The Second Wave
“Probation?” Hermione scoffed at the letter she received from Mr. Malfoy.
“What’s the matter?” Harry asked before taking a bite of his gummy wand.
“Dumbledore’s been put on probation,” she replied. “That’s it.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Draco asked. The way Hermione rolled her eyes warned them that the boys were in for a lecture. So Harry pointed his wand at the compartment door and whispered a spell to get it to slide shut and lock. He whispered another to keep their conversation from getting out.
“Hardly!” Hermione shouted. She took a deep breath, then lowered her voice. “With everything I put in that letter to the Board, he should have been sacked. Phineas Black was sacked for much less. This-” she waved the letter in her hand violently, as if the parchment itself were to blame. “Says that he has so much of a good reputation that no one was willing to just toss him out. They all trust him too much.
“So he’s been put on a probationary period until the end of the school year. They’re going to send people out to observe how he handles things a few times throughout the term. Then he gets a review at the end of the year. The review will decide if he stays or goes. Then, if he fails his review, they’ll launch an investigation to see if he should remain Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. But that’s only if he fails.”
“That’s something, at least,” Draco soothed.
“It’s not enough.” Hermione crammed the thick packet back into its envelope, then shoved the whole thing into her bag. She cast the bag aside angrily, slamming it on the train seat beside her in frustration. “He’s going to know all of this ahead of time, too. So he’ll have plenty of time to cover everything up. If he was able to use his reputation to get him out of trouble without even being at the Governor’s Meeting, imagine what he’ll do when face to face with the reviewers they send.”
Harry shook his head in disappointment. “Hermione’s right. He’ll be back next year, just fine.”
“Oh, honestly!” Draco huffed at them in mock exasperation. “Giving up already? Are you two Slytherins, or not?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hermione asked, mildly offended.
“He’ll only be back if his reviews go well, right?” Draco explained. “Then, let’s just make sure that they don’t go well.”
“You want to go out of our way to sabotage his reviews?” Hermione asked incredulously, eyebrows raised. Draco grinned at her, then she glanced at Harry to see he was grinning too. Her eyebrows lowered as she quirked the right corner of her mouth into a smirk.
“Do you know what days the review will be?” Harry asked, grin turned evil.
“Yup. The first observation is on February 5th. That’s when they’ll be focusing on how he works with the staff. The next is April 4th, to see how he handles his administrative work. Then the last is during exams to see how he handles the OWLs and NEWTs. He’ll be given his results in the morning on the day of the End-of-Term Feast.”
“So then, we’ll know exactly when and what to sabotage,” Harry mused aloud. “All we need is to come up with the how.”
“Dumbledore’s doomed,” Draco stated with a diabolical smile.
The rest of the train ride was spent in malevolent glee as the trio schemed ways to make the headmaster look incompetent, without exposing themselves as the culprits.
“The twins!” Harry gasped, as they disembarked the train.
“You want to use them as our scapegoats?” Draco asked in a whisper. “Brilliant! No one would ever doubt those two as being up to something.”
“No,” Harry shook his head, but then scrunched his nose as he thought about it. “Well, yes, but not how you’re thinking.” He looked around to make sure no one was close, before boarding an empty carriage and rushing the other 2 to follow him. When they were settled, he continued.
“The twins have been trying all year to get to the Philosopher’s Stone-”
“The Philosopher’s Stone?” Draco asked in confusion.
“Wait, what?” Hermione widened her eyes in shock.
“That’s right!” Harry wanted to smack himself. He’d been so preoccupied with revenge on Dumbledore, that he’d forgotten the discovery he made. He’d only just made it early that morning when skimming through books in the Library with Uncle Arty because he was too antsy to sleep. “I think what Dumbledore’s hiding on the third floor is the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“What gives you that idea?” Hermione asked.
“Well, it was mostly just a guess,” Harry admitted, “but it makes the most sense. I was reading about Nicolas Flamel in the Black Library, and it mentioned how the Headmaster and Flamel had been partners in Alchemy. They were very close for years, and supposedly, Flamel taught Dumbledore everything he knows. He’s the one person that Flamel trusts, other than his wife, Perenelle.
“The Stone is his prized possession, but because it’s so coveted, it’s rarely ever actually in his possession. He keeps it hidden away in the safest place in Wizarding Britain.”
“Gringotts,” Draco supplied helpfully. “But, if Gringotts got broken into, then it’s really not the safest place, is it?”
“What other place is known as being at least as heavily protected as Gringotts is?” Harry asked.
