Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 7/17/1985, 14:28
Harry was enjoying a quiet afternoon on the beach, he and Bella were lounging in sunchairs while the twins were playing in the sand on the water's edge.
He had gotten back from Africa three days ago and was quite pleased he had a few months off until he had to make a trip to the Greek reserve to collect basilisk skin. He had handled the arrangements himself and knew he would be going alone this time.
Other than that two-day trip in September, he was off for the rest of the year and couldn't be happier about that.
"So husband, I made a deal with cousin Sirius to let us use the Black Villa for our anniversary," Bellatrix said in a casual tone as she began rubbing oil on her legs.
"Oh," Harry said, somewhat distractedly.
"Yes, I also made arrangements with Roxanne to watch the kids for that week," Bella continued as she began spreading oil on her other leg so they were both glistening in the bright sunlight.
"I can't wait," Harry muttered distractedly as he watched her with bated breath.
"Could you put some oil on my back?" Bellatrix asked innocently only to jump when Ignotus squealed in surprise.
"Weeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Harry watched on in horror as Ignotus got too close to the water's edge and was flung high into the air before landing on the trampoline-like cushioning charm and shooting vertically into the air once again.
"Oh no!" Harry muttered having forgotten he had set the ward up.
Bella had joined them on the beach after lunch and it had completely slipped his mind that he had set up the ward. Usually, he wouldn't set up this particular ward anywhere near his wife or her sisters.
"Did you set up a ward to catapult my babies through the air?" Bella asked in a dangerous voice as Ignotus' squeals of laughter rang over the beach.
Idly Harry noticed his son bouncing on the cushioning charm, Ignotus was steadily losing altitude with every successive bounce. Harry had to fight to keep the smile off of his face at the sound of his son giggling happily as he flew through the air.
His wife's angry stare pulled his focus back to her and he tried his best to come up with an answer.
"Well you see-
"What on earth is going on here?" Andromeda's voice rang out from back towards the house.
"That's one of Uncle Harry's bouncy wards," Tonks exclaimed excitedly from beside Andi before running towards the ocean.
"Oh no," Harry muttered again as his niece ran into the ward and was flung twenty feet in the air before she landed on the cushioning charm and was hurled skyward twice as high.
"You've used this ward before?" Bellatrix asked her eyes boring into her husband's.
"Uhm... once but the twins have never *cough* triggered it before," Harry said as Tonks' squeals filled the air and she started doing flips every time the cushioning charm would send her skyward.
"And my daughter... did? Andromeda asked dangerously.
Andromeda's head was following Tonks' progress like a tennis match as his niece steadily lost momentum.
"Just the *cough* just the once," Harry said wondering in the situation could get any worse.
"Well, we will have to have a talk with Cissa about this when her and Draco get here," Andromeda said as Tonks finally came to a complete stop.
'Oh shit!' Harry thought furiously as he watched Tonks run at the ward again, completely ignoring Andi's call for her to come back.
"You look nervous Harry," Bellatrix said as she picked up Carina who had gotten startled when her brother was flung through the air.
"Mostly because I know your sister will overreact. I can promise that those wards are completely safe," Harry defended as his niece was flung skyward... again!
"You are so getting punished for this later," Bellatrix muttered as she watched her niece imitate a bouncy ball.
Harry's day went from bad to worse when a confused-looking Narcissa led a five-year-old Draco onto the beach and stared up at her niece bouncing into the air, squealing in delight.
"What is going on?" Narcissa asked as she covered her mouth in alarm.
Unfortunately, this action caused her to let go of Draco's hand, who immediately took off running towards the water's edge.
"My husband invented a child catapulting ward," Bellatrix said glancing at her husband who was quickly losing colour as he watched Draco run into the ward.
"Weeeeeeeeeee!" Draco squealed loudly causing his mother's eyes to bulge as she watched her 'little dragon' flying through the air only to land on the modified cushioning charm and bounce twenty feet off of the ground.
"Oh god, please make this stop," Harry muttered as both of his sister-in-laws' glares focused on him.
"Get him down, this instant!" Narcissa snapped over Draco's delighted laughter as the cushioning charm continued to bounce him into the air.
"Alright," Harry sighed as he waved his wand cancelling the ward, Tonks and Draco came to a gentle stop on the cushioning charm before they plopped into the sand.
