Chapter 10: Facing Albus
Okay, here's the next chapter. This one is a great deal different than the original. I took out quite a bit and added a few scenes. Some filler, some to move my plot along.
A lot of people are disagreeable with me letting Dumbledore back in the castle. I'm not sure where I'm going with him, so I don't want to get rid of him just yet. However, I might just write him out in the next few chapters or make him a background character. Someone who just pops up to put a wrench in things from time to time. Though, unlike the original fic, this Dumbledore is less comic relief and more hubris.
Also, I would like to invite you to read my blog on WordPress. It is under the title Encouraging Fairywm, the link is on my profile. You might learn a bit about me. Your choice, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
DaughterOfIris23 and Dashti-the-dramione-shipper are the betas for this chapter.
Hp-Btvs-Hp-Btvs
The room fell silent at Hermione's exclamation, until Harry's young voice broke it.
"Really!?" the young man said excitedly, trying to get past his transfiguration teacher. Since he had read about werewolves in muggle books, he had always wanted to see one.
"Are you sure?" Emma asked, holding Harry back by his shirt. "He looks like a regular wolf to me."
"You will notice, he has a shorter snout, there is human intelligence in his eyes, and he has a tuft tail," McGonagall pointed out, keeping her wand trained on the werewolf, though it hadn't moved since transforming. "Though he is quite a bit larger than any werewolf I've seen."
"And he can hear you," the werewolf stated in a growly voice, looking at all the scared people and sat in a non-aggressive manner. He marveled at being able to see with both eyes. That was something he missed. He cocked his head to the side, had a thought and looked between his legs. Whew, he was still male. That was a relief.
"Xander change back so everyone settles down," Joyce said from his side, were she was petting his massive head.
"Fine," he grumbled and once again a flash of light he was back to the one-eyed man they all knew.
"Well at least you are not a female hyena," Minerva said helpfully as she guided the still shell-shocked family to a bed. The Grangers decided to let that statement go, one shock a day was quite enough thank you very much. Harry already knew, as did Hermione, but Xander made them promise not to tell. Since it wasn't dangerous they agreed.
"There is that," Xander conceded. "Hey now, do you know why I was so big? I don't remember Oz being that big," he asked Joyce.
"That's because you're a Conri, named after a Roman wolf god. They are the biggest and most feared wolf. Next comes the Alphas, then Betas, then at the end of the social ladder is the Omegas. Conri, were Omegas that survived being exiled from the pack. They are rare, since they never formed another pack and became loners. You will only find the werewolf version in magical communities. There are only about five in the entire world at a time. They are revered because they can control the werewolf population in to being docile during the full moon. However, they are also hunted by Alphas who fear they will try and take over their pack. So, it would be better if we don't tell anyone not in this room about you," she explained, going into as much detail as she knew. There had been one Conri when she was living in the castle long ago. He was a kind man and gentle to everyone. He died of old age, and she hadn't heard any stories of one in Britain since.
"Great! King of the goblins, Owner of Hogwarts, now a wolf god. This is not what I signed up for," he groused to Joyce.
"You were recruited, remember?" she stated with a smirk.
"Dammit!" he yelled.
"Mr. Harris, language," Minerva chastised, looking at the children.
"Will I turn at the full moon?" the one-eyed man asked Joyce, since she seemed to know a bit about these Conri.
"No, but you can if you want. Think of yourself as an Animagus. That is what we were doing after all."
"I had forgotten," Minerva said thoughtfully. "There has not been a record of a magical Animagus in many centuries. I wonder if they, like you, just didn't report it?"
"Could be. I know I don't want the hassle of the public knowing," Xander said, doing a full body shake. He really felt he needed a bath. And maybe a shave.
"Now all we have to do it get the kids to where they can take the potion," Joyce said happily.
"You're expecting them to be magical as well," Minerva asked, hoping they would turn into something a bit less frightening, like a unicorn or something.
"Yup," was all the answer she got.
"Awesome," Harry said, vowing to practice his meditation every moment he got. He wanted to be a werewolf like Xander. Then they would be closer.
Hermione, on the other hand, was hoping to be a post owl.
