Author's Note: This omake is about an idea I had for the original fic but couldn't use because Sirius was released earlier.
Chapter 24: Professor Regulus Black
"You want WHAT?" Headmaster Dumbledore asked in surprise as he'd just heard what Regulus Arcturus Black asked him.
"I want to become the Muggle Studies Professor, Headmaster Dumbledore." Regulus answered. "My Grandfather Arcturus Black told me Professor Quirrel left for a sabbatical."
"And you want to be a Professor?" Dumbledore skeptically asked.
"I assume your hiring standards are low since there's a Death Eater among your faculty members." Regulus teased.
"Severus is no longer a Death Eater, Regulus." Dumbledore replied. "You should have more faith in your friend."
"And you should have more faith in my brother." Regulus replied.
"Mr. Black, how dare you…" Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall started asking but Regulus interrupted her.
"How dares your Headmaster condone the decision to make Sirius rot in prison without a trial?" Regulus asked.
"The evidence is abundantly clear." Dumbledore argued.
"For those who are biased against the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, perhaps, but my brother is rotting in Azkaban for, among other things, the supposed murder of a person who has yet to be proven dead." Regulus counter-argued.
Dumbledore and McGonagall were worried and wondering if Regulus knew the truth about Acquila. "Consider yourself hired, Regulus." Dumbledore jovially said.
"Good." Regulus commented while ignoring McGonagall's expression. "Now, I believe I must tell you which books I want the students to bring for my classes. May I take a look on my predecessor's teaching plans?"
"Of course, Regulus." Dumbledore answered and handed out a copy.
"I'll keep with these plans, Headmaster." Regulus stated. "You may tell the students to buy the books indicated on them."
"Excellent!" Dumbledore replied and then called for Professor Severus Snape. "Severus, meet our newest Staff Member Professor Regulus Arcturus Black." Dumbledore said. "He's taking Professor Quirrel's former position as the Muggle Studies teacher and his former office. Please escort him there."
"Is that a joke?" Snape bluntly asked.
"No, Severus, but I know a good one about…" Dumbledore answered until McGonagall interrupted him.
"Not now, Albus." She said and then Snape escorted Regulus away. "Albus, what were you thinking?"
"I think he knows about Acquila being alive, Minerva." Dumbledore explained.
"What?" She asked in shock. "Are you serious, Headmaster?"
"Didn't you notice his talk about Sirius being in prison for the murder of someone not proven dead, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked. "It was his subtle way to let us know he's aware of Acquila's current status as a living person."
"In this case, wouldn't he notify his Grandfather so Lord Black will have her killed, indoctrinated into their dark beliefs or whatever they would have already done had we not hidden her from them?" McGonagall asked.
"It's possible that, while Lord Black would rather raise her to be a Dark Witch on Bellatrix's level, Regulus just sees her as a threat to his position as Heir to the Black fortune and wants to find and kill her before his family finds out she's alive." Dumbledore theorized. "He might hope having a job here will help him finding her."
"But what if he teaches the students to be anti-muggle?" McGonagall asked in worry.
"We'll take precautions about that, Minerva." He said.
Meanwhile, Regulus was decorating his new office. "Okay, Regulus." Snape demanded. "What're you up to?"
"Severus, if I were up to anything, do you really think I'll tell you just because you asked?" Regulus asked.
"You Blacks all have ulterior motives." Snape commented. "Even your brother turned out to be a Death Eater."
"Severus, there are just the both of us here." Regulus said. "You don't need to pretend."
"Pretend?"
"Severus, I know you already hated my brother have to pretend to think he's a Death Eater to appease your fellow real Death Eaters and the Headmaster but don't insult my intelligence by saying you really think he's guilty of all those crimes." Regulus demanded. "Especially the supposed murder of my niece and her mother. Someone who inherited a fortune from those deaths became the lead investigator."
Snape reported that conversation to the Headmaster. "It seems Regulus is determined to act like his brother is innocent." Dumbledore commented.
"Or genuinely believes he's innocent of at least the deaths of Athena and Acquila." Snape replied. "I've always found it suspicious Moody wouldn't tell his reasons to believe him guilty of that."
"Nonsense." McGonagall said. "Regulus Black probably plans to use his newfound position to get his brother out of Azkaban but he'll have another thing coming."
Meanwhile, after making sure nobody would be able to eavesdrop at his office (even the portraits), Regulus mirror-called the Dursleys. "Everything worked out, Vernon." He commented. "I'll be able to watch over Harry when he finally enters Hogwarts as a student."
"Excellent, Regulus." Vernon replied.
Contrary to what Regulus' colleagues expected, it took a few months before he'd even bring his brother up in lessons. "Students, there's an important topic to discuss; witch hunters."
The Slytherin students attending the class were eager upon hearing it because they expected him to bring it up as a reason to hate muggles. "Does anyone here know how they're currently remembered by their fellow muggles?"
Some Slytherin students raised their hands and Regulus pointed at one of them. "As heroes, Professor Black."
"Wrong." Regulus replied to everyone's surprise. "They're remembered for jumping to conclusions and persecuting people without properly checking if they're witches or not. Nowadays, any justice arbitrators whose efforts to check if the people they punish are really guilty or not are less than adequate are compared to witch hunters and their victims are said to be victims of metaphorical witch hunts. Based on that, does anyone here know of an Azkaban inmate who's a victim of a metaphorical witch hunt?"
Another Slytherin student raised his hand. "Your brother."
"Correct." Regulus replied. "Ten points to Slytherin."