Harry quickly got up and made his way over to Ignotus who was about to wander into the water and scooped him up in his arms.
"Thanks a lot, son," Harry chuckled as he carried the squirming toddler over to the group of angry Black sisters.
'It was still worth it to see Iggy having fun,' Harry thought to himself and prepared to listen to Cissa voice her displeasure about how dangerous his bouncy wards were.
Near the village of Grodås, Norway, 11/24/1985, 15:49
Harry was freezing his ass off! He had been asked to come to Norway and help the Norwegian ministry contain a selma that had gotten into lake Hornindalsvatnet. He was currently sitting in a conjured armchair on the bank of the deepest lake in Europe and trying not to freeze to death while he waited for his quarry to arrive.
A selma was a massive man-eating snake with a real nasty disposition, it was like the Hungarian Horntail of magical snakes.
The snakes were usually very elusive and were hardly ever seen. The only wild selma the Norwegian ministry actually knew about lived in lake Seljordsvatnet and was this country's version of the Loch Ness Monster.
It was speculated that these snakes lived in most of the fjords and lakes in the country but left humans alone. For the most part, selma preferred to eat fish which were more than plentiful in the country's many lakes.
However, every once in a while one of these serpents would develop a taste for human flesh and the ministry would be forced to remove it before it broke the Statute of Secrecy.
That was the case here, six muggles had gone missing near this lake and another muggle had witnessed the massive snake pull a man into the lake.
This was about as high risk as it got in his line of work and had him on edge while he and Newt sat on the bank near where the last attack had taken place.
"Holy hell it is cold," Harry grumbled as he cast another warming charm on himself.
"This isn't the usual climate for collecting serpents?" Newt chuckled.
"No, most of my field trips are to tropical climates," Harry snorted.
"Guess that's a perk of working with cold-blooded animals," Newt said thoughtfully.
"I thought so too but then I got this call," Harry said before he shivered again.
"Oh are you in for a treat, these snakes are particularly nasty," Newt warned.
"Lovely, are they venomous?" Harry asked not very familiar with the species.
"No, but they don't need to be. They are the size of Emerald or bigger and usually drag their prey underwater before crushing them with their coils," Newt answered.
"That is something I guess" Harry sighed as he pulled a thermos out of his magically expanded pocket.
"So how was your trip to Africa?" Newt asked as he pulled his own thermos out and poured himself a cup of hot cocoa.
"Interesting, I ran a cross a runespore in the Sudan," Harry confessed before drinking straight from his thermos, the hot cocoa warming him from the inside out.
"Fascinating creatures," Newt said looking intrigued.
"The middle head is reasonable enough but the left and right just squabble continuously," Harry sighed as he remembered the hour and a half it took to negotiate with the three-headed snake for a single vial of venom.
"Sanjay said something similar once, have you heard from him?" Newt asked curiously.
"Yes, he's been putting me in touch with customers who need venom collected for them," Harry replied as he took another drink from his thermos.
"Yes, I think he will pass off most of his customers in Europe, Africa, and the Americas to you. His cousin will take over Asia and probably Australia," Newt predicted.
"I think four continents is enough to be getting on with," Harry snorted.
"Three really, Europe doesn't have many venomous snakes," Newt corrected.
"And nobody wants the collection jobs in Africa," Harry chuckled.
"True," Newt conceded.
"It was unusual going on a collection job without Sanjay," Harry confessed as he took another sip of the warming liquid.
"I'm going to miss working with him myself, though I can't blame him for wanting to retire," Newt admitted.
"No, some of the places we visit regularly are pretty rough on the body," Harry admitted as he remembered the week in the Outback.
"I know, I always hated the cold weather trips myself," Newt said as he reapplied his warming charm.
"Agreed," Harry said as he put the cap on his thermos and slipped it back into his pocket
"Did you see that?" Newt asked as he dug out a pair of omnioculars and looked out over the lake.
Harry pulled out his own optics and scanned the water. After scanning the lake for a minute or two, he saw something moving just above the water's surface about two hundred yards out.
"I do believe that is our selma," Harry said as he stood from his chair, his feet sinking into six inches of snow carpeting the ground.
