Chapter 25
Developing Distrust
AN: Hey! I got this up before ten at night!
Go me!
I don't own Harry Potter... but I might go see the third movie at midnight in my Graduation robes...
l
l
l
l
l
V
"Finite Incantum," Hermione said pointing her wand at the Headmaster. "Sorry, but I didn't want to take the risk. You picked an odd place for a meeting."
"Here's your wand Headmaster," Neville said quietly handing over the Headmaster's wand.
"Thank you Mr. Longbottom," Dumbledore said. "But now I must ask you to leave."
"Um… alright," Neville said nervously.
"Oh, and I would appreciate it if you kept this to yourself, Miss Granger was not to speak of this meeting to anyone," Dumbledore added casually as Neville handed Hermione Harry's invisibility cloak and turned toward the door.
"Yes sir," Neville said walking out of the door.
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore said happily. "I am glad to see you taking precautions. Would you care for a lemon drop?"
"No, thank you," Hermione said looking at the headmaster. "Why are we meeting in here?"
"Ah, yes, it does seem peculiar does it not?" Dumbledore said smiling. "I chose this room do to its amazing adaptation abilities. At the moment it has a silencing charm, a notice-me-not charm, and several locking charms on the door, and I did not have to put one of them up. Also there is only one portrait in this room and even though he's spying on us, he will not speak of this meeting to anyone else. I'm afraid that my office has too many portraits and visitors streaming in and out for a proper private conversation to occur."
Hermione nodded following the headmaster's line of thinking and though she heard a snort of disgust from the portrait of a forest. "Why are we meeting sir?"
"Oh… just for this and that," Dumbledore said. "How are your friends?"
"Fine," Hermione said warily.
"And I hope your reintroduction into the school went well?" Dumbledore continued, taking a bag of lemon drops out of his pocket and popped a lemon drop into his mouth.
"Yes," Hermione replied shortly realizing that the headmaster obviously wanted to play for a bit since none of the questions he was asking required that much privacy.
"And how did the students react to you three being out with 'Chicken Pox'?" the headmaster inquired.
"Disappointed," the Gryffindor said.
"Why were they disappointed?" Dumbledore asked.
"They wanted us to be training in the Himalayas," Hermione replied dryly.
"Ah, yes," Dumbledore said merrily. "I believe I heard that one. And there was one about Beautixbatons was there not?"
"Yes sir," Hermione said.
"And have you been invading Mr. Potter's privacy?" Dumbledore asked casually.
Hermione started slightly and looked the headmaster and said, "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about. I am not invading Harry's privacy. Why did you bring me here to ask that?"
"Miss granger, I believe you would make a fine Auror with a bit of training," Dumbledore said chuckling slightly. "Your friend Mr. Weasley would have answered before realizing that he had given away something he did not wish to."
"I'm just cautious sir. Harry has enough to deal with without me being careless and ending up hurt or being used to lure him somewhere," Hermione said.
"Caution is one of the greatest virtues an Auror may have," Dumbledore said sagely.
"And hesitation from caution could be deadly for an Auror," Hermione replied.
"You've also learned that," Dumbledore nodded to himself. "You've learned far too much for a sixth year student from accompanying Harry last year. Tell me, do you regret following him?"
"No," Hermione responded automatically.
"Even though you were hurt?" Dumbledore asked.
"No, he would have gone with or without me. He would have preferred without me. There was a possibility that if I didn't go then he would have gotten hurt instead of me," Hermione replied. "My regret is that I was unable to talk him out of going to the Department of Mysteries."
"Miss Granger, you would do anything for Mr. Potter, am I correct?" Dumbledore asked.
"No sir," Hermione replied.
"I'm wrong?" Dumbledore asked delighted.
"I would do anything within reason for him, but that is all. I will not jump off a cliff because he desires me to. I will not sell my soul to save his life. I would die for him before betraying him, but that is because he is my friend. I do not worship him like Deatheaters worship Voldemort," Hermione explained.
Dumbledore grinned, happy that Harry had such a friend at his side. "So I guess having him followed by House-elves at all times is reasonable then?"
"It would depend on the circumstances," Hermione said.
