It's All On Us
Chapter 6: Tears
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor do I intend to gain any profit from this fanfiction.
A/N: this chapter will focus on the reactions to Skeeter's article, so Harry and Ron will be taking a backseat in this one.
XXX
The evening edition of The Daily Prophet was an instant hit, thanks solely to the emotional interview with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Many readers reported feeling a profound sense of empathy for these young men who'd lost someone so dear to them.
It also became the subject of much analysis by many concerned parties.
That evening, a staff meeting was convened for the four Heads of Houses and Headmaster Dumbledore in his office. The paper in question sat on the Headmaster's desk.
"Melodramatic." Severus Snape sneered.
"Hardly." McGonagall countered.
"I did not realize they were the ones who found her." Flitwick said softly.
"Indeed, they were." Dumbledore muttered, looking every bit his age.
"Oh Merlin." Sprout said, her eyes filling with tears.
"Why precisely are we here, Albus?" Snape asked with an almost bored expression on his face.
"Over the past two weeks, I have observed a potentially disturbing change in the two boys."
Minerva nodded, "I have as well."
"What changes?" Flitwick questioned.
"They have been far more intense than before," McGonagall said, "They spend every day in the library, constantly researching anything that might be remotely connected to the Chamber of Secrets."
"Their grades have slipped markedly." Flitwick mused.
Snape scoffed, "That know-it-all, Granger, was the only reason they were passing. I suspect now we shall see their true potential."
Minerva frowned, "I disagree, Severus. While Ms. Granger was undoubtedly the source of their academic success, they have also shown to be capable of doing so in her absence. Their goals, however, are drastically misaligned."
"How so?" Albus inquired.
"I believe the only reason they haven't gained any success is because almost all their efforts are focused on defeating the 'Heir of Slytherin.'" Minerva explained.
"Perhaps." Flitwick considered.
"Is it not the point of your ridiculous 'dueling club' to provide a reason to shift that focus in the right direction?" Severus sneered.
"Theirs, and others." Flitwick admitted, "But you must have noticed the changes in demeanor yourself."
Severus stayed silent for a moment, considering his answer. Yes, he had also noticed a change in their behavior. Weasley was constantly biting his lip in his class, once to the point where it had bled slightly. It was likely to ignore his godson, Draco, and his constant remarks toward the mudblood and the 'Heir of Slytherin'.
It would likely stun him to discover exactly who the real 'Heir' is.
Lord Voldemort had secretly revealed his status as the only living descendant of Salazar Slytherin to a select few several months before his disappearance. Severus, already a spy for Dumbledore, had been one of the few in attendance. Lucius Malfoy had been there as well, which told Severus enough to infer the man's involvement in the Chamber reopening.
His godson was incredibly dim, tipping off the very people who were searching for the 'Heir'. Oh, he didn't mean it. For Draco, it was just an opportunity to score points off his rival. But in doing so, he was basically admitting involvement.
Potter, for all Snape's accusations of being a dunderhead, was apparently aware.
While Weasley was visibly holding himself back, Potter kept all his emotions in check during class. Even Snape's most fiendish barbs had yet to break his calm exterior, a fact which had disturbed many of his classmates.
Severus had taken a few discrete peeks into Potter's mind and had pondered his results for some time. The boy was traumatized by what he'd seen, and had had several dreams of a woman screaming.
A woman who sounded very much like Lily.
For one brief moment, Potter believed that Granger had died. He had even believed she had been murdered. It had broken something in him.
It was almost too easy to piece together how horrid his home life was, what with his ragged clothes and small frame. When you combined that kind of upbringing with being orphaned, it was bound to bring up fears of loneliness and abandonment.
Combine those issues with seeing one of only two friends in that state and you got a boiling potion, just waiting to explode.
But, somehow, he'd channeled all that rage and insecurity into a goal: make the 'Heir of Slytherin' pay for his crimes.
"He has more than focused his efforts in the wrong direction, Minerva." Snape spoke softly, drawing the attention of the four present, "He has focused his rage on the 'Heir'. Right now, I daresay he hates him more than the Dark Lord himself."
The others pondered his point while Dumbledore sent a calculated look towards Severus.
"Perhaps so." Dumbledore murmured.
"But...what should we do?" Minerva wondered.
"Perhaps it would be best if we contacted a counselor for the boy." Professor Sprout suggested.
"A fine idea." Flitwick agreed.