"I think it's heading right for us," Newt muttered as he stood up as well and vanished both of their chairs.
Focusing his omnioculars on the water, Harry could make out a pair of icy white eyes with black vertical-slitted pupils. Harry could also make out the shiny cobalt blue colour of the scales on its head.
"You had better send the ministry our signal," Harry muttered as he cast the sonorus charm on his throat and approached the water's edge.
§COME TO ME, GREAT, SELMA WE MUST SPEAK§
Harry's hissing voice resounded over the lake and sped up the approach of the selma.
When it got closer to shore, its head rose out of the water revealing that it had a flattened hood on its neck similar to that of a cobra. On top of its head were five wavy horns similar to an antelope's, they curved backwards and were the same colour white as its eyes. Its underbelly was a pale creamy white colour and its long body was a dark royal blue colour, making the cobalt colour of its face and its icy white eyes stand out in contrast.
Harry watched it getting closer, the selma seemed to grow before his eyes. The horns that looked quite minuscule from a hundred feet away were actually two or three feet long, its head was standing ten feet out of the water so it looked down at him as it reached the lake shore.
§Speaker, why have you called me to you?§ The selma hissed coming to a stop at the water's edge.
§You've been feeding on the two legs, you will have to be moved to the reserve§, Harry answered as he heard dozens of 'pop' a short distance away signalling the Norwegian ministry was arriving in droves.
§The two-legs are soooo tasty I will eat them if I wish!§ The selma hissed before striking outward forcing Harry to roll out of the way as the snake's jaws snapped where Harry had just been standing.
"Hit the containment ward," Harry yelled as the snake reared back to strike again and Harry was forced to apparate to Newt's side.
"He seemed hostile," Newt chuckled as he pressed his thumb to a two-inch by two-inch square tile with an activation rune etched into its centre.
"I did notice that," Harry panted out, his heart rate still elevated from the near miss.
As soon as Newt channelled his magic into the tile, it activated a series of larger stones that had been placed in an arc going out into the lake around this section of shoreline. The Norwegian ministry had carefully placed sixteen ward stones on the lake bottom earlier this morning.
The arc went thirty yards into the lake in a horseshoe configuration and should be more than large enough to contain this massive serpent.
These wards were specifically designed for water and were strong enough that they would prevent the animal from swimming back into the lake.
"Be careful, he can still come on shore," Newt warned Harry as he shot green sparks into the air, signalling the animal was inside the containment wards.
"We shall take it from here," a blond auror said as he held out his hand for the activation rune, which Newt gladly handed him.
"We're going to stay and watch, right?" Harry asked hopefully as over forty aurors made their way toward the stretch of shoreline and began casting swells to push the serpent back into the water.
"Oh definitely, they have developed an ingenious method for catching these serpents," Newt said as the aurors got into position forming a semi-circle on the shore of the lake.
"Well they certainly brought enough people," Harry chuckled as he watched the aurors getting into position.
"Many hands make light work, my boy," Newt chuckled as he took a sip from his thermos.
Once they were in position, the aurors began casting drought charms at the water inside the containment ward, causing the water level inside the ward to rapidly drop. The containment wards were holding back the water on the outside with an invisible barrier that seemed to grow taller as more water was removed. The barrier was now almost a hundred feet high at its furthest point in the lake and still growing as water vanished inside of it.
Harry thought the wards looked like the windows of a giant aquarium that looked out into the clear water of the lake. As if to emphasise this point, every once in a while a fish would swim by.
"That was pretty clever, I take it they have to do this quite often?" Harry asked as the water level inside the ward continued to drop.
Harry noticed that one section of the ward was rippling as the serpent was slamming its horned head into it as the selma tried desperately to flee the trap.
"Not very often nowadays but they had a real problem with them a century ago. They actually developed this method from the Dutch muggles," Newt explained as the water steadily got lower.
Harry watched as the last of the water vanished completely leaving the snake slithering around on sloped muddy earth. It wasn't able to move very fast and didn't seem very coordinated on land.
Suddenly the area was lit up with red light as twenty stunning spells struck the snake at the same time knocking it unconscious. The aurors swarmed around the snake as soon as it went still and began attaching straps at strategic points on the animal's body.
"Come on, mate let's get the beast's measurements before they ship it to the reserve," Newt said as pocketed his thermos.
