Breakfast with the Quidditch Team
The next morning at breakfast, Harry was sitting with his scowling Quidditch teammates. It was Saturday and their team captain had decided, to have a training session at 6 o'clock in the morning, in protest of Harry's planned disappearance for the weekend.
The only problem with it was, that Harry was the only one not miserable. He cheerfully went through all the drills Angelina had them perform, outperforming the rest by a mile due to him being disgustingly awake.
George was grumbling angrily into his porridge and Angelina said again, "Well, you can thank Potter here for the whole thing!"
Harry had enough, "Angelina if you don't stop with this peer pressure tactic, I will need to draw the line. Please don't make me. You can easily go without me on weekend training. It's not like I have leisurely free time these two days now, you know?"
"Bah, what line can you draw?" She scoffed.
Fred, quite awake now, tried to stop her. He had seen how hard Sirius had Harry working in the last weeks and rued having edged Angelina on and not explaining it to her.
But she went on, "Draw away, I have no use of you like this," quite expertly poking Fred's hand with her fork when he tried to cover her mouth with it.
"A hard line. Please don't make me!"
But Angie was adamant. She needed to show her leadership qualities and not give in; her dad had coached her in the summers. He was a trainer for a local football team, so he should know! "No Harry, you need to be available on the weekends, or I will need to replace you," she pulled out the last trump card.
Harry sighed really sadly, and she felt a feeling of victory rise up in her. She had him now!
Harry got up and said, "It has been a blast guys, thanks for the time on the team! I had a great time. But my education about my responsibilities is more important, unfortunately." And with tears in his eyes, he walked off and to the floo in one of the antechambers, that only nobility with family rings could use for their endeavors.
Angie sat there, stumped, "What just happened?"
"You kicked the best seeker off the team, we had ever had," George said sadly.
Angie rounded on him and said, "What? No! You said he had to learn silly stuff like ballroom dancing and how to bow the right way!"
"Yeah, our bad. We should have explained it better. He needs to learn how to move within his circles."
"You sound like he is a lord or some rot. No, he will come around."
"He is nobility. He just found out this summer. We thought he knew! And no, he will not." Fred said, trying to make her see.
But Angelina had her dad's voice in her head, not to give in too easily, and shook her head. "Nonsense! The wizarding world has no nobility! If he wants to be on the team, he needs to comply and do as I say."
"Better look for a seeker as well then, next to a keeper," Katie said, still in shock. She could not believe what had just happened. Did Angie really not know? Angie's mum was magical! But muggle-born, her mind supplied. Damn, they really should have explained it better.
Angie scowled and stubbornly said, "I will, watch me! My team needs to put Quidditch first!"
"You sound like Oliver," Fred whined.
"And look where it took him! Right to Puddlemere United!"
"Yeah, but his team at Hogwarts won because it had a great seeker!"
But Angelina's stubbornness won out unfortunately and the team was without a seeker.
Umbridge's Arrest and Dumbledors Blunder
A little later, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was still hanging around in the Great Hall, too tired to brave the stairs, four Aurors and Madam Bones herself walked into the room and right to the staff table.
Madam Bones said clearly, for all to hear, "Dolores Umbridge, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Heir Harry James Potter. Please come quietly, or we will use force."
The pink woman stood up and scolded the impertinent witch, "Do you know, who I am? I am the Undersecretary to the Minister himself! You cannot just arrest me!"
"I sure can and will. Now come, or we will do this the hard way."
The headmaster tried to help, "We should take this into my office, surely the children don't need to see this, Amelia."
But to no avail. Bones gestured to her Aurors, and they took the pink-clothed woman's arms on each side and marched her out.
"Was this really necessary, my dear?"
"You know as well as I and everyone else here, that you should address me as Madame Bones. I am here in an official capacity and these attempts of establishing familiarity and superiority are obvious and quite unbecoming, Headmaster."
Dumbledore looked shocked for a second and then answered, "Please forgive me, Madam Bones. I am sure this is but a slight misunderstanding. So, pray tell, when will I get my Defense teacher back?"
"You actually want her back?"
"Why yes. The children need their teacher."
"Well, she committed a crime and needs to be held accountable. And I know her NEWT grades in Defense. Do you?"
"I am sure she did well in her exams!"
"Headmaster, she barely got an A in her OWLs and did not actually take the NEWT in Defense. Not in Hogwarts and not later. She is totally unqualified!"
