What the parents had been discussing was the rather sorry state of Hogwarts. Arthur had been compiling a list of complaints against the Potions' Master as well as Lockhart. But now they found out there was some serious Dark magic happening at the school which had led to many injuries and a student possessed. Needless to say, they were out for blood.
Swiftly, there were formal complaints lodged and an investigation followed. Dumbledore put up a token protest against the removal of Snape, but ultimately it had been clear. The man had snapped and was no longer fit to teach, spending most of his days muttering about the ghost of Lily Potter and flinching when people approached him. The war had been tough of Severus, and it seemed he had finally submitted to his grief. Dumbledore let him go.
While the students enjoyed a quiet rest of the year, it was a very stressful time for Dumbledore. He had a pile of complaints and accusations to work through. The school would need some serious security upgrades over the summer break. And he needed to find a new Potions Master - fast.
...
Alabasandria looked at the letter. Nope. Absolutely not. She went to throw it away but it stuck to her hand like glue, the intrigue of such a bizarre offer unable to leave her. Never had she read such a terrible idea before.
But…
Alabasandria was rather good with children. Or at least she was pretty sure she was. After that rough first few days with Harry, he'd never given her any serious trouble (until this recent basilisk business, but she enjoyed pretending that debacle never happened, lest she start getting gray hairs after centuries of avoiding them) and she knew the best ways to calm him down. When she'd needed assistance, she'd had her trusty parenting guide which was now worn and highlighted as she read it throughout the years. She has a much better grasp of understanding a child's needs, and Harry had so far turned out very well. A bit emotional sometimes, and not as prone to violence as she would prefer, and the definition of a stab-first-use-basic-logic-later Gryffindor, but a decent child all the same.
And it wasn't just Harry, she'd successfully babysat Luna a couple of times and had made tolerable conversation with Harry's newest minions Ron and Hermione.
Alabasandria also had plenty more experience teaching. While her apprentices came to her for necromancy, most of them had been rather stupid and had needed a more rounded education. For plenty, she had been their sole teacher of magic. Plus her Potions abilities were no ruse. She was qualified.
So why was the thought of accepting the teaching position terrifying?
No no no no. She HATED people. She was great at dealing with them, but she honestly hated every single person in the world except for her apprentice. Why would she even consider surrounding herself with hundreds of them?! People who would stick their noses into her business, into Harry's. Whining children who would not appreciate their grades. Parents! Oh, if all parents were like Molly Weasley she was going to destroy her own horcrux just to put herself out of her misery!
But… perhaps it couldn't be too bad?
Necromancy was hardly boring, but it was a once-a-month sort of thing, it's not like she spent all hours of the day poking at corpses. There were only so many human sacrifices one could make in a day. It was very dependent on the moon and the seasons. She was perfectly capable of continuing her work by sneaking away on weekends and evenings.
Most of her time was spent researching, gathering knowledge on whatever topic struck her fancy and questioning the dead for their secrets. Harry had mentioned the graveyard for the Hogwarts Founders and other famous dead, a graveyard she's been searching for herself for three hundred years. Not to mention their library was the largest curation of magical texts in Europe. It would be worth the time wasted teaching if she could use her remaining time nose deep in their books.
Although there was now the matter of Voldemort's horcruxes. Plural. More than the two they'd uncovered so far. However many more out there - ready to resurrect the stupid bastard. It was an affront to Death for the noseless and spineless coward to be that afraid of his demise. That he dared dabble in the necromantic arts. He deserved nothing more than a slow, painful trip to the Underworld. Admittedly, Alabasandria had no idea where any more of his horcruxes could be hiding. If they'd still had the diary, she could have tried to use that to find the remaining, but now she was running blind.
Although Dumbledore clearly knew a thing or two about the wizard formally known as Tom Riddle. And Tommy had already been actively practicing Dark magic while in school. So being at Hogwarts wasn't an awful place to start looking.
"This is a terrible idea," she said. Then she thought about Harry's shenanigans with the basilisk. Fine. Fine! Who knew what Harry would get up to if she wasn't at the school to keep an eye on him. This was a logical, strategic decision and absolutely not one she would come to regret.
Except for the whole surrounded by children thing.
This couldn't possibly come back to bite her.
She owled Dumbledore with her acceptance.
.....
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