Title – Past Mistakes
Authoress – Phoenix Tears
Summary – Seventh in a series of short vignettes, 'Bad Faith', in which Dumbledore realizes his unintentional prejudice of the House of the Snake.
Rating – G
Warning – Insinuation of slash [Only if you have read the other vignettes in the series]
Disclaimer – I own nothing, except for this plot. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Feedback – Of course, as for every writer, questions, thoughts, and constructive criticism are all greatly appreciated. Thank you, and enjoy.
~*~
When Lucius stormed into my office, eyes blazing and face stonily set, I knew that something was wrong. I was surprised at first, but smiled and offered him a lemon drop. I happen to be quite fond of those Muggle candies.
He, quite harshly, if I may add, refused.
His loss, anyhow.
"A cup of tea, perhaps?" I asked, smiling. Remus' report for the Order of the Phoenix had put me in a good mood.
"Yes, thank you," Lucius said irritably. I magicked a cup and saucer of tea out of the air and landed it in front of him. He took a polite sip before speaking.
"Albus, a few days ago, did the wards go off because they had detected Dark Magic within the boundaries of the school?"
Oh. "Yes, Lucius. Why do you ask?"
"And nothing happened to any of the students?"
"As far as my knowledge extends, nothing happened to harm any of the students."
"My son was a victim," Lucius hissed, the traditional Malfoy eyes spitting molten fire. "As was his best friend, Blaise Zabini."
I evoke a time, many years ago, when Lucius sat in my office, along with Severus. Both of them had their heads held up high, eyes flashing with defiance. On the other side of the room sat Sirius Black and James Potter, who had their heads bowed with guilt. The four of them were frequent visitors to my office, I recalled fondly.
When the wards went off, alerting of Dark Magic being performed on school boundaries, Harry Potter and his friends were immediately put under protection. At the time, I thought I was doing exactly what Professor Dippet or any other Headmaster or Headmistress would have done – protect the most likely victim.
But when Lucius said those words, my heart sank, and I knew I had failed Draco, Blaise, and the other students.
Lucius was not done with his tirade. "You go ahead and protect Harry Potter and his goody-goody Gryffindor friends, but don't mind about the other students. What if a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff had been killed, let alone a Slytherin? Have you noticed that nearly everyone in this school that isn't a Slytherin holds a strong, unbased prejudice against the House of the Snake?"
I had noticed, but assumed it was only childish grudges; nothing to get upset over.
"Even the professors do, Albus," Lucius said angrily. "Perhaps the only ones that do not hold prejudices against Slytherins are Severus – he is their Head of House and used to be a Slytherin, that is to be expected – and Lupin – he is a Dark Creature himself, he knows how it feels to be shunned by your peers."
"Vector teaches Arithmancy, does she not? She has seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors on Tuesday, second period of the day. My son had written me a letter, telling me about what they were learning. Vector was teaching them how to discern parts of your immediate future with certain formulae. When Gryffindors completed the formulae correctly, they were awarded ten points per student. When Slytherins completed the formulae correctly, they were only awarded five points per student. The difference? Gryffindors are wonderful, do-no-wrong, moralistic children, while Slytherins are slimy, evil, and do-no-good students," Lucius spat, eyes spitting sparks, snake-headed cane gripped with fierce strength and anger.
I speak, "But what about Severus? I have had numerous complaints about his blatant favourism for Slytherin."
"Severus favours Slytherin, that is true. But other than him, is there anyone who is willing to give the House of Snakes an honest chance to prove themselves? Lupin is fair in his class, and awards equal points to all Houses for achievements. McGonagall is strict in her class and generally fair, but, of course, favours her House. The other professors – Vector, Sinistra, Flitwick, Trelawney, Sprout – hold disdains against Slytherin."
"It is not intentional, I assure you," I said.
"I am sure it is not, on your part. These matters are, perhaps, too petty to be brought to the Headmaster's attention, are they not? But there are more serious matters."
"I will not delve deep into the details of my son and Blaise Zabini's victimization; that is for you, as their Headmaster, to find out about. However, I will tell you this," Lucius said. "It is true that the majority of the Slytherins who graduate will soon go on to become Death Eaters. But do you not wonder about why this is so?"
