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"Ah, Professor Vector," Dumbledore nodded at the young woman as she stepped into the meeting chambers, "Now that everyone is here, let us begin with how the seventh years have been doing? Quirinus?"
"Several of them would have made excellent Aurors," the turban-wearing man smiled, before his eyes flicked towards his black-robed colleague, "Had all but three not scored so abysmally in a rather core requirement for passing the trials. Other than Heiress Rookwood, Mr. Anders, and Mr. Avery, no other student has achieved constant Outstandings in DADA and Potions both."
"Two of whom are curiously enough, Slytherins." McGonagall muttered from the side, sending a scathing look at her once-student turned fellow Professor, "One would think you would stop these childish, unprofessional habits of yours after more than a decade of teaching here, Severus."
"It is not my fault that some find the intricacies of advanced Potion making far more interesting than…" Snape's lips curled into a barely-there smirk, his dark eyes looking down at Minerva despite being decades younger, "Riding brooms and watching others bumble about, making fools of each other. Besides, I certainly remember sending you complaints about the regular cauldron explosions and contaminated equipment before this batch took their OWLS. How can you expect them to score O's in NEWTS when they can't be bothered to remember the potions from their fifth year? At least."
"Yes, well I am sure they will understand the consequences of slacking off in due time," Filius intervened, his smile not wavering in the slightest, "In Charms, however, every seventh year except for Ms. Dean and Mr. Abernathy is performing quite well. All except those two are going to score Exceeds Expectations or Outstandings."
"Same in Herbology too, or at least for those who have taken it," Pomona said from the side, adjusting the muddied, torn hat on her head, "Only four students continued it after OWLs, and all of them are quite exemplary herbologists. Why, Ms. Quinn even created three new types of venomous archspores and a completely new type of dragonsblood!"
"It seems like we are going to have a new Herbology Master quite soon then," he nodded, proud of the accomplishments of his teachers and students alike. The five core subjects done, Dumbledore turned his eyes towards the Arithmancy and Astronomy teachers. He would have liked for Silvanus to join them, but his long-time colleague was sadly nursing yet another injury. Maybe it was time to ask him to re-
"Ms. Dean, Mr. Avery, and Ms. Rookwood are the only ones to score an Outstanding," Septima spoke first, breaking him out of his thoughts as she waved her wand and sent a series of papers towards him, "That is my Letter of Acceptance for all three of them. Mr. Avery, it seems may also very well score an O+, if he is successful in creating the Shield spells he has been working on."
"Quite marvelous," Dumbledore muttered as he took in the contracts Septima had written for the three extraordinary students. It had been quite an amount of time since he had last seen someone in Hogwarts being offered an apprenticeship—nearly thirteen years, if he was remembering right, "I am sure they will flourish and grow much under your tutelage Septima, if they decide to pursue the Mastery of course."
"Thank, you Headmaster," she lowered her head a little, "Uh…now that the topic of Mastery has come up, I would like to request you for the arrangement of the Chanakya's Arithmancy, and Evolution of spellcraft. Prior to today, there was uh…no need for it…but now that I have to teach Master's level Arithmancy, I need those books."
"I will see about what I can do." he nodded, stroking his beard as he thought about who he could contact for such priceless books—after all, there were only about twelve copies of the first one worldwide. Maybe Nicholas would be willing to lend his copy?
"Speaking of talented students and letters," Pomona turned towards her colleague, a bemused expression on her face, "What happened with the Weasley twins day the before yesterday? I heard several of my 'Puffs talking about how you burned their books right in front of every Gryffindor, and that you sent a Howler to their mother."
"What?!"
"I heard much the same," Severus chose this moment to comment, his expression finally changing to show his humor as his lips pulled back into a mocking smile, "Great way of dealing with disobedient students, Minerva. It seems I have been quite lenient over the years with the rambunctious, loudmouthed bunch of the castle."
"Lenient is a word not even an Azkaban inmate would refer you with," FIlius snapped at the younger man, making Dumbeodre almost jump at the venom in his voice, "Why you feel the need of belittling students and turning a blind eye to your Slytherins, I have no idea of it. But you will not pass another comment about how someone else handles children, understood?"
