Life on the Other Side
By Maenad.
Disclaimer: This lot belongs to JK, except for the ones I made up. They're mine.
Ok guys, here's the deal. I had this idea - Draco knows nothing about Muggles except for what his Dad's told him. What if he were forced to see what they were really like? Would his opinions change? I think this is going to be a D/H something eventually, but I can't quite make up my mind whether it should be romance or just friendship. This section's a G rating, but it'll get to at least a PG-13 eventually. Should I keep going with this? Readers and reviewers, it's over to you.
LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE
The seventh-year students at Hogwarts had been called into the Great Hall. This was something they had anticipated and speculated about all through the autumn term, for a special project was part of the curriculum in the last year at Hogwarts. Participation was compulsory, for no student graduated without a pass in the project. It was these projects that gave Hogwarts its world-wide reputation for excellence - its students were widely acknowledged to be the most well-rounded products of wizarding education.
The Gryffindor students sat at their table, waiting for Dumbledore and the Heads of Houses to enter. Hermione was, as usual, frantically worrying about what it would be, and praying fervently that it wasn't one subject in particular...
"I couldn't bear it if it was Divination! Just think how awful it would be, spending an entire week making fraudulent predictions and gazing misty-eyed into crystal balls! I'd be so bored I'd quit on the first day and fail totally!"
"What if it were Potions?" cried Neville. "Having Snape breathe down my neck for a week would be terrifying!"
Ron was muttering under his breath about Transfiguration, something he'd never really got a grip on and had dropped immediately after scraping through his O.W.L. in the subject. Harry sat silent, tacitly agreeing with Hermione and Neville, and trying to fight down the butterflies in his stomach.
The other tables were also talking and murmuring among themselves, and the air of tension was so thick you could breathe it, except for one small area over the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy sat oozing confidence and superiority. When Dumbledore and the other teachers walked into the Hall, an expectant hush descended immediately over the whole company. The teachers sat down, except for Dumbledore, who looked around, smiled, and began to speak.
"As you are all aware, this school prides itself on producing wizards capable of dealing with every magical situation. Alumni from this school can be found in every country, in every wizarding career, and succeed well. In order to keep up with this tradition, we provide a wide range of subjects to be taken at N.E.W.T. level, and usually the talent in every year is spread more or less evenly across the whole curriculum.
'This year, however, this is not so. All of the staff here feel that one subject has been unfairly neglected by your year group, only two students having chosen it for one of their N.E.W.T.'s, and this year's project has been designed in order to remedy this situation.
'I will not leave you in suspense any longer. This year we are sending you all on a Muggle Survival Course, in order to familiarize yourselves with our fellow human beings in the non-wizarding world."
Grumbles and complaints exploded from the Slytherin table, and Malfoy looked furious. Harry and Hermione relaxed and sighed a breath of relief, for their upbringing meant that they could hardly fail. Dumbledore continued.
"We have noticed that students with Muggle or half-Muggle parents are outnumbered five-to-one by those who come from all-wizard families. Therefore we have written to the families of these students, who have all agreed to care for five of you for a week. While you are staying at their homes, you will not be allowed to use any form of magic at all. Your wands will remain at Hogwarts. At the end of the week, each group will be sent a Portkey to return to Hogwarts, where you will write a five foot essay on what you have learned.
'Professor McGonagall will now tell you which groups you will be in. Please then meet the other members of your groups, and listen to the Muggle-born among you, who will tell you what you need to know about their homes and families."
Professor Dumbledore sat down, whereupon Professor McGonagall stood up and started allocating students to their teams. To Harry's relief, he was assigned to Seamus Finnigan's team, instead of having to take a bundle of wizards to the Dursley's. Hermione, though, wasn't so lucky. She was assigned Ron, Two girls from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw - and Draco Malfoy.
Draco came stalking up to the Gryffindor table, his face red with anger. "Of all the Mudbloods I could have been assigned to it had to be you, Granger. There are a few of your kind in Slytherin, why couldn't it have been one of them?"
"First rule, Malfoy, is never to use that term when we are on assignment," she replied. "You won't have Crabbe, Goyle or your wand to help you - and I've got four older brothers who could easily beat the hell out of you." She smiled sweetly and gestured for him to take a seat across the table from herself and Ron. He scowled and sat down.
