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Chapter 4 - Influence

Morgana had been enjoying a perfectly good breakfast until that owl swooped in. Her mornings were the only times she had to relax all summer. Every day was filled with tutors and studying or public appearances and fake smiles. It was exhausting, and felt nothing like a holiday. During lunches they were forced to converse only in french, and dinners were awkward affairs with Uther breathing down their necks questioning them or the progress that their tutors were reporting back to him.

Breakfast was her only reprieve. And everytime she saw that owl arrive it was ruined.

Luckily letters from Merlin to her brother only came once every week or two. And if Arthur's delighted expression wasn't enough to put her off whatever she was eating then the sight of Gaius's owl carrying Merlin's letter certainly was.

Unfortunately the bird seemed to have picked up on Morgana's resentment of its presence and had darted straight towards her just to be contrary. Although the put out expression on Arthur's face did amuse her enough to forgive the creature.

Arthur obviously noticed her smile, glaring at her before saying, "Just shut up and pass me my letter."

She looked smugly towards him but still moved to do as he requested, reaching forwards to accept the letter from the owl and passed it straight to him without looking away from her cereal. She only looked up when she didn't hear the tell-tale sounds of Arthur ripping open the letter as he usually did with such enthusiasm. Instead, he was just sat silently, glaring at the unopened envelope.

"Oh, get over yourself," Morgana told him, rolling her eyes. "Just because the owl doesn't like you, you don't have to sulk. Just read the damn letter, I doubt Merlin told his bird to ignore you just to piss you off." Actually, that sounded exactly like the kind of thing the Merlin she remembered from his first year in Camelot would have done. Still, Arthur didn't need to know that, and Morgana doubted that was what had happened, in any case. This Merlin seemed much too boring to do that.

But instead of sighing dramatically and then just giving in, Arthur thrust the letter back across the table towards her.

"It's addressed to you," he said bitterly. "That's not Merlin's writing though."

The only other person who would have access to that owl would be its owner. Gaius. Morgana knew that she had acted rashly that day in the train station, but she wasn't sure she was prepared for whatever was written in that letter.

Would it be a warning? A threat? That they both knew the truth so she had better stay away from her brother and his precious sorcerer or else? Perhaps a recollection of every atrocity she had committed, just to remind her of the monster she was? The very monster she was certain he still thought that she was.

Morgana wasn't certain what expression she was showing, but whatever it was was enough to make Arthur say, "You don't have to sulk. Just read the damn letter, Morgana." That idiot thought he was so clever using her own words against her. As if he knew anything about what was going on in her head right now.

Still, she couldn't let him win. So with a glare in his direction, she tore open the envelope, happily imagining that she was instead ripping to shreds one of Arthur's letters from his little friend.

Her eyes quickly scanned over the page, wanting to know the reason behind all of this before having to deal with every single word that hypocrite wanted to shove down her throat. But instead, her eyes immediately caught on the last line. That was not Gaius's signature.

"It's from . . . Potter?" she said, confused.

Arthur shot up from his chair to read over her shoulder without a second's pause. "Why is Harry sending you mail? And why does he have Merlin's owl? I thought he wasn't supposed to leave the castle all summer, why is he at Merlin's house?"

"If you shut up and let me read then maybe his letter will tell us," she said sharply.

Dear Morgana,

I know it's weird that I'm writing to you, but, surprisingly, you're my biggest hope right now, so please just hear me out.

Professor Snape is a Death Eater. Or at least, he was one at any rate.

I know it sounds crazy, but someone at Hogwarts told me and then Gaius confirmed it when I went to visit. Apparently it's not even a secret, it's public record. I found out just before I went to spend a week with Merlin for my birthday, and had to keep a straight face as I walked through Dumbledore's office so as not to tip him off that anything was wrong. The fact of it is, as soon as I heard that, I knew that there was no way I was going to go back to Hogwarts as long as Snape could come and try to kill me at any minute.