It took two days of trial and error, but soon Xander was walking around with two eyes. He had superimposed his wolf eyes over his regular eyes. Sure, they were yellow, but he could see correctly. The bonus part was, now he could see even better than before. It took an entire day to get use to using two eyes again, but he was much happier not to have that blind spot. Both Minerva and Joyce told him that his eye color would not be commented on. It was not unusual for others to have strange features. There was a lot of mixed blood in the wizarding community. Some had the features of the Veela, much like the Malfoy's bleach blond hair, and effeminate faces. Others had instincts for hunting, and gardening, related to woodland creatures. Filius Flitwick was part goblin, and no one had mentioned it in more than passing. Madam Hooch's eagle eyes were also not that irregular. So, Xander was more than happy to walk around with two bright yellow wolf eyes.
The morning the train was scheduled to return, there was a bit of an argument.
"What do you mean they have to take the train here? They're already here?" Xander stated, looking at Joyce and Minerva. The two kids were watching from the sidelines. The Granger parents were wondering the same as Xander. They had spent the whole holiday here at Hogwarts, their business partner had taken over the practice for the Christmas season, which was slow. They'd let the man have a long vacation come summer. He wanted to attend his daughter's wedding at that time, so it was an even tradeoff.
"It is tradition. This way they can spend their day reminiscing with friends in a comfortable atmosphere. The only adult will be you, and you will be patrolling," McGonagall explained. She wasn't sure what the problem was, but she was going to have her way in this.
"They can do that when the others get here. It's not like you're going to make the Weasleys do the same," came the logical argument.
"The Weasleys signed on to stay. Harry and Hermione did not. The train takes a count on who is returning in order to make sure the castle is prepared for the correct number of students," she explained as well as she could.
"It is a magical train, Xander," Joyce added pointedly. The train had not been around in her time, and she could say that if that was one of its purposes then it was a good one. She remembered the many times students never came back from vacation; be it illness, finances or they were killed for being magical. In any case, the castle was always unprepared for their departure. Not that it was a big hassle, but it did throw things off for a few days.
"How can two students affect the running of the school?" the confused man asked. That didn't make sense.
"The house elves leave nothing unaccounted for. Every scrap of food, linen and resources are tallied. It was a small hassle to provide food for you and your guest this holiday. However, since you have your own living accommodations and ate most of your meals here, it was not that large of a burden. The school is on a tight budget, thanks to the Board."— "Not for much longer," came Xander's grumble. — "If Harry and Hermione are not on the train, amenities will be adjusted to compensate. Their beds will be gone and anything they left behind will be banished. While the running of the school itself will not be affected by much, it will throw everything out to sync," Minerva tried to explain again.
"Can't the house elves count them now?" came the logical question. It seemed simple enough to him.
"I do not know, it has never been done. Everyone who has ever stayed was marked present. Pippy," she called to the air.
"Yes, Professor Kitty," the small female elf, dressed in a nice floral tea towel with the Hogwarts crest on its left shoulder, asked when it popped in.
Harry and Hermione gasped, they had never seen a house elf before, sure they heard of them, but they had never seen them. To them it looked like something out of Tolkien. Much like the goblins at the bank. Whose personality was nothing like the Hobbit's goblins, thankfully, but they looked the same. It made Hermione wonder how many other creatures depicted in non-magical novels were real.
Harry couldn't wait to meet more of these house elves. They appeared to be non-threatening, so perhaps he could make friends with them. They would also help with his spying. If they were the workers of the castle, they must know a lot of what goes on.
"Can you add Miss Hermione Granger and Mr. Harry Potter to those who stayed over Yule break?" she asked, feeling foolish for having the argument in the first place.
"Yes, Professor Kitty, Pippy will bes adding them," the little elf stated with a firm nod.
"Very well, you may go," the Deputy Head said, with a small smile. The elf nodded and popped away.
"Wait!" cried Harry a moment too late, the house elf was already gone. "I want to go on the train. It'll be fun catching up with Neville." He loved being around people who cared but getting away from the adults would be relaxing. He always felt like he had to be on his best behavior, and being around kids his own age, he wouldn't feel that way. Xander had to patrol the train, so it would just be him and his friends.
