This story about Harry Potter playing with runes and upsetting the applecart that is Magical Britain is shared with everyone on FanFiction for fun. The muse demands that the story be written and there's no money to be made here. Just fun with Ms Rowling's wonderful characters that she graciously allows others to enjoy. Like sandcastles on the shore, tomorrow there'll be the original beach for someone else to construct a towering tale with her wizards and magical creations. How long until that new movie gets released?
Chapter 10: Charming MediationThe next few days were uncomfortable for Harry Potter. He moped about and didn't have any interest in his runes or other classes. Justin carried the water in Runes, and Neville did the same in Herbology. McGonagall ignored him in Transfiguration, and Snape snarled in potions, but nothing new. Professor Sinestra pursed her lips and remained silent because Potter was an excellent student every other day.
In DADA class, Harry remained silent and sat at the back of the room, staring at the painting on the wall for so long the wizard in the picture left for another picture frame to escape the angry stare of the boy who lived. When called on by Professor Remus, Harry simply stated, "I don't know."
When he was forced to stand up and perform a spell in any class, he cast it perfectly on the first try but without enthusiasm. If Dolores Umbridge and her entourage visited Hogwarts today, Lupin would have been thrown out of the castle before supper because Harry could not summon a single happy thought to generate any form of the Patronus. However, Lupin refused to leave the boy alone and assigned him a detention, but Harry didn't appear at the DADA classroom at the appointed time. During a search of the castle, the young wizard could not be found, and even when Remus pulled out the marauder's map and searched for Harry Potter, the boy was not located.
Invisible thanks to his magic cloak, Harry spent a sleepless night in his private classroom. After being assigned the detention, he immediately decided not to show up at the required time. When the hour passed, he worried that Dumbledore would expel him from Hogwarts. He asked Dobby if he'd go with him, and the little elf cried himself sick with happiness and fear about Mr Harry Potter.
"We'll find some way to get to France, Dobby. I'll get a new wand there and go to school. We can make gold and buy a place to live."
Dobby provided the young wizard with a pepper-up potion in the early morning hours. At the same time, Harry mentally revised the impromptu etiquette lessons he and Neville had during this year and realised he should adopt a 'pureblood' attitude when dealing with the adults who failed him.
Words at Breakfast (CHANGE SCENE)
During a typical breakfast in the Great Hall, Dumbledore summoned Harry to the staff table and asked him why he'd not gone to the detention.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, I didn't feel safe attending the detention," Harry replied and refused to look at Albus.
"Harry, my boy…"
Interrupting the headmaster, the teenager insisted in a calm tone, "…Mr Potter."
"What?" asked Albus in surprise.
"I respectfully request that you refer to me as 'Mr Potter'…headmaster."
"Now Harry…"
"Very well, then you will refer to me as 'Heir Potter', but under no circumstances will I answer to 'Harry'. It is inappropriate for you to refer to me by my first name."
"Harry Potter! Fifty points from Gryffindor!" declared McGonagall.
The boy said nothing else and refused to look at any professor until the headmaster asked, "Mr Potter, why did you not attend the detention with Professor Lupin?"
Harry didn't answer, but Neville called out, "Heir Potter, why didn't you go to detention with Professor Lupin last night?"
"Thank you, Heir Longbottom," Harry replied. "Headmaster, I didn't attend the detention with Lupin because it is just days before the full moon. He's a werewolf, and I was afraid for my life…or worse, I was afraid that he'd bite me and turn me into a dark creature like him."
There was dead silence in the Great Hall for a long minute, and then every student began talking at once. No one screamed or fainted to hear the boy-who-lived say those words, but Albus Dumbledore sat down in shock, McGonagall felt a headache blooming, and Remus Lupin felt sick on his stomach. Snape gleefully prepared to deduct twenty points from Gryffindor before he discovered that Flitwick had stolen his wand, stuck him to the chair and then finally stupefied him to fall asleep at the table.
From the other side of the headmaster, Babbage asked, "Mr Potter, I understood the other day that you said Professor Lupin was a great teacher."
