Knowledge is Power

Chapter 66

The rest of the summer was busy. While other prats were having vacation and relaxing, Severus and co not so much. Most mornings were spent with their little group in the room of requirement, with Adler and Grindelwald presenting them with rare forms of attack or protection to practice. Wizards like Severus and Filius were skilled enough not to require any extra help, but these days anyone who could learn a spell that the enemy might not see coming should bloody well learn it, so they did.

If Severus was particularly lucky, he could exist for three days without something happening to annoy him. The highlights of annoyance before term started for Potter's seventh year both involved Hogwarts. The first was when he and Nightshade got called away to a Death Eater meeting in the midst of one of their morning defense workouts in the room of requirement.

The meeting was a small one and involved Voldemort's announcement of a successful takeover of the ministry.
"Just as expected, of course."
The dark lord's smooth, oily, serpentine voice slid over the ears like chilling water and Severus felt Nightshade's claws digging through the padding on his shoulder and into his skin.
"As I said earlier in the summer, you are in charge of Hogwarts, Severus. I want the Carrows working as professors of Muggle Studies and Dark Arts. I shall be doing away with defense...obviously."

Voldemort's lip curled into a scathing sneer.
"I shall be sending you a new curriculum for each class. We're going to clean up the education in that school! No more of that weak watered down rubbish approved by Albus Dumbledore. It shall also be mandatory that everyone who is a pure or half blood must attend if they have passed their O.W.L.S. Muggle borns will not be allowed. We are maintaining Slytherin's standards at Hogwarts once again!"

Severus nodded. So Voldemort was going to run the ministry, and the school, and who knew what else single handedly until or if Potter managed to take him down. Unlike Grindelwald, who wanted to rebuild the wizarding government, Voldemort intended to single handedly run it all. It wasn't that Severus was truly surprised about this. Perhaps it was that he'd hoped it wouldn't actually get so far.

"I look forward to carrying out your will, Lord," he said...because as Nightshade would say, what the fuck else was he going to say?
"Wonderful," Voldemort said with a cold smile, then turned his attention back to the group at large.
Severus hoped Voldemort would speak more on ministry changes that he could share with Heather and Raislen to prepare them for whatever was to come, but no such luck. Voldemort only told those Death Eaters that he was placing in specific departments, that he'd be meeting with them privately. None were in the Department Of Mysteries, at least so Heather and Raislen should be safe.

It seemed the Dark Lord was sliding into the ministry more subtly, and not rocking the entire structure. Perhaps that was because he wished to own it...to possess it as it already was as Albus had suspected, rather than to remake it in his image...At least for now. The Dark Lord said no more of import and the meeting was brief. When everyone was dismissed, Severus promptly apparated back to the edge of Hogwarts grounds.

Idly Severus wondered why the Dark Lord hadn't assigned someone more educated to take over teaching positions at Hogwarts. The Carrows may come from an old pure blood family but their grammar was atrocious.
//Um, Prof...I got an answer for you,// Nightshade said, waving a wing in the air as a student may wave their hand to get his attention.
The motion caused the owl to weave slightly on his shoulder as all the wing waving set him off balance.
//Yes, Nightshade,// Severus thought dryly, struggling not to smile.
//Yeah, Yeah, it's because like he's crazy! You know before the Horcruxes he was already super fucked up and now it's just all over...Seven Horcruxes equals sanity never fucking returning ever...even if it did ever exist, which I'm voting a fuck no on that one.//

Severus chuckled.
//I always so enjoy these little walks back from the edge of hell,// he told the owl dryly as they approached the school.
He sped up his steps, knowing that Mag would be tense with worry until she knew they were both alright. When he rejoined them in the Room of Requirement, Wolfgang was in the middle of showing them something that looked interesting, but everyone stopped to hear his bad news.

Lunch was a sullen affair as a result. Like him most people were expecting it, but no one liked the fact that Voldemort had truly managed such a grand scale takeover. After a day or two of everyone ingesting the new and hopefully temporary reality, things basically returned to normal.

A few weeks later the second shoe dropped when Albus announced that he was going to Durmstrang with Bera Karkaroff in the fall. He told Severus this calmly, as if Severus shouldn't ,mind at all. As if the news was reasonable, and to be expected. As if it was a bloody good idea!

"You're just going to leave me here to run everything? This is me! I have no social skills and nor do I want them!"
Severus realized that he was shouting, and didn't care. They were alone in Albus's chambers and this was most certainly shout worthy.
"You do remember who I am, don't you?"

"Severus," Albus said in that calm voice that only served to enrage Severus even more.
"You aren't thinking. First of all, you will do fine. You don't give yourself nearly enough credit."
"Oh trust me, I do," Severus said darkly.
He gave himself plenty of credit for hating everyone and being intolerant of the ridiculous inane behavior that headmasters had to take in stride on a daily basis. That was all well and good for headmasters...only Severus himself had never, ever, even once, desired to be one!

Albus continued calmly as if Severus weren't practically boiling over like a cauldron of rage.
"I will still be able to help you if it is truly necessary. Miss Karkaroff and I have turned our bedroom closets into portkeys for each school. The bedroom closet in my old headmaster's chambers leads to Durmstrang and hers there leads here to Hogwarts. So, you see? We can always get to one another quickly."

"You're already in one another's bedrooms," Severus demanded, suddenly feeling ill.
"That is neither here nor there," Albus assured him firmly.
"I am merely telling you where the portkeys are."

"Why do you need to be in Durmstrang, though," Severus asked.
//Prof,// Nightshade warned.
//You're kinda starting to whine.//
Severus scowled over at the owl on his shoulder.
//I am most certainly not.//
//Prof...I can hear you, and you obviously aren't listening. Trust me, you are.//

"Severus," Albus said, his patient tone setting Severus's teeth on edge.
"You know if I remain here, I'll probably be discovered eventually. It is far safer for me at Durmstrang where I can go undiscovered. I will be teaching Transfiguration. I will use transfiguration to make myself appear much as my former younger self. No one will ever recognize me."
He gave an embarrassed grin.
"I may have taken the idea from Grindelwald, but it is easier to look like myself, only with slight alterations."

"That isn't what Grindelwald did," Severus reminded peevishly.
He relished saying something that he knew would upset Albus because Albus had just selfishly upset and abandoned him.
"Grindelwald is actually young. It took someone's life to manage that, don't you remember?"

"Stop being difficult, Severus," Albus snapped.
"The man has the morals of a troll, but that isn't my problem, and you know what I meant. Stop being unkind. I thought you wanted me to be safe. I will be a closet away, literally, if there is trouble and you are being extremely unreasonable."

"Well allow me to stop being unreasonable by removing myself from your presence," Severus huffed, and promptly swept out.
//Good parting line, Prof,// Nightshade said.
Severus smiled but his pleasure was short lived.
//How the hell am I going to manage a school, Nightshade? I'm no headmaster! I never wanted to be! I'll feel like such a fake.//

Nightshade thought for a moment as Severus headed toward the dungeons.
//Well,// he said slowly.//Not really. Not if you think about it. I mean you're being a headmaster for Voldemort, if we're keeping it real, not for Albus. So you'd be the sort of headmaster Voldemort would want...I mean you'll pretend to be. So in essence that means you can just be yourself and that'll be great! If you're shitty to ass-tards the way you want to be, it may not be Dumbledore professional, but it's Voldemort's shit show so it'll actually fit.//

Severus nodded.
//Thank you.//
Somehow the owl always knew the right thing to say and once you got through all the profanity and strange phraseology, he was actually quite wise just as owls were supposed to be.