"I want to go too. I don't want to stay here without Harry," Hermione insisted. She wanted to get some time alone with Harry and Neville, for much the same reasons. That wouldn't happen if they stayed here. As big as the castle was, there was little privacy.
"Of for the love of Twinkies… Pippy," Xander called the little elf. He was still getting used to the little buggers, they were very much like demons in his eyes, but benign ones. Still, he understood where the kids were coming from, but they should have spoken up earlier.
"What can Pippy be doing for Mr. Wolf God Kingy, sir?" the very nervous elf asked. The elves were very impressed with the new man. He saved Harry Potter and he was kind to them, but they had never worked around a god before. Even if he wasn't a real god, he was the closest thing to one here at Hogwarts.
"First off, don't call me that," he said with a bit of a growl, which didn't help his cause. To his way of thinking just because his Animagus form was a Conri, that didn't mean he was any sort of god. He shuddered to think of the last 'god' he and the Scoobies had faced. He wanted nothing to do with being anything that could be related to Glory. That women was a bitch of the highest proportion. "Second, Harry and Hermione want to go on the train, so take them off the stayed here list, please."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Wolfy, sir," she squeaked and popped away.
"That's better I suppose," the wolf-eyed man sighed. He then turned to the kids. "You two, go get a bag together with stuff you'll need to keep you entertained for few hours or so," he ordered, still finding the whole thing ridiculous.
"Okay, Xander," they both said as they hurried away, excitedly talking about what to bring to show Neville.
"I'm going to take the Grangers home, I'll be back to welcome Dumbledore, then get on the train. I didn't sign up for this," he grumbled to himself as he stomped away. The two women just giggled.
After seeing the Granger parents to their home, Xander came back to Hogwarts, and met Joyce and Minerva at the gates. All of them were bundled up against the cold. Snow was falling, and it would have been a nice morning, if they weren't there to hand out ultimatums. Speaking of which, at the gates, waiting to be let in, stood Dumbledore and his lackey, Severus Snape.
"A world of no. No way. No how. Not in this life time. That man is not coming back in here," Xander said, pointing at the greasy-haired man with the permanent scowl.
"I'd love to see you try and stop me," Snape sneered. This upstart muggle got the jump on him once, he would not let it happen again.
"Dude, you aren't even worth the effort. Joyce," the wolf-eyed man said, turning to the fuming embodiment of Hogwarts.
She smiled an evil smile and waved her hand. A flaming wall burst up between the school and the former professor. A continuous rain storm fell on the younger man, leaving him soaked to the bone in a moment.
Snape jumped away from the fire and tried to dissipate the storm. His hair was plastered to his head and stuck to the front of his face. Like dark rivers of water against a white background. He tried to conjure an umbrella, but the wind would just kick up and blow it away. "Release me, foolish woman," he demanded of Joyce.
"No, I don't think I will," she said smugly, shaking her head.
"Now see here, is this truly necessary?" Dumbledore started, waving his wand trying to dismiss the spells. He couldn't, and it was getting very frustrating. He needed Severus to stay at the castle. His uses were not over yet. When Voldemort came back, the young man would be invaluable.
"No, you see here," Minerva countered, spitting angry. "That man has no reason to be here, and for you to bring him was beyond the pale. Severus Snape is a child abuser. We cannot in good conscience allow him within the walls of this school. I do not care if he has your confidence. He does not have ours." She was still fuming about what they had found out about the man who she had worked beside these many years. She knew he was spiteful, but to be downright abusive… Well, she was going to pay better attention to her coworkers from now on.
"Yeah, I don't know what political mumbo-jumbo you pulled to get him free, but it holds no weight here at Hogwarts. You are on thin ice as it is. Chose, the school or him," Xander stated, hoping the man would fight more and give them a reason to bar him as well.
"Very well," the old man sighed, wondering when he had lost control over the situation. "Severus, I will contact you in the near future," he said to the man whose clothes were starting to steam.
