Let's Try Again

Chapter 13 : 1997

Hogwarts - January 6, 1997

Life just wasn't going Albus Dumbledore's way. The students had returned last night and that had just driven home how much control he had lost.

Albus had spent almost every waking moment since the board meeting trying to maintain his control over his school. It hadn't worked. The goblins had refused to allow him to hire almost all of his choices. He had gotten a few of his people, like Andromeda Tonks, but that wasn't enough.

Most of the new staff members weren't as devoted to him as he would have liked. Sure, many of them looked up to him, but that wasn't enough. He needed people that would follow his orders without questions. The only two that would follow him without question, were Andromeda, who was one of the new history professors, and Caleb Doge, great-great-nephew of his old friend Elphias Doge, who was going to be one of the transfiguration assistants.

He had had to do the introductions and seem like he was happy at the welcome back feast. Many of the students had even seemed excited to have more teachers. A feeling that Albus didn't share. He had liked to let the students run wild, it helped to keep them dumbed down, more teachers helping them was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

Just as he was getting ready to head down to dinner his floo alarm went off. He allowed access when he saw that it was Augusta Longbottom.

Albus wasn't sure how he felt about the sudden recovery of Frank and Alice. It was a benefit because it brought back another powerful light family. Plus it helped to calm Augusta, she was completely obsessed with her son and his image. The drawback was that now he couldn't use their condition to point out the cruelty of the death eaters. It didn't help that Alice had always been a little wary of him, and Frank followed her ideas.

There was also the issue that this potion had been created by Severus. He needed people to continue to mistrust Severus, it gave him control over the man. He had hoped that working for the bank wouldn't leave him any time to create new potions. If he had been working for the school when that potion had been created, then Albus would have been able to make sure that he gained the profit from the potion, now Severus was earning more money. People were also starting to see his spy in a better light.

"Albus, I need your help" Augusta was furious and had tears in her eyes.

"What is wrong my dear?" Albus could see that the normally stoic woman was on the edge of having a complete fit.

"Alice. That...That woman has taken Frank away."

"What happened?"

"I was working with Neville in our weekly session, trying to get his power to react you know. Alice came in and threw a complete fit before grabbing the boy and storming off. Frank went with them. I don't understand what is wrong with him. How could he just abandon his mother."

Albus knew this was going to be trouble. He knew that when she said session, Augusta meant that she had been throwing stinging hexes at the boy. The boy was forbidden from running away or crying, it was an attempt to force his magic to protect him.

It wouldn't work, and he knew it. He had had Augusta place a block on the boy's magic so that Albus would be able to control him better when he was older. That block and the different potions he knew the child had been fed would stop the boy from being able to use magic, at least for another few years.

Augusta's brother-in-law Algie had also been blocking the boy's power and giving him potions. If Frank hadn't recovered, Neville was set to be the next Lord Longbottom. Algie had always been jealous of his elder brother, and then when the lordship passed to his nephew and then great-nephew he had been furious. Algie had already gone through all the money his family had given him and was using Nevill's trust fund to keep supporting himself since he and Augusta were locked out of a majority of the family fortune until Frank got better or Neville came of age.