A Dark Scenario

A/A/A/N: My sincere apologies. I was editing chapter 13 to include some info about the Burning Pen in the author notes, then doubled it, then did something else, not sure what but it ended up with both chapters deleted. So this isn't a new chapter. I'm sorry.

Chapter 13 ~ Repercussions

The following Saturday morning, Hermione sat stone-faced in an armchair in Minerva's office as the headmistress gave her a verbal reprimand. She walked back and forth in front of her Charms professor, angrily wringing her hands. She'd been contacted by Darwin Harper's parents after he sent them an owl telling of Hermione's treatment of him.

"I don't know what in the world you were thinking, Hermione! Using an Unforgivable on a student! That is completely and absolutely unacceptable!. Outrageous! His parents are livid and are demanding you be sacked immediately!"

Hermione sat there sullenly, not responding to this bit of news. Minerva stopped pacing and frowned at her.

"I believed you could handle this position, Hermione. Obviously, that's not the case. You can't control your classroom through fear," she stated flatly. "That method is not the proper one."

Hermione spoke then.

"It was perfectly acceptable when I attended Hogwarts," she replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Two words. Professor Snape."

Minerva blinked at her, completely at a loss as to what to say to this at first. Yes, Severus did rule his classes with an iron wand. Finally, she found her voice.

"Surely you aren't trying to emulate Severus?" she asked Hermione.

"No, not exactly. But headmistress, for the past month my students have been boisterous, disrespectful and doing shoddy work in my classroom. They don't respect my authority. I Imperioed Mr. Harper into his chair because he blatantly defied me when I told everyone to sit down. If I can't make a student take a seat, how can I make him learn? I didn't injure him, I simply used the easiest spell to make him comply. I suppose this wouldn't be an issue if I levitated him with Levicorpus and dropped him into his chair headfirst, would it? That's not an Unforgivable after all, but would have been far more damaging."

"I understand your dilemma, Hermione, but still you could have handled it better than you did," Minerva said with a sigh, walking behind her desk and taking a seat. "This incident will be reported to the Board of Governors for review, and believe me, your future at this school doesn't look promising at all."

Minerva looked extremely disappointed. She had wanted Hermione to do so well, and now this—

"I understand," Hermione said softly. "Perhaps I should hand in my resignation now and save them the trouble."

Minerva blinked at her rapidly, her eyes filling.

"No, don't do that. When I make the report I will include the circumstances surrounding the incident. Perhaps they will stand behind you in light of—of the situation. You are, after all, a very gifted witch and overall would be an excellent teacher once you establish yourself. I think you should wait and see what the Board decides. Don't jump the broom just yet—"

Hermione sighed and stood up.

"You know something?" she said to the headmistress. "Now I understand why Professor Snape treats students the way he does. If I stay here, I won't be quite as nasty as he is, but I will demand respect. I didn't realize how hard it would be to get that from the students. I thought they'd all be so eager to learn."

"It's not an easy job, Hermione, but a very rewarding one when you've managed to impart some knowledge," Minerva replied, understanding how she felt. "I always feel such a sense of pride when the children here walk across the dais and receive their diplomas, ready to face the world. I was a part of that preparation. I influenced that life. It makes me feel wonderful, and I sincerely hope, my dear, that you too get to experience that kind of satisfaction in the years to come."

"If I have any years, perhaps," Hermione said with a sigh. She left the office.

Minerva stared down at the parchment from the Harpers and sighed.

"You know, Minerva—"

The headmistress jumped as Albus Dumbledore's portrait addressed her. Bringing her hand to her heart, she turned in her swivel chair to face it, scowling.

"I hate when you do that," she hissed at the painting. It smiled, the blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Be that as it may," the portrait continued, "it might help Hermione's situation with the Board if you included a bit of a precedent. This isn't the first time an Unforgivable has been used on an unruly student, and the Board only gave the offending professor a written reprimand. Based on that precedent, your Charms professor shouldn't be sacked. Surely you remember the incident."

"Severus," Minerva replied, her eyes lighting up. "He had just started teaching—"

"Right in one," the portrait agreed. "And they found that although the charm he used was an Unforgivable, based on the fact that this is an institution of learning, and the use of the spell was disciplinary and all that was harmed was the student's pride, that his use of the Imperius curse was although unfortunate, not enough to turn him out. The Ministry also agreed with the Board in this instance and no charges were pressed. That should be enough to pull Hermione's feet out of the fire, as long as she doesn't do it again."

Minerva smiled, relieved.

"Next time, she'll probably just drop him on his head," she responded with a chuckle.

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Hermione walked toward her quarters, passing students who subtly cleared the way for her, much as they did Snape, although she didn't look as imposing. Word traveled fast in Hogwarts, and Hermione had laid down the law in every class, even those with younger pupils. She felt she should keep them in line from the start, much like her nefarious mentor. Every student at Hogwarts knew that despite how young she was, Professor Granger was not a witch to trifle with.

After properly reading the riot act to her seventh year Charms students, Hermione then gave them double assignments. They not only had to work on the current curriculum, but redo the beginning lessons as well, including all homework assignments, wand work diagrams, reports and essays.

"We're starting with a clean slate," she said, a tight little smile on her face as the class groaned.

She stopped outside of her door and was about to open it, when she was aware she wasn't alone. She turned to see Snape standing there. He looked rather amused.

"What is it?" she snapped.

Snape had also been restored as the Slytherin head of house since Professor Slughorn was getting up in years and preferred to focus on his Slug Club activities. As the head of Slytherin house, he had to deal with all the students, but without that duty, he could focus on only the most promising ones. Slughorn also occupied the rooms meant for the DADA teacher. He disliked the damp dungeons immensely. Since Snape was already staying in the dungeons, they simply switched quarters and offices.

"I received a complaint from the parents of one of my charges, a Mr. Darwin Harper," he said.

"You and everyone else."

"You used an Unforgivable on him."

"Yes."

"I imagine it was in a disciplinary mien—."

"Yes."

Snape's mouth quirked slightly.

"I will tell the Harpers I spoke to you," he said, turning and starting to walk away. Then he stopped and turned back toward her.

"Provided you aren't sacked, I suspect there will be dramatic and swift improvements concerning my DADA students' spell work in the near future, now that they have the fear of Granger in them."

He walked away.

Hermione stood there for a moment, watching his robes billow, then smiled and let herself into her quarters.

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A/N: Just a little more. I'm hoping to take a drive into Mobile today, just to get away for a bit. Thanks for reading.