“Hogwarts!” Hermione had read “Hogwarts: A History” front to back plenty of times. She knew perfectly well that the school was considered an impenetrable fortress. Of course, with Dumbledore slacking, she didn’t think that could be said anymore.
“Exactly,” Harry agreed. “And Hogwarts is Dumbledore’s domain. The one person Flamel trusts most. It makes perfect sense that the school is where he’s hiding the Stone.”
“You do have a point.” Hermione agreed. “Who do you think is looking for it? I mean, they wanted it enough to break into Gringotts. It’s only a matter of time before they get into the school.”
“Hold on,” Draco interrupted. “What’s all this got to do with the twins?”
“Right!” Harry shook his head, bringing the original conversation back on track. “What if we get the twins to steal the Philosopher’s Stone?”
“How would we do that?” Draco was skeptical.
“They’ve been obsessed with it all term, haven’t they?” Hermione asked. “It should be easy enough. At this rate, we would only have a matter of time.”
“Remember, though,” Draco warned, “they said they gave up once they got to the giant chessboard. So we’d have to convince them to start trying to get past it. How would we do that?”
“We could offer them chess lessons?” Harry offered.
“I don’t think that’ll work,” Hermione disagreed, absently. “I’m not really all that spectacular at chess, but I could destroy the both of you with my eyes closed. I don’t think we’re good enough.”
Draco burst into laughter at that. “Well,” he chuckled at his friend, “so much for modesty.”
Hermione scoffed. “Modesty is for Hufflepuffs.” She swung a hand through the air gently, as if brushing the mere thought aside.
“If we can just figure out how to get them across that chessboard,” Harry brought the conversation back on track, “and steal the stone, all we would need is some type of public reveal at the right time, and Dumbledore’s toast.”
Draco started to smile in satisfaction that their plan was beginning to come together, but then he was struck by a thought, and he had to frown. “What if the chessboard isn’t the last obstacle?”
That brought the trio to a tense silence as they pondered the idea.
“It would have to be, though,” Harry disagreed, but with heavy skepticism. “I mean, the chessboard would be the fourth obstacle. Who would need more than that?”
“No, Draco’s right,” Hermione mused aloud. “We don’t really have a way of knowing how many obstacles there are.”
Harry had to admit defeat. “How could we prepare the twins for more obstacles, if we don’t even know what they are?”
“If we can’t get them past the chessboard,” Draco added, “then the other obstacles are pointless anyways.”
Hermione was deep in thought, trying to work it all out. “There’s got to be some kind of pattern to the obstacles that can help us predict the next ones. Some algorithm, or something…” she trailed off as the carriage slowed to a stop outside the castle gates.
They exited the carriage and began the walk to the Entrance Hall, keeping a fair distance from the other students returning from the holidays.
“I don’t know.” Hermione sighed in temporary defeat. “I’ll figure it out,” she promised—and if anyone could, it would be her. “For right now,” she continued, “we’ve got to focus on how to get the staff to look insubordinate for Dumbledore’s first observation. The Philosopher’s stone will have to be secondary. If we can screw up Dumbledore’s reviews badly enough, we might not even need to expose the stone to get him sacked.”
“You’re right,” Harry agreed as they made it inside. They had to keep their priorities straight.
Though he hadn’t been gone for long, Harry already found himself missing the Malfoy-Black brood. With Project RAD coming into its 2nd Wave, he was glad for the distraction to keep him busy. Between their scheming and his attempts to beat Draco and Hermione in good grades—Who was he kidding? Just Draco—he wouldn’t have the time to miss them. His family.
He smirked at the passing thought. He had an actual family to miss, and to miss him. Even if they were a hodge-podge of varying degrees of shady people, they were still his family. They proved that with all of their love and concern over the holidays. It was a new, and novel feeling. Harry liked it.
Despite having been at Grimmauld Place a mere few days ago, Harry received his usual start of the week care package from Aunt Wally. This one was larger than usual. In addition to his gifts from Aunt Wally, he received a letter from Sirius. Accompanying it was a book titled “(Mostly) Harmless Hexes and Jinxes for the Impractical Practical Joker.”
Sirius hadn’t been clued in to the goals of Project RAD, so he likely had no idea just how helpful that book was going to be in their endeavors. Harry waved it teasingly over his plate of scrambled eggs to catch Draco’s attention.
“Oh, this is going to be perfect,” Draco smirked evilly before taking the book. While Draco skimmed through it, Harry read through Sirius’ letter.
Dear Harry,
I suppose a letter from me is long overdue, but I must admit I was afraid to send you one. Now that we’ve met face to face, I have no such qualms.
