A/N: Have you enjoyed the story so far? I very much enjoyed your comments, and very thankful for all the love this story has received. On with the story, Enjoy!

Chapter 9

In which The Death Eaters discovered a new torture method.

Lucius, Severus and Quirinus had had a trying day to convince the Dark Lord that no, a 1000 years old Basilisk does not make a good courting gift, and no, Unicorn blood also doesn't make a good one. Though, they had to concede that a live Basilisk would make an exciting spectacle at the Conservatorium, provided that they can make it extra safe for people to view it, so the Basilisk get to stay under the school for now. Lucius and Severus also shot down the idea of drinking unicorn blood since it makes the drinker live a cursed life and what kind of a husband would he be to condemn his wife to a cursed life. There's also the fact that they didn't know the effect of the curse to their offspring.

After the long lecture, they delivered the somewhat bemused Dark Lord to the Headmaster Office. The Headmaster, fortunately, had returned to the office after a long talk with the DMGS representatives and was writing some letters.

"Ah, Severus, Quirinus and Mr. Malfoy. To what do I owe this pleasure? Lemon drops?" He offered them a bag of his favorite confectionery.

Severus coughed and looked at Lucius pointedly. He sighed and straightened up, then said,

"Professor Dumbledore, Severus has told me that he relayed our requests a few weeks back, and that you said yes."

Dumbledore looked confused. "Your request? Ah! About the Hippogriff Talk?"

Quirrell's neck almost snapped as he turned to stare…at Severus? Dumbledore frowned as the aforementioned man massaged his neck discreetly.

"Well, yes. The time has come for you to fulfill your duty as an educator." Lucius nodded and stood up. "Good luck, My Lord, Professor."

Severus immediately stood up too, eager to leave the room. "I will send Lucius off." he said hastily.

Quirrell's neck snapped to the opposite direction, then, in a surprising speed and strength, both his arms shot to grab the two men's hands and pulled them back down to their chairs.

"Sit!"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the sibilant hiss coming from the back of Quirrell's head.

"If I have to suffer this, then the two of you, my loyal followers, should suffer too, no? Will you let your Lord withstand this torture alone?"

"No, My Lord" the two men squeaked.

"Turn around, Quirinus. Let me face my…education, you say? Face to face. Of course, you must listen too, all three of you. There's no reason to miss this…education. You were all students of The great Albus Dumbledore, after all… In fact, summon the others, Lucius. We shall have…a class of it."

Quirrell stood up and turned around, unwinding his turban and Lord Voldemort breathed the air deeply. He was not that fond of the garlic smell, after all, but had to put up with it to hide his presence from inquisitive people.

"Voldemort! So you were in the school?! What do you want?!" Dumbledore jumped to his feet, brandishing his wand.

"At the moment? Nothing, actually. I had nothing to do, but tag along with Quirinus here. He was teaching DADA and I just had to try this experience. My followers, however, had other ideas. I assume you knew of my change of marital status?" he answered calmly.

Of course, he wasn't going to say that he was after the Philosopher's Stone. He was not an idiot. Hmm, the Philosopher's Stone is a stone, isn't it?

Dumbledore regarded him quite suspiciously.

"Alright. I will believe you if you make a Wizard's Oath to not harm any of my students and the staff of Hogwarts during your stay here."

Voldemort shrugged.

"Sure, as long as you do the same for me and my followers. You can't kill me anyways, not until I beget those four heirs."

"Ms. Potter is eleven years old!" Dumbledore looked horrified.

"Yes, I know. I didn't say now, did I? In any case, I can't beget anything in this condition." That had been one of the first issues Lucius addressed.

He can't beget the heir by possessing someone else because then, the heir will belong to the one he possessed.

"Severus and Lucius are looking for a way for me to return to my own physical construct. Also, I will abandon my bloody pursuit and move to the political arena. Lucius informed me that my Lady was quite strict about violence."

Lucius ranted, actually, at the amounts of galleons he had to dispense to the vaults of his victims' families in reparation. She also made them deliver the draft and apologize in person. He and several others had suffered some curses on behalf of their Lord. It was fortunate that none of those families were brave enough to do more than your everyday curses. Those are nothing compared to the Cruciatus Voldemort passed around like a free candy.

If he really thinks about it, they made a suitable couple, he supposed. He wasn't in the least interested in estate management (his thought wandered to the days when he could just Cruciate Lucius for daring to bore him out with his reports of his estate). If his Lady liked it, then he would gladly hand over the control. Besides, what kind of Dark Lord pays reparations and apologizes to his victims? Not to mention enduring curses? He'd sooner Avada'd those victim's families. No, no. She can handle that. He'd be content with World Domination.

Dumbledore hummed and nodded to both Lucius and Severus, who were busy with the spare parchments and quills to write the summons.

"You both shall be the witness, of course. "

The two men nodded frantically.

Both Dumbledore and Voldemort held out their wands.

"I, Tom Marvolo Riddle, Jr. , otherwise known as Lord Voldemort, do so swear on my life and magic, that I will not harm any Students and Staffs of Hogwarts, during the period of my stay under the tutelage of Professor Albus Dumbledore. So Mote It Be" Voldemort goes first, since he didn't want to be seen as a coward.

Dumbledore nodded. "I, Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore, do so swear on my life and magic, that I will not harm Tom Marvolo Riddle, Jr and his Death Eaters, during the period of their stay under my tutelage. So Mote It Be"

Lucius, Severus and Quirinus all said solemnly, "So Mote It Be."

