I never did say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, did I? Ah well. Happy New Year! ^_^
Part 49/?
"That's impossible," Lucius said immediately. "Even *if* Dumbledore were legally Harry's guardian, the rights of guardianship would have been dissolved immediately upon his arrest and escape. Especially since the charges against him stemmed, first and foremost, from his mistreatment of Harry. Upon such time, with no acceptable family, Harry would have become a ward of the Ministry; in which case, my signature upon his adoption paperwork was all that was necessary to make the adoption legal."
"Except that he was not arrested until after the adoption." Thistlewaite reminded them.
"It doesn't matter," Lucius told him. "There is no way Dumbledore could possibly get custody of Harry at this point."
"You got that right," Harry growled. They looked over at him, and Thistlewaite found himself warily retreating. Harry's anger was almost palpable. He'd almost swear that Harry's eyes were glowing,
Lucius did feel the anger. Ever since Harry's rage had ignited Severus' and Draco's fury, they'd worked at making sure it wouldn't happen again. Each of them had developed a greater sensitivity to the 'flavor' of power being put out by one another, and had learned how to keep that power from influencing themselves.
"Harry, calm yourself," Lucius ordered.
Harry glared at him, but Lucius calmly stared him down, waiting until he saw his husband take a deep breath and pull the magical energy back into himself.
"There is also the fact," Lucius said to them both, "that we were not actually married. It was only a Promise Ceremony. All that was necessary for that to be legal, was for Harry to be of age, which he was." Changing his main focus, more specifically addressing Harry, yet still clearly including Thistlewaite in his audience, he continued, "Although, Harry, you would still be technically under your guardian's control until you are eighteen, at your age, you do have certain rights. In cases in which the minor is an orphan, or has major problems with his parents, and there is someone of acceptable reputation who is willing to take responsibility, the minor has the ability to choose the guardian."
"Maybe we should let him get custody," Harry muttered.
Lucius turned on him. "Would you care to repeat that?" he asked frostily.
"I said, maybe we should let him try," Harry seemed completely unimpressed with Lucius' tone of voice. "It would bring him out into the open. And if he tried to make me go with him, I would *definitely* make him regret it." Harry's expression was a match for Lucius', and Thistlewaite backed away even more.
"Get that thought out of your head, right now," Lucius ordered. "You will not risk yourself like that, nor will you risk our child!"
Harry's head flew back as his hands went to his stomach. "I wouldn't!"
"Have you forgotten that the old man seems to have a vendetta against our child? That it was by his machinations, that Madam Pomfrey gave you that abortifacient? That he left that prophecy for you to read, and he seems to believe it?" Lucius' voice was even, but the words hit hard.
Harry lowered his eyes, conceding the points.
Lucius stared at him for another moment, until he was sure Harry understood, before turning back to the reporter. "Which newspapers?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "All Marnier said was that it was several papers."
"It doesn't make any sense," Harry said, thinking now. "You're right. He's an escaped convict; he couldn't get guardianship of me even if you weren't Minister of Magic. As it is, any change in my guardianship would have to go through you, and no one would believe you'd do that, even in the extremely unlikely event it was legal," he ended with a grin. He suddenly frowned. "Unless... what if something happened to you? Who would be in charge then?"
Lucius shook his head. "Arthur Weasley is currently my second. It would not help Dumbledore."
"Unless he's got a hold on Mr. Weasley that he doesn't have on you," Harry reminded him.
"I think you both are forgetting one other group of people," Thistlewaite tentatively suggested. "The public."
"How do you mean?" Harry asked, tilting his head inquisitively.
"There are still a lot of people who don't believe Dumbledore actually did what he's being accused of. They're sure there *must* be a logical explanation for everything that happened. Unfortunately, the most likely explanation is that Mr. Malfoy set him up. You can't ignore the fact that there is still an extremely large number of people who will believe that Harry would be much better off as a ward of Albus Dumbledore, than as the son of Severus Snape. After all, Professor Snape was once a Death Eater, as were you, Mr. Malfoy. One thing that can be definitely said about Dumbledore is that he was never a Death Eater, rather, he fought against them all of his life. When it comes down to it, his crimes would be considered much less than yours. If an election was forced now... and Dumbledore ran against you..."
They contemplated that for a moment.