"Headmaster, you cannot be serious. Where am I to go? I gave up everything to follow you," Snape snarled. He had nothing to fall back on. No career, little money, and only a small house at Spinner's End, which everyone knew about. He knew if Albus could not get him reinstated into the school, he would have to flee the country. He had too many enemies to live here, at least he had trusted contacts abroad. Here, without the old man's protection, he would be hunted.
"It seems to be out of my hands, Severus. However, all is not lost. Go to the area where we met during the war and I will meet you there posthaste," Albus said, giving the man a knowing look. He wasn't going to abandon the poor man. While there was little he could do right now, he would do his best to see he was provided for. He needed him in the future, and it would not do to have the Potions Master disappear.
Nodding Snape twisted and disappeared, taking the storm with him. Seeing he was gone, Joyce released the spelled fire until there was nothing but a blackened area in the snow, where it had stood. She waved her hand new grass sprung up, looking very much out of place in the surrounding snow.
"You do not realize what you have done," Dumbledore stated in his grandfatherly manner, making sure to let them know he was disappointed in them. Not that they cared. "That man will be needed in the future, and you have alienated him. I do hope this does not come back to haunt you," he added ominously.
"Oh, you mean your little spy? Yeah, I'm not worried about him in the least. If this Voldy guy shows up, we won't be needing your pet Death Eater," Xander said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Look, let's get this over with. I have a train to catch," he said as he stomped away. They had decided not to show off his new talents. Dumbledore would learn when and where the rest of the school did.
McGonagall looked at her longtime friends and sighed. "Albus, we have conditions that you must follow to retain your headmastership. Come to your office and we will discuss them. I warn you that they are not debatable. You will abide by them, or Joyce will be more than happy to remove you, again." She then turned a followed Xander. Joyce just smirked and caught up with the other two.
"Why are we giving him a second chance?" grumbled Xander when the women reached him, even though he knew why. It still made him angry.
"Politics, mostly," was Joyce's answer.
"I hate politics," he sighed. They made the rest of the way silently. "What about his escape from the police? Doesn't that constitute his removal?" He knew it wouldn't, as he had told the judge, but he was grasping straws.
"There's a few things you need to learn about this world, Xander, and first and foremost is that what happens in the non-magical world has very little consequence on this one. You know this. The only time the Ministry will interfere is if the Statute of Secrecy is broken. Things like underage magic, and muggle baiting, but only if they're caught. Other then that they could care less. However, we can use this to keep a tighter rein on the esteemed Headmaster," Joyce said with a small sigh. She hated the division. It made the magicals fall far behind, and it was going to be their job to catch them up.
"So, wait a cotton pickin' minute here, I could go and kill someone, and if I don't break this statute, then all I have to do is hide in the magical world?" Xander asked aghast. He knew it was bad, but not that bad.
"Yeah, pretty much," Joyce confirmed.
"I'm so going to change that," the wolf-eyed man grumbled. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today.
They continued their way silently, Dumbledore trailing behind. When everyone had finally met in the office, Joyce sitting in front of the desk and Minerva sitting beside her. Xander was leaning against the wall. Dumbledore took the seat behind his desk. Everyone started at one another for a tense few minutes.
"Albus," Minerva started, hoping this went smoothly, "it took a lot of convincing, and it is only because of your years of good service that I could, but I finally persuaded Joyce and Xander to let you come back. However, there are rules you must abide by."
"First off, it is your job to make sure that the school is supplied correctly. There is no reason for some of the equipment to be in such disrepair. I know for a fact that it is within the budget to replace the brooms," Joyce started, going for the least important thing first. They would build up to the more important ones as they went along.
"The Board…" started Albus.
"Has nothing to do with the supplies. It is your job, not theirs," interrupted the embodiment of Hogwarts. "I don't know when the Board was created, but they should not be in control of the budget. They are only there to make sure that it is not abused. Getting new brooms doesn't constitute abuse."
Dumbledore sighed. He had tried for years to get control of the budget, with little success. How was he supposed to do so now? He told them as much.
"Lucky for you, I am the owner of the school. If they give you grief, then let me know and I'll come and give them a what for," Xander said, smirking at the thought of the scare he would put into those jackasses.
