Chapter Text
Severus swept from the floo into the headmaster’s office, vague summons still crumpled in hand and stopped short as oppressive amounts of people turned to look at him.
Dumbledore offered him a tight smile as the myriads of Hogwarts Board of Governors, Ministry Officials, and Daily Prophet staff jostled to make room for his arrival.
Merlin, he hated being ambushed.
“Thank you for joining us, Severus,” Dumbledore said not-quite-amiably, the muscles around his eyes tense. Not an ambush for me, then. “In light of the unfortunate happenings last year, the school board has seen fit to organize a surprise follow-up review of Hogwarts safety standards.”
Severus shot a hooded glance at Lucius Malfoy, who was standing by to Headmaster’s desk next to the Minister of Magic, himself. “I… see.”
Lucius stepped forward with a barely contained smirk and offered his hand. “As the primary whistleblower last year and verified hero and rescuer of at least one student from malevolent forces, we saw fit for you to join us on our tour. Please feel free to share any new or lingering concerns that you may have as they come up.”
Severus reluctantly shook Malfoy’s hand and was immediately blinded by an onslaught of camera flashes.
Bloody perfect .
As if the new Gryffindor Creevey’s obsession with him was not annoying enough.
“Let’s get this over with,” he grit out.
Minister Fudge laughed and slapped Severus unnecessarily vigorously on his back. “Right to business, is it then? I can see why Lucius speaks so highly of you. Lead on, lead on.”
“What all did you want to see?” Severus asked while silently begging Dumbledore to rescue him.
Fudge beamed. “Everything.”
“How vague.”
“It is best to be thorough when it comes to the children’s safety, don’t you agree, my friend?” Lucius asked, clasping Severus’ shoulder and steering him toward the office door. “Albus, I believe it best if you stay behind for our tour. We’ll bring any questions we have to you after we’re finished.”
“A wise suggestion, Lucius,” Fudge agreed. “We want an unbiased look at the school before we follow up. This shouldn’t take longer than what, three or four hours?”
Severus glared pointedly at Malfoy.
The bastard winked at him in return. The man was out for Dumbledore’s blood and Severus’ wrath was clearly not enough to deter him.
In a moment of weakness, Severus wondered how honest he could be with these people without losing Dumbledore’s protection.
One thought of Harry eradicated that line of thought. He would just have to hope that his newfound sterling reputation and Lucius’ machinations were enough to keep him out of Azkaban if Dumbledore decided that he was more of a threat than an asset.
Still, Severus did his best to speed the inquisition along.
He did not lie, nor omit anything that he found truly important, but he quickly brushed aside any trivial thing that caught anyone’s attention, and physically pushed the group to keep up a brisk pace as the walked the castle halls.
There were a million little things Severus could nitpick about how the Headmaster ran things, but no one would be willing to prosecute death by a thousand cuts after something so dramatic as a dragon attack last year.
Even Lucius with his ax to grind would be bored by accusations of petty favoritism and casual negligence, no matter how dire the culminating results could become.
Severus was mentally exhausted by the time they had worked their way down to the dungeons. He was desperately counting steps until this tour was over.
“Hello Professor Snape,” Gemma Farley said firmly as she and Percy Weasley approached with grim, determined faces, “Minister. Ladies and Gentlemen of the board. My name is Gemma Farley and this is Percy Weasley. We are both prefects here and have some information to share with you all, if you have a moment.”
“Miss Farley was instrumental in keeping Harry Potter safe last year,” Snape explained to the group with a nod to his favorite prefect.
Lucius sized them up like a lazy but curious predator, smiled, and inclined his head politely to the pair. “My son has also been impressed with young Mr. Weasley as of late. I believe that hearing some feedback from two esteemed students would be worth our time. Minister?”
“Yes,” Fudge quickly agreed. “Yes, I believe some insight from the young men and women in the trenches of this institution would be most welcome. What have the two of you got to report?”
“Here are copies of our observations, notes, and suspicious incidents this far,” Percy said briskly as he handed out what looked for all the world to be professional press briefings.
“We don’t have enough actionable evidence to seek criminal charges on our own, yet,” Gemma said, “but we are hoping that you will share our concerns about Professor Lockhart once we explain and take action.”
Severus skimmed the notes and was stunned.
He listened to Gemma and Weasley nearly trip over their words in their haste to relay their observations with a faint buzzing in his ears.
He felt ill.
It had always been evident that Lockhart was a fraud; his rank incompetence was proof of that, but Gemma and Percy had come with receipts.
Proof that Lockhart had not been involved in at least half of the ridiculous tales that he spewed. Proof that those expeditions had happened without him. Proof that all record of the individuals who had risked their lives for adventure, discovery, or heroics had been scrubbed clean. Proof that more than one likely candidate to embark on such a mission had been left with missing memories, mental impairment, and sudden onset nervous tics.
That was bad enough.
When Farley and Weasley began haltingly outlying their suspicions of which nefarious reasons such a man might seek out a position of authority over children, Severus went numb.
He did not want to believe that anything had happened. Yet .
