Ron squirmed in his chosen seat. When this all began Dumbledore had told him he'd explain things to Harry before he found out about the payments. Then when he'd gotten to know Harry he'd been worried about how he'd react when he learned he was being paid to be around him. Again the Headmaster had told him not to worry. Harry'd understand. Over time, he'd just allowed himself to believe the Headmaster and not worry about it. But Ginny was right. Harry was always going to find out. And he was always going to be angry when he did. There was always going to be a price to be paid at that time. because Harry wasn't anywhere near as stupid or gullible as the Headmaster claimed he was.
Ginny's voice broke into his thoughts again. "But Dumbledore knew, Ronald. From you at least, he knew exactly how Harry would feel and he didn't care. How many times did you tell him how Harry feels about liars? About betrayers? About people taking credit for things they don't do? About people saying one thing while doing another? About gossipers and people who go around enticing others to share their secrets just so they can go tell everybody else?" Ron grimaced and she nodded. "and we did all of that to Harry. So really. Did you honestly think Harry would just let it go because the Headmaster said he would?"
"But Dumbledore, now. He knew how Harry would see us. He knew but he didn't care. Not about us or our feelings. Not about our family and what this would do to them when it came out. Because those girls in the halls were right Ron. Our family could be ruined when thios comes out to the public. The Bank will fire Bioll without a second thought. Percy and Dad will be booted out of the Ministry so fast they'll be lucky if they have time to clear out their desks. And Charlie will be let go from the Dragon Reserve as soon as the donations drop drastically enough. And none of them will find it easy to get other honorable placements. For that matter the twins will suffer as well. They want to open their own shop, Ron. Tell me. Where will they get the backing for that? Who will agree to rent them space to set up shop in? Who will buy their wares? But Dumbledore didn't care because he saw a use for us." She wagged a finger between the two of them.
"What's worse, I'm certain Dumbledore counted on Harry striking out against us personally and he didn't care to warn any of us when he made us his offer. He may not have predicted this," she indicated her marked countenance, "but he knew Harry would do something to us in retribution for how we used him to our own benefit. And he didn't care." Almost whispering she added, "Just as he didn't care if Harry couldn't rescue me from the Chamber." Ron squawked. She snorted and raised her eyes to his face. "He called Mum and Dad here and told them to gather you boys and take you home. He told them to mourn my passing because there was no way he could get to me to save me if I was even still alive. He never even intended to try, Ron. he knew you were taking Harry to find me and rescue me but he didn't think Harry could do it. And He Didn't CARE!" Her voice had risen at the end but Ron couldn't blame her.
Ron was stunned speechless. Ginny really had thought about this and she'd drawn a lot of conclusions that he'd seen but hadn't thought about because he was too busy being angry and listening to Hermione blame Harry for their misfortune. But maybe she was right. Maybe this really was the Headmaster's fault more than it was anyone's. "So you think we should be angry with the Headmaster then?
Ginny sighed and shook her head to dismiss her dark thoughts. "Yes, to an extent. Because he did set all this up and he kept telling us not to worry every time one of us came to him fretting about it all. I mean, he didn't make us take the money, Ron. We chose to take it. That's our fault. But we never would have if he hadn't offered it to us. And that is his blame to shoulder."
"Once we learned what kind of boy Harry was, we could've stopped taking it, owned up to it and then worked to make things right with Harry. We had an honorable out there, Ron. We didn't take it. We could've even asked Harry to add funding as general spending to our scholarship to cover what the Headmaster was paying us. But we didn't. We kept quiet and continued taking his money behind his back. We kept taking our paydays. Because we were greedy. None of us even considered not doing so. That isn't the Headmaster's fault. It's ours."
Ron looked puzzled and Ginny knew it was the scholarships they were on. Likely as not, the blockhead hadn't figured out Harry was the source of those because no one had told him in simple to understand words yet. But she wasn't ready for that topic yet. She'd get to it but not until she explained why she was angry with their parents first.
"Mum and Dad first, Ron. Then I'll explain the scholarships. Ok?" He nodded and she went on. "I'm angry with Mum and Dad because they're the adults responsible for us. It's their place to watch out for us and keep us from making major missteps like this. But Mum jumped on it and immediately started planning my wedding to Harry. She never actually looked closely at what he was offering. Dad didn't either. For that, I'm angry with them. Because it was their duty to see through what he offered us."