Chapter 29
Severus Snape once again browsed the Daily Prophet at breakfast and checked for the presence of the article he was looking for. It seemed like a long time ago when he'd first picked up parchment and quill and wrote to a particular journalist. Anonymously of course, he was a Slytherin. He'd expected the article all week. Perhaps he should send her a reminder if it didn't appear soon.
He wasn't the first person to open their paper when the owls brought them. It was the inhale from a Ravenclaw prefect that made him scan through more quickly, searching.
And there it was…
Equal Employment Opportunities for All! By Rita Skeeter.
Much has been made of recent Hogwarts appointments, not least by this reporter, but I think it only fair to paint the other side of the fence. After all, why only offend half of my readership?
An ex-Auror who turned out to be one of the worst criminals ever convicted, a blustering incompetent who Obliviated anyone able to refute his story, and a werewolf. They, witches and wizards, are the last three DADA professors hired by Hogwarts' Board of Governors. It made me think, which of these is actually the worst? But what it really made me think was, which of these isn't actually going to kill you for twenty eight days in the month? The answer is the werewolf!
Give or take a day per month, werewolves are capable of working and fulfilling roles as well as any other wizard or witch, especially given the recent research results for Wolfsbane, of which much has been made since its publication. It is only for one night of the month, thirteen nights a year, that a werewolf can kill you. Compare that to Death Eater Crouch who could kill you or your child as soon as look at you, or the imposter Lockhart whose incompetence managed to make one student lose all the bones in his arm, and you can see that werewolves are not as dangerous as made out.
I'm sure this opinion will fly in the face of Madam Undersecretary Delores Umbridge who will most likely call for my head, but my quill is my bond and I will stand behind my words! Prove to me that a werewolf, when it is not a full moon, is more dangerous than anyone else and I will retract my statement with a full apology.
Why shouldn't werewolves be Healers, Aurors, Professors? Why should they have to hide in the face of job loss?
Precautions must be taken. Werewolves cannot be allowed on the loose during full moon, I grant you, but 99% of witches and wizards who are werewolves take immense precautions anyway. When was the last time you read of someone being bitten by a conscientious werewolf? They are upstanding members of the community who believe in protecting others from themselves! There's no more chance of a werewolf supporting He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named than any other member of society.
Hogwarts is currently without a DADA professor after the Crouch debacle. This reporter calls for the reinstatement of Professor Remus Lupin, werewolf!
All calls for retraction to be sent to the Daily Prophet head offices. All letters of rebuttal will be printed and responded to. Come one, come all!
Yes, thought Severus, that'll make a stir. Who said threats didn't work? It was a good article, including dragging Umbridge into it. If the chatter around the great hall was anything to go by, this one was going to get some traction.
Mooney was reading the paper over breakfast as usual. Padfoot as usual would read it after breakfast. Sirius looked up from his toast and marmalade when he felt he was being watched. Mooney was staring at him. It made him feel like a mouse watching a cat.
"What?" he asked, "I don't remember doing anything I shouldn't, well, not after turning your shower water blue yesterday, that is," he added with a grin.
Mooney handed him the newspaper, folded to a particular page. Sirius read.
"Oh! Well I know it wasn't me," said Padfoot.
"So, even though we know that Skeeter is an animagus, and we even discussed and rejected blackmailing her to write nicer articles, there haven't been any nasty articles for at least two weeks, and now this, and I know I haven't blackmailed her, you want me to believe it wasn't you?"
"After swapping your potions I swore I would never lie to you again, Mooney, either in deed or word. I meant it. I promise, it wasn't me."
"So, who was it? There are only three people otherwise who know, and I can't imagine it was any of them, although, perhaps I could believe Miss Granger capable," said Lupin, reverting to teacher analysis for a moment.
"Perhaps they told someone? The twins, perhaps? This might be up their street."
"Well I can't imagine it was McGonagall even if they told her," said Lupin.
"Um, you don't think Harry told Snape, do you?" asked Sirius quietly.
Lupin's expression darkened.
"If he did, that's one hell of a way to try to apologise to you, Mooney," continued Padfoot, "If it was him, I'm not saying this negates what he did, far from it, but he'd be addressing the issue head on. At least an attempt at amends."
