Chapter 3 Staff Changes
AN: Thanks to my betas, poisonivy9675, alix33, darrelldeam and thaliatheawesome, for looking this over. All mistakes are my own.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
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It was two days later that several changes were noted. The students were just finishing up breakfast when Professor McGonagall stood and tapped a spoon to her glass, making it chime loud enough to be heard. "Quiet, please, I have an announcement to make." She waited for the students to settle. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, classes will be canceled for the near future. I would like to see Harry Potter when breakfast is over," she stated succinctly and then sat back in her chair.
The students started whispering, many looking at Harry with worried or sneering faces. Most of the student body had started to believe that there was a nefarious plot to kill him. So now the gossip mill was in his favor. Some of the worst gossipers were finding themselves either on the biting edge of rumor or getting hexed in the halls. Anyone who came and made amends with Harry was exempt. The boy in question found it quite funny.
Harry looked over the Staff Table and noticed that quite a few chairs were empty. Dumbledore, Hagrid, Moody, and Karkaroff were all missing. Snape seemed to be in a paranoid mood, his eyes were shifting like he expected someone to jump out at him at any moment, though his normal sneer was still in place. The teen wondered what that was all about. Harry finished off the last of his toast and got up, gathering his stuff to make his way to the deputy head's office.
The door was locked so he waited for her to show up, leaning against the wall, his bag slumped against his feet. It was around five minutes later he spied her coming down the hall.
"Professor," he greeted with a respectful nod.
"Mr. Potter, thank you for waiting. Will you join me in my office, please?" she asked as she unlocked her door by tapping the handle with her wand.
"Of course, ma'am," he said as he bent down and gathered up his bag. When he straightened the door was open and the professor already inside.
The office was round and had a large desk in the middle. There was a fireplace behind the desk and a cozy set up in front of it, with two easy chairs and a table. It looked like someplace to have tea with a friend or colleague. The rest of the office was arranged in such a manner that a student would be cowering or feeling guilty, even if they hadn't done anything. It was all so strict and professional.
The Professor waved Harry to one of the comfy chairs and called a house elf for tea and biscuits. "Mr. Potter, I wanted to inform you that you will no longer have to compete in the Tournament," McGonagall said with an indulgent smile.
"Really? Why? I mean, I'm happy I don't have to compete, but what happened?" Harry said perking up and paying close attention to the woman who just gave him wonderful news.
"It seems someone wanted to play a prank on… who we thought was Professor Moody," she said and then held up her hand to stall the question she could see he was about to ask. "Let me finish. Someone switched out the contents of the flask the man drank out of with fire whiskey. The impostor didn't notice until it was too late. It seems that a man, who was thought to be dead, was impersonating Alastor Moody." She shook her head at how they had all been duped. "When he was questioned it was revealed that he was the one who put your name in the Goblet. When they tried to remove him from the castle they were unable. It seems that now that he has been exposed, the Goblet is making him participate in your stead."
"That's great!" Harry all but shouted. Then he got a thoughtful look on his face and asked, "Why didn't it make him before, I mean, why wait until he was outed?"
The house elf popped in with a tea service and when McGonagall nodded the elf popped back out. Harry took one of the biscuits, but declined the tea. He waited for his professor to pour hers and after they both settled back in the chairs she continued.
"We don't know; magic is a mysterious thing. All we know is that he will now be the fourth champion," she sighed. Then she brightened, a small smile playing on her normally stern lips as she watched the young man in front of her go through various verbal and bodily expressions.
After a minute of celebration his face showed he was perplexed. "But, I'm confused, what happened that made you keep the imposter here? Won't that be dangerous to the school?" Harry asked, wondering if Hallie had something to do with it. Hopefully this won't bite him in the arse.
"When we tried to have him leave the castle his magic started to drain. It seemed he was bound to compete," McGonagall explained, shuddering as she recalled the man's screams. "As to the danger to the students, why don't you leave that up to the adults." She looked down her nose sternly.
"So you will suck souls out of prisoners, but you won't let them lose their magic? What kind of logic is that?" then he shook his head and waved it off as unimportant, the more he knew about the wizarding world, the more it confused him.
