Worse, he still had not gotten to hear that damned prophecy in full. That, above all else, was his most important goal, a goal that he was nowhere near achieving. Every reconnaissance mission carried out, mostly by Wormtail in his animagus form, had proved fruitless. The closest they could get to the Hall of Prophesy was the narrow, dimly lit corridor that stood at the top of the staircase that led down to the Ministry Courtrooms. The door at the end which led to the Department of Mysteries rarely seemed to open and when it did it always snapped shut before anyone could sneak in.
Two days ago Pettigrew had succeeded in discovering an anti-animagus ward on the door, which meant that, even if Pettigrew had managed to scamper inside in his Wormtail form, he would be exposed immediately. So it was just as well that Pettigrew had not succeeded in entering, as his getting captured would likely reveal the truth about Sirius Black, someone who Voldemort really needed the Ministry to continue to use as a scapegoat.
Snape did not know about the attempts to get into the Department of Mysteries, but he did know about the recruitment attempts and knew which Death Eaters had returned to Voldemort's side.
This could prove disastrous. There was no choice. If he wanted to keep what followers he had, he would have to bring them to his side and keep them there. They would all have to abandon their homes, and Malfoy Manor included.
He summoned the guard.
Griselda Marchbanks entered Hogwarts to find it in turmoil. All the students had been taken from their dormitories and gathered in the Great Hall where Aurors, Unspeakables and Healers were now going around to each one in order to determine the damage done.
She caught Amelia's attention when the Head of the D.M.L.E looked up and together the pair found a secluded location in which to talk.
"How bad is it?" asked Griselda, once they were alone in an office that had once belonged to a former Professor.
"It's bad, but it could easily have been much worse," replied Amelia. "So far every student tested has been shown to be under the influence of a strong acceptance potion, something designed to make them accept what they see or are told without question. Obviously this is a terrible thing but it could easily have been something much more sinister. So far only Mr Potter is in a worse state. He's at St Mungo's now, being examined by the very best mind healers."
"Were all the staff involved?"
"Most were. We found Dolores Umbridge in the Hospital Wing under the influence of Draught of Living Death and we found Sibyl Trelawney passed out in her classroom, apparently from drinking too much sherry. Rubeus Hagrid was not to be found anywhere within the castle, but it seems that he has been unaccounted for since shortly after the end of the last school year. Everyone else was involved."
"Willingly?"
"Aurora Sinistra, Septima Vector and Bathsheba Babbling each tested positive for controlling potions. Everyone else appears to have acted freely."
Griselda found herself having to sit down after that. After a few moments she spoke "Well, it goes without saying that Hogwarts is going to have to close. No matter what evidence you find, I'm going to be making sure that the majority of the school's Professors, along with the Headmaster, Caretaker and Mediwitch are fired. We will probably have to get rid of Hagrid as well and Trelawney, if her drinking was of her own volition."
"We believe it was," put in Amelia.
"So that will leave Dolores, Aurora, Septima and Bathsheba as the sole remaining members of staff within the castle… assuming any of them are willing to stay on after this, of course."
"What will become of the students?"
"We will make arrangements for them to be sent home once each has been examined. Later, I will speak to Professor Winston at Waxwings School. Hopefully I can convince her to take in Hogwarts' students until we can get the castle sorted out."
Amelia grimaced at that. Waxwings School was a school for magic, but not quite of the same calibre as Hogwarts.
The students of Hogwarts generally fell into one of three categories. The first category were those who were from the three highest ranking groups of families, the "Ancient and Noble," the "Ancient" and the "Noble." These families had the funds to send all their children to Hogwarts.
The second category consisted of the "Lesser" and "Clan" families. These families could usually only afford to send their oldest child to Hogwarts. The rest went to Waxwing School. On occasion a child form a "New blood" family joined this group, but it was rare.
And the third category consisted of the Muggleborns. Well, the rich ones anyway.
There were a few anomalies that did not follow this pattern, but the general rule was that Hogwarts was for the rich, Waxwings was for the rest.
"That could cause problems, Griselda," Amelia warned her friend. "While I myself don't see a problem with sending Susan to Waxwings for a few weeks or months while this mess is sorted out, I can think of several families who will take issue with it."
"Then it will be up to them to make other arrangements for their children," replied Griselda. "This will be a temporary solution and is the best that we can offer. If they don't like it, they can arrange for their children to attend Beauxbatons or Durmstrang."
Amelia nodded in acceptance and asked "Any ideas on when Hogwarts might reopen?"
Griselda shook her head. "There's no way of knowing. We will have to find a new Headmaster, Deputy Headmaster, three Heads of House and teachers for every subject except Astronomy, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and History. Then there is the support staff to consider."
"One healer, one caretaker, one keeper of the keys and grounds," listed Amelia.
"Then there are the House Elves. We don't yet know how much of a role they played in all of this but…"
"Of course," agreed Amelia. Her opinion of House Elves had grown vastly after the attack on Sarah Abbott, but now a darker side had become clear. These creatures rarely thought for themselves, instead being determined to do their duty to their master and family. With Sarah this had saved her life.
With Hogwarts, it could well be that the Elves had simply administered the potions to the students simply because Dumbledore had told them to. Not exactly their fault, but still a serious issue when the Headmaster turned out as Dumbledore had.
The Ministry was going to have a busy few weeks ahead of it. Not only did they have to sort out the Order of the Phoenix and hunt down Dumbledore, now they also had to completely reorganise Hogwarts from the lowest rung right to the top.
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