Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Roaring Snake
The Roaring Snake – 3
(Author's Note: In this chapter, one gets glimpses of the various factions, their goals, and their leaders which are vying for Harry's attention. I hope that at least a few factions will be novel. At least, I have not read much of the various factions. This is one of my more daring forays into the various groups in the Wizarding world.
My second point of departure is my attempt to distinguish Fudge from the Ministry. One of my pet peeves in fan fiction is the way people illogically conjoin the interest of the Ministry with the interest of the Minister. This falls into the same trap as claiming that national interest coincides with the political interest of the leader. By the same token, I am going to distinguish between Voldemort and the Dark. Their interests may coincide most of the time, but they are not the same. Voldemort is a megalomaniac – he is on his own side and his only interest is his self-interest. He struck me as the kind who sees everyone, everything and every cause as something that exists to serve the greater glory of Voldemort. A pertinent question that no one has ever asked in fan fiction, as far as I know, is whether Voldemort's interest coincides with the interest of the Dark.
Finally, since this is AU, I am keeping Regulus Black and Rabastan Lestrange alive and free. Anyone who has read my other fictions should know that the Lestrange family members have always interested me!
As usual, all criticism is welcome.)
Behind the Scenes
Albus Dumbledore was not having a good evening. First, Hagrid had returned to Hogwarts with the information that his trip with Harry had gone all wrong. Not only had Harry met Minerva, and several others of his year, but also met some of the most important and powerful people in the magical world. From what Hagrid had said, he had gone wild buying books at Flourish and Blotts. While this was not bad in itself, Harry had bought more books than necessary not only on school subjects, but also on recent history, wizarding customs, and prevailing political views. All of this was extremely worrying, from Dumbledore's perspective. Even worse, Amelia was now aware of Harry's non-receipt of post from the magical world. While Albus was completely invulnerable to Amelia's actions on the legal front – the headmaster was no fool and had secured his position carefully – his carefully constructed image could take a huge beating if he was seen as intercepting the letters of the Boy-Who-Lived and keeping him ignorant. No, he had to act and act fast if he was to redeem the situation to any degree. His first action should be deduce how badly his relationship with Minerva had suffered. However, Minerva had not yet returned, so he decided to ensure that his other machinations were in proper order.
Dumbledore slumped in his chair as he reflected that he had been mostly unsuccessful in convincing Minerva of his concern for Harry. Now, in addition to making sure Harry made the 'right friends' at Hogwarts, he would have to keep Minerva and Harry apart as much as possible.
As for the friends of Potter, Dumbledore had already set his plans in motion. He would make doubly sure of the whole thing by sending one of his flunkies over summer to Harry Potter. A bit of influence and nudging on what Harry should be allowed to feel about the Headmaster and his agenda would not be amiss.
He reached into a drawer in his desk, took a pinch of a glittering powder, and tossing it into the fire called, “Weasley residence!”
---(Scene Break)---
Amelia Bones had not been idle either. She took Susan back home and immediately invited her colleague and chief prosecutor, Andromeda Black-Tonks, to come and have tea with her.
Ten minutes later, the immaculately groomed and perfectly dressed Andromeda Black-Tonks, with her dark brown hair and eyes, proud carriage, and noble bearing, looking every inch the aristocratic pureblood that she was, had emerged from the fireplace in the Bones Manor. Her voice was mellifluous, and her manner engaging. Amelia bade Andromeda be seated, had her secretary bring them both tea, and briefly narrated the tale of her morning with Harry Potter.
Andromeda reclined in her chair, and sighed, “I know what you are thinking, Amelia. But we have very little jurisdiction.”
Amelia's face was neutral as she asked, “How so?”
“Dumbledore secured full guardian rights in the magical world over Harry Potter. Dumbledore is perfectly entitled to intercept, open and read Harry's correspondence. Even to visit or speak to Harry Potter, you need permission from Dumbledore. We don't even know where Mr. Potter lives.”
“How come they granted him such extensive rights?”
“Fudge signed an order granting Dumbledore full rights over Potter nearly ten years ago. It was claimed that Potter was under serious threat from You-Know-Who's followers and as such needed heavy protection.”
Amelia, who was not very familiar with the Potter situation, was amazed to say the least. “Is there no way to remedy it, Andy?”
