Chapter Text
The Pygmalion effect is the phenomenon whereby others' expectations of a target person affect the target person's performance. The opposite of the pygmalion effect is the golem effect, in which low expectations lead to a decrease in performance; both are forms of self-fulfilling prophecy.
Minerva McGonagall frowned as Severus Snape continued to have a tantrum and her old mentor did nothing to put a cork in it. She was slowly losing her respect for Albus Dumbledore since the moment she saw the small cot in the cupboard that Harry Potter had been forced to sleep in. She was also angry with herself for letting him leave the boy there and allowing him to dissuade and distract her from ever checking up on him.
"We had him cornered! If the old cat hadn't left him at the Leaky Cauldron-" Snape shouted.
Minerva palmed her wand, "We aren't hunting the poor boy! If we had tried to force him out I have no doubts Tom would've thrown the both of us out," she hissed furiously. Snape turned red at the reminder of how he'd been violently flung down the stairs, wandlessly, by the wizened innkeeper. "Perhaps if you hadn't scared him, Mister Potter would have spoken with us."
She noticed Albus nodding sagely and turned her wand on him. "If you hadn't left him with the Dursleys, whom I warned you about, the boy wouldn't be missing now," she said coldly.
"Now, Minerva-"
"Keep Severus away from the search, Albus," Minerva threatened. "If either of you does anything to that boy, I will resign," she said as she swept out of the office. 'If I don't bloody murder you,' she thought privately.
It had only been two days since they had tracked Harry Potter to The Leaky Cauldron, but the trail had since gone cold. The boy hadn't responded to her letter and all Tom would tell them was that he had run off into muggle London. Even Albus' tracking spell was of no use.
Albus had reluctantly informed the Ministry that Harry was missing. It was unfortunate, but necessary since they could not possibly search effectively with so few people.
The Minister had, predictably, blown his top. Minerva had no doubts that Albus would have to do some heavy political maneuvering to keep the boy's custody in his hands and out of reach of people like Lucius Malfoy. Although if he really meant to put Harry back at the Dursleys, Minerva would take the boy away herself.
Diagon Alley was a different beast after the story broke in The Daily Prophet. Minerva was jostled several times despite her reputation and foreboding aura. Witches and wizards could talk about nothing else than the Boy-Who-Lived and his shocking disappearance. Many of the folk were already demanding the Minister's resignation and Minerva nearly let it drop that Albus Dumbledore was responsible for the catastrophe. She was confident they would sniff it out for themselves soon enough.
She briskly walked up to an open teller and pinned him with her gaze.
"This is an important letter for Mister Potter," she said with her best no-nonsense tone, "Please ensure that he receives it."
Minerva left it on the counter and forced herself to walk away.
Albus had already dismissed the possibility that the boy had any help from the goblins. They were neutral, foul-tempered, and Albus had Harry's key. Minerva, however, believed differently. The goblins may have been neutral in the sense that they hadn't fought in the war, but that was more likely due to the treaties between the goblins and the Ministry than true neutrality. Neither the Ministry nor the Order had ever tried to recruit them as far as she knew. If Voldemort had won the goblins would have been eradicated. Minerva thought that raised the chance of them helping the boy by quite a number, not to mention how they would've felt if they discovered his personal situation and total ignorance of his parents to the extent of not even knowing their names let alone their world (something that had certainly enraged her). Minerva had asked Filius his opinion and not only did he agree that the goblins would help the Boy-Who-Lived, he also informed her that keys were only given to customers because they were expected and not because they were actually needed. The goblins had many methods of identifying proper vault owners and authorizing their access. She thought Albus was being stupid when he assumed that he knew what the goblins would or wouldn't do and Filius had clinched it for her.
She also couldn't come up with any other feasible theories for how Harry could block their abilities to track him. There were very few wizarding homes in London, none of which were currently occupied, and the Ministry had already had them checked. She supposed the boy could've apparated to another place with wards, but how could he know such a place? The only places he'd reportedly been were The Leaky Cauldron, Flourish and Blotts, and Gringotts.