Nodding his head to his runes professor, Harry replied, "Yes, Professor Babbage, but I was mistaken. The man showed his true colours only after praising him to the reporters. I regret doing so, and if the reporter returned today, I would have a different tale."
McGonagall rose from her chair, her wand in her hand and pointed at Harry Potter. There were many whispers around Harry as students tried to get out of the line of fire, but Dumbledore reached over and pushed down the Deputy Headmistress' hand. Three Slytherin students, four Ravenclaws, two Hufflepuffs and one Gryffindor decided then and there that they would send the memory of this spectacle to their parents, the Daily Prophet, or Madam Marchbanks.
Professor Sprout had been silent until that moment, stood up, pulled out her wand and called, "Mr Potter has the protection of Hufflepuff. Any staff member trying to harm Mr Potter will be ejected from the castle permanently."
Flitwick climbed upon the table, kicked his goblet into Snape's lap and announced the same protection for Harry Potter for Ravenclaw. McGonagall muttered, loud enough for everyone around the staff table to hear, "Nothing but trouble! Just like his mudblood mother! Harry Potter is nothing but trouble."
Harry smiled at McGonagall, bowed and said, "Thank you for the compliment, professor. Everyone tells me I look like my father, but I am exceedingly pleased to hear someone recognises my mother in me."
When Dumbledore intervened and ordered Mr Potter to his office, Sprout and Flitwick stated that they believed the headmaster would harm Mr Potter if he were left alone with the elderly wizard.
"I would never…" Dumbledore protested but then fell silent, thinking of the number of pending lawsuits against him. If Potter were to appear and testify against him at any of those trails, he would be in Azkaban for life faster than Sirius Black had been delivered there twelve years earlier.
Filius offered, "I have a free period now, and with myself as a mediator, Mr Potter and Professor Lupin can resolve their issue quickly."
Pomona and Bathsheba both nodded while Minerva stalked from the Great Hall silently. The students fled from the Great Hall, heading for the classrooms where they would sit quietly until a professor appeared and they would not attract any attention by misbehaviour today. Snape was left to sleep with his head on the plate with his lunch and his lap cold and wet from the goblet of ale Flitwick had been drinking with his breakfast.
CHANGE SCENE: Mediation
In Flitwick's office, the small man dominated the space, his magic flaring as he pointed to a chair away from his desk for Harry and one on the other side of Flitwick for Remus Lupin. The werewolf would have to leap over the diminutive half-goblin to reach the boy who lived. With Flitwick's reputation as a champion dueller in Europe for several years, the DADA professor would be gutted before he rose above the desk in any leap.
"Now, what the bloody blazes caused this problem?" Flitwick asked.
Harry took a deep breath and said, "Professor Lupin stole a map that belonged to me."
"A map?" Flitwick asked as he turned toward Lupin.
Lupin sighed. "Harry…"
"Heir Potter," replied the young wizard.
"Your father never held with that title," Remus said, attempting to remind the young wizard of his connection to James and Lily.
"My father…the only memory I have of James Potter is his voice shouting to my mother to take me and flee. My mother was crying and holding me when he shouted," Harry said coldly. "Did you hear me 'Moony'? That's the only memory I have of the man you claim was your friend for seven years."
"Mr Potter, allow me to talk with Professor Lupin," the charms professor insisted firmly. Nodding his head, Harry looked away and said nothing else.
"Where is this map, now?"
"I have it here," Remus said, withdrawing the ratty parchment from his pocket.
Holding out his hand to take the map, Flitwick asked, "How did you know that Heir Potter had possession of this item?"
"We talked the other day. Har…Heir Potter asked about his father and mother. I told him about his father's friends and his mother's genius with runes. He asked about cartouches and then pulled out the map to show me. This is the map that belonged to James during our sixth and seventh years here at Hogwarts."
Turning back to Harry, Flitwick asked, "Mr Potter, where did you get the map?"
