Chapter 3
Hermione Granger had mixed feelings about Hogwarts as a school. The subject of study was amazing, and the teachers were mostly wonderful; except for Snape, who showed obvious favoritism, and Binns, who must prolong his stay on earth by sucking the energy out of the students in his class. Not that Hermione would ever say such things to the teachers' faces. She had too much respect for the teaching profession for that. The building itself was wondrous, if at times inconvenient, with all its moving staircases and fake walls. But even though there was definitely magic surrounding her she didn't expect the magic school to be so ordinary.
For the biggest example look at what she was doing right now. Sitting in the library reviewing for her finals in two weeks. She would have been doing this exact same thing if she had gone to the preparatory school that she and her parents had been looking into before the day the owl had showed up carrying a letter addressed to her bedroom. Which, admittedly, she agreed with her father was slightly creepy. Regardless of the strangeness of the letter, Hermione had seen it as an invitation to a wild and untamed side of the world where there would be so much to learn and do. Instead it was just an invitation to a school. One where she learned about things that were already discovered, merely walking the same path that millions of witches had walked before her, just as she would have done without magic.
Closing the book she was reading Hermione rubbed her eyes trying to relieve some of the fatigue that had built up from studying for so long and let out a large sigh. The sound grabbed the attention of the two other children sharing her table, a witch of Indian descent with a pile of books next to her that rivaled Hermione's own and a slightly chubby boy who had been enjoying a treatise on magical plants.
Neville Longbottom and Padma Patil were Hermione's only permanent study buddies, and she would even dare to call them friends. She had met Neville at the very beginning of the year on the train when she had offered to help him find his lost toad. After that they had both been sorted into the same house and lacking from any other connections the two had gradually gravitated together to the point where they regularly sat and worked together in classes. They didn't have any particularly memorable interaction that cemented their friendship but the constant contact had eventually evolved into a comfortable familiarity with one another.
Padma and Hermione's introduction was actually the more memorable of her two friends. It had started when Padma had come over to the Gryffindor table to talk to her sister who had been sorted into Hermione's house. Hermione had been sitting nearby and had expressed curiosity in hearing about Padma's heritage. Padma had been surprised by this because even though she was in the house of knowledge it seemed that most of the students there were only interested in British knowledge. What followed was a spirited discussion about the difference found between eastern and western methods for magic. This discussion eventually became a regular occurrence with Neville sometimes joining in giving a more traditional English mage's perspective. Over the months of school being in session their group solidified into its current form with them all regularly meeting to study and spend time with each other. Given their closeness it was no wonder that Hermione's sigh drew the attention of her two confidants.
"What was that about?" Padma asked, "Are you finally having trouble with a subject Miss Know-It-All?"
Hermione smiled fondly at the name. It had started as an insult from some of the boys in her own house, but Padma had encouraged Hermione to wear the name as a badge of honour proving that the other students were jealous that she was so much better than them. Padma had then started to use the name as a term of endearment and vowed that she would one day reclaim it to its rightful place among the house of Ravenclaw.
Putting on an air of false haughtiness Hermione responded, "Not a chance, nothing could possibly be academically challenging for the great Miss Now-It-All."
Dropping the attitude she continued, "No, I just feel like this year was a bit of a waste." She gestured at the books that surrounded them as she continued, "All we've done is sit in classes and read books and write essays, with the odd spell cast here and there. And don't get me wrong I love books and classes, but when I got a letter inviting me to an honest to goodness magical school I expected more adventure and excitement than this. I don't really see any difference between this and a muggle school besides the subject matter."
"Well," Padma responded, "it seems that someone is forgetting about the first half of the year. Don't you remember Halloween? What muggle school can say they were invaded by a troll?"
"A troll none of the students even had the chance to see." Hermione retorted, "we were all whisked off to our rooms while the teachers took care of it."
"What about when Sirius Black escaped over Christmas break?" Padma then tried.
"And how does that affect any of us here," Hermione said back, "tucked away in one of the most secure places in all of magical society?"
"I like that life is boring." Neville interjected, "When it comes to magic when things are exciting people are usually dying, or worse."
His comment immediately silenced the two girls. Hermione was suddenly guilty as she thought of what they had learned about Neville's parents.
"Neville," she said, "I am sorry, I-I didn't mean…"
"I know," Neville said, blushing at how his statement had affected his friends, "I wasn't trying to say that you are wrong, after all you are in Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw for a reason. What I am trying to say is that there is plenty of stuff like that out in the world, the point of school is to get us ready to face the excitement we will see after we graduate. Don't write off the magical world just because you weren't thrown into the deep end." Neville finished speaking and smiled at his two friends.
The girls just stared at their friend in mute shock. It wasn't often but every once in a while Neville would do or say something incredibly wise or brave. Whenever it did happen though you were always better off listening to his advice. Hermione felt sudden relief at hearing her friend's words and thanked him for sharing his insight.
"Wow," Padma said, "with such sage wisdom I almost think we should be calling Neville Mister Know-It-All now."
Neville blushed at her teasing and immediately backpedalled, "N-n-no, with how badly my practical scores are there is no way I could take the title from Hermione."
Seeing him suddenly switch back to his normal stuttering self caused the two young witches to burst into quiet giggles, until Madam Pince had to shush them. Eventually they all found their way back into their books, and while part of Hermione felt content with Neville's words, another part of her still hungered for adventure in the fantastical world she found herself in.
(line break)
"You enter into the lich king's palace and find him sitting on the throne" Liam described, "'so heroes,' he says, spitting out the words as though they were a curse, 'you believe you can best me simply because you have beaten my generals. I'll have you know that I am far more powerful than all of them combined.' after saying this he rises from the throne and floats in the air menacingly, please roll for initiative."