But the evidence of Lockhart’s history of memory tampering and nefarious deeds was overwhelming. As was his pattern of basking in the fawning praise of students of all ages.
It was rare that Severus was subjected to the crush of a student, but it had happened. He had always been quick to establish firm professional boundaries and to discourage any manner of obsession discreetly but firmly.
Unequivocally.
The mere suggestion of what a monster such as Lockhart could do in a position of power over the naïve and vulnerable made Severus’ blood boil.
He was not alone in his simmering rage.
Many of the officials in their group were parents and even those who did not have children of their own had clenched fists and tense, twitching jaws.
“This must be dealt with immediately,” Lucius seethed. “My son informed me that some students had concerns, but I had not realized it was this dire. This is beyond the pale. I… I need to go find my son.”
Every other parent in the group nodded. Severus, too, wanted to rush off to ensure that his students were safe. To make sure Harry was unharmed.
But there was work to do. He grabbed Lucius’ arm.
“One hundred and fifty points to both Gryffindor and Slytherin,” Severus bit out in a deadly calm. “Miss Farley, Mr. Weasley, please inform the other prefects to gather all of your students within your respective dorms. If anyone is missing, inform your Head of House immediately. Do not, under any circumstances, confront Mr. Lockhart or allow him access to your dorms. If he tries to get you alone, defend yourself and flee immediately. Do not take chances.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Fudge cleared his throat. “I hereby issue an emergency indictment against Professor Gilderoy Lockhart until such time as a thorough investigation is conducted. Secretary Lundquist, call the aurors. I want Mr. Lockhart off of school grounds and in a ministry holding cell within the next ten minutes.”
“This is the second year in a row where the Headmaster has hired a clear and present threat against his students into a position of authority and trust,” Lucius spit out.
Silence descended over the group as that reality settled in. Fudge was grave when he next spoke. “…Yes. Lucius, how quickly can the school board appoint an interim Headmaster?”
Lucius smirked coldly. “Do any of the board members object to Professor Snape taking up the role?”
Severus nearly choked, even as every board member shook their heads.
“No objections,” another board member stated.
“I have a few,” Severus hissed, staring daggers at his irksome not-quite-friend and mortal enemy while trying not to panic. Hogwarts needed Dumbledore’s protection. The man might be a conniving old fool, but his reputation and magical prowess protected the school better than any wards could manage.
Except when it didn’t .
Lucius blithely ignored him. “We might need aurors to escort the headmaster off of school grounds, too. I would not put it past him to put up a fight.”
The whole group blanched at that.
What that really necessary?
Could Severus allow that to happen?
Which path was the lesser of two evils?
Dumbledore kept allowing threats into the school. Could Severus do any better? Could anyone?
What would happen if The Dark Lord returned while Hogwarts was not under Dumbledore’s protection? Would Lucius open the doors to everyone’s destruction?
“Let’s not be hasty, Lucius,” Minister Fudge said, hands raised and shoulders hunched. “Surely Albus can be placed on administrative leave without exiling him from his home. He does not pose a threat to the children directly, it his only his judgement on hiring practices that is currently in question.”
Severus watched as Lucius hid his annoyance beneath a mask of genial servitude. “Forgive me, Minister. My protective instincts as a father have made me overzealous.”
“Quite alright, my friend. Go. Check on your son. All of you. We can reconvene for a follow up of our initial investigation after this situation has been handled.”
As the parents in the group scurried off to find their children, Severus took a moment to collect his thoughts.
He needed to speak with Albus, to reassure him that the war was still his primary objective. Lucius Malfoy was going to discover that Severus was a traitor sooner or later and once that happened, Albus would be the only thing standing between him and Azkaban.
Walking briskly to his office, Severus thought over what his strategy in proving his continued loyalty should be. He and Dumbledore were already at odds with how to handle Harry’s time here at Hogwarts, and where he spent his summers. He needed to reassure the old man that Severus would not use this fiasco as a means to muscle Dumbledore out of the boy’s life entirely.
As tempting at that could sometimes be.
He stopped short when he noticed Harry and Lupin loitering outside of his office. A twang of panic ripped through Severus’ chest at seeing Harry alone with an adult that he did not trust.
Lupin isn’t Lockhart.
Severus may hate the man, but the wolf would never harm Potter’s son.
“Harry, you should be in the Slytherin dorms.”
Harry frowned up at him. “Curfew isn’t for hours, yet.”
Right . There had not yet been time for Farley to gather his snakes into the safety of their dorms. “What are you doing here, Lupin?”
Harry crossed his arms and scowled. “Mr. Lupin offered to light a candle with me, for my dad. I told him I already had plans to light one with you.”
Severus blanched at Harry’s accusatory tone. In the chaos of the afternoon, he had completely forgotten that it was Halloween.
Why does everything always go to shit on Halloween?
Giving Lupin a wary glance, Severus unlocked his office and ushered them both inside. “Indeed, we do.”
Merlin, Severus really would do anything to keep Harry Potter safe and happy, wouldn’t he?
Lily, give me strength.