"Indeed." Dumbledore agreed, "I know of several such individuals I can contact. I doubt I can produce them before your dueling club meets, Filius. I wonder perhaps if you'd be so kind as to attend the first such meeting, Severus? Professor Lockhart might require some assistance, should he find himself underwhelmed by the experience."
"Indeed." Snape muttered, gleaning the headmaster's true meaning.
It was very possible that Potter and Weasley would turn their duels into a fiasco, by accident or design. The less said of Lockhart, the better.
With that, the headmaster turned the meeting towards other concerns. Before long, the meeting ended and Professors Flitwick and Sprout departed, leaving Dumbledore alone with the heads of Gryffindor and Slytherin.
"You noted the quote Harry gave at the end?" Albus asked the pair, idly plucking a lemon drop from within his robes.
"I was unaware he knew any Shakespeare." Minerva admitted.
"It was foolish." Severus said quietly, "Goading the 'Heir' will lead to nowhere good."
"I fear you are correct, Severus." Dumbledore said tiredly, "We must do everything in our power to determine who the perpetrator is and, barring that, ensure the safety of every student inside this castle."
"That would be best done by closing the school." Minerva stated.
She was loath to admit it, but it was in the best interest of all involved that Hogwarts close until this mess was dealt with. It would mean a loss of education for the children, funds for the school and pay for the professors, but none of that compared to the loss of even one life.
While Mrs. Norris was unloved by many, she had been alive before these events. She was unlikely to be the last casualty in this mess if things continued. Minerva considered it irresponsible to keep the school open any further.
"To do so requires permission from the Governors," Dumbledore reminded her, "And they are unwilling to at the moment."
"Until one of their precious purebloods is the next victim," McGonagall scowled, "Then they'll be racing to close the school."
No one refuted her claim.
"If we do close early, it may well be the solution to the ward problem." Dumbledore mused.
Both Severus and Minerva scoffed, earning a small chuckle from Albus at the surrealism of seeing those two as allies.
"That is no solution to this particular problem, Albus." Severus muttered, "Potter has gotten a taste of a world outside Petunia's home. My own...issues with that woman aside, to banish the boy back to his prison would be a mere respite, not a solution."
Albus scowled, "The Dursleys may be unloving, but they have cared for him."
"As a jailor would." Severus scoffed.
"I did not know you cared so deeply for Harry's wellbeing, Severus." Albus mused with a smile.
"Boys." The men stopped their bickering when Minerva spoke, her hand on her head in agony at yet another verbal chess match, "Regardless of his reasons, Severus is correct. As the bard would have said, 'Something is rotten in Denmark.'"
"'Tis better to bear the ills we have than to fly to others that we know not of.'" Albus quoted back.
"'A fool thinks himself wise,'" Severus spoke softly, "'But a wise man knows himself to be a fool.'"
XXX
It had begun to snow in Crawley when the owl came. Daniel Granger had been reading excerpts from his family Bible, more so out of curiosity than a religious need. Ever since his daughter had been revealed as a witch, Daniel had been intrigued by the possibility that she was not the first magic person in their family.
The Granger Family Bible had been passed down for centuries now, handed off from one soul to the next. The current guardian of the Bible was one Sophia Edwards-Granger, a retired librarian living in Grasmere. The lovely (though talkative) woman had sent it off to Daniel to aid in his research.
Research which, unfortunately, was going nowhere. Daniel was the first to admit he was working with half the data he needed. He'd intended to ask Hermione to see if there were any magical sources she could use to aid his search, but she had been...attacked before he'd had the chance.
Suddenly uninterested in the research, Daniel gently closed the book, removed his gloves and turned his attention towards his darling wife. Emma Granger, formerly Emma Grey, was sitting by the window, reading the evening edition of the Prophet. They had taken to reading it constantly in hopes that the 'heir' would be brought to justice before Harry or Ronald could notify them.
Emma appeared to be stunned by what she read, and Daniel could see her eyes begin to moisten with tears. He moved quickly and settled beside her, wrapping an arm around her as she turned to him and buried herself into his chest.
"What is it, luv?" He asked gently.
"It's...it's those b-boys." Emma cried.
Fearing the worst, Daniel took the paper from her hand and read it as quickly as he could. At the end, he was gratified to know they were safe but found himself equally troubled as his wife.
A first-hand account of their daughter being discovered was far more traumatizing than either parent could have ever imagined. Moreover, the fact that it had been her only friends to find her made it so much worse.
