kbinnz - Harry's New Home

"Headmaster!" A second man, this one in a funny little bowler hat, angrily waddled in Lucius' wake. "I demand to know what is going on here!"

"The public demand to know," a skinny, bespectacled woman interjected smoothly, keeping pace at the small man's shoulder. "Do you have a comment, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore twinkled at them all. "Perhaps if you were to explain what brings you here at such an early hour, Cornelius, I would be able to answer your questions and provide Ms Skeeter's comments."

Lucius wrestled back control of the group. "We are here, Headmaster," he announced, "because of yesterday's alarming events at the school!"

"Could you be more specific, please?" Albus twinkled some more. "Are you referring to the house elves' running out of pudding, the alarming rise in missing socks, or тАУ"

"Imagine my shock and alarm," Malfoy continued, ignoring the Headmaster, "when I returned from a business trip abroad this morning and stopped by Minister Fudge's office to brief him on it, only to learn that Aurors had been summoned to the school last night. Several senior boys were expelled and arrested! Why was I not informed of these events, both as a member of the Board of Governors and a concerned parent?"

"Perhaps because you were on a business trip abroad?" Dumbledore suggested gently.

"There I was," Lucius proclaimed, speaking directly to the woman who was, Harry could now see, watching a busily scribbling quill, "peacefully seated in the Minister's office, when an Auror came by and dropped off a report that made my blood run cold! Unforgivables had been used at Hogwarts! My own son was a target! How could such violence have been permitted within these hallowed halls?"

"You poor man," the reporter cooed. "What did you do next, as a concerned parent and a member of the Board of Governors?"

"Naturally I suggested that we travel to Hogwarts immediately to obtain a full report from the Headmaster. I demanded that the Minister initiate a full inquiry into тАУ"

"And I naturally agreed that we needed to learn exactly what had happened." The little man in the ridiculous hat had finally had enough of being ignored. He took the reporter by the elbow and turned her to face him. "As Minister of Magic, naturally my first priority is the youth of our great nation. Learning that they had faced such a threat at what should be one of the safest sites in Britain was of course alarming, and so I set off at once, stopping only long enough to collect a Ministry employee whose children were also reported to have been involved." He waved one hand back to the doorway.

"Dad?" Ron, on Harry's other side, squeaked in surprise as the last member of the Minister's party moved forward.

Harry looked on interestedly as Ron and his brothers jumped up and ran to the red headed man who appeared ill at ease.

"How did you feel upon hearing the news of Unforgivables being used at the school, Mr Weasley?" the woman pounced.

"I'm still waiting to have that rumor confirmed, Miss Skeeter," Ron's dad said firmly, looking up at the head table. "Good morning, Professor Dumbledore. I hope you will forgive our intrusion."

"We have nothing to apologize for," Malfoy snapped dismissively. "We are here as concerned parents тАУ though perhaps given your children's reputationsтАж"

"Oi!" One of the twins yelped indignantly, coming up behind their father. "We didn't тАУ"

"- do anything! And it's not тАУ"

" тАУ true that there were Unforgivables тАУ"

"- flying around either! It was just Harry тАУ"

The reporter, Miss Skeeter, swooped upon the last twin. "Harry? Harry Potter? The Boy Who Lived? Was he involved in this? Did he use an Unforgivable?"

Snape stiffened and shot a sharp look at Dumbledore. This needed to be controlled. Now.

"Don't you say that about Harry!" Ron yelled furiously, hurrying up. "He was just тАУ"

"ENOUGH!" Once again the Headmaster's magic surged through the air, and all conversation halted as a silencing spell rippled through the Hall. McGonagall settled back, looking smug, and Snape gave her a grudging nod of respect.

"Thank you, Minerva," Dumbledore smiled at the elderly witch. "Now, as it appears that most of the students are through with breakfast, I suggest that you all head to classes." He ignored the inaudible groans and disappointed glances as the children stood up to leave. "I would, however, like those directly involved in last night's occurrence to remain behind."

In short order, shepherded by the rest of the staff, the student body had reluctantly departed the Great Hall, leaving behind Professors Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall, along with Harry, Draco, Hermione, Jones, Flint, Wood, Bell, and all of the Weasleys.

"Thank you," Dumbledore smiled, ignoring both the rapidly purpling Minister of Magic and Lucius Malfoy's pale-lipped fury. "Now, Minerva, before you cancel your silencing spell, perhaps you would be so kind as to remind Ms Skeeter and our guests of the school's policy of media relations."

While McGonagall sternly lectured the others, Dumbledore walked over to Arthur Weasley. "Hello, Arthur," he greeted the younger man cheerfully. "How are you?" An encouraging nod indicated that the silencing spell had been lifted тАУ at least in this corner of the room.

"I'm fine, thank you, Albus," Arthur replied, looked over his sons worriedly. "Are any of you hurt? Harry? Are you all right?"

Harry felt a warm glow at having Mr Weasley include him like that. "I'm okay," he promised, joining in the chorus of the other boys.

"You have reason to be proud of your sons," Dumbledore smiled. "They were quick to assist Harry, as were several other students."

Arthur blinked in surprise, his gaze falling on the twins. "That'sтАж good to hear, Headmaster."

The twins squirmed, knowing that their father was much more accustomed to having to come to the school to hear about their misdeeds. It was a lot nicer to have the Headmaster praising their actions rather than presenting a bill for damages and explaining their latest detention.

"I'm afraid I did have to admonish one of the boys, who got a little, ah, carried away by the excitement and used both inappropriate language and a particularly nasty hex in plain view of several faculty members," Dumbledore said apologetically, though his eyes were twinkling like mad.

Arthur sighed. "Ronald," he began, knowing his youngest son's temper.

"Er, no." Dumbledore shook his head.

"Fred? George?" Arthur turned to them. It was extremely unusual for only one of the twins to get into trouble, but it was, he supposed, possible.

"No."

Arthur stared at the Headmaster. "Not тАУ"

"Erm, yes, it was me," Percy admitted awkwardly.

Arthur's jaw dropped. "Percy? Percy was the one who swore and hexed someone? In front of teachers?"

"I'm afraid so," Dumbledore said. "I was forced to speak very sternly to him and explain that such behavior cannot be tolerated in a prefect. If it happens again, I shall have no choice but to ask that he relinquish his badge."

Now his brothers were staring at Percy as well. They hadn't realized that he'd been threatened with the loss of his treasured prefect standing.

"You'd do that for me?" Ron gulped. "But being a prefect тАУ that's like something you've wanted for your whole life."

Percy colored and shrugged, mumbling something incoherent.

Dumbledore twinkled at Arthur. "As I say, Percy was quite strongly provoked тАУ the boy he attacked had just tried to Crucio young Ronald." Now Arthur paled. Reaching out an arm, he pulled Ron close, while Dumbledore smiled and withdrew.

"Are you all right?" he asked again, running his eyes over his youngest son.

It was Ron's turn to blush. "I'm fine, Dad." He pulled on his ear, looking awkward. "Erm, it was Draco Malfoy who saved me. I mean, he was there before Perce and the twins arrived. He was the one who stopped the curse."