chapter 68

Sinistra continued "And finally your son was disrespectful to Ministry officials and members of the school's Board of Governors in the middle of the Great Hall in front of the gathered student body, and then refused to complete a task assigned by the Student Advisor. In this he earned his third strike and displayed an utter contempt for his position and an inability to learn from his mistakes. As such, the decision was made to strip him of his prefect's badge."

"This punishment," said Madam Longbottom "has been reviewed by representatives from the Board of Governors and the Wizarding Examinations Authority. Both groups have concluded that the punishment is just and will stand."

"Any more questions?" asked Madam Marchbanks

For a while, neither parent said anything. Lucius was fuming, but Narcissa seemed both thoughtful and resigned.

Finally she broke the silence "Would we be able to bring our son home until after the weekend? Perhaps this will allow tempers to cool down and we can talk some sense into him."

"I think that would be a wide idea," commented Professor McGonagall.

"Agreed," said Professor Sinistra "I will escort you to the Slytherin Common Room so that you can collect him."

She and the two Malfoys got to their feet and began making their way towards the office door.

However, Lucius was a prideful man who always liked to get in the last word, and today was going to be no exception.

At the door he turned back to face those in the room and said snidely "This school was once great, but ever since that fool Dumbledore was put into the top spot this place has gone downhill. Rest assured, we will be seriously rethinking Draco's continued schooling here."

Harry locked eyes with the man and replied "Do then!"

In that moment, the tension in the air of that little office room could have been cut with a knife. And it was in that same moment that Albus Dumbledore decided to make his entrance.

Without even the common courtesy of knocking and waiting to be invited in, he pushed open the door and walked straight in.

"Aha. Here you all are."

"Why are you here, Albus?" asked Madam Marchbanks.

"I was alerted by the school's wards that Mr and Mrs Malfoy had arrived and was hoping to speak with them. Aurora, you should have informed me of the location of this meeting."

"I was unaware that you wished to be a part of this meeting, Headmaster," replied the Astronomy Professor, blithely "you did not volunteer your services with Mr Potter asked for assistance in dealing with the Malfoy parents, so I assumed that you were trusting others to work the situation out."

"Nevertheless," continued Dumbledore "I am here now. Let us discuss the situation at hand."

"No need, Headmaster," said Harry "the situation has already been resolved. All have agreed that Draco Malfoy's punishment will stand, and his parents were just about to find him in order to take him home until after the weekend so that they can try to reason with him."

Dumbledore looked like he had just swallowed a particularly sour lemon drop. Finding his voice again he asked the Malfoys "Are you certain that this is the best option?"

"There are times in life where one must concede defeat, Headmaster" replied Narcissa "and there are also times in life when it is best that tempers be allowed to cool down. This is a time when both must happen."

Dumbledore gave a resigned nod of his head and stepped aside to allow Professor Sinistra and the Malfoy parents to pass through the door.

Once they were gone, Harry stood up from his seat and said in a bright and cheery voice "Well, that went well. Madam Marchbanks, Madam Longbottom, Professor McGonagall, thank you very much for your help in resolving this little situation. I trust that I can count on the three of you again should the need arise?"

After getting three acknowledgements, he thanked them again and said "Well, if you'll excuse me, I must be off. I want to catch Professor Sinistra on her way back, to see if she has any thoughts on the replacement prefect. Goodbye."

And with that, he turned and walked out of the office without giving so much as a look of acknowledgement to Dumbledore as he passed the man.

By breakfast the following morning, the news that Draco Malfoy had been taken home by his parents was all over the castle. Of course, the rumour mill greatly embellished upon the truth, with many students thoroughly convinced that Harry Potter had personally expelled his schoolyard nemesis.

"Are you planning on telling them the truth?" asked Hannah as they ate breakfast.

Harry looked over to the Slytherin table, where more than a few students kept stealing fearful glances towards him.

"At dinner," he replied finally "I've put up with enough crap from that house over the years. Let them stew in their worry for a couple of hours."

Susan laughed as Hannah shook her head and went back to her scrambled eggs.

Lord Voldemort was sitting upon a throne-like chair in the Grand Hall of Malfoy Manor. In front of him, Lucius Malfoy was hunched over on the floor and trembling, having just suffered the effects of the cruciatus curse.

Voldemort was a firm believer in not killing the messenger, but that didn't mean he didn't vent his frustrations upon the bringer of bad news.

The Malfoy whelp losing his position of prefect was hardly of any concern to Lord Voldemort. Of course, having the son of one of his inner circle of Death Eaters hold a position such as prefect at Hogwarts did have its advantages, but in the grand scheme of things those advantages were miniscule and therefore largely inconsequential.

No, the bad news that Lucius had brought was that Severus Snape had been demoted from his position as Head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts.

Voldemort had, of course, been aware that the Ministry was currently spear-heading a movement to increase standards at Hogwarts and for the most part the news has pleased him. He knew of many of Dumbledore's more recent recruits and how most of them would not stand up in the face of even the slightest bit of scrutiny, something which could only backfire upon Dumbledore himself.

However, Snape losing favour was an unprecedented blow to his own forces. As their spy within the castle, any sign of wrongdoing had the potential of robbing Snape, and thus Lord Voldemort, of vital information. People would be far more wary around the man from now on.

The situation was, without a doubt, regretful, but still yet salvageable. Snape was still in the castle he was still teaching, he still had Dumbledore's ear and he still had access to Potter, even if it was limited.

Of course, things could currently go one way or the other. Snape was on the ropes, and there were a lot of people awaiting his fall.

Voldemort would have to summon Snape soon, and remind him as to just how important it was that he remained within the castle walls.

A cruciatus curse or two ought to do the trick.

At the moment he had no major plans, other than to mostly sit back and wait. He knew full well that the Ministry was working very hard on the task of toppling the great Albus Dumbledore from his pedestal of greatness, and once Dumbledore fell his followers were sure to follow.

Of course, with the Ministry completely denying the fact that he, Lord Voldemort, had returned to power, that would be the perfect time for him to put in a very public appearance.

Yes, he rather liked that plan – allow the Ministry to topple Dumbledore, and then he would come in and topple the Ministry. So long as he kept a check on his spies within the Ministry, toppling that institution should be relatively simple, especially compared to his previous attempts during the last war. Then there had been many Aurors, and their department was well funded. Now, his Ministry sources could reveal, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was under-staffed, ill-equipped and squeezed for finances.

In the meantime, however, Voldemort was free to focus his efforts onto one particular plan that he did have going, which was the difficult task of getting into the Department of Mysteries and locating that blasted prophecy, something which he was certain he had not heard in full previously. Once he had his hands on that, he was certain that he would be able to destroy the last obstacle in his way to complete power – Harry Potter.