29 Chapter 29 - Ash the life coach and love doctor

Right after breakfast, Ash found himself dragged into the hospital wing by his master Madam Pomfrey, though she was kind enough to use his collar and not his ears. He was once more grilled about everything he said and did yesterday until he reached the part where he revealed the rituals undergone by the pureblood heirs.

"The association won't look too kindly on you releasing such data to the public... even if you release the watered-down version of that diagnostic spell as planned for your mastery and argue that you wanted to demonstrate its effectiveness," Poppy argued with a conflicted frown. "I'll see what I can do with my good friends at St Mungo's, maybe I'm missing something in your favor..."

"Thank you, master. Though, don't feel too bad if it doesn't work out," Ash countered with a carefree shrug. "Showing their hypocrisy to the world and having a chance at ending or partly subverting the double-standard we measure a magical's worth with in this society was a fine trade if it only cost me my chance at the healing mastery. It's not like I was ever going to seek employment as a healer. It's the knowledge I wanted, and they can't take that away from me."

"Still, you could have done it in a more private setting or pointed out something else..."

"Like what, master? I know from Heir Lestrange and Valerie that a few of the Slytherin students practice banned dark spells in a training room of their common room, but I can't prove it, so its hearsay despite my vows. The animagus thing was impactful but not enough, especially since it's going to be swept under a rug."

Poppy frowned some more when Ash finished and thought for a while.

"You still call him Heir Lestrange? You know how hard life is for the boy," Poppy chided softly. "And call me Poppy already, I'm not actually mad at you."

Ash shrugged once more, "What can I do? Arnaud declined every effort I made to befriend him in the Exchange Hall after I managed to break his shell to learn his story. There's a lot of unresolved issues he refuses help with. He's the only living male Lestrange not in Azkaban, and even then, he was treated like a house elf for his 'low birth' by that crazy bat Lady Lestrange..."

"Born to a squib from House Rosier's main line, is that really such a low birth?" Poppy asked with a sigh, though it was rhetorical. They both knew what they thought about these topics.

The circumstances of Arnaud Lestrange's birth and life were really extraordinary for a family so outspoken in their pureblood supremacy beliefs and if he wasn't already four at a time the family lacked living descendants at the height of the war he might not have survived. Born to an unremarkable cousin of Rabastan and Rodolphus, the only thing Arnaud's father accomplished before unceremoniously dying during a Death Eater raid - while being on the side of the Death Eaters - was impregnating Selene Pascal - born as Selene Rosier.

And that woman cursed with beauty instead of power, who managed to stay in the magical world due to her sharp wit, a loving grandfather, and the desire to prove herself, was allowed to work in a potion ingredient shop under a new name since she became a young woman.

Born to a Rosier from the French cadre and another Rosier from the English cadre, Selene had the choice to go to France for an easier life but decided to be willful and stay in Britain. Until their shop was raided and her life was changed forever.

Arnaud himself only started living in the Lestrange house after his mother's passing when he was five after a life on the run mere months before Voldemort's defeat - a blood succession test confirmed that his blood belonged to House Lestrange as stated in Selene's letter. But maybe placing him in a muggle orphanage would have been better. These were the words Arnaud chose when he confided in Ash about his past after a lot of insistence on the potioneer's end.

Until this very day, Arnaud barely speaks another word to others in House Slytherin and keeps his grades exactly short of excellence. He might be the most easily forgotten student at Hogwarts despite likely being among the most driven - but Ash knew of his goal. To live in spite of his family, in spite of their beliefs - but he could only do it once he was the only living Lestrange outside of Azkaban or until he was more powerful.

His great-aunt, mother of Rabastan and Rodolphus, was still alive and very much in favor of raising children under the tender care of the Cruciatus.

"So what's your plan? The new Board of Governors won't get elected for another week or two despite the amount of outrage you caused, and while the new governors should rectify the unjustice done to you, they could drag it out regardless. And who knows how long that election will take? It's not like there is any precendence for such a thing happening. All eleven governors getting kicked out at once, Merlin..."

