Harry Potter and the Rogue Mage

Chapter 5 - An Inevitable Incident

Rowan blinked in surprise as the impact of Dumbledore's words sank in. Testing students? Training them? Many of them were likely to be older than he was, and taking instructions from a man several years one's junior tended to be cause for insubordination or misbehavior. And orders from a mage? Rowan shivered slightly. It would be much like a salmon attempting to teach bears to dance. Young bears, perhaps, but still...

'No.' 

'Rowan, I-'

'No.'

Rowan crossed his arms and glanced around the crowded staff room again. The conversation was beginning to grow quieter, but there was still enough of a hubbub that he could speak without fear of being overheard. 

'I'm a Mage, Dumbledore.' Rowan hissed, drawing into himself defensively as he turned back to the headmaster. 'Not just another run-of-the-mill teacher. Magecraft is a forbidden magic by wizarding standards, and the ministerial code stipulates that all practitioners of magecraft are to be treated as entities hostile to the state until the point that they are either arrested or killed!' Rowan looked exasperatedly at Dumbledore, but to his frustration the old man was still smiling serenely at him. It infuriated Rowan that someone as worldly and wise as Dumbledore was could not see the blindingly obvious.

'Look,' he began again, desperate to make Dumbledore understand his situation, 'I've read up on the people you've hired in the past who the ministry disapproved of, and there were always measures that could be put in place to ensure they would be allowed to teach. Fraudulent adventurers? Pull their record. Werewolves? Give them wolfsbane. Retired Aurors? Run them through the system and show that they still have enough marbles to be considered sane.' Rowan's heart was pounding now. He could not believe that he had been foolish enough to come here.

'But I'm a Mage, Dumbledore.' Rowan continued, gesturing erratically. 'Hiring me would be like spitting straight in the Ministry's coffee!' Dumbledore gently reached out, and placed a thin, long-fingered hand on Rowan's shoulder. His bright blue-eyed gaze was level and unwavering, and as Rowan's own eyes met Dumbledore's, his breathing began to slow, and the adrenaline pumping through his veins began to fade as the wise man smiled reassuringly at him. 

'Rowan.' Dumbledore said consolingly. 'I understand your concerns, and believe me when I say you have every right to be cautious.' Dumbledore gestured at the other teachers around them, who remained miraculously oblivious to their hushed conversation. 'I told you that no harm will come to you here, and I have no intention of breaking that vow. So please, hear me out.' Rowan took a deep breath, glancing longingly at the door, then back to Dumbledore's earnest gaze. With a sigh, he nodded, and Dumbledore smiled.

'Now, it's no secret that I have been prone to hiring some... eclectic professors on past occasion.' Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Rowan, who smiled somewhat sheepishly, slightly embarrassed by his outburst earlier. 'And I am aware that the ministry in all its power has issued a decree stating that any members of the mage lineage or training are to be treated as enemies of the state. Likewise, I acknowledge that hiring you as a teacher immediately as the ministry seeks to rein in my erratic behavior, might be considered unwise.'

'However it is also true that as part of my duty of care towards the students of this school, I am authorized and required by both educational decree and the school governors to provide services and staff to cater for any and all needs of my students.' Dumbledore paused, eyeing Rowan speculatively, as if inviting him to hazard a guess as to where this conversation was headed. Rowan however merely shrugged, nonplussed. Dumbledore hummed slightly, then continued.

'In essence this means that if I harbor any suspicion, no matter how slight, that any student present at Hogwarts may possess an aptitude for Magecraft, I am obligated by law to supply that student with the correct care, or hire someone who can cater for that aptitude in itself.'