Chapter 6: Changes

The office was quiet as the two adults watched the array of emotions cross Harry’s face. They had just explained to him that he wouldn’t be returning to the Dursley’s house.

“You’ll have a new home and family here at Hogwarts, Harry.” Albus tried to console the overcome child. Tears glistened in the emerald green eyes.

“Harry, the way your aunt and uncle treated you was wrong,” Minerva explained. “You deserve to be loved because you’re a good boy.”

Harry was confused at what these adults were saying. He was a good boy? If he was a good boy then why did his aunt and uncle send him away?

“What did I do wrong then?” Harry asked weakly.

“Nothing, Harry. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

Harry remained quiet after that, not sure if he could trust what he was being told. It was obvious that this strange place was where he was supposed to live now, but it was all too much for him to take in.

“Harry,” Minerva began, getting the boy’s attention again. “You’re going to stay with me for a time before your permenant home is settled.” Harry didn’t respond with anything more then a nod. He was still uneasy around the older woman who looked like she might be even stricter then Aunt Petunia.

It was nearly suppertime but Minerva had wanted to get Harry settled in her quarters before heading to the Great Hall. Dumbledore’s request for the professors was that, even during the summer, the staff would at least take the evening meal together. There weren’t many of them usually at the castle during the holidays but having supper together was pleasant enough.

Minerva paused in the hallway and waited for Harry to catch up. He was trailing behind her slowly, still being very quiet. His face, however, expressed his curiosity as he took in the suits of armor and moving portraits, many which shouted greetings to the young child. Minerva sighed audibly. He resembled his parents so much. Lily had been the same way as a student at Hogwarts, curious about everything having to do with the magical world. They would have been so proud of their son.

“Come, Mr. Potter,” Minerva beckoned him. Harry hurried to catch up to the professor. They continued down the hall before they stopped in front of a portrait of a man in a kilt, playing bagpipes.

“All you need to do is say the password, Harry, and the door will open,” Minerva explained. “Loch Lomond.”

The portrait swung open, revealing Minerva’s personal chambers. They were warmly decorated with the sofa and chair cushions covered in her family’s green tartan pattern. The floor was stone and the large windows overlooked the lake. Beyond the sitting area were three doors. Minerva ushered Harry, who was lingering in the doorway, through the sitting area.

“This first door is my bedroom,” she said, opening up the door to the tidy room. The bed had a scarlet red duvet and a wardrobe of cherry wood was set in the corner. Across from the wardrobe was a large bookcase that was full of old leather bound books. “You may wake me if you need me during the night. Otherwise, I ask that you don’t play in here.”

Harry nodded that he understood, but he kept his mouth closed. Minerva’s lips pursed together at his refusal to talk. Worst sort of muggles indeed!

Opening up the next door, she showed Harry the bathroom, equipped with a large tub, toilet, sink, and mirror. Quickly moving on the last room, Harry found himself in the guest bedroom.

“My sister stays here when she comes to visit. I daresay you’ll meet her soon enough. However, you may stay here for the time being,” Minerva explained, leading the boy into the room. It was pleasantly decorated, although one could tell it was furnished to suit a woman’s taste. The duvet was a soft lilac with matching window treatments. Harry’s eyes were huge as he took in his surroundings. Minerva couldn’t imagine what would cause the boy to be so openly astonished about a simple bedroom.

“It’s time for supper, Mr. Potter. Let’s hurry now, otherwise we’ll be late!”

Minerva’s quarters were just one floor above the Great Hall. She picked Harry up, in order to walk quickly through the halls, and found that they were just a few minutes late for the meal. Minerva was a strict woman and always kept to a timely schedule. Shrugging off the bit of annoyance she felt at being late, Minerva set Harry on the floor and they walked to the table.

“I trust you’ve gotten young Harry sorted, Minerva?” Dumbledore greeted from his seat, his blue eyes twinkling at the child.

“Yes. I set him up in my guest chamber for now. If this placement becomes permanent then I will see to adding another room.”

