Chapter 35
An Old Man's Musings
AN:
I updated on a weekday, see???
I updated twice this week!
Some people... XcoughsXmomsangelXcoughsX should be very pleased...
Oh yes, I don't own HP
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Albus Dumbledore walked down the corridors of Hogwarts school in deep thought soon after Remus and Severus had left his office, a mood inspired by the events of the day's enlightening events that were cause of distress.
He had known of course that the Dursleys would not love Harry when he placed the child on the Dursley's doorstep so many years ago and Harry would grow up unloved and most definitely unspoiled, he had admitted as much to Harry himself the previous year when finally telling the boy about the prophecy, but he did not think that they would dislike him so much as to beat him. He had not believed that Petunia would have let her sister's son, her own blood, to be treated so badly.
"Hello Headmaster," the gossiping character named Violet said curtsying and stopping in a portrait of a rather badly done zebra herd. She was probably making her nightly rounds to get the last bit of gossip before everyone went to sleep. "How are you this evening."
"I'm in a ponderous mood my dear," the old man replied. "And how are you doing this evening? Well I hope?"
"Oh yes, very well," Violet said happily. "However, Loony… er… Luna Lovegood did manage to lose her Transfiguration book."
"Are you certain she lost it?" Dumbledore asked, having heard about the Ravenclaws' habit to take the girl's things.
"Oh yes, I saw it fall out of her bag while she was walking through the hallway. I tried to call her back but she said something about not falling for the tricks of Rumpled Still Tkins," Violet said looking confused.
"Ah, yes, that would be Miss Lovegood," Dumbledore said unable to resist a small chuckle. "She certainly took after her father."
"Oooh, he was an odd one also!" Violet agreed excitingly. "Why I remember when he was a sixth year… he managed to convince all of the first years that Severus Snape was part so all of them kept trying to see if he would levitate himself if the floor was too warm. James Potter and his gang were going to be punished for that until Lovegood was telling some second years the same thing in front of Professor Flitwick."
"Ah yes, I remember that incident as well," Dumbledore nodded. "If you do not mind though, I do need to continue along my way."
"Oh yes, yes of course," Violet said nodding quickly. "I need to get going as well."
"Goodnight then Violet," the headmaster said continuing his walk down the corridor, but this time his thoughts were on another boy who had an equally dreadful childhood.
Unlike Harry, no one who had given a damn had discovered Severus's secret until Dumbledore was training the man in Occlumency to become a spy against Voldemort. Needless to say when Albus discovered a few foul memories Severus had tried to deny those memories and went as far to claim that he had made them up to see if he could fool the headmaster. Dumbledore replied that if he was able to produce such potent psuedo-memories then he did not need any more lessons and would be able to face the Dark Lord while being able to hide the desire to see Him paralyzed, covered in lemon drops on top of an anthill in the middle of a thunderstorm, and asked the young man to do so that very instant. The potion's expert admitted that he was lying after several stalling tactics that had failed on the old man.
However Severus's problems could not have been blamed on Dumbledore foolishly putting him in a home where he knew there would be no love wasted on him. There was no reason to suspect that Severus Snape had a less than satisfactory childhood thanks to magic, potions to heal wounds in seconds, charms to hide scars, and curses to keep children's tongues still without even needing to be cast.
Dumbledore had been a teacher at Hogwarts for many, many years and he had rescued several children from abusive households, and they had all held the same signs that Harry had shown in varying degrees of severity, when he looked back on it even Severus had shown small signs here and there when he was in his first and second years, before he had mastered the mask that the present students of Hogwarts saw as "Greasy Git Snape."
However Dumbledore had known about the Dursleys' prejudice against Wizarding kind but had disregarded them, thinking that they would not harm a child, especially one who was related to them by blood.
The Headmaster stalled in front of the boy's bathroom on the fifth floor, looking at it somberly before continuing patrolling the hallway and nodded in greeting at the Bloody Baron, who was floating regaling through the wall ahead of him.
Things were not always what they seemed. That bathroom seemed innocent enough, but in all of the years the headmaster had lived in Hogwarts, be it as a student or as a teacher, somehow, three out of five suicide attempts that occurred in Hogwarts, occurred in that bathroom, and none of them had succeeded. That unremarkable bathroom which boys visited every day was one of the secrets Hogwarts held. That bathroom could be the only reason the Wizarding World's last hope for salvation was living.
Perhaps if he hadn't been so intent on seeing that the boy was happy for his time at school he would have seen that Harry was more than downtrodden at home. Perhaps if he had not been blind to the signs that Harry was suffering from painful events in his life. Perhaps if he had talked to Harry more before the end of the year after Sirius's death, Harry wouldn't have tried to take his own life.
Now he had to suffer his conscious while trying to heal the damage he had unintentionally inflicted on Harry, first by sending him to his relatives to live, and then by not telling him about the Prophecy which indirectly caused Sirius's death, the death of one of the few adults Harry had apparently trusted. However if he had a chance to do things over again, Dumbledore believed that he would still have placed Harry with the Dursleys, and that thought, more than any other, weighed on his conscious.
II
II
II
V
PLEASE REVIEW!
