Untouchable

Theo sat on the antique settee next to Dumbledore with Professor Snape and Lucius Malfoy in arms chairs to the left and right of him respectively. While the sofa was ornately decorated, the upholstering was as old as wood. Theo, who had little padding on his bones besides lean muscle, felt the sofa's frame protrude into his back and buttocks. Being seated next to Dumbledore was not an accident either. Legilimency required proximity. He held himself stiffly, as straight as his back would allow, and wondered if there were pins in the stuffing.  

Professor Dumbledore handed him a cushion and smiled. “Please make yourself comfortable.” It was a smile that did not reach his eyes. “Theodore, I think it would be helpful if you could tell us what happened last night. We are interviewing all involved parties and would like to hear your version of events to piece together what happened to Draco.”

He started to explain from the moment he was woken up by Adrian Pucey and informed that Malfoy had been attacked but Lucius interrupted with a cough. “Albus, I didn’t come all the way to hear a carefully concocted long-winded explanation.”

Theo halted in confusion.

Dumbledore raised his hand. He turned to Theo and fixed him with a hard stare. “I agree with Lucius. Let us go to the heart of the matter, Theodore. You are the only person from our inquiries who claimed to see any Gryffindors on the night in question. How do you explain this?”

He remembered Blaise’s words. Be concise. Stick to the facts. Do not under any circumstances lie to Dumbledore. He is a better Legilimens than you are. They had practiced in the night, long enough for his responses to be immediate. He was convincingly tired. His answers were fittingly terse. The facts were all he could remember, from under his pounding headache. Theo gathered his thoughts. He spoke directly. “After Malfoy was found unconscious, I used my Legilimency to find out who the last person Draco had set eyes on.”

Professor Dumbledore interrupted. “And you saw Harry Potter. You are sure you saw Harry Potter?”

“Yes, Professor.”

“See that’s interesting Theodore. Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were supervised by our caretaker and ground staff Argus Filch doing laps of the quidditch pitch during the attack.” Dumbledore said. “There were several witnesses.”  Dumbledore gave ample time for the message to sink. He had intended to allow for an uncomfortable silence which he was sure the boy would attempt to fill. 

Instead, Lucious Malfoy piped up.“If it wasn’t Potter who attacked my son, then who was it?”

“I can assure you Harry Potter and his company were not involved,” Dumbledore replied exasperatedly. “They were supervised running laps of the Quidditch pitch."

“What about the muggle girl?” Lucius asked imperiously.

Professor Snape smirked. “Granger was intoxicated from a raucous Gryffindor party and found collapsed in a corridor on the way to the hospital wing. She was admitted overnight.”

“So, you have no answers for me as to who attacked my son?” 

Theo kept very still the zigzag-patterned carpet swimming before his eyes.

Dumbledore hesitated. “I am afraid it is too early to comment on who or what caused the disturbance in the Slytherin common room, but Theo may be holding valuable information that will help us get to the bottom of things.”

Lucius Malfoy rapped his cane against the hardwood floor. “My son was attacked outside the dungeons not in the common room. It was hooliganism by the Gryffindor quidditch team!”

Dumbledore remained unfazed by Malfoy’s plumage display. “It is certainly an avenue we must explore. Severus, have we accounted for the whereabouts of all the Gryffindor players last night?”

Snaped drawled. “Except for the female players e.g., Spinnet, Bell, and the like.”

Malfoy Senior dabbed an embroidered handkerchief over his mouth. “I think that’s hardly necessary.”

After a lengthy and uncomfortable pause, Dumbledore spoke again. “Would you like to retract your earlier statement, Theodore?”

The muscles tightened in Theo’s face. “No, I would not Professor.”

Lucius Malfoy rapped his cane against the coffee table. “This is a farce!”

Dumbledore ignored his outburst and continued in the same vein. “How could Harry Potter be in two places at the same time, Theodore?”

“I would not know Professor. The use of Polyjuice potion may explain it.” Theo said in a clipped tone, understanding that he would not get a word into the conversation edgeway. He wondered why he was even summoned here if he was not going to be allowed to defend himself.

“Where would one acquire the Polyjuice potion you speak of?” Professor Snape snarled.

His eyes met Professor Snape briefly and adroitly he avoided the question. “My Legilimency is not perfect. I may have accessed a repressed memory, relating to Slytherin's recent defeat at the hands of Gryffindor quidditch team.” Theo explained. An attack was always the best defense and Draco was not here to defend himself. Provoking Lucious Malfoy was an amusing pastime.

“Repressed memory? You think my son has repressed memories?” Lucius Malfoy challenged. “My son is a well-adjusted and sensible boy. He does not have repressed memories!”

Professor Snape rolled his eyes. Interestingly, he did not make any additional inquiries into the Polyjuice potion. Snape was unsure if anything was missing, meaning he had not yet checked or secured his secret stash. Theo’s lips twitched in a half smile and hoped while he was here, Blaise had cleaned out Snape’s store.

