Nasrin was a compassionate and empathetic person by nature, the sort that always offered a friendly word or listening ear to whoever needed it, whether to close friends or vague acquaintances.
Quite a few Hufflepuff Second Years could attest to her helpful nature during projects and exams, while many Ravenclaw First Years had been given many cool-down hugs during stress-induced breakdowns due to their House's highly-competitive academic nature.
This did not, however, mean that Nasrin did not feel rage.
Sitting in Professor Dumbledore's office, she glared at the blubbering Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe with icy fury as everyone recounted that day's events, knuckles white.
Luna was silent throughout the whole affair, even as the Ravenclaws claimed it was all a misunderstanding, a joke taken out of context, and it made her blood boil to new heights.
"I knew something was wrong when I saw what Luna was wearing, or wasn't." Ginny finished, seated on Luna's left while Neville sat on the right, Flora in the blonde's lap. "Especially her earrings. She would never give them to Cho, or anyone else, not unless she was forced."
"You obviously don't know your friend that well." Edgecombe argued with a sniffle. "She's very friendly to us, and let us borrow her things."
"Even her shoes?" Hermione fired back, Scooby and Snow growling in unison as Star pinned the older girls with a glare that rivaled her trainer's.
"While I admit that it is strange…" Professor Flitwick stated with a sigh. "Your case is not helped by the fact that you three attacked my students, and Luna has said nothing to corroborate your story."
"Why would she?" George asked, rolling his eyes. "She tattles, and she's in for even worse hazing."
"Mister Weasley!" Professor McGonagall snapped. "That is-"
"Correct?" Fred supplied. "Right on the money? One hundred percent accurate? The most honest thing you've heard all week?"
"Strong words and a dangerous accusation." The Head of Gryffindor finished.
"Doesn't make it less true." Ginny replied. "They're thieves and bullies. Wonder how they'd like to be tormented and tortured-"
"See how she acts?" Edgecombe wailed. "She keeps attacking us over and over, while these three stuck their noses where it didn't belong."
Robin mantled her feathers from Harry's shoulder, a physical manifestation of their shared upset.
"They stuck it in there because you and your little group of cowards were harassing one of your own!" Ginny fired back.
"We were not!"
"You were too, bitch!"
"Don't call me a bitch, bitch!"
"Bitch, bitch, bitch!" The youngest Weasley shouted, ignoring the calls from Professor McGonagall to be quiet and her brothers varying levels of surprise and pride-the latter mostly from the twins-that her actions earned.
"Admit it, you're just a jealous bitch! Can't stand it that Luna is so much better than you, that people care about her more than anyone will ever care about you!"
"Who would be jealous of Looney Luna?!"
You could have heard a pin drop in the ensuing silence, and Nasrin slowly stood from her seat as Fred and George struggled to hold Neville in his seat, stepping between the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws with stone-hard eyes.
"Really now?" She said evenly, and the older students leaned back in their seats, unable to make eye contact. "I'd say that's far from friendly, wouldn't you?"
Professor Flitwick shook his head in disappointed agreement.
"To say I am ashamed would be an understatement. I have always held my head up high as I walked down these halls, knowing that my House was one of unity."
Harry snorted as Nasrin slanted a look at the diminutive professor, knowing better than anyone that Ravenclaws could be as dangerous as Slytherins once taken from their books.
It was not uncommon for the House of Brilliance to be a hive of competing cliques and packs attempting to gain the best grades and highest honors, though normally after Fourth Year.
"I am disappointed as well." Professor Dumbledore agreed, leaning back in his chair. "I would have thought that you girls would have been smart enough to know that once you make an enemy of someone, you lose them as an asset."
This, at least, caused shame, though Nasrin made no move to retreat.
"One hundred points from Ravenclaw for failure to show House unity."
The headmaster turned his attention to Harry, Neville and Nasrin with a shake of his head.
"As for you three, while I applaud your sense of duty when it came to defending your friend, there are proper and improper ways to do so. Fifty points from Gryffindor for battling in the halls."
"No."
Nasrin turned her full attention to Harry, blinking slowly.
"Mister Potter?" Professor McGonagall prodded, eyebrow rising.
"No."
"I don't understand, my boy." Professor Dumbledore admitted.
"He said no." The half-Gem repeated, stepping up to his side with her Pokemon.
"What does that mean?" Professor Flitwick asked, confused.
"It means we do not accept the loss of points." She explained, Star fixing a steady look on the professors.
"I'm afraid you don't understand. You do not get a say in the matter." The headmaster replied kindly.
