Harry stepped gracefully out of the fire place and quickly spelled his robes clean as he looked around Dumbledore's office, the man himself seated behind the desk that was covered in silver items as well as parchment. He gave a small nod to the headmaster and made his way to the door - not willing to have a confrontation when the knowledge was fresh - when a weight settled on his shoulder and a low trill sounded in his ear, warmth settled in his bones and he let a small smile break free as he turned to his once saviour and gently stroked the brilliant red plume of the phoenix.
"Hello Fawkes."
The glorious creature rubbed against his head and a soft musical note came from his chest before he spread his wings and flew back to his perch.
"A beautiful being, is he not?"
"Quite, excuse me."
He was stopped once more just as his hand landed on the doorknob.
"Harry, I do feel we must have a conversation soon."
"About what, Sir?" He said turning to keep the man in his sights.
"Your relationship with the rest of the school. Your guardianship with Sirius, which I am not sure about. And also so that I can ask your forgiveness in letting this whole situation get out of control."
"What situation?"
"Why, the messing around of the students during this time of course. I have heard that there are some that have been particularly nasty to you and I feel like I could have stepped in and perhaps eased the pressure."
"Why did you not?"
"At the start I didn't realise it was so much and then I thought that it was schoolyard comments and you would brush them off as nonsense, grow stronger in yourself and your convictions in the face of such adversary. I apologise for not stepping in before and stopping your classmates."
"I see and what about the behaviour of your staff?"
"Now now Harry, you and I both know that you antagonise Professor Sna-"
"Interesting I don't believe I mentioned him…I was speaking of the blatant bias behaviour of Professor Sprout, a woman who went from treating me with civility to ignoring my existence and the pain that her 'puffs' caused me in her class because they knew she would turn a blind eye. I was speaking of Professor Flitwick who never even twitched an eye in my direction when his ravens would send tripping hexes my way. And even my own head of house, who never once stepped in to help me from the abuse I suffered right under her very nose. She said that your house is your family and she allowed them to treat me like a pariah. She who has known me for 4 years who knew that sometimes things just happened to me and yet never once did she fulfil her role as a teacher in the most basic sense, to ensure the safety of each child under her care."
"I will reprimand the staff, I thought they would be more likely to stop any of the bullying."
"I think it's safe to say the opposite happened. But since you mentioned it lets mention the Potions master."
Dumbledore sighed and leaned onto the desk lacing his hands together.
"Harry, Professor Snape is an incredible Potions master, he has many years under him and he has taught hundreds of children. You and he have a rivalry that stems from his former acquaintance with your father and his friends. I will admit he can be unnecessarily harsh however you play your part by talking back."
"I do not deny that I have not helped the situation, however in my first potions lesson he asked me Year 4 material. He made up his mind about me the second he heard my name at the sorting hat. These past few months where I have rarely been in his lessons have been fantastic, I have learnt more about potions this year that in my last three put together from self-study. He is not a good teacher and I don't understand why you keep defending him."
"He has a lot of knowledge –"
"And he cannot explain it well to students. He hates most of us, the only ones he doesn't is his Slytherins." Dumbledore was staring at a point above Harry's left shoulder. "He is not an asset to this school, are you aware that since he took over the teaching position 40% of students have dropped the potions NEWT thanks to him? That more than half get A's in the OWL's instead of the EE or O's that they could have received with a competent teacher. And then there are the rumours of him being a Death Eater, Sirius has told me of all the things he has rumoured to have done but I can't believe even you would allow a Death Eater into a school?"
For a few short seconds there was silence before Dumbledore made up his mind and spoke.
"Severus heavily regrets all that he did, he came to me for help and I have provided it. I trust him with my life."
As he looked into the blue eyes of the supposedly greatest wizard in the world, Harry felt nothing. He thought once he had uncovered the secret of why Snape was still allowed at Hogwarts he would have a small sense of peace but instead he felt nothing.
Dumbledore was clearly unnerved by his silenced and glanced around his office before letting his eyes fall back onto the young man in-front of him.
"He helped our side a lot towards the end of the war –"
"But not at the beginning?" The words were quiet and the Headmaster fell silent at the lack of emotion in the emerald eyes.
