Disclaimer: The plot is ours, but the majority of the main characters belong to the imagination of J.K. Rowling. We do not gain any profit from writing this story.
Summary: With the Grimoire in safe hands and James Potter expelled, Severus Snape, Lily Evans, and their friends expected that their remaining time at Hogwarts would be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, the intentions of a few detestable individuals will make their lives more arduous. With the help of a few new friends, they all must join together to fight against the rising tide of evil in the Wizarding World.
A/N: This story is A/U and is NOT canon-compliant. If you don't like Sev/Lily fiction, don't read it.
History of Magic (Otherwise Known as the Most Boring Class in the Entirety of the Hogwarts' Curriculum.
Watching the paint dry on a wall would prove to be more enthralling than a class with Professor Cuthbert Binns.
Even in death, he was still more boring than plain yogurt.
He taught History of Magic with the kind of monotony that chartered accountants had.
Most students who have that class barely pay attention to the studies. Some use the class as a study period for other subjects; while others use the period as naptime. Which always meant a low grade for students who barely paid any attention.
However, there is always an exception. There was one student, despite the soul crushing boredom, who managed to keep a perfect grade in History of Magic.
"Now who can tell me the date of the 'Battle of the False King?' When two goblin armies fought one another to proclaim their king as the rightful king?"
A lone hand raised amongst the fourth year students.
"Yes, Mr. Yalarad?"
Sam addressed the professor. "I believe it was August of….Nine hundred and three?"
"Yes, very good. Five points for Gryffindor."
The Gryffindor smiled as he went back to his book to read, and was writing some notes about the next chapter he was reading ahead on.
Severus looked back, now was the perfect opportunity.
He took out the note he wrote to Michael Ashdown. Severus looked ahead to Peter, and cleared his throat.
Peter looked back and noticed Severus with his note. He nodded and leaned backward.
Severus leaned forward and gave Peter his note.
Peter held the letter in his hand, and scanned the room.
Professor Binns was up at the chalkboard writing about Grognar the Wise, and Chalgar the Usurper.
He looked up ahead, Sirius was sitting to the right of Micheal Ashdown.
Peter got Jane's attention. "Jane," Peter whispered to her.
Jane turned towards Peter, she noticed the note in his hand, and understood what was going down. She shook her head and accepted the note.
Jane looked ahead and was presented with a bit of a conundrum.
Emily was right in front of her, and the closest to her reach. Lily was at the beginning of the row in front of Jane, and right behind Ashdown, but there was a problem. Sebastian Holmes was right in-between Emily and Lily, and although he admitted his disdain for Dante, what if he was putting on an act?
She weighed her options and left it in the hands of Emily. She would know best.
Jane got Emily's attention. "Emily," Jane whispered.
Emily turned around and took the bite from Jane. She looked around to see who could pass the note along to, but was left little to no options.
If she passed it to Frank, he'd have to ask Renner who was seated in the front row to pass it to Sirius, and that didn't seem like an option.
So, Emily poked Sebastian on his arm. He turned to Emily, "Yes Emily?"
"Would you mind passing this to Lily?" She handed the note to Sebastian.
He noticed the handwriting in the note, and who it was addressed to, and nodded. "I'll do you better than that." Sebastian leaned forward in his desk and whispered over towards Michael Ashdown, who was drawing lines of some ancient runes when he looked back at Sebastian.
"Yeah, Seb?" Michael whispered. He saw that he had a note for him, and took it when Sebastian gave it to him.
Michael swiftly room the note from him so that Binns wouldn't see, opened the note and read it.
Almost immediately his eyes bugged out of his head. Sirius looked on at him, and knew the message had gotten through to him.
He quickly looked back at Sebastian who nodded his head.
Michael nodded back and wrote something on another piece of parchment paper as the bell rang signaling the end of the class.
Everyone got up to leave and pep up before their next class.
Severus sighed as he had hoped to get a response from Michael before class let out. As he gathered his materials Severus heard the small flappings of a bird or something above him. He looked up and saw a bird made out of parchment gingerly fly above him and land at his desk. The origami bird unfurled into a note. Severus read the note as he got his things and left the classroom.
"I won't meet alone. I'll have Sebastian with me. Tomorrow evening before Dinner at the Library, upstairs near the study carrels. Leave your Black Cloak behind, and bring Longbottom with you."
Frank tried to take a peek at the note. "What did Ashdown say, Sev?"
"Funny enough Frank, this note mentions you by name." Severus handed the note for Frank to read. Lily and the others all gathered around. Black Donal had rejoined them once they left the classroom.
