Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Chronicles of The Company We Keep
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, anyone, or any part of the Harry Potter or X-Men: Evolution universes. There.
SPECIAL DISCLAIMER: This one-shot is a companion piece to my HP/XME crossover "The Company We Keep." TCWK owes its life and existence to The Original Pe, author of "Of Slings and Arrows," which TCWK was inspired by.
SUMMARY: After Harry escapes from the Welcoming Feast and Fudge's failed arrest attempt, Dumbledore reflects upon his helping in Harry's escape.
/"The People We Protect,"/
By Quillian
Once again, respects and thanks to The Original Pe, whose fic "Of Slings and Arrows" inspired the story this goes along to, and is looking forward to the rest of TCWK.
It was late at night, long after the Welcoming Feast at Hogwarts... and after Harry Potter's escape from Fudge in yet another attempted arrest.
Normally, Harry wouldn't have run like that, and would have bravely stood up to Fudge (much like that last time in Dumbledore's office when Marietta Edgecombe snitched to Umbridge about the DA), with the law on his side. Unfortunately, however, "legal" was a highly flexible concept with the corrupt Minister of Magic. All in all, Harry was better off fleeing for his own safety.
And there was one other person in the Great Hall who truly understood the complexities of this situation the same way Harry did: Dumbledore.
The wise old professor had conveniently stalled Fudge and his henchmen while flawlessly being (not just /acting/, but actually /being/) the benevolent Headmaster concerned for his students' welfare.
Both he and Harry had come to an understanding over the course of the previous summer, after Sirius had been killed. Both of them realized their mistakes, and did their best to move on without trying to repeat the same ones all over again at a later date in the future.
Privately, Dumbledore swore that he'd never betray Harry, no matter what. He'd be damned if he were to leave Harry to hang. Not in this universe.
Besides, if Dumbledore truly did not care for the boy, he would not have "accidentally-on-purpose" stalled Fudge on his flankies like that.
Dumbledore's thoughts now became private lamentations of pity for the corrupt Ministry and its leader and members.
Sometimes, even the most righteous of people could be as foolish as corrupt fools, just for thinking that by waving the law in the corrupts' faces, that it would make people pay attention and obey. When people were in charge of the law and made all the rules, it was often tough, sometimes even impossible, to bring those people to justice if they broke or defied their own laws.
Why was it that good people often had to suffer because of the bad ones? Why was it that a single fool could take down that which had brought countless good people together?
Of course, that didn't mean that the good people could correct that bad people's mistakes, when given ample time, of course.
Dumbledore gazed across the office to Gryffindor's sword. Harry was as brave and noble as any student ever to go through Hogwarts under his gaze. Personally, Dumbledore was proud to have Harry under his tutelage.
This thought only elicited another sigh from the aging Headmaster. Why must the evil and stupid people in the world keep ruining everything?
And why must the government not do its proper job?
Centuries ago, a Roman writer by the name of Juvenal wrote a famous line in his Satires/: /Quis/ custodiet ipsos custodes?/ Who will guard the guards themselves?
In other words, how can those trusted with the protection of others actually be trusted?
Sometimes, they just couldn't be.
Hence (or at least in Dumbledore's honest opinion), the truly good people had to do things in order to ensure their own survival against injustice and terrible fate.
Not that Dumbledore liked this at all. He should not have to be putting up with Dark lords, corrupt governments, and all these other problems all at once. Just because he was capable of manipulating people, performing multiple tasks, and running everything from behind the scenes, that didn't mean he had to like any of it.
In his opinion, if Dumbledore were to be like that, he would only be like another version of Voldemort, only fighting for the exact opposite reasons.
And that thought truly scared him.
Once again, the wizard's eccentric mind wandered back to the original matter at hand: Was Harry alright?
Somewhere, deep down in those old bones of his, he knew through magic (and not some old man's fantasy or delusion) that Harry was doing well.
Dumbledore now knew all he could do now was wait. Just like how a phoenix would wait for its Burning Day to come back out of the ashes, renewed and refreshed, Harry would came back out of hiding and take his place once again with his friends and family.
With that issue out of the way (for now), Dumbledore's thoughts turned back to a certain crooked politican... /Fudge/.
Dumbledore had lived for more than a century, and with this extraordinary amount of time and experience backing him, he knew one thing that people seldom realized... Mistakes always came back to haunt their makers, one way or another.
And those mistakes built up over time, slowly but gradually and surely, just like a precarious house of cards...
...And in the end, it was only a matter of time before these structures came crashing back down upon their foolish architects.
Injustice was temporary, but justice was inevitable.
