Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: Thank you all so, so much for the wonderful reviews! I'm glad you are still enjoying the story!
I hope you enjoy this chapter, too.
One of you guessed one of the things I will be doing with this fic, and I hope you like what I do with it.
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Charity Burbage was not one for nonsense. She did not suffer fools easily; it was something she always knew about herself throughout her life.
She sighed as she made her way to the staff room. A meeting had been called, and it was not something she was looking forward to, especially when she had a feeling she knew what it would be about. Usually, Sunday was a day when she would grade papers and think about what she would be doing throughout her next week of classes. Since it was the summertime now, these Sundays were usually spent either relaxing or going over next year's syllabus.
But now, she had to sit through a staff meeting and hear from other teachers about how terrible it was that the great Harry Potter was not taking his place at Hogwarts. Honestly, she couldn't blame the boy for opting out of the magical world.
When she'd received her Hogwarts letter, she had been incredibly overjoyed. She'd never understood how strange things always happened around her throughout her childhood, especially when she was angry or excited. Minerva McGonagall herself had come to introduce her to the magical world. She'd been one of the lucky Muggle-borns to have parents who didn't have a negative reaction to their daughter being a witch.
She'd started Hogwarts in the fall of 1979, and the war with Voldemort was at its peak. As time had passed, she realized that many things about the wizarding world were backwards. The snide comments about her Muggle-born heritage had shocked her; she hadn't been warned about the many prejudices that came with this title. She lost count of how many nights she cried herself to sleep, remembering the vile epithet of "Mudblood" that had been flung her way. It was especially bad during that time, because the war was making its way into the halls of Hogwarts. What on Earth had she gotten herself into, saying yes to this? If she'd known what this would be like, she was sure she would have chosen to stay in the Muggle world.
One thing she had always had a problem with was the way Memory Charms were put on Muggles who found out "too much" about the magical world. She thought this a very cowardly action. She'd heard all the reasons why this was done, and what the Memory Charms were said to protect, but she had never thought it was right. In their hands, witches and wizards held the powers of Gods. They could literally erase people's minds, and make them think something else had happened. The thought of something like this being used on her parents or on her Muggle friends back home made her feel physically sick. The use of these charms was especially prominent then, since Death Eaters were attacking left and right. How many Muggles thought their loved ones had died in accidents, when they really had been murdered?
Then, in her third year of Hogwarts, the war had come to a sudden end, because of a little boy named Harry Potter. But even then, as young as she was, while the witches and wizards around her exalted and rejoiced at the miracle of this little boy's survival, she was sure there had to be more to the story. How could a fifteen-month-old boy defeat the darkest wizard in a century? Wasn't it more probable that one of his parents had managed to stop him before they died, resulting in Harry's life being saved? She'd mentioned this to one of her Muggle-born friends. She'd agreed with her, but said that the wizarding world had been in despair for so long that they turned to Harry as a symbol of hope.
Charity was a Ravenclaw, and therefore a very practical person. She had always thought this reliance on Harry was ridiculous. Celebrating that the war was over was one thing, but pinning all their hopes upon Harry was quite another. She'd heard rumblings that the war was only over for now, that some people believed, mainly Dumbledore and his supporters, that the exiled Dark Lord would be back someday. And one day, Harry would make his mark on the wizarding world. Even those who believed Voldemort was gone for good couldn't wait until the day Harry returned to take his place in his world. Charity had never understood what was wrong with everyone around her. That poor little boy was going to grow up as a household name, and for something he probably wouldn't even remember.
When she'd graduated from Hogwarts, she realized she could do one of two things: go back to the Muggle world and try and catch up on what she'd missed of her education, or get a job in the wizarding world. Every summer when she'd returned to her parents after a year of magical education, she realized she was growing farther and farther apart from her Muggle friends. Because of the Statute of Secrecy, she couldn't tell them she was a witch, so she'd told them her parents had sent her to a boarding school in Scotland, which was more or less true. But when her friends tried to talk to her about their year and what they'd learned, she realized there was so much that they now knew that she didn't. After all, Hogwarts did not teach subjects like English or mathematics. She had to learn how to write essays pretty much on her own, and Arithmancy was not Muggle mathematics. She had taken the Muggle Studies course as an elective, and many had asked her why she bothered since she was already Muggle-born. She always answered the same way, that she wanted to understand what wizards knew about Muggles, because she feared it wasn't the whole truth. And she'd been right.