"From the shadows," replied Lupin.
"It's Snape! Of course it's from the shadows, but you've got to admit, it's the sort of thing he might do. Should I floo call Albus, or do you want to storm up the castle?"
"That smart mouth is going to get you in trouble some day!"
Remus and Sirius went to see Albus that afternoon.
"You know I'm all in support of Skeeter's call to reemploy you, don't you?" asked Albus after the elves and brought refreshments and both guests had declined a lemon drop.
"I'd be delighted to retake the position, but I can't imagine one article is going to change the world," said Lupin.
"No, but Skeeter does have a way of inflaming things, I suspect that Delores is not a very happy camper right now," replied Albus.
Sirius chuckled, "Serves her right, though. There's something more to her nastiness, she'd have fitted right in with some of the inmates."
"Do you know if there's support in the Wizengamot to rule that werewolves must have equal opportunities for employment?" asked Lupin.
"There would be more support for that than say freeing house elves," said Dumbledore, "Even though they all want to work for free anyway, just look at Dobby."
"Yeah, but you've not met Kreacher," said Sirius, "I had to transfer ownership of him to Narcissa because he simply refused to let me free him. He's mental," added Sirius.
"But there's going to be a heck of a lot of opposition," said Lupin, getting back on topic.
"It's an interesting test case," said Albus, "You've done the job already, and Severus never said that you'd forgotten to take your potion that evening when he publicised you working here."
Lupin coloured.
"You are aware that if I were to reemploy you and you forget to take Wolfsbane I would not only fire you, I would also prosecute you for child endangerment, don't you?" asked Albus seriously.
"I was surprised you didn't the first time," said Remus quietly.
"Events were rather out of control that evening, I will grant you that one and only ounce of latitude on the subject." The twinkle in Albus' eyes solidified into a very cold blue.
"I will never forget again, Headmaster," Lupin assured him.
"Then I will pen a response to Skeeter and send it in, she is inviting all comers!" said Albus. "Did you want anything else while you're here? Do you wish to see Harry?"
Lupin looked awkward. "We wished to speak with Snape."
"Speak?" asked Albus, looking at Sirius with a raised eyebrow.
"Honest. Just speak," confirmed Sirius.
Albus summoned an elf. "If Professor Snape is free, please ask him to come to my office. He's got visitors." The elf bowed and popped away.
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!"
"Good afternoon Headm…" started Snape. His eyes took in the guests. His posture changed to wary.
"Snape," said Sirius by way of greeting.
"Black," replied Severus.
"What progress, gentlemen!" exclaimed Albus, deliberately positively. "Two whole words and neither of you has insulted the other. Will wonders never cease?" Everyone heard the facetiousness. Neither man bit back.
"Snape."
"Mr Lupin," said Severus with a slight incline of his head. No-one missed the honorific there either.
"Did you have anything to do with today's article in the paper?" asked Remus.
"I am hardly a journalist, Mr Lupin."
"You know that's not what I meant. Do you know about Skeeter?"
"I know all sorts about Skeeter, Mr Lupin," replied Snape, "Some of which, if you go digging, will even surprise you."
"So you didn't just happen to have a nugget of information just drop into your lap, as it were?"
"As you know, there's so much to overhear in this place. I'm surprised we don't have our own printing press. At least it would be accurate. Did you notice the retraction for the statement made about Sybil on the page after? Small print, but it was there."
"You're trying to change the subject," said Lupin.
"Do you wish a letter of endorsement from me to the paper for your reinstatement? I'd be happy to oblige," replied Severus. "I'm sure the student body is creating a petition as we speak. I believe Miss Granger is using the same zeal that she showed for her house elf campaign. This one might even gain support."
"You're not going to admit it, are you?" asked Sirius.
"Admit what, Black?" asked Severus politely.
"Well I'm glad the conversation has been productive, gentlemen," said Albus, "Now if you'll all excuse me, I need to get my work done."
The next three weeks were very busy for Harry and Hermione. Harry was practising any and every spell he could get his hands on and Hermione was spearheading the 'Re-instate Professor Lupin' campaign.
