Better Potter

Birthday Wishes

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In the distance the whining of one Ron Weasley became a little louder and Percy casually pulled Adrian into the plant store to continue talking without that noise bothering them ...

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Maze calmly read the book RazorBlood gave him as he waited for Harry. All the boy had to do was finish organizing and stocking the shelves. Nothing too difficult and the store was run by a squib so there wasn't any danger. Just a 3 hour a day punishment for a stubborn brat.

Personally, the Auror wanted it to be a tougher job to really test the boy. Of course, the boy was only 11, nearly 12, so these punishments had major limits. Still there were a few people who wanted the boy to have no punishments at all. In fact, the person walking up to Maze right now was one of those.

"You aren't allowed to interfere, Mr. Lupin. You're not even supposed to know where his job is." Maze muttered casually, but he did reach out and firmly grab the man's arm.

"He's just a child." The man known as Remus Lupin argued as he pulled away.

"And you're not his guardian." Maze smoothly countered, making Remus pout. "His aunt and uncle approved of the court's decision and he's already finished a couple weeks before you somehow found us. None of these punishments are considered harsh so what's wrong with it? Do you believe what he did was right? Sticking your nose in now will only show that you approved of his actions. You and Sirius aren't students anymore so you can't keep coddling him like you did your friends. Your little group of school buddies were extremely adept at causing trouble."

"We didn't do anything of the sort!" Remus exclaimed sheepishly. In response Maze pulled a file out of his pocket and gave it to Remus. "What is this?"

"It's the file your headmaster kept on you, James Potter and Sirius Black." Maze said bluntly and simply went back to reading. When he heard the file being destroyed he sighed, but didn't look away from the book. "That's just a copy. The original is at the ministry." He said all while Remus was glaring at the ashes of the file he just destroyed.

At those words Remus' eyes widened as he realized what he did out of anger, "I'm sorry!"

"It's fine. Like I said, it was a copy." Maze said casually, still not looking away from the book.

"Right." Remus said softly. "Does this mean the headmaster is being investigated?"

Maze shrugged, "If that is the case then I can't say. Hypothetically speaking that file was a school file and part of public records so there's nothing weird about me having a copy. The fact that the real files were found in a certain desk and filled with notes instead of in public records is what was weird." Maze finally looked up from the fascinating book. "You saw the notes Dumbledore made on you and your friends in school. Now that you know you and your friends weren't sneaky, but actually allowed to run amuck, are you going to let Harry fall in the same trap? Hypothetically Dumbledore even started a file on Harry you know. He might have one for every rich student."

"I get it!" Remus exclaimed, not in a good mood and didn't want to hear any more.

A sound, possibly the sound of cans falling, was heard inside the store followed by someone running, "Uncle Remus?!" Harry's voice was heard calling out. A second later Harry opened the back door and grinned before giving the werewolf a big hug. "I thought I heard you, Uncle Remus! It's so nice to see you. This day has been horrible."

Maze huffed, "You've only been working for 10 minutes. That's not a big deal. In fact, time to get back to it." He said, giving Remus a look.

Harry hugged Remus tighter as he nuzzled his face against Remus' coat effectively hiding the smug smile on his lips, "But I'm so sore. Please don't let him make me go back." He pleaded sadly.