Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Once again, there had been a long lull since the last attack of the 'Chamber's monster'. Lucius was not worried because this lull served to prove his point that the attacks were happening because of Dumbledore. Presuming there were no further attacks, it should be quite simple for him to permanently remove of a headmaster who should have left long ago. Already he was devising a list of acceptable candidates.

Naturally Severus Snape was on that list – the appointment of another Slytherin headmaster was long overdue. But he was also careful to include those from other houses, but ones who he felt were less qualified than Severus. Some might argue that Severus was too young to be headmaster, but he had a great deal of teaching experience that could not be overlooked. And it would easily be argued that now was the time for youth.

While he was relieved there were no more attacks, he was at the same time concerned. Clearly his master had a motive for sending his diary to Hogwarts, and Lucius had to believe that had not yet been accomplished. The removal of Dumbledore alone did not seem like enough reason to have wanted to be there, especially since the diary had been insistent about being with a Gryffindor child in order to be in the same house as Potter. No, the Dark Lord clearly had plans with Potter, and so far the boy was unscathed.

With the school year close to ending, Lucius knew that his master would have to act soon. If the Weasley girl took the diary home, it was likely to be discovered by her parents. Arthur Weasley may be a Muggle loving blood traitor, but the man was not an idiot. While Lucius knew that the diary would never reveal its secrets to Arthur, it would likely be destroyed as the Dark artifact that it was.

Unfortunately, there was nothing Lucius could do other than wait. By removing Dumbledore, he had eased the path of his Master's plan, but he could do nothing to see the plan to fruition. If only the diary had seen fit to reveal the plan to him – he could

Lucius and Narcissa were finishing dinner when Dobby brought him a letter carried on a silver tray. After dabbing at the corners of his mouth with his napkin, he picked up the letter and opened it.

He arched an eyebrow in surprise.

"What is it?" Narcissa asked, her curiosity piqued by her husband's expression.

"A student has been taken into the Chamber of Secrets… the Weasley girl," he replied unemotionally and set the letter down on the table beside his plate.

"Thank goodness it wasn't someone from a proper family. But I still suppose it's not good, is it?" Narcissa continued eating her pudding.

"No, it's not." He knew that in his grandfather's time the death of a student had almost closed the school. It had been blamed on a monster owned by that oaf Hagrid – which had apparently been proven true because the attacks had stopped, allowing the school to remain open. Now, there was no Hagrid to blame – he had already been sent to Azkaban.

Lucius trusted that his master had a plan, and he supposed that killing The-Boy-Who-Lived would be a valid trade for closing Hogwarts. Those who mattered in the Wizarding world would be able to send their children to Durmstrang and those who didn't… Well, he shared the Dark Lord's belief that there was no place for Mudbloods in their world, and it most certainly would not be a loss. But he would still lose a little influence with no board of governors to chair.

All he could do now was wait and see what the response from the others would be. There really was no option to keep the school open – the parents would never allow it. Unless of course the perpetrator was caught, which would not happen because he was fairly certainly young Weasley had been the one opening the Chamber. Which meant…

He grinned triumphantly. His master was using her as bait to lure Potter. This was shaping up to be a marvelous day. He was about to be rid of Potter and the Weasley's were about to see their social standing fall even father when it was revealed their daughter had opened the Chamber.

His joy turned to disappointment as he realized that the Weasley name would linked to the Heir of Slytherin. Well, some things could clearly not be avoided, and he would learn to accept it.

Strangely by the time Malfoy was preparing for bed, he still had not received any owls from the other members of the board. This started to concern him. There should have been some discussion, some call for a meeting by now. He knew Minerva McGonagall and she would have sent owls to all the governors, not just him. He considered sending owls proposing just that, but he reasoned that it was late enough that it could wait until morning. There was nothing that they could do to assist the Weasley girl.

He was just settling into bed when there was an urgent tapping at his window. He vowed to curse whoever it was who had sent him an owl at this hour of the night into the next century, even though he was reasonably sure who sent the owl.

After he removed the letter, the owl immediately left. As he had expected, the missive was from Severus Snape. No one else would dare send an owl directly to him in the middle of the night.

"What is it?" Narcissa asked groggily, propping herself on her elbow.

"Dobby!" he shouted as he started to change back into his clothes. "Dumbledore has returned to Hogwarts. I need to see to this personally." Obviously the other members of the board had decided to work around him. He would see to them later. They would learn that it was unwise to cross a Malfoy.

The house-elf appeared in the room, still polishing his master's shoes. "There is no time," he snapped as he presented his foot to the elf. Dobby diligently put his master's shoes on and still continued to try to polish them, not wanting to let his master leave the house without looking his best.

Lucius Disapparated to Hogsmeade with a swish of his cloak, determined to finally remove Dumbledore permanently.

Lucius Malfoy returned home angry and humiliated. His fellow members of the board of governors had turned against him. He was positive that he would be removed, so the first thing he had to do was pen a letter of resignation. He could be truthful and diplomatic in admitting that there was a difference of opinion on how Hogwarts should be run and that he could no longer in good conscience be a governor. It would sound hollow, but on the surface it would preserve his reputation.

The more humiliating issue was that not only had Lord Voldemort once again been defeated by Harry Potter, but that insolent brat had managed to set his house-elf free. Dobby had been more trouble than he had been worth and it was probably best to be rid of that deceitful elf, but it was the principle of the matter. One day Potter would get what was coming to him and Lucius intended to be there to witness that event.

The one saving grace is that there was no way to prove any of the allegations against him. No one could prove he had anything to do with diary, especially now that it had been destroyed. The governors had no proof that he had threatened to curse them, so those allegations would never come forth because he would surely prevail in proving they were slandering him. His family was too old, too rich and too powerful to be brought down.

He was a Malfoy and would survive.