For the Want of a Horse-shoe Nail
For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost
For the want of the horse, the rider was lost
For the want of the rider, the battle was lost
For the want of the battle, the kingdom was lost
And all for the want of a horse-shoe nail
Disclaimer: I own the rights to nothing of the Harry Potter stories, movies, merchandise, sexy underwear, or other paraphernalia, which are owned by J.K. Rowling and her associates – I am definitely not her, nor them. I have written this for my own entertainment and hopeful the amusement of some others as well. I have invented some characters of my own, so any blame for those does rest with me. Absolutely no money being made in any fashion at any time from this exercise in ravings of a lunatic.
Rating: T. Seriously AU. Warning, some character deaths, some character bashing. Horcruxes
Chapter 5: Purges
Lord Voldemort was furious. He had spent the last eleven years so weakened by his first encounter with Harry Potter that he could only possess animals or very weak-minded wizards. The thought of possessing witches or worse, muggles, was abhorrent to him.
The wizard he currently 'inhabited', Professor Quirinus Quirrel, was pathetic. He became a Master of Defense only because he was so terrified of even his own shadow that he had needed the strongest magics he could learn, just to leave his house each morning. Voldemort mentally chuckled as he thought that Quirrel put the coward in 'cower'.
In his long years of 'exile', he had thought through his main problem, which was his severe weakness. He had come to the conclusion that, largely due to the serious lack of detailed and credible information about creating horcruxes, he had not realized that every time he made one, his soul was divided in half.
After his first creation of a horcrux, through the murder of Myrtle Farnsworth with the basilisk, he had not made another for a couple of years. By that point, he had created the Dark Mark, and had a number of followers. His Death Eaters were unaware that their Marks were drawing on their power and feeding it to the Dark Lord they followed.
By the time he created the rest of his seven horcruxes, he had so many followers (from whom he was sucking their magical power) that he did not notice that he himself was getting weaker.
When he attacked the Potters at the height of his power, he had not intended to create an eighth horcrux, but in the curse that killed Lily Potter, his weakened soul split again. In trying to kill the baby, he was suddenly too weak to cast the curse properly, and the separated portion of his soul had lodged in the scar adorning the baby's forehead.
The shade of Voldemort lost his body with its Master Mark, and so could not draw any more power from his disciples. He was left with only one two hundred and fifty sixth of his original soul, and no power to re-integrate himself. And no way of regaining that power.
Now he was lodged in the head of Professor Quirrel, who was sufficiently weak-minded that Voldemort could at least gently compel him into some actions, and this led to his attempt to seize the Philosopher's Stone, and maybe regain some of his power through this potent magical artifact.
While 'in residence' in Quirrel's head, he had also become aware to the current activities of Lucius Malfoy, who was supposed to have been his most loyal follower.
Now, by a most fortunate twist of fate, Harry Potter had tried to get to the Philosopher's Stone as well, and apparently had died in the attempt, releasing the soul fragment from his forehead. The fragment had rejoined its owner, instantly doubling his power – the prophecy had proved false, as a number of his more sycophantic followers had always declared! Now he had the power to control Quirrel almost completely, and now he would punish Malfoy for his disloyalty.
But first, he would go to Malfoy Manor, and retrieve the diary which was his first Horcrux. He had given this to the wizard who had been his most trusted servant, but without telling him of its significance. With his first Horcrux, he would regain a full half of his original soul, and be even stronger than he was when he first founded the Death Eaters.
And then, and only then, Lucius Malfoy would die in extreme pain.
Harry Potter was dead, Dumbledore was growing weaker by the day, and there would be nothing to stand in his path to total domination. He could not be defeated.
Lucius Malfoy paced in his study – he was a very worried wizard. Since Hallowe'en, when Draco lost his credibility within Slytherin House, the other Death eaters who remained free had become incredibility insolent. Those he had helped escape residency in Azkaban no longer showed him the respect that was his proper due. They were now complaining that he should share the galleons that he had hoarded to ensure that the appropriate people at the Ministry remained deeply in his pockets, and that awkward questions from the DMLE consistently failed to get answered.
They had ceased appreciating that his actions had kept them free, and that the proper course of the wizarding world was proceeding as it should. Mudbloods and half-bloods were kept out of positions of authority, and Unforgivables were being forgiven. The weak-minded fools did not appreciate that he and he alone was moving their world in the directions that the Dark Lord had wanted.
