The Philosopher's Stone
Chapter Nineteen
Fighting
Yuery had spent years in his Ethics of Leadership classes. He had been lectured over and over by his tutors and teachers and father's subordinates on how his behavior reflected on his father and grandfather. He had learned to keep his temper, a feat that surpassed his father. All of this was forgotten when he walked into the Great Hall and saw Crabbe and Goyle sitting with Draco sandwiched in between them.
He had expected that Snape would have already handled the situation, he had been informed ages ago after all. Snape was nowhere to be seen, McGonagall was also missing, as were all of the professors, from the high table. Draco looked miserable, which was Yuery's only excuse afterward when he stormed over to the Slytherin table and punched Crabbe straight in the jaw as the boy stole a roll off of Draco's plate.
Goyle jumped to his feet to defend Crabbe, with Draco jumping on his back before he could land a blow on Yuery. Somehow, Neville and Ron ended up in the mix, along with Blaise Zambini, Pansy Parkinson, and Hermione. Ron's brother Percy and the Slytherin's prefects were attempting to break up the fight when the professors came into the room.
Yuery, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Neville stood to one side. Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Pansy Parkinson, and Blaise Zambini on the other. Draco had refused to stand with his dormmates, not that Yuery could blame him. Apparently, the teachers felt the same as neither Snape nor McGonagall pushed the subject.
"Fighting is never acceptable." McGonagall began the lecture. "What in the world started this?"
"Potter punched Crabbe for no reason!" Pansy said pointing her finger.
"Elric." Yuery corrected. "I had a reason. Crabbe was bullying Draco. I already brought this to your attention earlier, but when I arrived in the hall there were no professors in sight and they had him forced between them and stealing his food."
"Elric, be that as it may, you are not allowed to hit other students. I have the matter well in hand." Snape said.
"You will all serve detention, and I will be writing your parents." McGonagall added.
"Not with them, please!" Ron demanded, pointing at the others.
"Of course not. We wouldn't want another fight to break out." Snape sneered. "Crabbe, Goyle. Remain. The rest of you may go."
They walked out of the room slowly, Draco stopping the others as soon as they were away from the door. "You shouldn't have done that, Yuery. Snape already had them on warning, they were going to get it as soon as he saw them."
"I wasn't going to just sit there and let them torment you Draco." Yuery said.
"Why were we fighting anyway?" Neville asked.
"Why did you get involved Neville?" Hermione asked. "You didn't even know what was happening."
"Well, I couldn't let Yuery get outnumbered!" Neville said. "My grandmother is going to kill me."
"So is my mother." Ron moaned. "I'm definitely getting a Howler." Neville nodded sadly.
"At least we weren't expelled." Hermione added.
Draco left them then before they could get into more trouble for lurking in hallways, he was to wait for Snape who had made other sleeping arrangements for Draco until he could settle the matter of Crabbe and Goyle. Yuery had wanted to stay with him, but the others insisted he not press his luck and he realized they were right.
Like the others, he knew his father was going to hear about this. Like the others, he was worried about how his parents were going to react. His Dad had never said anything about his behavior reflecting on them as leaders. His Dad never had to say it because so many others had said it. At least, he thought with a frown, if he was going to lose his temper it happened here where no one from home would ever know about it.
They weren't expecting the common room to be crowded when they arrived, but the entire Gryffindor student body was waiting for them. They clapped as the group came in and cheered. Apparently, most of them felt that the Slytherins got what they deserved. The Weasley twins certainly did, as they came up to congratulate them on winning the fight. Yuery rolled his eyes. He hadn't started the fight because they were Slytherin. He had started it because they were bullies, and he would have no matter their house.
Percy Weasley was frowning at them with disapproval. Ron was doing his best to ignore Percy, while retelling the fight to the twins and the others who had missed seeing it firsthand. Yuery, Hermione, and Neville slipped away to a quieter corner. Neville looked miserable, still concerned with what his grandmother was going to say about the whole thing.