Murmuring could be heard, coming from all tables, even the staff table.
"Well, you know, my dear, how hard it is to find Defense teachers."
"It's Madam Bones. And yes, I know..." Dumbledore relaxed, "... that is why the Ministry as well as Gringotts offer every year, to get rid of the curse on the position. But you always decline. Every. Single. Year!"
The attentively watching and listening students started talking loudly about that astonishing information but quickly quietened down again when the adults went on talking.
"Now where is Heir Potter? I need to talk to him."
When she got no reaction from the headmaster she looked to the tired-looking deputy.
McGonagall shook herself and said, "He is not here. He is learning about his station from his guardian."
"Very well, I will contact him later then. Thank you."
Dumbledore shook himself out of the stupor, he had fallen into and tried to save face and his plans and said, "Madam Bones, you may talk to me about Mr. Potter's affairs, please follow me to my office, my dear."
"You just can't help yourself, now, can't you? No thank you, this does not concern the Minor House of Dumbledore, which is a vassal to House Potter."
Dumbledore rocked back. He never wanted that information to get out! What now?
He thundered, "We do not cater to the old, dark, and evil traditions here at Hogwarts, my dear. Please refrain from talking about such horrendous things in front of children."
But that had been the absolute wrong thing to say. Nearly all children from all houses but Gryffindor looked at each other in shock and then, as one, stood up from their benches and turned their backs to him in a clear sign of public shunning. A thing not done for centuries.
He had obviously miscalculated the student's immersion into the wizarding traditions of all of the lesser houses (the ones not Gryffindor)! How could he have blundered so badly? The children weren't supposed to know and honor the old traditions!
How did this happen?
He was at a loss. Even some teachers had gotten up and turned their backs on him. He knew it was out of his hands now. Everything he did or said would be ignored. And soon the children would inform their parents!
He slashed his wand, to inhibit all owl mail, but Hogwarts did not react! Was she shunning him too?
Most of his Gryffindors were looking around, confused, not knowing what was happening. They were the ones Dumbledore had based his words on when admonishing Amelia Bones, just now. They, at least, were totally uneducated in the old ways, it seemed.
The voice of the Gryffindor Quidditch captain could be heard loud and clear, "Now they are all playing up that nobility nonsense as well? Is that a prank, Fred?"
"No, this is deadly serious, Angie."
"I don't believe it!"
"Well, that concludes my business here. Thank you, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, but please do educate your house in our traditions," Madam Bones said. She was shocked as well and proud of the students for standing up for their way of life.
She left and Albus had to let her, too many witnesses! And now the children were rushing out of the door, to write home. And he could do nothing! What was happening?
He wished he could turn back time, but his blunder was done. He had openly declared himself to be an opponent to the millennia-old traditions. Calling them evil and horrendous, even.
He would be stamped as a blood traitor now. A real one. Bugger!
The Gryffindors looked around for someone to explain. They had purebloods in their house, like Neville and Alicia. Those had not gotten up when the other houses did, but they had turned around a little too, showing their support for the shunning. And most of them had rushed out with the rest, not to be the ones, having to explain how their world worked.
Hermione was stumped. She looked to the headmaster, who still stood there, like a statue, obviously in shock. But what exactly had happened? She looked around for answers, but all the pureblood members of her house had left, except for the twins. Ron, who she normally turned to in such a case, still lay on a couch in the common room, snoring, face covered in bogeys.
So, she did as she always did when in a pickle, she went to the library.
Three Very Different Mornings
1. Harry at Grimmauld
Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place, feeling miserable. He was off the team. He had been so sure he could manage both if he explained it to Angelina. But the young woman had not listened. She had just scoffed, and the twins didn't help, fooling around and making fun of Harry and him studying for his role in their world.
But when a beaming Sirius rushed into the room, obviously happy to see him, Harry shook off his sadness and grinned back.
"All set?" Sirius asked.
"Yep, I have done all my homework and unfortunately, I am off the team now. Angelina did not appreciate me being gone for the weekend and made me choose. Well, here I am."
"Oh no! How could she?"
"She does not believe that our world has nobility in it, I think."
"Oh wow, didn't she attend the house meetings were... no? There were no house meetings, or you would have known some of the information as well. I am so close to writing a howler to Minnie. Know why I don't?"