"I have other good news for you. Because of the questioning of the impostor, they found Peter Pettigrew, another man we thought dead. After Veritaserum was administered he confessed to the murder of the Muggles and betraying your family. Your godfather has been cleared," the Deputy Headmistress said changing the subject. The investigation the article caused sped that along quite nicely. Albus was at the Ministry trying to get the man a trial, but Pettigrew was already there confessing. The Headmaster was going to get some flak for waiting so long. 'Poor Albus,' she thought, 'maybe it is time he retired.'
"That's more great news," Harry said bouncing in his chair; it seems his luck finally changed. "So Sirius will be okay, now?" he asked concerned over his godfather's health. The last time he saw the man he looked close to death, though if he had been in the tropics, like his messenger bird indicated, he might not be doing too badly. Sirius must have come back to England after his last letter. Still he wondered how they found him.
"Yes, he is recovering at St. Mungo's now. He should be in good health by the end of the week. It seems he has gotten medical treatment while on the run," the Transfiguration teacher added, she was glad to see this particular boy have good things happen to him. It had been a horrid last couple of days, what with dead people popping up, the staff under review and the tournament, and it didn't look to be getting any better soon. So it was good that some people benefited from all these disasters.
"I have a question. Was there a baby… well, more like a toddler, found with Pettigrew?" Harry asked remembering his dream.
"Yes, there was, I was told it was an ugly thing. How did you know?" she raised an eyebrow in inquiry, her face drawn together in slight suspicion.
"I had a dream over the summer and saw Pettigrew talking with a toddler," Harry hedged, not wanting to tell her about Voldemort killing that Muggle. He wasn't sure he would be believed. His luck may have changed, but that didn't mean McGonagall had.
"Well, the child has been taken to an orphanage," she explained. Her face turned thoughtful as she remember the fight the child had put up, strange that a baby would try and fight the Aurors. From what Tonks had told her the baby started to struggle against them and kept repeating spells, it even had a wand, but nothing happened so they merely picked it up and sent it to the orphanage. She shook her head and dismissed it as unimportant.
Harry had a hard time not laughing at Voldemort's plight. Oh, he was sure the Dork Lord would escape, but it was still funny that the wizards didn't recognize the baby as a homunculus; he figured the red eyes would be a dead giveaway. He was sure this was part of Voldemort's punishment and couldn't wait to see what else happened to him. That would explain why the Aurors never questioned Pettigrew as to why he was with a child. He did wonder what happened to the snake though.
"Professor, I noticed that Hagrid wasn't at breakfast, is he okay?" Harry inquired after his friend, a small niggling of worry that Fudge might have arrested him again. For what he didn't know, but with Fudge you never can tell.
"Yes, he is quite alright. It seems that because of the article in the Quibbler he is wanted for questioning. If I understand it correctly he will be getting his wand back," she explained.
"Good for him," Harry said happy for his long term friend.
"Yes, Madame Maxime volunteered to teach him," McGonagall said with a small smirk. Harry frowned in confusion, but let it pass.
"Do you have any other news for me?" Harry asked fidgeting and wanting to spread good news for once.
"Not at this time, though there will be announcements at dinner," she answered and then waved him away. "I would like it if you would inform Mr. Longbottom that I wish to speak with him as well."
"Yes, Professor, I hope his news is as good as mine," he enthused and he gathered up his bag and left the room. Wandering back to Gryffindor Tower to put it back, he saw Neville in the common room and passed on the message from McGonagall. As he watched the other boy leave, he hoped that his wish affected him as well. Neville's life was just as hard as Harry's, so some good news would be great. He sat in the common room with nothing to do but bask in his newfound freedom.
"Harry," came an exasperated voice from behind him, "you should be training. The other champions will have an edge in the tournament over you. They're way older, and you really should do everything you can. Honestly, just because we don't have classes doesn't mean you can slack off." His bossy friend sat across from him a cross look on her face.
"Hermione, I don't have to train anymore…" he started only to be interrupted.
