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Harry Potter and the Cracked Reservoir
Chapter 18: First Sunday
By Musings of Apathy
Chapter 18: First Sunday
Thank you to my Beta’s Donalddeutsch, Cateagle and Sparky40sw.
Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione sat for breakfast on the first Sunday of the school year in an unusual situation, a day with nothing to do.
"Mr. Weasley," called Professor McGonagall, "Would you come to my office after your breakfast, please? And Miss Granger, you may join him if you please."
"Yes, ma’am."
Ron smiled at Harry as their Head of House walked away.
"Harry, you must’a talked to her. You don’t suppose that she wants me to be Captain do you?" asked Ron.
"Oh, blast. I forgot to tell you. I was supposed to send you yesterday," Harry gulped. "Yeah, mate. She seemed to be convinced. She probably wants Hermione to go to make sure that the threats about your grades are given the weight that they need."
Ron looked on with an unknowing baffled air.
"Threats, Ron," said Harry, "that if your grades don’t all stay at least acceptable, you will be removed as captain."
Ron gulped.
"She wouldn’t," he said in a scared voice.
"She would," said Harry with a nod from Hermione.
"And I will help you," said Hermione.
"And Ron," said Ginny, "When she is nagging you to do your homework, just remember that she’s doing it to keep you on the Quidditch team."
Ron smiled.
"I don’t nag," huffed Hermione.
"Yes you do," smiled Harry, "But that’s a part of the you that we all love."
"Thanks Harry," smiled Hermione, "And what do you two have planned?"
"Well," said Harry, "I haven’t asked Ginny yet, but I was thinking of rounding up all of the first years and giving them a tour of the castle with the good shortcuts and the traps to avoid. What do you think, Gin?"
Ginny smiled, "Sounds like a lovely idea. Maybe we can get the headmaster to come to lunch with us and the first years so that he can be introduced to them, make him more accessible."
"You talking about the Gryffindor first years?" Ron asked, "or are you going to include the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."
"All of them, Ron," said Harry, "Even the Slytherins."
"Why," asked Ron, a little heated, "They’re Slytherin," he argued as if that were enough.
"Ron, they’re just students," Harry stated, "and will be until they do something to convince me that they deserve contempt. Ambition isn’t a mortal sin."
"Whatever."
"Professor Tonks?" Harry asked while knocking on the office door.
Inside he could hear her moving around and then…
CRASH…as a group of tinny things fall to the ground and cursing commences.
"Just a second," came a voice, after the invectives ceased.
Harry and Ginny waited until the door opened, revealing a pink haired woman in a Weird Sisters tee shirt and calf length skirt.
Harry looked and smiled, "Nice outfit."
She eyed him suspiciously. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
"What?" Harry said as Ginny giggled. "I can’t give you a simple complement?"
She harrumphed. "You just sounded sarcastic, that’s all."
He smiled, "Well, I’ve never seen you in a skirt before. It took me by surprise."
She looked indignant, "I wear skirts. You saw me in a skirt last year when we escorted the lot of you to King’s Cross."
For a moment Harry and Ginny both looked like they had no idea, then Ginny broke out into a grin.
"Oh, yeah!" she said, "When you were that old lady on lookout."
Harry brightened with realization, "Yeah, in that granny skirt."
"Hey!" yelled Tonks as she hit his arm in earnest.
Harry smiled to her as he rubbed his tricep.
"Anyway," said Tonks, "What can I do you two for?"
"Oh," Harry said as he and Ginny took the proffered chairs in the large office. "Professor Dumbledore asked us if we would start the Defense Association again this year."
"Of course you should have your club," Tonks said. "The members of your club got the best OWL scores this last year. I’m in favor of it."
"Okay, thanks," Harry answered, "I told him that I thought not as we had a real teacher this year. But I guess that if you’re in favor, I will."
Tonks beamed the brightest smile at him.
"Hey," Ginny said jokingly as she took him upper arm possessively. "Keep your eyes to yourself. I’m the only one that gets to smile at him like that."
