Custodarium by Tina48

Chapter 24

It was Friday, the 11th of March – exactly eight days until the designated legislative assembly date, and things weren't looking good. Malfoy, Nott, Lestrange and some other families of considerable influence had been pulling votes against the Custodarium bill – the purists would have voted against anyway just because of Harry and Tom's open pro-Muggle-born stance, but the same-sex couple issue gave them leverage to sway other non-purist-but-bigoted representatives to their side.

It was time to face the eventualities: If the bill wasn't passed, Custodarium's remits would be very restricted – they could only get custody if the previous legal guardian willingly transferred it to them, or if a child was left at their doorstep. Otherwise it would be up to whoever handled the orphan's case whether they placed the child in Custodarium instead of another (Muggle) facility.

That, they could hopefully work their way around; what really sucked was that Custodarium wouldn't be authorised to protect minors from their abusive families – they wouldn't have the right to keep children from their legal guardians. Harry was trying to stay positive, but...

"...and if you just remember this one concept, you can't have a problem with animal-to-animal transfigurations in your N.E.W.T.s. That will be all for today, good work and see you next week," said Dumbledore, concluding his lesson. Students began putting away their textbooks to head to lunch. The professor walked over to Harry's desk by the window and asked in a lower voice, "Mr. Potter, may I have a word?"

Harry gestured to his classmates to indicate he'd catch up with them later and waited for the professor to continue. There had been another Grindelwald attack in Hungary a few days ago, and Dumbledore, trying and failing to hide his misery (at least from Harry) over the last couple of months, always withered away a little more at such news. He was in his sixties and bound to live to at least one hundred and twenty, but he seemed to be ageing at least one year a week lately – maybe he'd age in advance from the strain and wait for time to catch up later?

The older wizard didn't say anything else until the other students cleared off the classroom. Instead, he went to the teacher's desk and retrieved something from the top drawer.

It was candy, in a classic Dumbledore fashion. He unwrapped one for himself and presented another to Harry. "Toffee Éclair?" he offered.

"No, sir, thank you," Harry declined politely. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Ah, straight to the point – I wonder, not for the first time, how you ended up in Horace's house instead of mine. Quite the loss, I'd say, I've only been hearing commendable things about you."

Harry didn't feel comfortable getting complimented, but he was glad to see Dumbledore's eyes still had their characteristic twinkle.

"Most notably, your generosity... If you don't mind an old man's nosiness, I couldn't quite put my finger on why you'd offer the extra space on your island for free – won't you need money to run your orphanage?"

"Er, we have enough savings to run it for a while, we just thought it would be nice if many people moved in," Harry explained gingerly.

Dumbledore nodded, "By all means, having a community is always nice... but I'm sure there were plots in Hogsmeade or other wizarding settlements available. Why choose a deserted island?"

Harry was beginning to understand what the professor had been up to, but since this was Dumbledore, the man who'd protected so many secrets over his long life, he thought it wouldn't hurt to be open with him.

"We've been hoping to start a new wizarding settlement in a safer location," he answered honestly.

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up. "A safer location?"