A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about the slow update on this one. This chapter was giving me trouble :P Updates should be more frequent now though. So enjoy more Dumbles bashing!
Chapter Twelve: The Healer
"Welcome to this, our second day of hearings under the revised scope of this committee. Today's witness represents a change in our questioning approach. Instead of asking people with first hand knowledge of Mr. Potter and his life, we have invited Healer Renata Van Der Smelt from St. Mungo's to help this committee explore the implications of Mr. Potter's upbringing and what his current actions tell us. Healer, if you will," Amelia began.
Van Der Smelt was a short middle aged witch with a surprisingly pleasant and friendly face. Her voice as she was giving her oath to the committee was even, but had enough force to be heard throughout the chamber.
"Healer, could you please tell us about your professional background?"
"I have apprenticed under Healer Mason for ten years in our mental wards at St Mungo's before pursuing non magical studies in psychology and psychiatry. The non magical world has made significant discoveries in the treatment of mental illness and disease and we hurt ourselves by not keeping up with such breakthroughs."
"Healer, what place has muggle knowledge with the magical art of healing?" Angus broke in. His tone despite his question was not sarcastic and appeared to be a legitimate request for more information.
"Mr. Weatherspoon, while I am from a Dutch pureblood family, I have learned that the search for knowledge should take place in all areas. I can learn healing from different cultures, different races, from magical and non magical sources. Even my patients teach me: they are often the keys to their own healing."
Angus nodded and turned back to Amelia. She looked at the healer with new respect in her eyes for stating what for some purebloods was heresy and she had also not used the term 'Muggle' in her testimony thus far. "Healer Van Der Smelt," she began.
"Renata please. I find my last name cumbersome. If you want, just Healer Renata."
Her light comment brought chuckles to the audience and Amelia was pleased that she had listened to Andromeda Tonks' suggestion to include this healer's testimony. "Healer Renata, if you will, have had an opportunity to review the earlier testimony of this committee including that given earlier today?"
"Yes, I have. It made for very interesting reading."
"Can you share any observations or conclusions with us today?"
Renata hesitated for a moment, appearing to think the question through, then nodded. "Please understand that I hesitate the word 'conclusions'. Without an opportunity to meet with and speak to Lord Potter, what I have are simple observations and suggestions. But yes, I have some ideas."
"Are you comfortable in sharing them with us?"
Again she nodded. "These are observations only in a general sense, Madame Chair, and I will only make general observations and suggestions. But perhaps if I begin with my first summary observation.
"Based on observations I was making during the timeline phase of this committee's testimony, at first glance, the principal, one Harry James Potter, has a death wish combined with a desire for vengeance. He is suicidal with nothing left to live for, desiring to take out as many Death Eaters or people identified with Death Eaters as payback for killing his friends.
"But I asked myself why would the Boy-Who-Lived have such a strong desire to kill himself? It is almost as if he has nothing to live for.
"And it is here that the testimony of the past two days coupled with Miss Hermione Granger's expose in both the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler are so critical. They serve as windows into the motivations and past influences behind Mr. Potter; they tell us much and explode forever the myth of the Boy-Who-Lived."
"Could you be more specific, Healer Renata?"
The healer took a sip of water from the glass on the witness stand and appeared to be gathering her thoughts.
"Mr. Potter shows the classic signs of an abused child: lack of self confidence, shy: the description Miss Granger furnished the papers show a young boy wearing oversized clothes, humble, with no sense of his place in our world or his society.
"When a child is ripped from a loving environment such as the one given to Mr. Potter by his parents; one which I was able to review for myself given that Lily was a close colleague, training to be a Healer at St Mungo's: that alone would cause damage to a young child. That Mr. Potter was thrust into the home of magic hating non magicals would be an additional shock. The descriptions that Miss Granger fives are classic indicators of abuse: a wish not to return to his home for the holidays, bars on his windows, clothes that appear as cast offs, undersized for his age…while all these are second hand observations, Miss Granger appears to be gifted as an observer and her observations bear the ring of truth.
