Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
The Time Meddlers
Chapter Eight - The Sacking of Severus Snape
The next day (Sunday) after breakfast, Harry and Hermione walked up to the shortest member of Hogwarts' staff. They'd discussed various methods of sneaking into Ravenclaw tower, and had come to the conclusion that sometimes the direct approach was better. If it failed, they could always try sneaking in later. They approached the enthusiastic Charms teacher as he was leaving the Great Hall.
Hermione asked, "Professor Flitwick, could we have a moment of your time?"
"Certainly, Miss Granger, Mr. Potter. How may I help you?"
"Well," she said nervously, clearing her throat as she looked down at the floor. "We've both read `Hogwarts, a History' and are absolutely fascinated by the founders."
"Yes," the head of Ravenclaw agreed, "They were remarkable people."
"Right," said Harry. "We, er, heard that there's a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw in Ravenclaw Tower and, er…"
"We were wondering if you would allow us to look at it," finished Hermione.
"Certainly," he replied happily. "Come with me." He began walking in the appropriate direction as he said, "I wish more students would take interest in Hogwarts' history. Did you know that Rowena Ravenclaw was one of the first…" He rattled off what seemed like the entire history of the founder in question as they headed toward the tower. Harry was bored beyond belief, but managed to fake interest enough to convince Flitwick he was listening. Hermione, on the other hand, had pulled out a muggle pen and tablet and was taking notes. It was much harder to handle parchment, quill and ink while walking up a spirally staircase.
When they reached their destination, Flitwick answered a riddle that had been asked by the eagle door-knocker in order to gain entrance. Harry knew he'd absolutely hate to have to answer a riddle every time he wanted to go to bed. He further realized that it wasn't a secure method at all. Any clever person could answer a riddle, whether they belonged in Ravenclaw Tower or not. He much preferred having a password.
After the door opened, Harry and his girlfriend got their first glimpse of Ravenclaw Tower. It was a wide, circular room, with graceful arched windows punctuating the walls, which were hung with blue-and-bronze silks. The Boy-Who-Lived gazed at the spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. Hermione was in awe of the bookcases filled with glorious tomes that took up most of the wall space.
Several Ravenclaws who had been sitting at the tables studying looked up at their three visitors when Flitwick said to his guests, "Welcome to Ravenclaw Tower. The statue is right over there." While the students went back to their books, he indicated a niche opposite the door that contained a tall statue of white marble - Rowena Ravenclaw.
"She was beautiful," commented Hermione as they walked toward it. The statue stood beside a door that Harry guessed led to dormitories above. "That must be her famous tiara," commented Hermione, trying to sound casual about it.
"Yes, indeed," said Flitwick. While the professor began speaking about the headpiece, Harry examined the delicate-looking circlet on top of Ravenclaw's head and had a flashback to the first day he'd seriously hurt someone. At the time, he'd been full of Draco Malfoy's blood and trying to find a place to hide Snape's old Potions book (although he hadn't known that at the moment). He had been relieved that Snape had saved Draco's life at the time, but now he wished the ferret had died. It would've saved a lot more lives later on. Not for the first time, he wondered why Albus considered Draco's life so much more important than Katie and Ron's. He'd nearly killed both of them and Dumbledore knew it, yet he let the ferret walk freely so that he could sneak Death Eaters into the school.
Refocusing his thoughts on the current issue, Harry remembered seeing that very diadem, albeit, dusty and tarnished, in the Room of Requirement while he was hiding the book. He'd even picked it up, just like the locket at Grimmauld Place. He held his temper again as he considered how much easier things would've been if Dumbledore hadn't kept all his secrets to himself. If they'd been told about the Horcruxes as soon as Voldemort returned - if not sooner - the war might have gone a lot differently. However, Dumbledore enjoyed being the master of information - giving out too little and too late to do any good - far too often.
"…and so, people have been searching for it ever since." Flitwick appeared to have finished telling his story, so Harry smiled.
"Thank you, Professor Flitwick," he said with a grin. "This truly is a wonderful work of art. Thank you very much for allowing us to see it."
