The Lost Bet and Considerations

Later on the second day of school, at the Galegold table

Hermione hands Aurelius the completed homework for the classes for the next couple of days while averting her eyes and prompts Silvia to talk for them.

"Well, Hermione and I agreed that, as far as we can tell, that professor is less competent than most students at Hogwarts when it comes to defense against the dark arts, so you won the bet," said Silvia with a shrug.

"Well, I thank you for doing this without any prompt. It shows you've grown as a person, Hermione; I'm proud of your growth," said Aurelius.

She blushes and tries to hide her pleased grin.

"We also wanted to talk to you about the girls of your house." Said Silvia.

"We wanted to know if you at least teach the girls properly when it comes to your house?" asked Hermione.

"What do you mean? Of course, I did," asked a confused Aurelius.

Flashback to after the banquet

"Well, ladies, I am prefect by default since our house consists of us three for now," said Aurelius.

Ginny was much more relaxed and let out more of her straightforward nature after their conversation with her brothers.

"That begs the question, why aren't there any people in your house before?" asked Ginny.

"The answer is quite simple and stupid; do you still care for the answer?" said Aurelius

"Well, we asked, so we might as well since we're already on the topic," said Ginny.

"The house of Galegold did not exist until I was sorted, and I was the last to be sorted," said Aurelius without an ounce of jest.

"….You're serious? You're not messing with us," said the redhead.

"Well, that's how it happened, but to be honest, I didn't see anyone else likely to be in my house otherwise. The only people I could see being in my house were people I am currently working with; however, they are just as compatible with other houses as well," said Aurelius.

"I'm curious: What were your reasons for joining my house when it came to the sorting?" asked Galegold.

"I don't know. The hat just said that I got an opportunity to be part of something that wasn't so restrictive," said Ginny.

"I see, so your path seemed to be preset for you, but you didn't want that for yourself," I said understandingly.

"That sounds about right. Oh, that reminds me, what are the qualities of this house? The house of Gryffindor is known as the house of the brave," she continued.

"The house of adaptation, change, innovation, and wealth," said Aurelius.

"Why did the hat sort me here when it saw that I desired freedom?" said a confused Ginny.

"Wealth is its own form of freedom. The amount of time you have is limited, so what the wealthy do is buy time, not in a manner of prolonging their life, but rather they have others work for pay so that they may spend the time they saved to do other things." Said Aurelius.

"Buying time, huh? I never really thought about money like that. I was always taught that family is worth more than any money, and I was content with that," said Ginny.

"The sentiment is absolutely true. Family comes before money; money is merely a tool to make your lives better and easier and give you more time to spend with your family. That's why all Galegold are taught how to use money and were encouraged to learn how to use it to enrich their lives rather than some form of status symbol," said Aurelius.

"But we're the only Galegold?" said Ginny.

"I think he meant his family," said Luna.

"Luna is correct; in my family of the past, this was commonplace, and these principles will be hammered into you during your time here so that you can properly enrich your lives without focusing on money but on your passions without staking your livelihood," said Aurelius.

"That sounds rather nice," said Ginny with a smile.

"And why are you only asking me?" asked Ginny

"I had spoken with Luna during our talk on the train, and I understood that she was far more adventurous and open-minded and saw towards the future," I told her.

Luna smiled with a gentle smile.

"Thank you, and I think I felt the nature of your house was very akin to myself. While I did want to be part of Ravenclaw because it was the house my parents were part of, I realized that if the house were available during my father's time, he'd likely be part of this house as well," said Luna

"Understandable," said Aurelius with a gentle smile.

"Now, let's get into the more practical elements of this conversation. So here's the thing: think of Galegold House as another Hogwarts housed within Hogwarts in terms of size, amenities, facilities, and functionality. It is either on par or better than that of Hogwarts as far as I am aware," said Aurelius.

"If that's so, why isn't the Galegold house used instead of Hogwarts?" said a confused Luna.

"That's right, what's wrong with it?" asked a skeptical Ginny.

"Hmm, well, the restrictions and expectations of this house are higher than that of Hogwarts," said Aurelius.

'Wasn't the whole point of getting freedom to escape expectations?' thought a somewhat irate Ginny.

