Chapter Twenty

Some Matters of Principle

When Wind got to the campus that day, he couldn't help but notice how different the garden felt when he took his morning stroll around it. There were elements of contentment and joy mixed with enthusiasm and excitement in the air. Once that been a very common feeling at the beginning of a new school year, but it had been missing in recent years. In fact, there had been such a gradual loss that Wind hadn't truly realized it'd been missing until that moment when he felt it once again. He smiled at that and took a closer look. Gretchen, it seemed, was having class outside in the herb garden. Kay was too, but he was expecting that; she had requested a guest speaker from the Magicana Creatures Park, and they had brought in a few cages of smaller animals to show. Raymond was currently using the Quidditch Pitch to show his classes some basic wand forms. And peeking inside the window of the Potion Lab, he could see that Lavender was hard at work teaching a potion that she had sent to his desk for approval... one of a dozen potions that she wanted to teach that wasn't on the normal potion rotation. Wind nodded at that, and by the time Brenda had tracked him down, he was feeling quite confident in his school's progress.

"Mr. Mason and Mrs. Cole are here to see you, Wind. Did you forget you had an appointment to see them?" Brenda asked.

"Not at all. I was simply taking my daily morning walk through the garden, although I'll admit I may have taken a bit longer than usual," Wind said. "Many of the teachers seem a great deal more invested this year, don't they? And not only that, I am beginning to wonder if their enthusiasm isn't a bit contagious," he noted.

"Yes, about that. I have proposals from three more teachers," Brenda said as they walked down the path at a casual pace.

"Do you?" Wind asked with interest.

"Sharon Miller has a very elaborate proposal, to set up a mock business during her classes where they have to form and manage a business step by step, rotating positions every month so that each can have a better idea of different job positions in a company," Brenda explained. "She wants to coordinate with her husband's classes to collaborate on the products to list on the project. Also of note, Luke wanted me to inform you on behalf of himself, Frank, and Jennifer, that they've decided that all items and designs for the Items and Industry Fair will have the same budget allowance and must be during class time this year. That way, the students can compete on equal footing with one another... and without parental help," she added in a lowered voice.

"I will most definitely sign that proposal. Is that all?" he inquired.

"No, Sue wants to know if you would approve the first three novels of the Wizard of MC series for her younger classes to learn. She thinks it will make for some fun writing prompts that will keep them from getting into a writing rut this year. She also handed me a proposal to highlight some of the current essayists and poets in monthly readers, like the Wizard's Compendium, and Wizard Weekly out of Britain."

"I think both of those are good ideas. Perhaps the students will start thinking of writing as less of a grind and more of an aspiration," Wind decided.

"I believe that's the general idea, yes," Brenda said, glancing sideways at him. "Do you think this is going to backfire?"

"It doesn't matter if it backfires or not, as long as you're in front of the car and not behind it when it happens," Wind said. Brenda grinned at that, and the two of them walked up the steps to the Assembly Building. Then they walked to Wind's office, opening the door to find Stacey Cole and Steve Mason waiting inside.

"Good morning, Mrs. Cole. Good morning, Steve."

"Good morning," Steve greeted in return.

"And what can I do for you today?" Wind asked cordially. Steve glanced over at Stacey, who didn't seem inclined to talk, then back at Wind.

"It's about the so-called Defense demonstration on Friday, actually. I've had a number of parental complaints about it," he explained.

"Really? I haven't been receiving many complaints at all, except for a handful from your family, Steve," Wind replied.

"There's no reason to bring the family into this. I know how overbearing they can be at times," Steve said.

"Yes," Wind acknowledged calmly.

"But I can't blame them for being more than a little alarmed by reports of blatant use of Dark Magic on property. This is a Light Magic school, for cryin' out loud! Dark Magic isn't permitted on campus," Steve said.