"Filius," he muttered quietly, sighing quietly as he turned his eyes towards the Slytherin Professor, "Calm yourself. Severus is not going to peak anything of the sort once again. Now, I would like to know about what actually happened—instead of the surely exaggerated version that was being told by the students."
"I never touched the belongings of the Weasley Twins," McGonagall shook her head, her eyes seeming to spit fire as she glared at the table, "I just burned their prank items and toys, although I did it in front of the common room."
"And, why…did you feel you had the reason to burn their possessions, when for years you have given a blind eye to their antics and activities," Severus once again prodded the already irate witch, his eyes shining with glee—because this time, impossibly, Snape had every right to be gleeful and abrasive. Steepling his hands in front of his face, Dumbledore calmly looked at the tightening knuckles of Minerva, while Severus continued his barbed words, "When you turned a blind eye to even the Marauders"—he hadn't known one could breathe so much poison into a word—"and their pranks."
"Severus," he shook his head, blue eyes staring down at the man with a silent order, "I am sure Minerva is just about to tell us why she did such a thing, so kindly keep your questions to yourself until she is done explaining."
"Yes…Headmaster" he stiffly nodded, his face once more an impassive, emotionless mask—perfect enough to make him wonder at times, whether Snape had ever even been truthful with him or not.
"Perfect," he nodded, his voice once more jovial and pleased, before he turned towards his Deputy, "Minerva, if you will?"
"Yes, right," she took a deep breath and unclenched her fists, bere she raised her eyes towards Filius, who cruise gave her a nod. She took a deep breath after that, and the tension in her shoulders seemed to leave out in the heavy exhale that followed as she slumped back into her seat, "The day before the students were to leave for the holidays, Filius and I were watching the Potters and their two friends play in the snow outside…when I came to know how the latest prank of the Weasley twins was enough to send Miss. Edwards, a second year from my house due to her allergy to Bubotuber pus."
"Oh my!" Pomona gasped, and Aurora uttered a low 'fuck!' at the news…while Albus was left wondering why in the name of Merlin he wasn't notified of such a happening in the castle.
"And then," Minerva sighed heavily, "and then Filius further informed me about how he had seen the twins continuously watching the Potters…it wasn't hard to realize that whatever they might have planned, it was going to get them and their family ruined."
"Lord Black," Septima whispered quietly, her eyes lowering to the table as she shivered, "I think your actions were justifiable, Professor McGonagall. Maybe this would impress upon them the severity and the potential for harming some of their pranks can have on others. While their ingenuity and talent for charms and transfiguration cannot be denied, I have seen how their treats and items are getting more and more creative, and simultaneously dangerous too."
"There is a reason Zonko uses contracts and insurance for their employees," he sighed, deciding to visit Miss Edwards right away after the meeting, "Do Arthur and Molly know about these events?"
"I called them the same morning when I took the twins to my office," she nodded, "Arthur was…I don't think I have seen him so angry, while Molly, well now I understand why Wiliam and Charlie burned her howlers before they could so much as twitch in front of them."
"What I want to know is, how the hell did the twins even get their hands on Bubotuber pus?!" Pomona frowned, her eyes scrunched in displeasure and confusion both as she pointed in the direction of her Greenhouses, "The doors of the Greenhouses have been undisturbed ever since I caught them trying to enter it for the first time. Two third years couldn't have managed to break them down and build them back up so flawlessly…so they got their pus from somewhere else."
"My stores are untouched," came the swift answer to the unasked question as Severus crossed his arms, "They can't even hope to find it, let alone steal something that isn't there."
"The questions still stands," he leaned forwards, pinning each and everyone of his teachers with his gaze, "How are the twins able to find and use Class 3 and above category substances in the castle, when each of your ingredients is untouched, and they don't have the money to owl-order them from apocatheries."
"Just like James Potter and his friends," Septima sighed, before she gasped and looked at her once-professors with an apologetic face, "I am sorry! I know they are a sore topic for most of you—but this just reminded me of them."