"Second, we have started a few important classes. We feel that they are necessary for the development of the children. As part of your probation, it will be up to you to make sure these classes are not cut. It is one of your duties to make sure the children are fully educated. If you cut these classes, it will tell us that you don't care if they make it in the world after they graduate," Minerva said, handing him a list of the classes they had installed, and what the curriculum of each was.
He took the papers and read over them. "I do not see an issue with these. However, if the budget does not cover them, then it will be out of my hands," the Headmaster said distractedly as he continued to read. They were not harmful, so he could work with this. He put them on his desk, and he turned back to the people in front of him. It still galled him that they thought they could dictate to him, but he would play along for now.
"Thirdly, the only time you should interfere with the students is; if they are failing academically, have broken the rules, or have a health issue that needs to be addressed. At no time are you to interfere with their home lives. Unless, you think they are being abused. From what I've seen, you couldn't tell abuse from a hole in the ground, so heed the word of your medical personnel," was Xander's input. That should cover Harry and anyone else this man thought he could control.
"Harry…"
"Mr. Potter," McGonagall snapped harshly. "You will address all the students formally. Mr. Potter is not a special case. He is your student and only that."
"Very well. Mr. Potter's life is in danger now that you have taken him from his relatives," Dumbledore said, mildly chastising the group before him.
"See, I'm pretty sure we just laid out your duties, and not one of them state that you have any control over that," Xander said casually, not jumping to anger just yet. "So, we'll just jump to the last issue. Since you cannot be trusted to hire confident teachers, all postings will have to be previewed with us. There will be no more Snapes or Binnses, if I can help it."
"Now see here, Severus and Cuthbert were very good professors," Albus argued, he saw nothing wrong with either of them. They had served the school well in the years they taught.
"That right there, is why you cannot be trusted. You think a child abuser and a ghost detached from reality are good instructors," the wolf-eyed man stated. "I had a few creepy teachers in my day and I can tell ya, they taught better than those two."
"Will you be vetting my every move?" the old man asked, worried that he would have no wiggle room to exploit what was needed for the war he knew was coming.
"For the time being, until you prove that you have the students' best interest at heart," Minerva said, hoping that perhaps the man she knew when she was hired would come back. She didn't know when he had changed, but the man that hired her all those years ago, was not the man she was looking at now.
"Look, Dumbledore, we aren't going to just jump all over you for every mistake. It is only those that you are not supposed to be concerned with in the first place that will make us step in. If you do your job, and not interfere with things that don't concern you, we'll get along just fine," Xander offered as a compromise.
"Very well, and thank you," Albus said, looking at the three expectantly.
"There is one last thing," Joyce said, her face taking on a stormy look. "If you ever, and I do mean ever, bring danger into this school again, I will personally take great pleasure in removing, dropping you in non-magical London and telling the world all the dirty secrets that I know about you. Remember, I am the embodiment of this school, and in this case, 'the walls have ears' is a very true phrase," she finished, grinning evilly. She knew things about this man, that she was sure he wanted no one to know. The portraits loved to gossip. They remember well when Albus was a student and a professor. He had not been the good little boy he portrayed being.
"Wait, you have dirt and you're not sharing," Xander exclaimed, almost hurt that she didn't give him the juicy details.
"Xander, do you want me to share some of the things I know about you?" she asked sweetly.
"I'll be good," he said immediately. He didn't know what she knew, but Buffy was her daughter, so he wasn't going to take the chance.
"Back to the issue. That stone has been removed, the Cerberus taken back to Hagrid, and those lame traps were dismantled. I don't know what you were playing at, but those 'traps' were a joke. Nevertheless, they are gone as is everything you put in that hall that was a danger to the children. I will not have you making this school your personal playground. If you want to protect something do it somewhere else," Joyce snarled. She was so angry. She was holding on to her temper with mental fingernails. It would take quite some doing to get her to trust this man again. And if he didn't wield such power in the Wizarding World, she'd make sure he never crossed her threshold again.
"I had nowhere else to put it," Dumbledore protested, cursing silently. That was one plan destroyed. How was he going to capture Tom if he didn't have the Philosopher's Stone? What was he going to tell Nicholas?