“We could charge Dumbledore with negligence and dereliction of duty in informing Mr. Potter of Ministry correspondence. However, I would not give an obole for our chances of making it stick in the Wizengamot. At worst, the old coot will get a mild censure, probably disapproval over the matter. Nothing more.”
“Potter cannot complain of the treatment he is getting?”
“He can, but Dumbledore will invoke security problems with giving Potter any amount of freedom, and the old goats in the Wizengamot will go along with Dumbledore rather than Potter any day.”
Amelia sighed in resignation, “The Ministry is being torn apart. Nearly everyone, especially in our Department, has loyalties elsewhere – to Fudge, to Dumbledore, to the pureblood crowd. None of them are concerned about doing what we are paid for – upholding the law. Duty takes second place the moment it conflicts with their principal loyalty. If we can persuade Potter to support our campaign to have the Ministry doing what it is supposed to do, everyone in the wizarding world would benefit. From what I saw today morning, he seems like a nice and honest boy. I want to keep faith with him – by doing an honest job on a very real problem he is facing, we should be able to send him a token of the Ministry's commitment, faith and honesty.”
“It's hard to know what we can do”, returned Andromeda.
Amelia nodded sadly, “Once the term begins, I'll ask Susan to keep close to him. In the meantime, we cannot even send a letter to him?”
“I suppose we can. Or at least, Susan can. As long as it is bereft of political agenda or a hindrance to Dumbledore's control, I don't think Dumbledore will interrupt it now that Harry knows of his letters going missing.”
Amelia nodded as Andy rose to her feet. “My daughter, Nymphadora, is the head girl this year. I'll ask her to help Harry Potter as much as she can.” With that, Andromeda tossed a pinch of floo powder and disappeared back to her office.
---(Scene Break)---
Priscilla Lestrange-Greengrass and her daughter Daphne Greengrass were both seated in the garden, when they heard a soft knock on the garden door. “Enter”, Priscilla called, and the door opened ushering in the small and slender figure of Berenice Rookwood-Rosier – a Charms and Runes mistress of exceptional talent. She was followed by her son, Ventidius Rosier, a medium sized boy of Daphne's age with midnight black eyes and a frosty manner. Priscilla and Daphne greeted the duo demurely, before Priscilla conjured two chairs with a wave of her wand. Berenice smiled at her old friend, and conjured up a few sandwiches, before settling down in the chair. “So, Prissie, finished shopping?”
“Of course! Glad that that bit of annoyance is out of the way”, returned Priscilla. She continued, rather proudly, “Happily, though, Daphne got a maple and chimaera fur wand, specialised for healing.”
Berenice laughed, “Congratulations, Daphne. It appears that your mother's blood predominates.” Daphne muttered a bashful thanks, as Berenice continued thoughtfully, “It seems our children are following in our footsteps, Prissie, rather than their fathers'. Yesterday, Ventidius got a wand of cypress and sphinx hair – excellent for charms and runes. But trifles apart – how was your meeting with Harry Potter.”
“Most illuminating”, returned Priscilla. “The boy went wild buying books in Flourish and Blotts, and has the curiosity of a cat. He was particularly interested in books on Defence against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms and Potions. He asked Emmanuel, Amelia, Minerva and me for our opinions on what books would be useful for a fresher at Hogwarts, and ended up buying all the books we suggested. If he actually reads what he has bought, he will be, at least, a very knowledgeable wizard. But he is also a likely a very powerful wizard. He ended up buying the Dark Lord's brother wand at Ollivander's.” The two Rosiers gaped at Priscilla in astonishment. “Have you been considering my idea, Niki?”, questioned Priscilla.
Berenice nodded, “It is an excellent one – classes over holidays for all kids who show enough talent. If Harry shows enough talent, and enough interest, we could really start doing some good work in our free time.”
Daphne Greengrass and Ventidius Rosier had both been too well trained to question their parents in the middle of a conversation, but the looks on their faces asked what they would not voice. Priscilla turned to the two first years, and spoke seriously, “Listen, carefully, you two – this is very important. You both have been trained seriously at home, and have interesting talents yourselves. You should not find any difficulty with your syllabus in your first year at Hogwarts. I want you both to keep your eyes open for any talented kids at Hogwarts. We want to find and train any talented children.”