"You are welcome, Mr. Potter. Have you both gotten a good look at the statue?" They both nodded. "Very well." He began walking toward the exit, and they followed. They walked down the spiraling staircase they'd walked up minutes before, and finally, the professor said, "Will you be able to find your way from here?"
"Yes," said Harry. "Thanks, again."
"You're welcome."
Once Flitwick was out of sight, Harry turned to his girlfriend and whispered, "I know where Ravenclaw's tiara is. Come on."
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`I need a place to hide my book. I need a place to hide my book. I need a place to hide my book.' Harry paced back and forth while Hermione stood waiting for the door to appear. They hadn't spoken since he told her he knew where the tiara was located and he started walking as fast as he could toward the Room of Requirement, with her practically running to keep up. The door opened and he walked in quickly, letting Hermione enter before closing the door.
She looked around, and appeared irritated. "Harry, how do you expect to talk in a room like this? There should be a nice couch and a relaxed atmosphere."
"This is exactly what I wanted," declared Harry.
"Why? And where is the diadem?"
"It's in here," he said simply. "I saw it in sixth year when I was hiding the Half-Blood Prince's book."
"What?" she asked, her eyes bulging.
"I'd never heard of the tiara at the time," he said. "I'd just learned about Horcruxes, but Dumbledore never mentioned any items that he didn't have a memory of Riddle looking at. If he'd shown me the tiara as a possibility, then I'd have recognized it. Hold on." He closed his eyes to calm down and think, getting his bearings and remembering the route he'd taken when he hid his book. He opened his eyes and looked at each corridor, and seeing a familiar item, he said, "This way."
In silence, they walked past an enormous stuffed troll, took a left at the empty spot where the infamous Vanishing Cabinet had once stood, and finally paused beside a large cupboard that seemed to have had acid thrown at its blistered surface. "It's right in this area," he declared as his eyes searched around him.
"This is it," Hermione said in awe as she carefully picked up the desecrated piece of wizarding history.
Harry looked at it and nodded. "Good work." He took a deep breath. "Since we don't have a basilisk tooth or Gryffindor's sword available, we'll have to just hold onto it." He took off his watch, resized it into a trunk, and placed the diadem inside it.
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"Now that we've got the headpiece," said Harry as the RoR reshaped itself into a more comfortable setting, "we've got other important matters to discuss, like what we're going to do to Draco."
Rolling her eyes with a smirk on her face, Hermione answered, "Only you would put revenge on the ferret at nearly the same priority as our mission."
"You're right," said Harry with a grin. "It should've taken higher priority."
Hermione mumbled something that sounded like, "Boys," while stifling her laughter.
"I figured that since he got me in trouble with McGonagall, we've got to get him in trouble with Snape."
"We?" she asked, putting on an expression of mock shock. "I don't recall Malfoy doing anything to me to warrant such a response."
Harry shrugged his shoulders, knowing she was kidding, yet playing along. "If you don't want in on the prank, that's alright with me."
"You know I was kidding," she replied. "I'd never turn down a chance to bring the pureblood ponce down a peg."
"Good," he said. "It needs to be something that will force Snape to punish him."
"Then it'll have to be public."
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About an hour later, the couple left the RoR to go to lunch. They were half-way to the Great Hall when two ghosts approached them. Actually, Nearly-Headless Nick seemed to be pleading with the other one - a grim, silent, terrifying ghost covered with bloodstains. Harry and Hermione both instantly recognized him as the Bloody Baron, and wondered why Nick was apparently trying to introduce them.
"There you are, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger," greeted Nicolas happily. "It is good to see you. How has your weekend been going?"
"Er, fine," said Harry. "It's, er, good to see you, too."
"Yes," said Hermione. "How are you doing, Sir Nicolas?"
"Splendidly," He replied jovially. "The Fat Friar has recently informed me of your desire to meet all of the house ghosts, and I thought that was a wonderful idea. It is good to be well-connected, even in the world of ghosts, as long as you know that I will always be more than happy to fulfill your ghostly services. In that regard, I felt it best that I personally introduce you to the Bloody Baron." He unnecessarily indicated the specter to his left. "Baron, these are Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." The Slytherin ghost made no indication that he'd noticed them.