"There's also some question being raised about what happened to the Dursleys. It seems they have disappeared. Right now, it's coming down to your word against his, and there have already been questions raised about young Mr. Snape here being... unduly influenced by yourself and his new father." Thistlewaite continued.
Harry looked as if he wanted desperately to hit something. He turned towards his husband. "What did you do with them? I know you had something to do with their disappearance."
"Don't worry about it," Lucius said dismissively. "They can be found if it becomes necessary."
Harry thought about calling him on that, but let it go. He flopped down into a nearby chair and turned a dismal glare on the reporter. "You know, this had been an almost perfect day. I should have known something would come along to turn it to crap."
Lucius walked over and lay his hand on Harry's shoulder. Thistlewaite dropped his eyes, "I'm sorry I had to bring you this news…" he started.
Harry waved his hand. "Getting it now is better than having it broadside us in the morning, but why couldn't the old reprobate have waited until another weekend so he didn't have to ruin this one?" He pouted slightly. "When I get my hands on that old man, he's really going to regret ruining our date."
Lucius smiled down on him. "Why don't you go on back to Hogwarts? There's really nothing you can do right now. I'll try to counter it, but it might take me all night."
Harry wanted to argue, but he understood. He sighed, but agreed. "All right. I'll talk to the others, see if we can come up with anything to help." He looked up at the clock. "Or then again, I guess I can just talk to dad, since everyone else should be in their dorms by now. Stupid curfew." He hesitated before reaching for his emblem portkey. "Are you sure..."
To Thistlewaite, watching, it seemed as if Harry was asking Lucius if he was sure he wanted him to go. The two involved however, knew differently. The question being asked was a much more serious one. In truth, the black-haired boy was asking if he was sure they could trust Thistlewaite and the news he had brought. As much as they might happen to like the reporter, he was still very much an unknown quantity, and he had not completely won either of their trust.
"As sure as I can be, at this point," Lucius answered.
Harry accepted it as being the only response Lucius could give. They were basing a lot on the word of a virtual stranger, and just because he had written nice articles about them, did not mean he actually felt that way. Harry caught Lucius' hidden glance at their rings and nodded ever so slightly. He would keep a close watch on that piece of jewelry. Hopefully, it would at least give him some warning if something went wrong.
They kissed slowly, intensely, before regretfully drawing away from each other. With one last glance, Harry portkeyed away and Lucius turned towards his guest.
"Let's get to work," he ordered.
Part 50/?
Harry wandered slowly into his father's chambers. Severus had been reading a new potions book with some very interesting suggestions for the use of mugwort to lengthen the storage life of certain types of poisons. He immediately put it down however, upon seeing his son coming in.
"Is something wrong?" he asked. He looked at the clock. "I didn't expect you home this early. Truthfully I didn't expect you back tonight at all."
"Something came up," Harry answered as he flopped down on a nearby couch. He was planning on telling Severus everything that happened, but didn't really want to. It would make it too real.
Severus seemed to understand without another word being said. He walked over and settled down on the couch next to him. "Did you go to the Garden?"
Harry's face lit up immediately, and the worry that had been there seemed to miraculously disappear. "It was so wonderful! I've never seen anything like it. It was so completely different than the zoo I went to before I started Hogwarts. It completely blew me away." He started to describe everything he had seen and waxed poetic over the flying animals.
"Where did you go afterwards?" Severus asked, drawing him out.
"The Golden Lyre," Harry told him. Again he described, in detail, everything they had done.
Severus listened with a slight smile over the excitement and happiness obvious in every word that almost exploded out of Harry's mouth as his hands flew around, as he tried to show where everything was and how it all felt.
Then the boy's expression darkened.
"What happened next?" Severus asked. "It sounds like you had a wonderful time; I would expect you to still be at the manor, having a wonderful time in a way you won't be telling me about."
Harry laughed slightly and shook his head. "We probably would have, but Thistlewaite showed up."
"The reporter? What did he want?" Severus prodded.
"He said he got Marnier drunk... and that in the morning..."
"In the morning..." Severus encouraged.
"Some of the newspapers are going to come out and say that the adoption isn't legal," Harry said quickly. "That Dumbledore was legally my guardian at the time, so the paper signed by the Dursleys isn't legal... and that Dumbledore should get custody of me because he's not an ex-Death Eater."
Severus was silent for a moment, but Harry, looking up through his lashes, could see the anger building in his face. "What?" he hissed.