As predicted, the letters arrived the next morning. Neville and Ron both received Howlers. The voices of Ron's mother and Neville's grandmother overlapping as they screamed at the boys. "Never in my life have I been so mortified! If your father could see you now- "Neville's grandmother screamed as Ron's mother yelled "None of your brothers managed to get caught fighting of all things- "
Both boys sunk into their seats as the other students watched. Yuery almost missed his father's owl arriving in the middle of the chaos, and Hermione gasped as a school owl dropped a note in her mother's handwriting. "They didn't waste any time, did they?" she asked miserably, before opening her thankfully silent letter.
Yuery took his own and thanked the bird, offering it some of his bacon before opening his own mail.
Yuery Alphonse Rockbelle Mustang Elric!
What were you thinking?! Did I not JUST
Remind you to keep your head down?!
Do not make me come back there!
The note wasn't signed, Yuery didn't need it to be. He knew his father's writing. Dad was mad at him. Not because he got into a fight, but because he drew attention to himself. Attention that would possibly draw him into the Headmaster's office, without anyone from home able to interfere. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Armstrong was here, and Dad trusted the man with Yuery's life. If need be, Severus would come to his rescue but that would ruin his undercover mission.
Yuery was miserable. He hadn't thought of that until now. He knew his Dad and Severus were looking for something in the school and that's why they had agreed to let him attend this year despite his father's misgivings. Here he was starting fights. He had wanted to deal with this himself, both the issue with the bullying and the strange rat issue, and he had promised himself he would do it without causing any trouble for his Dad.
He'd done a fine job of that hadn't he? Instead, here he was causing trouble. He knew better. Everything he did had repercussions. Well, he just had to do better from now on. Looking back on it, he would have done better to have punched the two of them when they caught up with them in the courtyard. Less witnesses. Fighting in front of the majority of the student body had been a terrible move, that got more people caught up in it than was necessary. He wondered if Blaise was mad at him now.
He noticed Dumbledore watching their table and tried to keep his head down. Hopefully, the man just let this go and didn't use it as a reason to call him into the office. His father would be livid when he found out, and Dad would find out. McGonagall was now whispering with the Headmaster, and judging by her gesturing, he assumed she was debating the right to handle her house as she saw fit. She seemed to be losing the argument. Armstrong was frowning at a letter of his own, before glaring in the Headmaster's direction.
Yuery watched dully as more Howlers arrived to the Slytherin table and the others were screamed at for getting into a fight. Ron winced in sympathy as Hermione miserably reread the note from her mother and Neville tried to be invisible. Surprisingly, like Yuery and Hermione, Draco's letter was not a red Howler but a normal parchment roll. He read it silently among the screaming heard by his classmates then tucked it into his robes with a small frown.
"Did you finish your potions homework?" Yuery suddenly asked Ron to distract them from the trouble they were all in.
"No. I got caught up talking to everyone last night and then it was late." Ron said.
"You mean you were enjoying the attention." Hermione said with a snort. "How much do you have left to go?"
"Eight inches." Ron mumbled.
"You didn't even start it?!" Yuery demanded.
"I did! I labeled the scroll and put my name on it." Ron said. "Hermione, can I look at your answers, just this once?"
"No Ronald. How will you learn if you just copy?" Hermione demanded looking angry that he asked.
"You can see mine." Neville offered. "I don't get top marks like Hermione but its better than nothing."
"Okay. Yuery, could I see yours too, maybe I can use both and it won't seem as suspicious." Ron asked.
"I'm with Hermione on this one Ron. You had a week, so you can't just blame it on the excitement from last night." Yuery shook his head. "I mean you could try to ask Draco, but he'll probably say the same."
"Never mind, I'll ask Seamus." Ron said as he slid further down the table to do just that, Neville following him to let him see Neville homework.
"Honestly. He's just going to get himself in trouble again." Hermione huffed. "Snape will know he copied."
"Probably. He might get away with it if he borrows enough papers. He should have just done the assignment." Yuery rolled his eyes. "He spends more time avoiding homework than he would if he just did it."
Hermione opened her mouth to respond when Percy appeared beside them, handing off a note to Yuery. "I was told to give you this. What is it Ron's done now?"
"Oh, nothing important." Hermione said quickly, not wanting to get Ron into more trouble. Percy did not look like he believed her but walked on to join his friends further down the table.
