Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers apply.
Chapter 30
"You stay here," Sirius said to Petunia.
Petunia nodded shakily and watched as Sirius crept silently towards the back of the store. He looked around carefully and then walked cautiously down a hall, looking into a room which must be Severus' lab, another which looked like it was where they stored vials and other glassware, and one other room that looked like an office. He suddenly heard voices further in the back. He knew there was an area where the owners of Slug & Jiggers had stored their potion ingredients and figured the Snape's probably used it for that, too. He saw there were double doors with small windows at the end of the hall. Keeping low he crept over to the door and took a quick glance into the window. He saw Mary and she appeared to be yelling at Severus and Lily and waving her wand at them in a threatening manner.
He ducked back down again and pushed the door open a bit. Thankfully, it must be kept well-oiled because it made no sound.
"You're coming to St. Mungo's with me, Snivellus, and you're going to tell that mind healer you lied about James because you've always been jealous of him because he's a much better person than you!"
"It won't do any good," Severus replied. "A mind healer's not going to let him go just on my say so, no matter what I say."
Sirius let the door shut again then straightened, counted to ten, pushed the door open, and went in, his wand at ready. "Drop your wand, Mary and step back," he ordered. "You don't want to do this."
"Snivellus ruined our lives and I'm going to make him and her pay for that!"
"Mary, if you do this you're going to end up in Azkaban. Put down your wand and I'll take you back home to Potter Manor and I'll forget I ever saw this."
"No! I want him to pay!" Mary shouted and pointed her wand at Severus.
"Stupefy!" Sirius yelled. Mary, looked astonished for a moment then dropped. Severus caught her and laid her gently on the floor.
Sirius picked up her wand and stuck it in his pocket. He knelt down next to Mary. "How the hell did she get in here? Reg told me you had wards here to keep people intending harm out."
Severus shrugged and sat down on one of the barrels of unopened potion ingredients. He looked spent. "I don't know. The only thing I can think of is that her intentions weren't bad when she went through the wards. Maybe originally she just wanted to talk, but then her anger overtook her as soon as she got into the shop and she decided to threaten and force us to do what she wanted."
"We don't want to press charges; just take her back to Potter Manor and warn her if she tries anything like this again; we won't be so nice next time," Lily said, holding tightly to Severus' arm.
"Right," Sirius replied as he picked Mary up.
"Use the floo in my office," Severus said. He led the way to his office and watched as Sirius with Mary, disappeared in the green flames.
Petunia appeared as Severus collapsed into his desk chair and put his hands over his face. "I don't really know how much more of this I can take." He lowered his hands and asked, "Who's going to be coming next? Mrs. Potter, maybe, or more Hit Wizard buddies of Potter's, trying to find a reason to do me in?"
"Oh, Sev," Lily murmured, putting her arms around him and laying her cheek on the top of his head.
"We should close the shop and move away from here. Us, your parents, and Petunia, Vernon and Dudley. Maybe to Ireland or even to Salem across the pond. I've heard they have quite an amazing magical community where their Muggles know about the magical population and they co-exist without any problems. Vernon's a smart fellow and I'm sure he could open a branch of Grunnings' in America and make a success of it."
"But that would leave the people here without an apothecary, Sev," Lily pointed out.
Severus sighed. He knew what Lily was saying was true and he didn't want to do that either. "Maybe I'll ask Sirius, Mad-Eye, or Kingsley about tuning the wards better," he said gruffly.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Sirius stepped out of the floo at Potter Manor with Mary. Dumbledore was still there. Althea gasped, got up from the table, and rushed over to Sirius. "Oh Merlin! What happened?" Dumbledore followed her over.
Sirius laid Mary down on a couch. "She went to the apothecary and was threatening Severus and Lily, trying to force Severus to go to St. Mungo's and tell the mind healer he lied about James as if telling that to a mind healer was going to change their mind about James' diagnosis. I wonder where she got such an asinine idea?" He pointed his wand at Mary and said, "Rennervate."
Mary opened her eyes and, with help from Althea and Dumbledore, sat up. She immediately directed her anger at Sirius. "You git! You should have let me do what I wanted to do!"
"And you'd be sitting in a cell at the Ministry of Magic right now if I hadn't stunned you!" Sirius said. "Lily said they won't press charges this time, but if you try anything like that again, they won't be so nice."
"They deserve to be blacklisted, go out of business, and be run out of the magical world completely!" Mary spat.