My mother tells me you’re doing well in school. She says you, Draco, and your other friend Hermione are all the top of your class. I’m proud of you. I know your parents would be so proud of you too. They were Head Boy and Girl our 7th year, so they had their swotty moments as well. Your father would claim that you inherited your smarts from him, but I promise you, they came from your mother. Your father wanted to name you Elvendork, for Morgana’s sake. You did not get your brains from him.
I must admit, I was surprised to learn you were sorted Slytherin. They don’t exactly have a reputation for being the kindest, or most diplomatic of people. Then again, I have always been rather biased. There was also a war going on in my time. While I don’t doubt your ability to take care of yourself, I find I have to warn you anyways to be very careful. Most of your housemates are the children of Death Eaters and their supporters. The very people who joined Voldemort and plotted to kill you and your parents. I would hate to see you come to any harm.
Narcissa assures me that such prejudices are in the past, due to the Trinkets. I dearly hope she is right, and that all my concerns are for naught. However, I myself find it hard to believe. Perhaps I’m just paranoid. I really hope I’m just paranoid.
While I personally haven’t got the best memories of Slytherin, please don’t let rumors or my opinions deter you from House Pride. Your mother once said something to me that I’m only just beginning to understand. “Not all Slytherins are bad people, and not all bad people are Slytherins.” At the time, it meant nothing to me because I was young, pigheaded, and bitter. But as an adult, I realize now what she meant.
Your mother was able to see the good in everything, so I have no doubt that she would see the good in you being sorted Slytherin, and be proud of you for it. Your father, like me, would have been shocked. But, also like me, he would love you unconditionally no matter what. With a smart woman like your Mum around, she’d have been able to straighten him right out.
I really miss your parents, and I’m so sorry that they aren’t here to see you grow up. I won’t try to pretend that I can make up for their loss, but I can promise you that I will always be there to protect and support you. And to make sure you support the right Quidditch teams.
What’s this nonsense I heard about the Holyhead Harpies? Don’t let those Malfoys sway you! The Blacks and the Potters are Puddlemere fans! Don’t worry, when we get to spend more time together over the summer, I’ll get you straightened out. We’ll put that broom Lucy got you to good use and have you prepared to join the Quidditch team in no time. Maybe if we get Draco to join us we can get him on Puddlemere’s side as well. It will be a wonderful way to irritate his father, which used to be a sport of mine. I thinks it’s about time I bring that back.
I miss you already, and can’t wait to have you back. Good luck with your classes, but make sure to leave some time for fun.
Love,
Sirius
The letter left Harry smiling. It seemed that Sirius opened up a lot more through the writing than he did in person. That made sense. When writing you had time to think your thoughts over and come up with the right thing to say. It made Harry happy to see.
He also wasn’t sure which was funnier, Sirius teasing Mr. Malfoy for sport, or calling him Lucy.
In the common room that evening, the trio were back to their evil schemes. They were sitting in a circle on the floor, knee to knee under a silencing charm and a cushioning spell.
They decided the best way to ruin the staff reviews would be in 2 parts. The first part was to prove that the teachers Dumbledore hired were incompetent. That would be easy enough.
The second part was to cause some sort of mass miscommunication that would get the teachers all confused and frustrated with the headmaster, making him look ineffective at working with his staff. That one would be harder to pull off. Especially if they wanted to evade all blame.
“The teachers we use as targets are likely to get sacked,” Hermione explained. “So we’ve got to pick teachers who really deserve it.”
“So basically, Quirrell and Binns,” Draco supplied helpfully.
“Well, obviously,” Hermione dismissed that with a wave. “But we’ll have to pick more than just the two. Two staff members being incompetent won’t be enough to make Dumbledore look like an idiot. We’ll need to pick more.”
“I vote Filch,” Harry suggested. “He’s not a teacher, but he’s still staff. And he’s right poisonous.”
“Good idea, Harry,” Draco agreed. “What about Hagrid? He’s just one of Dumbledork’s mindless flunkies anyways. He’d probably just leave with him when he gets sacked.”
Harry and Hermione giggled at him.
“Really?” Hermione asked. “Dumble-dork?” Draco just shrugged, grinning, and Hermione rolled her eyes. “Anyways,” she continued, “you’re right about Hagrid. He’d be a good target.”
For a moment, Harry felt that he might argue in defense of the large man. He really was just a simple man. And he did his job just fine, it seemed.
Then he remembered the way he spoke about the Malfoys as if they were scum. The way he roared at them in Diagon Alley for no reason. Harry remembered that Hagrid was the one who came to take him away from Sirius and gave him to the Dursley’s, at Dumbledork’s bidding.