Some of the old crowd were getting completely out of line, and were even starting to threaten him. He knew that some of his 'colleagues' were, if not more ruthless, at least less subtle than himself. There was now a serious risk of assassination by those who had been his friends and allies, and who now seemed to think he was betraying 'The Cause'. There was also a serious threat that someone might try to break in to the Manor, and steal the treasures that were being held in trust for the Dark Lord, treasures and galleons which were the spoils of successful attacks on the unworthy, tribute from supporters, and 'donations' from Ministry coffers. Far-be-it from him to trust these funds to those sub-human parasites, the goblins, who might at any time decide to comply with DMLE dictates to freeze all accounts held by known Death Eaters (whether pardoned or not).
In light of the increasing threats, he had 'suggested' to Cornelius Fudge that a squad of Dementors be stationed around the Manor, in case that someone take it into their heads to act. Two of these demons were posted just outside his office door.
When they are out to get you, it's not paranoia.
Besides his work keeping the Ministry impotent, he was using his position on Hogwarts' Board of Governors to advance the agenda. Once more, his motion to prevent the muggle-born and half-bloods from attending, and reserving magical education to the members of the pure and worthy families, had been defeated by the blood traitors and Dumbledore's sycophants.
However, his son's efforts seemed to be bearing fruit. Draco had sent letters detailing how he and other true believers had informed the know-it-all mudblood that her presence was unacceptable to the people who really mattered, and within days she had fled from the school. Now word had come that the blood traitor McGonagall, and the shameful excuse for a wizard Potter, had also been driven from the school. Whatever else was going wrong, this was good news.
Now he was in his study, staring at the tattoo on his left forearm. It had started to tingle, as his had not done since that abomination Potter had somehow defeated the Dark Lord over a decade ago. Lucius was sure that this meant that his Lord had found some way to return from wherever he had been driven. If this was the case, he would soon be restored to his respected position among the Death Eaters, and his Heir, who was currently convalescing in his bedroom upstairs after the severe beatings that he had endured (rumoured to be at the hands of other Slytherins, but this of course was impossible and it was more likely those misbegotten Gryffindors), would be restored to his position within Hogwarts as the prime example of what a young wizard should be.
Lucius worried the other Death Eaters, who had recently lost so much respect for him and his authority, might act before the dark Lord returned to power, so that they might take his place at their Lord's right hand. Once the Dark Lord returned, he was sure that all would be well.
His wife had just entered the room when there was a loud 'pop' announcing the uninvited and unexpected apparition of Professor Quirrel. How this pathetic loser could have apparated through the formidable wards around the manor was something which would need to be answered in blood.
At Narcissa's scream at the unexpected arrival, the two dementor guards quickly moved towards the quivering little man, and the rest of the dementor squad rushed into the room. At the sight of the dementors, the timid man panicked as he also screamed, pulled his wand, and shouted "Fiend-fyre!', being the only spell he knew which would destroy the demons. With this casting came a voice Lucius had known well from years before, screaming "No!" and apparently coming from under Quirrel's turban
Fiend-fyre was also a spell that could consume everything else it touched, including souls. The infernal fire spread throughout Malfoy Manor, consuming the two dementors which were in the building at the time, the three members of the Malfoy family (minus their house elves who wisely popped away), Quirrel and his unwelcome passenger, the hidden diary containing a full half of Voldemort's soul, and two hundred million galleons of plundered and otherwise ill-gotten gold.
Although several horcruxes remained, the core personality part of Tom Riddle's soul had ceased to exist. Without the core, the horcruxes were impotent.
The obliteration of the Death Eaters' treasury would have implications.
Amelia Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had been seeking the location of Lucius Malfoy's residence for some years. Back at the end of the Voldemort War, a decade ago, she had been part of a team that had searched the manor of the confirmed Death Eater, before it was 'determined' by her superiors that Lucius had been under the Imperius, and therefore proclaimed 'not guilty' of the numerous crimes he had committed. Less than a year later, none of the DMLE had been able to remember where the luxurious manor house was located, which Amelia assumed indicated that a Fidelius spell had been cast on the place, a fact which she found extremely suspicious.