"Er, it's good to meet you, Baron," said Harry. He did not respond.
Nick nervously said, "Sometimes he's a bit…shy."
"I'm, er, glad to have met you," said Hermione. The Bloody Baron turned his back to her and floated away. She could have sworn she heard the word "Mudblood" coming from the ghost in a soft, disgusted voice.
Harry turned to the Gryffindor ghost, deciding he should be polite. He was after all, only trying to help. "Thanks, Nick. I appreciate your efforts." Hermione nodded in agreement.
"You're welcome. I'm afraid he's not very friendly to most people, especially the living. Perhaps one day, he'll come around."
"Yeah, sure," said Harry.
"We've got to get to lunch now," said Hermione. "Bye."
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`Stir once clockwise and then twice counter-clockwise,' read Harry as he was working on his latest Potions assignment. It was Friday, September 27th, and Snape had been more unbearable than ever. Harry had continued sending memories to Dumbledore and McGonagall, for all the good that would do. The Head of Slytherin obviously knew he could do anything short of casting Unforgivable curses at his students with no fear of reprisals. The Boy-Who-Lived followed the instructions exactly, and the dissolving potion turned the exact light shade of green that the book described. He was about to bottle it when his cauldron floated up and toward him, tipping over to spill its contents all over Harry's clothes, which started instantly dissolving into pink gas that floated away. He turned to see Snape making a show of putting his wand away while sneering at him.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor for your clumsiness, Potter, along with a detention cleaning this room tonight after dinner!" All the Slytherins started laughing at Harry - none louder than Draco. The Gryffindors were all glaring at the so-called teacher. "Another fifty for being out of uniform!"
Harry looked down to see that his robe was gone, along with his shirt, and that his pants were now starting to dissolve. His face and chest turned red with embarrassment as he grabbed his bag and ran out of the room, just in time to hear, "Fifty more points from Gryffindor for leaving before being dismissed, along with a second detention with Mr. Filch tomorrow."
It took all the restraint Harry had in him not to murder Snape right there. Harry knew this would be added to the memories. He supposed he should be glad that the potion didn't work on skin or he'd be running to the hospital wing instead of Gryffindor Tower. As soon as he saw no one was around, he disillusioned himself so that no one would see him wandering the corridors starkers.
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Harry was sitting on his bed wearing a new school uniform while extracting memories when there was a knock on the door. "Come in, Hermione," he said, having a good idea who it must be.
The door opened, revealing his partner-in-time, who asked, "How did you know it was me?"
"My roommates wouldn't have knocked. In fact, no other guys would've knocked, which left females. I figured that you were the most likely suspect."
"It could've been McGonagall if she'd heard what happened," she offered.
"Too soon. I figured that you packed up your stuff, along with whatever I forgot, and ran here after me."
She couldn't deny the fact that she was panting, and had indeed done just as he'd predicted. She had a very hard expression on her face. "I can't believe that mean, cruel, vindictive bas…"
"Hermione, language," he admonished with a laugh.
"This is serious!" snapped Hermione. "That…thing…actually…"
"I know what he did," interrupted Harry. His face took on a stern expression. "He moved up my timetable by a couple days. I'm sending the package of memories to the Daily Prophet tonight."
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"I see you've got new clothes on," sneered Draco, flanked by his two flunkies. He was standing next to the Gryffindor table at dinner to taunt Harry.
"Do you want another duel?" Harry asked, sneering right back at the ponce.
Draco took a half-step backwards and gulped before sneering once more. "Big talk. Too bad you've got that detention. And all those house points lost, too."
"Everyone knows the house cup has been a complete joke since Snape started working here, and it doesn't mean anything either way."
"I wouldn't go that far, Mr. Potter," said a voice from the other side of Harry. He turned to see his head of house. "But I can certainly understand why you feel that way. Mr. Malfoy, unless you want a detention, I'd suggest you and your friends return to the Slytherin table." The three stooges left. Once they were out of earshot, Minerva turned her attention back to Harry. "I watched your memory of this morning's Potions class, Mr. Potter, and I've never been more appalled at Professor Snape's behavior. You can rest assured that…"
"I wouldn't be so hasty, Minerva," came Professor Dumbledore's voice. Snape was standing behind him with an evil smirk. It was a very disturbing expression.