Sirius shook his head and looked at Mrs. Potter. "Just make sure she doesn't go anywhere near the apothecary again or she may end up on the same ward at St. Mungo's as James is." He took Mary's wand out of his pocket, gave it to Althea and said quietly,. "And keep this somewhere she can't find it. I know she can't do non-verbal spells so she can't cause any harm without it." He started back towards the floo.
"Sirius," Dumbledore called.
"Yeah?" Sirius said and waited.
Dumbledore came over to him. "This was not Mary's fault, Sirius. I think those wards Snape has on his shop cause good people who are not strong, to do things they would never think of doing otherwise."
"That's a load of dragon dung, Albus!" Sirius snapped. "Maybe if you had treated James like you treated the rest of the students, he'd be a better person now instead of a git who thinks his status and his money puts him above everyone else and above the laws!"
Dumbledore was taken aback by Sirius' vitriol. "That was never my intention."
"Your intentions be dammed!" Sirius snapped. He decided to disapparate rather than using the floo and went out the front door. A loud crack, indicating how angry Sirius was, was heard a few seconds later.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Petunia was still so shaken by what had happened that Severus sent her home early. He hoped she would be back the next morning, but if she did decide to quit, he couldn't blame her. Lily and he closed the shop and he flooed over to the Ministry and to Level Five where the Auror Department was located. Severus waited in the open doorway until Ned Crockford noticed him as his desk was nearest to the door. "Hey, Severus! What brings you here?"
"I wondered if I could speak to Kingsley if he's not busy," Severus replied.
"Nah, I think he's around somewhere," He stood up so he could see over the sea of cubicles and looked round until he found Kingsley's. "Hey, King, you have a visitor!" He yelled across the room..
"Merlin, Crockford, my hearing's just fine! Thank you!" Kingsley replied loudly, standing up. He came over and smiled when he saw Severus. "Hey, Sev, what can I do for you?"
Severus looked around uneasily. He wasn't sure if James still had any contacts among the Aurors.
Kingsley noticed his unease and said with a wave of his hand, "Let's go to my cubicle and you can tell me what you need."
Severus nodded and followed Kingsley back to his cubicle. Kingsley sat down and Severus sat down in the other chair. Before saying anything though, he cast his Muffliato Spell. "I need your help with the warding around my store." Severus paused for a moment then continued, "I warded my store to keep out people with bad intentions like Death Eaters or James Potter, or any of his cronies. You know what happened with Potter the other day I take it?"
Kingsley nodded, but remained silent so Severus could talk uninterruptedly.
"Well, today we had a visit from Potter's wife and she was waving her wand around and threatening Lily and I, trying to force us to go to St. Mungo's and tell Potter's doctor that we lied about him and he's perfectly sane!"
"Merlin!" Kingsley replied with a shake of his head. "How did she get through the wards?"
Severus shook his head. "I don't know. I thought I had them pretty tight, but maybe I left some weird loophole in them that allowed her to get through. If it hadn't been for Sirius arriving when he did, she could have done serious injury to either of us, Lily's sister, Petunia, or serious damage to our shop. He stunned her then took her back to Potter Manor. Petunia was so rattled by the whole thing, I let her go home early. I'm hoping she's still willing to come back tomorrow, but I'll understand if she doesn't want to."
"Mad-Eye and I can come and look at them. Mad-Eye can see with his eye if there's a rip or a hole in your wards, but a Wardsmith would be better if you think you might have made an error in the language you used when you cast them."
"Do you know a Wardsmith who isn't a crony of Dumbledore's?" Severus joked. "I'd like to be able to keep him out, too. He's a royal pain in my arse!"
"Well, actually, I do know a gent by the name of Stephen Johnson. He was a housemate of mine in Ravenclaw and he became a Wardsmith. I recall him being obsessed with the entire subject."
"Do you think he'd be willing to come and take a look at my wards?"
"I'm certain he would be willing, but I will need to find him first. He went underground when Voldemort was at the height of his power because as you might recall, Voldemort was getting rid of a lot of Wardsmiths. It might take me a couple of weeks to locate him."
"That's fine." He shrugged. "Hopefully, Sirius warned Mrs. Potter to make sure Mary didn't come back to the shop."
"I'll put out some feelers for him today," Kingsley replied.
"I appreciate that, Kingsley," Severus said standing up.
When Severus got home, Lily was making dinner and Jasmine was in her high chair, playing with some small, stuffed, toys. "Did you get a chance to talk to Kingsley?" Lily asked.