Now, suddenly, Amelia could recall where the house was. This was evidence that the Fidelius had failed for some reason. Most likely the death of the spell-caster or that whatever the secret was that had been protected had become irrelevant.
She immediately apparated to the location (now that she could remember the coordinates) with three of her most trusted aurors, and found the ruins of the once magnificent building. There had obviously been a substantial amount of gold hidden within, which had evaporated when the building burned, as the surfaces of everything for a radius of half a kilometre was coated with a fine layer of re-condensed gold.
The law enforcement team quickly cast spells stripping the gold from the ground, retrieving better than a ton of the stuff. This would rest in the DMLE's most secure evidence storage until their investigation was complete.
In her cell at Azkaban, Bellatrix Lestrange looked down at her left forearm. She had felt the surge as a greater part of her magic, which she had bound to the Dark Lord, seemed to leave her. She watched as her dark Mark tattoo started to fade, the snake disappearing first, and then only leaving the outline of the skull on her pale skin. For eleven years now, her only purpose in life had been to wait loyally for her Master to free her so they could resume their reign of terror. Now, she knew this last hope had been in vain, and she had no cause to live any longer.
Bellatrix dug under her mattress and found the rock which she had sharpened by striking it with other stones from the floor of her cell, flaking off pieces until it had a razor-sharp edge. She had amused herself by using this primitive blade to torture the rats and mice that entered her dwelling place, first causing them the pain which was her prime joy in life, and then butchering them to supplement her meager prison diet with a bit of protein.
For the first time in years, she started to cry. If she could not follow her Lord in life, she would join him in death. With this thought the last thing in her mind, she firmly drew her small blade across her throat.
Cornelius Fudge had long been an advocate and practitioner of the trickle-down theory of corruption. The sudden disappearance of Lucius Malfoy (and his frequent contribution of galleons) left Fudge in a precarious condition. There were a lot of people within the Ministry who expected that Fudge would continue his largesse, not knowing, or really caring, the ultimate source of the funds on which their lavish lifestyles now depended.
One such had just entered Fudge's office, and she was in a very bad mood. Deloris Umbridge had gains and maintained her position at the Ministry by knowing where all the skeletons were buried. This was in part due to the fact that she had had a hand in burying them herself. She had not received her weekly stipend and had come to Fudge's office, not to find out why the payment was overdue, but to remedy that fact immediately if not sooner. She also had people to pay off, and they were getting hungry too.
If the funds did not continue to flow, who knew what secrets might get out of their closets.
The short harridan of a witch stood in front of Fudge's desk, shrieking like a banshee and demanding both her weekly donative but those for the next three weeks as well, as punitive damages. As Fudge had only his personal fortune to draw from, he was in no mood or position to comply.
Umbridge, finding that the moneys were not forthcoming as she expected and demanded, drew her wand with the intent to cast the 'Imperius'. It was an Unforgivable spell, but she had gotten away with it many times before and was sure she could again.
With this imminent threat to his continued health, Fudge looked over towards his collection of weapons disguised as letter openers, which sat on his side table. He uttered the command "Accio Dagger', and one of the items changed back into the Arabian dagger he had 'liberated' from the Topkapi Palace, and flew towards his outstretched hand.
Umbridge, seeing his concentration was no longer on her, but on something to her left side, turned towards where he was looking. For once her timing was impeccable, and she turned into the path of the razor-sharp weapon. Before she could cast a shield spell, the dagger imbedded itself in her throat severing her spinal cord, and Deloris Umbridge's tenure as the power behind the throne at the Ministry abruptly ended, as did she.
With the freshly killed body leaking all over his Persian carpet, Fudge screamed for his newly hired assistant. Percy Weasley had just passed his OWL's and was interning at the Ministry in hopes of a long political career. His reputation was that he would instantly follow commands – this reputation was slightly erroneous in that Percy followed commands to the letter, but only when they were in accordance with the well set-out and legal rules.
Mr. Weasley entered the Minister's office, and as Fudge shouted at him to clean up the mess and tell nobody, he quickly drew his wand and stupefied the officious fool. From the young wizard's brief observations, this situation was definitely across the line of legality, as well as far above his pay grade (as an intern) to resolve. A floo call was immediately placed to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as it was readily apparent that mischief had been done.