"Booyah," Travis exclaims, "It is time to kill us a lich."
"Yeah, yeah" Nish responded, "just hurry up and pass the dice, Zethyr needs to see how this adventure ends so he can add it to his next hit song."
"No arguing," Liam stated, "And remember you all promised to get your own dice to use in next year's campaign."
Harry just chuckled at his friends' antics and waited his turn for the single twenty sided die they all shared between them. After becoming friends the four boys had started hanging around everyday after classes and Liam eventually brought up his passion for role-playing games and fantasy. Travis of course was already aware of it having known Liam longer than Harry and Nish. Harry had been indifferent not having any experience with fantasy as a genre, his relatives were adamantly against any kind of magic. Be it the performance variety or as a subject of fiction. The one time he had brought home a fantasy book, as part of an assignment from school, his aunt had flipped her lid and called to school to complain about covering inappropriate material.
When the prospect of starting a game was raised, hesitantly at first, Travis had agreed wholeheartedly, while Harry decided to just go with the flow of the group. Though initially hesitant, once Nish heard about the idea of a bard he was excited to give it a try as well. So after a few weeks of planning and asking the teachers if they could use a classroom their game had begun.
Liam ran the game since he had the most experience out of everyone in the group, as well as being the only one to own the dice necessary. Travis played a barbarian named Uther. While the boy wasn't dumb himself, he apparently enjoyed pretending to be because he gave his character a comically low intelligence stat. Nish had of course created a bard character named Zethyr, who he explained had the dream of being part of an epic ballad that he himself would write. Finally, Harry looked down at his own sheet detailing the paladin Percival, whose name Harry had stolen from the Arthurian knight they had studied in their literature class this year.
He had initially been drawn to the paladin class because of their description of following a code of honor. Harry decided that his paladin would live by the three virtues: responsibility, honesty, and diligence. His friends had all teased him about having a lack of imagination but Harry had chosen them for a different reason.
Ever since the start of school Harry had been fascinated by the idea of the virtues, of living according to these rules, so he was using the game as something of a trial run. Liam, it turned out, was a very good actor and loved to put the characters that his friends played in interesting roleplay scenarios rather than just having them constantly fight monsters. So a month or two into their game Harry had secretly gone to him and said he wanted to add more to Percival's backstory.
Harry explained that Percival had been raised by people who hated and mistreated him, and that he had eventually ran away from home to escape their abuse. While he was running he found the order that taught him how to be a paladin. Liam hadn't known the way the story mirrored Harry's own life but he had loved the idea and eventually built an encounter with the family that Percival had run from.
Harry tried to imagine what it would be like to go back to the Dursley house as he was now, how he might act differently, what he would say to them. It hadn't been easy and in the end Travis and Nish had their own characters barge in and change the nature of the encounter. Afterwards Nish had given Harry a worried look and asked if he was ok.
As good of friends as Travis and Liam were Nish was still Harry's closest. He was the only one with a sense of what Harry's home life was like, so he could guess at what Harry had been trying to do with the game. It wasn't perfect but Harry still thought it helped a bit and Nish had just figured that instead of going home when school ended Harry could sneak into his house and live there over the summer. Harry had laughed at the idea, but a part of him wasn't against giving it a try.
Harry was eventually pulled fully back to the present when Travis, who had rolled the highest in the initiative round started with his favorite phrase,
"I would like to raAAAGE!"
After beginning his rage Travis' barbarian rushed the lich king and swung his mighty greataxe. The hit landed for massive damage, a wonderful starting blow for the adventurers. The lich king responded by summoning a small army of skeletons to keep the adventurers at bay so he could attack from range. Harry however, knowing that they were facing a lich, had prepared the spell turn undead that morning and ruined the lich's plan by decimating his summoned forces. Travis continued to harry the enemy, "pun intended," Travis said cheekily, and drove him into a corner for Harry to flank. The lich tried to fight back with large scale fire magic but Travis' massive HP pool made the attacks barely an inconvenience, and Harry somehow had the devil's own luck in his dexterity saves.
Finally the fight was reaching its end the lich huddled in the corner and it was Harry's turn. Nish who had been holding his action cast his final bardic inspiration, strengthening Harry's next attack in the hopes of finishing the brutal battle. Travis who had been the tank for most of the fight was now holding back to preserve his last few hit points and had drank his last healing potion just in case. Harry raised his sword and attacked using his final spell slot to imbue his attack with the power of a divine smite. Harry rolled the dice praying for a good outcome and his heart leapt at the sight of a natural 20 giving his attack double damage. The three adventures leapt to their feet and cheered, startling the now snoozing teacher in the corner of the room. Liam smiled at the exultation of his friends and began to describe the results of the hit.
"As Percival's shining blade filled with divine light crashes into the chest of the lich king like a bolt of heavenly lightning your undead foe seems to inflate slightly before light burst forth from his eyes and mouth, even leaking from around the blade of the sword still jutting out of him. Slowly the light brightens until it is impossible for you to look at without being blinded, when suddenly with a great whoosh, like the sound of a fire suddenly igniting, there is one final brilliant flash and then the light vanishes. You open your eyes and the lich is no more all you see are ash particles lazily drifting in the air and the lich's twisted golden crown falling to the ground and coming to rest at Percival's feet. The darkness that had blanketed the skies of Anatolis for centuries begin to dissipate and you see as finally sunlight is returned to what was once called the kingdom of endless night."
Harry, Nish, and Travis applauded at their friend's storytelling prowess.
"Wow," Nish said, "so is that it, did we win?"
