AN: Here is the next one. Just a general housekeeping note, this is not an all Slytherins are good Gryffindors are bad fic- though the house will be unfortunately portrayed in this chapter and the next few to some degree. Usually, POV will be skewed in the favor whose perspective it's in and for the most part most of these characters are flawed, though Voldemort is a piece of shit per usual and there are a few character's I'm not overly fond of. Generally, I am usually not the biggest Dumbledore fan, but I tried to make him multi-faceted here. I really can't defend the stone shit or a lot of his other shit because really…but this isn't going to be one of those Evil Dumbles fics where he's taking over the Potter vault and all that. He has his reasons and at the end of the day he's a manipulative bastard, but not a heartless one. I have to remind myself that he likely grew up at the end of the 19th century where children were treated very differently. So, a lot of the things that a sensible person would've found appalling about the Dursleys he would've likely shrugged off. Finally, I would be interested in whether or not you think a certain character in this chapter should be resorted or not and where. I may already have something in mind, but opinions can sway. Trigger warning for some pretty severe bullying in this chapter. I hate doing this to said character but there's multiple reasons why this happens for plot purposes. There may or may not be some foreshadowing in this chapter...

Chapter 4: Meanwhile at Hogwarts...

It had not been a good year for Albus Dumbledore.

And it had started out so well.

Harry Potter had started Hogwarts. He was sorted into Gryffindor just like his parents. The boy seemed to be settling in nicely. He had made friends with Ronald Weasley and had even been made seeker of the Gryffindor quidditch team.

It seemed he had inherited James' talent.

Albus had been excited to see the boy at his first game based on what Minerva had said. However, it looked like Harry would not be flying anytime soon.

He frowned thinking that all his inquiries to St. Mungo's had been ignored. Not that he had managed to make a lot of them considering the mess that was going on at the school.

Ronald Weasley's death had been most unfortunate. He had never thought that Quirinus would have had the gall to bring a troll into the school.

No, not Quirinus, but Tom.

He shouldn't have underestimated him. Or for that matter allowed for the wards to be weakened. Yet, he had wanted to lure Tom into a false sense of security so that he could get him to go after the stone.

That blasted stone. He didn't know why he had the great idea to test the boy. It was probably one of his worse mistakes not counting what had happened to his sister all those years ago.

Even after all these years thinking about Ariana still hurt. He had told himself that was the last time he'd be responsible for innocent blood being spelt and now—

He could still hear Molly Weasleys wailing as he thought about her little boy. As annoying as the woman could be, her cries were truly heart wrenching.

He didn't exactly approve of her behavior at the service though. It had made his life more than a little difficult—not that it had been difficult enough already. But her accusing Hermione Granger of causing the boy's death had caused all sorts of the bullying on the young girl. Usually, he didn't intervene—after all, people learned through adversity, but at the same time the situation was becoming extremely volatile to where Minerva had suggested a meeting.

He knew Ms. Granger wanted to leave based on everything that happened and he couldn't let that happen.

The deputy headmistress had been worried about the girl. At the start of the year she had straight O's except for Potions—no one but a few Slytherin's ever got an O in Severus's class to be fair—but lately she hadn't turned in any of her assignments and only seemed to try when the class had some practical defense element to it. Her average had plummeted to a P within the past month.

The declining grades weren't that big of a surprise. The girl had witnessed a traumatic event. He knew she had been there when Mr. Weasley had been killed and Harry had almost been killed. She had miraculously survived with only a broken arm. He cringed thinking of his one brief interaction with Ms. Granger after the event.

It was the next morning. He had spent most of the night comforting Molly and then being there when Arthur and her told the twins what happened—Poor Percy unfortunately already knew. He felt like he did at the height of the war when so many family's had their love ones die. He hated that feeling.

Except Ronald had died on his watch.

Because he had been foolish enough to let him in his school.

Keep your enemies closer…at what, the cost of a child's life?

The girl's arm was already healed. It was a clean break. Poppy had given her a dreamless sleep potion, but she still looked ridiculously pale.