"You refuse to do anything about him? You deny that he is a bully and cruel? You refuse to see his uselessness?"
"He is a man who has made mistakes and has paid for them. He is perhaps harsher than need be but his subject is delicate and many mistakes can occur therefore he must be strict."
Harry was shaking his head after the first sentence left his mouth.
"We shall never agree. And my guardianship with Sirius is nothing to do with you, you stopped it once and let an innocent man suffer because in fact two, we both know you know the treatment of the Dursleys was not right and yet you made me stay there when the Weasleys or anyone else for that matter would have been happy to have me."
"He has been in Azkaban for a long time, I am merely unsure of your safety."
"Bullshit. The only thing your unsure about is having someone treat me right, that I will become stronger and better. Do you have anything else to tell me before I leave this office?"
"No Harry, I do not."
"Really? So you don't wish to tell me of the money you have taken from my account? Or why you have lied about my parents will? Or why you attempted to hide my heritage from me? " The words were delivered slowly and with an air of unimportance in them. The green blaze was locked onto the whitening form of Dumbledore as he sucked in a deep breath.
"I assure my boy I have explanations, it was all for your benefit and I intended to-"
"let me know about my heritage? No, I don't think you would have. My new account manager will be getting in touch with you soon, I advise you to co-operate fully." And with that the 14-year-old walked out of the office leaving an ashen face Headmaster behind him.
As soon as he was out of the staircase Harry walked to the nearest window and looked out over the grounds. Dusk was settling and the slope down to Hagrid's cabin and the forbidden forest was bathed in darkening shadows. Even though he felt the simmering resentment in his blood, he felt none of his magic reacting to it as it had before, none of the power crackling at his finger tips and none of the cold rage infusing his entire being. This time he truly appreciated the hours of occlumency he had put himself through as he felt more able to keep control. The headmaster had shown on numerous occasions he could not be trusted, and now knowing that he had deliberately placed him with the Dursleys, knowing that he had stolen from his family. Harry wasn't sure how to feel about the old man who had shown he thought himself to have all the power and all the answers.
He breathed deeply and remembered a quote that Daphne had shared when he'd been struggling with how to treat the twins. She had listened to him vent about the pranks they'd pulled on him, how their sneers and ignorance had made him feel all because they hadn't believed him, she had listened through it all and then told him "when someone does something wrong, don't forget all the things they've done right." He'd remembered how they had always welcomed him, how they'd rescued him, protected him when others had thought him to be the Heir of Slytherin but most of all that they had asked for forgiveness and given him help and space ever since. That more than anything had helped him to talk with them and keep a peace between them. Dumbledore certainly hadn't helped him and until he could find out all the reasoning behind it he wouldn't be able to have a more civil conversation with him, maybe the man was so used to everyone thinking he was infallible he believed it, either way there was more negative in association with the man than positive.
Nodding his head firmly he made his way to the kitchens, feeling the hunger but having no interest in going to the hall for dinner. Reaching up to tickle the pear and push open the door he readied himself for the enthusiastic Dobby throwing himself at his legs and moved to the back corner; lifting an eyebrow in surprise at the waiting Theo who was eating chocolate pudding and had a treacle tart in front of him, he settled into the seat opposite an immediately tucked in to the tart.
"Figured you wouldn't want to see anyone right now. And food always helps." The Slytherin said.
"I was angry, you know. But now." Harry tried to think of the right words.
"You're just done?"
"Yeah…pretty much."
They ate in silence before their plates were cleared and replaced by two hot chocolates and a plate of cookies by a happy elf who blushed fiercely at their praise and scurried back bowing.
"What do you want to do about him?" Said Theo quietly.
"No clue. He took so much from me, he placed me with those people. Took from my family. Left Sirius in jail. Allows that that thing to teach children."
"Definitely not a great recommendation."
Harry snorted at the dry comment and grabbed a biscuit.
"Snape needs to go, I've talked it over with Daphne and she is most put out that we're not killing him. But we need to get him out of the castle. He has ruined so much for so many and I think its time he was stopped."
