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HOGWARTS: SAFE FOR YOUR CHILDREN? HIDDEN SCANDALS OF ABUSE, DANGER, AND DARK ARTS COME TO LIGHT!
Written by Rita Skeeter
In an unprecedented move, multiple heads of house in Magical Britain have come forward to shed light on the horrible happening going on in Hogwarts that the public was deemed unfit to know of. Family heads, along with various other testifiers, have told me of hidden abuse, misuse of power, and the neglect of a certain headmaster to prevent children from slipping into the Dark. Due to their want for privacy, all names mentioned have been censored.
RS: Madame ******, could you explain why you all felt the need to come forward?
Madame ******: I am afraid that we felt it necessary beyond all now that I was made aware to certain... pieces of information recently. The Headmaster, even if he is oblivious, has failed in his duties to protect students far too many times. I know that I, and many others of my house, were harassed to the point of terror simply because of our stereotypes, with no regard to the consequences, mental or physical.
RS: Harassed?
Madame ******: Spells randomly shot at us, physically attacked, verbally beaten down, take your pick. It constantly amazes me how awful it was, and how it managed to knit us so close together. But this is not to be about the past, it is to be about protecting students in the future, yes?
RS: Oh! Yes, yes, my apologies, ma'am. Please, tell us what's been going on; I have no doubt it's terrible, if you felt the need to contact someone.
Madame ******: I suppose you could coin it such. From what I have heard from my child, there has been attacks on students and an invasion of the school, at least once for each. He told me days after Hollow's Eve, to my astonishment, that a troll had entered the castle, and nearly killed two students. Later, during a game of sport, another child nearly fell of his broom 50 feet in the air because of what they suspect was a curse. Can you imagine how outraged we felt, how scared we were for our children when we heard that? And that is not even considering the poor souls who were abandoned to their homes each summer or holiday, forced to be near those that hurt them because it was necessary.
-Here Madame ******* was forced to calm herself, and I even spotted sparks coming out of the tip of her wand.-
Madame ******: Three children I know of for certain have been left in the shadows. Two have grown, but they were affected, scarred. I grew up with one of them, tried to help him each time we arrived back at the castle, tried to make sure no one found out. I knew he would want it to stay hidden. The other... he fell. The idiot, he fell because the Headmaster would not shelter him for a mere three months, and now he is no better than the Death Eaters that used to terrorise the county. Worse. I can only hope this interview can help the last. They are.. a sweet child. I think that without them, my own would still be in the social rut I unfortunately doomed him to. I do not want to them fall so.
The full interview and more details on pages 2B, 3B, and 4B
Hogwarts: Is it Really Protected? on page 3C
Magical and Muggle Child Protection Laws: A Discussion on pages 4C and 5C.
Narcissa had screeched when the windows broke, and Lucius threw up a silver wall of protection over the lot of them. The three boys hadn't reacted at all to it, Blaise still pale beyond belief and Harry staring blankly at the paper in Draco's hands. Later, Harry couldn't even recall them smashing, only the adults snatching them up and dashing out of the room. When the shards of glass had stopped raining down on them, Lucius and Narcissa immediately scooped them up, Lucius taking Blaise and Draco while Narcissa grabbed Harry. He flinched when she grabbed him, and tried to scramble out of her grip, but the woman's thin arms belied hidden strength, and she carried him easily- or maybe it was just because he was underweight? The adults rushed into one of the sitting rooms off the main hall and gently put the boys on the rug, Narcissa warding the door and Lucius checking them for injuries. A quick overview revealed that, somehow, they hadn't actually been attacked, and that the windows had broken on their own.
"Perchè? Perchè è..*?" Blaise was mumbling, brow furrowed and staring at nothing. His hands were gesturing, as though he were talking to someone, but neither Narcissa nor Lucius could get an inkling of what he meant. Narcissa gently shook him, not wanting to startle him. Blaise snapped out of his daze, blinking at her before scooting over to Harry and tugging on his hair to try and get a reaction. He snapped his hand back as if burned when the smaller boy turned his glaring eyes on him, his irises practically glowing. Narcissa took Lucius towards the door, hissing furiously.
