"What's the emergency Augustina?" McGonagall inquired as she took a seat at the table that was used for staff meetings. "Is it concerning the Stone?" The other professors focused their attention on the eldest woman, who took a moment before responding.
"Yes, and no. There have been no attempts on the stone as of yet and Gringotts is still investigating to try and determine who their own culprit might be."
The Potion mistress took this opportunity to add in her own thoughts. "I imagine then that this concerns Mister Potter."
"Potter? Why, has something happened to the poor boy?" Sprout inquired, earning a sigh from Dumbledore.
"Mister Potter was involved in an incident earlier today in the third-floor corridor."
Serena, once more, interrupted, "An incident involving his Head of House." Her eyes were now firmly fixated on Grace, who chose to focus on the headmistress instead.
"Harry seems to have made his way past the initial Warding Charms that were setup to keep students away. I was escorting him away from the location."
"Through physical means."
Now the Head of Slytherin turned towards Snape, a warning flashing in her eyes. Meanwhile, the other staff looked between the two, that is until Flitwick spoke up. "Dumbledore, I am not sure what exactly transpired between them, but I am more concerned about the boy's own presence.
No first year, regardless of how talented, should have been able to ignore the compulsions setup. I would expect it to take at least a sixth or seventh year to do so. I do not wish to make unwarranted accusations, but are we sure Mister Potter himself is not the one after the stone?"
"Filius!" Minerva exclaimed, unwilling to even consider the idea.
But The Charms professor merely raised a hand in interruption, "I simply find it odd. A student showing up claiming to be the long-lost child of a family with no history having him. One that is very talented, claims to have no Magical upbringing, and can push through defensive Wards."
Dumbledore shook her head, "I assure you, Filius, that Mister Potter is not seeking the Philosopher Stone, he told me so himself."
That statement was enough to return Riddle's own attention towards her boss, "He told you so? How was he aware of it in the first place?"
Previous accusations had been forgotten, as all the occupants now focused entirely on the headmistress, who gave a mental groan at the slip up. After all her warnings towards Harry and his family and it was her who made the first true mistake. The situation was more than a little embarrassing.
Still, the truth might make things easier in the long run. "What I am about to say does not leave this room, do I make myself clear?" Upon seeing the nods, she continued her explanation. "Mister Potter is not from here, as many of you have guessed. He is from a different universe and from the future."
Silence fell on the room, an unnerving, disbelieving, incredulous, silence.
"Surely, you are joking."
She shook her head, "I assure you Minerva, I am not. Where he came from, he was in his fifth year, which is why you have all likely seen how natural he is in various subjects. Another rather interesting difference is there appears to be no numerical discrepancies between men and women in his world."
Flitwick looked intrigued, while Snape was more disbelieving. "And you just took his word at it?"
"That a young man who received an invitation matching this information from Hogwarts was found in Diagon Alley all alone. One that looks very similar to both Lily and James Potter, who have both sworn to me that they had no son, is who he claims to be? Yes."
"James could have had a child with another Witch." Sprout pointed out but was quickly turned down.
"I spoke to him about this, he assured me this was not the case. Most importantly I spoke with Harry personally, and I am rather confident in my ability to know when an eleven-year-old child is lying to me."
Riddle abruptly stood from her seat, glaring down at the headmistress. "Why wasn't I told?"
"We," Minerva corrected effortlessly, "we should have been told about his situation."
Dumbledore, however, stared right back without so much as a flinch. "Those who needed to be informed were informed, those being the Potters. As far as I am aware no one else needed to be involved in his personal life to such an extent. We agreed that it would be better to keep attention away from him and his situation to give him a normal life and privacy. I also wanted to avoid anyone harassing him about future knowledge which, until now, seemed irrelevant."
"Until now?" The Potion's professor inquired curiously.
"Harry clearly knows about the Stone, and the defenses set up for it. This can only mean his alternative version went through a similar situation albeit, I suspect, with a different thief."
Flitwick cleared his throat, "Perhaps we could ask the boy who it was? Even if it does not lead us directly to the culprit it may help in doing so. I still do not completely agree with having it, and its protections, so close to students, Augustina."
"I do not believe it to be the same person, which was why I stressed to him not to reveal anything from the future. His world is remarkably different from ours. It would do us no good to spend our time trying to prove one person guilty when they are not."
"If they are not guilty then they have nothing to hide." Snape easily countered, earning a sigh from the older woman.
Augustina rose from her spot, making her way over to a window and gazing out into the, still bright, sky. "Harry has been most insistent that Grace Riddle is the culprit."
Said woman merely stared at the eldest's form, processing the information, and ignoring the comment made by Serena a moment later, "Perhaps he is not as far from the truth as we thought then hm?"
"Regardless," The headmistress spoke once more, interrupting any potential arguments, "that is not entirely why I called you all here. It has come to my attention that a student has received several bruises from a staff member."
The mood in the room shifted, as all fell silent at the change in tone. "I believe this goes without saying but Hogwarts is, and always has been, a place for children to receive an education, to learn and grow socially, academically, and culturally. We, as professors and overseers, have been given the wonderful opportunity to guide them through these years. Which is why I will only say this once, if I ever hear of a student being harmed by an adult on these grounds again, termination of employment will be the least of their concerns"
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