She'd probably be pale for a while.

"How are you doing, Ms. Granger?" He asked.

It was a stupid question, but one that must be asked.

"It's my fault…" She shakily said. "They came…they came to save me."

"Why were they even there?" He asked.

She grimaced. "I thought I could fight the troll on my own. I read a book, you see…"

He didn't totally believe her. He had heard rumors that Ronald Weasley had been rude to her in Charms class that day, but that wasn't what she wanted to tell him. He knew it was probably to protect the deceased boy. He understood, but inwardly cringed.

"I see."

"Have you heard about Harry?" She asked, "I was there last night and he was losing so much blood."

"I have not been given an update on Mr. Potter's condition."

"I hope he's going to be okay." He really should've had Poppy give her a calming drought. "It's all my fault."

"Ms. Granger…"

She shook her head in disagreement again as he attempted to pacify her.

"You were reckless, yes." He said, "But you did not invite Mr. Weasley or Mr. Potter to go after the troll with you."

He doubted it consoled the girl. A part of him thought about letting her go at that point. But she had told him she had gone troll hunting and based on the seriousness of what had happened the previous night, he could not let that go unwarranted. He finally said, "I will talk to Minerva about your punishment."

It had been the coward's way out—not punishing her himself, but he had a lot of other things to do. Between trying to check on Harry and dealing with ministry, and the board. He had forgot how harsh of a punisher Minerva could be though.

When he had been the head of Gryffindor house a simple detention or point deduction would've sufficient enough. Imagine to his shock, when Minerva told him she was taking two hundred points away from the girl, her wand was to be confiscated between lessons, detention every weekend for the rest of the year, and she would be staying here for both Christmas and Easter holidays to serve detention during that time as well.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" He had asked when she told him her punishment plans.

"There's a dead student," Minerva said, "And Mr. Potter could have ended up dead as well because she purposely put herself in danger, Albus. I know she didn't mean to cause what happened but it's as serious as it gets. She should be glad she's not being expelled."

Technically, she was right, but he had wondered if part of the reason for her reaction was because it involved Harry. She knew she was secretly fond of the boy. She had bought him that Nimbus out of her own funds after all. She claimed it was because she wanted Gryffindor to win the cup, but he knew part of it had been because of James. She had been his godmother and James himself had been a bit of a prodigy when it came to Transfiguration. His death had hit her hard—still did. She'd never admitted it though.

He ultimately decided not to intervene. It didn't help that the board had called for an emergency meeting that day to discuss the troll situation. And by all accounts the punishment was harsh, but just.

He was just glad he had thought of some fail-safes with this entire mess. He had at least enough common sense to put the stone under the Fidelius while the traps were being constructed—Minerva still had not perfected the transfiguration for some of the chess pieces. Him being secret keeper made sure none of the professors could talk and he had put a slew of additional charms on the area so it couldn't be discovered. Still, he needed to schedule a meeting with Nicholas to give him back his property or convince him to take the next great adventure.

Between dealing with the stone and Lucius manhandling the board in the troll investigation, he still really had not had really any time to check on Harry other than the declined initial inquires. Andromeda had the boy put in a secured ward which honestly made sense but made his life exceedingly difficult since he was not the boy's legal guardian.

And he had definitely not had time to talk to Petunia. Knowing her she probably ignored any notice St. Mungo's had sent her.

Vile woman.

He did feel bad about making the boy live with her, but the situation could be worse. He was at least safe there because of the blood ward's due to Lily's sacrifice.

Though he never could quite adjust them to the house—there was something off about them. Maye it was because of all the spite Petunia had felt towards her younger sister.

Albus shook his head as he heard a knock on his door.

It was Minerva and Ms. Granger.

He frowned when he saw the girl. Obviously, the past couple of weeks had not been good for her. The first noticeable thing was her hair or lack of.

He inwardly groaned knowing that she had indeed been victimized by her own house, that was why they were having this meeting after all. Why did Molly have to go off on the child the day of the funeral?

