Disclaimer – I solemnly swear that JKR owns everything Harry Potter. Whether or not I am up to no good with her characters is for you to decide.
/ ( 0 v 0 ) \
Muggle-Raised Champion
Chapter 27 – Desiring Harry Potter
2:35pm
Thursday, 30 March 1995
Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
.
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore lazed back in his chair, his right hand running continuously through his long white beard from the bottom of the ring sitting on his chest that kept his beard in place, down to the very bottom of the thick, coarse hair.
His chair was currently turned away from his desk allowing its occupant to see the impressive view that was awarded to the Headmaster of Hogwarts. From here, large swathes of the grounds could be seen, including a portion of the Black Lake. Currently, the giant squid was lazing about, using its many tentacles to propel itself in a bizarre imitation of backstroke.
Further afield lay the Forbidden Forest, the dense treetops preventing any from seeing any of the secrets that it held. And beyond it, if one cared to look carefully enough, half a dozen roofs could be seen, the only indication of the peaceful village of Hogsmeade.
But even though Albus was facing in that direction, he saw none of it. Instead, he was contemplating the school year that was quickly slipping by.
This had definitely been a year to remember. It had been many, many long years since Hogwarts had played host to foreign students, indeed, it was long before Albus' time at the castle. The students and staff of Beauxbatons Academie of Magic and Durmstrang Institute had, outwardly, turned their noses up at the ancient castle. But Albus had seen their true thoughts and feelings: they were impressed. And really, how could they not be?
The revival of the TriWizard Tournament had not originally been Albus' idea, but as soon as he'd heard it, he'd jumped on the hippogriph. It was exactly what a great leader of the wizarding world needed to guide the magical world towards peace, harmony and better friendships. Sure, the Tournament had originally been discarded due to the high injury and mortality rate, but with the correct safeguards in place, those risks were reduced to insignificance.
And not only had international relations been fostered, but the TriWizard Tournament had succeeded in returning a lost child to the magical world.
Harry Potter.
Just thinking of the boy brought mixed emotions to the ancient wizard. On the one hand, having The-Boy-Who-Lived returned to the magical world brought immense satisfaction.
There had been much speculation when he had failed to turn up at Hogwarts four years ago. One of the common questions at the time was even if the boy was still alive. And when Albus had answered that question, stating that the boy was healthy and happy with his muggle relatives, the public had turned to outrage at the fact that young Harry had been kept away from them. There was much public grumbling about the fact that their own laws kept the young hero away from his adoring public.
And now that he was here at Hogwarts and Albus could see the young man that the child of his old friends had grown into, Albus was immensely pleased and proud. The boy saw no division within his peers, treating each and every one exactly the same. And while the fact that young Harry had yet to take his place at Hogwarts and be sorted into one of the illustrious Houses, he had helped to cross the divide between Houses and even encouraged others to do the same.
But of late, the largest emotion that Albus had been feeling towards the boy was frustration. Harry Potter was the Boy-Who-Lived; he was the hero of the wizarding world and he had yet to even begin to face his true destiny, a destiny he seemed reluctant to face. At each of the Tournament Tasks so far, young Harry had gone out of his way to do the bare minimum required in order to retain his magic. Even placing the one who had obviously become his dearest friend at Hogwarts at the bottom of the Black Lake had done little to motivate him.
And it wasn't just the fact that Harry's magical education was lacking. Indeed, from all that Albus had heard, he was progressing remarkably quickly.
Knowing what he did, Albus knew that he had a decision to make: would it be better to tell Harry about what was facing him in the future? Perhaps if he did, the boy could by motivated to work towards the fulfilment of his destiny. Of course, even if he decided to tell some of what Albus knew or suspected, the question then became, exactly how much should he tell him?
Thankfully, there was still the Third Task to come and Albus had a few tricks already up his sleeve to nudge the boy towards the direction that he wanted him to take. After that, yes, after that, a decision could be made.
"Albus? Have you heard the news?"
Coming back to the present with a start, Albus spun his chair around and searched the portraits of past Headmasters lining the walls for the one that had spoken. The eager look in Gladys Fillimeister's face alerted him to the fact that it was she who had called to him.
Gladys was one of Albus' most treasured informants on the pulse of the school. She was forever flitting from one portrait to another throughout the school, gossiping continuously with the inhabitants and finding out what the students thought, said and did. Of course, as with all gossips, it often took a bit of careful filtering to get to the truth, but it was a pastime that Albus enjoyed.
"What news would that be, Gladys?" Albus asked.
"The news about the Potter boy," Gladys replied eagerly.