Admittingly, they had no idea how he'd known about Diagon Alley. Albus was convinced that a witch or wizard had gotten to Harry before they had and had taken the boy to London. The Headmaster was trying to organize a list of anyone who would've had an interest in Harry and could've found his location (thankfully the wards would have kept Death Eaters and other unsavory types away from the entire area).
Minerva thought that she had gotten quite familiar with the trace of the boy's magic and after speaking with the boy's cousin, she was certain that he was apparating solo, something that her colleagues found impossible to believe. She also believed that Tom would've instantly noticed if anyone had followed the boy or spoken to him.
She could only hope that Harry would reach out to her before anyone else got their hands on him, physically or legally.
Mister Potter,
I am deeply sorry for any distress that we may have caused you. I know that you have no reason to trust anyone, but I promise you that I will never allow anyone to take you back to your relatives or abuse you. I feel partly responsible for your welfare as I was a close second to be your godmother . Regardless of what you must think of me, please know that I would swear an Unbreakable Vow to help you in any way that you require.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Harry read the letter again carefully before he looked at Farwinkle. "What's an Unbreakable Vow?"
"An Unbreakable Vow is a verbal, binding magical contract one wizard can swear to another with a third party acting as the Bonder. The vow usually comes in three parts and has terrible consequences. If the first part is broken, both parties will immediately feel it quite painfully. If the second part is broken, the person under the vow will lose their magic. That person will die instantly if they fully break their vow."
Harry grimaced. He definitely didn't want anyone swearing an Unbreakable Vow to him. It would be cruel. It sounded as though McGonagall was serious about helping him though. Harry was still hesitant to allow someone connected to Hogwarts anywhere near him.
"Who is my godmother?"
Grogsike and Farwinkle appeared to communicate nonverbally with some sort of impromptu height-posturing contest before Farwinkle, the apparent loser, answered him. "Dorcas Meadowes, your mother's friend and your godfather's fiance, was your godmother. She was killed by Voldemort a few weeks before your parents were betrayed," Farwinkle seemed to collect himself before continuing, "Your godfather, Sirius Black, is in Azkaban for that betrayal and other supposed crimes although he never received a trial."
Harry absorbed this and made the connection quickly. "Is that why you need the wills unsealed?"
If Farwinkle was a less-respected Goblin he would have smiled at the boy.
"Your parents named their Secret Keeper and betrayer in their wills but as long as they remain sealed I am unable to reveal that person's identity."
Harry was less impressed by wizards each day. "Why didn't my godfather get a trial? Why were my parents' wills sealed?"
Grogsike leaned forward, "Any scrap of information about you or your whereabouts could have potentially put you in grave danger since many of Voldemort's followers were either never caught or bribed their way out of their arrests. Albus Dumbledore was the de facto leader of the Light and he somehow claimed responsibility for your safety. He placed you with the Dursleys and had the wills sealed in the same night just hours after your parents died. He wasn't directly responsible for your godfather not receiving a trial, but he had the power to demand a trial and chose not to."
"Even if he thought he was protecting you, it's inexcusable," Farwinkle added, "and his motives are suspect."
The three of them sat in somber silence as Harry imagined a life where his parents' wills had been rightfully read and his godfather had raised him in the wizarding world. Although then he would've definitely ended up at Hogwarts and Harry was adamant that the barely-accredited school was the last place he wanted to be.
Deciding not to worry, Harry focused on his immediate plans. "Do you think I could go to the bookstore?"
Minerva had intimidated the clerk (a former Hufflepuff) as much as she dared and finally held at least one of the books that Harry had looked at. Minerva was certain the clerk knew more, but she wasn't prepared to push him further when he had no obligation to tell her anything and apparently had no small amount of loyalty to the Boy-Who-Lived.
As she began reading, she quickly understood why the clerk had smirked at her and told her about this book. A Muggleborn's Introduction to Magic thoroughly bashed the wizarding world, the Ministry of Magic, and Hogwarts. Minerva noted the smart remark pointed at the Deputy Headmistress and had no doubts that one of the muggleborns she had formerly taught had anonymously authored the book.
