In Which Flitwick Plays Dumbledore
"Ah, Filius. How are you this fine evening?" Albus boomed as the diminutive man entered the headmaster's office.
"I'm quite well, Albus," the part-goblin squeaked with a smile. "I understand that you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, Filius," Dumbledore said solemnly. "I have a very important task for you. I need you to become Harry Potter's mentor and confidant." The little man's eyebrows hit his hairline in shock.
"Isn't that the job of his Head of House?" Filius queried, concerned.
"Minerva seems to have dug her heels in and won't do as I suggest in regards to Harry. I need someone who will obey me and do what is necessary for the survival of the wizarding world. You've always had a stern hand when dealing with your Ravenclaws. I need that to keep Harry under control."
"What makes you think that I'll do your bidding, Albus?" the part goblin asked, frowning. "I am not a part of your Order of the Phoenix, and I only need to obey you in matters of schooling. Keeping control of specific students does not fall under any Head of House's purview, insofar as extracurricular activities are concerned. I believe that all students' private lives should remain that; private."
"Come now, Filius," Albus said jocularly. "We both know that, had it not been for my benevolence in allowing you to remain here as professor, you would have absolutely no way of surviving in the wizarding world. You would be spat upon for being a half-breed by wizards and witches, despite your reputation, and your goblin brethren wouldn't look twice at you for your human blood. You would do well to obey me in this." Smirking at the fuming little man, Dumbledore waved a negligent hand, dismissing the professor.
We'll see about this, headmaster, the part-goblin fumed angrily as he stormed from the office and down the spiral staircase. I believe I'll have a talk with Minerva and see how I may help the young man out.
"Tom remembered a vanishing cabinet in Borgin and Burke's," Harry whispered to his friends as they sat at a table in the library. "He's gone to purchase it, and says the mate to it is here."
"How does he know?" Draco asked, pretending to do his essay for potions.
"He remembers seeing it when he hid Ravenclaw's diadem here," Harry replied softly. He wrote a few lines for his charms homework before continuing. "He remembers that it looked pretty beat up, so, if we can find it, we'll have to fix it."
"Did he happen to say where it was?" Neville asked with a fair bit of sarcasm.
"He said something about a secret room where you could hide anything," the raven replied softly, emerald eyes staring off into the distance as he thought. "I wonder if it's somehow connected to the Room of Requirement."
"Most likely," Draco responded with a grin. "I wouldn't be surprised if the room that you can hide things in appears out of necessity, just like the Room of Requirement."
"I need to find the room where you can hide things," Harry murmured as he paced back and forth in front of a wall down the darkened corridor on the seventh floor. Neville was staring with fascinated horror at the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach a group of trolls how to dance a ballet, that was right across from the wall in front of which Harry was pacing.
After the raven's third pass, a small wooden door appeared in the wall, and with a quiet crow of delight, he entered eagerly, followed quickly by Draco and Neville. It sucked that Ron couldn't be part of some of this; however he was doing his best to derail Hermione's attempts to spy on Harry, for which the emerald eyed boy was exceedingly grateful.
"Dear gods, what a frightful mess," Draco gasped loudly, once the door was closed behind them. "How in Merlin's name are we going to even find it?"
"I remember hiding in that cabinet when you and your father went into Borgin and Burke's just before second year," Harry murmured distractedly. "I stupidly got lost using the floo at the Burrow, and ended up in Knockturn Alley instead of Diagon Alley. I ducked into their shop to hide from all of the nasty looking people, and hid in the cabinet when you and your father came in."
"Do you think that they're the linking ones?" Draco asked softly, a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Won't know until we fix it, will we," Neville chirped happily, climbing around on all the detritus to see if he could find the cabinet. "There it is!" he finally shouted as he pointed off into the distance.
"Well, might as well get started," Harry mumbled as they made their way to the place Neville had pointed out.
"Minerva. May I speak with you for a moment?" Filius asked as he stood in her classroom doorway. The old tabby looked up, brow furrowing in concern at the look on the little professor's face.
"Follow me," she said as she stood from her desk and led the man to her personal quarters at the back of her classroom. Once they were inside, she activated the privacy charms so that they could speak freely. "What happened?" she asked Flitwick as he sat down.
"I had a meeting with the headmaster," the man began.
"What did he do now?" Minerva asked with a long-suffering sigh.
"He asked me to 'control' Mr. Potter," Flitwick replied, smiling as he accepted a cup of tea laced with brandy. He took a sip and sighed before continuing. "When I told him that it wasn't my place to curtail a student's personal time, he threatened me with dismissal, saying that normal wizards and witches would reject me despite my reputation, and that the goblins would reject me because of my human blood. He was quite nasty."
"He's angry that I won't manipulate Harry for him anymore," she told the diminutive man sadly. "After I found out about the abuse he'd suffered with his muggle relatives, I turned to Severus, and we made plans to try and take him away from that situation."
"How did you find out about his treatment?" Filius asked curiously. "I was always under the impression that Mr. Potter was treated well there."
