Chapter 115: The Runes of Reparation
"Regardless, the only reason he waited as long as he did, was because he needed them to admit in the presence of others what they've been doing to him since they were eleven years old. And yes, the youngest Weasely has been just as involved as the other two since then. She wasn't even here but she was sending her brother letters full of tips on things he could say or do. She was only ten then and hadn't even met him. But she was already using him for what she could get from him. Well, sort of."
"They fell right into his trap because they honestly thought him too stupid to lay any kind of a trap for them. To be fair, they thought the audience would work in their favor when they chose to confront him here. Them choosing a time when Albus was away, worked more to Harry's benefit than they realize. Then or now." Both Sybil and Severus looked confused by that.
She smirked lightly as she admitted, "Harry told me afterwards the judgement needs time to settle into it's role once the caller has specified what actions he or she is asking for judgment over. The rune decides what behavior deserves punishment as well as what form that punishment should take but it needs time to fully integrate itself into the role. He deliberately glossed over the fact that anyone else who knew the ways of the old magic could've intervened on the behalf of the punished during the first week of judgement to lessen the severity of the punishment as well as what behaviors were undesirable."
"While no one but they could've removed the runes they now sport, the conditions for removal could've been modified as well. And both Minerva and Albus would've lobbied hard for him to water things down to the point where the runes would serve no purpose at all. Like maybe spending a single day not saying or doing anything bad to or about him. You know as well as I, they'd have had him set conditions so minimal the Triad would've gotten rid of the marks within a week while learning nothing of substance and they'd be back to their old tricks now. And they would have had him serving the punishment he had decreed for the Triad as penance for daring to think he had the right to punish them at all. You know that as well as I do. As does he."
"That's if any of them could actually perform the ritual and Magic had found him guilty of course. If not, they'd have found some other way to disfigure him so he could suffer for their hurt feelings. And no one would have said a word about it. Because when he marked them no one believed they were guilty of the crimes he accused them of. No one."
"Now because they have been in place for around a month, they're set. As are the conditions that go with them. Nothing can change them now. He also confessed he chose to do it then because he doesn't know if Albus knows the rules of Judgement magic or not. By choosing to do it when he knew it was unlikely the old man would notice and interfere in time to modify his terms, he figured he had his best chance to neutralize them as people he had to watch out for."
She smirked as she shrugged. "Plus, this gives them months to get used to being marked before anyone outside the school finds out about it. Well, at least before anyone outside the Castle finds out the marking was a real event and not just a fairy tale or wishful thinking on the part of the students."
"I see. But Sybil, what do you think he is up to? You said he is on a mission but not what that mission might be," Severus asked turning to her.
She shrugged. "I'm not sure but considering what he's already done, I'd hazard a guess and say, Vengeance. A lot of people have done wrong by him and they've been getting away with it for a very long time. Their bad acts are so ingrained into our thinking, we no longer consider whether or not they had the right to do what they did. Nor do we question them about the things they say or do any more because we're used to it."
'And even if we know we wouldn't get away with doing or saying the same things, we know they will. So we don't even try to stop them. I think Harry intends to put a stop to it. To make us grow up and stop making excuses for good people getting hurt for no reason but that they got in the way of someone we think is unpunishable. To make us stop being sheep. I guess you could say."
"I know for a fact he was more than hacked off over being forced to participate last year for the amusement of the masses. He was ridiculed and slandered both in class and out. But we did nothing. He was even slandered in the press and no one did anything. He was hacked off royally over the whole mess. For being booed by the crowd because he chose to speak to the dragon and explain to her why he was in her nesting area. They wanted bloodshed, Severus. Irma."
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