When introducing muggleborns to the wizarding world, she was not allowed to tell them what the consequences were for dropping out of the school after the mandatory first year. She also could not tell them about schools outside of the UK. Even worse, she had been unable to warn them about what they would face in the way of prejudice (even during the war). She often thought about each muggleborn and their families that had disappeared without a trace, either captured by Voldemort's followers or irreversibly obliviated by the Ministry. She had introduced them to the wizarding world and so she had felt responsible for their loss. Truthfully, in the last two decades few muggleborns had graduated from Hogwarts despite the fact that muggleborns made up almost one-third of the wizarding population in Britain. She had always assumed that they left because of the prejudice, but now she wondered how many had believed that Hogwarts wasn't a quality school.
She had not known about the statistics published plainly in the book, nor the bit about the Acceptable-grade testing standards being lowered, but Minerva could easily believe what she was reading. How many times had she criticised Albus about his hiring decisions? She ought to throw him off of the Astronomy tower. Or the Divination tower. Two out of eleven students passed their Divination N.E.W.T. last year?!
If the book could be trusted, last year's graduating students had only attempted six N.E.W.T.s on average and had passed five or fewer. Only nine students (out of a class of fifty) had achieved seven or more N.E.W.T.s and only three of those had Outstandings in all their selected exams with merely one student achieving a perfect twelve, something students used to obsess over in her schooldays (with ten students succeeding in her own graduating class, including herself). Out of all subjects, Potions and Divination were tied for the lowest N.E.W.T. scores but Divination had a slightly higher attendance. Minerva noticed that three of the Potions students (Ravenclaws) had not attempted their N.E.W.T., deferring it for a year. Several students that had not elected to take Potions their seventh year had also signed up for a deferred exam (they had aspirations of becoming aurors and healers, she realized). The two passes coincidentally belonged to the only two Slytherin students in attendance. Minerva was not surprised that DADA was hardly any better with a different professor each year. On average, only a handful of students received a DADA N.E.W.T. Interestingly, the entire Ravenclaw house appeared to be deferring the DADA exam for the past six years running. In a word, Hogwarts was a disaster.
She had decided to buy a few copies of the book (one for each Head of House and one for the Headmaster) when she felt something familiar brush against her magic. She stood still for a moment before a young dark-haired boy brushed past her. At first, she didn't believe it was Harry since the boy didn't look a thing like Harry's description, but she happened to see the clerk startle at his appearance and was convinced.
Moving quickly (before the clerk could hex her as Hufflepuffs were prone to react) she intercepted the boy and introduced herself.
"Mister Potter, I am Minerva McGonagall. If you would be willing to speak with me, I would greatly appreciate it. You may send an owl to me at any time to schedule a meeting when you are ready," she said briskly before she nodded at the boy and then continued on her way to the counter. The clerk glared at her, but followed to ring her up.
"Are you buying those?"
Minerva startled. She hadn't noticed the boy following as well. "Yes. I am quite shocked by some of the data in this book. I have every intention of bringing the matter up to my colleagues."
Harry chewed his lip and stared slightly off to side, "I'm not going to Hogwarts," he said mulishly.
Minerva nearly laughed at him, despite the pang she felt at those words. He looked very much like James and expressed himself like Lily. "I understand. I may not go back to Hogwarts either if certain things remain the same," she said conspiratorially.
Harry eyed her suspiciously. "I suppose I could meet with you," he allowed.
"Excellent. Perhaps we could meet for lunch at The Leaky Cauldron if that is acceptable to you?" Minerva could see that she had surprised him, but he quickly agreed. She smiled as he wandered off into the store.
The clerk cleared his throat, "I've applied two separate times and twice Dumbledore hired a pureblood to teach Muggle Studies."
"Would you happen to know any hexes that would twist the old man's beard?" she asked jokingly to which he nodded earnestly.
'Hufflepuffs,' she thought to herself.
Harry kept his eye on McGonagall as he pretended to amble aimlessly. Once she left, Harry spun around and started picking up what he'd come for. He quickly found other thin books of similar design peppered throughout the shop that he'd figured were probably written by muggleborns and added them to the introductory books he was interested in.
"These two are mine," the clerk said conversationally over Muggles Who Notice and Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. "Bill Wagstaff is a known muggleborn but those pseudonyms could plausibly be purebloods or at least half-bloods," he explained with a self-deprecating smile, "You should buy Tonks' book if you're interested in comparing the muggle world to the wizarding world. He's usually a ghostwriter," Bill the bookshop clerk said, summoning a book called My Life as a Muggle into his hand and banishing Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles back to its shelf.