Pondering on the bizarre event that had just happened, Dumbledore noted that his office is hardly suitable enough for a class, though if Voldemort could make his followers suffer… he eyed the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses portraits hanging on the wall, looking at them with curiosity. His eyes zeroed on Phineas Nigellus Black, who was a pain on a good day and smirked deviously.

"How many people are you expecting to come? " He asked cheerfully, wand at the ready to rearrange his office to make room for the miscreants. There was a reason why he supported the Marauders and the Weasley Twins in the past, after all. Silently, he charmed the portraits so that they are unable to leave the current frame.

Voldemort looked at Lucius sharply. "Twenty seven, maybe twenty nine, My Lord. Some of them were out of the country overseeing the rebuilding and rewarding of your properties. My Lady also sent some people to help Mr. Scamander with the Conservatory projects."

"I'm sure the properties and Mr. Scamander can spare them for a few hours. They may continue tomorrow. But every… class I have to attend, it is mandatory that you have to attend too. " Voldemort drawled.

Lucius and Severus shifted uncomfortably, especially as the later remembered the second part of the request.

While the two death eaters went to call for their owls, (Voldemort forbid them from leaving the office and Dumbledore volunteered the school owls) The Headmaster sent his desks, chairs, and some of the knick-knacks to be stacked in the corner of the room and conjured comfy sofas and couches in a circle. He also conjured a blackboard. Much to the consternation of the Death Eaters present. It was a Hippogriff Talk. What would he need a blackboard for?

"Merlin" Severus grumbled quietly. "He's going to use diagrams, isn't he? "

"No, he's going to screen some memories. Maybe of his Talk with his father?" Lucius whispered back. "Should I order some drinks? I think the Hogshead accepts owl orders. "

"Are you daft? Just ask a House Elf. Aberforth would incinerate your order just for the request to send the drinks to the Hogwarts' Headmaster Office. " Severus snarled. Really this man, ever the perfect Host.

"I don't exactly have a Hogwarts House Elf acquaintance, do I? " Lucius snarled back.

"Stop bickering, you two. You might think you're being discreet, but you're so loud I could hear you from here." Voldemort scolded from where he was looking at Dumbledore's book collection.

Severus rolled his eyes and called. "Mipsy!"

A house elf appeared. "Master Greasy Hair Bat called for Mipsy? "

Severus bristled as Lucius turned red in an effort to not laugh. Voldemort had no such compunction and let out a loud hissy snicker, while Dumbledore chuckled quietly. He sighed, since he had tried to change his nickname since he started teaching and never succeeded. Well, he managed 'Master Sniffles' once before he gave up. (Apparently, he sniffed a lot to the House Elves. It was too close to Snivellus for his taste, so he decided to just let it go). He strongly suspected that it was Sirius Black who ordered the House Elves to call him that.

"We are having company, Mipsy. Some warm drinks and refreshments? For about thirty five people. " Severus said after he calmed himself down.

"Firewhiskey, Ogden's finest. You may go to Malfoy Manor and ask for them from the Malfoy elves. Here, I wrote this for you. " Lucius interjected.

"Some things are better done drunk." He lamented.

"Mipsy will do as Master Greasy Hair Bat say. Will Master's guests be needing dinner? " The elf asked.

Severus looked at Lucius, who shrugged and then to Quirinus, who was facing them with a glazed look. (Voldemort was reading a particularly dull book about Hippogriffs. He does like to read ahead, even though he hasn't realized that he was reading the wrong book yet). Dumbledore looked at the three of them, then to his pocket watch. Dinner is in two hours, after all.

"Dinner sounds good. Bring them to my office, Mipsy" He said.

Mipsy nodded and said, "Mipsy will do as Master Head Long beard say, Mipsy will"

She snapped a finger to summon a table in the empty space in the corner and disappeared. A while later, foods and drinks started appearing on it, along with a cask of Firewhiskey and the snifters.

"Finally! " Lucius exclaimed and poured one for himself. "Want some, Sev? "

Severus shook his head and poured a strong black tea with a dash of Brandy from the flask he kept on his robe for Minerva's emergency breakdowns. The Scottish Professor got some whenever the Weasley Twins did a prank and had to be calmed down before her blood pressure rose through the roof and made her got a stroke. For this occasion, he felt that an exception will be forgiven.

One by one, their fellow Death Eaters trickled to the room, and almost had a heart attack when Voldemort greeted them. Dumbledore watched in fascination as the group of prominent Purebloods, and a lot of prominent public figures snivelled, kneeled, begged and kissed the hem of Voldemort's (Quirrell's) robe. He giggled quietly every time someone released the robe with an expression best suited in a water chamber.

Once everyone arrived, and Voldemort did a roll call from a list Lucius made for him, Voldemort locked the floo and announced.

"My loyal friends and followers. We are here to learn about Hippogriffs from our teacher, Professor Albus Dumbledore. Since I was made to learn, which reason is still beyond me. It will be beneficial to My Lady's project at the very least. So, I've decided that you shall also learn with me. You will also pass it on to your fellow Death Eaters who weren't here today, and the new recruits. "

In the corner of the room, Lucius and Severus groaned in unison. They should have known that the Dark Lord, for all of his obsession for appearing as a Pureblood, didn't know about The Hippogriff Talk. They should have made it clearer, or at least not butcher the name in his presence.

Dumbledore smirked gleefully. He hadn't had this much fun since ever.

"Everyone, welcome to The Hippogriff and The Hornet Talk. " He announced.

At once, pandemonium broke as the Death Eaters turned red collectively and started protesting left and right. Only Voldemort looked confused as to why his normally stoic and uptight Death Eaters behaved like recalcitrant boys.

Constructive Criticism Appreciated.