"That's what I said," Harry said with a strained grin. "Lucius is convinced it can't happen, but Thistlewaite thinks that a lot of the public will believe it. Especially if they come out and say that the charges against Dumbledore were trumped up by you and Lucius because you wanted control of me without him being able to stop you. Well, that's not exactly what he said, but that's what it's going to come down to."
"What is Lucius doing?" Severus asked in a tight, hard voice.
"I don't know exactly," Harry admitted. "He said he was going to try to stop it, but if it's as wide-spread as Thistlewaite said Marnier believes it to be, I don't think it's going to be possible."
"Dumbledore will not be coming near you," Severus swore.
"I agree," Harry sighed. "If it was just me, I'd be hunting him down or calling him out, but I won't risk the baby that way."
"Good," Severus said harshly. "We need a plan in place to get you away if necessary. The Manor would not be safe at that point."
"I know," Harry agreed, "but there's several places I could go. The main problem would be that I'd be almost by myself in two of them. There's no way they could get into the Chambers or the Keep, but it would be lonely, even if Madam Faire went with me."
"I disagree," Severus said thoughtfully. "There are a number of people here at school that know both of those places and how to get in. It wouldn't be that difficult to charm a snake to open the Chamber if they knew where it was, and Dumbledore is fully capable of finding out, as he is of forcing Neville to open the door to the Keep. Second choice?"
"Jade goes to live in Muggle London, or if necessary, even out of the country. I'd prefer it to be London simply because I have friends there, and only you, Lucius and Draco know where they live, but I can work something out elsewhere if necessary."
Severus nodded in understanding. "If you weren't pregnant, I would actually suggest Underhill."
"If I wasn't pregnant, it wouldn't come up," Harry reminded him. "I am surprised that you'd suggest that though, I thought you were almost rabidly anti-Sidhe." He grinned slightly.
"I am, as you say, anti- those incompetents who jump to conclusions and act rashly without all the facts. In fact, I would say O'Feahr was being extremely Gryffindor at the time," was Severus' answer.
"You're lightening up on him," Harry said happily. "About bloody time."
"Watch your language, young man," Severus replied.
Harry just stuck out his tongue and Severus fought back a smile.
"You know," Harry said thoughtfully after a minute. "I don't really understand why Dumbledore brought O'Feahr here. I mean, yeah, he talked him into taking me to Underhill... but why? He had to have some kind of basic reason there. He didn't know about Lucius, and he couldn't have known about the baby, and from things you said, he asked for the Sidhe's help even before he found out about the adoption. So why? There had to be more to his plan than what we've seen."
"When it comes to the old man, there usually is," Severus reminded him. "But I don't think anyone has ever figured out how he thinks or why he does half the things he does. Yes, he always has a plan, but it seems as if those plans are mostly incomprehensible to anyone not Albus Dumbledore." He slanted a look at the boy next to him. "You know, for a while I was convinced he was on something. I even snuck in and stole some of his lemon drops, just to see if they were laced with any potion or drug."
Harry burst out laughing. "I could see that! That damned twinkle he always had had to be the result of something! Did you find anything?"
Severus shook his head sadly. "Nothing," he admitted. "And I never was able to get an uncontaminated sample of his tea."
Harry laughed for a little while longer before going back to the problem at hand. "I don't want to have to run away and hide," he admitted.
"It's not exactly in your nature," Severus replied good humoredly. "And at this point, it is nothing but contingency plans. And there is nothing wrong with making those. I might even feel the need to disown you if you didn't have any." Severus pulled Harry into a half hug, wanting to make sure the occasionally insecure young man knew he was only joking. Harry snuggled down willingly, doing his own reassurance that he hadn't taken it the wrong way. "But if it is what is safest for my grandchild, then it is what you will do."
"And what are your contingency plans?" Harry asked, concerned.
"I have emergency portkeys set up for several different locations, all with a cover story already in place as well as the basics necessary for each one," Severus explained.
"Lucius has them as well?" Harry just wanted to be sure.
"As does Draco," Severus easily reassured him. He hesitated, but then decided to share one of the secrets of Slytherin House. "Every one of my children has a complete escape plan set up by the end of second year. It is one of the things I require of them. They also have to update it every year as well as check to make sure everything is still in working order. I also dictate that they must give it a full test at least once in either their sixth or seventh year. The sixth and seventh years also have plans in place for the first and second years."