"Of course you have to train, you're only a fourth year. You need to get to the library and look up any creature repelling spells you can. I've done tons of research and the first task is almost always a creature of some sort to test your daring," she rebutted her eyes narrowing. Harry knew she was put out that there were no classes, but really.
"Are you going to listen to me?" Harry huffed, flopping back in his chair.
"I always listen to you, Harry," she said more softly.
"Then try to understand. I don't have to compete …," he tried once again to get her to stop nagging him. He tried to recognize that she was only worried about him, but this not listening thing was grating on his nerves.
"So you're going to do nothing? Harry, that's suicide!" she shouted, rising to her feet and put her hands on her hips.
"You know what? Never mind, you'll find out with everyone else. I'm going to go and find Neville," he stated, throwing his hands in the air. He then turned and walked out of the portrait, ignoring her calls.
Harry found Neville wandering the halls with a happy, but vacant, look upon his face. "What's up, Neville?" he asked getting the boys attention.
"My parents… they… Crouch …," the boy tried to explain, there were tears in his eyes and Harry would have been worried if not for the smile that lit up the hall.
"Take a deep breath," Harry said putting a hand on the emotional boys shoulder. "Now what about your parents?"
"They're awake," came the joyful response.
"That's great. What happened?"
"Crouch's son was the impersonator McGonagall told you about. When they questioned him, he told them that it was a family spell my parents were under. Crouch Sr. has been relieved of duty at the Ministry. Seems he knew all along, but didn't want to let out family secrets," Neville snarled at the injustice.
"Well, at least you got your parents back," Harry said clapping the other boy on the shoulder again.
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Neville started only to stop when Harry held up his hand.
"No, this is good news. You revel in it, don't worry about me," he offered not wanting to take anything away from his roommate. "Did McGonagall tell you anything else?"
Neville shook his head. "Just that there would be announcements at dinner."
"Yeah, that's what she told me too," Harry nodded. The two boys walked down the hall while Harry told Neville all of his good news, leaving out Voldemort. They laughed at what had befallen the Dursleys. They were just turning the corner when they came upon a strange sight. Draco Malfoy was being cornered by Justin Finch-Fletchley; the two stuck up boys were nose to nose. A crowd of their housemates were gathered around them.
"Really, Malfoy, you think your family is the richest in the school? Mine is far richer than yours," said the sandy haired Muggle-born.
"Yes, but that doesn't count, you Mudblood," spat Draco, his sneer firm on his face.
"At least my father didn't have to buy his way out of trouble, not to mention my father is a politician and not someone who throws money around to get what he wants, you inbred ingrate," Justin's sneer was just as pronounced as young Malfoy's.
"You leave my father out of this, you filth!" Draco shouted his ears turning pink.
"You're nothing but an overgrown daddy's boy!" the Hufflepuff snarled and then he looked to his dorm mates for confirmation. When he noted the blank faces he shrugged and continued to taunt the Slytherin in front of him.
Draco looked to his housemates for backup and received the same blank faces that Justin had, a confused look came over his face and he turned back to the argument.
Suddenly adult footsteps were heard. "What is going on here?" McGonagall snapped. The crowd fled leaving the two instigators alone to face the wrath of the Deputy Headmistress.
Harry and Neville snuck away, trying not to laugh until they were far enough away. "That was weird," Neville said between chuckles, "Usually Hufflepuff stand up for their housemates. And Slytherin has been following Malfoy's lead since year one. What do you think happened?"
"Don't know," Harry lied with a shrug. He was glad to see someone else shunned for once. No two people deserved it more than those prats. They were, after all, some of the most infuriating people Harry had ever met, and they had wasted no time in spreading rumors about him recently.
Dinner came around and Harry and Neville sat together at the Gryffindor table. Hermione tried to get Harry to talk to her, but he told her if she wasn't going to listen to him then he wasn't going to pay attention to her. She huffed and went to sit by Ron.
Right before dessert, McGonagall once again got the students attention. "Before we eat our puddings, I have a few announcements to make." She stood and glanced over the student body. "I am sure most of you noticed the vacant chairs at the Staff Table. It is my sad duty to announce that Professor Dumbledore has been made to take to a vacation while the last few years are under review," she said with a trembling voice.