"That shouldn't have been possible, Lucius, I saw you place the unbreakable charms on those windows not last week, strong ones that should have held for months! How could they have all shattered at once?"
"I don't know, Cissa. The only actual possibility is that something drained it. Seeing as we weren't being attacked, that's not my priority. Right now, we need to focus on making sure one of them isn't traumatised.." Narcissa sighed, shooting an uncertain glance at the wards, before giving the boys a once-over herself. She frowned when she saw Draco still clutching the newspaper-and white-knuckled, she noticed- and Harry staring at nothing, looking particularly queasy. Blaise was wringing his hands, and a scowl was firmly set on his face. She waved her hands over their faces, earning no response. Grimacing, she pried the newspaper from her son's hands, lying it on a table for now, and tapped the boys' shoulders, catching their attention and checking their heads when they actually acted alive. Lucius, meanwhile, skimmed over the paper's contents, eyes widening as he recognised the very familiar speech pattern.
"I can't believe you all are unharmed, as happy as I am about it... Why did you all freeze like that? Who knows what would have happened if Lucius hadn't thrown up a shield! It was something in the paper, correct?" Draco gave her a helpless look, glancing between the other two as if unsure he could say anything. Blaise gave him a shrug, and Harry refused to turn their way, focused on nothing.
"Cissa, She's up to something." Lucius called, running his fingers over the words speculatively. "But this isn't her normal procedure. She usually wraps everyone around her finger and then bites down with venom, doesn't she?"
"Oh, stop with your bratty feud, Lucius," Narcissa snapped, angry. "Nicola's choices are hardly your problem, and it's not her fault you decided she wasn't worth the time." Harry let out a pained noise at the mention of the name, burying his head in his hands; Draco tried to comfort him, but he sorely doubted anything beyond burning everyone's memory would help at this point. Lucius scowled at his wife and tossed the paper towards her, flicking his eyes to the boys that were still huddled on the floor.
"Blaise, do you know who your mother is talking about?"
"No!" Blaise answered quickly, eyes far too wide and hands far too shaky to be telling the truth. He winced and pulled his hands apart, folding them neatly in his lap. The blond man raised a brow and switched his gaze to his son, who eeped and hid slightly behind his mother.
"I'm afraid we really don't know father. This is the first I've heard of it." He said shakily, shooting a glare at the paper in his mother's hands.
"Draco, I feel the need to remind you that you're a horrible liar." Narcissa said absently, taking a seat on a recliner. "Do you suppose that he let her mention this, Lucius? I don't think he'd want her spreading this around like it was gossip."
"Maybe. He did warn us last night about something happening." The man replied wearily.
"Then who else is she talking about?"
"The Dark Lord." Harry suddenly said, raising his head. He didn't meet anyone's gaze, and kept to his hands, picking at the nails. "She told me once that the Dark Lord had- problems when he grew up. That's the only person I can think of, with what she said." The four of them gave him disbelieving stares because why was he discussing the Dark Lord's past with her?
"Okay, that is mildly worrying, that you're discussing that with Mama." Blaise muttered. He spoke up louder with the next line, brows furrowed again. "Harry, maybe-"
"No." The Potter harshly cut him off, giving an even look that spoke volumes of how unsettled this had made him. Blaise flinched at it, averting his eyes back to the paper.
The adults narrowed their eyes, and Lucius sent Narcissa a furtive glance. She caught it, and nodded slightly. Never mind the suspicious flinches and long sleeves, or the small portions of food and guarded body language the boy constantly had. Never mind the fact that Blaise hovered more than a hawk, or the fact their son was actually being gentle with someone. After the morning, there'd be no doubt.
"Blaise, Harrison, I don't think you need to hide anything." Narcissa said softly, concerned eyes watching as both jumped. Blaise had a distinctly guilty cast, and Harry- holy hell were those sparks?
