Albus Dumbledore pushed open the door to
the Leaky Cauldron, he scanned the room with his brilliant blue eyes until
he spotted the young man staring at a half full glass of Butterbeer.
"Severus." Dumbledore sat down next to
Snape.
"Headmaster." Snape replied. "Something's
been bothering me."
"Me too."
"Who told the governors about me?" Dumbledore
looked into Snape's black eyes and shook his head sadly.
"Alas, I do not know. Who ever it was must
be a cold hearted individual, someone who is not worthy to be on my staff."
"Who would want to?"
"Shall we explore the possibilities?" Snape
nodded. "It is obviously someone you offended in some way. Professor Flitwick?"
"No,"
"Professor Sprout?"
"No."
"Professor McGonagall?"
"No."
"Professor Binns?"
"No."
"Can you please say another word besides
'no'?"
"No, I mean yes." They both laughed.
"Professor Sinsitra?"
"Not that I know of."
After nearly half an hour of going through
every member of the staff, they could find no one that would want to report
Snape to the governors.
"Unless…" Snape began
"Unless who?" Dumbledore interrupted.
"Could we find out if the governors were
told anonymously?"
"Possibly. Why?"
"Well, Sirius Black is still on the run
and he…."
"Knew about your sexuality?"
"Yes." Snape went slightly red.
"We shall ask this evening. In the mean
time I need to get some work done, I shall meet you back here at a quarter
past six."
"See you then." With that, Dumbledore vanished.
Severus Snape went back to staring into his half full glass of Butterbeer.
"I think we ought to sack him." Oscar Crabbe
said. "There aren't going to be many people who want a homosexual teaching
their kids."
"And his attitude towards the other houses
is appalling!" Joshua Zabini added.
"We can't dismiss him on medical grounds."
"I agree, he could take us to a tribunal
if we do that." Dr. Parkinson replied.
"What about his relationship with Minerva
McGonagall?" Albert Jordan suggested.
"McGonagall is the deputy headmistress,
head of Gryffindor, a renowned professor of Transfiguration and one of
the seven known Animagi this century! They both deserve to be sacked for
that!" Cornelius Fudge shouted down the table.
"Yes, well only one member of the Hogwarts
Staffs job is under scrutiny at the moment." Crabbe reminded.
"Snape is highly qualified though." Said
a mysterious voice from a dark corner of the room; the board stared into
the corner the voice had come from. A ghost of a tall, thin man, with short
black hair, a hooked nose and glasses.
"You would speak up for him wouldn't you."
Lucious Malfoy said under his breath.
"Malfoy, you are not worth the galleons
you hold in your Gringotts account." The ghost retaliated irritably.
"What are you doing here?" Crabbe challenged.
"All the members of the board we called,
past and present. I believe that invitation included dead members of the
board as well." Crabbe shrunk back in his chair. "Sorry I'm late." The
ghost gave an evil smile and stepped out of the shadows.
