Chapter 16: Laying Down the Law

The day came that the Board went to Hogwarts with their findings. They met with all the staff. The students were given the day off and told they needed to study, which of course they took to meaning they had free reign over the castle.

They were wrong.

Sirius had hired minders for the day, who were watching the teens and children and had the ability to take and award points and dole out detention. The students were sequestered in the common rooms or the library. They were not happy about it.

"I am glad you could all be here," Sirius said from his place in the middle of the Great Hall. The staff was sitting at the House Tables instead of the Teachers' Table. They were spread out around the hall. "We have been watching this school this entire week and we are greatly disappointed. I won't mince words, there will be some changes. You know Binns and Trelawney have already been replaced. There will be two more replacements.

"Snape, you suck as a teacher. Why you were ever hired and kept on, I'll never know, but you are hereby relieved of your duty as a professor at this school. You are a great Potions Master, but you can't teach, therefore you will be replaced. If Albus wants to keep you on as a brewer for the infirmary, we will pay for what potions you produce, but he can pay for your time," he said, looking at the dour man, who sneered.

"Severus has my complete trust," came Dumbledore's tired old refrain.

"That doesn't make him a teacher," came the one member's who's dream he crushed retort. "He has lowered the amount of potions masters coming out of the school since he started. Sure, there are higher rated ones, but the basic ones needed for Aurors and Healers are lowered," she added, making her point very clear.

"It is not my fault that you were too stupid to learn correctly," Snape sneered, as he was wont to do.

"As I was saying. He's being replaced with Mr. Franklin here," Sirius said, pointing to an older man, who looked dapper in his three-piece suit that would have look completely in style in the late 1920's. "The next person we will be swapping out will be Hagrid.

"I'm sorry, Hagrid, you know your animals and creatures, but you didn't even finish your education. We can't in good conscience let you continue as a teacher. You can be an assistant though. You will be assisting, Madam Butterfield here," he said, pointing to a woman who was almost as large as the half giant. She looked like a member of a biker gang, who was dressed from head to toe in leather. "She comes highly recommended," he said, giving her a thumb's up.

Hagrid looked at the portly woman and was smitten at once. It wasn't often he could look a woman in the eye. Well, she was a head shorter, but that was a head taller than most women.

"Madam Pince, you are a diligent librarian. However, you need to lighten up. Too many of the students won't enter the library because they are scared of you. Yes, the library needs to be a quiet place, but they are children, who need to be able to express themselves in a quiet manner. Your need for complete silence is unacceptable. We are hiring some assistance for the library, to help you keep the books in order and the children mindful. Therefore, you can spend more of your time with the restricted section, which is where I think you would like to be," Sirius said, nodding to the strict woman.

She sniffed and put her nose in the air, but she was secretly happy for the help. It was one of the largest libraries in the country. It was stupid to think only one person could keep it in order, even with magic.

"Filch, you're fired. There is no beating around the bush. You don't really have a role here. Anything you can do, can be done, and is done by the prefects, the teachers, or the house elves. The only reason you were kept on is because Albus owed your family a favor," Sirius said, looking at the cantankerous old man.

"I never liked you," Argus said, though he was also glad for it. He hated his job. He was a squib surrounded by magicals. What kind of person thought this was a good place to hire him on to? The only reason he took the job in his youth, was because he needed the work. Now decades later, he hated it.

"You will be given a retirement package. Plus, you will be taking your cat with you," Sirius said, giving the man a smile as if he knew what he was thinking.

"Yeah, whatever you say," Filch said, scratching his cat's head.

"Next, Burbage, you will be given a new curriculum," Sirius stated, looking at the Muggle Studies Professor. "What you are teaching is decades out of date. If your students went into the muggle world, they would blow the Statute of Secrecies out of the water. I know it is not your fault, therefore, you have a month to familiarize yourself with this new book," he said, handing her a book that had been written by a muggleborn. It was current on the world outside the wizarding world and would be updated as the years went by.

"Thank you so much," she gushed, and took the book like it was a treasure. She knew what she had been teaching was wrong, but she had no choice but to teach what she had on hand. "What about OWLs," she asked, hoping that her current students wouldn't fail because of the new curriculum.