The twins, Fred and George, sat down next to them before Yuery could open the note. "Hello Yuery, Hermione. How are you this fine morning?" Fred asked.
"Ours has been great. It's always nice to have one of mother's howlers come to someone beside us." George added.
"I assume I will get detention, likely what this is." Yuery said as he opened the note. He frowned when he saw it was a summons to the Headmaster office. Well, his father was going to kill him. Then his grandfather was going to bring him back and kill him again. THEN, his mother was going to ground him for the rest of his life. When he voiced this prediction to Hermione, she laughed at him like he was joking!
According to the other paper, he was to present himself in the front hall at 10 tonight for his punishment. Hermione's paper said the same, so he assumed all of them would be together at least. He had no idea why it was set so late, and neither did Hermione. They wondered about it for a few minutes before the bell rang and everyone stood gathering their things for class.
Yuery separated from the others to head toward the Headmaster's office after asking Ron and Hermione to let Snape know why he was running late. He hoped they passed on the message, though they both seemed doubtful about it. His Dad had warned him against meeting the man alone. The plan had been to be sure Snape knew about it if he was ever summoned so Snape could conveniently appear and keep Yuery safe. He didn't see another choice but to go to the meeting though, he was already in so much trouble.
Yuery made his way to the Headmaster's office and waited at the statue. He had not been given the password but wasn't left waiting long as Dumbledore appeared next to him moments later. Dumbledore lead him up to the office through a winding staircase. Dumbledore gestured for Yuery to sit and sat behind his desk.
"I have been meaning to talk to you since you returned from Christmas." Dumbledore began kindly. "I feel our last conversation did not go well."
"Are you adding to my punishment? I know I broke the rules fighting, sir." Yuery replied, ignoring the statement about their last conversation.
"No, no not at all." Dumbledore said with a small smile. "I understand this entire situation has been overwhelming for you, You're understandably unsettled, and it can manifest in difficult ways."
"Unsettled?" Yuery asked confused.
"I have heard you react negatively to the staff and fellow students addressing you by your proper name, Harry." Dumbledore sighed sadly. "I understand this must all be shocking to you, to arrive here only to learn that you have been deceived your entire life. By people you thought you could trust."
"Okay." Yuery said carefully. "I don't know why you would think that because my Dad never lied to me about anything."
"Then why do you protest your name so deeply? It is because until you arrived you believed that man to be your father. Part of you is still clinging to that idea, and that's understandable. However, I want only the best for you, and I want you to know who your real parents are because they were heroes Harry, they loved you very much."
"I already know that! I was told my entire life that my mother died shielding me. My first family loved me very much, but that doesn't change who I am!" Yuery said as he stood annoyed with this man. "My mother and father, my grandparents, my siblings all love me and care for me and I am tired of every conversation with you implying otherwise. They are my family! I am Yuery Elric, not Harry Potter. I will never be Harry Potter, you need to let that go, all of you."
"Calm down my boy. I am not trying to offend you. I am simply offering to tell you your true history." Dumbledore said calmly before there was a knock at the door.
Snape stepped inside without waiting for a response glaring at Dumbledore. "I will be taking my student now. He is missing a quiz." Snape said calmly.
"We are not finished with our conversation." Dumbledore replied. "He can complete his test later."
"I do not think so, Albus." Snape replied. "Need I remind you the conditions of his enrollment?"
Dumbledore's face contorted briefly before waving the boy away. "Very well, we will speak again soon Mr. Potter."
"It's Elric for the last time." Yuery said, not caring anymore about keeping his head down. It was clear to him that Dumbledore intended to find more reasons for meetings even if Yuery stayed well behaved the rest of the year. He wasn't going to be addressed by the wrong name though.
"Come, Elric. You have a test." Snape said as he leads the boy from the room by the shoulder, as they were on their way down the stairs he sighed heavily. "You truly are your father's son."
"…Thank you." Yuery said, as Armstrong appeared on the stairs clearly intending to interrupt the meeting with the Headmaster. He nodded to the two of them, and Snape nodded in return before Armstrong continued up to the office. Yuery could hear Armstrong's angry yells as they headed toward the dungeons.
