Slytherin Attitude

Chapter 2

Order meeting - June 28, 1996

It was late at night and there were very few lights still visible in the Hogwarts Castle. This room in one of the highest towers was among the few exceptions. The meeting of the Order of the Phoenix was slowly rolling to an end and the atmosphere was rather subdued. The relief at having Voldemort's return acknowledged by the Ministry was contrasting with the recent death of Sirius Black. Since the events at the Ministry of Magic a few weeks prior, there had been no Death Eater activities across the wizarding world and it felt like the calm before the storm.

"Any other subject that we need to discuss before adjourning for the day, or should I say the night" asked Albus Dumbledore, looking around the table with a small smile.

At that point, Kingsley Shacklebolt, raised his head and his eyes crossed the old headmaster's, doubt written on his face. His attitude surprised Dumbledore. Kingsley was not usually one to hesitate. He was one of the most direct person Albus knew.

"Is there something troubling you, Kingsley? Any problem at the Ministry" prodded Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling slightly.

"No, the Ministry goes its own slow way under the enlightened direction of our glorious Minister of Magic" snorted the dark skinned Auror. "It's about Harry Potter."

Instantly, the room grew tense. Harry Potter was Dumbledore's protégé. They did not know exactly why, but they all knew that The Boy-Who-Lived was important to this war that had just started… Even if they did not know exactly how or why? Across the room, there were very different feelings toward the teenager, ranging from profound care to utter disdain. But, in any case, they wanted to know what was troubling Kingsley.

"What about Harry? Are there any problems with the wards" slowly asked Arthur Weasley, his concern for this son's best friend clear in his voice.

"No. The wards are fine. Te protections surrounding Privet Drive are untouched" answered Shacklebolt and after a moment "It's more his attitude which his a problem."

"What has the brat done again" snarled Severus Snape "Tried to escape, more underage magic, some other stupid attention getting prank "

"Severus, the boy has just lost his Godfather, give him a break" answered somewhat hotly Molly Weasley. Her concern for Harry echoing her husband's.

"It's more like what he hasn't done" interrupted Kingsley "I have been in charge of monitoring Privet Drive this summer and Harry's attitude is quite troubling. He just doesn't seem to do anything. He stays in his room all day. He doesn't seem to eat. He just stares at the window the whole day and most of the night. His sleeping patterns are inexistent. He has nightmares … I mean I can hear him yelling in his sleep from across the street and …"

At this point, Kingsley speech stopped. He had been more and more forcefully and suddenly he stopped, as if he did not want to voice his idea.

"And …" gently pushed Albus.

"And… I believe he may be suicidal, Albus".

At that word all hell broke loose. Molly Weasley just gasped and started crying. Severus Snape snorted. And various "Come on" "You can't be serious" echoed through the room until Dumbledore silenced them all with one powerful word, before continuing. "How did you get to that conclusion, Kingsley" he asked, all his attention focused on Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Even as a senior Auror, being on the reception of the most powerful wizard of the age full attention was somewhat intimidating and the Auror had to mentally shake himself before replying without stuttering "Last night, under an invisibility cloak, I hovered near his opened window as he was yelling in his sleep. It was difficult to understand what he was saying but he was obviously replaying the Ministry's events of a few weeks ago, in a loop. And it didn't get any better; it even seemed to get more and more gory at each repetition. When he finally woke up after may be an hour, he started shaking and silently crying. And then he started talking to his owl. He was not totally coherent but the gist of the matter was fairly clear. It all revolved around half a dozen points: he felt totally alone and abandoned, he wanted a real family, he could not support the abuse anymore, he did not want to save the world, he did not want to be a murderer and finally he would like to die so as not to endanger his friends anymore. After some time and many repetitions around the same themes, he started rambling about dying and at one point he said very distinctively 'It would be so easy to die'. Bottom line, I believe the kid needs help or he may not make it through the summer …"

Snape had heard enough. "You couldn't spare us the Potter pity party, Kingsley. What's his problem? The golden boy of Gryffindor has lost his Godfather, so what? He had known him for a few months at most. It's not like he had known him for all his life … and anyway Black was a danger to everybody …" Snape suddenly stopped his angry tirade. He had seemingly lost his mouth and was confronted by an extremely irate Nymphadora Tonks, her wand pointed directly at him.

"Do not talk about Sirius like that! He was worth ten of you. Harry as well! For your information, it doesn't matter how long you have known someone to have feelings for them." She paused for a second and looking at him with scorn she said "But what do you know about feelings anyway"

As Snape started to draw his wand, Dumbledore bellowed "Stop it you two! Severus, holster your wand! Tonks, give him back his mouth" Tonks muttered but complied and soon the two protagonists were once more sitting, sullenly, at the table.

A seemingly shaken Albus continued in a very subdued "Thank you Kingsley. I did not imagine that Harry's condition was that severe. I need to think about it, but in the mean time I am willing to hear any suggestion on how to brighten Harry's mind."

All the members of the Order were shocked. Never Albus had asked for their input regarding Harry. He had always been his pet project and he kept his cards very close to his chest. It was a testimony to Dumbledore's surprise that he asked for their contribution in this matter.