Therefore, once she graduated, she returned to the Muggle world and took some courses to catch up with her education. By this time, she had grown completely apart from her old friends; they thought her strange and a liar, evading talk of school and what she had studied. The Statute of Secrecy really had become an issue for her. She was lucky she'd made friends in the wizarding world that she could talk to.
For several years she'd stayed in the Muggle world, but she still received the Daily Prophet so she could find out what was going on magically. When she found out that the Muggle Studies teacher, Professor Dillworth, was retiring, she applied for the position. Her hopes of receiving it were not high, for her feelings about the wizarding world were well-known. Fortunately for her, she was the only person interested in the job, but this was not at all a good thing for the wizarding world as a whole. The understanding of Muggles was not a high priority, and she desperately wanted this to change. Professor Dumbledore had taken her on, and he seemed happy to have her; he always told her that people could learn a lot from her. This gave her a little speck of hope, but not as much as she would like to have.
Throughout her years of teaching, things had not changed much. Even though it was now peacetime, Memory Charms were still used on Muggles willy-nilly, with no regard for what it did to their minds. Muggle technology was always expanding, while witches and wizards stuck to the status quo. She tried to make as many wizarding children aware of the incredible advances Muggles had made, but sadly, not many people signed up for her course. She was not willing to give up, though; she had to keep pushing as hard as she could, and she would do it until people finally understood.
And now, the year had arrived when Harry Potter was supposed to make himself known to all and sundry. His name had been on the lips of witches and wizards for the past ten years, and it was time for everyone to meet him at last. Charity knew that as soon as the press found out the boy's decision, it would be all anyone talked about. This staff meeting would be just the beginning.
As she walked into the room, she saw that many of the staff were already there. She took a seat next to Minerva, who was sitting ramrod straight in her chair. She and Minerva had very different views about the wizarding world, which caused major friction between them at times. Minerva was very stuck in her ways, thinking that nothing was better than the wizarding world. She often told Charity horror stories about some of the Muggle-borns she'd given acceptance letters to. It was not that Charity doubted these stories - she knew what some Muggles thought of witches and wizards. She often described these Muggle-borns as being more than happy to escape to the magical world, and in some instances this was true. But Charity also knew that some others who had been treated badly in the Muggle world felt not much better in the magical one. In the Muggle world they were spawns of Satan, while in the wizarding world they were filthy little Mudbloods. They felt as though they didn't belong anywhere. Charity often analyzed the students, and whenever she saw that one was having a difficult time, she would try and talk to them. Some had ended up calling her, literally, their life saver.
And analyzing was what she was doing now as she looked around the room. Most teachers looked at Dumbledore, who was sitting at the head of the table, with curiosity. Snape sat on the other side of Minerva, his usual sneer on his face. Charity could remember well when Horace Slughorn, the previous Potions Master, had retired months after the war ended, and Professor Severus Snape had taken his position. That first class with him as the teacher had been terrifying; he'd done nothing but snarl and snap at the students, his black eyes frothing with a rage she could not understand.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Dumbledore said, breaking Charity away from her analysis before she could suss out the mood of the other teachers. "I am sorry to call you all here this afternoon, but there is something important we need to discuss. Minerva received the answers to many acceptance letters yesterday, including one from Harry Potter himself."
Immediately, a buzz of interest went around the room. All the teachers seemed to sit up straighter in their chairs, and Charity couldn't help the frown that came to her face. Just the boy's name alone seemed to stop people in their tracks. Minerva, sitting next to her, was frowning too, but Charity knew it was for a different reason. Snape glowered down at the table, his black eyes slits in his sallow face.
"That's fantastic!" said Flitwick, his body pulsing with energy. "How is the dear boy? Is he excited to start his magical education at last? My, my, how the time has flown!"
