CHAPTER TWELVE

Severus

Against my better judgement, I indulged Char with a trip to Honeydukes after my meeting with Julius had concluded. He had behaved so well, all things considered, that I thought the boy deserved some sort of reward. Visiting Florean Fortescue's shop crossed my mind, but I decided to leave London as quickly as possible. Any time spent in the wizarding world outside of Hogwarts or Hogsmeade came with the risk of running into someone I might prefer not to meet outside of the Riddle House. My brief conversation with Selwyn an hour before had proved it was more than possible.

After personally selecting a modestly-sized sweet for Char at Honeydukes (fearing he might pick out something like Acid Pops if left to his own devices, which would then most likely result in a tantrum when I refused to buy it for him), I let him devour it while he ran excitedly down the High Street towards the castle. He paused for a moment in confusion when we approached our cottage halfway through the village, closed up tight for the indefinite future, but hurried along when he saw a puppy further up the road. I walked past the cottage without paying it much attention. I would always consider it my first true home besides Hogwarts and genuinely hoped we would be able live there again one day, but for now I was simply grateful Avrille and Char were living in the castle safely with me.

I was dismayed to discover upon returning to my rooms in the dungeons that far from tiring him out after a long, eventful day, the impromptu treat and dose of fresh air had driven Char into overdrive to the point where he was actually running laps from one end of the parlour to the other without stopping for breath. My lapse in prudence also meant that he wasn't hungry for dinner, having filled his stomach with a thick Jelly Slug instead. I realised I should have known better. You would think one of the leading Potions experts in the world would have some vague inkling of the effect a handful of sheer monosaccharides would have on a person only standing about two and a half feet tall. Now I knew why Avrille was always so strict about what and when he ate, especially in the evenings. Giving him a treat like that simply wasn't worth the headache. Besides acting like a human Bludger, ricocheting off the furniture and careening around the room, I had a terrible suspicion I would now be begged for additional sweets every single time I brought him into Hogsmeade in the future.

Finally, at nearly eight o'clock, Char settled down. As I was dressing him for bed, he announced he was finally hungry. He tore through a small dinner then collapsed into bed, completely dead to the world. I was relieved it was only Friday and I had the whole weekend to catch up on work, for that was the last thing I felt like delving into now. Though it was tempting to go to sleep early myself, I managed to stay awake a few hours reading for pleasure and waiting for Avrille to come home to tell me of her excursion to Malfoy Manor.

When it was nearly ten o'clock, I decided to take a quick shower to wash off the sweat I'd worked up chasing Char in circles around the sofa, trying to make him brush his teeth. Our cat, Caligula, burst from the bathroom when I opened the door. With a pang of guilt, I realised I'd forgotten about him. I had placed him in there, in protective solitary confinement, right after Char attempted to ride him around the room. Caligula must not have minded too much for I hadn't heard a single yowl from him since.

I had just stepped into the hot burst of water when a loud caterwauling sounded around the bathroom. The almost entirely marble space echoed the noise off of every surface so that it started so loudly and unexpected that I started and nearly slipped and cracked my skull open. I caught my balance on a bronze towel rack at the last second, merely straining a muscle in my shoulder as it took the brunt of my falling weight. With several choice curses, I cut the hot water and stepped extra carefully out of the bath.

Hurriedly, I dropped to my knees on the marble floor beside my pile of discarded clothes, dripping water in a puddle all around me, and extracted my wand from my waistcoat. The moment my hand touched the wood of the wand, the howling din ceased. My ears continued to ring for a moment once all was silent again. The noise had been an alarm I had set to alert me in the event the wards protecting my office were fully breached, meaning someone had just opened my locked office door.

I towelled off and redressed hurriedly in the clothes I'd just removed. Leaving the bathroom, I confirmed with relief that the heavy wooden door had prevented most of the noise from leeching into the bedroom. Char still slept soundly. I placed a small Sleeping Charm on Char to make sure he didn't wake up in the few minutes I expected to be gone; Avrille would kill me if she found out I was absent when he was possibly crying.

I wasn't expecting there to be a real intruder, but the alarm would have to be reset now that it had been triggered. With all likelihood the perpetrator was simply Peeves making his usual mischief. I had been firm enough with him in the past where I knew he wouldn't dare to actually disturb anything in my office, but he would no doubt find it highly amusing, upon discovering I had rigged my office with an alert system, to trip it then watch with glee as I was dragged from my private rooms to set things to rights.

