It was six months to the date that the wizard had lost two of the mostimportant people in his life. Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk looking at their pictures, their smiling faces waving back at him, no sorrow or pain in their expressions not knowing what fate awaited them. He wasn't arrogant enough to take the blame for what had happened, but it was a travesty all the same. The thought of how many times they had been in this very space together made his heart weep. However, the opening of his office door drew the old wizard out of his private moments.
"Albus we have got to do something," Professor Mcgonnagal told the headmaster as she strolled into his office, looking around just to make sure that they were alone. She was obviously upset about something and Dumbledore had a suspicion about what it was, and he was not very keen on hearing it. She had been against young Harry being placed in the muggles' home from the very beginning, yes it was she who had known it was a horrible idea and had made it her job to check up on the little boy, and report back with everything the Dursleys did wrong. "I went to check on him, and the poor boy is sick! He is raging with fever and they aren't doing anything! Not a thing! His bed is a cardboard box in a closet! Albus I know you had reason for putting him in that home but it just cannot continue. The boy is going to die if we do not do something, babies do not just get better on their own! Unfortunately, magic cannot accomplish that! And I didn't want to bring it up, but can you imagine what would happen if James' parents knew!" At that Dumbledore turned sharply towards Mcgonagal, who had stopped her pacing to stare Albus down. "They do not even know Harry exists Minerva," he said quietly with his head held down, seemingly upset over the whole situation and not exactly sure what to do about it. Mcgonagal's face got red at hearing this, as she had assumed that they had never been given the opportunity to have guardianship over their grandson, but she had also assumed they knew of him. How could no one have told them? My instincts must be getting a tad off, she thought to herself.
"How could they not know? The boy is their grandson. I mean Albus, the boy is royalty, how could they not know! And even more he is in line for the throne….but of course you know that." She said with a large sweep of her hand, knowing that Albus would know all the relevant facts, he always knew them, just never revealed them to anyone else.
"James did not want them to know, Minerva" Dumbledore said quietly, not even looking at her anymore. But he knew that her face was properly shocked. He himself had been against the concealment, but had reluctantly agreed. "James did not want his son to grow up with the publicity that the royal line entailed. And his parents never approved of Lily. Not many knew that though, everyone just assumed that they would accept her since she was pretty and wonderfully bright. But to everyone's disappointment James' parents thought Lily was beneath them, she was muggle born after all. To be honest I am not even sure they would recognize Harry, at least as anything they would want. They may totally disregard him as being their own blood. Royalty is a fickle thing I tell you. The responsibility, the fame, and with the pure power that Harry has, I thought it was best for him to be away from all of it. He is already known as the boy who lived, adding on royalty and knowledge of the power he posseses may just be too much. A child should be able to grow up as a child, with fun and laughter, not stress and obligations. James certainly couldn't handle it, and he did not want his son to have it either. It was one is his last wishes to me, that I never tell them."
"But Albus come now. I would rather see Harry dealing with all that, then dead. I agree that we don't need another arrogant Mr. Potter or Mr. Black, good heavens knows I will be happy if we never again have such…..youthful and energetic students again." Although the twinkling in her eye obviously revealed that she had been not all together unfond of the boys. God knows she missed them, and would never believe that young Black had done what he was accused of.
Albus thought about all that had occurred. Yes, Harry was far better off growing up away from all the publicity. However there was another side to think about. Harry would also grow up not knowing his prophesy, and how powerful he was. He wouldn't learn until much later how to harness the power in him, and the question had to be posed of whether or not muggles with no experience could control a child with power that rivaled Merlin himself?
After a couple minutes of silence, Dumbledore finally spoke, meanwhile McGonagal just stood knowing that Albus was weighing all the options. "I will go and talk to the King and Queen, and I will have you keep your eye on Harry. If his condition worsens then we will take him away, and bring him to madam pomfrey, but I am warning you it is only to be done if he is in danger of dying. I do not want that boy taken away, just to be brought back because the king and queen couldn't handle the news! It had been my hope for his aunt and uncle to accept him at some point."
Minerva felt as thought she had won a personal battle. Truth be told she was always fond of Mr. Potter, otherwise known as James Percival Henry Alexander Potter-Kensington. Not many people knew that James Potter was the "Potter" heir to the throne of the most powerful royalty and the purest line of blood. James had entered Hogwarts being quite a normal boy, the royals had made sure that pictures of James had been kept at a minimal level, so many people did not even know what their future king looked like. Even his guards were on strict poly juice potions, concealed looking as other Hogwarts students. He just grew up being a boy, and Minerva knew that it had made all the difference. He had come to Hogwarts happy to escape the pressures of life. However, duty was always on his mind. His friends thought he left every weekend to go home and see his siblings but in reality he stayed at the castle being tutored in all things that the future crown would have to know. The Potter-Kensington line traced back to Merlin, and as descendent from Gryfindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Minerva actually fancied the royal family too. They considered themselves above pettiness of Voldemort, not choosing a side at all. Voldemort had realized early on not to mess with a family that had children that were more powerful then him by the age of 5. They had come to an understanding of sorts, and since Voldemort had done most of his terrorizing outside the magic world, the royal family had felt comfortable staying out of it until the wizard had dared to attack there only son. It still was unknown if Voldemort himself knew who he was attacking that fateful night. Minerva could only hope that they wouldn't take the same hands off tactic when it came to their Grandson…..