"Alright, I just hope they don't run us off," Harry said as he followed Newt.
The two magizoologists made their way down to the group of aurors who were levitating the straps, dragging the selma onto the bank.
"You want to get your measurements, I suppose?" The same blond auror asked as Newt and Harry approached.
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, Auror Sven," Newt answered excitedly.
"You have ten minutes before we begin getting the animal ready for transport to the reserve," Auror Sven answered simply before walking off to talk to his colleagues.
"Alright, let's not waste any time," Newt said as he removed his measuring tape from his pocket.
The process was very quick though maybe not as thorough as Newt would have liked. After they had gotten the basic measurements, they learned the selma was almost eighty feet in length and fourteen feet in girth at its widest point.
Harry and Newt were soon asked to step back when the ministry creature division arrived and began putting the snake into a box that was the size of a small home.
"The entire box is a giant portkey," Newt explained as they watched the unconscious snake slowly disappear into the box.
"That's efficiency," Harry said, deeply impressed by the ingenuity of the Norwegian ministry.
"Agreed, Newt said as the tip of the snake's tail disappeared into the box.
Harry watched as most of the ministry aurors and workers placed their hands on the box, five seconds later all of them and the box disappeared in a flash of blue light leaving five aurors standing on the lake shore.
Auror Sven took out the activation rune from his pocket and snapped it in half.
Harry jumped in surprise as the barriers holding back the water ceased to exist causing a miniature tsunami to slam into the shoreline with a thunderous 'whoosh'.
"Thank you for your help, Mr Peverell, it usually takes us much longer to get these serpents where we need them," Auror Sven said as he approached the two magizoologists.
"No problem," Harry said as he shook the man's hand.
"Mr Scamsmder, always a pleasure," Auror Sven said as he shook Newt's hand before marching over to the last of the remaining aurors.
"Not a very talkative chap," Newt muttered as the aurors disappeared with soft 'popping' sounds that echoed over the lake.
"True, but they seem more competent than our own ministry," Harry shrugged as he removed his thermos and took a deep drink.
"Well I believe it is time for me to head back to the dragon reserve," Newt said after checking his watch.
"Is that how you got here so quickly?" Harry asked.
"Yes, this is my last tour before my own retirement," Newt admitted.
"I knew that was coming," Harry said with a sigh.
"You'll understand the plight of an old man one day, Harry," Newt said wisely.
"Well good luck to you, Newt," Harry said genuinely.
"Days on end stuck in the house with the wife, yeah I'll need all the luck I can get," Newt chuckled.
"I guess I had to head to the ministry and see if I can catch a portkey back home," Harry said as he realized he didn't have the reusable portkey he usually purchased for trips abroad.
"I believe you will have to wait until morning, the transportation office closes at five," Newt said as he checked his watch and saw it was ten after.
"Good thing I brought my tent," Harry said with a shrug.
"Well I had better get going, take care of yourself, Harry," Newt said disappearing before Harry could reply.
"I hate when he does that," Harry sighed deciding he had better find a place to camp for the night before it got too dark.
Forest near Swedish Border, Norway, 11/24/1985, 18:48
Harry had set up his tent in a clearing in the middle of a spruce forest. Thankfully the tall trees blocked a lot of the wind which was getting quite strong tonight.
After he built himself a campfire, Harry conjured himself a seat and just looked up at the stars through the gap in the tall spruce trees.
Norway was pretty cold being very close to the arctic circle but the air here was so clear. He could see more stars in this one little chunk of sky than he could have seen anywhere in England.
Harry was just thinking about what he would fix himself for dinner when a strange-looking purple creature slipped out of the forest and sauntered into the clearing.
It was about the size of a large sheep with three-toed feet, it walked with a strange gate and had a long catlike tail. Its face was shaped sort of like a hippo's with tusks protruding upwards from its lower jaw.
Its fur was a rich royal purple colour, the fur around it's eyes was similar to a racoon only it was a shiny gold colour. This unusual colouring made the creature's violet eyes stand strikingly out in the flickering glow of the fire.
Its most striking feature, however, was the two-foot-long bent horn on its forehead that looked almost... crumpled.
'Accio camera,' Harry thought as he pointed his wand at the tent, never taking his eyes off of the snorkack.
