This is possibly a really weird chapter and really just an excuse for me to examine the Harry Potter world. As a foreigner who has never actually attended boarding school, but has gone to University and also taken Cultural Studies I wonder at the Wizarding World as a society. Culturally, great importance is placed on the Houses. If fact, it seems the House you are placed in at eleven controls the rest of your life. This is therefore an attempt to explain Hogwarts to an outside party.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you can recognize; it probably belongs to JK Rowling or Namco-Bandai

Note: Alright fine; I've yielded to Picayune's very logical argument and changed this into the crossover section.

"So, my Imagination thing… is magic?" Colette asked relieved that someone could not only do the same things she could, but knew of others who could as well. "And there's a school you can go to learn how to use it properly?"

"Yes." Lloyd nodded, relieved that she understood.

"But if there's a school, then how come I never got a letter? Like you did."

Lloyd turned to look up at the clouds, considering his answer. "Probably because Hogwarts is in a different world. You didn't get a letter because how would they know you existed? I guess Sylvarant doesn't have magical schools." Lloyd looked thoughtful, "I suppose any magic-users here would follow the same Pureblood ideals Slytherin did."

"Pure-blood?…. Sly-there-een? I don't understand." Colette said. Her new friend had the sometimes-annoying habit of using terms she didn't know to explain things. "And elves, and half-elves too I guess, can do magic just fine. They don't need wands or anything like you have."

Lloyd turned back to her "It's pronounced Slytherin, he was one of the Four Founders of Hogwarts and has his own House named after him. As for half-elves and elves, well maybe their magic is different. House elves certainly use magic differently than Wizards." He said, thinking of Dobby. "Besides, never trust a Slytherin." He added as an afterthought.

Colette frowned, trying to understand. Why wouldn't you trust a Slytherin? For that matter, why did Lloyd always say he was a Gryffindor? And what was a Pureblood, exactly?

"I don't understand," she said finally, "Why the House you belong to matters, I mean. Or this Blood Purity thingy you been explaining to me, or anything at all really. I'm sorry." She said.

Lloyd stared at her. How could she not understand? These were incredibly basic concepts that everyone in the Wizarding World knew, how could she… well he supposed Colette had never belonged to the Wizarding World. And, if he was being honest, it's not like he had understood at eleven about these things either. Well he'd just have to try and explain to her.

"Okay, Colette." She turned back to face him, "I'll try to explain this to you ok?" She nodded. "Alright, so Blood Purity basically just means how many magical ancestors you have. To be Pureblood, you have to have at least four magical grandparents. Most Purebloods tend to take pride in the fact they have no Muggles in their bloodlines at all, but I've always thought that was unlikely."

"Muggles are non-magic folk right?"

"Yes. Well I suppose here in Sylvarant Muggles would be anyone who can't do the type of magic we can."

"So, elves and half-elves would be excluded?"

"Probably. Unless they could do magic- okay that's just going to get confusing really quickly, lets call our kind of magic Glamerie or glam and elven magic mana." That established Lloyd continued, "Well I'm a Half-Blood, which just means one of parents had magic- glam." he quickly corrected himself, well at least Lloyd didn't think his father had glam.

"But you Colette are a Muggleborn, like my mother and my friend Hermione. Which means as far as anyone knows you have no magically-glamerie- talent ancestors. Purebloods have this tendency to think that anyone with Muggle blood is automatically inferior too them."

"Like the Desians!" exclaimed Colette.

"Exactly," replied Lloyd, remembering Colette's explanation of this world's version of the Death Eaters, "and some of the more radical Purebloods are attempting to cleanse the Wizarding World of this supposed impurity right now."

Silence fell as the friends considered that for a moment.

"Well what about the Houses then?"

"When you get to Hogwarts in your first year, the very first thing they do is Sort you into a House and you live with your Housemates for the next seven years." said Lloyd, fondly recalling Gryffindor Tower and its residents, "The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. All of them have specific traits that the Sorting Hat examines you for in order to entrance to that house. Gryfindor are courageous, daring and chivalrous, Hufflepuffs are loyal and hardworking, Ravenclaws are intelligent and studious, and Slytherin requires cunning and ambition. Of course the extra requirement for Slytherin is that you have to a pureblood. Ron told me once 'there was never a witch or wizard that went bad that wasn't in Slytherin'" said Lloyd musingly.

Colette let that sink in. "But if that's true, Than how come Peter Pettigrew was a Death Eater, or how come Hermione isn't in Ravenclaw, or why did the Hat want to put Slytherin in the first place?"

Lloyd startled at that accusation. "That's… I don't…"

"It can't be that simple Lloyden. Your House can't dictate who you are. If you're a Gryffindor, and then you also have strong Slytherin traits, and you seem to be intelligent and loyal too. You seem to a bit of everything. It seems silly to judge everyone you meet on something that happened when they were eleven." Said Colette.

Lloyd just stared at her. "Oh I'm sorry! I've offended you haven't I?" she fretted, "Oh I knew I wouldn't be any good at this friend thing…"

Lloyd reached over to hug her, "Colette, I'm not mad, I just...never thought of it like that before."

And if Colette could see such an obvious truth, Lloyd had to wonder what other lies he'd been told.

END

For the record, every chapter of this takes place in Tales of Symphonia so you can safely assume that if I don't mention an event in the game it happened as it did canonically. Also, Picayune, you're right I am setting something up- the plot of this is just way bigger than you think it is.

Also glamerie is a Scottish term for magic. It's different than a glamour which I will explain later.

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