Chapter Eleven – Confrontations

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. Me, I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.

Chapter Eleven – Confrontations

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Harry had just been shown which bed was his, had removed his shrunken trunk from a robe pocket, placed the trunk in the middle of the floor and unshrunk it before levitating it and moving it to the foot of his new bed, when one of the older Ravenclaw boys walked in with a note. He thought the boy's name was Carmichael.

Opening the note he saw it was written in Daphne's hand.

H

Meet me in the Entrance Hall. Now.

D

Harry stuffed the note into his pocket and said to the other boys in the room all waiting on him, "Sorry guys, it appears I've just been summoned. I'll be back as soon as I can."

He rapidly left the dorm and made his way back to the common room where a whole bunch of Ravenclaw students were waiting for him.

"Sorry guys, I've just been summoned by someone. I'll be back as soon as I can. I shan't be long," he apologised before ducking out the common room door and dashing down the stairs.

A few minutes later, after a quick dash through the corridors and down stairs, retracing the way he had climbed up to the tower, he was in the Entrance Hall. Daphne was waiting for him.

She softly said, "Follow me" before walking off. She walked through a door that was on the same wall as the antechamber he'd waited in before the sorting. Closing the door behind them, Harry found a short corridor lined with doors.

Daphne spun on her heel until she was facing him and launched herself at him in what Harry was coming to call a grapple-hug. "I missed you. I was so worried about you," she said into his shoulder.

"And I've missed you," said Harry, unsurprised he meant it. "Hospital was boring. All I could really do was spend time on rebuilding my Occlumency mindscape and shields again; and read my school texts. At least this time I was able to build them from the ground up with some pretty wicked defences.

"Now, more importantly, what's been happening with you while I've been away?"

"Well, it's now common knowledge that I'm betrothed. The ring saw to that pretty quickly. However, I've kept Mum about to whom. I don't think we could or should keep it a secret for much longer, though.

"I'm sharing a dorm with Tracey and two other girls named Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson. Parkinson's a Malfoy lackey and I think he and she might be betrothed, too. Millicent's a nice girl, a bit overweight, and I think she lacks a friend.

"Of the rest of those who were with us on the Express, Susan and Hannah are together in Hufflepuff, and Neville and Hermione are in Gryffindor - But, I've already you told you that, haven't I? You're the only one in Ravenclaw. So, the seven of us are pretty evenly split. Susan and I try to sit together, occasionally, but Snape sends her away if she sits at our table. And, if I try to sit anywhere else, Snape soon comes over and orders me back to the Slytherin table. And I met up with Hermione and Neville in the library, at one time, and we talked a bit before the librarian threw us out."

"Hmm..." mused Harry. "Well, there's nothing in the rules that say you can't sit at another table during mealtimes unless it's the Sorting Feast or the Leaving Feast. And there's specific reasons for those two feasts. More to the point, the rules suggest you should sit at other tables occasionally as it promotes inter-House fellowship.

"I think I might join you for breakfast at the Slytherin table, in the morning. If you want to come out openly about the betrothal that may be the perfect opportunity to do so. I want to put a stop to anyone trying to stop us sitting together for meals before it starts."

"Actually, I think that's a great idea," said a beaming Daphne. "I'll let Tracey know tonight, so she knows what to expect."

Thinking a bit, Harry said, "Alright. But, could you please go to the owlery and send a message to Neville and Susan we're going to do that? And ask Neville to inform Hermione and Susan to let Hannah know?"

With a bit of an amused snort he said, "I left the common room full of Ravenclaws waiting to quiz me about what happened on Sunday night. So, I have to get back there pretty soon or they're likely to burn me at the stake."

Giggling, Daphne said, "Well, we can't have that. I'll send the two owls - plus, I'll send one to Daddy. You'd best head back to the raven's rookery."

She then leaned back in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before they both exited the passageway back into the Entrance Hall. From there, both headed up with Harry branching off to head across to the Ravenclaw tower while Daphne headed to the owlery.

After answering the ridiculously easy riddle at the stone raven guarding the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, Harry entered to find most of the House sitting or standing around and waiting for him.

"Sorry about that," he said, before moving to prop himself against one of the study carousels near the wall opposite the large fireplace.