"Yeah," Liam responded, "you finished that campaign, now I suppose your characters go off and live the rest of their lives enjoying all of the riches you found."
"I got to say," Harry joined in the conversation, "you came up with a really good story."
Liam blushed at the praise and began to deflect, "Nah, you only think that because I ripped off a lot of elements from my favorite books. The entire sequence where the council of trees debated on whether to give you direction or not was stolen directly from The Lord of the Rings."
"It doesn't matter if you came up with it or not," Travis added, "The way you told it definitely made it better and kept it fun for all of us."
"Thanks guys," Liam finally said, accepting the praise.
"Still," Travis continued, "I can hardly wait for next year when we start our next campaign it is going to be awesome once we all have dice and stuff."
"Yeah," Harry said, "what should we do for the last few weeks of classes though, now that we have finished."
"We can use this time to prepare," Liam said, "we can come up with all of your new characters, I can plan the new map for you to travel through. We can even work to develop more backstories for your characters. I really liked Harry's idea of having the backstories of your characters work into the campaign in some way and if I know about them beforehand I can do more with them."
With that comment Nish finally joined the conversation saying, "Hey, and maybe we can get Harry to pick a character that isn't just himself with a sword and shield."
That got a chuckle out of the boys as they finished picking up their papers and other supplies. The teacher in the corner finally took that moment to check his watch and after seeing the time, stood from his chair and began to collect his things as well. As he worked he said to the gathered youths.
"Alright boys, glad to see that you had fun but it is time you wrapped up and headed off to your dorm."
"Ok," Liam responded, "Thanks for letting us use your room again Mr. Charles."
Mr. Charles, who was one of the schools language arts teachers, was one of the more unremarkable faculty members in Harry's eyes, but he did like that the man would so often let them use his room for their games. Apparently he and Liam had a good relationship stemming from their shared love of literature. There had been some days when he actually showed a lot of interest in the boys' game, particularly when they dealt with role playing like in Harry's proposed scenario, but on the days where there was mainly combat, such as today, he seemed less interested.
As the boys walked back to the dorm they animatedly recalled some of their favorite moments from the campaign. Nish recalled the time his bard had to distract an entire room full of guards with a performance so that the rest of the party could sneak into a treasure vault. Travis then boasted about the time his character had to single handedly hold a dragon at bay while Harry tried to revive Nish after he failed to charm the dragon with a song. Nish countered that by recalling how Travis, while going through a particularly long streak of rolling 1's on his attack rolls, had almost died against a kobold fighter, one of the weakest mobs in the game.
Upon arriving at the dorm the small group of friends said their goodbyes and melted into the activity that was taking place as the occupants of the dorm all got ready for bed. Many of the boys were showering to clean themselves up after playing various sports, Others were sitting in their bunk doing some last minute work on assignments, or studying for the finals that were coming up in just a few weeks. Harry and Nish followed their own nighttime routines, putting away their school supplies, and changing into pajamas. A few moments later found Harry lying in bed thinking about the day. This was a habit he had developed young as he often found himself locked in his cupboard early in the evening because his relatives didn't want to deal with him.
As he lay there he thought about what had happened that evening. Their campaign was over. With that thought Harry's mind flashed back to the events led up to them starting their long running game. Particularly the day he had stepped in when Chester Wiggins targeted Liam. Harry always thought of that day as the day he had fully accepted his own paladin like oath, to try his hardest to live up to the three values of Stonewall and live in a way that wouldn't leave him feeling powerless. Ever since that day he had loved life here. He had great friends that supported him, teachers he respected and admired, plenty of food and freedom to do what he wished. This school had become paradise for Harry, and he was afraid.
Every other good thing in his life had been taken away by the Dursleys, any friend he made was chased off by Dudley or refused by Vernon and Petunia. Any time he succeeded at school he was scolded for showing off. Once he had merely been playing with a stick in the garden and his aunt had been so angry she yelled at him calling him a freak, snatched the stick from his hand and snapped it in two. He was terrified that he would come home and they would somehow know he was happy, they would know he loved it here and would never let him come back. Against his will the powerless feeling began to well up in his chest. He thought back to the last time he felt this way, during the session he had suggested to Liam.
When the encounter started he had tried to embody the persona of Percival that he had been building. A man of virtue who loved justice, who was strong when others needed him. He had stood up to his character's family and stated.
"You have no power over me, I won't hate you but I wish to never see you again."
Harry had thought for a long time about what he would say in the situation he had planned. He wanted to tell them that he didn't hate them. Harry never wanted to hate them, he saw what hate could do. Saw that it made his relatives into ugly people that he refused to imitate. Saw it when Chester whispered racist terms at Nish. No, Harry didn't want to hate them but he also didn't want them to have power over him, to be subject to their rules and unfair treatment. He was saying this as Percival to practice it for when he went home, and for a moment he thought it was working.
Harry didn't hold what had happened next against Liam, he didn't know the whole truth. For him they had been playing a game and Liam had just wanted to tell the best story he could. So he didn't realize that Harry's reaction to his response were real,
"Oh, YoU wOn't HatE uS," Liam responded mockingly in the cold twisted voice he had given to these characters, "how dare you say that, after everything we did for you, taking you in, feeding and dressing you. You ungrateful maggot, you have the nerve to come here and pretend like you're better than us just because you joined some mystic order of cooky sorcerers. Before you were just a drain on our house's resources, now you become some kind of self-righteous freak!"
