Lily Evans had always believed the world gave warnings before disasters.
A flicker in the wand.
A tremor in the potion.
A shift in the air before a storm.
But no amount of intuition could prepare her for the cold dread that followed Inquisitor Coulson's words:
"Professor Evans, you will accompany us to the Ministry for an immediate educational review."
Her ears buzzed.
Her students stared.
Dumbledore did not intervene.
He merely closed his eyes… as if accepting an inevitability he could no longer stop.
Lily felt sick.
Not because she thought she would lose her job.
Because she might lose control of her son—her sweet, perfect boy—during the months she spent suspended.
If she weren't physically present at Hogwarts, who would keep an eye on Harry?
Who would keep him safe from harm?
Who would stop the bad influences that seemed to swirl around him every year?
Her fingers tightened around the strap of her satchel as Coulson guided her gently—firmly—out the door.
Cassius Snape watched her go with an unreadable expression.
A small, polite smile.
A knowing smile.
Her stomach twisted reviling at the smug face of her bastard son.
~
The Ministry's Educational Review chamber smelled faintly of dust and disinfected parchment.
Ten witches and wizards sat along a curved bench, each wearing the silver brooch of the Department of Magical Education.
Their quills stood upright, poised like vultures waiting to strike.
Lily was instructed to sit alone at a single desk beneath them.
A desk that felt more like a witness stand.
Coulson stood beside her, arms folded.
"Begin," said Chairwitch Hawthorne—sharp-faced, cold-eyed, and clearly irritated she had been made to read the Muggle Studies textbook.
"Professor Evans," she said, "the Ministry has received an unprecedented number of complaints regarding your course. Hundreds of letters. Dozens of affidavits alleging misinformation, negligence, and—"
she tapped a file "—gross distortion of the muggle world."
Lily swallowed hard.
"I—I only teach the curriculum Hogwarts provides."
"Then you knowingly taught inaccuracies."
"No!" Lily protested, sitting forward. "I followed the materials—"
"Unquestioningly?" another committee member asked. "Even though you are muggle-born?"
Her breath caught.
"Are you implying I am not?"
"We are implying," Hawthorne said coldly, "that your supposed upbringing in the Muggle world did very little to inform your instruction."
The blow landed like physical force.
"I am muggleborn," Lily whispered, heat rising in her chest.
"I grew up using electricity. I went to school with muggles. I understand their world far more than the textbook does."
"Then why," a stern warlock cut in, "did you teach that muggle hoses are venomous serpents?"
"That extension cords are 'dangerous magical binding cables'?"
"That toasters attempt electrocution as an act of aggression?"
"That a Hoover vacuum is a torture device?"
Lily opened her mouth—
But no excuse came.
Because she knew the truth.
She had seen the curriculum.
She had been confused by it.
She had been overwhelmed by it.
But instead of correcting it, she had…
She had done what was safe.
What was easy.
What kept her employed.
What kept her close to Harry.
What kept her in the only place where she could protect her child from this strange magical world he had been born into.
"I…" Lily whispered. "I never thought anyone would question it so deeply."
Hawthorne's eyebrows shot up.
"You never thought your students—including other muggleborns—would question a class fundamentally misrepresenting their own culture?"
Lily flushed bright red.
"They never said anything!" she insisted, voice rising in panic. "Not one of them! No one complained, not openly—if they had I would have listened!"
Coulson made a quiet note with his quill.
Hawthorne leaned forward.
"Mrs. Evans, your defense is that teenagers should have corrected you? A Hogwarts professor on how to teach your own class?"
Lily's stomach dropped.
"No—no, that's not—please, I'm only saying that—"
"You are the professor," Hawthorne said sharply. "Not a bystander. Your duty is to ensure accuracy. Not blind adherence. Not convenience."
Another member added: "And certainly not years of misinformation you have let down hundreds of young minds, and in doing so put then in harms way, by letting them graduate unaware of the truths of the muggle world."
Lily froze.
Her pulse spiked.
"I would never—!"
But she had.
Merlin help her, she had.
She had taken the post originally because it meant being close to Harry.
Because it meant seeing him every day.
Because it meant even hidden in plain sight as she was, she could be involved in her darlings life all while keeping him safe from their families enemies!
It had never been about Muggle Studies.
It had been about Harry.
And now?
It was going to cost her!
~
The committee whispered among themselves for several minutes.
Lily felt each second like water dripping onto stone—slowly eroding her composure.
Finally, Hawthorne cleared her throat.
"Mrs. Evans," she said, "after reviewing your years of instruction, your admitted lack of correction, and your failure to utilize your firsthand muggle knowledge—"
Lily's fingers dug into her skirt.
"—the Ministry has determined the following."
Time seemed to slow.
"You may retain your position at Hogwarts—"
Lily exhaled a shaking breath—
"—but not as a professor."
Her heart stopped.
"You are hereby demoted to Teaching Aid. Effective immediately."
A crack formed in Lily's voice. "I—please—this is my career—"
"This is the consequence of negligence," Hawthorne said, merciless. "You will be required to assist a newly appointed Muggle Studies professor. You will not teach independently. You will attend mandatory retraining. And you will remain on probation until such time that you demonstrate competence."
Lily's vision blurred.
"As for punitive fines," Hawthorne continued—
Lily's stomach clenched—
"We will waive them. Provided you adhere strictly to the probation terms."
A breath of relief escaped her.
Short-lived.
"Failure to do so," Hawthorne finished, "will result in immediate termination and formal penalties."
The gavel struck.
The sound shattered her.
~
They dismissed her.
She rose on trembling legs.
Coulson guided her outside with unexpected gentleness.
"Mrs. Evans," he said, "I don't enjoy destroying careers. But this—this was allowed to go on for too long."
"I was doing my best," Lily whispered.
"No," Coulson said quietly. "You were doing what was easy."
That hurt more than any official reprimand.
She stood alone in the corridor for several minutes, staring at the polished floor, trying to gather herself.
She was no longer a professor, but at least she was still allowed at the school itself, but if she wasnt the professor her rights within the school became limited.
Her boy... harry he was to much like his father... he didnt have a mind fo studies, without her assistance in bumping his grades, was it- was it possible she would be forced to watch as her son, her pride and joy was expelled from the school due to failing his classes?