The Four Kingdoms
My second Harry Potter fairytale
Wizard London had been divided into five kingdoms since Lord Voldemort's demise at the hands of little Harry Potter. They stood as Gryffindor; the brave, Ravenclaw; the wise, Hufflepuff; the merry and Slytherin; the sly. At the age of eleven, each child would be sorted through the age-old sorting hat, and placed into one of the four kingdoms. Muggle-borns (children of Muggle parentage who display wizard/witch capabilities) though growing in number, were all grouped together, and not sorted. Pure wizard blood
seemed to be dying out, though no one acknowledged this. All they rejoiced was that half blood Harry Potter had defeated the dark lord, and put an end to his reign. That was all they wanted to understand.
Because of his victory over Lord Voldemort when he was a baby, Harry was placed in charge of the Gryffindor kingdom. Cho Chang was head of Ravenclaw, Ernie Macmillan, Hufflepuff, and Draco Malfoy was head of Slytherin. Elections for the head of the houses took place every seven years, and it was unlimited the number of times you could be elected, something that made Harry very nervous.
He loved being a Gryffindor, and he loved the Weasleys, but he had a feeling that he would continue to be declared head of house because of his battle with Voldemort that he couldn't even remember.
"Harry, are you okay?" the sweet voice of Ginny Weasley filled the air to his right.
He just realized that he was rubbing his temples. He sat next to her, and Ron was on his other side, munching on bacon. They were in Gryffindor castle, where Harry lived as head of the kingdom, and they were eating breakfast. He had invited the Weasleys to move in not soon after he was elected. He turned to Ginny, smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
She smiled back at him, and went back to her plate. Ginny and Harry had been dating for the past year. He loved her very much, and everyone would whisper to him that he should propose. Being a young man of seventeen, he felt that it just wasn't the time yet.
Ron yawned, and lazily pulled out he and Harry's class schedule. "Herbology with the Huffs," he said. "Greenhouse 9."
All children of wizarding age in London attended Hogwarts. And to break the ice, they often had classes with students from other kingdoms.
"That's not too bad," Harry said. "How about you, Ginny?"
Ginny blushed, she was a year younger than Harry, and always was embarrassed by it. "Potions with the Slytherins," she said. "Onya Oxen, a friend of mine in Hufflepuff said she actually saw a Muggle-born class when she was on the way to the bathroom."
Harry felt a pang of guilt. He had met a Muggle-born witch once, but that was so long ago. He remembered she had bushy brown hair, and brown eyes, and had helped him when he stumbled upon a wrong corridor back in his first year at school. She had been so nice, and he thought of her on ocassion.
"C'mon, Harry, we better get going," Ron said, getting up and yawning. "I don't want to be late for Lavender," and his ears flushed a deep scarlet.
Fred and George made kissing-noises at him as he walked by.
Harry grinned, he had never seen Ron so happy as when he was in the company of Lavender Brown. They had got together two years ago. Harry quickly kissed Ginny when Fred and George were deep in conversation over their price list for the joke shop they planned to open and left after Ron.
"Free house-elves!" Hermione Granger shouted to the parade of witches and wizards making their way to Hogwarts for class. "House-elves are slaves! Every time you eat, you are eating something produced by slave labor!"
Harry and Ron were in the crowd. As they neared Hermione, Ron saw she was handing out pamphlets. Some students took them politely while others set them on fire or threw them at her, shouting racist remarks.
Harry felt a pang of guilt and sorrow for the girl. By the colors she wore (a muddy brown), he knew she was a Muggle-born. All Muggle-borns lived on the very edge of Wizard London and were very, very poor. The food that they were allowed to buy was the lowest grade, and more times than not, the milk that they bought was sour. The other kingdoms were forbidden to sell quality pure-blood food to them.
"Move along, move along," Harry heard Hagrid, and saw him making his way over through the sea of students. "Go on now, you'll be late fer class."
As most of the students dispersed, Harry got a good look at the girl--- and gasped.
She was the same girl he had run into all those years ago. She was beautiful. She had light brown hair, brown eyes (which now had bags under them) and a warm smile.
"Hi, Hagrid," Hermione smiled warmly at the giant.
"How are yeh, Hermione?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Not good. Not good at all."
Hagrid frowned, and then saw the duo. "Harry! Ron!"
Harry and Ron walked over, and Hagrid patted them on the back, almost causing them to topple over.
"You!" Harry half-shouted at Hermione.
Hermione eyed him coldly. "You," she spat back.
"It's me! Remember? Seven years ago, in the third floor corridor…"
Hermione scowled, and Hagrid cleared his throat loudly.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked. "That's Hermione Granger!"
"Who?"
"The head of the Muggle-born kingdom," Ron said.
"Oh," Harry said.
He had heard about her. Heard that she fought for what she believed in, and was the best witch her age.
"Yeh better get goin' to class," Hagrid told her. "The Slytherins are coming."
"I don't care who is coming--- I!" she was cut short when Hagrid all but threw her into the castle and shut the door.
"What was that about?" Harry asked.
"You know how ruthless the Slytherins are," Hagrid said. "Hermione's got her heart in the right place, but…"
Just then, the bell rang.
Ron and Harry's eyes bulged. "See you later, Hagrid!" they yelled as they ran into the castle.
On the way to their Charms classroom, Harry and Ron found themselves in a part of the castle they had never been before.
"Where in the bloody hell are we?" Ron asked.
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. The stairs must have changed and we didn't notice."
"It's freezing in here," Ron said.
Harry nodded. "Yeah. How come there's no fireplaces in this part of the castle?"
"I don't think we should be here," Ron said.
They continued down the hall, looking for anything familiar.
Four doors stood side-by-side.
"Look," Harry said. "Classrooms."
Harry and Ron walked to the nearest door and peered in through the window.
Immediately, he felt another pang of guilt. About fifty Muggle-borns were crammed into a small room, most standing because there weren't enough desks. Some were covered in tattered brown cloaks, but were still shivering. Through the sea of them, Harry spotted Hermione, her teeth chattering as she tried to perform a simple spell. Harry felt another pang of guilt.
End of chapter 1! Everyone else reading my other fic that it's progress, Over the Rainbow, I'll be updating that soon, and thanks for all the reviews, love and support.