“What exactly did you see when you accessed Draco’s mind?” Said Professor Dumbledore as he drew the conversation back on track.

“Harry Potter was holding his wand pointing it right at Draco,” Theo explained succinctly.

“What clothes was Potter wearing?”

He faltered. “Excuse me?”

Dumbledore pressed his advantage. “Well, was he in Quidditch gear, in normal clothes or pajamas?” His tone was benign, his face and even countenance, but Theo knew he was skating over thin ice. He reached for the goblet of water on the teak coffee table in front of him and took a slow sip, enough to wet his lips but not parch his dry mouth. More importantly, it gave him the chance to formulate an answer. “I am not sure.” He replied, “I don’t think Draco had the time to register such details. It was rather blurry. It was the wand pointing at his chin that held his attention.”

“Which hand was Harry holding the wand?”

Theo said emphatically without stopping to breathe. “Right.” It was a complete guess. Statistically speaking it was more likely Harry Potter was right-handed. He must have been correct otherwise Dumbledore would honed in on his answer further.

Professor Snape interrupted with a cough. “Tell me about the wand itself.”

His mind went blank before exploding into a vividly colored vision of a leggy brunette, forcefully tucking a wand under his chin while swinging a liquor bottle in her other hand. As soon as the thought registered, he pushed it down forcefully, praying he hadn’t transmitted it mentally to Professor Dumbledore. Snapping out of his daydream, he asked, “Sorry, what was the question?”

Dumbledore stared at him with growing curiosity, a faint smile playing at the corner of his mouth but remained silent.

Lucius snarled impatiently, “Can you describe Harry Potter’s wand?” As he spoke the word "wand," the ferrule of his cane thudded against the hardwood floor, splintering the wood. Theo jumped.

Ten and three-quarter length vinewood with a dragon heartstring core wasted on its muggle user. She hadn’t liked it when he’d told her so.

Professor Dumbledore mused. “That’s quite specific? Do you take an interest in wand lore?”

A baffled Lucius Malfoy almost snapped his neck when he turned to look at the headmaster. “He hasn’t even answered the question.”

“Holly!” Theo spluttered. “Potter’s wand was made from holly!” His chest rose and fell with each ragged breath.

A slightly perturbed Professor Snape glanced sideways at Lucius and back at the headmaster wondering what had just happened. Lucius Malfoy gawked like a goldfish before pursing his lips and tutting disapprovingly.

Professor Dumbledore continued in an infuriatingly even tone, “You said to other students there were multiple attackers but you saw only Potter in your vision.”

Theo took another sip from his goblet and had to cough to clear his increasingly parched throat. “Like I said, I was only able to see what Draco could have seen. The other attackers must have been out of his line of sight.”

Professor Snape goaded. “Who else was present?”

“I don’t wish to speculate,” Theo replied quickly.

The headmaster’s eyebrows rose. The boy was catching on quickly like a seasoned criminal called back to the docks. He didn't even attempt to plead his innocence or deny his guilt. His drawn and distant expression concealed his true emotions. Beneath that crisp white collar, he might have been sweating profusely, but only Theodore would know. Dumbledore mused whether the boy had been coached.

“Then what happened?”

“I relayed my findings to the rest of the housemates who were understandably upset. Flint organized a search party to find Harry Potter. The girls were escorted back to dorm rooms.”

Professor Dumbledore threw a curveball: a question he was sure Nott did not prepare for. It would keep the boy on his toes. It might even topple him. “Did you agree with his decision?”

“Which decision?” Theo frowned. He didn’t like where the conversation was headed. More to the point, he did not know where it was heading. His headmaster was asking leading questions, irrelevant to the investigation, questions he would have to answer on the spot, which meant he would have to think on the spot. He was more likely to slip up. Dumbledore was banking on it.

“All of them.”

“I never voiced any disagreements.”  

“Theo, we are not accusing of anything.” Professor Dumbledore said warmly like a grandfather.  Not just yet anyway. “It is important that you cooperate fully with our interviewing. You are holding yourself very stiffly like you are in a courtroom. You are not being interrogated. We just want to know what happened. I want you to feel relaxed. This is a safe space.” The headmaster said encouragingly with expansive hand gestures. He pointed to the glass sweet jar on the coffee table. “Take another sherbet lemon.”

Theo realized he was being asked to provide more detail in his answers. More detail meant more pitfalls. He decided his best strategy would be to waffle and include some extraneous fluff that had no bearing on their investigation. At the very least, he would irritate Lucious Malfoy, which was a most satisfying endeavor. “I must admit to feeling tired and sleep-deprived. I just wanted to go to bed then deal with the hooliganism of the Gryffindor team and of course, ensure that Draco received prompt medical attention. I disagree with escorting the girls back to the dormitories. I disagree with male students searching the female dormitories, but as I explained I was in no position to argue. My housemates had unanimously made those decisions and I went regrettably along with them.”

