After showering and dressing in clean clothes, Alexander and Hermione made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, and to see the reactions to the Quibbler article. All around the island, magical households were delivered a copy of the paper, and most of them hadn't destroyed it either. As they had come back into the castle after training, the couple had spied a half dozen owls heading inside, and knew that there would be words said as soon as the demigods were next spotted.
They weren't wrong. The second that they stepped into the Great Hall, the eyes of Professors Grubbly-Plank, Flitwick, McGonagall, and Sprout, Severus, and Poppy Pomfrey flicked up to them, "Good morning."
"Good morning," each adult chimed out as one.
"Anything good in the paper?" Hermione asked innocently as they walked towards the High Table.
"A little"
Playing along, Lex commented, "That's good, yesterday the Daily Prophet had me down as a cheater who was heading to France."
"Not the Daily Prophet, though I'm certain you already knew that," Severus said, his eyes brimming with laughter.
"Oh yes, The Quibbler, Hermione and I did happen upon Xeno Lovegood yesterday. Did we mention anything of substance Hermione?"
The witch pretended to think hard for a moment, "I think we did Harry, but what was it?"
"Alright, that's enough," Minerva shook her head, "Now who exactly got a copy of this because none of us are even subscribers?"
"Everyone"
"Everyone?" The professors questioned.
Hermione nodded, "Yes, we paid for every magical household to receive a copy. I would suspect a visit from a particularly irate Minister for Magic at some stage today. Now, where are we supposed to sit?"
Severus laughed, waving to the two seats beside him, "In your positions as assistant professors you both get the option of sitting up here or with Gryffindor."
"Wonderful," the teens got settled and began to eat.
After a few minutes, once everyone had eased back into their morning routines, Lex spoke, "Professor Flitwick?"
"Yes my boy?" The Charms professor poked his head around Pomona to look who was speaking to him.
"What is the Ravenclaw house view on bullying within the 'family'?"
"The same as any other house, or any student, it is not tolerated. Once a claim is made, it is looked into by the professors, prefects, ghosts, and house elves. If it is found true, the person/people behind it are placed on a week detention; next is a months' detention and loss of Hogsmeade trips and all extracurricular activities. If it occurs a third time, they are suspended and there is no fourth time, you get expelled and your wand snapped. Why do you ask?"
"Because, we met a wonderful young lady yesterday who will be starting her second year in your house this term, and all last term she was bullied by older Ravenclaws," Hermione spoke up, "She didn't tell you as she believes it will make things worse, which it probably would as it is an intra-house issue, but it has to be stopped so we are informing you about it."
Many forgot easily that Filius Flitwick was a half-goblin, but at hearing that some of his Ravenclaws were bullying another, even worse, a younger member, everyone remembered instantly, "Which of my Eagles is it that is being bullied?"
"Lunette Lovegood"
"And the bullies?"
"No names, she wouldn't tell us but they are older than her and more than likely popular. We're putting forward warning that if we see any bullying, no matter what house is the instigator or victim, it won't stand," Lex saw the 6 heads nodding at that.
Minerva got the attention of the teens, "It has been decided amongst all the professors, that as you will all be our colleagues, outside of a few classes, that you have permission to call us by our given names."
Both teens blushed at that. It was easy to all Severus his name, he was like a father to them and a dear friend, but the other professors? "Thank you, and we will attempt to get comfortable doing so."
"Ma'am, have you found anyone for the DADA professor position?"
"Yes, he's a former Gryffindor and will be taking the role of Head of House whilst here. Remus Lupin is his name."
Green and brown/green connected, Amelia had mentioned him yesterday, but they simply nodded at the headmistress. Once they were finished their breakfast, the couple walked with Severus to the potions lab, "I suppose we should talk whilst you have time."
"Yes"
"From the beginning then. As you know, I was best friends with Lily since a child and was 'enemies' with James until a little before his death. In between we have our school years. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew met in the same carriage on the Hogwarts Express as they did myself, Lily and Amelia. I think it was the protectiveness I showed over Lily that had James on my case from the start; he was used to getting all the girls' attentions and Lily was only interested in talking to me, so he was challenged and intrigued. Anyway, those 4, they became fast friends, creating this damned group called the Marauders that same year. Their mission; bully and prank every Slytherin possible, though to be honest, I was James' pet project and Sirius simply hated all snakes because of his family; the other two would just go along with them.
"It took a few years, but I started to notice that Remus went missing every month, no one knew where he was. I'd gotten one over on Black the week previously, and his retaliation was to show me how to follow behind Remus during one of the days he went missing. Of course, looking back now, I should have realised what was happening, but I was in my fifth year and more concerned over my upcoming OWLs. James heard Black laughing and found out what he had done, he raced out and saved my life that night. See Remus, he's a nice man but when he was a kid a vicious disgusting werewolf called Fenrir Greyback bit him as punishment for his father doing Greyback wrong. Neither of us was injured but Dumbledore threatened us into remaining silent over the event.
"You know all about how I gained my mark as a rebellion against Lily going out with James, and how he and I came to an understanding as we were both important to Lily, so we won't go into that again. When Black went to Azkaban, I went to Amelia and got the full story, and even though he was an idiot, he didn't deserve what happened to him. I'm actually surprised he waited this long to escape, as a dog he would have been able to slip out when they were bringing him his meals, his emotions would have been less complex to the blind Dementors. Anyway, Remus is coming here to teach, and we will be making his Wolfsbane Potion every month, you will take over his classes during the days he is unable to do so. And that's everything."
The demigods took it all in and their only real question they wanted an answer to was, "How many of them were Animagi? I mean it's supposed to be really hard to become."
Severus only shook his head laughing, "That's what you want to know? Okay well, James was a stag, Sirius is a black dog, Pettigrew is a rat, Lily was a swan, Amelia is a dove, and…"
"You're an Animagus? Come on, show us!"
Sighing deeply, Severus stood and moved to a cleared area, away from the potion benches. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the form he hadn't been in over a decade, the burn as he changed a welcomed friend as it washed over his body. The teens were stunned as their friend morphed into a pitch black coyote, "Cool."
Quickly Severus returned to his human state, "I've not done that since that Halloween, I'll have to remember to do it more often. So yes, it is essentially a difficult process to become an Animagus but if you are dedicated and have a spirit animal to change into, then anyone can become one. And as I'm saying this it occurs to me that you will both want to try won't you?"
"Oh yeah," the teens said quickly.
"I'll make the potion for you both and find the appropriate texts. Now off with you, some of us have things to get done," the man ushered his wards from the room.