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Chapter Twenty-One—Incorporating Chaos
"I don't feel safe with a dragon in the classroom, Professor Snape."
Severus looks down his nose at the Gryffindor girl who has her hand up and apparently thinks, despite years of experience to the contrary, that large eyes work on him. "I would describe you as in far more danger from your own general incompetence, Miss Brown," he snaps, and then turns around and goes over to see what Harry is doing.
He's working quietly, is what he's doing. Chaos lies at his feet, more noticeable but no louder than Lion. She's staring at Harry's stirring rod as it moves. Perhaps she would be more active if there were any fleshly ingredients among the contents of today's potion, but there are not.
"I expect you to alert me at once if your dragonet does something, Mr. Potter," Severus says, the flimsy façade that he has to keep up to answer student worries.
"Yes, sir." Harry doesn't take his eyes away from his cauldron. The crease between his brows has deepened in the past few days. Severus can think of several people who would rejoice in having a baby dragon (Black, for one). He worries that the dragonet's hatching has added no joy to Harry's life.
Severus turns his worry into moving about the classroom, coldly taking points from Gryffindor, dismissing the effort Weasley is making with Finnigan, rolling his eyes at Longbottom's disaster-in-the-making, and spending nearly a minute telling Granger why the color of her potion is off. Granger only nods, her eyes calculating. Severus does not mind that as long as she uses her brain to keep Harry safe.
Severus is turning around when an explosion of purple goes up from near the center of the classroom.
"He sabotaged my potion!" Brown is shrieking even before Severus can cast a spell to remove the fumes and smoke from the general vicinity of the cauldron. "Potter sabotaged my potion!"
Severus wants to roll his eyes. He manages to avoid it. He does clear the air, and sees that Brown's cauldron is a twisted, smoldering ruin. He raises his brows. He would defy even Longbottom to make that much of a mess. Longbottom, in fact, is clutching the sides of his cauldron as though worrying that it might imitate Brown's by proximity.
"Miss Brown, do stop bleating like a particularly agitated goat and move aside."
The girl does, although she continues to glare at Harry behind Severus's back. Severus bends down. It doesn't take him long to find the problem, and a swift swish of his wand that brings up an image confirms it.
"Miss Brown, turn around and tell me what this is."
"Sabotage," mutters Brown, still glaring at Harry.
"You will turn, Miss Brown."
She sighs heavily as she turns, as if she can't believe that her evil Potions professor is wasting her time. She stiffens when she sees the image floating in front of Severus, made of overlapping layers of crimson and purple. She looks up at him, opens her mouth, and then closes it.
"Your cauldron had a crack near the bottom when you began to brew the potion," Severus says. He never relinquishes Brown's eyes as he floats the image into the air, so that all the students can see it. "What have I told you about brewing in cauldrons with cracks in them?"
"Not to," Brown mutters, her whole body tense with anger.
"Two points from Gryffindor for your insolence, Miss Brown. Look me in the eye and tell me how the crack happened."
Brown isn't part of Harry's study group and doesn't know of what happens to students when they look a Legilimens in the eye. It's simplicity itself for Severus to slip into her mind and discover the truth.
Brown found the crack before class, as Severus suspected the first moment the light sparked, but she said nothing. She put it on the fire and went right ahead, because she wanted to cause trouble for Harry.
Severus takes a step back and shakes his head in disgust. Brown didn't seem to hate Harry so much last year, after his Sorting into Slytherin. It must be that she still believes, along with some other Gryffindors, that Harry put his name in the Goblet. "Detention, Miss Brown."
"What for?"
"For insolence, not reporting the problem, and accusing another student of tampering with your cauldron and your potion when you knew there was a problem," Severus says softly. He holds her eyes for a moment, then inclines his head and moves away.
He cannot protect Harry as much as he wishes. He must act like a professor in the classroom, and not a parent.
But he can ensure that other students do not get away with the calculated unfairness that they did in Harry's second year, and that Brown's little trick is an admirable—for a certain value of the word—example of.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. Have you considered coming to speak to me?"
Harry turns around. Chaos is sitting on up on her haunches and staring intently at Karkaroff. Harry would take some warning from that even if Professor Snape hadn't told him. As it is, he manages to smile, or thinks he does, and show no warmth at all, and says only, "I can't, sir, sorry. I have an appointment with Headmaster Dumbledore right now."
Snape isn't going to be happy when he hears that, either, but Harry has Chaos and Lion with him. They'll both act to defend him if Dumbledore tries anything physical. Harry at least thinks he's going to be okay. Not that he's sure if that will matter to Snape.
But, well, Harry's going anyway. Because of what Dumbledore's letter that just showed up on his bed this evening said.
"Perhaps I can come with you, then?" Karkaroff offers, pacing beside Harry as he makes his way towards the gargoyle. "I have to speak with Headmaster Dumbledore myself. Business relating to the Tournament." He looks over at Harry as if he thinks Harry's going to jump and squeak when he hears the word. Or maybe he's just trying to watch Chaos.