He was having a rather awkward conversation with Augusta Longbotttom at the funeral, when he heard her.

"You were with him that day, weren't you?"

The girl nodded. "He…he saved me."

"He died because of you." Molly hissed.

"I…I…"

"My son died to save some stupid little girl who thought she could fight a troll."

He wondered how she knew that tidbit? Albus had eliminated that information in the version of events he told Molly. He was guessing either the board or Minerva had filled her in, but why did she have a voice that sounded like she was delivering a howler?

"I…."

"He wrote about you, called you a blood know it all." Molly said, "I told him to not be so harsh. That you were probably just adjusting to school and didn't mean it, but you just had to go and fight a troll. And ended up hiding in the loo like a little coward while he died for you!"

"I got punished—" She started to say but was cut off.

"Punished! Punished! You—you're still alive. My Ronnie is dead because of you, you little rat faced bitch."

At that point Arthur had decided to step in, but the damage was too late. He heard the whispering and the mummers. He was hoping it wouldn't escalate to where it was now. Where the poor girl had purely been cruelly bullied to where it was clear she was broken.

"I can't do this anymore." She cried to both Minerva and himself after she had finally took a seat.

It wasn't just the lack of hair that was different about her. It was her entire appearance. She appeared disheveled and was wearing an older style of uniform that had a slight odor.

He frowned thinking of what could've happened.

"Ms. Granger, stop being over dramatic. Like I told you earlier, it's hair. It will grow back." Minerva said.

The girl glared at the Transfiguration professor.

"Poppy said because the tonic was in concentrated form was it was used the antidote won't work." Minerva explained to him. "The tonic will have to run its course. I told her she could wear a hat in the meantime."

"Are you fucking serious? Wear a hat?" Hermione said with a sneer on her face that was worthy of Lucius Malfoy.

He tried not to gasp. He was used to hearing children swear. After all, he had the pleasure of dealing with Amelia Bones when he taught Transfiguration after all, but he was more than a little surprised to hear Ms. Granger of all people swear. The girl had seemed the sort who respected her elders, but he saw nothing but malice in her eyes as she glared at Minerva.

This was worse than he thought.

"That will be a hundred points and another week of detention, Ms. Granger." McGonagall said clearly horrified at the girl's behavior towards her.

"Like, that's nothing new."

He decided to intervene. "I understand you are upset, Ms. Granger, but please don't talk to Professor McGonagall like that. She is concerned for you."
"Yes, and tells me to wear a hat like it will solve everything."

"She didn't bring you here because of your hair. I'm sure she is looking for the culprits though."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm sure she'll get right on that."

"Another fifty points, Ms. Granger." Minerva said. "And we can add to your detentions during the holidays."

"Funny, how no one who has tormented the past few weeks has gotten detention. I don't see Fred and George Weasley serving detention for hitting me with that tooth growing curse multiple times, or Parvati Patil or Lavender Brown getting detention for destroying my things, putting rat droppings on my pillow. Or what about Percy Weasley? He's a prefect, but he just turned a blind eye the other day when someone threw jelly leg jinx at me while I was climbing down the stairs and laughed saying that's what happens to rats. I almost broke my leg. But did you care? Nope. You just told me to keep my head down."

"You have no proof that they were responsible," Minerva said.

Ugh, it appeared his old house was way out of control. He wasn't entirely surprised the house of the lions didn't cultivate as close of relationships like the Hufflepuffs or even the Slytherins did. He hadn't even heard of Ravenclaw treating their own as viciously.

He really didn't know why Minerva had put a stop to this already.

"The fact that they told me to my face isn't good enough or that Lavender just accidently took my shampoo before my hair started falling out."

Albus sighed heavily. "Clearly, there are difficulties in the tower."

"I'm not wanted," The girl said. "And at this point, I don't want to stay there. I want to be resorted."

A resorting?

Had that ever happened?