"Understandable and agreed. He practically encourages house rivalry and the potions results have gone down steadily since he took over. His record also counts against him." At Harry's questioning glance Theo gave a short bitter laugh. "Its well known that he was only saved from the Kiss because of Dumbledore and whatever secret deal they made. Believe me my father has ranted about it many times with his 'friends'. None of them were very happy when he escaped inquiry. That along with his blatant disregard for the rules as well as the unveiling of Lupins status last year, we have more than enough grounds for a investigation from the board and even a dismissal."
"Who is on the Board of Governors? What will the procedure be for getting rid of a teacher?"
"Lady Longbottom, Griselda Marchbanks, Elphias Dodge, Caspian Selwyn, Samuel Ogden, Aurelia Woods and five others but they are the ones with the most opposing ideas and more willing to make decisions the others are followers. First we shall write a formal complaint letter, usually we'd go through our head of houses and the deputy head but I don't think we'll get very far if we do that. So we go straight to the top, explain everything and ask for a formal investigation to be conducted. With you and I signing the letter they will have two point of view that they won't be allowed to ignore."
"We send the letter tomorrow, Griphook is sending Dumbledore notices that will arrive in tomorrows post and he'll be too busy figuring himself out of that hole to worry about his pet Death Eater, maybe I can ask Sirius to finally give that interview about the guardianship and future plans and further mess up his plans and just change things up to."
"Ah redirecting attention, very Slytherin."
Harry gave a smirk.
"The hat wanted to place me there for a reason."
They outlined a brief letter and spoke more before finishing off the biscuits and heading to the library to look for the rest of the gang whom they found in the library with the girls practically hanging over Neville's shoulders as they focussed on the book in-front of him. Harry felt a flush run through him as he watched Daphne's brows furrow as her mouth moved silently as she read; he felt a smile grow as she glanced up and her eyes caught his immediately and lightened to a sky blue, clear and bright with a happy glint in them as she came forward to give him a kiss and tuck herself under his arm.
"Hey you, how was Gringotts?"
"Not great, though I am Sirius' heir and he is my guardian so in that sense its good. Can we talk later? I just want to do nothing for now."
Her eyes darkened with concern but with a quick shake of his head and a tightening of his arms she knew not to push, instead she changed the subject.
"We were just looking at what kind of things to expect for the final task." A week ago the Champions had been called down to the Quidditch pitch where Bagman had explained the final task, a labyrinth with obstacles to test their various abilities. They had immediately headed to the library and started to research. "Neville's found a book on magical obstacles and there's some problem solving as well as using strength and courage etc."
"We think Hagrid might be supplying some of the obstacles, I remember last week thinking he's been turning up to meals with new scratches." Injected Tracey. "And Astoria has been complaining for the last month about the Blast Ended Skrewts they're being forced to look after."
Harry nodded keeping his arm around Daphne's waist as he leaned over the table and looked at the carefully written notes about various animals, obstacles and spells that could all help in a labyrinth.
"Okay so we could always go and just talk to him, knowing him he'll reveal something no matter how important it may be."
"Shall we go now? We've got a couple of hours until curfew." Said Theo. Tracey glanced at him; surprise clear on her face.
"You want to visit Hagrid?"
While a lot of the students hadn't changed their attitude towards the man, some had. He had received so much hate-mail he had refused to attend meals, Harry and Neville were the front support when he had eventually been convinced of his worth and had led the school in a round of cheering. For a lot of pure-bloods and even half-bloods the idea that they had had a half-giant teaching them was unbelievable but no one could say his lessons hadn't taught them to protect themselves from magical beasts and so the calls for his replacement hadn't been heeded. Malfoy and his group had been extremely vocal on how the 'beast' shouldn't be allowed to teach but they had got shouted down by the many other very vocal supporters including the Weasley's, Hermione and many other muggle-borns who found the large man to be very gentle and kind. Theo was still slightly reluctant to visit him as despite Daphne's and Tracey's reassurance he knew the Slytherins had not been kind and had removed himself to the library the few times the gang had wandered down for tea.
"I think this is more important than feelings. Plus I have been feeling like an idiot, I saw him yesterday talking to a group of first year snakes about how it was okay to be different from the rest and it was okay not to understand things and they could always go to him after class if they needed extra help. So yes I think we should go and see him."
