Chapter 3. Into the new future

I am getting sick of people commenting on the children speaking formally! The Wizard world is way behind the Muggle world, even in that time. SO, children, especially girls would have to speak formally from about ten. Maybe younger. So please, stop commenting on it! Or I will start getting angry!

Words: 3444

The rest of August went very fast for poor Harry. It was mostly taken up with visits from the Winstons, the Greengrasses and appointments. Though, Harry, Amelia and Susan did visit the Winstons and Greengrasses a few times, too.

During that time, Amelia got Harry's health improved. She took him to an eye doctor, (magical one) and he's slowly getting Harry's eyes towards being able to see without glasses. In fact, by the time he started at school, Harry would be able to see almost as well as Amelia or Susan. What they did to repair eyes was a mixture of Potions and charms. Having been born with good eyesight, he would only take a month to be fixed up. Then four months of potions to make sure the eyes don't return to how they were before.

Amelia also took St' Mungos for his general health, and they were correcting Harry's stunted growth, and getting him to grow. He also had bones that needed to be broken and moved into place. Having potions to speed up healing, Harry only had to spend a week not walking instead of months.

Now, Harry had to take a few potions with breakfast and dinner, until he went to school. Then he'd get them again when he got back home. The Healer who was seeing Harry and prescribed the potions for Harry; reckoned by his 14th or 15th birthday, he'd be how he should be.

Amelia was tutoring Harry. Not on language and not on maths: on Pureblood customs and history of the wizarding world. It was all important, especially when Harry was due to become a lord in a few years. Wanting to get the customs to stick, Amelia was telling Harry he to greet children his age formally while he was an Heir. Really, he had could greet all the other children normally, but he had to greet lords and ladies formally. She would tell him that later. Susan had the choice between being formal all the way through or being a bit less formal: she decided just to be formal so she didn't have to change. Harry didn't get it at first, growing up in the Muggle world; but when he got his head around how backward it was, he was fine.

Amelia was pretty sure Daphne and Sheryl had decided to do what Susan did as far as the customs were concerned, and most other children would have decided that too. So, Amelia was pretty sure Harry would be formal forever, now.

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Allegro had become Harry's transfiguration practice target. He very good as a target because he didn't move much, so it was easy to aim at him. After a couple of days, Susan started using Allegro as a training dummy, too. Though, their transfiguration on Allegro was not always successful, which meant they had to ask Amelia if she'd turn him back. And one thing for sure, Amelia was not that impressed about having to do it.

After a week of this, Allegro angrily hissed, threatening to strike with poison dripping off his sharp fangs, "Leave me alone!" He just wanted to sleep, why couldn't they leave him alone?

"Oh, sorry Allegro," Harry hissed back. Then he told Susan that they could not practice on the snake anymore.

Susan said, understanding, "That's alright; we don't want to get too far ahead of the others, anyway."

"Fair point," said Harry, nodding at Susan.

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That night, when Harry and Susan were playing exploding snap in Harry's room. Harry asked, "What kind of people are the Malfoys? I've heard a bit about them, but not enough to get an idea of who they are, and Amelia just told me about the marriage contract before lunch. So, I'd like to be forewarned."

"Well, they are a very pure, pureblood family. You could go back 20 generations and still find no muggle blood. Because of this, they're very proud of it and will look down half-bloods with muggle-born parents and muggle-borns because of it. Aunty says that Lucius Malfoy, the current Lord Malfoy, was not too bad at school, but she said his father was horrible to anyone who wasn't pureblood. Draco Malfoy, who is our age; shouldn't be too bad, though. After all, his mother was one of the kindest girls in her year, apparently. She was two years younger than Aunty and Lord Malfoy, and two years older than your mother," explained Susan.

Harry nodded, then said, "With that background, who wouldn't be proud of it?"

"The Weasleys for one. They are pretty pure, I'm pretty sure they go back as far as 15 generations: but they don't seem to care. They're dirt poor because Mr Weasley's father giving it all to muggle charities, and because Mr Weasley, like his father; loves anything Muggle: he got a job with basically no pay. And because they, or well, he has no money, Mr Weasley can't take up his Lordship: as to do that, you need to have 10 thousand gallons sitting in your bank account at a time. Mind you, I think they would have a lot more money if they didn't have so many children! They have seven, I think seven children!"
"What? Who in their right mind would have that many children!?" said a shocked Harry.

Susan shrugged and said, "I think the oldest is in his mid to late twenties, too."

"Oh my god!" said Harry, who looked like he was about to faint.

Susan corrected, "Most wizards say, 'oh my Merlin,' but since you're going to be a lord soon, you can say whatever you want."

"That's weird. But if the books are true, though: he was only a great wizard, not a god! So, they should say, oh my god!" argued Harry.