You and everyone else. Harry is glad that he could adopt Chaos so she could live, but he hates the way everyone gapes at him again. He isn't that remarkable! Look somewhere else!
"I suppose he's probably waiting for both of us, then, sir," Harry says politely. He doesn't like Karkaroff much, but at least if someone else is with him when he's speaking to Dumbledore, then Dumbledore can't do something like try to enslave Harry's mind or his soul, which Snape always seems to be afraid of.
"Ah, I didn't exactly inform Albus of what hour I was coming, young Mr. Potter." Karkaroff tilts his head. "But perhaps we can make use of this time anyway," he adds, as the gargoyle opens and the slow-moving staircase appears in front of him. "I know that you have very strong Slytherin traits."
"Thank you, sir." Harry isn't going to put down his House in front of anyone else. But he doesn't really know what Karkaroff is referring to. His Parseltongue? Surely not the way he hatched Chaos. He's already been told off by Snape (and to an extent by Blaise and Theo) for being a bloody reckless Gryffindor.
"The appreciation for what must be done, regardless of anything else. That is a quality that would serve you well at Durmstrang, Mr. Potter."
Harry just shrugs, keeping his eyes aimed up the stairs, and says, "Thanks, sir, but I belong at Hogwarts."
"Simply something to keep in mind," Karkaroff says. Now he sounds casual, which makes Harry want to look at him again. But he grits his teeth and manages to remain silent. The staircase is almost over with, anyway.
They step out into Dumbledore's office, and he twitches a little. Harry thinks Karkaroff was probably right about Dumbledore not expecting him. But then the Headmaster just smiles and says, "I'll ask the house-elves for more tea," before he bends down and puts his head in his fireplace.
Harry sits down carefully in his chair. For some reason, Chaos is staring at Fawkes and rearing up on her hind legs, her wings spread. Fawkes only studies her, chirps once, and then goes back to sleeping with his head under his own wing. Chaos finally falls back onto all fours, and Harry sighs in relief and strokes her back to keep her calm.
"Ah. You have had some trouble controlling your dragon, Mr. Ptoter?"
"Oh, no, sir. She's calm all the time, unless she's in an environment she thinks is hostile."
Karkaroff coughs like he's trying to muffle a laugh. "Should we conduct our business first, Albus? Then I can leave you and Mr. Potter to have the conversation by yourselves that you seem to have requested."
"Oh, no, sir," Harry says instantly. "I know that you supported me when I said I was telling the truth, so you must know I have nothing to hide. You can stay during our conversation if you want."
He doesn't think Dumbledore will say much in front of Karkaroff, truth be told. But if they have to put off the conversation until later, then maybe Harry can think of something else to do besides just going along with what Dumbledore wants.
Dumbledore smiles at him. "Are you sure about that, Harry? You know what I have to say concerns very private matters. Matters that might even touch on the honesty of the person who brewed the Veritaserum you took."
Harry shrugs a little. "Then we'll be all be speaking the truth, won't we, sir?"
Karkaroff says nothing, but just sits there looking intensely curious. Dumbledore nods and says, "Very well," and Harry tries not to panic. Lion is hissing softly at him, but Chaos is silent. She has her head on his foot the way she likes to curl up when she's full, but Harry knows from her tension that she's not asleep.
"You see," Dumbledore tells Karkaroff, "twenty years ago, I was more biased than I should have been. Gryffindor and Slytherin Houses have an ancient rivalry, and I was a Gryffindor myself. Several Gryffindor students played an infamous prank in which they tried to set up a Slytherin student, the same age as themselves, to be murdered. I gave them a pass, and—" He sighs. "I've regretted my actions ever since."
You only regret not doing everything you could to blackmail everyone, Harry thinks, and then has to look down. He knows that his Occlumency isn't good enough to stand up to Dumbledore trying to get through his shields.
"That seems like an infamous thing to do, yes," Karkaroff agrees, with no emotion except politeness in his voice.
"One of those Gryffindors grew up, and, I thought, did worse when he was an adult. Thankfully, I have been able to see that he is innocent of that particular crime. But I couldn't help but wonder why I was so ready to believe the worst of him, and that led me to interrogate my own motives and past judgments. It was, of course, because I had seen first-hand that he was capable of murder when he was younger. Thoughtless murder, but still murder."
Harry clasps his hands and wills them not to shake. Chaos opens her eyes.
"Oh?" Karkaroff asks.
"Yes. And it has occurred to me that I was the biased adult who ensured that he was not up on murder charges as a youngster. I think that I should bring him before the Wizengamot now and have him tried. It would only be fair, and it would go some distance to making up for my own biases and the harm I did the young Slytherin man whom those Gryffindors bullied."
