Chapter Text
Severus scowled at his boss.
Albus had called a staff meeting just to complain about the Potter brat's failure to answer his official Hogwarts Letter.
Severus was of the opinion that if the boy didn't want to come, he should be left alone. It would save them all a great deal of trouble.
"The last owl was sent to the primary school Mr Potter is supposedly attending. Yes Professor Trelawney?" Dumbledore gazed over at her raised hand.
"What exactly is a primary school?" The crazy lady asked.
"It's a place where muggles send their children to learn their basic skills. Counting, spelling and reading." Filius explained.
The woman sank back into her armchair.
"The response was quite interesting." Dumbledore continued after the little interruption.
"Apparently, the headmaster has been struggling to find a school in the muggle world that would take Harry Potter into their September intake. It would seen the boy is quite a handful. The headmaster's asked us to come and visit them so they can explain the care plan they have been using to handle the boy."
Severus' scowl deepened. "I say we leave him. If he's such a nuisance that they have to pamper him, we won't want him here."
Albus' disapproving stare lingered on the youngest staff member for a moment, admonishing him, before continuing his speech.
"Severus and Filius will accompany me for this visit. We shall leave at ten tomorrow morning. When we return, we'll let you know what our ideas are and we shall begin to formulate a plan for the upcoming school year. Minera, I'll leave you in charge of the school for the day, and you can sort out substitutes for the classes thay Severus and Filius will be missing. That is all."
Severus glared at his colleagues as he swept out of the staff room. He despised Albus for making him go with him, but he had to as the man was his manager and boss.
The primary school was a pretty little thing, with pale fuschia paint on the outside. Inside, it was nice and warm, with murals of a sunny park day painted on the wall. Miniature coats lined the hallway along with bookings hung up on coat pegs.
The woman who was taking the trip on the tour, eventually brought them back to reception.
"If you just wait here for Mr Sears, he'll be with you shortly." She went behind the desk after indicating for the three men to sit in the seats in the reception.
They were comfortable blue sofa chairs, and Dumbledore pulled out a lemon drop to suck on.
The reception was quiet for a while, and then a short boy with dark hair waltzed into the reception.
"Back again dear?" The receptionist asked.
"What happened this time?" Severus noted her kind tone
"He's a fucking skank." The boy stated. "Sent me outside for drinking my water. It's my right to have a drink of water. He said I had to ask for any type of drink, but I'm not asking to drink some water. I told him that I would just leave if he didn't want me to drink. So he told me to come down here after I called him a fucktard." The boy shrugged, as if he hadn't just uttered some foul words about his teacher.
"Wait here for Mr Sears then." The receptionist handed Harry a clipboard and a crayon, and then pressed an intercom buzzer on the desk and spoke into it "Your eleven o'clock is here, as well as a cheeky young man who's been forbidden from returning to class until next week. I've just recieved an email confirming this." The receptionist wagged a finger at the boy and he grinned at her.
A side door opened, and Albus stood to recieve the distinguished gentleman who opened it.
"Oh dear. Looks like we're going to have to call your aunt again Harry." The man spoke.
Severus' eyes bugged out of his head. That was Harry Potter? What a rude and ungrateful little twit.
"I don't care." The now identified Harry scoffed. "What's she going to do? Hit me? She's not allowed. I can do my work from wherever. It's just that Mr Dendy said I'm not allowed to drink my water in his class. What kind of fucker says that? He's fucked up in the head." Harry vented.
Jonathan Sears nodded along with his student. "Harry. Harry, what have we said about that kind of language? It's not acceptable in any way. Please don't call Mr Dendy that." Harry scowled and scuffed the sole of his shoe along the floor.
"Mr Dendy says that you're not allowed back in the classroom until next week. You'll go home today and think about what's happened. Then tomorrow when you come in, you can go straight to isolation with Mrs Harvey. Sound like a plan?"
The child whined. "I don't want to go into isolation. I want to learn with the other kids." He moaned.
Jonathan didn't falter as he said " You have control over your actions. You have to face the consequences of your actions. You didn't make a good decision, and now you are having to face the consequences of that bad decision. It's either isolation where you can get help with the work assigned, or suspension until next week. You choose."
Harry began to cry, and threw the clipboard at the chair he had been sitting in. "It's not fair!!" He sobbed. "I just wanted a FUCKING DRINK!!" Harry screamed. He picked up the clipboard and snapped it in two over his knee.