"Now," he said a little loudly. "Who wants to know what?"

He was suddenly assailed by questions from all sides.

Suddenly, a louder, older, male voice rang out, "Silence!"

The room very quickly quieted down. Harry could see one of the prefects walk over to him before he turned and said, "If you can't raise your hands and wait to be called upon, perhaps Mister Potter should just tell us, in his own words, what happened, alright?"

When no one disagreed Harry said, "Right, then. From the beginning..." and proceeded to tell them as much as he could starting with what happened the night his parents were murdered. He left out a lot that dealt with the new information about Pettigrew and Black, and about staying at the Greengrasses, but most everything else was included.

When it came to what happened on the previous Sunday night he covered it as well as he could. When he was finished he asked for questions.

"So you weren't actually possessed, then?" one young girl asked.

"No. As I said, the piece of Voldemort's soul was wedged between the skin of my forehead and the bone of the front of my skull. That's as far as it ever got and was locked in there."

"How come it wasn't forced out when you had previous bouts of accidental magic?"

"It's believed - and they're still researching this - that the piece in me was linked to the larger piece that was possessing Professor Quirrell and was being drawn to it when we came into close proximity to each other. Then, when the infant binding on my magic - shattered - my now much more powerful magic forced the piece in me out.

"And, yes folks, it's completely gone. That's why my scar is also gone." Harry lifted up his fringe so they could all see there was no longer a scar on his forehead.

"You were really treated that horribly by those muggles?"

"That's where all the scars come from, yes. And those scars are from the beatings and whippings that didn't fade away over time. Believe me, they're only a fraction of what I went through."

"But all the books say you grew up in a castle and had lots of adventures, and stuff."

"All those books are nothing but blatant flat-out lies!" he said a bot heatedly before he took a moment to calm himself again. "My new guardians will soon be taking action against the authors and publishers of those books and taking each and every one of them to court for slander. If you have any of those books, I suggest you contact your parents to take them back to the bookshops from where they were purchased and demand refunds."

"How come you're not wearing your glasses?"

"It was found that the soul fragment was causing the problem with my eyes that required me to wear spectacles. With the soul fragment gone the healers at Saint Mungo's were able to fix my eyes. Therefore, I no longer need them."

"What about the rings on your fingers?"

Indicating his right hand by lifting it up, he said, "This one is the Head of House ring for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter. I accepted the Headship of House Potter on my eleventh birthday as per the instructions of my late father."

Switching hands he said, "This one is a betrothal ring paired to another. And, before you ask, I'm not going to tell you, tonight, to whom I'm betrothed. However, it's a surprise you will find out tomorrow morning at breakfast. As for why I'm betrothed; my father and another man became drunk as skunks one night and, as a lark, decided to betroth their infant son and daughter. However, they signed the betrothal contract in blood; which means it's unbreakable.

"Now, while I was rather miffed to discover, just before my eleventh birthday, that I was locked into a marriage contract with someone I hadn't even met at that time, I am very happy to say we both have come to terms with it and find we've become quite enamoured of each other in a very short amount of time.

"I do not know if that's because of the magic of the contract or not. But, I find myself not caring one way or the other. I am, however, very happy to discover I've gone from being an orphan with no family to speak of, to now being part of a new family, and treated as if I'm adopted by them."

It was getting pretty late, so the Prefects called an end to the talk and hustled all the First Years, including Harry, off to bed.

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-==(oIo)==-

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The next morning Harry met Hermione and Neville in the grand staircase as he was about to descend towards the Great Hall, when Hermione raced up to him like a bushy-haired missile and grapple-hugged him.

She quickly released him and stood back, then said, "Sorry, Harry. But, we were all really worried about you. It's good to see you back. I've read those books you gave me and want to know if you have any others. And I hope you really are alright."

"Wow!" said Harry. "Information all over the place there. Let's see if I can respond to each."

Pausing a second he said, "That's okay. Thank you for worrying; it shows you care. Thank you. Yes, I do; and yes, you can borrow them. And, yes, I'm really alright."

Hermione stood there blinking in confusion for a few seconds as Neville snickered a little, before Harry could see her work through his responses. When she was done, she looked at him and grinned. "Sorry," she said a bit sheepishly. "That really was all over the place, wasn't it?"

