Chapter 10 – Tea with Amelia

It took several days before Elias and Harry were able to get back to their normal relationship. Elias was overwhelmed with feelings of anger and humiliation at being violated with the Imperius curse. "I should have been able to throw it off," he muttered to Harry after giving him a heart-felt apology.

"Most adults can't dispel it, Elias" comforted Harry. "That's why it's called an Unforgiveable. But perhaps we can ask Mrs. Archer to help us learn how to overcome it in Battle Magics?"

Even with Harry's forgiveness, Elias entered a period of depression, barely making it through his classes, and scarcely remembering to give Xolotl fresh food and water each morning. The iguana-fire lizard hybrid tolerated it for two days before grousing protests to Harry.

"Ssspeaker, why isss my Boy ssad? He doesss not sssmile. He doess not pet me. He doess not talk to me. Hasss sssomeone hurt my Boy?" The last was hissed with predatory anger.

"Someone cast a spell on him, Xolotl. It took his will away from him and made him try to hurt me. He is hurt and betrayed, angry and afraid it might happen again. We must be patient with him."

"You be patient with him Ssspeaker. I will help him." The fire lizard's eyes burned red for a moment. "Although you will be permitted to asssissst me." He began to hiss his instructions to Harry, whose eyes widened as his mouth began to twitch.

When Elias wandered morosely into their room after dinner, his eyes flicked over Xolotl's glass cage, moved on and then returned. "Xolotl! Where are you?" He turned panicked eyes to Harry, "Xolotol isn't in his cage!"

Harry pointed a finger and a hiss came from the behind one of the pillows on Elias' bed. The boy took a step forward and then stopped in astonishment as a white paws poked out from under the pillow. The two paws dragged more of an unfamiliar body out from under the pillow and large white ears with pink lining showed up. Dragging himself further, Xolotl pulled the rest of his body out from under the pillow and deliberately turned his back to his Boy, revealing the white powder puff tail, which he wiggled at the stunned teen.

"He…he's…" Elias seemed too stunned to talk. "He's wearing a bunny costume!"

The fire lizard stood up on his back legs and attempted to hop across the bed, tumbling over on to his back. He wiggled the tail at Elias again and little white paws smoothed the large white ears. "He's in a bunny costume!" the boy repeated, his lips twitching at the sight of his regal fire lizard pretending to be a fluffy bunny.

Encouraged by the smile, Xolotl again attempted to stand and hop across the bed. Elias caught him as he lost his balance again and lay on the bed with the bunny lizard on his chest. "Look at you…you're cute!" A laugh erupted out of his chest and up his throat, and continued until he gasped for air.

"Oh my word, how did you talk him into that, Harry? I haven't laughed so hard in…I don't know how long." The bright smile on his roommate's face brought a duplicate to the former Gryffindor's face.

"It's all Xolotl's idea. He said you were sad and needed cheering up and graciously permitted me to assist him."

"Aww, Xolotl, thank you." The teen stroked the fire lizard gently. "I've been neglecting you, haven't I? How about a nice steamy bath and a belly rub, hmm?"

Harry translated his comments and the fire lizard sighed happily. "Sssilly humansss. Sssso much trouble for nothing, and ssso easssy to make you happy." He nudged his Boy's fingers and wriggled luxuriously under the attention. "Tell my Boy I accept his offering, but want a few dropsss of oil in the water. My ssskin is feeling dry." Elias accepted the additional demands with a smile and carried his bunny-lizard towards the bathroom.

Harry grinned and turned back to his letter from Sirius.

Not that I know anything about it, but I heard that the Daily Prophet gossip writer, Rita Skeeter ran into a few difficulties. Something about being gifted with chocolates that made her publicly discuss some of the most creative scandals her putrid mind could imagine. Apparently, many of her stories over the years are being reviewed by a team of solicitors. The word on the street is that there might be a "class action lawsuit" from many of her victims over the years. How do you suppose such an American concept made it across the pond?

Remus sends his love (he's feeling a bit Hufflepuff tonight).

Your Dogfather,

Padfoot

Harry grinned at Sirius' prank on Rita Skeeter. Without knowing anything about him, she had written a thoroughly nasty article that caused him to be flooded with letters until he finally put additional filters on his mail ward. Now, Sirius had hired someone to respond to anything that wasn't from someone on his recognized list.

He turned to the next letter and smiled as he recognized Hermione's tidy penmanship.

Dear Harry,

I was appalled at hearing what the British Ministry of Magic tried to do. What were they thinking trying to force a 14-year old into facing a Dark Lord? I was especially disappointed to learn that Professor Dumbledore was involved. I used to have such respect for him. And then to have your own roommate put under the Imperius curse! How frightening for him and for you! Thank goodness for Hedwig!

