The time before summer was one with both dread and determination for many. Even with a second war brewing, students still dreaded exams like nothing else.
Personally I try to have my students ready for their OWLs and NEWTs by making my exams have a similar format. Cumulative theory test and then a practical. Kids have to know what they're fighting and how to fight it, I teach DADA not math, this stuff will save their lives and they better know how to do it.
If I was being honest, I kind of felt a bit bad for some of these kids who were excited for the summer. They just didn't really grasp what the incoming conflict would do. The papers just said that Tom is back and that he has shown no indication that he would not continue the war from over a decade ago. The kids just didn't realize this because of the quiet before the storm.
But this lull was good for our side. During a time of transition one needs some time to get everything working properly and this calm before the storm was just what mother needed to solidify her position and strength. The more time passed, the better prepared she was.
It's not like Tom wouldn't love to start his offensive immediately, it's just that he can't. After the debacle in the ministry his position and forces have been weakened.
From my own analysis and Jennifer's reports, Tom has almost been hamstrung because of the results of his little plan. Many of his high level supporters, meaning politically and hierarchically, have been jailed and identified, making him lose access to a great amount of funding, influence and subordinates to act in his stead. His publicized defeat also weakened the confidence of his supporters from the underworld and the races he allied himself with. The giants were apparently quite open about their dissatisfaction over their new 'chief' losing, the vampires saw themselves as better than others by nature and did not pass the opportunity to mock the bald man. Well until he killed the annoying ones which counts as a good thing for me, and I had Jennifer tell the man that her pack had been getting restless due to his failures as well.
Meanwhile, Fortress and the ministry were forcing the fools forces into running and hiding due to their hunt. Mother made successful hunts for vampires very public as she demonstrated that she wasn't all talk in her efforts to fix all the monumental fuck ups of past administrations. It was just too bad the giants were more difficult to take care of, simply because of their innate resistance to Magic and the fact that the entire tribe came, meaning they would need to put a lot of manpower in to take them down, with a lot of risks for injuries or death. So as long as they stayed still, they were considered less of a threat for now.
I even arranged to have drugged goats and cattle moved near the tribe to keep them full and sleepy. I could probably kill most of the tribe myself, but that would be giving away too much for now. Better to hunt them down when they separate, makes things a lot easier to manage when you know their numbers, names and appearances. You just have to think about it simply: organize 20 men to slowly and expertly take down one giant at a time, or try to organize at least a hundred to take down the entire tribe in a head on conflict? Not exactly a difficult decision for me.
Beyond that, we are taking care of the vampires draining people's blood in London. That was a higher priority at the moment since we did not want the annoyances spreading and forming a proper foothold in this country. Especially if the ones forming the clan, as they call it, are a bunch of blood-crazed animals.
I personally don't have many issues regarding vampires, but they are not the same as werewolves in my mind. Werewolves mainly have to deal with increased senses, mild physical improvements and their once a month transformation. Very manageable symptoms, especially now. But vampires are different because they are permanently transformed. They can no longer return to being human. I can stop someone from transforming if they've just been bitten, but the window for that is a short one. Then their needs change once they finish converting, turning the vast majority of humanity into both food source and possible new member. The increased lifespan, unique vampire abilities, vampiric Magic if the one transformed was magical, and the new possibilities within their hierarchy give many reasons for someone to embrace their new nature as well, unlike werewolves who only had someone like Fenrir trying to gather them into a large group of savages.
But the problem ultimately lies in their culture and beliefs. I could easily create something like a blood potion from the Dawnguard DLC of Skyrim from my past life. Use my knowledge to create a system where they can feed themselves without the need for humans to be involved at all, teaching them the recipe and letting them grow everything they need. But this would be treated as me spitting on their history and only those who would truly seek coexistence with beings they have been forced to view as food could agree to it. At best it forms a small rift that can be mended through civilized debates and practical demonstrations of benefits, and at worst I could be hunted down by every vampire who would be against it, start a vampire civil war which could led to the deaths of thousands of innocent bystanders and the drastic increase in sadistic behavior towards humans by the unwilling, or even the irreparable breaking of the magical world's secrecy.
So yeah, not really a great fan of dealing with vampires in general. Even less when it comes to those who are addicted to blood like it's cocaine and everyone around them is full of it and they can't stop you. Those little shits make me wish Blade was around.
Good thing the clans were banned from coming to the British isles a few centuries ago after one of their nobles slaughtered an entire pureblood family because they tasted great and caused an all out war. As a result the royal clan had to intervene and agreed that just not going to the relatively small countries in the isles was easier than having a powerful Magic community being hostile to them. The Ministry and royals brokered a peace treaty and no vampire has appeared in the UK since. Officially anyway, there's always one bold or reckless twit who's going to ignore the rules or think that this makes the place a perfect hiding spot if they fuck up.
At least the royal clan disavowed the actions of those in the UK right now and even encouraged the culling of those they've deemed as 'insults to their prestige'. There were other flowery and creative ways of them saying kill all the little shits who spat on the words of the royal anyway you like, some of which would make Shakespeare cry at his own lack of creativity in that department. Pretty good read if I was honest, Tory and I had a good laugh at some of what was written.
And to prove they weren't just letting us clean up after their people's breaking the treaty, even if our dark lord convinced them, they are now monitoring anywhere vampires could use to reach the UK using Muggle or magical means. But I think it's to find the undesirables in their midsts more than upholding the treaty. It's a good excuse to get rid of those who 'sully the name of vampires'.