The creature looked around for a second before moving closer to the fire, not seeming bothered Harry was there.
Harry deftly caught his wizarding camera and quickly adjusted the flash setting so it wouldn't spook the creature. Harry brought the camera to his eye and began snapping photos. Once again the snorkack didn't seem to mind, it almost seemed like the creature was posing for him.
"I think I know of some people that would love to know about you," Harry chuckled when the camera ran out of film.
The snorkack nodded its head as if it already knew this and settled down by the fire while Harry made his way into the tent to fix himself some dinner.
Harry stepped out of the tent relieved to see the snorkack still laying by the fire. He had a bowl full of piping hot soup in his right hand and another bowl filled with minced raw fish in his left. Harry figured if he fed the snorkack it would hang around for a bit.
Putting the bowl of fish on the ground, Harry was rewarded when the snorkack dug in with gusto. Harry had hoped it was a carnivore because he didn't have many fresh vegetables other than potatoes and carrots in his tent pantry.
Harry retook his seat and ate his soup watching the funny-looking creature devouring the fish.
"You are a very sought-after animal," Harry chuckled at the creature, its violet eyes reminding him of his son's.
Harry quickly finished his food and sent off a patronus to someone while fetching another bowl of fish as the snorkack seemed to still be hungry.
It was while the snorkack was making short work of his second bowl that Newt stepped into the campsite.
"What is so urgent, Harry?" Newt asked before noticing the crumple-horned snorkack.
"Lovegood was right?!" Newt exclaimed incredulously.
"Yeah, that's why I called you. I am just a lowly serpent expert, I bow out for the expert," Harry chuckled.
"Well a joint animal discovery will definitely send me on retirement with a bang," Newt said as he approached the snorkack who didn't seem the slightest bit skittish.
"Yeah, I suppose it would," Harry grinned as Newt began to document the animal while Harry took notes looking forward to this publication being released.
The Rookery, Ottery St Catchpole, 12/3/1985, 13:29
Harry and Newt appeared on the road leading up to the strangest wizarding home he had ever visited.
"The house looks like a giant chess piece," Newt exclaimed.
"It does," Harry chuckled remembering Ron saying something similar when they visited the home during their time on the run.
"Just try and keep an open mind, this chap is a bit peculiar," Newt warned as they walked through the garden towards the door.
"Have you met my wife, I am used to eccentric," Harry chuckled fondly.
"Fair point, some people think I'm a bit strange, can you imagine?" Newt chuckled.
"I can't imagine why, maybe it's got something to do with that apparating in the middle of a conversation thing you always pull on me," Harry suggested as they reached the door.
The door had a massive eagle head doorknocker that reminded him of the one on the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room.
Taking a breath to prepare himself for the madness that was Xeno Lovegood, Harry lifted the door knocker and let go.
'Knock'
They waited for a few minutes before the door was thrown open by a blonde woman strongly resembling his quirky friend from the future, and to emphasise her own quirkiness, the woman was topless and wearing only a pair of white cotton shorts.
"Can I help you?" The woman asked in a dreamy voice, seeming completely unconcerned by her state of undress.
"Uh... we were looking for... we were hoping to speak with Xenophillius Lovegood," Newt said looking very flustered.
"Oh, he's in the naked room, follow me," Mrs Lovegood said happily bouncing on the balls of her bare feet and making other parts of her... jiggle.
"Lead the way Mrs Lovegood," Harry said as calmly as he could manage.
"Just Pandora, Mr?" Pandora asked looking at him curiously.
"Harry Peverell and this is Newt Scamander," Harry said amused at how flushed the older man looked.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Pandora beamed before capturing Harry in a tight hug.
"You... you to Pandora," Harry stammered after she had released him and hugged Newt as well.
"Well follow me, I will take you up to the naked room," Pandora said after releasing Newt who looked like he might faint.
"Thank you," Newt said as they stepped into the house
"Newt," Harry said as they followed her into the kitchen which reminded Harry of a giant pepper pot.
"Yes, Harry?" Newt asked curiously.
"Bellatrix is never to find out about this," Harry said as they began climbing the metal spiral staircase.
"As long as you don't mention anything Tina, we have a deal," Newt muttered as they stepped off of the second-floor landing.