The responses to Skeeter's article had been published in an edition of their own. There were hundreds. Hermione had done a tally. She'd worked with Luna Lovegood and Neville to cut out each response, put it on a positive or a negative pile, and then go through the negative pile and create rebuttal statements and send them to the paper. They had also started a petition. It had been signed by a surprising number of people. The surprising part was the number of Slytherin students who had signed. What she didn't know was that Professor Snape had walked into his common room one evening, passed the petition to the nearest seventh year and said in a loud enough voice to be heard across the room, "Better the wolf you know…"
"Good morning, Sirius," said Healer Jones. "How are you today?"
"I slept well last night, and the night before, considering it was a full moon."
"How was Remus?"
"He took Snape's potion. I really wasn't sure he would, but I'm grateful. He was so much better yesterday."
"It makes that much of a difference?"
"Hell, yes, I've seen him change without any Wolfsbane twice in my life, usually he changes with a standard brew. There were one or two over the years that were a bit better or a bit worse, but this, this is amazing."
"Do you feel safe in the house with a werewolf?"
"I slept upstairs in my room, I'd barred Mooney in the cellar. I slept as a human. He didn't stir all night. I woke up a couple of times. I don't think my dreams woke me up, or noises from downstairs, I think I was just paranoid about Mooney. But he was fine. I slept in and when I awoke Remus had let himself out. He needed to be human to use his wand to unbar the door from the inside. He'd made us breakfast. It was the smell of toast that woke me up. That made me happy, just to lie there for a minute and smell toast."
"I'm glad," said Jones. "Thank you for keeping a journal as I suggested." The Healer passed back a thin bound volume. "Tell me about the dream you awoke from crying."
"I can't remember all of it. Just flashes," said Sirius, "I couldn't when I woke else I'd have written it down. The only thing I can remember is what I wrote. Harry didn't want to stay with me."
"You know he does want to stay for a bit to get to know you, don't you?" asked the Healer. Jones had talked to Minerva and Snape about Harry. Harry still wanted to get out of his relatives' house, but the last thing that Jones was going to do was to intimate this in the slightest. This was a pull towards the wizarding world, not a shove away from the Dursleys.
"I do believe that, I really do, but what if he visits and I'm not everything he's envisioned? What if he doesn't like me when he gets to know me?"
"I will visit you during the summer while Harry is with you. The three of us can talk together," said Jones.
"You mean you'll let me see him?" asked Sirius, a slight hitch to his voice.
"I will recommend day visits at the beginning of the holidays, with someone else around. The location is up to you. At your home, Hogsmeade, elsewhere. I'm going to recommend Harry not stay over yet though. You have more good nights than bad, but I don't believe it would be good for the two of you if you wake Harry up in the middle of the night with a nightmare."
"I understand," said Sirius, "You wouldn't recommend me a dreamless sleep potion would you?" he asked hopefully, but knowing the answer.
"You know I won't," said Jones. "We carry on as we are, even up to the beginning of the holidays. I'm happy to re-evaluate my opinion any time. Can I confirm you are happy for me to talk about my recommendation with appropriate people in the castle?"
"Of course!" agreed Sirius.
Jones watched Sirius leave that day with more of a spring to his step. Perhaps the promise of day visits had helped. He would look forward to reading the journal again next week.
It was now one week before the final task, two weeks before the end of term. Jones had asked to meet Albus, Minerva and Severus. They met in Albus' office.
"I told Sirius my recommendation for summer this morning," said Jones. "I made it based on where Sirius is at the moment. He has made a great deal of progress. I'm glad he gave me permission to talk openly with you all, it makes this much easier. That in itself shows progress."
"You recommended Mr Potter not stay with him, didn't you?" asked Severus, disappointed.
Jones nodded. "I'm sorry, yes I did. However I recommended Harry visit him regularly during the day. He was very happy with that. I think that will help. He is afraid Harry might discover they are incompatible and that Harry doesn't want to stay. I couldn't tell him what I know from you all. We know the chances of Harry not wanting to live with him are miniscule. Both are afraid the other doesn't want them. So now we need to plan Harry's summer."
"Shouldn't we include Harry in these plans?" asked Minerva.
"It would be better if we make sure of the possibilities first, then confirm Harry is happy with them," said Dumbledore.