Merlin was furious. And it wasn't helped by Gaius refusing to take our side. Apparently as long as Dumbledore vouches for Snape, Gaius won't stand against him. Merlin threatened to tear down the castle if anyone tried to force me to go back, but I think we both know that that plan is terrible.

I remembered what you told me about influence and so I tried contacting the ministry, but they were useless. Apparently Hogwarts is a private institution, outside of the ministry's control, and they can't make Dumbledore fire Snape. The woman who sent the letter was actually really nice, she sent a second letter with her reply, off the record (I put both of her letters in the envelope too), basically just telling me the best way to go about getting rid of Snape. And that's where I need your help.

The Hogwarts board of Governors can get involved with things like this. Apparently they have to act if a parent brings a concern to them. The school itself is my official guardian, so it can't exactly speak up at a school board meeting on my behalf, and Gaius has already refused to disagree with Dumbledore. And then I remembered again, what you said about influence. Maybe my influence isn't what's needed here. I mean, it might help, having the boy who lived or whatever object. But I was thinking that maybe the prime minister of the country might be able to kick up more of a fuss than a ten year old?

I'm sure your dad or guardian or whatever is busy, but this isn't just for me, Morgana. You said yourself that most of your housemates hate you for being a muggleborn. Who's influence do you think that is? Snape supported the man who wanted death for all muggles and muggleborns, it's not surprising that he'd be encouraging that in his house. Everyone says he's a crap teacher who bullies students anyway, and well that's not so surprising considering that bullying is a pretty big step down from murder. To him, it would definitely seem small by comparison, maybe even kind.

I know that this is a big favour. But you're the one who asked me to trust you until you gave me a reason otherwise. So this is me trusting you. (And also relying on the fact that Arthur will probably be all for it and ask his dad even if you don't want to.)

I only have four more days until Dumbledore expects me back at the castle and I'm pretty sure Merlin plans on us making a run for it in the middle of the night if something doesn't happen before then. So please, help us with this?

- Harry.

"Snape's a Death Eater!" Arthur said hysterically. Then, "We're going to help them right?" he asked immediately after, shock drifting to the wayside now that there was a mission to accomplish. Classic Arthur, keeping a cool head as long as there was a job to be done and people in danger.

"Yes," Morgana said, hearing in her own voice how brittle it sounded. "We're going to throw that piece of shit out on his arse. We'll show him exactly how pathetic muggles and muggleborns can be."

She was furious. She was trying so hard not to be, but by God she was. She didn't want to let anger rule her, not after what she knew she could become. But knowing that didn't stop her from wanting to storm into Hogwarts and rip his greasy head from his shoulders.

But it wasn't just that. It was Gaius. She had really thought that the man would at least do better by Merlin. He had been almost tortured to death to protect Merlin's identity as Emrys from her. But perhaps if it had been Uther or bloody Dumbledore asking, then he would have just handed Emrys's real name right over.

Oh how little he had changed. Only this time he was Dumbledore's doormat instead of Uther's. This was the same man who had watched thousands of his own people burnt at the stake, all the while calling the man who did it a friend. Now he was allowing children to be indoctrinated by a man who was almost definitely a murderer because Dumbledore said so. Just like Uther had said magic was evil. Well Uther was about to help the lives of hundreds of magical children, whether he liked it or not.

Morgana quickly pulled out the other two enclosed letters for them to read before they brought anything to their father. It would not do to go into this without all of the information at hand.

Dear Mr Potter,

It is not within the Ministry of Magic's purview to intervene with the staffing of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as it is a private institution, unless there is an open position that the Headmaster is unable to find a suitable candidate for.

As Severus Snape was pardoned for his crimes due to his contributions in the war, and is therefore not currently a criminal, the Ministry of Magic and Department of Magical Law Enforcement has no reason to arrest him or object to his position as a Professor and Head of House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Yours Sincerely,

Eleanor Runshaw

Department of Magical Education

Ministry of Magic

"'Not currently a criminal' Can you believe that?! I thought teachers had to have criminal background checks?!" she asked angrily, muttering several non-complimentary phrases under her breath. What an utter load of tripe.

