warning for a small instance of ableism. no slurs tho
The Headmaster's eyes flicked quickly over to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables, before returning to the Slytherin one. Frankly put, he was concerned. In the span of one month, three students had been injured, one of which with an unknown Dark spell. The twins, Gryffindors, both of them, had not been injured badly; only suffering from a few scratches and bruises.
Dumbledore had had this problem in the past. Being a headmaster for some decades led one to see some things. He bent his head towards Snape. "Tell Potter to meet me in my office after dinner. The password is Sugar Quills."
Classes hadn't been pleasant after Snape's visit to them during lunch. They had spent the time with their heads together, whispering about what Dumbledore might want from them.
"Ron, I told you that you shouldn't have used that spell on the Ravenclaw student. What if Harry gets in trouble now?"
"That was three weeks ago, 'Mione. If that was the reason then don't you think Harry would've been called up to his office by now?" Ron scoffed and looked to his friend. "You've been awfully quiet on this, mate. What do you think it is?"
"I dunno." Harry shrugged, "but I guess I'll find out soon. Dinner's about to end." As he stood up and collected his books, he looked at them. "I'll tell you what he talks to me about. See you."
Hermione looked at Ron but didn't comment, choosing to shrug instead.
When Harry arrived in Dumbledore's office, the Headmaster wasn't there yet. Fawkes trilled at him and Harry made to head to him when someone cleared their throat.
"Harry," Dumbledore said, sitting down at his desk and gesturing at a chair for Harry to sit on. "I'm glad you came."
"You told me to, sir. What do you need?"
"Ah, straight to business. That's a good quality, you know. Although you may want to work on pleasantries." He smiled at Harry, who grimaced back. "Sherbet lemon?" He held the bowl out and at Harry's head shake, popped one in his mouth.
"To get down to it, my boy, I'm slightly concerned about your performance. Your practical work is excellent, and the essays you're assigned are often EEs. However, I've been told that your reading is slow, to the point in which you don't finish the reading in class, despite getting more than enough time to work on it. Not only that, but your spelling and handwriting in class are atrocious. Need I remind you that cheating in Hogwarts is strictly forbidden?"
"I'm not cheating, sir. I have trouble with words and spelling, so when we're assigned an essay outside of class, I dictate it to Hermione. All the words are my own. And Ron and Hermione help with reading."
With a sigh, Dumbledore said, "You will have to grow out of that, Harry. It won't be allowed during OWLs, not to mention childish. You're fourteen."
Eyes flashing, Harry made to say something before thinking better of it. His words came out through gritted teeth. "Is there anything else, Headmaster? I'd like to be back before curfew."
"No, no, my boy." He waved his hand. "I can write you a note. There's something else I've been meaning to talk to you about.
"Harry, do you know anything about Matthew Wilson? He's a sixth year Ravenclaw, who recently had come into contact with an unknown and serious curse." At Harry's shake of the head, he prodded further. "You haven't heard anyone in the Common Room bragging about a curse they had invented? Perhaps a boast about defeating a fellow student in a duel."
"I don't socialize much, sir. The other Slytherins don't talk to me much, so I wouldn't have heard anything. Everyone tends to talk quieter when I'm around. Besides, I'm a fourth year. I don't think I could beat a sixth year in a duel."
"Don't underestimate yourself. You were able to hold your ground against Voldemort, and you were only eleven at the time."
"That was merely adrenaline. I don't think I could do that naturally without intense training. If that'll be all…?" He stood up, waiting for Dumbledore to write a note.
Even with the note, Harry hurried through the corridors. None of the teachers liked him much, and Filch and Snape would take any excuse to assign him detention. Thankfully, he made it back to the Common Room without incident. Ron and Hermione, just as he had suspected, were seated on the couch. They looked up upon hearing the door open.
"So?" Hermione asked. "What was it?"
"Dumbledore being himself, what else?"
"An arse, then." Ron helpfully provided.
"Yeah, an arse. He accused me of cheating and said that I was 'too slow' when it came to reading. He did ask about that Ravenclaw sixth year, though. I don't think he believed what I came up with, but I'm the Boy Who Lived. What's he gonna do to me?" Harry smiled and dodged the book Hermione threw at him.
"You can't depend on that, Harry!"
"Yeah, but I can now, so I might as well use it. It's the only good thing that came from that night." He shrugged at Ron before stretching. "Well, I'm beat. Don't stay up too late, 'Mione. We've got Herbology at 10 tomorrow and I want to get a good breakfast."
i'm not dead! when was the last time i updated this..? 18 months ago i think. whoops
yeah so harry is dyslexic because i want him to be. dyslexia started to become known more as a learning disorder than someone being lazy in 1991, and of course this story is set a few years after but it still wasn't widely accepted. also given all the old fashioned things wizards use, imma go with the fact that they are kinda backwards