Chapter eight - A change in the waters

It was the end of classes that day that Magnus found himself sitting in his trunks office behind his desk, mirror in hand, with a pensive look on his face as he was deep in thought about what he had just heard.

Never had he thought that it would have been this fast for things to turn in his favour, and yet that was what Ted had just gotten through telling him. There were no records at all for Sirius's trial, which was a pretty good indicator that he never had one in the first place.

He wanted to grin openly like a mad man and start to laugh and dance around, but he would keep that for another time, right now he needed to make sure of this, he could not mess this up.

"And you are absolutely sure of this, no sign of them whatsoever,?" Magnus asked looking concerned, a feeling of hope rising in his chest.

On the reflective surface of the mirror Ted's image nodded back, "I checked and double-checked again after I found the first box, in case there was a second box with the records misplaced somewhere. There was no sign of them." he said firmly before sighing, "I can't believe that the ministry has been this careless. If this means what I think it does then we have just stumbled over a cover-up and Sirius has been imprisoned for over a decade now, an innocent man in that hell on earth."

Magnus nodded, "my uncle," he said frowning his hand unintentionally gripping the handle of the mirror tighter as he felt his emotions rise up, "my family." he spoke his voice sounding hurt and it wasn't faked. He could feel his chest tighten at the thought of his family, Magnus' family, being locked up in that hell, it hurt.

Ted's image scoffed as he hears the tone and he sighed, "Don't worry Magnus, we'll get him out and get to the bottom of this. I'm going to be filing for Sirius's immediate release as soon as the offices open in the morning."

Magnus' eyes widened, "no, not yet!" he said in a hurry making Ted look at him in shock.

"But, Magnus he's your family, if he's innocent. We need to get him out of there, family or not no.." Ted began to go off on a rant, his years as an Auror coming to the front and his sense of right and wrong showing through. Before Magnus cut him off.

"I know that Ted," Magnus spoke firmly, "what I meant was that you can't go and run headfirst into this without more backing. Even with House Blacks' backing we'll need more support," he explained, "From what I've heard about our current minister, Fudge is the kind of man who cares about his image more than doing his actual job. If you go marching in there and proclaim that the ministry has condemned an innocent man to prison, a member of House Black nonetheless, he will do everything in his power to sweep this under the rug and the people will back him because to everyone else they believe the same, that Sirius guilty."

Ted frowned but nodded nonetheless, he hadn't considered that angle of things, Fudge would no doubt do anything to prevent even a smear against the ministry while he was in office, and that pet toad of his, Umbridge, would do the same if she even suspected that they were going to do something that would make the ministry look bad in any way.

"What do you suggest then? Do you have someone in mind?" Ted asked, curious to know what Magnus' plans were, from what he'd seen of him Magnus wasn't the kind to voice an idea without having already put some, if not a lot of thought into it. It could be quite scary at times seeing an eleven-year-old boy talk like an adult, and he worried what Magnus would be like as an adult, he would be a monster in politics.

Magnus nodded, "I do. Madam Bones, the head of the DMLE. If we get her behind us she'd be a powerful ally to have in getting Sirius free from that hellhole" he explained, "from what little I've heard of her, she's a harsh but fair woman, she should at the very least hear you out if you asked for a meeting."

Ted brought his hand to his face to scratch his stubble as he thought and nodded, "you're right about Bones, the woman's made of iron and will come down on anyone hard if she thinks they're up to something they shouldn't be. I served with her when we were both Auror recruits. She can hold herself in a fight." he mused before nodding, "I should be able to get a meeting with her, it would likely take a couple of weeks if I was someone else, she's a busy woman, but she has a soft spot for retired Aurors, I might be able to cut it down to a couple of days at the most"

Magnus nodded, "what do you think the chances are of her believing and backing us?" he asked.

Ted shrugged, "about fair to be honest. As you said, she'd hear me out in the meeting and will take in all the facts that are presented to her. While we have no actual evidence of your uncles innocents, the lack of a trial transcript and the other paperwork should speak for themselves. At the very most we can expect her to help us in getting Sirius a proper trial and if he's innocent it will come out."