"Suppose it was to warn us if Death Eaters were attacking him," Dumbledore said having as much fun as when he has a conversation with the Potions Master when he's in an elusive mood.
"No, guards at all of the entrances and exits of the building would be enough along with anti-appartration wards," Hermione said.
"Then suppose it was to keep him from harming himself," Dumbledore said.
"Then it would be acceptable," Hermione said. She looked at the headmaster; tired of the game they were playing. "Sir, I ordered House-elves, who I have been trying to free for the past couple of years, not to tell anyone of my plans. How did you find them out? House-elves follow orders of their masters and as a student of Hogwarts, they follow my orders as if I owned them."
"Ah, yes," Dumbledore smiled. "Unfortunately for you, I gave them the same orders to watch Harry discretely in case he tries to do something. The house-elf I was speaking with said that they were already doing that and a free elf said that Harry Potter's miss gave the orders assuming it would be okay since I had given the same orders."
"I'm going to strangle Dobby," Hermione muttered under her breath. "Sir, why are you having Harry followed?"
"The same reason you are," the headmaster replied.
"Humor me," Hermione demanded without respect.
"I do not want Harry to try to kill himself again," Dumbledore said.
"Harry," Hermione noted.
"Yes, Harry," Dumbledore confirmed.
"If you believe that Harry might try to kill himself AGAIN then that must mean you believe he has tried to kill himself before. Which means you don't believe Harry's story about Voldemort possessing him," Hermione said hotly. "And if you don't believe it, then why the hell are you letting him walk around as if nothing has happened? He obviously needs help but I can't give that to him. All I can do is watch and try to keep him from killing himself. I'm not a psychologist! Here I was thinking the only people who actually thought he is capable of attempted suicide was Professor Snape and me! There was no way I could go to him and ask him to help Harry. Snape hates Harry! I thought that if I came to you, you would just have given me a lemon drop and sent me on my way! WHY aren't you making Harry get counseling?!"
"Because Miss Granger," the headmaster said. "I am still not certain that Mr. Potter is not telling the truth. Since the second day after he's awoken he's been acting as if he would have if Voldemort truly had possessed him to the teachers. And due to certain information that Harry and I share his story becomes more plausible. Why do you suspect he's tried to kill himself?"
"Small things really, he's keeping his grades up and all that stuff Muggle guidance councilors look for, but he's been eating less, he looks a tad more tired than usual, and when he woke up he swore more in five minutes than Fred, George, and Ron put together. He was ranting about the wrong thing."
"The wrong thing?" Dumbledore prompted.
"He kept going on about how you didn't believe him when he should have been ranting about why he wouldn't kill himself. So even if Voldemort did possess Harry, Harry's been thinking about it."
"Might I ask you how you know how to look for these things?" Dumbledore asked.
"My cousin tried to kill herself two years ago. I looked up everything I could find on the subject, but I didn't get to much before I joined the Weasleys' for the rest of the summer," Hermione explained.
"Thank you," the headmaster said. "I believe Gryffindor Quidditch practice should be over about now, perhaps you should get back to your common room so Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley do not become suspicious."
"All right sir," Hermione said putting the invisibility cloak into her bag. "I hope you become certain that Harry needs help soon, because I cannot do anything for him except be there, but he will not talk to me about that night. He won't talk to anyone about that night. I think he may be afraid of how we'll react."
"I'll keep that in mind," the headmaster said as Hermione left the room.
"Why isn't that girl in Slytherin?" Phineas asked after a minute of silence.
"Because she has just recently acquired the ability to distrust anyone. Trust gets in the way of being ruthless when you have a kind heart," Dumbledore replied.
"Are you saying Slytherins don't trust anyone?" Phineas demanded.
"No, just most Slytherins have the ability to distrust anyone they choose," Dumbledore replied. "This is not necessarily a bad thing, after all, that is how Severus became a spy for the light. He was able to distrust the Dark Lord enough to find out the truth on his own."
l
l
l
l
l
V
AN: I had Hermione acting rather Slytherinish didn't I?
And she was kind of out of character, swearing at the headmaster... HONESTLY!
But maybe you can understand why...
PLEASE REVIEW!
