The Good, the "Bad" and the Coward

'What happened?' Inquired the Headmaster of Hogwarts as he was carrying Harry to the infirmary, Snape on his heels.

'The boy wanted to speak to you… as he had tried countlessly since his Hearing.'

'My dear Severus, is that reproach I detect in your voice?' Asked Dumbledore while glancing at his Potions Master.

'You know as well as me about my opinion on your methods,' answered Snape ignoring the bait.

'Indeed. But as I already explained, it's for his own good.'

'Or is it for yours?'

They had arrived in the infirmary and Dumbledore laid Harry on an empty bed.

'Since when do you care about Harry?' Asked Dumbledore while turning his gaze towards Snape.

'I don't. I just think that you have other reasons to ignore the boy than simply his well-being.'

Dumbledore smiled politely and turned his attention on Harry. Madam Pomfrey rushed towards them and started to inspect Harry while muttering diagnostic charms. The Headmaster couldn't help but notice how pale and exhausted the boy looked. He knew that ignoring him would cause him concerns, but he hadn't expected it would have impacted him so much. He sighed and was about to turn away when he noticed something on Harry's hand.

As gently as possible he took it and rolled up the sleeve. What he saw froze him.

'I must not tell lies.'

The words were carved in the boy's flesh, but the wound wasn't fresh. Which meant that whatever had caused this had been strong enough to ensure the scar would remain.

'This has been going on for a long time,' said Snape in a low voice.

'What do you mean?'

'I surprised the boy wandering in the corridors back in September,' explained Snape annoyed. 'Though he thought he had succeeded in hiding it from me, I found out one of his hands must have been bleeding profusely. He stained a window frame and I had to clean it.'

'And you didn't tell me?' Asked Dumbledore as calmly as possible.

'I didn't know what it was exactly,' replied Snape annoyed. 'Given his background, it could have been anything. How could I have imagined that you missed something that serious?'

Dumbledore didn't flinch as Severus was right. He had avoided the boy, but that didn't mean he had stopped paying attention to him. However, if the boy had managed to conceal this, even to him, that meant the situation had escaped him the worse way possible. Dumbledore could only wonder what else he had missed.

Snape approached Harry and grabbed the bruised hand to inspect it with a frown. He hated Harry, but this was the work of a bully. And he couldn't stand those types of people.

'This was caused by a Black Quill,' he muttered with disgust.

'Obviously,' replied Dumbledore with an absent look. 'The real question is who did this?'

'I may have an idea,' replied Snape while letting go of the hand. 'But without proof I can't be sure. Although I heard she drinks tea a lot. A few drops of Veritaserum…'

'No,' replied firmly Dumbledore. 'This would be breaking the law and would render any confession invalid.'

'Then you may want to question two students who will surely know a bit more about this,' said Snape.

'They won't speak to me,' sighed Dumbledore. 'At least not if I ask them to, they are too loyal to Harry.'

'What does this have to do with loyalty?' Asked Snape irritated by Dumbledore's answer. They were teenagers, what could they know about loyalty?

'What would you do if a friend with whom you defied death more than once asked you to not tell his secret?' Replied Dumbledore calmly. 'The friendship that bonds Harry to Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley is way stronger than what you can expect from students this age.' He raised his look on Snape. 'I am going to inform Minerva about the situation so she can take care of this in my absence.'

'You're going somewhere?'

'Yes, and unfortunately, I cannot share the destination nor the reason with you.'

'What about the boy?' Asked Snape while nodding towards Harry.

'I'll deal with it in due time,' replied Dumbledore while turning away.

Snape watched the Headmaster leave the infirmary in a hurried step, reflecting on what he had just witnessed. He trusted Dumbledore as he had faith in his wisdom, but the Headmaster hadn't expected this. He reported his attention on Harry, realising that whatever the boy was up too, he had managed to do it under the very nose of the most powerful wizard of all time. He glanced at the wound and refrained a groan. No one deserved that kind of treatment, even James's son.

Before leaving the infirmary in his turn, he made a halt in the main office.

'Yes Severus, what can I do for you?' Asked Madam Pomfrey as she was getting a tray ready with various treatments.

'Please make sure to give Mr. Potter a double dosage of Blood Replenishing potion for the next five days,' he instructed.

'Thank you for the advice,' smiled Pomfrey. 'It's nice to see you care about the students.'

'It's not… Anyway, I'll have the necessary delivered to you later this evening.'

He left without waiting for any reply.

'Good evening, Albus,' greeted the professor McGonagall as she entered the Headmaster's office. 'I thought you had already left.'

'I would even say that, at this time, I should have already arrived at my destination, my dear Minerva,' replied Dumbledore. 'However, a detail came to my attention seconds before my departure, and I had to postpone it.'

McGonagall stood silent and waited for Dumbledore to share that detail with her. He hadn't summoned her just to tell her this.

'Minerva, have you ever been so sure of yourself on a matter to discover that in the end you might have completely missed the point of it?' He asked in a voice he tried to keep calm.

'Well of course I have. Several times I would even say,' she replied, surprising the Headmaster by her frankness. 'But as long as you have the courage to recognise it and the strength to move forward, I have never seen this as a weakness or something to be embarrassed about.'