Magnus nodded, "good, that would probably be the best outcome, if there was never any trial at all then people could just claim that it was a technicality, but if he's tried and found innocent then no one can claim otherwise."

Ted nodded, "yes that would be for the best then" he agreed before yawning, "right I'll let you get on off to bed, I'm sure you'll need your sleep for your classes tomorrow, goodnight Magnus"

Magnus nodded back, "goodnight Ted," he said as the image on the mirror faded and he placed it down on the desk with a sigh as he reached up to rub his brow, sitting back in his chair.

'Well this will certainly be throwing canon out the window if everything goes through, Sirius getting freed two years before his escape, I wonder how the magical populace will react once he's announced as innocent' Magnus mused in his head, 'I wonder what else will come to light with this, I can't imagine that Sirius will be happy with the old coot for letting him rot in Azkaban without a trial for all these years,' he thought with a chuckle.

Erebus bristled his feathers from his perch across the room 'Don't go counting your hatchlings until they hatch, Magnus' he warned. `You never know what could happen. You may have knowledge of the future but you are treading out into unknown waters now, be careful or else you may attract sharks or something worse'

Magnus sighed, "technically speaking, I've always been in unknown waters, my very presence in this world will have altered things from the original, all that butterfly effect and shit. I've just been trying to keep them as small as possible so that the future won't drastically change and my knowledge will still be relevant to what is going to happen" he explained, "I must have spent hours in my mind trying to plot every possible change my presence here might have effected in the future and account for them all but there's just too many of them to account for, the future is going no matter what I do, and this will just be tossing a huge rock into the waters" he said before throwing his hands up, "fuck it, if this changes everything then I may as well give up on trying to predict the future. I was going to be changing things for the better anyway might as well start now. I'll stop trying to predict things and just roll with the punches before throwing back some of my own" he smirked.

'Are you sure that is wise? If you stir the waters too much then something could happen that you might not be able to predict, people might find out that you are not originally from this world, it could have disastrous consequences for you' Erebus warned

Magnus shrugged, "I'll be doing my best to keep my origins under wraps. My occlumency is coming along well so soon enough no one will be able to pull it from my mind, and I'll do my best not to get called up to testify for anything to be dosed with veritaserum any time soon, and asked where I'm from" he mused, "I'll be changing things, but I'll be careful not to give anyone reason to suspect that I'm not from here" he said before looking to the mirror on his desk.

"And I think I know just where to start making changes to the canon" Magnus smirked before he reached over and picked up the mirror, he had a call to make, it was time to start stirring things up.

Time skip

It was the next morning at the breakfast table that Magnus had a smile on his face, looking forward to what he knew was going to be happening that day after his mirror call the night before.

Daphne who was sitting at the table across from him gave him a puzzled look, "what's got you so happy this morning? You look like you've just won a million galleons."

Magnus chuckled, "I have no idea what you are talking about Daphne, can't a guy just look happy on this wonderful morning." he smiled back.

Daphne gave him a deadpan look, "there's happy and then there's that maniacal grin that you have on your face," she said not buying his reason for an instant, "now spill it what did you do?"

Magnus smirked, "okay, okay." he said putting up his hands in a gesture of surrender, "if you must know I was up late last night and I think I finally figured out the solution to one of our class problems, potions to be precise" he smirked.

Tracey chuckled from beside Daphne, "what? Did you think of a way to get Snape fired? Sorry to say but I've heard that Dumbledore has refused to fire him despite the multitude of complaints against him, you'll have to think of something else." she joked.

Magnus laughed, "oh no, but that was my first thought. No, I've thought up another way that's just as good in my opinion" he stated with a smirk.

However, before either girl could ask what the idea was. The doors to the great hall opened wide and Andromeda Tonks walked into the great hall, led by Professor Flitwick, and upon seeing them, Magnus' grin doubled in size as he watched them make their way over towards them.

"Mr Black," Professor Flitwick addressed Magnus as the pair of them reached him, "your aunt has.." he began to say only to be cut off as headmaster Dumbledore along with Professors Mcgonnagal and Snape came down from the head table quickly to see what was going on.

"Finius, may we inquire as to why you have Mrs Tonks with you, this is, most unusual" Dumbledore inquired as he glanced to Andromeda before looking back to the small charms professor.

