Monday: In Which Leon is the Wizard and Cedric is a King of Man
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First days , Leon thought as he tugged Harry to a corner in the common room. Are horrid- especially when it's a Monday .
"Right!" He said once they sat. "I already know you've had a Muggle Education, the question is- do you want to continue it? First, know that it's not mandatory- you can ignore your Muggle Education as, while there has been some noise to extend it to 16, the age for compulsory Muggle Education is 10. There are benefits on having a Muggle and Magical Education though, one being you aren't restricted to one world or the other."
"Maybe renting prices are better in the Wizarding World but the Muggle World's job market is more appealing- either because it pays more or there are more positions for you to apply for." Leon offered when the boy looked a bit confused. "Continuing your Muggle Education now will make it easier to slip back into the Muggle World once you graduate- perhaps you'll want to go to a university, trying to catch up then will be difficult. Now, again I ask- do you want to continue your Muggle Education?"
Leon looked around the room while Harry thought, a little bit away Neville seemed to be agreeing to try out Muggle Education and Hermione was in a heated debate with Tonks-
"I'll do it." Harry finally said. "I want to continue."
"Right." He nodded, "I'll add you to the list, don't worry about it- we're not going to do anything until we've got a copy of your transcripts to work out a Muggle Education curriculum for you. Know that first, fourth, sixth and seventh years take Muggle Exams. During the last month at Hogwarts groups will take Portkeys to the University of Glasgow for testing- it a bit of a vacation once it's over since we have a three days. Firsties go with their mentors, Fourth years with Sixth years and Seventh years go solo. Now go over to Mary, she's the prefect who gave a speech last night with Alfred, to start learning how to use a quill."
Twenty minutes later, Leon turned to Cedric. "I hate percentages."
"You don't have to do it." the pure-blood said calmly, not looking up from his worksheet (it was focused on multiplying with decimals).
Leon scoffed, "Mum wants me to got to college- me promising to a year or two after Hogwarts was the only reason she allowed me to come."
"Then do it." Cedric told him.
He huffed but refocused on the problem, muttering to himself as he worked. "20 percent of 96. So 25 over 100 times 96 over 1 equals- five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, 30 so 0 carry the 3 and fifty minus five is 45 plus 3 is 48 so 480. Then 2 carry the 1, 18 plus 1 is 19 so 192 plus 480-"
"You forgot the zero place holder." Cedric interrupted him.
He glanced at the entire problem, saw he was treating it as two and five times ninety-six instead of twenty-five times ninety-six. " Dammit. I hate fractions. I hate percentages. Just general hatred for math right now. Okay . So it's 1,920 plus 480 which is- zero, zero carry the one, four carry the one, one plus one- 2,400. 2,400/100. Take away the zeros- 24/1 equals 24. So 20 percent of 96 is 24." Leon waited a beat to see if he was corrected but the sixth year tutoring them only smiled so he slammed his pencil down on the worksheet and cheered. "Yes! Finished!"
"And it only took you an hour." Cedric hummed, handing over his second worksheet over to the tutor before standing.
Leon made a face, "Shut up. I suck at percents and fractions- give me square roots and exponents any time. Or, better yet, like terms and simplifying. Percents and fractions suck ."
"How'd you even work out who gets what percent of the profit for the books?" Cedric wondered.
"...oh look! The quill lesson's done!" He said before hurrying to Harry who had been besieged by Hermione, Neville awkwardly standing next to them.
Confession: Leon didn't work out percentages. He guessed on what seemed doable payment compared to the amount purchased, how many it was split between and what goes to buying copies. If he hadn't instituted the 'no buying a copy the first six months' rule and forcing repeated payments to rent the books then it's likely things wouldn't have worked out so well.
"Now! Onward to breakfast!" Leon called, interrupting the conversation (something about hygiene) and dragging Harry back to the dorm area.
Harry, who now seemed resigned to being manhandled, spoke when they entered the tunnel that lead to the bathe area. "Why go back this way when the entrance is closer?"
"This way exits near the Great Hall which we need to be by 8:30 to get out class schedules." Leon answered. "First day's are unique like that since we have to be in the Great Hall during breakfast, otherwise our days would be bathing, Muggle/Quill lesson, breakfast in the kitchens then heading off to class. You'll be having you Muggle lessons in the morning while I do since I'm your mentor but second year and on it'll be your responsibility to figure out how to adapt your lessons around you Hogwarts schedule if you don't want them in the mornings."
"Why mornings?" Harry asked.