Quickly packing up the five hurried to Hagrid's cabin ignoring those that were still trickling out of the hall from dinner and made their way through the purpling grounds of Hogwarts. The COMC professor was happy to see them all and they were quickly settled with tea and rock cakes which they politely had taken though they'd left them on the plate.
"I wasn't expecting you five tonight, what can I do for you?"
"We just wanted to chat, Hagrid. It's been a while, how are your classes coming along?"
Hagrid puffed up and Harry winked at Daphne who sent a smirk back as Hagrid started answering her.
"And my third years are doing something mighty special, they're looking after my Blast ended Skrewts which have grown to 13 feet and next week I'll be ensuring the care of the acromantulas that Aragog has agreed to let us use and we're getting a boggart and banshe- I shouldn't have said that, it's tournament business you should not know it." He folded his arms and sat back looking at the five of them semi-sternly and they immediately backed away, changing the subject to their own schooling.
"And Harry has already mastered the Point me spell for it." Finished off Tracey after the discussion of their research with Hagrid adding the odd comment of "that will help with the swamp" or "that's excellent for the upside down fog- shouldn't have said that!"
Picking their way through the darkness they arrived in the entrance hall.
"Well I have Charms to do so I'd better-"
"Actually, if you guys have time I'd like to talk about Gringotts." Harry interrupted Theo and at everyone's nod started to lead them to the 7th floor with his hand wrapped tightly in Daphne's. She looked at him worriedly as they made their way over the staircases; there was a sense of tortured peace about him, as though he had locked away his most basic of feelings to remain calm but was still hurting from them. She tugged him closer and let go of his hand to wrap it around his waist instead, giving a small smile when he glanced down at her and let out a breath when his eyes lightened to their usual brightness.
Arriving in the room that had turned itself into a comfy area with a couple of long sofas and armchairs, Harry started pacing as the others settled down and began with leaving the Ministry.
Fifteen minutes later Neville joined him in his pacing and Daphne began muttering furiously.
"So Dumbledore has been stealing from you and is also single handily responsible for not helping your true guardian and therefore placing you with those animals?" Questioned Neville, his face the most solemn Harry had ever seen it.
"Pretty much."
"We've already decided on how to get rid of Snape, we'll put that into action tomorrow. Dumbledore will be harder to budge, on paper his actions make sense and not many people will want to go against the leader of the light." Said Theo.
"What do you mean?" Asked Tracey. "He went against the law. He stole! That isn't right."
"No its not, but he does have an excuse, the money that was given to the Durselys, why shouldn't they be paid for the extra care and as regent he would be able to fund several organisations if he put it down as protection for Harry. And not helping Sirius, well everyone knew he was guilty so what would have been the point. Finally keeping the heritage a secret, despite everything Harry was raised as a muggle, he had no knowledge of the magical world. Any parent will agree that placing the burden of suddenly being head of house at eleven without any training would be extremely hard." Daphne said thoughtfully. "If he can plead ignorance to the fake will then there's not much of a case against him."
The others grew quiet as they thought about what she had said and Harry eventually took a seat next to his girlfriend, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
"We can start with revealing the true will at the next wizengamot session." Neville said suddenly. "You're right Daphne that we don't have much of a claim, but we can start taking apart his reputation, using the press to show how the greatest wizard in the world let the head of an ancient and noble house rot in hell because he believed the masses etc."
Picking up Neville's train of thought, ideas started to be put forward and a vague plan was made.
"Are we dealing with the Dursleys too? I mean, come on they deserve something special." Said Tracey with a wicked gleam in her eye.
"Well so far I have stopped the money, I have a feeling Sirius and Remus are going to be planning something soon too."
"Good, I know you just want them gone but you have to understand why we want them to hurt." Daphne told her boyfriend frankly.
"Yeah I know."
The five worked long into the night and only snuck into their own beds at around 2 o'clock the next morning managing to remain hidden with the use of the map. The two lions were the last in and grinned tiredly at each other as they settled into their beds.
"Nev?"
"Yes Harry?"
"Think we can actually take him down?"
"Course, with two lions and three snakes. What could possibly go wrong? And you'll always have us having your back, helping you get through it."