Harry clenches his hands in a fold of his robes where they can't be seen. Karkaroff is looking at him, but his face is opaque. Dumbledore is the one with the sorrowful smile and the twinkling eyes.
He's the one that Harry, in a sudden burst of freeing emotion, hates.
"But of course," Dumbledore goes on in a soft voice, "bringing up on those charges now would involve many more people than it would have if he was tried when he was a student. Mr. Potter knows him the best, so I am going to ask him what he thinks. Whether those charges would be fair or not."
It's the same threat Harry knew it would be from the moment he read Dumbledore's letter. Yes, he's going to wreck Sirius's life and Harry's and maybe even Remus's and Professor Snape's if he drags this forwards.
And the last line of the letter told Harry what Dumbledore wants in return for keeping this quiet. If someone could tell me what the best course of action would be, a Gryffindor who was re-Sorted into Slytherin and understands the unique perspectives of both Houses, then perhaps we could let the charges drop. We often grow our wisdom through talking to each other.
Dumbledore wants to be in control of Harry's life again. It's so plain Harry wants to laugh at the thought that he might once not have understood it. But then again, when he trusted Dumbledore, he wouldn't have.
"Do you see, Harry?" Dumbledore murmurs. "You know Sirius. He's been your guardian for months now. Do you want to tell me what you think would happen if I drew this forwards into the light? Would it be justice, or should we let bygones be bygones?"
Harry looks up. It suddenly occurs to him that something else is going on here, too. Dumbledore wants to use this to threaten Snape, even. He wants to bury the matter and make sure Snape can never bring Sirius to trial.
Harry doesn't think Snape really would, not after being Harry's guardian along with Sirius. But he also knows that Snape probably wouldn't like having the choice to accuse Sirius of the crime being taken away from him.
Karkaroff is silent, his eyes flitting between Harry and Dumbledore. Dumbledore's smile grows just a little deeper. "Well? What do you think, Harry? Do we understand each other?"
Harry opens his mouth, feeling sick. He doesn't want this, the last thing he wants is to do this, but the thought of Sirius's life turning into a bleak wasteland and Snape hating Harry for making a decision for him is even worse.
A small snort from the side distracts him. Harry looks over gratefully, wondering what he's going to see, glad to put off making the decision for even one more moment.
Chaos is reared on her hind legs and examining one of the Headmaster's bookshelves. Harry didn't even notice her pulling her chin off his foot, he was so upset. She glances at him, and small flames come out of her nose.
"Get her away from there!" Dumbledore's voice isn't so kind now. "Those books are priceless!"
Chaos snorts. Even smaller flames come out, ones that are just large enough to tickle the spines of the books. Harry smells singeing leather.
"Mr. Potter."
Suddenly he forgets my first name when he has books to rescue, Harry thinks, and holds his hand out. "Chaos. Come here."
Chaos projects an impression at him. It's of two dragons reared up so that they face each other, their claws resting on each other's throats, and flames billowing out of their mouths. Harry frowns. It's a weird image. It looks as if the dragons can't actually breathe out without killing each other.
Oh. Oh.
Harry turns around and stares at Dumbledore for a second. Then he says firmly, "Sometimes you have to do what adds up to the greatest good, right, sir? Even if it's not something you want to personally do."
Dumbledore hasn't taken his eyes from the books. "Of course, Harry. Of course you do."
"Like, for example," Harry says, "you might have to let a past injustice go because it would be worse to tear up someone's life now. And you might have to call back your pet dragon even though she hates that."
Dumbledore snaps his head around to look at him. At the same moment, Chaos trots across the floor of the office and rubs her head against Harry's ankle. Harry thinks she might actually purr if she could.
"You speak as though those two things are equivalent, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore says a second later, his eyes narrowed.
"Well." Harry takes a deep breath, and the plunge. "They could be."
Dumbledore stares at him in utter silence. Karkaroff is wide-eyed, too, but Harry can't make out anything about the expression on his face. Fawkes is watching both of them, and abruptly trills, throwing back his head.
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore whispers.
"That they could be," Harry says, and holds his gaze.
Dumbledore doesn't even try to use Legilimency on him. Harry is sure that he's probably too shocked to. He strokes the back of Chaos's humped spine, which is already bigger than it used to be, and waits.
"It could be," Dumbledore finally agrees. His magic is old and slow and angry as he stares at Harry with narrow eyes. "Then—go."
Harry nods and stands up and walks out. He'll think about it later, what it means that he challenged Dumbledore and won, and Karkaroff heard the whole thing. For right now, he's just relieved that he's out of it, and he can tell Sirius and Snape about this and try to prepare them in case Dumbledore goes after that old prank again.
Karkaroff says to Dumbledore before the door shuts behind Harry, "I think you have two dragons in this school, Albus."
Chaos doesn't stop prancing all the way down the stairs.