, and Pomona are all great at their jobs, but we also want to make sure that nothing else is falling through the cracks like Severus did." Amelia said solemnly.
"If I'm to judge just from my time at school I would have to say that Professor Binns' class was by far the worst I have ever seen, and that was several decades ago." Madam Longbottom added on.
"It would be in Hogwarts best interest to know its weaknesses. I propose that we place an unbiased third-party candidate in to review all the courses. Someone who works at the ministry perhaps?" Suggested Mr. Bulstrode once more thinking he could have an in for Deloris.
"True, I think someone from the Ministry is a good idea as well, however I won't vote for Deloris, I'm sorry Conrad." Madam Longbottom argued.
"I think we need someone who went to a different school, someone who knows what differs from our education to the others. I suggest Kingsley Shacklebolt." Added Madam Longbottom.
Amelia gave a brief background of Shack and offered her support for the matter as he was a good choice, and she could spare him for a week to sit thru classes. It would also give her a inside account for how the students treat Harry and Hermione, perhaps she could give them information instead of always receiving it.
And so, the board voted once more, Mr. Bulstrode put forth Cassius Parkinson's name as he now knew no one cared for Deloris; Madame Longbottom put forth Kingsley. Given the differences, it wasn't a shock when Kingsley won. They wanted someone from a different school who was fair, and Kingsley fit the bill perfectly, although he is a British pure blood, his mother attended Beauxbatons and wanted him to follow in her footsteps. Parkinson though respected in the wizarding community, never really stood a chance.
After the meeting Narcissa immediately sent a patronus to Sirius to set up a meeting, she hoped that she judged the overall goal correctly, get Harry more help at school was pretty obvious and she thought she accomplished that quite nicely.
"So let me get this straight" Remus said while taking a seat, "you conned the school board into not only accepting a werewolf as a teacher, but offered to pay for my wolfsbane potion?" he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"That is correct, I know that you have a mastery in defense, and Sirius made a point to let me know how good of a teacher you would be… I thought that was a subtle hint at getting you into a position to help Harry?" Narcissa now questioned herself.
Remus went from looking at Narcissa to staring Sirius down, "Sirius?"
Sirius couldn't believe that Cissy pulled it off, he of course wanted Remus in at Hogwarts, not only would it give Harry some much needed support, but it would also be good for Remus and he knew all this.
"Cissy, would you give me and Remus a moment please." Sirius asked as he led Remus into his room and placed a privacy ward up.
"Remus, you knew this was going to be the plan, I hope that you are acting right now?" Sirius asked.
"Good, then it was convincing." Replied Remus. Smiling to himself that he was able to fool Sirius too. In reality he was super excited for the post, when the kids told him of how they met, well he was hoping that things would align so he would be able to teach this go around too.
"It was brilliant how she played the board wasn't it, almost like she was a marauder" Sirius said with pride.
Remus just shook his head and dispelled Sirius's wards. Walking back out to her he stated "Thank-you Narcissa, I really appreciate the offer of wolfsbane but Sirius here didn't want you paying for it, he graciously accepts responsibility for my potion until I myself can pay for it."
"That won't work Remus, I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to deal with me taking care of you for a bit." Narcissa said while internally laughing at the expression on his face. "You see Ami had a completely different idea for Sirius, and not to mention that I kind of volunteered him to pay for Andi to be at the school in an advisory role."
No acting was needed between the two wizards, "What do you mean that Amelia had a different idea for me?" Sirius was almost concerned to ask.
"Call her yourself and ask, she really didn't tell me a whole lot, just to have you call her on that watch of yours." Narcissa said while heading to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea and asking Remus if he would like one.
Sirius couldn't wait, he was rubbish at waiting to begin with, the moment that Narcissa left the room he was on his watch calling for Amelia Bones.
Amelia felt her wrist vibrate and started to chuckle; he never was one for patience, Narcissa probably wasn't even gone yet. The chuckle didn't leave her voice when she answered, "Hello Sirius, impatient as always I see."
"Of course, but what I lack for in patience I make up for in good looks." Sirius said his usual comeback from his youth which made Amelia laugh even more.
"Okay, I'll put you out of your misery, I want you to come back on the Auror force." She gave him a minute to stew on that then finished, "as a private auror of course, one of which I can use for the protection detail I promised the Board of Governors once a month during the full moon."
The smile that slowly spread across Sirius' face as he realized what Amelia and Cissy were able to pull off. McGonagall was going to have a conniption. "Thank-you." Was all Sirius could say the smile never leaving his face.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Deloris screamed to no one in particular, glad that she placed the silencing charms around her office. She was reading the reports for Hogwarts staffing, hopeful at first that her plan had worked.
She had worked it out with Parkinson, he was going to talk Conrad Bulstrode into nominating him for the position of the Dark Arts, with him being an insider he would have full access to Harry Potter, and Deloris could come up with an accident that would be believable, she was currently thinking about using Dementors, and give the death eaters what they wanted. Parkinson was a well-respected businessman so it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to have him as a defense professor.
Using Bulstrode was also an out for them both, as they planned to pin everything on him after the death of Harry Potter. But no, the dunderhead couldn't even do that right, now they had some mutated dog as a professor. If there was one thing Deloris hated more than muggleborns it was any kind of creature that thought it could pass as a human.
This could not continue, she had to figure out a plan of action, all her hard work would go down the drain if people discovered werewolves could integrate into normal life, and she wouldn't have those disgusting creatures allowed equal rights, if she did then before you know it the centaurs and goblins would be biting at the bit. It could end up with house elves rights or some nonsense like that.
Maybe it was time to take Fudge out of the equation? I would be next in line for minister as his undersecretary, and then I could rig the election when it came time.
