Growing Up Royal: After TTTC

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever contributed to the Harry Potter stories by J. K. Rowling. I do not make money at writing this fanfiction nor any others. But, I sure do like to borrow the characters and play for awhile. I promise to put them back so others can share too.

Summary: After The Third Time Charm, Harry, Severus and company start to raise Harry Potter while trying to help the Potter parents recover. AD was right about something, Becca said, all this fame could go to his head. AD GnW RW HG MW bashing, Abuse, Anal, AU/AR, M/M, OC, Oral, Spank, Yaoi

Growing up Royal: After TTTC

Posted: 08 June 2010

Chapter 10: Who Will Work for Hogwarts?

Becca and Sal had apperated together to the gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They had an appointment with the headmistress for the positions of potions professor and Deputy. They had not yet told her their real last names, using Becca’s former name so as not to raise suspicion. Actually, Becca had told her husband, who would believe that Salazar Slytherin really existed? McGonagall would probably think it was a joke.

The couple went through the gates and made their way up to front entrance. As soon as they entered the building, the Head house elf for Hogwarts appeared in front of them with a low bow.

“Master Slytherin, it is such a pleasure to see you and to welcome you to Hogwarts. It has been a very long time since an heir has walked these halls.”

“Oops, I forgot that the elves would know who I am,” Salazar told his wife. He turned back to the elf and asked, “Does the headmistress know who is coming?”

“No, Master, she only told us some applicants were coming to see about the new teaching positions.”

“Please do not inform her. We would like to surprise her ourselves,” Salazar said dismissively.

The Head elf then bowed and popped away as the two were left to make their way to the headmistress’ office. They certainly knew the way and didn’t need a guide. “Perhaps while we are here, we could make a visit to the chamber. What do you think, darling?” Sal asked his lovely wife.

The old world atmosphere of the castle must have playing with their minds. It was eerie walking through the stone halls with no one else around, and made them feel like it was a hundred years in the past.

Becca with a mock serious face, pretended to think about it and then said, “That would be most acceptable, my husband.” She tried to hold her straight expression, but then burst out laughing when Sal gave her a smirk.

“Not very Slytherin of you my dear, you need to hold the expression for the boss lady in the tower,” Sal said to his wife.

“Alright, give me a minute and I will be able to pull off the performance of a lifetime.”

“I thought you already did that when in the courtroom?” Sal quipped back. Remembering her ‘performance’ years ago when she pretended to be Petunia Dursley and played dumb muggle for the Wizengamot.

“Then I will give the second performance of a lifetime.”

Salazar turned serious again as he asked, “Are you ready?”

With Becca’s nod of her head, they walked up to the guardian of the stairs to the school’s administrative office. The gargoyle immediately swung open for the two, as no password was needed for the founders, nor for their heirs either.

When Becca and Sal knocked on the door and Minerva called out “Enter” they were expecting to be alone with her in the room. There sitting in a chair by her desk was none other than Aberforth Dumbledore. Becca was startled for a moment, until she realized this must be Albus’ brother and not the man himself. Still, there was something off about him.

“Headmistress McGonagall,” Becca said, pulling her thoughts together as she held out her hand to greet the woman, “I am Rebecca Prince Slytherin and this is my husband, Salazar Slytherin.” Minerva stumbled and forgot to take Becca’s hand in greeting. The room was so silent that a pin dropping on the floor would have sounded like a great crash.

Suddenly there was the crack of an elf entering the room with a tea tray. Becca and Sal kept their cool, but Minerva nearly jumped out of her skin and Aberforth wasn’t much better.

The arrival of the elf pulled the headmistress out of her state of shock and she quickly sat down and offered tea to her guests.

“I hope you don’t mind, Aberforth Dumbledore being in the meeting. I have been overwhelmed with work and he has been spending afternoons helping me get some semblance of order to the office. His brother was headmaster here several years ago.”

“Yes, we heard,” Becca said to the older woman. If the look of the office was anything to go by, she needed more help that a few afternoons. The office was crying out for two full time office assistants. Where Dumbledore had his little gadgets on tables around the room, this room was literally covered in reports and paperwork. She could see students’ files all over the place and it was a wonder the school was still open. The chaos was daunting.

“I have had several staffing problems and have had to substitute teach for several teachers in the last few months. That is why I put the advertisement in the paper for so many positions.

“Don’t worry about it Headmistress, we understand fully. That is why we wanted to come and help. I wanted to spend some time in the school my namesake helped create and Becca loves teaching children,” Salazar told the woman smoothly. “We feel we can contribute to the overall education of the future of the wizarding world.” Sal was at this point thinking that the woman before him was really stressed if she believed that. He did want to help, but his goal was to bring the school back to its former glory. He reasoned that if he told her that, she would think he was trying to get rid of her. He didn’t want her to think he was trying to take over the school for what ever nefarious reason

“So you didn’t take after the founder and become Potions Master?” Minerva asked.

