A Responsible Adult

In a dark corner of the Ministry of Magic was a department rarely anyone entered. It was in the back of the fifth level down. The floor filled mostly with the offices of the Department of International Magical Co-operation. Steve Adams could hardly make out the fading words on the plaque next to the door he stood in front of.

The Department of Wizarding Education.

He let out a breath and stood up tall. Steve was a confident man. He showed it when he was a gym teacher applying for the role of principal at a school he worked at back in the States. He got that job. This should be no different.

But it was different. Steve Adams was a Muggle applying for a wizard’s job. This was much greater leap than a gym teacher to a principal. At least he thought so, anyways.

So, he had to be confident. He was ready. So why was a part of him trying to convince him otherwise? When he learned about the world of magic, he was curious to know more. Once their daughter was born, that curiosity turned into a need. A need to protect his daughter and be a part of her world.

Steve kept that thought close. Pushing his doubts aside, he opened the door.

The office of the Department of Wizarding Education was small. Very small. The office did not have the usual enchanted windows which poured in magical sunlight. Steve guessed it cost money to maintain those enchantments, and it was obvious by the state of the office that this was not a place the Ministry was investing into heavily.

There were a few empty desks covered in dust and no receptionist in sight. In fact, there seemed to be nobody around at all.

He peered through doors with glass windows that led into dark, dormant offices. As he shut one door, another one of them creaked open. There stood a short and stout man. His shiny bald head and glasses both reflected the light from the hallway.

“Hello,” Steve’s voice cracked as he spoke, “I’m looking for Agnes Belmoor.”

The man mumbled and pointed to the door next to him without a word. Steve nodded and entered the office.

The room had a simple wooden desk surrounded by towers of parchment that filled the rest of the space. In a large chair sat a woman who Steve could only describe as ancient. Even her wrinkles had wrinkles. A large bowl of stinking stew sat on her desk as a levitating spoon brought the chunky broth to her dry, trembling lips.

“Mrs. Belmoor,” Steve greeted as he approached the desk.

The elderly lady slurped down the stew with a great, guttural gulp. After a moment, the spoon was back into the bowl. Then she leaned over to sip out of a large straw. The straw was bent and twisted in all sorts of impractical looking ways. It reminded Steve of a child’s novelty toy. Green, murky liquid was pulled from a large glass jar as Agnes Belmoor sipped on the straw.

The aging witch let out a dismissive cackle, “That’s Ms. Belmoor. I never married.”

Steve bit his lip. What a great start to the interview! He wanted to swear but he held in his breath and carried on. “My apologies, Ms. Belmoor. I’m here to interview for the position of Educational Liaison Officer. I’ve put together—"

“Do you have experience in education?”

“Yes, of course. I was a principal, err… headmaster at a—”

“Oh, thank Merlin,” Agnes groaned out as she interrupted Steve again. Her shaky hands moved down and placed a piece of parchment between them on the desk. “The job is yours. Just sign here.”

The wizarding world never ceased to surprise Steve. Was this some sort of joke? He scanned the employment agreement quickly before the sound of Agnes slurping on her stew broke his concentration.

“I just had a few questions about the role.”

The spook clanked down against the table and her wrinkles wrinkled up more, “Are you going to take the bloody job or not?”

Steve had to remind himself that he was speaking to an elderly woman. He decided not to get angry. It would not do him any favors in this situation. “The list of responsibilities for the Educational Liaison Officer role is quite long. Submitting additional funding requests, enforcing school safety guidelines, parental outreach, protecting student’s rights, following through on complaints…”

Steve trailed off as a he continued to read down the list of responsibilities written on the job listing. Agnes had seemingly tuned him out and was back to slurping down her stew. They made eye contact and she scoffed at him, “There were budget problems and cutbacks. More than once. I was the oldest one here. They kept me on, they did.”