A momentary frown crossed Albus' face before he schooled his features into a semblance of interest.
"No. No, I can't say that I've heard the latest about young Harry," he said.
"Well, it seems that the boy has been offered a job with the dragon preserves!" Gladys exclaimed.
"Really?" Albus replied. "Which dragon preserve would this be?"
"All of them!" she replied.
"All of them?" Albus repeated incredulously.
"Indeed," Gladys confirmed, nodding her head. "From what I heard, they've banded together to offer him a job travelling between them, using his parseltongue skills."
"I must say that I find that hard to believe, Gladys. Harry is still some years away from even taking his OWLs and I cannot imagine the dragon reserves being interested in an untrained boy, regardless of his language skills," Albus commented.
"But that's the thing, Albus," Gladys replied. "They're offering him tutors to finish his education while on the job!"
Albus nodded his head and his hand once more moved to begin stroking his beard.
"Have you heard what Harry's response is?" he asked.
"From what Glinda told me, it seems that he's interested. Very interested, apparently, according to his friends," Gladys replied.
"But he hasn't signed anything yet?" Albus asked, leaning forward.
"Not yet. It seems he's still in negotiations," Gladys replied. "But he'd be a fool to refuse. How often does an offer like this come up? I know how much you've been looking forward to the Potter boy being here, but I can't see him staying."
"Thank you, Gladys. If you hear anything else be sure to let me know straight away," Albus replied, dismissing his predecessor.
Once more, Albus spun his chair around to stare out the window at the grounds of Hogwarts, deep in thought.
If Harry accepted that offer, he could be lost to wizarding Britain for years. And Albus was positive that he'd be needed before too long. So far, Tom had been biding his time, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before help came to what was left of his old student and the consequences of that were too disastrous to contemplate.
And while it was all well and good for young Harry to have some adventures in order for him to learn the lessons and temperament that he'd need, going off by himself away from the controlled environment of Hogwarts was unthinkable. If the boy wanted adventure, that was fine, but Albus knew that Hogwarts offered all the adventure and training that he needed, especially with him to guide him along the way.
/ ( 0 v 0 ) \
8:20pm (local time)
Tuesday, 11 April 1995
Office of the Head Dragon Handler, Romanian Dragon Sanctuary
.
"You wanted to see me, Boss?" Charlie Weasley asked, sticking his head in the open door.
"Weasley, yes," Alexander Vellios, the Head Dragon Handler of the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary replied.
At his wave, Charlie crossed the cluttered room and took a seat.
There was actually only one seat available to him. The other, like the extra table that ran the length of the room and the wall above it, were littered with all manner of dragon related things. There were maps of the Sanctuary; folders galore about each and every dragon at the Sanctuary with pieces of parchment hanging from them; reports detailing how much food the dragons were eating; sketches of habitats; not to mention half a dozen dragon teeth and pieces of dragon egg shell scattered throughout it all.
"I got a letter from that Potter kid you recommended," Alexander began.
He was never one to beat about the bush, indeed, his brusque manner had nearly had him fired more times than anyone knew. But when your job was dealing with beasts twenty to a hundred times your size and weight, being decisive helped you keep your limbs, not to mention your life. And Alexander wasn't the Head Handler for nothing.
"Did Harry accept?" Charlie asked eagerly.
Alexander grunted. "Not yet. Wants to negotiate a few points, don't he?"
Charlie's eyes flicked to the letter that he could see on the desk between Alexander's meaty arms.
"I can't imagine Harry wanting anything outrageous," Charlie stated. "He seemed a pretty easy-going sort of guy when I met him."
Again, Alexander grunted.
"As'n you know the kid, I thought I'd get your thoughts on what he's askin' for," Alexander stated.
"I only met him a couple of times," Charlie reminded his boss.
"Yeah, but you've got a bunch of brothers that go to school with him, so you're likely to have the best inside track," Alexander replied.
Charlie nodded. There was no denying that. Not to mention the fact that he was British and there were only three British Handlers at the Sanctuary.
"What's Harry wanting to negotiate?" Charlie asked.
"Firstly, he only wants to be bound in contract until his OWLs, instead of a year past his NEWTs like we were offering," Alexander began, picking up the letter and skimming it. "Although, he says that he'd be willing to renegotiate after that if both he and the Reserves are interested in him staying on."
Charlie nodded. "I can see his point. That'd still lock him in for three or four years and I'm sure that we could give him a good enough experience to get him to resign."
Alexander didn't reply to that, instead, listing off the next point.
"It also says here that he wants some time to complete his A-levels by correspondence, although he's willing to pay for that part of his education himself." Alexander looked up at the British-born wizard then. "What in the bleeding hell are 'A-levels'?"
