Ch 13: Questions and Answers
"Would you like a cup of tea, Ms. Rewolf?" Headmaster Dumbledore offered Tabatha as she sat in a large chair by his fireplace.
"Yes, sir, that would be lovely," Tabatha politely responded, trying not to sound as nervous as she was.
Dumbledore was a very respected, and apparently powerful, wizard within the school, and most likely everywhere else as well. This gave him a certain regal presence, in turn making Tabatha wary about how to act in front of him.
Pouring himself and Tabatha a cup of sweet smelling tea, Dumbledore walked over to his sitting area, handed Tabatha her tea, and sat down in the large fluffy red armchair across from her.
"Well, my dear, tell me. What do I owe the honor of your presence this afternoon?" his blue eyes sparkled.
Tabatha sighed before bringing the tea cup to her lips, taking a small sip, then carefully laid the cup back onto the saucer on her lap.
"Well…" she was fumbling on her words, "It has to do with Professor Snape."
Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment and nodded his head. Then he placed his tea cup on to the side table and leaned forward a bit into the empty space between himself and Tabatha, lowered his head and shook it back and forth a few times.
"My dear, I know that Professor Snape can be a difficult man. Trust me, you're not the first to come to my door to complai-"
"Oh no, sir!" Tabatha cut the old wizard off, sitting straight up. Rushing on to correct any disrespect, "With all due respect, sir, you misunderstand me. I have nothing to say against Severus. In fact, he's been more than kind to me. "
Dumbledore looked up at Tabatha, startled that she jumped to Severus's defense so quickly. He found himself quite intrigued that, for once, it would seem someone took a liking to Professor Snape. And apparently the feeling was mutual. Dumbledore sat back against his chair, a lighter expression crossing his face
"Well, I say, that is rather refreshing to hear, to say the least," he mused rising his eye brow. "I don't often hear from someone so passionate about our potions master."
Tabatha inhaled quickly when she heard the word 'passionate' and felt her face flush pink; clearing her throat she looked down and took another sip of tea attempting to push the flush down. Not knowing how to respond, she was relieved when the Headmaster continued.
"So, why then is it you've come to talk to me about Severus?" Dumbledore gave her a small, kind smile.
Tabatha looked around the room trying to pick her words carefully.
"Well, sir, I'm sure you're aware of what happened to Harry Potter on the Quidditch field today."
Dumbledore cocked his head and leaned in again.
"Yes, my dear, I am. That was a very odd thing indeed for a broom to behave so erratically. We are very lucky, whatever the malfunction was, it was corrected before something horrible happened to that boy."
Tabatha shook her head in agreement. "Yes, I couldn't agree more on how lucky we all are that the boy is safe."
"Very lucky indeed, Mr. Potter is a very special young man," Dumbledore leaned back and sighed.
"Why is that?" Tabatha cocked her head. "I'm aware that Harry is special, very special, but I have no idea why. Anytime I even get close to conversation about him everyone clams up tightly."
Dumbledore gave a small laugh. "I can see that being very frustrating, especially for a woman like yourself, so active in gaining knowledge. You must forgive us. Some of us are, I'm sure, very wary of strangers. After all, you quite literally fell from the sky only a few months back. At first, we did not know what to make of you. I expect you did not know what to make of us either," he let out a deep close-mouthed chuckle.
His smile left while considering his next words, "However, why young Mr. Potter is so special is quite common knowledge for us. Many might just forget you are totally new to our world and, with that, have no prior knowledge of events that happened several years before you appeared."
Tabatha shook her head as the wizard's words permeated her mind. The silence left a quizzical look on her face as she worked to put together any information she had about what these events could possibly be.
Dumbledore pressed into the back of his chair, observing her mind race for answers. Taking a slow sip of tea to consider for a moment, he gave to her thirst for information and began to tell Tabatha the tale of the "boy who lived."
