Moving on. This is a cross over. Wait - don't leave just yet. It's HP and Discworld!
Think the Patrician. Think the Patrician teaching the next generation Political Science. Think the next generation being that of little Severus and little Lucius. Aren't the two just adorable when young? *cough* And Quirrell is the exception to the seventh year rule. He's very smart he is, and the Patrician takes him in from the cold. Actually if you must know he was bitching loudly in the corridor.
Oh and the title is Russian. Ten points to Slytherin or Ravenclaw if you can figure out what it means.
Disclaimer: Terry Pratchett aka God (no not that God! The other GOD!) owns Lord Vetinari and everything else pertaining to Discworld. You should get when I'm using something of my own. The rest goes to J.K. Rowling 'cos I don't own that either.
But just think of all the fun I could have with them all if I owned them...
Thanks and Dedication: Faith. I hate you. And I also can't wait to see the Susan thing. And much thanks also belongs to MartianHousecat because I know nothing about Politics - I only pretend to know about Law.
And thanks to Georgina for re-beta-ing after ff.net deleted all my work for some reason unknown to me.
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Prologue
'The politics during the years of Voldemort's accession to power right through to his peak were not always favourable to those around him. Like a madman, he had his fanatical supporters that swarmed around him. They were the Death Eaters, the elite forces amongst his ranks.
Comparably, this can be seen in light of Muggle studies and the war during the early half of the twentieth century.'
"So you have studied the effects of Muggle politics as well as keeping a general knowledge into both your own system and the Wizarding world?"
"Yes. I make it a point to examine all aspects of the world around me. It pays to keep an insight onto all the new forms of public policy that form with each new generation."
"And what do you intend on covering with the students? The aspects of all sides like you have done in your discourse? I must say that I am intrigued by your offer, but I will also require some more information before discussing with the school board as to whether or not your offer will be acceptable."
A pale hand land with elongated fingers waved itself flippantly. "The usual things that come with political studies. I plan to offer your young charges an idea into how the history of the people developed into what it is today, what ideological differences surround the current state of politics in your world and finally the idea of political assassination."
Blue eyes narrowed. "Oh?"
The same hand waved again. "Nothing for you to be worried about I assure Mister Dumbledore. The students will merely be educated into how to take care of their little problems when dealing in the world of politics. It will be beneficial to them in the long run."
"Of course."
"Yes, the students will learn the finer points of a democratic society which has one man and one vote."
The blue eyes were like slits now. "Never fear Mister Dumbledore, it is merely an old saying from my home. Woman," the voice scoffed. "Will assuredly be included into the class as well."
The eyes relaxed ever so slightly. "Speaking of the classes, how do you plan on handling seven years of four different housing groups? You will need to understand the internal policies..."
"I understand fully the structural differences here at Hogwarts. I would be a fool to enter a place without first grasping the political concepts that surround it. My plans are to offer this to the seventh years only and the first class will contain all those who are interested... After that, we cull the herd so-to-speak."
"I see."
"You will consider broaching this with your school board then? I am sure that they will find this course most interesting for the students."
"Of course Lord Vetinari. At this time I wish to thank you for your generosity for this offer. I understand that this will be rather taxing on your already heavy schedule..."
"Not at all Mister Dumbledore. This will be a delightful excursion from my daily routine."
With that said, Lord Havelock Vetinari rose from his seat in the office of Albus Dumbledore and excused himself on the premise that there was a city he needed to run. Dumbledore knew not a lot about the daily life of the city of Ankh-Morpork but from what he had heard the place was not one he'd preferably visit. He had been surprised when the first message came from a man who he had never heard off - he had heard of Discworld; he had wizarding associates there.
They always visited him, rather than he tempt to cross the border that divided this world and the next... Although the Unseen University sounded like an interesting place to tempt his luck.
He weighed the heavy dissertation in his hand and looked over it yet again. It was clear and concise... Eerily in fact. The man had a way with words - it was like the sharp edge of a knife which instead of cutting ones life in half - instead it cut your mind to pieces as each piece embedded itself firmly without waver. Not all of it he was able to comprehend but then again, it could also be that he was not willing to accept to cold harsh facts that his Lordship had offered.