The interview had been quite thorough, including pictures of the stairwell where she had been found, the message about the Chamber of Secrets and a small paragraph about the legend itself. For facts, it did not lack, but Daniel couldn't help but latch onto the boys and their reactions.
When he'd asked before, they had been silent as to their experience. Daniel and Emma, two people who'd spent their entire adult lives in the medical field, were not strangers to these things. Each had been forced to notify someone of a loved one's passing during their residency, each had even had to work codes where their patients had died. But they were adults, not children.
For Harry and Ronald to have seen so much already...it was terrible.
But their daughter had been friends with them for over a year, and in that year, she had faced trolls and disembodied terrorists. It took all they had to keep themselves from pulling her out of school.
But they wouldn't, not after what they had been told. Daniel had spoken to Professor McGonagall at length about why he hadn't been informed of the policy of obliviating muggles and muggle-borns who elected to not enter the wizarding world.
"You, and your family, expressed a marked interest in exploring the magical world," Minerva had said, "I was too glad to indulge it. However, I am sorry to say that I, and others like me, are barred from telling any muggle-born family of the consequences of refusing to join our world unless I am specifically asked."
Daniel had nearly bit the woman's head off upon hearing that, but his better half had been too quick on the draw.
"What the bloody Hell do you mean 'barred from telling'?!" Emma Granger demanded, "You told us anything and everything when we asked, answered every single question our daughter asked you! Our daughter who, at this very moment, lies in YOUR hospital ward unable to even breathe because of your bloody magic and your bloody rules!!"
"They are not my bloody rules." Minerva spoke with a deepening Scottish brogue, serving to highlight the anger the woman was suppressing, "They are the Ministry's bloody rules."
Her answer boded ill for the Grangers.
"Out of the mouths of babes." Daniel whispered softly, his eyes moistened as he finished reading.
"Danny?" Emma asked confusedly.
Dan embraced his wife lovingly, doing his best to let his presence comfort her.
"Harry's famous," Daniel spoke softly, "He's an orphan and he just told a nation how it felt to find his friend, our daughter, in such a state. Imagine what our government would do if a famous child did that."
Emma leaned into his shoulder, getting comfortable as she spoke, "Ah. Dad always said you'd make a good politician."
"Perish the thought."
"...We should ask the boys 'round for Christmas."
"I'd like that."
"I think I'll write a letter to the editor of the Prophet. Nothing galvanizes a nation like a mother's love."
"I hope it does, but with everything we know…"
Emma didn't answer, recognizing how correct he was. She didn't care, though.
She was a mother and her child had been harmed.
Hell hath no fury.
XXX
"Bloody Hell!" Minister Fudge roared.
The Minister of Magic had been having a lovely evening before reading a copy of the evening Prophet. His friend and supporter, Lucius Malfoy, had invited him and his undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge, to join him and his wife for dinner. They planned to enjoy a fabulous meal, then break out the brandy and discuss the condition of the wizarding world.
Unfortunately, midway through the brandy, the Malfoy's copy of the Daily Prophet landed soundly in front of them.
Lucius, being the host, picked it up to see if there was anything of note and immediately found the interview. He skimmed it quickly before paling and sliding it over to the minister.
"Why was I not informed of this, Lucius?!" Fudge demanded.
"Begging the Minister's pardon," Narcissa Malfoy spoke sternly, "But I'd invite you not to raise your voice to my husband while you are a guest in our home."
Remembering himself, Cornelius apologized for his lack of manners.
"To answer your question, Minister," Lucius spoke softly, still gathering his thoughts as he did, "I was aware of the interview but, as it was Ms. Skeeter who was conducting it, I felt no need to interfere. Anything coherent the brats spoke would be filtered, or so I thought."
"That Rita is a troublemaker of the highest order," Dolores said, a vicious gleam in her eyes, "She likely saw an opportunity for increased readership and took it. But, I doubt she will remain so magnanimous towards the boy."
Lucius nodded, having gleaned such for himself. He'd insure it.
"What do you think she will do?" Fudge asked.
"Spin the story, I gather." Lucius answered, "That is her modus operandi, after all."
"A love triangle, perhaps." Dolores wondered.
Narcissa scoffed, "With children who are all of twelve?"
"Regardless," Lucius spoke quickly before an argument broke out between his wife and the Minister's secretary, "I am certain Ms. Skeeter will approach the issue with the same voracious guile we have come to expect."
"Not too voracious, I should think," Fudge suggested, "Painting the Boy-Who-Lived as an emotional alarmist is one thing, but that's as far as she should take it."
