Epilogue - Case Closed
Harry was comparatively quiet through History of Magic as his last class of the day. Ron and Hermione had tried to talk to him after lunch, but he hadn't felt much like talking. They had noticed him sitting carefully a time or two, and asked about it, but he said he'd explain later and they left him alone. Draco hadn't said anything or given him a hard time all through the afternoon.
When class ended, Harry looked really sad as Pavel dismissed the students and Harry mind-spoke as he dawdled putting his papers and books away. "Papa?"
"Yes, Harry?" Pavel answered in a bright, normal tone.
"What do you want me to do now? Where shall I go?" Harry asked, in a dejected tone, as Ron and Hermione packed up to leave as well.
Pavel turned and spoke to the three of them aloud, "Do you children have homework or studying to do? Are your papers or projects ready for the exams next week?"
Hermione answered, "I think we all have some homework, and I KNOW..." as she looked sharply at both Ron and Harry... "that we all have studying to do for our exams."
"I thought so... So I presume we shall spend this day as we normally do, working around the Dining Table at home while we have tea, no?" Pavel asked.
"That's wonderful, Professor. I think I, for one, will go change clothes first, but then I'll be right there. See ya, Harry... Ron..." and she bounced out.
"Yeah, I'm gonna change, too. See you there in a couple minutes," and Ron headed out leaving Harry and Pavel alone in the classroom.
"Let's see if we can Blink home, Harry?" Pavel said, dressed, packed, and ready to go. "Why so glum, my son?"
Harry was near tears. "OK, shall I Blink to your Study, then?"
Pavel put his materials back down on his desk, to ask thoughtfully, "Why would you do that, Harry?"
"Well, I figure we need to finish my punishment. Am I grounded, or... whatever?" he looked down. "It can't really be over that quick and easy. Not for what I did. Not for how angry I know you were. I'm grateful that you didn't yell at me in front of Draco or Professor Snape, but..." and Harry wouldn't raise his eyes to meet the Professor's gaze.
"Ah, I see," Pavel said. "You are, as they say, 'waiting for the other shoe to drop'..."
"Yes, sir, I guess..." Harry mumbled.
"Let us Blink to my Study at home for a moment, and we will continue this conversation..."
"Yes, sir..." Harry acknowledged, miserably.
Within moments of one another, they both materialized in Pavel's Study, Pavel behind his desk, Harry in front.
"Go put up your things, and get comfortable, Harry, then return here, please. I shall do the same." Pavel instructed, as he changed his academic garb for his household lounging robes, and got his materials together to correct student work and tally his grades.
Harry went to his room, changed into play clothes quickly, and got out his homework assignments for the evening, putting them on the Dining table as he passed it, and headed back to the Study.
Professor Konstantyn sat in a comfortable chair to the side of his Study, where a cluster of other such chairs and a loveseat sat before a fireplace even there. There was something comforting to him about always having a reading and gathering place available, anytime a space was set aside for him to think. When Harry entered, he called him over asking if he'd care to sit down, or even lie on the loveseat prone or on his side to talk.
"That's OK, Papa," Harry smiled. "I've been sitting all through classes, I'd prefer to stand for a bit."
"That's fine, son. Cushions are acceptable, but I'm sorry we can do nothing else to relieve the discomfort. We'll just bear with it for a few days. If you want to stand for supper up here, that's all right, and no one will comment. We can eat up here if you like, or you can with John and Oxsana, and he most certainly won't make you feel uncomfortable. He's stood through a meal or two himself, I assure you." Pavel smiled with reminiscence.
"No, I'll go down to the Great Hall with everybody. It won't do me any harm, and it won't have to take very long, I can eat and return here when I'm done. It's not like class, where I'm stuck until dismissed. If I get too sore, I'll just come home. I think... anyway... that's what I wanted to talk about..." Harry said, as he watched Pavel nod. "Am I grounded? Is there any further correction? Or is this completely finished?"
"Well Harry, how do you feel about it? Your offense has been forgiven by Professor Snape and Mr. Malfoy. After that, you received correction from me." Pavel said, calmly.
"But I DIDN'T, Papa. I didn't receive correction from you. I watched you being punished by Professor Snape! That was awful. I still feel awful about it. I know you have to be sitting there just as uncomfortable as I am, and it haunts me. And you haven't yelled at me, or lectured me about what I did, or anything. I've not had a 'little chat' in here, or anything. I just feel like we aren't finished, and I don't know what's coming."
"I see. Well, Harry, let's consider this time together our 'little chat' shall we? Now, is there anything about what you did or why you did it that you've failed to tell me?"
"No, sir. I told you everything."