After everything that happened to you, I am especially pleased that I transferred to MaSL. I love everything about the school, from the building (designed to be similar to the Parthenon) to the classes and the students. Non-Greek students are given potions that help us learn Greek five times faster than normal, and I'm well on my way to being fluent. I've been trying to study Latin at the same time to make full use of the potion!

I learned my lesson at Hogwarts, and don't raise my hand in class until after counting to ten. That seems to be working pretty well. They have a Divination class here, but it's taught by an Oracle from Delphi. A real Oracle! It more about history and the tools of divination, and I find it fascinating.

I think my very favorite class is spell-crafting. It takes research, creativity and being able to think in new ways about problems. I hope to be able to keep taking this class series through graduation and possibly beyond. I want to see how this could be used in a career; perhaps with warding, curse-breaking or even something like the Unspeakables in Britain.

Write soon and tell me what you're studying in each of your classes. I'm interested in comparing the two schools.

Missing you,

Hermione

Harry made a mental note to copy his class notes for her and was glad he learned that duplication spell last year. That made it easier. He turned to the next letter and stared at the messy scrawl. Now this was a surprise. He slowly opened the letter and read.

Harry,

You probably don't want to hear from me, and I don't blame you. I wasn't a very good friend to you last year. I was hurt that you left me instead of thinking about how everything affected you and that you really weren't safe at Hogwarts. That was selfish of me and it took me all year to realize that. Yeah, I'm a slow learner.

I just wanted to warn you to watch out who you accept food or drink from after everything that was written in the Daily Prophet. Also, wickedly brilliant rebuttal in the New York paper; excellent strategy.

Stay safe,

Ron Weasley

A slow smile broke across the young teen's face as he finished the letter. He folded it back inside the envelope and stared at packet for several minutes. "Will wonders never cease" he murmured.

Albus Dumbledore was having a bad day. First someone hexed him to bleat like an old goat. He suspected Minerva, but couldn't prove it. Next he found tin cans and old shoes on his plate for breakfast, and had to banish it before any of the students noticed. Then he received a screeching howler from Molly Weasley with the morning mail. He thought he had redirected all howlers to his office where no one would hear them, but somehow she slipped a particularly virulent one through the wards accusing him of attempting to enslave an already abused child; a child who was abused because he had abandoned said child to those abusers. By the time the howler finally burned itself out, the students were staring at him in wide-eyed horror, as if he were a Dark Lord rather than the Leader of the Light.

The elderly wizard rubbed the bridge of his nose with tired resignation. Thank goodness Amelia Bones was coming to tea today, he thought. They had worked together for many years and she understood that not everything was in black and white, but shades of grey. She understood that sometimes very hard choices had to be made, no matter how painful. Seeing her would be the bright spot of his day.

At precisely 4:00 PM, the Floo in his office flared and Amelia Bones stepped out. Her close-cropped grey hair and square jaw reinforced her serious no-nonsense personality.

"Amelia, my dear, what a pleasure to see you," said Dumbledore jovially. "Please sit down. I'm so pleased to see you today." With a wave of his hand, the Headmaster used wandless magic to pour them each a cup of the steaming tea. "Please help yourself to the cakes and biscuits. I believe the house elves included lemon tarts today."

The two sipped tea for a few minutes and Dumbledore felt himself begin to relax. "What brings you here today, Amelia? Would you like to see your niece? I believe the Hufflepuffs have Potions at this time."

Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, leaned forward and put her cup down. "I'm here to speak with you, Albus. I thought it would be better to do so here in your office than officially in mine."

The wizard felt his headache begin again, but forced himself to respond in his most disarming grandfatherly voice, "Of course my dear. I am always at your service. How may I be of assistance?"

Amelia reached into her pocket and withdrew a shrunken briefcase, which she restored with a soft-spoken spell. She withdrew a parchment and an Auror's quill and lay the two items aside. "Begin recording," she commanded and the quill lifted itself. "Amelia Bones speaking with Albus Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She confirmed that the quill recorded her words verbatim and then turned a serious eye on to the older wizard.

"Please explain to me how and why Harry Potter was removed from his parent's home after their deaths and placed with his Muggle relatives."

Albus sighted heavily. "The Potters and Longbottoms were at risk because of a prophecy that was partially overheard by a Death Eater. 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...' That was as much as Voldemort's follower overheard. The only two Light families with children due at the end of July were the Longbottoms and Potters. When James and Lily Potter were killed, Voldemort was vanquished through a blood sacrifice of Lily's. I could transfer that protection to a home as long as he was with someone who shared his mother's blood."