"That is not stated anywhere in our charter or in the faculty handbook, Steve. And in the student handbook, it reads as follows," Wind said, opening up the handbook. Neither Steve nor Stacey missed the fact that he had it both chalked and bookmarked. "No student is permitted to employ any magic for malicious intent or to cause harm to another living person or creature while on campus."

"In other words, Dark Magic," Steve said.

"No, it includes any spell used in such a manor, regardless of which house of magic it comes from," Wind said firmly. "It's true that some have chosen to believe that only Dark Magic can be used to harm, and sadly some former Deans felt that way, including your great uncle. But that is not what is written; probably because the founders of this school realized a long time ago that magic is full of facets, and any spell can be abused. And in that same vein, some spells that are labeled Dark Magic also has its uses; the Shrieking Death spell, which was demonstrated on Friday, can be used to stop a Beansidhe attack. It was also used to successfully cause Ciardoth to retreat on more than one occasion, from what I understand."

"Then you don't deny that at least one of the twelve Death Spells was used on property last Friday?" Steve said.

"There would be little point in denying it. All you would need to do to confirm it is to go to the WIAB office and look up the permits that were filed so that such a demonstration could be held here," Wind said calmly. "You will find that it is all in order, and that there were representatives here from the department to supervise. Feel free to check it whenever you like."

"But you should have gone to the board to approve something like this!" Steve said heatedly.

"It didn't require any special funding. Those involved donated only their time, so it really didn't need any special permission," Wind replied.

"But it could have put the students in terrible danger! It may have caused them trauma by witnessing such Dark spells being cast right in front of their eyes like that. Isn't that right, Stacey?" Steve asked.

"I just don't like the idea of a Dark Witch teaching at this school. What if she gets angry? She's capable of killing everyone in the entire school with that spell!" Stacey said worriedly. "And I'm sure she probably knows spells even worse! What if she loses control?"

"Stacey, she's not a teenager any longer," Wind reminded her. "She's been teaching for decades. I'm sure something would have come up by now if there was a problem."

"Oh, but I know that it has. I looked up her record," Steve said. "She has a scroll as tall as me filled with all sorts of strange infractions while she's been teaching, and not only that, she has a criminal record too. One of the offenses was casting Comet Strike in the middle of a wizard town taking out most of the street!"

"Comet Strike! Oh no! Maybe I should have my son remove those boys from school," Stacey said worriedly.

"Stacey, I'm certain if that report is factual, there's probably a good reason behind it," Wind assured her.

"There was also a report out last year that she got pardoned for an incident where she threatened to kill a group of Law Enforcement officers. Pardoned or not, I'd worry about anyone who'd threaten to kill an officer on duty," Steve went on.

"What did she threaten them with?" Stacey asked nervously.

"Not exactly sure, it'll take more digging..."

"Don't bother, Steve," Wind said with a sigh. "It doesn't matter what sort of dirt you try to dig up on Jennifer, my mind is made up and she is staying here for the rest of the year. I am not afraid of Jennifer's presence here. In fact, I went out of my way to convince both Jennifer and her husband to send her here. I am indebted to her for coming to our school to enlighten us with her presence and her wisdom. I know you don't have any legal way of forcing her out, or you the two of you would not be here right now trying this sort of pressuring tactic, and you are wasting your time. If you are here because you are worried about your own personal safety considering your history with her, don't be, because I assure you that she is not here to get even with either of you for what you did to her as a child. However, if you have a guilty conscience over what happened back then, I am certain that a heartfelt apology will go a long way to alleviate the matter."

"I have no idea what you're talking about! I never said anything to that girl, nor do I have any intention of speaking to her now," Steve snapped.

"I don't know why you seem to think I owe her any sort of apology. She was the one who was always rude to me, not the other way around," Stacey said coolly. "Fine, don't take our warnings then. But I am going to ask my son to pull his children out. They're not going to be in the line of fire when that witch goes postal."

"Good luck convincing him," Wind replied, apparently still unmoved.

"Have it your way, but I'm not done looking! I'm sure there's something in her past that's bound to change your mind and make you send her back to where she belongs!" Steve said confidently.