And Dumbledore would be sure he would witness it happen this time around.
A/N: So, how was this?
SPECIAL DISCLAIMER: This one-shot is a companion piece to my HP/XME crossover "The Company We Keep." TCWK owes its life and existence to The Original Pe, author of "Of Slings and Arrows," which TCWK was inspired by.
SUMMARY: After Harry escapes from the Welcoming Feast and Fudge's failed arrest attempt, Dumbledore reflects upon his helping in Harry's escape.
/"The People We Protect,"/
By Quillian
Once again, respects and thanks to The Original Pe, whose fic "Of Slings and Arrows" inspired the story this goes along to, and is looking forward to the rest of TCWK.
It was late at night, long after the Welcoming Feast at Hogwarts... and after Harry Potter's escape from Fudge in yet another attempted arrest.
Normally, Harry wouldn't have run like that, and would have bravely stood up to Fudge (much like that last time in Dumbledore's office when Marietta Edgecombe snitched to Umbridge about the DA), with the law on his side. Unfortunately, however, "legal" was a highly flexible concept with the corrupt Minister of Magic. All in all, Harry was better off fleeing for his own safety.
And there was one other person in the Great Hall who truly understood the complexities of this situation the same way Harry did: Dumbledore.
The wise old professor had conveniently stalled Fudge and his henchmen while flawlessly being (not just /acting/, but actually /being/) the benevolent Headmaster concerned for his students' welfare.
Both he and Harry had come to an understanding over the course of the previous summer, after Sirius had been killed. Both of them realized their mistakes, and did their best to move on without trying to repeat the same ones all over again at a later date in the future.
Privately, Dumbledore swore that he'd never betray Harry, no matter what. He'd be damned if he were to leave Harry to hang. Not in this universe.
Besides, if Dumbledore truly did not care for the boy, he would not have "accidentally-on-purpose" stalled Fudge on his flankies like that.
Dumbledore's thoughts now became private lamentations of pity for the corrupt Ministry and its leader and members.
Sometimes, even the most righteous of people could be as foolish as corrupt fools, just for thinking that by waving the law in the corrupts' faces, that it would make people pay attention and obey. When people were in charge of the law and made all the rules, it was often tough, sometimes even impossible, to bring those people to justice if they broke or defied their own laws.
Why was it that good people often had to suffer because of the bad ones? Why was it that a single fool could take down that which had brought countless good people together?
Of course, that didn't mean that the good people could correct that bad people's mistakes, when given ample time, of course.
Dumbledore gazed across the office to Gryffindor's sword. Harry was as brave and noble as any student ever to go through Hogwarts under his gaze. Personally, Dumbledore was proud to have Harry under his tutelage.
This thought only elicited another sigh from the aging Headmaster. Why must the evil and stupid people in the world keep ruining everything?
And why must the government not do its proper job?
Centuries ago, a Roman writer by the name of Juvenal wrote a famous line in his Satires/: /Quis/ custodiet ipsos custodes?/ Who will guard the guards themselves?
In other words, how can those trusted with the protection of others actually be trusted?
Sometimes, they just couldn't be.
Hence (or at least in Dumbledore's honest opinion), the truly good people had to do things in order to ensure their own survival against injustice and terrible fate.
Not that Dumbledore liked this at all. He should not have to be putting up with Dark lords, corrupt governments, and all these other problems all at once. Just because he was capable of manipulating people, performing multiple tasks, and running everything from behind the scenes, that didn't mean he had to like any of it.
In his opinion, if Dumbledore were to be like that, he would only be like another version of Voldemort, only fighting for the exact opposite reasons.
And that thought truly scared him.
Once again, the wizard's eccentric mind wandered back to the original matter at hand: Was Harry alright?
Somewhere, deep down in those old bones of his, he knew through magic (and not some old man's fantasy or delusion) that Harry was doing well.
Dumbledore now knew all he could do now was wait. Just like how a phoenix would wait for its Burning Day to come back out of the ashes, renewed and refreshed, Harry would came back out of hiding and take his place once again with his friends and family.
With that issue out of the way (for now), Dumbledore's thoughts turned back to a certain crooked politican... /Fudge/.
Dumbledore had lived for more than a century, and with this extraordinary amount of time and experience backing him, he knew one thing that people seldom realized... Mistakes always came back to haunt their makers, one way or another.
And those mistakes built up over time, slowly but gradually and surely, just like a precarious house of cards...
...And in the end, it was only a matter of time before these structures came crashing back down upon their foolish architects.
Injustice was temporary, but justice was inevitable.
And Dumbledore would be sure he would witness it happen this time around.
A/N: So, how was this?
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