The only other possible explanation would be Umbridge snooping around. There was precedent for it since a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had trespassed there last year, when the younger Barty Crouch was impersonating Moody. But I thought this unlikely. While Crouch had had the need to steal potion ingredients on top of trying to find incriminating information on me to pass to the Dark Lord, I had been very careful so far to give Umbridge no reason to suspect I had anything to hide. It also seemed pointless for her to risk something like breaking into a fellow professor's office when it would probably only take penning a letter to the Minister to make another irritating decree giving her the legal right to search all of our offices anyway. Not to mention Umbridge enjoyed having an audience watch her freely abuse her power.

So, not truly anticipating anything out of the ordinary as I reached my office, I was surprised to see light shining under the door. I didn't hear any noises coming from inside, yet I drew my wand as a precaution nonetheless. Assuming the door was unlocked, I threw it open to reveal one of my students, Nan Cobble, sitting in front of my fireplace. She had turned towards me expectantly when she heard the door open, as if she had been awaiting someone, but the look of horror her face fell into assured me instantly it had not been me.

"What are you doing in here, Miss Cobble?!" I demanded striding into the room towards her, half in anger and half in curiosity. As far as I knew, Miss Cobble had never broken a school rule since arriving here. It also made little sense that she would be simply sitting there and not in the middle of stealing something or trying to alter her marks.

At my harsh tone and to my extreme discomfort, Miss Cobble broke into tears as I loomed over her. I swallowed a sigh of annoyance. I positively detested it when the students cried.

"I'm… I'm so… sorry, Prof… Professor Snape." She seemed barely able to string two words together in her agitation. "Madam… Madam Snape… told me… to wait… "

I held up my hand to stop her before she hyperventilated and backed a few paces away to give her room to breathe. I leaned against the edge of my desk and crossed my arms. This made slightly more sense. Avrille would be able to bypass the lock on my door easily, though I'd never got around to telling her I'd set an alarm as well. She had not been living in the castle during last year's odd circumstances, so it seemed unnecessary for her to know then. Later, I'd simply forgotten. I also knew Miss Cobble was a favourite student of hers, though I still had no idea why Avrille would bring her in here at all.

Miss Cobble was still crying, though the intensity had diminished somewhat from the initial outburst. Feeling an interrogation would send her over the edge again, I asked calmly, "What is that you have there?" while gesturing at a flask clasped in her hand.

She took a deep, shaky breath and managed to say with only a few hiccoughs, "Some Draught of… Peace, sir. Madam Snape wanted me to… drink it."

I could see the flask was still full of potion, so I said, "You should take it directly, then please explain to me why you are out of your dormitory afterhours, and in my office of all places."

Miss Cobble nodded and drank the potion in a single gulp. The effect on her was immediately apparent. Her tense posture melted, and she fell back against the armchair as though exhausted. Her shoulders now rose and fell in regular, slow intervals. I would have to remember that trick next time Char seemed ready to bounce to the moon.

"I was returning to my common room after detention when I met Madam Snape in the Entrance Hall. I… was upset and not feeling well, so she brought me in here. She said it was ok to be here, sir," Miss Cobble pleaded, obviously worried she was going to end up with another detention from me.

"You are not in trouble, Miss Cobble," I said. "Am I correct in assuming the detention you had tonight was with Professor Umbridge?"

She dropped her head and nodded while worrying the empty potion flask between her hands. I was not surprised by her confirmation. Though Potions wasn't her strongest suit, I knew Miss Cobble was a decent student. The only person I could think of who would put decent, hardworking students in detention was her. I was also aware of a reason why Umbridge had motive to move against Miss Cobble particularly.

"What happened after Madam Snape brought you here?" I asked.

"She got me the potion because I couldn't catch my breath. Then…" Miss Cobble hesitated. She looked up at me, and I inclined my head slightly to the side and raised an eyebrow for her to continue. With a deep breath, she said, "Then she saw my hand and left, telling me to wait here for her."

"Your hand?" I inquired, confused. Miss Cobble slowly raised her right hand, and I could see words had been carved into the back of it, as though with a scalpel. Revulsion and fury rose within me, but I was very careful not to let it show on my face or slip into my voice when I said, "I see. And do you know where Madam Snape went?" even though I already guessed the answer with deep resignation.