"I am certain that if you research her history with an unbiased viewpoint, the experience will be quite eye-opening, Steve. As long as you research to do to more than justify your own opinions, you may end up learning something," Wind advised, getting up and opening the door. Looking quite frustrated, Steve left, followed close behind by Stacey. Wind shook his head at them.

"Do you think they'll cause further trouble?" Brenda asked.

"Minimal, more than likely," Wind replied. "Oh, they'll do their fair share of squawking and get the rest of the birds in the coop riled up, but when all is said in done, it shouldn't matter much. They work so hard at the facade of being important that it keeps them from doing anything particularly meaningful," he explained. Then he picked up the proposals on his desk so that he could go over them with Brenda.

Severus was completely unsurprised to find another note pinned to Quintin's shirt the next day, and Quintin's forlorn expression had a hint of guilt to it.

"Come, I'll read it inside. Let's get out of the rain," Severus said, walking him to the castle doors with a floating umbrella over their heads. He nearly tripped on Rasputin, who had finally had the sense to wait inside when the weather got too much for him.

"Move your tail, Rasputin," Severus said with exasperation, putting away the umbrella before stepping into the Doorlift.

He walked Quintin into the daycare while Rasputin dutifully guarded the door. Ashley looked up from where she was rocking Margaret, smiling sympathetically when she saw their expressions.

"Good afternoon! How did it go?" Ashley asked.

"It did not go well," Quintin explained.

"Come get your snack and we'll start on your homework," Ashley suggested as Severus opened the note. Severus rolled his eyes. "Well?"

"As you predicted, actually," Severus explained. "'I have come to the conclusion that Quintin's poor behavior in class is due in part to his advanced intellect, and upon assessment, it is clear that the material taught in this class is too low for his capabilities. With your approval, I can recommend that he be accelerated into a third year class, where he will be more aligned to his skill level and be given more challenging work.' Is it not her job to keep them challenged?"

"Has it ever been?" Ashley inquired. "I have to admit, this is a new record for her. She waited nearly a month until she suggested it with Ambrose... before Halloween in Amber's case. But two days?"

"She attempted to move Ambrose as well?" Severus frowned.

"Yes, well, I knew that wouldn't go over well with you, so I declined and they simply moved him to the other class. In retrospect, it ended up being rather pointless, considering where he ended up going to school after that," she thought with amusement.

"Fortunately, while Quintin is assuredly ahead, he's no Ambrose. I am going to deny her request and suggest they put Quintin in Pyther's class. Really, all of this nonsense would have been averted had they honored our request for him to be in that class from the start," Severus said with annoyance.

"Are you cross?" Quintin asked warily.

"Yes, but not at you at the moment, not that she gave me any details on what happened today. Just what exactly did you do to her?" Severus asked sternly.

"I didn't do anything," Quintin said proudly. Severus squinted at him.

"Very well, what exactly did your classmates do to her?" Severus asked suspiciously. Quintin looked away for a moment and back at his father again.

"I didn't do anything," Quintin repeated. "I stayed in my seat the whole time." Severus and Ashley looked at each other. "May I go play with Duncan now?"

"Have your snack first," Ashley said. Quintin hurriedly went to the table, peeking sideways at them but trying to avoid their gaze at the same time.

"All of the sudden, I'm dreading to see what sort of note I get in response to mine tomorrow," Severus admitted. Ashley smiled at him sympathetically as he went back upstairs to get some work done.

As it happened, Severus didn't have to wait for a response quite as long as he expected. In fact, he was right in the middle of his Ancient Magic class the next morning when an owl swooped in and dropped off a note marked 'urgent.' Instructing his students to use the time to finish writing out the notes he had put on the board, Severus opened it.

Dear Professors Craw and Snape,

Please come to Hogsmeade Primary as soon as you can to pick up your son. He has had a very trying day. He is currently in my office where we can discuss the matter further. Sincerely, Headteacher Hazel Winfield.

