England's Bloody Rose

Iolanthe Potter Chapter #5

The hall was chaotic. Everyone was shouting, people were hurling insults at the Potters, and people were scared. Suddenly, a cold presence arrived in the hall, and eery humming was heard. Everyone looked around to locate the source, and immediately Fleamont and Lydia Potter's glowing eyes attracted the ha;ll's attention. Suddenly, gold flashed in the room, and the man from the video, Lord Mortem, arrived. 

"Dear one," Lord Mortem simpered, "you and the little enchantress called?"

"Yes," Fleamont answered cooly, "could you please restore order to this hall? I give you the permission to use all means necessary."

"Very well Master," Lord Mortem bowed before Fleamont, grinning as his eyes glowed gold. As soon as they did, gold tendrils of magic sprung from his arms, and split into hundreds of beams. The beams approached all the occupants of the hall, and promptly plopped themselves into everyone's souls. Silence was finally achieved, as Lord Mortem had taken away their speech.

"Return their speech to them as soon as their souls decide to leave us alone," Fleamont commanded, his countenance powerful, "and only after you may leave."

"Bye Mortem!" Lydia shouted, before giving death personified a big hug. If she hadn't convinced the hall she was crazy yet, all doubts flew out the window.

"Farewell little enchantress," Lord Mortem bowed once before her, and disappeared in a gold blast. 

The scene shows 32 year old Sirius Black reading a letter from Iola. He swears profusely, waking Amelia, who had fallen asleep on the couch.

"What happened Sirius?" Amelia was suddenly alert. Sirius hardly ever swore, a habit he'd developed since he began raising children.

"Snape's a professor at Hogwarts," Sirius's fist tightened on the paper, "what's Dumbledore's game? He fought with us for 9 years to get him out of Azkaban, claiming he was a spy. We all know that's not true, so Snape has something Dumbledore needs. Sure he gave information about other death eaters, that's what got him out in the first place, but Snape wasn't a very high death eater until after the prophecy."

This is the second time a prophecy was mention, Dumbledore wondered to himself, could that be what led Tom's downfall? Or was it the Potter's secret gift that defeated him. After all, Tom's greatest fear was death. Dumbledore would have loved to question Fleamont, Euphemia, Lydia, or even young Sirius, but he knew he needed to let go of that desire. Otherwise, he'd never be able to speak again.

"I agree," Amelia says, "Dumbledore's been suspicious for years. We've been trying to rally support for a ministry intervention at Hogwarts, but most people don't want to break the tradition of Hogwarts independence. They don't realize the kind of damage that's been going on in the last 4-5 years. But this might be exactly what we need to push Dumbledore out."

"It seems that you two don't like me very much," Dumbledore questions his students, trying to see if such sentimentality already exists, "might I know your grievances with me?" 

"That's the future Professor, so I don't know." Amelia's voice had never been sealed by death. She was too close with Potters and young Black to harass them over the information. Did it scare her? Yes. It was terrifying to know that one of her classmates could command the power of death, and likely had other abilities, all rooted in the unescapable force. However, she loved Lydia far too much to make drama over it. She'd simply ask Lydia whenever they got a break.

"Very well," Dumbledore sighed with relief. It seems their issues with him developed after their school years. He could handle adults feeling unsafe and not trusting of him, but if his students did, then he really messed up. His number one priority was to protect, cherish, and educate his students. He may use twisted and unsavory methods, and he may cross the line on occasions, but he does it all for them. So if a student would feel unsafe, he would have been a failure.