A/N: Beta Reader got a date, so I didn't want to bug her into reading this =D (you go, girl) so it could be a little scary.
Chapter 11: Duties and Dissaparation
Somebody, presumably Dumbledore, had arranged a smaller table around which the accumulated staff sat. Dumbledore sat between Hagrid and Minerva. Also at the table was Professor Slughorn ("Call me Horace, M'boy!") who was head of Slytherin House, and next to him was Professor Filius Flitwick who was head of Ravenclaw house. To Harry's right was the very attractive Wister Bloom, the new professor of herbology and head of Hufflepuff house. Also present was Professor Binns (it took Harry until half way through dessert to notice he was still alive, and even then it was hard to tell), the caretaker named Ogg, and Hagrid.
Harry was listening to Wister talk animatedly about the adrenaline inducing venomous tentactula encounter he'd had over the summer. Harry was listening, but he was paying more attention to Dumbledore, who kept watching Harry over his half moon spectacles and looking away quickly to avoid eye contact. Harry hoped that Fawkes's strange behavior and his aura's blast of emotion hadn't ruined Harry and Dumbledore's budding friendship. Harry didn't have any other friends yet, after all.
However, Wister clearly wanted to be his friend, or possibly more. Wister was a little shorter than Harry and had golden skin. He had dirty blond hair that framed his eager face, and a sweet smile which Harry earned several times throughout the evening. He was modest and very enthusiastic about his work. He was the youngest professor; he was a year or two younger than Minerva. Harry thought that between the Wister and Minerva, they'd have the whole student population drooling (ironically, Wister was having the same thoughts about Harry and Minerva). Harry found himself caught up in Wister's charm, but was inexplicably uncomfortable with reciprocating his flirtation, despite the implications that there were very different expectations for workplace relationships at Hogwarts than there were at the ministry.
Harry's thoughts were interrupted.
"—You thought I was going to referee Quidditch games and—and teach the first years how to fly? Are you mad Albus?" Minerva asked incredulously, her voice carrying around the table.
"A little mad, yes Minerva, but do you see an alternative?"
"As a matter of fact, I saw one out my window just this afternoon." She raised her voice even higher, unnecessarily. "Crockett! Harry, you fly incredibly well."
"Thank you," said Harry.
"Did you know that the last Defense against the Dark Arts teacher also taught flight last year? It's a bit of a tradition."
"Minerva!" said Albus, chastising her manipulations.
"Yeah, all right, I'll teach them," said Harry quickly, before she got going. He was not at all feeling manipulated. He loved flying and was pleased to be able to pass on his expertise.
"Lovely!" exclaimed Minerva, at the same time as Dumbledore said "Really, Harry, do not feel obligated. It wasn't part of your job description."
"And was it part of my job description, Albus?"
"It was, actually, Minerva. You were to take on all of my duties when you arrived last year. However, you somehow managed to slink out of that particular duty, as well as taking on some others. You now seem to have taken on the role of my keeper, for example," said Dumbledore smiling serenely.
Minerva turned red and did not rebut.
"Thank you, Harry," Dumbledore said, meeting Harry's eyes for the first time during the meal. Harry took it as a sign that Dumbledore was ready to interact with him again and was glad.
"So," said Wister Bloom as he licked the last drips of melted vanilla ice cream off his spoon, "you play Quidditch? I play keeper. Are you a chaser?—we could play some time. Do some shooting practice, you know?"
"I play seeker," said Harry, standing up. He saw the put out expression on Wister's face and amended, "but maybe we could sometime."
Wister beamed like a school boy.
"I'm off to bed," said Harry. "I've still got to fix up my dorm a bit. Goodnight, all. It's been great see—meeting you."
"Goodnight, Crockett," said Minerva.
"'Gnight, Harry!" waved Hagrid.
Dumbledore nodded at him.
Harry left the great hall and started up the marble staircase. Half way up, he decided that it was too far to walk all the way to his tower, and he closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them, he was in the middle of the tower, the stands for his objects and his bed all around him. Fawkes's perch, too, was back in its place and Fawkes gripped it, surveying Harry.
Outside it was night, but the full moon illuminated the grounds. Harry didn't light the room, but instead made his eyes adjust to the dark. He walked around the room and placed each of his objects on its stand, but decided that the room didn't look very natural.
He conjured a record player and placed the record in it instead of leaving it sitting on its shelf by itself. He stored the other muggle records on the shelf under the player. The hat was sitting on a glass head, but Harry transfigured the glass head into a many-pegged hat stand, and put the rest of the hats onto it. By the bowling ball, he put the bowling pins.
