(Voldemort POV)
I was gently skimming through papers. Papers ranging from ministerial tasks, letters from parents, referrals of students and their misconduct, to requests of teaching subjects. Nagini on the other hand was relaxing from a heavy meal last night. In fact she could not move, she had ate something so big. I had to carry her back to my office, and gently lectured Nagini to never to do that again.
I was just giving my signature as approval for a law when I heard a knock at the door. I didn't look up. "Come in." I ordered. The door opened and Alecto Carrow came in, and bowed.
"My Lord."
"What do you need?" I demanded, putting the approved law in a drawer before throwing out a different law request and continuing to dig through the papers.
"Nothing My Lord. I just wished to inform you that as I was teaching Astronomy, your… trophy pulled his wand out on me." I paused in thought.
"Harry pulled his wand out? In class?"
"Yes My Lord."
"You cannot be telling me that you are afraid of a child's wand. What could Harry Potter, Dumbledore's Golden Boy, do to you?" I sneered.
"No My Lord, never My Lord. I just wished to inform you that Potter broke the rules."
"From his earlier behaviour this week, this seems to be quite true. Harry is used to being above the rules, since he was never actually punished by Dumbledore for anything he did, in fact quite the opposite if I remember correctly. I will speak to Harry, next Astronomy class expect an apology." She bowed again.
"Yes My Lord." I looked up for the first time, collecting all the student referrals.
"Before you go Carrow, take these to Macnair. Keep an eye on the girl Weasley. She seems to be causing a lot of trouble, and it is only the beginning of the school year. Tell the others to watch her as well… that is all. You are dismissed." I waved my hand to send her away before proceeding to sort the letters from the parents. Halfblood parents, blood traitor parents, and Pureblood parents. The letters from the blood traitors were to be thrown and burned immediately, the letters from the Halfblood parents were to be divided into two parts and only half of them would be read, while all the letters from the Pureblood families would be read.
Some seemed a bit concerned about the school and wondered if You-Know-Who would be able to touch the children in the school under the new leadership, some appreciated the fact that the school was under new leadership, and some were happy that the school was in the hands of the Dark Lord himself. Those were obviously from those who knew who really was in charge.
/Master, what did girl say?/
/She said that Harry is getting up to trouble./
/Nagini misses boy./
/You will see him tomorrow./
…
"Professor Slughorn, sir. Might I trouble you with my presence?" I asked, giving him one of my dashing smiles. He gave a smile back.
"Of course m'boy." He opened his office door and I swept in after him, closing the door behind me before casting a silencing charm on the room so we wouldn't be overheard. "What is it you wanted to talk about Tom?" I ignored that name and instead sat myself across his desk in one of his chairs.
"I just wanted to talk to you. I brought you something." I pulled a container of crystallized pineapple sweets, just like he likes them. I set them on his desk. He smiled at me, just like he used to do.
"I couldn't." He said, trying to deny his desires. I threw on that smile he liked so much, inching it closer to him.
"You could. Or you could have only a few if you do not want all of them." He visibly debated with himself before giving in after I widened my smile at him.
"Very well. Just a few." With that he pulled the box closer to himself and opened it before throwing one in his mouth.
"To start our conversation off, I would like to ask you how your classes are going." I shouldn't just outright ask about Harry.
"Their going well. The students all seem to be happy." I smiled.
"Well in your presence, who could not be happy? You are a charming and pleasant man to be around, let alone learn from." He waved his hand dismissively, blushing a bit.
"You speak too highly of me."
"I am a former student, Professor sir, I know what I am talking about. I speak from experience." Slughorn gave a bright smile, one that shone with delight and happiness.
"Thank you Tom. So why are you here at Hogwarts?" I smiled.
"Why would I be anywhere that is not close to you?" To keep from having to speak, he put quite a few in his mouth. Very well I can speak for the both of us. "So you enjoy your classes? Is it as you remember? You do have your old office, your old position. You are the only man fit for the position of course. Not to mention, you have the greatest pay than all the other teachers here. They all are incompetent compared to your genius."
