chapter 10: Conversations

"Ah, come in Severus." Albus said cheerfully as the Potions Professor stalked into the meeting room. "Good, we're all here, so we can begin. With the sole exception of Professor Hooch, who will be teaching the first-years about flying tomorrow, you have all taught at least one class to our new students or interacted with them as their Head of House. So, who wants to start?"

"As Head of Gryffindor but not a teacher of the first-years, I will." Professor Vector said. "My House has settled down and are quite happy to have someone who will actually listen to them… Sorry, Minerva, but your position as Deputy Headmistress really did interfere with your duties as Head of House…"

"Looking back, I can see it." Minerva admitted through clenched teeth. "And if I can get my hands on that blond hooligan…"

"What exactly are you accusing Mr. Malfoy of?" Snape asked defensively and Minerva shook her head.

"Not him. The boy with the shoulder-length golden-blond hair."

Everyone exchanged confused looks.

"I don't remember seeing anyone like that. Are you sure you remember correctly?" Albus asked and Minerva hissed in irritation.

.

"How do you remain so calm?" Neville asked as he climbed into his four-poster bed. Harry, sat reading using his pillows as a backrest, gave him a curious look. "Seriously, I've been on the verge of freaking out several times, but you just… how?"

Harry thought for a long moment, comparing the parts he had picked up about Neville's childhood to his own.

"I guess… it's because I didn't have anyone constantly claiming that they were disappointed in me." He finally concluded. "My relatives didn't have any real expectations for me, they just hated me for being different. I effectively grew up without really worrying about what people thought of me… except for the few I respected, like Mr. Kalwar."

Neville looked at him curiously and Harry elaborated. "He ran the local newsagent. I helped to deliver the papers in the morning."

"Oh, right." Neville said in realization. "I had wondered how Muggles got their papers since they don't use owls."

"Um… yeah…" Harry managed, once again struck by the sheer mental disconnect between the magical and non-magical worlds. "Anyway, I learned how to stand up for myself at his urging without turning into a bully and it kinda kept me going."

"Sounds heavenly." Neville half-whispered and Harry shook his head.

"Nope. Lonely." Harry responded. "But it taught me self-reliance."

.

"So, which one are you going to marry?" Sue Li asked, causing Hermione to freeze in the middle of brushing her hair in her never-ending battle to get it under control.

"Wha…?"

"Potter or Longbottom?" Padma supplied as she finished donning her nightie. "Both have advantages. Potter is fairly rich and the Potters are known for marrying intelligent witches while the Longbottoms are one of the Sacred Twenty-eight and politically very powerful, second only to the Malfoys."

"And the Malfoys are only powerful because they have so much money." Sue Li added with a moue of disgust.

"We're only eleven!" Hermione protested. "That's way too early to be thinking about things like that!"

Both her room-mates stared at her, then Padma sighed. "Hermione, you're a muggleborn who is new to the Magical World, so you don't know this, but for us Purebloods and most of the Halfbloods, there's a lot of pressure being placed on us to find a compatible mate and begin pumping out kids to bring the numbers of magicals back up. You-Know-Who's forces ended quite a few families and severely depleted the number of magicals, especially Halfbloods and Muggleborns."

"The Diagon Alley Massacre thirteen years ago." Sue Li added. "Father lost his godson to that, it was the last time that the Ministry tried to save money by bringing all the muggleborns and their families to Diagon Alley at once so that they could prepare for Hogwarts with minimal security."

"My father told me that the times were switched by a Death Eater or one of their sympathizers in the Ministry and the Aurors arrived an hour after the massacre due to thinking the meeting started at noon." Padma said darkly. "That's why Hogwarts Professors always accompany the muggleborn students one at a time for their shopping trips now."

Hermione found her throat was suddenly dry.

"But… how? …why?"

"It was war." Sue Li sighed. "My family stayed out of it…"

"As did mine." Padma interjected.

"…but the muggleborn were a priority target for the Death Eaters." Sue Li finished. "Of course, it means that there's less fresh blood to help strengthen the oldest families."

"So many of the Purebloods marry their cousins." Padma rolled her eyes. "Dad has partial ownership of a Pegasus Ranch, he knows what damage inbreeding can cause, which is why he gave me a list of people who were related to me and were therefore ineligible as marriage prospects."

Hermione's jaw dropped. What sort of world had she ended up in?

.

"…and what of you, Severus?" Albus asked, amusement written on his face. "Has your worst nightmare come to pass?"

Snape glared at the Headmaster. "If you mean the Potter brat, he is… tolerable."

"High praise indeed." Filius commented with a slight tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

"He does not take after his father in anything but looks." Snape admitted. "He studies hard… like his mother did."

Flitwick leaned back in his chair with a smirk, earning a fulminating glare from Snape.

"And the twins?" Minerva prompted, looking at Vector.

"Still mourning their inability to escape the consequences of their actions and all the missed opportunities to do so." Vector said, her face placid enough to fool all but those who knew her well. For those few, the vengeful amusement in her voice was unmistakable and Minerva smirked.

"I'm keeping an eye on them, though." Vector continued, her voice lacking the previous amusement. "Knowing them, finding out about the missed opportunities will only inspire them to try something… bigger. Possibly something even worse than the Custard Incident last year."