"I PROTEST!" Nymphadora Tonks angrily shouted. "Sirius Black cannot be considered a victim of this after everything he did!"
"Everything he was accused of doing and the mere fact he wasn't even allowed a chance to plead his case in a trial qualifies him as a witch hunt victim upon muggle eyes." Regulus stated.
"He was denied a trial because he's obviously guilty." She argued.
"Wrong." Regulus replied. "He was denied a trial because those above the law either are convinced of his supposed guilt or have ulterior motives. For fairness' sake, may you both come here and debate the case."
Both Tonks and the Slytherin student approached Regulus. "Miss Tonks, you seem to be so certain of Sirius Black's guilt you see nothing wrong with denying him a trial." Regulus stated. "What do you know about the evidence to make you that certain?"
"First of all, several witnesses saw Sirius Black pointing his wand at Peter Pettigrew when the explosion took place." Tonks answered.
Regulus then turned his attention to the Slytherin student, who took it for his cue for counter-arguing. "Each one of those witnesses was a filthy muggle who didn't say what Peter Pettigrew was doing with his wand and nobody checked either wand to tell who cast which spell."
"Five points from Slytherin for the use of the expression 'filthy muggle'." Regulus quickly said, surprising the other students until he added. "However, the rest of your reply was a valid point for your belief that Sirius Black was a victim of a metaphorical witch hunt. Ten points to Slytherin."
"Is that some joke?" Tonks asked in outrage. "Are you suggesting Peter Pettigrew killed himself and those muggles?"
"Accidents happen and I find it odd that there was so little left of Peter Pettigrew in comparison to what was left of each f…" The Slytherin student stopped once he remembered how Regulus reacted the last time. "of each muggle who was killed at the explosion."
"Ten more points to Slytherin for exposing another valid point." Regulus said.
"Really?" Tonks was even more outraged. "What's next? Are you going to accuse Peter Pettigrew of killing Athena and Acquila?"
"No." The Slytherin student replied. "My suspect is Alastor Moody."
"Care to elaborate?" Tonks dared her adversary.
"He inherited a fortune from those murders and yet became lead investigator for the case and all he did to convince the Ministry that whoever killed them did so on Sirius Black's orders was to claim to have a reason to believe it." The Slytherin student explained. "The reason isn't even divulged for us to decide if it's really that good."
"Ten points to Slytherin for another good point." Regulus replied. "For the record, I've enquired the Ministry on that matter and Crouch says the other crimes are Moody's supposed reason to believe my brother guilty of that."
"See?" Tonks triumphantly asked. "That proves him guilty of their murder."
"Wrong." The Slytherin student argued. "Sirius Black's supposed roles in the deaths of Peter Pettigrew, the muggles and the Potters doesn't say anything about the additional charge since nothing was proven in any courts of law."
"More ten points to Slytherin." Regulus said.
"Wait a minute." Tonks asked. "What was that about the Potters?"
"Don't you know my brother was accused of betraying the Potters to You-Know-Who?" Regulus asked. "I thought your mother was aware of all accusations even if to blindly believe him guilty of them."
"Well, that can't be debated since the 'prosecution' didn't even know about that charge." Regulus said. "Is anyone still certain that my brother is guilty of all charges?"
Nobody said anything albeit some made negative motions. "Twenty points to Slytherin for winning the debate. For next week, each student must bring a report about an Azkaban inmate or someone who died as an Azkaban inmate and explain your reasons to believe said inmate to be or not to be a victim of what muggles would compare to a witch hunt."
"I protest!" Tonks shouted. "You're using your position to help your brother to cheat justice!"
"Detention for accusing a Professor without evidence!" Regulus declared. "Report to my office tonight to serve it and consider your subject choice privileges revoked. You will have to use Sirius Orion Black as your subject for the assignment. That'll teach you nobody outside the Ministry can accuse without good enough evidence."
"I'm already going to serve a detention with Professor Snape tonight, Professor." She explained.
"Then show up at my office tomorrow, Tonks." Regulus said.
After she left his classroom, she went to Headmaster Dumbledore's office where Dumbledore and the Heads of House heard her report. "So Regulus is using the students to get Sirius Black out of Azkaban." Dumbledore commented.
"Not necessarily, Albus." Filius argued. "Based on Miss Tonks' report, Regulus just asked for a student to mention an Azkaban inmate who'd be believed by muggles to be a victim of a metaphorical witch hunt and someone happened to mention Sirius Black."
"You're not believing it to be a coincidence, are you?" Snape asked.
"No, Severus." Filius answered. "I believe the student tried to score points by defending a Professor's brother and, I must admit, presented a good case."
"Filius, Regulus Black defamed Peter Pettigrew and Mad-Eye Moody!" McGonagall exclaimed.
"No, Minerva." Filius replied. "A student brought up reasons to believe them to be the real culprits and Regulus merely believes them. Only the student could be accused of defamation and even that I'm not certain of."
"Thank you for your help, Nym…" Dumbledore said until she interrupted him.
"It's Tonks!"
"Thank you anyway." Dumbledore replied.
"Does that mean I'm free from his assignment and his detention?" She hopefully asked.
"NO!" Professor Sprout shouted. "That assignment is within the subject he teaches and he's entitled to assign detentions otherwise several detentions issued by Professor Snape would be cancelled as well."
"Perhaps whoever replaces Regulus might call it off." Dumbledore said.
"By the way, Headmaster, before coming here I sent my mother a letter telling her about Sirius Black betraying the Potters." Tonks told the Headmaster.
End omake. For now.