"As you know, my animagus form is a tabby cat," the woman answered. "I would prowl around his home whenever I could, and I saw the beatings and starvation, as well as the vicious words and lack of ordinary care he received. I'd begged Albus to put him somewhere else, but the headmaster staunchly defended his decision by spouting that nonsense about 'blood wards' and 'Lily's loving sacrifice'. You and I both know that wards like that only work if there's actual love in the home being protected."
"And Severus? He's always hated Mr. Potter, hasn't he?"
"No," Minerva replied with a smirk. "That was the impression that he put forth. Harry and he are great friends, and Severus has worked very hard over the years to try and protect him as much as he could. We informed Molly of Harry's starvation after first year, and she made sure to send him food once a week by owl. When the Malfoys heard of the mistreatment, they had Dobby go to his house and be with him, making sure that he was fed, as well."
"The Malfoys?" Flitwick squeaked incredulously. "They're Death Eaters, Minerva. How can you trust them to protect the boy who is fated to vanquish He Who Must Not Be Named?"
"Believe me, Filius," she told the little man with a fond smile, "all is not as it seems to be, or as Albus wants it to be. The Dark Lord is just as anxious to protect Harry as the rest of us." She paused for a moment, considering the short professor thoughtfully. With a nod, she made her decision. "May I tell you some things, with the assurance that you'll not reveal any of it?"
"I, Filius Flitwick, swear on my magic that anything Minerva McGonagall reveals to me, whether spoken or written, shall not be repeated by me to anyone, and that I'll keep all of her secrets, no matter what. So mote it be." A bright white flash surrounded the professor for a moment as the vow sealed.
"I didn't expect that, but I do appreciate it. Lord Voldemort isn't what you've been led to believe he is. I'm not saying that he's innocent; far from it. However, he's made a great many changes to himself and his goals over the years, and is intent on protecting the magical world while still including the muggleborns and halfbloods that are raised outside our borders.
"He wants to make sure that we can never be discovered by the muggles, and in order to do that, he's made it so that it's a life sentence in Azkaban if any family banishes their squib relatives to the muggle world. Additionally, he's put magical primary schools in place for the muggleborns, so that they're able to learn of our traditions and culture, as well as being taught all of the things that pureblood children are taught from an early age, so that they have a more equal chance to succeed in Hogwarts.
"He's changed the laws restricting the free use of magic, and has taught the DMLE how to monitor everyone, so that they can be prepared when someone comes along that wishes to do harm to us. It's not only Dark practitioners that commit crimes; up until recently, however, they've been the only ones to be punished and incarcerated for it. Now that the laws more equally punish all magicals, no matter their affinity, the tensions between Dark and Light have eased tremendously. He wants what everyone wants; peace and harmony within our borders, while at the same time being protected from those outside our borders."
"Is Albus aware of any of this?" Flitwick asked softly. He felt greatly cheered at the woman's news, happy for once to see the wizarding world going in the right direction.
"He is," Minerva murmured with a scowl. "Who do you think is fighting against all of the changes? Who do you think encouraged the Daily Prophet to slander as many people as it did; especially Harry? Who do you think actually encouraged the Ministry to take after Potter so hard?"
"What do I need to do to change my allegiances?" Filius asked, smirking at the old tabby.
"What are you doing?" came a squeaking voice from the doorway. The boys had managed to move the cabinet to an unused classroom in the dungeons, and were in the process of trying to repair it. Three voices squeaked in terror as the trio jumped a foot in the air.
"N-nothing," Harry stammered as he tried to hide the cabinet from view.
"Really, Mr. Potter," Filius said as he entered the room. He put up master-level privacy charms and wards around the doorway and classroom, ensuring that not even Albus Dumbledore could get in, then closed the door softly. "I can see the broken vanishing cabinet with my own two eyes. What I want to know is why do you have it?"
"E-extra credit?" Neville squeaked, flushing when all eyes zeroed in on him.
"Extra credit for what purpose?" Filius queried, amused.
"T-to show you and the examiners that we're capable of advanced charms?" Draco chimed in.
"Really, boys," Flitwick chided gently, eyes gleaming with amusement. "You couldn't come up with a better story than that? What if I'd been the headmaster?"
Harry leaned close to the blond to whisper, "You do the memory charm while I distract him."
"My hearing is quite good, young man," the part-goblin growled, no longer amused. "You do not have to worry that I will go running off to the headmaster to tattle on you," he continued after he'd gotten his irritation under control. "Minerva has filled me in on everything, and I have allied myself with you and yours, Mr. Potter."
"Really?" Harry gasped with wide eyes. At the professor's nod, the raven darted forward and hugged the little man enthusiastically, making him squeak with laughter. Harry let him go and stood in front of him, grinning widely. "We're trying to repair it so that Tom can let his minions into the school," Harry confessed. "He's already bought the other one, and is just waiting for us to figure this one out."
"Let me have a look at it," Flitwick said as he approached the cabinet. "I'm sure that, between the four of us, we'll get this thing up and running in no time."
"I've been keeping an eye on Potter, as you've asked," Flitwick told the headmaster. "I've assigned him detentions with Filch every time I see him fraternizing with anyone from Slytherin, and I've assigned him detentions with professor Snape when I've seen him being disrespectful to Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. Is there anything else?"
"No, Filius," Albus chortled happily. "You're doing just what I expect of you. Thank you for being so accommodating."