"The Weasley twins gave it to him," Remus answered again for the young wizard who glared at the DADA professor. Flitwick remained silent as Lupin explained how to open and close the map and showed every person's position in Hogwarts and their movements. Flitwick noticed that McGonagall was approaching the boy's dorms in Gryffindor tower, but an elf named Dobby was already in the room for the third-year boys and then vanished from the map.
'At least everything else is safe,' the charms professor realised.
"Professor Lupin, please allow Heir Potter to explain," Flitwick admonished the DADA professor, who grimaced but sat back.
"Thank you, Professor Flitwick. Fred and George Weasley presented the map to me at Christmas as a reward for saving their sister's life last year in the Chamber of Secrets. They mentioned that everyone in the castle owed me a life debt, and they wanted to make some gesture of appreciation."
Flitwick glanced at Lupin before turning back to Harry and asking, "So you did battle a giant basilisk in the chamber of magic last year? What magic spell did you use to defeat the monster?"
"There wasn't any magic. The sword of Gryffindor came to me, and I shoved it into the basilisk's brain through the roof of its mouth."
Frowning, Flitwick rhetorically asked, "Why didn't you get an award from the ministry for that, I wonder? It must have been for the 'greater good' that the news was kept quiet."
Lupin jerked as though poked with a silver needle hearing that phrase, and Harry frowned. Flitwick addressed the werewolf again, asking, "Lupin, tell me why you felt it necessary to take this heirloom from Heir Potter's possession? As a professor, you have the right to confiscate contraband, but I don't understand about an heirloom."
"The boy proved capable of pulling pranks just last month," Lupin said. "Without the map, he can be caught when out of his dorm after hours and prevent more pranks."
Flitwick stared for a moment and then loudly announced, "You're a hypocrite, Lupin. Nothing but a hypocrite!"
"I am a professor, and it's my responsibility to…"
"Not to steal the only thing a child owns made by his mother and father. Heir Potter has nothing of his parents. Do you know, he never saw a photo of them until his first year at Hogwarts? He did not even know his father's name! Think of that, Mr Lupin!"
"Harry has his father's magic cloak," Remus whispered hoarsely. "Dumbledore told me that Harry has the cloak."
"What cloak?" Flitwick asked, staring intently at Lupin.
"The Potters have an heirloom cloak of invisibility that passes from the father to the eldest son. They've had it for centuries."
"How do you know this?"
"James showed it to us and shared it with us in our pranks the whole time we were at Hogwarts," the DADA professor explained.
"Again, I call you a hypocrite! Has this student pranked the students or teachers this whole year except for that prank in the Chamber of Secrets? Tell me, Lupin, has Heir Potter done anything with his magical cloak to facilitate a prank, or two…or two hundred?"
Harry wondered at that specific number until Flitwick continued. "I believe in your sixth year; Madam Pomphrey treated over two hundred students in the infirmary because of the pranks you and your friends pull – two hundred!"
Refusing to reply, Lupin argued, "The cloak gives him…he can be disruptive."
The half-goblin sneered and said, "You're eating too many of Dumbledore's lemon drops. They are dipped in a potion to make you susceptible to suggestion."
Harry spoke up to ask, "Professor Flitwick, would you check the map for any new charms or tracking spells that have been placed in the last few days?"
Lupin couldn't help taking a sudden breath and found himself at the end of Flitwick's wand that glowed bright blue.
"Don't move. Keep your hands where I can see them on the arms of the chair, and leave the wand tucked away. Attempt to pull out your wand, and I'll castrate you permanently," Flitwick promised.
"He can't have it back!" Lupin insisted as Flitwick removed charms on the map cast by both Lupin and Dumbledore.
"Unfortunately, since you confiscated it, this heirloom cannot be returned to Heir Potter until the end of this term. However, I shall keep it in my possession until that day. When he leaves for the Hogwarts Express, I'll have someone deliver it to him once he is on the train."
"Thank you, Professor Flitwick," Harry said, willing to accept this compromise.
"But then he'll bring it back next year," argued Lupin.
Flitwick paused for a moment before he said, "And how is that is your concern?"