Her plan was falling into place, now all she needed was to decide what the accident would be and when it would happen. She also couldn't have it tied to her whatsoever.
There was a mass party on the night that the school found out 'Liar Lockhart', as the student population dubbed him, was kicked out of school. Every common room was in a current state of celebration, even the Slytherin's celebrated.
The following morning at breakfast the Headmaster had called for an assembly to welcome the new defense teacher as well as several other staffing changes. Harry and Hermione were purposely left in the dark in order for them to be surprised with the rest of the school.
"Thank-you all for getting out of bed on a Saturday after such a long night of partying." Albus said with a bit of a chuckle. "I would like to introduce a few changes to Hogwarts that came about due to my poor judgement with the previous defense position."
Albus figured he would own up to the issue after the meeting was over, it did no use lying to his students, they have been through enough.
"Firstly, I would like to introduce Professor Remus Lupin, he is a highly trained master of defense and we are proud to have acquired him." Remus stood up from his position at the table at Dumbledore's introduction. A huge round of clapping ensued as the new professor blushed slightly and sat down. All the houses could agree, anyone with a master of defense should be infinitely better than the dunderhead they just got rid of.
"Professor Lupin has asked me to address several things up front with you all, the first of which is his condition, you see Professor Lupin was attacked as a small child by Fenrir Greyback, and because of this he was forced into a double life, once a month he lives as a werewolf." A sudden gasp sounded off from around the great hall at Dumbledore's words.
"Secondly," He continued, "he would like me to inform you of the safety precautions we have in place. For the day leading up to and the day following the full moon Professor Lupin will be indisposed, taking care of his own health off the grounds of Hogwarts. He will have an assigned auror protection detail while off grounds who will ensure that he doesn't come into contact with any students should they go looking for trouble." With that he eyed several students at the Slytherin table.
"Because of this absence we will assign a substitute in his place, Mr. Sirius Black shall take the helm while his friend recovers. Mr. Black is a retired Auror who recently got reinstated as a private auror and knows a few things about dangerous dark creatures and artifacts. He will be with Professor Lupin all night during his transformation and then will provide classroom instruction the day before and after." Albus explained while Sirius stood up at the table as well to a round of applause, primarily led by the Weasley twins.
"Excellent, excellent, thank-you for making them feel so welcomed, now we have two more members of staff that will be joining us this year, Madam Andromeda Tonks, who is a potions master in her own right has come to oversee Professor Snape's classes in hopes of helping our students who wish to follow her footsteps into the healing world." Albus had to pause as three of the four tables burst out cheering as Andi stood up.
"Yes, yes thank-you, for that warm welcome, Mrs. Tonks is a seasoned healer and a potions master like I stated. She is also an alumnus of Hogwarts and if my memory serves me correctly a member of Slytherin house just like our Professor Snape." Albus added on making sure she would be included within all the houses.
"And finally, I have consented to have a Kingsley Shacklebolt over see every class taught here at Hogwarts in hopes of giving me a report to which we can make improvements, whether that be class sizes, time frames, or course material, either way we look forward to enhancing our curriculum here at Hogwarts." Albus finished up allowing Kingsley to stand and take a bow.
"Now please tuck in and enjoy your breakfast." Albus said after the clapping died down.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us!" Hermione said while smacking Sirius on the arm.
"Yeah, who would have thought that Sirius Black would be allowed to teach at Hogwarts, I'm surprised McGonagall didn't up and quit on the spot, having you both back under her roof." Harry laughed out as he was being chased around the room by Sirius.
"It was a surprise for us too, we had originally agreed that Sirius be my security detail, however when they couldn't find anyone qualified to handle his position when gone we changed it up a bit." Remus informed as Sirius was now calming down in a chair, winded from running after Harry.
"So, who is your protection detail then?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, you'll love this!" Sirius said once more receiving a punch in the arm, this time from Moony. "They decided to set that particular detail with Andi's daughter, Nymphie!" Sirius said happily. "She'll provide security detail when I'm teaching classes, and hopefully will integrate well with Moony to eventually take over my night watch."
"Ohhhh, someone's going to get hexed if she ever hears you calling her that!" Hermione said looking at Sirius.
He just shrugged and moved along, "I think it was a stroke of genius, and we can all thank Narcissa who also insisted upon paying for Remus' wolfsbane potion, Dumbledore didn't want to mention that as he felt it would single Draco out in his house."
Harry agreed with the reasoning, it seemed that this time's Dumbledore was learning the art of trust. That may play into their favor when it came time to talk to him about the horcrux.
Harry was going to start questioning Sirius about their holiday plans when he spoke first, "Oh oh, incoming twins at six o'clock." Sirius said looking at the map on the table.
Just as he finished his sentence Fred and George came bounding up the steps into Harry and Hermione's quarters. Speaking in unison they asked, "Are we really going to be taught by our idols?"
Laughing at their awe, Hermione figured she would try her hand at the element of surprise. "Oh, didn't we tell you two, we have a portrait of Prongs at our house, when you both visit over the holidays you'll have met the complete set."
Hermione expected them to freeze like they have in the past, what she wasn't expecting was to be wrapped up in two pair of arms and hoisted into the air while the owners said arms were currently dancing at a different pace from each other.
Sirius could do nothing but laugh, the pure joy the twins got from meeting their 'idols' both pleased him and amazed him. We have admirers for our work in pranks, my life is complete.
It was two weeks till the holidays and they were looking forward to actually going to defense class, Harry and Hermione both agreed to sit out the bogart round next year as who knows what their actual fears are now that they have lived this life once already. Remus also promised them different homework that would take the place of the stuff he gave to the regular classes; they would do this on parchment charmed to look like the essay he would assign.
Now all they had to do was make it to the holidays! Harry couldn't wait, he had something special in store for Hermione!