"I find Albus Dumbledore's testimony to also be very revealing. Verifying the health of a child should consist of more than just a squib on a neighboring street or ward monitors in an office far away. In our hospital, we work closely with Wizarding Children's Services and in cases such as Lord Potter's with reports of suspected abuse that Miss Figg purportedly submitted, there would be much stronger and more frequent interventions."
"Chief Warlock Dumbledore suggests that he wanted Mr. Potter to be safe from rogue Death Eaters behind wards that were based on Lily Potter's sacrifice for her son. Does this appear to be a legitimate reason to place him with his relatives?" Augusta asked.
The healer shook her head. "Please understand. I am not a spell crafter or warding specialist. But I did know Lily': she told me that her 'sister' hated her and hated the world of magic. She wanted nothing to do with her, James or Harry. Based only on her observations, any child of James and Lily left with her 'sister' would have experienced the full force of that hatred – and resentment for being forced to accept him.
"As well, Lily was very clear that she had been adopted: to her Petunia was a sister by adoption only.
"As for Chief Warlock Dumbledore's stated desire for Harry to have a normal childhood away from the fame of his exploits on Halloween 1981, as a professional 1981, I have serious doubts about the sincerity of this desire.
"First of all, Dumbledore became the only conduit of information between the wizarding world and Mr. Potter. He alone knew where Mr. Potter was; he alone had monitors on him; he forbade any contact between those people tasked by the Potters' wills to fill the wishes of James and Lily as to the upbringing of their son and actually meeting Mr. Potter.
"I would know this because I was one of the people mentioned by Lily in her will to look after Mr. Potter."
Dumbledore rose quickly at this last statement, calling for Amelia's attention.
"Madame Chair, I must protest this continued testimony by this witness. She is demonstrating conflict of interest and is reading into the Potters' actions and background her own frustrations at not being granted access to Mr. Potter.
"I made difficult decisions for Mr. Potter. I confess that. There are reasons even now why I cannot go into much detail about the decisions I made then and would make today.
"The greater good demands…"
"ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE!" Amelia's voice barked. "Be quiet and do not spout off that drivel about the greater good. You had your opportunity to illuminate us in regards to your reasons, your greater good. It is our opinion that whether Healer Renata was a close personal friend of Lily Potter or not has no bearing on this case. We are of the opinion that her professional reputation is sufficiently high to ensure that she will be objective in her observations and suggestions. Your objection is overruled." With that, she banged her gavel and Dumbledore slowly sank back into his seat. He was clearly unhappy.
"Healer Renata?" She indicated to the woman to continue. "Perhaps, you could address what would be the impact to a young boy of eleven of encountering the wizarding world for the first time and of going to Hogwarts in particular if he had grown up in a magic hating abusive environment?"
"Shock, overwhelming panic. His reaction would be very much aided or hindered by the sensitivity or lack thereof of the individual escorting him to the wizarding world and to Hogwarts for the first time.
"In my country of birth, The Netherlands, the policy was developed early in this century of sending specially trained school liaisons to guide the muggleborns or the muggle raised to the wizarding world. Its is already a shock for those who have not grown up with magic to be told of its existence and then for them to send their child or children off to a school for magic could push things over the edge for them.
"I understand that in most cases even here at Hogwarts, a seasoned member of staff – say Professors McGonagall, Flitwick or Sprout – will go to the home of an unsuspecting family to break the news gently and in a non confrontational manner to them.
"The approach is the most critical here."
Augusta produced a copy of the Daily Prophet featuring the first section of Hermione Granger's interview regarding Harry. "We have a number of paragraphs here where Miss Granger talks about Hagrid being sent to Mr. Potter's house after many letters had gone out without a reply. She also mentions that it appears that Mr. Potter did not receive any notification or copy of A Guide to the Wizarding World, So Your Child is Magical or Dos and Don'ts in Magical Society, standard items given to non magical families to guide them through the first weeks and months of their child's entry to the wizarding world. How critical is this information?"
Before Renata could reply, Dumbledore once again rose. "Madame Chair, it was felt that young Harry did not need this material because he had been born in the wizarding world and it appeared evident that the Dursleys would not appreciate material on magic.
