No Bullying

8th of September, 1991

Professor Dougal McCreedy sat behind his office desk, going over the work of the Third Year’s first Arithmancy homework. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the work was completely abysmal, Poor at best, but there was more than one that was Troll. But that was predictable.

It was always this way, he mused, with a rare wistful smile on his face. Most students at Hogwarts grew up engulfed in the world of magic, never needing to be concerned with numbers and mathematics. So many wrote the field off as “muggle mumblings”, either ignoring or ignorant of the marvelous depths that were just waiting to be uncovered.

But really, just look at this! ‘3x + 9 = 30, solve for x’ and he answered 13! Sometimes I think Muggles would do better in this field than wizards–

His internal monologue was interrupted by a student bursting through his office. The new Gryffindor boy with the unfortunate luck (and appearance, but McCreedy was far too sophisticated for such a crass thought to cross his mind). Merlin, he believed his name was. He was panting and flush in the face.

“Sir! Sir! There’s an incident! Please come quick!”

Immediately, McCreedy went into Professor mode. He had been a teacher long enough to know when a student was attempting a prank, and when they were in true distress, and this was certainly a case of the latter. Rising to his feet, he rushed out of his office, closing the door behind him with a gesture. He followed the wheezing lad as he huffed and puffed running back the way he had come, his normal strides easily keeping pace with the child. He was not one to run in the presence of students: in his mind, it made one seem panicked, not in control of the situation.

Merlin led McCreedy into the Transfiguration Courtyard. There, a crowd was forming, but with his height, he could easily see over the students. Had someone been looking at him, they would have noticed the ever so slight widening of his eyes, the smallest crack in his stoic exterior.

The altercation was beneath the tree in the center of the courtyard. One of the students was wearing blue-embossed robes, denoting she was a member of his own house. Her height made it very obvious It was Tina Crouch – a known Half Giant to all within the magical community thanks to the status of her father – and she was holding another student in the air by their ankle! He could see the red hair and red-embossed robes on the child that was dangling in her hand. Combined with the high-pitched screams, indicating a female, the Professor could tell the victim was Amalia Oceanborough. The two were yelling at each other. Amalia was thrashing in the air, yet her struggles were in vain, as Tina’s grip was far too strong for a human child to break.

“Say sorry!”
“Let me down! Let me down!”
“Not until you say sorry!”

Still refusing to run, McCreedy power-walked over to the mass, his voice carrying as though he had cast the Amplifying Charm.

“MISS CROUCH! DROP HER THIS INSTANT!”

It had none of the edge of a shout or yell but, carried like rolling thunder with the volume of a jet engine, freezing every student in the courtyard with fear for a moment. The crowd broke before him, parting like the Red Sea. Tina’s eyes widened to the size of saucers at the sound, and then appearance, of the professor, her hands shooting open with reflexive obedience. Amalia let out a shocked gasp as she fell to the ground with a hard thump. Scrambling to her feet, she too froze seeing the massive Professor of Potions and Arithmancy looming over her.

“20 points from Ravenclaw! Miss Crouch, physical assault of any kind between students will not be tolerated.”

Professor McCreedy looked from one girl to the next, as they both began to argue their case.

“Sir! I only grabbed her because she was bullying Minagi!”
Amalia interjected as she glared up at the Half Giant. “I didn’t! It was only a little prank to get back at her pulling my hair!”

Before a back-and-forth shouting match could commence, Professor McCreedy interjected, again in that loud, yet still composed, tone that brooked no dissent.

“Enough! Both of you, to my office, immediately!”

With that, he turned and marched away. The two girls gulped, but not wanting to disobey, followed. The surrounding crowd began to whisper, rumors and speculations already beginning to run rampant.

Back in Professor McCreedy’s office-

Both schoolgirls sat in silence in front of the massive desk, as the Professor returned to marking homework, letting them fester in silence. Minutes passed. Both girls sweated as Professor McCreedy seemed to ignore them, leading them to sink deeper into their seats, with all there to do being to glance around the office and looking down into their laps.

The first thing that all noticed about Professor McCreedy’s office was how clean it was. There was not a speck of dust anywhere in the room, even in the crooks or shadows of the furniture. Following the cleanliness, the next was the scale of everything, matching the size of the professor himself. The floor was covered with a large, magnificent rug, adorned and colored with the motifs of Ravenclaw House, while multiple grandfather clocks that almost stretched to the ceiling lined the walls. Upon the desk in front of the pair, all that Amalia could see was the rim of the tankard of coffee. Tina, on the other hand, could see more. The reams of parchment, the inkpots, and a strange device that ticked as it changed its display of numbers in a seemingly random order.

Finally, he put his quill down, steepled his hands, and looked over his desk at the two of them. Both bolted upright as the sound of the scratching on parchment ended, and looked up into his stern, moustached, bespectacled face, as he began to speak.

“So. What exactly transpired? Miss Oceanborough, you go first.”