Draco let out a shriek as green sparks started flying from Harry's hands freaking them all the fuck out, and the small boy waved his hands, trying to make them stop, but it only seemed to agitate whatever was happening more, sending out larger and hotter sparks until Harry was pretty sure it constituted as a fire. Lucius was about to send an aguamenti his way when they suddenly extinguished, Harry slumping over more tired than he'd been in years.
"Oh my Gods." Blaise breathed, panickedly running his fingers over the previously blazing skin. "How- what the bloody hell, Harry? As far as I knew you weren't the Torch."
"Stop making mundane references." He mumbled back, eyeing his hands as well.
"You-"
"Boys." Narcissa ground out in front of them. "Can you please stop joking around? Are you alright, Harrison?" The boy numbly nodded his head, and the woman raked a hand through his hair, carefully sliding the blanket back up his shoulders from where it had fallen. "Now. Lucius, go get the "Box of potions". You know which. Draco, Blaise, Harry, go to the sunroom. We will... put this aside for now, if only for the sake of celebrating the day, and then we will discuss this. Understand?" The trio hurriedly nodded their head, and soon the four males were running off in their assigned directions, not wanting to disobey the mother dragon.
Harry was awkwardly perched on the sofa in the gathering room when a large box poofed into existence next to him. Used to this because of the house elves, he barely reacted, giving off no more than a twitch.
The room was warm as ever, and finally decorated for the season. A large Christmas tree was in the corner, covered in colourful baubles and lights captured in jars. There was a mound of packages underneath it, obviously the presents. The walls were draped with tinsel, something that was a bother in both Muggle and Magical worlds it seemed, and the house elves had spared no corner of the room from holly vines. A fire crackled in front of them, and Harry really would have enjoyed it if it weren't for the whole day before they entered. Draco and Blaise were arguing over him, apparently forgetting he was right there.
"Malfoy, if you tell them, I won't hesitate to hex your mouth shut and stick your damn eyes where the sun doesn't shine." Blaise hissed, wand jabbing into the pale boy's neck. Draco was reciprocating in kind, eyes cold in a way Harry hadn't seen before Hallow's Eve.
"You try it, Zabini, and I'll make sure you're stuck as a rat for a year and a night. Why can't you except the simple fact that some things need to be known is beyond me."
"Because it won't help!" Blaise exploded, grabbing Draco's collar in both hands with a red face, "It won't help, because we tried this Malfoy, we tried years ago before everything was so much worse, and you know what happened? My Mama was laughed at, because how could anyone abuse a child so badly, especially a famous one? Now shut up before I slap you with your own cintura*, tu idioto*." Blaise seethed, Draco flinching with a scowl. Silence fell as Blaise let go of him and leaned back into his seat, glaring at the fireplace rather ferociously. Harry sighed, stuck between the two of them and not knowing what to do. He helped Draco straighten his collar, and patted Blaise's hand, and was eternally grateful when the adults strode in, tense smiles on their faces.
"Now, why don't we open the presents? I'll call an elf to get us scones, too." Narcissa said, taking a seat in one of the armchairs. An elf instantly appeared with a tray, no doubt waiting for the signal, and set it down on the end table between them; the tray was laden with scones and toast, small things no one could really cause damage with. Lucius took a piece of toast for himself before sitting down as well, peering at the pile in interest. Many owls had come recently bearing gifts sent early, which were taken by the elves until Christmas day. It was an old trick that kept small children from tearing into theirs prematurely.
The boys awkwardly picked at their food, Blaise giving Draco a silent apology with a particularly large scone. Harry nibbled at his toast, feeling more queasy than anything resembling wanting food.
"Now, who wants to go first?" Narcissa asked cheerily, clapping her hands. They looked between each other before Harry not-so-discreetly kicked Draco in the shin, dragging a hiss and glare out of him. He sighed, and resignedly raised his hand. The two adults snickered at the boys' behavior. Narcissa waved her wand, and four packages went flying about the room into the laps of her, Blaise, Harry, and Lucius. The males stared at her confusedly until she broke down and chuckled behind her hand.