"All right. I believe I made my thoughts and feelings clear already, but let me restate. What you did, to take that Answer Key and plant it in Draco's belongings to implicate him for the offense... was wrong. It was dishonorable, dishonest, cruel, and utterly unacceptable. You felt justified, when you did it, because of offenses you held against Draco with his surveillance of you and his tattling. Whether you did or didn't have legitimate grievance against him, NOTHING justifies the deceit of having someone innocently accused or punished for an offense you commit. It's made all the more despicable by the fact that such injustice was, in fact, your very purpose for committing the offense. That's far worse than even having some selfish reason for doing a wrong thing, finding someone else get blamed for it, and lacking the courage to correct the error.
"The sort of callous depravity of heart that can weave a web of circumstantial evidence to convict an innocent of a crime, is utterly unacceptable in my son, or in any young man with as good and honorable a heart as yours. I could not, would not, and never will accept such behavior from you. Are you hearing me clearly?" Pavel's words were stern, and his expression was serious, but his tone was altogether gentle and had been throughout.
"Yes, sir..." Harry answered, looking down at the floor again, as his voice thickened and he was near to tears.
"Now, young man, having said all of that... You, your heart, your honor, are so much in agreement with me that you could not let the matter stand that way for more than 20 minutes. Once you realized what had happened, the only thought in your mind was how to make it right again. I know you were highly motivated by the fact that Draco was in pain, and your actions could relieve that. But frankly, I doubt you would have made it to supper without confessing, even if all Draco had suffered were some lines in a detention. It takes truly dark places in the heart to rejoice in the suffering or shame of someone who has not earned it.
"There now, Harry, is your 'lecture'. I'm not going to 'yell at you'. I never have, and I try never to do that, unless to stop some action in progress. But let me ask you this, while my words may have stung a bit just now, did I actually say anything at all that you didn't already know? I would argue, 'no'. You already knew everything I just said, before you even stepped into this room. You acted today out of your understanding of all those words. You recognized what was wrong, you dared to expose yourself to correction, and you embraced your correction without protest. You humbled yourself in contrition and restitution, and made every effort to repair the damage that was done.
"I did not call you in here for a 'little chat' lecture today, because you didn't need it. You wonder if there is further penalty due... essay, or lines, or grounding. Let me ask you then, do you feel that is necessary or would be helpful?"
"I don't know, sir. I know I'd prefer not to have more consequences, but I still feel bad about what happened... about what I did."
"I can understand and appreciate that, Harry. When good people do wrong things, we usually will know regret. We would 'take it back' if we could, and the memory makes us feel bad. But that memory and regret is not a 'bad' thing. That helps us make better choices in like circumstances in the future. Your regret of today, will make it much less likely that the next time someone does you wrong, you seek vengeance against them. Will grounding you take that memory or that regret, away?"
"No, sir."
"Would it make you any less likely to do what you did today? Or has what you've already been through enough? Are you ever liable to do this again?"
"No way. No, sir."
"I think perhaps you haven't felt 'closure' on this, in part, because you and I never finished our dialogue. You and I closed our issues with Professor Snape and Draco. But you then endured your correction from me, when I took your six. What have you not asked me, when I've dealt with your consequences?"
Harry turned to face Pavel squarely saying, "Sir, I deeply regret my wrongful actions today, and ask you to forgive me."
"You are forgiven, my beloved son."
"Then have I satisfactorily completed my correction for those actions, sir?"
Pavel nodded with approval as he answered, "The question is always the same. If you found yourself in the same situation, with the same idea, would you choose to do the same thing?"
"No, sir. I'll never do such a thing again."
"Then you have learned all that I would have you understand from this, and yes, your correction is satisfactorily completed."
Harry smiled, for the first time since the potions class in the morning. He walked over and threw his arms around Pavel's neck, as his throat grew husky, and his muffled voice muttered into Pavel's chest, "Thank you, Papa. I'm really sorry... and I love you."
"I know, my brave little boy. We all do wrong things from time to time. But we define ourselves by the choices and decisions we make, and the lessons we learn once we know they are wrong. You've done very well today, after a faltering start. I could not be more proud of you.
"Now! Let's go work on our studies with Ron and Hermione, before they think I've killed you, eh?" Pavel said, releasing Harry as the boy headed towards the door. "Attentive as they are, I'm sure they've noticed you wince a time or two, and probably think I've taken my belt to you. I hope you will rescue my reputation for being a 'warm and fuzzy' guardian."
"I dunno, Papa," Harry smiled with a mischievous grin, "you've been known to be a bit intimidating, and you give out a lot of detentions..."
"Cheeky scamp! Get to your homework!" Pavel laughed, as Harry opened the door.
Together, they laughingly got to the Dining table and both sat down gingerly, to the astonished looks of Hermione and Ron.
"Don't ask..." Pavel laughed, laying out his work, while the others tried to look busy and studious.