Flitwick cleared his throat, "As I was just about to inquire with Mr Black here, his Aunt has expressed concerns for his education over some missives that they have exchanged in regards to his potions education" he began to explain, "having received numerous complaints of a similar nature from various students of all ages in the past all in regards to Professor Snape's teaching methods or if the complaints are to be believed the lack therefore of"

Mentally Magnus scoffed as he remembered his first potion lesson with the greasy bat just the other day. The man could not teach worth a damn. He gave his little speech and then proceed to give out a page number to the class and a time limit in which they had to brew the potion in before leaving them to it as he sculked around the classroom sneering and making snide comments until someone made a mistake when he inevitably pounced on they and began to take points off and then ridicule them before vanishing their potion and telling them to start again. And then at the end of the class, he instructed them to write an essay for the next class about the potion they had just brewed, honestly the man could not teach.

Snape sneered at the explanation, "I would think that the opinions of first years would be irrelevant, given how very little they know about the actual material to critique my teaching methods" he said glancing at Magnus with a glare of annoyance and anger.

"Be that as it may," Professor Flitwick continued, "the complaints I have gotten in the past have not always been from first-year students, many of the older past students have had very little to say in the way of positive reactions to your classes Severus, and even Mrs Tonks has had similar experiences with her daughter who has now graduated last year"

Andromeda nodded, "If I recall Nymphadora's recollection of your teaching methods," she commented glaring at Snape, "they could be summed up into one line, "instructions are on the board, you have so much time" and then you proceed to walk around until someone makes a mistake before swooping in to take points and berate students and vanish imperfect potions. Last I checked that isn't how you teach Potions."

Snape glared at her, eyes filled with loathing and Andromeda glared back with equal amounts of hatred for the greasy dungeon bat. Magnus could swear that he could see sparks in the air between where their gazes met.

Dumbledore, however, stepped in after a couple of seconds to keep things from escalating, "now now, I'm sure there must be some kind of mistake, Severus is a fine Professor and he has my utmost confidence, I'm sure this must just be some sort of misunderstanding," he said in a very grandfatherly tone, his eyes twinkling.

Andromeda, however, scoffed at the idea, "it is no mistake headmaster, my nephew is not happy learning under Professor, and I use that term under protest, Snape, and I am sure his friends and classmates aren't either. I am certainly not going to allow my nephews' education to be stunted because of your poor teaching standards. I had to give Nymphadora one on one potions lessons every summer to teach her what she was supposed to know, she would never have gotten into Auror training otherwise." she said firmly, "which is why I will teaching my nephew his potions class personally, and I will offer to teach any other student who does not wish to suffer through Professor Snape's teaching methods."

Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly at Andromeda's statement as he inwardly began to worry, 'this cannot happen, I control what the students learn here, I have worked too hard to allow this to happen', he thought to himself before replying, "I'm afraid my dear that won't be possible you see…" he began to say only to be cut off by Magnus.

"Actually headmaster is will be," Magnus cut in, "its a requirement under the Hogwarts charter, chapter thirteen, paragraph four, subsection b, that "should a student find the teachings offered at Hogwarts school to be subpar or insufficient they may elect to acquire or hire someone to teach them that meets their standards"," he decided having memorize that line for use such an occasion, "and I am sure my Aunt Andromeda will do a fine job in teaching, she has her mastery in potions which is a requirement to teach as well as hold her other job as a healer at St Mungo's"

"Can we also join," Tracey said piping up from beside Daphne, unintentionally opening the floodgates as several other students having overheard the talk of another potions teacher besides Snape started calling out for a place in her classes.

The Weasley twins stood up from their table, "Can we join,", "You're bound to be a hundred,", "no a thousand,", "no ten thousand times better,", ""than that greasy old bat!""

"Ten points from Gryffindor, for insulting a teacher" Snape quickly snapped at them, "each!"

Dumbledore began to frown, this wasn't a part of his plan, 'Confound it all, I knew I should have tracked down and burned every copy of that infernal charter, even as headmaster I can't change the things the founders put down,' he internally raged before sighing and raising his hands for silence before looking back to Andromeda, "are you sure about this Andromeda, I'm sure that your work at St Mungo's is very important?" he tried one last time.