Severus nodded and sat down at the table. "He said he knows a Wardsmith that was in Ravenclaw with him that could possibly help me. He said that he and Mad-Eye will still come and look at the wards, but if I think I might have made an error in the language I used, it would be better to have this guy look at them. Kingsley said it might take a couple of weeks to locate him because he went underground when Voldemort was getting rid of the Wardsmiths who wouldn't fall in line."
Lily got dinner on the table and Severus fixed a plate for Jasmine, cutting the food into bite-size pieces that she could eat with her fingers. He took a sip of the black Assam tea he favored and then sighed. "Have you heard anything from Petunia? I hope she's willing to come back to the store tomorrow."
"I'm sure she will, Sev, she loves her job," Lily replied.
"Petunia's a damn good salesperson, too," Severus added. "I'd really hate to lose her especially because of those bloody Potter's."
I don't think Mary's action today will scare her off. I'm sure she's already convinced Vernon that things will be safer," Lily replied.
"They will," Severus declared. "I'm making sure of that!"
The headline in the Daily Prophet the next morning was, 'Dumbledore Gets His Walking Papers'. Severus chuckled. "I keep wondering how Rita Skeeter gets her information. I wonder if she has an informant at Hogwarts."
When Severus flooed into the shop the next morning, he was surprised, but pleased to see Petunia was already there getting ready for business that day. She looked at the surprised expression on Severus' face and said, "I hope you didn't think I was going to let those idiot Potter's chase me out of a job I really love?"
"I wouldn't have blamed you if you hadn't wanted to come back," Severus confessed.
Petunia shook her head. "I told Vernon what happened and he was pretty upset about it, but I told him you were going to have somebody come and look at the wards around the store and make them stronger, if need be, so there was nothing to worry about."
"Speaking of which, Kingsley and Mad-Eye will probably be here sometime today to have a look at them," Severus said.
"I'll let you know when they arrive," Petunia replied.
Severus nodded and headed to his lab in back. He had many specialized potions to brew. It was one of the ideas he'd had to offer to brew potion recipes that had been in families for generations, but nobody in the current generation knew how to brew it.
It was after lunch before Mad-Eye and Kingsley arrived to have a look at the wards. Mad-Eye scanned the wards with his magical eye then said, "I can't see any holes or gaps in your wards, Severus. They look tight to me."
"It must be the language I used then," Severus said, frowning. "I might have made the language too broad now that I think about it and that's how Potter's wife was able to slip through."
"I'm sure Stephen will be able to help you with this so that doesn't happen again," Kingsley assured Severus. "And if you like, when Stephen's done helping you, I can add some Runes that will provide additional protection."
"That would be great! I think these wards will work in the meantime as I haven't had any visits from Death Eaters, but that may be because the majority of them are in Azkaban, too."
After Kingsley and Moody had left, Severus went back inside his shop. "Moody said the wards looked fine to him so I'm thinking the language I used when I cast them was too broad and that's how Mary was able to get through. Kingsley's friend that's a Wardsmith will be able to help me with that."
"With Potter in St. Mungo's and Potter's wife locked down in Potter Manor, maybe we can have some peace," Petunia said.
"Yes," Severus replied fervently. He went back into his lab and got to work on the bath salts as they were running low on them
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Dumbledore was in his office the morning of the Leaving Feast. He hadn't even started to think about packing his personal things up yet. It was going to be a massive effort and he would need to put a lot it in storage as he wouldn't have room for it in his quarters. He decided he was going to demand Professor Merrythought's former quarters. They were much larger than a professor's normal quarters and he frankly needed the extra room to plan because if anybody thought Tom, no matter where they had him stashed, was through, they needed a mind healer to examine their brains!
His floo sounded and he turned to see Howard Macklin's head sitting in the floo. Dumbledore sighed and got up. He supposed Macklin was here to make sure he left the premises as soon as the Leaving Feast adjourned.
"May we come through, Albus?" Macklin politely asked.
'We? Who the heck is we?' Albus thought then said, "Yes, of course. Please come through."
Macklin used his wand to remove the ashes from him as did the other man before they stepped out. "Albus, I like you to meet Hogwarts new headmaster, John Boxworthy, recently headmaster of St. Morehaven Academy in Tottenham…"
"Boxworthy…" Albus muttered and then his eyes widened. "I remember you! You were a Slytherin and Dippet, against my better advice, appointed you head boy."