As it was the Minister's office, Weasley's call quickly brought the head of the DMLE and ten aurors to the office. Fudge's office was immediately sealed after the Minster was arrested and led away. Identifying the body on the rug, Deloris Umbridge's office was also sealed so that no pertinent evidence could somehow go missing, as had been the case too many times before.
Several disillusioned filing cabinets were found in each of the two offices, containing a wealth of information. Umbridge had been a consummate bureaucrat, and had kept excellent records of all the bribes and skullduggery. These records were, of course, for her own use as fodder for blackmail, extortion, and other means by which she had kept and advanced her career.
As they had been ordered to do, Kingsley Shacklebolt Hestia Jones, and Cadet Auror Nymphadora Tonks entered their boss's office after their entrance was allowed. Madame Bones looked up from her desk and sharply ordered, "Put your wands and badges on my desk. On the desk, there are three vials containing Veritaserum. You each will take one of the vials and drink, or else provide a wizards' oath to tell the truth as I demand it. Refusal to do either, and this will be the last time you see your wands, your badges or a Ministry paycheck. Am I understood?
The two women nodded, reached for the vials and drank, while the tall black-skinned Auror held up his hand and took the oath (he hated the taste of Veritaserum).
Amelia Bones nodded, and slid two photographs across her desk to the three. One showed the Order of the Phoenix in1980, showing the Potters, the Prewitt Bothers, and several others who had not survived the Voldemort War - prominently visible in the photo were a younger Shacklebolt and Jones. The second photograph appeared to be taken within the last year, and showed all three Aurors. Dumbledore was seated in the front of the first row in the pictures.
Amelia asked, "Are these pictures of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix?" All three responded "Yes".
Bones asked, "What was the purpose of this group?" Shacklebolt, as the senior present answered, "It was organized to fight Voldemort and all his followers, and to protect those he was attacked, while the Ministry did nothing. Later, protection of Harry Potter was added to our goals." The two female officers nodded in agreement.
The Head then asked, "As part of this group, did you cast any spells or curses which would be outside your functions as Aurors?" The three shook their heads, indicating they had not. Jones admitted that they had performed Obviations on muggles, but that was within their normal practice as Aurors.
Amelia then asked, "As part of this group, were you required to take an oath of secrecy? And were you required to take an oath of loyalty to Albus Dumbledore?"
Tonks (who hated her given name for some unexplained reason) said "We did take oaths of secrecy, to protect us and each other from spies and Voldemort's followers, but we took no oath of loyalty to Dumbledore. Nobody thought it necessary. I mean, he's Dumbledore. He's a Great Wizard."
Amelia nodded sadly. "Ah, yes, he's Dumbledore, or rather he was Dumbledore, at one time. The last fifteen years, he has been making some serious errors, and putting lives in danger. We are at a turning point, and I need to know who I can trust. If you are to remain aurors from this point, you need to resign from his 'bird-watching' club, and your loyalty has to be to enforce the law without any other impediments or biases. Can you do this?"
Jones asked, "Does this mean you want us to take a personal oath of loyalty to you?"
Bones shook her head forcefully. "Merlin, no! We've got too damned many private armies in this building. That's what we need to stop. If I wanted that kind of oath, I would be no better than they are. I want to clean the corruption out. Completely. Will you help?"
All three stood a little bit taller, and agreed to their boss's terms.
Amelia then said, "Thank you all for this. There are a number of people we are going to have to arrest, mostly on very serious corruption charges. Unfortunately, within our own ranks, there are a few whose loyalty is solely due to their appointments and advancement by favoritism or political influence. We need to clean these out, and it needs to be done quickly and quietly. Can you help me do this?"
All three readily agreed. They had seen the Department's credibility deteriorate badly as Fudge's paranoia and Umbridge's scheming had grown, and they didn't like it. It was time to clean house.
Amelia floo'd her secretary and asked her "Please send them in."
Two tall persons dressed in wizards' robes with deep cowls entered the room. Their faces were hidden by their cloaks. They were unusually tall, but whether this was due to footwear to enhance their mystique, no one knew.
Amelia turned to her aurors and explained. "These two are Unspeakables from the Department of Mysteries. One is a Hypermaster of Potions, and the other is a Hypermaster of Mind Magics. I do not know their names, nor do I need to. Now, you all know that the normal legal dose of Veritaserum is three drops, and this is what is used in most cases for evidence. However, I have asked about certain special circumstances."