But Andromeda shook her head, "there are other healers on call, my family comes first, and I refuse to allow Severus's poor teaching standards to affect the students careers any longer, I do not know if you are aware of this headmaster but for the past number of years there has been a large drop in the number of British potion masters and mistresses, which coincidentally coincides with the year that Severus began teaching at Hogwarts school, perhaps that is something you should look into, headmaster"

Inwardly Dumbledore winced, he was more than aware of that fact, he had engineered things to be that way exactly and for good reason, potions was a requirement for joining DLME as an Auror, and with Snape's hatred for children very few students every left Hogwarts with the grades needed to become Aurors, and with their other education limited to what he allowed there would be no one else to stand against any future threats, save for him. This woman was going to be a threat to his system.

"I am aware, but I hardly think that it is fair to lump the failings of the many of the shoulders of the one" Dumbledore responded and quickly continued, "As I see that you are adamant about this, I will have one of the house-elves prepare a room in the dungeons for your classes and…" he began to offer before being cut off this time by andromeda.

"No, I will require a classroom on the first floor or higher, one that has windows and good ventilation, only an idiot would brew in a room without such" Andromeda explained.

Daphne raised her hand, "um why is that?" she asked a little confused, as were many of the other students.

"Because while a storeroom underground is ideal to keep ingredients fresh, it is not ideal for potion brewing because of the fumes that any potions might let out, a confined room with no ventilation can be very dangerous, especially when brewing some of the more trickier potions, in an enclosed space if flumes gather you can easily suffocate or pass out from inhaling too much of them. Not to mention the build-up of residue on the ceiling with so many students brewing in one room, all it would take would be one single drop to fall down into any cauldron and you could risk contamination at best or an explosion at worse" Andromeda explained as each and every student who heard her went ghost white, realising just how lucky they were to walk out of Snape's classroom alive every time.

Snape waved his hand, "the fumes are easily taken care of by an air freshening charm, and the build-up on the ceiling can easily just be vanished after every class" he said dismissing the matter like it was nothing.

"Neither is completely reliable all of the time," Andromeda snapped at Snape before turning to Dumbledore, "so I would much rather have a classroom that meets my requests, headmaster, for the benefit of all of the students' health who are attending my classes"

Dumbledore took a breath and nodded, "very well, I will see to it." he replied, knowing that for the time he had been beaten and would have to yield to the women's demands, not wanting to think about what would be the outcome if he refused her now, if she was to take what she knew and spread rumours about how Hogwarts potion classes are unsafe for their students, though he doubted that it would stay secret for long now given how the students would likely be owling their parents by the end of the class day about this, if not sooner.

"Splendid," Andromeda said with a smirk before she turned to the hall and took her wand out and raised it to her throat muttering "Sonorus" before she began to speak, "Attention students," her voice boomed, "to any who have not heard I am Potion Mistress Andromeda Tonks, and from today onwards I will be offering an alternative potions class than the one you are all currently attending with Professor Snape, I will have an open-door policy with all students. Simply turn up to my room when it is time for your potions lessons and I will teach you instead, thank you" she said before taking her wand away from her throat and spoke "Quietus," cancelling her spell as the hall began to fill with the mutterings of students discussing what they had just been told, many looking very pleased about it.

Dumbledore gave her a disappointed look, "Was that absolutely necessary Andromeda?" he asked.

Andromeda nodded, "Yes it was headmaster, now if you do not mind I think I will have breakfast with my nephew and his friends, please send a house-elf to escort me to my classroom once it is set up," she said as she moved to sit beside a grinning Magnus and across from a smiling Daphne and Tracey.

Dumbledore only gave a defeated sigh while inwardly raging as he turned to make his way back to the head table, followed by a neutral looking Professor McGonnagal and a fuming Snape. Flitwick gave a chuckle, "I'll leave you to it then" he said before he went to join the other professors at the head table.

As soon as he was out of earshot Magnus grinned to Andromeda, "that was brilliant, Snape looked like he wanted to hex you" he chuckled to himself.

