Harry tried to reason it out. Professor Flamel knew from the first moment she stepped in the door – no, from the moment she drew up that contract – that she would do this to Professor Umbridge.
Harry wondered about the other teachers… Maybe this was why Professor Snape wasn't as bad last year as he was in Harry's first year. A contract with severe penalties. Professor Snape was likely to read something before signing it. He was unpleasant, not stupid.
"What punishment did the contract exact on her?" Hermione asked.
"Ah. It's from the original form of Hogwarts contract, not the one in most recent use. It simply guarantees that a professor has the student's needs well in mind."
"So she didn't?"
"She intended to remain here, in disgrace, until she could claw her way back into the Ministry, I've no doubt. She intended to poison many minds and teach the things she found interesting, not the things you needed to learn."
"And the punishment?" Harry asked.
"Her magic is owed to Hogwarts for her slackness towards its students. I said it was the old form of contract. How do you think the protections here, as mysterious as they sometimes are, became as formidable as they are when under genuine states of warfare?"
Hermione shook her head.
"One version of the legendary feud between Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin holds that Salazar changed his mind about many things and became a danger to the students. The contract then in force for all the teachers killed him to protect the students."
"So she'll die?" Hermione asked, horrified at the implications for Madam Umbridge.
"No person should ever present herself to a school and not intend to teach for the benefit of the students. She worked at the Ministry for a time and knew about magical contracts. She should have read it, declined it, and left the school. That was her path to safety. She chose otherwise."
The Gryffindors were ready to leave. Watching the pink woman on the floor twitch was horrible. No, this wasn't a lesson they would forget.
"Mr. Potter?" Professor Flamel asked.
"Yes."
"Could you stay a moment?"
Harry looked to Hermione. "It's okay."
Neville was the one who asked, "Are you sure?"
Professor Flamel was very old, sometimes look a little frail (but not always), but she was the boogeyman today.
"I won't sign anything, I promise." Harry smiled a smile he didn't feel.
He walked into the room.
"Your friends can look in if they wish. I've put up a spell to keep our words private. I thought you were curious about the Dementors that attacked you on the train."
Harry walked a little faster. Yes, he was interested in anyone or anything that meant him harm.
Before they could speak, Madam Pomfrey arrived, took a look at Madam Umbridge, and floated her out of the room. She didn't even have to ask what the problem was. Maybe this wasn't the first violation of the teacher's contract she had seen... After all, Harry hadn't seen Mr. Filch in some time. Curious.
Contracts, magical contracts. This was the kind of thing they needed to learn in a culture class. Don't sign a contract without reading it. It was common sense in the Muggle world, but here it was many times worse. Madam Umbridge might not have been a good teacher, but she provided an unforgettable lesson.
"Mr. Potter?"
Harry turned from where Madam Pomfrey had been with her new patient. "Yes, Professor."
"I looked into the damage you managed upon that Dementor."
"Yes?"
"A lesser fire spell, perhaps it would falter next to the intensity of the cold a Dementor can wield. Your spell did not falter. It is still burning. I'm told the Dementor is beginning to turn to ash."
"It's been burning all this time? It's been almost two weeks."
"The Sunfire spell is an uncommon one these days. You may proved something about it, namely that if it attacks something magical, it continues to feed on the new magic rather than extinguish itself."
"But..."
"Now I have not seen that referenced in any description of that spell."
Nor had Harry.
"You've discovered, possibly, a new and messy way of bringing down the protections of a home. If Sunfire can actually survive on another source of magic, then it could be used as a wardbreaker. They exist now, but they are huge, ungainly constructions. Heavy, complicated to carve, and not easy to calibrate. If there was a single spell that could eat through magic in an otherwise protected home... If you'll think through the consequences, you'll see why I ask you to keep this development to yourself."
Harry felt shivers down the back of his neck. "Yes, Professor."
"That doesn't mean you should stop developing it. By all means you need all the protection you can get. Just think through who you tell and what you reveal. The Ministry, of course, will say nothing about a Dementor that seems to be dying. They are eagerly studying it and terrified at the same time."
"Why haven't they come to question me about what I did?" Harry asked.
"I may have removed that particular piece of knowledge from a few minds. The fire burning in the Dementor is recorded as coming from an unknown wand and being of an unknown spell. So they might try to figure out who...however, it's not actually illegal to attack or kill a Dementor. No one ever thought it possible. Let's keep things quiet, shall we?"
"Thank you, Professor."
Harry didn't want to think of what a spell like Sunfire might have done to the protections of Godric's Hall. Something had burned the Hall to the ground. Was it another spell? He'd heard something about a spell called Fiendfyre, a curse flame.
This news made Harry more aware of a possible problem with home protections. How many ways were there to break wards on a home? Certain spells, wardbreakers... Now maybe a (not so) simple spell called Ignis Solis.
He needed to start writing these things down. He was going to forget something at the rate he was going.
"Thank you, Professor."
"Off you go, Mr. Potter."
.....
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