Almost every single one of the teachers winced at the thought of the potential impending mayhem.

.

"I still sometimes think I should have been in Hufflepuff." Neville admitted as Harry finished the page of his mother's journal and replaced the bookmark in it.

"Nev, remind me. Who did Professor Sprout say was the best natural Herbologist she had encountered? Let's see… I think it was someone about your height…"

Neville gave Harry a glare, but Harry could see the smile trying to break free.

"And with your new wand, you're very good at Charms and DADA… despite Quirrel's stutter." Harry added, causing Neville to slowly nod.

"I… suppose, it's just that…"

"It takes a while to overcome the feelings that your gran made you feel, even if she didn't realize exactly what she was doing." Harry agreed, earning another quizzical look. "I kinda spent a long time reading in the library back in Little Whinging… the books on psychology were quite interesting… once you got past the dryness of the words they used."

"What's say-collage-ee?"

Harry froze, trying to find a way to explain it that wouldn't simply confuse his friend.

.

"That's just… that's just…" Hermione shook her head in a mixture of confusion and denial. "But… what if the child doesn't want to get married to whoever the parents choose?"

"They get thrown out of the family." Padma shrugged. "Oh, it rarely happens these days for anyone other than the oldest Pureblood lines and since it relies on the Heads of Houses making a contract, it never happens to Muggleborns since they are their own Head of House… once they come of age, that is."

"I'll be a Head of House?" Hermione asked, distracted from the earth-shattering revelations she had encountered. "But… what should I do? How will it affect me?"

"Well, it probably won't." Sue Li shrugged. "You are a Muggleborn, so you won't be eligible for a seat on the Wizengamot, even if you could afford one. The members would simply deny you a place, they value their power too much."

"What sort of government are they?" Hermione exclaimed in disgust. "How do they justify being in control without listening to the public?"

"They generally don't." Padma said as she slipped into her own bed and waved her wand to dim the lights above her bed. "Dad's been trying to get a seat for several decades, but the families already there have refused to admit him every time. I think he's hoping to have Parvati marry into one of the Wizengamot families and that way, his grandson will be one of the power-mongers."

"…the more I learn about Wizarding Society, the less I'm liking it." Hermione sighed as she waved her own wand to dim her lights.

.

"Anyone else have anything to add?" Albus asked, looking round as all the teachers shook their heads. "Well, I still have a veritable mountain of paperwork waiting for me, so I declare this meeting at an end and thank you all for coming."

Severus rose from his chair and stalked to the door. Descending the spiral stairs, he exited and stepped around the Gargoyle, pulling up his hood so that he could fade into the shadows.

He remained motionless as the other teachers slowly filed out, although McGonogall gave him an amused glance but otherwise ignored him. Finally his target appeared and Severus stepped out from the shadow, only to freeze as a wand hovered barely a foot from his groin.

"Severus, you should know better than to try and surprise a Duelist." Flitwick scolded as the wand vanished.

"I am aware of that, but we need to talk." Severus returned and Flitwick motioned for Severus to walk with him.

"So, you have something to say?" Flitwick prompted two corridors later. "Or do we need to take it to one of our offices?"

"More of a warning." Severus finally admitted. "Malfoy has discovered that Potter disguised himself on the Hogwarts Express and is… irritated at the lack of opportunity to sway him before reaching Hogwarts as per his father's instructions. He also dislikes how Longbottom and Granger have become Potter's friends already, especially since Granger is a muggleborn yet is already showing him up in class… I believe that he may be planning something for tomorrow, despite my warnings that such a thing would be… unwise."

"The flying lesson." Flitwick deduced.

"Although I have warned Rolanda, I believe that you should find a way to watch, if you can." Severus suggested mildly. "Unfortunately, I will be overseeing the Seventh-years potions lesson at that particular time…"

"I see." Flitwick mused. "Unfortunately, I have to teach a lesson of my own at that time… this is most vexing."

"Indeed." Severus muttered darkly. "Indeed."

.

"Flying class tomorrow." Neville said as he twirled his new wand to dim the lights, smiling at his ability to do so. "I've never been on a broomstick before…"

"Hermione's been trying to read up on broomstick flying." Harry chuckled, then he sobered. "I hate to say this, but even though I've known her for less than a week, I get the impression that she might rely too much on books…"

"…you could be right." Neville said after a long, thoughtful pause. "Any ideas?

"Regarding Hermione? None whatsoever." Harry admitted. "Regarding the flying lesson tomorrow? See what happens and try to have some fun."

"That's… a good idea." Neville admitted after a long, thoughtful silence.

"I've wanted to learn how to fly for years." Harry added. "Seeing birds in the air… something about it just… just calls to me."

"Sounds like you might be a natural at Quidditch." Neville commented and Harry rolled over to look at him, seeing him easily despite the darkness due to his body heat.

"Quidditch? What's Quidditch?"

"You don't know what Quidditch is?" Neville asked in surprise.

"No, but let's wait until tomorrow before talking about it." Harry suggested. "I think we'll need to get our sleep first."

"Good idea." Neville chuckled. "Goodnight, Harry."

"Night, Nev."