Suddenly the image in Harry's mind was replaced, he was no longer the strong and imposing figure of Percival standing before the cruel family he had left behind. He was once again small insignificant Harry Potter, looking up at the looming figures of his aunt and uncle as they berated and insulted him for being ungrateful, and lazy, and thinking he was better than everyone else, when in fact he was the worthless son of worthless parents who had gone off and died in a drunken car accident because they didn't understand a thing about responsibility. Harry's chest felt cold and he began to shrink into himself. Powerlessness in the face of his relatives struck him like a wave that was impossible to fight against.
"STOP!" a voice suddenly shouted.
Immediately everyone at the table froze and they stared at the stormy face of Nish. Even the teacher in the corner of the room had been startled by the boy's forceful demand. Seeing the wide-eyed shock in his friend's eyes however made Nishes anger melt into bashfulness as he collected himself.
"I-I mean that's what Zethyr says." Nish hedged, "Using his keen elf senses he was able to hear the conversation that was happening so he barges into the room and interrupts."
Liam's own face switched to one of excitement at the sudden development. "Well unfortunately the Lord Vensly had the door locked so you would have to pass a strength or dexterity check to actually barge into the room."
"Could I help him?" Travis had then asked, wanting to take part in the action.
What had originally been a scene of Harry's character being berated by his family was then changed as his friend's characters exploded into the room and both began to vehemently defend their friend. The distraction gave Harry the time he needed to collect his thoughts and reassume the strong persona of Percival the paladin.
"Enough," Harry said, calling for a stop to the verbal attacks that his party members were throwing at the other character. Nish of course had to throw in one last insult comparing the character's mother to the backside of a troll before he stopped to let Harry speak.
"You can say what you like about me," Harry had said, "but my point still stands. We are done. I will never darken your doorway again and ask that you show me the same courtesy. All we need is any information you have on the ancient house of Rayze." From that point on the session continued as normal but Nish would sometimes look at Harry sideways, worry flashing in his eyes.
That night after lights out however, Harry heard Nish speak quietly to him.
"Your family must be worse than I thought." He said.
Harry considered just staying quiet, pretending that he was asleep, but he then remembered Nish's outburst during the game. For a moment he had been more angry than Harry had ever seen him. Harry always saw Nish as a playful jester who never took things too seriously, so the contrast to how he had acted that night had been jarring.
"How did you know I needed help?" Harry finally asked.
"You have heard some of the things Wiggins says to me right?" Nish began, "Well to be honest, I can mostly ignore him because he's pretty tame compared to some of the stuff I have heard people say to my parents. They don't get it from everyone, most people don't seem to even notice that we are a different race from them, which is honestly how I prefer it. But every once in a while we run into some jerk that feels like he needs to remind us how unwanted we are. My Dad is really good at just ignoring them. He used to tell me that everything they say comes from a hate bred by ignorance and that the best comeback we can give is to live our lives happily, while they let hate destroy theirs. My mom though, she tries but I have seen her sometimes react like you did, and when I see it happen I can't just sit back."
Nish paused then and Harry quietly contemplated what he was being told. After a moment Nish continued his voice showing a bit more of his normal levity as he spoke.
"Actually the one time I got suspended from school was because of something similar to this. My Mom was at a parent/teacher meeting at school and the teacher was talking about how I wasn't doing well in their class. He was one of the teachers I always talked back to so he didn't like me, but I am pretty sure I only started talking back to him because he seemed to not like me from the beginning. Anyway, he started to tell my Mom about how disruptive I was in class and he said that he wasn't sure what kinds of values a home like mine was teaching me but that they weren't enough."
"What did you do?" Harry prompted, curious about what his friend's response had been.
"Well when I saw that my Mom didn't like what he was saying I stood on his desk and told him he was an asshole who was only good at teaching kids how to spit the same crap out of their mouths that he did."
Harry found himself chuckling at the insult and he was soon joined by his friend below him. Eventually their mirth died down and Nish finished his story.
"Unfortunately the principal had apparently been walking by outside and I hadn't been very quiet when I said it. She came barging in and I was suspended for a week. Though honestly it wasn't much of a punishment, as soon as my dad heard the whole story he gave me a pat on the back and said he was proud of me for standing up for my mother. Though he did say I shouldn't be such a little turd if I had to do it in the future."
The comment sparked off another laughing fit in the two boys, who tried to stay as quiet as possible so as not to bother their neighbors. When they had finally quieted down they both lay in silence for a moment before Nish spoke again.
"Did they ever hurt you? Your family I mean." Nish asked
Harry sighed, a part of him had hoped that the original topic of their conversation would have been forgotten but it appeared his friend had a better memory than that.
"No," Harry replied, "not physically at least."
Harry paused for a moment before correcting himself, "Well that's not entirely correct either. My cousin would get rough with me, but he would get rough with everyone. He also made sure to never leave noticeable marks. When he was young he gave a kid a bloody nose once and the teacher got him in serious trouble. As dumb as he was he could be pretty clever so he and his gang avoided hitting the faces of his victims. My aunt and uncle though they never really hit me. Sure they may have smacked me lightly if I did something wrong but most of their energy was spent telling me how worthless I was. Their favorite name for me was freak."
Harry wasn't comfortable sharing all of this with his friend. He felt shame that he had lived through it, and he feared that it would be too much for Nish. But, the virtue of honesty came to his mind. Nish had asked so Harry gave him part of the truth. He couldn't bring himself to give the whole truth though. He didn't mention the closet under the stairs, or the countless hungry nights, or the relentless chores lists, or the constant disparaging of his late parents. All these other scars were hidden away. In his mind Harry strapped armor over them, armor forged from the three virtues that he now held so dear. He prayed that as time passed those scars would stay there, so that they could never hurt him again, so that they could fade into nothingness.
"You know it is funny," Nish said, ending the silence that had hung between them. "When I got back from the suspension the principal met with my parents and me and told us about Stonewall as an option for school. I wonder if she knew that it didn't match all of the rumors about what life is like here."