"I guess-"
"He's written any autobiography worth reading as well as a few of Hogwarts' standard textbooks. On a completely unrelated note, I recommend this book as well," he said meaningfully as he placed a book called Hairy Snout, Human Heart on the counter.
Harry frowned. "Thanks," he said slowly. "Would you happen to know who wrote A Muggleborn's Introduction to Magic?"
He hesitated, glancing around the shop before answering. "Eliana Croaker, I believe. She was expelled from Hogwarts in her fourth year for cursing a sixth-year prefect so badly that he may not be able to have children," Bill said darkly. "Her brother being magical as well is what saved her and her parents from being obliviated although according to rumor it was a near thing. She finished school at Ilvermorny, but I hear she's back in Britain. Even so, I doubt she'll ever feel safe to permanently settle down here."
Harry didn't miss Bill's meaning and left the shop trying to shake the horrifying thoughts from his mind. Needing a distraction, Harry decided to browse the Magical Menagerie.
Harry quickly forgot what had upset him as he watched a strange creature adeptly avoid the desperate attempts of the young shop clerk to capture it. The clerk was making a wreck of the place as he tried to catch the strange platypus. Harry looked at the cage it had obviously escaped from and saw an abandoned pile of fake coins. Taking a guess, Harry pulled out a sickle and sat on the floor. Within seconds, the platypus was in his lap and nearly knicked the coin straight from his hand. "Nope. You have to stay still," Harry said. When the platypus had stopped squirming and chittering, Harry gave it the coin.
"You won't get that back. Nifflers are mad for shiny things, especially coins," the clerk said.
"I gave it to him. He can keep it."
"Thanks," the clerk said sourly, glaring at the small trouble-making creature.
Harry had a hard time leaving the shop as the niffler was reluctant to loosen its grip on his fingers and stared up at him with a cute, beseeching expression. "I'll be back," Harry finally promised it. He had picked up a few books about magical creatures and could read up on nifflers before he committed to keeping a thieving creature with him in his vault full of gold.
He still had awhile before he had to meet McGonagall so Harry continued to explore the shops, passing by Ollivanders without hesitation. Grogsike had already explained that no one would give a wand to a child under the age of eleven. Until then, Grogsike suggested that Harry focus on the way he teleported and work on doing other things with his magic. Wandless magic, the goblin claimed, was something every wizard was capable of mastering, if only they weren't stupid and undisciplined. Harry was inclined to agree, having already read that Ilvermorny offered an elective class for it while Hogwarts didn't. He'd also read that MACUSA held apparition (teleportation) classes during the summer and offered permits at age thirteen for side-along, limited licenses at age fifteen for solo apparition, and a full license at age sixteen for long-distance apparition. Most jobs in magical America required employees to have one type of apparition license and even squibs could manage it (although they were advised not to attempt long-distance apparition). Hogwarts, on the other hand, waited until sixth year to begin apparition lessons and less than half of British wizards obtained their apparition license, relying mainly on floo travel. Harry had already mastered solo apparition easily and, judging by that, he hoped he wouldn't rely on a wand one bit by the time he took his N.E.W.T. exams.
Quality Quidditch Supplies he gave a miss since Ilvermorny was more into something called Quodpot. Besides, he didn't know how to fly and he'd rather not attempt to learn on his own. He browsed a secondhand bookshop, but they didn't have anything he hadn't already seen in Flourish and Blott's. He wasn't impressed by much else in the alley and was considering Knockturn Alley when someone bumped into him and knocked him to the ground.
"Blimey! Didn' see yeh there!" A giant man picked up carefully and set him on his feet before Harry could respond.
"That's alright. Thank you," Harry said, dusting himself off at bit. The giant was still standing there, staring at him a bit expectantly. "Um, nice to meet you, Mister..?"
"Call me Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts," Hagrid claimed proudly. His face suddenly fell into a frown. "Yeh weren' thinkin' a goin' down Knockturn Alley? Tha's no place for a kid," he said matter-of-factly.