Harry chuckled. He had long ago (days, in fact) accepted that Ginny would be possessive of him, jokingly and otherwise.
Tonks smirked, "Then tell him not to use his charm on young women and pay them compliments."
"Hey, now," Harry joked, his hands up to halt nonexistent hostilities. "No fighting. Where were all of the women fighting over me last year?"
Ginny smiled, "Simple, dear; no one likes moody and angry."
"Yeah," Tonks said, "With you happy, Ginny’ll have to fight them off with a stick," Tonks grinned. "And the less genuine ones that aren’t won over by the happy Harry will when they read tomorrow’s Witch Weekly with their annual Who’s Who issue."
"Huh?"
Ginny had to laugh at his ignorance.
"Harry," Ginny said, "Each year you get higher and higher on their Who’s Who in the Wizarding World. This year I bet that you make the top five."
"Oh," Harry said on a downbeat.
"And that’s why," said Tonks, "everyone will know a lot more about you, because they do a biography on each of the top five with in-depth research. It’ll come out that you’re among the richest wizards in the wizarding world. Just think," she smirked, "you got all of this attention before people knew that not only were you famous, but also rich."
Harry groaned.
"Oh," Ginny said on her own downbeat.
The Headmaster was in his office trying, once again, to carry on a conversation with his phoenix, unsuccessfully, when he was startled out of his activities by a castle-wide announcement.
"Attention all first year students," the voice announced.
Funny, thought the Professor, that voice sounds familiar.
"A tour of the castle and grounds is being offered to familiarize all first years with the classrooms and hallways of this castle. An expert will reveal handy shortcuts and will warn of common traps. This will be followed by a private lunch for the first years with Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class; Grand Sorcerer; Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards; Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Headmaster to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry,"
The Professor chuckled at his full title being used, but had to wonder where his copy of the invitation was.
"It is asked that all first years attend for their own ease in transitioning to Hogwarts life. Please gather in the main entry hall at ten this morning."
Just then a white snowy owl swooped in through his open window.
"Ah, Hedwig," said the headmaster, "Doesn’t miss a beat, does he?"
Professor Dumbledore showed up, as requested, before the Room of Requirement at one in the afternoon. He was amused at the invitation. What a lovely idea Harry had. Having lunch specifically with the incoming first year was a unique idea. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? He really enjoyed children at the age of eleven. In most, you could see the innocent sparkle of curiosity in their young eyes.
He was stuck in his own eccentric ways after a century and a half of life. The answer to that was new blood that brought with it new ideas. Evidence of the Headmaster’s eccentricity was found in how he spent his free time, this morning in particular.
He had spent his morning in a conversation with an ancient building.
That’s correct, a building.
Not just any building, but Hogwarts herself, the living magic and smooth stone that was first assembled a millennia ago by the era’s greatest witches and wizards.
But no one besides Headmaster Dumbledore knew that the castle was sentient.
Well, no one but the former headmasters, and they were all dead so that’s enough of that.
Anyway, our illustrious Headmaster spent his morning talking to a spontaneous combustion-prone peacock and a millennia old castle.
Normally he would have played chess against the castle, the thing was down right deadly with rooks, but he wanted to know how Harry was able to use the castle to make his announcement. Even with a good and powerful Sonorus charm, you couldn’t reach through the labyrinth of passageways, classrooms and closed doors that made up the castle. It would have to cooperate with you.
So, after his interesting and enlightening morning, he found himself outside the Room of Requirements, about to attend lunch with the first year students at a sixth year student’s request, oh, and probably with a fifth year student behind his actions to some extent.
He pushed open the fine wood door to reveal a well-appointed room that was dominated by a giant round table with no less than forty students sitting around it. He noticed that each chair was stately but identical and no place was given dominance at the table. Furthermore, several empty chairs were available, leaving no pair of students to be automatically advantaged by his seating choice.