Turning to the two newcomers, she asked, "You are familiar with the questions I asked you to research?" The two nodded.
The shorter of the two spoke, and the four aurors were startled by the fact it was a female voice from under the cowl. Again, whether this was an artifact to disguise their identity was unknown.
The voice said, "You asked about whether the standard dose could penetrate or retrieve memories which were hidden by obliviation spells. It will not. For that, a dose of five drops is required."
"You also asked what dose was required to overcome powerful mind block spells, such as might be put in place by a dark lord looking to protect his secrets. Our research has shown that this could take seven to eight drops, depending on the strength of the wizard or witch involved." The voice chuckled a bit. "A dose of ten drops, and they can recall and describe what their mother's vagina looked like as they were being born."
Amelia's face took on a very cold visage. "What dose will cause permanent brain damage?"
The voice of the second unspeakable spoke. "Anything more than twelve drops will damage the brain to the point where future function is impaired. Fifteen or more drops is fatal in all cases, after a period of thirty minutes of telling you everything they ever knew or thought they knew, including any secrets protected by the more powerful of oaths.
The aurors shuddered as they thought about how this information had been obtained. Perhaps these people were unspeakable.
Bones thanked the two, who then left the office, still without identifying themselves. She then turned to her staff and said, "We are going to arrest and question two high-ranking Death Eaters. Prepare two doses of ten drops each. We don't know what blocks have been put on them by the Dark Lord, and we need to know what they know, and fast! Aurors, get it done."
Walden McNair and Aldous Yaxley were chatting and laughing, describing (after some prompting from Amelia Bones) the parties that the Death Eaters had held, torturing and sexually abusing muggles of both genders. Tonks and Jones were writing all the information down as rapidly as they could, and in particular, noting all the names. Form what they had recorded so far, the two Death Eaters were destined for nothing less than a dementor's kiss, when a surprising bit of knowledge came out.
McNair recounted a story that Peter Pettigrew had been telling, when Madame Bones interrupted. "But Peter Pettigrew is dead, killed by Sirius Black!"
McNair and Yaxley looked at each other and guffawed. Yaxley smiled at Bones and sniggered. "Yes, oh yes, Sirius Black. The Dark Lord loved Pettigrew's prank on all you fools! And it just keeps getting better!"
"Pettigrew and Black fought, Pettigrew blew up some muggles and cut off a finger, like the Japanese gangsters and then transformed into his 'rat' body . In your panic after the Dark Lord's murder of the Potters, they arrested the best Hit Wizard that your Ministry ever had, and threw him in prison without questioning him and without a trial, and left him in Azkaban to rot."
"Meanwhile, Pettigrew is passing on all the information about upcoming government raids on Death Eater houses, giving us enough warning to move all the stuff we really don't want you to find. He's getting that right from the guy planning the raids!"
Bones scowled. "Are you telling me we have another traitor here?"
McNair almost fell over laughing. "No, Pettigrew has been hiding out as a pet rat in the Weasley's home, and Arthur talks in his sleep. And this year, the youngest Weasley boy went to Hogwarts with his pet rat, so we're getting information from inside what that idiot Dumbledore still claims is the safest place in the country. And for all the collection of supposedly brilliant people on your side, no one ever bothered to wonder how a rat would still be alive after eleven years, when a normal rat's life expectance is only three years at most. Merlin, you people are stupid! Sometimes, I really wonder why the Dark Lord would want to rule you. Blood Traitors and idiots, all of you!"
Madame Bones called Percy Weasley into her office, and instructed him to find the documents relating to the imprisonment of one Sirius Back.
The lowest ranks of the Death Eaters had been recruited for their viciousness and their belief in the Pure Blood agenda, not for their intelligence. As more and more of the high level Death Eaters were arrested and incarcerated, more and more of the lower ranks saw the opportunity for them to become the next Dark Lord themselves. During a revolution or coup, the opportunities for rapid advancement were good. However, the competition was fierce, as marked gangs fought it out using the deadliest of curses.
This had the net effect of saving the DMLE a lot of work as the gangs of criminals whose skill with the Killing Curse outweighed their intelligence wiped out over a hundred of Voldemort's least important supporters. The newly cleansed DMLE did not interfere with these internecine battles, as their attitude was that the remaining Death Eaters were doing their job for them.