"Um… to Professor Umbridge, I think, sir." Miss Cobble looked apologetic. I couldn't prevent a heavy sigh from escaping me this time. I crossed the room to stand before her again. Miss Cobble recoiled slightly as though she expected me to strike her.

"Give me your hand," I instructed, trying my best to sound kind. It was not a tone I usually employed when speaking to students. Miss Cobble looked up at me warily but held her injured hand out to me nevertheless.

"I'm going to heal it," I explained when I saw her eying my still-drawn wand with understandable suspicion. I took her hand dispassionately, glancing at the bloody words in utmost distaste, and placed the tip of my wand to her skin. At that moment Avrille stepped through the open doorway. She halted for a second when she saw I was there but then continued in until she stood right beside us.

"So you've seen it, then," she said to me. To Miss Cobble, Avrille probably sounded composed, but I knew my wife's moods well enough to hear in her voice that she was so far past anger she had descended into deadly calm. This was merely the eye of the storm for her. I needed to get Miss Cobble back to where she belonged before everything went to hell.

I locked eyes with Avrille for a moment, hers a brown inferno, before turning my attention back to my student. As gently as I could, I drew my wand over each cut three times. To her credit, Miss Cobble only hissed quietly in pain even though I'm sure at first it hurt like the injuries were being sliced anew. Indeed, I did have to open the skin back up slightly with the first passing over. The way it had been knitting back together was jagged and would have surely scarred if left to heal completely on its own. With the second trace, I cleaned the wounds of dried blood, and with the last spell, I wove the skin back together so no sign of the repulsive punishment remained.

"Thank you, sir," she said quietly.

"It would be best if you did not mention I helped you," I said. "If Professor Umbridge happens to ask, you will tell her it healed overnight with the application of Murtlap." Miss Cobble nodded that she understood. "You should return to your dormitory now. It's late."
"Wait," Avrille interjected, placing a hand on Miss Cobble's shoulder to keep her sitting. "I want to know why she got in trouble in the first place."

"Miss Cobble has been through enough tonight," I said quietly, but with finality. "She needs rest." Avrille looked like she wanted to argue, but with another meaningful look from me, she stepped back and allowed Miss Cobble to rise. I was surprised to see she was almost as tall as Avrille now, nearly unrecognisable from the little flibbertigibbet who had been included in our wedding party at Avrille's insistence. Just as she passed through the open door, I walked over to it and called to her in the corridor.

"Yes, sir?" she asked, turning back to me.

It was with slightly vindictive satisfaction that I said, "Twenty-five points to Hufflepuff, Miss Cobble." The low-burning torches cast little light off of the dank stone walls, but I could make out Miss Cobble smiled in surprise. I do not believe I had ever awarded her a single point for anything before. Hopefully the rarity of my approval would help her recover from her injustice more quickly. But the last thing I wanted was for the students to think I'd grown soft, so I added cooly, "Be sure your homework is up to scratch for Tuesday. It would aggrieve me to have to dock them back again." She nodded soberly then hurried away towards the Entrance Hall. I stepped back into my office and closed the door.

As I'd expected, Avrille asked immediately, "Where's Char?"

"He's asleep, don't worry," I replied. "I've set a charm to alert me if he awakes. I had one set on my office, so I had to come check when you triggered it accidentally.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know." Her tone sounded genuine, but her posture told a different tale. She was still standing with her arms crossed tightly like she was physically holding herself back from doing anything else reckless. I hated to pry, knowing I was setting myself up to bear the brunt of her barely checked fury, but I had to know.

"What have you done?" I asked quietly. The change in dynamics of no longer having a student in the room was immediately apparent. I was glad I was still across the room from her because the flashing in her eyes as she glared made me fairly sure she would have slapped me if I'd been any closer.

"What have I done?!" she yelled at me. "What have I done?! I did what I hope any decent person would do! I went and told that disgusting woman what I thought of her and her torture!"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to compose myself. That was basically what I'd feared, but I had still been holding onto a shred of hope that an actual confrontation between the two of them hadn't taken place. Avrille's fiery passion, which had been one of the first things to attract me so strongly to her, was usually a boon but could be a downfall sometimes. I feared that tonight the latter would prove to be true. As much as I'd stressed the need for caution to her since Umbridge started working at the school, I had known deep down it would only be a matter of time.

"We have to go tell Professor Dumbledore," Avrille said, her voice shaking.

My eyes shot open. "No!" I said with vehemence.