“You were the oldest? I find that hard to believe. You don’t look a day over—”

“Don’t patronize me, boy. If a professor comes in whining for more money for a plant or a broom or whatever those unruly children need then you fill out a form, place it over there, and send them on their way. Whatever else you want to do with your time is up to you. Now hurry up and sign so I can bloody retire already.”

Steve wanted to scream. Was this really the person in charge of ensuring safety guidelines were followed at Hogwarts? His curiosity got the best of him, and he had to ask, “When was the last time you went to Hogwarts for an inspection?”

Agnes cackled, “I haven’t stepped foot in that so-called school in ages. The children today are no better than goblins. Disrespectful, greedy, little creatures. The professors are fools, the lot of them. Dumbledore with his pointed hats and twinkling nonsense.”

In a fit of anger and before he could think, Steve snatched the quill off the desk and signed his name on the employment agreement in dark red ink.

“Took you long enough,” Agnes pointed towards the door, “Be here tomorrow morning at nine sharp. Or don’t, it’s not really my problem anymore.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to do this job without magic?”

Agnes was looking back towards her stew, “Why? Something wrong your wand, boy?”

“No. I’m just a Muggle is all.”

Agnes gave him a sharp look. Then she let out a grunt of disgust. Steve didn’t answer at first, but surprisingly the old woman went back to her stew.

“Is that going to be an issue?”

Steve knew he was pushing his luck with that question. He should have had the right-mind to walk out of there with the job title and be happy with it.

Agnes didn’t look back up at him as she spoke, “I don’t really care if your kind can do the job or not. You are the first person to interview for the job. We’ve been reposting that listing for months. Filling that position is the only thing standing between me and retirement. At this point, I would give the job to Gellert Grindelwald himself if it meant I never had to step foot in this bloody office ever again.”

“It’s okay to be nervous.”

The Three Broomsticks was empty on the quiet Tuesday night. Steve was shuffling around the pub as his wife tried to ease his racing his mind. He stopped for a moment and let out a long sigh.

“This is a whole month in the making! If I fail here it’s only going to get worse,” Steve vented in a hushed tone.

“It’s just parents,” his wife responded as she swished her wand gently. The large banner that read Hogwarts Association of Parents straightened itself out as his wife floated it into place. Elizabeth made eye contact with him, and gave a look of concern, “I take that back. I know parents might be the worst part of the job.”

Steve let out a nervous laugh, “Anything education related- they always are. Oh! Ms. Vance!”

As the green flames from the Floo faded, a short and slender woman approached. Claire Vance was the head of the Department of Wizarding Education. Her attire was always stately, but her expression was normally disheveled from the long hours she worked. As head of the department, she had to attend all the meetings. While other heads could send assistants in their place, his boss had no such luxury.

She pulled back her dark auburn hair and adjusted her glasses. “I don’t have time to stay,” she murmured as she scanned the empty pub, “Is everything set for tonight?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Steve tried to sound confident.

“Steve, you can drop the formalities,” his boss smiled and greeted his wife and then looked back to him, “I’m glad there is someone in the department taking incitive.”

“You should let me help you with the meetings and paperwork,” Steve had asserted this several times, so he knew his boss’s dismissal was coming, “You work too hard.”

“So do you!” Claire motioned to the pub and then put her hands on her hip. “You’ve been in the department for hardly a month, and you’ve gotten more done than that old woman had in twenty years. Besides, I’m terrible with kids. Worse than with parents. Ministry work- that’s what I’m good at.”

“They really should let you hire an assistant,” Elizabeth said empathically.

Just then, the green flames of the Floo lit the room up again. It was an average looking man with a small tuft of messy brown hair. He looked a bit nervous as he spoke, “Is this the right place? For the Hogwarts Association of Parents?”

Soon the man was sitting, and other parents began to arrive. “Unfortunately, I have a meeting tonight and I’ll have to miss this.”

“They have you attending meeting this late? Even Aurors get a break now and then,” his wife said as she sighed.