"And you choose not to involve Children's Services for what reason?"

The wizard's voice was soft and persuasive, "I was afraid for the child's safety from remaining Death Eaters, especially any who might be unmarked. I didn't know how compromised the Ministry might be at the time and believed it would be too easy to leak his location if it was known."

"It didn't occur to you that the Potters might have made other arrangements for their child? That they might have wanted him raised in a magical home and brought up knowledgeable in the Potter heritage? That you may have been violating their rights as parents to guide the destiny of their son?"

Dumbledore leaned forward, and his tone was sincere as he responded, "I thought there was plenty of time for that type of training and that it was more important for the child to live to reach school age."

"So ignoring whether your decision coincided with the boy's parents, is it correct to say that for ten years, the child was not monitored? That there was no trained personnel to supervise his placement, health and safety?"

"No, actually I asked Arabella Figg to move into the neighborhood to keep an eye on the boy for me. I did try to do my best for him, Amelia. I have always tried to do my best for any child."

"Was Arabella Figg trained in Children's Services? In how to monitor a child for abuse? Does she know if a child is within the normal percentile for height and weight? Does she know to look for hidden bruises, sleeplessness, and fear?"

"No, I admit that she wasn't professionally trained, but she was a considerate and compassionate woman. And like me, she honestly believed that Family would do their duty towards Family."

Amelia stared at the older wizard for several long moments until the silence became uncomfortable, but it was a tactic he was familiar with and kept silent, simply reinforcing his grandfatherly image. "All right, Headmaster, let's move on. When the child finally escaped his abusive relatives and reached the safety of Hogwarts, wasn't he malnourished and small for his age?"

"While he did appear small, he didn't appear to be mistreated. He seemed like every other child, eager to learn magic."

"I see. Is it true that Mr. Potter asked not to be returned to the Dursleys when the first school year was over?"

"Amelia, you must understand. He didn't say he was being abused. I believed he didn't want to give up magic for the summer. If he had said anything, I would have investigated."

"Isn't just the fact that a child asks not to be returned to his family cause for investigation?"

"To my everlasting regret, it never occurred to me that he was being mistreated."

"You will be pleased to know that the Aurors do investigate suspicions and reports, Albus, whether they have credibility or not. It is our duty, especially towards children."

"What do you mean?"

"The Dursleys have already been visited by investigative Aurors. They found proof that the child spent the better part of his life living inside a locked closet. His cousin admits that "the freak" would be locked in for days without food or loo privileges. Veritaserum proved that his Aunt loathed and feared him and his Uncle not only despised him, but felt it was reasonable to work him like an adult starting when he was only seven years old."

Albus pinched the bridge of his nose and looked pained. "Harry never said anything specific to me."

"Anyone trained in the field would know that abused children feel responsible for their own abuse. Their abusers have trained them to believe they deserve it."

Albus didn't respond, but just closed his eyes as if he couldn't bear to think of it. "Moving on," Amelia said, "why don't you tell me why Quirrell's possession and death wasn't reported to the Aurors?"

The Headmaster sighed heavily again and spoke softly, "I was honestly trying to protect Harry. I didn't think the poor boy needed to be traumatized by the press and Aurors. It wasn't as they we had proof of anything."

"We could have reviewed the boy's memories in a pensieve, Albus. Surely you should have remembered that."

The elderly wizard didn't respond. "All right then, tell me about the murder attempts on the boy over the years and why none of them were reported to the DMLE."

"I think it is a bit of an exaggeration to call them murder attempts, Amelia."

"Is it, Albus? Is that the same degree of exaggeration that you believed when the boy begged not to be returned to the Dursleys?" The elderly wizard looked pained. "So what do you call it when someone hexes a broom to throw off an eleven year old when he is one hundred feet above the ground if it's not a murder attempt? What do you call being physically attacked by something capable of killing unicorns if it isn't a murder attempt? What about when the child was attacked at the end of your 'trial of horrors'?"

"I agree that Voldemort did attempt to kill Harry, but Quirrell died immediately thereafter, the shade fled and we had no proof other than Quirrell's body."

"The DMLE has professional investigators, Albus. We could have had pensieve memories. We could have prepared for Voldemort's return immediately. Perhaps Alastor Moody wouldn't have died if you had only shared information rather than believing you are the only one capable of understanding and acting upon said knowledge."

The sad blue eyes met her cool grey ones with heartfelt emotion. "I didn't want to start a public panic, nor did I want to alert his followers too early. My sole motivation was for the greater good of society; to protect the greatest number of people and harm the fewest."