"As well, the person I did send to fetch young Harry had expressed a desire to see him again and he is someone in whom I place great trust."
"Chief Warlock, must I remind you again that you are not on the stand now?" Amelia barked. "Please sit down and be quiet. We are more interested in Healer Renata's testimony than your opinions at this point.
"If you wish, we can convene a separate committee for your conduct at a later time – in fact, I am forming the opinion that perhaps we should look at this."
Renata's face had gone white then red during this latest exchange. She swallowed a number of times before looking directly at Dumbledore. "You…. you sent Hagrid to introduce Harry …to the wizarding world? Are you mad?"
Before he could reply, she turned back to the committee. "Madame Chair, I had just finished speaking about the absolute importance in having a sensitive person able to understand non magical families and the fears which could occur as a young boy or girl is exposed formally to magic for the first time. And make no doubt about it – Harry Potter was new to magic, despite his birth to magical parents.
"Now I have nothing against Hagrid – I grew close to him as I worked with some of his magical creatures when he was assisting Professor Kettleburn. A more kind-hearted man you would never meet. But sending him to fetch Mr. Potter and introduce him to the magical world? Unconscionable, Unbelievable. Sensitive Hagrid is not. No wonder Miss Granger's remarks of Mr. Potter feeling overwhelmed appeared. It is a wonder that he didn't think the whole thing was a prank and turned his back on it – on us."
Then her gaze turned back to Dumbledore. She said nothing for a few seconds, and then suddenly jerked back. "Get out of my head, you manipulative lying old fool," she growled, surprising everyone in the room. "Using legilimency on a mind healer – without permission. That's against the law and custom, you know – I'll let Madame Bones deal with that."
Amelia brought down her gavel with a bang. "CHIEF WARLOCK, you are minutes away from facing charges of obstructing this committee and using legilimency without permission. YOU WILL HAND OVER YOUR WAND TO MY AUROR OR YOU WILL FACE CHARGES NOW! Is that clear?"
Dumbledore looked murderous for a brief moment, then he produced a wand from his robes and stiff lipped handed it to the Auror who had approached his seat.
"I bet he has another one on him," Angus whispered to Amelia. "Why not arrest him now?"
"It will be his word against Healer Renata's first of all. As well, I want to see how far he will go," she replied.
Silence descended quickly and Renata, looking visibly shaken, turned her gaze back to the three members of the committee. Her voice was now hard as she spoke. "It was no accident – it could not be an accident. This is a standard manipulative play – deprive someone of information, allow them to suffer without the information, and then send someone with just enough information to whet their appetites for more. I'll bet he even planned for young Mr. Potter to see him as a grandfather figure, taking an interest in him, offering to shelter him from those who would threaten him or use him while all along manipulating him in turn.
"In fact, Mr. Potter being sorted to Gryffindor is a bit bizarre. From my experience of working with abused children, they tend to be cunning and cautious because these are qualities that ensure they survive. It is like living with an alcoholic parent – the child never knows what will trigger a rage or an attack and thus they live on tenterhooks all the time. A more appropriate candidate for Slytherin I have never seen."
Turning back to Dumbledore, she saw the old man subtly flinch. "I would bet my last knut that our old Headmaster there made sure that Mr. Potter only met people who were biased towards Gryffindor and biased against Slytherin to ensure a prejudice against that house. And while it is a common belief that the sorting hat is infallible, I know from my own experience that if a child has a clear picture of where they want to go, the hat can be persuaded to accept the child's choice."
She nodded her head as if she was speaking to herself and then turned back to Augusta. "To answer your earlier question, Madame, Mr. Potter would have been ill prepared for this world and whatever information he received about this world would be filtered and colored by whoever was giving him the information."
Again she regarded the Headmaster, her voice even and professional, but words were biting nonetheless.
"You've been withholding information from him – information a guardian is supposed to give their charges so that they take their place in this world – because you were afraid that if he did get that information, he would no longer trust you. You fit the classic description of a manipulator – you have a plan for Mr. Potter and you want to be the only person to guide him there.
"But you made a mistake with Mr. Potter. Despite your best efforts, he made friends and contacts. Despite your best efforts, he began displaying a mind of his own.
