Lucifer09
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Chapter 87
🕑 Added 2023-06-09 14:43:47 +0000 UTC[Ministry of Magic.]
In a large, rather gloomy room, reminiscent of an amphitheatre in its shape, in the centre there was a straight platform with a small wooden pedestal, and around it rows of seats rose in steps, which the wizards slowly occupied.
Most of them were elderly Wizards, dressed in loose robes, and among them one could also notice younger employees of the ministry and other people, at least somehow related to this department. But besides them, there were also several special personalities, among whom were the heads of the departments of "Magical Incidents and Disasters" - Chester Parks, as well as the "Department of Law Enforcement" - Barty Crouch Sr.
After all, today's question, albeit indirectly, will concern them as well. At the same time, the second looked unkindly at the young man sitting in the front row. And that same person was Severus.
Snape did not care about the man, because his actions even helped him quickly get rid of the people of the Ministry looming before his eyes, and why would a Wizard get his hands dirty when Crouch had already been punished by a “good” son, whom he still did not know about.
But, of course, if the head of the department decides to continue to put spikes in his wheels, then the next evening the body of this bad person will be found in some alley, because the Slytherin was not some saint.
Severus himself at that moment was examining the incoming wizards with interest, experiencing a bit of disappointment. “Total: seventeen “Masters of the lowest rank”, seven “Masters”, two “Highest” and one “peak”. A bit scary. Yes, and it feels like the latter will die at any moment …” He measured the old man with an indifferent look, who already had one foot in the grave - he was so old.
“Yes, now I have become better acquainted with the forces in the Ministry, and this is terrible. No wonder they can't suppress one "Master" when there are only three old men at the "peak" among them, well it will already be a miracle if they are even able to raise their wands, but still, not all wizards may be here, however so far, this is a disappointing sight,” shaking his head, he shifted his gaze to three chairs, two of which were already occupied by the same old man and another elderly Wizard from the “Top Masters”.
“I hope they will get together soon ... oh, and why are these classic suits so uncomfortable,” for a moment the image of Nagini came to his mind, who this morning made him put on a suit, and even a tie on top. “This is the last time I’m putting on something like this, and after that I’ll wear robes, now it’s at least clear why is Dumbledore always in it…” Just at that moment, a silver-haired man sat down next to Severus , pulling him out of his thoughts, and this man was Lucius’s father, Abraxas Malfoy.
"You surprised me, Mr... Snape, or the Prince?" Abraxas asked with a smile. “Whatever you wish, I didn’t think much about it,” the man’s eye trembled at such an indifferent answer.
"And what brought you here, you don’t seem to work for the Ministry, but for some “other group”?" Severus asked, looking at him.
The man's eye twitched a second time. "Mr. Prince, I am on the Board of Trustees of Hogwarts, and in addition to the Department of Magical Education, we also have the right to vote for the adoption of any law related to education, because there is only one school in our country," adjusting his jacket, he looked at Severus with disdain, he didn't really like the answer to the first question.
"Indeed, I completely forgot about you, you are still involved in financing, keeping order at school and the like. I understand that only purebloods are members of your council?"
“Only the most respected wizards,” Abraxas nodded proudly, raising his chin.
'Well, now I understand why Myrtle's death was attributed to an Acromantula when she was found dead by the gaze of a Basilisk. It is not surprising, because Tom was the heir of Slytherin himself, and she was a simple Muggle-born girl. Most likely, the board of trustees simply put pressure on the former Headmaster, and he had to accept the version with that poisonous spider,' a chill flashed in Snape’s gaze, which still did not escape the eyes of the pureblood who were studying him.
But Snape still did not think much about it, because what happened, has already happened and cannot be fixed, and the previous composition of the Board of Trustees is most likely, already replaced with a new one. And he had already committed "revenge" by killing the Basilisk, through whose fault the girl died. Seeing the displeasure in the wizard's eyes, Malfoy was a little surprised.
"Then where are the Galleons?" Severus asked him with a smile as he looked into the eyes of Abraxas. “You know, the school needs a major overhaul, some enchantments updated, new tables, most of the uniforms for Quidditch players are no longer usable, I'm not talking about the bathroom and living rooms, which have not been updated for more than a hundred years. Moreover, I voiced only superficial problems, I will send you the rest in writing, because at school you can decide a lot, even change the Headmaster without any problems, but you do not have to hurry, after all this is not the order."
“So you’re saying that we don’t help the school in any way?” Abraxas asked him with narrowed eyes, offended by the words “youngster”, who has never seen life. "I'm just counting what I saw, for all the time of my studies, I have not noticed a single change, and I am not trying to offend you or accuse you of something, but simply voiced my opinion. Even the brooms, which have already been used for 2 decades are not replaced, so you are not in a position to talk, are you?" Severus said with disdain, ignoring the "ardent" look of the head of the clan.
