Debriefing
Albus Dumbledore sat alone in his dark office. Fawkes was out hunting and was not present to cheer his companion.
The headmaster had been very disturbed by what he had learned after visiting the Dursley household.
He, of course, knew that it was not the perfect environment for young Harry Potter. Mrs. Figgs, his eyes and ears on private drive for these ten long years, had given him reports over the years but he had not know how bad the situation had really been until the moment he had caught the young hope filled eyes peeking out of the corner of the door of a locked broom cupboard.
It had taken all his self control to not simply hex Vernon Dursley to oblivion then and there, blast the door off it hinges and take young Potter away from that hell that very moment.
The headmasters shoulders sank lower. He had failed the boy. He had sent him into a living hell for close to ten years of his life. He had repeated his past mistakes and hopefully this time the price would not be as high as the last.
Seeing Harry Potter's brilliant emerald eyes peeking at him from a crack in the locked cupboard had only been the beginning. Using passive legilimency on the Dursleys had revealed years of mental abuse with the rare but still unpardonable bouts of physical abuse such as starvation while they lavished attention and granted every whim of their own son.
They had stunted both his physical and mental growth. The first by forcing him to live in a cramped area and by restricting his food and the second in so many ways it would take days do list them all.
Harry was not allowed to outperform his lazy and somewhat dim cousin for fear of reprisal, he was not allowed to ask questions, any flight of fancy was quickly punished limiting his imagination. The list went on and on.
At least the boy would be away from that unhealthy environment for most of the next seven years. Maybe he should reconsider the Weasleys offer and have Harry live with them. The Weasleys were not rich by any stretch of the imagination but what they lacked in gold they made up with in love. Every one of the Weasley children knew that no matter what happened they would always be loved. Also Harry did have a trust account setup to help with any living costs that would come up and the last time the headmaster looked into it, it had accumulated an incredible amount in interest.
The irony of the situation was not missed by the headmaster in this situation. Harry was put into a hateful household because of his mothers love. He was rich yet forced to live in a cupboard, starved and forced to wear hand me downs that were three times too big for him.
Maybe other safeguards could be put in place. They would not be as powerful as the ones provided at Private Drive but did the protection offered by the wards outweigh the psychological damage done by the Dursleys?
A gentle, wrinkled hand on his shoulder brought the headmaster out of his dark thoughts.
"Ah! Minerva. I did not hear you enter." The headmaster put on a brave smile but his eyes were filled with regret and lacked their usual twinkle.
"Are ye alright Albus?" the elderly witch and deputy headmistress sat on the arm of the headmasters chair rubbing his back soothingly. A look of concern on her face.
"I have failed him. I should have listened to you all those years ago Minerva. They are the worst kind of people. I condemned him to a decade of mental and physical abuse."
"Now Albus, It canna be that bad surely."
"I appear to be unable to learn from my mistakes Minerva."
The headmaster waved his hand at a cupboard. The doors opening to reveal an ancient, rune engraved bowl. With another wave of his hand the bowl floated to the headmasters desk.
Taking out his wand, the headmaster put it to his temple, concentrated for a few seconds and slowly pulled it away from his head dragging a silver strand out of his mind which he deposited into the stone bowl.
"Go and take a look Minerva. There is more there than meets the eye as well but you will be able to glean some of that from my encounter with the Dursleys. Pay careful attention to the surroundings and decor."
With that the transfiguration teacher set a finger into the bowl and closed her eyes. After a few moments she appeared to return to her senses, her face white and shaking with fury.
"And ye say there is more Albus?" the normally strict and controlled transfiguration mistress was barely controlling her fury.
"So much more Minerva."
Both teachers sat in silence for a time.
Eventually the headmaster lifted his head and looked at the door.
"Ah! Hagrid is on his way. I wonder how his day out shopping with young Harry went." The headmaster sounded hopeful. Hagrid would be able to let them know how well adjusted Harry was in a normal social setting. Maybe the damage would not be so severe as to be irreversible.
"Evnin' headmaster. Here is your package safe an' sound." Hagrid beamed at the headmaster, proud to have been entrusted with such an important mission.