"No worries my dear," Dumbledore sighed—something which he seemed to be doing a lot as of late, "As uncomfortable as their names and history in this castle are…we can't deny the obvious. Besides, you are right Septima. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were always able to traverse the castle and find hidden, unknown things in quite…mysterious ways. I am sure by the time they had graduated, the four of them had probably uncovered almost all of the secret passageways and rooms in Hogwarts. Therefore, it is not out of possibility that Fred and George have also discovered something which allows them to do the same."
"Their ways of wandering into unauthorized and prohibited places aside," Aurora cut in, turning towards Minerva, "How is Miss Edwards? I am also quite shocked Poppy isn't here this time around, to inform us all about her personally."
"Miss. Edwards will make a full recovery within two to three days," she replied, pressing her hands against her forehead, "the Bubotuber inside the candies behaved like a caustic substance in her esophagus, and her stomach, as well as the intestines, suffered some damage. Thankfully, Miss Chang was fast enough in getting her to Poppy before her condition could worsen. I met her this morning, the girl is weak from the fever and the potions Poppy had to pour down her throat, but she was able to sit up and hold a conversation for almost ten minutes."
"Fifty points to Ravenclaw then," Dumbledore declared as he stood up from his chair and walked over to the window, "Have the points from Gryffindor house been deducted?"
"Yes Headmaster, eighty points each for endangerment of a junior's life. Twenty each for irresponsible, immoral behavior…and a hundred more for experimenting with life-threatening substances without professional guidance and adult supervision."
"Good," he nodded to himself, "Now that this unpleasantness is mostly behind us. Let's continue with the students once more. Any notable sixth or fifth years?"
"Marcus Flint is once again showing why rumors of troll blood in his bloodline gained such credence," FIlius drily remarked, waving his hand at the thought of the Slytherin fifth-year…who should have graduated last year, "and of course, there are his attempts to court Heiress Rookwood. Other than him, I don't think any other fifth year is of note."
"What about the prefects we selected this year?" he asked next, turning around to look at his Heads of the Houses, "From the fifth years, do any of them look like they will carve a name in Magical Society?"
"Eveline Rookwood is quickly following the footsteps of her cousin," Minerva stated, "Whilst not as impressive in the practical portion of Transfiguration as the Heiress, she is still achieving outstandings continuously."
"She is quite an accomplished brewer already, and I believe she can easily pass the NEWT with at least an Exceeds Expectation right now," Snape continued, "Emma Stanley from Hufflepuff is also an excellent student, capable of making proper decisions in critical stages without panicking and blowing her cauldrons."
"Filius?" he turned towards the half-dwarf, mentally noting down to keep an eye on Ms. Stanley—it was hard to hear genuine praise in Severus' voice for anyone, "Any future Charms Masters or Mistresses in the fifth year?"
"None I am afraid," he shook his head, "While a few are scoring outstandings…they don't have the skill needed to earn a Mastery in this field."
"Flora Carrow and Dmitri Matthews are the best in my subject," Septima said next, "Both are dedicated to Runecraft, the latter has even started on Hieroglyphs and Aztec carvings before his classmates."
Aurora and Pomona both shook their heads at him, the fact that none of the current fifth years had impressed them, saddening him a little. Deciding to come upon the last batch they discussed in these meetings, Dumbledore looked at the five core subject teachers, and they understood his silent question instantly.
"The first years this time around are impressive," Pomona began first, a wide smile on her face as she practically gushed, "Neville Longbottom, Tracy Davis, and Hannah Abbot are all great Herbologists with a knack for plants rarely ever seen. However, Ms. Granger, Ms. Greengrass, Ms. Parkinson, Padma Patil, and the Potter twins are close behind them when their theory work is added to the evaluation,"
"Absolutely wonderful," he nodded, smiling at the clear joy on the witch's face before he turned towards his newest—and hopefully longer lasting—Defence professor, "Quirinus, any words on the first years?"