She turned toward her boss. "You saw what Snape did, Albus! How can you…"
"A professor has full authority in his classroom to handle discipline as he sees fit," Dumbledore interrupted.
"But he…"
"This matter is closed. Harry has detention tonight and tomorrow, and has lost several of Gryffindor's house points…"
"For being victimized by this monster!"
"Calm yourself, Minerva. You will not interfere with Mr. Potter's discipline. It would be seen as preferential treatment if one professor overrides another. We cannot have the staff fighting amongst itself. It is a poor example for the students."
She gazed at the man she used to admire in disbelief. "Poor example? Severus is…"
"That is my final word, Minerva. Good evening." He turned around and began walking.
"I'll expect you in the dungeons in ten minutes, Potter. You won't require protective gloves," Snape sneered and walked away.
"I, I'm sorry, Harry. I…"
Making a spur of the moment decision, Harry decided to trust his head of house. With a whispered tone, he asked, "Could Hermione speak to you alone for a few minutes while I'm in detention, Professor McGonagall?" Hermione looked at Harry in confusion.
"Certainly, if she wants to." The Head of Gryffindor was looking in between the two of them.
Harry looked at his girlfriend and said in a low voice, "Would you tell her what I plan to do with my memories after the detention? What we've been planning for weeks?"
"If you're sure," Hermione answered in a whisper.
He smiled at her, and then at McGonagall. "I think we can trust her. She can probably even be of help." He took a breath. "I'd appreciate it if you'd have the package ready when I'm done, although I'll probably have a new memory to add. Two, unless one of you provides the conversation we just had."
"I will," said Hermione.
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After a grueling three hours with Snape, being insulted as he scrubbed the floor with a cleaning solution that gave his hands many slight burns, Harry started making his way toward Gryffindor Tower. He couldn't see very well, because his glasses had been splashed with the stuff (making him glad for once that he had glasses - otherwise he'd probably be blind), and he didn't want to ruin his clothes by trying to clean it off his glasses with them. He was trying to wait until he got to the boys' bathroom near his dorm. He'd just rounded the corner away from the dungeon when two people surprised him.
"Hi, Harry," said Hermione. We thought we'd meet you here. Are you alright?" The other person was Professor McGonagall.
"Miss Granger explained your plan, and while normally I wouldn't approve, Professor Snape has gotten away with too much for too long, and Professor Dumbledore won't do anything about it. Therefore, I decided to help. Let me see your hands, Mr. Potter."
"Here they are." He showed his palms to the two females. Hermione winced at the sight of all those burns.
"Excellent," said Minerva. "I mean it's terrible this happened, but excellent for our case. Let's get you to the hospital wing, and we'll be able to add Poppy's report to our package. I've also added the complete list of house points that professor Snape has given and taken during his tenure here, as well as some memories of other students I've collected over the past few weeks."
"Good idea," said Harry with a grin.
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Harry wasn't surprised that the story on Snape didn't appear in the next day's Daily Prophet. He figured it would take at least a day to do some investigation. The down side was that he still had to put up with Snape and Malfoy, and he had another detention to serve. He and Hermione knew that if they were to pull a prank on both Draco and Snivellous, it would have to be today. However, it had to wait until after Harry's Saturday morning Quidditch practice, wherein the slave-driver known as Oliver Wood did his best to make sure everyone on the team hated Quidditch.
At lunch, Harry and Hermione saw the perfect opportunity. Draco got up from his table and walked to the staff table. He started to hand Snape a piece of parchment.
"That's probably the answer key to the test Snape plans to give us next week," said Harry.
"I wouldn't be a bit surprised," said his girlfriend. She looked at her watch. "It's now exactly 12:23."
Harry grinned evilly. "Perfect." The parchment in question suddenly became a glass full of a potion and spilled all over Snape, dissolving his clothes. Harry picked up his sandwich and took another bite. "I suppose we couldn't think of anything that would work better than that," he commented.
"Apparently not," agreed Hermione.