“What kinds of talents?”, questioned Daphne immediately.
“Oh – things like Empathy, Healing, or proficiency in a particular type of magic. Maybe even ability to talk to particular types of animals, or ability to sense the needs of plants.”
“Okay”, answered Ventidius slowly. “But why now?”
Priscilla and Berenice exchanged a quick glance before Berenice answered, “I am going to tell you both something which I want you to keep your mouths shut about. For many years now, research in magical Britain has been faltering. Each year's Hogwarts graduates are one bit worse than the previous year's. Standards are falling everywhere. Many highly-skilled jobs are unfilled because there is no one of the requisite skill available. Most of the problems of the lack of research can be traced back to Hogwarts, which is not only not really encouraging people to think, but also becoming a personal political base of Albus Dumbledore. Too many – both staff and students - are finding their creativity stifled. Apart from McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout, none of the other teachers are up to scratch. We cannot allow this decline to go unchecked. Priscilla got this idea of taking the promising kids and training them properly in the basics during the various so that they might be encouraged to go for research as a career option. That is why we want you to start looking for talented children in your year.”
Rosier nodded, before inquiring, “Why only our year?”
“We are starting this as an experiment. We would train you two anyway. Let's start small – if it works out, we can expand to other years. Besides, it is important to start right at the first year. They need to get their basics right.”
“Does daddy know of this”, asked Daphne.
“Of course”, returned Priscilla. “Niki's husband is also willing to help. Between the four of us, we have all the important subjects and and quite a few talents covered. Even if we are not capable of some talents, we do have enough ability to help the children realise their potential. I can also ask Regulus and Rabastan to help, if it becomes necessary.”
Rosier had one final question, “Why Potter?”
“Potter showed promise yesterday – he seems interested, and determined. Secondly, he is an important icon in the wizarding world and having him in our class can make it easier to persuade others to come over. Finally, the boy has a number of enemies. He needs to learn magic fast, and will require the extra training. It would be cruel to leave him to fend for himself with no training.”
“So we need Harry Potter to save us from ourselves?”, remarked Ventidius cynically.
“That would be an excellent way to put it. I want you both to keep close to him and help him in any way you can. See what he is talented in and if he is promising enough, offer him extra lessons over the holidays”, came the cool voice of Berenice.
---(Scene Break)---
“So what have you learnt about the Boy-Who-Lived, Quirinius?”, asked the high, cold voice.
“Several things, my Lord”, came Quirrell's obsequious voice. “Firstly, his muggle relatives that Dumbledore has left him with mistreat him badly. Potter has no love for muggles, or for muggle-born.”
“Most interesting, Quirinius. Does the boy have any ideas why he survived my curse?”
“No, my Lord. He did not even know he was a wizard until last night. He knows precious little of his parents, and certainly does not remember how they died, or how he survived.”
Lord Voldemort was completely silent for a long moment, contemplating exactly what this meant for his plans. Finally, he asked, “What else have you learnt?”
“For one thing, someone – most likely Dumbledore – has been intercepting and withholding his letters from the wizarding world. Secondly, his torment with the muggles has given him a bad case of poor confidence in himself and a low self esteem. However, he seems very willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to achieve enough power and skill to protect himself. He also seems to have a bit of loyalty for his friends. Finally, he bought a wand that is the brother of your own.”
The Dark Lord was processing the information swiftly in his mind. He could see the pattern – a young orphan boy bullied by all the others, growing up unaware of his heritage but deep down a very powerful wizard, hating and hated by muggles who could not understand the abilities, a similar wand ... It was almost a leaf taken out of his own childhood.
“What did you tell him, Quirinius?”
“I told him that he might be a target for many in the wizarding world, my Lord, including your former followers. I bought him a couple of books on Defence against the Dark Arts – the first book being a very basic theory of curses and counter-curses, and the second containing stuff like what one should do when confronted by hostile wizards, proper exercises for becoming good at Defence against the Dark Arts and duelling stances, and such like.”
