Severus gave a somewhat dismissive flick of his fingers. "The odds of my survival dipped considerably the moment I killed Albus. The Order would have killed me on sight if I'd given them the opportunity, every Death Eater wanted my position and were scheming to get it and there was only so long that the Dark Lord was going to allow a contender to his throne." He shook his head. "My last job was to somehow tell you that you were a horcrux and needed to allow the Dark Lord to kill you." He smirked. "Something I was sure was going to go very badly."
"Lucius can bring the appropriate gravitas to the job," he said with a nod. "Irrespective of any other opinions he might have, he values the wizarding world. He's unlikely to sabotage things." He snorted. "History can wait until we find a suitable group to revise the curriculum. I'd like the class to be relevant this time." He considered that. "Yes, I'd like it stripped of all House decorations, though I'm not averse to each House crest being in the common room, and with a non-partisan portrait to guard the door."
One eyebrow shot up and he gave Harry a long look. "I have been called many things but a good man was never one of them. Nor would I claim to be one." He shrugged. "My father... he was not always like that. I think I was about six or seven when the factory he worked at closed, along with many others. Jobs became scarce and he was out of work more than he was in work. He was a proud man and not being able to provide for his family made him bitter and angry. He died not long after I finished at Hogwarts. Drank himself to death."