ON WITH THE SHOW!

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Chapter 54

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Albus sat in the small room that had been rented for him in the Leaky Cauldron, pondering the past few days after eating the meager fare arranged for downstairs. It had been a long day, to say the least.

'It all unraveled so quickly.' he mused as he worked his way through the day again. It had been a mistake, in retrospect, to use passive legilimency on any of those that had been present, but he had not meant any harm with its use. Rather he wished to ascertain their emotional state, and perhaps gain a few precious seconds to formulate an appropriate response. One crafted to help quell those emotions, calm them, allowing for a more productive use of their time. That wasted time was something, he knew from experience, could tip the scales in one direction or another in any argument.

He grimaced as he remembered Madam Bones's rant upon her arrival in the DMLE's office. She had not been pleased when she found him, alone in her office…

"ALBUS!" said an outraged voice coming from the woman walking in the door. "Why, in Merlin's name, are you in my office!" She turned back toward the outer office, "Shacklebolt! Get your arse in here!" She turned back toward the aged man. "And you! Get out from behind MY desk!"

Albus stood slowly, as he began rolling the parchment he had been writing into a tube. "Now, Am-"

"LEAVE IT!" she yelled, brandishing her wand in his direction. "Whatever it is you were writing, leave it right where it is!"

Albus looked at her a moment, a confused expression on his face. "The parchment," she supplied. "Leave it right where it is." Slowly he let the parchment slip from his fingers and settle on the desk.

At that moment a large black man in a multi-colored robe entered the office. "You needed something ma'am?" he asked.

She glared at the man, and growled. "What I want, Auror, is one good reason this" she pointed at Albus "prisoner is in my office! Unsupervised no less!"

Shack's eyes widened. "I-I didn't think you would want him in a holding cell, so I thought-"

She cut him off. "What part of prisoner did you not understand? Was he brought here, under guard?" The man nodded. "Was a report filed for his charges?" Again the man nodded. "Then that is exactly where he should have gone, or at the very least an interrogation room! He was not to be left alone, in the office of the head of the department! Get him out of here, and down to interrogation!" She stalked closer to the man. "He will be treated just as any other prisoner! Searched, his belongings catalogued, his wand checked!"

'B-but he's..." the man began.

"Accused of a class two crime! One that he has shown a propensity toward in the past! To make the situation worse he did it to a visiting diplomat's wife! And while not stationed here, the Delacours have every right to expect that that position will be respected! He has created yet another situation that may well become an international incident! So we are going to handle this with the utmost care! I will not have our professionalism questioned! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

The man quickly nodded. "Good! See that you don't do something like this again! After the mess with Scrimgeour and his demotion and suspension following that false report he filed, I'd hate to need to replace my second in command again so soon! Now get him out of here! I'll be down after checking things here and speaking with the Minister."

Albus sighed, she had been right of course. He never should have asked for nor accepted preferential treatment, despite the fact he felt it necessary to write a formal apology to Mrs. Delacour as soon as possible. Perhaps allowing her some time to calm had been in order at any rate.

Sitting alone in the interrogation room had been an odd feeling, however. The rooms were new, well new in the fact that they had yet to be put into use during the war with Tom (questioning had been handled in the judgment chamber on level ten). They were very plain, walls made of smooth tan stone and the only furniture present two wooden chairs and a small table. He had sat there for what felt like a very long time, waiting for someone to come in and begin his questioning.

That event had made the day seem even longer. Albus stood and started getting ready for bed, recalling how his explanation for his actions was not met with the reaction he had hoped for. Not only had he been interrogated by the head of the DMLE but the representative from the ICW as well, both of which left more agitated then he had wished.

It was almost dark when they had concluded, a trial date had been set within the Wizengamot for late the next day. Fortunately for him, he was not placed in the Ministry holding facilities as it was a class 2 offence. That in a combination with the danger he could be in if placed there, defenseless without his wand among some of those who may have held a grudge against him, and the fact he had never been held for a crime before, caused them to allow for the courtesy of him being placed here, at the Leaky Cauldron, under guard.

In the morning he would see about obtaining counsel and preparing his defense, as well as completing his apology letter. Albus sat in the bed, and removed his glasses, laying them on the bedside table as he continued to ponder what he needed to do to salvage his situation. He never noticed he had, once again, begun to rub his left arm.