“Yes, well this is a very special meeting.” Claire stepped between Steve and his wife and spoke softly, “It’s about Muggle employment. More importantly, it’s about you. The Minister will be there.”

Her finger had pointed directly to his chest. Steve couldn’t help but feel a knot in his throat. “I would say don’t worry,” his boss continued quietly, “But I honestly have no idea what to expect. I know there are other Muggles and plenty of Squibs who find employment from our oh-so-great Ministry, but most of them work in some sort of Muggle-related department.”

“They aren’t going to… fire him, are they?”

“I’ll vouch for him, Mrs. Adams,” Claire’s voice was shaky, “But to be honest when Agnes told me she found a replacement, I never would have thought it would be… well… a Muggle. Not that you haven’t done a fine job so far.”

Steve and his wife made eye contact. She gave him a reassuring nod and then they both looked back to his boss. “Whatever the case, between your employment and the whole debacle with Professor Snape, you’ve made quite the reputation for yourself already.”

The trio looked around once more as the pub filled up with the conversations of parents. In every school he worked at back home, there were associations that got the parents involved in their children’s school life. He knew parents must have their issues with Hogwarts as he did, but in the office all of the complaint bins were empty. Steve wasn’t even sure parents knew they could complain to someone at Ministry about Hogwarts.

He wanted to get the parents involved. The Hogwarts Association of Parents was his answer. He knew it may draw some attention but did not expect his boss to be attending a meeting with other department heads and the Minister himself to discuss his status as a Muggle.

“I don’t mean to cause more problems,” Steve told Claire sincerely, “But—”

“Stop right there,” Claire adjusted her glasses and grinned, “I’ve been trying to get funding for this department since I was hired. If this is what it takes for the Minister to notice, so be it. See what the parents have to say. Good luck here, I’ll let you know how the meeting goes tomorrow.”

With that, his wife took a seat amongst the parents and left Steve standing at the front of the pub alone. When his watch hit eight o’clock on the dot, Steve collected himself and stepped forward. He had a plan for the night. He was determined to follow it.

“Welcome, everyone. This is the first official meeting of the Hogwarts Association of Parents. My name is Steve Adams, I am the Educational Liaison Officer at the Department of Wizarding Education.”

The room was silent. As a former principal, Steve often had to address crowds of parents. He knew when they were on his side or not. The crowd of witches and wizards seemed mostly befuddled. This was not the first impression he hoped for.

Steve sucked in a breath. He tried to continue, “As the Educational Liaison Officer, one of my responsibilities is to—”

He paused and read the crowd again. This did not feel right. He had a whole introduction prepared in which he tried to make himself look legitimate as a member of the Ministry. But who would want to hear that? He certainly wouldn’t. Whenever superintendents used to prattle on about their importance Steve would always grow to resent them. Isn’t this what he was doing now?

In that moment he decided he did not care if anyone thought he was an illegitimate member of the Department of Wizarding Education. Muggle or not, he was the Educational Liaison Officer until anyone told him otherwise.

More importantly, he was a father. That’s why he took the role in the first place.

Steve pulled up a chair from a nearby table. There were maybe thirty people at the meeting, so he simply moved the chair until they were all surrounding him. He sat confidently and looked out at the small crowd. He made eye contact with Elizabeth. She gave him a cheeky thumbs-up. Steve smiled and knew what he was going to say.

“Listen, I’m a parent of a student at Hogwarts. Just like the rest of you, I have my concerns as to what goes on at that school. If I am sending my daughter anywhere for nine months out of the year, I want to make sure it’s a safe and productive environment.”

The room was silent. Steve tried to make out the sentiment of the faces but was interrupted before he could get a sense of what they were thinking.

“Is it true you were the one who got Snape fired?”