"Indeed." Lucius agreed.
Privately, the semi-retired Death Eater had other concerns on his mind. That diary had been given to him by the Dark Lord a year before his passing, entrusted to him for safekeeping. Now, after over a decade without word from his master, Lucius was all but convinced he was gone for good. There had been those rumors last year of a dark spirit possessing Quirrel and running amok in the castle, but Lucius doubted it had anything to do with his Lord.
Why go to someone weak like Quirrel when he could have gone to the elite of pureblood society?
XXX
Late at night, not too long after Harry had gone to bed, the door to the second year's bedroom opened softly. The small figure of Ginny Weasley crept into the room, her eyes scanning to ensure no one disturbed her.
While Ginny Weasley was in the room, she was not in control of her actions. That night, her body had been fully controlled once again by the spectre of Tom Riddle, the future Lord Voldemort.
When she'd found the diary in her cauldron, Ginny had naturally been suspicious but the powerful compulsion charms placed on it easily ensnared her young mind. Tom proved to be a reliable and convincing friend, giving her pointers in school and good social advice. Hard as she tried, though, she just couldn't work up the nerve to talk to her longtime crush, the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter.
Tom had done his level best to get her to do so, if only so he could observe as she did. The disembodied form of the young Voldemort had developed a keen interest in Harry, mostly because he found the boy simply...disappointing.
He was powerful, for a child. Still, he struggled to get a handle on the simplest of spells. When Tom was in first year, he'd mastered both the leviosa and turning beetles into buttons in the first class. From what he'd heard, Potter had taken a good portion of the year mastering it.
Apparently, though, the boy's strengths were more in the defense category. The night his basilisk tried to enter the hospital ward, she had just barely been held back long enough to get inside. Whatever spell the boy had used was powerful enough to keep her out long enough to escape.
Sometimes it was wiser to escape than to fight an unwinnable battle. Tom could respect that.
But when the evening edition of the Daily Prophet arrived, Tom had forgotten any and all charitable thoughts towards his opponent. He had been treating the game as a psychological war, striking hard at the first friend he could find (though random chance led to the girl merely being petrified).
Tom liked to play with his food.
His message to Potter had served to set him on edge, but that had the unexpected consequence of turning the boy (and his allies) to redirect all his efforts to defeating him.
At first, Tom had been pleased. He was beginning to see similarities in them, the same intense need to conquer your foe and to gather resources in doing so. After all, who wanted to play a game of chess against an unworthy adversary?
But that message to him had sent him in a rage that had nearly scared poor Ginny away from him. He had had to calm himself quickly and use every bit of his charm to bring her back in line. He'd have to accelerate his plans before the girl became too rebellious, or he'd have to wait until he found a new pawn.
But then inspiration struck Tom, and he made several changes to his plan. The first of which was taking place that very night.
It proved to be far too easy to possess Ginny again, as the girl was exhausted from pouring more of herself into him. It proved even easier when he found no wards hindering his entrance into the dorm.
It became tricky, however, when Tom detected a layer of charms against his target's bed. A brief inspection showed them to be rudimentary privacy charms and a few more advanced ones, including one which explained how Potter had been able to delay his basilisk.
Tom considered simply killing the boy, but decided that would be too quick. He wanted him to suffer for his insolence first, before finally silencing him. Tonight, his work would focus only on the boy.
Tomorrow, he would begin with his allies.
XXX
A/N: a little spring cleaning real quick. First, I deliberately misquoted Shakespeare a few times. The point was to indicate which characters were familiar with his work and, more importantly, which characters have a better grasp on things.
Secondly, I wanted to address some concerns regarding Hermione. Yes, I basically fridged her, if only temporarily. I am aware of how sexist and how wrong that is, but I promise you it all serves a purpose and that purpose is NOT solely to the benefit of the boys, any teacher or Voldy. Promise.
Thirdly, I recognize that a lot of Harmony (Harry/Hermione) fics use Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson's names for the Drs. Granger, and that's sort of where I got this. While I am currently uninterested in pairings, I used their names because I've read so many Harmony fics that those names are ingrained into my brain. It's not a signal that I've settled on a Harmony pairing, or even any pairings at all.
Finally, I wanted to say how much I dislike having killed Mrs. Norris. I am a cat lover, and doing so made me very upset but in order to remain somewhat true to J.K.'s version of events, I felt it was necessary. Besides, this is a darker version of Chamber of Secrets with bits of Shakespeare thrown in.
Someone has to die to make it Shakespeare.