Frank read the note. Alice looked over at him after the note was passed to her, "Why would Ashdown ask for you to be there as well?"
Frank explained, "Well outside of you guys, he's one of the few other friends I have in Gryffindor."
Remus thought aloud, "So he'll feel safe."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Sirius looked around, "Well classes are done for the day and we still have an hour before dinner. You guys want to hang out in our spot?"
Everyone voiced their agreement to the idea.
Lily looked at Severus, "Alice and I have to get a few things from our dorm first. We'll meet you all down there." She gave Severus a quick peck on the lips.
"Sounds good, but hurry back. We don't know who might be watching," Severus advised her.
She nodded and soon Lily was walking with Alice up to Gryffindor House.
They were on the sixth floor when they saw Roland Summerset walking out of the fourth floor entryway.
"There's Roland," Alice pointed out.
Lily looked around, neither Dante, Doherty, or Athena Braider was around. "Okay, let's talk to him."
They both walked over to the second year Gryffindor as he was rifling through his bookbag.
"Hey Roland," Alice called over to him.
Roland looked up and smiled, "Hi Alice, Lily!"
"Hey Roland, can we talk for a minute?" Lily asked him.
"Of course Lily!"
Alice looked around, "Come on, let's go up to Gryffindor House."
Lily suggested someplace else, "Actually, we should maybe find somewhere more private to talk in?"
"Our meeting place?"
"That's all the way down in the dungeons, do we really want to walk back down the stairs. My feet would kill me!"
Roland looked to be thinking, and came to a decision. "I know somewhere where we can talk. It's near the Gryffindor common room."
Alice smiled, "Well lead the way Roland!"
Roland nodded, as he lead Alice and Lily up the stairs to the seventh floor. He led them down a familiar looking hallway, and stopped opposite across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barny.
Alice and Lily shared a look of concern. They saw Roland walk back and forth in front of the wall three times. However the door to the Room of Requirement did not appear.
"Someone must be in there," Roland said under his breath. He turned back to Lily and Alice. Would you mind if you turned around for me, please?"
Alice and Lily reluctantly turned around. They heard Roland mutter under his breath and then knocked on the wall.
'Knock-knock, knock-knock, knock-knock, knock-knock, thump-thump!'
"Okay, you can turn around now," Roland called out to Lily and Alice.
The two turned around to see the door appear. Roland went to open the door, but it opened from the inside.
Lily and Alice froze when they saw who it was.
Dante Yalarad opened the door and smiled when he saw Roland. "Roland, it's good to see you. Did you have a good day?'
"I did Dante, I took your advice, and about the Vera Verto charm and I did it my first try!"
"Excellent! Well done Roland!" Dante smiled, he did a double take when he noticed Lily and Alice. "Well hello there."
Paul introduced Dante to Lily and Alice. "Lily, Alice. This is Dante, he's the Head boy as I'm sure you know."
"We know," Lily said. "Believe me, we know."
"Dante, Lily and Alice wanted to talk to me about something, and they wanted somewhere private."
Dante took a good look at Lily and Alice. "I see. Well then, please come in. After all, a friend of Roland is a friend of mine." He opened the door for Lily and Alice. "You'll have all the privacy you want in here!"
Lily and Alice took a step back. "Actually, I just remembered we needed to talk to Professor McGonagall about an extra credit opportunity in Transfiguration," Alice lied.
"Oh well I hope we can talk about this later then," Roland said hopefully.
"We will Roland," Lily said before she looked up at Dante defiantly. She and Alice quickly made their way from their former clubhouse.
Roland scratched his head, "I wonder what they wanted to talk about?"
Dante grinned, he knew exactly what they wanted to talk about. "No idea," He lied.
Dante escorted Ronald into their clubhouse and closed the door.
A few minutes later the door reappeared, and someone else came out. The tall young man walked briskly over to the railing of the Grand Staircase and spotted his quarry. Lily Evans And Alice Starkey walking quickly down the staircase.
His task was simple, observe and report.
He briskly walked down the staircase following the two girls.
He followed them down to the dungeons. Where in the dark corridors they seemed to give them the slip.
He groaned under his breath having lost his targets, but at least he narrowed down his search for the next time.
He turned around and was not surprised to see Severus Snape flanked by his Black Cloak behind him.
"What are you doing here Doherty," Severus asked him point blank.
Cassidy Doherty smacked his lips and shrugged his shoulders. "A couple of kitty cats got lost, and made their way down to the dungeons. When they should have been making their way to McGonagall's, or so I've heard. Just being neighborly, and making sure they haven't...lost their way."