“Good, good,” Dumbledore responded as Minerva took a seat next to him. Harry stood uncertainly, staring at the remaining open seat. Catching his hesitation, Minerva gestured for him to sit. “Come, child. Eat your supper.”

Harry hurried over to the chair and scrambled on it. Kneeling in order to see everything properly, he was overcome by all of the food laid out before them. It was the most he’d ever seen. First a bedroom and now a feast!

A slight cough turned his attention to the man sitting next to him. It was the scary man from the office! The dark eyes narrowed at him, studying him as before. Remembering his vow to prove to this man that he wasn’t a bully, Harry turned his gaze down to his plate and kept his hands folded. Just like Aunt Petunia had taught him.

A soft huff brought his attention to Professor Minerva r12; as she had told him to call her. She was serving food onto his plate. There was a piece of chicken, peas, potatoes, and a bread roll. Harry’s eyes widened in confusion. Surely all this food couldn’t be for him? He was used to the glass of water, stale bread, and cheese r12; that was his normal meal at home.

“Eat, Mr. Potter,” Minerva barked and caused Harry to jump. Snatching the bread roll, he took a small bite. It was the best roll he’d ever tasted! It didn’t crumble or dry out his mouth at all. The softness of the bread almost seemed to melt in his mouth.

“It seems our young celebrity is choosing to ignore his plate. Perhaps the fare isn’t up to his liking?” The dark man growled.

Harry’s brow furrowed in confusion. The food really was his? The dark man really wanted him to eat all of it? Joy burst forth from the child and he dug into the food with great exuberance. He didn’t even notice the chuckle coming from the headmaster.

“Why, Severus, you convinced the boy to eat. I don’t think we’ll need to be worried for meals, will we Minerva?”

“Indeed,” Minerva responded flatly. She didn’t trust the potions master and definitely didn’t approve of his snarky tone directed at the child.

Snape ignored both of them, returning to his meal and remaining silent for the duration.

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Harry placed the toothbrush into the holder on the sink. Leaning forward, balancing on the stepping stool, he looked into the mirror. According to the scary man, he looked like his father. His father, the bully. Harry frowned at that thought. He didn’t like bullies. They were mean, usually to him.

Going out to the sitting room, Harry found the professor sitting on the couch with a wooden box next to her. She looked up at him and gave a small smile. It was much nicer then her usual stern look.

“Come here, Mr. Potter.” She beckoned. Harry hesitantly walked over to the couch and peered down into the box. It was filled with moving photos.

“These are photos I’ve collected over the years of the students here at Hogwarts. I believe I have several of your parents. Would you care to have a look?”

Harry suddenly felt even more nervous then he’d been since arriving at the school. He was finally going to see what his parents looked like! Harry noticed that the professor seemed to be waiting for him to answer.

“Yes, madam.” He said quietly and watched as she began sorting through the piles of photos. He was astonished at seeing them move, it seemed every type of photo in the school moved!

“Ahh, here we go. I do believe this was your father’s first quidditch match in his 3rd year. Against Ravenclaw, if I remember correctly. James was a very good chaser and was even captain in his 7th year.” Minerva reminisced, a proud look on her face.

Harry looked at the photo in her hand, not wanting to touch it. He wasn’t allowed to touch valuable things and these seemed very valuable. There in the photo was a boy with dark, messy hair riding on a broomstick. Some sort of ball was in his arms and a look of determination on his face. So this was his father! He didn’t look like a bully but it would be hard to tell from just a photo.

“What’s a drunk?” Harry blurted out, his face instantly becoming red. The shocked look on the professor’s face made him look away, thinking he had asked a silly question.

“And where did you hear of that, Mr. Potter?” Minerva asked, her lips pursed thin.

“Auntie Petunia said my dad was a drunk. That’s why they got killed in the car crash.” Harry admitted quietly.

Minerva gasped sharply, wanting to curse those muggles into oblivion. “You’re parents were not drunk nor did they die in a car crash, Harry.” His confused look pressed her to explain further.