"What the hell do you mean, 'No?'" she demanded. "What that woman is doing is completely fucked up, Severus! He has to put a stop to it!" Though her word choice alone proved she was angrier than I'd ever seen her in my life, I hadn't needed the colourful vocabulary to prove to me she wasn't about to let this depravity go unaddressed. With her initial outburst at me, the fire in the hearth had flared and continued to roar ominously, steadily raising the temperature in my office with each passing second. I resisted the intense desire to loosen my collar and instead took the risk of moving closer to her so we were only a pace apart.

"I mean that it's possible he's already aware of the situation," I tried to reason. "I find it hard to believe anything goes on in this school without his knowledge. But if he doesn't know what she's doing, we cannot bring it to his attention."

"But why? He would never allow something like this to go on. He can't know!"

"This is part of the reason why I objected to you joining the Order," I said, biting back the mounting frustration I was feeling towards her at the moment. "There is always another angle to consider. Nothing is ever simply black and white." Avrille took a step back so she was leaning against the armchair and glared at me. I wished she didn't look so ravishingly beautiful when she was angry.

"I know that," she growled from a clenched jaw.

"I don't know that you do," I said. I hated pressing the matter, but I had to be sure something like this didn't happen again. It wasn't much of an exaggeration to say all of our lives depended on it. "But Professor Dumbledore knows as I do that sometimes small sacrifices must be made to avert a catastrophe later on."

"I refuse to believe that he'd allow children to be hurt so cruelly in his own school," Avrille said, almost pleadingly. Two watery lines of disbelief or indignation appeared on her lower eyelids, but she blinked them away as she turned her head towards the fireplace. She seemed to have finally noticed the furnace she was causing unintentionally, to my relief, for the flames recessed to merely licking the charred logs. I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"There are two possible scenarios: either he knows, or he doesn't. If he does, it means he is grudgingly allowing Umbridge to do what is in her right—" Avrille snarled at that, but I pushed on, knowing I had to make my point. "—What is in her right according to the school's charter. Because it was drafted centuries ago when people held a much different view of children, there is a provision allowing for the use of corporal punishment. Of course, none of the staff for years have ever believed it was appropriate to utilise, and if one had, I'm certain they would have received very strong censure from the headmaster. However, Umbridge isn't a regular staff-member. She was appointed by the Ministry, not hired at the will of Professor Dumbledore. Even if he isn't aware of the specifics of her detention practices, he knows that things would be far worse if he challenged the Ministry right now and found himself sacked or worse, arrested.

"But you're right that it is also possible he truly has no idea. In that case, there is a chance he would protest vehemently if it were brought to his attention, which could result in those punitive actions being taken against him. Professor Dumbledore is the best protection the students have right now. If he was removed, not only would the Ministry be able to have even freer will to abuse the students, but it would also mean the children would be in much greater danger from the Dark Lord. Since the Ministry is refusing to acknowledge his return, they could think all of the security measures in the school are unnecessary and do away with them. I know you hate everything about this situation, but it is essential that you understand that the possibility of all the students being victims of the Dark Lord is far worse than a couple dissenters suffering a few hours of pain at the hand of a sadistic teacher."

Avrille continued to stare into the fire with her lips pursed. A single tear finally broke free from her lashes, and she wiped it away impatiently with a little sniff. After a few moments, she nodded curtly that she understood. Though I longed to let the matter rest, I still needed to prepare for the inevitable.

"What exactly did you say to Umbridge tonight?" I asked quietly, rubbing her arm slightly while placing my other hand on the side of her face so she'd finally look me in the eye.

"Why does it even matter? She made it obvious what I thought didn't make a difference," Avrille spat dejectedly. "Apparently she's right."

"It matters to me because I love you, and it matters because I need to know what sort of retribution to expect."

This sobered her somewhat. While staring at my chest, she recounted matter-of-factly the brief exchange between them. I thought her refusal to look at me directly might mean she was now ashamed of her actions, but she repudiated that notion by adding at the end of her explanation, "But I don't regret it one bit." I had to smile despite myself. I was glad I hadn't shamed her because though it was inconvenient sometimes, her love for the students, the same ones who normally drove me to distraction with their immaturity, was something I truly admired.

"I know." She let me embrace her finally. "What's done is done. We just need to be prepared to face what might be coming."