Whispers exploded around the tables, getting louder and louder as the minutes passed. McGonagall tapped her glass once again and gained their attention. "Yes, it is sad news, we will however be receiving a new temporary Headmaster at the end of the week," she said with a small grimace. She had wanted to fill the position until Dumbledore returned, but was told that some of her motives were in question as well. At least she hadn't been made to leave.
The Transfiguration teacher came out of her musings and continued. "You will also note that the DADA chair is vacant. Professor Moody befell an accident and will be resuming his duties at the end of the month. In the meantime, Auror Trainee Tonks will be taking over for him. She will remain on as an assistant for the remainder of the year. She will also join us at the end of the week."
More joyful whispers brook out at this news, many remembered Tonks from when she was in school—those fourth year and up anyway. She was a fun person to hang with; hopefully, she would be an entertaining teacher.
"I am not finished yet," came McGonagall's stringent voice and the crowd quieted. "Professor Binns seems to have disappeared. So we will be hiring a new professor for that class as well."
This time the noise level raised the roof, you could probably hear it in Hogsmeade. Students cheered and clapped, most hopeful that the new professor would actually teach something useful. Though there were groans from those less studious students about missed nap time.
Once more tapping her glass to get their attention McGonagall continued, "Professor Hagrid will be returning shortly. He will resume his classes at the end of the week. He has been found innocent of all charges filed against him in the past. He will once again be able to perform magic, with the assistance of Madam Maxime."
Again the students were cheerful, almost everyone loved the gentle giant, and if he could do magic his classes might not be as dangerous.
"One last announcement and then we will resume our meal," McGonagall said after letting the children express themselves for a few minutes. "Harry Potter no longer needs to compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament." She held up her hands for silence and explained. "The person who entered him will be taking his place. This person will be held here under Auror arrest and you are not to approach him —in any way. He will be unarmed, but should be considered dangerous. We would make him leave the castle, but the Goblet of Fire is preventing us from doing so. I will not warn you again. If you are seen approaching this man then you will be punished," she warned in her strictest voice.
Though she was concerned for the students she knew that Barty Crouch Jr. will be locked in a room in a vacant tower, with two Aurors on guard at all times. He will not be allowed a wand, nor can he leave the room until the first task.
The students took this bit of news as their personality dictated. The Weasley twins were already thinking of ways to see who that prisoner was and possibly prank him for what he did to Harry. Hermione was looking at Harry as if he was going to charge off and kill the person. Ron, in his newfound glory, also had a calculating look in his eye. Harry didn't care as long as everyone now knew that he had been speaking the truth. Let someone else bear the brunt of the student's ire for a change.
They finished their desserts and left for their common rooms. Harry spent the rest of the night before bed getting to know Neville and the other two that shared his room. He hadn't realized that he never really knew them before. Ron and Hermione had taken up most of his time. After having some fun for a few hours, he went to bed.
That night Harry dreamed, he was slithering along a dank and dark wooden hallway, he could hear a hissing voice in the other room say, "Nagini, I need to feed. Come to me, my pet. I need your venom for the potion."
Harry hoped the venom without the potion would overpower him and kill him, so he started plotting.
The slithering sensation increased as Nagini went to the voice. "Bite him," Harry incanted to the snake. Throwing all the hate he felt for Voldemort into the command.
The snake crept closer to the homunculus and quick as a wink bit the baby-like being. Harry watched with anticipation that this might be the last of Voldemort, but it was not meant to be. The figure did die — for a minute— and then it took a breath. Nagini explained what happened and the voice it had heard, and Voldemort told the semi-possessed snake to repel the intruder.
Harry found himself back in his bed and cursed that it would take more to kill Voldemort.
Little did he know that his actions did bring him one step closer, as a ring exploded in a shack not far from the house in which the construct and the snake resided.
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I need one more dream sequence death.
Also remember this is a wish verse, things are going to happen for no reason other than magic. Logic need not apply.
