The Potters met with Susan as soon as they all finished breakfast. They used the same room as the previous evening for their discussion.
"We only have DADA tomorrow evening, along with the Slytherins," Harry said after checking his timetable.
"I have it tomorrow morning, with Ravenclaw," Susan told them.
"Do you want to wait until tomorrow?" Harry asked both.
He got two headshakes in response.
"Then, do you have any idea which houses and year are scheduled for the first period today?" he asked.
Hermione had the answer. "I heard that sixth-year Gryffindors have it, probably with Slytherin."
"Do you want to check on that?" he asked.
Both girls sighed. "I don't want to," Susan said, "but we need to. We can't let her destroy our school."
Harry smiled. "Well, let's go. The owners need to inspect the teachers occasionally, you know."
Both girls smirked at that.
–..–
It didn't take long to reach the DADA classroom. They arrived a bit after the start of the lesson, but Umbridge was just finishing the roll call. She was surprised to see the door open and three younger teens walking in, nodding politely at her.
"You're not a part of this class. Why are you here?" she asked.
As they had agreed on the way, Susan spoke for them all. "It is our duty to check that the teachers are doing their job following the job definition and according to the Hogwarts Charter."
"What kind of rubbish is this? Your only duty is to study and obey the teachers, like all students. You should go to whatever lesson you're late for now." Umbridge didn't think they merited any attention. She wanted to punish them for disrupting her, but it was the first lesson of the year. She'd have her chance later, she was sure.
Susan smiled, not letting the toad intimidate her. "You see, since we three own Hogwarts, it's our duty, as owners, to ensure the quality of teaching here, among other things."
"You can't be the owners. Nobody owns Hogwarts but the Ministry!" Umbridge tried her most intimidating posture. Since she was quite short, even Harry was taller than her. That didn't help her at all.
Susan still smiled politely but with no warmth. "You should check your sources. According to the Hogwarts charter, the Ministry can't own it, unless it buys the school from the legitimate owners. There was never such a transaction, according to Gringotts, so you're surely not correctly informed."
"You're just children and this prank will cost you. Leave before I get really angry!"
Susan's smile disappeared. "Hogwarts, may we please get a copy of the charter?"
A rolled parchment appeared in front of them and Harry caught it and passed it to Susan. She unrolled it and held it for Umbridge to read. "You can see in the second or third paragraph that the school is to stay independent of whoever rules any part of Britain, magical or muggle. Then, closer to the bottom, you can see the price requested from the ruling power in case it wants to buy the school. Also, note that it's stated in ounces of gold."
Umbridge was already too angered to pay it much attention. "Alright. You may stay if you insist and I'll handle you later. I have a lesson to teach."
The three walked to an unoccupied table at the back and sat down. Susan cast a silencing ward around them, allowing them to talk without others hearing them.
Umbridge looked extremely unhappy about their presence but then turned back to the class. "Put your wands away. You won't need them for this subject."
There were some groans and some whispers but nobody dared protest. Everybody knew that Umbridge was the minister's lackey.
The three held a quick discussion and then Susan stood up, removed the silence ward and talked. "Professor, you seem to have a slight misunderstanding if you don't want to use wands in your subject."
"And what may that be?" Umbridge asked sarcastically.
"Well, according to the Hogwarts charter, the defence lessons are to be mostly practical, teaching the students to protect themselves when encountering dangers without relying solely on external help. The theory aspects are only as a help to the practical side, not as anything more than that."
"I'm teaching following the curriculum," Umbridge said primly.
"And who wrote that curriculum?" Susan insisted.
"Why, the minister and I together, of course."
Susan smiled in a predatory manner. "Are you or the minister masters at Defence Against the Dark Arts?"
"Why should it even matter? We are the Ministry!"
Susan shook her head. "As I already told you, the Ministry has no say in what should or should not be taught at Hogwarts. Do you have a mastery in DADA? Does the minister have one?"
"I don't see why that should matter," the toad huffed.
"It's very simple, really. Only masters in the appropriate subject are allowed to change the curriculum, according to the Hogwarts charter. Since neither you nor the minister have that mastery, you need to adhere to the previous curriculum. Then, since you have no mastery, you shouldn't even be given the position of a teacher."
"I'm the Undersecretary to The Minister for Magic!" the toad said as if that gave her any rights.
"All it means is that you are a highly ranked Ministry employee, not a teacher. I suggest you go back to that position, hoping you are better qualified for it than for this one. Your job here is done. Please leave Hogwarts as soon as possible or we'll have the wards eject you."
"You can't do that! I'll tell the Minister!"
Susan nodded agreeably. "I expect you to do that. Please hurry with that, though, as he may soon find his actions and decisions under scrutiny."
"I'll have your aunt sacked!" Umbridge threatened.
"My aunt was appointed by the Wizengamot and only the Wizengamot can fire her, not the Ministry. Now, will you be so kind as to leave the school before noon or do we need to ask the school to 'help' you leave?"
The squat pink-clad woman turned to the class. "Due to the special circumstances, class is dismissed for today. I'll have this settled with the Minister, I promise."
Hermione felt it was safe enough for her to intervene. "By all means, do it. I also suggest you take this copy of the charter with you, so you can both see what it may cost to get control of Hogwarts. Please notice the paragraph about arbitration in case of disputes. It's quite interesting."
Umbridge grabbed the offered parchment. "Did the headmaster send you?" she asked.