“Oh yes, I did, but I also have masteries in several other subjects as well; transfiguration, Charms, Runes, Arithmancy, History and several others, so I could help substitute for the teachers when they needed time off or were sick. My family believed in a very well rounded education and made sure all of the children received one.”

“It has been awhile since we have had a married couple both teaching here. It hasn’t worked well in the past as when one gets sick, the other has to take time off as well. I do have another applicant that is to come next week.” Minerva was really not wanting to hire these people, what would the parents think if Salazar Slytherin was to come on staff? Of course she knew that the school would always open for him. As an heir he would always be welcome whether she liked it or not.

“Actually that brings up another subject we wanted to discuss with you,” Becca interrupted what the woman was saying. “We were wondering if I could teach years one through four and another Potions Master could teach the “OWL and NEWT level classes. This would allow for more time with the students and tutoring for the younger years.”

“It is a good idea,” Minerva agreed with the young woman, “however we would never get funding for that kind of overlap in the classroom.” It seemed to Becca as if the woman was hesitant to hire them. She knew they could always go over her head to the Board of Governors, but she would rather not be so heavy handed in getting the position.

It was Sal that spoke up then and said, “I can get the funding approved for you, that will not be a problem.”

Aberforth Dumbledore was silent this whole time. Their ideas were actually quite good and he had approached the School Board about such a thing a long time ago, but they refused saying that he was already receiving more funds than any other Headmaster before him. He had been, that was true, but he argued inflation and all that rot. They still didn’t budge. Of course, if Salazar Slytherin wanted more funds, he supposed he would naturally get them. Who would say “no” to an heir of the founder?

Aberforth Dumbledore joined in the discussion by asking, “I thought Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin and when he died there were no others.” He tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible, but Sal knew what he was up to.

“Did anyone every have him take an inheritance test to prove it?” Sal asked the man.

“I don’t believe anyone would have had the nerve,” the old man said with a smile.

“Any one can say anything and get some people to believe it, but if they don’t ask for the proof, then they only get what is presented to them, whether it be truth or lies.”

They spoke for about an hour longer, discussing the possibility of having two teachers for every subject, one for the younger years and one for the older. Even a mentoring program for the muggle raised, they were not called muggleborn anymore as that had proven to be incorrect around the same time as Voldemort’s demise.

After they left the office, Salazar turned to his wife and said, “Sorry, we are going to have to forgo the visit to the chamber and head for the owlery. Better yet, what was that elf’s name we met earlier?”

“What’s the matter? Why do you have an urgent need to get a message out, and to whom are you sending the message?” Becca queried her husband.

“I want to know why the school has no funds for extra teachers. It sounds strange to me. There are enough students here to maintain the school and there are always people donating to it or bequeathing something to it in their wills.” Salazar stopped for a minute and then added, “I also want to know why that woman didn’t try to get a magical confirmation that I was actually who I said I was.”

“Do you think someone is stealing from the school?”

“That’s what I am going to find out,” Sal replied gruffly before he called out, “Head Elf!”

“Yes, Master Slytherin, what can Kinty be doing for you today?”

“Bring me parchment and a quill. Then I want you to deliver a message for me.”

The elf bowed and answered, “Right away, Sir.”

“You know, you could say please and thank you to the elves.” Becca interjected as they waited the few seconds for the elf to come back. Her husband ignored her as he often did when his mind was on other things.

When the note was written, the elf then delivered it to Lucius Malfoy and then another to Gorbink at Gringotts Bank. Lord Slytherin was going to find out what was going on and soon.

After an extensive look at the books, which took two goblins, Becca and Salazar two days to do, it was found that there was not just one problem but many that needed to be straightened out. Salazar had been suspicious as soon as he had seen the Dumbledore brother in the office, now his suspicions grew.

“Why are the Weasley children on a tuition scholarship?” he asked the Board three days later.

“They requested one and Arthur’s income and the number of dependents fit the parameters of the request.”

“Prince Conglomerate has a vault for William and Charles Weasley that was part of the contract when the mini-floo was first installed. They don’t need the scholarship; all the fees are paid even the books.”

“It wasn’t indicated on the form,” one of the Board members said.

“Well then, perhaps we should look more closely at the form.” Salazar was tired of this, no one checked on anything. He was still reeling from the interview at Hogwarts. The Headmistress didn’t even ask him to prove who he was, just took his word for it.