Harry nodded his understanding. Sometimes he wished he had allowed the Sorting Hat to place him in Slytherin... and sometimes he was very glad he fought against it.
They talked for a while longer before heading to their beds for a tension filled, restless night.
Part 51/?
The bombshells started hitting early. Almost as soon as Harry walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, owls started dropping off papers all over. Harry still had his subscriptions to many different papers and so was ready as he was practically inundated with mail. In many ways it was every bit as bad as he had expected; it would have been devastating without the warning he'd been given. The only good thing was that most students still only received the Daily Prophet and the story in that paper wasn't nearly as bad as the others. It was probably still scared of getting sued... again.
Harry's friends quickly joined him as they came in and saw him at the middle table buried in papers and looking grim.
"What's the matter?" Hermione asked as she sat down.
He silently handed her a paper.
Her eyes almost popped out of her head as she read the headline. 'HARRY POTTER'S MARRIAGE AND ADOPTION ILLEGAL'.
As the others joined he handed them papers as well. 'DUMBLEDORE INNOCENT?' 'HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS FRAMED' 'BOY-WHO-LIVED BEING USED'.
"What the bloody hell?" Ron shouted.
"Thistlewaite warned us this might be happening," Harry said as he ran his hand through his hair. "Still, I didn't expect it to be quite this... overwhelming."
"Can you give us an overview?" Draco asked.
"I haven't gone through them all, but from what I've seen they tend to be following one of two general trends," Harry explained. "Me or Dumbledore. If it's me, they're mainly saying that the Dursleys weren't actually my guardians, Dumbledore was, and as such both my adoption and marriage were illegal. If it's Dumbledore, they're saying that Lucius trumped up charges against him to try to get him out of the way... mostly because he'd try to separate me from Severus and Lucius."
"Why are they doing this?" Ehlana asked, worriedly.
"If they can convince enough of the public that the charges against Dumbledore were trumped up, they think they can get my custody passed to him," Harry explained.
Indrawn breaths were the only answer he received.
"Of course, if that ever did happen, I'd be out of here so fast they couldn't even track me with a tracer spell," Harry said with a grim smile.
"Alright, so what are our options... besides Harry going into hiding?" Draco asked the group as a whole.
There was silence for a long moment.
"What about Merlin?" Ehlana asked, frowning thoughtfully.
"How do you mean?" Blaise asked her, confused.
"Well, Harry is his Heir, right?"
Several people nodded in confirmation.
"Well, then couldn't he be Harry's guardian if necessary?"
"Nobody would give guardianship to a portrait, even if he *had* a spirit portrait and we knew where it was," Thyme reminded her.
Ehlana just blinked. "But... don't you become a spirit portrait under certain circumstances after you die?"
"Yes, of course," Roan said. "It requires a number of special spells to achieve," he started to explain.
"But Merlin's not dead," Ehlana interrupted.
There was total silence from everyone at the table.
"What do you mean, he's not dead?" Hermione asked, confused. "He's been dead for almost thirteen centuries."
"No, he's not," Ehlana disagreed. "He's on the Isle of Youth." She looked around at the shell-shocked expressions around her. "Isn't he?" she asked in a much smaller voice.
"I've never heard of anything like that," Draco said in disbelief.
"But..." she suddenly turned and looked up at the Head Table. "Professor O'Feahr!" she called.
Normally, it was exceptionally rare for a teacher to answer a student who'd to him called across the dinner tables, but seeing the expressions on the faces at the middle table, and knowing so well the one who called, Connor didn't hesitate to head over. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"Isn't the Merlin who lives on the Isle of Youth the same one that used to live here in Overworld?" she asked him.
Connor glared at his young friend. "That is not supposed to get around; you know that," he remonstrated.
"But it might be necessary," Ehlana said, obviously not worrying about his reaction. "He'd take custody of Harry if it was the only way to keep him out of Dumbledore's clutches, wouldn't he?"
Connor reared back slightly. "What are you talking about?"
Papers were pushed over to the DADA Professor and he read through them quickly. Finally he looked around at the students gathered together. "Yes. If necessary, I'm sure he would. However, please remember that he does *not* wish to come back to Overworld. If at all possible, try to find another way around it. That is to be the *last* option, is that understood?"
There were nods all around from completely shocked teenagers. Ehlana just looked vindicated.
