Harry's face suddenly morphed into a look of perfect innocence, and his voice grew whimsical, "Of course, if you are concerned that you are receiving complaints from the parents of students that were nearly attacked in their rooms, I'm sure it wouldn't be any bother to involve the DMLE if further 'attacks' upon your charges continued. They could investigate all sorts of complaints, if you wish, while they were here."
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed but he couldn't rebut that comment. Harry could tell that he had struck a nerve when he twisted the Headmaster's words back onto him.
The Headmaster let the silence hang for several moments before he finally nodded slowly in response, "I believe it is time for classes to start for the day. If I recall correctly, Slytherin Fourth Years have transfiguration, with Professor McGonagall."
Harry nodded in acknowledgement and then turned and descended the staircase.
Neither Harry, nor Dumbledore was aware that each had a frown on their face as they reflected on the conversation. Harry's was from the similarities of this world's Dumbledore to his own, even if Harry was honest enough to admit he couldn't ascribe motive to the Headmaster yet.
The frown on Dumbledore's face was because he remembered the last time he had a seen a dark haired Slytherin with that air of confidence, bordering on arrogance at the same time Dumbledore couldn't help wondering at the true parentage of Ares Flamel. Harry walked into Professor McGonagall's classroom shortly after the class had started. McGonagall was already giving her standard start of term lecture when he opened the door.
Harry was distracted at the time, deep in thought about the interaction with Dumbledore that he had just experienced.
In some ways the discussion had gone exactly like the Flamels had predicted.
Nicholas had been correct in stating that Dumbledore would likely apologize for the Stone, but he hadn't believed that Dumbledore would admit to being wrong or to everything he had done without being confronted.
Perenelle had been the one to urge Harry to confront Dumbledore about having the Stone in the school of children, using it as bait without their knowledge, and protecting it with such feeble protections. Harry had verbally wondered why they ought to do that.
He had then discovered that Nicholas wasn't the only one who could grin like a prankster. Perenelle's expression had topped even her husband's when she had told him that it would drive Dumbledore crazy, when he not only had to wonder about how much they Flamels knew but, most importantly, how they knew what they knew.
Harry had gone to the meeting with Dumbledore fully prepared for a fight. He had expected Dumbledore to use legilimency on him.
It threw Harry off that Dumbledore hadn't done it at all. Even when Harry hadn't expanded on answers he'd given. Harry was also very careful never to tell an actual lie, responding with questions or misdirections. And if it felt a little good to twist Dumbledore's beard…. well.. that was purely a side effect.
What they hadn't expected was for Dumbledore to be so interested in Harry's familial background. Both Nicholas and Perenelle had said that Dumbledore might mention it but nothing more than that. However Dumbledore had pried and poked, clearly wanting to know more about Harry, and definitely trying to get his family name.
Harry once more hadn't lied, he'd given the headmaster honest answers, even if it would serve the old man no good in tracking Harry's family name down.
Harry was pulled abruptly from his thoughts by two things. The first of which was McGonagall's voice directed at him. She had stopped her lecture to fix Harry with a glare. "So glad you decided to join us, Mr. Flamel. Five points from Slytherin."
People did not underestimate Minerva McGonagall. Not on purpose. Everyone knew what to expect of her, the teacher of Transfiguration in Hogwarts, Head of Gryffindor House, and Deputy Headmistress; the right hand of Albus Dumbledore in managing the school. She was also known as fair in discipline, in that she tended to treat all houses evenly. If anything, she tended to be harder on her own house than the three others.
Professor McGonagall received a special kind of respect from the people familiar with this unspoken fact, mostly purebloods and halfbloods. Those raised in the muggle world simply respected her strict teaching demeanor.
Harry froze for several seconds, but only heard McGonagall's address in the periphery. He had felt his magic surge inside him the moment he had stepped in the classroom. Welling up inside him in a demand for release. It caught him off guard because the surges had only been happening since he arrived on this world, and only when he got angry. This was different. Harry didn't know how to describe it. He took a few seconds to take a deep breath and tamp down on his magic. Harry wondered if he was getting better at controlling the surges, or just more experienced.
When he had discussed this phenomenon, Perenelle had said it was probably the volatility of his magic and would remain so until it was balanced, but she had also said that they had never encountered someone who'd been magically reverted to so young an age before, so it could simply be his magic as it matured and grew. Left unspoken by all was that he would soon be faced with a second round of maturation with his magic, and no one knew what sort of consequences this might bring.
When Harry had stated that he never remembered his magic acting like that in his old world. Perenelle had told him that it probably had, he just wasn't really aware of it. Because he had been older she thought that he was simply more knowledgeable and thus more aware of his magic. When she had asked if he had ever performed magic in his old world, that came across as surprisingly powerful when compared to other things he had done. When he had to confess that occasionally he had. She had nodded and said that was normal.
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