"In my subject…" he paused for a moment, and Dumbledore could have sworn he had seen that grin somewhere, but before he could think anymore upon it, Quirell continued, "Harry and Persephone Potter, along with Neville Longbottom are the best, theory and practicals both combined. While Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Susan Bones, and Daphne Greengrass show outstanding results in writing, and are no slouches in their spellwork either…those three are clearly a cut above the norm. Longbottom and the Potters, all three will score above O+ in the end of the year exams, and if their fantastic growth in the evening sessions is anything to go by… then calling them prodigies won't be an exaggeration in the slightest."
"A high time it has been since someone has been called a prodigy, and that too in their first year itself," he murmured, walking back to his seat and sitting down, "Thank you for the extra time you are devoting to them, Quirinus. I have no doubt they will flourish a lot under your tutelage over the coming years."
"Thank you," the turban-wearing man lowered his head, "Praise from you means a lot to me…Headmaster. It has always been a lifelong dream of mine to teach children at Hogwarts, and now that I am able to teach these young, brilliant minds…words cannot express how thankful I am to you for this opportunity."
"'Tis not my compliments and applause you should be aiming for Quirinus," the older wizard chuckled, "It is the success and growth of one's students that is the true form of praise for any teacher."
"I will remember that," he smiled, his maroon eyes flicking towards everyone on the table, "It seems like the Potters and Neville Longbottom are becoming favourites of everyone here."
"They are miles ahead of anyone in my subject," Filius nodded, "While Ms. Granger is quite talented and performs the charm I am teaching within moments, she simply cannot match the sheer ease and the level of control the Potters and Longbottom show. She is no doubt one of the most talented witches in that batch, but Ms. Granger limits herself with the books and the exact words I say. Ms. Patil on the other hand, is perfect in every aspect of my class, and it is only due to her lack of power as compared to the Potters and Neville that puts her behind them."
"They are rather powerful for their age, much more so than either of their parents were," Minerva agreed, sighing as she did so, "Burning every newspaper in the Great Hall and not even staggering, and Neville blasting apart a boulder the size of a hippogryph and feeling just a little faint at the age of seven…I have never seen kids as powerful as these three."
"Their piercing hexes can shatter three glass panes at once, and each is usually two inches thick," Quirinus commented from the side, pride on his features as he held his fingers apart to show the width, "By the time this year ends, they will have learned the stunning spell, Protego, and the bone-breaking spell quite thoroughly."
"Quite splendid," he nodded, his eyes turning towards the witch at his side, "and is their performance in Transfiguration as impressive as in the other subjects?"
"Very much so," Minerva nodded, "Every Transfiguration and Untransfiguration is completed on their first try, and I would say that it isn't the work of a first-year if I did not see it happening in front of me. Ms. Granger is excellent in my subject, but as Filius said, she limits herself to the words, to the wand motions and forgets the most basic elements of Transfiguration in her haste."
"They are…adequate." Severus said before anyone could turn to him, and in the stunned silence that followed, he swept out of the room silently. Wide eyes followed him every step of the way until he disappeared around the corner adn the doors closed behind him.
"Di-Did Severus just compliment James Potter's children?" Filius choked out, his eyes alight with mirth adn he barely suppressed his laughter at the widened eyes around him, "Can someone check if he was really Snape or not?"
That afternoon, in the confines of his office…Dumbledore heard his once apprentice and colleague of several decades laugh harder than she ever had as Filius' words broke the silence.
"Harry, Persephone," Arcturus greeted them as they came into the dining room , "I trust Miyara prepared the rooms to your satisfaction?"
"She did…Grandfather," Harry nodded back, adjusting the shirt the little house-elf had laid out for him—like the beds at Hogwarts, it would take some time for them to get used to comfortable clothes, "Although, one bed would be fine for both of us."
"Hmm, very well," he nodded, snapping his fingers once, "It has been done. Now, I have assumed the role of your magical guardian, which entails the following on my part. I am responsible for you both, in every sense of the word. Until you turn seventeen or are recognized as an adult by Magic or by the Ministry, you will live under my roof, eat from my table, and will be recognized as the wards and scions of the House of Black."
