Marks of Allegiance

Everyone had heard Professor Snape's denunciation of the three marked students but only a few knew who said students were though they did know the boy who had marked them was Potter. They'd also heard the names Weasely and Granger in the discussion so they assumed it was the Gryffindor Trio Plus One the teachers had been talking about. The students who hadn't been in the Library the day before were now waiting for the Triad to come in for breakfast so they could see for themselves what all the fuss was about.

The teachers sat open-mouthed and blinking as they took in this apparent change of heart towards Harry Potter from the teacher who always claimed he was nothing but an over-indulged, spoilt, little brat too used to getting his own way to ever think of anyone but himself. But yet here he'd sat and told them all just how wrong Harry had been treated since his arrival in the magical world four years earlier.

Filius, however, was pleased. He'd decided several years ago that Severus didn't actually dislike the Potter child nearly as much as everyone believed he did. Today simply confirmed it for him. Being a halfbreed and looked down upon himself by a great deal of the magical world, he'd long believed Potter was getting the short end of the shaft from this school and the people in it. He couldn't be happier with the new events.

Now maybe Mr. Potter would begin to be able to see the good side of their world instead of only the bad. Thanks to Albus and Minerva, the boy had been surrounded by only those who wanted to use him for their own ends without a care for his own well-being or happiness. But users weren't the only people in the magical world. There were good people here too. People who only wanted to help others or do things to improve their world. Maybe now Mr. Potter could get to see some of those people.

But for the rest of the staff, they were now recalling a near-death experience for Mr. Potter that he could in no way have done anything to deserve or prevent. Each of them was recalling how every school year seemed to end with Mr. Potter in the medical wing depleted of his magic and suffering from injuries that had him bordering on death yet again. Yet every year he pulled through and within a day or two Albus was returning him to his muggle home via a portkey straight there. He'd never gotten to ride the train back to London with the other students. He'd never even gotten to remain at the school long enough to receive his end of the year results.

As far as Filius knew, Mr. Potter had no idea how well he was doing in his classes at the end of each year. Mid-term, yes. At least for his Charms class. Because he always stayed here over the holidays. And Mr. Potter had always asked Filius what his mid-term grade for the class had been. But end of the year, no. Because he wasn't here to ask the teachers personally. And as he wasn't in the tower, he couldn't see the lists of class standings that were posted in each common room. So chances were good the boy had no idea how he was actually doing in any of his subjects.

Always, after he'd been sent back to the muggles early, Weasely and Granger would spend the last few weeks or days of the year badmouthing him while claiming the credit for whatever feat he had managed that had him in the infirmary. They'd always claim he'd been expelled early for breaking the rules and endangering the student body with his need to be a hero. But the teachers had noticed they'd never once been injured during any of these events. He had. But they hadn't. And yes. They all recalled Ms. Granger being turned into a stone statue when the basilisk was being turned loose on the school. But that wasn't Mr. Potter's doing. Nor had it occurred during his resolution of the crisis.

For the first time, it was occurring to the teachers Potter had never been treated the same as the rest of the student body. It almost seemed as if once he had performed whatever hero type behavior had been called for that year, Albus tossed him away until the next year began. The boy never even got to visit the village during a Hogsmeade weekend as he was always on some kind of restriction to the Castle or her grounds. Mainly to keep him safe because there usually had been some relevant threat of danger prevailing against him. But still. . .he was kept isolated here in the Castle. Away from everyone.

Professor Babbling, who taught Ancient Runes to third years and up, had just seen the Triad walking into the room bearing smug expressions. Almost as if they expected to walk into a scene where they would be lauded for having to deal with an unfair situation wherein Mr. Potter had once again struck out at them and caused them to suffer needlessly. She caught a glance at their markings and turned to Minerva saying, "Are those runes they've been marked with? Tell them to come up here. I'd like to exam those marks."

"Do you think you can remove them?"

"Remove them? I doubt it. Severus did say they are Patron Runes and only they can remove them. But I've never actually seen Patron Runes before. If they are runes, maybe I can offer you an explanation of what they stand for to help you figure it out. Runes are a language of their own with rules for usage unlike any other written language today. So I'm sure the runes themselves will tell me of their purpose." She didn't say she would tell them how to remove them even if she knew of a method to do so. All she said she'd do is point her in the right direction if she could define them. But Minerva didn't catch the omission.

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