Harry grinned back and nodded. He then asked, "Now, perhaps you can tell me why I've discovered, over the past couple of weeks, that young ladies have apparently decided they can run at me, grab me, and then proceed to hug the stuffing out of me."

With a matching grin she replied, "Well, I don't why you've only just discovered this, Harry. But, you're a pretty 'huggable' bloke, alright?"

With a bit of a shrug Harry said, "Well, I suppose so." Changing the subject he asked, "Are you coming down to breakfast? I promise to put on some pretty good entertainment for you. Since you've read those two books I loaned you, you should be able to easily enough follow what gets said and done."

"Alright," she said, a little confused.

As they approached the doors of the Great Hall, Harry softly said to both Neville and her, "I'm going to sit you at the Hufflepuff table with Susan and Hannah for breakfast. And, yes, you're allowed to do that. It's in the rules. I'm going to be sitting at the Slytherin table with Daphne and Tracey. Sitting with Susan and Hannah will get you close enough to have a ringside seat of the entertainment when it starts."

"You're not out to get into trouble, are you?" asked Hermione, a little worriedly.

"Yes," replied Harry. "However, I actually won't be. Someone's in for a very rude surprise."

When they walked into the Great Hall, Harry, followed by Neville, led Hermione over to the Hufflepuff table. Susan and Hannah were already there and wearing wide grins.

Daphne had also arrived earlier and she and Tracey left a spot at the end of the Slytherin table. As Harry approached, Daphne subtly indicated to him the free spot for him to sit right next to her. Harry plonked himself down and, without a care in world, proceeded to happily make a breakfast for himself.

He was busily hoeing into a poached egg on toast with a side of bacon and calmly talking to Daphne between bites, when Professor Snape finally had enough and stormed over.

"Potter," he sneered. "What are you doing sitting at the Slytherin table?"

"Eating, Professor Snape; and talking to these two lovely ladies," he calmly replied, before returning to his breakfast.

"Go back to your own table, Potter," snarled Snape. "You're not welcome at the Slytherin table."

"Excuse me?" growled Harry.

"You heard me, Potter," Snape almost yelled. "Go back to your own table! And that will be twenty points from Ravenclaw for your cheek."

Changing targets to Daphne, he sneered contemptuously "And you, Greengrass; I would expect better of you than to mix with the likes of Potter."

Harry paused for a few seconds before carefully placing his cutlery down on his plate. Then he slowly stood in place and glared right back allowing his magic to flare as he did so - something he practiced while in hospital.

Snape at least had the gumption to only take half a pace back.

"Potions Master Professor Severus Tobias Snape!" barked Harry loud enough for the entire Hall to hear. "You are interfering with the betrothal practices of not one - but two - Noble and Most Ancient Houses..."

That made the man blanch a bit. The Hall was now dead silent. Not even moving cutlery could be heard as everyone watched the drama unfold.

"...You will immediately apologise to my betrothed, Miss Daphne Ophelia Greengrass, Heiress Presumptive of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Greengrass; and myself, Mister Harry James Potter, Head and Heir Apparent to the Lordship of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter; or I shall be forced to act accordingly, as per the old ways!"

Snape visibly flinched and paled. Harry almost expected him to pass out. He heard from just along the Slytherin table a male voice softly mutter, "Oh, bloody hell!"

Keeping an eye on the man out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw that as soon as Dumbledore heard 'betrothal practices', the old man rapidly got to his feet and began to hurry over. He arrived just as Harry said 'old ways'.

"Now, Harry..." he began.

Harry, already knowing the old man was going to stick his beak in, was ready for him.

Snapping his head around to glare at the Headmaster, he barked, "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore of the Minor House of Dumbledore! You will not interfere in the business of two Ancient Houses. Back off or also face the consequences!"

Dumbledore, no fool, did actually back up a couple paces. However, he immediately turned to Snape and rapidly said, "Now, Severus; you really must apologise. What you did was wrong and against the school rules. There is no requirement for students to sit at their own House tables for any meal except the Sorting and Leaving feasts. I'm immediately reversing the points you took from Mister Potter as they were uncalled for. Now, apologise so we can be done with this matter."