Severus walked up at that moment and looked around at the expressions on the students' faces. "Do I want to know?" he asked facetiously.
"I don't think so," Harry smiled slightly, eyes still wide with disbelief.
Severus just nodded. He looked down at the papers spread all over the table and frowned, but at least he'd had some warning. He looked back up. "Salazar had a suggestion," he told them.
"What's that?" Draco asked.
"He said that if all four of the Founders' portraits were at the school, Hogwarts would become a Sanctuary once more."
"Sanctuary?" came from everyone but the know-it-alls.
"The rules of Sanctuary are such that anyone who comes within Hogwarts and calls for sanctuary, once being granted it, cannot be removed from the school without their approval. Sanctuary has to be approved by the Founders, but Salazar said that they used to have several students each year who claimed it. It allowed them to stay at school all year long, even over breaks. It is illegal to pull anyone from Sanctuary, regardless of who asks for it, or why. It doesn't matter if the person demanding that the student be brought to him was the child's father, or the Minister of Magic himself, even the Headmaster or Headmistress. It would be not only illegal, but also impossible to take one under the protection of Sanctuary out of the school, without the child's permission. However, it would mean that you could not leave, under any circumstances, even to go to Hogsmeade," Severus explained.
"I could live with that for a while," Harry agreed reluctantly. If possible, it was a better choice than living on his own in London, or trying to find a thirteen hundred year old wizard who obviously wanted to stay lost. "However, that means we need to find Helga Hufflepuff's portrait as well as convince Godric to come back to the school for a while."
"I don't think that will be difficult," Neville spoke up. "If I explain what's happening and promise we'll take the portrait back to the Keep immediately once it's all over, I'm sure he'll come to help."
"Of course he would, he's a Gryffindor, is he not? Ridiculously noble is part of his description," Severus murmured.
Harry rolled his eyes. Did his father have to take *every* chance to snipe at Gryffindors? Then he smiled slightly. Of course he did, he was still Severus Snape, after all.
"Since Salazar was so forthcoming with an answer to our problem, did he also happen to mention where we might be able to find Hufflepuff's portrait?" Draco asked semi-mockingly.
"Actually, yes," Severus answered in the same tone of voice.
"So, when are we going?" Harry asked.
"'We' are not going anywhere," Severus responded sternly. "I have already sent an owl to Lupin, explaining where the portrait most likely is. Since he is her Heir, and it is not in Scotland, we are not going to be going anywhere near the place at this point." He manfully ignored the multiple pouts being turned his way.
"Um... Professor," Thyme nodded behind him. He turned to find Headmistress McGonagall standing behind him.
"There are reporters gathering at the gates," she said unhappily. "Is there anything that can be done about it?" she asked.
"Let them in," Harry ordered softly. "I want to talk to them." His voice might be soft, but his eyes were anything but.
Part 52/?
"Are you sure about that?" Severus asked softly.
"I'm becoming a professional at it," Harry muttered, but he nodded decisively. "I have some things I want to say. It might not make a difference in the end, but I'm going to say them, and they're going to listen."
"Alright, Mr. Snape," the Headmistress agreed reluctantly. "I'll allow it this time, but please do not make a habit of this. Where do you wish to talk to them?"
"In front of the school," Harry told her. "I'll talk to them from the steps."
Severus smirked at his son, understanding the psychological impact of the set up Harry was arranging. He was going to be standing higher than the reporters, with the school at his back, talking down on them from a position of strength. Most of the reporters wouldn't even realize that he'd have gotten their respect from the very first move. It wouldn't work for everyone, some were cynical, and would recognize it, but others would be subtly influenced.
"I do not want you out there alone," Severus commanded, even as he realized he couldn't be the one there. If he were there, people would start to say he was controlling Harry or telling him what to say. "Nor, at this point, do I wish it to be simply another student."
Harry nodded his understanding, then turned and smiled whimsically at his Head of House. "Would you stay with me?"
It almost looked like Professor McGonagall was about to blush, but that was silly, wasn't it?
"Of course, Harry, I would be quite pleased to join you," McGonagall said solemnly.
Harry's smile turned more real. "Thank you, Professor." He stood up and together they walked out of the Great Hall and to the front doors.
The doors opened as they approached and they strode out to stand upon the landing as the doors swung shut once more behind them.