"No. He doesn't know of our plans and he has his own problems to solve," Hermione answered truthfully. "I suppose we have to inform him that you quit, though, as he may need to find a replacement."
The three didn't wait for all the students to leave the classroom, exiting among the first. They didn't trust the toad not to try to curse them if they stayed behind.
–..–
"I don't think it's over yet," Hermione told the others when they put enough distance between them and the DADA classroom.
"I'm sure it isn't," Susan responded. "That woman is vicious and vindictive. Luckily, the charter is on our side. If the Ministry acts in any way to force Hogwarts to its way, we may ask the current monarch to arbitrate, and that's something neither she nor the minister would like."
"They could send Aurors only loyal to them," Hermione said worriedly.
Susan gave it a thought. "Yes, they could, but we can control the wards. I suggest we take control immediately and then only allow entrance to Hogwarts grounds by individual permission. Current staff and students should be allowed too, of course."
"I don't remember reading about that," Hermione commented.
"Well, I had enough time since I got my Ladyship. We only need to agree that one of us will have immediate control but each of us can control the wards as needed."
"I think that should work for us," Harry commented.
They went back to "their" secluded room, where Susan instructed them on the procedure and then they took control of the wards, assigning Harry the main control.
"What about Dumbledore? Doesn't he need some control too?" Hermione asked.
"We first need to get his decision about which roles he'd like to keep. If he wants to keep his Headmaster position, we may assign him some limited control. He shouldn't get the full control back," Harry said.
–..–
The three stayed attentive to Umbridge. She used the Floo in her office soon after dismissing the class. Harry suspected that she didn't spend time on packing first, probably confident that she would come back soon and get her revenge on them. Still, as soon as they took control of the wards, he ensured to make the Floo in her office inaccessible for any travel and open only for calls from inside Hogwarts. That should force her to come through the gates, unless forbidden by the wards, and he also made sure to disallow her entry to the grounds.
They soon parted to belatedly join their classmates in the relevant classrooms. They didn't yet need to use their position as owners. Their Lordships sufficed.
–..–
Harry didn't think it would go without some intervention from Dumbledore. He was proven right when a house elf popped near him during lunch. "The headmaster would like to talk to you at your earliest convenience, Lord Potter. He'll be in his office until dinner and then after it."
The elf didn't wait for an answer. Harry glanced at the Hufflepuff table, where Susan was conversing animatedly with Hannah. It was evident that no house elf interrupted the conversation. Harry sighed and turned to Hermione. "He tries his tricks again. We shall all go to see him."
Hermione also sighed. It looked like keeping Dumbledore as Headmaster was becoming less attractive as time passed. "When do you want to go to his office?"
Harry didn't need to think much. "The sooner, the better, I think. We may need his help in dealing with the Ministry, I suspect, so we shouldn't antagonize him too much yet."
Hermione smiled sadly and nodded.
–..–
Susan wasn't surprised when they approached her as soon as lunch was over. "Dumbledore wants to speak?" she asked rhetorically.
Harry shrugged. "We expected this."
She smiled. "Let me do the talking, will you?"
Both Potters nodded.
They were just as cautious when entering the office as the previous evening. They didn't sit down, though, forcing the old man to stand too.
"Have you already decided which job to keep?" Susan asked as if this was the only matter at hand.
"It looks like you already started some unwelcome changes, not letting me even think of that," he said accusingly.
"We did what you should have done, to begin with. That vile woman has no place at school, and you know it. As a headmaster, you should have not allowed that, or are you tired of that position?"
Dumbledore grimaced. He knew she was right, of course, but he had his other considerations, as usual. "The minister wouldn't listen," he said lamely.
"Had you done your job correctly, you would have already found a proper teacher and the minister wouldn't have had a cause to interfere," Susan said, not giving an inch. "So, what did you want to talk about."
"Was it wise…"
"Yes, it was. Next question?"
"I'm not sure you understand…"
"We understand that you have some other agenda that has nothing to do with the quality of teaching or the well-being and safety of the students. We have four years of evidence for that."
Albus felt offended. What she said was true, but it didn't sit well with his public image. "What if the Minister tries to send Aurors and take control?"
Susan smiled mirthlessly. "Let him try. The wards will stop them if they're foolish enough to listen to him. My aunt wouldn't send anybody, that's sure."
Albus felt a bit of panic. Had they taken control of the wards without him noticing? How could they? He tried to sense the wards. He could still sense them. They were much more powerful than hours earlier, disallowing any dangerous creatures or dark artefacts in. He wasn't sure Severus would be able to come back to school if he left even for a few minutes. He found he couldn't lower them either. He could only move the security up or back to its current setting, but not lower. He sighed internally.
"The minister may try legal steps to take control," he said.
The predatory smiles on the three young faces were disturbing. "Let him try," Susan said. "According to the charter, the ruling power can only gain control by buying the school from its owner, I calculated the up-to-date price. It's more gold than Gringotts holds. The Ministry can't do that. Any other action would be an act of war. We may then close the school, or we may ask the current monarch to intervene, as the charter allows. Do you think either Fudge or Umbridge would like that?"
Albus sighed. It looked like they had acted after thinking and planning quite well.
Their conversation was interrupted by the Floo flaring. "Minister Fudge would like an immediate meeting," a voice informed them.
Albus glanced questioningly at the teens who nodded. "He may come through," he answered.