The headmaster took the package and carefully set it on the corner of his desk. Fawkes would be able to take it to a safe location when he returned from hunting.
"Now Hagrid, have a seat and tell us about your day with young Mr. Potter."
"Ah! He's a great kid alright. He 'ad no idea he was famous. 'ad to tell him all about it meself."
"Well, that was to be expected. The only information he had was from his parents and since their death is what made him famous they of course could not have told him of this." Minerva interjected pointing out the obvious.
"Now Hagrid, how did he enjoy his visit to Diagon Alley? How ... how happy was he?"
"'e was like a tyke in a candy store 'e was. We went to Gringots firs' and 'e gave us all a start there. Went and greeted them goblins in Gobbledygook. 'expect ta hear 'bout tha' in the Prophet tommarow."
"He speaks Gobbledygook?" Minerva McGonagall was asked incredulously.
"Well, not really spoke it. 'e said 'e looked up a few greetin's ahead of time after reading about his vault in his letter. Found 'im readin' some more from a battered old phrase book when I came back to Madam Malkins after 'is robes were done. 'e was mighty worried he had offended tha goblins when everyone stopped what they was doin' after 'e said somethin' the first time."
"And were the Goblins angry?" the headmaster asked worriedly.
"Nah, they was right chuffed 'bout it. The boy who lived took the time to talk to them in their own language. They gave 'im preferential treatment after tha'. Gave 'im good rates when 'e converted some galleons ta pounds and one goblin offered to handle any future request 'e might 'ave." Hagrid sounded very proud of his young charge.
"Ya should 'ave seen 'im on the way to 'is vault. Looks like 'e enjoyed the ride down. Was hallorin' like crazy with 'is hands up in tha air every time we took a turn. I be thinkin 'e takes ta flyin' pretty easy. And then when we got to 'is vault 'e jumped in it and rolled around in it. The goblin what was with us laughed and said a lot o' people do that tha first time."
The headmaster, his eyes full of happiness and twinkling madly once again, offered Hagrid a giant sized cup of tea which the games-keeper happily took.
After a few sips he continued.
"He met Lucius Malfoys son, Draco and they didn't hit it off at all. 'Arry told me 'e was close to punching the brat out when 'e started spewin' pureblood non-sense and insulted me. Young Malfoy didn' even know who 'e was talkin' to. I think 'arry doesn't think too highly o' himself, 'e was worried 'bout endin up in Hufflepuff because 'e was not good enough for the other houses. I think young Malfoy might 'ave painted Hufflepuff in a bad light."
"We went and bought 'im 'is books. 'e picked up a few extra books 'e said sounded intrestin'. I managed to convince 'im not to pickup 'Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue- Tying and Much, Much More).'. 'e said he wanted somthin' ta curse his cousin. I think he was just pullin me leg but I did mention restrictions on use of magic for minors and 'e seemed ta be aware of that."
"Then I went and bought 'im an owl. A beaut she be too. 'e named 'er Hedwig. 'e seemed real happy about it until I mentioned not getting too many gifts from them muggles. Then 'e got real sad and told me he couldn't take 'er. 'e was worried they would kill 'er."
At this the headmaster lowered his head to his hands and Minerva let out a gasp of surprise.
"I told 'im ye would 'ave everythin sorted out. I was right, right professor? 'e and his owl aren't in any danger?" Hagrid seemed rather worried and looked ready to run out at a moments notice.
"No Hagrid, they are no longer in any danger. I have made my displeasure known to the Dursleys and intimated that should Harry be in any way mistreated in the future, I would not hesitate to have them brought up on child abuse charges and sent to Azkaban. Oddly enough, this elicited a rather strong reaction from Petunia Dursley. I believe she may know of our prison and of it's reputation."
"I am still debating whether or not the protection of the wards outweigh the environment that young Mr. Potter is living in. I believe we should look into this situation during the school year."
"Anyways, after tha' we went ta some shops in muggle London and got him proper clothes. 'e also picked up some fountain pens, says they be better than quills. 'E even got me one as well. Then we took tha Knight Bus back ta Private Drive and I came back 'ere."