"No, of course not," Harry denied. "Just on my way to The Leaky Cauldron."
Hagrid looked like he'd suddenly thought of something. Before Harry could panic, thinking he'd been recognised, he spoke, "Yer not muggleborn, are yeh? Yeh shouldn' be wanderin' on yer own," the man warned.
"Oh. Well, I'm meeting Deputy Headmistress McGonagall in a bit."
Hagrid looked unsatisfied by his answer. "Yeh should always stick with a witch or wizard. There's vampires, hags, and some folks tha' used to be followers of You-Know-Who. Yeh'd be safe in the shops for sure, but not just wanderin' around alone. Or even with yer parents. Yeh need to have a guide with yeh."
Harry was a little surprised that someone from Hogwarts even bothered warning a supposed muggleborn. "Well, how is anyone else able to tell if I'm a muggleborn?"
"Vampires could probably tell what from yer soaps an' muggle chem-icky smells. Hags won' care except for grabbing any child what they can. Them that do tha'. Not all hags or vampires would, known a few good ones meself, but yeh got to be careful. An' the purebloods all know each other, most of 'em related. The wizardin' world is small enough tha' everyone knows everyone just about. So anyone tha' doesn' know yeh will assume yer muggleborn."
"I see. Well, I'm sure that I'll be alright. I'll just head to the Leaky Cauldron now."
"I'll walk yeh over," Hagrid insisted.
"When Professor McGonagall takes yeh to get a wand," the giant said thoughtfully (really? Did he look eleven at his height and weight?) "Yeh can summon the Knight Bus. Ah, tha's magical transportation. Only need a wand for it- just throw yer arm out holdin' it. The Knight Bus can go anywhere on the mainland and tha' includes the alley or inside buildings- special charms make it fit an' keep muggles from noticin'. If yeh run into any trouble, they'll get yeh out real quick. They got a lot of families out." Hagrid didn't elaborate.
"Thanks for the advice," Harry said seriously.
Hagrid brightened, "O' course. An' yeh'll have nothin' to worry about at Hogwarts. Safest place in the world with Dumbledore as headmaster. Great man, Dumbledore."
"Right," Harry said, privately disagreeing.
Hagrid opened the passage for them with a pink umbrella and ushered him into the Leaky Cauldron, immediately pointing out two hags and three vampires to Harry. To Harry's dismay, two of the vampires looked like regular wizards to him, but Hagrid seemed very sure about it. Harry decided he'd have to be more cautious.
Luckily, Harry was able to wave Hagrid off at the bar before going over to McGonagall where she was waiting at a booth. He didn't want the man learning his true identity.
"I see you've met Hagrid."
"He thinks I'm a muggleborn and that it's not safe for me to walk around the alley."
Minerva startled. Well, it was true that she escorted the muggleborns herself and she got their parents outfitted with robes, but surely the groundskeeper was exaggerating the danger- although, if anything, Hagrid was one to underestimate danger. Perhaps she would have to get his perspective.
"Well, with your ability to apparate you shouldn't have anything to worry about as long as you don't go near Knockturn Alley and the war has been over for almost a decade," Minerva said more confidently than she felt.
Harry let it go. "What was it that you wanted to discuss?"
"I assume that Gringotts has something to do with where you've been staying, but you need a more permanent solution such as a new guardian,"
"That's already being handled," Harry said abruptly.
Minerva could see that he wasn't going to say anything else about it. "Then perhaps you should tell me what I can do for you, Mr. Potter?"
"Maybe you could tell me more about my parents?"
After exhausting two hours telling the boy about James and Lily, Minerva returned to Hogwarts. She conjured her patronus and sent it ahead of her to request an emergency staff meeting. Albus was waiting for her when she reached the castle.
"Did you call the staff together, Albus?"
"They are waiting for us in the staff room. Perhaps you could tell me what this meeting is for, Minerva?"
"I have reason to believe that Mr. Potter may refuse to attend Hogwarts!"
Albus staggered in shock and Minerva quickly out-paced him to reach the staff room first. It was only two days into summer and all of the teaching staff were still present except their unfortunate Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who had abandoned the post two months ago (not that anyone could blame the man after the tragic accident that nearly took his life).