Minerva grumbled to herself as she rose from her desk and stomped toward the fireplace. "Who in the world could be calling at this hour?" Sticking her head into the green glowing flames she smiled. "Oh! It's you! I didn't expect to hear from you till morning."

The person on the other end of the floo responded, "Well I could have waited, but your missive said it was important. I'm sorry about not getting back to you sooner, but you know how I am once I am in the middle of something."

"Of course," Minerva said.

The person nodded. "Indeed… but enough about that. What can I help you with, my dear?"

Minerva sighed, there was so much to explain. "I need your help… I'm desperate. Albus… I had to let Albus and Severus go. After what happened this weekend and another problem today, there was little choice in the matter."

The figure's eyes grew wide. "Severus, that arrogant toad, I can understand! But Albus? You know we never got on very well, but I would not have expected him to do anything that would require you to do something like that! Especially after he stepped down as Headmaster!"

"He used passive legilimency on a visitor to the castle today... He was arrested by Amelia Bones… It will most likely be in the Prophet tomorrow or soon after." Minerva said quietly.

"Oh…" was the person's only reply.

"And it wasn't the first time… We know for a fact he's used it against one of the visiting Headmasters, Chinthliss… but I suspect it has been more often than that." Minerva paused, took a deep breath, then continued. "But that isn't the reason I chose to contact you… I need your help with my Slytherins… Severus has let Malfoy's son Draco, have the run of the place. I didn't know but he's the boy's Godfather! He's running the place like his own private kingdom!"

She paused, taking in another large gulp of air. "I've done all I can think of short of shutting down the Slytherin dorm completely, but I don't have the staff to keep the current schedule I am being forced to use. I need someone that can get them to fall in line, and isn't afraid to butt heads with Malfoy… the elder."

The person on the other end of the call looked thoughtful. "Then at this point you are also down two professors?"

Minerva shook her head. "No, only one at the moment. The ICW is sending someone to teach the potions class until the end of term. I'd like you to take the Transfiguration classes."

The figure chuckled. "Hmmm... Transfiguration and head of house… I believe that is acceptable, at least until the end of the term. I shall arrive before noon, as I will need to gather a few things and close up the manor."

"I'll expect you then… How do you think your grandson will take you being here?" Minerva asked.

"Oh, he should be fine, he knows his family history. It is a few of the others that will have problems adjusting, especially Malfoy. I think many forget my maiden name was Burke before I married my Phillip, not to mention who was the first Slytherin Ice Queen!" she said with a smirk.

"Augusta Longbottom, Ice Queen… doesn't have quite the same ring of fear you finaly brought to the title… " Minerva chuckled. "though… I could tell Neville the real reason you are called that." she said returning the woman's smirk.

"Oh, don't you start!... Firsty!" The woman smiled warmly. "I'll see you for lunch tomorrow Headmaster."

"Goodnight, Professor," Minerva said pulling her head back as she chuckled darkly. Yes many things were going to be different come the morning.

Tannim was the last person to sit at the table. "Alright we're all here," said Chinthliss. "Let's go over things with Sandfield first; how is our newest student settling in?"

Shar shrugged slightly, as she took a sip of her coffee. "A little worse than Luna did, all the non-magical things at the house are a little overwhelming at the moment, but as long as we enforce the no magic rule when there she'll pick it up in a few days."

He nodded, and made a note as she continued. "She will be joining Hermione in the 'focus' classes as she wanted to stick with a wand. Margo is with her now, so we will have a complete physical workup before morning. Margo has arranged for all of her lab work to be done this afternoon. Her testing for her academic level will start after lunch."

Chinthliss nodded again. "Alright, how is the new school coming?" he asked, turning to Tannim.

"Hogwarts will have a definite lack of first gens, starting next year." Chinthliss chuckled. "We plan to announce the existence of a permanent Sandfield just before the third task, and Harry will wear a sponsor suit during the task as advertisement."

Keighvin went next. "That will coincide with the second wave of new stores opening in the Alley owned and operated by first gens. The first wave is scheduled to begin opening at the end of the week, Friday for Mazolie Pizza and Pasta and Saturday for First-Tech and its sister business Wiz-Grade."

Shar shook her head. "Those places are going to cause a huge stir."

Keighvin nodded. "We're taking precautions. First-Tec will have a lot of easily broken electronics on hand, so we are supplying around the clock protection until such time as we have a solid idea of how people will react. As for Wiz-Grade, it is more just an office; all of the equipment they will use to bring wizarding homes up to date with electricity, or any other improvements, will be stored off site. They have rented one of the other warehouses from me, in a non-magical area."

