Veiled Confrontations

Surprisingly, to many of the teachers, Minerva didn't run to Albus demanding he do something about Harry's marking of the Triad as soon as he returned to the Castle. She normally went to him with everything involving Harry just as fast as she could reach his office. But this time she didn't. In fact she seemed to be doing her utmost to keep the Triad away from Albus and him away from them. None of them knew why. They were just glad she hadn't and was.

Severus had expected to hear Harry had been called to the Headmaster's office within an hour of the Old Man's return to the Castle. He'd spent what little free time he had in areas where Potter was normally at, waiting for someone to appear with the expected summons so he could accompany the teen if it came. He even spent time doing his required brewing in Potter's rooms where true to his expectations he discovered one of the doors led to a well-appointed brewing lab.

He had no intention of ever allowing the boy to face Albus alone again if he could prevent it. Because to his mind, if those three had been actively trying to stab the boy in the back, and succeeding at it, then Albus not only knew about it but condoned it and was more than likely helping them succeed at their backstabbing.

In fact, he'd heard the Triad mention that Albus set up the vaults for them. And not just during the Library Confrontation either. When confronted by their peers in the halls, they were still saying they had a right to the money from his vaults as Albus had set it up for them. That implied he knew exactly what the three were doing and more than likely had asked them to do it. Hell, Granger had all but said her instructions were from the old man directly.

Which meant, regardless of what he said and everyone believed, he didn't have the boy's best interest at heart. There just was no way the actions of the Trio of Misfortune could be in the boys' best interest. Just no way. Which put him, Severus, at loggerheads with the old man because of the vow he'd taken to protect Lily's child. He was honor bound to stop anyone who was actively trying to harm the boy. And that included one very pesky meddlesome Albus Dumbledore.

Nor was there anyone Severus could go to about the matter since he didn't trust Minerva to act in Harry's best interest against Albus. She'd made it perfectly clear over the last four years she didn't like Harry Potter and would only ever act to punish him for whatever offense another told her he gave them. Whether he actually had or not.

She was entirely too much in thrall to Albus to ever be willing to concede that maybe he didn't have good motives towards someone. Child or adult. She might have been coming around to the idea that this time Potter was in the right in what had occurred but that didn't mean she liked it. Or that she believed he'd been in the right in the past. As far as Severus knew, she still believed what the Triad had told her in past years had been the truth.

And Potter had no other legal representative who could speak for him against Albus Dumbledore. Not that Potter knew he could legally turn to Severus for aid against the Headmaster. He didn't. Severus had never told him he was his Guardian/Protector here in the magical world.

Nor was it something Minerva would've mentioned to him. Since Albus was still claiming to be the boy's magical guardian, there was no way he had either. Legally, he never had been but he, like so many others, figured the child was too stupid to know any different.

The sad part was until the scene in the Library, Severus had been one of those people believing Potter was too stupid to ever figure it out. Yet now that he was mentally awake, he was chastising himself over the matter. How exactly should an eleven year old child, who'd been kept away from all things magical, have found out who their personal guardian in the magical world was?

The fact that Severus was his Guardian/Protector was actually one of the things Minerva held against the boy. It shamed her that someone outside her house was chosen by the 'gamot for the role instead of herself .

So there was no way she'd told him either. And as far as he knew no one else here at Hogwarts actually knew. So if the three adults who knew hadn't told the boy, how exactly was he supposed to know?

But it hadn't happened. Albus hadn't met with any of the children in question upon his return to the Castle. Not yet anyway. He'd been seen at Breakfast and walking slowly in the halls a few times. And they'd all seen the Triad trying to approach him when he was. But he missed more meals than he attended.

They assumed he was stuck in his office slogging his way through the mountain of parchment that came along with being the Headmaster. He had been out of the Castle for a few days so it would've piled up on him. It was well known to all who had to deal with the parchment monster, letting it pile up was a bad idea. A very bad idea.

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