What I was shooting for with this chapter was everything is not as black and white as Bellatrix thinks it is, and she being the personification of my cynicism and generalized belief that no authority figures actually care about any of us outside of collecting our taxes kind of gets turned on its head a bit.
Funny thing about being a sarcastic realist, sometimes the unexpected hits you on the side of the head and you don't know how to handle it because all the witty terse retorts in your repertoire can't apply to the situation.
I am really enjoying writing this character...
Read, and enjoy my lovelies!
The aftermath of what I had begun calling the 'Mclaggan Incident' was actually worse than I had anticipated it being, which was honestly saying something considering I completely expected a cluster fuck to follow my... Shall we say, emotionally driven escapades?
Basically when the idiot was found near death by some second years and dragged off to the medical wing, everyone was looking at me as if it was all my doing with little to no evidence present due to the fact that the last person he had been seen harassing was my little sister, tallied along to the fact I was a Black.
While keeping in mind it was indeed my doing, I was honestly confused how the hell the general populace figured that one out so quickly when they hadn't noticed the budding rapist in their midst to begin with. It wasn't like Sinclair had been subtle about his approaches or anything, as annoyed as I was I decided to play dumb on this one, but regardless of that I...
I... was noticing things about myself, things that I was very uncomfortable with.
The superiority complex, the smug self confident bearing that I had due to being a daughter of the House of Black, the visceral feeling of calm that came with knowing I would burn the world to protect my sisters, coupled with my already extensive knowledge of the Dark Arts...
I felt like I was becoming a self aware variation of the canon Bellatrix Lestrange, and the very thought of that was exciting.
And that truly terrified me beyond words.
That all pushed aside I had been called to the Headmaster's office along with my boys by Professor Slughorn, Andi sent me a worried look but I just winked towards her while keeping up my demure poise and confident aire.
Rab went with stoic nonchalance while muttering commentary about the Headmaster's embarrassing interest in farm animals just loud enough for me to hear, Barty though was much to my inner delight acting like the Tenth Doctor asking questions Slughorn could not possibly answer in an excited manner all while also managing to sound bored by it all.
I love my boys so much.
Slughorn eventually brought us to the gargoyle statue sitting before the stairs to the Headmaster's office, the portly professor stated, "Ice Mice," and it shifted to the side.
Huh, well that bit of canon was confirmed it would seem, not much of a password system when everyone knows you have a sweet tooth, personally I would have used passages from Dune but to each their own.
We were led to the stairs which actually acted like an escalator which was kind of cool and were brought before the big bearded bastard himself.
"Ah Miss Black, Messrs LeStrange and Crouch, lovely to see you this evening, please take a seat."
We all nodded towards Dumbledore while sitting down, and while I have no idea if he was going to attempt to read our minds like so many fanfics had implied he was capable of doing I was going to nip that shit in the bud.
Focusing on Hyuna's 'Bubble Pop' the only thing the old man was getting from me was Kpop fifty years ahead of its time, the very thought itself made me want to break out cackling, further adding to my earlier fears but I digress, my inquisition was now in motion.
"How are you children handling your third year courses? I know that with the new electives things can become a bit more strenuous then what you are used to dealing with."
I really didn't have time for this, but I was a Black and manners meant something to my family so I would play along.
For now.
"I enjoy runes quite a bit, arithmanacy can be a bit dry but it is interesting at least."
There, I played nice.
Rab tilted his head to the side while shrugging, "Caring for creatures has been fun for Barty and myself, learning that the giant squid is a freshwater kraken was interesting if mildly...erm..."
Barty shot his friend a glare while drawling out, "The word you are looking for is terrifying, absolutely bloody terrifying. On a side note Headmaster you may wish to add that new whomping willow to the herbology course for the first years just so we don't have another incident like we did at the beginning of the month."
"She wasn't killed at least," I replied lightly as Barty raised a brow while giving me what I personally called the 'Doctor Stare'.
"That little Hufflepuff had her skull shattered and was in a coma for a week Bella."
"She recovered at least?" I stated lamely.
"And she is now terrified of trees, good thing she's from Scotland at least..." Rab drawled while shaking his head.
Dumbledore let out a cough regaining our attention yet oddly enough he seemed highly amused by our conversation, which just raised so many more questions.
"I shall, of course consider your suggestions but we are here to discuss something else and unfortunately it is some rather messy business. Tell me, Miss Black, where were you yesterday afternoon?"
I narrowed my eyes and I practically felt my boys tense up at my sides, "It was such a pleasant evening I decided to take a walk with Rab and Barty."
"A walk along the castles outer grounds?" The old man asked.
"It was an enthusiastic walk," Rab stated flatly.
"Towards the Forbidden Forest?"
"A very enthusiastic walk, Headmaster," Barty drawled out.
The headmaster stared at us, we stared at him, and eventually he let out a tired sigh before focusing on me, "Are there going to be anymore incidents like this in the future Miss Black?"
I steeled myself, took a breath, and met his gaze evenly, "While I have no idea what you are inferring sir, I will say as long as no one threatens those I consider friends and family I see no reason why such... enthusiastic walks would be necessary Headmaster."
He stared at me, and I kept on mentally humming along to 'Bubble bubble pop, bubble bubble pop pop!' and eventually he averted his gaze, and much to my honest shock he let out a tired sigh and dropped a stack parchment on his desk.
Placing his elbows on the desk before him Dumbledore knitted his fingers together and leaned forward while seemingly aging fifty years before us while shaking his head slowly, shooting a glance at Professor Slughorn behind us who had remained silent the entire time.
"Horace and I... Well we have been gathering evidence of, shall we say, past misdeeds from members of my former house. It would seem I have made a gross miscalculation on what my Deputy Headmistress could handle along with her teaching duties and position as head of house. In retrospect, I can only blame myself for placing so much on Minerva's shoulders.
"As of tomorrow I am splitting the deputy duties between all four Heads of House, it is my hope that further...severe interpersonal relationship issues such as what happened to poor Mister Mclaggan will be circumvented by proper adult supervision. That would be for the best, would you not agree Miss Black?"
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Dumbledore just did his goddamn job.
I nodded, he nodded in return, and my boys stood and they followed Professor Slughorn out the door when the Headmaster called back to me, "Miss Black?"
I turned around and he met my gaze evenly, it was very disconcerting when I saw a gleam of...understanding from those bright blue eyes.
"Sir?"
He stared at me a few more moments before averting his gaze and let out a tired sigh, "Protect your little sisters as best you can, love them, hold them, and never let them go. If anything like this ever happens again, and you bring it to my attention, I will make sure there is not a repeat occurrence."
Blinking rapidly I just stared at the old man for a few more moments before nodding and turned towards the stairs, as I took my first step my world view was shattered when the Headmaster stated his last words for me this evening.
"Oh, and Miss Black? Well done."
With that, the door slammed behind me.
I just had Bellatrix and Dumbledore bond over the fact they have Lelouch vi Britannia levels of little sister over protectiveness, should I feel like I crossed a line? I feel like I crossed a line.
Oh, and yes, Bella is going to meet Alucard (AKA The Crimson Fucker) at some point.