Susan said, laughing, "Well, feel free to argue that at the wizard council: if you want, I can help you."

"Actually, I will do that. Great idea, Susan!" said Harry. Then he asked, "How old do I have to be?"
"Since your parents and grandparents are dead, and you have no cousins on James's side and no known magical relatives on Lily's side, you will be able to claim your spot at 15," Susan said knowledgeably.

Harry frowned, then said, "That's weird: in the Muggle World, no matter how many relatives you have alive, you would be able to claim once you reached the age of 18."
"Well, the reason for that difference is, or the main one anyway, is to stop pureblood lines from dying out," said Susan.

Harry frowned as he said, "That doesn't make any sense! You can't get married until you of age, which is seventeen, isn't it?"

"Yes. But, if two families are in danger of dying out, like the Blacks and the Ravenclaws for example: depending on what their guardians said, they might have to drop out of school, and well, err… have a child," said Susan, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Harry stared at her few a few seconds, then shouted, "WHAT!? That is barbaric! Where have moved on from that age! Or the Muggles have, at any rate. But, are there still Ravenclaws around? Didn't Rowena die over a thousand years ago with only one child who had disappeared?"
"Yes, but just in case you haven't noticed, the Wizard world is very behind the times," said Susan, shaking her head.

Harry muttered darkly, "Yes, I had noticed."
"But there are still Ravenclaws around: any Muggle-borns who come through could be descendent because Rowena Ravenclaw did have a squib son, and when he left Hogwarts, he basically vanished. But the Lovegood family are descendants of Rowena. Even though Helena died young, she had a child, who bred on. Actually, Amelia and I are descendants of Helga Hufflepuff," said Susan.

Harry asked, feeling interested, "Are there any Slytherin or Gryffindor descendants around?"

"No certain ones. But people do think that the Longbottoms are descendants of Gryffindor, and they haven't denied it. But, the Slytherin line is a mess. Originally, his family came from India, and were famous Snake Tamers; but there is only one family which we know for sure is related to him, and that was the Gaunts: but they died out a while ago," said Susan.

Harry said looking amazed, "You know a lot, Susan."

"You need to know all this too, Harry; and Aunty is slowly teaching you. But, you could be descendent of Slytherin: after all, the Greengrasses are suspected to be some relation to Slytherin. Which is looking pretty true since you can speak to snakes, and Astoria can speak to them as well," said Susan.

Harry said in disbelief, "Really? But why didn't she speak to Allegro, then?"
Susan sighed, then said, "One word: Daphne. Being the Heiress of everything Greengrass, a lot is expected of Daphne, and if it ever got out that Astoria could speak to snakes, and Daphne couldn't, all hell would break loose. Which means Astoria has to hide it."

"That's really sad," said Harry sadly.

Susan nodded, then said, "We better got to bed, as we have a big day tomorrow: we're heading to Hogwarts."
"Yeah, exciting, isn't it?" said Harry.

Susan nodded and said, "You bet."

Next day…

Harry and Susan got up early and packed their trunks, and they made sure they had everything. Then Breakfast was ready: being ready at the normal time. Susan's cat, Whiskers and Allegro, didn't like being caged up. But in Allegro's case, (maybe Whiskers too) he was worried Harry was taking him back to the shop. Harry had to assure him that wasn't the case.

When they had eaten, Amelia asked, putting her shoes on, "Do you have everything?"
"Yep!" Harry and Susan said at the same time.

Amelia said, "Let's go then; we will Disapparate. Sheryl and Daphne are going to meet you there; by the way."

"Sounds good," Susan nodded. Then Susan and Harry went to get their trunks.

When they got back, Amelia had everything, so they took the short walk to the edge of the Manor wards, then Amelia took them to the station. When they arrived, the train was due to leave in five minutes; which was the planned amount of time to be left. It was enough time to find a compartment, but not enough time to get bored.

Amelia said, "Perfect timing. Come on, let's find you a compartment."

They got on the train and found a compartment easily enough. Once everything was in it and they had gotten off the train, Amelia said, "See you at Christmas, okay?"
"Okay, Amelia/Aunty!" said Susan and Harry. Once they had said their goodbyes, Susan and Harry got back on the train.

When the train moved off, Harry and Susan watched until the Platform was out of sight. Harry said, turning to Susan when the platform had vanished, "Well, no turning back now."

"No, there's no turning back. Did you know that Aunty was very nearly a Slytherin?" asked Susan.

Harry said nodding, "From what it says about the house in the History book, that doesn't surprise me. She seems very cunning in her own right, and very ambitious."

"Your very different from me: I was shocked when Amelia said that she was very nearly a Slytherin," said Susan, looking slightly embarrassed.