An Old Man's Musings
AN:
I updated on a weekday, see???
I updated twice this week!
Some people... XcoughsXmomsangelXcoughsX should be very pleased...
Oh yes, I don't own HP
II
II
II
V
Albus Dumbledore walked down the corridors of Hogwarts school in deep thought soon after Remus and Severus had left his office, a mood inspired by the events of the day's enlightening events that were cause of distress.
He had known of course that the Dursleys would not love Harry when he placed the child on the Dursley's doorstep so many years ago and Harry would grow up unloved and most definitely unspoiled, he had admitted as much to Harry himself the previous year when finally telling the boy about the prophecy, but he did not think that they would dislike him so much as to beat him. He had not believed that Petunia would have let her sister's son, her own blood, to be treated so badly.
"Hello Headmaster," the gossiping character named Violet said curtsying and stopping in a portrait of a rather badly done zebra herd. She was probably making her nightly rounds to get the last bit of gossip before everyone went to sleep. "How are you this evening."
"I'm in a ponderous mood my dear," the old man replied. "And how are you doing this evening? Well I hope?"
"Oh yes, very well," Violet said happily. "However, Loony… er… Luna Lovegood did manage to lose her Transfiguration book."
"Are you certain she lost it?" Dumbledore asked, having heard about the Ravenclaws' habit to take the girl's things.
"Oh yes, I saw it fall out of her bag while she was walking through the hallway. I tried to call her back but she said something about not falling for the tricks of Rumpled Still Tkins," Violet said looking confused.
"Ah, yes, that would be Miss Lovegood," Dumbledore said unable to resist a small chuckle. "She certainly took after her father."
"Oooh, he was an odd one also!" Violet agreed excitingly. "Why I remember when he was a sixth year… he managed to convince all of the first years that Severus Snape was part so all of them kept trying to see if he would levitate himself if the floor was too warm. James Potter and his gang were going to be punished for that until Lovegood was telling some second years the same thing in front of Professor Flitwick."
"Ah yes, I remember that incident as well," Dumbledore nodded. "If you do not mind though, I do need to continue along my way."
"Oh yes, yes of course," Violet said nodding quickly. "I need to get going as well."
"Goodnight then Violet," the headmaster said continuing his walk down the corridor, but this time his thoughts were on another boy who had an equally dreadful childhood.
Unlike Harry, no one who had given a damn had discovered Severus's secret until Dumbledore was training the man in Occlumency to become a spy against Voldemort. Needless to say when Albus discovered a few foul memories Severus had tried to deny those memories and went as far to claim that he had made them up to see if he could fool the headmaster. Dumbledore replied that if he was able to produce such potent psuedo-memories then he did not need any more lessons and would be able to face the Dark Lord while being able to hide the desire to see Him paralyzed, covered in lemon drops on top of an anthill in the middle of a thunderstorm, and asked the young man to do so that very instant. The potion's expert admitted that he was lying after several stalling tactics that had failed on the old man.
However Severus's problems could not have been blamed on Dumbledore foolishly putting him in a home where he knew there would be no love wasted on him. There was no reason to suspect that Severus Snape had a less than satisfactory childhood thanks to magic, potions to heal wounds in seconds, charms to hide scars, and curses to keep children's tongues still without even needing to be cast.
Dumbledore had been a teacher at Hogwarts for many, many years and he had rescued several children from abusive households, and they had all held the same signs that Harry had shown in varying degrees of severity, when he looked back on it even Severus had shown small signs here and there when he was in his first and second years, before he had mastered the mask that the present students of Hogwarts saw as "Greasy Git Snape."
However Dumbledore had known about the Dursleys' prejudice against Wizarding kind but had disregarded them, thinking that they would not harm a child, especially one who was related to them by blood.
The Headmaster stalled in front of the boy's bathroom on the fifth floor, looking at it somberly before continuing patrolling the hallway and nodded in greeting at the Bloody Baron, who was floating regaling through the wall ahead of him.
Things were not always what they seemed. That bathroom seemed innocent enough, but in all of the years the headmaster had lived in Hogwarts, be it as a student or as a teacher, somehow, three out of five suicide attempts that occurred in Hogwarts, occurred in that bathroom, and none of them had succeeded. That unremarkable bathroom which boys visited every day was one of the secrets Hogwarts held. That bathroom could be the only reason the Wizarding World's last hope for salvation was living.
Perhaps if he hadn't been so intent on seeing that the boy was happy for his time at school he would have seen that Harry was more than downtrodden at home. Perhaps if he had not been blind to the signs that Harry was suffering from painful events in his life. Perhaps if he had talked to Harry more before the end of the year after Sirius's death, Harry wouldn't have tried to take his own life.
Now he had to suffer his conscious while trying to heal the damage he had unintentionally inflicted on Harry, first by sending him to his relatives to live, and then by not telling him about the Prophecy which indirectly caused Sirius's death, the death of one of the few adults Harry had apparently trusted. However if he had a chance to do things over again, Dumbledore believed that he would still have placed Harry with the Dursleys, and that thought, more than any other, weighed on his conscious.
II
II
II
V
PLEASE REVIEW!