Severus let out a deep exasperated sigh then looked at his class. He folded it up and put it away before he continued his lecture, having no intention of stopping class until he had finished and had given them out their assignments for the week. With that done, he dismissed them, stopping long enough to tell Hermione he was going to be out of the castle before finally taking the tunnel to Corey's. Then he walked down the street to the noisy school building, realizing they were just starting lunch.

Severus peered in the open door of the Headteacher's office to see a small area of seats in the front, one of which sat Quintin, wearing the same glum expression that he had been wearing for the last three days. In the back of the office sat the headteacher, Hazel Winfield. Severus recognized her at once, since she was a former Hogwarts' student who had graduated not long before Alex began school.

"Oh, Professor Snape, there you are! I was starting to wonder if my Owl got waylaid," Hazel said.

"No, I was in the middle of a class when it arrived," Severus explained. "May I inquire what he did this time?"

"Well, Quintin seems to be having some trouble adjusting to Mrs. Thorn's teaching style. We've been having some problems with him being a bit disrespectful and noncooperative," she explained. "Moreover, whenever Mrs. Thorn attempts to teach them something that he doesn't particularly wish to participate in, the rest of the class seems to be very disinclined to participate either. In short, he staged a bit of a class mutiny today. When Mrs. Thorn began teaching him something he didn't like, he decided he wanted to go to the park instead, and the rest of the class decided to join him," she explained. "And once they walked over there, she couldn't get them to budge at all. They only went back to the school after Mr. Pyther came out and insisted they come inside. So, I thought it would be in everyone's best interests if Quintin stays home for the rest of the week to give everyone a cooling off period. Mrs. Thorn has expressed an opinion that part of the problem is that Quintin is unchallenged in her class, but that you declined an offer to move him?"

"That is a bit inaccurate," Severus replied. "While I'm not interested in him being accelerated at this time, I believe that all of the problems you are having with Quintin would clear up entirely if you simply moved him to Mr. Pyther's class."

"Oh, yes, I recall that your wife mentioned last year that she'd prefer if he be put in his class as well," Hazel said. "But you see, it's school policy not to put children in a classroom with a teacher who is a close relative, and since we have two teachers for every year, there have never been any exceptions."

"Perhaps, but there are exceptions to every rule, and considering his difficulty in adjusting to his current teacher, I believe it would be in the best interests of everyone involved if this is one of those times," Severus suggested.

"I understand how you feel, but I'm not really in charge of setting school policy. And other than his misbehavior, which most definitely needs to be corrected, I can't see a compelling case for moving him," Hazel said. "After all, it's only his third day back. Maybe all that is needed here is a little breathing time so that both Quintin and Mrs. Thorn can calm down and adjust to one another. I'm sure that after having a few days off with some rules to go over, he will be ready to give it another go. And then, on Monday, we can pretend it's the first day of school and give him a more trouble-free start."

"I believe that is a highly optimistic opinion. I really don't think the extra time away from each other will fix anything," Severus said. Hazel sighed.

"Well, be that as it may, he's still suspended for leaving school grounds to go to the park without permission. Surely, Headmaster Snape, you can see the point of that," Hazel said.

"Yes," Severus acknowledged. "I will be speaking to him about leaving the school grounds for certain."

"Good," Hazel said cheerfully, deciding the matter was handled. "All right, Quintin. Let's try to do better next week."

"Yes, Ms. Winfield," Quintin said, getting up.

"Thank you," Severus said and showed Quintin out, not really saying anything as they stepped outside and keyed back to Hogwarts.

"Are you cross?" Quintin asked warily.

"I am taking you to the daycare room now, but you and I are going to have a talk tonight about you leaving the school and encouraging others to do so. It was a very dangerous thing for you to do, and I think it's high time that you and I had a talk about the risks and responsibilities that come from being a Snape. We'll talk about it during your sparring lesson tonight, that way we can discuss it in context," he decided.