"I never said what I was going to do, you four. I only asked who was going to go first. Now go on, open them! Let's see what my dear Dragon's gotten us." Lucius sighed at his wife's antics and patted his blushing son's head, long used to the woman's moods. They carefully removed the wrapping on the packages, Harry not wanting to possibly break it and Lucius and Blaise not wanting to create a mess. Harry was honestly astonished by what was inside.
Draco, through some breakthrough of insight, had gotten him a set of books; he knew he hadn't talked about them around the other boy, much less even mentioned them to the others. It was a three-book set, written by a Greek harpy that discussed the details in muggle history that led into magical. The books were incredibly in-depth, and he'd been pining after them like a sitcom teenaged-girl.
"Draco, just how did you know I wanted these?" He whispered to the other boy, leaning into his side.
"Well, you're always going on about history, and they seemed like the sort of thing you'd read." The boy replied uncomfortably, still blushing. Harry gave him a hard stare. "...I may have prodded Longbottom for some of the things you'd read." Harry snorted, and gave the other boy a quick hug, ignoring his grunt of indignation.
"Thanks, you blockhead." Glancing around, he could see that Draco had certainly put thought into what he had gifted them; Blaise had received a pair of steel reading glasses that, presumably, wouldn't break when he sat on them again. The boy seemed to have the unbreakable habit of putting them right where he was going to sit. He had given Narcissa a lovely shawl that he had probably asked Pansy after, and Lucius a set of quills and ink. It was rather... considerate, for a boy who tossed people's feelings out the window faster than a manic god tossing billionaires.
"Oh, thank you, Draco. This looks beautiful." Narcissa murmured, fingering some of the outer designing of her shawl. Lucius nodded in agreement, giving his son that strange look all fathers had of you done good.
"Hey, why don't we move past me and see what Harry got us? I'm sure they're great." Draco hurriedly said, waving his hands frantically at him mother. The woman gave him an indulgent smile even as Harry squawked, and waved her hand to send three packages flying. They were hastily wrapped with brown paper and twine, and hardly indicative of what was inside due to a lucky charm he had found.
"U-um, we don't have to do me next, Blaise can go-" Harry rushed out, reaching out to do, well, something before Draco smacked his hand lightly, smirking.
"No, you can't get out of this, Potter. Now, just what has you so-..." Draco stared down at what was inside, speechless. Harry buried his head in his hands with a groan. With cautious hands, Draco slowly turned it this way and that, marveling at it. At last he picked it up, revealing it to the others.
"It" was a glass-cut, blue-tinted dragon figure, about 5 inches tall and 2 wide. It had a long, spanning tail and narrow head, ending in a sharp snout.
"Merlin, Harry where did you get this?" Draco breathed, examining the small details, "This is-this is amazing!"
"I made it."
Everyone paused, staring at the small boy again, who flushed to his roots and ran a hand through his hair. "I like making stuff. I didn't know exactly what to get you, so I decided to go with the craft route."
"Harry, you can't be serious." Draco said incredulously, giving him a wide eye, "This is- this is superb making. How did you even manage this?"
"I transfigured it from a block. It takes a while to get all the small details, but once I finish, I just anchor the effects." Lucius made a small noise, and Narcissa quietly opened the package that had landed in her lap addressed to Mister and Madame Malfoy. She was delighted and slightly unsurprised to find a swan with spread wings inside, tinted a light green.
"You always told me you bought them from an antique shop." Blaise mused, peering down at the dragon, "I should have expected this from you. Not like you'd have enough for something like this anyways."
"Wait, he's done this before?" Draco demanded, leaning over Harry and towards the Zabini.
"Oh yeah, for the past three years. First he did a meerkat of all things, then a raven and panther." Blaise said amiably. "I still have them sitting on my shelf at home."