As soon as Dumbledore backed up Harry immediately swivelled his glare back to Snape. He remained staring unblinking at the Potions Master while Dumbledore rapidly spoke.

It took a few seconds after Dumbledore finished speaking before Snape finally muttered with a snarl, "I apologise."

Harry waited a beat or two before he roared back, "That was not acceptable! You will provide a proper apology that reflects the severity of your crime!"

A few moments more and Dumbledore softly said, "Severus..."

"I apologise to both you and Heiress Greengrass, Heir Potter!" Snape half-snarled a little louder. "My words were ill-thought and rude. I retract them, unreservedly!"

Harry paused for a long moment before turning to look down at Daphne. "Lady Daphne?" he softly asked.

Daphne gave a gentle nod in response, her face a mask.

Harry turned back with full glare at Snape and said in voice only slightly lower than his original bark, "Accepted!"

Snape immediately spun on his heel and stormed off out of the Hall.

Harry was about to sit down when Dumbledore said, "Now, Harry..."

"What is it, Headmaster?"

"Was that really necessary, Harry?" Dumbledore asked in a disappointed-grandfatherly voice with a similar expression affixed to his face.

"Yes, Headmaster, it clearly was! If you had done your duties as Headmaster properly, and not been remiss in counselling your staff on what was considered proper behaviour and decorum when dealing with the student body, then it probably would not have been necessary," barked Harry. "As it is, you can rest assured that both Lord Greengrass and Regent Potter will be formally notified of what occurred here this morning. I daresay they will have their own words to add to this matter!

"Now. Will that be all, Headmaster? I am attempting to spend time with my betrothed before classes, and my breakfast is getting cold."

Dumbledore gave a brief nod before he, too, left the Hall. However, his departure was a little more dignified.

As soon as he was gone, Harry plonked himself back down on the bench and said in a normal voice, "Now, where were we?" Noises of students talking to each other over what happened rose in volume quite quickly.

Daphne just looked at him, leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek, and sat back with a grin. "Damn, Potter! You really know how to impress a girl."

"And I didn't even have to point out that school rules do not forbid students from sitting at the tables of other Houses. Dumbledore did it for me," said Harry. "Hopefully, enough people heard it for Snape not to be able to snarl at students about it ever again. Which, of course, was the whole point of the exercise. Win win!"

Both girls giggled while Harry turned back to his breakfast.

A few minutes later, Harry was approached by Professor Flitwick, who dropped a copy of Harry's class schedule on the table before him. He also heard the Professor whisper to him, "That was a nice bit of theatre, Mister Potter. Very well done."

"Thank you, Professor," replied Harry with the same level of whisper. "I apologise that it was necessary."

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Harry felt his first class in Transfiguration was a bit of a waste of time. He'd already practiced transfiguring objects while he was living at The Leaky Cauldron and studying the texts. So he alternated his attention between transfiguring a match into a needle and back again, and writing up the short letter about what had occurred at breakfast he was sending Cygnus, together with a copy of his memory of the event.

He made sure not to mentally call Hedwig to collect the letter and memory phial until he was sitting in the Great Hall again, enjoying morning tea. He wanted as many people as possible aware he was sending a letter, and let them assume it was the written formal complaint.

There were many eyes watching as the large snowy owl glided down from the rafters to softly alight in front of him with a minimal of wing movement. As Harry attached the note and phial to the owl, it stood almost stock still in front of him with it's leg cocked forward. Hedwig was playing up to the audience, and loving every moment of it.

"Show off!" Harry whispered to her with a grin.

She softly hooted in reply with her muted bark that he now knew to be laughter.

Packages properly secure, Harry placed his arm for Hedwig to mount. He then aided her in regaining flight by gently lofting her upwards. She soon disappeared back up and out the owl windows at the peak of the Great Hall ceiling.

After morning tea was a free period so, instead of sitting around and doing nothing, he decided to attend a class for History of Magic. It took him only a few minutes to realise the ghost teaching the class was practically reciting whole passages out of the text book on the subject. He simply drew forth a clean sheet of parchment and proceeded to write a letter to Gran letting her know the gist of what happened at breakfast, and that he'd sent a copy of the memory of the event to Cygnus. He'd let them work out how to share the memory between them if Gran wanted to see it.

