kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Albus stroked his beard and wisely forbore from pointing out that Snape had just administered corporal punishment, choosing instead to focus on a more distant event. "Hmmmm. I seem to recall a certain Head of House voicing similar opinions after a prank last year involving showers and paintтАж"

"She torments Potter in class," Snape argued, growing desperate. "She plays favorites and тАУ"

Dumbledore merely looked at him, and Snape blushed. "Well, yes, I suppose that some other faculty have been less than fully impartial at times, but her excesses are тАУ"

"Severus, I can hardly dismiss Dolores for doing nothing more than certain other faculty have done and, frankly, are well known outside Hogwarts for doing," Dumbledore said firmly, giving him a pointed look. "How could I possibly explain that to the Minister?"

"Fudge is an idiot!"

"He is also the duly elected Minster of Magic and a person I see no value in antagonizing needlessly. He recommended Dolores for the post, and dismissing her without cause would be an insult to him. She may not тАУ yet тАУ have impressed us with her teaching style, but neither has she done any real harm."

"And if her vicious remarks had actually driven Harry into the Forest, would you still be so convinced as to her harmless nature?"

"Now, Severus, as I said before, Dolores is just as much of a victim in this as is Harry. She was tricked as well."

"Oh? We should be worried about that moronic cow? Was she about to run off to the Forbidden Forest?" Snape demanded. "What injury did she suffer from this 'trick'?"

"Severus," Dumbledore was adamant, "I am aware that Dolores is having a difficult adjustment period, but you are letting your personal opinion of her cloud your judgment. While she was perhaps more harsh with Harry than she needed to be, all she did was order him from class and tell him to meet her in my office. That is hardly grounds for dismissal. It was Harry's own fears тАУ fully understandable though they were тАУ that nearly turned today's misunderstanding into a tragedy. I cannot blame an inexperienced teacher for not anticipating that a student would react in a wholly unexpected way. Surely even you were taken unawares by Harry's decision to bolt?"

Unwillingly, Severus nodded.

"Then I do not see how we can blame Dolores for being unaware of the potential effect of her words." Albus' tone, though kind, was final.

Snape glowered. "So she gets off without so much as a warning, while Harry was smacked and traumatized?"

Albus sighed. "It does seem unfair, but as you yourself pointed out, Harry was smacked for his foolish plan, not for having Dolores' notes in his bag. It is hardly appropriate to blame her for Harry's own recklessness."

Snape ground his teeth, but he could see that the headmaster was going to prove intransigent on this point. He spun on his heel and stalked for the door, pausing only long enough to fling his parting shot over his shoulder: "I'm telling Minerva!"

The sound of Albus' pained "Oh, dear" made him feel quite a bit better as he stomped down to the dungeons.

##

"Harry!" Ron and the others greeted him with open relief as he rejoined them in time for their next class.

"Are you okay? What did the Headmaster say? Did your da find you? You're not really expelled, are you?" Questions flew thick and fast, and Harry had to grin at how worried his friends had obviously been on his behalf.

"No, I'm not expelled тАУ they believed me when I said I didn't do it, even as a prank," he explained. "And my da caught me before I left," he said to Ron, who heaved a sigh of relief. "An' yeah, I got whacked for bein' dumb enough to think about running away," he added, forestalling his best mate's next question.

"Merlin, Potter, do you think you can make it through a single term without getting walloped?" Draco said, shaking his head. "At least the rest of us don't have to worry about getting clouted when we're at school. It must be awful having your guardian right here at Hogwarts, watching everything you do."

"Well, it's not all bad," Harry said consideringly. "There are plenty of times when it's nice to have him around. An' I only get smacked when I deserve it. My da's really good about that."

"Yeah? Then you're lucky," Draco said shortly. The others exchanged glances, but no one pressed the Slytherin.

"But, Harry," Hermione тАУ as usual тАУ brought them back on topic. "If you didn't take the notes, then how did they get in your bag?"

Harry looked grim. "I don't know, but if I find out who did it, they're gonna be sorry!"

Hermione nodded, but Ron still looked a bit dubious, as did several of the other children. Nobody openly disputed Harry's story, but it was clear that more than a few doubted his word, and given the circumstantial evidence against him, it was hard to blame them.

##

Snape made good on his threat to Dumbledore and told McGonagall what had happened. Like him, she was furious with That Woman, but grudgingly agreed that Albus had a point. To Snape's great relief, McGonagall was polite enough to refrain from saying "I told you so" and pointing out how his own past excesses were now making it harder for them to remove the Pink Toad.

In truth, Minerva had found it difficult to keep a straight face as Severus indignantly described Umbridge's behavior towards Harry as well as his outrage at Albus' refusal to sack her. It was not unlike many of the conversations she herself had had with Albus, only in those Severus had been the teacher under discussion. Still, the entire event served to further heighten her determination to ensure that Umbridge was no longer in a position to harm her little lions.

What Snape didn't tell McGonagall was his growing conviction that someone was out to get Harry. He hadn't given much thought to the missing homework тАУ it was all too easy to blame such things on an 11 year old boy's natural state of disorganization тАУ but when that occurrence was coupled with the test notes, it began to look as though someone were trying, and succeeding, to make Harry's time at Hogwarts very uncomfortable indeed. A campaign to discredit a child sounded ridiculous, but this was no ordinary child. Harry was The Boy Who Lived and, intentionally or not, he held a very special place in Wizarding society. Snape could understand why there would be people тАУ including very powerful people тАУ who might want to blacken Harry's reputation for reasons of their own.

He vowed to keep an even closer eye on the brat, and he asked Hagrid to tighten security on the grounds as well. It was clear that this person, whomever he or she was, had access to the school, but Snape was not yet convinced it was a student or staff member. It was possible someone was sneaking in for brief periods, just long enough to set some plan in motion. As he had expected, upon hearing that Harry might be in jeopardy, Hagrid immediately leapt into action and swore to step up his patrols. That was reassuring тАУ the giant was no genius, but he was well aware of what happened at and around the school, and if anyone could prevent trespassers, he could.

Snape debated having the mutt and wolf come over to help keep an eye on Harry, but decided in the end that it was an unwarranted risk. Sirius was still a loose cannon, and Remus would likely have to spend more time keeping him out of trouble than guarding Harry. If things grew any worse though, that remained a possibility.

##

It took a few days for all the gossip about the test questions to die down. Dumbledore had clearly spoken to Umbridge, because she reluctantly allowed Harry to return to her class, but she lost no opportunity to make snide, cutting remarks which led the rest of the class to believe that the headmaster, though convinced of Harry's guilt, nevertheless let him off because of his standing as The Boy Who Lived.