"That's very nice of you, Blaise." Harry cut in, smiling. The taller boy just slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Well you're excellent at it, Harrison. Thank you for the gifts." Narcissa murmured, gently placing the swan in the middle of the table. Harry reddened again, and ducked his head.
"Hey, wait," Draco said suddenly, "What'd you get Blaise? I don't think you showed." Blaise rolled his eyes and sighed, pulling out a small mirror from his own bundle. Draco stared at it confusedly until Narcissa let out a small "oh", covering her mouth with her hand.
"A two-way mirror?"
"We always talked about it, and it'd still be useful when we're not at school-" Harry started uncomfortably, squirming in his seat. Blaise snickered at his behavior.
"Fratello*, don't start, you know I love it. Now, why don't we move on, yeah?" The others murmured their agreement, and the next "round" plopped into their laps. Harry's was particularly light, and small in his hands. Opening it revealed a chain with a small locket. He turned it over in his hands curiously, watching the colours shift on its surface. It was unlocked, and he opened it to see an unfamiliar man and woman staring back at him, grinning. Looking closer, he was stunned to recognise the woman's eyes and nose, and the man's hair and chin. He'd seen them on himself for the past 11 years.
"Blaise, is this.." He trailed off, glancing at the other boy under his lashes. Blaise hummed, tightening his arm around Harry's shoulders, and slightly nodded, pretending to be more focused on Draco crooning over the recent addition of The Afterlife as told by May Bird. Harry huffed out a half-laugh, and snuggled into the larger boy's side. He put the necklace on, and that was that.
There were other presents from their other friends, and some occasionally for Narcissa and Lucius. Neville had mailed him a small flower that shone in the sunlight, and Hermione had predictably sent him a book on defensive spells. Pansy took a stab at his pride and sent hair-straightening shampoo (which he would begrudgingly use later), and the others had sent assorted candies. There was a brown, unobtrusive package as well, but seeing as there was no indication as to who it was from, he had decided not to touch it for the time being. At one point, Lucius picked up a small box that stank and opened it only to nearly drop it. From his and Narcissa's chuckles, and how they hurried out of the room afterwards, Harry had a feeling he didn't want to know.
But then there was Theo's.
The boy had been giving him strange vibes since Hallow's Eve, and the weekend before winter holidays had set Harry on edge. But, peering at what the mousy boy had gotten him, he... couldn't really tell what the build-up was. They were books, four in fact. Not part of a series, one not even labelled. Magic Theorem, Physical Manifestations of Energy and the Astringent Relationships, a small, leather-bound book that, when he opened it, turned out to detail meditative techniques and mental shielding, and Atronaches. He was holding the last one now, trying to figure out just what was up with it. There was no summary, no note, no indication to what it was about, much less whether or not it was actually anything useful.
"Hey, Draco, Blaise," He said, interrupting a argument over the last scone, "What's an Atronach?"
The two boys froze, staring at him with strange expressions. "Why do you ask, Harry?" Draco asked carefully, relinquishing his grip on the fabled scone. Blaise instantly took a bite out of it to lay claim, but still kept that odd expression.
"Theo sent me this book with that as its title, and I can't figure out what it means. The first few pages are just citations and history."
"It's...sort of a complicated thing, Harry." Blaise said hesitantly, laying his scone on the plate. "People still debate over what can be defined as an Atronach and what can't. Why did he send you that book?"
"Well, what do you two see it as?" Harry pushed, ignoring the question.
"Harry, it's not that simple." Blaise said frustratedly. "It's generally agreed that you don't talk about them. Atronaches are-are dangerous. I hate to say it, but they get so powerful that they go unstable and raze a city or something. I mean, there's the fire of Rome everyone knows about. Theories say that was started by one."