“There was a very bad man who was hurting a lot of people. Your mum and dad fought against him, Harry. They were very brave. However, he found you all where you were hiding. Your parents died protecting you, my boy. Somehow when he went to hurt you, he died. We don’t know what really happened but you lived, harry.”

“Oh.” Harry responded, overwhelmed at the information. It was a bit much for a small child to take in.

Seeing that the time was growing late, Minerva put away the photos and settled Harry into bed.

----

Several hours later, Minerva’s quarters were silent. It was long passed when Harry was put to bed, and the deputy headmistress had retired just a few hours after him. It had been a long, exhausting day for both of them.

Harry stirred from his sleep, his belly aching a bit from all of the food he forced into it. He rolled onto his side, trying to change positions to ease the cramps. His body wasn’t used to that much food at once. Eventually, the pain subsided but Harry couldn’t get comfortable on the bed. The entire room seemed too strange. The bed was too soft and the space was too open. Harry was missing home and missing his cupboard. His cupboard was his place of safety. Dudley’s taunts and kicks couldn’t get him there. Here, he felt exposed.

Crawling off the bed, Harry looked around the darkened room. There was a bit of space between the wardrobe and the wall, just enough space for a small 3, almost 4, year old. Grabbing a pillow, Harry padded over to the corner and stuffed the pillow in before lying down on top. That felt better! With a big yawn, Harry stretched and fell fast asleep.

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The sun was just rising when Harry awoke. It was strange to not hear the sharp rap against the cupboard door first thing in the morning. His aunt would always wake him up each morning to help her set the table for breakfast. Harry thought that he must have been rather smart to have such a big boy job. It didn’t even bother him much that Dudley never had to do anything to help Aunt Petunia.

While thinking about his family back at Privet Drive, and wondering if they were missing him at all, Harry climbed out of the corner and returned the pillow back to the bed, straightening the covers as best as a small child could.

Harry didn’t have to wait long before Minerva tapped lightly on the door and peeked in.

“Oh, good. You’re already up, Harry. I’ve ordered us some breakfast out here in the sitting room. Let’s get you washed up.”

Once clean, Harry found another plate piled high with food in front of him for breakfast. His stomach still felt sore from last night’s cramps! However, after only taking a few small bites, Minerva’s pointed look had Harry eating a full portion of eggs and toast. It seemed that one of her rules, even though she didn’t specifically say them, was that he had to clear his plate. Harry didn’t want to disappoint the professor, even if he was still unsure about her.

As he ate, Harry watched the stern woman sitting across from him. She was quietly sipping her tea and reading the paper. Harry could see from there that the pictures moved on the paper, just like they did on the portraits in the hallway. The 3 year old started thinking about all that had happened since yesterday. He wasn’t sure how long he was going to stay at this strange place. Surely Uncle Vernon didn’t mean to send him away forever, did he? Families didn’t really do that. Maybe he was just supposed to learn about how to act here. His uncle said that these people were freaks like him. So if he made sure not to act like them then maybe he’d be good enough to go home.

“Harry?”

The soft voice called him from his thoughts. The professor had been speaking to him and he hadn’t paid attention.

“Sorry, madam,” Harry murmured.

“It’s alright, child. I was just saying that I needed to do some work this morning. I have some books you might like to look through to keep you busy.”

Harry nodded and was soon set on the couch with books about strange animals. He was much too young to read but the pictures were interesting. He’d never seen anything like these animals, not even at the circus.

Hours passed and it wasn’t until hunger pains started in Minerva’s stomach that she realized how fast the time had gone.

“Harry!” she gasped, berating herself for not checking on the boy. Coming in from her office, she saw he was right where she left him, although looking like he had just woken from a nap.

“I’m so sorry, Harry. I lost track of the time with all of my work. I daresay it’s long past time for lunch. Let’s summon a quick bite, shall we?”

The two ate in the usual silence. Minerva studied the small child. He wasn’t opening up to her at all, not that her workload really helped. It was just as she feared. If she was too busy for the boy now, how much worse would it be during the school year? Perhaps she should talk to Albus about having someone else take in the boy.