"It has happened headmaster. Multiple times in fact. It's the focus on Chapter 16 in Hogwarts A History." Hermione said answering his unasked question.

"Don't be hasty, Ms. Granger."

"I'm never going to get along with that house."

"Ms. Granger, as I told you it will all blow over—"

He cut her off. "Let's hear what Ms. Granger has to say, Minerva. Even I'll admit it seems like it's a difficult situation in Gryffindor house right now."

"Thank you, headmaster." The girl said, "I feel like every day is a new battle there. And there's really nothing for me in Gryffindor. Unless, no, he wouldn't even want to talk to me if he does come back."

I'm sure Mr. Potter will be happy to see you when he's released." Albus said knowing who she was referring to. Worse, he was inwardly grimacing since honestly he didn't know if the boy was going to come back.

He had heard from Poppy that Harry had been clinically dead for a good five minutes before Andromeda and her team were able to revive him. He had wondered if that would affect anything, but he hadn't been able to find out anything about the boy since. And when he had glanced at him, he couldn't tell really anything given all the other injuries he had.

Hermione shook her head, "No, Professor Dumbledore, I doubt he'd want to talk to the girl that killed his best friend."

"Ms. Granger," He paused for a moment before he said, "I'll consider your request for a resorting, but I need to check the charter for guidelines and I really want you to think about it yourself. The hat put you in Gryffindor for a reason. In the meantime, I'll see if we can get you some private quarters in the dorm for now or. I'll also see if I can have Severus can do anything for your hair."

The girl nodded.

"You are dismissed." He said as he motioned for Minerva to stay.

As soon as she was gone Minerva looked at him, "We didn't even talk about her grades."

"We didn't, but it's pretty clear what the problem is. Why did you let your house revolt against her, Minerva?"

"I really haven't had time to deal with such nonsense, Albus." She said though slightly wincing, "I didn't think it had even gotten this bad until I saw what happened to her hair."

He sighed, "I think I could use a cup of tea. How about you?" She nodded before he called a house elf for a service and a plate of chocolate chip biscuits and black tea was served. "Is it just a lack of time thing, Minerva, or is it what happened to Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter?""

"I can't stop thinking about James. I failed his boy Albus. And I failed Mr. Weasley as well. You saw how devastated Molly was. And poor Percy. He was on prefect duty that evening and didn't see those two sneak off. He was the one who came with Snape and Flitwick. He blames himself."

"And Ms. Granger apparently. Do you blame her, Minerva?"

He hated asking but he was sort of curious since he sort of suspected that was why his Transfiguration professor was turning a blatant eye on bullying. Much like she had done when her godson had attended school with his three friends and had tormented his current Potions professor.

"I sort of do, Albus." Minerva admitted, "I don't want to, but I do. Anytime I see her I think of poor Molly Weasley's face at the funeral and then of course I think about James. He would've been heartbroken if he was here."

"I'm sure both he and Lily would've been. You can't treat her that way though. She's been through an ordeal and her classmates continuing to torment her will not help."

"I know," She said, "The girl needs help, Albus. And I'm not talking about her grades. It's clear what she witnessed that night has changed her and she's not going to talk to me or you about it."
"

I know," He said, "I have thought about having Severus teach her occlumency."

Minerva shook her head, "Severus is the last thing she needs. He would be an even worse head of house to her than me."

"What are you suggesting then?"

"A mind healer maybe? Some sort of counseling. To be honest, we probably all need it."

"You should let her see her parents on the holidays." He said, "That was cruel and unnecessary. And you should give her back her wand. She needs it. The lions aren't going to stop attacking her. You probably should set a monitoring charm on the common room at least."

"You really think she'll be resorted then?"

"Yes, I do think it's a possibility. And Minerva…."

She looked at him, "If you need time off, let me know."

He was actually considering it. It was probably the only good thing that had happened in the past month.

Yes, she still got more detentions with McGonagall and more points had been taken off, but he actually was considering her request for resorting.

To say the past month had been hell for her would be an understatement.

No one really had said anything to her until after the funeral when Ron's mother yelled at her.