A furious Snape screeched, "DETENTION FOR A MONTH, MALFOY!!!!" calling attention to his situation. At this point, there was a huge hole in the front of his robes, revealing his hairless, pale chest. The whole crowd, Slytherins included, began laughing hysterically as the greasy git bolted from the room, leaving the arms of his robe behind.
"It was rather effective," commented Harry.
"And was certainly fair," agreed Hermione before taking a gulp of her pumpkin juice. They stared at each other for a few seconds longer before Harry burst out laughing with the others, followed a moment later by his girlfriend.
Once he caught his breath, Harry said, "We'd better hurry up and prepare."
Right after he said those words, Professor Dumbledore approached the table. "Good afternoon, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger."
"Good afternoon, Headmaster," the couple said together.
"Mr. Malfoy has implicated that you two had something to do with the unfortunate accident that Professor Snape suffered a few minutes ago."
"If you're going to accuse them, then I, as their Head of House, should be here, too," said McGonagall as she approached. She was slightly flushed, indicating that she'd really been in a hurry.
"Naturally, Minerva," said Albus, "you may be present while they are questioned."
Harry looked at them, bringing up his Occlumency shields, which were improving, but wouldn't withstand an all out assault. He was hoping Dumbledore wouldn't try reading his mind. "Why does Malfoy think I had anything to do with that?"
"Because he claims that a switching spell was performed, and that a piece of parchment was replaced with a glass of the same potion you suffered an accident with yesterday."
He looked at them incredulously while McGonagall asked, "That's your proof? Fifty first-years handled that potion yesterday, and every other student has brewed it in their first year. Add to that the fact that a switching spell is too advanced for them and your accusation is absolutely ridiculous!"
"I haven't performed a single spell today," declared Harry.
"Neither have I," said Hermione.
Minerva suggested, "Why don't we settle this by performing Priori Incantatem on their wands?"
"An excellent suggestion, Minerva," said Albus, who turned to the Gryffindor students. "Might I see your wands for a moment?"
"Sure, Professor, if it'll clear this up so I can finish my lunch," said Harry.
"It will." They both handed the headmaster their wands, and he performed the charm. "Well, this proves that they didn't do it. I'll let Mr. Malfoy know he was mistaken. Good afternoon." Both professors returned to the head table while Harry and Hermione returned to their lunches.
They quickly finished up and left the Great Hall, heading straight for their Common Room. "You wait here while I get the potion," Hermione instructed. "I'm glad that I thought to save some of it after what happened to you."
"Me, too," said Harry to her retreating back. Less than a minute later, she returned with a familiar cup. "Let's disillusion ourselves now so no one sees us with that."
Once they were invisible, they left the Common Room and headed back toward the Great Hall. Harry whispered, "You wanna bet that the parchment was a cheat sheet?"
"No," answered Hermione. "I'm sure it was, but we'll find out for sure, won't we?"
They snuck near a doorway of the Great Hall and waited for the right time. Harry pulled out his Time-Turner and put it around both their necks and gave the hourglass one turn, taking them back an hour. When they saw Draco approach Professor Snape, Hermione performed the switching spell and they both ran off to the Room of Requirement to stay out of the way for an hour.
"Was I right?" asked Harry after they were seated comfortably on a loveseat.
"Actually," said Hermione, "It's more than just an answer key. This is an actual test with the answers marked."
"Do you think the fact that Draco had to return it means that it's the original, and Snape hadn't made any copies yet?" asked Harry.
"I'm not sure," said Hermione, "But I'm willing to guess." She then performed an Incendio spell on the parchment, quickly burning it to ashes.
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That night, Harry grudgingly served his other detention with Filch, scrubbing the floors for two hours listening to the crazy squib praising the `old punishments.' In the morning, however, the article that he'd been waiting for appeared in the Daily Prophet.
Death Eater Routinely Insults and Assaults the Boy-Who-Lived at Hogwarts, While Dumbledore Looks the Other Way
By Rita Skeeter
According to Professor Dumbledore, Head of Slytherin House and Potions Master Severus Snape, is a former Death Eater who changed his ways before Harry Potter, the famed Boy-Who-Lived, defeated You-Know-Who. However, his record at Hogwarts, as well as several Pensieve memories provided by several students, including Young Mr. Potter, proves otherwise.