"Lily and Alice are right where they should be. Now, you should leave," Severus advised the Hufflepuff.
"Is that right Snape?"
"That's right." Severus scoffed, "I'm actually surprised you haven't called me Snivellus, or something of the like."
"Not my style," Doherty admitted. "If I wanted to belittle you, I'd beat the piss out of you in front of your friends, and the entire school."
Black Donal took a step forward. "You'd be hard pressed to do that when I am around."
Doherty smiled, "Why would I beat the crap out of Shape, when a bigger prize steps forward?"
Black Donal frowned.
"Whipping a kid three years younger than me won't put my name in other people's mouths. But besting a Black Cloak, even one fresh out of the academy, would make my name well known."
Black Donal crossed his arms, "Clout? Are you looking clout? Boy, you're barking up the wrong tree!"
"Am I? It's not impossible to beat a Black Cloak, granted only one person outside of your order has been able to in the past fifty years, and that was Sami's father."
Severus hadn't known that. It was true, Black Cloaks were the very best when it came to protecting their clients. They were masters of unarmed combat by the time they left the academy.
"Boy, you certainly aren't Silas Yalarad!"
"Rather be a nobody, than share blood with the Grey Cloak," Cassidy Doherty said to rile Black Donal.
Severus looked confused, "What is the Grey Cloak?"
Black Donal stepped around Severus and stood down Cassidy Doherty. "You be quiet."
"Black Donal!"
The Black Cloak looked back at his ward, and then walked back behind him.
"Best be careful Severus, you're responsible for whatever he does. He needs justification in order to use force in order to protect you, but if he acts without it and someone gets hurt..." Cassidy chuckled as he left the two of them in the dungeon corridor by themselves, turning a corner to go back the way he came.
"Black Donal what…"
"Shhhh." Black Donal shushed Severus before he went to the corner and peered behind it. Doherty was indeed making his way out of the dungeon.
He turned back to Severus, "Please forgive me Severus. I acted out of turn, Doherty... got under my skin"
"What's the Grey Cloak? What was he talking about?"
Black Donal sighed, "It's a long story Severus. I promise to tell you another time. Right now we should talk to Lily and Alice. They looked like they had something important to tell us."
Severus nodded, they went into their new clubhouse to speak with Alice and Lily.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Dante was helping Roland with his Charms homework when Cassidy came back into their clubhouse.
It was a more open concept than the room was when Severus and his friends inhabited it. There were several tables that could be used for different means. In each corner there were different stations. The first was a kitchen area which was inhabited by Sebastian exclusively, the second was the potion-making area, the third in the southeast corner was the fireplace where one could unwind and relax, and the final corner had a few adjacent rooms, a couple of bedrooms, a closet, and a bathroom.
"Okay so when performing this charm you need to follow this wand movement. Practice it for a bit while I speak with Cass."
"Okay Dante!" Roland began studying the wand movement.
Dante got up from his seat and walked over to Cassidy who went into a bedroom. He followed Cass inside, "What did you find out?"
"I followed Evans and Starkey down to the dungeons, so I assume that Snape and his lackeys are meeting down there somewhere."
Dante scoffed, "Of course they'd meet somewhere in the Dungeons."
Cassidy shook his head, "I lost them near the entrance to Slytherin House."
"Are you sure they didn't go into Slytherin House? Maybe Snivvy gave them the password?"
Casa shook his head no, "I'm positive, last I saw they turned the corner leading away from Slytherin House."
Dante was deep in thought.
"Say what were they doing anyway? You never said," Cassidy asked.
"They were going to try and convince Summmerset to abandon us," Dante snarled.
"Those little bitches," Cassidy bared his teeth. "What should we do?"
"For the moment nothing," Dante thought aloud. "I have to write a letter to my sponsor. See if he can't give me some information I need." He looked over to his best friend, "Do you have any ideas?"
"Well we could do business with those guys who reached out?"
Dante looked at Cassidy, "Are you insane? Their demands were too high!"
"Then let's negotiate. See if we can't get them to come down a bit," Cassidy bargained with Dante.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Fine, bring them to the table. But if they try to ask for more…"
"I'll beat the shit out of them myself," Cassidy promised.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Back down in the dungeons, everybody was there now, after classes had let out they had all come down to their new meeting place.
Lily and Alice had told everyone what had happened, and to say that Sirius Back was upset was an understatement.
"What do you mean Dante Yalarad's taken control of the room of requirement?!"
"Siri, calm down!" Remus tried his best to ease his friend's tension.
"Fuck that!" Sirius was seeing red.
