Albus Dumbledore followed his normal pattern and retreated to his office once the students were on their way to class. By the time lunch time arrived, he was ready for the diversion as his floo had been active all morning with people demanding answers. He had managed to deflect most of their questions but the constant surge or green flames began to tax his patience.
It was right before lunch that the floo flamed once more. The figure that stepped out could have been the poster child for what a homicidal maniac looked liked and by coincidence, he was. Sirius Black stepped in front of Albus' desk and spoke in a low and threatening voice.
"I don't know who the hell you think you are but I know what you have done. You set up James and Lily. You sentenced me to twelve years in Azkaban. AND you sentenced Harry to a life of hell with that horse faced bitch. I don't understand how you could then take away any hope the boy had by manipulating me into causing a permanent split between us. I am willing to admit my stupidity by listening to you and do not hold you completely to blame for my current situation with him…."
"I don't know what you're playing at but you have made an enemy of the House of Black. If you have accomplished anything, it has been to force me into joining forces with the rest of my family if for no other reason than to thwart your plans. If you think you can make me disappear, go ahead and try. My death will only serve to increase the resistance against you and your 'Greater Good.'
He paused for a second without ever taking his eyes off of Albus. "I hope you are proud of the lives you have destroyed Albus. For that alone, I curse you to the lowest depths of hell and I hope you suffer as Harry has for all eternity."
Once he had said his peace, the raggedy man stepped back through the floo and left a very unnerved Albus Dumbledore sitting behind his desk. It caused him once again to doubt his actions towards Harry but as usual, there was no way that he could be wrong. He knew no one else had the vision or the knowledge to see the end of Tom Riddle and only he could guide Harry to his destiny that would be for the betterment of the magical society. Only Albus Dumbledore had the knowledge and power to truly lead magical society. He rose from his chair and made his way out of his office and down to the Great Hall for lunch. He longed to hear the chatter of the students as they enjoyed life and acted in a carefree manner.
****
The Great Hall was a little bit livelier than it had been at breakfast but there was still an air of nervousness running through it as the students took a break from classes and ate their lunch. The loudest by far was Cedric's group of four. Cho was sitting back as the group was laughing at something Luna said and noticed that the tension and nervousness were both gone from her boyfriend and his sister. She finally leaned up and whispered to Megan. "You both are in way too good of moods. You've seen Harry haven't you?"
Megan didn't say anything but her eyes sparkled and it was enough of an answer to cause Cho to reach out and squeeze her hand. The small grin that was on her face was clue enough that something happened that made Megan very happy. Cedric couldn't resist and leaned over to whisper "Megan has a boyfriend."
"That's wonderful! Treat him right or else!"
Megan looked at her funny and said "Or else what?"
Cho looked her in the eye and said "Listen, these last few months have opened my eyes to a lot of things. The main thing was that I was just like everyone else and the only reason I was sheltered from you guys was because I was dating Cedric. I did a lot of soul searching and I don't want to be like them. I like the person you've inspired me to become."
Cedric kissed her cheek. "You were never that bad. If you were, we wouldn't be dating."
"I know but I like it here. Even if the others are ignoring us, I feel like I'm in the right place."
Luna piped up "It's a nice place to be. I can't wait for Mr. Emerald Eyes to join us. It will be even more fun then. Uh Oh, the chaos is about to start."
As Albus was sitting on his throne at the head table, he stiffened as he felt the wards alerting him that some people had just come through the front gates. He was not quite ready for round two after his little meeting with Sirius Black which still had him unnerved as Sirius looked as if he was a man possessed. He remembered what happened to people who pissed off the Marauders but to have made an enemy of the one with Black blood running through his veins was not somewhere he wanted to be. It was a problem he would have to consider and then take care of. If Sirius were to reunite and focus the Black family against him, he would stand an even less chance of weathering the storm that was even now starting to batter him.
The students looked up in horror as the doors to the Great Hall banged open and a group of angry parents were standing there. As some of the students recognized their parents or guardians, they turned pale and began to shake. One student in particular glanced over to the doors and upon seeing a hat with a stuffed vulture mounted to it caused him to faint dead away. Susan saw her aunt glaring at her and turned her eyes down to the now nauseating food that was in front of her.
The Weasley children were even paler than normal when they saw not only their mother and father but an angry Bill and Charlie as well. If that wasn't enough, there was a thoroughly agitated Percy stepping up right behind them looking as if the stick he had up his arse was making him even more uncomfortable than normal. Hermione cast a glance at the Weasley family and then almost did as Neville when she saw her furious father and extremely disappointed mother.
All across the hall, faces paled even more when a flock of red envelope carrying owls swooped into the Great Hall. There were a few who flew down to some of the students but the majority headed straight for Albus and the head table. Never one to shy away from anything, Augusta Longbottom ignored the owls that were circling the head table and were doing their best to avoid the obviously furious witch, and marched straight up to the head table. She cast a scornful look at Minerva who could only lower her eyes in shame and loudly said "Ah Albus, we require the use of some of your unused classrooms for a while. If this is not convenient, we'll just take our heirs home and return them when we are done with them."
Albus' attention was on the circling owls but after it registered what she had said, he cast a quick glance at his students who had a look of hopefulness about them that he would not allow them to be taken home. "No, I mean, yes, that's fine. I'm sure we can accommodate your needs."
Augusta sneered and after a glance at the increasing number of owls, said "Yes, well I'm sure you have other matters that need attending to. I'm sure we can find our own way."
She turned and stormed off up the side of the Gryffindor table where she saw her grandson laid out on the floor. She hit him with an enervate and said "Get up Neville. You don't need to lie there on the floor and embarrass the family even further."
The other parents took their cues from her and began dragging their children out of the Great Hall. The surprising thing was that the students were from every house and quite a few eyebrows rose at the Slytherin table when the Greengrass, Davis, and Moon parents appeared and escorted their children out as well.
As Cedric watched the events unfold, he cast a shield dome around the four of them and they watched as the owls began delivering their letters. The loud bangs and screeching continued for a half an hour before they finally subsided. At the end of the onslaught, there was a pile of confetti at least a foot deep surrounding the head table. The quartet laughed as the much shaken professors left the Great Hall after announcing that classes would resume tomorrow. Most of them retired to their quarters where bottles of Ogden's Finest were pulled from desk drawers and quickly opened. Minerva was the worst as one of the howlers bore her daughter's voice that was lambasting her and asking what in hell she had done to Lily's baby boy..
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