“Quirinius, I want you to start teaching the boy Defence against the Dark Arts thoroughly when he comes to Hogwarts. Don't be impatient, however – and don't try to push too far too fast. Once he has seen the power that can be wielded by wizards, he may be much more amenable to our views.”
“That will be difficult, my Lord. Dumbledore is tracking him actively at all times. If he comes down to my office too often, or to any other place in the castle, it will be suspicious.”
Here Quirrell expected a rush of anger from his master. To his surprise, Voldemort almost chuckled. “Don't worry, Quirinius. I know just the places in the castle.”
---(Scene Break)---
“Cissy, what do you think of our Mr. Potter?”, demanded Lucius, a smile evident in his tone.
Narcissa did not reply at once – she seemed lost in thought. Lucius continued, “The old fool could not have done us a better favour. The boy does seem to hate muggles and mudbloods. He has respect for purity of blood.”
“I would not be so sure, Lucy”, answered Narcissa finally.
“Cissy – the boy almost seemed to be repulsed by the muggles Minerva had brought. He hated them and their spawn. No, Dumbledore has done us a great service.”
Narcissa shook her head unconvinced. “Lucy, did you notice anything amiss about the boy's clothes?”
“It seemed some kind of muggle clothing.”
“Not only that – they were transfigured into that form – probably by Minerva. Now why would anyone want to transfigure his clothing into muggle clothing?”
“What are you getting at?”
“I can think of two reasons”, continued Narcissa, disregarding her husband's interruption. “First, Minerva transfigured his clothing to prevent him from being recognised in Diagon Alley. But if she did that, she would also have changed his appearance to hide his characteristic scar. No, I am sure that was not the reason why his clothing was transfigured.”
“And what do you think was the reason?”
“His clothing had to be made presentable. You saw how he kept shying away from the muggles. The muggles Dumbledore left Potter with probably torture him – routinely. He was most reticent when speaking of his muggles – I could hear his raw fear when he spoke of them. His clothing was some kind of rags they had given. Minerva made them look decent.”
“You think Dumbledore would allow muggles to torture his golden child?”
“Lucius – what exactly do we know of Dumbledore's plan for the boy?”
Lucius thought for a moment and spoke, “He has gone to enormous lengths to get full custody of Potter. No one can meet or speak to Potter without Dumbledore's permission. The boy figures prominently in his plans. I assumed Dumbledore was keen to retain Potter for the trophy value, and probably to ensure the boy remains true to the Light, but now ....”
“Exactly. Instead of giving the boy at least a half decent life, Dumbledore has allowed the muggles to torture, and humiliate the boy. This could mean several things. He wants to turn the boy into a Dark Wizard, and then destroy him, making himself a hero once again. Or it could mean that he wants the boy cowed and ignorant, making him easy to fit into whatever role Dumbledore has in mind. Or it could be that Dumbledore put him with the muggles and they torture the boy without the old man's knowledge ...”
“What does it matter, Cissy? The boy hates muggles and mudbloods. He will fit nicely into our plans.”
Narcissa shook her head, “No, Lucy. The boy fears and probably hates muggles. However, I am afraid he has too much sympathy for mudbloods. In them, he sees too much of himself – children born in unfortunate circumstances and to the wrong people. He will probably befriend mudbloods, and try to help them.”
Lucius had opened his mouth to contest her views furiously, but his arguments seemed to evaporate before Narcissa's cool logic. He looked thoughtfully at his wife, “What do you think we should do?”
“First, show that the wizarding world, especially the purebloods care about his well-being. To do that, we need to get someone – preferably not traceable to us – to speak to the Daily Prophet about Harry's travails, preferably uncovering his story in small bits over a period of time. We need to destroy Dumbledore's image and what better way than uncovering a new horror about Potter every few days. Then, when the wizarding world erupts in anger about the treatment given to the icon, we can write to Harry, offer our sympathies and befriend him. We need to get him to trust us before we start giving him our views. As of now, he is going to be suspicious about everyone in the wizarding world. No one in the wizarding world cared about him when he was being tortured. He has no reason to trust us. We need to win his confidence. Until then, it would be inadvisable for Draco to be disparaging towards mudbloods in his presence.”
Lucius nodded, “That's an excellent idea, Cissy. I'll warn Draco and get someone at the Ministry to speak to Rita Skeeter.”
