Padfoot ran down the hall towards the room that the Board would meet in. It had been easy enough to get out of the castle without being caught, thanks to James' invisibility cloak. He had been surprised that he was still able to Apparate just fine even as an eleven year old, but he was able to Apparate to the building the school governors used to do their work. He then put a silencing spell on himself so no one would hear him, then he changed into Padfoot. He knew he would be able to hear the meeting much better in his dog form. Thankfully, the invisibility cloak shrunk to fit around Padfoot.
Padfoot sat outside the door to the meeting, watching people enter. He had expected his grandfather to be there, since he was the one presenting evidence to the Board as a guest, but he had not expected McGonagall to come as well.
This just got a whole lot more interesting, Padfoot thought. He hoped that McGonagall and Arcturus didn't notice his scent, since McGonagall could turn into a cat and Arcturus could turn into a snake. They passed him without stopping, though Padfoot swore he saw Arcturus briefly look over his shoulder.
The door closed, but thankfully, no silencing spells were put up, so he could still listen.
The meeting started with the Head Governor doing roll call then he introduced Arcturus and McGonagall. Arcturus started by talking about Professor Binns, even showing some memories of Binns teaching from Sirius' point of view, and Sirius' conversation with Dumbledore about Binns.
He then started talking about the attacks on the members of the House of Black and the attack on Amelia Bones. Lady Bones was there, and was horrified to hear that her daughter was being attacked and there was no justice. Arcturus then showed the memories of each of the attacks, including the attempt of poisoning, and the ways Dumbledore responded to each attack.
He then showed them the memory of his meeting with Dumbledore that talked about all of these topics, plus the topic of Severus being abused and Dumbledore not doing a thing about it. Every single school governor was outraged.
"As you can tell, this man is doing more harm than good, and he NEEDS to be stopped," Arcturus said. "He has been biased against some students, and for other students, he will not punish them just because they're not in Slytherin. As you saw in one of the earlier memories, he even tried overruling Deputy Headmistress McGonagall just so those two wouldn't be in so much trouble. Even when solid evidence is brought before him, he never sees reason. For this, Albus Dumbledore, in my opinion, is not fit to be headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I hope that this body will vote to remove him immediately. The children deserve better. They deserve someone who will be equally fair to everyone, no matter their house, blood status, or family. Thank you, Governors, for taking the time to review this evidence," Arcturus finished.
"Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, would you like to add to what Lord Black just said?" the Head Governor asked.
"Yes, thank you for having me," McGonagall began. "I agree with everything Lord Black has said. I would like to add that I have been teaching at Hogwarts for quite some time, and unfortunately, Headmaster Dumbledore has always been biased, and I have tried talking to him many times about this. However, he will not listen. There have been students who have been blamed for things they didn't do, or students who did something wrong and never faced the consequences. I also tried telling the headmaster to fire Professor Binns for the same reasons Lord Black has already laid out, but of course, the headmaster does not take me seriously. Lastly, I have had students come into my office from all four houses telling me about their home life, hoping I can help them."
At this, Padfoot could hear McGonagall take a deep breath.
"Have you been able to help any of them?" Lady Bones asked.
"No," McGonagall said, her voice breaking. "I always bring the issues to the headmaster, and he tells me that children just like making up stories." There was an uproar for a full minute before the head governor banged the gavel.
"Please continue," he said.
"I would like to end by saying, I agree with Lord Black. These students deserve better, in all aspects of their education. Please, get this man out of Hogwarts. Put in someone who will do their job correctly. Thank you for taking the time to review the evidence today and for hearing what I have to say," she finished.
"We shall now vote on the motion to remove Albus Dumbledore from his headmaster post at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," the Head Governor announced. "All in favor, say Aye." There were a lot of Aye's. "All who oppose, say no." There was silence. "The Ayes' have it. Albus Dumbledore is no longer the headmaster of Hogwarts." Padfoot was excited. He was glad no one could hear or see him, because he ran in a circle with joy.
"We will now take nominations for a new headmaster," the Head Governor continued. "Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, you have sent us a written statement informing us you are not interested in becoming Headmistress, is this correct?"
"Yes, Head Governor," McGonagall confirmed.
"You have indicated that you would like to put someone up for nomination?" the Head Governor asked.
"Yes, Head Governor. I would like to nominate Lord Arcturus Black for Headmaster of Hogwarts," McGonagall said. There were gasps of surprise around the room. Padfoot wondered if he had heard her wrong. Did she just say what he thought she just said?
"Lord Black, do you accept this nomination?" the Head Governor asked.
"Yes, I do," Arcturus said with as much surprise in his voice as Padfoot felt.
Apparently, he didn't know either, Padfoot thought.
"Are there any other nominations?" the Head Governor asked. The room remained silent. Padfoot guessed this was because everyone was too shocked to think of anyone else to put up for nomination. "Very well. We will now vote on this nomination. All in favor, say Aye." Once again, there were a lot of Ayes'. "All who oppose, say no." There was only one no, and Padfoot could tell it was from Abraxas Malfoy. "The Ayes' have it. Congratulations, Lord Black. You are now the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Padfoot couldn't believe what just happened. He knew that his grandfather had never really wanted to be a headmaster, but he supposed Arcturus wouldn't say no to McGonagall, who is one of the most respected professors at Hogwarts. Padfoot was excited though. He knew that from that day onward, Hogwarts would be in a much better shape than ever before.
Next was the swearing in, where Arcturus had to take an oath, then the meeting concluded. Padfoot watched as McGonagall walked past him quickly. He was trying to decide when was the best time to make his exit when his grandfather exited the room. He looked in Padfoot's direction, then started walking. He stopped and turned around, looked in his direction again, and just waited. Padfoot got the hint. He walked over to him, and they started heading out of the building.
When they were safely out of the building, Arcturus sighed and whispered, "Come to me." He held his arms out for Padfoot to jump into. With that, he Apparated them both to Hogwarts. Sirius was just glad he was a smaller dog as an eleven-year-old.