"Why did they have to assign Snape to teach DADA as well? It's like he loves the stuff. Why couldn't they keep Professor Lockhart on?" Lavender moaned aloud, as Padma looked up from her studies at her twin best friend, who was struggling with her defence essay. "It's bad enough he teaches us potions!" Lavender hissed.
She nodded her head in agreement to Lavender's assessment, Professor Snape did seem to like the Dark Arts a bit too much for comfort, especially with the way he talked about it and the material, but it was also clear he knew the subject material very well and managed to hold the class' attention, this time from both the fear the man always generated in his students and the subject material.
Then again it was well known that Professor Snape had served under You-Know-Who, but it was unclear whether he was a spy or not. Some rumours said that he had been spying for the former Headmaster, others said that he had been spying on the Headmaster for You-Know-Who, others said he was spying for both sides, and would've joined whoever won in the end.
"It's only for a couple more days; I've heard rumours that a 'Professor Slughorn' is going to take over potions for the remainder of the term." Her sister Parvati shared with the disgruntled table. "I asked dad about Professor Slughorn and was told the man was a big softy at heart with a sweet tooth for candy, but that he likes to play favourites." She tried to focus on her defence essay, specifically on the practical application of jinxes and hexes and curses in self-defense, over the use of more 'flashy' transfiguration magic.
"Yea, Tracy said the same thing about him," she offered to the group, whilst wondering if she could get Penny or Tonks to look over her essay later, since Harry would normally look at her DADA work for her. "Tracy found out from Daphne that Professor Slughorn likes to hold a little tea club for his favourites to attend and who he believes to be Hogwarts' 'high flyers.'" She looked towards her twin, who seemed to be struggling with her work, "Do you need a hand?"
Parvati was just as smart as her despite being sorted into Gryffindor house; the only real difference between them was that her younger twin sister always had a lack of interest in her studies, preferring company and gossip to that of a good book.
"Nah, I'm fine," her twin replied, as she saw the Weasley twins walk through the library.
She merely nodded her head, knowing her younger twin didn't like accepting help from her unless it was absolutely necessary. "So who is replacing the twins as beaters for the match against Slytherin?" she enquired in a light tone, as Lavender and her sister's faces darkened.
"Conn and Pine, I think," her twin answered. "Hopefully, Fred and George will be allowed back on the team before the next game against Slytherin. There is also talk of Longbottom being removed from the team as well due to his failing grades in two classes."
"Oh? What classes is he failing in then?" she asked.
"He's failing in potions and History of Magic," Lavender shared, her tone full of gossip. "Rumour also has it that he was foolish enough to copy Granger's own potions essay almost word for word. Little-Miss-Know-It-All was not pleased and Professor Snape actually looked like he was about to smile when he told the class. Professor Hooch is currently looking into it, but I think Professor Snape just wants Neville removed to improve the Slytherin team's chances for the Quidditch cup this year."
"What an idiot. If that is confirmed it will be on his permanent record!" She voiced, her opinion of the Boy-Who-Lived dropping even further, as the group muttered in agreement to her assessment. "By the way, what is it like having Professor Hooch as your Head of House? Is she strict like she was last year?" She asked, as she remembered her first flying lessons.
"She's pretty cool actually, far more hands on than Professor McGonagall ever was, regularly popping into the common room to check up on us and ensuring that no one is causing any mischief," Lavender offered with a smile from besides her twin.
"She has also started having meetings with us individually, like I hear Professor Flitwick does with you Ravenclaws. Lavender had hers yesterday," Parvati added, as Lavender nodded.
"What did you talk about?" she asked, wondering if Professor Hooch's meetings were anything like Professor Flitwick's.
"A bit of everything really, since by the look of it she will be staying on as Head of Gryffindor house for the remainder of the school year, probably next year as well I think. She is actually smiling and enjoying her position, unlike Professor McGonagall who was always frowning. But she mainly wanted to talk about the subject options offered next year to third years, explained a bit about them and what career paths they would offer us."
"When is yours sis?" she asked, as she shifted her attention to her sister.
"Wednesday evening after dinner," Parvati replied.
...
The front door of Number 12 opened with a familiar creak of old hinges. He looked over his shoulder in the direction of the open door leading to the entrance hall, the house's protective identification wards automatically informing him mentally that it was his friend Remus. His aged friend then hung up his old grey coat on the coat rack. "Remus? How did your meeting go with the old cat," he asked, using Professor McGonagall's nickname whilst lowering the paper he had been reading as his friend entered the front room, the werewolf's eyes both tired and weary.
"Just like Harry expected it would go Sirius," Remus replied dryly, before dropping into the armchair next to him. "Minerva made it clear that it wasn't a personal decision on her part, but a political one. It turns out that she is under a lot of pressure from the school board at the moment and can't risk employing me after the recent articles about the safety issues at Hogwarts." It went unsaid why, since both of them knew how fearful the vast majority of wizards were concerning werewolves.
Silence fell over the living room, as both men considered the future. "Are you going to take Harry up on his job offer then?" he asked, hoping that Remus would swallow his pride and take the job that he was actually well qualified for. "You couldn't get a much better one than that. Harry's plans for the docks are going to flip magical Britain on its ear."
"I'd rather not Sirius," once again showing his remaining pride getting in the way of a good thing. "Besides, I feel like I wouldn't be very good at managing a building project the size of the Potter Docks," Remus replied. Sirius gave his friend a 'you are being stupid look' at that ridiculous response.
"If you're sure Remus... Harry won't offer again you know. And he can't afford to wait on you coming to your senses," he voiced.
"How did your meeting go with Gringotts?" Remus asked, changing the subject of the conversation to Sirius' own morning activities.
His considered his words before answering, "Better than I expected, and yet far more costly than I expected, due to the privacy requirements of the job. They'll have a price estimate by the end of the week. If it all goes well, by the end of the month their curse breakers can take a crack at breaking whatever magical protections are around that damn cavern." He answered, as he thought about Regulus and the horrible fact that his younger brother's remains were unburied, his animated corpse likely inside an unknown seaside cave corrupted by dark magic cast by You-Know-Who to act as a guard. A shiver ran down his spine at the imagery this brought up.
"Are you going to inform Albus of this?" Remus asked in a careful tone as his head snapped to face his friend.
"Why would I inform the Chief Warlock of my doings? This is a private family affair to recover my brother's remains," he countered, as he remembered the magical locket safely locked away in his family's vault.
"Sirius, there could be dozens if not hundreds of missing people's bodies there, not just Regulus'. This is a chance to possibly provide some families with answers to what happened to their missing loved ones and solve some cold cases by the aurors."
Remus argued, the werewolf's words causing his anger to flare at the mention of the Chief Warlock. "The cursebreakers will destroy the inferi on sight! You know they'll just destroy the bodies so that they can get their payment quicker!"
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A/N : if we get 400 power stones by the end of the week, I will release an extra chapter ;)
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