---(End of the Chapter)---
(Author's Note: In this chapter, one gets glimpses of the various factions, their goals, and their leaders which are vying for Harry's attention. I hope that at least a few factions will be novel. At least, I have not read much of the various factions. This is one of my more daring forays into the various groups in the Wizarding world.
My second point of departure is my attempt to distinguish Fudge from the Ministry. One of my pet peeves in fan fiction is the way people illogically conjoin the interest of the Ministry with the interest of the Minister. This falls into the same trap as claiming that national interest coincides with the political interest of the leader. By the same token, I am going to distinguish between Voldemort and the Dark. Their interests may coincide most of the time, but they are not the same. Voldemort is a megalomaniac – he is on his own side and his only interest is his self-interest. He struck me as the kind who sees everyone, everything and every cause as something that exists to serve the greater glory of Voldemort. A pertinent question that no one has ever asked in fan fiction, as far as I know, is whether Voldemort's interest coincides with the interest of the Dark.
Finally, since this is AU, I am keeping Regulus Black and Rabastan Lestrange alive and free. Anyone who has read my other fictions should know that the Lestrange family members have always interested me!
As usual, all criticism is welcome.)
Behind the Scenes
Albus Dumbledore was not having a good evening. First, Hagrid had returned to Hogwarts with the information that his trip with Harry had gone all wrong. Not only had Harry met Minerva, and several others of his year, but also met some of the most important and powerful people in the magical world. From what Hagrid had said, he had gone wild buying books at Flourish and Blotts. While this was not bad in itself, Harry had bought more books than necessary not only on school subjects, but also on recent history, wizarding customs, and prevailing political views. All of this was extremely worrying, from Dumbledore's perspective. Even worse, Amelia was now aware of Harry's non-receipt of post from the magical world. While Albus was completely invulnerable to Amelia's actions on the legal front – the headmaster was no fool and had secured his position carefully – his carefully constructed image could take a huge beating if he was seen as intercepting the letters of the Boy-Who-Lived and keeping him ignorant. No, he had to act and act fast if he was to redeem the situation to any degree. His first action should be deduce how badly his relationship with Minerva had suffered. However, Minerva had not yet returned, so he decided to ensure that his other machinations were in proper order.
Dumbledore slumped in his chair as he reflected that he had been mostly unsuccessful in convincing Minerva of his concern for Harry. Now, in addition to making sure Harry made the 'right friends' at Hogwarts, he would have to keep Minerva and Harry apart as much as possible.
As for the friends of Potter, Dumbledore had already set his plans in motion. He would make doubly sure of the whole thing by sending one of his flunkies over summer to Harry Potter. A bit of influence and nudging on what Harry should be allowed to feel about the Headmaster and his agenda would not be amiss.
He reached into a drawer in his desk, took a pinch of a glittering powder, and tossing it into the fire called, “Weasley residence!”
---(Scene Break)---
Amelia Bones had not been idle either. She took Susan back home and immediately invited her colleague and chief prosecutor, Andromeda Black-Tonks, to come and have tea with her.
Ten minutes later, the immaculately groomed and perfectly dressed Andromeda Black-Tonks, with her dark brown hair and eyes, proud carriage, and noble bearing, looking every inch the aristocratic pureblood that she was, had emerged from the fireplace in the Bones Manor. Her voice was mellifluous, and her manner engaging. Amelia bade Andromeda be seated, had her secretary bring them both tea, and briefly narrated the tale of her morning with Harry Potter.
Andromeda reclined in her chair, and sighed, “I know what you are thinking, Amelia. But we have very little jurisdiction.”
Amelia's face was neutral as she asked, “How so?”
“Dumbledore secured full guardian rights in the magical world over Harry Potter. Dumbledore is perfectly entitled to intercept, open and read Harry's correspondence. Even to visit or speak to Harry Potter, you need permission from Dumbledore. We don't even know where Mr. Potter lives.”
“How come they granted him such extensive rights?”
“Fudge signed an order granting Dumbledore full rights over Potter nearly ten years ago. It was claimed that Potter was under serious threat from You-Know-Who's followers and as such needed heavy protection.”
Amelia, who was not very familiar with the Potter situation, was amazed to say the least. “Is there no way to remedy it, Andy?”