"Sirius, please calm down," Lily pleaded with her friend. "We don't need you flying off the handle."
Sirius took a few deep breaths and then sat at the table in the center of the room.
Severus was mad as well, not about the Room of Requirements, but because Doherty was able to get that close to Lily.
"That's our place!" Sirius fumed.
"Technically speaking it's not. It's whomever gets there first, and I really wouldn't try getting there first." Regulus looked up from his DADA textbook, "It sounds like Dante has set up some sort of password that locks the room out from anybody not in the United from coming in."
"Isn't that illegal?" Jane asked. "I mean every student has the right to use it, provided they know it exists. I wonder what McGonagall would say if we told her."
Caddaric shrugged. "She might be angry and try to do something about it, but Dumbledore would probably just overrule her and say the Head Boy has the right to do whatever he wants with it."
"I think the United has us outfoxed for the time being," Remus added.
Severus sighed, he decided now was as good of a time as any. "Speaking of The United there's something I need to ask you all."
Everyone gave him his attention, "If we are successful in separating Sam and his friends from Dante, do we reach out? Try and forge an alliance with them?"
Everyone turned to each other to try and gauge how everyone else felt about it.
Sirius scoffed, "Hell no!" He stood up and walked around the table to stand across from Severus. "I can't believe you'd ask something like that!"
Remus and Cadderic got in between Severus and Sirius, they knew this wouldn't come to blows, but they just wanted to make sure.
"Sirius, it's logical!"
"We don't need Yally Boy or his misfit friends around. It'd be a nightmare to keep track of everyone!"
"I'm not talking about a unification of our little clubs. Just y'know, some sort of agreement. You watch my back, I watch yours."
Sirius scoffed, but Regulus saw where Severus was coming from. "I see, but I don't know if he would agree to it. I mean with him fixated on our father."
Sirius pointed at his brother, "Exactly. How would we be able to trust him?"
Severus scratched his head, "Does anyone else have reservations."
Nobody spoke up, The Black brothers were the only ones. Sirius sighed, "Okay. I see Reg and I are the minority. And I will grant you, Sam's a good enough bloke. So, you go ahead and try to reach out when all is said and done, but I think I can speak for my brother when I say I'm washing my hands of this." Sirius mimed himself scrubbing his hands.
Severus wanted Sirius and Regulus to be on the same side, but them vowing not to interfere with negotiations; was good as Severus was going to get at that point.
"Any other bits of business?" Sirius asked aloud to try and get the taste of Sam Yalarad out of his tongue.
"I do," Black Donal spoke up, surprising everyone as he was usually pretty quiet. Everyone turned to give him their attention. "I've been by Professor Schell's a bit, and seen what the first 'intensive study' will be about. All I will say is not to eat breakfast before going in."
Everyone blanched, wondering if he was telling the truth or not.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
The classroom was full of students, every single one of them had gotten their permission slip signed to attend these lessons.
Everyone had been sitting in a seat. The students were haphazardly seated with their own little cliques. Severus and his friends were in the back, and Sam along with his friends were up front.
There were students from all four houses, Severus noticed. The door to the back office opened and Gabriel came out holding a reel of pictures. "I am going to be blunt, and I will use some choice language right now. You aren't kids anymore, so I'm not going to treat you like kids." His eyes ran across the classroom of students. "I am going to expose you to some vile shit."
A few of the students gasped at his terminology. Severus knew right away that Gabriel was not fooling around.
"I'm not doing this to scare you." Gabriel grinned, "If I wanted to scare you, I'd dress up like Haldana Hardbroom, wait in the shadows, jump out, and yell 'Boo!'"
That got a laugh or two out of the classroom.
"What you're going to see will be very impactful, and is not for the faint of heart! So, I need to fiddle with this reel for a minute. I'm going to head back into my office to fix it. I know you all had your parents sign the permission slip to attend these classes, but if you are having any second thoughts about this. This is your last chance to leave."
Gabriel scanned the classroom for students who may want to leave, "I'm not going to be mad, or poke fun at you. And I'm going to make damn sure nobody else pokes fun at you as well! Once I start I'm not going to stop. So I'm going to fix this reel for a minute or so. When I come back out, we will begin."
Gabriel stepped back into his office to fiddle with his reel. This was of course a chance for anybody who had a second thought to leave. There were a couple of students who had left. Nobody said a word.
Peter looked like he wanted to leave, but steeled his resolve and remained seated.
Gabriel came back out a minute later, and did a slight double take as he saw that Peter had remained.
"All right. Let's begin. Severus, get the lights." Gabriel addressed one of his pupils.