Andromeda smirked, "I wish he would have tried, it would have given me ample reason to kick his arse all over the great hall, never did like him even when we went here together" she mused as she began to fill her plate from the food on the table.

Meanwhile, up at the head table, the sounds of Snape complaining to Dumbledore could be heard as he began to go off on a private tirade about how insulting it was to have another potion master teaching here as if he wasn't good enough.

Only for McGonnagal to cut him off mid-rant, "Oh would you give it a rest Severus, you have no one to blame but yourself. It's not just Filius but myself and Pomona included who have gotten numerous complaints about your teaching methods over the years. If you didn't want someone to come in and do a better job than you, you should have stepped up, as far as I'm concerned it was only a matter of time until this happened"

Snape looked furious at the insinuation and stood up from the table with a scowl on his face and with a final glare at McGonagall and then at Andromeda turned and left through the back entrance the door banging shut behind him.

Andromeda smirked and glanced to Professor McGonnagal and raised her glass, a gesture that the Scottish woman returned both smirking.

Time skip

By coincidence, it just so happened that the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor first years had potions class later that morning, so it was no surprise when each and every one of them turned up outside Andromeda's classroom door on the second floor of the castle.

Magnus was already waiting outside with Daphne and Tracey when the Gryffindor students began turning up. He smirked when he saw Harry and Ron coming down the hall, "Hey cousin, you skipping out on Snape too?" He joked.

Harry gave a smirk, "are you joking, of course, I am. Your Aunt is bound to be way better at teaching than Snape."

Magnus smirked, "true, though she might be my aunt she's your cousin, once removed remember"

Harry's smile grew at that remembering the long chat he and Magnus had the day before, he had been extremely happy to learn that he had way more family than just the Dursley's.

Ron, on the other hand, seemed to scrunch up his face, "what are you on about Black, you two aren't cousins!"

Magnus rolled his eyes, while Harry sighed, "yes we are Ron, my Grandmother was a Black before she married my grandfather and became a Potter, that's how I'm related to him," he explained.

"So yes Weasley Harry and I are related," Magnus added, "and although it pains me to admit it so are the two of us."

"What!" Ron said wide-eyed, "no way I'm not related to you!" Sounding completely scandalised.

Magnus nodded, "we are, your grandfather, Septimus Weasley, married Cedrella Black, that makes us related by blood, though thankfully it's distant like second cousins once removed or something. Though I'm not sure if it still stands seeing as she was disowned for the act of your grandfather." Magnus explained and looked to think for a moment, 'hmmm perhaps that would be a good way to make House Weasley an ally, if I were to welcome back Cedrella back to the family, if she's still alive that is' he thought to himself, 'I'll have to ask Andy about her,'

Ron looked to be getting redder by the second, "she was not, my grandmother wasn't a dark witch, take that back!" He yelled.

It just so happened that the next second the classroom door opened to reveal Andromeda standing behind it, not looking impressed in the slightest. "I will have you know Mr Weasley, that my great aunt Cedrella was a very dark witch, one who cared about family dearly even though she was as dark as the rest of us, and it broke my heart when she was disowned for marrying your grandfather, but she was content with it. It was she who offered me aid when I was cast out of the family for marrying my husband, a muggle-born, and I still to this day meet up with her twice a month to have tea and catch up" she stated firmly.

Magnus smirked, 'well I guess that answers that. I'll have to send a couple of letters later then,' he thought to himself as he looked at Ron who was reaching a new shade of red.

"My grandmother was not a Dark witch! You're all liars!" Ron yelled before turning and stomping off angrily, the other first-years moving out of his way as he went.

Once Ron was out of sight Andromeda just shook her head, "I swear Molly has ruined that boy" she muttered to herself before looking to the rest of the students, "well what are you waiting for, come in and sit down, two students to a cauldron," she instructed.

The students were all quick to obey and filed into the classroom which Magnus could see had been well outfitted on such short notice. There were many desks set up in five rows of four, with two cauldrons on each desk, meaning that the classroom could manage up to forty students at a time which was more than enough space for everyone.

One of the walls had three large windows that were open wide that left the room floor with light, as well as let a crisp breeze in from outside to vent the room.

Andromeda quickly made her way up to her desk which was to the left of a large blackboard with a large trunk under it.