"Tom, that's a bit mean."
"No offence meant Prosser sir. I was only speaking my opinion. We are all entitled to our opinions, are we not?" Most certainly not, but that is irrelevant here.
"Oh! Of course, we're all entitled to our own opinions. To answer your earlier question, I do quite like it but I don't want to be asked to be one of those Death Eaters of yours." I gave a shocked expression, mixed with a little hurt.
"Professor, sir, you are worth more than just some Death Eater trash."
"So you're not here to ask me to be one?"
"No sir. Not at all. I was only wanting to have a conversation with you… but if all you see in me is a Dark Lord now… I will leave." I stood to go but he quickly cut in.
"No, stay! I mean, stay. It's my pleasure." He doesn't want to feel like a jerk. "Sit, sit." I sat down as requested. "How has your week been?"
"My week? Quite busy, but I can handle it. Has any of the students… stuck out to you?"
"A few actually. First years Rookwood, Mulloy, and Collins. Second years…" I waited for him to skip through the less important students and when he finally got to Seventh, I tuned back in. "Seventh years Malfoy, Carrow, and Potter. Potter is one of my favourites though. That boy will go far."
"Hmm." If only you knew Professor Slughorn. "Yes. I quite agree Harry will go far… speaking of Harry how is he doing in your class?"
"Classes only just started, but he does seem to be quite great, just like his mother." I kept the sneer off my face when he mentioned that Mudblood.
"So he is a good student?" He nodded. "Does he do anything troublesome in your class?"
"No. Harry's a good… student. Is that what you wanted to know?" I smiled.
"No sir, I knew that if you talked about Harry, you would at some point mention his Mudblood mother."
"You want to talk about his mother?"
"No, I want to talk about Mudbloods and how they do not fit in our society."
"Tom, m'boy, whatever argument you are about to make… it's voided by the very fact that you allowed Muggle borns to continue going to school here at Hogwarts."
"Oh, but sir, their only here for entertainment purposes." He frowned.
"What type of 'entertainment' purposes?"
"Sorry sir, I cannot tell you. I can see that you are busy… I am busy myself. I have to go." I got up and left, ignoring any call backs Professor Slughorn might give. I overstepped my boundaries, as did he. Next time I can talk to him about it.
…
"Bella, how are the Mudbloods doing?" I asked. The Death Eaters who worked at the school were having a private dinner with me.
"Absolutely horrible. Their all dirty." A few of my followers snickered.
"You know that is not what I meant." I told her icily.
"They are trying their hardest to fit in. Some of the first years are even trying to learn how to be Purebloods. They will never succeed." I smirked at her.
"You are wrong Bella. If the Mudbloods do indeed repent and cut their family tree away, then they will one day be Purebloods, if they do not become blood traitors first. Of course, you know this yourself. You have dirt on your family tree, namely Nyphadora Tonks. Or did you forget she was not dead yet? That you should have been looking for her when you had the chance? It would be hard to balance on the tip of a knife between being here when the Mudbloods need you, and looking for your wretched sister." By the end Bella couldn't even look at me."I still want the Order of the Phoenix and I still want them all dead… aside from some exceptions made between Harry Potter and I. We will keep them prisoner for Order bait and until I can decide what to do with them besides the obvious. You see, adults are harder to teach than children. Especially war veteran adults. Children on the other hand can be taught. Like I am doing with Harry. By the end of the school year, Harry will consider me a close friend, or something closer like family. I have already planted some seeds of doubt against Dumbledore. If Harry is the first, then the rest are sure to follow. Those who do not will be considered members of the Order and murdered."
The Death Eaters were rallied up, eager to do something from my words. "We will find the Order My Lord!" One of them called.
"They'll be made extinct!" Another said.
After dinner, the Death Eaters threw a party and I allowed those who wanted to to go Muggle hunting, seeing as it was the weekend. They deserve something to reward them for dealing with Mudbloods and blood traitors all week, don't they?