"Harry wants to become an Auror, maybe we could arrange for him to train. He is a good defence student but he is far from Auror level. Do you think we could get the underage magic restriction raised for him this summer" slowly asked a concerned Minerva McGonagall. She hated to think that one of her student could be considered suicidal, especially Harry whom liked at least as much as she had liked his parents.

Dumbledore shook his head "I doubt it Minerva. Cornelius is not really fond of Harry, which is an easy way to say that he despises him. He will block anything which is not deemed essential to Harry's survival, even if I push for it. So as long as he is in charge …"

Mundungus Fletcher raised a hand and said "Quidditch camp"

"What do you mean" asked Arthur Weasley, obviously interested by the subject.

"Well, Puddlemere United organizes this summer a development camp for teen-age Quidditch players who want to make it in the pros. It starts next week and as Harry is an excellent seeker …"

"That's not an option, Mundungus" interrupted Albus"Harry must stay at his aunt's home for some time, at least until his birthday"

"Mundungus, don't ever mention this Quidditch camp to Ron or Ginny" said somewhat distractedly Molly Weasley. "Albus, I suppose the Burrow is also out of the question"

Dumbledore nodded silently then turned toward Tonks and asked her "What did you say, Nymphadora"

"Hmmmm, nothing Albus" answered a blushing Tonks.

"I believed she said something like 'Sex'" interjected a smiling Emmeline Vance who was sitting next to Tonks. That raised a few eyes and chuckles across the room.

"Well, that kind of make sense, he is a teenager after all. Are you proposing your services Tonks" said a leering Alastor Moody.

Tonks was obviously distraught, the colour of her hairs switched from pink to blue to green and back to pink in a rapid succession, clear sign she was stressed. She shook herself and stabilized her vivid display before answering, visibly peeved "No! I mean Harry is a nice bloke, but he is too short and too skinny for my taste. I don't even know if he likes girls. Why don't you give it a try"

Moody suddenly stopped smiling. "As a matter of fact, you're right, Tonks. He is skinny and short as if his growth had been stunted at some point. Albus, if I remember correctly, James was much taller at his age and Lily wasn't a skinny girl either. She wasn't fat or even ample but she had curves, … not like her sister… What could he mean by the 'abuse' comment? Albus, could he have been referring to his Muggle relatives"

In the following silence, all the eyes turned to Dumbledore who looked thoughtful "You may be right, Alastor I hope not but you may be right. I must say that I have always been more concerned by external threats to Harry than by any potential familial feud."

"Ron always asked me to bake cakes and he always looked thinner when he arrived at the Burrow than when we had left him at King's Cross" interjected Molly.

Arthur, following his wife's lead, continued "I must say his uncle seemed awfully rude each time I saw him. We know they did not treat him well. But I'm starting to think it could have been much worse than that"

Dumbledore stood up and started walking alongside the table. After a moment he turned toward them. "Kingsley, I want you to go to Privet Drive and try to get any information regarding Harry's treatment by his relatives. Speak to Mrs Figg, to the neighbours. If necessary, don't hesitate to Legilimens them, I know it's not one of your better skills but you should be good enough to pass through any Muggle natural shield. Try to be discreet. Obliviate only if necessary" Looking at the others, he said "However Harry has been treated in the past, we need to make sure he is alright this summer. That must be our priority. I must say I am very concerned by his mental state following the events of the last year."

Moody had been silent for a while, half listening to the various propositions of the Order members. After having reached his own conclusion, he waited for a silence in the discussion and asked Dumbledore.

"Albus, is he that important to this war"

"Yes Alastor, he is" simply answered the old headmaster.

"OK! The more I think about it, the more I believe is growth has been stunted. Abuse, underfeeding, whatever, but at close to sixteen, Harry has the body of a thirteen years old. He doesn't even seem to have completely been through puberty yet. We all know that it has an impact on his magical development. He is already powerful but he could be much more."

Everybody was listening to the old Auror. "Here is what I propose. I will get him through an intensive physical training to get him in shape, something even more rigorous than Auror training."

At this, Tonks and Kingsley winced. They knew that Moody wasn't jesting and they were feeling slightly sorry for Harry.

"I will stay with him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, which will also allow me to keep an eye on his relatives. I will enlarge his room so that we can have a little gym in there. Albus, I'll need a house elf to make sure we can concentrate on our goals. I'll bring my own books to give him some basic training in tactics and deployment during the rest periods. I'll bring a magical dummy from the Auror Academy for the Martial arts. As he won't be able to go out to run, I'll also need to get a few of these Muggle fitness machines. Bottom line, I guarantee you that when I am done with him at night, he won't have the energy to have any nightmare." finished a chuckling Moody.

"And how do you plan to make him cooperate? He isn't the most assiduous of students, you know" asked Severus Snape, doubt clearly written on his face.

Before a reddening Minerva could answer, Mad-Eye turned toward Snape and told him seriously "Don't worry Severus, I have done that for many years. I know exactly which button to push to stop … his pity party as you said I believe." And after a pause, he looked at Dumbledore and said "Seriously Albus, I can make him do it. For a time, I can make him sweep his problems under the rug so to speak… but I can't fix him. That's your job… or at least your responsibility."

Albus Dumbledore looked at Moody for a long time, as if trying to assuage his own doubts and finally said smiling.

"All right, Alastor, he is yours. Do your worst … and thank you"