His next statement was even more of a blow to the group. “Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Board of Governors, has always been a volunteer position, note the emphasis on VOLUNTEER. It is one of honor and trust. If this is a problem for you, you may leave, now, because as of this day no one will be getting paid.” Sal had found out that some of the Board members were actually getting paid to be there. If they were getting paid, how could you know that they were not in it for their own selfish reasons? Obviously they were not doing their job, if the state of the books was anything to go by.

As Salazar and Becca were working on the books for the school, unbeknownst to the Headmistress; another meeting was underway at Prince Manor.

“Just HOW did I end up with the privilege of teaching a bunch of pubescent, adolescent, ungrateful, squalling, juvenile delinquent brats the art of potions?” Snape was not happy as he looked at his friends around the table. Snape and Moony had just gotten back from New Zealand yesterday and now he had been informed that he had an appointment with Minerva McGonagall the next day.

“Gee, Snape, I don’t know if you put in enough adjectives in that sentence. Want to try for a few more?” Severus said to his younger self “It’s all part of the plan. We set up the appointment for you. We want as many people in Hogwarts as possible when the kids attend school. It will be fun,” he smirked evilly.

“FUN? How can that possibly be fun?” he was obviously having a hard time with the idea. “What about my research? What about Prince Pharmaceuticals? What about...”

“You can still do some of that." Severus interrupted before Snape could get into a good rant. "You will only be teaching fifth through seventh years. Becca is going to teach the lower classes. It’s part of Sal’s new plan to help the students get better grades and actually learn something. At least that’s what he said.” Severus explained. “Besides, I already had my fun teaching and so has the old man over there, it’s your turn to have fun.” Severus smirked at the younger man. Oh yes, this was going to be fun, to watch that is, he didn’t want to be the one teaching those brats as Snape had put it.

“So, we are both going? What is Moony supposed to be teaching?”

“Transfiguration, they need several teachers and again, they are going to split the class into two. One teacher will be for older students and one for the younger. The hope is to get the grades up and have more successful graduates. You will also have some of the trained elves with you to help keep order in the class. Evidently, when Sal and Becca went to their interview, there were an abnormal amount of students’ files and disciplinary action forms scattered about.”

“Just what I wanted to hear; are you sure this is supposed to be fun? How exactly do you define that word?” Snape snarled back at his older counterpart. This didn’t sound like ‘fun’ to him, no not one bit.

“Becca and Sal should be here soon,” Harry said to the others around the table. “We haven’t really seen much of them since we arrived back.”

“What are they doing?” Snape asked the young man.

“Going over the books of Hogwarts, without anyone at the school knowing. It seems as if there were some… discrepancies,” Severus explained. “Next week they will be going with some people from the Board of Governors to go through Minerva’s office and ‘help’ her find the top of her desk. Evidently Sal was not impressed with the pile of work left undone and wanted to show her how it’s done correctly.”

“Why would someone, as strict and regimented as Minerva McGonagall, have a mess in her office?” Snape didn’t understand, it didn’t sound like his teacher at all.

“Apparently she has no Deputy and has had to fill in for several teachers that were either ill or had family emergencies. That is another reason for the two teachers for every subject. If one of the teachers is sick or absent for some other reason, the other teacher will take all the classes until the absent one returns or is replaced.”

“So I take it that Sal and Becca have been hired already?” Moony joined into the conversation for the first time.

“Nope, but then as the ‘heir’ Sal doesn’t really need her permission. He can automatically come in and help or even just live there if he wanted. It’s in the founders’ bylaws of the school. I imagine Minerva will be quite surprised when she finally gets an owl from the Governors stating they are coming to audit her books. Or perhaps they won’t owl, they might just show up.” Harry stated.

“There is another problem that we want you to be aware of,” Severus interrupted. “Aberforth Dumbledore has been ‘helping’ Minerva with the desk work for the past few weeks and was there for Sal and Becca’s interview.” Severus saw the perplexed looks coming from the younger couple. “Becca thinks something is ‘off’ about the man. You may want to skulk around a little when in Hogsmead. See if he still owns the Hogshead or if he is doing anything else around there. You could get away with it by saying you wanted to look around for old time’s sake.”

“What would Aberforth Dumbledore be doing there? What could he possibly know about the paperwork in that office?” Moony wandered out loud.

“What, indeed,” Severus replied. “We believe that this may have something to do with Albus Dumbledore, but we are still checking things out.”

“But what reason could the man have possibly given, to even get in the doorway?” Moony asked.

“He told Minerva that he used to help Albus when he was Headmaster and he wanted to help her get things back in order.”

“Doesn’t this all sound a little too coincidental?” Moony speculated. “I mean, teachers getting sick, having family emergencies, paperwork piling up, and then he just happens to come by to volunteer to help? And I don't know about anyone else, but I have never seen that man around the school.”

“I believe,” Severus agreed with him, “we have all come to the same conclusions.”