Changing of the Guard
(The Boy Who Trusted Nobody)
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything of the Potterverse. Rats.
Warning: Things getting better, sort of. Bashing pretty much everybody
January 3, 1992
The students came into the Great Hall for dinner, having just returned on the Express from their Christmas break, expecting the usual collection of teachers and Headmaster Dumbledore in his ornate throne in the centre of the head table. They had the weekend to settle in before classes resumed for the winter term, a weekend where they could goof off, hang around with friends or just get into trouble. As usual.
Everything was going to be as usual. They were wrong.
Professor Dumbledore was sitting in the spot usually occupied by Professor Snape. His throne was missing from the centre of the head table, replaced by an ordinary chair. Well, as ordinary as any of the teachers' chairs were.
Three chairs at the head table were empty, and there was one set back away from the main table. The chair where Professor Quirrel had sat was vacant, as was Professor Trelawney's seat. There was also a place reserved for Professor Binns, but the ghost had never attended the mid-year welcoming feast. However, Professor Snape's seat was being occupied by Professor Dumbledore.
A man, who although not old appeared to be middle-aged, stumped his way to the middle of the table, where the Headmaster had previously sat. He was a strange-looking person, with one eye replaced with a magical orb, which was looking seemingly in all directions at once. He was missing one leg, which was replaced by a wooden prosthetic or at least it appeared so.
Following the man into the Great Hall were a youngish-looking man who moved as it he had been around the block more than a few times. As he moved to the chair assigned to Binns, he stopped and spoke for a moment with Dumbledore with the two wizards shaking hands and smiling as if they were old acquaintances.
Following the man was a witch, a middle-aged woman with a vivid scar down her right cheek. She looked around the table as if assessing the teachers, and seemed to hold herself apart as if she expected an attack at any time and from any direction. The scarred man gestured to an empty chair, and politely said "Helena, please be seated."
Following these two came a centaur mare, accompanied by a short human boy, dressed in buckskin.
At this point, a haughty voice was heard coming from the Slytherin table. "Since when do we allow animals in here during meals?" Several of the other students at the same table laughed briefly, until the human with the centaur stepped forward and made a slight gesture with his hand. He held no wand, and had made no incantation.
Suddenly the speaker found himself ten metres up in the air, with his hands and legs bound together and his head pointing towards the ground at an angle where the boy could clearly see the stone floor below him.
The young boy with the centaur gestured again, without saying any incantation, and the Slytherin boy dropped straight towards the ground stopping suddenly a couple inches above the floor. Although he was squirming fiercely, he could not use his hands or feet to stop his fall. Another gesture, and the Slytherin was ten meters up again.
When he had narrowly missed colliding with the floor, five wands dropped out of his clothing. Four of them were coloured a plain black finish, to be as inconspicuous as possible. As this happened, several of the older Slytherin students had drawn their own wands and were pointing them at the boy.
Draco Malfoy, who had just spent the previous weeks helping the recovery of his mother who was now the Regent for the family, put his head down on the table shaking it as if to be ashamed of the stupidity being displayed by his housemates.
The scarred man turned to the boy with the centaur, and said loudly and clearly, "Hold! We need those wands!"
At this point, the centaur held a hand up, and in a soft voice was heard to say, "Harry my paddock one learner, enough. Sit." The centaur moved to the table, while the boy obediently sat down in the vacant chair.
Whispering went around the Hall as some of the students recognised the boy as Harry Potter.
The scarred man stood and had his own wand out, and bellowed "Accio Wands! Brachiae sinistre revealum!"" The five wands that had fallen out of the suspended boy's clothing, and all the wands the other students were pointing at Harry Potter, flew into the man's hands. At the same time, the sleeves over their left arms disappeared, revealing a dark tattoo. He looked at the wands and the tattoos and murmured quietly "ah." Holding one that had dropped from the boy's pockets, he then turned to the woman who had entered with him, and asked, "Helena, can you take a look at this one?"
She looked at the wand he held up, brought up her own and cast "Priori Incantatae!" A list appeared in fiery letters before her. She blanched, and turning to the scarred man nodded. She then cast "Victimae Priorae" and another list appeared before her. Her face went quite white, and she turned to the man and said, "Alastor some of these are our people! We need to call in, well, you know who." He nodded, and turning to the south wall of the Hall, cast the Patronus charm, and whispered to the wolverine that appeared, which then ran through the wall of the castle.
The older students all cringed at the news that 'You-know-who' had been summoned. Why this man was calling for the Dark Lord was strange and shocking.