"Are there any obligations, any particular actions expected of us in return?" Persephone asked, stilling her hand as she reached out to pull the chair, her emerald eyes looking into Arcturus' stone-grey ones..
"Don't be like you fool of a cousin for one," he answered promptly, leaning back into his chair and regarding them with a small upturn of his lips, "Most of the time, you won't really have to do anything but excel at your studies and magic like you have been doing. Mayhaps we may need to attend some social event once in a while if I feel like it, and lastly, you will learn magic from me while you are in this castle. You will not slack off, you will not get lazy, and lastly, you will not perform any action or deed that will bring shame upon the House of Black."
"And those actions would be?"
"Fighting, maiming, or killing someone without any justified, valid, and moreover provable reason," he answered, nodding at the seats at his side, "and using my name to solve your problems."
A bit surprised that he would talk about killing and maiming with them, Harry and Persephone nonetheless nodded and sat down at the table. A moment later, pancakes and bacon appeared in front of them, the aroma wafting off the items somehow even more heavenly and salivating than Hogwarts' divine dishes.
As Persephone served the bacon and the pancakes to him, Harry took the moment to look at the headlines on the Daily Prophet, the top newspaper of British Magical society lying with its front page half-crumpled. The words Scourge of Brittany takes the Potter twins into his home? Are we looking at the new Twins of Terror?
"Little girl wasn't born when I earned that title, but she is going to give you a number of them over the following years," Arcturus said, pointing his fork at the smiling picture of Rita Skeeter on the first page, "Lesson number one, the sheep and the vultures both will cry and bay for your blood, but you will keep silent. You will not respond in anger, and neither will you try to shut them up in a brash, emotion-controlled move. What you will do is wait and learn, practice and gain power…until one day, you will come out in front of the world, and shut everyone up for good."
His jaw dropped open at the sudden, out-of-the-blue words, and Harry imagined his sister wasn't faring much better as they both looked at Arcturus. The man on the other hand, calmly continued with his breakfast the next second as he had not just told them…whatever it had been!
After a few moments of stunned silence, Persephone said, "You believe us to be capable enough for some grand, world-shaking spectacle that will make Rita sound true with her predictions of us being power-hungry, dark, and dangerous 'terrors'."
"Correct," he nodded, his eyes seeming to turn darker despite the abundant light as he leaned forwards, "There are many rules and regulations in the magical world, be it any country you travel to, but one thing remains constant all over the world. Everyone bows before magical might. Fudge yaps about Dumbledore in secret, but until and unless Dumbledore allows him to do anything, nothing will happen. When the whispers of Lord Voldemort's existence were heard in the mid-sixties, the public laughed and jeered about him…but one massacre and a hundred-foot long Fiendfyre dragon later, no one had the balls to do the same again."
"Was it the same with you?" Harry leaned forwards, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the older wizard, "Did you also do something like that to become the Scourge of Brittany?"
"I did," he nodded, "I will tell you about it, but first…I have some questions for you. You are not obligated to answer them, and neither will I force you to do so—but I would be grateful if you can show some trust in me."
"Okay," Persephone slowly nodded, and her hand found his beneath the table as she gave him a reassuring glance, intertwining their fingers together, "We will answer your questions, if we want to."
"Agreed," he inclined his head, before he crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back into his seat, "First of all, where did you spend your childhood?"
"With our aunt, Petunia Dursley, and her husband," she answered, barely keeping back the disgust and rage from flowing into her words, "in Surrey."
"I have heard that name before," he murmured, looking at both of them keenly, "Dorea and Sirius both told me a bit about her years ago. They said she was a jealous bint who was not even a hundredth as beautiful as your mother, and she hated magic with a passion that would have made the Mediaeval Church proud—and of course, she was jealous of your mother's beauty as well."
"She was," he nodded, stilling the momentary tremble in his hand, "She was jealous, and they both had an OCD for normalness. Anything abnormal, freakish, or different was not allowed inside their house. As the children of her magical sister, and possessing magic ourselves…we lived like house elves for almost all of the last ten years."