It took Charlie a couple of seconds to remember where he'd heard that term before.
"I think that it's something to do with the British muggle education system," Charlie hedged. "I can kinda remember my dad – he heads the Muggle Artefacts Department with the British Ministry – mentioning something about them once."
Once again Alexander grunted.
"The rest are the usual stuff – pay, time off, that sort of thing," Alexander said. "But what I want to know is: is the boy worth it? All of the Reserves are going to be spending an awful lot of gold on him, what with his education and portkeys all over the world and what-not. And none of the Reserves have a lot of gold to spare. Yes, we could justify it for a seven-year minimum signing, but for only four or so?"
"Look, Boss, I think Harry's worth it," Charlie stated. "I've told you what the dragons were like when he was with him – the four of them were clamouring to get his attention and we had to have him come down to the pens twice so that he could settle arguments. Not to mention the way that Harry was able to settle the Chinese Fireball down after most of her eggs were destroyed in the First Task. And that's after what he did in his own Task of the TriWiz. Getting Ramaranth to give him the egg from her nest when it took everything the other Champions had just to get past them? That's the kind of person we need.
"Besides, when was the last time any of the Reserves had a parselmouth working for them? You know as well as I do how rare they are and the Australian and Indian Ministries tend to snap them up to take care of their snake problems. If we can get him now and introduce him to the dragons of the world, I bet we'll have him for life."
Alexander sat back in his chair, his dark brown eyes narrowed as he contemplated Charlie's speech. It was all that Charlie could do to hold still under such scrutiny. Finally, after what felt like hours, Alexander gave a sharp nod and sat forward once more.
"Perhaps I need to meet the boy and get a measure of him myself," he stated. "And if he seems worth it, then I'll agree to renegotiate with him."
"The Third Task of the TriWiz is at the end of next month. If you go then, you could see Harry in action," Charlie suggested.
"Not a bad idea, Weasley," Alexander stated. "I might just do that."
/ ( 0 v 0 ) \
10:45am
Saturday, 16 April 1995
Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
.
Albus waited the right length of time and then, just before he knew that the knock was about to come, he called out.
"Come in, Harry!"
The door to the office opened and a confused-looking Harry Potter entered. It always amused Albus when he saw that expression on his visitor's faces. And it didn't hurt that it enhanced his reputation as being a powerful wizard who always knew exactly what was going on.
As Harry crossed the room, Albus once again had to force himself not to sigh at the deep green cloak over the stone grey pants and shirt that Harry was wearing. The boy should be wearing the black of Hogwarts, preferably with the red and gold accents of Gryffindor House. Hopefully that would still happen. This meeting should give him some indication of how much work he needed to do to ensure that it did.
"How are you, my boy?" Albus asked as Harry sat in front of his desk. "Lemon drop?"
"I'm fine, thank you, Headmaster," Harry replied while holding up one hand in refusal of the offered bowl.
"You seem to have settled in well here at Hogwarts," Albus commented.
"Yeah, I guess so," Harry replied. "I've definitely made some good friends."
"Ah, yes, there is nothing more satisfying than making, and being with, one's friends," Albus replied, his blue eyes twinkling with his smile.
Harry only smiled and Albus knew that he was wondering why he'd been asked to come here today.
"As the year is rapidly drawing to close," Albus began, "I thought that it would be prudent to discuss with you how your education has been coming this year. I have here a report from almost all of your teachers outlining your progress so far."
At that, Harry sat forward on his chair, eagerness apparent in every line of his body.
"By all reports, you have definitely taken to learning magic like a niffler to gold," Albus commented.
"I've really been enjoying it," Harry smiled. "And the teachers have been great; not to mention the help that Daphne, Neville, Hermione and Susan have given me."
"Yes, those four are wonderful students, each as bright as the other at the subjects that they have excel in," Albus commented. "Well, shall we go through them?"
At Harry's eager nod, he continued.
"Let's see, first up is Charms. Professor Flitwick has written quite a glowing report about your abilities, particularly at the fact that you've been learning a lot of your spells wandlessly as well as with the use of a wand. He estimates that by the end of this school year, your knowledge and ability in Charms will be approximately halfway through the second year curriculum."
"Charms has to be one of my favourite subjects," Harry stated. "And Professor Flitwick is great."
"Next is Transfiguration," Albus said, laying aside one piece of parchment to pick up the next on the small stack in front of him. "Professor McGonagall is quite pleased with your progress, which, between you and me, is high praise indeed, and estimates that you are at a similar level to Charms."