"He appointed me because I had all the qualifications for being head boy. I had Exceeds and Outstandings from my first year on, no detentions, and I was the 5th and 6th year Prefect," Boxworthy replied calmly and quietly to Dumbledore's rudeness. He went over to the windows and looked out of them. "What a view of the grounds you have from up here and look at all those beautiful flowers!" He turned back to Macklin and Dumbledore. "Is Hagrid still the groundskeeper here?"
"Yes. Are you going to fire him, too?" Albus asked rudely.
"No, but I would like to visit with him and find out what his secret is for growing such beautiful flowers." He chuckled and shrugged. "My wife and I have tried growing a flower garden for years, but I am afraid we must both have purple thumbs."
"We're early so I can give you a tour of the castle although I don't think much has changed since you were a student here," Macklin suggested. "You can meet Deputy Headmistress McGonagall at the Leaving Feast and afterwards you can visit with Hagrid."
Boxworthy nodded. "That will be fine, Howard."
Macklin and Boxworthy came out of Albus' office, missing Minerva who stared at Boxworthy with undisguised curiosity. She knocked on the door of Dumbledore's office and it opened. She went inside and immediately noticed that he was in a bad mood. "What's wrong, Albus and who was that man with Howard?"
"Our new headmaster, my dear and he's a Slytherin."
"No!" Minerva exclaimed with a horrified expression on her face.
"Yes, unfortunately," Dumbledore relied grimly. "I think Howard brought him here just to rub my face in it!"
"Well, I never…" Minerva said with a hard look on her face. "It's a good thing you decided to stay, Albus because Hogwarts will need rescuing in about six months!"
At the end of the Leaving Feast, Dumbledore stood up and announced, "Now remember, no use of magic over the summer. I've already sent out messages to all the Slytherin parents telling them that they will need to take their children's wands away and put them in their vaults for the summer so they won't be tempted to use them for violent purposes. And remember, even though I am no longer headmaster, I will still be around for help and advice. Other than that, have a good summer."
Macklin eyed Albus angrily and then stood up. "I would now like to introduce our new headmaster, John Boxworthy, Slytherin class of 1950."
Most of the students gave him a hearty welcome, particularly Slytherin House. The Gryffindor response was tepid at best.
Boxworthy stood up. "I am very glad to be back at Hogwarts again and I am looking forward to next year and getting to know all of you. Have a safe summer and remember, no magic and on that note," he looked at the Slytherin table then continued, "I will be sending out a letter to your parents, telling them to ignore the previous letter. I trust everybody will obey the rules."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Severus was helping Petunia restock the shop. Lily was taking classes in the summer so she could finish college sooner. The bell over the door jingled and both he and Petunia looked up to see Kingsley and another man come in.
"Hey, Sev," Kingsley said. "I'd like you to meet Stephen Johnson."
"The Wardsmith," Severus said, smiling and offering his hands.
They shook hands. "I understand from what Kingsley told me that you're having trouble with your wards."
"Yes, I think I might have made the language too broad so they're not keeping out all of the people I meant them to keep out."
"I see. Let's go outside and you can tell me the language you used."
The three of them went outside and Severus said, When I cast them I said, 'Servo Ex Homines Qui Non Stunt Tuta', but I realize now that it was probably too broad."
Johnson nodded, raised his wand and tapped the wards and then said, "Delere Lingua." There was a flash of orange light then he nodded and explained, "I just removed the language you first cast. I suggest you need language stronger and more specific."
Severus had been thinking about different phrases for days. "How about 'Nulla Malum Voluntatis Potest Renire In Hoc Tabernam'?" He asked.
"Yes," Johnson replied. "That is much stronger and more specific." He took his wand and touched the wards, reciting the phrase Severus had just said. The wards suddenly glowed golden in response to the words. "They've been accepted," Johnson said, nodding at the wards.
"And as I promised, Sev, I'm putting Runes along the top and bottom of the wards for added security," Kingsley said. He proceeded to do so and was finished in about 15 minutes.
"Thank you so much for your help," Severus said. "I really appreciate it as I'd gotten to the point where I was seriously thinking about closing permanently and moving across the pond to get away from the Potter's."
Kingsley and his friend nodded, said their goodbyes, and then headed to the Leaky Cauldron.
Severus went back inside and Petunia raised her eyebrows and Severus said, "We're fully protected now even if Potter somehow gets out of St. Mungo's."
"Good. I'll let Vernon know," Petunia replied.