Ash shook his head softly and looked a little helpless.

"I don't think all eleven will get dropped. I wish it were true, but there's no way all eleven lack the political gravitas to fight it out, or they are owed enough favors to cling onto their 'noble calling'. I don't know why they are so keen on making everything worse by staying, but they are determined to keep that power. I'm sure of it. Even Lady Longbottom, who is one of the more progressive magicals on the board, will not lightly give up the position even if she didn't use it to seek justice for her beloved Neville," Ash argued.

"To be a fly on the wall of that board meeting after young Neville fell in his first flying lesson... How she ever stopped fighting for that particular petition... the others must have had some very convincing counter-arguments," Poppy responded. "Those accursed brooms are a health hazard on the level of the human transfiguration course for the seventh years."

"Oh yeah, that's where we left off the last time, right? Fixing botched transfiguration of a magical?"

"Haaa, just say so if you don't want to answer my questions, Ashbert," Poppy said with what felt like the hundreth sigh of their meeting and flicking his forehead fondly. But despite the reluctance showing in her voice, they still spent a few hours discussing healing until a few students came in with spell damage from prank spells. A slug vomit curse from a Gryffindor aimed at a Slytherin and a particularly dark finger-locking curse from someone unknown - though the target was a known loudmouth from Hufflepuff who likely said something to deserve the curse from one of the Slytherins.

Once it was known that Ash was in the hospital wing, students kept coming in to get more details from the suspended professor. Poppy kept thinning her lips in displeasure more and more, so to keep peace in the matron's offices, Ash excused himself and openly walked to his own office.

Students kept barging in every now and then, but the information that he would only talk about the Wizengamot session when the full truth was reported in the Daily Prophet or he had to correct a lie of theirs quickly made the rounds.

As such, there was only a nervous Hermione rambling about what to prepare for the first year magical lessons, Luna reading the newest Quibbler upside down on a couch - with both the paper and herself being upside down, and the Carrow twins spending time with him.

He openly instructed the twins because no secret knowledge was part of their current apprenticeship curriculum, and he was not suspended from teaching his direct disciples, and a few seniors would listen in from time to time. Even Hermione sometimes stopped herself and noted down a few key points of Ash's teachings.

It wasn't until Padma Patil, easily distinguishable from her twin sister by the blue and silver colors of her school robes, came inside with a shy expression just half an hour until dinner. In her hand wasn't the Daily Prophet but a letter from her parents, and it was apparent there were some details in it about him - Ash did talk about the rituals they underwent after all.

But the actual reason for her visit was something that left Ash and the present girls dumbfounded.

"Professor Ash, uh, can I talk to you about something private?"

Ash was a little perplexed but decided to help out. The young witch looked like the ground would swallow her up just for walking inside the room. It must have taken a lot of courage for her to come here.

He guided the Ravenclaw student into his quarters, though he left the door wide open and raised a silencing ward to keep the conversation between them - it wouldn't do to leave any room for imagination with him entering his own quarters alone with a young witch after all. One letter from a vindictive pureblood whose family took offense to yesterday's session and Rita Skeeter would do everything in her power to paint Ash as a predator.

And so, with enough space between them for anyone who wanted to look inside to figure out it was all above board, Ash softly coaxed Padma to talk.

"Professor, you... you know Ron and I, we, uh... I acceptedtogoonadatewithhimlastyearandmyfatherfoundout-"

"Padma, breathe! There's a reason we have spaces between words," Ash quickly interjected. "So your father has some instructions for you about your relationship with Ron? Did I get that right?"