Andromeda tapped the trunk with her wand and it opened up as stacks of bound parchment came out of it followed by many cardboard boxes, way more than the trunk should have been able to hold, showing that it was expanded on the inside.

The parchments separated and divided up among the students and a box floated over with them to each student.

"Now then, before we begin, the first thing we shall all be going is going over the rules in this classroom, along with the safety procedures, that I expect each and everyone of you to follow," Andromeda said as she tapped a piece of chalk with her wand and the chalk lifted up and began to write on the blackboard what she just said, "potions may seem simple to all of you, and at first glance many make that same mistake but make no mistake about this, it can be just as dangerous as any other craft in magic, if you make a mistake in brewing there is a very high chance that you or your partner will get hurt because of that mistake."

Each and every student in the room was sitting still and giving Andromeda their full attention. Magnus and Harry sitting next to one another at their table we're no exceptions.

"Mistakes happen to even the best of us, which is why we will be taking precautions, the boxes that you each have been given, have your first piece of protective gear inside" Andromeda said as she fished a pair of clear goggle glasses, "whenever you are brewing, each of you will wear a pair of these, my husband introduced me to them some years ago, they are a muggle invention made to protect your eyes should the potion you are brewing react badly and spit, each have been enchanted to make them stronger than they normally would be. I cannot tell you how many potential potion masters and mistresses have lost their eyesight because of a potion spitting into their eye or eyes, I do not want any of that happening to any of you"

Many students were nodding and looking at their goggles like they were rare gifts.

"Next" Andromeda said as she waved her wand and pairs of long aprons and gloves hovered out and flew over to each student, "the gloves are to be worn when you are handling any ingredients, to prevent any of the more potent ingredients, and the aprons are to be worn at all times when brewing, both are charmed and are lined with Dragonhide to protect you should you make a mistake in your brewing and your potion react violently," Andromeda continued to lecture, "at the end of every class you will make sure your workstation is clear and your goggles are back in their box, your apron folded with your gloves and placed neatly on top of your desk for the next student to use,"

Each student accepted the aprons and gloves gratefully. Magnus took the apron, and put it to the side, he remembered Andromeda talk about all of this the night before in their mirror call. She had been ecstatic at his suggestion that she come to Hogwarts to teach, and now he could see why.

Time skip

What followed after that was a fifteen-minute lecture on all of the classroom rules and what the students could expect in each of her classes before she proceeded to walk them through the brewing steps for the first potion they would be brewing, the cure for boils.

She made sure to walk through each step slowly and took them through the reason why each step took place, and why it happened in that particular order. Explaining how each ingredient reacted to one another.

Once she was done and her cauldron emptied into multiple phials, she then walked the students through the process of how to properly clean down their stations to leave it ready for the next class.

Once she was done she began to have each student recites the brewing process of the potion before picking out various students at random and asked them what a particular stage of the brewing was. All to make sure that they knew the recipe off by heart to help prevent any mistakes. Only then did she let the students go to collect their ingredients and turn on their cauldrons to begin the brewing process as she walked around watching closely to make sure no one was making any mistakes.

The remaining time passed quickly once the brewing process began and Andromeda smiled as the last student was bottling their potion, another top quality batch that she would be more than happy to send to Madam Pomfrey, her stores would be well-stocked for boils after this. There had not been one mistake throughout the whole lesson.

"Very well done, if I could award points each of you five points," Andromeda praised, "now for next class I want a half foot parchment from each of you, covering all the details on the potion we covered here today, with emphasis on the most crucial parts of the brewing process. You may begin cleaning up your stations."

Each of the students moved to clear up their stations and wipe them down just as Andromeda had walked them through.

When Magnus was finished he took the leftover ingredients back over to the expanded storage cupboard, where he ran into Neville Longbottom who was doing the same for his station.

Magnus smiled when he saw him and greeted him, "Heir Longbottom, do you have a moment to spare?" He asked politely using Neville's formal title for this first interaction.