The reason I'm mentioning all this is that aside from the reforms and clean up mother has been engaging with, some minor wedding preparations and Hogwarts exams, nothing has really been happening. So the delicate situation involving a possible return of vampires to the UK has been my biggest concern lately. Although that worry has lessened significantly after the colorful letter from the royals, it is never good to let down your guard around centuries old beings. Good thing Fortress has ample experience hunting vampires from their time in Bulgaria and my White Magic kills them on contact. It makes things a lot easier to deal with.
(Also some people found it weird that Aedan helps Werewolves and not Vampires, well this basically why. And there's not much info of HP vampires, so I made all this up.)
-Small time skip to the end of the school year.
'This is going to be a busy summer. 50% chance of the war breaking out in the next two months, 80% chance of Voldemort freeing his lieutenants from their jails soon, and I'm sure that FIRM is going to be hit when he starts going at it. The place is simply too far against everything those idiots stand for.' I thought with some annoyance over their self-destructive actions.
"Oh well, at least the year finished relatively quietly compared to the last few years." I sighed as finished putting away all my teaching equipment for the summer.
"I do agree with you there. Last year had that tournament which led to that manipulative bastard coming back. Year before that was the discovery of the real traitor of the Potters and an attempted assassination on the Minister. Then there was that Basilisk you killed and that blowhard lobotomizing himself. And finally a possessed Professor tries to steal one of the most valuable magical artifacts in the world and ends up as powder. It as been quite tame in the castle this year by comparison. The only issue was that annoying toad, but you dealt with her." Helena said as she floated behind me as usual.
"Yeah, Harry's fate makes it hard to have an uneventful year. And the Headmaster doesn't help when he basically taunts said fate into making things difficult." I replied with a wry smile as I looked at the floating woman.
"I do feel bad for the boy. Aunty Helga was a gifted seer and I've seen many driven desperate by the fates she foretold. His is a difficult one to come out the winner from.
Well, if he didn't have someone who could even make uncle Salazar approve of his cunning in his corner like you." She replied with some pity in her eyes for Harry and a smirk for me.
"Yes yes, I am a schemer. Better that than unprepared and defenseless." I helplessly with a shake of my head.
"It is good that you admit it. Now what is this big bad schemer going to do during the summer while he's away from the castle." My ghostly friend asked with a nod of satisfaction over my admission.
"Dealing with some nocturnal parasites, continuing the implementation of some preventative measures and probably playing around from behind the scenes. I've also got my wedding. So a good amount is happening in the next couple of months." I answered as I finished everything I needed to do before locking up my classrooms.
"Thank you for the invitation by the way, but won't it be odd for a ghost like myself to be present?" Helena asked with some sadness and worry.
"Not for me. You are a good friend Helena and I would very much appreciate you being there. Plus Tory already agreed, so no issues there." I answered with a smile as I looked at my ghostly friend.
"Thank you. But don't expect a present." She replied with some embarrassment as she looked away, trying to not look too happy.
'Cute reaction for a thousand year old ghost.' I thought with my smile turning into a teasing one.
"You just thought something rude didn't you?" She then suddenly said as she turned and glared at me.
"Not at all. Just happy that you're up for coming to the wedding. I even prepared something a ghost can enjoy." I answered as I just pumped all my focus into my Occlumency, making myself look completely innocent.
"Hmmmm, fine. I look forward to it then." She simply answered as she stopped glaring at me intensely.
With that said, I locked up my classroom and the both of us headed for the Great Hall to attend the end of the year feast and graduation ceremony.
It was interesting to think about the little changes my actions have caused like Cedric being alive and graduating as the best of his year, the twins actually finishing their education and a good amount of the graduating class actually having jobs lined up. That last one is something I kind of forgot I helped happen, because it isn't a result of my direct actions, but simply my subordinates expanding causing an improvement in the job market and mother's administration opening a lot of opportunities within the ministry for good jobs for competent people.
The ceremony itself was pretty much like my own, but with Dumbledore changing up his speech to address the situation on the horizon. It had a good amount of impact and I saw a fair amount of students thinking about what is to come.
Fortunately the feast came afterwards to lighten up the mood and the merriment began. Graduates said their goodbyes to younger friends, I saw Angelina Johnson talking to Harry about his new position as Quidditch captain next year, the twins advertising for their shop which will open near the Muggle Toy Box and the FIRM office, Cedric giving Luna some advice for her Exchange duties next year, and I even saw some seventh year Slytherins talking to Draco about things which might be good.
'Right, I should contact Narcissa and see how that spa is coming along. I should also write a translation guide for Luna. People are going to be really confused when she uses her unique terminology to describe how Magic works.' I thought as I remembered two additional things to add to my to-do list.
But all good things must come to an end. There were some tearful goodbyes, promises to keep in touch and some displays of bravery as individuals took this 'last' chance to confess to their crushes.
Helena laughed from behind me when half of them came and confessed to me.
I felt bad rejecting them, but it's hard to believe they didn't know that I would do so. I mean, i am engaged and going to hold my wedding soon. It's not like a random underclassman I've barely interacted with is going to convince me to abandon the woman I love. But I'm pretty sure this is mostly so they can leave without any sort of regret instead of actually thinking they'll succeed.
After that I saw the graduates off with the rest of the staff and went home as my first year as a Professor ended.