"Let me tell you, Albus. In my case, and in that of all whom I know, it is because we yearn for acceptation and a feeling of belonging. When we were here at Hogwarts, everything was a game of survival – survival of the fittest. If you showed weakness, you went down. The rest of the houses shunned Slytherins; we never were shown any caring or acceptation. When the Dark Lord offered us a sense of being, a sense that we were accepted, who would not have joined?"
"You blame us for our actions. 'Every man to his own actions', you say. But tell me this: if the House of Slytherin had been accepted, just as every other House is, do you think we would turn towards the Dark Side? Do you think pureblooded, mighty nobles and aristocrats of bloodlines so royal we could rule England and France, would stoop down so low as to serve a Half-Muggle?!"
I thought pensively. I had always assumed that most Slytherins joined the Dark Side because of their lust for power and money. But what Lucius said was true – all the Slytherins were from high and pure bloodlines; why would they obey Tom Riddle, who was no more than a Half-Muggle?
I popped another lemon drop into my mouth.
Lucius started speaking again, his temper enflamed. It would not stop burning until all his anger was vented out, I knew.
"It is in part, you, your professors, and the students' faults that the Death Eaters have resorted to become what they are. All the students that are accepted – Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws – do not usually become servants of the Dark."
"Tom Riddle became Voldemort because he was shunned by his peers. Oh, yes, he was Head Boy and model student and Quidditch Captain, but he was a Slytherin. He did not have the popularity and admiration shown towards him that other equally matched students had. He was a genius, a child prodigy, yet the teachers disfavoured him because of his House."
"Take, for example, your saviour, Harry Potter. He is Head Boy this year, is he not? The Board of Governors did not elect him, yet you saw it fit to appoint him. We at the Board discuss Head Boy and Girl matters seriously; it was a unanimous vote that Miss Granger should by the Head Girl, because of her impeccable grades and being a good role model. But Harry Potter? In his time at Hogwarts, he has lost hundreds of school points, earned hundreds of detentions, and is top in only one class."
"The preferred candidates of the other governors and myself were either Terry Boot or my son. Mr. Boot has lost considerably less points than my son, yet Draco is top in four classes and tied with Miss Granger for first ranking in the year. He takes extra classes and balances prefect and Quidditch duties on top of that. Your Mr. Potter is barely passing in all classes save for Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts. Do you wish for the other students to follow Mr. Potter's example? 'Oh, let's just all go out of bed at night because Harry Potter does it. Even if we don't pass our classes, it'll be alright, because Harry Potter barely does.'"
I had to intervene, "But Harry is a symbolic sign of leadership – he brings hope to all the students. They look up to him as a leader."
"But there is the prejudice again. You did not give him the position of Head Boy because of his grades or being a good role model for the other students, as is supposed to be. You gave him the position of Head Boy because he is the Boy-Who-Lived, and is an exception to all the rules of this world. Do not deny it, Albus, seven out of eleven of the governors think it is so, and they were not blackmailed by me or pressured to think so."
Lucius stood up, coldly holding his cane as he did so. "I hope that you will remedy your mistakes, Albus. A generation of children is looking up to your judgment. If you fail them, the wizarding world will never forget." With that, he swept out of the room, cape billowing behind him in an action reminiscent of Severus.
Harry walked into the room, and I nearly forgot he had been waiting out there.
"Hello, Harry, my boy," I said tiredly. "Did you hear what Mr. Malfoy had to say about the Houses and prejudice?"
He answered hesitantly. "Yes, sir."
"Do you believe I am prejudiced, as well, Harry?"
Harry did not answer, his luminescent emerald eyes downcast.
I said gently, "Answer truthfully."
"I don't think you mean to be, sir. The prejudice against Slytherin has just been so familiar and drilled into everyone that no one really thinks about it."
Sighing deeply, I regret my past mistakes, and think that it is time to change the Hogwart's system of thinking.
~*~
Authoress' Note: Sorry about the bit of Dumbledore-bashing and Harry-bashing that Lucius did… He's just being very strong and passionate in his ideas. Don't worry, though, our favourite Headmaster will have his chance to redeem himself!
Thank you to mistykasumi for pointing out that Vector was female… The mistake has been fixed! *blushes* How embarrassing… x______x;;