Steve didn’t have time to make out who asked the question, but he had an answer ready. “Yes,” he replied in total confidence, “that man was abusing students, and something had to be done about it. I brought the issue up, but it was also Madam Bones and other Wizengamot members who took my concerns seriously. I want to make more positive changes like that, but I am going to need your help in doing so. Please, tell me your concerns. I’m here to listen tonight.”

Like a classroom, some hands immediately shot into the air. He chuckled to himself on just how familiar it felt. He pointed to the first man that had arrived.

“My name is Andrew Granger. At the end of last year, I was made aware that a professor attacked a student. That’s what my daughter tells me, anyways. It was her friend. Between what happened with Professor Snape and now this, how can anyone have any confidence in sending our children to Hogwarts?”

The room burst into loud conversation like an exploding spell he loved to watch his wife cast. Parents were arguing back and forth before one voice took over.

“Dumbledore is the headmaster for Merlin’s sake!”

All the attention in the room turned to a stout red-headed woman who looked flustered at the topic at hand. “He is a good man and a great wizard! He has my total trust. He should have all of yours as well!”

The arguing started again. This time, Steve stood. All the eyes were suddenly on him.

“Both Mr. Granger and Mrs. Weasley bring up valid points.” Steve knew Molly Weasley the second she appeared in the pub from the Floo. He had meet Arthur Weasley briefly. The man made it a personal mission to introduce himself to every Muggle in the Ministry. But besides that, he had five red headed Weasleys on his student list for the upcoming schoolyear. There was no doubt in his mind that this was Mrs. Weasley.

“Our headmaster is a great wizard, but these things did happen under his watch. I want to assure all of you that going forward the responsibility of student’s safety at Hogwarts won’t fall on the shoulders of just one great wizard. As great as he might be, he cannot be everywhere at once.”

Steve let out a breath. Everyone was listening intently, so he decided to sit again.

“Now, as to the attack on one of the students. I am told by the Aurors this is an on-going investigation. It does appear to very much be an isolated incident. However, I can assure you that hiring practices will be much stricter going forward and the Ministry is going to be more heavily involved in the process from here on out. Severus Snape, though, was an example of failure from all sides. Mr. Dumbledore and the other staff should have been more proactive in his removal. The Ministry should have stepped in long before I did. And you all,” Steve looked at the faces of the parents, “should have spoken up sooner when your children told you of the horrible things that man did in the classroom.”

The Three Broomsticks was painfully silent. The words were true, but Steve did not intend for them to come off quite that harsh. Even his wife seemed a bit stunned at his direct confrontation.

“I’m hoping that together we can move forward to fix problems like these. That’s the purpose of this association. For you to tell me what problems are affecting your children while at school, and for me to try and fix them. Now then, does anyone have and concerns they would like for me to address?”

No hands went up this time. Just murmurs and sharp looks. Steve was worried he had lost them. But after a moment, one hand went up. Steve nodded at the man as he spoke.

“My son is a Chaser for the Ravenclaw team. He fell off his broom during practice. The healers said it was a bad fall and that he was lucky he was not permanently injured. Is the school doing anything about safety on the Quidditch pitch?”

Even though Steve hadn’t answered the question yet, more parents seemed inspired. Soon the room was filled with raised hands.

Between Quidditch safety, student duels, the Forbidden Forest, dangerous curriculum, dormmate issues, an angry janitor, and dozens of other problems- Steve thought the meeting would never end. Each complaint shocked him more than the last. There were more, real issues at Hogwarts and something had to be done about each of them.

They were already an hour over the intended time when he finally brought the first meeting of the Hogwarts Association of Parents to a close.

As parents came up to shake his hand and were using the Floo to return home, he managed to stop Molly Weasley before she could leave.

“Mrs. Weasley,” he introduced himself, “My daughter, Sarah, she’s friends with your son. Ron Weasley, I believe.”

She smiled at him, but he felt a strange sort of resentment coming off the woman. She had defended Dumbledore while he had somewhat dismissed him. He had read plenty about the recent war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He knew loyalty in Dumbledore was well-earned in many cases. Still, he knew what he needed to ask her.

