Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Out of the corner of his good eye, Gaston noticed Stella looking at the candy dish. He nodded in reply to her questions. "It is," he said with a slight smile. "My mother keeps sending me chocolate from home. She's trying to fatten me up; she says I'm too skinny..." And now she was probably right. He'd lost a lot of weight from the stress he was under. His smile grew. "Of course, have as many as you like." Hopefully the sweets would cheer her up...

His heart sank as he saw the poor girl stiffen and start shaking again, and he inwardly berated himself for causing it. He bent so that his eyes met hers. The angry fire was still there, but it had been overshadowed by sadness. "I didn't mean to scare you," he said softly. "I just... hate seeing my students in pain, physical or emotional. That hurts me worse than anything else Headmaster Scrimgeour could do..." he shook his head. "You'll never get in trouble for speaking your mind in my office. If we were in the hallway or somewhere else Headmaster Scrimgeour could be watching, that's different... he'd fire me if I didn't, and then he'd bring in another monster like him..." His expression darkened; just the thought made him shudder.

Gaston's blue eyes widened in shock at Stella's next words. "I have no idea. I've often wondered that myself..." he said. "Maybe something bad happened to him, and it hardened his heart. Or maybe he just never learned how to be kind..." His features hardened. "But whatever the reason, it doesn't excuse the way he acts." Then the little one asked another question that caught him off guard. He thought for a moment. The truth was he didn't do it. He tried to isolate himself as much as possible because interacting with those goons set his teeth on edge! He shrugged. "I don't know; I don't think any of us realize what we're capable of until we're tested," he said. "When I have to be around them, all I can do is try to remind myself that I'm doing it for my students and hope the love for my job will outweigh the fear."

He gave her a sad, sympathetic look, handing her a box of tissues as she wiped her tears. "I know," he said. "Every day, I worry that somebody is going to get hurt - and not just from S.O.R.E." There was any number of ways those idiot replacement professors could cause harm; he feared this was just the tip of the iceberg! "I'm so sorry. It's unfair that he keeps putting you through that; he should make accomodations for you and the other students with medical conditions." But he knew he probably wouldn't. He had to take several deep breaths to calm his rising anger. Running children ragged did not make them strong, and if Scrimgeour couldn't open his eyes long enough to see that, he was an even bigger fathead than Gaston thought! "I could try talking to Healer McMillan for you. She's very nice, not at all like the headmaster; I'm sure she'd be happy to help."

Gaston looked at Stella with sad eyes. She was breaking his heart! "It will end," he promised. "I can't promise Headmaster Scrimgeour will leave any time soon, but I'll stick around for as long as I can..." Which probably meant, until the metal armed-maniac came up with a reason to fire him. "You won't have to deal with this the whole time you're in school. If he comes back next term or if this becomes too much for you, I'll personally get you transferred to another school." He could get her into Beauxbatons with a single letter...

Before he had much time to think on the subject, Phantom's meowing distracted him. He smiled, watching Stella pet his cat, and Phantom was clearly enjoying every moment of it too! The Persian turned the white side of her face toward Stella and replied with a "meow!" Gaston laughed. "Phantom says 'thank you'," he said. But the laughter instantly turned to all-consuming rage as Stella confirmed what he thought he heard the first time.

"That cruel... heartless... evil sack of dragon dung!" he snarled, his clenched teeth all that was keeping him from shouting. He stopped short of saying a word he never uttered in a child's presence. His hands balled into fists, and his cheeks flushed a shade of Gryffinfor scarlet. Feel good about yourself now, Scrimgeour? he thought furiously. Subjugating children for showing you kindness... is that the only way you can think of to boost your pathetic ego? He wished he had him right here in his office; then he would teach that scum a lesson! HIs eyes burned like bluebell flames, and his entire body trembled.

The lights flickered on and off; pieces of parchment rustled on the desk, and there was a faint clink as a crack appeared in the glass candy dish, deepening until... everything stopped. Gaston was on his feet, though he couldn't recall standing up. He glanced around the room in a daze. Good Godric Gryffindor, what happened? "D-did I do that?" he wondered out loud, his voice sounding small and frightened. Then he remembered Stella. "Oh, my-! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Stella! I don't know how- this has never happened before!" He could barely bring himself to look at the poor girl.