The King Of Snakes (A Harry Potter Fic)

13. Staff

      After Bill left the castle, I drug dray up to the Headmaster office. Mother would be moving his things up here and to the Headmaster private quarters later today. I gathered all of the files I needed and headed back to the great hall to prep for the staff meeting. This was going to tedious at best. I retook up the position at the head of the staff table, with Dray next to me, and started going through the staff profiles and course regulation documents.

     Between me and Draco, we made it through all of the thick files before mother and the others turned up for the meeting. Quirrell and Trelawney would definitely be being fired today. Quirrell obviously had a bad case of possession still, but it wasn't my father this time. My father had been completely restored already, so only time would tell. Trelawney had lied on her application. She was no seer and wasn't even related to Casandra Trelawney. She was a complete fraud. 

      The first to arrive was the new staff, escorted in by a dutiful house elf. The new potions professor was Marcus Strode and he was tall, with short brown hair, blue eyes, and tan skin; from Germany. The new divinations professor was an actually well known seer by the name of Elaine Marris. A petite woman with long strawberry blond hair, green eyes, and pale skin; from America. The new defense teacher was Melania Petrova. A rather stout woman with blond hair and blue eyes, from Russia.

      There were a few others looking to get an apprenticeship, some with a teacher here. Two men, obviously in their early 20s, who looked almost exactly alike. They were tall and lanky, with brown eyes and red hair. The women were at least siblings, also in their early 20s. They had auburn hair and violet eyes but thats where the similaritys ended. The, clearly, older of the 2 had a small nose and thin lips; while the younger girl had a crooked nose, high cheekbones, and plump red lips.

      Right after I ushered them to take a seat at the Ravenclaw table, the other staff started to arrive. Mum swished into the room, robe billowing behind him. McGonagall swept in with Podoma Sprout, and Fillius Flitwick trailing closely behind her. Poppy Pomfry walked in, smoothing down her pristine skirt. The other staff filled in as a group moments later, all shuffling over to the Ravenclaw table to join the ones already seated.

     "Trelawny, you lied on your application to work here. I have done my research and, not only did you lie about your heritage, you lied about being a seer. your fired, no arguments; go retrieve your things and vacate the premises. A house elf will inform me if you are not gone by lunch. Quirrell, you are another issue.-" he stood and interrupted me, all signs of the insufferable stutter gone.

     "What issue could I possibly have! All of my credentials are authenticated through the Ministry of Magic!" His turban shifted to the side slightly during his tirade, threatening to fall off his head. 

     "The problem is not with your credentials. It's with the fact that you seem to have a bad case of possession. If this is not the case, and the warning signs I'm seeing are false, then take off the damn turban." His eyes widened as his form locked in place. 

     Almost of their own accord, his eyes darted to the other staff staring at him in shock and anger. Shock because a supposed 11 year old saw the signs of possession and they didn't. Angry with themselves for the same reason. In a rush of desperation, Quirrell raised his wand; but mother was faster. As soon as Quirrell opened his mouth to scream out a possible Killing Curse, he was flying back to meet the wall; effectively knocking him unconscious. Mother slowly lowered his wand, took out the coin to contact Amelia Bones, and sat back down with a nod to me.

      Amelia seemed to already be at the castle to talk to me about something. Mother hadn't turned the coin the full 3 times needed before she burst through the door to the great hall, an army of aurors behind her. Her long hair was tied back in a complicated knot and her silver robes billowed out around her as she strode quickly through the room, with apparently me as her destination. Mother pointed out Quirrell, a few aurors made quick work of magically restraining him and disappearing.

     "I'm sorry to inform you, but somehow Albus has escaped. I left several aurors on guard of his cell, but when I came back this morning, he was gone." Her voice was hard and heavy. I could tell she didn't want to tell me this, didn't want to disappoint the 'young' man in front of her.

     "I knew something like this would happen, so I set in place some fail safes." The entire staff and auror force were looking at me oddly.

      "Ok. Firstly, I put a tracking charm on his damn beard. Secondly, Fawlks is actually one of my familiars, as I have several. I can use him to retrieve him. And third, I know his brother owns one of the bars down in Hogsmeade. I own everything but his bar, wont take much to buy him out, nor would it be much trouble to convince him to help me in my endeavors. You see, their not on great terms, but Albus seems to think Abe can't do a damn thing for himself." Amelia asked if the tracker was still active, and after I said yes, asked where he was.

     "Believe it or not, he's actually really fucking predictable. He's sitting up in his house in the Swiss Alps. Fawlks is waiting for him to doze, then he will be here with Dumbles. He just told me, through the link, that the bastard has been pacing, muttering, and planning for at least 12 hours now. He has a forced bond to Albus, one we will be breaking in less than 24 hours." Mother growled just as a house elf popped into the room.

     "Enya is sorry for being interrupting, misses and misters, but we have a problem. The former professor of Divination has barricaded herself in, and is refusing to leave. She is being screaming at anyone who comes near the door, even students." The small female elf was shaking in panic. I nodded and sent Hogwarts a message.

     "Dealt with Enya. She is no longer in the castle, nor on the grounds. Please have the classroom deep cleaned, and freshened, along with her former quarters." With a quick bob of her head, she was gone to work.

     "Fawlks just informed me that someone else entered the house. Oh sweet mother of Merlin... It's  Delores Umbridge who just came into the picture. Ew Fawlks! I really didn't want to know!" The staff displayed genuine concern while the aurors faces stayed blank. Amelia asked the million dollar question.

     "What was the exclamation about?" I shook my head, some people never learn to control the curiosity. 

     "Fawlks just had to tell me they were snogging and heading towards more." I shuddered and could hear Draco and some of the teachers gag. Even some of the aurors looked as if they were going to be sick, Amelia included.

     "Note to self... don't ever ask that question again..." Amelia was pale and turning quite green, so I sent off for a nice dose of herbal tea for everyone. The specific tea I asked for had calming and healing properties. The school offered this, even way back in the era of the founders, to all students and staff; Dumbledore just made people forget about it. The herbs used in the concocted tea were discovered by Helga, but the correct combination for it's properties were found by Rowena. when the tea finally arrived, I had already had McGonigal guide her into the chair next to her. after a few sips she, along with everyone else in the room, looked as if they felt better.

     "Now that..... that.... is our of the way. Is there anything we can get Umbridge on?" I could see the gears turning in her mind.

     "Now that you mention it, there is. She has been using blood quills on muggleborns since before she was even in the ministry. You could charge her for that, or aiding and abetting Dumblefuck. Then, there is the fact that she was a low-level Death Eater. Yeah it was to spy on Voldemort, but still she did veer away from helping get rid of him. Only the elite, inner circle, and other upper Death Eater's get the mark on their arm. It's scarcely known that the lower ranked only get it on their chest or somewhere typically well hidden. It's usually done that way, so that the lowers can spy easier." Anger radiated around the room, and soon the aurors left to grab the elderly couple.

      The rest of the meeting went smoothly. The new additions got along great with their respective professors and the original professors were excited to have younger people to shadow them. The meeting only took another 2 hours to finish. I upped the standard of teaching, changed the grading system, and fixed any of the immediate scheduling issues.

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