"Hang on," Arthur told her, "Harry said that she sent another letter, at least read that before you start cursing out the poor woman."

Morgana would rather set the bloody thing on fire, but she supposed Arthur might have a point.

Mister Potter,

I'm sorry that I can't be of any help in an official capacity. I'm definitely not supposed to be sending additional letters off the record, but I know that what you're trying to do is right. I'm a half-blood, you see, and Snape was my potions professor for three years while I was still a student. I know exactly how horrible he can be, and I remember exactly how horrified I was when I found out that he had been a Death Eater.

Someone like that shouldn't be around kids, but there are no legal reasons why he can't be, at least not in the wizarding world. Muggles have the right of, not allowing anyone with a criminal history to teach in schools, but we have different laws here.

Now, while I can't help you, I can give you some advice. Your best bet of ousting Snape from Hogwarts is to take it up with the Board of Governors. It will be difficult, though. Most of them are in Dumbledore's pocket, and those that aren't, have some suspicious ties to Death Eaters that was never enough to get them convicted. It's all old wizarding families who have seats on the board, which means they've got no real reason to give a damn about muggles and muggle borns and what Death Eaters wanted to do to them.

It being you kicking up a fuss will help sway any of the decent folk. But you need a parent or guardian of a current student to be the one to bring a concern to the board, and you need them to be good at talking and arguing if you want to stand a chance of beating both Dumbledore and the pureblood sympathisers.

Get as many parents and students to speak as you can. Any friends you have, and all of their friends and parents too. Get as many people as you can.

Good luck.

Wishing you the best,

Eleanor Runshaw

It was when they were almost done with the final letter that their tutor arrived.

"It's nine o'clock," she droned, "You should have put away your breakfast by now; we need the table to work at."

"Get out," Morgana ordered sharply.

"Excuse me?" the dullard asked, the offended look on her face being the most expression she had put into anying ever.

"You're excused," Morgana informed her promptly. "Arthur and I have urgent business that has come up unexpectedly. We need to discuss it with our father. It takes precedence over today's lessons. Besides, we're ahead of schedule for the summer, so taking a day won't negatively impact our studying. So, you're dismissed." Morgana used every royal mannerism she had ever learned to try and command the room. She put all of her effort into making sure she came across as the most authoritative person in the room, seeing as technically she didn't have the authority to dismiss their tutor for the day.

The woman spluttered for a moment, before turning on her heel and leaving the room, her nose up in the air. Morgana only hoped that she wasn't running straight to Uther before they could get there.

"That was bloody impressive," Arthur remarked, staring at her in shock.

Morgana smirked, feeling accomplished and ready to gloat. "Well, we've both seen Uther do it enough times. I figured if he could pull it off, how hard could it be, really?"

He snorted, shaking his head. "C'mon then," he said, getting to his feet. "We might as well follow through, now that we've said we're going to go talk to him."

Morgans sighed and got to her feet. "He's going to be furious that we're interrupting his meetings," she remarked as they walked through the halls of number 10 Downing Street.

Arthur winced, surely already anticipating the chewing out they were about to receive. "Yeah well, like you said, it's urgent isn't it?"

"Not to him," Morgana said. "To him, this all could have waited until dinner tonight and then be dealt with in the morning. It won't matter to him that Potter's on a deadline. He'll care about getting rid of Snape for two reasons: because it will keep us safer, and because this board meeting will give him an in to talk with the influential names in our world.

"So, don't ramble about how much your friendship with Merlin means to you, or about doing this as a favour for him, that will only make your father think you're too attached and make him more likely to refuse outright," she warned, thinking about all the times King Uther had admonished his son for caring about his servant. "I know it won't come naturally to you, but right now you need to think like a Slytherin, that's why Harry wrote to me instead of you." Right now Morgana had decades of political experience on him, so he had better listen to her advice.