Sorting through his other miscellaneous and non-possessed objects, he decided that the rubber ducks should live by the bath. Off to one side of the tower was a door, and behind it was a bathroom. The bathroom was luxurious and circular like its adjoining room. There was a large tub, and beside it, a separate shower. Above the sink was a large mirror. Harry placed the ducks by the bath, went back into his bedroom, and continued looking through the objects. He conjured a table, and set the ornate wizards chess set upon it and he conjured a cabinet and stored the Pensive within it. He decided to add the Felix to his auror's potion kit.
He looked around the room and thought about adding drapes to the windows, but he immediately imagined it stifling hot and stuffy as Trelawney had decorated it. He would darken the windows with magic if he needed privacy or darkness.
Just then, he felt a presence under the trapdoor. Before the visitor could knock or call out, Harry dashed over to the trapdoor and opened it.
Beneath it, looking mildly bewildered stood Dumbledore. He gazed up at Harry and neither of them spoke for a moment. Dumbledore simply stared up at Harry, searching his face. Harry stared back into the face of his mentor.
Dumbledore broke the silence. "May I come up?"
"Yeah," said Harry, and he backed away from the trapdoor.
Dumbledore rose through it slowly, as if standing on an elevator, and stepped onto to the solid stone floor of the tower as soon as his feet were level with it. He closed the trapdoor behind him and looked through the moonlit room.
"I trust I did not wake you?"
"No," said Harry, "I, er, just like it dark."
Dumbledore didn't respond. Instead he stepped closer to Harry.
"Mr. Crockett—Harry. You may or may not know, but as Headmaster of this school, the castle endows me with certain knowledge of the goings-on here. It very recently told me when someone apparated within the walls this evening, when such an occurrence should not be possible due to strong enchantments. I wonder if you could alleviate my worries about the possibility of a powerful dark witch or wizard roaming our halls."
Harry shifted guiltily. He would surely pay for his laziness. He had known the moment he set foot in—or under, as it happened to be— the castle that it was deeply magical and had an almost sentient consciousness, but he hadn't realized that Dumbledore had such a connection with it.
"That was me, Headmaster," said Harry, knowing that Dumbledore already knew it was him and was testing his honesty. "I am sorry if I alarmed you."
Harry could tell only by flicking out one of his auras that Dumbledore was painfully curious, but he showed no signs of it on his face. Dumbledore only nodded and said "I am impressed. You must be a powerful wizard indeed."
Harry was surprised at the compliment and equally surprised that Dumbledore didn't tell him off or warn him not to do it again.
"Thank you, Albus," was all he could think to say.
"I see that you've made some changes to your quarters? Ah, chess. A magnificent game. You play often?"
"No," said Harry, trying to keep up. "I only just inherited the set from an aunt who passed away. I haven't played in years," he lied.
"I see," said Albus. "May I have another lemon drop?"
"Of course. I don't eat them," he said before he could stop himself.
Dumbledore looked at him, puzzled. If Dumbledore were any other man, Harry would have been sure he was asking himself "why does this man have an enormous box of sweets that he does not eat?" But Harry knew that Albus Dumbledore could just as likely be finishing a game of solitaire in his head.
Dumbledore chose a lemon drop from the box and stuck it in his mouth, sucking pensively.
"What have you planned for your first lessons," Dumbledore asked conversationally around the lemon drop.
Harry, taken off guard, responded, "Demonstrations, and a simple practical lesson"
"Oh," said Dumbledore brightly. "What will you demonstrate?"
"I hoped to duel," said Harry.
"Who were you going to duel?" asked Dumbledore.
"Will you be my aid, Albus?" he asked, before he knew what he was saying. Originally, he'd planned to demonstrate on a dummy.
Dumbledore smiled. "Why, of course, Harry. But, could we, perhaps do one demonstration for all of the students rather than for each class? For the first two weeks of school I'm afraid I need almost all of my time to answer owls from parents."
"Of course," said Harry. "Thank you. Let me know if I can return the favor."
"I will keep that in mind," said Dumbledore, "and now I will leave you to your rest. Thank you for permitting my intrusion."
"You aren't intruding, Albus. Goodnight," said Harry as Dumbledore drifted down through the trapdoor.
"Goodnight," said Dumbledore, and then the trapdoor shut softly.
Harry donned his pajamas and climbed into bed. He looked out his window across the night. The lights in the headmaster's tower blinked on, and Harry thought he saw a purple-clad figure moving through the room. He turned on his side and soon fell asleep.