Harry had drawn himself up to his full, although relatively short, height and watched impassively as almost a dozen people headed towards him from the gates. Obviously, not every paper had managed to send someone yet, but that was just too bad.
Harry's green eyes swept over them wordlessly and the reporters who were about to shout out questions found themselves abruptly silenced before their mouths even opened.
"I'm not taking questions," Harry's voice was easily heard by all. "I've tried that before and it doesn't seem to have done any good. I'm not going to argue about my choices or the decisions I have made. But I am sick and tired of all of you who seem to believe I don't know what I'm doing or am being led around by my nose. I'm talking to you here and now to get one thing clear. I will not allow anyone to threaten my family. Dumbledore is a threat to my family, and if he comes anywhere *near* me, I will deal with him myself." The complete evenness of his voice seemed to be all the more menacing.
"Dumbledore has proven himself to be a danger to my child. That I will not accept. At this point, I no more care that he's fought several Dark Lords, than I care that he left me with the Dursleys while *knowing* what my life was like in that house. Neither of those facts matters at the moment. *All* that matters now, is that Dumbledore has shown that he does not want my son to be born. He has shown himself willing to, and in fact once already has taken action to make sure it doesn't happen. He has compelled a *mediwitch* to try to murder my child in my womb. *That* I will neither accept nor tolerate. I will do what is necessary to protect my unborn baby. *Anything* that I feel is necessary."
His eyes swept over them again, seeming to bore into each and every one of them. "This is my warning to you. Anyone that I feel is responsible, in whole or in part, for putting my child in danger will be dealt with as harshly as I treat Dumbledore himself." Without another word, and never letting them speak, he turned on his heel and stalked back inside, leaving Headmistress McGonagall alone on the steps.
She looked at the shocked, silent reporters and cleared her throat calmly, bringing their attention off of the closed doors and onto her. "Although I do not agree with the way Mr. Snape addressed you, I find I can agree with what he has said. Family is the most important thing in the world to that young man, and while both his husband and his father can take care of themselves, the child he is carrying cannot."
"I myself find it very difficult to believe all of the things that Albus Dumbledore has been charged with, but I also cannot deny what I have seen and heard with my own senses. Perhaps, as much as I am loath to believe it, Albus has gone senile in his advanced age. Whatever the truth of it may be, he is not welcome here, and I beseech him to turn himself in. He will receive a fair trial, to which I'm sure all of you would be invited. Let us get this all out in to the open, so perhaps some answer can be determined."
"Now, I will ask you to please leave the school grounds. Classes will be starting in only moments, and most of the students are not taking this well." She turned and walked regally back into the school.
One of the reporters turned to another. "They must be distraught that their Headmaster has been turned against like this. Perhaps we should talk to them."
The reporter he was talking to just looked at him in disbelief. "You didn't listen very well, did you? I, for one, have every intention of leaving, just as I was asked. I have an article to write."
"What do you know, a reporter with sense," a mocking voice said from behind them. The reporters turned to find a group of students, at least one from every house and from several different years.
"What do you think about these fraudulent charges against Dumbledore," the first reporter proved how dense he truly was. The rest of the group showed much better sense, backing slowly away from the obviously angry students.
"If they were fraudulent, the Houses wouldn't have backed Minister Malfoy," the girl, a Fourth Year Hufflepuff said. "If you truly think they are, than do as the Headmistress said. Tell him to turn himself in so we can have a trial. Until then, we're going to follow Harry's lead. He hasn't led us wrong yet." She looked the reporter over disdainfully, snorted, and walked off. Most of the group followed her. The ones that were left, however, were the ones causing the reporters to back off. They didn't like the way the students were playing with their wands.
Sure, they were just students, and from the younger grades as well, so the likelihood that they knew any real curses or hexes was very low. But no one would be on their side if the adults cursed a student while on the grounds of their own school.
Then others quietly joined the students. One by one, older students, from every house, gathered together in front of the reporters. They didn't bother to say anything, and most didn't even have their wands out, but the combined weight of their stare was too much for most of the reporters to handle. One grabbed the stupid one by the back of his robe, and they walked as quickly as possible towards the front gate, being watched unemotionally by the students standing there.
Once the adults were gone, laughter and cheers went up from the group, united as almost never before. They congratulated each other as they walked off to their morning classes.
Lunch that day showed many more people gathered at the middle table than ever before. A trend that continued and grew from that moment on.