"Would you like a lemon drop Harry?" Despite how irritated he was the boy snickered in memory of his former headmaster, before taking one of the offered candies. "I will have the House Elves bring us up some lunch if that is okay. I understand how important this is, but I still stand by my comment about thinking better on a full stomach as opposed to an empty one."
Harry nodded, before taking a seat gestured to by the Witch. "I'm going to assume that it is the Philosopher Stone being kept in the corridor then?"
She sighed heavily, before taking a seat herself. "Unfortunately, yes. My old mentor requested that I take it for safe keeping. I was hesitant to keep it at Hogwarts but after the situation at Gringotts, well it is far too dangerous to be left lying around."
"At least you didn't indirectly tell us about it this time..." he muttered, glancing around the, similarly decorated, office before making his next inquiry. "Is Fawkes not here?"
"Fawkes?"
Something unpleasant rolled down his spine, "Fawkes, your Phoenix familiar."
"I assure you that while I have encountered a few of those splendid creatures in my lifetime, I have never done anything to earn the company of one for more than a few moments."
No Phoenix meant no Phoenix tears, meant no aid against the Basilisk. Harry fought back the shiver of fear before refocusing. One catastrophe at a time. "About the Stone, you said someone is trying to steal it, correct?"
Augustina nodded, "Yes, although we are not sure who is after it, only that they are very talented at what they do."
"It's Riddle." The confidence in his voice gave the headmistress pause before she shook her head in denial. "It's her."
"Harry, I assure you that whatever unpleasantness you may have had with the Riddle in your world it does not condemn this one. I trust Grace Riddle explicitly."
"She's evil."
The woman let out a deep sigh, "No Harry, she is not. If I even thought Grace Riddle had malicious intentions, I would not have allowed her to become a Head of House, much less remain as a professor. Grace Riddle has no reason to try and steal the stone."
She wasn't listening and the bespectacled boy's frustration grew.
"Harry, if Grace Riddle were trying to steal the stone, don't you think she would have done so when I asked her to retrieve it from Gringotts?"
He was about to argue, when her words finally broke through and made connections to his own understanding. Hagrid wasn't a professor in this world, didn't work at Hogwarts because she had never been blamed for the attacks. There had been no attacks and Myrtle was still alive and well. Dumbledore trusted Riddle like his own had trusted the half-giant.
"As I said, Professor Riddle means you no harm, she is not plotting any evil, and is not trying to steal anything."
Harry didn't know what was going on, but he did know that the woman sitting across from him did not see the whole truth.
Or, much like his own headmaster, perhaps she was choosing to ignore it. He stood abruptly, before pulling up his sleeve and presenting the bruises already forming on his arm, "Does this look like someone means me no harm!?"
Dumbledore was up and around the table in an instant, hands gently pulling his own limb in for closer inspection. Her next words were both a whisper, and a gunshot in a silent room. "Who did this to you?"
He had never seen such a reaction from an adult before, certainly not from a staff member at Hogwarts. Long ago he had come to the conclusion that they, generally, didn't care much about the well-being of students.
Why else would they go along with plans that so clearly put children in danger? Why else would they allow bullying from both adult and child to take place in their halls? Why else would they assign detentions in The Forbidden Forest?
"Who do you think?" He snarled, before yanking his arm back. "Your so-called perfect professor. You know what, forget it, I'll just handle it all like I always do. Why don't you just sit back and give your useless explanations after everything is said and done then throw some House Points around as if they make everything better."
With that he stomped from the room, anger still pulsing in his veins.
Seconds later a House Elf popped into the room with several trays of food perfectly balanced in a way only they could achieve. "Flipsy brings lunch for the headmistress and her guest."
Augustina remained staring at the doorway as she answered, "Thank you Flipsy, you can just set it down at my desk."
The Elf nodded happily, before doing a small curtsy, "Does headmistress require anything else?"
Her eyes still stared off into the distance, before refocusing and turning towards the smaller creature, "Actually, yes. Please inform the other Heads of House along with Professor Snape that we will be having a staff meeting in twenty minutes. They are all required to attend."
****
Lily Potter stared down at the letter that had arrived a few days prior. It, along with several others, lay on her desk and consumed her thoughts. She should have been working, should have been concentrating on her job but instead there was this.
She had known it would become a problem, had warned not just Dumbledore but also her husband but they had both opted to 'look on the bright side.' There was none here, nothing to find in that horrible woman, no redemption for someone who treated others in such a manner.
And here was the proof. It wasn't just inappropriate behavior, because if the redhead thought for a second Snape was going after Harry she would have marched into that school and dragged the witch out by her hair. No, now she seemed to be picking on her daughters as well.
Was it petty vengeance? Was it some sort of crazed attempt to push Harry away from them or them from him? Maybe she was just a bitter old bitch who needed a few unpleasant curses put on her.
Regardless, something needed to be done.
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