She had ran off after the redheaded had snapped at her. Spent the day in the library attempting to do homework, though even then she was starting to wonder what the point was.

Turning matchsticks into needles wasn't going to save you from a troll. Charming a feather to float in the air wasn't useful as well. Just ask Ron, though he never quite got the pronunciation right so maybe that was why that spell didn't save him that night.

Hermione could remember every single detail of that night. She remembered Ron's last screams before being flung against the wall. Harry being swung around like a rag doll before being thrown against the sink. And her. She just got hit by some debris when Percy Weasley and then Professors Snape and Flitwick finally found them in the room. Just a broken arm. Completely fine otherwise.

She had lied to Professor Dumbledore about why she was in the bathroom, and she wished she really wouldn't have.

It had seemed like the right thing to do. No need to sully Ron's name with the fact that he had embarrassed her horribly hours before he died trying to save her.

However, had she known she was going to become a target in Gryffindor House she wouldn't have bothered at all.

They were waiting for her when she came back to the common room that night. Five of them had hit her with spells when her back was turned when she was halfway up on the stairs. She remembered falling after being hit with a jelly leg curse and then hit with the tooth growing curse after she had fallen down the stairs. She hadn't remembered what was worse the pain of ankle or her teeth.

They loved hitting her with that particular jinx. A favorite of theirs since apparently she looked like a rat since she was a bit chubby with big teeth, beady eyes, mouse like hair, and her voice became squeaky when nervous. And there was the fact she allegedly betrayed their house.

She knew she wasn't the most attractive girl. Mummy always said she'd grow into her looks, but Hermione didn't have much hope for that. Besides, usually she didn't care that much. There were more important things than looks. She was used to being picked on, but some of the insults thrown her way were just cruel.

Draco Malfoy took pleasure with calling her Baldy since losing her hair much to her disgust.

She supposed that it might've been better than mudblood, another favorite word of his. And Baldy was a bit better than being the dubbed the Rat of Gryffindor.

One thing about it, if she did get a resorting she would not be in Slytherin. She wondered where she'd belong. Neither Ravenclaw nor Hufflepuff were overly friendly to her, but they didn't hate her like her own house or Slytherin.

She would've said Ravenclaw because she had loved to read and learn, but she didn't know if that was so much her now. Now she wanted something else—safety, a place to belong, a place to belong. She didn't want to be the know-it-all anymore.

She knew she could be insufferable, she was very well aware of it, but pointing out things that she knew was a way for her to get noticed.

She had made sure to not raise her hand since that night. She couldn't even if she really wanted to since her books had been stolen and she had no idea how to owl order anything. She didn't even have an owl.

She wished she did.

She desperately wanted to write to Mummy and Dad. A part of her wanted just to go home, but another part of her knew she couldn't.

Hermione knew if she dropped out, she'd be obliviated and then…then she couldn't protect her parents or herself from the dangers out there. She shuddered as she thought about that troll.

She knew it was only the tip of the iceberg in the magical world of what was wrong. One day I'll be able to defend myself, she kept telling herself. I will not need rescuing. No one will die for me again. She was going to rescue herself.

Minerva McGonagall took a sip of her family distillery's scotch that she kept hidden in her office. She didn't indulge most of the time, but she needed it tonight.

She needed it a lot this year.

She had just had a very tense meeting with Molly Weasley after finding out that the three remaining Weasleys on campus had played a large role in bullying the poor Granger girl.

Minerva felt terrible about what had happened that she had let it go on as long as it had until Albus had intervened that part of her condoned it.

Jaime…

She frowned thinking about her late godson. Maybe it was the fact that the troll incident happened on the tenth anniversary of his death, but that night a part of her felt like she was losing him all over again when she poor Harry in such a state. And she hadn't heard a single word about the poor lad's condition since he had been admitted to St. Mungo's.

It was no excuse though. She had expected Molly to agree with her, but the woman would not have it.

She kept saying that Granger deserved it.