Tannim picked up again from there. "We also have a clothing store, one that specializes in making sure their customers are ready for the non-magical world, and one restaurant that will open in two weeks that is higher end, and not a counter serve location like the Pizza place."

Lady Ako was next. "As for the bank, our deposits are meeting our projections, though the addition of the Parkinson account will throw future projections off slightly. We were not expecting one of the old guard families to move into our facility this soon."

Keighvin chuckled. "That man is no dummy. He has spent a significant amount of time in the Alley since our announced arrival, always watching and asking questions. I think he used this issue with the Malfoys to reposition himself. Ever since he came in the first time and saw we had working electronics within magical wards he has wanted to make the move. He saw the winds of change and he is preparing for the future… He has even asked about buying shares in any of the new businesses, the man is very shrewd."

Shar looked a little apprehensive. "Should we be concerned about him and his family if they visit the house?"

The elf shook his head. "No, he is driven by the challenge, profit is the way he keeps score, an excellent trait in a business man. I expect him to become a major player when we pull back from our larger initial investments, one who will help keep new businesses and owners coming into the alley."

Lady Ako nodded. "I have spoken with him a couple of times as well. I have dealt with many like him in the past; he is playing 'the long game' at the moment, as well as learning the changing 'playing field'. Trying to position himself advantageously in the burgeoning economic arena."

Shar was relieved but would keep a watch none the less.

Chinthliss then leaned forward. "Now with that out of the way let's discuss the other issues. FX is monitoring the situation within the castle, however the departure of Snape and Dumbledore does change the dynamic. Minerva is pushing for several advancements and changes to the curriculum; however these changes may not come as quickly as she hopes as she is sure to run into difficulty with the board of governors."

"As for the other things, most of us have been quite busy keeping an eye on things within the castle, and as well as helping the good Doctor while he visits…" he continued.

Tannim interrupted. "Something he wishes to convey his 'most heartfelt thanks' for. He found a kindred spirit here in the groundskeeper Hagrid, and the pair have several trips planned, including transporting a colony of giant spiders to some place or other… he's as happy as a clam…"

Chinthliss glared at the man. "At any rate… that being said, FX was concerned by the actions of several individuals of late, the Headmaster from Durmstrang being one of them. He had a discussion with the now ex-professor Snape about someone returning; that someone had the man quite flummoxed and deathly afraid. He also reports that someone has been coming or going through two of the secret passages, the one from the candy store as well as the one under the whomping willow they warned us of."

Lady Ako looked annoyed. "And he has not caught this someone as of yet?"

Chinthliss shook his head. "No, at the moment he has not. Although he is doing his best to get to the area as soon as the alarm he has set sounds, he has found no one present."

Sirius leaned back in his chair. "Then it is someone who knows a lot about the castle…or… WORMTAIL!" he spat… "it has to be him! He could do it and FX would never see him!"

The group looked at him in confusion and he explained. "He's like me, an animagus! A rat, to be exact! He could get in like that! He'd need to be in human form to get in past the one-eyed witch, but could be back in his rat form quickly!"

Chinthliss pondered the thought. "Well, it is something to check on at least, but we need to not fixate on that as the only solution. I'll have FX keep a closer eye out, for that. Does this rat have any distinguishing features?"

Sirius nodded. "He's missing his little finger on his left hand, it is the same in his rat form."

Chinthliss nodded. "Very well, I will inform FX as soon as possible. Tannim I want you to inform Harry that an old enemy of his parents may wish him harm. We need to be sure he is not left alone while at the castle."

Tannim nodded. "Alright, I'll tell him to keep a look out for the rat as well."

Lady Ako spoke next. "Daughter, I think the time has come for you to start staying in London." Shar glared at her mother. "You will not be able to defend yourself adequately if you are threatened, we cannot risk you and the baby being used as a hostage."

Shar grimaced at the thought, she didn't like it but her mother had a point. "Fine! I just don't like the idea of being tucked away."

Tannim leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. "You're not being tucked away…"

She glared at him, and he sighed, defeated. "Fine, you are, but it is for the good of our children."

She sagged slightly. "Alright… but I want ice-cream, the good stuff! And my feet rubbed…"

Chuckles came from those gathered, as the list continued to grow.