Harry said, "Goes to show that not all Slytherins are bad. Tasmania was a Slytherin; Cygnus and Jasmine were, too. And Kingsley, that wonderful Auror Amelia talks about was a Slytherin, and Amelia herself was very nearly a Slytherin. And let's not forget Salazar, the man himself was a good person."

"I'll say. But some bad ones have come out of there," pointed out Susan.

Harry nodded and said, "Yeah, Moldy and his cronies; that's it. Grindelwald was from Durmstrang, and that other Dark Lord came out of Hufflepuff: the very house you would think a Dark Lord would most likely end up in."

"True; point taken," said Susan. Then Sheryl and Daphne joined them.

Sheryl said, "Hello, Heir Henry Potter, and Heiress Susan."

"Hi, Heiress Winston and Heiress Greengrass," said Harry.

Susan said, "Hello, Heiress Daphne, and Heiress Sheryl."

"Hello, Heir Henry Potter and Heiress Susan. But you know Harry, you don't need to greet us formally until we are all lords and ladies: we choose to do that," said Daphne nodding her head, then Sheryl and Daphne sat down.

The Pureblood greeting standard was: heirs greeted lords, ladies and other heirs by the first and last name, then they greet heiresses by only their last name. But When they become lords, it changes. Heiresses can call lords, heirs and ladies by the full name, but they can choose to only call heirs by the last name. When they became ladies, they have to call everyone except for none nobles by their full name; and lords had the same choice as the ladies. Then if you were an Heir or heiress, and your teacher at Hogwarts. Let's say, your teacher was lord, you would still call your teacher, 'Professor.' But if you were a lord or lady, you would refer to your teacher as lord or lady, depending on whatever their title was.

Then if they were children who were related in some way, they had the choice to call their relations by their title then, the first name. Then, of course, you could refer to dead family members just by their first name. Other dead lords and ladies though, you would always refer to them by their title. All this was very confusing for Harry, but he was getting there, slowly.

"Really? I'll think about it," Harry said.

Sheryl asked, changing the subject, "How's it been since Saturday?"

"Alright; a little boring. Though we did get to go to the Melbourne Magical Zoo," said Susan stretching.

Daphne said gaping, "You went to the Melbourne Magical Zoo? You're so lucky!"
"Yeah, I'll say: father keeps saying it's too far for us," said Sheryl looking envious.

Harry said, "If we go again, you can come too! it was really cool though; we got to see a real live Basilisk! And apparently, there are two times, the ones that have killing eyes, and the one without."

"Wow! That is so cool!" said Sheryl.

Then the door opened and a blonde-haired boy, who Harry was sure was Draco Malfoy stepped in. He said, "Hello, Heiress Winston, Greengrass and Bones. Who is this boy? Not a Mudblood, I hope."

"No, I am not, Heir Draco Malfoy. I am Heir Henry Potter," said Harry trying not to snigger.

Draco said, looking taken aback, "Nice to meet you, Heir Potter. I look forward to working with you at Hogwarts."

"And you," Harry returned. And with that, Draco left.

When the door closed, Daphne Sheryl and Susan cheered! Harry said, not understanding, "He's not that bad!"

"Some of the time. But you handled him very well," said Sheryl.

Susan said, sniggering, "Yeah: the first time Daphne met him, she nearly punched him within the first five minutes!"
"What! No way!? I can't imagine that!" Harry said looking shocked.

Daphne said, "We all have surprises up our sleeves: and I do Kick Boxing after all. Curtsy of Amelia, actually."

Then the door opened again and they saw a bushy-haired girl come in. She asked, "have you seen a toad?"
"No. And for your information, miss: it is rude to not knock, and to not properly greet us before asking about your silly toad," said a glaring Harry.

The girl looked taken aback. Then she said, "Well, sorry! I am Hermione Granger! I didn't know anything about this world until I got the letter. We first thought it was a joke. What house do you want to be in? I hope to be in Gryffindor! That is the best house, and Dumbledore himself came out of there! Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad, I guess. But Gryffindor sounds the best."

"I don't know: all the houses have their advantages and their disadvantages. And I know great people from all Houses. Professor Dumbledore was from Gryffindor, but then so was Sirius Black, who killed muggles and supported Lord Moldy. Newton Scamander came out of Hufflepuff, but a Dark Lord quite a while back, came out of there. Professor Flitwick was a Ravenclaw, but then so was Steward Archers, who was a Lord Moldy supporter. Then Slytherin: Lord Moldy himself came out of there then so did Kingsley Shacklebolt, who is quite a famous Auror: and hell, Amelia Bones was nearly in that house," finished Daphne looking smug. Sheryl, Susan and Harry were shocked, they had never heard Daphne say so much at one time!