Harry was confused for a moment at the fondness in Nish's voice as he talked about the principal. "Wait" he said, "Wasn't the principal just as bad as the other teacher you mentioned. The one that hurt your Mom."
"Nah," Nish said, "She was actually incredibly fair. I really liked her. In fact I heard after the school year ended that she actually fired that other teacher after catching them making fun of another student for their race."
"Huh" Harry said in surprise.
"Not sure how you should feel about her though," Nish continued, "Thanks to her telling my parents about this place you got stuck with me as a friend for the rest of your life."
Harry smiled at Nish's comment and responded, "Well when you put it that way I guess she wasn't all bad."
With that final comment the two boys rolled over and went to sleep with smiles on their faces. Harry even began to be happy that he had ended up sharing so much of his past with Nish. Those harsh memories once so filled with pain now being tied to this moment where the boy's friendship was tempered into an unbreakable bond.
(Line Break)
The morning after the end of their Dungeons & Dragons campaign. The four boys once again found themselves sitting around a table. Only this time they were eating breakfast and planning what they would be doing for the day once classes were done.
"Now that we have finished the game we should probably use some of that time to revise for finals and work on any unfinished projects." Harry suggested.
Nish grunted noncommittally, still in the process of coming to full wakefulness. The other two boys however were alert enough to be more vocal in their responses.
"I suppose you're right." Travis sighed.
"Yeah," Liam added with a touch more excitement, "I still have to put the finishing touches on my critical response to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for Mr. Charles' Literature class."
Though none of the boys were particularly studious by nature they were all pretty good at staying up to date on their classwork mainly by following the example that Harry gave to them. Throughout the entire school year Harry had been able to fulfill his goal of completing every assignment on time and he actually managed to do pretty well on most of them. He may not have the highest grades in his classes but he was often in the top half of scorers.
Suddenly Travis, who was sitting opposite Harry that morning, seemed to see something over Harry's shoulder. Curious Harry turned around to see what it was and saw Mr. Thomas approaching their table. The man moved with a smooth gait that belied how swift it actually was because it seemed in the next moment he was beside their table.
"Good morning gentlemen," the teacher greeted in his usual pleasant tone of voice. He paused as the four boys all offered their own greetings. "Mister Potter," He then said, meeting Harry's eyes, "After you finish eating could you please report to the Headmaster's office he wishes to speak to you."
Harry was slightly shocked. He hadn't had much direct contact with the Headmaster after the one meeting where they discussed his homemade uniform. Throughout the school year there were a few assemblies where the Headmaster would address the student body as a whole, and sometimes he could be found in the halls between classes where he would offer kind, though brief, greetings to the students. Other than those circumstances, Harry only knew of people being asked to see the Headmaster if they had broken one of the rules, or they were not performing well in their classes.
"Have I done something wrong sir?" Harry asked hoping for some reason that he would be called.
Mr. Thomas smiled calmly and spoke in a reassuring tone. "No," he said, "This meeting isn't related to a disciplinary action. Unfortunately I wasn't given details but I do know that your record this year has been impeccable."
Harry nearly slumped to the table in relief but he instead settled for a quiet sigh. "Ok," He said to the teacher, "Thank you for telling me I will go as soon as I finish."
"Good," Mr Thomas finished before turning on his heels and walking smoothly away.
Once the teacher was a few table lengths away from the group Nish spoke quietly now fully awake.
"All right, it's official that man is a robot."
Liam and Travis both gave quiet chortles while Harry just sighed at the tired joke. Ever since the beginning of the year when they finished their first math class with Mr. Thomas Nish had been making the same comment about the man.
"Why do you think that? " Harry asked.
"It is clearly obvious. He shows no emotions, he moves in an inhumanely smooth way and the fact that he is so good at math must mean that he has a calculator in his head. Him being a robot is the only explanation that makes sense." Nish ranted. "Here is what I think, the Headmaster was in a secret government agency that was trying to replace human soldiers with automatons…"
Harry tuned out Nish's latest sci-fi explanation for where he believed Mr. Thomas to be from. Harry hadn't had the best first impression of the man himself so he couldn't fault his friend not particularly liking the teacher. In their first meeting, when the man had given Harry a tour of the campus, Harry had seen the man's polite tone as disingenuous, like he was a salesman trying to convince Harry that Stonewall was worth his time. However, as Harry observed him throughout the year he began to change his presumptions.
It was clear by how diligent he was in his lessons that Mr. Thomas wasn't just acting the part of a teacher, he truly believed in the mission that Stonewall High School was trying to achieve. Nish was also wrong about him not having emotions. He just always had them under control. In the opening ceremony Harry had been impressed by the Headmaster because of his calm and confident personality. He appeared to be in complete control of himself. Speaking in D&D terms though if the headmaster had an 18 in his self-control stat then Mr Thomas had a 20. He never acted on impulses, always reacting to a student with the appropriate response.
That didn't mean he was slow to react however. In one of the earlier classes one of the students had attempted to lob a wad of paper at the trash can. Seemingly without looking Mr. Thomas' hand had shot out like a lightning bolt and snatched the paper from the air. He had then quietly walked to the students desk and told him to please throw away his trash correctly.
Just as with the Headmaster Harry was fascinated by the man. Harry knew from his experience with Dudley that many bullies were just trying to get a desired reaction from you. If he could have the level of self control he saw Mr Thomas exhibit, then he would likely be impervious to much of his cousin's bullying.