And so started a weekend full of lessons. But they had fun too. Especially when Sirius dressed up in a huge ballgown, stockings, and all for the ongoing dancing lessons. He had even painted his unshaven face! He looked incredibly funny and overacted his role quite badly. Harry was in stitches for more than five minutes and giggled on and off throughout the entire lesson. Especially, when the much taller Sirius batted his overlong lashes at him.
2. Staff Room, Hogwarts
Minerva went to the staff room to do what she had planned on doing, last night. Regardless of the shunning this morning she needed to get it done before she lost her courage!
Albus was sitting at the staff table, brooding, with the other teachers walking around him on eggshells.
The shunning didn't mean, no one would talk to him anymore, but his social standing was at the bottom of all of the Noble Houses. Even the Lesser Houses, like the Goyles and the Filches, were above him now. And as he had lost his post as Chief Warlock already, he couldn't lose it again, but he would have and had no chance of regaining that position anytime soon.
"Albus, I need to talk to you. Here."
"What is it, Minerva?" He asked tiredly.
"I decided last night to resign from my post as Deputy Headmistress. Today's happenings just confirmed the validity of that decision. My house is sorely uneducated in all matters of our world, and I need to remedy that."
"What? No! You can't! Minerva, I need you!"
"Yes, I know. You need me to do your job as a Headmaster. Not anymore. The students are suffering for it."
"But Minerva, you really can't. You have a contract with me."
"Is that so? Show me that contract, Albus."
"What?"
"Please show me the contract for my being employed and paid as Deputy Headmistress."
"Well, I don't have it here, you surely do understand."
"Balderdash! You can easily summon it. We all know that."
Albus was caught but tried to bluff his way out of it and summoned Minerva's contract as a teacher and as a Head of House and said, "Here they are, my dear."
"Oh, now I see, why Amelia got so angry with you for the 'my dear' business. It makes me look smaller and you benign, right? Anyway. I asked for my contract as Deputy."
"You know, I haven't gotten around to writing it yet. Please be reasonable!"
"Well, you had 30 years, which is beyond reasonable and should be enough time, even for you. I will not do this unpaid work any longer and I will not do your work, either."
She turned around to her intently watching colleagues and said, "Please do not make the same mistake as I did when he offers you the position. Insist on a contract from the beginning and do not let him sneak his work into yours. I read up on the two jobs yesterday again and found, that I did about three-quarters of his as well by now. And I neglected my Gryffindors. The Head of House and Deputy Positions should exclude one another."
"Now that you say it, I think they actually do. It is against the rules, I remember now. Albus probably couldn't write up a contract because of that," Filius said. "But how could I forget? I need to read up on all of the rules!"
Many of the teachers nodded, deciding on doing the same.
Albus had another statue-moment that day. What was happening? And Filius was right, it was against the rules, and he hadn't been able to write up a contract! What to do?
"Severus –"
"No."
"But you-"
"No."
"I need-"
"No. I will not interrupt you anymore if you can assure me, your next question is not about the job as your deputy. I have far too much to do as a teacher, Head of House, and Potions Master, and the other things you foist on me, already."
The headmaster stayed silent, but unfortunately, Filius' brain was engaged now. "Severus? Do you have a contract as a Potions Master for Hogwarts?"
"No? I was told the job as Potions teacher automatically made me the supplier of all potions."
Poppy sat up straight, "What? I was told you were paid handsomely for your services as a potioneer. That's why I insisted on you supplying them all!"
"And I was told, I could not get any new brooms, because you asked for so much money for your services as a Potions Master!" Rolanda exclaimed.
Severus was shocked. That was why Poppy was so demanding and why Rolanda always sneered at him?!
Filius asked the most important question, "Where does all the money go then? The one for the Deputy, for the Potions Master, for the brooms? For our equipment?" He looked to Albus, but the man had left. He had stolen out, like a thief.
"I think can get the Ledgers due to the shunning. Wait here!" Minerva said and rushed off.
3. Ron
Ron woke up to excited and loud chatter. Could they not be a little more considerate? He was sleeping here! And what were they talking about? The headmaster being shunned? Umbitch under arrest? Harry off the Quidditch team? What nonsense was that?
He remembered hitting the stupid prefect and then nothing! His stomach growled. Was it morning already? He slowly sat up.
It was half past ten the big clock over the fireplace showed him! He nearly missed breakfast! He jumped up and ran out of the door, rumpled clothes, bogeys, and all.
He thundered down the stairs and ran into the Great Hall and piled food on his table. Just 15 minutes left! Luckily, he could eat very fast!
