Foible: a minor weakness or failing of character; slight flaw or defect.

August 3, 2017

The silvery material flowed smoothly through Harry's fingers, just as soft and soothing a feeling as it had been twenty-six years ago when he'd unwrapped it on Christmas morning. He could perform a disillusionment charm as well as Dumbledore now, but he still pulled the cloak out now and again and swung it over his shoulders. It had belonged to his father and wearing it almost felt like his father had found a way to reach out and put a hand on his shoulder. Even now that he was grown, that was still a comfort.

But today would be the last day he would own it. Ever since the reality of being a father had set in on him, Harry had thought long and hard about how he would go about passing the cloak on. He couldn't slice it up and offer a third to each of his children/ But after eleven years of counting out exactly the same amount of Beartie Bott's Every Flavor Beans to put in each Easter basket, making sure there was always the same number of big, medium, and small gifts under the tree, that each ice cream cone was the same height, each bedtime story equally long, and each hug just as tight, it seemed woefully unfair to give just one of them something as incredible as a deathly hallow.

He had thought of waiting until they were all older and could understand, or maybe just let them fight for it after he'd died, but by then what use would it be to them? Why would they need to sneak around unseen, even if they couldn't hide themselves well enough with a charm? He and his father had both had it in school. It would have to go to them when they were at Hogwarts. But who and when and how should he pick? He'd entertained the idea of making them share it, but after diffusing a shouting match over who got the bathroom first in the morning for the hundredth time, this hope evaporated.

So Harry simply set about watching his children closely, of trying to understand how they each operated and hoping an answer would present itself in time for his decision. Luckily for him, it did.

They had always known that James was like a firework. He was loud and bright and explosive and entirely impossible to contain. When he was upset, he shouted and flailed and stirred up an unholy clamor. When he was happy, he bounced off the walls. No matter what was going through his head, James made himself noticed. He didn't know how to be invisible, unreactive, and fading into the background was something he hated more than just about anything. And Harry knew that no matter what they told him, James would do what he pleased in the end. He was stubborn and uncontrollable, even for himself sometimes.

James would get into enough trouble without the added advantage of invisibility. The best thing they could do was offer up the map and hope it gave him enough warning of approaching danger to avoid detention. Besides, even if Teddy didn't pass it down to him, James would find a way to nick it. It was practically his birthright.

Lily was something else. She wasn't as wild as James, but she was just as powerful a presence. Even when she was too small to talk, she had given them a look that said exactly what she thought. She could scream like all hell had broken loose, but she could also say everything with just her eyes. She was just as expressive as James and almost as dramatic, but in one way, she was his polar opposite: she observed everything around her. Lily was sharp and fearless. She watched everybody and learned from them and as a result, knew how to get what she wanted. But along with this talent came a kind of smugness that Harry watched carefully.

She saw James's arrogance showing at times and was learning to check it in herself, but when things come easily, it's hard not to get a bit cocky. Harry wasn't afraid his daughter wouldn't be responsible, but he also didn't think it would hurt her to not have that extra advantage. Lily could use a few situations she couldn't simply dance her way out of, a few challenges she would have to face head-on. And besides, Lily already knew how to blend in when she wanted to. And didn't often want to.

Albus, however, was a different bread altogether. He was quiet where the others were loud, cautious where they were fearless, pensive where they were active, and calm where they erupted. Albus watched like Lily did, felt like James did, and hugged the walls like neither. He thought things through, often several times, but when there wasn't time for that, he froze. Albus didn't fight or flee, he usually froze. James was the only exception to the pattern, and Harry had begun to wonder if James didn't pick fights with his brother just to try to combat Al's freeze reflex.

This freeze reflex wasn't always a bad thing. It stopped Albus from getting into half as many fights as James and even Lily, and Harry would have considered it an asset if it weren't for the fact that Albus also happened to be rather more sensitive than his brother and sister. His natural penchant for pulling on camouflage had gotten Harry thinking about giving Albus the cloak for a while. But it was today, when his ten-year-old son had come home tearstained and muddy, and his brother had had to explain sheepishly about the boys in the park who'd started picking on him, that Harry cemented his decision.

When you couldn't run and you didn't know how to fight back, Harry knew from experience all you really wanted to do was vanish. Maybe not being in the spotlight would give Albus the courage James and Lily got when they were in it. And maybe when he swung the cloak over his shoulders, Albus would also feel as if his father was resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

A/N: three updates in twenty-four hours. Crazy, huh? This one was a true drabble. I usually like showing not telling, but it was fun to pick apart the Potter kids. I've got all these ideas of how they are and it's fun to just lay them out there. They've all got their flaws and their strengths and their own struggles. Al's happen to be bullying. He gets bullied a bit. There's a chapter in my story 'Snapshots' about that and some other stuff pertinent to this. I hope you didn't mind me just laying it out there rather than giving you words and actions and thoughts and letting you build your own perceptions of them.