Chapter 35
Kelsey was determined to ask the headmaster some questions. Why was Perseus guarding the Gryffindor common room now and what was about James? Was he safe without the knight? And were Sirius and Perseus really related?
"Did you hear who the deatheater was last night? Neville and Stephen, the dragon trainer both identified her." Ron asked excitedly.
"Her? I didn't know it was a woman." Sirius replied
"Yes and a woman you know by the way" Harry added firmly.
"No... you're not going to tell me she..." the black-haired wizard gasped.
"Yes exactly. Your precious cousin Bellatrix" Harry confirmed.
"Merlin's beard" Sirius sighed and buried his face in his hands. "How did she ever get out of there? She is insane and would do anything to please her master. You don't know how it was to grow up with her. Bellatrix always had been cruel especially to kids and animals. She loved to tantalize the house- elves, her younger cousins and, most of all, my dog. My grandfather had bought him for my 8th birthday and I was beside myself with joy when I found this beautiful, black, fluffy puppy on my bed in the morning. I named him Snuffles and it was love at first lick" Harry saw one single tear running down his godfathers' cheek.
"We were inseparable and Bellatrix just couldn't stand that. So in the summer before I started Hogwarts..." the wizard choked on a sob. "One morning, I woke up and called Snuffles but he wasn't there. I started to get worried, because my dog never went anywhere without me, so I went downstairs and kept calling for him. He was just nowhere to be seen, so I went outside and there he was"
All eyes were fixed on Sirius, while he continued his heart-rending narrative. "Hanging from a tree, blood dripping out of deep gashes, terribly mutilated. My grandfather came running when he heard me screaming my lungs out and he was the one who helped me bury my dog. I was freaking out when my parents exclaimed Bellatrix wouldn't be punished, because there was no proof. She always got away with everything" he spat disgustedly.
Hour after they had left Sirius, they were sitting in next to the fireplace, finishing their homework for tomorrow. "How do you think the new potion instructor is going to be?" Neville asked anxiously. Madam Pomfrey had released him from the infirmary after lunch but he still winced terribly when somebody approached him.
"She can't be worse than Snape, can she? So stop worrying!" Ron called out. They turned in early and while Harry closed the curtains around his four- poster he wondered if Malfoy would be back tomorrow.
When they sat down at breakfast the next morning, they recognized that Malfoy had returned. "The good times are over now that the little ferret is back" Ron groaned and quickly finished his bowl of porridge. Kelsey was watching the Slytherin perfect were carefully, then nudge his sister and pointed at the Malfoy.
"Looks like they're filling him in on all the changes now" he said. At this moment Malfoy's eyes grew wider and wider and then he jumped up and kicked over his chair. More than a few students started laughing when the furious Slytherin ran out of the Great Hall, closely followed by his cronies.
"I bet he just found out that McGonagall is his new head of house." Ginny snickered. Harry got up from his seat and called "I think we should go to the dungeons now. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I actually want a good seat in potions."
They all left the Great Hall and walked down to the potions classroom. The door was already open so the five Gryffindors sat down on tables in the middle of the room. Just when the last Slytherin had found a seat, the side door opened and their new potions instructor entered.
"Good morning everybody" she called and the class answered "Good morning Professor". All except Malfoy, who was sitting casually on his chair with his arms folded in front of the chest.
"We haven't met before. You're Mr Malfoy, I suppose." The blond witch walked over to the Slytherins' table and smiled.
"Yes and...?" Malfoy replied wickedly.
The smile faded from the teachers' face and, with a furious glitter in her eyes, she insisted "When you speak to me, you will address me with Professor Wells or ma'am at all times, understood? I'm not Professor Snape and I have no problems with docking points from Slytherin."
Malfoy didn't say a word, but raised an eyebrow and sneered. "50 points from Slytherin" she called and the Slytherins expressions turned to complete shock.
"Ok at first I'm going to return the written test. You will recognize that I have graded your papers and I must say that it wasn't bad at all. As a matter of fact it gave me a very good insight on how far you've gotten." The witch passed out the papers and Harry desperately hoped that he hadn't failed completely. It wouldn't make a good first impression.