Jonathan swooped in and brought Harry to his chest. "We don't damage school property. That doesn't belong to you. That's not okay. But you know that if you need a hug, you can come and ask for one."
Harry sobbed in to the man's chest before ripping himself out of the man's hold, eyes red and snot encrusting itself around his nose.
"I'm not going into isolation tomorrow. You can fuck yourself. I'm going back to class and drinking my water." Harry stormed back the way he had originally come.
"Then you've made the decision that you will be suspended until next Monday. Are you happy with that choice? You have one last chance to turn around and apologise and you can come in tomorrow and have a nice calm day with Mrs Harvey." Jonathan called after his upset student.
Harry didn't turn around, but he did stick his middle finger up at the principle as he continued walking.
Albus choked on his breath at that. How dare the child do that to his teacher!!
"Right then, you're going into isolation right now until your aunt comes, and then suspension for the next three days. Mrs Wilson if you wouldn't mind." Jonothan indicated to the child's retreating back.
The receptionist- Mrs Wilson- dashed around the desk to catch the student and deliver him to where necessary.
Jonathan sighed. "My eleven o'clock?" He asked.
Albus nodded.
"Is it like that everyday with him?" The old man queried.
Jonathan led them into his bright and spacious office.
"With Harry? Not everyday, but more often than not something will go wrong. Drinks?"
The man indicated to the seats in front of his desk, and grabbed some high end bottled water from his mini fridge.
He handed them out to the teachers, and sat down at his large office chair.
"Harry is a good kid, but he's had a bit of a hard time. He has conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. This affects his ability to manage his anger. As you saw out there, any little thing can set him off. With Harry, you have to manage each day as it comes. We have a long term plan for him educationally, but that sees him scraping a pass. In the classes he likes, he puts in the effort, but he needs encouragement to put in any effort at all in the things he doesn't love. We reached a compromise with him, because he absolutely hates running, that on P.E days, he wouldn't be forced to do track and field. But he has to exercise, so a teaching assistant accompanies him to do gymnastics. Harry is very good at gymnastics, and he competed in the regional under twelves rhythmic floor competition and came second."
Jonathan watched the horrified faces of the trio in front of him. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so serious.
Harry was a wonderful boy, he had just been dealt a rough hand. He needed them to understand the importance of tailoring the teaching to Harry. It wasn't pampering Jim as much as wanting the best outcome for him. Harry really had has it rough the past few years, and so actually giving him the opportunity to make choices for himself- even if they weren't the best choices- was actually giving Harry a lot more than these outsiders probably realised.
Until recently, Harry and his cousin had been removed from his aunt's custody and placed in foster care until the woman had divorced her abusive husband. Jonathan and the teachers at Willow Primary school still weren't sure what had happened to Harry at the foster home he'd been sent to. All they knew, was that he hadn't been the same since. He and his cousin had been separated, and for the four years Petunia had been fighting Vernon in court, Harry had stayed with some sketchy foster carers. When the boy had been returned to Little Whinging four years after he'd left, he was an unrecognisable mess, and the boy they saw today was a shell of the happy child he had once been.
"It's incredible to see the transformation in Harry when he does gymnastics, he is graceful and concentrates. He loves art class too, so we've found that incorporating art into his everyday lessons helps him concentrate. Another class he loves is music. So, Harry gets two free music lessons a week to keep him calm because he suffers from anxiety and PTSD." Jonathan pulled out some papers for the teachers of the posh boarding school Harry would be starting in just under five months time.
Albus scanned the files with increasing dread. Court ordered therapy, missed attendance forms, suspension forms, weeks and months spent in isolation.
The boy was a wreck. He wasn't sure how they would manage this.
He wasn't sure if they could manage this.
"It looks like a lot, but I will show you the methods we have in place to help Harry and the teachers and students around him." Jonathan Sears looked at the men in front of him. They had been silent in shock and he couldn't blame them. It was a lot to take in.
"Harry deserves every chance at a good education. He will do so much good with what he has. It's only right that we nurture him to be his best. So, let me show you how to support him. We dont give upon our students, and Harry has had so many hive up on him. He needs to know that he's worthy of going to school. He's worthy of learning with his friends and peers, and he's worthy of your patience."
Severus sighed.
They were going to be here for a very long time.