Black Fortunes

Chapter 14

July 1977

As Harrigan stared down at the parchment in his hands, the corner of his mouth twitched despite his best attempts. Once the incredulity of it sank in, his reaction was a foregone conclusion and he gave in to the inevitable, laying his head back on the armchair he sat in and descending into what he would later try and convince himself was manly laughter, not an insane rather feminine-sounding cackle.

Ever since beginning their little attack against Dumbledore, Harrigan, Orion, and their companions had been trying to figure out a way into the school. It was commonly believed by the four Lords that Dumbledore's little preaches of 'equality' and his magnanimous manner were a front and the school was his domain where he shaped students into what he wanted them to be. A few random comments from Sirius over the summer seemed to confirm some of it at least, and it was a big one. Prejudice apparently ran rampant at the school, 'bullies' under the name of pranksters ran unchecked and when caught out were able to get away with a small slap on the wrist.

A quietly ashamed Sirius had admitted to his own wrongdoing, listing a few incidents that he had been a part of with his friends, including one incident with a Slytherin in their own year that should have resulted in expulsion. Orion had been very angry at his eldest son and demanded that he prepare a proper apology for when he next saw one Severus Tobias Snape. Though it was unacceptable even against a student of no history, Sirius had been even more ashamed and horrified at his actions when a frowning Lucius revealed that Severus was Heir to the line of Prince. He would technically be Lord Prince when Sirius next spoke with him.

While the Prince family didn't soar quite as high as their falcon emblem would have liked over the past few decades, the family was still old blood, producing some of the finest individuals in the fields of Potions, Spell Crafting, and Herbology that were seen in Wizarding Great Britain. Severus was well on his way to becoming one of the youngest Potions Masters in the field, if not the youngest. According to Sirius' rueful comments, that could end up being a double Mastery with Spell-Crafting.

On the subject of bullying and favoritism, however, Sirius easily admitted that the very worst offenses had been against Slytherin and he agreed that more than three-quarters of these incidents had been by Gryffindor students. The four friends had agreed, they needed a way into the school, pronto.

And here the solution to their problem had literally soared into his lap, delivered by a very grumpy screech owl. After dismissing the foul bird Harrigan had read through it swiftly the first time. Unable to comprehend what he had read, a second and even third reading had been taken far more slowly.

Apparently, the school governors (of which Abraxas was a member) had decided that a closer eye needed to be kept on this year's crop of graduating students. To this end, they had declined the Headmaster's appointing of a truly dismal choice for the teacher's post of Defense Against The Dark Arts for a term of one year. They had informed a likely infuriated Dumbledore that they would be choosing the replacement instructor. To this end, they had sent an inquiry to Harrigan asking if he would so kindly consider taking the post of Defense for one term starting August 25th. Apparently, teachers started preparing for the arrival of the students a bit ahead of time.

Harrigan didn't truly know how much influence Abraxas had over his fellow governors, but the timing of this little gem was absolutely superb. If it was not his doing, then Harrigan would be giving the Mother some well-deserved thanks.

Picking up the missive he stood, stretched luxuriously, and headed for Orion's office, a smug little grin creeping onto his lips at the thought of the other man's reaction. The thought of Orion brought Harrigan to their Courting and he was thankful the hallway was empty as he was unable to repress a slight blush. He was quickly coming to think of Orion as his beloved, and even thinking the name in his head brought a small smile to his lips.