“We could charge Dumbledore with negligence and dereliction of duty in informing Mr. Potter of Ministry correspondence. However, I would not give an obole for our chances of making it stick in the Wizengamot. At worst, the old coot will get a mild censure, probably disapproval over the matter. Nothing more.”
“Potter cannot complain of the treatment he is getting?”
“He can, but Dumbledore will invoke security problems with giving Potter any amount of freedom, and the old goats in the Wizengamot will go along with Dumbledore rather than Potter any day.”
Amelia sighed in resignation, “The Ministry is being torn apart. Nearly everyone, especially in our Department, has loyalties elsewhere – to Fudge, to Dumbledore, to the pureblood crowd. None of them are concerned about doing what we are paid for – upholding the law. Duty takes second place the moment it conflicts with their principal loyalty. If we can persuade Potter to support our campaign to have the Ministry doing what it is supposed to do, everyone in the wizarding world would benefit. From what I saw today morning, he seems like a nice and honest boy. I want to keep faith with him – by doing an honest job on a very real problem he is facing, we should be able to send him a token of the Ministry's commitment, faith and honesty.”
“It's hard to know what we can do”, returned Andromeda.
Amelia nodded sadly, “Once the term begins, I'll ask Susan to keep close to him. In the meantime, we cannot even send a letter to him?”
“I suppose we can. Or at least, Susan can. As long as it is bereft of political agenda or a hindrance to Dumbledore's control, I don't think Dumbledore will interrupt it now that Harry knows of his letters going missing.”
Amelia nodded as Andy rose to her feet. “My daughter, Nymphadora, is the head girl this year. I'll ask her to help Harry Potter as much as she can.” With that, Andromeda tossed a pinch of floo powder and disappeared back to her office.
---(Scene Break)---
Priscilla Lestrange-Greengrass and her daughter Daphne Greengrass were both seated in the garden, when they heard a soft knock on the garden door. “Enter”, Priscilla called, and the door opened ushering in the small and slender figure of Berenice Rookwood-Rosier – a Charms and Runes mistress of exceptional talent. She was followed by her son, Ventidius Rosier, a medium sized boy of Daphne's age with midnight black eyes and a frosty manner. Priscilla and Daphne greeted the duo demurely, before Priscilla conjured two chairs with a wave of her wand. Berenice smiled at her old friend, and conjured up a few sandwiches, before settling down in the chair. “So, Prissie, finished shopping?”
“Of course! Glad that that bit of annoyance is out of the way”, returned Priscilla. She continued, rather proudly, “Happily, though, Daphne got a maple and chimaera fur wand, specialised for healing.”
Berenice laughed, “Congratulations, Daphne. It appears that your mother's blood predominates.” Daphne muttered a bashful thanks, as Berenice continued thoughtfully, “It seems our children are following in our footsteps, Prissie, rather than their fathers'. Yesterday, Ventidius got a wand of cypress and sphinx hair – excellent for charms and runes. But trifles apart – how was your meeting with Harry Potter.”
“Most illuminating”, returned Priscilla. “The boy went wild buying books in Flourish and Blotts, and has the curiosity of a cat. He was particularly interested in books on Defence against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms and Potions. He asked Emmanuel, Amelia, Minerva and me for our opinions on what books would be useful for a fresher at Hogwarts, and ended up buying all the books we suggested. If he actually reads what he has bought, he will be, at least, a very knowledgeable wizard. But he is also a likely a very powerful wizard. He ended up buying the Dark Lord's brother wand at Ollivander's.” The two Rosiers gaped at Priscilla in astonishment. “Have you been considering my idea, Niki?”, questioned Priscilla.
Berenice nodded, “It is an excellent one – classes over holidays for all kids who show enough talent. If Harry shows enough talent, and enough interest, we could really start doing some good work in our free time.”
Daphne Greengrass and Ventidius Rosier had both been too well trained to question their parents in the middle of a conversation, but the looks on their faces asked what they would not voice. Priscilla turned to the two first years, and spoke seriously, “Listen, carefully, you two – this is very important. You both have been trained seriously at home, and have interesting talents yourselves. You should not find any difficulty with your syllabus in your first year at Hogwarts. I want you both to keep your eyes open for any talented kids at Hogwarts. We want to find and train any talented children.”