Severus nodded. He stood up and with a wave of his wand closed the windows, leaving them all in darkness.
"And lock the door."
Severus looked at Gabriel, who looked serious. He nodded at the door. Severus did as he was told, and locked it.
He then took his seat back with his friends, and sat next to Lily.
Gabriel went to the projector and inserted the reel into the machine. "Let's begin."
He took the trigger and clicked it.
The first slide came up, And immediately everyone recoiled, except for Gabriel.
There was a close-up picture of a man on a metal slab, somewhere in some random morgue.
Lily immediately turned to Severus and hid her face away from the screen, and buried her face into his shoulder.
The head of this man was caved in. It was virtually concave. His cheek bones and orbital bones were crushed. Blood could be seen seeping out of the ear canals. The eyes were bulged out of the man's skull, and one was unfortunately popped, and leaked fluid from it.
Severus was thankful that Black Donal advised him not to eat before coming. Otherwise he felt as if he would lose his lunch.
Sebastian wasn't so lucky. "P-Professor Schell? I don't...feel…" Sebastian held his mouth.
Gabriel gently whisked the young Slytherin up and guided him to the corner of the room where there was a bucket placed there by Gabriel for such an occasion.
"You're okay. You're okay." Gabriel rubbed Sebastian's back as he blew chunks. He gave Sebastian a vial with an Anti-Nausea potion. "Take this after, okay?"
Sebastian nodded, and then Gabriel turned to the other students. "I have anti-nausea potions for anyone who needs them…" He saw that Lily buried her face into Severus' shoulder.
Gabriel slowly walked over to where they were seated, and knelt down beside Lily. "Lily?" Gabriel spoke in a calm and soothing voice. "Lily, you have to look."
"I can't! It's horrible!" Lily sobbed as she pressed her face deeper into Severus' shoulder.
"I know it is Lily. Believe me, I would shield you and everyone here from this if I could, but I can't." Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, and spoke in a whisper that only Severus and Lily could hear. "You were fortunate last year at the Mullioned Moon. You had The Princes, Bobby and Belle Gold to help. Next time you might be alone, and I got to make sure you won't be taken by surprise!"
Lily sniffed and wiped her tears from her face as she turned to face him. She slowly shook her head, "Okay."
Gabriel shook his head with her, "Don't look away." He directed her back to the screen. She winced at the state of the man, but managed to keep her attention on the screen.
"This isn't a victim of an attack of any kind. I feel like I should put this out there," Gabriel explained.
Sam managed to find his voice, "Who...who is he then Gabriel, uh Professor Schell?"
"He was a follower of Gellert Grindelwald. He was killed in the midst of a raid on one of Grindelwald's many safe houses. He attempted to crush the head of one of the arresting aurors, but his intended victim was able to identify, and counter his curse."
Sebastian wobbled over to his seat next to Sam as Gabriel pressed the button on his trigger and the slide changed pictures.
The next one was bad, but not like the first picture. It was a picture of a hand split cleanly in half. From the tip of the middle finger, down to just above the wrist. "This guy tried to use the cutting curse to slice a few necks, but the arresting auror countered his charm, and it backfired on the sod."
"Who was it?" Renner uttered.
"That's not the point…"
Slink asked Gabriel, "Come on professor! Was it a Death Eater?"
Gabriel sighed, "This was Jaxson Love."
The eyes of nearly everyone widened. Sirius was the one to pipe up, "The, the Demon of Ottery St. Catchpole?"
"Yeah, Love had a few hostages, and the auror who caught him managed to stop and apprehend Love before he could escape and potentially kill somebody else."
"But that was…" Sirius and everyone else turned to Sam.
"Silas Yalarad, yes." Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're getting off topic here. The main thing I want everyone to take away is this."
Gabriel stood before the class, "This year I am going to teach you how to identify the use of the dark arts, and how to protect yourself against them. I'm also going to teach you certain spells and techniques to defend yourself and others, and to properly combat against said use of dark arts."
Severus and the entire class was attentive to what Gabriel was saying. There was something bothering him, "Professor?"
"Yes, Severus?"
"What about the others? The students who didn't sign up for the intensive studies? Apart from the study period, what will they be doing?"
"Oh they'll be studying the same subject matter...without all the…" Gabriel motioned at the screen. "Additional material." He looked at his students. "Don't worry, seeing as how you've all signed up for the intensive DADA course; I'll teach you some fun stuff not found in your books. Sound good?"
That arose a nice response from the students.