The girls from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw introduced themselves. Sophie Finchett was a mousey-haired, bespectacled Hufflepuff who was one of the students who had taken Muggle Studies, and looked like she wouldn't say boo to a goose. She sat as far away from Draco as she could, looking nervously at him. He however, was looking interestedly at Maria Delaney, who was a tall, glamorous blonde from Ravenclaw and specialized in Herbology.
"So, what's it like being a Muggle?" Sophie asked Hermione, who laughed.
"Pretty much like being a wizard, except you can't do magic. Muggles come up with other ways of doing things to get what they want. Most of them will seem pretty weird to you until you learn to think logically. After that it's pretty simple. But Muggles are just the same as wizards apart from that - all different types, not just one lump of humanity as Malfoy thinks."
"Ridiculous. My father says that all Muggles are stupid and perverted. Common types, not fit to exist," said Draco, looking disgusted."Well, you'll have a chance to find out for yourself, Malfoy, but if you call my family that again I can make life very bad for you when you're at my home, so watch it!" Hermione snapped.
"Will we learn how to use fellytones properly?" asked Ron. "I remember I once tried to call Harry at his uncle's house but I couldn't get the hang of it and his uncle got very annoyed."
"Sure Ron. Now, my parents are both dentists - that means they make sure people's teeth are kept healthy - so they'll be at work for most of the time. Two of my brothers are at Muggle university, so you may not see them, but the other two live in London, which is not far from where I live, so you might get to meet them. I have two dogs, Taco and Nacho - anyone allergic to pet hair?"
They all shook their heads.
"Ok, what about clothes? You can't wear robes, people will look at you like you're mad. Do you have jeans, trousers, that sort of thing?"
"I can pass for a Muggle if I have to," growled Draco. The others all assented.
At this point Professor McGonagall rapped the table for attention.
"I hope you have by now sorted out all the basic details. Portkeys to each home will be given to you at 9:00 tomorrow morning after breakfast. They will take you to your assignments at 9:15 precisely, where your hosts will be expecting you. While you are there, I expect you to behave with the utmost decorum and respect for your hosts, who will be in loco parentis while you are with them. Until tomorrow, you are all dismissed."
By Maenad.
Disclaimer: This lot belongs to JK, except for the ones I made up. They're mine.
Ok guys, here's the deal. I had this idea - Draco knows nothing about Muggles except for what his Dad's told him. What if he were forced to see what they were really like? Would his opinions change? I think this is going to be a D/H something eventually, but I can't quite make up my mind whether it should be romance or just friendship. This section's a G rating, but it'll get to at least a PG-13 eventually. Should I keep going with this? Readers and reviewers, it's over to you.
LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE
The seventh-year students at Hogwarts had been called into the Great Hall. This was something they had anticipated and speculated about all through the autumn term, for a special project was part of the curriculum in the last year at Hogwarts. Participation was compulsory, for no student graduated without a pass in the project. It was these projects that gave Hogwarts its world-wide reputation for excellence - its students were widely acknowledged to be the most well-rounded products of wizarding education.
The Gryffindor students sat at their table, waiting for Dumbledore and the Heads of Houses to enter. Hermione was, as usual, frantically worrying about what it would be, and praying fervently that it wasn't one subject in particular...
"I couldn't bear it if it was Divination! Just think how awful it would be, spending an entire week making fraudulent predictions and gazing misty-eyed into crystal balls! I'd be so bored I'd quit on the first day and fail totally!"
"What if it were Potions?" cried Neville. "Having Snape breathe down my neck for a week would be terrifying!"
Ron was muttering under his breath about Transfiguration, something he'd never really got a grip on and had dropped immediately after scraping through his O.W.L. in the subject. Harry sat silent, tacitly agreeing with Hermione and Neville, and trying to fight down the butterflies in his stomach.
The other tables were also talking and murmuring among themselves, and the air of tension was so thick you could breathe it, except for one small area over the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy sat oozing confidence and superiority. When Dumbledore and the other teachers walked into the Hall, an expectant hush descended immediately over the whole company. The teachers sat down, except for Dumbledore, who looked around, smiled, and began to speak.
"As you are all aware, this school prides itself on producing wizards capable of dealing with every magical situation. Alumni from this school can be found in every country, in every wizarding career, and succeed well. In order to keep up with this tradition, we provide a wide range of subjects to be taken at N.E.W.T. level, and usually the talent in every year is spread more or less evenly across the whole curriculum.