"Okay, I won't mention Merlin," Arthur agreed, having been nodding along to all of her points despite the sour look on his face at having to dismiss his friendship. "But what about Harry?"

"What about him?" Morgana asked. "We have to tell Uther about him, since he's the one who brought the matter to our attention. But don't go on about him being your best friend's little brother."

"No," Arthur explained, shaking his head. "That's not what I meant. I meant about Harry being the Boy Who Lived. I mean, sure, it will help father argue with the board when it comes to that. But do you think we can help sell him on helping Harry because being seen helping the Boy Who Lived will win him political points?"

Morgana completely stopped in the hallway for a moment, just to stare at him. She had forgotten that Arthur was smart. She had forgotten that he had learnt to play his father just as well as she had. She had forgotten that his stance on magic aside, he had been a good king and a great strategist.

"Brilliant," Morgana told him, a conspiratorial grin making its way onto her face, and a matching one adorning her brother. She really had missed all the scheming. It felt great to be using her gifts for good.

"Are you ready?" she asked him, pausing outside Uther's office door.

"As I'll ever be."

He nodded to her and she returned it. Then, they knocked.

It had been a stressful couple of days.

The two of them spent most of their time in the garden. Partly because Harry wanted to enjoy the feeling of being properly outside (he could go out by the lake or on the quidditch field at Hogwarts, but he still felt trapped within the grounds), but mostly because being inside of the house was stifling right now. The air in there felt humid with tension.

Gaius had tried once or twice to make conversation. But Harry openly glared at the man while Merlin still wouldn't meet his eyes.

Or well, he had, once. When Harry had gotten his letters back from the ministry, the second one saying that they needed a parent or guardian of a student to stand with them. Merlin had looked him in the eyes then, and he had asked for his help. And he had been told no.

The man had tried to dress it up. Saying that he was supposed to be acting in Merlin's best interest as a guardian, and that this wasn't it. Saying that he couldn't lie to the Board of Governors and say that he thought Snape was a threat to students when he wasn't. Asking them to trust him.

Yeah, as if.

In the end, it all boiled down to the fact that the man cared more about what Albus Dumbledore wanted than what Merlin needed from him.

So they avoided him. Kept to the garden and watched Aithusa make it her own personal jungle. Harry might have encouraged her once or twice to destroy some of the rare-looking plants as his own form of petty payback. Not that that felt like enough when he was looking at his brother's heartbroken face.

Merlin had trusted Gaius.

Well, Harry knew that that was a mistake now, you could never trust adults.

He only hoped that Uther Pendragon cared enough about his children to help them out.

Merlin had been disappointed but unsurprised when Harry's plan to reach out to the ministry failed. He had been all but packing their bags right then and there when Gaius refused to help them appeal to the Board of Governors. But Harry couldn't let him throw his life away like that. Maybe he didn't have a real family to stay for after all, but he still had friends, and an education to get, and a life that he was building himself at Hogwarts. Harry wasn't going to let him run away from all of that just for his sake.

So what if Morgana's advice about influence had failed? There had to be another way that would keep his brother from doing something stupid.

And then it had hit him. Morgana and influence.

"Hey, didn't you say that Morgana's dad was the Prime Minister of England?" he had asked Merlin.

His brother had nodded, "Well, I don't think he's technically her dad, but he is her guardian, why?" he had asked, confused at the point of the question. And so Harry had explained. They needed a parent of a student, they needed one who would care about their cause, and they needed one who was good at winning people over. Who better than the muggle Prime Minister?

Merlin hadn't liked it though. Harry had seen that he didn't want to put their chances into the hands of another adult with their own agenda. And while Harry agreed that they probably couldn't trust Uther Pendragon whatsoever, Harry did trust the combination of Morgana and Arthur to help them.

Merlin didn't though.

"Go ahead, but he's not going to want to help us. I met him that day in the train station, and we can't trust him. He doesn't seem like he cares what his kids think either," he had said, "I'm not - Harry I can't get my hopes up again. We need another plan. We need to be realistic."