This reporter has seen with her own eyes the utter contempt that Mr. Snape showed Mr. Potter from the moment he first stepped into his classroom. Not only has he repeatedly insulted the Boy-Who-Lived, but has insulted the memory of his father, the late James Potter, another hero of our world. The only reason this reporter can think of for Mr. Snape to hold such hatred for the Potter family is that he is angry that they vanquished his master…
On and on the story went, taking up five pages, and ending with the account of Friday morning's incident with the Potion that Snape deliberately poured on Harry's clothes. It went over his punishments, including the burns he'd received (that Poppy had easily healed). It talked about how unfairly Snape handed out awards and punishments, using the actual records that were provided by the Deputy Headmistress. It talked about how blatantly he favored the Slytherins, and about the severe drop in the number of students to pass their Potions OWLs, as well as the number of students who even took the Potions NEWTs, over the past decade.
Skeeter had even looked up Snape's criminal record, noting that he'd been accused of using an Unforgivable Curse but Dumbledore got him off without even a trial, claiming he'd turned spy. She strongly indicated that the headmaster was either a complete fool to trust Snape or Snape was blackmailing him, which indicated that Albus had something big to hide. The article called the citizens of the wizarding world, as well as the Board of Governors, to do something about the situation.
Harry noticed Dumbledore and Snape both glaring daggers at him and he smiled back at them. "You shouldn't go out of your way to make them even more angry," chastised Hermione, who was sitting next to him.
"Impossible," replied Harry. "Nothing could make them angrier…"
At that moment, about a hundred howlers arrived and flew to the head table - half going to the headmaster and the other half going to Snape. While they were enduring that, Harry said (actually yelled over the noise), "I can't believe we haven't seen anything in the paper about Wormtail or Padfoot yet."
"Me, neither. Maybe we should write Kingsley."
"Yeah, let's do that tonight."
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That night, they did send off a letter to Shacklebolt, and the next morning - a Monday - they had a surprise. The Headmaster, as well as all four Heads of House, was not there. Professor Vector made an announcement that the Board of Governors was meeting with the missing staff, and that all Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology and Potions classes were cancelled for the day. This gave the first-year Gryffindors a free day, so Harry and Hermione decided to spend it hanging out with Neville, who they'd been accidentally ignoring for the past few days. Harry definitely did want to make sure that Neville didn't feel too left out, even though they couldn't involve him in their secrets.
The next morning, Harry noticed with a grin that all the staff of Hogwarts was back with one exception. The Greasy Git wasn't there. Dumbledore stood up during breakfast to make an announcement.
"I'm afraid that I have some bad news. Due to certain erroneous complaints, Professor Snape has elected to pursue his life goals elsewhere, and therefore…" At this moment, the room exploded with applause. Everybody at three of the four house tables was standing up clapping and shouting for joy. Fred and George managed to set off some wet-start fireworks in celebration of this grand event. Obviously, they'd come prepared.
Shouts of, "NO MORE SNAPE!!!" echoed throughout the room. Some of the staff, including McGonagall, found themselves accidentally joining in the chant. It was nearly ten minutes later when the room the room was settled down enough for the headmaster to continue his announcement.
"I'm sure Mr. Snape will be gratified to know how happy you are for him, how excited you are that he has chosen a new vocation - brewing potions to be sold in a store that will open soon in Diagon Alley. I will be taking over Potions lessons for the next week or so until I locate a new Potions master. I have already sent an owl to a few prospects, but not received a reply yet. Professor Vector will act as the Slytherin Head of House for the time being. That is all." He then sat back down and breakfast continued.
Before Harry had gotten too far in his meal, an owl dropped a note for him that was written with Dumbledore's loopy handwriting, telling him to see him after dinner.
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"Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans," said Harry, convincing the gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office to move.
"Good luck," said Hermione, who'd walked with him, but hadn't been invited to this meeting. She kissed his cheek and walked off toward the library. Harry took a deep breath and walked up the stairs.
"Come in, Mr. Potter," said the headmaster from the other side of the door. Harry opened it and walked in. "Have a seat. Would you like a lemon drop?"