Then she looked back to the committee. "From what I have read of Miss Granger's articles and interviews, I believe no one has made more insightful observations and more in depth analysis of Mr. Potter's motives than she has. And by doing so, she has exposed a series of manipulations so deep and so carefully planned that I can scarcely believe it.
"I began my testimony by saying at first glance, Mr. Potter showed classic suicidal and classic revenge patterns of thought and behavior. Death Eaters and the Dark Lord have made him and his friends a target – they were killed, but the information was withheld from him. Because he had not heard from them, he assumed the worst and voila, he decides to go out fighting, looking for peace with the only people he now cared about – his parents and his now murdered friends.
"But that has changed now. Mr. Potter knows his friends are alive and I expect he is following the testimony here when he can. He still wants to get rid of Voldemort and he has gone too far to turn back now. From Miss Granger's article, he has been facing off against some form of the Dark Lord since he arrived at Hogwarts and if he feels the end is near, I can't see him stopping.
"However, I suspect that Mr. Potter sees himself as winning more than just his freedom from the threat of the Dark Lord. I suspect that with all that has come out in the newspapers and these committee hearings that Mr. Potter is looking for a way to free himself from those who have been and would like to continue using him in the world as a whole."
"Could you clarify your comments please, Healer Renata?" Augusta asked.
'Certainly. Consider Mr. Potter's situation at the beginning. He has few friends, he has suffered the loss of a very important figure in his life, one of the last links with his parents, and he is left alone with no contact with these friends. So he assumes the worst and begins to act accordingly.
"Then, as his campaign picks up steam, this committee is formed and begins following his path of revenge. During the course of this committee, he learns his friends are still alive. Then he begins to find out that the policy of isolation appears to be deliberate from the one person he has looked up to as a mentor. During the actual adrenaline rush of combat, he is not taking much time to think and reflect, but based on the letter you read to the committee earlier, it still appears he is able to follow the news and understand the implications of what he is hearing.
"Then Miss Granger, probably his closest friend, happens to write her expose and everything he had been taught is proven to be a lie. So if you know that by killing the Dark Lord that you could possibly win freedom not only from a mad man, but also finally win freedom to be your own man, how would you react?
"I believe that Mr. Potter is, despite his age and despite the events of the past few weeks, acting as a rational man now."
"So he is not acting as a child now?" Amelia asked. She had remembered the look in Mr. Potter's face as she had encountered him at her home. No this was no child.
"I'm not sure from all that he has experienced that he has been a child for a long long time. We don't usually ask children to fight Dark Lords."
"So, in conclusion, Healer Renata, you are suggesting that Mr. Potter's actions appear to have a rational explanation behind them?"
"Yes, Madame Chair."
"One last question, Healer. There are some rumors out there that Mr. Potter's actions suggest that he is becoming dark himself. Can you comment on that rumor?"
Renata audibly snorted. "Madame Chair, whoever is passing that rumor around must believe that hippogriff dung is gold. All one would have to do is analyze his actions over the past several weeks. In each case, he worked to save lives with the exception of those doing the attacking. Those who were obviously engaged in violent activities, Mr. Potter put down hard. And even there, he did not torture them, but simply struck, removed the menace and then moved on. Do these sound like the actions of an incipient Dark Lord?"
Dumbledore rose once again. "Madame Chair, Healer – the capacity of forgiveness is one of the surest signs that someone is walking in the light. Fighting violence with violence will only beget violence. Those who have been killed have no opportunity to return to the light and repent of their mistakes…."
Amelia was about ready to rip Albus a new one and slap that old fool down both for interrupting and for waving around his sanctimonious old twaddle when the door to the chamber burst open and one of her Senior Aurors rushed in.
"Excuse me, Madame Bones, but there is an ongoing battle between several Death Eaters, He Who Must Not Be Named and Mr. Potter on Diagon Alley. You asked us to keep you informed.
Amelia quickly banged her gavel. "Meeting adjourned." Then she rose and walked firmly towards the exit. Unfortunately for her Dumbledore was not far behind.
So? What do you think? Tell us!
