Chapter 7

Sometimes, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore hated his job. Well, jobs actually. The Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump more than being the headmaster but there were days he even hated that position!

Like days where some weird shit happened in school that he could not understand.

"Is there really nothing you can tell me?" The old wizard asked to the sorting hat in a pleading voice.

"Nope, he is a student and I can not disclose anything I learn from anyone who has been a student even for a day." The hat humphed at the headmaster who could only groan at that.

He knew of the incident that caused the founders to add the secrecy clause to the hat and he was even grateful for it considering his own… tastes but damn it this was just too troublesome.

So troublesome that he even ended up eating a strawberry flavored candy instead of a sherbet lemon!

"What am I supposed to do now?" The old man asked, expecting no answer even though he got one.

"Talking about the problem properly rather than just sulking might do some good." It was Severus who had answered. The dour looking potion teacher looked at the headmaster with Minerva standing next to him, neither of them were amused.

Dumbledore had a half mind hitting himself, he had been so distracted thinking about young Jonathan Richards that he didn't realize his coworkers entering his room.

"I guess that could help, but something tells me neither of you are here for that." Dumbledore smiled mirthlessly, both Severus and Minerva had a less than pleased look in their eye as they looked at him.

"Violet. Potter." Severus gritted our and Dumbledore sagged in his chair, knowing exactly what this was about.

"So you two noticed it as well."

"I would be surprised if any of the teachers didn't notice other than that drunkard you hired as the divination teacher. Why the hell is James and Lily's daughter so thin you old bastard?! I told you leaving her with the Dursleys was a terrible idea!" The transfiguration teacher yelled out, her posture looking less like a regal cat as usual but more akin to a female lion who had her cups threatened.

"Leaving her with Petunia, I hate magic and my sister, Dursley may have been one of your most stupid ideas Albus. I should know since I have been around for all of your stupid decisions in the last decade except for that one!" And Severus wasn't too far behind her. The man looked like he was contemplating about going Dark Lord Just to try cursing Dumbledore.

"Even the sherbet lemon bath idea!" Ok that was a bit too far, he had almost succeeded in that idea. But this wasn't time for that.

"You are right."

"Don't think you can excuse your actions, wait what?" Minerva's tirade was cut short by her shock and even Severus had wide eyes, which for a Occlumens of his level meant something similar to his jaw falling to the ground like those Japanese shows that had been getting popular lately.

"I said you are right, both of you. Leaving Violet with Dursleys has been obviously a mistake." There was no way he could justify how thin the little girl was. The wards he had placed may have protected her from magical threats, but it seemed like he should have been wary of the non magical threats instead.

"Then you will finally take her away from those horrendous people?" Minerva asked with a relieved expression that vanished with Dumbledore's sigh.

"Unfortunately this also puts me back to where I was before I left her with Dursleys." Dumbledore said and Severus' eyes widened in realization.

"Custody..." The potion master whispered but all the occupants of the room heard him and Dumbledore nodded at him.

"Precisely, we can't just put her with a random family. Years ago after the war, with Sirius' betrayal and Longbottom's situation, Violet lost the people that Lily and James had written in their will as her guardian. This means that if I did not put her with her Dursleys, her custody would be given to her closest relatives. With Andromeda kicked out of her family that only leaves..."

"Malfoys." Minerva said with a pained expression at the mere thought of James and Lily Potter's only child being raised by a family whose head was out of Azkaban only because of money. And it was possible since James' mother, Dorea Black, had been the sister of Arcturus Black, the grandfather of Narcissa.

"Can't you do something to stop them?" Minerva asked, even though she already knew the answer as Dumbledore snorted.

"Contrary to popular belief my friend, I am not some sort of all powerful deity that can change the laws with a wave of my hands." The headmaster said, looking very irritated at that unfortunate truth.

"Ten years ago I swore a magical oath that I had given Violet's custody to her closest living relatives and that was the only reason the Wizangamot stopped bothering me about her location. Wish the Daily Prophet and the other vultures did the same as well." The old man muttered the last part to himself.

"So we have to find a way to get her out of the Private Drive without letting her fall into the hands of Death Eater families." Severus said with a troubled frown.

"Which will be quite difficult with our jobs at here in school and dealing with the outside threats." The spy of Dumbledore said with a defeated sigh which was mirrored by Dumbledore.

"If it wasn't for that I would have checked up on her myself rather than relying on Arabella, whom I will be having a serious talk with." Dumbledore said angrily.

"There is nothing that we can do now, I am also concerned about mister Richard. A young man that the sorting hat had the most bizarre reaction to." The headmaster said as he eyed the enchanted piece of cloth.

"'He has no mind'. What do you think it might mean?" Minerva asked her colleagues.

"Probably some sort of innate magical ability." Severus said with a bored tone, not caring much about the conversation since it had moved from Lily's daughter.

"I have never heard of an ability like that." Minerva said with a frown that turned into a scowl as Severus snorted at her.

"And no one had seen a metamorphmagus before the first one." The head of Slytherin deadpanned.

"Severus might be right. Hopefully it is just some new innate ability we have never seen rather than something more drastic." The old man said with worry, he really didn't want a problem with the Philosopher Stone in Hogwarts as a bait for Voldemort.

A rather dangerous decision but it was the perfect chance to deal with Tom with their plan and he really didn't want to let go of that chance.

He had no worries of students actually getting anywhere near the stone or the traps. His words before the feast may have looked like a provocation that would call many students there but the truth was different. He had already placed a ward around the corridor that would cause any student who went there with the intent to go to the corridor in the third floor to suddenly remember something very important they may have forgotten. The only way to get in there was to have sufficient mastery of Occlumency and even if they were never the sanest of people, he knew that none of the parents would have their children start Occlumency before their fourth year since that was one way street to the kid being emotionally impaired.

Unknown to him a blonde girl in the Slytherin dorms had sneezed at that moment.

And there was no way they could reach the required level in five years so the students would be safe.