When the following morning dawned, neither Avrille nor I seemed quite as on edge as the night before. It's not that I was deluding myself that the events of the previous night would have no repercussions, but that after a good night's sleep, we both felt more prepared to handle them. Before we had gone to bed, Avrille had finally been given the chance to recount her meeting with Narcissa Malfoy to me. I was impressed and proud of how she had handled herself. I made sure to tell her that in no uncertain terms, knowing I had been forced to be harsh with her in my office.

However, even though she held no ill will towards me for the events of the previous night, I could tell Avrille was still burning with curiosity as to why Miss Cobble had landed in trouble in the first place. As we ate breakfast, I showed Avrille something that would hopefully help her finally let go of the issue. After ordering our meals from the kitchens, I pulled out the most recent copy of the school's bi-monthly newspaper, The Hogwarts Herald, and handed it to her just as a large silver platter appeared in front of her on our dining table.

"What's this?" she asked me.

"I'm hazarding an educated guess that it is the answer to your question from last night," I replied. "Turn to page sixteen."

She complied curiously, rifling through pages containing the usual articles on Quidditch predictions for the season and the latest in school club news until she reached the second to last page. Char had bounded over to us when he saw the platter arrive and similarly scampered back to his toy dragons after I'd handed him a croissant. Caligula risked a rare daytime emergence to beg for a taste of bacon. After I dropped him a tiny piece—the cat would be as large as Char soon, otherwise—he picked it up in his teeth and bolted back under the sofa to enjoy his treat in peace.

I watched Avrille in slight amusement as she read, her eyebrows rising higher and higher with each sentence until they'd disappeared completely behind her fringe when she reached the end.

"Wow," she said. She folded the paper in half and laid it on the table so the article in question was facing up.

"My sentiments exactly," I said, buttering a pastry for her and placing it on her plate. It rested beside a photograph of Nan Cobble, beaming and waving energetically, to the right of a small but boldly-set headline reading, "Junior Editor Nan Cobble Claims: 'Our Umbrage at Umbridge Temporary.'" The article had in short stated decisively that while Umbridge's current presence at Hogwarts was as welcome as an invasion of Pogrebins, the professor would not last the entire school year.

"Perhaps now you can see why Miss Cobble had a week's worth of detentions," I said.

"Forget detentions, I'm amazed she wasn't expelled! I mean, you said Harry Potter had detention with Umbridge just for shouting at her in class. This was circulated around the entire school," Avrille said in between bites of breakfast.

"What I can't figure out is why she felt the need to write the article in the first place. It's true no Defence teacher has lasted more than three terms for years now, but why risk being punished for forming a theory based on a pattern that might break at any time?"

I admit it freely. I was still smarting over Professor Dumbledore's reason for not hiring me to teach Defence this year.

Avrille sat back against her chair and sipped her coffee. After a moment she said quietly, almost as though to herself, "Maybe Nan truly knows."

"What do you mean?"

Avrille looked up at me with a thoughtful expression. "Maybe she does actually know for sure. There's something about Nan I never told you." She then told me of a conversation she had held with the girl on our wedding day and how Miss Cobble had informed Avrille that she possessed a similar magical gift as my wife: the ability to dream of the future.

"We never talked about it after that day," Avrille said, "so I don't know exactly how her visions work. Mine always seemed to be happen very close to the prophesied event, within a day or two of the dream, but it's not unheard of for people to predict events months, even years in the future. Maybe she had a dream of Umbridge leaving and felt compelled to share it with everyone?"

"We can only hope," I replied bitterly. "I would have appreciated it if Miss Cobble had provided us an with an exact date of that woman's departure. Knowing how long this indignity will last would make suffering through it marginally more bearable."

"Maybe she'll risk a follow-up article next month," Avrille suggested. "I hope she won't because of those disgusting detentions, but the punishment might have simply made her more determined to stand up to Umbridge."

I shook my head and placed my napkin down on my empty plate. I didn't have much of an appetite this morning. "She won't have the opportunity. I heard the school's paper has been shut down indefinitely. They were briefly given permission to reform at the beginning of the month after the latest decree," I sneered the word, "but that permission was revoked the morning this issue was published."

"Stifling the press," Avrille said wryly. "One of the first moves of any totalitarian regime."

"And assuredly not the last."