"Did she raise her hands on you" Arcturus quietly asked, his voice seeming to echo within itself, and Harry's eyes widened as he saw the darkest black imaginable seep into the older wizard's eyes—the sounds from the birds outside had stopped too, he realized. "Did her husband raise his hands on you?"
"...Yes" Persephone whispered, but in the deathly silence that had descended in the wake of Arcturus' rage, she might very well have shouted for how loud that single word seemed. It was the second time they were telling something so personal, so humiliating to anyone…and it was more difficult than when she and Harry had told some of it to Daphne and Tracey.
Because lying to them had made her feel guilty, and no matter what Harry said, she knew he felt a little bad too. But lying to Arcturus didn't seem like an option, either because the man was their long-lost, distant family and she wanted to trust him, or because she was afraid of getting their lies found out by his mind-reading, she wasn't sure—because there was no way he didn't know Legilimency.
"Tell me."
And so they did. Slowly at first, stumbling and halting over words, Harry and Persephone told Arcturus all about the Dursley household. It was uncharacteristic, unthinkable and so unlike them to tell someone who was still mostly a stranger about their time with their aunt…but then again, hadn't Arcturus stood up for them in Hogwarts and none had done so?
He had been a stranger then too.
And when after half an hour of telling him everything they remembered, Arcturus asked where the fucking sorry excuses for family lived, Persephone knew that trusting him was going to be the best decision they had ever taken.
He was going to murder Sirius if that foolish, idiot, moronic man ever came in front of him. In the most brutal way possible at that. Whether he was a Death Eater or a member of Dumbledore's group, it was of no matter to Arcturus. He had washed his hands off his Grandchildren the day Orion had them betrothed without his permission…but Sirius had broken his oath of being a Godfather to the twins.
There was a reason he didn't fight against Lord Voldemort all those years ago, even though he had known that should the Dark Lord win, it would lead to yet another World War. Because it would have meant fighting against Bellatrix, the girl he had taught everything she knew of magic, because it would have meant that Voldemort would punish Regulus, Narcissa, and his own right hand for his actions…because it would have meant fighting against the family.
And for Arcturus…spilling his family's blood once had been enough.
But now, after hearing what Sirius' actions had put his sister's grandchildren through, Arcturus would have crucioed his grandson into a blubbering, shaking mess without a lick of remorse had the younger man been present. Broken bones, bleeding gashes, burnt hands, bruised faces…Arcturus had half a mind to go and raze the whole Surrey into the damn ground with the ignorant, stupid muggles still inside their homes.
"They are dead," Harry answered him, shrugging his shoulders, "Died of…snakebites."
Oh. Arcturus smiled softly at first, the black in his eyes bleeding away as his shoulders shook a little, his magic running wilder than ever as he felt something he had not felt in years.
A mad urge to cackle.
The walls of Kástro Mávros darkened with shadows as he laughed, his voice echoing throat the castle as Arcturus beheld the legacy his sister and best friend had left behind. Snakebites, indeed, he thought as he stopped laughing, relishing in the slight pain in his abdomen. It had been a long time since he had laughed like that.
"Harry and Persephone," he breathed out as his voice finally stopped shaking, and the shadows once against returned to their original state as he reigned in his magic, "Come with me."
Following the man as he stood up from his seat and moved into the next room, both of them watched him press his hand on the raven carved into the hearth's grate, and with a heavy groaning, the stone walls behind it slid apart. Walking around the fireplace, Arcturus walked into the thin opening, and turned back to them once he raised they weren't walking behind him.
A raise of his eyebrow later…Harry and Persephone nodded and followed him into the depth of Kástro Mávros, and Arcturus could practically taste their hesitance, apprehension, and the undeniable sense of excitement in the air. He was going to have so much fun, teaching children about magic once again, and the fact that it was his dearest sister's and best friend's grandchildren made it all the more special.
And given the power he could feel from them both..it was going to be glorious.
After all, it wouldn't do good for the descendants of Potters, Blacks, and him to be anything but the best.