"We've already discussed this with Madam Marchbanks, she is adjusting the OWLs accordingly," Sirius said, looking around the room at the teachers, who all seem to be relieved to hear that.

"Thank you," Burbage said, thumbing through the new textbook.

"Now, for the Heads of Houses," he continued, "there must be some changes. There should be a house meeting every week. The only house that does that is Hufflepuff. Speaking of which, a new Head of House will be needed for Slytherin, because Snape will no longer hold that role. Back to the changes, if you are the Head of House, you cannot hold another role, like Deputy Headmistress. Professor McGonagall you will need to choose which hat you want to wear. Doing both jobs is a conflict of interest," he said, looking at the woman who had too many jobs.

"I don't see that my holding all three positions is causing any issues," she said with a sniff. She earned her right to hold all her positions. She worked diligently for them.

"Really? So, you were aware that there were two parties in the last week in the Gryffindor common room? Of which the younger years were attending, and quite a few were drinking alcohol? You knew this, and let it happen? That just makes you a bad Head of House," one of the members of the Board stated, having been the one to go and break the parties up as soon as they saw the minors drinking.

"You are lying," McGonagall accused. She refused to accept that she was that neglectful.

"I broke them up myself," the member stated, puffing up his chest.

"How did you get on to the grounds?" Dumbledore asked, not having felt them enter the castle.

"We monitored the school from within the castle," Sirius said, not telling them that they had set the monitoring room up in the Room of Requirements. He didn't tell the Board what it was, just set it up and told them to always have at least one person there the entire time. He made sure to tell them that if the room was empty, it would disappear, and they would have to start over. There was a tunnel to Aberforth's tavern. "How we did that is not your concern," he added, pointing a finger at the old man. "We are a part of the governing body of this school, we have the right to come and go as we please," he finished.

"It is imperative that I know who is on the grounds at all times," Albus stated, pulling himself up to his full height.

"No, it is not," Sirius said, "When are you going to get it through your head, this is not your playground? This is a school, where children come to learn, not be indoctrinated into your way of thinking."

"I beg your pardon," Albus said, not liking that implication one bit.

"You heard me," Sirius said, then turned his back on him and said, "Back to our findings. Heads of Houses, when you get it sorted who will be the Heads, there needs to be weekly meetings. There is bullying happening in Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Flitwick, we've had to save the life of one of your students twice this week," Sirius said, exaggerating a bit. She wasn't in life threatening danger, but it was close.

"My students would never-," was as far as he got when another member of the Board interrupted him.

"We stopped it ourselves. Again, we have no reason to lie," she stated, pulling out a file that had a picture of Luna Lovegood dressed in nothing but a thin nightgown, shivering in the dead of the night. "She was found wandering the castle because her fellow Ravenclaws locked her out of the dorm," she said, slamming the picture in front of the Head of Ravenclaw.

"My word," was all the diminutive man could say. He knew she was an outcast; her father was the same, but to lock her out of the common room at night was a bit much. He would have to keep a closer eye on that situation. Maybe weekly meetings would be best.

"This must stop," Sirius said, looking around the room at all the teachers and staff. "It is up to you to stop it. You are understaffed, and we are going to change that. There will be a few more additions to the staff, including some assistants for the teachers, and one more for the Hospital Wing," Sirius said, holding up his hand to stop Dumbledore from protesting. "It is the decision of the Board," he said like it was the final word, which it was.

"One final thing," another member said, going over to the headmaster and standing in front of him. "Take that time-turner away from Miss Granger," he demanded.

"Whyever for?" the old man said, his voice very curious.

"It is damaging her psyche," the man said, having carefully watched the girl all week. The poor child was at her wits end.

"What do you mean?" the headmaster said, not understanding.

"It is stressing her out too much," the man reiterated, hopefully in words the old man could understand.

"A little stress is good for the soul," was the comeback. He honestly believed that.

"Not to the point of complete mental collapse. Get it back," the man demanded again, this time slamming his hands on the table in front of Albus.

