The Forgotten Son

Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Minerva McGonagall sat at the Head Table of the Great Hall as the Sorting Feast began. As had become a commonplace the last few years, the Sorting she had presided over moments before had seemed incredibly small. As the Head of Gryffindor House, she had only gained four new students in Colin Creevey, Demelza Robins, Romilda Vane and Ginevra Weasley. It certainly wasn't the first time she thought about how the war with You-Know-Who decimated much of Magical Britain's population and it was prevalent in the declining population of Hogwarts.

To remove herself from such negative thoughts, the stern Transfiguration Mistress surveyed the vast hall and observed the students who stood out to her the most. There was of course, the most famous student in the school in Daniel Potter sitting with the youngest Weasley boy. Seeing those two brought a pang of regret to her chest as she remembered the previous term and its disastrous ending. She recalled how her two young Lions had approached her with concerns about the Philosopher's Stone and instead of taking them seriously, she had dismissed them and had inadvertently sent them to the forbidden corridor alone. Had it not been for Daniel's older brother, those two boys could have wound up dead.

Minerva McGonagall vowed then and there to ensure the safety of every student of Hogwarts, Dumbledore be damned.

Her gaze landed on the aforementioned hero of that night. Hadrian Potter was a complete joy to have in class and was well on his way to becoming a truly outstanding Wizard. The young man was easily the most talented student she had ever had the privilege of teaching and had always surpassed his peers in her classroom. As such, she had taken it upon herself to assign him considerably more difficult tasks, and he always exceeded her expectations by completing them flawlessly. If the Hogwarts rumor mill was to be believed, Filius had taken to also giving Mr. Potter advanced Charm work.

Oh how she wished he was in Gryffindor.

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Unbeknownst to Minerva McGonagall, her longtime colleague of Filius Flitwick, had been doing the same thing as her. The Charms Master alternated between taking bites of the delicious Hogwarts feast and observing various students of the Great Hall. Like Minerva, his thoughts trailed to his prized Ravenclaw. Now Filius was no fool. After spending four years as Hadrian Potter's Head of House and another month over the Summer dueling him, he was well aware of the potential the Potter-Black Heir possessed. The former Dueling Champion noted that Harry used an incredible spell repertoire ranging from schoolyard jinxes to borderline Dark curses and had power levels that put Filius' own to shame. The only reason Filius was able to defeat Harry in their mock duels, was because of his speed and experience, and they both knew that.

Unlike the Headmaster, Professor Flitwick had no reservations about the elder Potter's rise to power. Having known him since he was eleven, he was confident in the young man's character. He of course knew of the vindictive streak that Harry possessed, as was evidenced by the mysterious appearances of several of the more bigoted senior students in the Hospital Wing over the years, and he did nothing about it. His reluctance was based solely on his own experience with bigotry. Though he never announced his lineage publicly, despite it being heavily debated, Filius was in fact half-Goblin and the Pureblood Supremacy of Magical Britain treated him harshly because of it. In fact, he was certain that had he not been a renowned duelist, he would have been driven from the country or worse. He was hopeful that young Harry would make their world a better place.

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