A/N: Hey all! Soooo...this is the largest gap between chapters I've ever had, isn't it? awkward laugh It seems that grad school is a bit harder than I thought it would be. I haven't had as much time to write anymore, what with homework and research...But semester will be ending in about a month or so, so I'll be ready to write up a storm then! After the way last year's Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition went, I doubt I'll be competing this season. Maybe I'll judge, but fear not, loyal readers (or new readers! Love you too!) I'll make sure to keep an eye on my writing. I've also been toying with the idea of opening a second Etsy shop (my first is crochetcadeaux, if you're interested) which has been taking up a bit of my time the past few days.
If you've written a review that I haven't responded to - I sincerely apologize! For some reason fanfiction hasn't been sending me emails about reviews, so I only see them when I decide to go through the reviews page. I will try to be more on top of this in the future!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! I don't say it often enough, but I do treasure every email! No Harry or Remus here, but next chapter will be focused on the two of them!
Enjoy!
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"One and a half feet of parchment on the properties of bubotuber pus in potions for next week. Dismissed," Severus announced to his third year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. As the children scurried to clean up and escape the dungeons, he sank into his seat. After Black had informed him of the lack of pre-Hogwarts education, he had begun rethinking his teaching style. No wonder the students were so abysmal at Potions; they had no foundation. He had always assumed the dunderheads at least knew the difference between chop and slice, but now…He would have to revise his lessons.
Waving his wand lazily, Severus set his classroom to rights and headed back to his office. Black's words had resonated with him. As he had seen time and time again here in Hogwarts, if you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself. The first step to rectifying the level of ignorance in his students was to pause what he had planned to do and begin a series of classes on basic Potions skills. Part of him wished to ignore the issue and merely continue his lessons, but he knew, in the long run, this was the best thing to do. His OWL and NEWT students were more likely to do well if they knew why they were doing what they were doing, and his younger students would not show their ignorance in later years.
For the future, however…he wanted to set up a school. Severus had never viewed himself as a teacher, not in all his years at Hogwarts. But after a year and a half of teaching, he realized that it was something he enjoyed, for some unknown reason. He most certainly did not enjoy teaching all of his students; most of the Gryffindor students were terribly disrespectful and refused to put in any effort. For the students who did put in effort, though, he found that he took pleasure in their success. The Slytherins who approached him for help always found that he would assist them with an amount of patience not seen in class. It was a position he had not expected, but did not find unpleasant. What he disliked about his job was the location: Hogwarts.
After the conclusions drawn by himself, the mutt, and the wolf, he no longer desired to work at Hogwarts. Albus had manipulated him into accepting the position as teacher once Slughorn had retired, which was a good part of why he gained the reputation of being an "evil git", as many of his students said behind his back. That first year as a teacher he had been resentful to Dumbledore and he had taken that resentment out on his students. Perhaps that had been extreme, but in his defense, he had been merely a couple of years older than his students!
But a school…Severus would be the one in charge of the school. He could set it up however he desired, combining muggle and magical subjects. The skills he found the students lacked, such as essay writing, research, and simple maths, would be taught. It was a heady concept, and one that needed much thought and planning.
For now, he would keep a pre-Hogwarts school in the back of his mind. It would not do to risk Albus realizing that three of his pawns were pawns no longer. Changing his curriculum to teach his students was already risky, but he could rationalize that. Leaving to establish a school would certainly tip the headmaster off.
Severus dropped into the chair behind his desk and pulled a stack of essays from his sixth years. Right now, he had to keep up his façade and be the evil bat of the dungeons.
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Sirius rubbed his eyes, trying to push away the swirling numbers taking over his mind. His Gringotts account manager had sent him a folder full of information for the various Black family vaults. They were in a rather sorry state. For some reason, he had authorized Dumbledore to remove hundreds of Galleons a month as a donation to Hogwarts. There was also a note allowing the old man to take whatever money he needed from the vaults for the Order of the Phoenix. He remembered doing it, the memories were clear, but…it brought home the fact that Dumbledore was controlling him. Even if the old fart had been as upstanding and honest as he pretended he was, there was no way Sirius would have allowed him free reign over his accounts.
He stood up and went to the window, pressing his aching head against the cool glass. He, Remus, and Sniv-Severus had a lot of work ahead of them. Dumbledore had the hearts and minds of most of the Wizarding World. It would be nigh impossible for three twenty-one year olds to topple him. Thankfully Andromeda had people who knew what was going on. There was some hope there. But it would be a long, hard, uphill battle.
Right now he had other things to worry about. Someone needed to take care of Harry. Today Sirius was in charge of Harry-sitting, since Remus was talking to Narcissa about a school. He had to admit it was a good idea. Being taught by his mother had been traumatizing enough, but what Severus had pointed out what painfully true. If the mother didn't know a subject, the child would know nothing about it as well. He hated to think about the children of some of his…girlfriends…from Hogwarts. Most of those girls were complete and total bimbos, which meant that their children were doomed to be the same way.
Sirius had owled Narcissa immediately following the discussion the night before. To his surprise, she answered immediately, expressing an interest in meeting with Remus the next day, today. He'd always thought she was one of the smarter people he knew. Why would she want to look into a school? Not that he was complaining at her painless acquiescence, but he had to admit that he was certainly curious.
He would just have to wait until Remus returned to get all the details.