Lily came in after lunch. She had flooed home from college, grabbed a bite to eat, and then flooed to the shop. She brought along with her two brown paper bags. "Here, I fixed you both some lunch."
"Thanks, Lily," Petunia replied, taking the bag. "I am hungry now that I think about it."
Lily hung the closed sign on the door and they went into Severus' office. "Kingsley came by with his friend, Stephen Johnson," Severus said.
"The Wardsmith?" Lily asked.
Severus nodded and took a bite of his sandwich. "Yes, he got rid of my previous language and gave the wards the new language which he said was stronger and more specific. Kingsley also put runes along the top and bottom of the wards for added protection."
"Good! I hope they keep Dumbledore and McGonagall out, too!"
"Amen!" Petunia added.
Just after they reopened, Pomona and Charity came in. Severus came over to say hello to them. "Oh Severus, headmaster Boxworthy is so nice!" Pomona said. "Do you know he met with each of us individually and he wanted to know all about me and my house and if there was anything he could do for me."
"He seems as if he is a really good listener," Severus replied. He turned to Charity. "I hear congratulations are in order, Deputy Headmistress."
Charity blushed and nodded, "I was completely taken by surprise when he offered me the position."
Lily and Petunia gathered around her to offer her their congratulations also.
"Filius didn't want it as he satisfied with his current position and he and Pomona are still going to help me get the Muggleborn letters delivered. Headmaster Boxworthy even offered to help if we needed it."
"The few times I've talked to him outside of the boardroom, he was very nice," Severus agreed. "He's been in here a once and he told me that he's making our potion shop Hogwarts sole supplier for potion ingredients."
Pomona chuckled suddenly then said, "Sorry, I was just thinking about Minerva after her interview with Headmaster Boxworthy. She looked madder than a wet hen, because he no longer required her services as either deputy headmistress nor as head of Gryffindor."
"Who did he appoint as the new head?" Lily asked.
"He appointed Remus and I must say, he won't play favorites like Minerva did and he won't allow the children to run wild," Charity replied.
"Maybe, she and Dumbledore will become so frustrated, they'll quit and go off to teach at that French magical school," Petunia added.
"We can always hope," Charity said.
"I heard Professor Slughorn did retire as I suspected he would," Severus said.
"And we've all met the new Potions professor, Professor O'Gara. She is such a lovely person and so friendly," Pomona said.
Charity nodded and added, "I just adore her accent."
They each bought two jars of bath salts and then said goodbye.
"It looks as if you're going to have to make more bath salts, Severus," Petunia said. "We're running low again."
"I'll get right on it," Severus replied.
Lily followed Severus back to his lab and sat down to watch him creating the bath salts. "It sounds as if the staff really like Headmaster Boxworthy," Lily remarked.
"Yes, it does and I found him to be very likable, myself. If he comes in again, I'll introduce him to you, Petunia, and Vernon if he happens to be here. I'm sure he wouldn't mind answering some questions about his future plans for Hogwarts."
"That's good to know, but I still wish the board had gotten rid of McGonagall and Dumbledore and found completely new Transfiguration professors."
"The board will be keeping an eye on them and if they try to start trouble or aren't treating their students fairly they'll get a verbal warning, if that doesn't correct things, they'll get a written warning, and the next incident, they'll be suspended, anything more after that will mean they'll get their walking papers. If Boxworthy does go through with his plan to get rid of the current class structure and put all the houses together in classes, their ignoring or bullying of certain houses will stick out more and somebody's bound to complain."
Lily laughed. "I'm sure Augusta's going to be keeping an eagle eye on things, too."
"And Amos. He has a son who's the same age as the Weasley twins."
"Did you get the Hogwarts' finances figured out at Gringotts?"
"Yes, and Brong was absolutely enraged when he found that Dumbledore had been dipping into both the scholarship fund and the fund that helps the poorer families, to finance the clown patrol. Brong took all the money Dumbledore had lifted out of his vaults and put them in the Hogwarts vaults."
"They should have emptied his vaults and tossed everything, along with Dumbledore, out into the street!"
Severus chuckled as he imagined the Goblins standing on the top step of Gringotts and emptying bags of Galleons out into street while Dumbledore scrambled about trying to gather them all up. "He's lucky they didn't. Considering how mad Brong was, I'm surprised he didn't go straight to Ragnorok."
"Maybe it's because they already knew Dumbledore was on his way out."
