In his search for new professors, Albus found himself approaching the Burrow. With four of her children still at Hogwarts next year, he was hoping to convince Molly to teach Transfiguration. He still had all his teaching notes and lesson plans from when he taught the subject many decades ago, and a little extra gold would certainly be welcome by the Weasleys. Albus was intending that amount of gold would be as little as he could get away with.
As expected the door of the Burrow was opened before he reached it, Albus always received a warm welcome from Molly. He had no idea that today that welcome would be red hot.
"Ah Molly, how nice to see…"
His words were cut off by Molly drawing back and slapping Dumbledore across the face. His hat went flying while his half-moon glasses were now entangled in his long hair and beard. After opening with a physical assault, Molly then began a verbal one that would be every bit as painful for Albus - and not just because of the volume it was delivered at.
"How dare you show your face here again after what you did to my family. You repressed Ginny's memories - not to help my baby but to cover your own wrinkly old arse. The Italian Ministry won't let my Ginny come home, and are working with our Ministry to bring charges against you. All your secrets are now known, Dumbledore, and no one will ever trust you again. When I tell Arthur about this, he'll let Amelia know it's time to get the ball rolling…"
Albus had his wand out and obliviated Molly in mid-sentence. He then quickly pushed past her to see who else would require that spell cast upon them. Percy coming charging down the stairs like a typical Gryffindor was easy prey for the headmaster's wand. A quick glance at Molly's wonderful clock showed the hands for her four youngest all pointing at holiday, with Arthur, Bill and Charlie all at work.
Now with a moment to catch his breath, Albus began to plot his way out of this mess. A compulsion charm was added to Percy's obliviate. The most recent Hogwarts Head Boy would be making his way back to the castle looking for a job. Albus sweetened the deal by promising connected rooms for him and his girlfriend if he could coax Miss Clearwater to come with him to Hogwarts. Two professors that Albus intended to pay salaries that combined would hardly match one of the professors who abandoned Hogwarts this summer.
Neither Weasley would remember that Albus had visited the Burrow today, buying him some time to deal with Amelia's investigation before she went near Fudge or the Wizengamot with her findings.
Even with what he had been faced with here, Albus' next stop would still have to be St. Mungo's. Without a qualified nurse or healer in the castle, it didn't matter how many professors he had lined up for Hogwarts - the school wouldn't be able to open come September. With the tournament coming up, Fudge suggested Hogwarts have two healers this term - and had promised the Ministry would fund one of them.
If what Dolores was suggesting with the tasks came to pass, Albus was going to try for at least one highly trained and experienced healer to be based at Hogwarts from September. That wouldn't come cheap, but now he wasn't going to be paying for it. He would fund a trainee nurse to offer support for the healer.
...
Dolores also had a busy and somewhat productive morning, after she had discovered the circumstances surrounding astonishing changes at the magical orphanage. Muggles, mudbloods and a beast in charge of young witches and wizards - she simply wouldn't stand for that. Rather than cause a scene herself, Dolores had whispered those facts into a few ears that had more than a passing interest in what happened to the orphaned magical children. Suggesting this could be the first step to allowing inheritance rituals to be carried out on these orphans - why else would a goblin be on the committee? - was enough to ignite a bonfire under quite a few pure-blood arses.
The Wizengamot would soon be demanding these people be dragged before them - and Potter would be sure to come too. What happened then would be anyone's guess, but Dolores still had time to arrange a few surprises for the group - and of course Potter.
...
He was sitting in the corner of his study, reading by an old electric lamp, when he heard her approach. Not lifting his dark eyes, he let the lady bring up what was troubling her. As he suspected, Severus didn't have too long to wait.
"I'm worried about Draco, he's hardly spoken in weeks. Seeing the man he idolised as an all-powerful wizard first ruined and then slain so easily has really shattered all his beliefs. He won't say anything, but I'm sure this blood-feud with Potter that's hanging over us is the cause of his almost complete withdrawal from life."
"I'm as certain as I can be that Potter won't be back at Hogwarts…"
Narcissa wasn't buying that, and she wasn't shy in letting their host know her opinion either. "And I'm sure Dumbledore won't want to lose his golden boy. He'll be doing everything within his power to get Potter back to Hogwarts - Draco knows that too."
Severus careful placed a bookmark on the page he was currently reading before closing the book. It was looking like there would be no more quiet reading for him tonight. "Cissi, you clearly have a plan but I'm not in the mood to sit here all night playing guessing games. Just tell me what you've come up with and we can take things from there."
Taking a steadying breath, Cissi told her first person what had recently been going through her head - to the point of becoming an obsession."I have a sure-fire way to end this blood feud on us…"
.....
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