"All right, let's begin," Gabriel flipped to the next picture.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Lisa Troyer, Mary MacDonald, and Daniel MacTavish were one of the few students not signed up for the Intensive studies. They spent the time in an adjacent classroom retrofitted to be a study hall.
They were joined with Avery and the other children of Death Eaters who were purposely left out of the 'intensive studies.' Along with the others who had for one reason or another opted out of the class.
They were given the bare bones of the subject to be studied, and we're periodically checked in by Gabriel to make sure no rabble rousing was made.
Daniel was making a half hearted attempt to read through his materials. Lisa was hard at work painting her nails a deep color of Gryffindor red. Mary was the only one actually attempting to study properly. She remembered the promise her parents made before school started.
"Can you believe this? We're stuck with the bare bones of this course while Snape and his loser friends are learning Merlin knows what about dark curses! I should have signed up for that class," Daniel complained to Lisa and Mary.
"It makes no difference to me," Lisa giggled under her breath. "I'm not going to need this when I'm a rich housewife! Why should I care about defending myself I can hire a Black Cloak to protect me."
Daniel shook his head. "Like they'd accept your contract," He muttered under his breath.
"Did you say something," Lisa asked Daniel.
"Just clearing my throat."
Lisa looked at Daniel funny and leaned over to talk with Mary.
"What's up with him?" Lisa didn't hear Mary respond and looked over to see her with her face in her textbook. "Mary!"
MacDonald shot her head up, "What?"
"What's gotten into you?"
Mary raised an eyebrow, "You do remember what I told you about my parents, right?"
"Oh, right." Lisa turned her attention to Avery and the other DE's in training. They were all huddled around each other talking about something not related to the coursework. "They're up so something."
"They're always up to something," Mary retorted.
"This wouldn't happen if She'll hadn't separated the classes. What are they doing in that other class? Maybe we should write to our parents and to Lord Potter?"
Lisa looked over to see that Daniel and Mary were ignoring her, and studying.
"Hhmph, fine. I'll do it myself then!" Lisa Troyer planned her intrusive inquiries into these intensive studies.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
The following evening, Gabriel was called into Dumbledore's office. He stopped before the gargoyle and gave the password to it. He made sure to keep his voice down, you never know who may be listening.
Gabriel walked up the steps to his office, and knocked on the door.
"Headmaster?"
Dubbledore called out to him, "Come in Gabriel."
Gabriel opened the door and entered his office to see that Minerva McGonagall was also in Dumbledore's office. "Albus, Minerva. You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, please have a seat." Minerva addressed him.
Gabriel did as he was asked, and sat on the seat before Dumbledore's desk. "Is there a problem?"
Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Well… yes, as a matter of fact there is."
Gabriel leaned back in his chair and frowned. "What is it?"
Minerva filed through some letters, "We have received a few letters of complaint from some concerned parents."
"Is this about my intensive studies? When I sent out the permission slips I told them that these classes would include graphic material in the classes!"
Albus pointed out, "But nobody was expecting you to show them a dead body. More so, the corpse of a dark wizard under Grindelwald's employ."
"It was absolutely necessary."
Minerva crossed her arms, "What could warrant that, may I ask?"
"That, actions have consequences. That once the magic leaves their wand, it can't be taken back. They need to understand that if they may have to take the life of another in order to safeguard their own, or one that they love."
Gabriel leaned back in his seat, "Listen, I've got the remainder of this year, and the three after that to prepare them! If I'm going to be the Defense Professor for the remainder of that time; I'm going to prepare all of them for the dangers that might encounter. Internal, external, and otherwise."
Minerva and Albus looked a bit surprised.
"What?"
Albus stuttered, "I-I just was surprised to hear you show interest in being here for a while. Usually our defense professors are only contracted or stay for a year."
"That's no good Albus. These kids need consistency. If every year they get a new professor in a subject, no matter the study. There will surely be gaps of knowledge in their minds."
Minerva looked closely at him, "It's not just for them, that you're planning on staying on for, isn't it?"
Gabriel sighed, "No. I realize I'm not going to be here amongst the living forever. Everything has its time. Rest assured I'm going to make damn sure Severus and all of his friends, and Sam and all of his friends are prepared."
Albus twiddled his fingers, "I can understand wanting to protect your friend's children. However, I don't think they will need such...intensive studies, as you've put it."
Gabriel looked at him. "This is the second time I've had to say this week, and I hate repeating myself, so listen." He put his hands on his knee, "Severus and Lily were lucky last year during that attack at The Mullioned Moon. Vesper, Marius, Bobby and his wife Belle, were there to protect them and fight off those Death Eaters. Next time they won't be so lucky. Now, if any other student was in that situation, they might not have been so lucky. Bobby tutored Severus and his friends, because he wanted them to be prepared, and they were. I have to do that for all these kids, not just my favored few."