The trials were held in front of what remained of the full Wizengamot. Fully a third of the ruling body of the British wizarding world was missing from those trying the cases, as the rest were on trial themselves. About thirty actually were Marked, some have provided financial or logistical support to Voldemort, and the rest were guilty of accepting and passing bribes. The rest had been under Umbridge's influence and were found guilty of various criminal acts or obstructing the proper functioning of the DMLE.
Near the end of the session, Bones presented the case of Sirius Black. Given the testimony of the Death Eaters, and the documents from the Ministry's archives, she was immediately ordered to direct his release – the usual pardon could not be granted, as there had been no conviction to pardon. Black was, by unanimous consent, instated as the Head of the Ancient family of Black, as his father (and previous Head of the family) had died while he was in prison. His mother had also died, but as she was not legally the legally recognised head of the family (regardless of what the internal relationships in the family might indicate otherwise), this was not a matter of importance to the Wizengamot at this time.
Once Peter Pettigrew was captured and interrogated, it turned out he had lied to his fellow Death Eaters. As a Hit Wizard, he had been trained in both legilimency and occlumency, and was a master in both. That is how he had been able to hide so successfully for the previous eleven years, and how his true allegiance had been missed by even those who had been his best friends. He had lied to his Death Eater colleagues to cast suspicions on Arthur Weasley, where he had been really reading the thoughts of his hit wizard cohorts as well as Weasley as he slept (and Arthur's own potent shields were down). Living in the Weasley house, he had accumulated numerous memories from the twins, which in later years would have served for good blackmail material. From Ginny's young mind, he had glimpsed her childhood obsession with Harry Potter.
When Sirius Black was given the 'honour' of pushing Pettigrew through the Veil of Death, Peter appeared to beg for mercy. The 'rat' was in a corner and thought he could perhaps plant a compulsion spell, or somehow escape. With this and knowing Peter's sneaky character from yeas of experience, Sirius appeared to let down his guard, and Pettigrew looked into his mind and saw a seething hatred unlike anything he had seen since the day he revealed the Potters' whereabouts to Lord Voldemort. In desperation he started to change into his rat form, but before it could take effect he felt Sirius' boot connect with his crotch, hard enough to lift him off the ground for an instant, and he fell backwards through the Veil. With a nasty smile, Sirius turned to the others in the chamber, and said "I've been waiting nearly eleven years to do that! Now, what have you done with Harry?"
With arrangement with the goblins at Gringott's, accounts and vaults (shown to contain illegally sourced funds) were seized and passed to the Ministry, under the control of the head of the DMLE personally, and outside the control of the Minister.
When the thirty Slytherin students were brought before the Wizengamot for their trials, Dumbledore insisted that they be let off, and given a chance to repent, mend their ways, and return to The Light. The fact that all had confessed to multiple crimes, and in seven of the cases had 'qualified' to take the dark Mark and were only waiting for the Dark Lord to reappear, did not seem to concern the old man.
Julia McNair turned from her place in the dock and laughed at him, calling him a pathetic old fool who couldn't beat the Dark Lord before (when a baby had done the job), and had no chance of doing it now. Dumbledore and his feeble bunch couldn't win, but they could! She and her friends didn't want forgiveness – they weren't going to repent, they were going to win! When the Dark Lord returned, all the people in the Wizengamot's chamber were going to be dead, and she personally would look forward to killing Dumbledore with her bare hands!
She had not known that Voldemort was gone, as it was still a very tightly controlled secret that he and the Malfoys had been obliterated. She declared that, however long she would have to stay in Azkaban, she was loyal to the Dark Lord and would loyally await his pleasure.
With this action, Miss McNair had finally put an end to Dumbledore's credibility. The Hogwarts Board of Governors, although no longer dominated by the pure-blood bigots, still fired him and appointed Filius Flitwick as his successor.
In consideration of his long years of service, Albus Dumbledore was given a cottage on the ground of Hogwarts, where he lived out his remaining years, visiting with Hagrid and Sybil Trelawney (who had also been pensioned off due to her debilitating alcoholism, but out of kindness and acknowledgment of her thirteen years of employment, officially ignoring her total incompetence as a teacher – you look after your own).