Dumbledore's face was somber and serious as he answered. "Harry does not wish to come," he said, causing gasps from some of the teachers, Flitwick included. "He says he is happy in the Muggle world. He also wishes to have his magic removed, a feat we all know cannot be accomplished."
"Merlin above! Surely not!" said Professor Sprout in shock. "Harry Potter wants to have his magic REMOVED, and he wishes to stay with the Muggles? But his place is here! Since there's no way it can be taken away, what if his accidental magic gets out of control?"
"Are the Muggles just not allowing him to come?" asked Professor Vector, anger coloring her tone. "Do they not understand who he is in our world?"
Charity felt her own indignation begin to bubble within her once again. She hated how Harry's relatives were simply called "the Muggles". They had bloody names, damn it! They were dismissed simply because they had no magic. She knew that none of the people in this room wished to see them hurt, but they were prejudiced against them without even realizing it. You didn't have to wish for someone else to be hurt in order to be biased against them. Muggles were considered lesser beings simply because they did not possess any magical ability. This was why wizards convinced themselves that using Memory Charms on them was perfectly acceptable.
She then decided to speak up. "I think he's perfectly happy where he is, and everyone should leave the poor boy alone," she said firmly. "I've never understood why the whole wizarding world expects so much from him. I'm sure he doesn't even remember supposedly defeating Voldemort." At this, many in the room gasped, and Charity scowled. Did they think the Dark Lord was going to pop out from under the desk in here if she said his name? "Oh, for God's sake," she sighed, before she continued on. "As for his accidental magic, there are ways around getting it under control."
"Oh, and how do you propose that should be done?" Snape snarled, face contorted into an ugly expression. "So the boy thinks he's too good for Hogwarts, does he? Just like his father before him, he ..."
"That's enough, Severus!" Minerva snapped. "The boy is not his father! How many times does this have to be said? He grew up with Muggle relatives who most certainly brainwashed him into believing that magic is evil."
"Nonsense!" Charity snapped back, sick and tired of her colleague's attitude. Gone were the days when Minerva McGonagall used to intimidate her as a professor. "You honestly have no idea of Harry's situation. Don't make assumptions you cannot prove!"
Before Minerva could come up with a retort, Dumbledore cleared his throat. "That is enough, the three of you," he said sternly, a tone he rarely used with his staff. "Now, before we go any further, I visited Harry last night and tried to convince him to come here. I told him how important it is that he studies here in September, and that his parents would want that for him. And indeed, Pomona, the accidental magic situation could become unmanageable if it is not controlled."
Charity felt a burst of fury surge within her. Had Albus really tried to manipulate Harry into coming to Hogwarts by mentioning his parents' sacrifice? None of the other teachers seemed to sense what she did about how Albus worked; they listened to every word and agreed with what he said was the right course of action. If she really thought about it, maybe Severus knew as well, but he was blinded by his hate for all things Potter. She sincerely hoped that Harry wouldn't let Albus's trickery, disguised as grandfatherly wisdom, stop him doing the things he wanted to do. "Headmaster, I TOLD you not to try and force that poor child to come against his will," she said, trying not to let her anger with her employer show. "And I said I had a solution for the accidental magic dilemma."
"I am interested to hear what you have to offer," said Dumbledore, his magnanimous tone coming into play. Charity wasn't fooled, but she decided to tell him and the staff of her idea.
"Send him a magical tutor to teach him the basics," she said, looking each staff member directly in the eye. "Get him someone who will teach him what he needs to know, mainly how to control his magic. It should be in the evenings several times a week so he doesn't have to miss any of his school. Harry Potter has already done enough for this world. He does not need any more expectations placed on him. If he's happy where he is, he should stay that way. Albus, if you cannot find a tutor, I would be willing to do it myself."
And with that, she pushed back her chair and marched out of the room.
Charity Burbage did not suffer fools easily, and right now, all the other teachers and the Headmaster were being just that: fools. Witches and wizards were stuck in their ways, and the current Muggle Studies teacher was sick of it.
And she thought that if they didn't change their ways soon, they would cause their own downfall. And Charity really, really didn't want to see what would happen then. Because when the veil finally came off of their eyes, what would be the outcome?
She knew it would be far from pleasant.