The scarred man nodded at the assembled table of the school's teachers. Momentarily, several hooded figures appeared beside him. He gestured towards the students, and announced, "Contrary to your apparent expectations, I did not call for Lord Voldemort. I don't put up with the 'You-know-who' or 'He-who-must-not-be-named' bullshit, telling people that if you said the name, bad things would happen. That was a tactic used in the last war to spread terror, and that was all it was. It is a phoney name for a half-blood terrorist, and the whole mystique is a load of crap!"
"His actual name was Tom Riddle, but he calls himself Lord Voldemort. It's a made up name. He was Head Boy here many years ago, and was a very clever boy, managing to convince many others of his lies and deceptions. He claimed to be a pure-blood and the rightful heir to Salazar Slytherin, and although he was a descendent of Slytherin, he was the bastard half-blood son of a muggle squire and a witch who seduced him using a love potion."
"No, these people are Hit Wizards, part of an elite group of battle-trained aurors." Looking at the boy still suspended in the air, he continued, "Mr. Flint, according to your wand, or should I say, your multiple illegal wands, you have been an extremely naughty boy. The wands show you have cast many Unforgivable curses, including the killing curse. However, the dates of a couple of those curses indicate that your father or mother was the one who casts some of them, unless you were able to cast these curses when you were only two years old. Quite a number of these Unforgivables were your own."
"I need to point out to you, and all you others as well, that as of now, Unforgivables are just that. The word now means what it is supposed to mean. These curses will not be forgiven. The castle's wards have been adjusted, and if an Unforgivable curse is detected anywhere within Hogwart's walls or lands, all wands, and I do mean all wands including those of the staff, will be checked."
"If you wonder why the staff's wands will be checked, in previous years several criminals claimed that they had committed crimes while under the Imperious curse, and were let off. Aurors are trained to resist the Imperious, but it takes time. This way, there can be no question of responsibility!"
Looking at the wands taken from the other students, he cast prior charm detection, and showed the results for the lead hit wizard. The wizard, whose cloak and hood hid his or her identity, asked "The Cuckoo's Nest?" The scarred man nodded sadly. He then called for three of the students
"Marigold Parkinson, Tobias Nott, and Alonzo Goyle, come forward."
The last named screamed "You can't do this. My father will make sure you can't! The Dark Lord has said we cannot be touched!"
The scarred man smiled a very nasty smile, and said, "Young man, you will find your father and the Dark Lord have no say in this or any other matter at Hogwarts now. And you will find that your wishes and demands, and in fact those of the self-proclaimed Dark Lord, carry absolutely no weight." Turning to the lead wizard, he nodded, and the hit wizards and the four students vanished.
A female voice called out, "Excuse me sir, but what is the Cuckoo's Nest they mentioned?"
The man turned towards the Gryffindor table and looked at the bushy-haired firsty. "Ah, Miss Granger, I have heard of you. I will answer your question with a question, as you are said to be fond of learning. Where does a cuckoo bird raise its young?"
The young girl stood tall and said, "Sir, the English cuckoo does not raise its own young. They lay their eggs in the nest of other birds, and the other birds raise the young cuckoos, often to the detriment of their own chicks."
The man smiled. "Very good. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now for another ten points, what would a cuckoo's nest be, given how they raise their young? Have you ever heard of a cuckoo's nest before?"
The girl blushed. "My dad used to sing an old folk song about a cuckoo's nest, meaning the genitals of a woman being seduced, so planting his seed with no intent to raise the young which might occur. Otherwise, a cuckoo's nest would be some place that doesn't exist."
The man nodded and smiled, as many students snickered at the risqué reference. Yes, Miss Granger. The Cuckoo's Nest does not exist. At least not officially."
"Anyway, back to business."
"My name is Alastor Moody, and I am your new Headmaster until they can find someone more qualified and willing to take the job. Previously, I was the Head and chief instructor at the Auror Academy, and survived the last three wizarding wars against Fooflenurg, Grindewald and Voldemort, although as you can see, not completely intact."
"Your previous Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore," as he gestured to the old man, "is working towards his well-deserved retirement, and for the foreseeable future will be resuming his previous post as Potions Master for the school. Your previous Potions instructor, Professor Snape, has taken a new post as head of potions research for St. Mungo's hospital and also adjunct professor at the Uluru Institute for Indigenous Potions research in Australia, seeking to find ways to incorporate their ancient ways into our knowledge. He will not be returning to Hogwarts."
"Professor Binns has been made aware of the fact that he died some time ago, and has passed on. We are fortunate that Nicholas Flamel has been willing to take his place. Professor Flamel, as you may know from your chocolate frogs' cards, has working with Professor Dumbledore for well over a century of magical history."