Harry and Ginny were sitting happily, as was obvious to the aged professor, in the middle of the largest mass of occupied seats around the table. He heard the scraping of a chair as Harry stood in greeting. The chatter of first years ceased as Harry got up and everyone noticed the Professor.
"Professor Dumbledore," Harry said in a bright greeting, "Good of you to have us to lunch. We arrived early from the tour and were waiting for our host."
Dumbledore smiled and diamonds danced in his eyes. Harry was making it out to seem that Dumbledore had orchestrated the day. Good for him, but Dumbledore could not let it slide for the entire day; mischief just ran too deep in his veins.
"Ah, yes, Harry," said the Headmaster, "good to see you." He smiled, "Good afternoon, Miss Weasley. How is your day progressing?"
Harry smirked at the old man. He had just been minorly outmaneuvered. The Headmaster, by calling him by his first name and Ginny by her surname, had elevated Harry to more than just a rank and file student; they might just see him as a leader, due to the Headmaster’s shown respect.
"Well, sir," she said, "we all had a very pleasant walk this morning."
Ah, Harry thought, can always count on Ginny to come to his aid; the tour was no big deal, certainly not a leadership function. It was just a pleasant walk.
Unbidden, Professor Dumbledore picked a seat across from Harry and Ginny, around thirty feet away across the doughnut shaped table.
The Professor noticed the lack of lunch before them and looked at Harry with a smirk. Harry gave a discrete nod.
Why not, thought the Professor.
"Hello, everyone," he said, "I don’t know about you, but I say lets eat."
With that the table filled with a lunchtime feast. Not the usual heavy feast reserved for special occasions in the great hall, but cold cuts, rolls, ice cold pumpkin juice, salads and crisps; the perfect food for children at lunchtime.
The Headmaster happily reached to the dishes in front of him, starting with a large bowl of potato salad, complete with sliced hardboiled egg on top and a sprinkle of paprika. He then passed the bowl to the right, when he noticed that his dining companions were not suffering the usual ailments of eleven year olds at adult sized tables of having to deal with their plates at throat level. He looked down and chuckled when he noticed that his chair was a good four inches shorter than his dining companions. A quick glance at the upperclasspersons across the dining area revealed this to be true for them as well.
"That was quite interesting Harry, Miss Weasley," said Professor Dumbledore.
Harry smiled at the Professor. The Headmaster always managed to make things interesting. The ‘lunch’ had started with good food, courtesy of the house elves, and proceeded to a healthy discussion. This later discussion, after the first years had left, was the payment for the afternoon.
"Please, Professor," said Ginny. "You call Harry, Harry. Call me Ginny."
The Professor smiled widely and nodded his head tilted to the side in assent.
"I believe that you had a goal with this afternoon," the Professor said. "I am curious as to what it was."
Harry smiled at Ginny. She nodded and smiled in return.
"Well, Professor," Harry answered, "Ginny and I saw a problem. In your dealings with me, you have admitted to being blinded. We found that you had many problems and made several mistakes. We thought that this might help you and, eventually, the students."
"Please explain," the Professor said with a smile. He was never adverse to learning.
"Okay, sir," said Harry, "Just understand that we’re not angry at you. We think that we understand some of the mistakes that you made and want to help you in rectifying them in the future."
The Professor smiled. It was good to know that Harry was over his anger toward the old headmaster. He had to also like that Harry referred to ‘we’. ‘We’ leads to happiness.
Harry closed his eyes tight and lowered his chin, steeling himself to the coming events.
Ginny continued for him, "Professor, please recall. A student educated at Hogwarts that was raised without love. He was sent to those that did not love him; in fact they hated him and abused him regularly. He grew up without knowledge of the wizarding world that he belonged in and not until his eleventh birthday did he find out that he belonged somewhere. And, Professor, once he got to the wizarding world, he found out that the world that he had been denied for the first years of his life was so much better, for him, then the world that he grew up in. After he found out that the wizarding world seemed safe for him and that Hogwarts could be home, he was denied said home and sent back to his abusive caregivers by the people that he trusted until the wizarding world was ready for him to return. He felt no one cared," Ginny went on. "Do you recognize this student?"