"Yes, Dad," Quintin said somberly, then followed him to the daycare. Ashley looked up at them in surprise.

"It would appear that you'll be having one more during the day until Monday," Severus said.

"I see. Have you had lunch, Quintin?" Ashley asked.

"No, not yet," Quintin admitted.

"Very well, Severus. I have it," Ashley said.

"Thank you," Severus said, and then returned to the Headmaster's Study.

He slumped into his desk chair, feeling more than a little frustrated with the situation. He was half-tempted to simply move Quintin to another school, despite the fact that Jennifer was going to be less than pleased at having Quintin moved further away. Not to mention that if Quintin did keep up this pattern at Stoddard, it'd make it even more of a chore to go and collect him. Well, at least the fact that Quintin didn't have to go back to school for a few days was a bit of a relief... so much so that Severus wondered just how dreadful that year was going to be if Quintin was forced to stay with the same teacher.

It was a couple of days later after dropping off Quintin at daycare that Severus returned to the Study to discover that he had an appointment with Pierce Selwyn. Severus pondered its meaning and wondered if something had come up with TJ that he didn't know about yet. Fifteen minutes later, the gentlewizard stepped into the Headmaster's Study, and the way he was gazing at the paintings and his surroundings betrayed the fact that he had never been in there before.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Mr. Selwyn. Please have a seat," Severus offered. "Tea?"

"Yes, thank you," Pierce said, taking a seat in front of the desk. "So nice of you to see me at such a short notice."

"I usually have a lot of appointments open during the first week. It typically takes a few weeks before students complain enough to their parents for them to come in properly enraged about something," Severus said expressionlessly. Pierce chuckled softly.

"Yes, I can see that, but there are always some exceptions, aren't there?" he said with an exasperated smile.

"What can I do for you?" Severus inquired.

"Actually, it is about my son Elliot," Pierce explained, Severus gazing at him thoughtfully. "You see, he just started his first year at St. James Wizard Academy this week, only... well, things aren't going as I hoped. In fact, it's been quite shocking, really."
"Go on," Severus said, suddenly getting a strange sense of déjà vu.

"He's not adjusting to going to school there very well. At first it made very little sense to me, considering that all of his classmates from last year also went to St. James, so I thought the transition would be seamless. And although he hasn't been all that forthcoming in saying as to why he has been causing a disruption at the school, I highly suspect it has a great deal to do with the fact that his sister has done nothing but speak of Hogwarts since she entered it. In fact, I suspect that the only reason he agreed to go to St James in the first place was because I graduated from there, and it had always been the plan, you see, to send TJ here and to send him to St. James. But now I am wondering if that hadn't been a mistake," Pierce admitted somberly.

"I understand entirely," Severus said immediately. "Armando, ask Hermione to send up the proper forms for a student transfer when she's free, and pull out the standard first year book and equipment list."

"She can probably do so now, Severus. She doesn't have an early class today," Armando said.

"How soon can you move him out of there?" Severus inquired.

"This weekend I suppose, but... just like that? You didn't even inquire about what he might have done to cause me alarm," Pierce pointed out.

"If he's acting out, it's because he wants to go to school with his sister. To be perfectly candid, I really don't care what the offense is, because I'm in no position to criticize. If you can manage getting him moved in this weekend, it would be ideal, since it'll be easier to have him start classes on Monday if we can manage it. Also, the sooner you bring him in, the sooner we can get him properly Sorted into a house so that I can give him his schedule."

"I can bring him in as soon as today, Professor, because to be honest, I might have already pulled him out," Pierce confessed.

"Good, I'm glad you have more sense than I do. Bring him back with you as soon as you can," Severus said.

Wondering what exactly he meant by that, Pierce thanked him and went home to fetch his son.

"Armando, I want you to get me a list of the school board of Hogsmeade Primary. I'm going to find someone on that board who'll convince Hazel to give Quintin an exception," Severus said firmly. "Regardless of what happens, Quintin is not going back in that classroom on Monday."