Wet Clay

"Dumbledore really has put the Order of the Phoenix into action..." Barnaby thought as he sat on a bench by the Black Lake, recalling how the teachers had been watching him during his interaction with Sprout. "That would explain the Weasleys' behavior this summer."

Following the headmaster's orders, there was no doubt about it.

"He's letting all this happen and is worried about my reaction, it's ridiculous!"

Barnaby only had one absolute line that no one was to cross at Hogwarts: his family.

Hagrid, Fang, Sanshi, Tonks, his mother…

The line was clear, and while he felt disappointed in how Hogwarts was changing, since it was the place where he grew up, ultimately, it didn't mean he was going to sacrifice himself for the school.

Yes, it hurt that they had actually put him under surveillance in the greenhouse, but he still understood that those actions were as members of that order, not individual decisions.

Barnaby leaned forward and rubbed his face with both hands in exasperation.

"Now I have to worry about some potential moral kidnapping."

He wasn't even in the mood to join others for today's Quidditch match.

It's not like Umbridge could do anything to the sport, right?

Well, apparently, now she could.

After clearing his thoughts a little, Barnaby decided to head to the kitchens for something to eat, and he bumped into one of the Weasley twins. Yes, it was strange to see only one of them, without the other's company.

Though the spontaneous conversation that followed…

"A lifetime ban from Quidditch?" Barnaby looked Fred up and down, wondering if he was pulling his leg.

"It's true!" Fred assured him, lacking his usual sense of humor. "Not just me, Harry's been banned too! But Draco was in the fight as well and they didn't say a thing to him!"

"You do realize you don't have to take what that woman said seriously, right?"

"What do you mean?" Fred looked at him, not fully understanding. "Even if I don't like it, she's with the Ministry."

"She's part of the Ministry, but she IS NOT the Ministry of Magic (which she seems unable to differentiate)," Barnaby emphasized with a wave of his hand. "At most, she can ban both of you from playing Quidditch this year, but not for life!"

Fred suddenly felt enlightened.

"Because she can only teach Defense Against the Dark Arts for a year at Hogwarts."

In fact, once she was gone, who would care about what she'd said?

Though he and George had been questioning whether it was even necessary to finish Hogwarts, it wasn't like Barnaby knew that, but he understood the point.

"That's right," Barnaby nodded. "Besides, do you think she's going to go through an endless and tedious wave of bureaucratic paperwork to even attempt making something like that valid? And these things require solid justification—what's she going to say, that she's bitter? It wouldn't even be possible unless they assigned you a lifelong supervisor just to prevent you from playing Quidditch."

Yes, Fred could now understand that his concerns weren't actually real.

Barnaby had conveyed it well between the lines: Let the storm pass, and no one would remember or care. They could play again next year as if nothing had ever happened.

"I've got to tell Harry!" Fred said as he rushed back the way he'd come. "Thanks, Barnaby!"

Barnaby waved slowly as he watched him go, then turned to tickle the pear.

"I guess the twins have joined the Order of the Phoenix too," he thought casually. "I doubt their parents would do anything to resist it, I just hope they don't drag Ginny into that organization. The girl's got a bright future ahead of her."

As for Umbridge…

If the curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position was that powerful, he should hurry up and let that pink toad experience it soon.

Was there a way to reinforce the curse?

Barnaby grabbed some churros with chocolate, and as he was leaving, another thought occurred to him.

"Wait a second. Now that Fred mentioned it, is it just me, or has Harry been avoiding me this year?" He blinked at this sudden realization that had escaped him until now. "Ron I understand, Hermione... I'm glad she's leaving me alone, more than glad. But Harry shouldn't be acting this way unless..."

Dumbledore.

"I think it's because of that 'unstable element' thing the professors were talking about," Sanshi commented from the shadows.

"You mean I'm a 'bad influence' on Harry, from Dumbledore's point of view?" Barnaby bit into his churro in irritation. "As if he has any room to talk. Unlike him, I'm not the one degenerating Hogwarts to a level that would have the founders rising from their graves."

"Maybe you could…?"

"No, Sanshi, I'm not bringing the founders of Hogwarts back just to give the current headmaster a beating,"—as good as that sounded, it was wrong to disturb the dead.

And there was no such thing as perfect resurrection, even with the magic inherited from his mother's side, all of it carried some sort of terrible price.

Otherwise, he might have brought his mother back.

"Besides, it's not like Harry is that easily influenced, right?"

Sanshi said nothing, but the uncomfortable feeling he projected through their connection was answer enough.

"It's not that bad," Barnaby said, though with a tone less confident than before. "He's grown, learned a lot about the magical side, and should have better judgment by now..."

"He believed Umbridge's ban without question, hasn't tried to appeal that 'sentence' she gave him, hasn't even bothered to find out if someone like her really has that much power in the Ministry."

"Most of the people in the stadium probably believed it too!"

"It's been years since he came to Hogwarts, and he still hasn't shown much interest in the Potter family lineage, aside from when he passively gets details from others, like when he found his father's trophy in that case," Sanshi continued. "And from what I remember, Harry mentioned in passing last year that Dumbledore still has access to his accounts, even though by law, Harry should've completed the remaining transfer this summer. Do you think he stood up for himself and did it?"

"Maybe he was caught up with his near-expulsion?" Barnaby's voice was barely a whisper at this point. "Surely they handled the process in the Ministry department since the two of them were right there."

Probably...?

"You don't sound very convinced by your own defense," Sanshi noted, laughing.

Barnaby dropped his shoulders in resignation.

Who was he kidding?

Harry was like wet clay in Dumbledore's hands, and if Snape's words could be trusted, he was almost a copy of James Potter.

Only Harry didn't enjoy bullying anyone.

Yes, he'd managed to push himself a little with the help of friends and get some decent grades, especially given the important exam they had this year, but when it came to questioning things and thinking for himself...

"He's got some kind of hero complex, doesn't he?"

"Meh, I guess with the prophecy he received, you end up developing ideas," Sanshi shrugged, not really caring too much.

Right, he'd almost forgotten about that prophecy...

Darn Trelawney.