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Hogwarts
–Albus Dumbledore–
He was deep in thought, his thoughts flashing back to the carnage he witnessed before he came face to face with that…abomination, only to be snapped out of it by Minerva, who was looking at him with concern clearly written on her face.
"Albus! Albus! Are you even listening?" She asked him, anger and concern radiating off her in waves. It was understandable since the next steps they took will decide the fate of not just Hogwarts' independence but the overall atmosphere of the entire school, a direct effect that will be felt by all the students.
For that alone, he had to step up. Clearing his throat, he straightened up and looked at Minerva, "You were saying, Minerva?" his attempt at joviality was clearly brushed aside by Minerva, who repeated what she must have been saying earlier.
"When are we issuing an official statement? The rumours are swirling, both in and out of Hogwarts, and if we don't do something soon, people will jump to conclusions, and that will be–"
He cut her off from going down that line of thought, "What of the Board of Governors?"
After the Ministry itself, they were the most important entity when it came to Hogwarts. Theoretically, they could even remove him from his position, if they so wished. They could even shut the school down, until they deem it safe, on top of creating and hiring new positions. Positions that will only be filled by loyalists, and that was not something he could allow just yet.
One step at a time, he told himself. Once the Board was managed, he could move on to the Ministry, then to the wider public. No matter how he tried to spin it, someone did die on his watch, and aside from the public perception, his own morals would never allow something like that to go unnoticed or unpunished.
Argus Filch had given his life for Hogwarts. Even being a squib, he had served Hogwarts faithfully for decades, executing his duty properly. There were complaints, but they were from the students, whom Filch was supposed to discipline, so that much was expected.
Minerva gave him a sharp look for interrupting her, but relented, "Nothing. Which is concerning. Normally, they would be all ready with their summons, but they are silent this time. The majority of the noise seems to have come from the Ministry."
There was a moment of silence in his office before Minerva continued, "I don't think the Minister is going to wait any longer, Albus. The school is shut down for the day, and that sends a signal to all the parents. Sooner or later, the calls to take their students out of Hogwarts will come, and by then, no one will be able to hold them off."
"It will not come to that, Minerva. I will deal with it." He reassured Minvera before opening one of the drawers in his ornate desk. He had multiple letters to write, addressed to his allies on the Board. It would be best if he got them on his side before moving to the Ministry, lest it blow up in his face. Hogwarts and his position as the Headmaster was very important, even more so than his other ones, since Harry was in attendance and he simply could not trust anyone else to guide the boy.
Young Harry has shown a startling amount of potential, both in terms of magic and his willingness to use it in any way as long as it fulfils his morality criteria. He reminded him of his young self, willing to use everything at his disposal for a cause he deemed just.
His actions concerning the troll construct only served to prove his concerns. Harry was going to grow to be a fabulous wizard, both in terms of power and mentality, and he would be damned if he let yet another powerful wizard stray away from the path of good.
No, for that alone, he would fight tooth and nail for his current position. The Ministry could wait. After all–
His neck snapped to the side as the fireplace flared, a panicked voice coming shrilling through, "Albus! Albus! Let me come in, please!"
Or he could deal with the Minister right now, and the way the Minister was panicking, it was entirely plausible that he could get away with minimal explanations. As long as the Minister himself was placated, he could remove a big load from his mind. The Ministry's becoming neutral in the whole scenario was a net positive for him, so he gave permission to come through.
Cornelius appeared in a flash of roaring green, meticulously dressed, yet his face gave away his mental state. The man was miserable, predictably. He was a vain man, but knew how to work around people to maintain his position whilst also being careful not to rock the boat too much. The recent attention on the incident at Hogwarts and the apparent lack of any statement from the Ministry or the Aurors shone a spotlight on Cornelius' actions or lack thereof, resulting in the current panic that Minster must be feeling.
Truly, he had no spine. He was waiting for Hogwarts to come out and say something so he could say something to placate the masses, whilst pushing the entire blame on him.
A politician through and through. Still, he had his uses, like now.
"Albus! You have to do something. I can almost imagine the next article that damned Rita will print tomorrow. We can't let that happen, Albus. I will lose my seat! We must do something before that!"
"Cornelius! Calm down. I will handle it. Is there anything specific you need?"
"Give me something. Anything will work at this point."
He made a show of being in deep thought as Cornelius sat next to Minvera, who looked more and more uncomfortable with how the Minister of Magic was acting. Unfortunately, a little bit of theatrics was simply necessary for the Minster.
"Get the reporters in the Ministry Atrium. I will take questions in the evening. Will that work?"
Cornelius jumped at that like a lifeline, ignoring Minerva completely, "Yes! YES! That will work. I will get it arranged right now. Thank you, Albus!"
And just like that, the Minster was gone within minutes of coming here. The contrast between his emotions at entry and exit were enough to give anyone whiplash.
"Was there truly no one better than him?" Minerva muttered to herself, talking about Cornelius disdainfully. This time, he truly had no defense, so he just moved on.
"I'm sure you've done the patrols yourself, but do another one. Take Filius and Hagrid with you this time. Make sure every nook and cranny is accounted for. Also," He opened one of the other drawers and took out a piece of long parchment, and placed it on the desk in front of him.
Taking out the Elder Wand, he felt the Hogwarts' wards practically sing in joy at being connected to him through the Elder Wand, he placed it on the parchment and closed his eyes, connecting to the Wards and enchanting the specific function he wanted to access.
After a few seconds, the parchment rippled before squiggly lines appeared on top of it. The lines twisted on themselves before turning into a map of their current location, i.e, his office. It even said that on top of the paper.
Headmaster's office.
Truly, there was no limit to how many surprises Hogwarts' wards hid inside them. It truly was a tragedy that each successive Headmaster had done nothing but bury all these esoteric functions under superficial additions.
That reminded him that he had to take time to find out just how that construct managed to slip past all the protections undetected and what he could do to make sure it never happened again.
Picking the parchment, he handed it to Minerva, who looked at it with naked curiosity in her eyes, "This will show you any hidden entrance or exit or staircase near you. Use this to make sure that no surprises remain in any hidden spaces around Hogwarts."
Minerva carefully took it from his hands before taking out her wand. She gave him a look, and he nodded, letting her run her own diagnosis charms on her parchment, not that he expected her to glean much from the paper itself. Minerva was a talented wizard, but understanding of that level she did not possess. In fact, he could count on one hand, the number of wizards in Magical Britain who could understand just what the parchment was doing and how.
All because that paper was barely 10% of the whole equation, and the rest was an ancient Ward network that even he didn't fully understand.
"I see. I will do the rounds once more." Minerva said as she departed his office.
Sighing, he looked up at the ceiling of his office as his thoughts went back to the troll construct and how the only reason Harry and his friends were alive right now was because Damian Hawthorne used a relic from the Ancient Ruins, to push the troll to give everyone enough time to escape.
It did not escape his notice that Damian knew about the secret staircase as well. He did not have the time to question Damian directly, and calling him to his office at such a time could lead to unsavoury rumours, leaving him with only one opinion.
To question William Hawthorne about what was going through his mind when he gave his younger sibling a relic. One powerful enough to temporarily overcome a construct that required the collective effort of most of the faculty to hold back long enough for him to finish it off.
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