The tale was a horrible and sad story about a wizard, an evil wizard named Voltemort, who wanted to be the most powerful wizard that ever lived. Dumbledore described how he recruited wizards from everywhere, including Hogwarts itself, to follow him. How he destroyed anyone or anything that got in his way. How he heard of a prophesy about a child that would be born at certain time, which would grow up to destroy him. So he set out to destroy the child first. Dumbledore continued to when he finally found Harry and his parents, even in hiding, and how he succeeded in killing James and Lily Potter. However, for some reason, the curse intended to kill the child rebounded and Voltemort disappeared. Harry was left not only with the distinctive scar on his head, but with the reputation of being the only person who lived after facing him. Finally, with a hint of hesitation, Dumbledore admitted that it is believed Voltemort will come back someday to find the 'boy who lived.'
Tabatha listened intently. Her face was set like stone, even with tears pouring down each cheek. When Dumbledore finished, he sat quietly for a minute as he watched Tabatha mull over everything he said.
"It's a horrible story. It's a millions times worse because it's true," Tabatha finally spoke, shaking her head.
"Yes it is, but we can hope some good will come from it all," Dumbledore sighed and looked away for a moment before focusing his attention back to Tabatha. "Oh my dear, we have gotten completely off track. You wanted to talk to me about Professor Snape!" His eyes flashed their warm glow again.
Tabatha licked her lips. After hearing that story she could understand why someone, if they were on the side of this Voltemort person, would want to do this boy harm. What she didn't want to believe, she couldn't believe, was that Severus had anything to do with it. Tabatha could see no other way than to just spit out her concerns.
"Some of the children think Severus was trying to hurt Harry today, that he was Jinxing his broom," Tabatha's voice was just above a whisper.
Dumbledore leaned over quite close to Tabatha and placed his hand on of her's.
"And what do you believe my dear?" his blue eyes pierced into her.
"I don't think he would, sir. I haven't known Severus that long, I know, but every part of my being says he wouldn't do that. I know that makes no logical sense, but it's true," Tabatha looked up, her eyes again glassy.
Dumbledore gave a small chuckle and patted the top of Tabatha's hand.
"It makes perfect sense. The heart will tell us things when the brain it too busy thinking it over to understand. I will tell you this: I do not doubt Severus either. In fact, I trust him more than most."
Tabatha gave a sigh of relief. She was correct in thinking that Dumbledore trusted Severus. With that, for the time being she needed no more.
"Thank you, sir," Tabatha smiled and stood up. "I feel much better now."
Dumbledore smiled back, "You wouldn't want to tell me who those children were, would you?"
Tabatha shook her head no with a smile, "I'm afraid that would be going against the code of friendship."
"Very true, Ms. Rewolf. Very true," Dumbledore gave a small laugh and started to walk Tabatha to his door.
About half way their Tabatha paused and turned to the old wizard. "Sir, before I go can I ask something about the story?"
"Of course," said Dumbledore "Ask anything you like."
"How did they know to hide?" Tabatha asked flatly.
"Pardon?" It was Dumbledore's turn to look confused.
"How did the Potters know that he was looking for them?" Tabatha's eyes were moving back and forth a bit as if she was trying to find the answer in the air around them.
Dumbledore was quiet for a moment before slowly starting to speak, "A follower of Voltemort found out that he intended to kill them. He alerted us to his plans."
Tabatha's mouth dropped open and her brow got more furrowed, "What happened to that person?
Dumbledore sighed, "They have to live with the guilt that they failed for the rest of their lives. A life of self-punishment."
Tabatha thought for a moment then looked up, "Another victim."
"What's that my dear?" Dumbledore was again confused.
"A life of self-punishment, that sounds like a life in hell to me." Tabatha licked her lips again. "A living hell, one you could never get out of, one of your own making and design. It's a fate worse than death."
Dumbledore looked at Tabatha for a very long time. "That is a very interesting and compassionate take on that. Very few would see it the way you do."
"That's also very sad," Tabatha's eyes again flushed with tears. "I hope that person has someone out there for them that does."
Blinking her tears away she looked back at Dumbledore and smiled, then quietly walked to the door and left his office.
Dumbledore walked to the chair again and sat down.
"Yes, Tabatha. I believe he does."