"I hope to return…" Remus started to say.
Flitwick snorted and asked, "After that confrontation between Headmaster Dumbledore and Heir Potter in the Great Hall this morning?"
"I imagine you'll be on the front page of the Daily Prophet tomorrow unless there's a giant basilisk that runs rampant in Diagon Alley this afternoon. The DADA position is cursed Lupin, and no one has been here for longer than ten months. Many professors, including the two just before you, did not make it to the last day of the spring term. You won't fare any better."
Flitwick asked, "Heir Potter, how do I turn this off, again?
"Press your wand on it and say, 'Mischief managed.' It folds up."
Smiling, Flitwick said, "That was something your mother figured out how to do."
Harry smiled for the first time in the professor's office, and Flitwick said, "I shall keep the map in my possession until the last day of term. That's about ten weeks until the middle of June. Can you agree to that?"
"Yes, Professor Flitwick. Thank you."
Glancing at Lupin again, Flitwick said, "See how much simpler that would have been?"
Harry reached for his book back and withdrew the two reference books he had borrowed from Professor Lupin, placed them on Flitwick's desk and asked, "Professor, can you check these books and assure Professor Lupin I didn't cast any charms or hexes on his property before I return it to him?"
SCENE END AND OUCH! That hurt to write…
The Daily Prophet the next morning did have a picture of Minerva McGonagall with her wand aimed at Harry Potter before the headmaster pushed her hand down. The headline of Abuse at Hogwarts and accompanying article listed a myriad of complaints against the school and only mentioned the werewolf teaching DADA in passing. Professor Lupin entered the Great Hall by himself and quietly walked to the staff table while regular conversations continued around him. There were no howlers delivered that morning – Dumbledore had grown tired of receiving them at Christmas and restored the ward that eliminated the terrible wizarding letters that yelled and burned.
Surprisingly, the professor who changed their behaviour the most after that day was Severus Snape. None of his Slytherin students had attempted to revive him, and he remained asleep at the head table until luncheon that day. A piece of toast appeared to have lodged itself in his right nostril, and Madam Pomphrey found it hard to remove for almost an hour. Not wishing to draw anyone's attention, Snape adopted a quiet demeanour in his classroom and completely ignored James Potter's spawn.
Professor Babbage often appeared in the hallways around Gryffindor Tower and always calmed Professor McGonagall. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout took turns aggravating Dumbledore and speaking with Heir Potter about his classes. Fred and George Weasley tried not to draw attention. They curtailed all pranks after privately congratulating 'Heir Most Powerful Potter' for defanging a werewolf, and they spoke to Heir Longbottom about the social strictures of using the proper titles.
In part of their discussion, Neville explained, "That's the funny thing…Headmaster Dumbledore demands that everyone address him by his title in the Wizengamot – Grand Warlock – but he never refers to anyone except by their first name. He calls my Grandmother 'Gus' – that's the nickname my grandfather called her. It is short for Augusta when he should call her Lady Longbottom in the Wizengamot."
"But now that she calls him Grand Poohbah, everyone does."
Harry attended DADA class but always with his wand out and sat at the back of the room in a corner. Professor Lupin never called on 'Heir Potter' to answer or demonstrate a spell. Several students remarked on the cancelled classes when the full moon occurred, but otherwise, Hogwarts continued as before.
Dobby had a goal in mind as he made certain Professor Lupin's quarters were spotless, but his belongings were relocated to different drawers and cabinets every day. The professor spent many extra minutes searching for books, different clothes, and even his wand when he woke up each morning. And the professor knew he couldn't complain to anyone – that would only make all the elves pay 'attention' to him.
CHANGE SCENE Spring Break
Spring break interrupted the tense atmosphere at Hogwarts, and almost every student went home to visit their parents or left with friends for a holiday. With Dumbledore still registered with the ministry as the magical guardian for Harry Potter, the young wizard was forced to decline invitations from Justin and Neville to spend the vacation with their families.