"And who decided what the greater good was?"

There was silence in the office. "So you decided, you acted, and a child was abused at the home you chose for him and then repeatedly harmed while under your care at school."

"Isn't that a bit harsh, Amelia? I have always tried to protect the children."

"Then perhaps you can explain to me, speaking as one of the Board of Governors, why we weren't informed after the first child was petrified two years ago so that the school could be closed until the menace was found."

"If I had had any reason to believe it was a basilisk, I would have closed the school immediately. But the cat and then the first child were petrified not killed, and there was no known creature that did that. As long as they were only petrified and we were certain the mandrake root would restore them, I thought it was better to try to provide the children as stable and normal a life as possible."

Amelia glowered at the Headmaster with cold eyes that promised him no quarter. "Albus, in my role as the Head of the DMLE, I have to say that you violated many laws and procedures in regards to Mr. Potter, laws that you were sworn to uphold as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. You decided that you were above the law because you saw the "bigger picture" and the "greater good". By acting as you did, you violated the trust of the Wizengamot and the rest of the citizens of Britain." She reached into her briefcase and pulled out a thick packet of parchment papers. "I am going to offer you a one-time plea bargain, Albus. If you resign from your positions on the Wizengamot and the ICW by the end of the week, then I will not press charges, but that agreement will be documented in your file."

She handed him the documents and ignored his shocked expression. "In addition, as a member of the Board of Governors, you should be aware that you will be interviewed on your conduct at the next monthly meeting. Albus, I think you spread yourself too thin and forgot what was most important. If the children are our future and the most important thing, then perhaps you should consider spending time in the classroom rather than hidden in this office. I strongly encourage you to accept the offer before you, Albus. Recording off." The quill stopped scratching and lay on the long scroll of parchment that contained their discussion.

Albus looked carefully at the woman before him and was reminded that she had been considered one of the greatest witches of her time, as well as a highly skilled duelist. "You have given me much to think about, Amelia," he offered. "I will need to review my actions from a different perspective. Will you give me a week?"

Amelia stood up, shrunk her briefcase and stored it in a pocket. "One week, Albus. At the end of that week, charges will be filed if the agreement is not signed." With a nod of her head, she grasped some Floo powder, called the Ministry of Magic, and disappeared into the green flames.

The Headmaster was not seen for the next forty-eight hours, unless one of the staff specifically went to see him. At the end of that time, he sent a message to each staff member saying that he would be sitting in on one class a week, under a disillusionment spell so as not to distract the students.

By the end of the week, he was feeling quite ill. He knew that Severus Snape was a harsh taskmaster, but he hadn't comprehended that the man insulted and humiliated his students. Cuthbert Binns paid no attention to his students whatsoever, even when they transfigured their books into pillows and slept through his entire class. Hagrid, although he meant well, introduced magical creatures much too powerful for the age and knowledge of the students involved. And Sybill Trelawney deliberately spouted death and doom to her students every class. When had he stopped putting the children first?

Albus Dumbledore to Focus on Hogwarts

by Rita Skeeter

In a surprise move today, Albus Dumbledore resigned from his position as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and as the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards.

"As my dear friend Amelia Bones recently pointed out to me, I have been spread too thin for too long. My focus should be on the children who are our future and I am resigning from the other positions to focus on being the best Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that I can be. I'm going to be working closely with the staff over the next year to bring up our standards and continue to ensure that Hogwarts is one of the premier schools in the world.

Towards that end, I will personally begin teaching the OWL and NEWT level classes in the History of Magic while we search for a replacement for our own Cuthbert Binns."

The vote for the new Chief Witch or Chief Warlock should come at the next meeting of the full Wizengamot. Augusta Longbottom and Griselda Marchbanks lead the field of potential candidates for Chief Witches, while Tiberius Ogden is a favorite for Chief Warlock.

"Albus Dumbledore has long been a Leader of the Light," said Madame Longbottom, "and I respect his desire to focus his attention on our greatest resource for the future, our children."

"Good man," said Tiberius Ogden. "Not that I've always agreed with him, of course. We've had some long and heated discussions over the years, but his heart was usually in the right place."

"I've always thought the man was trying to do too many things at the same time, so that he couldn't give enough time or attention to any of them," said Wizengamot member Lucius Malfoy. "Hopefully, we will now elect someone capable of devoting his or her full attention to the Wizengamot."

"I look forward to seeing the changes that will be coming at Hogwarts," said Madame Griselda Marchbanks. "I have great grandchildren there and will be interested in hearing thier comments over the next year or two."

See page 4 for details of the Life and Times of Albus Dumbledore