Padma turned bright red but nodded, "Ron's not the brightest, I know, but he's so brave! And ever since you helped him with those reading glasses and the calming potions for study sessions, he's gotten so much better! It's so fun to hang around with him when he's in his element, I haven't won a single match of chess against him! And he's a quick study when it comes to practical things. You really helped him become a bett-"

"Padma, please. I get that I helped Ron, and I get you have a crush on him. Could you tell me how can I help with any of it?" Ash bluntly interjected. He just caused absolute chaos in Magical Britain just yesterday and as much as he wanted to help out anyone, Ash couldn't sit through a teenage girl praising her childhood crush in front of him.

Though it was nice to know that others noticed how much Ron bettered himself with his help. Mental illnesses, disorders and deficiencies were seldom talked about in wizarding society because many obscure spells and potions were invented to fix some of them easily and it was seen as your own problem if you didn't find the cure.

As such, there's no real market for such solutions and spells unless you look for it specifically. And you may bless Molly Weasley's heart for managing to rear so many children - she did drop the ball a little on Ron.

During one of the first exchange halls the golden trio attended in their first year, Harry and Ron stuck together like glue. But Ron didn't really show interest in learning, and he was easily irritated by anything related to studying. Ash paid close attention to it because he was already helping out Harry with the nourishing potions, and he was friends with all Weasleys except for Percy.

Well, he found out Ron had wizard's dyslexia, which was a milder form of the mundane illness that 'only' scrambled words seven letters or longer. As such, he hated reading since childhood because he felt bad about it. Kid's stories might have barely any long words, but school books were littered in technical terms that were long enough for his form of dyslexia making reading a disheartening chore.

Another 'diagnosis' Ash made was that Ron might have ADHD to some degree. Yet, Ash wasn't a learned doctor or healer or anything at the time - so all he could offer was to provide Ron a recipe for a mind calming potion that would allow him to focus for extended periods of time.

His twin brothers helped out with brewing it for him, though the twins actually managed to change the recipe to make Ron's hair float after drinking it for their own fun. Ash didn't intervene either and simply praised the twins for their genius. It was one of their milder pranks, and Ron wasn't too upset about it.

And all these changes really helped. Ron still hated studying and homework, but he found a few of his strengths, especially practical learning, and found some confidence from there. It looked like it didn't go unnoticed, despite Ron's grades being on the lower end among his classmates for anything that wasn't Charms and Care for Magical Creatures.

Ron himself confided in Harry why he had asked Padma out at the end of the school year, and Harry told Ash and Sirius over the summer while they were relaxing as 'just the guys'. Ash and Sirius simply ignored that Harry wanted to distract them from grilling him about Hermione.

Apparently, Ron couldn't take Harry and Hermione being all lovey-dovey anymore despite not yet being a couple in their third year, and wanted to find someone for himself. But he argued that she couldn't be someone from Gryffindor because he wanted more space than the would-be-couple gave each other. So he looked for potential partners in other houses and found Padma more or less at random. Even Ron was surprised she said yes.

"Dad said you exposed the rituals Parvati and I went through before coming to school, so you owe us," Padma explained but immediately shook her hands in denial, but her blush deepened. "I don't agree, but I thought if you helped me with anything, I could tell my dad that the debt was paid."

"Ugh, I don't agree or acknowledge that I owe anyone anything, I exposed everyone for their hypocrisy. It was all their fault for voting such a moronic thing into law in the first place. But sure, if I can help, I won't hold back... next time, ask me something about potions, though, please..."

Padma quickly looked at the floor in embarrassment and explained, "Dad doesn't agree with us marrying anyone who isn't at least a lord of a minor house. Not out of beliefs in pureblood supremacy, but so that Parvati and I can live peaceful lives where we and our future children would want for nothing."

By now, even Padma's ears turned crimson despite her complexion, and it didn't help when Ash rested his forehead in his hand.

"Padma, I, uh, might not be the best in giving out dating tips... and aren't you a little young to think about marriage and kids?"

"Ah! Professor, I, I only need help to think of a solution that would satisfy my dad despite Ron not being the lord of House Weasley," Padma quickly denied and mumbled under her breath, "I can date Ron just fine on my own."