"Professor Trelawney has retired to a cottage on the Hogwarts grounds, where she will likely continue her research into a number of potions." There were numerous snickers from the students who were well aware of the Divination teacher's predilection to cooking sherry. Gesturing to the centaur mare, he said, "Moira, of the Forbidden Forest herd, has agreed to share some of the knowledge of the centaurs, working with our own Professor Sinestra, as the centaur divination practices are closely related to astronomy."
"Lastly, our new Defence against the Dark Arts professor is an old friend and colleague of mine from the Academy. Professor Handbasket probably has more knowledge of the dark arts and defence against them, than anyone who is not a dark lord or lady themselves."
A voice came from the Gryffindor table "You're telling us that Nicolas Flamel is history, and DADA is going to Helena Handbasket?"
Moody smiled and nodded towards the Gryffindor table. "As you say, Mr. Weasley."
"Anyway, to summarize and to finish, you all will find that Hogwarts is going to change. Any Unforgivable curse will be exactly that, unforgiveable, and unforgiven. We have set the castle's wards to detect any such curses, and if any occur, all wands will be checked. And I mean all wands, including those of the teachers, and including my own! If a bunch of the old Death Eaters could claim they were under the Imperious curse, then I might be as well, and my wands will be check too. There will be no hiding behind the Golden Alibi again"
"Does anyone know the term, the Golden Alibi? Perhaps, the Golden Cannon? Yes Mr. Wallace."
The tall Scottish Ravenclaw stood, and answered, "During various clan wars, castles were taken, not by force, but by bribery of those supposed to protect it. So rather than using iron cannons, the bribes were called the Golden Cannon. I gather you are implying that some criminals have gotten off by bribing officials?"
Moody smiled. "Implying. A nice polite way to say it, but yes. At the end of the war against Voldemort, and for god sake, quit cringing! It's just a phony name. At the end of the war, a number of Voldemort's Death Eaters were freed, claiming that they had been under the Imperious for years, and that all their crimes were committed under its influence. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a number of high officials in the Ministry came into a great deal on money right about then. You can draw your own conclusions - I know I have. However, if something like that occurs again, I and a significant number of others intend that the Golden Alibi will no longer work. As you can see, I paid for their enrichment with body parts, and I swear it won't happen again."
"Any bullying, harassment, or taunting of your fellow students will be dealt with, harshly but fairly. Any use of lower level curses will result in expulsion. Any Unforgivable curses will result in legal action, and you won't like it."
"In addition, and as part of the new alliance between Hogwarts and the Centaur Herd of what we call the Forbidden Forest, our wards have been extended to cover both our grounds and the Forest, and anyone bearing the Dark Mark who tried to enter either will find themselves stripped of their magic. For many, that will prove fatal! For those of you who just had their Dark Marks revealed, if or when you leave the grounds, you will not be able to return."
"One last item." He lifted an intricately carved wand about a half metre long. "Rubeus Hagrid, please stand and approach." The huge gamekeeper rose to his feet with a wide smile on his face. Moody turned to him, and handed him the wand. "Hagrid, your right to an education was taken from you by lies and prejudice. I present this new wand to you and hereby reinstate you into Hufflepuff, the House of Loyalty. Now, we don't want to lose your valuable services and your furthering your housemates' knowledge of magical creatures, but you are now authorized to attend whatever classes you wish, and your own pace and times of your choosing." The students of Hufflepuff and most of the rest of the students broke into wild cheering.
Moody turned back towards the student body, as Hagrid sat.
"That's all from me. Enjoy your afters, and the rest of your school year. Hopefully, we will not need to use any of the enforcement tools at our disposal."
After the feast, Hermione Granger approached the head table and stood in front of the centaur mare. She bowed, and the centaur nodded and said, "Do you have a question, Miss Granger? I see you recognize both myself and my student."
Hermione smiled and nodded towards Harry, and then answered, "Lady Moira, may I ask why you referred to Harry as your 'paddock one learner'? It sounds strangely like a reference to a term from a muggle film."
The mare nodded. "Yes, Hermione of the Grangers' herd, the term came from our relatives overseas. When the young of my people begin their training, they are still young and skittish. Therefore, for the first number of years, their lessons take place in specific paddocks, and just as your classmates are called 'first-years' or 'firsties', ours are referred to by which paddock they are assigned. As your former classmate has come to us only this year, he is assigned to paddock one. However, as his case is unique, he came under my personal tutelage. For this reason, among our folk he is called my own paddock one learner. While I am here within the walls of Hogwarts, he will accompany me. Does that answer your curiosity?"
The girl nodded, thanked the mare, then turned to the boy, and said "Hi, Harry." The boy nodded to her, and smiled. He turned to his tutors, and receiving a smiling nod from her, turned to the girl, and said "Hi Hermione."