"Not to mention that they tend to get turned into weapons." Draco murmured, squinting at the book in Harry's hands. "Harry, let me see that. I think I've seen it before." Harry warily handed it over, watching as the blond boy inspected it, flipping a few pages. "Yeah, I know I've seen this. I think Theo's older brother used to have this- remember that crisis where the whole family thought he was one?" Blaise nodded his head next to him, but Harry was completely lost.
"Though he was- what? An Atronach?"
"Yeah. Were terrified someone else would find out, so they found some books that wou-" Draco cut himself off, his horrified eyes jerking up to meet Harry's. He lunged towards Harry's books, glancing over the titles and skimming the first few pages. The dread on his face grew and grew.
"Oh Merlin, Harry."
It was uncomfortable on the floor. But Draco and Blaise refused to let him up until they had checked the books for amy pranks or hexes. Draco was muttering under his breath, and Blaise had a pensive air about him.
"Harry." Blaise spoke abruptly, "What colour am I?"
"Indigo." Harry murmured without thinking, poking at the flower Neville sent. He didn't react when his mind caught up with his mouth, and didn't react to Blaise's sigh.
"Draco?"
"Orange-red."
"You?"
"Green."
"... The strings. That's what tipped him off." Blaise said, eyes narrowing. "Gods, how are we this stupid to not notice? I'm so sorry Harry."
"Sorry?" He asked, sitting up."Why are you sorry? It's not exactly your fault I was born strange." Blaise gave him a sharp look.
"Don't call yourself that." He bit out, softening when Harry flinched at his tone. "Fratello, look at me. it is a matter of how we could have helped you with this if we had figured it out sooner. There were sure signs we should have spotted- the strings, your talent with magic, even you not having to wear your glasses anymore. You didn't go to an optometrist, right? I overheard Snape telling Mama about the visit to Diagon. He said you just stopped wearing them after you suddenly collapsed." Harry bowed his head in embarrassment, at what he didn't know, and shuffle a bit in his seat. A hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing comfortingly, and Blaise gave him a small smile.
"You aren't strange Harry, you're just... powerful."
"That doesn't change the fact we need to figure out how to hide this." Draco broke in, closing a book with a snap. "If someone breaks into his mind, or he accidentally goes off the deep end, then we're all in hot water for not telling anyone."
"Then he can learn Occlumency, and I can bribe Smith or Mama into teaching him how to suppress his magic." Blaise argued, frowning. Draco opened his mouth to reply, but Harry cut him off, not wanting another fight ending in threats.
"You know, I doubt anyone will really notice. I've managed the past five years without anyone noticing." He said, "And not much really happens. I wake up tired sometimes, and I can see weird colours, but that's about it, besides some wandless and wordless." The two boys gave him disbelieving looks.
"Harry, that's a big deal. External effects and magical effects are the cornerstones of the development; it's always said that when an Atronach develops wand and wordless, then it's all uphill from there." Harry furrowed his brow and glanced down, not quite sure that was true. Magic normally started to grow and change around 11, hence why children were taught at that age. It made no sense to base a group on a school they may gain.
"You know what, it doesn't matter." The Zabini sighed, running a hand over his face. "Merlin, this day is so messed up..."
"Yes, I'd say so. Now that everything is through, why don't one of you explain this morning?" A voice called from behind them. Harry jumped and twisted around, managing to almost fall down, and Blaise let out a small eep.
Behind them were the imposing figures of Lucius, Narcissa, and Professor Snape, a satchel resting against his side and a stony expression on his face. Harry faintly gulped, and cursed every deity in the sky that he couldn't just disappear into nothing to avoid this.
urrrrgh so sorry its short guys, i really wanted to get this out since its taken a while. Ill try to post a two parter by next week, but it might not happen since ive got three tests, a project, and four midterms bc fuck kids amirite. -_-
TRANSLATIONS
Fratello - brother
perchè è..- Why is...
cintura - belt
tu idioto - you idiot
Replies(y?)
Valantherial - eee I'm so happy to hear you say that omg w I hope you like this chapter (parter?) as well, since I tried hard to make it at least a bit interesting!