Ch48. Dumbledore's ruined morning
It was the morning after the welcoming feast and utterly exhausted Dumbledore flopped onto his chair in the Great Hall. He had to apply cosmetic magic, of all things, to appear energetic and it showed. He picked the brightest of his pinkes-, ahem, most violet robes, he bought when he was drunk, without even noticing it until he was already in the Great Hall.
It was just a morning and he had enough for the day.
He just returned from DMLE where he had to argue his point with Amelia Bones. The woman was a member of the light family but she was also one of the fiercest opponents of Dumbledore himself.
Yesterday after the Welcoming Feast his 'informant' in DMLE informed him that Mrs. Weasley was apprehended at the train station due to shouting about muggles into the air.
'Seriously, how mentally incapacitated must that woman be!? She has how many kids again? And she doesn't even remember the platform number? I could really do better at choosing allies...' Dumbledore grumbled in his mind.
But the woman was a superb potion mistress that was of use when Severus was… otherwise preoccupied.
Dumbledore didn't want to think of a situation where the already too chatty woman was actually dosed with Veritaserum and asked about her brewing activities.
He shuddered.
At least he never told the gullible woman why he needs loyalty potions keyed to him.
So, he had to come to the DMLE as fast as possible to resolve this... misunderstanding. He pulled out his entire charm of a grandfatherly educator but Amelia Bones quickly shot him down with a 'are you serious' stare.
And she was such an obedient inquisitive girl during her studies!
Alas, he was forced to pull out 'the Champion of the Light' persona but he quickly stopped being 'insistent' when he saw himself being surrounded by twenty top-tier aurors, reaching for their wands. So much for a forceful approach.
The woman was MEANING it and he barely managed to persuade her to not go public with Molly's case. That would be a disaster. His Chief Warlock position was already threatened but if his actions about this came out...
After the debacle with poor young Sirius, Amelia suspected him. Misguidedly, might he add...
But, however small her suspicion was, it was enough for her to hound after him and oppose him on every turn. She didn't even notice how she is actually playing right according to the tunes of the dark sides! Yet, he, the almighty Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, couldn't do anything to her.
His eyes strayed to the young Susan sitting at the Hufflepuff table, all alone, awkwardly eating. Maybe he could push young Hannah more towards Susan? Abbotts may not be wealthy but they are after all one of his more trusted allies. And young Hannah is already a friend with Susan. Albeit both girls are quite distant, Albus knew they talked from time to time. Getting them even closer would surely be a good thing, no matter the method. And if it could further the Greater Good...
His mood again soured as he spotted young Ronald stuffing his mouth full in a plentiful and mildly disturbing display of what it means to have manners of a pig.
Albus shook his head sadly. For all her motherly nature, Molly really didn't do right by the boy. Not even teaching him table manners… He will remember to give her another of his trademark disappointed looks later.
Albus remembered her overbearing nature and the way she shouted at the officers in the DMLE, proclaiming them all bigots and idiots, ordering them to release her or else! The woman was clearly too furious then and didn't care what came out of her mouth.
But it was him that had to apologize for her behavior! Even his best disappointed look didn't stop her tirade! He yet again remembered just why he was so mentally tired and started to pity young Ronald.
He could now understand why William ran to Gringotts, of all places, working as far away from England as possible with goblins, of all creatures.
He also understood why Charlie left such a convenie-, ahem, he meant, good find such as Nymphadora for dragons of all things. Heck! If she tried she probably could morph into something scaly for the boy so he could be happy! Albus wouldn't even mind being the influence for her willingness to do such a thing for the boy. Alas, the boy was already in Romania...
His gaze strayed to Percy, one of the Weasleys he could never manipu-, depend on. Sigh, he was really tired and his thoughts were playing with him. Anyway, Percy was too law-abiding to do his bidding.
The twins while useful were too clever and cunning to not discover something fishy if he let them work for him.
That left him with Ronald and Ginerva.
Ronald was... not much of a thinker. He could play chess, sure... but that was all he could do except eating and lazing around. He was basically the perfect influence on young Harry! At least until Harry joined Puffs...