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While Harry was sitting in History of Magic class, Severus Snape had stormed into the Headmaster's Office.

"Thank you for coming, Severus," twinkled the old man. "I wanted to discuss with you..."

"That arrogant little brat embarrassed me in front of the entire school!" the Potions Master yelled, interrupting.

With an angry glare back, Dumbledore said, "You embarrassed yourself, Severus!"

Hesitating a moment, Dumbledore said, "When we reviewed together your memory of the events of the sorting, it was you who indicated the boy was wearing a male betrothal ring on the ring finger of his left hand similar to what James wore when he was first betrothed to Lily. It was you who indicated a very similar ring on the same finger of Miss Greengrass when you noticed how focussed she was on the boy. And, it was you who suggested they were possibly betrothed.

"Granted, it is indeed surprising Harry is aware of the laws surrounding betrothals, or that there are special dispensations when either party is an Heir. I fathom Lord Greengrass has been educating the boy. However, you are just as aware of the laws and yet you decided, in your anger towards all things Potter, to interfere in what was clearly a time for them to get to know one another."

"The boy should not have been aware of..." the Professor tried again.

"Enough!" snapped Dumbledore, slamming the palm of his left hand down onto the flat surface of his desk. "It does not matter whether or not Harry was aware of the laws. You were, and yet you still chose to interfere!"

The Potions Master just glared back with his lips pressed together in a firm line.

"I am going to have to do a great deal of politicking and calling in of favours to try and get you out of this mess, Severus," said the stern Headmaster. "As you are no doubt aware, because Harry is a minor, Lord Greengrass can overturn Harry's acceptance of your apology. I've also just been made rudely aware, that Harry has filed Regency papers to have Augusta Longbottom become his Regent. So, she too, can overturn the apology.

"As of this moment, either of those two aged warriors have it within their grasp to legally declare blood feud on you and kill you."

Startled, Snape said, "I..."

"So, you'll forgive me," said the Headmaster interrupting right back in a low but angry voice, "if I have no tolerance for one of your churlish rants, this morning.

"I was about to put in motion efforts to have Harry's magical guardianship and regency returned to me. However, after your little snit, this morning, I have to abandon those plans! Instead, I now need to direct all my attention and resources towards saving your life. If I am miraculously lucky, I may even be able to save you your job! At this moment, I cannot see how I'm going to accomplish that."

Snape motioned to, yet again, speak but was cut off before he could utter a sound.

"You are to ensure you review all school rules and procedures before the end of the day," said Dumbledore. "From this moment forth, you are to issue and dock points rigidly within the rules and with complete fairness. Your bias against Gryffindor House is at an end. Your favouritism of Slytherin House is at an end. Your verbal abuse of the students is at an end. And you will comport yourself as a professional educator at all times. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Headmaster," the Potions Master replied with reluctance.

"Then, you may go, Severus," said the Headmaster, leaning back in his chair.

Without another word, the Potions Master spun on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind himself.

After he had left, the portrait of Headmaster Dippet said, "It's about time you reigned in the greasy bat!"

Dumbledore's countenance took on a look of weary pain.

"For far too long you've allowed that man to completely ruin the reputation of this fine institution," the portrait continued.

"Armando," said Dumbledore wearily. "Now is not the time."

"It's never 'the time' with you, is it, Dumbledore?" said the portrait of Dexter Fortescue. "The reason we hang here is to provide you with our wise counsel and advice. But, you never listen! We all told you ten years ago that man was going to be nothing but an ongoing problem, and that is what he is."

"Enough!" said Dumbledore, irritably.

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-==(oIo)==-

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At lunch Harry and Daphne were sitting together at the Ravenclaw table with Hermione opposite.

The young boy Harry now recognised as Anthony Goldstein finally seemed to develop the courage Harry was watching him build during dinner. He asked, "Ummm - H.. Heir Potter?"

"Call me Harry, Anthony," replied Harry calmly.

"Alright. Ummm - Harry?" he tried again. "That - thing - you were - saying to Professor Snape..."

"Yes?" Harry knew what he was going to ask, but allowed the boy to find his own way there to ask it.

"When you were yelling at Professor Snape, you mentioned something about betrothals - and Noble and Ancient Houses - and well - I don't understand what it was all about."