(Threat of cliffie still in effect)
Developing Distrust
AN: Hey! I got this up before ten at night!
Go me!
I don't own Harry Potter... but I might go see the third movie at midnight in my Graduation robes...
l
l
l
l
l
V
"Finite Incantum," Hermione said pointing her wand at the Headmaster. "Sorry, but I didn't want to take the risk. You picked an odd place for a meeting."
"Here's your wand Headmaster," Neville said quietly handing over the Headmaster's wand.
"Thank you Mr. Longbottom," Dumbledore said. "But now I must ask you to leave."
"Um… alright," Neville said nervously.
"Oh, and I would appreciate it if you kept this to yourself, Miss Granger was not to speak of this meeting to anyone," Dumbledore added casually as Neville handed Hermione Harry's invisibility cloak and turned toward the door.
"Yes sir," Neville said walking out of the door.
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore said happily. "I am glad to see you taking precautions. Would you care for a lemon drop?"
"No, thank you," Hermione said looking at the headmaster. "Why are we meeting in here?"
"Ah, yes, it does seem peculiar does it not?" Dumbledore said smiling. "I chose this room do to its amazing adaptation abilities. At the moment it has a silencing charm, a notice-me-not charm, and several locking charms on the door, and I did not have to put one of them up. Also there is only one portrait in this room and even though he's spying on us, he will not speak of this meeting to anyone else. I'm afraid that my office has too many portraits and visitors streaming in and out for a proper private conversation to occur."
Hermione nodded following the headmaster's line of thinking and though she heard a snort of disgust from the portrait of a forest. "Why are we meeting sir?"
"Oh… just for this and that," Dumbledore said. "How are your friends?"
"Fine," Hermione said warily.
"And I hope your reintroduction into the school went well?" Dumbledore continued, taking a bag of lemon drops out of his pocket and popped a lemon drop into his mouth.
"Yes," Hermione replied shortly realizing that the headmaster obviously wanted to play for a bit since none of the questions he was asking required that much privacy.
"And how did the students react to you three being out with 'Chicken Pox'?" the headmaster inquired.
"Disappointed," the Gryffindor said.
"Why were they disappointed?" Dumbledore asked.
"They wanted us to be training in the Himalayas," Hermione replied dryly.
"Ah, yes," Dumbledore said merrily. "I believe I heard that one. And there was one about Beautixbatons was there not?"
"Yes sir," Hermione said.
"And have you been invading Mr. Potter's privacy?" Dumbledore asked casually.
Hermione started slightly and looked the headmaster and said, "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about. I am not invading Harry's privacy. Why did you bring me here to ask that?"
"Miss granger, I believe you would make a fine Auror with a bit of training," Dumbledore said chuckling slightly. "Your friend Mr. Weasley would have answered before realizing that he had given away something he did not wish to."
"I'm just cautious sir. Harry has enough to deal with without me being careless and ending up hurt or being used to lure him somewhere," Hermione said.
"Caution is one of the greatest virtues an Auror may have," Dumbledore said sagely.
"And hesitation from caution could be deadly for an Auror," Hermione replied.
"You've also learned that," Dumbledore nodded to himself. "You've learned far too much for a sixth year student from accompanying Harry last year. Tell me, do you regret following him?"
"No," Hermione responded automatically.
"Even though you were hurt?" Dumbledore asked.
"No, he would have gone with or without me. He would have preferred without me. There was a possibility that if I didn't go then he would have gotten hurt instead of me," Hermione replied. "My regret is that I was unable to talk him out of going to the Department of Mysteries."
"Miss Granger, you would do anything for Mr. Potter, am I correct?" Dumbledore asked.
"No sir," Hermione replied.
"I'm wrong?" Dumbledore asked delighted.
"I would do anything within reason for him, but that is all. I will not jump off a cliff because he desires me to. I will not sell my soul to save his life. I would die for him before betraying him, but that is because he is my friend. I do not worship him like Deatheaters worship Voldemort," Hermione explained.
Dumbledore grinned, happy that Harry had such a friend at his side. "So I guess having him followed by House-elves at all times is reasonable then?"
"It would depend on the circumstances," Hermione said.