He wasn't sure which of the two it was - there was something odd about the man Vetinari.
Flipping through the pages he found the piece of text that had really caught his eye. It was about the ideals that Voldemort held. The accuracy underpinning it was almost uncanny. It was almost as if the man himself had taken quill to parchment and had it bound in a leather case ready to present to a school board.
Most of the members would no doubt disapprove of some of the context which seemed to favour ideals not suited for the general population, the rest finding the other side of discourse to be unfavourable to the position that they took. It would be difficult, but this was one class he himself thought would be something that the children would find interesting and perhaps even sway the majority to fighting for the light rather than having a strict divide down the middle. Perhaps his Lordship would unite his students from the darkness that threatened to consume them all.
Taking his own quill to parchment he wrote out a letter and then magically copied it, before sending a message that the board needed to meet sooner rather than the scheduled time in one week. It would not suit most of the school patrons but perhaps when they saw the opportunity being offered before them - then perhaps they would not be so angry at the summoning.
After all, it was not everyday that a prominent figure of another world offered their services to a school sorely in need of rationality in these harsh times.
He sat in his office and waited for the indignant replies to flow back to him - each angry at their plans having needed to be changed but yet still coming.
~
Nightfall was a scene not to be missed at Hogwarts, especially from the Astronomy Tower. The sun was setting in vivid slashes of gold's, reds and the varying shades in between. It was almost as if Godric Gryffindor himself was smiling down on the school he had a hand in creating.
The soft light gave a more friendly tone to the ominous warning that was the Forbidden Forest. The yielding light made it look more inviting than it did in the day and moreso than the night. He waited up here for the parents' arrival. Most of them would be flying in and he wanted to see them when they arrived. Get a sense of what he would be encountering this time round when the board met. Find out which family hated which this time and which family it would be wise to swing in his favour during the vote.
You could tell a lot about a person when they were flying a broom. The stance they took was important as it dictated where member's loyalties lay. Last time the board met, three flew in using the Hawkshead Attacking Formation. The outcome of that meeting was not pretty. There had been a brawl in which a man's nose was broken and several spells were cast at once leading to a rather messy predicament of a witch.
Hopefully, the board would act more their age rather than their children's. It was all he could hope for.
Slowly they came, most from different directions, each ignoring the others this time round. This did not bode well for his plans of a unified decision. This time he would have to make the proposal and then offer each member of the board a favour in return - privately of course. He could not sell his soul to a group and the group know about each other. If he had to do something this drastic then he would do it privately.
He did not plan on becoming whore to a collective.
He planned on gaining something beneficial for his students.
Taking in one last look at the serenity he was offered, he stepped down from the age-old battlements and went to greet his angry visitors. The corridors of the great hall were empty - students were kept away by a spell, not so they could not see their parent but rather so they could not see their parents ire towards each other.
A protection for those that were Muggle-born and those that were Wizard-born.
Niceties passed through each of the twelve; they kept to subjects that would hopefully not offend the others in the room. Stiffly they followed the old man after he had greeted them. Each made careful assurance not to touch the others around them - least they suffer from a disease they thought each individual carried. The silence was deafening as they sat down in the board room, waiting for the meeting to start.
Dumbledore looked around him at the walls - each decorated in a founder's colour. The room itself was large and although heated, it still bore the shards of ice that frosted the twelve members of the school board.
"I'm glad that all of you could make it on such short notice,..." began Dumbledore before he was interrupted by an irate wizard in a beautifully tailored suit.
"I should think so headmaster." snapped the man, his voice almost as cold as the room. "I had to excuse myself from a pre-dinner party at a Muggle opera. Have your owls not been taught the lesson of tact? Have you any idea of the amount of 'Obliviate' spells I had to cast because of that damned bird of yours!"
"Yes a shame you couldn't cast anything stronger, isn't it Flint?"
"Oh do be quiet Bones. One doesn't need to hear your idiotic preaching, and in any case I have no clue as to what you are referring too."