At lunch, after the students left on the Hogwarts Express, Harry found only a dozen other students were remaining in the castle. Professor Sprout acted as 'headmistress' – Dumbledore was gone to the ministry. McGonagall was visiting family in an attempt to rest and regain some perspective; Snape had been offered an opportunity to join in a round table of potion masters discussing the opportunities the basilisk ingredients presented to advance potion brewing.
With classes suspended until everyone returned, Harry found his interest in runes again. There were three piles of marble chips in his private classroom provided by Dobby to tempt Harry to practice his runes. Over the next three days, Harry made three bags of gold for Dobby to deliver to the goblins. When he noticed that only one bag was gone the next day, he asked the elf, who replied, "Dobby, not give goblins three bags in one week. Make them suspicious of what the wizard doing – like being out of school. There be some value not giving too much gold at one time."
"Do you believe the goblins don't know who is sending them gold?" asked Harry.
Dobby shrugged and explained, "Maybe they does, but then Mr Harry Potters must act like he don't want goblins to know – or tell anyone. Makes goblins confuseded. They don't want anyone to know about new gold that makes them slobber and dance."
Harry tried to look severe at the elf but surrendered to the grin that finally forced its way onto his face.
SCENE CHANGE Visitor
One morning after breakfast, Harry watched as the headmaster hurried to leave the castle for meetings in London for the day. Professors Lupin, Flitwick and Sprout would have authority in the school for the day because Professor McGonagall still had not returned from her 'vacation' with her family. Harry remained at his place in the Great Hall with a textbook on potions that he forced himself to read – he had to pull up that grade to offset the troll he expected to receive in DADA.
There was a shout in the entry hallway as Professor Lupin ran out the front door with the poltergeist chasing him – Peeves was dressed in a ghostly wolf pelt complete with a head displaying sharp fangs while singing about the 'big bad wolf'. Harry watched Flitwick summon the Baron and admonish the ghost for allowing the spirit to torment a professor.
"But it's a Hogwarts tradition, Professor Flitwick. The ghosts always torment the DADA professor in the spring term."
"Who started this tradition?" demanded the short professor.
"Why Professor Snape did when he started working here, and Dumbledore would never give the snarky one the position of DADA professor," the ghost replied. "Snape pays us too."
"How does he pay you?" asked Professor Sprout.
The ghost smiled, "With spoiled potions, of course. At the end of the school year, Snape allows an entire shelf of potions to spoil, and the aroma is so strong we can smell it for almost a week. And it makes the elves happy to have something to clean up that first month when the students and staff desert the school."
Change Scene Just a Little
Listening to the conversation, Dobby went to the Come and Go Room and searched for a rug or other skinned wolf to leave in Professor Lupin's quarters. He failed to find one and listened to Hogwarts as she admonished him to cease pranking the DADA professor.
"Yes, Missy Hogwartsey, Dobby leave Professor Wolfie alone," Dobby said. He would obey the castle immediately because she was the reason he could remain in the castle now that he was Mr Harry Potter's 'elf'.
Back to Entry Hall SCENE
When Lupin cautiously entered the castle again, Flitwick assured him that the ghosts would stop the poltergeist's pestering pranks for the remainder of the term. Behind the professor appeared a wizard that Harry had not seen before, but the man was known to Professor Sprout, who stepped forward to greet him and show him to her office.
Harry noticed that Lupin was watching the pair walking toward the Hufflepuff portion of the dungeons while Professor Flitwick ignored everyone. The young wizard caught the professor's eye, and when Flitwick winked at him, he decided to remain silent and watch what happened.
"Heir Potter, would you sit with me for a time this morning?" Flitwick asked. "I wish to discuss your progress in Charms as it relates to your interest in Runes."
"Uh…sure, professor," Harry replied. "Here or your office?"
Conjuring two appropriately sized chairs, Flitwick said, "Let's stay here."
By this time, Lupin had disappeared, and Flitwick quizzed Harry about using charms to strengthen the sandstone plates. "There are only so many runes you can place inside a single cartouche, and it is simpler to strengthen the plate in many cases."