The rest of the weekend passed quietly. I hadn't expected any trouble since I never saw Umbridge outside of school hours. I think she mostly kept to her private rooms on Saturdays and Sundays, having no reason to emerge. Casual socialisation with the other teachers in residence at the school was the least of her concerns. Therefore the first time I saw her myself after her confrontation with Avrille was at breakfast Monday morning in the Great Hall. She did not speak to me, but I did not like the smug smile that spread across her pouchy face when our eyes met as we took our respective seats. My mind was not given a chance to run wild imagining what unpleasantries she might have in store, for it was distracted by the arrival of an owl with my post.

The tawny bird dropped a letter in front of me before disappearing to rest up in the Owlry. I never considered owning an owl myself, preferring to rely on ones belonging to the school. They might sometimes be slower, but using a different owl each time made it much harder for anyone to intercept and read my post. This was especially relevant now. It had come to the staff's attention recently that Umbridge was attempting to read several students' letters, despite the interference being completely illegal. I didn't believe she had yet dared to try intercepting any staff post but figured the idea had crossed her mind.

At least I was certain this letter had not been tampered with. The charm on it made it difficult enough to me to open, even though I was the intended recipient. Breaking the charm proved my suspicions that it had been sent by Julius. No lawyer worth his exorbitant fee would allow a business correspondence to go out without protection. I could tell from the strength of the charm that Julius had set it himself, perhaps not yet trusting that flighty secretary of his to do the job up to his standards. As an extra measure, Julius was intentionally circumspect with the letter's contents.

He wrote that he had looked into the transaction we had discussed on Friday, meaning the life insurance policy, and had made inquiries at Gringotts on my behalf. Halfway down the letter was a quote. I tried not to choke on my tea when I read it, even though I had known the several hundred thousand Galleons of coverage I desired would not come at a pittance. Julius reassured me this was a very reasonable premium. He also encouraged me to act on it as soon as possible. The offer was good for a month, but it was his experience that the price of similar coverage during a previous time of disquiet, i.e. the Dark Lord's first reign of terror, increased exponentially at an alarming rate. Basically, the more danger people found themselves in, the more money the Goblins wanted to protect their own interests. Because the Dark Lord had yet to move into the open, the Goblins could not charge what they wished, suspecting themselves that he had truly returned. To do so would most likely bring Ministry regulators down on them hard to keep people from asking inconvenient questions.

I placed the letter in an inside pocket of my robes, intending to accept the offer directly. Though the price would cut into my savings temporarily, I might be able to offset it with my Christmas bonus. Professor Dumbledore had provided me with an ample one each year in gratitude of my particular services to his cause. I just had to hope that until then, Avrille wouldn't notice anything was amiss. She usually left our finances to me by choice because of the complexity of my established investments and also owning two properties. With any luck she wouldn't have to know what I had done.

After breakfast I had resigned myself fully to having to endure a "surprise" inspection by the High Inquisitor. Finding some pathetic reason to put me on probation seemed the perfect retaliation for her. I did not really expect her to move against Avrille directly. Because Avrille was not a teacher, I didn't think Umbridge could have any leverage over her. I'm sorry to say that I underestimated the hag, though it was for the very last time.

Umbridge did not inspect any of my classes, nor did she engage me at all during lunch or dinner. I spent the evening meal in intense discussion with Professor Dumbledore about a recent article in the Practical Potioneer. He often enjoyed poking fun at some of my "hot-headed, youthful" theories, even though they had so far granted me more personal publications in the periodical than Professor Dumbledore himself. I think he mostly did it to keep me constantly questioning both the established attitudes and my own conceived interpretation of the art. Even though he was no longer a teacher by occupation himself anymore, teaching was so ingrained in Professor Dumbledore's very being that nothing could ever make him stop. For my part, I was always honoured that he still considered me worthy of his attention and instruction to this day.

Our debate was a long one and hadn't concluded by the time we were finished eating. I followed Professor Dumbledore out into the Entrance Hall, determined to have the last word before we parted at the staircase. I halted mid-argument when I saw a knot of students grouped around Filch. They were attempting to read a notice he had just pinned beneath the steadily growing collage of educational decrees passed by Umbridge and the Ministry. Filch didn't seem to be as much in his element as he usually was when a new proclamation limiting the freedoms of the students went into effect. Instead of eyeing the students beadily and muttering joyously under his breath at them, he merely shrugged his shoulders and shuffled away once his job was done.

