Here is the next chapter. For some reason unknown to me Fanfiction went weird and never showed that I had uploaded chapter eleven so I would advise people to read it if they have not. For this chapter I wanted to give Harry some answers to some uncomfortable questions he'd asked and those answers will not all be pleasant either so be warned. Please read and review it and we'll see where it goes. Love Moon xxx
Harry decided to wait in the classroom seeing as he had free period next before his first Herbology lesson. In about ten minutes Minerva returned stunned to see him there waiting for her. "Potter why are you still here? Did you not have a lesson to go to?" she asked as he looked at her.
"No I had a free period next and wished to ask you how my parents were at school? Can you please tell me because I didn't really know them all that well?" he asked as her once stern expression softened a lot.
"Milly! Please bring some tea and cakes to my desk. What cakes do you like Mr Potter?" she asked as he smiled slightly. He really did enjoy cake.
"Well thank you so much ma'am. I love lemon tart or chocolate fudge cake!" he said as she smiled at him definitely softening up. Yes she was very pissed off he wasn't in her house but did tend to forget he'd grown up without his parents from time to time something which did make her feel bad. Milly returned in minutes with some hot tea and a plate of miniature cakes for Harry while Minerva had some shortbread herself. She poured Harry some tea just the way he liked it before attending to her own tea and sat down while he waited for her. She took a sip and looked at him whilst taking a bite of her shortbread and moaning at the delicious taste.
"Well then Harry I hope you don't mind me calling you that for this discussion only. What to say about your parents? Your mother was one of the brightest students I've ever had the pleasure of teaching. She was very lovely and slightly smug too but with good reason. She remained the top of her year academically for all of her seven years here. What a wonderful and dedicated girl Lily was. We remained great friends even after she finished school. She was my favourite student of her time. I know I'm not meant to say that technically but she was so amazing I couldn't help it" she said a fond smile on her face as she remembered the excellent girl.
Harry watched her in fascination. She had just admitting to favouring his mother and further had admitted she wasn't meant to do so. This was interesting to file away for later. Maybe she had hoped to favour him in his own time and was annoyed he wasn't in Gryffindor because it meant she couldn't favour him or something this time round he wasn't all that sure.
"Thank you however you haven't mentioned my father and I can't help wondering why?" he asked as she grimaced slightly before seeming to centre herself very quickly once more almost as though she had hoped he might not have seen it however he did see it.
"Your father was a generally good school boy if not a bit of a rascal from time to time. He liked pranking people a bit more than studying however I can say that he did pass all his classes barely." she said that last word under her breath but he had heard it none the less. He was incensed. How could she so casually say he'd been merely a rascal when he'd scarred Severus and countless others if his honest testimony was anything to go by? He could tell he was being lied to and he could tell also that she genuinely believed she was protecting him by lying to him but that just made him even madder. Why was James being called a mere rascal when he'd scarred so many people if Severus' statement was anything to by?
"James was a good boy really. He did all of his homework and everything. He never or rarely missed a lesson" she said sounding a bit hopeless at the end as though she was hoping he would ease her visible discomfort and drop it. He however had other ideas. Thanks to his so called training if that's what one could call it from Vernon he knew he was being blatantly lied to something he abhorred with every fibre of his being. Even if it was awful he still wanted to hear it none the less. It would make him feel better if anything. He would need the truth now whether she was willing or not. He wandlessly sealed her door closed and used the same methods he'd used on Severus to question her seeing her eyes glow when it had taken a hold of her.
"Tell me please what James was really like in his school days?" he asked as she looked annoyed.
"I really dislike that I cannot lie to you but I can see for whatever reason I have no choice. He was awful ok. He was menace but he was a Gryffindor and therefore my responsibility. I would have done anything to make him look good for the sake of the reputation of my house which is consequently what Albus and I did!" she snapped furiously. Harry merely nodded once satisfied he was getting honest answers for once.
"How many people did my father scar in his time at school because of his 'pranks'?" he asked using air quotes to show he didn't believe that they should be called pranks at all.
"Oh around fifty or so people in all of his school years combined but not all scars were awful ones. Most people ended up with mild burns on their body and some rare men never grew their hair back at all but he never killed someone even though he came close that one time!" she answered plainly as he gasped. He hadn't known this and now felt sick. Was he like Severus?
"Was he like Professor Snape?" he asked as she suddenly looked very ill herself. It looked like he'd said the worst thing she could have ever imagined.
"No he most certainly was not. I am appalled at that question. He was an exceptionally reckless rascal but he wasn't evil like that I assure you!" she implored as he seemed to calm down but only slightly.
"How did he almost kill someone and who was it?" he asked feeling dread pooling in his gut. What in the hell? How does someone almost kill someone and simply go on as though it didn't happen? More to the point how does everyone else go on normally knowing it happened and do nothing to punish him when he clearly needed to be taken in hand? It made absolutely no sense.
"Well he was best friends with Remus Lupin who is a werewolf. Remus Lupin had been bitten as a child and therefore it was not his fault he was a werewolf and it is for this reason alone he was given the choice of an education by Albus. He's a truly wonderful man is Albus. Always thinking of others when most would not. Anyhow each night during the full moon when it came time for Remus to transform into his wolf form he'd visit the shrieking shack and transform there somewhere he couldn't possibly harm anyone. James made Severus Snape so mad that he essentially lured Severus there when Remus had transformed who almost killed Severus on the spot because he was not used to his presence there. By making Severus so mad that he followed him there he nearly killed him. Remus never forgave James fully for it afterwards and James didn't understand what he'd done wrong because Severus didn't die!" she answered monotonously as he gasped aloud.