Turning back to his food Harry began to eat a bit more quickly. As he finished his meal he tuned back in to the conversation that his friends were having around him. They had apparently switched from talking about Mr. Thomas himself, to discussing the latest assignment that he had given them. He silently chuckled at Nish's lamentations about multiplication tables and was soon finished eating.
Standing he collected his tray before addressing his friends. "I'm going to go see what the Headmaster is calling me for. Could you guys carry my stuff to class for me?"
"No problem," Nish responded, "It's always a privilege to be your manservant milord."
Harry smiled ruefully at the joke which had become a running gag for the boy ever since the day Harry had run off to confront Wiggins. Since then Harry always made sure to carry Nish's stuff for at least the same amount of time that Nish had carried his. Nish always said it was unnecessary but Harry wanted to make sure there was no doubt in the boy's mind that Harry saw him as an equal. Bidding the other boys farewell, Harry left to deposit his tray back in the kitchens and make his way to the office.
(line break)
A few minutes later Harry entered the reception area to the Headmasters office. It was nearly as spartan as the office itself with a few plain chairs set against the wall opposite to the desk of Mrs. Banks, the Headmaster's receptionist. She was a nondescript middle-aged woman with graying auburn hair and hazel eyes which were made all the more visible due to the thick glasses she would sometimes wear while working.
As Harry entered the room she looked at him. Upon seeing the boy her face displayed a warm patient smile and she simply said, "Yes?" asking for an explanation.
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry introduced himself, "I was told the Headmaster called for me."
"Ah wonderful," The woman said in recognition, "Please have a seat and I will let Mr. Jacobs know that you are here."
Harry followed the instructions sitting on the edge of the closest seat. He felt a small bit of anticipation bubble in his stomach at not knowing the purpose for the meeting. He watched as Mrs. Banks stood from her seat and poked her head into the door. After a short exchange the receptionist returned to her seat and continued working. A few seconds later the door to the Headmasters office was filled with the imposing figure of Headmaster Jacobs himself.
His eyes immediately found Harry and he offered a terse greeting, "Mr Potter, good. Come in." He then stood to the side allowing the boy plenty of space to enter the office. Harry quickly stood and made his way through the door. As soon as he was inside the Headmaster closed the door behind him and walked back around his desk to sit down.
"Have a seat" the Headmaster said.
Harry noticed that Jacobs did not say please. But he wasn't being rude by purposefully omitting it. Instead he spoke with the tone of someone who had become very accustomed to being obeyed when he gave instructions. As soon as Harry had settled into his chair the Headmaster began to speak.
"Harry, I would like to begin by letting you know that you are not in trouble in any way." Jacobs said. "In fact judging by the reports I get from the faculty you have been an exemplary student throughout the year. Something you should be very proud of."
Harry's chest swelled slightly at the praise. "Yes sir," he responded, "I was aware. Mr Thomas explained that to me when I was told that you wanted to see me."
"Ah," Jacobs said, "Good to know. The reason I wanted to speak to you is actually related to the one meeting we had closer to the start of the year concerning your uniform. Do you remember?"
"Yes sir," Harry responded, sitting up straighter as though to show off the condition of his uniform.
Jacobs' lips twitched into a small smile at the boy's display. "Good, and I see you took my advice about how you present yourself to heart. Another thing to be proud of."
After finishing that sentence however Jacobs let out a small sigh and the smile left his face. He had dealt with children from hard homes many times over the years and he knew he had to tread delicately when trying to broach the subject of their upbringing.
"What I wanted to speak about with you today are the circumstances that lead to us needing to have that first meeting." Jacobs said.
Harry's face showed confusion. He didn't fully understand where the Headmaster was leading the conversation, but as Jacobs continued to speak Harry realized what the man was talking about.
"Harry, I looked into the information that your family gave about their finances on the paperwork that they filled out when you were enrolled. I know that your Uncle is in sales for the industrial dill company Grunnings. I also know that he is doing fairly well in that department. I know that your cousin is attending Smeltings Academy, a private school which does not require a tuition that would bankrupt your guardians. All these facts together let me know that there is no financial reason that you should have been sent here with homemade uniforms and if reports are to be believed very little stationery and no funds to purchase more."
Jacobs paused briefly to let what he said be processed, and to take stock of how the boy would react. He was not pleased with what he found. When he had entered the room and heard the Headmasters praise the boy had been showing clear signs of contentment. Now his face was completely emotionless. It was like he was a turtle that had drawn into its shell to hide any part of itself that could be wounded, but his ability to hide wasn't perfect. Jacobs was a man who prided himself on how well he could read people and deep in Harry's eyes there was still a spark of fear. Jacobs had dealt with enough children from similar situations to recognize it.
Upon seeing the boy's response Jacobs continued speaking, "Remember Harry you are not in trouble. I bring this up because I want to let you know that Stonewall is here to help. There are people we can call if your home is not a safe place." He said. Trying to extend a helping hand.
"It wouldn't help." The boy responded quietly. Jacobs froze and waited for the boy to continue.
In Harry's mind he was going through everything that had been said in the office so far and trying to think how best to explain his situation with sharing too much. The image that Harry had of the Headmaster wouldn't allow for him to not accept the man's words as genuine. To Harry the Headmaster was the utmost example of the three virtues and so his offer for help must be honest. But Harry had met good people before and the Dursleys were always one step ahead.
"I had a teacher once who was concerned that I was so much thinner than my cousin." Harry explained. "She must have reported it because a man from an agency dropped by our house later and started to look around. They showed him the second bedroom upstairs and said it was mine. They told him how I was adopted and difficult to deal with because I refused to eat anything and I broke all my toys. When the man left they made me tell them who I had talked to and I told them the truth, that I hadn't talked to anyone and that only one of the teachers ever asked me about what life was like at home. A few weeks later that teacher was fired after my aunt complained that she was slandering our family."