"To take away points from us is to disgrace Gryffindor." Harry retorted, holding firm.
"That's the point, Mister Potter." Professor McGonagall scolded. "You have disgraced your House. Another ten points-"
"We have not disgraced Gryffindor." Nasrin cut in as Harry stood, shoulder to shoulder.
"You have, for not rewarding us for our actions." He continued, despite the tight-lipped look on Professor McGonagall's face. "You talked about how these girls disgraced their House, the House of Brilliance, by allowing their emotions to outweigh their common sense. Gryffindor is the House of the Brave, and what is braver than rushing to help someone, even if you know it will bring you trouble?"
"I've been taught to protect those unable to protect themselves, to stand up to injustice, to do what's right." Nasrin stated softly, a fire in her once-icy eyes. "I will not accept a punishment for that. We will not accept a punishment for that."
Professor Dumbledore was silent for a few moments, sensing his comrades' unease with this development.
Here was Harry Potter, Lily's Heir, and Nasrin Quartz Universe, Rose Quartz's Heir, standing as a united front and making no move to back down, and the headmaster felt something like premonition tingle over his skin…
"Be that as it may, you cannot simply go running down the halls battling other students with your Pokemon. I will not subtract any more points for this outburst, but I will remind you that there is a time and place for everything, and everyone, even myself, must obey the rules of this school and this region."
At that moment, Neville broke free from the Weasley Twin's loosened grips and leapt to his feet, pointing at Cho Chang.
"You have taken honor from my House!"
"Mister Longbottom, sit down!" Professor McGonagall ordered. "Gryffindor-"
"I'm not talking about Gryffindor. I am Neville Longbottom, Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom. You five attacked Luna Lovegood of the House of Lovegood, my intended."
It was as if Squeakers had struck the room with a Thunder Shock, and the pinkette reached out to squeeze Harry's hand, wide-eyed.
"Oh, Neville…" Luna whispered into the quiet. "What have you done?"
"This insult cannot stand." Neville continued, fierce and stern and brave as any Gryffindor. "I challenge you, Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe, to an Honor Battle."
Star squeaked, startled, as Professor Dumbledore wilted, having hoped such a challenge would not come.
"Two on one, Longbottom?" Chang replied snidely. "I knew you Gryffindors were stupid-"
"Miss Chang!" Professor Flitwick shouted.
"Harry will be my partner, Cho."
"He will?" Nasrin squeaked.
"I will?" Harry voiced in surprise. "I mean, of course, Nev, but-"
"What are the stakes?" Edgecombe voiced.
"See here!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "You cannot do this-"
"There is nothing we can do, Minerva." The headmaster explained sadly. "Mister Longbottom has invoked the right, and Miss Chang and Miss Edgecombe have accepted. To try and prevent them from doing this…"
"If we win, Ravenclaw will take all punishment that was leveled at Gryffindor." Neville answered. "They will also have to make a formal apology to Luna, and return every item she requests back."
"Very well." Cho replied, standing. "And when we win, you and Potter will have to deliver a formal apology, admitting that Looney over there was at fault for everything. Gryffindor will take all of Ravenclaw's punishment, and you will surrender your Bulbasaur and Eevee to Edgecombe and I."
"The same for you, the Mienfoo and the Sneasel."
"Do I get a say in this?" Harry wondered, raising his other hand.
"It is finalized." Neville decreed. "I will arrange with my Head of House a day and time for the battle. You do the same."
"See you then, Longbottom." Chang finished, leading her pack out.
Scooby and Snow whined as Harry looked around in obvious confusion, utterly lost.
"What just happened?"
There was another confrontation before the night was done, when Professor McGonagall insisted that Luna, as a Ravenclaw, could not enter the Gryffindor common room and must return to her own dorm.
Neville and Ginny would not stand for it, and Nasrin had made her position on leaving the First Year where her tormentors could corner her very clear, though it was Hermione who found a solution.
There was an old rule that students could switch Houses if a relative or future relative was in that House and their guardian agreed.
While it had not been used in roughly three hundred years, and the last attempt by the Black family fifteen years ago had failed, the rule still stood.
A quick note to Luna's father, and the blonde was a Gryffindor.
Once the pair of First Years disappeared to their dorm, the quintet of Second Years sat in a corner of the common room, rumors flying among the upperclassmen.
"Alright, I have no idea what happened." Harry admitted into the silence, Robin preening at his hair in a comforting gesture. "One of you mind cluing me in?"
"What's got you confused, mate?" Ron wondered as Scooby finally pinned down an anxious Eevee, grooming his friend's ears with a low growl.