Ginerva... well, Dumbledore was glad young Harry was, at least, not knowledgeable of the magical world. He could still make sure he falls in love with young Ginerva and then come out as their trusty friend when he orchestrates a contract between the young lovers.
Dumbledore's eyes finally fell on young Harry's back, happily joking with Nymphadora. He urgently fought the scowl trying to appear on his face. The girl will need to be guided away. Thoroughly guided, indeed.
Maybe a love potion? But who should he choose? No… who could he choose!?
Snape? No, the man would never agr-, wait, or maybe he will? It WOULD all depend on how he puts it. Maybe Nymphadora could serve as a kind of an 'outlet' for young Severus during this year. Anything that won't make her interfere with his plans, right? And after she leaves the Hogwarts? Who cares then…
The girl wants to be Potion Mistress so becoming closer with her Potion Teacher won't be anything weird. Albus could even close one eye and let young Severus have his fun with young Nymphadora. He would surely be grateful to him for arranging it. After all, the girl could always shift to look like Lily Evans.
At the Hufflepuff table, Hadrian sat next to Dora, teasing her as he watched her goofy innocent grin, playfully returning his verbal jabs. In his mind, though he was fiercely scowling, if not snarling.
His back was turned to Dumbledore but opposite Hadrian, Rowena, in the middle of the table, was staring straight into unknowing Dumbledore's eyes, relaying his thoughts to Hadrian. Nobody cares about birds, after all.
Oh, the old shit was driving Hadrian mad. Dora was HIS and nobody would be GIFTING her to anyone, much less Snape! He will make sure of THAT! Looks like Snape will have to be in an unfortunate accident that will see him outta the school for an unforeseeable future sooner rather than later.
The only reason why Hadrian didn't pull Dora away from the Great Hall and the creepy stares of the old meddler, was that he trusted Narcissa and wanted to see her 'surprise' for him.
After they woke up in the very, very early morning, he told her about Mrs. Weasley and she playfully commented that he should be expecting a good article in the Daily Prophet.
He wanted to see Dumbledore's expression in the morning and wanted to know his thoughts. That's why he had Rowena probe him. But he never expected something like this!
Just then the owls came and started dropping the Prophet everywhere. Hadrian picked one and his sour mood quickly brightened as he put his hands on his mouth in order to muffle his laughter.
One Rita Skeeter apparently wrote a 'factual' article on how Chief Warlock Dumbledore circumvented the laws about the most sacred Statute of Secrecy and let an offender, one, Molly Weasley, walk away free after she broke it, endangering the WHOLE Wizarding World. She implied to the sheep that this action will surely backfire and endanger their children... yadda yadda yadda... How could a man like that be a Headmaster of School... yadda yadda yadda…
The best part? She had 'statements' from various influential people. Hadrian just didn't know when she managed to ask for a statement from Lord Black… But it still amused him to no end.
In short, Dumbledore was outta his Chief Warlock position for sure, and now that he was accused of breaking the law by the most 'diligent' 'investigative' reporter the Wizarding Britain had. Let's just say the Supreme Mugwump has to have a supremely clean record and the investigations will be surely launched into his actions...
Rita even went at it from the angle of him being a dangerous influence on kids. While he doubted anything would come out of that, it was an attack at his Headmaster position.
He looked at the paper noting Dumbledore walking past him, tightly clenching his fist while his cheeks flushed in rage while he tried to appear as calm and collected as possible.
'When the heck did Narcissa manage to pull this out? She left the bed at five in the morning after our cuddles and the Prophet was printed at six... ' Harry furiously tried to work his head around it.
"Harry?" He heard Dora asking him. "Anything wrong?" He looked at her, his face morphing into a smile.
"No, no. Here, Prophet." He gave it to her and relished at her horrified gasp as she read the article.
Looks like he would have to correct her 'sheep-ish' attitude.
And reward Narcissa for this...
Dumbledore stumbled on his excessively long pink robe as the students pointed at him, whispering in a hushed tone until his figure left the Great Hall.
Definitely reward his Cissy.