“What kinds of talents?”, questioned Daphne immediately.
“Oh – things like Empathy, Healing, or proficiency in a particular type of magic. Maybe even ability to talk to particular types of animals, or ability to sense the needs of plants.”
“Okay”, answered Ventidius slowly. “But why now?”
Priscilla and Berenice exchanged a quick glance before Berenice answered, “I am going to tell you both something which I want you to keep your mouths shut about. For many years now, research in magical Britain has been faltering. Each year's Hogwarts graduates are one bit worse than the previous year's. Standards are falling everywhere. Many highly-skilled jobs are unfilled because there is no one of the requisite skill available. Most of the problems of the lack of research can be traced back to Hogwarts, which is not only not really encouraging people to think, but also becoming a personal political base of Albus Dumbledore. Too many – both staff and students - are finding their creativity stifled. Apart from McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout, none of the other teachers are up to scratch. We cannot allow this decline to go unchecked. Priscilla got this idea of taking the promising kids and training them properly in the basics during the various so that they might be encouraged to go for research as a career option. That is why we want you to start looking for talented children in your year.”
Rosier nodded, before inquiring, “Why only our year?”
“We are starting this as an experiment. We would train you two anyway. Let's start small – if it works out, we can expand to other years. Besides, it is important to start right at the first year. They need to get their basics right.”
“Does daddy know of this”, asked Daphne.
“Of course”, returned Priscilla. “Niki's husband is also willing to help. Between the four of us, we have all the important subjects and and quite a few talents covered. Even if we are not capable of some talents, we do have enough ability to help the children realise their potential. I can also ask Regulus and Rabastan to help, if it becomes necessary.”
Rosier had one final question, “Why Potter?”
“Potter showed promise yesterday – he seems interested, and determined. Secondly, he is an important icon in the wizarding world and having him in our class can make it easier to persuade others to come over. Finally, the boy has a number of enemies. He needs to learn magic fast, and will require the extra training. It would be cruel to leave him to fend for himself with no training.”
“So we need Harry Potter to save us from ourselves?”, remarked Ventidius cynically.
“That would be an excellent way to put it. I want you both to keep close to him and help him in any way you can. See what he is talented in and if he is promising enough, offer him extra lessons over the holidays”, came the cool voice of Berenice.
---(Scene Break)---
“So what have you learnt about the Boy-Who-Lived, Quirinius?”, asked the high, cold voice.
“Several things, my Lord”, came Quirrell's obsequious voice. “Firstly, his muggle relatives that Dumbledore has left him with mistreat him badly. Potter has no love for muggles, or for muggle-born.”
“Most interesting, Quirinius. Does the boy have any ideas why he survived my curse?”
“No, my Lord. He did not even know he was a wizard until last night. He knows precious little of his parents, and certainly does not remember how they died, or how he survived.”
Lord Voldemort was completely silent for a long moment, contemplating exactly what this meant for his plans. Finally, he asked, “What else have you learnt?”
“For one thing, someone – most likely Dumbledore – has been intercepting and withholding his letters from the wizarding world. Secondly, his torment with the muggles has given him a bad case of poor confidence in himself and a low self esteem. However, he seems very willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to achieve enough power and skill to protect himself. He also seems to have a bit of loyalty for his friends. Finally, he bought a wand that is the brother of your own.”
The Dark Lord was processing the information swiftly in his mind. He could see the pattern – a young orphan boy bullied by all the others, growing up unaware of his heritage but deep down a very powerful wizard, hating and hated by muggles who could not understand the abilities, a similar wand ... It was almost a leaf taken out of his own childhood.
“What did you tell him, Quirinius?”
“I told him that he might be a target for many in the wizarding world, my Lord, including your former followers. I bought him a couple of books on Defence against the Dark Arts – the first book being a very basic theory of curses and counter-curses, and the second containing stuff like what one should do when confronted by hostile wizards, proper exercises for becoming good at Defence against the Dark Arts and duelling stances, and such like.”
“Quirinius, I want you to start teaching the boy Defence against the Dark Arts thoroughly when he comes to Hogwarts. Don't be impatient, however – and don't try to push too far too fast. Once he has seen the power that can be wielded by wizards, he may be much more amenable to our views.”