When he had finished explaining Harry looked up at the Headmaster's eyes. The fear was stronger in them now.
"Please don't try to get them in trouble. They are prepared and if you do they will just move me to another school. I really like it here, I can live with them for the summer as long as I get to come back here." Harry said.
When Harry finished Jacobs' face was set in stone. Anger burned in his belly at the incompetence of the people that left this boy in an obviously abusive home. Taking a deep breath Jacobs calmed himself and filled his voice with as much sincerity as he could as he began speaking again.
"I am so sorry that you were failed by the system that was supposed to protect you. I can see that Stonewall has become a very important place for you and I promise that I will not do anything that could jeopardize your place here."
Relief flooded through Harry when he heard the man's promise. He wouldn't lose his place at Stonewall. "Thank you sir," Harry said sincerely.
"Your welcome Harry," The man responded, "Now I have kept you long enough. Get to class, I have some thinking to do."
"About what sir?" Harry asked.
"About your situation." the man said, "I am not satisfied with just getting you out of that house for the school year. You deserve better, and I am going to do my utmost to give it to you."
Harry smiled at that and offered one last thank you before he left the office.
(Line Break)
Headmaster Jacobs stood at his window looking out as he thought. The view wasn't spectacular but it did allow him to see the majority of the campus. It helped him focus on what was most important; the students at his school. It had been a few hours since Harry Potter had left his office and he was still trying to work out the options available to him.
Every once in a while he would have a flash of frustration at the boy's predicament. All reports from Harry's teachers showed him as an exemplary student in regards to his conduct. Not only that but he even showed leadership qualities by helping to improve the work of two other classmates he spent time with, Nish Kumar and Travis Willingham if he remembered the reports correctly. How could a family be cruel to such a child?
Once more Jacobs considered then rejected the idea of just calling NSPCC to get the child removed from the home, but he had made a promise to not jeopardize the boys enrollment at Stonewall, and as much as he wanted to trust the system there was a chance of the same thing happening again which Jacobs was sure would result in the outcome that the boy feared.
If Jacobs wanted to find a way to get Mr. Potter out from under his relatives he would need to think like them, to come up with a scenario that they would see as desirable while still getting the result he wanted. Sadly he had painfully little to go on.
He would have liked to get more information about the boy's home life but it was painfully obvious that even sharing the small bit of information he had this morning had been hard on the boy. Jacobs didn't have the heart to push for more. But even without more first hand accounts from Harry he did have the information that had been given concerning Harry with his enrollment. Harry's aunt and uncle had complained extensively about how disobedient and difficult Harry was, also in the story Harry shared they had immediately blamed him for the appearance of the social worker at their door. It appeared that the boy's aunt and uncle saw him as a source of trouble for their lives and that they had sent him here due to the school's disciplinarian reputation. Perhaps he could use that.
Rushing to one of his file cabinets and opening the top drawer, he flipped through folders before pulling out the correct document. Sitting back at his desk he began to reorganize the papers from Harry Potter's file that had been strewn about like a spilled deck of playing cards. He had spent the last few hours poring over it before taking a break to stare out his window and process. Now that he had a plan he sorted through the pages, organizing them as he went, and eventually found the contact information for the Dursley household. With all of the pieces now in place he pressed on the intercom to call Mrs. Banks.
"Mrs. Banks, I will be busy on a call for the next 45 minutes please take messages if I receive any calls." he said
"Of course sir," Mrs. Banks replied in a professional tone.
(Line break)
Petunia Dursley sat in her kitchen reading one of her favorite gossip magazines and enjoying the silence that came from her empty home. Vernon would still be at work for another hour or two so she could wait a bit longer before starting dinner. She enjoyed having leisurely days like this, and now that Dudley was off at Smeltings she didn't have to worry about him making a mess of her home giving her even more free time.
That's not to say she didn't miss her darling boy, and she eagerly counted down the days to when he would return. His letters had said that he was thinking about picking up boxing and she was sure he would excel at the sport. His grades weren't that great but he was a growing boy so filled with energy that she was sure he just didn't do well in a classroom setting. He would grow out of it for certain.
Her reading was interrupted by the phone ringing. She took a moment to try and puzzle out who it could be. Most of the phone calls the Dursley house received came from her husband's work where either his subordinates or superiors would call to ask for more information about something. During the day any phone calls normally came from one of the neighborhood ladies spreading around one rumor or another, and when it came to rumors Petunia was very rarely one of the last people to know.
Walking to the phone Petunia went through all the information that could have prompted a phone call at this time. Unable to come up with anything she her only option was to talk with whoever was calling her and she picked up the phone right before its third ring.
"Dursley residence, Petunia speaking," she said in a polite tone.
"Greetings Mrs. Dursley, this is Arthur Jacobs headmaster of Stonewall High School. I am so happy that I found you at home." A deep masculine voice responded to her greeting.
For a moment Petunia was thrown for a loop. She almost never spoke to a man on the phone, any man calling their home was normally calling to speak to Vernon. What's more Dudley was at Smeltings Academy so Petunia had no idea what Stonewall was calling them for. Then she remembered, Stonewall was where they had sent the boy.
Lily's son, the burden that appeared unexpectedly and unwanted on their doorstep eleven years ago. For a moment in a deep nearly forgotten part of her heart there was a brief spark of emotions: pain, grief, sorrow, and shame. Then like a roaring flood that spark was drowned by a wave of jealousy, contempt, and hate. Her previously pleasant demeanor disappeared and her next words came out in a venomous hiss.
"What are you calling for?" she asked, "That boy is your problem until the end of the year in 2 weeks."