He turned into the small pathway that forked from the 'locker room'-bath pathway before answering. "My mentor, Archie, took his lessons at night, the hour before dinner started so that's when I took them as a first year. I didn't like it, having a lesson after what I considered the 'end of classes' plus it was the time I preferred doing homework, so I switched it. The first part of second year I had them during lunch but eventually switched over to the mornings with Cedric- breakfast is kind of like an award for getting it done plus it means I'm awake when I'm learning magic. You really don't want to be casting or brewing when you're half-asleep. Shiftpaw!"
"Wotcher Lion." Tonks greeted, glancing back at him then, louder, "WOTCHER SUNSHINE!"
The echo was impressive, the barely visible crowd ahead of them even turned to look.
"Hermione-" Leon greeted before suddenly Neville and Cedric were there , the third year staring at the seventh year with a vaguely disapproving expression. "There's no need to yell, Shifty."
"Shiftpaw? Lion? Sunshine? Shifty?" Hermione questioned. "What kind of nicknames are those?"
In union Cedric said, "Leon's." while Tonks pointed.
"It's supposed to be Shiftpaw, Lionpaw and Sunpaw." Leon explained, he'd always been fond of the Warrior cats names. "But they prefer Lion, Sunshine and Shifty or Leo, Sunny and Shifter. Shiftpaw refused to let me use her first name so I refused to let her use mine, things happened and now there are nicknames- though generally just around Shiftpaw. It's others also."
"Basically people Lion likes." Tonks said. "His 'minions' Mike, Scott and Sam are Spikepaw, Toughpaw and Quickpaw. Lady Hufflepuff is Loyalstar and Den Mum is Denstar- that or Denma."
"The headmaster is Owlstar, the Transfiguration teacher is Changestar, the Charms teacher is Brightstar, the nurse is Healthstar and, for some reason, the potions teacher is Darkstar." Cedric rattled off. "Plus there are the Weasleys. Bill and Charlie became Skyheart and Wildpelt when they graduated but Percy is Proudpaw and the twins are jointly Fire-Redpaw."
Leon waited a beat before saying, "I think Neville should be Leafkit."
"For that reaction to the common room? Yeah, I see that." Tonks said. "Hermione should be Inkkit then, you wouldn't believe the amount of books she's read since learning she was a witch."
Neville, surprisingly, was the one to offer a suggestion. "I think Harry should be Swiftkit, he moved really fast when- uhh…"
Tonks eyed the red first year then laughed. "The nakedness get to you? Hermione was the same- refused to get undressed until she had a towel and I held a towel to block her from view. She did better once in the water though."
"...acted like it was normal …" their cubs murmured to each other, falling a bit behind them.
"I didn't even get a story." Leon complained as the exited the tunnel into the halls through the wall not unlike the Platform's.
Cedric expanded, "Alfred asked about the smuggling ring- apparently we're the Court of Clams now- and that took up all our time. We're meeting after dinner tomorrow also, Alfred said third years are having a meeting after dinner today."
"Huh, wonder what that is?" Leon said. "But! Halloween! We finally have enough people for a full set! Harry can be Frodo, Neville can be Sam and Hermione can be Merry!"
"You still want to be Gandalf?" Tonks asked and he nodded as they entered the Great Hall. "Then we're set."
Cedric asked when they sat, "Do I have to be Aragorn?"
"Don't be a half-chewed flapjack, Cedric." Leon told him, piling bacon, eggs, toast and pancakes onto his plate and grabbing a cup of apple juice. "You're a King of Man at heart- I got 10 Galleons on you to make Head Boy."
"Betting," Denma tsked and he turned to find her behind him but she was smiling. "I suppose I can't fault your faith in your friend, your schedules."
Cedric grabbed them and passed them out, leaning to pass three to Hermione for her to distribute between the first years. "I got Runes after breakfast then Herb, lunch, Transfig and Comc today."
"Same except for Arithmancy instead of Runes." Cedric said.
Tonks made a face, "Yuck- I got Potions first thing."
The other mentors came over, one with a first year schedule, and they hashed out who was doing what- he and Cedric were only taking the first years to Transfiguration (after breakfast), Tonks managed to snag escort to Herbology but Leon didn't keep track of anything beyond that.
"Firsties!" Leon called when he stood with Cedric. "Head to the doors!" With that, he went towards the Great Hall's doors and waited, he gave it five minutes before he addressed the crowd of first years. "I'm Leon and this is Cedric, we'll be your guides for you first day to Transfig- be warned that wandering from the group will mean you have to find your own way to class, we also got classes to get to. There's no reason to wander, you can do that all you wish on the weekend. Now! Let's make sure everyone's here! Girls: Abbot, Bones, Granger, Jones, Moon and Perks!"
They waited for the various 'heres' before Cedric continued with, "Boys: Finch-Fletchley, Hopkins, Longbottom, Macmillan, Potter and Smith?"
Six different 'heres' though Neville's was almost inaudible.