It was amazing what grief would do to people. Molly had always been incredibly loud, a little bit obnoxious, boisterous, but at her core she was not cruel. However, she could see how the woman she spoke to tonight was related distantly to the Black family.

Minerva shuddered thinking about that family. Every single one of them was bad, the lot of them. She supposed Andromeda was tolerable and Narcissa was just a vain socialite, but then she thought the same about Sirius and he had ended up in prison for killing her Jaime.

Narcissa's son was already turning into a little shit himself, she thought, thinking how she docked twenty points off the boy for his behavior at poor Ronald's funeral.

Yet, it was Molly Weasley who turned up her nose at when she had explained the abuse Hermione had been dealing with that had been facilitated by her boys. She had almost thought the woman was going to call the girl a mudblood with how much spite oozed from her when they discussed what happened to the girl and the fact that she was assigning the boys detention for the rest of the semester and suspending Percy's prefect duties.

"You will do nothing of the sort!"

"Molly, the girl fell down a flight of stairs and Percy did nothing but laughed and ridiculed the girl."

"He just lost his brother!" She said, "Surely, you're upset about Harry at least. I know you were James's godmother, Minerva."

She grimaced. "Molly…that's besides the point. Yes, I know he has been through a lot. But Ms. Granger was bullied relentlessly and he did nothing."

"That rat faced bitch is the reason my son is dead." The woman said, "You can't blame the boys for being upset."

No, she couldn't blame them for being upset but the girl was near her breaking point. She asked Albus for a resorting. Something Minerva didn't even know was even possible until Ms. Granger had cited Hogwarts a History.

It turned out it had happened a few times over the centuries for different reasons and it looked like Ms. Granger was well within her rights to ask for a thing, despite Severus's tantrum when it was brought up during the staff meeting,.

"Oh, don't tell me you're indulging the girl's request, Albus." Severus said with an eyeroll.

"The situation has become extreme. Haven't you seen the hourglass?"

"Slytherin's in the lead like always. No big surprise there." The pompous Potions professor said.

"Gryffindor has negative two hundred points as this afternoon." She said as she looked at him, "I would think you if anyone would know the seriousness of bullying."

He curled his lip at her knowing exactly what she was referring to. "And yet no one intervened then."

"I think there was plenty of intervention." She stated even though she knew she could've (should've) been stricter with Jaime and his friends when they had teased Severus. However, unlike Hermione Granger, Severus was able to defend himself and he had Lily.

Or had Lily.

She was actually surprised when Lily had finally left the boy for Jaime of all people. She knew her godson had held a torch for the girl for years, but it wasn't until Severus had done the unthinkable that she finally turned her back on him.

Severus rolled his dark eyes at her.

"Besides, you were never pushed down the stairs amongst other things by your own housemates."

Probably because the snakes stuck together, unlike her lions much to her disdain.

"She won't be welcomed in my house." Severus finally responded.

"I doubt she'd even be sorted into the snake pit. After all, your house doesn't welcome muggleborns. Or am I using the correct word, Severus?"

If looks could kill. He knew she knew.

Usually, she wouldn't have sunk down so low to bringing up that, but that man had been irritating ever since Halloween night. It didn't help he helped facilitate Lucius Malfoy's multiple visits to the school by allowing the blonde to use his floo, or for that matter making sure that everyone knew he blamed Harry for injuring himself.

She really didn't get it. He was Lily's son. If he cared one bit about her, he wouldn't say such things. She understood that he hated Jaime, but it was beyond time to grow up already.

But yet the hate that spewed out of his mouth. Minerva took a swallow of the liquid. Maybe Albus was right. Maybe she did need to take a couple of weeks off. It wasn't something she'd usually consider, but after losing Mr. Weasley and almost losing Harry she knew she was at her wit's end.

Little did she know, that Harry Potter would be dead by the following week.

Chapter 5: Tentatively titled the boy who died. Harry Potter's death is announced we'll see how a little shit, Dumbledore, and Hermione all deal with it.