Snidely Porpington and the Fifth House of Hogwarts

Chapter 9

 Chapter 9

In Which Rumors Are Spread

In the early hours of the following morning, a growing sunlight strained through the picturesque fog and mist that often settled around the castle towers. It was Saturday, so most of Hogwarts' staff and students were still asleep, grateful for a few hours' respite from the busy term schedule. Among the very few who wandered the corridors at this early watch, one was on a covert mission.

Warily she stalked the upper floor hallways, scanning every portrait of dozing witches and wizards from ages past. She was looking for one painted group in particular, but of course the sitters regularly left their frames to visit neighbors so they could be anywhere. She passed over Spanish noblemen of the Golden Age, Dutch peasants dozing in a filthy tavern, French aristocrats snoring insipidly on tree-swings – still no sign of her quarry. At last, at the very end of a winding passage on the sixth floor, she saw them. Quickening her pace she reached the group portrait: five Chinese monks sitting on the floor around a roll of parchment. The picture wasn't a painting in the Western style but rather a Ming Dynasty work depicting the Five Brothers of the Lotus Scroll. These Buddhist monks, while obscure in muggle history, were immensely important in refining Chinese magical practices of the era. Jin Zhi had chosen them for her own reasons.

"Greetings brothers," Jin Zhi said in Mandarin, bowing her head to the portrait sitters. It was crucial no one should overhear.

"And to you, daughter," said the middle monk in the same language, emerging beatifically from his enlightened slumber. "What brings you to our corridor so early in the day?"

"I must unburden my conscience to you, uncles," she said. "It's about the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore."

All five of the Brothers were now awake, and with earnest concern they asked what the trouble was.

"I overheard the professor saying something one day, about a minority community in Britain."

"Which community,my girl?" they said. "What was his remark?"

"It was the Jewish community, uncles. Professor Dumbledore was talking to a house elf as I walked by the room. He said the Jewish community is wealthy and influential out of proportion to its numbers. He also told the elf that Jews control the newspapers and media, even the Daily Prophet. He said they're more friendly with goblins than their fellow human wizards, and have used this to gain a controlling interest in Gringotts Bank. They use their power to control the wizarding world in secret, and enrich themselves. I was very disturbed to hear these prejudiced comments, uncles, and I hope you won't tell anyone."

The five Buddhist brothers simply stared at her, mouths agape. They assured her they wouldn't tell a soul, but Jin Zhi knew the rumor would be all over the castle in no more than an hour. The Brothers were only portrait figures after all – gossip was one of their few pleasures in life. Jin Zhi found herself skipping as she left them there, chuckling at her brilliant ruse.

Sure enough, by noon that day a horrendous antisemitism controversy had erupted around poor Albus Dumbledore. The first wizard to hear the rumor from a portrait person, oddly enough, was Anthony Goldstein. He was a Ravenclaw and happened to be Hogwarts' only Jewish student. He stormed into Professor Flitwick's office demanding an explanation. Flitwick assured him Dumbledore had never in his life said antisemitic things, and in fact had been at the forefront of resistance to such prejudices from Gellert Grindelwald's movement before the latter's eventual defeat. Goldstein was not satisfied with this and went to every professor who would listen to him. He finally found a champion in Charity Burbage, who harbored her own suspicions about Dumbledore from his regular attendance at Flying Carpet conventions in the Middle East.