Wednesday, May 12, 1995 – Evening
“To be sure about this; you are all happy about moving to Paris. Is that right?” Lord Greengrass looked around the meeting room.
“Yes, Lord Greengrass, we are all very happy to move to Paris.” Hannah smiled at her housemates.
They smiled and nodded back.
“What about your parents?” He asked in all seriousness.
“As I said when that question was first asked: THEY AREN’T COMING!” Astoria replied.
‘Thankyou Astoria. You have made that very clear to your mother and I on other occasions.”
The snickering eventually died away.
“Where is Harry? Why isn’t he here?” Susan asked.
Professor Dawes spoke, “Harry wants us to talk about some issues which concern all of us and he doesn’t want to influence our opinions.”
“Let’s move along. Merlin house has been running as private property belonging to Harry. This is fine if Harry is always going to be here to make the important decisions. In the future Harry will graduate and move on to other things. He is what is called ‘independently wealthy’ which means that he can do whatever interests him in life without worrying to much about how to pay the rent and buy his groceries.”
Lord Greengrass smiled, “I don’t class myself as ‘independently wealthy’; you can work out for yourself how wealthy Harry is.”
“Professor Dawes and I have been talking to Harry about the future and what to do to make the school a bit more independent from him so that he can pursue other interests when he is free to do so.
The usual way that this is done is to create something that might be called a Board of Governors.”
“Hogwarts has a Board. We don’t know who they are or what they do.” Su Li said.
“The Board of any organization is supposed to represent the interests of the owners. This is mainly done by ensuring that the organization makes money or at least breaks even if it is a ‘non-profit’.
If a Board is set up for the École De Haute Magie, Harry will appoint all the Board members. Then, they will do things like appoint the head of the school and then meet again at the end of the year to check the books to make sure that the school is not going broke. If the school is going broke, then the Board can sack the head and appoint another. That is about it.”
“Is that all?” Susan asked.
“That is all. Harry has created a company which now owns all his property and vaults. He can now appoint a Board which will appoint someone to run the company while he is away doing other stuff.”
“Should he do that?” Tracey asked.
“Yes, he should. Apollo has said that he should.” Luna said.
“Harry has been given a message from Apollo telling him to get others to look after his people. He wants to appoint a board for the school and his holding company. He wants the board members for both boards to be all of you. The current students in Merlin House.”
“Us! Why! Is he going away?” Hannah asked.
Daphne gasped, “OH NO! He thinks that he isn’t going to survive the third task!”
Lord Greengrass held up his hands, “Now, now! Harry is being sensible. He has responsibilities. He is still a fourteen-year-old boy but everything that has been done to him is forcing him to think and act like a much older person.
He has also made a will and signed other legal papers which will ensure that you will continue to control the school and Harry’s fortune if he can no longer do it.”
“That sounds SO AWFUL!”
--ooOOoo—
The Hogwarts headmaster’s office was impressive if you didn’t visit it often. Ronald had hardly ever been invited. There might have been one occasion at the end of the first three years when Headmaster Dumbledore wanted to speak to the three of them. Harry always looked embarrassed, Hermione was curious, Ronald was over-awed. This time he was puzzled.
“Ronald, my boy, have a lemon drop.” Dumbledore twinkled away at him.
“Thanks headmaster!” Ronald helped himself to a handful. Dumbledore smiled. Did anyone ever work out that his lemon drops were laced with a mild loyalty potion. Severus knew because he brewed the stuff each Sunday, just for the headmaster.
Albus Dumbledore wasn’t an evil manipulator. He only ever wanted people to be sensible and agree with him on everything. He only ever used potions, spells and Legilimency when he had to. This year he was compelled to do something nearly every day to get his way.
The teacher’s silent rebellion was galling. They all had something to stop him and Severus getting to them.
The worst example was Minerva McGonagall. She stood up during dinner two weeks ago and started tearing into her Gryffindors. Nobody could escape her. She didn’t tell him about it, she didn’t even pretend that she had his approval. If she had told him what she was going to do, he would have forbidden it.
His plans for Harry were already torn to shreds. Harry was to be loyal and desperate to hear anything the headmaster let slip out. A strong independent Harry was not going to fulfill the Prophecy.
The wizarding world needed Harry to draw out Voldemort and confront him in a hopeless duel. Harry didn’t have a chance, but Voldemort might be weakened. It was the only way that victory could be won by the light.
Heroes must be sacrificed until the enemy was worn down enough to be dealt with. The trouble with sacrificing heroes on the altar of The Truth and The Light was that so many of them tended to slither off the altar and run away before the job could done.
Dumbledore examined the example of the best Gryffindor had to offer. Ronald was on his second lemon drop before he realized that Dumbledore hadn’t said anything for some time.
“Is there something you wanted me for headmaster?”
“Yes Ronald. Have you been trying to patch up your differences with Harry Potter?”
“Well, it isn’t easy. He is always with those Merlin House girls. If I try to get close to Harry, they all move like they are going to draw their wands and hex me. Loony Lovegood is the worst.”
“Have you tried to write to him? Parchments by owl usually get through to him.”
“Write to him? No, I mean, it isn’t like writing to my Mum. I know what to put in parchments to her and it isn’t that hard.”
A short period of mouth breathing from Ron followed.
“I want you to write to Harry.
You don’t have write too much.
Ask him to meet you without his guards being too close.
When you meet him say ‘Harry, can we be friends again?’
Surely that isn’t too hard.”
Ronald looked at Dumbledore. His eyes slowly widened until it looked like they would pop out.
“No, I suppose that would not be hard?
Can you say that again? I have to write it down.”
--ooOOoo—
Severus Snape was not happy. He hadn’t been happy since he was a second-year student. Every dream of glory has been squashed. Every illusion of greatness has been shattered. Now all he wanted was survival.
The great manipulator, Dumbledore, was scheming as though he was a general with a million disciplined troops ready to throw into mighty battles. All he had were some slightly confused followers and a few deluded school children.
Severus had done everything he could to chase the Potter brat off, but no, he stayed around. He showed all the signs of being another sucker for loyalty potions.
The wretched old man was perverting and corrupting the high art of potion brewing in order to snare a few witless teenagers for his imaginary army.
Now, on top of everything else, the mark was getting darker. The Dark Lord was gaining strength. The potions master’s life had been petty and miserable but safe. Now with the Dark Lord coming back his life would be endangered. The Ministry might take the warnings signs seriously. Former Death Eaters would be rounded up and exiled to a distant island. They wouldn’t call it imprisonment, maybe protective custody.
Fudge was in charge though. The most likely response would be huff and puff and then nothing.
Dumbledore knew. He had some spies who still reported to him. He knew just enough to be dangerous.
The question was, when would he make a run for it. South America was promising. A new identity, operations to change his looks; then he wouldn’t have to rely on polyjuice potion.
Time to get his bag packed.
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