"First things first," said Severus, "Getting him out of that hell hole." Minerva nodded. Both heads of house glared at Albus, daring him to contradict. He did dare.
"The blood wards need a minimum of two weeks..." started Albus.
"Bollocks!" interrupted Severus.
Dumbledore stared back, his eyes cold. Most people would have caved immediately. Severus held his ground in the face of an oncoming storm.
"No, Albus! Blood wards be damned. They are there to keep him safe. He is not safe in that house. There is no point keeping Death Eaters out if the danger is on the inside."
"I'm going to ask you a couple of questions, Severus, and I expect honest answers," said Dumbledore, his cold expression unwavering, the chill obvious in his tone. "Have you visited Little Whinging in the last three months?"
Severus reluctantly answered. "Yes."
"I presume you have spoken to either Vernon, Petunia or both?"
Severus nodded his head the briefest amount.
"I know you used Legilimency on them. What was the worst thing you saw?"
Severus was silent.
"Answer the question, Severus," insisted Dumbledore.
"Vernon slapping Harry round the face," snapped Severus. Severus was angry. He knew what Dumbledore suspected. Since Severus had told him what he'd seen when Severus had lightly brushed Potter's mind. Physical abuse wasn't the biggest problem in that house. It was neglect, lack of empathy, isolation, verbal abuse. With the exception of that slap and throwing the boy in a cupboard and clouting him hard round the back of the head, Vernon didn't touch the boy. Severus hadn't looked into Petunia's mind. He hadn't felt it necessary. Any physical abuse was done by the cousin.
"So you can't tell me his aunt and uncle beat him, or leave him battered or bloodied?"
"They don't feed him enough!" growled Minerva, taking Severus' side.
"Yet the blood wards protect him from the likes of Crouch and Pettigrew, or more honest, upstanding members of society like Lucius from apparating onto the property and spiriting him away?" demanded Albus.
Severus and Minerva were silent.
"Answer me," demanded Albus.
Silence.
"Harry will stay at Privet Drive for two weeks at the beginning of the holidays," stated Albus, "Seeing as neither of you can provide a more pressing reason for him to leave."
Jones coughed.
"Healer Jones?" said Dumbledore without any of the ice he'd just spoken with.
"I am asking out of ignorance, however, Harry has one and a half more summers after this before he comes of age. If he is to live with Sirius during those summers, why do the blood wards matter?"
"Honestly," said Albus, "For the want of two weeks, it creates a backup. What if Death Eaters amass at Black's house. The ability to apparate to a safe place, warded and unplottable, is a great asset. Two weeks, Healer Jones, every summer. After the lifetime up to Hogwarts and three summers since, a fortnight is nothing. With the opportunity to have day trips to see Sirius, Harry will spend only thirteen nights in that house. If any of you wish, I can insist the Dursleys put one of you up in the house at the same time. Harry will be safe. He won't be happy, but he'll be safe. Can any of you honestly refute my point?"
He was met with silence.
"I will ask Arthur and Molly to take him for the next month. This will gives Sirius longer to convalesce. This leaves six weeks of the holiday. I hope that he will be able to stay with Sirius. There are unfortunately two full moons in that time. However with the castle empty I am happy to accommodate Remus here, the room of requirement for example."
"And what if Sirius isn't ready, Albus?" asked Jones. "I can hope, but I won't deliberately misjudge a patient."
"If it is for a short period of time, a week, Potter may stay in the castle. Longer and I will find a wizarding family for him to visit. Perhaps I could prevail on Augusta Longbottom. Harry does need company his own age or family, it's unfair to isolate him for the remainder of the summer. Can I suggest we cross that bridge when we come to it if necessary?" said Albus.
Jones, Minerva and Severus nodded.
"I will work with Severus and Minerva to speak with Harry the week after next after the task," said Jones.
Albus nodded.
Jones said his goodbyes and left through the floo.
"I know you are both very unhappy with me right now, but it is my right to make that decision and I made it as best I could as I saw most fit for the whole situation."
"We are very unhappy with you, Albus, and we will agree to disagree," said Minerva. They both left.
Albus summoned an elf. "Find out whose quarters they're going to and take them an expensive whiskey, could you?"
The elf popped away.