When he received his paper, his jaw dropped. "Professor Wells? May I ask you a question?" he stammered.
"Of course Mr Potter, what is it?"
"Are you sure you didn't make a mistake here?" Harry asked and pointed at the mark on his paper.
"No, I'm quite certain, this is what you deserve" the blond witched grinned.
"Another D, Potter?" Malfoy sneered. While the professor continued returning the paper, Hermione and Kayla turned around and looked at Harry.
"Is it so bad?" Hermione asked him pitifully.
"See for yourself" Harry whispered and turned his paper around for her to see it. A big 'O' was printed in the upper right corner of the page. This time it was Hermione's jaw that dropped. "Harry this is great" was all she could manage to say.
It turned out that Hermione and Kayla also had an Outstanding, while Ron and Kelsey had an E. "This is the best result I ever had in potions" Harry mumbled, sounding as if he still didn't' trust his own eyes.
They spent the rest of the first class with brewing an Anti-burn potion, which was supposed to heal burning injuries immediately. In the end they had a chance to test Ron's potion. Goyle had accidentally set his cauldron on fire and burned Malfoy's eyebrows totally off.
"You stupid moron. You not-good-for-anything-idiot", Malfoy yelled, while he punched his fellow Slytherin hard on the arm and screamed when he tried to raise his non-existent eyebrows. Goyle's sappy expression didn't change by the sight of his grilled friend and he just mumbled "Sorry Draco".
Fortunately Ron's potion worked out fine and he earned 20 points for Gryffindor. Neville seemed very relaxed and managed to finish his potion without any major accidents.
He'd do even better with some tutoring; Kayla thought when she watched Neville filling up a sample at the end of class.
"Kayla, may I speak with you for a minute?" the potions instructor asked, while everybody left the classroom. The young Gryffindor grabbed her bag and walked up to the teachers' desk. "I talked to Professor Lupin yesterday and he told me that Neville has such problems in this class and that his fear of Professor Snape is the most important reason. I will do my very best to make sure he gains more self- confidence, but I also wanted to ask for your help. Would you mind to tutor Neville for a while?" the potions instructor asked as she locked the closet with the ingredients.
"I have thought about that myself already, Professor." Kayla answered. "I'm sure he'd do just fine but it seems to me that he, and unfortunately almost everybody else including Professor Snape, is just waiting for him to screw up. I wouldn't mind to tutor him, but don't you think Hermione would be the better choice?" The teacher shook her head and smiled.
"I talked to Miss Granger yesterday at the feast and she told me that she's too busy with her classes and the prefects' duties so she suggested you"
"I'm going to talk to Neville this afternoon and ask him what he thinks about it" the pretty Gryffindor stated before she left the classroom to join her friends.
"Albus, I do not believe a word you're saying. Has every student in this school gone mental?" The minister for magic was shouting. The owl he had received from Dumbledore Saturday night had shocked him. Although he didn't believe that Bellatrix Lestrange had managed to escape from Azkaban, he had visited the prison early Sunday morning. The guards had informed him that everything was normal and all prisoners were present.
"At first Harry tried to convince me that Sirius Black is innocent, then he tells everybody that You-know-who returned, which is just ridiculous and now even Neville comes me with that rubbish. I know for sure that Lestrange is still in Azkaban" Fudge spat
"Would you please tell me Cornelius, what proof you have for your statement?" the headmaster asked calmly.
"I talked to the dementors" the minister answered firmly.
"Do you really believe Neville Longbottom would lie about something as dangerous as this?"
"Maybe he was hallucinating?" Fudge said airily.
The headmaster narrowed his eyes and glanced angrily over his half-moon glasses. "You should hear yourself talking Cornelius" he scolded. "I have seen this boy last night and Poppy had to use the strongest calming-potion to stop that boy from rocking and shaking."
"I'm telling you he's daft" the minister insisted.
"It's quite enough now Cornelius. Neville has seen Bellatrix Lestrange in Gryffindor Tower Saturday night and so has Mr Crowley, one of the dragon trainers. He was forced into a suit of armour outside the Gryffindor common room when he refused to let her pass."
"Is he trustworthy?" Fudge whispered anxiously.
"He most certainly is" Dumbledore replied.