Gabriel stood up to bring his point home, "So, I'm sorry if a few students, and their parents want to complain about my intensive studies. Now, I don't see why! Albus, you gave me carte blanche to do these classes how I wanted! Provided that I sent out the permission slips. Who even complained? " Gabriel snatched a letter in McGonagall's hands to see who complained. "Troyer? Really?! She's a complete idiot who'd rather complain about a crack in one of her nails than pick up a book to read!
Minerva did agree with what Gabriel had to say, but had a sense to defend one of her Lions. "Really Gabriel, she's only a child."
"Minerva, I've done my reading on her and her gaggle of friends. Her, MacTavish, and MacDonald all followed at the hem of James Potter's cloak. Trying to rule the fucking roost because they thought they were above the rules. All three have a reputation of complaining to their parents, or going to the Daily Prophet to complain when things don't go their way!" Gabriel put his leg upon a stool and leaned against it, "I will not take any complaint of theirs seriously at face value! I'm sorry, I just can't do that with those three. Are there any others who have complained about my 'intensive studies' who weren't able to get parental permission, or intentionally kept out because of their low grades?"
Albus sighed and shook his head, "No Gabriel."
Gabriel put his leg down from his stool, and looked at both Dumbledore and McGonagall. "Do either of you have any sort of constructive criticism that's valid, that will actually be of help?"
Albus nodded, "If you would dial it down on your profanity? That has been a reoccurring point in these letters."
"Okay, that's fine. I'll mind my mouth, and think twice before opening it." Gabriel looked at Minerva, "Any notes from you?"
Minerva removed her glasses to clean them with her handkerchief. "Must you use those graphic images in your classes?!"
"Yes, it is. I'm not teaching them simple stuff. I'm teaching them techniques and spells that will protect them from the danger of the Dark Arts. In doing so, I have a responsibility to teach them that with it comes cause and effect, action and reaction, casualty and consequence. They need to know that in the act of saving their life, or the lives of others, they may take the life of their aggressor."
Minerva finished cleaning her glasses and put them back on, "But they're children Gabriel! This isn't the Auror Academy!"
"No it's not. If it were I'd be harder on them. Minerva, these studies aren't being offered to anyone under 4th year. Those kids, and those in higher years are old enough to understand, and they should understand. The sooner they learn that, the better. We can't keep them from the world, as dangerous as it may be. For one day, the world will come for them!"
Gabriel sighed as he put his hands upon Albus' desk and laid them flat. "As educators, we have a responsibility to teach the kids about their magics, and how to properly use them. But, wouldn't you agree that we also have a responsibility to teach these kids about the dangers they may face in the Wizarding world?!"
"Of course we do! You don't have to challenge that fact," Minerva agreed with him. "But… Gabriel, these are children, and your methods as if you were training them as if they were soldiers…"
Gabriel looked down at Albus' desk, and Albus looked a bit sorrowful.
Minerva looked at the both of them, "Wait! Wait a minute! They are not soldiers! You are not…"
"There is conflict brewing Minerva! Every single day more and more skirmishes are breaking out between Aurors and the Death Eaters! I will do what I possibly can in order to prepare my students in the event they get caught up in one!" Gabriel walked over towards her with a serious look in his eye. Albus stood to stop him, but Gabriel stopped before Minerva. "And that's the reason I have to teach them this way. They have to be prepared, to be ready! Whatever I teach them might be the difference between life and death!"
Minerva saw the seriousness in his words, and saw right then and there that Gabriel was not joking around. She saw the loss in his eyes.
"Let me ask you something, and I'd like an honest answer."
She looked at the Defense Professor.
"Do you want to outlive these kids?"
"NO!" Minerva exclaimed. A quick rage engulfed her emotions.
"Good."
Minerva took a moment to catch her breath, "Just… no more dead bodies. I can accept the fact about you showing bodily injuries and wounds from a hex or curse, but please, no more showing the students images of the dead!"
Gabriel looked at Minerva, he saw that she cared about her students. How she wanted to just shield them away from the horrors of the world, but unfortunately, that was no longer an option. "All right, I'll tone it down."
Albus breathed easy, thankfully they had all come to a compromise. An uneasy one, but a compromise nonetheless.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
At the same time, Severus was walking up to the Library without Black Donal. It had taken a lot of convincing, but in the end Severus had to order his Black Cloak not to follow him.