“That will be difficult, my Lord. Dumbledore is tracking him actively at all times. If he comes down to my office too often, or to any other place in the castle, it will be suspicious.”
Here Quirrell expected a rush of anger from his master. To his surprise, Voldemort almost chuckled. “Don't worry, Quirinius. I know just the places in the castle.”
---(Scene Break)---
“Cissy, what do you think of our Mr. Potter?”, demanded Lucius, a smile evident in his tone.
Narcissa did not reply at once – she seemed lost in thought. Lucius continued, “The old fool could not have done us a better favour. The boy does seem to hate muggles and mudbloods. He has respect for purity of blood.”
“I would not be so sure, Lucy”, answered Narcissa finally.
“Cissy – the boy almost seemed to be repulsed by the muggles Minerva had brought. He hated them and their spawn. No, Dumbledore has done us a great service.”
Narcissa shook her head unconvinced. “Lucy, did you notice anything amiss about the boy's clothes?”
“It seemed some kind of muggle clothing.”
“Not only that – they were transfigured into that form – probably by Minerva. Now why would anyone want to transfigure his clothing into muggle clothing?”
“What are you getting at?”
“I can think of two reasons”, continued Narcissa, disregarding her husband's interruption. “First, Minerva transfigured his clothing to prevent him from being recognised in Diagon Alley. But if she did that, she would also have changed his appearance to hide his characteristic scar. No, I am sure that was not the reason why his clothing was transfigured.”
“And what do you think was the reason?”
“His clothing had to be made presentable. You saw how he kept shying away from the muggles. The muggles Dumbledore left Potter with probably torture him – routinely. He was most reticent when speaking of his muggles – I could hear his raw fear when he spoke of them. His clothing was some kind of rags they had given. Minerva made them look decent.”
“You think Dumbledore would allow muggles to torture his golden child?”
“Lucius – what exactly do we know of Dumbledore's plan for the boy?”
Lucius thought for a moment and spoke, “He has gone to enormous lengths to get full custody of Potter. No one can meet or speak to Potter without Dumbledore's permission. The boy figures prominently in his plans. I assumed Dumbledore was keen to retain Potter for the trophy value, and probably to ensure the boy remains true to the Light, but now ....”
“Exactly. Instead of giving the boy at least a half decent life, Dumbledore has allowed the muggles to torture, and humiliate the boy. This could mean several things. He wants to turn the boy into a Dark Wizard, and then destroy him, making himself a hero once again. Or it could mean that he wants the boy cowed and ignorant, making him easy to fit into whatever role Dumbledore has in mind. Or it could be that Dumbledore put him with the muggles and they torture the boy without the old man's knowledge ...”
“What does it matter, Cissy? The boy hates muggles and mudbloods. He will fit nicely into our plans.”
Narcissa shook her head, “No, Lucy. The boy fears and probably hates muggles. However, I am afraid he has too much sympathy for mudbloods. In them, he sees too much of himself – children born in unfortunate circumstances and to the wrong people. He will probably befriend mudbloods, and try to help them.”
Lucius had opened his mouth to contest her views furiously, but his arguments seemed to evaporate before Narcissa's cool logic. He looked thoughtfully at his wife, “What do you think we should do?”
“First, show that the wizarding world, especially the purebloods care about his well-being. To do that, we need to get someone – preferably not traceable to us – to speak to the Daily Prophet about Harry's travails, preferably uncovering his story in small bits over a period of time. We need to destroy Dumbledore's image and what better way than uncovering a new horror about Potter every few days. Then, when the wizarding world erupts in anger about the treatment given to the icon, we can write to Harry, offer our sympathies and befriend him. We need to get him to trust us before we start giving him our views. As of now, he is going to be suspicious about everyone in the wizarding world. No one in the wizarding world cared about him when he was being tortured. He has no reason to trust us. We need to win his confidence. Until then, it would be inadvisable for Draco to be disparaging towards mudbloods in his presence.”
Lucius nodded, “That's an excellent idea, Cissy. I'll warn Draco and get someone at the Ministry to speak to Rita Skeeter.”
---(End of the Chapter)---
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