"This still doesn't change my opinion. I'm awfully sorry to say this to you, but you have blown the last chance you've been given by the school board. A deatheater has entered the school AGAIN, despite all your efforts." the minister stated.
"So what are you going to tell me?"
"Albus, the board has decided concordantly that you will be removed from your position. This means that Minerva will be headmistress until the school board has voted for a permanent replacement. So I'd say you inform the students during lunch and leave your office by tomorrow morning. This should give you enough time to fill your deputy headmistress in on everything." Fudge answered, while he rose from his chair and grabbed his bowler hat. "Good day to you Albus" he said when he left the office.
"Fudge is completely daft now" Harry shouted when they went to Transfiguration. "Deatheaters roaming the grounds and he's sacking Dumbledore. This is beyond me, this stupid moron. Zara and Neville were the first, who's going to be the next?" the black-haired boy went on ranting the whole way to McGonagall's classroom.
Hermione was just as worried and Ron was scared. He remembered what Harry told him about Voldemort was waiting for something and that Lestranges' attack wouldn't be the last one. Now that Dumbledore was gone, the gates were open for the deatheaters and their master.
"I'm still wondering what Bellatrix was after?" Kelsey asked. "She knew all the students would be in the Great Hall"
"This is the strange thing about it. The dorms haven't been searched; she just vandalized the common room." Kayla stated when they reached the classroom.
"We can't be sure about that" Hermione interjected. "Neville said she was in the boys' dormitory when he encountered her." They entered the classroom and sat down. Their classmates were also ranting about the ministry's stupidity when McGonagall called for order.
"I know you're all just as upset as the rest of us, but don't be afraid. Professor Dumbledore might not be the headmaster, for now, but he won't abandon his students. He knew sooner or later something like that would happen, when he insisted that what Mr Potter said, about the return of You- know-who, is true. We have made arrangements that will allow every student to call for help if necessary. Every fireplace in this school is connected with Professor Dumbledore's mansion and the head of houses will cast a spell on every student which will, temporarily, allow you to send out an emergency call to him. To prevent any misuse this will only work when you're really in danger." The headmistress explained.
"Professor McGonagall, there are two eyewitnesses who would recount everything under Verita serum, so why is Minister Fudge insisting it never happened?" Hermione spoke up.
The Professor sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Miss Granger, I honestly have no idea what is going on in the ministers' mind and how the school boards could make this kind of decision, but we have to make the best out of it. Everything will just go on as before with a few adjustments. The head of houses have agreed to increase the DADA classes, so from today on you will have double lessons with Professor Lupin on a daily basis." Nobody moaned; everybody looked highly alert and understanding. They knew that this could get very dangerous and they needed to get prepared for the worst.
The Gryffindors heard a similar speech from their head of house in DADA, which followed Transfiguration. Professor Lupin told them that in his point of view the dementors had definitely joined Voldemort and that it was now more important than ever for them to produce strong patronuses. Kayla slipped Hermione a note
Meet me in the library after classes. I'm going to search for protection spells.
Hermione looked at her determined friend and nodded.
Severus was sitting on a large four-poster bed with black silk sheets and covers waiting for the sun to set. The vampires most certainly knew how to make their guests feel comfortable, but he just couldn't get used to sleep during the day. Malfoy and the potion master had apparated to a little Transylvanian village about a week ago and had taken a carriage to the vampire castle. Severus was still highly upset, how easily Malfoy had tricked him. Since this summer the Dark Lord had been in contact with the vampires and Malfoy and Severus had done all the negotiation, but it had never been mentioned that their personal presence would be necessary. So when Malfoy interrupted his class and told him there would be a meeting with the vampires, he had assumed that they finally had come to Voldemort's mansion, but unfortunately he had been mistaken.
I let my guard down, he scolded himself for about the thousandth time. Now he knew that this was just a diversionary tactic to get him away from the students and all he was hoping for was that Dumbledore had received his note. Snape had no idea how Voldemort had freed Bellatrix Lestrange, but he knew that this woman was insane; now even more than before she went to Azkaban.
He heard a knock on the door and then Malfoy entered. "Ready for some fun, old mate" the blond wizard sneered.