Minerva stood by the podium and waited for Albus to be seated. As soon as she had everyone's attention, she brought out the books she had purchased, sending four copies to Albus, Filius, Pomona, and Severus. Her own copy she transfigured into a blackboard - the details she wished to talk about were now reiterated in chalk form.
Several cries of disbelief and dismay resounded as they absorbed what she was showing them. Even Sybill looked horrified.
"As you can see, Hogwarts is not the premier school that we have foolishly believed it to be."
"Minerva, clearly this data must be exaggerated and even if it were not-"
"Don't try to excuse this, Albus. You had to have known that Hogwarts has failed to meet the ICW standard," Minerva practically hissed. "Some of these problems have been inherited from your predecessor, I will grant you, but I expect you to take steps to correct those issues now."
"How do you propose that I do that within the budget, let alone the Board of Governors' approval for all the changes needed?"
Minerva barely kept the derision out of her voice as she replied, "The Board's approval is technically only required for allocating the budget. Although it is customary to inform the Board of everything and accept their recommendations, it isn't a requirement. I'm certain that you can phrase things in such a way to get the funds approved." She continued thoughtfully, "As to the issue of limited funds, perhaps we could rent out the castle."
"Absolutely not-"
"I think it's a wonderful idea!" Pomona exclaimed. "We could allow people to get married on the grounds!"
"Or host a school reunion," Filius added his opinion. "I know we used to have such things."
"Certain people may be offended by such obvious fund-raising efforts. It may also offend the Ministry and hurt our annual budget-"
"Don't be ridiculous, Albus. I also think we need to hire a Curse-Breaker," Minerva stated.
"Impossible," Albus declared. "I am already aware of the source of the curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Unfortunately, it cannot be undone unless the castor is apprehended as only their wand can remove the spell without fatal consequences. Otherwise, I would have been able to remove it myself. I am afraid that the curse will remain and each new hire will be affected. We can only do our best to mitigate any potentially lethal affects of the curse."
"The curse is specifically focused on the hiring of a new Defense professor?" Filius questioned.
"Yes."
"Perhaps you should stop hiring a new professor for the position," Filius suggested logically. "Instead, a few of the current faculty could substitute a few classes. You could then hire an Assistant Professor to take over a few of our classes in turn."
Everyone blinked in shock. If it worked, it was quite genius. Minerva knew that they could certainly pull off the faculty substitution. She herself had been a Ministry informant and had gone through auror-level training. Filius had been a five-time world-wide dueling champion. Severus had always desired the Defense position and was the resident expert on the Dark Arts. Quirinus was quite the expert on Defense theory and was undeniably skilled with a wand. Septima and Pomona were both exceptionally competent in the subject as well. The only issue would be finding a potential Assistant Professor who was well-versed in all of their respective subjects.
"A new History of Magic professor is needed as well," Minerva prompted.
The conversation cycled through many issues that she had discovered. When it came to certain subjects, she handled it as delicately as she could. Sybill was still too shocked to take offense when Minerva proposed that the staff review all subjects' syllabuses together and form a new comprehensive curriculum. Severus, on the other hand, was defensive and offended without her even saying anything. Only the aspect of being allowed to teach some of the Defense classes kept him from completely loosing his temper on them. Although she would be having a private word with Albus later regarding his behavior and conduct.
At the end of the meeting she was quite satisfied with their plans. Perhaps Hogwarts' reputation was salvageable.
She should have expected the harassment for her off-hand comment. While she didn't want to lie, she wasn't certain that anyone (especially Albus) should learn of Harry's whereabouts until the boy's guardianship situation had been handled. Although she described her interrogation of the clerk and asserted her assumption that anyone who had read such harsh but painfully accurate data would reject Hogwarts, the headmaster did not seem convinced. Minerva was disgruntled by his (correct) suspicion as it meant she would not be able to see the boy again as soon as she'd like.
Minerva considered the day a victory overall even though she very much doubted any changes to Hogwarts now would sway Lily and James' son from his adamant refusal.
As she retired for the evening she realised that she had quite forgotten to ask Hagrid why he thought muggleborns were unsafe in Diagon Alley.