"Suppose it was to warn us if Death Eaters were attacking him," Dumbledore said having as much fun as when he has a conversation with the Potions Master when he's in an elusive mood.
"No, guards at all of the entrances and exits of the building would be enough along with anti-appartration wards," Hermione said.
"Then suppose it was to keep him from harming himself," Dumbledore said.
"Then it would be acceptable," Hermione said. She looked at the headmaster; tired of the game they were playing. "Sir, I ordered House-elves, who I have been trying to free for the past couple of years, not to tell anyone of my plans. How did you find them out? House-elves follow orders of their masters and as a student of Hogwarts, they follow my orders as if I owned them."
"Ah, yes," Dumbledore smiled. "Unfortunately for you, I gave them the same orders to watch Harry discretely in case he tries to do something. The house-elf I was speaking with said that they were already doing that and a free elf said that Harry Potter's miss gave the orders assuming it would be okay since I had given the same orders."
"I'm going to strangle Dobby," Hermione muttered under her breath. "Sir, why are you having Harry followed?"
"The same reason you are," the headmaster replied.
"Humor me," Hermione demanded without respect.
"I do not want Harry to try to kill himself again," Dumbledore said.
"Harry," Hermione noted.
"Yes, Harry," Dumbledore confirmed.
"If you believe that Harry might try to kill himself AGAIN then that must mean you believe he has tried to kill himself before. Which means you don't believe Harry's story about Voldemort possessing him," Hermione said hotly. "And if you don't believe it, then why the hell are you letting him walk around as if nothing has happened? He obviously needs help but I can't give that to him. All I can do is watch and try to keep him from killing himself. I'm not a psychologist! Here I was thinking the only people who actually thought he is capable of attempted suicide was Professor Snape and me! There was no way I could go to him and ask him to help Harry. Snape hates Harry! I thought that if I came to you, you would just have given me a lemon drop and sent me on my way! WHY aren't you making Harry get counseling?!"
"Because Miss Granger," the headmaster said. "I am still not certain that Mr. Potter is not telling the truth. Since the second day after he's awoken he's been acting as if he would have if Voldemort truly had possessed him to the teachers. And due to certain information that Harry and I share his story becomes more plausible. Why do you suspect he's tried to kill himself?"
"Small things really, he's keeping his grades up and all that stuff Muggle guidance councilors look for, but he's been eating less, he looks a tad more tired than usual, and when he woke up he swore more in five minutes than Fred, George, and Ron put together. He was ranting about the wrong thing."
"The wrong thing?" Dumbledore prompted.
"He kept going on about how you didn't believe him when he should have been ranting about why he wouldn't kill himself. So even if Voldemort did possess Harry, Harry's been thinking about it."
"Might I ask you how you know how to look for these things?" Dumbledore asked.
"My cousin tried to kill herself two years ago. I looked up everything I could find on the subject, but I didn't get to much before I joined the Weasleys' for the rest of the summer," Hermione explained.
"Thank you," the headmaster said. "I believe Gryffindor Quidditch practice should be over about now, perhaps you should get back to your common room so Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley do not become suspicious."
"All right sir," Hermione said putting the invisibility cloak into her bag. "I hope you become certain that Harry needs help soon, because I cannot do anything for him except be there, but he will not talk to me about that night. He won't talk to anyone about that night. I think he may be afraid of how we'll react."
"I'll keep that in mind," the headmaster said as Hermione left the room.
"Why isn't that girl in Slytherin?" Phineas asked after a minute of silence.
"Because she has just recently acquired the ability to distrust anyone. Trust gets in the way of being ruthless when you have a kind heart," Dumbledore replied.
"Are you saying Slytherins don't trust anyone?" Phineas demanded.
"No, just most Slytherins have the ability to distrust anyone they choose," Dumbledore replied. "This is not necessarily a bad thing, after all, that is how Severus became a spy for the light. He was able to distrust the Dark Lord enough to find out the truth on his own."
l
l
l
l
l
V
AN: I had Hermione acting rather Slytherinish didn't I?
And she was kind of out of character, swearing at the headmaster... HONESTLY!
But maybe you can understand why...
PLEASE REVIEW!
(Threat of cliffie still in effect)