The Professor sat quietly during this description, paying close attention to the redhead speaking throughout.
He responded immediately upon the ending question, "Of course, Ginny," he said. "Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"No, Professor," Ginny said. "Close, but I said student, not former student."
The Professor was stumped, although he would never use such slang, "Really? To whom are you referring?"
Ginny took her gaze from the aged professor and looked at the young man at her side. She took her hand from his and drew him into a hug around the shoulders. He raised his head for the first time since the description began and looked at the Headmaster.
"Me."
The Professor’s mental gears screeched to a halt. He was broken. Was what they said true? The description was nearly perfect for Tom, but for the one thing, semantics really, that Ginny had pointed out. Was Harry really raised nearly identically to Tom? Was the description really about Harry?
For the first time he let himself think of what he had learned at the hearing. He let his mistakes sink in.
"You know," Harry said again, startling the Headmaster out of his self questioning, "the one mistake that the Dursley’s made if I were to be turned into a dark lord, was in not telling me that my father hated me enough to send me away to live with those who hated me. Had I not grown up with the glimmer of hope that my parents once loved me, I don’t know how I would have turned out. Growing up, I had no idea if they ever loved me or not, but at least I had that hope that they did, unlike Tom. He grew up knowing that his father hated him," Harry said with certainty. "But we could debate nature versus nurture all day, or what it would take for nurture to overcome nature, but that won’t accomplish anything."
The Headmaster was crestfallen, his shoulders slumped.
"What…" the normally jolly man asked, "What can I do now? What is you purpose in telling me this?"
Harry and Ginny stood and placed themselves in front of the Professor.
"Sir," Harry said.
Dumbledore looked up.
"You can get to know your students and be there for them to relate problems to," Harry offered. "You can protect them for many years to come."
"You’re a good man," Ginny said. "You’re the best leader of the light. You’re a devoted guardian of the wizarding world. You’re a great Headmaster. And you could be a good protector once again."
"Just be there and listen," Harry continued. "Follow up and check on your students."
"Offer them a way out," Ginny concluded.
The Headmaster straightened.
"You’re not angry at me?" he asked.
"No," Harry said simply. "You’re a human. You make mistakes. All of us make mistakes. We all make assumptions based on our own wishes for the world. The only lasting change that will not go away is that you have lost your pedestal in our eyes."
"We hadn’t planned this to be this elaborate, but this is the result that we wanted," Ginny said. "We just wanted to open your eyes and show you a new avenue for you to go down."
Professor Dumbledore brought his shoulders back.
"And what you did today will help in this?" he asked.
Harry and Ginny looked into each other’s eyes. Ginny nodded minutely.
"Yes, sir," Harry said. "Yesterday, you were a legend, the most powerful wizard in the world, the man who sits at the head table and commands the attention of the world. No child seeks the ear of a legend to discuss their problems."
Ginny continued, "But today, you are the man who will sit with his students and discuss the everyday things, the likes and dislikes, the good and the bad; the problems."
"So," Professor Dumbledore said with a chuckle, "You two found a problem and came up with a solution," he smiled. "In one day, you may have changed how this school is headed," he paused. "Thank you."
"No problem, sir," Harry said. "We are going to kill Moldieshorts," Harry hugged Ginny tight to his side. "And we wanted to make sure that no more dark lords came into existence afterward. I may just have a future."
The Headmaster smiled brightly through his beard.
"And is there any other advice that you can give me?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yeah," Harry said, "Now that you ask…Next time you want to protect the only child that can kill a dark lord, remember, the best protection is training. Put them in a loving home and train them from when they can hold a wand and they would be invincible and incorruptible."
The Headmaster, not wanting to debate the topic, hedged, "Well, let us hope that your theory is not needed again."