“I know that your son is close with Harry Potter. I have my concerns—”

“What business do you have with that boy?”

Her words were like fire. In truth, Steve did feel a bit like he was inserting himself into a situation that was bigger than himself. But none of that mattered. When his daughter came home for the Summer, she confessed to him that she thought Harry was being mistreated.

Steve was not ready to jump into action just yet, but he needed to know more.

“Mrs. Weasley. I am the Educational Liaison Office. It’s my job to ensure students safety. Not only that, but I’m also a father. My daughter is worried about a classmate. I can’t just do nothing about it.”

The short woman crossed her arms, but it was evident his words reached her. “I know he lives with Muggles. If that’s the way Professor Dumbledore wants it then I am sure the situation is accounted for.”

Steve sighed. “Molly. Can I call you Molly?”

She nodded to him as he continued, “I am not calling into question Mr. Dumbledore and I’m not here to test your loyalty to him. What I am here for is to ask you if your son has said anything to indicate that Harry might be mistreated in his homelife.”

There was a silence between then and Molly did not make eye contact as she replied, “Ron—he’s a good boy, he’s been riled up this summer because Harry hasn’t written him back. Also, we sent Harry a gift or two for Christmas. Ron told us he was staying at the school. That his Muggle relatives were… I’m sure the situation is under—”

“Molly,” Steve smiled as he assured the woman, “Thank you for telling me.”

She suddenly collected herself and stood tall, which was still a head or two shorter than Steve. “What are you going to do?”

Steve thought about the long, enchanted hallways in the Department of Wizarding Education. He was amazed at first that the room was far bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. In fact, the Hall of Student Records was more like a labyrinth than a collection of hallways.

There, in one of the only filling cabinets not covered in dust, was a copy of an acceptance letter. The address stuck in his mind. He could visualize the words in his head.

Mr. H. Potter
The Cupboard Under the Stairs
4, Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey

He remembered rereading the address several times, trying to make sense of it. It suddenly clicked. Steve knew. He just knew.

“I am going to pay his relatives a long-overdue visit.”

The houses on Privet Drive were nothing like her house in Tutshill. They were all… not different. So not different that it was hard to tell one from the other. Sarah Adams thought about what it would be like to be raised in a neighborhood where nobody could tell one house from the other.

Sarah was gazing up at number four, Privet Drive, when her eyes stopped in place. There, covering the window of an upstairs bedroom, was something that did distinguish this house from the rest.

Iron bars.

“Dad,” Sarah squeaked out as she tugged on the back of her father’s jacket. There must be an explanation of the bars covering the windows. There was no possible way that was Harry’s room, with bars over the windows like some sort of prison. Sarah tried to convince herself. Her heart sank when she accepted the truth.

“That’s Harry’s room,” her tiny voice said aloud, “I know it is. Dad! Dad! You have to do something!”

Her father looked back down to her and then he lowered himself to be at eye level. His voice was soft as he whispered to her, “Sarah. I’m going to have to be nice to these people for now. At least until I can get the full picture of what’s going on. I need you to be on your best behavior- even if it gets difficult. Especially if it gets difficult.”

She found no comfort in her father’s words. Her mind was still racing at that thought of what other cruelties went on inside the house with the iron bars. “You’ll help him, Dad. Won’t you?”

Her father nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. “We have to help him. We just need to be smart about it. You will listen to what I tell you, yes?”

Sarah nodded as hard as she could. Her father was a hero in the halls of Hogwarts. If he had gotten rid of Professor Snape, surely he could help Harry! She trusted him with all her heart.

After her father knocked again, there were stomps from inside that shook the front door. The door flung open. There stood a bloated man with a scowl on his face. He was the vilest looking man Sarah had even seen.

“Mr. Dursley,” her father greeted the abominable looking man, “It’s a pleasure—”

The man stomped in place and interjected, “I am not interested in whatever it is your selling! Good day and good riddance!”