"I'd like to know what I got signed up for that could result in me losing Eevee!"
"You're not losing Eevee." Nasrin assured, Star bobbing her head in agreement. "It's all about symbolism with that sort of thing when it comes to Honor Battles."
"What exactly is an Honor Battle?" He wondered, glancing down as Squeakers gestured wildly, recounting the battle for Togepi in exaggerated detail.
"I keep forgetting you know so little about Avalon customs." Hermione apologized, fingers flying over the keys of her Pokedex until Harry's buzzed. "I just sent you a guide so you can read up on it, something that just gives you the pointers."
Both Harry and Nasrin were surprised when he opened the PDF file.
"A hundred and fifty-seven pages?"
"What, too short?" Hermione deduced, already looking for another. "I did find one that goes into more detail about the bowing technique…"
"Leave it to you, Hermione, to make something like a Pokemon Battle dull." Ron scoffed, ignoring her grumbling in response. "Look, mate, I'll break it down real simple. In Avalon, there are families. Many of them are just that, families. Mum, dad, so on. Occasionally, though, one of them goes and does something important. Defeats an army, finds a new Pokemon, so on and so forth. They do that, and they get honored by the House of Trainers. Sometimes it's just a medal, other times they get some reward, but if they did something really special, they get a title."
"A title?"
"They become a Noble family." The Weasley added.
"It's a holdover from the days of Merlin and the Founders." Hermione pointed out.
"Okay…"
Neville roused, feeling the need to explain.
"Take my family. We got the title of Noble because my ancestor, Finnegan Longbottom, managed to cut a route through the Knight Forest and open easier trade routes between southern and northern Avalon."
"Okay, so what did the Potters do?" Harry asked. "I've heard of us referred to as the Ancient and Noble House of Potter."
"No one knows." Hermione admitted, annoyed at her lack of information. "The Potters have always been Ancient and Noble, at least according to the history books, just like the Universes."
"Alright, back to my point." Ron cut in. "There are then the Ancient families. They get that title when the family holds a position of some kind for at least four generations. Around half the Gym Leaders in Avalon are from Ancient families. The Longbottoms, the Potters, the Weasleys…"
"It used to be all of them, but then the War happened and a lot of families were lost." Hermione added. "The Black family is either dead or imprisoned, for example."
"The entire point of Honor Battles is to cut down on unnecessary wars between Houses." Nasrin clarified, running a hand down Ludwig's back to soothe the Litwick as Snow curled her icy tails around him. "There have only been three major wars in the last hundred years, against Team Manifest, Team Nocturne, and then the Johto/Kanto war. But Pearl told me that, two hundred years ago, there were thirty wars in Avalon within fifteen years."
"What, why?" Harry stammered.
"You had a lot of different families, each one with their own loyal followers, constantly butting heads over the smallest and silliest things." Hermione explained with a sigh. "Honor is a huge part of Avalon's history, and Ancient and Noble families don't like it when they feel that other people aren't showing them the respect they deserve. Then one day, the House of Trainers hit upon a brilliant idea. They created Honor Battles, which allowed families to settle their differences with Pokemon in controlled battles, rather than in bloody wars."
"Basically, this means that two trainers, one of which has to be from an Ancient or Noble family, battle against each other with their Pokemon." Nasrin rerouted back to the original topic. "It's arranged by neutral third parties, like our Heads of House, and done in front of witnesses to make sure everything's fair. To surrender a Pokemon to someone else is symbolic, like I said. They'll say something about being merciful, and give the Pokemon back."
"It's all about honor." Hermione agreed, seeing Harry's continued misunderstanding. "By giving up your Pokemon and needing your opponent to give it back, you're surrendering to them and their whims. It's a way to show they're better than you. You won't lose Eevee, just have to deal with some embarrassment if Chang and Edgecombe win and they make a big show of handing back Eevee to show how magnanimous they are. There's no way any of the professors would let them, or us, keep any Pokemon."
Harry breathed out a sigh of bone-deep relief, and Nasrin bumped his shoulder, Star reaching out to pat the boy's cheek.
"Nazz, could you guys…" Neville trailed off, running a hand over Flora's bulb.
"Of course, Neville." She replied, pulling Ron to his feet as Hermione stood. "I gotta make a phone call. Why don't you two see what Seamus is doing?"
"Why?" Ron wondered as he was dragged away by the bushy-haired girl. "Hermione, what-?"
Star waved over the half-Gem's shoulder as she headed off to the computer banks, and Snow nodded, keeping an eye on Squeakers and Robin while Scooby chuffed.
Those boys had a lot to talk about.