"Ugh, okay," Ash quickly interjected and thought for a moment. "If he isn't hellbent on marrying you off to some noble lord and your argument for stability in life holds true, your best option is probably getting Ron to find something to get a mastery in. I doubt it will be potions, warding, or spellcrafting... but he might do OK as an enchanter or follow his brother's footsteps and work in the magical creature field. Without Arithmency and thorough Runes knowledge he won't revolutionize enchanting, but with his intuition and grasp of strategy and seeing patterns, he might be able to easily copy already existing work and find out how to apply it with small variances. With one or two items that only he can do excellently, he might find a niche in the market and make some decent money."

Padma looked serious upon hearing Ash's explanation of the strength of her future boyfriend and concluded, "We could gain our masteries together. My grades in both Arithmency and Runes were excellent last year. We could complement one another."

Ash wanted to argue against the approach - not that it was a novelty seeing spouses working together - but decided against it to spare himself of the headache of arguing with a teenage girl with a crush. Who even knew if they would actually get together and stay together until after Hogwarts.

"Sure. There's only two other things I could see working that would truly satisfy your father if eloping is not an option. Ron marrying into your family and you becoming the head of your house, continuing your family name - though I must admit I don't know if you currently have another branch here in Magical Britain or a rule that would disallow that from working if your House is strictly patrilineal," Ash said as he raised his index finger.

Raising a second finger, he concluded, "And the other thing is if Ron somehow became heir of another house that isn't Weasley. He won't beat Bill's claim and I don't see Charlie or Percy dying before Ron's majority combined with their father's passing - on the plus side, I bet the twins are already out for the count if the amount of howlers Molly sent them over the years are any indication."

Padma giggled a little at the end, and she finally lost her almost fanatical, calculating look.

"They might be called blood traitors, but the Weasleys of this generation are descedants of countless pureblood houses, many of which are on the verge of extinction. The first that comes to mind that ended in the last generation is the family of Ron's mum, the Prewetts. If you or Ron could convince Molly to make him a Prewett, I think his claim on the Prewett lordship might be quite high. Uh, I've tried talking to Molly about it a few years back because I didn't want to see the family name die out for selfish reasons, but she was not very receptive to the idea. Talk to Arthur first if you want to make headway and keep the name McKinnon in mind. I think one of Molly's grandmothers might have been a McKinnon, and they died out, too."

"They care very little for blood status. It might be a little hard to convince them to rename their son just to keep another ancient family name alive," Padma said with a frown.

Ash nodded and agreed easily, "Yeah, it won't be easy. If you must, convince them that it would be the only way for you to be allowed to pursue Ron. They might not agree instantly, but I doubt they'd want to be in their children's way when it comes to finding love."

Padma took a deep breath, lost most of her blush, and bowed her head toward Ash.

"You've given me a lot to think about, your advise is sound and greatly appreciated. Thank you, Professor Ash."

Ash stood up, lifted her from her seat to stop her from bowing, and admonished, "We don't do that here."

As the two walked out of his office to get back to the girls, Luna curiously tilted her head - which looked ridiculous because she still sat with her head dangling down the sofa and legs against the back rest - and asked, "What was that about?"

"Padma wanted to test out how good I am at activating the privacy charm in my quarters," Ash explained without deigning to give Luna a straight answer.

The little blonde imp merely narrowed her eyes at him before turning to Padma.

"The answer is very good. Didn't hear a thing - but the wrackspurts were screaming for you to not ask someone like Ash about dating tips the next time," Luna said with a giggle at the end.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Ash shouted before Padma could feel any more embarrassment.

"I don't speak for the wrackspurts," Luna countered in a dreamy voice.

"What the!? You literally do, Luna!"

"Ohh... I do?"

That earned little Miss Lovegood a healthy dose of tickling charms during a game of magical catch until it was time for dinner. He should know whether or not it was healthy. He was almost a healer after all. Luna was bound to lose that argument.