Published at 30th of November 2019 10:41 pm

Chapter 82: Flitwick's Complain

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"The boy is a genius. And absolute genius." Flitwick complained as he chugged another glass of Firewhiskey from Minerva collection. One of the good things about coming here and talking with Minerva. She always had good Firewhiskey hidden somewhere in her office.

"Then why do you look so glum Filius? Are you not happy with his progress?" Minerva asked curiously and Flitwick sighed.

"I'm indeed happy with his progress. Immensely so in fact and I'm proud of the things he had achieved and will achieve in the future. But… I fell so old and useless every after every session that I spend teaching him."

"Why is that Filius?" Minerva asked so concern and he knew why that was. It was not often that his colleagues saw his down like this.

Years of torment that he suffered as a child had made him thick skinned and nowadays he was hardly phased by small things like envy.

But he was envious of his student.

It took his a lot of time to come to terms with his feelings but he now realized that he was indeed envious of Harry Potter.

And why shouldn't he be.

"The boy learns at a speed far faster than any other person I've ever seen." He said slowly "In fact, the boy has become so good nowadays that he is able to match me spell for spell."

"Do you know how long it took me to reach the level where I could throw spells as fast as I could?"

Minerva didn't ask but he knew she wanted to know so he answered anyway.

"Decades." He replied bitterly "Decades of hard work and perseverance. And the boy was able to do it within a few months."

"When I was a child, I knew that the world was an unfair place. That not all of us are born equal. But I learned to endure. I learned to look past such feelings in order to look at the brighter side of things."

"But every time I go to teach young Harry. Every time I see the ease at which he learns things. Every time he achieves a feat that took me years of hard work to do, I am reminded of how unfair this world is and such thoughts make me feel so… hollow."

"I know should not feel like this Minerva. Believe me, I do. And I try my best to smile and encourage Mr Potter instead of letting him show how much his growth affects me. But it is what it is."

"What makes me feel worse is that I know that as a teacher I should not feel envious of my own student. And that makes me think that I'm not suitable for this task of teaching young Harry."

Minerva quietly filled his glass and he emptied it without another word.

Despite the fact that he never showed it, he was immensely grateful to Minerva for holding these talking sessions with him even if this was just a way for Dumbledore to keep an eye on his Claw.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Minerva looking sympathetically at him.

"It's alright Filius. We're humans. And it's in our nature to be imperfect."

"Thanks Minerva" he said and gave a nod to his older colleague.

In moments like this, he could see why the Headmaster trusted her so much and felt so free to leave the school in her capable hands whenever he had to go and attend a meeting somewhere else.

"Would it be possible to ask Headmaster to take some time out of his schedule to teach Mr Potter?" he asked with some hope because at this moment, he felt like he did not deserve the privilege to teach someone as talented as young Harry.

"You know he can't do that Filius." Minerva replied "He is already too busy with his three jobs as it is. Some times he's not even able to perform all of his duties as a Headmaster, leaving me to fill in for him. Him teaching Mr Potter is… unfeasible."

"But that's where I think you're wrong Minerva. You must understand that Harry is unlike any other student I've ever seen in Hogwarts. I can already tell that he'll be a very important part of our community in the future. And I think that you can you."

"We do not discriminate between our students Filius." Minerva said calmly but he could see how she didn't instantly reject his proposal.

"I know. But you must understand that not all students are equal either Minerva. And treating Harry as a normal student will only hamper his growth."

"Filius I…"

"Minvera." He interrupted "Albus is an old man. I know we all wish that he wasn't but he is. And no one stays forever in this mortal world."

"One day he'll leave this world, just like we all will. Wouldn't it be better for him and for all of us to have a successor that would carry on his will and his ideals in the future when he does."

"I know that his job as a Supreme Mugwump and the Chief Warlock are important and so is his duty as the Headmaster but having a successor that'll carry on his will in the future is just as important."

"Think about it Minerva." He pleaded. He knew that this was a ploy to get Harry a more capable teacher than him but he also believed that nurturing Harry would be very important for their future.

For all of their futures.

Minerva took a sip of the firewhiskey and let out a sigh "You make a good point Filius. Perhaps I'll talk with Albus see what he thinks about this."

"You do that Minerva." He said with a smile "And if nothing else, we could always call them the Dark Slayer duo."

They both chuckled at the weak joke before he raised the cup in the air.

"For the future." He said with a smile.

"For the future." Minerva said with a rare indulgent smile of her own before they finished their glasses.

—————

* Daphne came to learn from Harry.

"Whatever you've learned about magic throughout your life. Forget about all of it as it is unlikely that such knowledge would only hamper you with what I'm about to teach you."

Daphne frowned at those words, not understanding what he really meant by that but nodded anyway.

He smiled at her nod and shook his head "You'll understand the reason behind my words soon enough."

With those words, her tuition classes with Harry Potter started.

And by the end of the class, she had probably learned more about magic from him than she had from anyone else in her entire life.

And she could tell that his words were not meaningless because he showed her live examples after every explanation, using magic in a way that others would consider impossible.

After all, wasn't she taught as a child that Wizards and witches couldn't perform magic without a proper wand.

She now understood why he would tell her to forget all that she had learned.

Because whatever she had learned, whatever she had been taught by her father and by the magical society was wrong.

Well, not really wrong but not totally right either.

She could now see why he was so better at magic than others.

She also realized that it would take her a lot of time to get as good at controlling her magic as him so she promised to start the exercises as soon as possible.

Because if Hermione could do it, then she could do it as well.

"So all I have to do is try to push and pull this paper with my magic. Even if it doesn't work." She asked incredulously.

"Yes. You have to do it until it work. I know this is boring work but that how you start." He said with a shrug, not giving her any encouragement at all.

He really was a sh*t of a teacher, wasn't he.

"Abusing me in your mind won't help you, you know." His words gave her a shock and she quickly averted her gaze, not trying to remember how he slipped inside her mind last time without he even knowing.

He chucked at her actions, as if there was anything funny about reading someone's mind without their permission.

"I know what you're thinking and no, I did not read your mind to know that you were insulting me in your mind. It was clearly written in your face so I had no need for it in the first place."

She frowned at her words. Telling her, the ice queen of Slytherin, that her face was readable was one of the worst insult anyone could give her.

"And I don't make a habit of reading someone's mind either. That time when I did was a one time event though I think you can understand the necessity behind my action. You're a smart girl after all."

She gave a nod at that, not wanting to say anything to him at this moment.

"I know that the exercise sound boring as hell and trust me, it is. But that's how we all started and I don't know any other exercise to start with. Although you could always try to come up with something yourself. Still, once you complete the minimum requirement, you'll be ready to learn the more advanced stuff."

She gave another nod at that and stood up in order to leave.

"You know. You can stay if you want. I don't think either Hermione or Penelope would mind your presence."

"They may not but the students in my house will. And I may have joined your group but I don't want to be estranged by the rest of my house just yet." She said and left the room before remembering that she was still under the influence of the time turner and that there should be another Daphne of the past walking around in the halls with her friends.

With a sigh she went back to the room and sat down with Harry.

It seemed like she would have to tolerate his smug face for the next three hours.

Until then, she would work on the new exercises she had been given.

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