He waited until Harry had nodded in acknowledgment before proceeding to the next report.
"Professor Sprout has indicated that your Herbology knowledge is surprisingly advanced at times."
"I think that's got a lot to do with Neville," Harry admitted. "There doesn't seem to be anything that he doesn't know when it comes to plants."
Albus smiled at Harry's confession. "In any case, Mister Longbottom's knowledge is to your gain. Between what he has passed on to you and your work with Professor Sprout, you are already close to half-way through the second year curriculum with a month of the school year still to go.
"Your Defence Against the Dark Arts progress is also very pleasing. Professor Moody has declared you as 'adequate' – another of those rather ambiguous statements that is, in actual fact, high praise – and insists that he'll have you into the second year curriculum by the end of the school year."
Albus lay that piece of parchment aside before placing the next two side by side.
"Unfortunately, you are not as advanced in either Astronomy or History of Magic," he said, before raising one hand. "Please don't get me wrong, you are still progressing wonderfully. However, by the end of the school year, you will most likely only be just finishing the first year curriculum."
Harry shrugged at that piece of information. "They're not my favourite subjects."
Albus nodded in understanding. "In terms of your progress in Potions, I am not sure exactly where you would sit in regards to a Hogwarts education. As you have hired a private tutor in lieu of Professor Snape, I was not able to get a complete report on your progress."
"That's alright," Harry replied. "Madam Walker says that she's pleased with my progress and that I'm even exceeding some of her expectations."
"I'm pleased to hear that," Albus stated diplomatically. "We now come to your elective subjects. As you'll recall, these subjects are not offered at Hogwarts until third year, so when you began your education in these subjects, you were only a little more than a year behind your peers."
At Harry's nod, Albus laid out three pieces of parchment side by side.
"By the looks of these, if you continue at the pace that you have been working at, there is a strong possibility that you will be ready to take your Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures OWL at the end of next year, which is the same time as your peers."
"Hermione says that I'll be able to take the Muggle Studies OWL then, too," Harry said.
"I was not aware that you were studying that subject as well, Harry?" Albus stated, looking at the boy over the top of his half-moon spectacles.
"Yeah, well, Hermione says that, as I'm non-magically raised, I'd be able to take that OWL now," Harry replied. "The only thing is to make sure that I've read the book through once or twice to make sure that I understand how magical people see non-magical people and the world that they live in."
"An excellent suggestion," Albus stated, "and the fact that you will be taking your various OWLs at differing times will be a bonus in this case – much fewer subjects to have to focus on at any one time.
"Now, in regards to your OWLs, I have taken the liberty of talking with your various professors – with the exception of Madam Walker, of course – about when you might be ready to take your tests."
Harry sat up a little straighter, then and Albus knew that he had a rapt audience.
"As I have already mentioned, Professors Babbling, Vector and Grubbly-Plank are all of the opinion that you will have no problems being ready for the OWLs for their respective subjects at the end of next year."
"Along with Muggle Studies," Harry added.
"Indeed, Harry, along with Muggle Studies," Albus smiled. "If you are willing to do some extra work during each of the holidays for the next couple of years, then it seems reasonable to think that you will be ready for your Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology OWLs the following year; and your Astronomy and History of Magic OWLs the year after that."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Harry commented.
"Quite remarkable, in fact," Albus countered. "To have completed eleven subjects to Ordinary Wizarding Levels in only four years is simply astounding and a testament to the amazing young man that you are."
"Thank you, Sir," Harry replied, ducking his head.
"Hogwarts will be very fortunate indeed when you join her as a student next year," Albus said.
"Hmm," Harry replied noncommittedly.
"Do you have any questions about your education thus far, Harry?" Albus asked.
"No, Sir," he replied.
"In that case, I won't keep you. There is still much of this fine spring day for you to enjoy," Albus smiled.
"Thank you, Sir," Harry replied, rising from his chair.
Albus watched him walk from the room, closing the door behind him before he allowed himself to lean forward onto his elbows.
That meeting was not as promising as he would have hoped.
Albus had asked the right questions to get Harry thinking about his friends and his future education at Hogwarts and that was enough for him to do a light legilimacy probe. And nothing of what he saw was good. It seemed that young Harry was focussed on the offer that Gladys had originally told him about. Not even Harry's strong feelings towards one particular friend seemed as though it would be enough to keep him here at Hogwarts, let alone in Britain.
Albus, though, refused to despair or to give in. There was a still time. No contracts had been signed yet, allowing him the opportunity to change Harry's mind and bring him back onto the course that he needed to tread. It was simply a matter of finding the right way forward from here.