Harry had hated how defeated Merlin had sounded in that moment. But that was okay. It could be his turn now to support the both of them. Merlin had looked out for him for years, always shouldering Harry's burdens. Harry didn't need him to carry this one as well. He had faith enough for the both of them.

Faith, as it would turn out, that paid off.

"That's Arthur's owl," Merlin informed him as they watched the bird swoop towards them, Aithusa running from the other side of the garden to try and bat at her new playmate. "It's addressed to you," he added, taking the letter from the owl, a job made harder by the bird hopping about and flapping its wings to try and get away from Aithusa. As soon as the letter was free it took off, the cat letting out a little mournful meow at its departure.

But Harry couldn't allow himself to focus on that, not with the letter in his hands, waiting to read.

Potter,

Snape always gave off creepy vibes, so I can't say I'm surprised that he's probably a murderer.

Uther, on the other hand, is appalled that an ex-con is allowed anywhere near a school and is jumping at the chance to do something about it. He barely even yelled at us for interrupting his meetings once we had explained everything. But fair warning, he'll probably want to talk to you when he meets you, be seen making nice with the Boy Who Lived to get some political clout in the wizarding world. I know, it's crass, but it will be a small price to pay if we succeed. Unfortunately, Arthur and I won't be there with you to smooth things over at the meeting.

Speaking of which, the Board of Governors is scheduled to debate the complaints Uther brought up in his letter in three days, on the 6th of August. Only you and Uther have been invited to speak in-person, though I'm sure you can bring Merlin for moral support seeing as you're a ten-year-old. All the other testimonies will have to be through letters, so if you haven't already been asking people to write about how much they hate Snape you better start now.

Arthur already sent letters to all of his friends, which is most of Merlin's friends too so there's not much more he can do for the cause either. You, however, are much closer to the Weasley twins than Arthur, and I'm sure they hate Snape like any good Gryfindor does. They also have siblings in several different years, and if we can get letters from them, and their brothers, and anyone their brothers reach out to, and then all of their parents, we could have dozens of testimonies against Snape.

We need examples of him just generally being a garbage person. Any example of prejudice, blood-purist ideology, discrimination against students, even just examples of bad teaching would help prove that he would be no huge loss to the school. I doubt we'll get any first-hand accounts of him committing any actual crimes but we can hope. So spread the word, Potter. Tell everyone to send their testimonies straight to Arthur or me. I expect to see a report about why owls are suddenly flocking to 10 Downing Street in the papers.

You'll be happy to know that Arthur's pouting about not being asked to help directly and

Ignore Morgana, she's a liar and she always has been. I was not pouting. I just simply didn't understand why Merlin wouldn't have asked me for help, and why you would need to resort to asking Morgana of all people when everyone knows she's a vicious harpy.

Anyway. I've sent letters out to just about everyone we took the train back to London with except for Freya, since I don't really know her, but I asked Gwaine to pass the message on. I'm sure he'll be willing to put our differences aside for a good cause like this.

Listen, my father's never lost an argument. He's going to get his way with the Governors, I'm sure of it.

So neither of you do anything stupid like running away, Merlin.

Harry, if Merlin's not reading this over your shoulder I need you to yell that at him for me. The idiot has clearly gone insane in the few weeks without me around to keep him in check, so I need you to fix that while you're staying with him. I know you won't let him do anything terribly stupid, and as much as I hate to admit it, it was a smart move to send a letter to my sister (even if I should have gotten one too).

I better be seeing you both in September.

- Arthur

. . . is an enormous prat, who wrestled the pen out of my hand, because he can't stand not being the center of attention. That being said, his point stands. We better see the both of you this September.

Sincerely,

Morgana Le Fay

"They're in," Harry said grinning. "We have three days and Arthur thinks you're an idiot."

"Well," Merlin began, a small smile making its way onto his face, "Only one of those things is news."