Staff Meeting.
The staff room at Hogwarts was quiet, save for the crackle of the fire burning in the hearth. The stone walls were lined with portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom seemed to be looking down at the gathered professors with their usual quiet, passive expressions. A long wooden table stretched down the center of the room, where the staff had gathered, each seated in their designated places.
At the head of the table, Professor Dumbledore sat, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon glasses. He had an air of ease about him, even in the midst of this routine staff meeting, as if he was prepared to hear anything, no matter how unusual.
“Thank you, everyone, for attending this meeting,” Dumbledore began, his voice warm and measured. “I trust that your first few days of the school year have been going well?”
A few murmurs of agreement spread around the room, and Professors Flitwick and Sprout offered polite comments on the new students they had encountered, before the conversation gradually shifted to the more pressing topics.
McGonagall, sitting to the side, glanced briefly at Dumbledore. She had already taken care of the matter regarding Harry Potter’s unusual upbringing, but the mystery of his background was still a source of concern. She wasn’t sure if the others would understand the full weight of it. She could see that a few of the professors were growing more curious.
“We’ll go over the new students shortly,” Dumbledore continued, “but before that, there is a matter I’d like to address. One student, in particular.”
The room quieted, the tone in Dumbledore’s voice shifting slightly. “Harry Potter.”
McGonagall’s gaze flickered to the headmaster, knowing what he was about to say, but sensing that the others might still need more context. Dumbledore had been aware of Harry’s situation from the beginning, as Minerva had been the one to go to fetch him for his shopping trip, and had reported back about the strange circumstances surrounding Harry’s life.
“We are aware of the boy’s background,” Dumbledore said, his gaze sweeping over the staff, “but I find that even with the details in hand, there are still things about him that are… unusual.”
“Unusual?” Flitwick repeated, his voice high-pitched with curiosity. “He’s certainly a bright one, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary about him.”
McGonagall cleared her throat softly, stepping in. “He wasn’t raised by the Dursleys to 11 years old, as we were led to believe. He’s been living in a church, in a rather secluded location. I went to collect him for the shopping trip, and that’s when I learned of this. It seems he’s had a very different upbringing than we had been told.”
A ripple of surprise passed through the room. There were a few raised eyebrows, a few muttered comments. Professor Sprout exchanged a look with Professor Flitwick, who seemed more perplexed than ever.
“That’s... odd, isn’t it?” Sprout asked, adjusting her glasses. “I mean, why would he be living in a church of all places? And why weren’t we told about this sooner?”
“It is peculiar,” McGonagall replied, her tone just slightly more cautious than usual. “I had thought we were all informed of his circumstances.”
Dumbledore, ever the calm figure at the head of the table, allowed the silence to stretch for a moment before speaking again. “Indeed, it is odd. But not unheard of, I suppose.” His voice grew more reflective, his fingers steepled together. “What is more concerning, however, is what I noticed when Harry was sorted. The Sorting Hat... was unusually silent when it placed him into Ravenclaw. We’ve never had that happen before, not with a child so young.”
The staff turned their attention to Dumbledore, now fully intrigued. Flitwick shifted slightly in his seat, adjusting his tiny spectacles.
“You mean the Sorting Hat didn’t speak at all?” he asked, frowning in disbelief. “That’s highly irregular. The Hat always has something to say.”
“That’s right,” McGonagall added, her voice sharp now. “It’s never been that quiet before.”
Dumbledore nodded, his expression more serious than it had been a moment ago. “Indeed. I have never heard it behave like that, especially for a student like Harry.”
Quirrell, who had been mostly silent until now, suddenly spoke up, his voice soft and almost hesitant. “T-There’s... something else, Headmaster. Something I felt when I was near him.”
Everyone turned their attention to Professor Quirrell, who rarely spoke at staff meetings, let alone in such a manner. He was sitting with his hands clasped tightly on the table, a strange intensity in his gaze.
“I’m not s-sure how to d-describe it,” Quirrell continued, his voice growing steadier as he went on, “but when I was near him, I could feel something... dark. Unnatural magic. It wasn’t just a feeling, it was as if... the magic itself was twisted.”
A shudder rippled through the room at his words. Several professors exchanged uneasy glances. Dumbledore’s gaze darkened ever so slightly, but his expression remained composed.
“A dark presence, you say?” he asked, his voice grave now. “I see. And you’re certain?”
Quirrell nodded, his eyes not leaving Dumbledore’s. “Y-Yes. There’s something about him. Something that feels... w-wrong.”
Professor McGonagall spoke again, her voice laced with concern. “The rosary beads,” she said quietly. “I’ve been meaning to mention them. Harry arrived with a set of rosary beads, and though he didn’t say much about them, they radiate a strange energy.”
Dumbledore’s eyes narrowed slightly at this. The mention of the beads caught his attention more than anything else.
“We will need to keep an eye on him,” Dumbledore said after a moment of silence. “And I’ll have to investigate further. I’m concerned about what exactly he’s carrying with him—what kind of magic it may be.”
The staff nodded, the weight of the situation sinking in. Harry Potter, the boy who had become a symbol of hope and mystery, was carrying with him something far more troubling than they had initially realized. And it seemed that no one, not even Dumbledore, fully understood the depths of what lay beneath his surface.
As the meeting continued, the conversation turned to other matters, but the unease surrounding Harry Potter lingered in the air, like a shadow that would not be easily dismissed.