Plots within Plots Grow
After twenty minutes of interesting conversation about how rune masters used charms to strengthen cartouches and runic arrays, Harry realised he had years of study ahead of him to discover all the things that could be accomplished with runes.
Then a bell sounded – some charm set by Professor Flitwick was activated, and the half-goblin rose from his chair and motioned for Harry to stand.
"Heir Potter, there are moments when even a Gryffindor must play the role of being Slytherin," Flitwick said as he waved once with his wand, and the two chairs vanished. "The next bit of our afternoon, it might be interesting if you avoid answering any questions put to you…deflect, redirect…do you understand what I am suggesting?"
Harry put on his pureblood face and asked, "I am not certain what you mean, professor. Perhaps if I have a day or two to think on it, would that be alright?"
Smirking, Flitwick replied, "Yes, but not quite that thick."
"I wonder what you mean?"
The door to Hogwarts opened, thrown back dramatically with a wave of the hand by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, who appeared to be in a snit as he advanced into the entry hall. From the direction of the Hufflepuff dormitory and Professor Sprout's office, Harry heard a pair of voices – the professor and her mysterious guest were returning just as the headmaster arrived.
"Pomona! Did you think I would not hear of this outrage?"
Professor Sprout looked surprised and asked, "Albus, I have no idea what you're yelling about, but can you wait until my guest departs before we brawl on the flagstones?"
Pointing his finger at the wizard standing beside Professor Sprout, Dumbledore shouted, "That wizard is a thief! He stole my basilisk, and I want it back!"
END SCENE and start hexing Remus Lupin
Samuel Abbot blinked in surprise to hear Dumbledore openly slander him in front of reliable witnesses.
"Give me back my basilisk, Samuel Abbot!" the headmaster demanded. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here in Hogwarts? Your daughter withdrew from school the first week of September. You've got no business here."
"Albus! Mr Abbot buys our greenhouse excess every year. This year we have that surplus of Mandragora Officinarum that happens to be in great demand."
"Mandragora…I don't?" Dumbledore said.
"He purchased the excess mandrakes from last year," Pomona replied.
"Without my approval?"
Sprout fussed, "Albus! You never care about any of the sales so long as the galleons go into your pocket for lemon drops and gaudy robes!"
Without pausing, Dumbledore continued, "Mandrakes, Andrew? Are you selling them with the basilisk parts you stole?"
Harry watched the wizard's face as Samuel Abbot experienced an epiphany – his whole life, he'd been told to respect Albus Dumbledore. Because of this wizard's actions – or inaction – his daughter was traumatised and still in therapy, many families were still mourning the deaths of innocent children, and the ministry continued to fall deeper into disarray. Dumbledore had his finger in everything, listened to no one, and believed his own legend. Today, Samuel came to better understand his part in a slow-moving, unseen Hufflepuff plot.
"What is the matter, Headmaster Dumbledore?" asked Samuel.
"The matter is that you have my basilisk! I want it returned immediately!"
Pomona said, "Albus, why do you think Samuel has this basilisk you keep claiming was stolen from you?"
"He has the only business in the whole of Magical Britain that could process the carcass safely. His employees are unable to speak about his business! And Gringotts refuses to speak about the planned sales of the basilisk!"
"Albus Dumbledore, have you been harassing my employees?" asked the visitor. He shook his head and asked, "Are you stupid enough to harass any employee of Gringotts Bank?"
"Of course not," replied Dumbledore as if greatly offended.
Pomona sighed and said, "It's his bloody order of the plucked turkeys again. Samuel, talk to Amelia Bones and tell her to check on the known members of the Order of the Phoenix as the wizards and witches who have been hanging around your warehouse and the homes of your employees. Tell her to question Alastor Moody, who won't answer any questions, but arrest Mundungus Fletcher or Sturgis Podmore…they'll sing like enchanted canaries."
"Silence, Professor Sprout!" shouted Dumbledore, drawing his wand. He waved it around, but nothing happened, and the headmaster cursed. Then he turned toward Harry Potter and demanded, "Harry! Is this the man you gave the basilisk to?"