'This year, however, this is not so. All of the staff here feel that one subject has been unfairly neglected by your year group, only two students having chosen it for one of their N.E.W.T.'s, and this year's project has been designed in order to remedy this situation.
'I will not leave you in suspense any longer. This year we are sending you all on a Muggle Survival Course, in order to familiarize yourselves with our fellow human beings in the non-wizarding world."
Grumbles and complaints exploded from the Slytherin table, and Malfoy looked furious. Harry and Hermione relaxed and sighed a breath of relief, for their upbringing meant that they could hardly fail. Dumbledore continued.
"We have noticed that students with Muggle or half-Muggle parents are outnumbered five-to-one by those who come from all-wizard families. Therefore we have written to the families of these students, who have all agreed to care for five of you for a week. While you are staying at their homes, you will not be allowed to use any form of magic at all. Your wands will remain at Hogwarts. At the end of the week, each group will be sent a Portkey to return to Hogwarts, where you will write a five foot essay on what you have learned.
'Professor McGonagall will now tell you which groups you will be in. Please then meet the other members of your groups, and listen to the Muggle-born among you, who will tell you what you need to know about their homes and families."
Professor Dumbledore sat down, whereupon Professor McGonagall stood up and started allocating students to their teams. To Harry's relief, he was assigned to Seamus Finnigan's team, instead of having to take a bundle of wizards to the Dursley's. Hermione, though, wasn't so lucky. She was assigned Ron, Two girls from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw - and Draco Malfoy.
Draco came stalking up to the Gryffindor table, his face red with anger. "Of all the Mudbloods I could have been assigned to it had to be you, Granger. There are a few of your kind in Slytherin, why couldn't it have been one of them?"
"First rule, Malfoy, is never to use that term when we are on assignment," she replied. "You won't have Crabbe, Goyle or your wand to help you - and I've got four older brothers who could easily beat the hell out of you." She smiled sweetly and gestured for him to take a seat across the table from herself and Ron. He scowled and sat down.
The girls from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw introduced themselves. Sophie Finchett was a mousey-haired, bespectacled Hufflepuff who was one of the students who had taken Muggle Studies, and looked like she wouldn't say boo to a goose. She sat as far away from Draco as she could, looking nervously at him. He however, was looking interestedly at Maria Delaney, who was a tall, glamorous blonde from Ravenclaw and specialized in Herbology.
"So, what's it like being a Muggle?" Sophie asked Hermione, who laughed.
"Pretty much like being a wizard, except you can't do magic. Muggles come up with other ways of doing things to get what they want. Most of them will seem pretty weird to you until you learn to think logically. After that it's pretty simple. But Muggles are just the same as wizards apart from that - all different types, not just one lump of humanity as Malfoy thinks."
"Ridiculous. My father says that all Muggles are stupid and perverted. Common types, not fit to exist," said Draco, looking disgusted."Well, you'll have a chance to find out for yourself, Malfoy, but if you call my family that again I can make life very bad for you when you're at my home, so watch it!" Hermione snapped.
"Will we learn how to use fellytones properly?" asked Ron. "I remember I once tried to call Harry at his uncle's house but I couldn't get the hang of it and his uncle got very annoyed."
"Sure Ron. Now, my parents are both dentists - that means they make sure people's teeth are kept healthy - so they'll be at work for most of the time. Two of my brothers are at Muggle university, so you may not see them, but the other two live in London, which is not far from where I live, so you might get to meet them. I have two dogs, Taco and Nacho - anyone allergic to pet hair?"
They all shook their heads.
"Ok, what about clothes? You can't wear robes, people will look at you like you're mad. Do you have jeans, trousers, that sort of thing?"
"I can pass for a Muggle if I have to," growled Draco. The others all assented.
At this point Professor McGonagall rapped the table for attention.
"I hope you have by now sorted out all the basic details. Portkeys to each home will be given to you at 9:00 tomorrow morning after breakfast. They will take you to your assignments at 9:15 precisely, where your hosts will be expecting you. While you are there, I expect you to behave with the utmost decorum and respect for your hosts, who will be in loco parentis while you are with them. Until tomorrow, you are all dismissed."