"That's complete bullshit. I know for a fact that the stone was in good hands. The vault was allowed to be 'robbed', because they were trying to capture the man who dared try. Unfortunately, he got away. The goblin don't think it was a man, but a wraith. The wraith entered the vault, saw it was empty, and in its anger, let off a blast of magic, which sealed the vault. By the time the goblins got there the vault was empty. So, there wasn't a real 'robbery'. If it had been and actual person, they would have been sealed in the vault and killed. The stone would have been safe, since the wraith couldn't touch it. It was probably there to case the joint," Xander explained, going through what the goblins had told him.
"How did the public know, if this farfetched tale it true?" Albus inquired dubiously.
"The alarm closed the doors to the bank," was the succinct answer.
"Nonetheless, Voldemort is after the stone. There is no safer place than Hogwarts," the Headmaster said with pride.
"Again, I call bullshit. Don't you remember the day I got here? There was a huge mountain troll in a girls' bathroom ready to kill two students," Xander said, looking at the man as if he had gone senile.
"Don't forget that someone tried to kill Harry," Joyce added, glaring at the old man.
"When, pray tell, did this happen?" Albus asked in dread. He knew that something like this would happen if he were not here.
"Don't worry I saw to it. It's part of my job," the wolf-eyed man stated proudly.
"Yes, about your job. What exactly does it entail? There has never been a Head of Security," the Headmaster asked, intrigued that such an office was formed. He wondered how they got it past the Board of Governors.
"Pretty much what the title says. I see to the safety of the school. If something comes up, I haul out my axe and fix it," Xander replied with a shrug. It seemed obvious to him.
"May I inquire where the stone is now? I was asked to protect it," Dumbledore asked, hoping that if he got the stone, he could once again set a trap. Harry needed to be trained on how to react to Voldemort. He needed to know that the man was not gone, so he could prepare himself to fight him. The prophecy demanded it.
"Like I'm going to tell you. No, the only thing you need to know is that it is safe, and far from anyone's reach," the relocated man said. He had put it in his pocketspace, where he kept his weapons. No one could get it there. He'd talk to this Flamel guy and see what he wanted done with it. Until then, no one, not even Joyce or Minerva, knew where it was hidden.
"Very well," Albus sighed disappointedly. He would look for it in his spare time. There wasn't a stone in this castle he didn't know. At least that's what he thought. "It appears there is little left to discuss. Therefore, I will look over what you have given me and set my course to repairing any damage that has befallen in my absence," Dumbledore stated importantly, thinking of the two professors that had been removed while he was gone. He didn't know who was teaching the classes now, but they would need to be interviewed to see if they were capable to teaching. If not, then he would have to find new ones. Albus growled internally, remembering he had to put any applicant pass the three making demands. It irritated him that his wings were being clipped so neatly. It gave him little to work with.
Minerva growled. "Do you believe me so insufficient that I could do 'damage'?" she snarled at the old man. Never had she been so insulted.
"Of course not, my dear. I am only speculating on the state of the school, since you do not have my authority to sign off on many things," Dumbledore quickly replied.
"Ah, but I do. However, I left it in the hands of those more knowledgeable than me. Minerva simply asked, and I authorized," Xander said with a smirk. They had gotten a lot done when the old man was gone. And he'd be damned if he let Albus mess it up.
"Xander, you need to get to the train," Joyce said, looking at her watch. It was time to wrap this up anyway. She gently took the fuming transfiguration teachers elbow and led her from the room. Not saying another word to the Headmaster. They had said all that was needed. The ball was in his court now.
"One last word of warning. Leave my son alone," Xander growled. "He's not your responsibility, and if I find you have taken liberties, I will react accordingly." And with that he left the thoughtful man to think on what he said.
Albus sat and wondered, 'Who was the man's son? He hadn't come with a child, did the portal open up again while he was away?' He quickly dismiss the idea and went to talk to Severus. They needed a plan of action. He would give the poor man the key to the wards of his own house, which he used to get away from the pressures of his many offices. It was under a Fidelius, so well hidden. Then, perhaps, Severus would not leave. His house had a well-stocked potion's lab, a house elf and plenty of room. The Potions Master would want for nothing there. It would take some doing, but he was determined to keep his protégé here in Britain.