Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 24: Family Dysfunctions (Pt 1)

27 October 1992

Somewhat surprisingly, Jim's month long detention passed without incident other than the boy's obvious signs of exhaustion. Rather stoically, he'd incorporated ten hours of detention spent mainly scrubbing various parts of the castle into his weekly schedule without dropping anything else, including schoolwork, twelve hours of Quidditch practice, five hours of ping pong practice (he was getting rather good at the game), and two hours spent on exercise every morning. He also became more diligent in his studies and actually regained almost half the fifty points his prank had cost Gryffindor House. Unbeknownst to anyone else, he also continued to spend an hour a day meditating on the exercises contained in the Occlumency book he'd gotten from Peter Pettigrew. Those exercises helped him remain calm in the face of the hostility he still drew from his fellow students, but he had to visit Madame Pomfrey three times for potions to soothe the burning sensation he now continually felt in his stomach and chest. He had also taken to discreetly purchasing Pepper-Up Potions and Calming Draughts from an enterprising Seventh Year Ravenclaw who was happy to brew such potions in his spare time if the price was right.

Ironically, it was for Harry that the month of October suddenly became more stressful. The week after the boggart incident, he met again with Snape and his mother for lunch. However, while she had been content with small talk and personal questions of a mundane nature during their first meeting, the second saw the woman diving headfirst into some very probing questions about how the Dursleys had treated Harry. Admittedly, the questions were presented in a style that Gryffindors might consider subtle, but to any Slytherin worthy of the name, they were blunt and invasive. Halfway through the meal, Harry made an excuse to leave early. He also made excuses to avoid every subsequent request by his mother for follow-up lunches. Eventually, Harry finally approached Snape who, with some embarrassment, admitted that he had revealed to Lily Potter the existence of an auror's report about his last night with the Dursleys, one James Potter had apparently concealed from her. Snape and Harry both assumed that her sudden interest in his upbringing meant she now knew that he had been intentionally thrown out into a doxy swarm by the head of the family in whose care she had left the boy all those years ago. While Harry's vindictive side took a certain amount of pleasure in whatever guilt Lily might feel over the matter, his more pragmatic side did not want Lily or anyone else looking too closely into what might have influenced Vernon in his homicide attempt.

On October 25th, Jim's detention ended. With obvious reluctance, McGonagall returned his cloak, admonishing the boy that if he were caught using it without a very, very, very good reason, he would earn a historic number of point deductions. She also advised Jim that Mr. Filch now knew of his cloak and that Mrs. Norris would likely be able to detect him even if he were invisible. He accepted her comments gracefully and passed the news about Filch and Mrs. Norris on to his friend Ron who shook his head once more at the unfairness of it all.

Today, both Harry and Jim were summoned to the Headmaster's office just after their DADA class ended - apparently, Lockhart had not been sacked over "the werewolf lecture" after all. The password, to Harry's bemusement, was "Jelly Babies." Dumbledore's sweet tooth and its effects on his password choices were well-known among the Slytherins. The two entered his office together, and they were both surprised to see Lily and James Potter present along with McGonagall and Snape. All of them, including the Headmaster, looked rather grim.

"Thank you both for coming so promptly. Harry, Jim, please take a seat." The old man gestured to two empty chairs. As he sat, Harry examined everyone's faces. Snape's, of course, was an impassive mask, but everyone else showed signs of varying degrees of emotional strain. Finally, Dumbledore spoke.

"Harry, we asked you here today to discuss some matters pertaining to the Dursleys."

The boy stiffened, his Occlumency shields smoothing his own face down into a mask of self-control that mirrored his Head of House. "I don't see what's necessary to discuss, sir. I assume that everyone here has some knowledge of how the Dursleys treated me. But I don't live with them anymore, and I'll be perfectly content to not ever think of them again."