"Ah!" said Harry. "You were muggle-raised, yes?"

"Yes, just like you," Anthony shot back. "But, I didn't understand what any of that meant. Though, it was clear it was very important."

"It was," replied Harry.

Thinking a bit, he turned more towards the boy and said, "I'm not trying to be rude, but it's clear you know very little about the Noble and Ancient Houses and their role in wizarding society, yes?"

"Yes."

Harry also noticed he had quite a few others also now listening in on his explanation.

"I'm not having a go at you about it, alright," he said gently. "However, now that you're a part of wizarding Britain - even though you're just a student for now - you really need to understand the laws, customs and etiquettes of this society you now find yourself within.

"There is a great deal that is similar to the muggle world, but there are some very important - facets - that are unique to this world. What happened this morning was one of those.

"In the muggle world you have titled people and they're called viscounts, counts, earls, barons, dukes, et cetera. And those noble ranks all lead up to Her Majesty, correct?"

Anthony nodded.

"Alright, in the wizarding world you have a similar system, but they're based around Houses," explained Harry. "In order, you have the unhoused, then the recognised magical houses, the minor houses, the elder houses, the ancient houses and the most ancient houses. With me so far?"

"Yeah, I've got that."

"Right, and some of those houses go further and are recognised as noble houses. There are the Noble and Ancient Houses and the Noble and Most Ancient Houses. The Potters and the Greengrasses are both Noble and Most Ancient Houses. Both houses sit at the top of the titling 'food chain', so to speak. Still with me?"

"Yep."

"Now, within each house there is a Head of House. That's the person who is the ranking member of that house. The Head of House, for a noble house, is recognised as either Lord or Lady; or both if there's husband and wife. However, unlike in the muggle world, a minor cannot be a Lord or Lady of the House. At those times there's always a Regent who acts as both the guardian of the underaged Head and representative on wizarding Britain's parliament, the Wizengamot. Alright?"

"Alright, I understand so far..."

"Below the Lord or Lady of the House there are the Heirs and Heiresses. I am the last remaining Potter so I became Head of House Potter on my eleventh birthday. As I am also underage, and will become the next Lord Potter once I reach my majority, or am emancipated earlier, I'm recognised as the Heir Apparent. No one can take the title away from me.

"In Daphne's case, she is an Heiress of House Greengrass. Her father is the current Lord Greengrass and he has designated her as his Heir. As such she is Heiress Presumptive. She is not Heiress Apparent because her father has the right to change his mind and designate another as his Heir. Still with me?"

"Yeah, you're explaining it pretty well," replied Anthony.

"Thank you," replied Harry graciously. "Now also amongst the Houses there is a very old tradition relating to marriages that is not often used anymore. They're known as betrothal contracts. And they were used, just as they were in the muggle world centuries ago, to marry off daughters to sons of different Houses, to create formal alliances between said houses; or to, unbeknownst to them, spread the gene pool around. This was usually done with sons and daughters who were not Heirs. It was rare for actual Heirs and Heiresses to be involved. It was usually one or the other.

"However, what we have here between Daphne and I is a binding betrothal contract between the next Lord of one Noble and Most Ancient House and the current Heiress Presumptive of another such House. If betrothal contracts were still common, what we have here would still be considered quite rare and astounding. I would not be too wrong if I was to say that such a betrothal has not been seen for many, many centuries."

"Wow!" the boy exclaimed.

"Indeed!" smiled Harry. "Now betrothal contracts are something of which no other House will dare interfere. Actually, no other person should dare interfere. The Houses involved will look very poorly on anyone who even attempts such a heinous act. It is considered both the height of insult and considered an attempt, at our level, of interfering in the rules of succession of a House. Wizard duels to the death have been commonly fought over such; and blood feuds that led to the utter eradication of a House, or Houses, were not unheard of."

"Oh - my..." Harry heard a young girl's voice softly say.

"There are many laws in wizarding Britain that have been around for centuries," continued Harry. "One of those laws still in place gave me the right to bring challenge against Professor Snape for his - transgression. I was fully within my right to kill him where he stood. Plus, as I am currently a minor, I could have called on both my current regent, and Lord Greengrass as the Head of my betrothed's House, to supply me with a champion to duel Professor Snape to the death in my place.