“Please, Mr. Dursley! I am the Educational Liaison Officer at the Ministry of Magic. My daughter here is friends with your nephew, Harry. I thought it would be a good idea—”

“You’re one of them?”

Sarah watched as the man spat out the words. As she became aware how the man carried himself, there was no doubt in her mind that her fears regarding Harry were true. The man had a cruel face, a cruel demeanor, and a cruel way of speaking.

“No, sir. I am a Muggle through and through. Non-magical, just like yourself. My daughter, Sarah, she is a witch,” her father spoke proudly as he grinned at her.

But the large man in the doorway was not grinning. In fact, Sarah had never been looked at with such disgust and malice by anyone ever. Even when she answered a question incorrectly in Potions did she never receive such a look of pure hatred by Professor Snape.

She suddenly wanted to cry out. She was scared. But when her father put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed her ever so gently. She was reminded of the role she had to play.

So, Sarah smiled. The fakest smile that she had ever smiled, but she held it on her face with all her might. She would not cry. She would smile. She would keep smiling.

“PETUNIA!”

The large man disappeared inside the house. A slender woman with a nasty scowl appeared in his place. She was taller than her father by just a bit.

“My husband says you are with them. I was not told anyone would be coming by,” her shrill voice pierced the air.

Sarah saw her father still holding a smile. It wasn’t a real smile. He would grin like a madman when she flew by on her broom in the garden. After cooking up burger on the grill, he would lean back in his chair after a large bite with the most satisfied smile on his face. This smile was neither. It was fake. She would keep smiling as well.

“May we come inside?” her father’s gentle, professional tone caught the woman off-guard, “I’d like to talk about Harry’s time at school and I’m sure Sarah would like to say hello.”

“Who are you with? I won’t have—”

Sarah felt her father take hold of her hand and pulled her forward into the house. As they passed the bitter woman in the doorway Sarah could feel her terrifying gaze glued to her.

“I’m with the Ministry of Magic. The government. Educational Liaison Officer Steve Adams with the Department of Wizarding Education at your service. I would love to have a little chat about Hogwarts. I’m sure your—”

“We have no issues,” the woman interrupted harshly, “You can just—”

“You and your husband seem like the kind of people who value education. I’m just here to make sure Harry gets the best education possible. Just a few questions. Speaking of Harry, is he home?”

The woman and her father were in some kind of extreme staring contest. Sarah was worried the woman might burst into a fit of rage at any moment. It never came. Her father turned to her and motioned up the stairs.

“Is he up in his room then? Go on Sarah,” she got a bit nervous as he spoke and pointed up the stairs, “Go say hello to Harry. I’ll call you down when we are all finished here.”

At first she did not move. Then her father’s words rang in her mind. You will listen to what I tell you, yes? She had to do this. He must have a plan. This was to help Harry. She placed her foot onto the first step.

“Stop!” the woman’s voices cracked like a whip.

Sarah met her judgmental gaze. She felt like the look could melt her. Witches had magic of all kinds. She wondered if this woman could cast spells just by looking at someone. Perhaps she was a witch as well and this was some sort of curse. That was the only explanation Sarah could rationalize for how this cruel woman’s leer made her feel.

“Go on, Sarah,” her father smiled at her, “I’m sure Harry will be excited to see you.”

With all of the Gryffindor courage she had, Sarah bolted up the stairs like she did at home. Suddenly she was acutely aware she had no idea which room Harry was in. She glanced at each door. They all looked normal enough. But when she scanned over the last door, it became apparent that the room belonged to Harry.

All sorts of locks and bolts sealed the door from the outside. If anyone was inside, they were not getting out without magic. There was even a flap in the door. Sarah thought it was strange they would need a slot for mail inside a house. She gasped when it clicked. It was not for mail.

Harry Potter was a prisoner.

Sarah Adams was going to help him escape.