Neville seemed to flinch when Magnus called him that but stopped none the less and nodded, his Heir training under his grandmother reminding him that he should always respond in kind when addressed by another of equal rank as such. "Y-Yes Heir Black, I have a moment"

Magnus nodded, "thank you, Heir Longbottom, I promise not to take up much more of your time than absolutely needed but this is a matter that I have been meaning to speak with you about since coming to Hogwarts and this is the first opportunity I have had to do so with a clear mind," he explained, "I should have approached you when I approached Heir Potter yesterday, but because of my interaction with Ronald Weasley I feared my emotions would get the better of me should he have spoken up another time."

Neville swallowed with how nervous he was with how serious Magnus was being, "w-what is this about?" He asked as everyone in the room seemed to be focused on the pair of them now.

Magnus nodded, "my apologies for not coming to the point sooner, this is about the travesty committed by a member of my house upon house Longbottom, more specifically, the heinous actions during the end of the last war by one Bellatrix LeStrange nee Black, against the current Lord and Lady Longbottom, your parents"

The entire room was silent as all eyes turned to a ghost white Neville who was looking at Magnus as if he had just slapped him.

Andromeda watched the scene with a firm and resolved expression on her face, she knew what was about to happen, Magnus had talked to her about it in the weeks following her reinstatement into House Black, and she had fully agreed with what he was about to do.

Seeing Neville wasn't going to respond Magnus continued, "the actions of my family against yours are something that turns my stomach, it was by her hand that you were robbed of the chance to have your parents with you in any capacity that mattered, and regardless of the fact that it was during a war, does not sit well with me in the slightest. However I know that no number of apologies could ever make up for what a member of my house has stolen from you, but if you would permit me, I would like to make the first step in hopefully repairing relationships between our houses so that we may move past this and strive for a better future for both your houses" Magnus offered as he drew his wand from his sleeve and many of the students began to mutter about what was going to happen.

Neville was so shocked he didn't know what to say, his grandmother had always cursed the House of Black and the Lestranges for what had happened to his parents, he didn't know what to make of this.

Magnus nodded as he brought his wand up into the air above them as he spoke out, "I Magnus Roark Black, Heir and Head of Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, hereby dissolve the marriage between Rudolphus Lestrange and Bellatrix Black, and demand that the dowry of their union be paid to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom for crimes committed by Bellatrix Black against House Longbottom. So I say, so I swear, so mote it be!" He intoned as the tip of his wand lit up and sparks of magic swirled around him, signaling that the family magics were accepting of his command, but he wasn't done, as the sparks faded he spoke again, "I Magnus Roark Black, Heir and Head of Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, hereby banish Bellatrix Black from the House of Black, for crimes against house values, association with the former Dark Lord Voldemort, and for the crimes committed against House Longbottom. Never again may she claim shelter under the roof of House Black, never again may the magic of the family aid her, never again shall she bare the name of the house that she no longer belongs to, so I say, so I swear, so mote it be!"

With another bright flash from his wand, the air around Magnus shimmered brightly as it sparked before fading, signaling that his commands had once again been carried out. And almost instantly, many of the students began muttering about what they were witnessing.

The few of those in the room knowledgeable about what they had just seen explained to the others about what it meant for Bellatrix, who would now be known as Bellatrix no name, a great mark on any pureblood witch or wizard, as it showed they were no longer wanted by their house for their actions and could never again associate with that house again, not to mention cutting her off from the family's magic she would feel the drain now. If she were not already in Azkaban she would be a pariah, no one respectable would want to have anything to do with her.

Neville stood in front of Magnus in complete shock and awe as he watched Magnus put his wand away before he offered his hand to him.

"I know this won't change what you have lost Neville, but I hope that it can give you some kind of peace and in time, we might both move past the shadows of the past and look towards a brighter and more prosperous future for both our houses," Magnus said smiling.

Neville stares at his hand for several seconds his mind running a mile a minute trying to think about what just happened, it was all just so sudden. Slowly he swallowed and nodded as he reached out and took Magnus' hand and smiled back, "t-thank you, Magnus, I hope so too" his grandmother would never believe this.

The rest of the students began to mutter around the room about what this meant, however none of them would realize how monumental the event was that they had just witnessed, of how this one act would later lead to one of the greatest alliances to ever form between the houses of Black, Potter and Longbottom, and how the world would change drastically because of it.