"If I must. Miss Granger will be so disappointed," he said, with a heartfelt sigh. He really believed he was doing the girl a favor.

"That's all we have for now," Sirius said, having gone over everything he could remember. He looked at his notes and didn't think he had forgotten anything.

The staff started filing out, talking among themselves, and getting to know the new members. Many were pleased with the changes, bar Snape, who was not pleased at all. Hagrid was a bit put out, but he did understand that he was not educated enough to be a teacher. At least he still got to stay.

Hphphp

While the Board had been busy at Hogwarts, Amelia and Moody hadn't been idle. Alastor had had a few more talks with his 'friend'. A few more people disappeared. They were not important people, per se, but they were fanatic supporters of Voldemort's way of things. People like the Carrows and Dawlish, who wasn't quite a fanatic as most, but his loyalty was iffy.

Others were given ultimatums. The woman in the Floo Department was told that she was either to do her job or to resign. If she was caught holding back again, she would see the inside of a cell. The person in charge of Improper Use of Magic was told that she needed to further investigate the usage of underage magic, to make sure there was reason for the usage. If need be, she was to contact the DMLE, and they would send someone out to see what happened. No longer would the incident like Dobby's use of the levitation charm happen. If she was caught trying to expel someone from Hogwarts without investigating, she too would see the inside of a cell.

Both of these were backed by laws already on the books, they just had been ignored in the past, by Aurors on the take, who Amelia had already reprimanded. She had given all her people the talk that the law was to be obeyed or they would be out of a job, or if need be, they too would see the inside of a cell. She had gathered her most loyal and had them working on weeding out the bad seeds.

Now that they had funds, they could hire on more people and train them right. They could, and would, get rid of those that practiced Voldemort's way of thinking.

"I see you've been busy," Moody said as he stomped into Amelia's office the same day Sirius was laying down the law at Hogwarts.

"I would say the same, but I claim that I have no knowledge of your activities," she said, pouring herself and him some tea. "Which, in truth I don't," she added.

He took his flask and added something to his. "I have no idea what you are talking about," he said, just to keep it on the level.

"I'm sure," she said with a knowing smile.

"I've done many unspeakable things, Amelia, but I've never made people disappear," he said, emphasizing the word unspeakable.

"Ah, I see," she said, knowing they would never solve those particular crimes. Once that department got involved, there was no turning back. She had to wonder why they never got involved in the books. Did they have to be asked, or did Moody have something on one of them this time that he never bothered with in the books? Was there something she missed in her reading that made Moody madder now than then? She might never know. She was tempted to ask, but that would negate her plausible deniability.

"I'll just bet," he said, sipping his doctored tea. "I like what you've been doing so far," he changed the subject with a nod of his head. "How far do you think you can get?" he asked, hoping she could get as far as Fudge.

"Not too far, I'm afraid. There is a limit to my reach. Unless I catch their hands in the biscuit jar, I'm afraid I can only watch," she said with a sigh, wishing she could put a bit of brandy in her tea as well.

"What about Skeeter?" he asked, knowing she was going to use the beetle animagus on that Umbridge woman.

"Now there is a thought. Can you sic her on him for me? It wouldn't do for me to be seen with that woman. Well, I could meet her in the muggle world, but I am far too busy right now. Though you can use my name to threaten her with, if need be," she said, leaning forward a bit in anticipation. She had forgotten about that woman.

"I can do that," Moody said, not the least bit put out at being used in such a manner. "I'll go there after here," he added, taking another fortifying sip of his drink.

"Tell her what you know about Fudge and Dumbledore. What we know from book seven, should be enough to discredit the old man," she said, remembering that Skeeter had written a full book about Albus's childhood with Grindelwald, and their secret plan to rule the world.

"I can do that too," Moody said, that being part of his original plan anyway. He was still upset with the manipulations that ran so deep in the books. Even after death, the man had still manipulated that poor boy.

"Now, get out of my office, so I can put the fear of the DMLE into more people," she said, finishing off her tea and picking up some files. She got up from her desk and started for her door.

Moody drained his cup and did the same, sans files. He made to leave the building and go to the Daily Prophet and talk with a bug.