"You are free to pursue whatever you wish, but you must always seek experiences or improvement," said Aurelius.

"Could you elaborate?" asked a contemplative Luna.

"The first thing is the door to this house, which is that you must show you've changed in some way. It can be good or bad, but there must be a change. This incentivizes those in this house to learn or try new things. It could be as simple as you've tried a new food," said Aurelius.

"Huh? Really, that's it?" said a surprised Ginny.

"You'd be surprised, but most people you will meet in your lifetime stagnate for years when it comes to having new experiences. Many will even ignore their changes entirely, not realizing that they're moving in a positive or negative direction. This helps them understand themselves as a person. As for the automation of this house, it gives you the freedom to pursue things while minimizing the time and effort so that you can try other things at the same time," said Aurelius.

In simple terms, everything that the Galegold House is designed to do is to allow one to pursue creativity, activity, innovation, freedom, and the unknown," said a smiling Aurelius.

"Umm, you said this place is as big as Hogwarts, so how do we figure out this place?" asked a worried Ginny.

"Don't worry. Here are some maps that I have drawn up, and I will immediately teach you the point-me charm before lights are out. That reminds me, when you decide to be roommates, just place your hands on top of each other's and say merge; the rooms will do the rest," said Aurelius.

"Okay, and you said there are restrictions. Is there anything else?" asked Ginny.

"There are, but all the rules are on the bulletin board, but the gist of it is no stealing, no foul play, and don't be a git. If you wish to create a business, funds, supplies, and information will be provided as long as it is registered. It is limited to the amount requested that you will be expected to pay back," said Aurelius.

"Doesn't that paying back part seem a bit much? We don't have money," said Ginny.

"It is to understand that business has consequences for poor decisions, so don't take a loan if you can't reasonably pay it back with the profits that you make over time," said Aurelius.

"Well, anyway, I will be teaching you things you'll need to know should you need assistance; now let's begin the point me charm," said Aurelius.

Flashback end.

"Honestly, I'm somewhat insulted that you doubt my competency in regard to preparation and instruction," said Aurelius.

"To be fair, when it came to us, it was more or less a trial by fire," said Silvia.

"I gave you explicit instructions on how to do things and allowed you to do them in your preferred manner; a trial by fire is a bit of an exaggeration," said Aurelius.

"Perhaps, but you also only showed us your process once, and we learned by practicing the process repeatedly until we got to an acceptable level," said Hermione.

"True, but I also answered all of your questions as to what you did wrong as you went along the process," said Aurelius in protest.

"Okay, I'm going to say what I expect to be your method with the girls, and you will confirm its accuracy," said Silvia with a resolute tone.

"I'm amiable to that," said Aurelius.

"You gave them a list, you gave them a map, told them what to learn, gave them some basic magic utility spells, and you said you'd assist them if they were having trouble," said Silvia.

"…..100%," said Aurelius.

The girls sigh, "Aurelius, while I respect that you want to teach them to be self-sufficient so they aren't reliant on you, you are their only senior. People rarely make friends outside of their own houses; our group is among the few exceptions. So the younger years are reliant on their upper years to give them relevant information as necessary," said Silvia.

"But I am. I gave them tools, I instructed them, I taught them relevant information, and my house is among the few places where more than one house actually interacts with other houses," said Aurelius in protest.

"I believe you are correct, and what I think Silvia is trying to convey is your behavior could be considered cold in nature; while you are very friendly and mean well by being supportive to help build up our self-confidence by allowing us to think for ourselves, a guiding hand at a young age is far more desirable regardless of self-sufficiency," said Hermione.

"Hmmm, I didn't really see it that way; perhaps you are right, but I'm curious as to how much that applies to you two," said Aurelius.

"Well, personally, I like experimenting with things, but a guiding hand when I am uncertain about my actions or plans would be nice," said Silvia.

"I like clear, explicit instructions so that I can understand where I went wrong along the way and correct the mistakes as I understand them," said Hermione.

"All right, I'll be more considerate of your needs, and for that, I apologize," said Aurelius.

"Be considerate to your juniors first, but we accept your apology if your actions reflect your words in the future," said Silvia.

Hermione nods in agreement.

"Very well, for the future, I suppose," I said.