They heard the bell on the front door and in a few seconds Petunia came back. "Severus, there's a young lady asking to see you."
"Better not keep her waiting then," Severus replied, getting up from the stool he was sitting on. "It's probably someone with a family potion recipe they want me to brew."
He and Lily followed Petunia out into the store where he spotted Colleen, holding a large tin canister. She turned as she heard them come into the room. "Severus! Merlin's blessed staff!" She gave him a hug and kissed his cheek and then gave him the canister. "Thank you so much for the recommendation to Headmaster Boxworthy! Mum was so pleased that she made you her special ginger snap cookies."
Severus opened the tin and a delicious smell wafted out. He took one and then offered the tin to Lily and Petunia. "Mmm...these are delicious," Severus said. "Please tell your mum thanks for me."
"They are very tasty," Lily agreed.
"Definitely!" Petunia replied. "Please ask your mum if I can have her recipe."
"Are you getting settled in okay?" Severus asked.
"Yes, but the previous professor's quarter was so overstuffed that I barely had room to move around. I asked those lovely little elves if they could haul most of it somewhere else."
Severus chuckled. "You never saw Professor Slughorn, but he was so fat that I used to wonder how he got around in there. Lily and I were both members of his Slug Club and he used to throw a Christmas party for the members in his quarters every year."
"His quarters magically expand to fit a lot of people[ because he always had a lot of parties," Lily added.
"I recall you saying you were from a big family," Severus said.
"Aye! I have four older brothers and four younger sisters. I'm the oldest of the girls and the middle child."
"My goodness!" Petunia exclaimed.
"Well, if for some reason, you can't get home for Christmas then you can have your family over and not worry about having enough room," Severus said. "What do you think of Headmaster Boxworthy?"
"Oh! He's a lovely man! So kind and caring! Do you know he told me that he turned our headache potion into pill form so one of his Muggle students who suffered from bad headaches could take it and get relief from his headaches?" Colleen exclaimed.
Severus nodded. "Yes, he came in here to buy the ingredients and told me what he wanted to do."
"Would you mind, Severus, if I had a look around your potion shop?"
"Be my guest. In fact I'll give you a personal tour." He offered her his arm and she took it. He showed her all around the store, his lab where he did all his brewing and the back room which was temperature controlled to keep their potion ingredients fresh.
"This is a wonderful shop! I've never been in a potions shop quite like it," Colleen said as they came out. She stopped at the beauty counter. "Pomona and Charity are always talking about the bath salts they buy here."
Petunia set four jars of bath salts on the counter. "We have them in Lavender, Rose, Lilac, and Jasmine."
"Merlin's blessed beard! They all smell so good that I'll have to buy one of each," Colleen said.
Petunia rang up her purchases and put them in the distinctive Snape & Snape shopping bags and handed them to Colleen. "Enjoy!"
"Thank you. I'm going to owl me mum for that recipe when I get back and I'll bring it by as soon as she sends it to me," she promised.
"I'll be here," Petunia replied.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Mind Healer Cromwell looked over his notes on James Potter and frowned. James was making very little progress after two weeks and he still refused to accept any of the blame for the way his life had turned out so far. He also refused to discuss hypnotism which could help move his treatment along if he would consent to do it.
"Healer Cromwell?"
He closed James' chart and turned around to find Healer Woburn. 'Yes, Healer Woburn?"
"Mrs. Potter and her daughter-in-law, Lady Potter, have been wanting to know when you're going to allow Lord Potter to come home," He shook his head. "They've been owling me ten time a day at least, even at my home which, unfortunately, is in Godric's Hollow."
"I cannot release him because I feel he still holds violent tendencies towards Mr. Snape and I will not release him so he can rush back to Diagon Alley and attack Mr. Snape, his family, his shop, or any customers who might be in his shop."
"What if Mrs. Potter and Lady Potter promise to keep James confined to Potter Manor?"
"If I felt that's what they would really do, I might consider it, but I am aware the Mrs. Potter allowed her daughter-in-law to slip out of Potter Manor, go to the Snape's shop, and threaten them with her wand. It could have turned into an unintentional tragedy had it not been for an Auror coming into the shop and stopping her. I feel Lady Potter will only encourage James' paranoia about the Snape's so I must refuse." He nodded. "If you'll excuse me, I have patients I must see."
He walked off, leaving Healer Woburn with a look of hopelessness on his face, knowing he was never going to get any peace from Mrs. Potter and Lady Potter.
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