"Xeno you have visitors," Pandora called into the room as they all stepped inside.
The room looked the same as Harry remembered from his timeline. The strange-looking printing press took up much of the room and odd inventions, books, parchment and all sorts of nick-nacks cluttered up the room. There were three chairs near the window and the floor was covered in midnight blue carpet.
"Can I help you?" a man with long blonde hair asked as he walked out from behind an overloaded bookshelf near the printing press.
Contrary to the name of the room Xenophilius was thankfully fully clothed, wearing robes in a bright eyewatering shade of yellow.
"Yes Mr Lovegood, I am Newt Scamander and this is my colleague Harry Peverell," Newt said as Pandora wandered out of the room humming softly.
"Peverell as in the Deathly Hallows?" Xeno asked as he gestured for them to take a seat in the chairs.
"The very same," Harry nodded as he took a seat.
"We are here because we discovered a very curious creature in a forest in Norway, very near the border of Sweden," Newt cut in before Xeno could sidetrack the conversation.
"A creature?" Xeno asked his eyes snapping to look at Newt.
"Yes, Harry made the initial discovery and contacted me so we could document it," Newt explained as Harry pulled a stack of photos from his pocket and passed them to Xenophilius who took the stack with shaky hands.
Harry and Newt watched as Xeno gasped and moved through the photos, his face showing clear shock at what he was seeing.
"It's the crumple-horned snorkack, my grandfather always told me they were real. H-how did you find it?" Xeno asked as he kept looking through the photos.
"It wandered into my camp, I think it was cold and wanted to warm up by the fire," Harry admitted, surprised at how emotional Xenophillius was acting upon seeing proof that the crumple-horned snorkack existed.
"Amazing," Xeno muttered softly.
"The reason we are here is that we want you to publish our findings in your paper. The crumple-horned snorkack will be published in the nineteen eighty-six edition of my book but I thought you should make the announcement that the creature does in fact exist," Newt explained
"Of course but I can't pay you for the interview," Xeno said nervously.
"That's not an issue for either of us," Newt waved him off.
"Excellent, can I use some of these photos in the article?" Xeno asked hopefully.
"Go ahead and keep those, I have another copy of them," Harry said finding the man's childlike excitement infectious
"Thank you!" Xeno exclaimed before he dug out some parchment and a long quill made from a hippogriff feather and prepared to start the interview.
"My first question was what were you doing in Norway?" Xeno asked as he dipped his quill into some gold-coloured ink and looked at Harry expectantly.
Harry grinned before he began to tell the tale of the Selma and then his run-in with the crumple-horned snorkack, feeling pleased he could prove that one of the creatures Luna always talked about in his timeline actually existed.
Head's Office, Hogwarts, 1/18/1986, 21:39
Albus was feeling exhausted, there had been three attempts since last June to enter that forest in Albania. He was able to hold them off and the Albanian ministry had since increased their efforts to monitor that forest but he knew it was only a matter of time before one of Tom's servants found a way in.
More troubling were the reports that Tom's people were searching for the Flamels. Albus had tried to get in touch with them as soon as Severus had informed him but had not had any luck as of yet.
He had begun to reform the order and had made plans for the first meeting to be held on the first of March.
Albus had also found out what the other dot on the map he had seen in that memory was. He had suspected that Tom had left something behind the night he had attacked the Potters. Never in his life had Albus hoped that he had been wrong about something more than he was right now. He was sure there was a fragment of soul embedded in young Harry Potter's scar and he knew of no way to remove it without killing the lad.
The only positive thing that had happened of late was that Cassiopeia Black had overstepped her bounds one too many times and had been voted out of office. The Wizengamot intended to put her on trial but she had slipped away to France before they could arrest her.
Another election was to be held in mid-June and Rufus Scrimgeour was appointed acting minister until the election of a new minister.
Augusta Longbottom would almost certainly get the job this time, there were still rumours going around that the incident at the Malfoy Easter Ball was on the behest of Cassiopeia Black which bought her s lot of goodwill, especially after recent developments.
Truthfully Albus believed that the murder of Nott and Selwyn was a plot to eliminate Cassiopeia's competition but he could never prove it.