"Also you're only getting a guide for you first class of each subject- you can still ask any Hufflepuffin to help you if you get lost just you won't have a full on escort." Leon clapped his hands, "Now! Onwards to Education!"
After the first years were safely handed over to McGonagall, he turned to his friend. " Never again. "
"I think you did good." Cedric said, amused. "You might even have a career as a Tour Guide. Maybe you can do school field trips."
Leon stopped, "Cedric! Not to you- look into Hogwarts field trips. Also, we got five minutes to get to class and yours is on the other side of the school- good luck!" He called as he took off at a run.
Omake
"Thank you for your favorites, follows, subscriptions, kudos and bookmarks but, most of all, I thank you for your reviews. They're always awesome to read and now with the responses," Leon said. "We'll start with FFN ! To BlueMew24 I wish to say that I'm glad you like this story and find it amusing, I would like to say you are awesome and deserve your weight in chocolate for agreeing that Tortall is an amazing 'verse- unless, of course, you don't like chocolate in which place I would like to ask WHY!?"
He coughed then looked back at his list. "To Sindhuja, I thank you for thinking it was cool and add that the title is a good response on this story's continuation."
"To DragonNOOB- love the name by the way- I say thank you for thinking it's excellent and we'll try our best to keep it improving." He said.
"And, finally, to Sea of Vinegar I say yes, yes the ring is awesome though it's now officially called the Court of Clams . You are welcome with the sharing and I'm glad you liked it, also you should definitely check out Song of the Lioness - it may not be my favorite of the Tortall Universe but it is the first books written of that 'verse so it's a good place to start." Leon finished.
Leon took a deep breath then continued, "Now to AO3 ! To treavellergirl I say that I'm glad you enjoyed but have no idea where you got the idea that I am reforming Hogwarts- also any insinuations on a Hufflepuff Army are ridiculous and no, this is not a Suspiciously Specific Denial." Leon blinks innocently. "I would also like to thank you for your input, I had been focusing on only the Muggle side of things but now I see that I was just limiting the Court of Clams- I will bring up during the Meeting of Clams so keep an eye out for your shout out. Last thing I say to you is this..." He cleared his throat then said. "What do you mean poor Cedric? He's the one who doesn't think Song of the Lioness is a classic! And he defiled the Trust for a stick! Sure it flies but it's still a stick!...oh. Well, I suppose I can be a handful- erm, ignore the previous bit on sticks."
"To MaryDBlack, I graciously accept your love and send some back- we Blacks are irresistible, hm? I assure you that my father is infact Regulus and not Sirius-as-Regulus but cannot comment beyond the hows and whys I was conceived by a teenager- well, a pair of teenagers since mom was 17 at the time she was pregnant. I'm glad the platform stuff makes sense, for all I enjoy a good Manipulative!Dumbledore and the like story, I really do like stories with good Weasleys the best. I add that I'm am in no way manipulating Harry and if I was it would only be for his own good- like not charging off to fight a troll without at least telling a prefect." Leon pinched the bridge of his nose, "Oy, that boy is going to give me trouble these coming years, huh?"
"Finally to Jaybird I say that I'm proud you wished some of this- or ideas at least- was part of canon and agree that it'd help. If not this system then at least a student orientation- even if only by House- or at least a pamphlet." Leon said. "I want to point out though that Canon is told by Harry who isn't always are reliable narrator, case in point Snape, and is a Gryffindor who might see figuring this out on your own as a Right of Passage."
"Now, to everyone reading I want to-" He started.
Cedric leaned forwards, peering in the same direction he was. "What are you looking at- it's just a wall there? And who were you talking to about Gryffindors?"
"Gotta go!" Leon said before darting off.
Cedric chased him, "Where are you going!? We have Transfiguration to go to!"
Leon popped up after the pureblood was out of earshot, finger to his lips. "Our secret, yeah? Last thing- nox !"
The world went dark.
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Tags: Leon doesn't like first days (or Mondays), Harry continues his Education, The University of Glasgow was founded by a Hufflepuff (or something), Leon isn't good with fractions or percentages, Cedric is good at math, Leon guessed on prices and payments but it worked out so why worry?, First Day goings on, Archie the Mysterious Mentor of Leon Who Woke Leon With A Dragon, Warning: A Wild TONKS Has Appeared, Cedric thinks she's Shifty, Leon nicknames people after cats, (He also forced various Weasleys into friendships), Leon still wants his story Alfred, The Court of Clams will be the Fellowship of the Clams on Halloween (Leon will be Gandalf, Cedric is Aragorn and Harry is Frodo), Don't be a half-chewed flapjack Cedric, Leon is not cut out to be a Tour Guide, Leon makes a Note to Cedric, Omake, Leon breaks the 4th Wall