No. He wouldn’t mind at all. Draco was right, anyways. He was the headmaster’s mindless flunky, and he’d probably leave with the old man.
“You think that’ll be enough?” he asked instead.
“Maybe,” Hermione pondered. “I’d like another, but I can’t really think of any other staff members that are just pants at their job.”
“Then let’s focus on how to get these four,” Draco suggested.
“I’ve got an idea for Quirrell already,” Hermione smirked. “You remember Halloween when he passed out because of the troll?” The boys nodded. “Clearly, he’s afraid of them-”
“You aren’t suggesting we lure another troll into the castle?” Harry asked incredulous. “I don’t think that would work out so well for us…”
“No! No!” Hermione scoffed. “Nothing like that! I think, if we can get enough students to bombard him with questions about trolls, we can get him all flustered and make him freak out again. I doubt he’d pass out without actually seeing one, but he’s a stuttering, nervous wreck on a normal day. Just that bit more stress—in front of an audience—will have him looking like a buffoon. Not to mention, he likely knows nothing about them anyways, but dark creatures are a part of the subject he’s supposed to be teaching.”
“That’s pretty clever,” Draco complimented. “We’ve just got to figure out how to get other students to attack him all at once.”
“That might take some work,” Hermione admitted.
“We can work out the details later,” Harry said. “What about the others?”
After a moment of silent contemplation, Draco gasped with excitement. “I know how to do Binns in, and it won’t even be hard,” he stated.
“Go on, then,” Hermione urged.
“All winter long, his classroom’s been freezing, and he has no idea,” Draco began. “We can simply play off that. If we can get it so cold in there that students get sick, he’ll be considered a danger to the students. Then, if the observers ask around, all the students can agree that he keeps it subzero in there. We wouldn’t even have to coerce them, because it’s true.”
“That’ll definitely work,” Harry admitted. “I’m not sure how I feel about getting other students sick, though.”
Hermione nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed. “Biological warfare seems a bit extreme.”
“Oh, come on,” Draco pleaded. “It’s just so easy. In fact, it requires so little work from us, that it might even happen on its own. We’ll just need to move it along to make sure that it does. Besides, no one’s ever been done in by a bad cold. It’s not that dangerous.”
Hermione thought on it, then finally she agreed. “I suppose,” she relented. “But we’re going to have to do something nice for the students to make up for it. There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep at night with that guilt weighing on my chest.”
“If Hermione’s for it, I’m for it,” Harry chipped in. “I think I’ve got a way to handle Hagrid.”
“Alright, then,” Draco leaned forward eagerly. He was trying not to, but Harry could still see that he was smug about winning the little disagreement.
“It’ll be easy too,” Harry explained. “Maybe not as easy as making Binns’ classroom cold. Colder. Hagrid’s simple, though. His dedication to Dumbledork makes him easy to take advantage of. We’ll just need to trick him into thinking Dumbledore wants him to put up some ridiculous display in the Great Hall. Something totally inappropriate. He’ll absolutely embarrass himself. If we can trick him into doing it drunk, that’d be even better.”
“That’ll be perfect,” Hermione smiled deviously. “Now, all we need is Filch.”
“Honestly,” Draco scoffed, “All we need to do is piss him off enough to have him threatening to torture the students. That’ll be simple enough. Hell, we could get the Twins to do that. Or Peeves.”
Harry chuckled. “We might not have to do anything at all. He does that enough on his own anyways.”
“What we need to do,” Hermione added, “is get students to complain. If we can get enough students to openly complain about these people, it’ll make Dumble-dore look even worse for ignoring them. I mean, people complain plenty, as it is, but we need them to do it louder. Launch official complaints. If we get enough people to make it into a big deal, Dumbledore’s reputation won’t be able to hold any water when it all blows up in his face.”
“You’re a genius Hermione,” Draco sighed. “This is going to work. Dumbledork is going down!”
“The sad part about it is,” Harry began to explain, eyebrows drawn in thought, “except for Hagrid, we aren’t even getting anyone to do something that don’t already. We’re not making them do anything unlikely, like Binns joining Peeves on his pranks, or Quirrell doing something ridiculous, like going after the Philosopher’s Stone himself. All we’re really doing is exposing them for what they already are, to an audience that's willing to listen.”
“Exactly,” Hermione agreed. “That’s why this is all worth it. Dumbledore doesn’t fix these problems because he doesn’t care. Otherwise they’d have been fixed ages ago. He needs to be gone.”