“Thank you.” Said Professor simply and it made Theo feel even more unsettled with what was to come. He felt Dumbledore knew more than he was letting on and worried he was getting caught in his web.  He reminded himself to hold his nerve and stay in the present. He could not go back and change his answers. He just needed to remember what had been said and stick to the story.

“You then paired with Montague and Blaise and you searched the girl's dormitories amongst other places. Did you come across anyone suspicious?”

He remembered swiping his hand under a cot in the girl's dorms and feeling what was the taut muscled thigh of a Gryffindor chaser. He dropped the slip he had held in his hand containing his room number and directions, thinking instead it was Granger. His thoughts flew immediately to the next Gryffindor girl he encountered: a cowering sniveling redhead cried more tears than she had freckles. He had been silent for too long. “No.”

“Are you lying to me, Theo?” Professor Dumbledore inquired in the brisk toneless of seasoned administrator.

“I caught a girl drinking in the kit cupboard whom I escorted back to the dormitories.

“Did you report her?”

“I did not,” Theo replied curtly.

“Why not? You have applied for a prefectship. Is it not your duty to report an underage student who has been drinking?”

“There were more pressing issues at the time such as the security of our dungeons.”

“And why did you not consider informing Professor Snape of your concerns?” Professor Dumbledore inclined his head towards Theo’s head of house who looked unimpressed as ever. As if Snape had ever done anything for the welfare of his students, Theo swore internally. He certainly hadn’t been too bothered when Zabini had almost gone off the deep end.

Theo countered swiftly, “It was not my decision. It was Marcus Flint’s decision not to involve the Professor and like I said earlier, I did not voice any disagreements.” There was a note of triumph in his voice as he circled back to an earlier point and proved to himself, that he could not be pinned down in this argument.

Professor Dumbledore punctured his good mood with his next breath. He steepled his fingers on his pot bellow and appeared solemn. “I spoke to your friend Graham Montague this morning.”

Theo’s eyes narrowed to slits. When? Was it before Theo had altered Montague’s memory or it was afterward? Was Dumbledore bluffing?

“He told me you escorted the young lady back to the dorms and you were gone for some time.”

“I gave her a stern talking to. I must admit it brought her to tears. Then I had to pacify her before I could reunite her with her friends. I am afraid unkind words were said on my part, but she understood in the end it was in her best interests.”

“It seems like you spent a considerable amount of time in this young lady’s company. You had time to educate her on her wrongdoing but you didn’t have time to report her for her misdeeds? You can see why we’re concerned. Did you behave inappropriately with this young woman?”

Theo aspirated his water. He coughed and gagged and spluttered, till Professor Snape had to lean over and thump his back repeatedly.

“I am asking you if you behaved inappropriately with an underaged girl.” Professor Dumbledore asked in a disconcertingly detached manner, ignoring Theo’s body-wracking coughs.

Theo gulped. This was hitting below the belt. There was no way he was being accused of what he thought Dumbledore was saying. He exhaled slowly to maintain his fraying composure. His mind betrayed him again. He felt the force of Ginny Weasley’s body fall through the air, fastening her wriggling arms around his waist and tightening like a hard band. The albatross around his neck.

“You threw yourself at me, Ginevra. You are asking for trouble if you continue to… demonstrate such reckless behavior with other male students.”

The tears were back with a vengeance. “Please don’t hurt me or my family.”

He tore himself from the memory that washed over him. “I am going to pretend I did not hear that.”

“I think you should just answer the question, Theodore.”

“What was the girl's name?” Professor Snape, his hand hovering over Theo’s thoracic spine.

Theodore scoffed at Snape’s apparent concern for one of his students. “I don’t know!”

“You’re lying,” said Lucius, he’d sprawled over the armchair but now planted his leather boots firmly on the hardwood and leaned forward. “Despicable.”

“You give me no choice, Theodore.” Professor Dumbledore said. “We’ve been going round and round in circles and you have failed to give me satisfactory answers. I am afraid we will have to conduct our interview differently, and hopefully, the second half will be more productive than the first. I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but we have a duty of care to this young woman and Draco.” He nodded at Theo’s Head of House, who withdrew back to his armchair and pulled from his robes a beautiful blue glass bottle with the letters VS. The bottom fell out of Theo's stomach. He knew instinctively what it was. Snape opened the bottle and the pipette attached to the lid, he squirted three drops into Theo’s goblet of water. He fixed him with a hard look and handed him the goblet.

“You need to take this voluntarily, Theodore.”

 “And if I choose not to?” Theo asked heatedly as he realized in a heart-stopping moment that he handed Professor Dumbledore the very excuse he needed to justify the use of Veritaserum.