Severus had not mentioned that to him. Probably because he hadn't wanted to. This was most interesting indeed.
"Do you think Severus deserved it?" he asked suddenly curious about what her answer would be. Actually now that he had asked it be severely regretted it because he was terrified her answer would be something he could not morally handle.
"Well no I don't however James was not successful in killing him and I really dislike that everyone seems to forget that all the damn time. James died in the end while Severus lived. You will find Harry that there are some people who do not believe he should have lived and all that but I am not one of those people. Oh Severus should have been tortured multiple times over for his awful life choices but I would never wish actual death on someone because that's not sporting. James for example was an outstanding quidditch chaser while Severus was more into potions and studying. He essentially did not have a life outside of those things while in school and then elected to turn to the dark lord outside of school" she said as he thought deeply.
What did James position or ability in quidditch have anything to do with anything she had just said?
"Why did you tell me about James' quidditch position when I asked you something different?" he demanded now very angry.
"I told you that so you can be a great chaser too like he was. He was such a sportsman. I loved to watch him play. We won every year because of him alone and I was always so proud of it. You need to be a chaser too and honour his memory in the best way I know how. You already honour your mother with your good grades and things from your muggle schools as you know we see all that in our muggleborn students before they come here!" she answered as he reeled. It was like James' almost killing someone had been trivial in comparison with his amazing quidditch career at school.
"What did James do after school?" he asked as he didn't know.
"He became an auror similar to the muggle policemen and controlled law and order in our world!" she answered as a stunned Harry laughed a bitter laugh.
That truly was the icing on the cake. So the guy that had tormented and scarred around fifty people while at school became a policeman after school. What kind of justice was there in that? Whatever did he do to repent or apologise for his actions towards those people?
"What kind of people did he attack whilst at school and did he apologise?" he asked feeling even more discomfort sinking into his bones at the thoughts he was conjuring in his own head.
"He attacked as you so nicely put it people of all blood types. He didn't specify like Severus did for example only attacking muggleborns because his master commanded it of him. Also he never apologised once but we meaning Albus made sure no one ever complained about him to anyone. It wouldn't have been good for his future career prospects you see and as a pureblood we didn't wish his chances at his dream job to be marred by silly little things he'd done in his youth. Albus had to intervene to stop Miles Robins from taking James to the Wizengamot or court if you will over the scars he'd left him with" she answered casually almost as though discussing the weather.
"How did Albus intervene and stop justice? Is Miles Robins the father of Demelza Robins?" he asked in rapid succession.
"Yes he is her father. Well someone in the ministry owed Albus a favour and so he found out what career Miles wanted more than anything and it was given to him immediately. He had to say he wouldn't proceed with the charges against James though as although Miles was only a halfblood his house was represented in the Wizengamot. Albus applied as much pressure as was necessary and he took his dream job while James got off scot free. It was a win-win situation and really was for the best. James had a few years of success in the Auror department before he went into hiding" she said proudly.
Harry was disgusted. So because James was a pureblood everything he had ever done wrong was simply swept under the carpet with the person who been wronged getting his dream job for life in order to shut up. This was not on and he would see it righted at once no matter what.
"What did James do to Miles Robins?" he asked as Minerva took another sip of her tea and he placed another mini tart in his mouth moaning at the good taste of it. It truly was his favourite.
"Oh well they had an argument about something educational I don't know about where Miles called James out on being educationally a disappointment to Gryffindor house and James decided to hang Miles Robins by his underwear in a wedgy fashion on a tree outside school in the middle of winter to teach him a lesson I suppose. He thought he was very clever and funny. The magic he had used was impressive to say the least but the act itself was never funny and no one at the school thought so either. Miles wasn't found for five hours where he was irreparably damaged and scarred all throughout his groin area. He was almost frost bitten in the ankles but thankfully was found in time. Suffice it to say he got his dream career and that was the end of it. He did have groin scars forever after that but I couldn't do anything about those and neither could Nurse Winters the mediwitch of the Hospital Wing in those days" she responded casually as Harry fell off his chair in shock and landed with a thump onto the floor groaning.
He hadn't meant to fall off his chair but he had been so shocked at all he had heard that it had happened automatically. He was so far removed from everything like that. He'd never bully anyone like that. It was so disgusting. He may severely hate Severus over his part in the death of his parents but Severus had acknowledged he'd been an arsehole. He'd acknowledged that he'd been dark and even evil before. James hadn't and his bad actions had been covered up. He suddenly found himself vomiting the tart and everything he'd eaten coming back up. He couldn't hold it in any longer. He was physically sick after hearing all James had done and how he was protected and never forced to say sorry.
"Why did Lily choose James?" he asked getting up and wandlessly banishing the vomit from the floor. He sat down and summoned some water which he slowly drank as his stomach settled once more. He could eat no more tart or drink no more tea he was too ill for that.
"Well in his final year of school after trying to get Lily to date him for years he decided to tell her he'd changed and wasn't pranking anyone anymore. He lied to her and she believed him as he promised her he had stopped. She believed he had changed for her love and agreed to date him. The rest as they say is history. Anytime she caught him doing something bad afterwards she always reprimanded him for it and he did always look chastised however unfortunately I can say he didn't really learn anything from it but then again he's dead so maybe that was his ultimate lesson I don't know! For someone so smart she really was an idiot when it came to choosing partners. I would never have chosen him for example had I been in her position which I did tell her but she believed he had truly changed for her and would not be told" she responded seriously. He waved his hands erasing her memories of their conversation after he'd cursed her and thanked her leaving the room for his next lesson. He had much to think about.