Hermione said looking put out, "I suppose. Anyway, I better keep searching for Neville's toad! See you at school!"

Then she left, slamming the door. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief! A short time later, the door opened again to reveal a short plump boy.

He said shyly, "Hello, I'm Heir Neville Longbottom, but call me Neville. Have you seen a toad?"

"No, Heir Neville Longbottom, we have not. I'm Heir Henry Potter," said Harry.
Susan said, "I'm Heiress Susan Bones, and I haven't seen a toad."

"Same here. I'm Heiress Sheryl Winston," said Sheryl.

Daphne said, "A girl has already asked us that, quite a rude one, too. I'm heiress Daphne Greengrass."

"Oh, sorry about Hermione. And thank you," said Neville nodding. Then he left.

When he left, Harry asked, "Do any of you know a locking charm? Heir Longbottom wasn't too bad, but I don't anymore Hermione Granger's coming in."
"I do! I have to use one on my door at home to keep Astoria out," said Daphne, explaining.

Susan asked, "Well, could you lock the door please?"
"Alright," Daphne said, getting up. But, someone came in before she reached the door: it was a red-haired boy.

As he was about to speak, Harry grumbled at him, "This is a private room! And knock, then greet us properly!"

"Well, I'll get out: I don't want to sit with toffy Purebloods anyway!" said the boy as he rushed out.

"Good one, Harry!" said Sheryl.

Daphne said, nodding, "Yeah. And before I lock this, I think we should change."

"Good idea. Call me when you have changed," said Harry getting up and out.

Five minutes later, Susan, Sheryl and Daphne came out and said, "Your turn."

"Thanks," said Harry going in. Four minutes later, he told the girls they could come back in. When they were back in, Daphne locked the door, and they started talking again.

An hour later, the train arrived at its destination. The prefects told them to leave their pets and trunks on the train, as they would be brought up in due course.

They heard a tall man call, "First years! First years! This way!" They all recognised him as Hagrid the Game Keeper.
"Not him!" groaned Daphne.

Harry said as he led them off, "Oh, come on, Daph! He's not that bad!"

"Don't you dare call me that!" Daphne grumbled at him, trying to whack him. But she didn't mean it.

When they were with Hagrid, Hagrid said, "Hiya, 'Arry!"

"Hi, Mr Hagrid," said Harry.

When everyone else was with there, Hagrid called, "First years! This way!"

Then he led them down a beaten path. He said as they went around about the fifth corner, "Around 'ere we should see 'ogwarts in a minute."

And they did: it was amazing! Everyone was amazed, though the cool and collected Purebloods (Daphne) didn't show it. Everyone then got into the boats as Hagrid told them no more than four to a boat. Daphne, Harry, Sheryl and Susan were all in one. Once they all the students were in boats; Hagrid said, "Ready? FORWARD!"

And the boats moved forward like magic. They were headed towards a cave partly covered with ivy. When they were nearly there, Hagrid called, "'eads down!"

Everyone quickly ducked. After all, no one wanted to get whacked into the water; which would be freezing due to it being Autumn and Hogwarts being in Scotland. When the boats had docked themselves on the other side of the overhanging rock, Hagrid got out and started up a nearby staircase with the first years chasing after him. It was a very narrow staircase, so they had to walk in pairs, but that wasn't so bad, apart from the odd missing bit of stone.

When they reached the top, they found a door. Hagrid asked, "Ready?"
"Yes, sir!" The first years cried excitedly. Then Hagrid knocked. A few minutes later, the door was opened by an elderly witch.

Next chapter will have the sorting, and I'll give the names of all forty students. Most will be off JK Rowling's list, but some will be complete OCs. Sorry for the delay in updates: been very busy, and have joined two new forums! (yay!)

Review responses:

Magitech: I'll try my best. I have written the story already, it's just editing it, but I'll see; the only thing I can tell you, is that mostly, it will very loosely follow Canon. Some events will be omitted, and others will stay similar or change. And thank you.

ObessedWithHPFanFic: The wizard world is very behind, and I want to go more period time with the Purebloods, so it has to be that way. And I'd imagine Susan and Amelia being pretty open people: not everyone can be afraid of people who speak to snakes! Thank you for your review.

Daithi4377: Thank you! Being a different person to Canon, he would most likely have a different wand. And it's plausible that the Holly wand would not have liked him because of the Horcrux. And I hope to use Allegro later in the story. (have him eat Pettigrew? Lol, that idea is very appealing.)

About the titles, like I said before. Yeah; well, Dumbledore, no matter what we think of him meant well, and that is what I want to reflect in this story.

Everyone: thank you for reviews, favourites, follows and reading! Taking your time to get this far is a true complement to me.

Obvious reminder: Harry Potter is (sadly) not mine.