“Mr. Prince, do you really want to quarrel with us?” Abraxas asked coldly.
"Is this a threat?" Severus looked at him with a mocking smile. “Come on, I don’t care if I get kicked out of school, but will you be prepared to face the consequences of your decision?”
The last words of Severus managed to sober up the wizard, and the consequences of the quarrel between the Dark Lord and Amon Ichiros, when the first had to retreat, surfaced in his head.
Imagining that someone of that power would come after him made the man shudder. "What threat? I was just making a bad joke!" Abraxas laughed with a nervous smile, patting the “youngster” on the shoulder. "Of course, we will help the school, it's just that no one told us about its problems, everything is always fine, so we stood aside, tomorrow I will personally go and inspect everything!"
"I'm glad you understood me, but don't bother, I'll send you a list of things to correct tomorrow. See how I made it easy for you?"
'Yes, now go to hell! You made the job easier?? If it wasn't for your damn teacher, you'd be kicked out of this school tomorrow!' in the depths of his soul, the man cursed the "boy", but on the outside he had such a good-natured smile that, if someone else were in Snape's place, who did not know legilimency well, then he would've thought that a “saint” was sitting in front of him.
"Thanks, I'll be looking forward to it." Abraxas said with a smile.
"I'm glad I could help you, and by the way, you will support me today, like the rest of the Board of Trustees, right?"
“Of course we will support you.” 'Do you think I can refuse after that threat?!'
"Thank you Mr. Malfoy, I knew you could be relied upon!" Severus shook his hand with a joyful smile.
"Not at all."
Severus finally shifted his gaze to the entrance, because the “star” of this day had finally arrived ... Dumbledore entered through the opened door, he immediately attracted attention and headed for three chairs.
After all, although he doesn't look like much, the old man was one of the strongest wizards in Britain, a holder of the order of the merlin, as well as the headmaster of the only educational institution in the country. And he understood much more than the rest, what children needed in the field of "education", and therefore he rightfully took his place.
And as soon as he sat down, a young man came out onto the platform, in his hand was a parchment.
As soon as he stepped on a wooden pedestal, he opened it. “We thank all the honored gentlemen who have taken the time to come to this meeting regarding the introduction of a new subject into the curriculum,” some Wizards began to exchange glances in surprise, apparently not knowing why this meeting was called, although there were those who did not did not respond, already familiar with the documents. “Meeting Nine Hundred Twenty-Two is declared open, and I would like to ask Mr. Severus Prince, at whose request it was convened, to take this seat."
Calmly getting up from his seat, Severus went down the stairs, and stepping onto the platform, he stood on the vacant seat and looked up at the three old men in the chairs. “First, I would like to join the previous speaker and also thank you for taking the time to listen to me.” Two of the three nodded, while Albus just smiled.
"What I wanted to discuss with you is the addition of a new subject to the school curriculum - “Life and Health Safety”. As you understand, now is a very turbulent time, wizards are dying like flies, few live to see the old age, and this is not only because of Voldemort." some in the hall shuddered at this name.
“But also because of our stupidity and ignorance of many things. There are no more than five thousand of us wizards in magical Britain alone, and every year our number hardly grows. Over time, we can simply disappear if we don't start taking care of ourselves. The subject that I want to promote in the school curriculum, will help us increase the difference between dying and being born wizards. Yes, there is such a class called Defense Against the Dark Arts, but do you really think that this is enough, because in life we can be killed not only by dark spells, curses and the like. A Wizard without any problems can die from a simple pebble, slipping and hitting the back of his head on a stone floor, or earn blood poisoning by pricking on a simple needle, and even from a sneeze! Dark wizards aren't the scariest thing, but ignorance is the real problem.” With a snap of his fingers, everyone present had a scribbled sheet.
“That’s the percentage of wizard deaths due to one cause or another, and if you look closely, the death rate from dark magic is only five percent, while from elemental phenomena, roughly speaking, it’s seven, suicide - five, from bad habits, like smoking or not knowing the measure of drinking alcohol - nine, from untimely medical care - exactly twelve, because no one just knows how to give first aid before the arrival of healers from Mungo, and others - foolishly apparating there along with the victim, who only survives in one out of a hundred cases,” reading the statistics that Severus himself was able to obtain from Mungo and the Ministry of Magic, the wizards were really amazed.
None of them even thought about all this, because they always believed that dark wizards were to blame for everything, but most of the causes of death from the text were not related to them at all, they simply could not believe it.
"Well," from his voice, after a moment of silence, most of the Wizards shuddered and began to listen to his words with much more lively interest. - “I prepared a plan for this subject for each course up to the seventh, but you can limit yourself to the fifth, but with an introduction to “OWL”, for the first course you can do it once a week…"
—
And for the next three hours, Severus continued to talk about it without stopping, and the wizards listened to his every word, while completely getting rid of the previous neglect due to the age of “Severus”…