"Indeed," Jacobs responded, "I am pleased that you seem to understand the nature of my call. I would actually like to start by saying thank you."
The man's calm demeanor caught Petunia off guard. "Thank me? For what?" she asked back.
"For the information you gave in your nephew's enrollment papers." he answered, "the notes you gave about his temperament was particularly enlightening."
Petunia was somewhat surprised at that, guessing that the boy had finally let his true hooligan nature loose after being forced to repress it in their home. A part of her though began to worry about this call. No matter what they put the boy through he never once showed signs of the kinds of abilities that Lily had. Petunia had begun to worry that the boy was like a sealed bottle of soda that was being shaken constantly. As he grew with no signs of freakishness she kept expecting him to burst violently. What if the man was calling because something unexplainable had happened and her family would be held responsible.
"Your welcome," She continued now with suspicion in her voice, "but I will ask again, Why are you calling. There haven't been any strange happenings, have there?"
Now it was the man's turn to pause. Petunia waited expectantly. Her worry increasing with each breath as she waited for a response.
"I am not sure what you mean." the man said. "Your nephew hasn't acted in a way that we haven't seen before in the course of running an institution like Stonewall."
Petunia released her final breath in a sigh of relief and she leaned against the wall as her body relaxed. "Oh, good, good," she said.
The Headmaster continued speaking, as though he were ignoring the last exchange. "To answer your question," he said, "I am calling because even though we have made progress with your nephew I believe there is more that Stonewall can offer him in his…" he paused here as though trying to find the right word, "education process." he finished.
This made Petunia raise her eyebrow in surprise before prompting the man to go on.
"Here at Stonewall we have additional programs to aid in the education of students that need extra attention." Jacobs explained.
'What kinds of programs?" Petunia asked suspiciously.
"The one I was thinking of in regards to your nephew is the Summer Rehabilitation program. Instead of sending the boy to you for the summer we would keep him here to go through additional education and work opportunities. We find that students like your nephew benefit from spending more time in a structured environment that is easier for us to provide rather than burdening you more than you already have been." The Headmaster explained.
Petunia's eyes narrowed into slits, "So basically we pay you extra and you get a free laborer for the summer." She said accusingly.
"Nothing so crass as that." the man responded, "This is a sponsored program put in place to try and improve the students that participate, so it won't cost you anything."
Petunia hummed in thought before she continued, "I am not sure." she said, "It might be good for him but i can't say for sure until I talk to my husband."
"Of course," Jacobs responded, "I wasn't trying to get a commitment from you right away, I still have to check with a few parties on my end for this to go through. I just wanted to let you know about the option for you and your husband to consider. Why don't you discuss it tonight and I will call back tomorrow to hear your decision."
"Very well," Petunia said, "Call back around this time and I'll let you know what we decided."
"Wonderful," the man said, "Have a good evening."
'You as well" Petunia responded reflexively before hanging up the phone.
As she stood in her kitchen pondering the discussion she just had, she couldn't help but wonder. Could the boy possibly be normal. He was 11 now. Thinking back Lily had shown countless signs of magical ability years before she received an invitation to that horrible school, but Harry hadn't shown even a single spark. The only truly odd thing about him was that horrid scar on his forehead, but the boy normally did his best to keep that hidden so if you weren't looking for it you could easily miss it. Maybe she didn't need to keep the boy so close anymore. One of the main reasons she kept him so hidden was to avoid her family being connected to any form of weirdness. If he showed no signs of magic it might be time they sign him over to someone else and finally be free of his burden.
Glancing at the clock she was shocked at the time and rushed to the kitchen to begin cooking. She wanted Vernon in a good mood when she talked to him, then he would be more likely to agree with her when she suggested they agree to the Headmaster's proposal.
(line break)
Headmaster Jacobs hung up the phone and sat back in his chair after finishing his talk with the Dursley matriarch. He had never been the best at manipulation but he had hoped he gave off an air that made Harry staying at school seem like a punishment. It seemed like the Dursleys really could be motivated to do things if they thought it would be unpleasant for their nephew.
He was also tired from having to come up with all the half truths and double-speak he had used in the conversation. He held to the virtue of honesty just as much as he encouraged his students to so he wouldn't outright lie. But, purposefully misleading someone to fulfill his responsibility as a Headmaster was acceptable. Harry deserved better. Tomorrow he would meet with the boy and offer him the chance to stay at the school for the summer. Well, most of the summer anyway, he would still have to go home for the 2 weeks before the next school year began unfortunately. But 2 weeks were definitely better than a few months.
Pressing on his intercom Jacobs called out to Mrs. Banks, "Did any messages arrive while I was on the phone Mrs. Banks?" he asked.
"No Headmaster Jacobs," came her reply.
"Very good," he said, "Remind me to have another meeting with Mr. Potter tomorrow before classes."
"Yes sir" she said.
With that done Jacobs began to organize all the papers on his desk into piles based on priority of when they needed to be finished. It was getting late and he always made sure to keep to his schedule so he wanted to get the most important things done before his work hours ended. His sorting done, he pulled out the document that was highest priority and began to work.
Author's Subscript:
Hello Readers,
I wanted to make a few notes about this chapter but I have decided to move them to the end of the chapters going forward so that they don't affect your view of the chapter before reading it. For this chapter I made my first attempt to write in the point of view of a character who has suffered from trauma. I have been lucky enough to not have to deal with trauma in my own life so I hope that I was able to portray it in Harry in a believable and respectable way. Also I am afraid that this chapter seems to drag on a little but I hope that you weren't bored as you read. Please leave me a comment with how you think I did in writing this chapter.
Thank you.