I wondered what this notice could be; upon approach with Professor Dumbledore, I saw it appeared to be in a slightly different format than the usual ones. The students parted to make way for their headmaster as he drew near. From their expressions, they all appeared as unbothered as Filch. I assumed that meant it couldn't be that bad. However, my breath caught as I stood beside Professor Dumbledore and read:

Educational Decree Number Twenty-two: Addendum
In addition to the provision of Educational Decree Number Twenty-two, giving the Ministry the right to appoint an appropriate teaching candidate should the Headmaster of Hogwarts be unable to provide such a candidate himself, all persons of age who are neither employed by Hogwarts nor a student of said institution are hereby banned from residing within said institution.

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor

I barely noticed the steady increase in chatter around me as more and more students exited the Great Hall to flood the area around the notice board. My mind was paralysed, my eyes refusing to move from the words, "banned from residing within... "

It was worse than I had feared. Far worse. Umbridge couldn't know the full implications of her newest pet rule, but it accomplished much more than simply driving Avrille out of the school so she couldn't voice her opinion there anymore. Umbridge was unintentionally removing the best protection my wife had against the Dark Lord. If she was not able to stay within the walls of the castle and under Professor Dumbledore's protection by proxy, there was nothing to keep the Dark Lord from moving against her should I disappoint him somehow in the future.

My attention was finally torn away from the notice board when I registered the Entrance Hall had fallen silent. I turned to see the students had formed a semicircle around Professor Dumbledore and me, with an opening facing the Great Hall's doors. There Umbridge herself now stood, dwarfed under the towering lintel and oozing an aura of utter self-satisfaction. My fellow Heads of House stood to the left of me, giving the headmaster and me some room yet still close enough to show their support, knowing this newest pronouncement was intended for me alone. Minerva's face was as stony as the granite walls around us. Filius glanced furtively between my face and Umbridge's as though ready to physically leap to my defence at any moment. Pomona appeared on the verge of angry tears, understanding her dear Avrille was being singled out for censure.

Umbridge took several stunted steps into the Entrance Hall until she stood in its very centre. The students nearest to her fanned out and away, forming two long lines on either side that stretched from the notice board to the other side of the room. Most of the students seemed apprehensive or baffled. I noted with pride that nearly all of my Slytherins were shooting glares of sheer venom at the High Inquisitor.

"I see you have read my newest decree, Headmaster," Umbridge said with barely-contained girlish delight. However, though her words were addressed to Professor Dumbledore, her focus was entirely on me. I kept my face impassive and refused to be the first to break eye contact.

"Indeed I have, High Inquisitor," Professor Dumbledore replied with a gracious bow of his head. Umbridge finally looked his way, and her triumphant leer broadened.

"However," he continued, "I confess I am slightly at a loss as to how a decree of this nature is relevant. To my knowledge, there is not a single living person of age residing in my school who is neither a staff-member nor a student."

Professor Dumbledore's subtle possessive did not go unnoticed by Umbridge. She narrowed her eyes at him, yet did not show any diminishment in her self-assuredness. I remained standing beside him stoically. I had no idea what he was playing at. Everyone in the entire school knew my wife and child were living with me in the dungeons.

"Forgive me, Headmaster, but it is commonly known that your, ahem, knowledge has been often lacking as of late. There is without a doubt one person in particular who is directly affected by this incredibly necessary decree," Umbridge said, turning her frog-like eyes to meet mine again. I still refused to show any sign of alarm. I had no idea how Professor Dumbledore could get Avrille out of this mess, but on the slim chance he had a plan, I couldn't appear to doubt him.

Professor Dumbledore brushed off Umbridge's insinuations of his senility with a charming smile as though nothing would please him more than to be told many more times how he was being rendered obsolete.

"Forgive me, High Inquisitor, but I must regretfully insist that you are indeed mistaken. I will readily admit you would have been correct had this newest decree been put into effect yesterday. Fortunately, the one person who it might have affected, Madam Avrille Snape, has since joined the Hogwarts staff as of this morning."

I nearly turned to him in surprise, but a stern voice in the back of my mind, that of my own razor-sharpened instinct, told me to not move a muscle. I was almost certain Avrille had no idea she had just become a staff-member again. I highly doubted she would have failed to mention it to me at some point during the day.

Umbridge's fake smile appeared soldered onto her face like she was attempting to burn Professor Dumbledore straight through with the intensity of her gaze. His genuine smile grew even wider, showing a line of perfectly preserved teeth beneath his silver moustache.

