Hoggy Warty Hogwarts

I thought you died alone,

A long, long time ago.

Oh no, not me.

I never lost control.

~ David Bowie, The Man Who Sold the World

Indulge me, if you will, in a slight fantasy of mine. It's not a favourite but still, I like to return to it occasionally adding bits that my brain concocts as I stare into the darkness; a simple vision that keeps the cold at bay in the night and the warmth of life away in day.

But that's all it is for the moment, a mere ripple of a dream, and existing nowhere but in my head. Though soon enough, I will see it in front of my eyes as well as behind them.

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for hundreds of generations, symbol of all things good, will fall. And there I will be, not only casting the final blow but also picking up the pieces. I am no fool - and only the idiotic would try and destroy the castle. Its foundations are of the most pure, ancient magic that no one can begin to comprehend. The shields, that guard more than stone, were devised by the most talented of all witches and wizards that graced the earth. This building was not only built from rocks and mortar. There is a magic there, it has seeped through the soil, drawn by a millennium of gravity and has become part of the world.

No. I am no fool.

Hogwarts would stay even if I could destroy it.

Peter asks me to demolish it, raze it's ancient stone to ground.

When the day comes, My Lord, you will obliterate that pile of cobbles.

Years ago, I could imagine myself feeling offended by this. My ancestor built that pile of cobbles... Someone far greater than that ball of snivelling man. Peter, little Peter, has never had the capacity to think past his next meal. No plans. No future for him, or people like him.

But I just look at him, glare at his hair, as he backs away. His head is stooped and he knows better to look me in the eyes. It scares him. I know it. By the way the glimmers on his hand shake and the way he refuses to look at any part of me, let alone my eyes. Somehow it disgusts and thrills me as I flex out my idle fingers. They long, almost as much as me, to point a wand at someone and whisper a prayer...

I excuse Peter, sinking lower into my seat and redirecting my frown into the flames.

It is a shame there is no one worthy enough that I can converse with. No one seems to see that Hogwarts would be the final victory. After Potter and his Muggle loving allies have been destroyed, Hogwarts is the final jewel in my crown. It is from Hogwarts that my future truly starts. The new generation of wizards, all under my direct control. They would be in lessons designed by me, reading out of History books written by me, hearing speeches from my mouth or quill...

No one can understand that this would be the final blow to any shadow of rebellion. How will these children know differently when they have nothing but love for me?

When this happens, people will call for the destruction of Houses, an all-Slytherin Hogwarts. I know who would suggest this. Malfoys most likely. Bitter from school life memories those idiots, like Peter, cannot see the whole picture.

Quite simply - not everyone deserves to be in Slytherin. The honour would only go to the most deserving, the most pure... It will be the elite, the best that the Wizarding world can produce. There will be no one better.

Ravenclaw would stay. No one would argue with that. I need people who can think, like me, who can be objective. They're logical and cold enough to see that there could only possibly be one victor. While not as wise as the Slytherin's - there is no book to teach wisdom - the vast tracts knowledge they have is indispensable. Their transition would be a simple one. No tricks or games would have to be used; just simple facts.

Hufflepuff... that's different. I can almost hear the indignant breath holding that would occur when I keep these creatures in my school. Where would we be, if we didn't have the gullible, hardworking masses? The simple application of a few deaths would have them running into my open arms. I need loyalty above all.

If not a school covered in green and silver, some may even have the nerve to demand of me an end to Gryffindor. People will whisper in my ear telling, pleading, and asking me to destroy every last trace of them.

Their bravery, the fools will reason, and alliances will harm you.

My friends would ache to see it fall, almost as much as my fingers and bones ache to wreck havoc on this crumbling world Fudge and Dumbledore have thrown together. They would itch for the crimson and gold banners to flutter in a fire, the stonewalls downed. But there is more to a House than mere masonry and furniture.

It's all in their misinformed minds.

Years ago I would gladly obliterate every trace of dear Godric from the school. But now... the months of sole company I spent with Pettigrew must have worn on my brain.

I will keep them. Yes, Gryffindor will remain.

I will give them most that they need, little of what they want and everything they deserve. I'll have the pleasure of watching heir mind slowly turn to a logical way of thinking. Perhaps, one day, in a distant moment in the future, they may even be equal to Slytherins. In the times where loyalty, calculations and resourcefulness just aren't enough - though I severely doubt that time will ever arise - then maybe the Gryffindors will be there for me. Maybe a bit of foolhardy bravery will save me. Though this is highly improbably and my desperation would have to be, well, desperate. There are moments, deep in the night, when I cannot help but think of how different Gryfindor could have been. I have told no one what the Sorting Hat said to me, its dilemma over where to place me.

But I know how their minds work. I will watch them always, crushing the faintest murmur of treason. Love can only go so far. Fear is as potent as it is contagious.

This deviation will hurt the mere ghost of Dumbledore more than anything else I do to him in life. It sends shivers around my body as imagine myself sitting at that table, watching the sky on an early September evening and welcoming my pupils. Their shining eyes, willing to learn what everything I wish to teach.

Yes, Hogwarts would stay. Education wouldn't. Instead of opening their malleable minds, I will close them.

Then at last, I will be free of Dumbledore.