Harry had always suspected that the candy was laced with something - perhaps just a calming draught or something worse - but had never been able to prove it. "Yes, please," he said, and took to offered sweet. Instead of putting it in his mouth, he pretended to and slipped it into his pocket. "I suppose I'll find out sooner or later, but why exactly did you ask for a meeting?"
With his eyes twinkling, and the most grandfatherly expression possible, he replied, "It's just that you've been exhibiting certain characteristics that can be dangerous."
`Yeah, like thinking for myself,' thought Harry. "Am I?" he simply asked.
"Yes. It seems that you are intolerant of others, and are using your fame to discredit those with whom you disagree. I must say I was quite disappointed with how you used the press to lash out at Professor Snape like that."
"Really?" asked Harry, now getting angry. Dumbledore was trying to make him out to be the bad guy. His eyes narrowed as his face began getting red.
"Yes. Professor Snape might not be as friendly as Professor Flitwick, but that does not mean…"
Harry refused to listen to a fictional excuse for Snape's behavior, especially as he remembered everything the man had done in both timelines. He interrupted Dumbledore by yelling, "I've put up with that kind of treatment all my life from the Dursleys - according to Hagrid it was your idea to put me there - and I'm NOT putting up with it anymore! That person was supposed to be a teacher, but instead of teaching, all he seemed to be able to do is insult my father, me and the other Gryffindors and blatantly favor Slytherin! I tried letting you know, but obviously you don't care about the quality of education here! I don't know if you're Snape's lover or what, but you're supposed to be a headmaster, but you've proven to me that you don't deserve that title! I wonder how many other teachers you have working here for personal reasons that have nothing to do with education!"
Calmly, the Headmaster replied, although Harry could swear he paled for a moment at that last statement. "I do care about the quality of education here, and I'll not have an eleven-year-old accusing me otherwise. I'm afraid that this sort of insubordination calls for punishment. I am removing ten points from Gryffindor and assigning you a detention. You are dismissed. Professor McGonagall will see you about your detention."
"Goodbye, sir," said Harry civilly before walking out the door. He was surprised to find Hermione waiting for him. "Hi, Hermione. I thought you'd be in the library."
"I couldn't concentrate. How did it go?"
"He said he was disappointed in me for not tolerating Snape; I yelled at him and he gave me a detention."
"Oh, dear. How do you feel?"
"I'm still a bit angry. I thought I'd go to the Room of Requirement to clear my head. Want to come?"
"Sure," she replied. Within a few minutes, they were sitting on a loveseat talking about the sacking of Severus Snape. Hermione asked Harry, "Why didn't we do that before? It was so simple."
"Because at the time, we completely trusted Dumbledore and worshipped the ground he walked on…"
"I suppose," she agreed.
"…We praised the toilet he…"
"That's enough, Harry," she interrupted, making it clear that she did not want him to finish that statement.
He closed his mouth before getting another idea. "Maybe at Order meetings they sang songs about him."
"I highly doubt that," she replied.
Harry then started making up new words for one of the few hymns he knew. He'd heard it on the tele a few times when Dudley left it on in the middle of the night while he was living in his cupboard.
"Oh, Dumbledore
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the plans thy mind hath made
Thou hast founded
The Order of the Phoenix
And let us do everything thou hast said
Then sings my soul, my headmaster to thee
How great thou art, how great thou art
Then sings my soul, my headmaster to thee
How great thou art, how great thou art"
At first, Hermione was scowling at him, but by the time he got to the chorus, singing in his worst possible voice, she was laughing her head off, making it difficult for him to finish.
"The sad thing is," said Hermione between giggles, "is that many people really feel that way."
"I know," agreed Harry.
After they'd laughed together for a few moments, Hermione's expression turned serious. "I think it's time to go after the other Death Eaters."
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Please review. Thank you to those who have.
P.S. I hope I haven't offended anyone with my alternative lyrics to the hymn, `How Great Thou Art.' I didn't mean any disrespect for that classic Gospel song - I'm just using it to illustrate how the Order seems to revere Dumbledore like a god rather than just respect him as a leader. The difference being that they seem to believe he's infallible and no one should ever question his decisions.
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