"I have received no knowledge of this appointment, nor are there any empty positions to be filled by anyone. As High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, it is my duty to sanction any teacher in the school and my right to block their appointment should I feel that person is lacking in specific desirable qualities," Umbridge said waspishly, her self-controlled veneer slowly cracking beneath Professor Dumbledore's unbothered benevolence.

"Of course, as High Inquisitor, all of that is within your right. You have the power to appoint a teacher should I be unable to provide an appropriate candidate, as well as dismiss any teacher you find to be not up to scratch. However, I have not hired Madam Snape as a teacher, therefore she is not under your jurisdiction. I have employed her as Personal Assistant to the Headmaster. I'm afraid devoting a great deal of time leading the fight against Lord Voldemort has left me slightly behind on various, necessary administrative tasks."

At both Professor Dumbledore's airtight explanation and his use of the Dark Lord's true name, Umbridge's composure fell to pieces. Her face darkened to a disturbing plum pudding-colour as it twisted into an ugly scowl, and she bunched her stubby fingers into tight fists at her side.

"I forbid it!" she screeched. Glancing around at the looks of disdain being given her by the students and other teachers, she cleared her throat and continued slightly more calmly, "Hem hem. That is, I will have to check with the school's governors and the Ministry to see if such a position is allowed with regards to the yearly budget."

"I will save you the time and direct you instead to Section Fifty-Seven, Paragraph Four, Line Eight-C of the school's charter which clearly states the Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts is allowed to hire as many persons to ensure the smooth running of the school as he or she deems fit. I trust you are familiar with the school's charter? You have been making free use of several archaic sections of it yourself, from what I understand." Professor Dumbledore said this last bit with a chill in his voice and with no twinkle dancing in his eye. Umbridge's face blanched somewhat to a mere salmon hue, but she said nothing.

"Come, Severus," Professor Dumbledore said to me lightly, "if you would follow me to my office, I have several papers for you to give to Avrille to ensure her first month's pay will be deposited in a timely manner." With that he swept from the notice board, I following a pace behind him and still exuding an air of being completely in the know. The students broke apart to let us pass. When I glanced down discreetly as we turned the stairs to head to the next level, I saw mostly everyone was dispersing besides Umbridge. She remained standing in the centre of the hall, watching us climb away from her with narrowed eyes.

Professor Dumbledore and I remained silent until we reached the safety of his office. It had been many weeks since we'd dared speaking about anything of consequence in the corridors.

"I do have some paperwork for you to bring to Avrille," Professor Dumbledore said when we reached his desk. He handed several sheets of parchment to me, many of which had already been filled out nearly to completion with his long, slanting hand with only a line or two bare for Avrille's signature. "I have had this prepared for a while now. Knowing the type of people both Dolores Umbridge and Avrille are, I assumed it would only be a matter of time before she tried to force Avrille out. However, I did not know it would be tonight. Therefore you will have to explain the situation to Avrille the best you can. Please apologise to her on my behalf for taking the liberty of thrusting this position on her. I felt it was the only way to keep her in the castle and safe."

"I'm sure she will understand," I said, glancing over the documents and very impressed with his forethought, "and be very appreciative."

"I will try to make use of her when you are free to watch Char, but in the event I need her assistance during school hours, tell her I would be enchanted if he came along. I think I have enough breakable objects to keep him entertained for quite some time." Glancing around at the numerous Dark Detectors, I had to say I agreed with him.

The sun had nearly set, and fingers of darkness were already creeping over the tower office's windowsills. I knew I needed to hurry back to the dungeons to pass all of the evening's events onto Avrille before she found out from another source, but there was one thing left I wanted to know.

Professor Dumbledore stood off to a side, pouring himself a small brandy. He offered me one, which I refused, asking instead, "So you did know, sir? About Umbridge's detentions?"

He turned back towards me, cupping his snifter filled with a splash of amber liquid in one hand. I was startled to see his amused expression from a mere moment ago had fallen into cold fury. He reminded me of paintings I'd seen of a vengeful Zeus.

"Oh I've certainly known what that woman has been doing to my students," he said ominously. "And I think you know why I have allowed it to continue, against my very conscience." I nodded that I did.

"Sacrifices must be made."

"Indeed." Professor Dumbledore's expression melted into a mixture of sadness and regret. "Sacrifices must be made, and I hate to consider that not too long from now, we will wish for the time when a single professor was merely carving punishment into a student's flesh for her own enjoyment."

Random Silly Author's Note: Page 16 = Page 3+9+4