"Of course you wouldn't Flint. Murderers tend not admit their guilt in public. I'm sure Lestrange, Malfoy, Boot and Wilkes will hear all about your little quandary later though." hissed the woman in reply.
Acid pleasantries between the others drew into hostility at this comment. The four members mentioned, drawing their wands along with Flint to aim them at Elizabeth Bones in outrage at the inclination only to find seven pointed back at them. The lines were drawn in the castle grounds, etched in stone as the Hufflepuff's and the Gryffindors outnumbered the Slytherins and the lone Ravenclaw.
Before spells could be cast, Dumbledore stepped into the altercation to call for peace on what was supposed to be considered neutral grounds for all concerned.
Grudgingly it was given to the old man but still the opponents kept watch on each other. Fourteen eyes against ten. Each pair waiting for the other side to make the wrong move.
Fawkes, the phoenix that had followed the unwitting group into the room, trilled from his perch in the corner of the room in an effort to ease the tension that had them so highly strung.
It failed miserably.
Dumbledore cleared his throat to gain his listeners attention and half succeeded at best. He began his speech with the ideas of troubled times and the sadness that echoed in the wars destructive wake before launching into the offer made by Vetinari.
It was met with lukewarm interest.
In an effort to attract the members, he read paragraphs that favoured a neutral bias to both sides of the school board. After hearing the words of an authoritarian on the subject, murmurs of discontent ran freely into the following discourse.
Dumbledore stared clear of any particular side, only stepping in as a pacifier when the decision-making process became heated over the areas of Vetinari's dissertation. In his own way, he steered most of the members in favour of the course - he didn't directly interfere as such, instead he led the blind into the light, as was his way in governing all schools of thought.
Finally, it was Malfoy that turned and asked what the benefits were to be by them passing the motion to incorporate a six week course by this "crackpot" of an individual to teach their children.
"Pardon?" asked Dumbledore, feigning the fact that he knew this particular question would eventually be forthcoming.
"I asked what would be the benefits for us?"
Cold, calculating eyes glinted in the light as they waited for an answer which after a very long pause in time and a very heavy sigh, the finally received.
"What exactly would you like?"
The routine was simple. After a moments deliberation the issue at hand would be voted on and depending on the outcome, those that accepted the proposal would individually come to his office and collect on their favour. Small academia related issues such as benefits to a son or daughter, insurrections ignored and so forth.
It was a small price to pay, but this was something that was worth it...
Every member of the board voted yes.
~
It was long into the night before Dumbledore found himself alone in his office with a list full of demands made by parents. The range was wider this time - it included the close classmates of the child as well as the child itself. He sighed and looked at the list of demands, a knock at the door made him raise his head and summon the visitor in.
It was his Transfigurations teacher and Deputy Headmistress. Minerva McGonagall.
"Is everything all right Albus?" she asked with the soft tone that she always used after parents came knocking at his door.
"Fine Minerva." he replied, waving her in. "Please sit."
"How did it fair this time?" she asked, taking a seat on the opposite side of his desk.
He handed her the lengthy list of demands and watched her sniff with a distasteful look on her face when she saw the ones from Marcus Malfoy, Thomas Wilkes, Alessi Lestrange, Dominic Flint and Terrance Boot.
"I see that you do not approve of what some of our members have asked for Minerva."
"These demands are outrageous Albus! They all but ask that their children be given free run of the school. We cannot allow this... This... This travesty!"
"Unfortunately Minerva. We have no choice. This course will be beneficial to the children and I am willing to allow these demands so that they will have the ability to make an informed choice when they eventually leave these halls. I can only protect them all for so long Minerva - you know that as well as I do..."
He let his voice trail off, waiting for a reaction from the woman in front of him.
She was angry to say the least but did not question the headmaster's authority - at least this time she gave him his whims. He was thinking of the children and how they would benefit from all of this and in desperate times like this, so should she.
"You've done the right thing Albus." she relented. "I just hope that this Lord Vetinari character knows what he is doing."
The two of them continued to speak, unawares of the black shadow that faded even further into the darkness that was already present in the gloomy setting of Albus Dumbledore's office.