Minerva nodded and said, "I'll talk to the others and see if I can get a consensus."
"Good." Severus said and then walked over to the Ravenclaw table where Harry and his friends were sitting today. He bent down next to Harry and said, "I have a staff meeting from three until five today so if you need me I will be in our quarters after five."
"Okay, Dad. I'll probably be in the library after classes."
After his last NEWT's class which he really enjoyed he made his way to the Gargoyle and gave it the password, Licorice Wand and then rode the revolving staircase up to the headmaster's office. He knocked on the door and then went inside seeing that he was the last to arrive and quickly took a seat between Minerva and Filius. There were platters of sandwiches, fruit and of course, sweets and teapots on the table. Everybody helped themselves to the food and tea, waiting for Dumbledore to start the meeting.
"I want to say something about this recent trend I've noticed of students sitting at tables other than there house tables…"
"I think it's a good idea, Albus," Minerva interrupted. "It's a excellent way for the students to get to know people from other houses and make friends with them."
"Yes," Filius agreed. "I'm thinking about issuing invitations to the other houses to visit Ravenclaw Tower.
"An excellent idea, Filius," Severus agreed. "I am thinking about doing the same."
"I concur," Pomona said.
"As do I," Minerva said. "Also Albus, we've all decided since You-Know-Who has fled, there's no longer any reason to keep the Sorcerer's Stone here. You can put it back in Nicolas' vault,"
"And Hagrid can take his dog back," Severus added.
Dumbledore looked stunned for a moment. He had completely lost control of the staff meeting. "I'll certainly take it under advisement, Minerva."
"An excellent idea, Severus," Professor Sinistra said "I've twice caught Mr. Weasley and Mr. Finnigan in the third-floor corridor and turned them over to Minerva for detention."
"They'll soon be surpassing the record for the most detentions in first year," Minerva remarked.
"That record being held by Potter and Black," Filius said. "Although I don't believe Mr. Weasley can surpass those two."
Albus turned to Remus chuckling. "I was thinking about some of the pranks James pulled when he was here. Do you recall when he turned the entire table of Slytherins' hair bright pink? I never laughed so hard in my life! I must say Lucius Malfoy looked delightful with pink hair and Severus, it quite lightened up your visage too."
Remus looked very uncomfortable and glanced at Severus uneasily. "I can't say I do, Albus."
"But certainly you remember the time James cast that clever spell on…now who was it? It made them roar like a lion all day."
"I don't remember, Albus as it was several years ago," Remus hedged.
"Oh! I recall now!" Albus laughed cheerfully. "It was you, wasn't it, Severus?"
"What is your point, Headmaster?" Severus asked. He was not going to allow the headmaster to see his annoyance.
"Point? I have none, but you must forgive an old man's reminiscing." He started chuckling again. "James was such a delightful prankster! He even topped me at my best. I recall the time he cast the spell on the Slytherin table so when you all stood up, your trousers uniformly fell down. He would never tell me how he did that one!"
"Could we get back to reason why we're here, Headmaster? I do have other things to do besides listening to you reminiscing," Pomona complained.
"Of course, Pomona, of course," Dumbledore replied agreeably. He discussed mid-term tests that were given just before the Christmas holidays and then veered off into another story about James Potter's brilliance at pranking and relating another one of James' successful ones on Severus.
In the middle of the meeting, the door to Dumbledore's office opened and Sybill Trelawney, looking as bizarre as ever, wandered in and announced. "The Inner Eye urged me to come down. It let me know somebody has been questioning my prophecy about Harry Potter." She fixed Severus with a nasty look.
"He is now Harry Potter-Snape, Sybill or did your inner eyes forget to inform you of that?" Severus inquired.
"Do sit down and have some lunch, Sybill," Minerva said impatiently with a roll of her eyes. Divination was such an imprecise subject and why Albus would fall head over heels at this one's rambling twaddle was more than she understood.
Severus was furious with Dumbledore by the time he left the meeting. What kind of fool did the headmaster think he was? He knew exactly what he was trying to do and the old barnacle would not succeed! He decided he was going to eat dinner in his quarters. If he went upstairs, Dumbledore would definitely end up streaking down to the lake with his bum on fire! He prepared himself a light meal and read the evening Prophet while he ate. He cleaned up and then started on the pile of homework sitting on his desk. He was making good progress on them when he was interrupted by the door to his quarters opening and Harry coming in. "Dad?"
"Yes, Harry?" Severus said looking up.
"I didn't see you at dinner and I was worried."
"I am sorry I worried you. I had a bit of a headache after the staff meeting and I decided I wanted a short period of quiet."
"Is your headache gone now?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I am fine now." Severus got up from behind his desk. "Come over here and sit down. I wanted to talk with you about our visit to your parent's grave site."
"We're still going, aren't we?"
"Yes, but I would like to go after your last class when it is still light outside. I am worried about the possibility of Death Eaters lurking about if we go after its dark. Even though the ones now are pretty much 3rd rate, they still could do damage.
"That's okay with me, Dad."
"Good. Are you going to the Halloween feast?"
Harry made a face. "I don't know. On one hand I've heard the older kids talking about how much fun it is, but on the other hand I'm thinking it's the day my parents were murdered by You-Know-Who and I shouldn't be celebrating that."