Cassiopeia Black had wreaked havoc on the ministry in her short time in office, though thankfully all of her radical legislation had been shot down. On the plus side, her time in office had produced the largest auror corp the ministry had seen since before Grindlewald, which could be useful if Tom was ever successful in returning to power.
Lately, Albus had been wondering if he should seek out the minister position. He had turned it down time and again but it seemed one moron after the other took the job and more often than not the country suffered because of it.
Well that was a bit unfair, Millicent Bagnold had been doing a very good job after Voldemort had fallen but she was forced out of office by circumstances beyond her control.
On second thought, there was no way he would take up the mantle of running the country, he was having enough problems running the school.
For the last year and a half, he had been having quite a bit of trouble with a pair of first years (well second years now), they were constantly into mischief and driving the staff mad.
Harry Peverell had warned him about Ms Tonks and her proclivity for trouble but he had gotten no such warning about young Mr Weasley. The two of them together could give James and Sirius a run for their money.
Somehow, Ms Tonks and Mr Weasley had set up an ingenious ward in front of the great hall entrance a week ago.
The ward catapulted anyone who tried to cross it through the air only to land on a modified cushioning charm that shot them straight into the air again. This ward had caused pandemonium, the teachers were forced to cancel classes for an entire day as the ward started popping up in front of classrooms all over the school!
The two of them were finally caught setting the ward up in front of Severus' classroom, the little rascals had gone one step further and put the modified cushioning charm on the ceiling as well as the floor of the entire dungeon corridor.
Though the ward never got to see use, Albus would hazard a guess that whoever tripped that ward would know what it felt like to be an Ever-Bouncing Bouncy Ball.
Albus was pulled from his musings when Severus swept into his office looking frustrated.
"Why don't you just find a way to contain the dark lord, those morons are coming up with ever more ridiculous ways to enter that infernal forest," Severus scowled.
"If I knew how I would but all of the ways I have found, will only work temporarily," Albus sighed.
"Well, eventually they're going to succeed in their task and bring him back," Severus warned.
"I am very aware, I admit that I hadn't expected them to search him out so early," Albus said seeming to age decades at this admission.
"Avery was the instigator, from what I learned, he was responsible for breaking Dolohov out," Severus said, still a little murky on the details himself.
"With Nott and Malfoy dead, he is next in line to lead the pureblood faction," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"Yes, but unlike Malfoy, Avery is a cold-blooded murderer," Severus pointed out.
"Yes I am familiar with his work," Albus sighed.
"Then you know the damage that can be inflicted when he and Antonin Dolohov work together?" Snape asked with a meaningful look
"Yes, I already have plans to reactivate the order but that's all I can do without something to go on," Albus said giving Snape a pointed look.
"The location is unplottable, all I know for sure is that Dolohov is in Bulgaria," Snape explained for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Well enough of our problems, how did the detention with Ms Tonks and Mr Weasley go?" Albus asked.
"I had them scrub the loos by hand," Snape said with a hint of vindictive glee in his eye
"Good, a little manual labour builds character" Albus chuckled.
"Those two are a menace, I still think you should suspend them both," Severus put forth.
"Now Severus they are just children," Albus sighed.
"Black has been teaching her his old tricks," Severus argued.
"Actually, I believe that the ward was designed by her uncle," Albus admitted.
"You think Peverell invented those wards?" Severus asked and he couldn't hide the hint of curiosity in his voice.
"That is just a suspicion on my part but the ward was far too subtle for Lord Black," Albus explained.
"Avery and Dolohov are very interested in Peverell, there are rumours in some circles that he is Narcissa Malfoy's problem solver," Severus said candidly.
"I have heard similar rumours as well," Albus said as he vanished the cap on the bottle of Coca-Cola sitting on his desk and took a sip.
Severus jerked when his wand buzzed and stood from his seat looking resigned.
"I am afraid I must be on my way, the meeting is about to start," Severus said as he checked his pocket watch.
"Please see me when you return and do be careful my boy," Albus said worriedly.
"I always am, Albus," Severus chuckled darkly as he approached the fireplace and threw in some floo powder.
Albus sighed as he watched Severus disappear into the floo network, and took another swig from the delightful muggle drink.
'I hope we can stop Tom before it becomes as bad as it was last time,' Albus thought to himself as he finished his drink and decided it was time to get some rest.