The young Gryffindor coughed as she was called on. She was not a big child and being in the presence of the largest teacher was quite intimidating. Still, she worked up her courage and responded.

“Um, well sir, I was studying in the courtyard with Merlin and Frank, when Tina came stamping over! She was clearly mad, but before we could say anything, she grabbed me! Merlin went off to get help as Frank tried to get her to let go of me.”

Tina glared daggers at Amalia, and it did not go unnoticed. Professor McCreedy’s perceptive eyes caught it, leading him to turn to her.

“Is this accurate, Miss Crouch?”

The Half Giant shot round to meet the unwavering gaze of the Professor. Unlike Amalia, she could over the desk, but that just meant that Professor McCreedy’s gaze pierced her all the more.

“Um, y-yes sir, but because Amalia put bubblegum in Minagi’s hair! I just wanted to get her to say sorry!”
At the accusation, Amalia immediately interjected. “It was only a joke! I-”

Again, Professor McCreedy cut the pair off before any shouting took place. With the raise of a hand, both children instantly shut up.

“I see what happened. Miss Oceanborough, would you please step outside for a moment?”

The color left Tina’s face at the words, while Amalia simply stood up and turned to exit the office. As she did, her eyes met Tina’s for just a moment. Tina was not sure if it was sympathy or smugness that she saw in the Gryffindor’s eyes, and the moment passed before she could tell.

The creaking opening and the thudding closing of the Giant-sized door reverberated through the office. Tina stared down at the floor, terrified at what must be the reaming of the year about to come her way. Whatever the justification, she had physically assaulted another student, and with her heritage and the views of so many in the wizarding world, the consequences coming her way were sure to be horrific.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I do something so dumb! She yelled at herself. But she had no choice now but to wait for the Professor’s judgement.

McCreedy let out a long, deep sigh, staring at the student in front of him. There was a painful moment of silence as he figured out which words to use in this delicate situation.

“Miss Crouch, physical assault is strongly looked down upon here at Hogwarts. I cannot overlook this.”

Her gulp was audible as he stood up, walking over to the window with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Miss Crouch, you are aware of the reputation of the Giants, yes?”
“Y-yes, sir.” Came her meek response. How could she not be aware? Her mother’s side of the family may not be regular guests at home, but she had visited them on more than one summer. They were massive, powerful, and aggressive, often fighting among themselves for any or no reason. She still felt kinship with them, and to be fair they weren’t all bad, but to the wider wizarding world, they were nothing but trouble.

“Then you are aware that those views and prejudices carry over to wizards and witches who carry their blood within them. There are many who think that Part-Giants should be treated the same as their full Giant cousins. Those views are not uncommon even here. So, what do you think that those holding such attitudes will think having seen your actions today? What about those who were neutral on the subject? Do you think they may come to believe that those positions hold water?”

Tina’s face burned with embarrassment as Professor McCreedy’s words hit their mark. Being a Half-Giant, she had always had many of the instinctive behaviors of her mother’s kind, but at home or with that side of her family, it was fine. She was the small, weedy member there. Here, she was the biggest in the year, already at eye level with Professor McCreedy, and she knew she was far from finished growing. If she got a reputation for being violent, for being out of control, then she would not only be damaging her own life, but those of the few others like her. There were not many Half Giants in the world; each one’s actions inevitably painted the image of all of them.

Professor McCreedy turned back to face her. “Have I made my point, Miss Crouch?” he asked. He did not see the need to divulge that he too was a Part Giant, at least not at this stage. He had gone through similar experiences when he had been her age so long ago and hoped that these words of wisdom that he wished he had had would spare her the painful learning experiences of his youth.

“Yes Sir.” Tina’s voice was even smaller than before. She had learned an important lesson here, not only about the need to control her own strength, but how her actions could easily reach beyond just her.

“Excellent. Now, I am going to call Miss Oceanborough back in. I want you to apologize and extend the hand of friendship. Am I clear?”
“Yes Sir.”

He gave a calm nod, pleased that he had gotten through to the young Ravenclaw. Walking over to the door, he instructed Amalia to come back inside and return to her seat. Returning behind his desk, but not sitting down this time,

“Now, Miss Oceanborough, I believe Miss Crouch has something she wishes to say to you.” The Professor said, slightly turning towards Tina, indicating for her to speak.

“Y-yeah. Um, Amalia, I’m sorry for grabbing you like that. It was wrong of me to do that.” Tina said, face still flush from the talk.

Amalia smiled at her. “That’s OK, Tina. I’m sorry that I was mean to Minagi as well.”

McCreedy smile has obscured behind his prodigious mustache. “Well, this is heart-warming. Let this be a reminder for you both: despite being in different Houses, we are all part of Hogwarts itself. Now, you’d best get a move on. You both have Transfiguration next, and Professor Shafiq does not tolerate unpunctuality.”

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Pub: 08 Jun 2025 19:06 UTC

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