"While I forced Professor Snape to apologise for his words and tone, this morning - and I accepted it - my regent or Lord Greengrass may still take exception, overturn my acceptance of the apology, and kill him in either a wizard's duel or via blood feud.

"Both Snape and Dumbledore cannot claim they did not know of the betrothal, either - even though I suspect they will attempt to do just that - because Daphne has been wearing my betrothal ring since before she even arrived here for the sorting; as have I. And, though Snape is a half blood, he was raised in the wizarding world. He knows what the rings signify.

"At this moment, until Regent Potter and Lord Greengrass decide otherwise, Severus Snape stands on shaky ground. If my read of Lord Greengrass's mood concerning our beloved Potions Master is accurate; and I believe it is based on recent discussions I had with him before he escorted me here yester-evening; then he has received my owl I sent him earlier today, and is currently ordering his house elves to polish his wand and press his duelling robes. Severus Snape is, if Lord Greengrass is of such a mind, currently a dead man walking.

"Right now, I can guarantee you, Dumbledore is doing everything he can within his power to try and protect Mister Snape from the consequences of his actions. Snape will only live if both Regent Potter and Lord Greengrass allow it, and reparations are paid and concessions are made. Right now, Dumbledore will be calling in a lot of his favours amongst the other members of the Wizengamot, and the Ministry, and will no doubt accede to any and all requests Regent Potter and Lord Greengrass make of him in exchange to spare Snape's life.

"Lord Greengrass and Regent Potter must currently feel like six-year-olds on Christmas morning faced with a veritable mountain of wrapped gifts all bearing their names."

"Holy Mother of God!" exclaimed young Mister Goldstein. "You people play for keeps!"

"That we do, my friend; that we do," smiled Harry.

"But, why did Professor Snape do it?" asked one of the others. "If the consequences were so severe, I mean."

Harry gave a shrug and said, "I believe it was because, in his arrogance, he thought I would be unaware of the laws and traditions, as I was raised in the muggle world. He learned the hard way he was wrong."

"The Slytherins and Gryffindor First Years had Professor Snape for first period this morning; immediately after it happened," said Daphne, speaking up for the first time in the general discussion. "He was both pale and shaky. He wouldn't come anywhere near me for the entirety of the lesson.

"Towards the end of the lesson he was berating Neville Longbottom about the state of his potion. Neville was shaking until he suddenly had a look of anger on his face. That's when our normally shy and unimposing Neville sat up, stared at the Professor, and asked, 'Professor Snape. Are you aware that my grandmother, Dowager Lady Longbottom, is currently Regent Potter?'"

She smiled and said, "I didn't think Professor Snape could turn even whiter than he was already. He did, though. Then he spent the remainder of the class sitting at his desk and didn't say a word to anyone until near the end of class. Even then he only told everyone to bottle their potions, leave them on their benches, clean up and get out. No one's seen him since. I heard he didn't even show up for the third year potions class between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

"Why aren't we taught about these traditions and laws?" asked a second year, Warren Chambers, who had slid up along the bench to better hear what was said. "I've been here for over a year and I didn't know ninety five percent of what you spoke about regarding the Houses. I think it's something we should know."

"The wizarding world expects you to find out on your own," replied Harry. "After all, according to them, you have come into their world. It behooves you to find out as much about it as you can, and to assimilate. It does not behoove them to teach you."

"But, still," the boy pressed on. "How would we know to even ask in the first place? Honestly, we can't be expected to ask a question when we don't know the matter around the question even exists."

Harry sat back and thought about it for a little while. "I tell you what. Give me some time to catch up on the work I've missed - and to get the right reference material - and to prepare something in advance. Then, I'll see about holding classes to teach muggleborns and muggle-raised some of what they need to know to get by in the wizarding world without putting their proverbial foot in it. Alright?"

Harry received back more head nods in agreement than he thought he would, including a couple of 'alright's' and a 'thanks mate'.

Turning to Daphne he merely cocked an eyebrow and said, "It looks like I won't be able to spend as much time with you during our free time as I hoped."

"In your dreams, Potter," she replied. "I think it'll be beneficial for me to join you in teaching these classes."

Harry grinned back.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

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