He saw that Frank Longbottom was waiting for him at the entrance of the library.
Severus walked over to him, and Frank approached him. "Just so you know Sirius is highly against what we're about to do."
"I know, trust me, I know." Severus sighed, "But we have to do this. At least try and make an attempt."
Frank nodded his head and followed Severus inside the Library.
The two made their way inside and made sure not to draw too much attention to themselves.
Frank and Severus made their way up to the second floor of the library and looked around the carrels. They saw Sebastian standing by one such carrel.
As Severus and Frank approached, they saw that Michael Ashdown was nowhere to be seen.
"Sebastian, where is Michael?" Severus asked him.
"He's here, but he won't come out unless you both disarm," Sebastian stated.
Frank raised his hands in surprise, "What, me too?!"
Severus put his hand on Frank's shoulder. "No, that's fair. We need to show them that we mean no harm."
Severus took out his wand and gave it to Sebastian.
Frank sighed as he disarmed himself of his wand, and gave it to Sebastian. "I'm not making a habit out of this."
"Noted," Sebastian put their wands in his pocket. "Okay, you two sit down here." He guided them to sit down in a study carrel.
Severus and Frank sat down in the carrel and looked around.
Frank was getting a bit annoyed, "Well where is he?"
A slot in the middle of the study carrel opened, and across the partition was Michael Ashdown.
He was a brown haired jovial fellow. Ashdown always had a smile permanently glued onto his face, but this time was different. Now he was more reserved, behind his chocolate brown eyes was an aura of fear. "Were you followed?"
Frank thought about it, "Um, no I don't think so? At least I wasn't."
Severus shook his head, "Nobody followed me, I looped around the castle a few times to make sure."
"Okay." Michael looked at Severus, "So you're looking to take on Dante, right? You said in your note that you are looking for help to take him on?"
"Well not exactly, what we're trying to do is get Sam away from Dante's clutches, and try and convince him to kick Dante to the curb."
Michael scoffed, "You might as well try to make gold from tin. You'll have more luck with that than turning Sam against Dante."
"Why do you say that," Severus asked him.
"We've all tried. Every single last one of his friends, myself included. Have tried in vain, to convince him to drop Dante like a bad habit, but he won't listen. It's like he's so afraid of turning against him, he'll take steps to avoid such talk around him so that Dante won't think he's making a power play!" Ashdown crossed his arms.
Frank rubbed his chin. "What about his family?"
"Huh?" Michael looked at Frank. "What's that, Frankie?"
"Bartholomew told Severus that in order to convince Sam we'll need the support of his friends, and his family."
Ashdown leaned against his seat. "Yeah...that might work. We've always tried to keep Augie, Lyta, and his cousins out of it. However, throw them in the mix, and you may have something."
"So will you help us? If you do, you'll never have to watch over your shoulder for Dante ever again!"
Such a result was appealing to Ashdown. "Alright Severus, you have my support. To rid ourselves of our 'Head Menace' is a top priority in my book!"
Severus smiled, "Splendid. Thank you Michael."
"What did you have in mind? Who else are you planning on bringing into this little conspiracy?"
"Everyone that Sam brought into the United, so basically all his friends. His siblings, Agamemnon and Hippolyta, and his cousins, Vienna and Renner."
Michaels face lit up, "You know if you could convince Dee-Dee to join that would really be helpful."
"Dante's sister?" Frank exclaimed, "Don't be ridiculous, she'd never join us."
"Don't be so negative Longbottom," Sebastian smiled. "She's heard the stories about how Dante used to torment the Slytherin students back in the day. If you convince her that he's up to no good again, she may turn against him."
Severus nodded, "What about his younger brother, John?"
"Oh don't bother with that naive idiot. He's so hopped up on hero worship of his brother that nothing will convince him that Dante's crap doesn't stink! Dante could kill the Minister Bagnold in the middle of The Wizengamot, and he'd still think that he's the messiah!"
Severus groaned, "Okay, thank you Michael."
"Yeah thank you Michael," Frank said.
As the two began to get up Michael stopped them, "Wait."
Severus and Frank looked at Michael.
"What?"
Michael looked a bit uncomfortable, but trudged onward. "I just heard this from Sam before coming here, but…"
"But what? What are you talking about," Frank asked Michael.
"Are you sure you want to tell them? Sam said this was unconfirmed," Sebastian asked Ashdown.
"What? Tell them what," Severus asked them.
Michael sighed, "Sam says that Dante is creating a network of informants in Hogwarts from students to prefects. Sam also says that someone in your little group is an informant as well."
Thank you for reading. Please review.