Looking at Dumbledore and wincing, Harry said, "Albus, I must say that your robes are particularly blinding today."
"I am your headmaster!"
"Are you, Albus? Sometimes I wonder about that, and the dirigible plum diggers say you're not."
"Dirigible plum diggers?" asked Flitwick. "Miss Lovegood insists they are quite tasty in a lemon sauce."
"Answer my question, Harry Potter!"
"Have I been harassing your employees, Albus?" asked Harry. "I imagine that the werewolf would want to complain, but I have nothing to do with any harassment of that professor. I do worry about Professor McGonagall…do you think her mind has snapped?"
"McGonagall?" the headmaster spluttered. "She'll be right as rain come next week. But I asked if this is the wizard you gave my basilisk?"
"Is it your basilisk, Albus?" asked Flitwick.
"The school's basilisk…my basilisk…it's all the same," Dumbledore replied, waving one hand to dismiss the question. Pointing his wand at Harry, the headmaster repeated his question about Harry identifying the wizard.
"Albus, I've never met this wizard," Harry replied while he stared at the wand and took a step back. "You and Professor Sprout both named him 'Samuel Abbot'."
Flitwick clamped down his facial expressions – Heir Potter's face filled with fear and taking a step back would look damning when this memory was presented as evidence in some trial this summer.
Dumbledore insisted, "That's his name. His firm is selling the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets in the market for potions ingredients."
Harry turned to the visitor and nervously asked, "Mr Abbot, how is Hannah? Everyone in our year wishes her well. I know Heir Longbottom continues his correspondence with her."
"Your concern is appreciated, Heir Potter. My daughter recovers from the trauma of seeing her friends die. But she smiles now whenever she sees your Snowy Owl approaching our kitchen with a letter from her friends at Hogwarts."
"Your owl? Is she carrying letters from Longbottom to the skirt? You're not corresponding with Abbot about the basilisk?"
"Hedwig loves to be useful, Albus," Harry replied.
His face turning red, the elderly wizard fussed, "I don't care if the bloody owl visits every house in Britain!"
Turning back to Abbot, Dumbledore said, "I'm going to bring suit against you in the Wizengamot for theft! I shall take the basilisk and every galleon you have. You, your half-blood wife and muddy brats will be in the street before 1 September!"
Turning around and returning to the still-open door, Dumbledore stomped out of Hogwarts and disappeared with a resounding crack of apparition.
Harry said, "Is he serious? Will he sue you?"
Strangely, Mr Abbot replied, "I sincerely hope so."
Flitwick fussed slightly, "Heir Potter, you said too much when deflecting the headmaster. When he reviews this conversation, he will note that."
"I thought the young wizard did an admirable job of keeping the headmaster on his back foot," Pomona added. "And Andrew, I am sorry to use your family as a target."
"Hufflepuffs are loyal and work together," Andrew replied. Harry glanced between the three adults and frowned.
Seeing the young wizard's face, Flitwick offered something of an explanation, "We expected Lupin to send his Patronus to Dumbledore with the news that Mr Abbot was present at Hogwarts. That's why you and I waited in the entry hall for twenty minutes. The headmaster assumed Abbot was here to talk to you about the basilisk that disappeared from the Chamber of Secrets, and so he rushed back to the castle."
"His precipitous departure from the ministry probably upset the court where he was to testify in the wrongful death suit against Minister Fudge," Pomona replied mournfully. "So sad that the minister continues to lose his galleons, properties, and funds for retirement."
Harry bowed his head to Professor Sprout, who curtseyed in return before escorting Andrew to the door and watched. At the same time, her former student walked beyond the gates and before apparating away. The herbology professor returned to Hogwarts and used her wand to close the door gently.
Before he headed toward his office, Flitwick again invited Harry to visit. "Come and visit me in my office during office hours sometime, Heir Potter. We can discuss charms in depth. It was one of your mother's favourite subjects."
END CHAPTER