She was starting to guess what the issue was. There had been a recurring topic during those past years on which she and the Headmaster were strongly disagreeing. And this topic was Harry Potter. She had seen the boy grow and accomplish legendary things under the color of her House. Things such as slaying a basilisk or confronting the Dark Lord himself. Twice. There were many secrets she didn't know about the young Mr. Potter. But she knew better than to ask Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Keeper of too many Secrets for one person in her humble opinion.

'Have you noticed any changes in Harry lately?' Dumbledore asked his Deputy Headmistress, choosing to follow her straightforwardness.

'If I have noticed…? How can you ask me something like that? Of course, there have been changes in this boy. What did you expect? He witnessed You-Know-Who's rebirth, saw the murder of one of his classmates and spent the whole summer alone at Privet Drive spying under flower bushes to get any information he could about what was happening in his World!' She had said it all in one go. 'I could also talk about the Dementor's attack and the way he has been treated for it, but I don't think I need to go on, do I?'

'This not quite what I am asking for, Minerva,' replied Dumbledore peacefully. 'I am very aware of the recent events in Harry's life. I am asking if you observed his behaviour lately and what you think of it.'

McGonagall sighed. Albus Dumbledore was a great Headmaster and a wizard she respected deeply. But sometimes she wondered if he truly cared.

'Everyday that passes, the boy becomes more and more lonely,' she answered eventually. 'He is becoming a social outcast exactly like last year. But this time he is driving his friends away.'

'He is isolating himself,' said Dumbledore adamantly.

'He's not isolating himself,' retorted McGonagall sternly, 'you are pushing him away!'

Dumbledore raised his gaze to meet Minerva's exasperated eyes. She was right, there was no point fighting her on that ground. She didn't know…

The Head of Gryffindor House observed the indecipherable face of the Headmaster. All those years working with him, and she still was unable to guess any of his thoughts. Since Harry had joined the school, she had witnessed a change in his attitude. He was more involved in school's affairs. She had event caught genuine smiles directed at Harry and she knew he was attentive to him.

'May I enquire about the reason you are asking me all this, Albus?'

'A Black Quill has been used on him,' Dumbledore replied bluntly.

An expression of pure shock came over McGonagall's face. Who could have done such a thing?

'I am going to kill her…' She whispered, pale with rage. 'I will make this woman…'

'Minerva let us keep our self-control here,' said Dumbledore with a soothing voice. 'We don't have any evidence... yet.'

'As if we needed it!' Scoffed McGonagall. 'You and I both know who, in this castle, is capable of such a thing! And if you are asking me to keep my temper with a woman abusing one of our student...'

'This is exactly what I am asking you, Minerva,' said Dumbledore with a firm voice, withstanding her glare. 'At least for now. If the professor Umbridge is indeed guilty of this, I will take care of her personally, you have my word.'

The fire in McGonagall's eyes was still raging but she nodded coldly.

'Good,' sighed Dumbledore. 'While I'm gone, I'd like you to keep a close eye on the boy, Severus will assist you in this task.'

'Keep an eye on Mr. Potter?' Asked McGonagall while frowning. 'If she used a Black Quill on him, she did so during his detentions with her. To my knowledge, they are over, so I don't see any reason to keep him under surveillance.'

'If Harry was able to hide that away from me, one can only ask what else he did,' replied Dumbledore while concealing his sadness.

'Perhaps, you could ask him,' said McGonagall with a cold voice. 'Or are you still running away from him?'

'Running away?' Chuckled Dumbledore. 'Are you suggesting I am a coward?' He asked in jesting manner.

'As a matter of fact, I am.' This wasn't a joke to her. 'You might have your reasons, as usual, and I won't doubt them. But clearly there is a situation at hand that you don't want to face. You're hiding in the shadow, secluded in your office, letting the boy drown in his questions and fears. And don't get me start on the state of this school!'

As she was letting go the resentment she had built on the past few months, her voice was getting tougher and steadier.

'But that's besides the point!' She added while chasing away her opinion on Umbridge and her methods with her hand. 'We are talking about a young boy, who happens to be in my House, whose talent is wasted away because of a Prophecy he didn't ask for!'

'How do you know about the Prophecy?' Intervened Dumbledore with a glimmer of concern in his eyes.

'I know the place the Order is guarding at the Ministry,' she answered in a cold voice. 'And I know what lies in it. And though your choices in your Defence Against the Dark Arts professors lately have me concerned with your ability to appoint any, this is nothing compared to your decision of keeping Divination in our curriculum and Sybil within those walls.'

Dumbledore nodded politely and briefly sighed. Minerva McGonagall wasn't his Right Hand for nothing. What she had told him tonight, however brutal, was right. And he had been wrong all along. It wasn't just about a Prophecy. It wasn't about the fate of the Wizarding World. At this very moment it was meaning close to nothing for Dumbledore. It was about not repeating past mistakes that had cost him a sister and a friend… More than a friend. It was about stepping up, recognising he had failed and building back from here.

'You are right, Minerva,' replied Dumbledore. 'And I will see Harry as soon as I get back.'

She nodded toward him and headed back to the oak door leading to the stairs.

'And Minerva,' called the Headmaster just as she was about to open it. 'Thank you.'

'Anytime, Albus.'