Hat-Crossed Lovers

Chapter 8

Rebecca hung back in the shadows of the greenhouse, embarrassed. Professor Sprout was Ivan's house advisor, not hers, but Rebecca had taken some of her Herbology classes, and of course Professors were expected to remember their students. So she knew who Rebecca was. But what did she really have to be embarrassed about? Just some innocent kissing – well, snogging. It wasn't as if she had been caught in bed with a boy. To be sure they shouldn't have been in the greenhouse without permission, but Sprout seemed amused rather than annoyed, and Ivan, being a denizen of Sprout's house, had a better chance of talking them out of that.

But Rebecca was caught completely off guard when she heard Ivan say, "Professor, I'd like to transfer into Ravenclaw House."

"What?!" exclaimed Professor Sprout.

"What?!" exclaimed Rebecca.

"It's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff, of course," said Ivan. "It's just that I'd like to be with Becky. After all, I've only been in Hufflepuff less than 2 months – it won't be that big a change."

"Well – this is very irregular – I'll have to think about it. And maybe talk to the elder Professor Flitwick, who is the advisor for Ravenclaw. I'll get back to you in a few days."

"Professor Flitwick doesn't have to know my name, does he?" asked Rebecca.

"I can leave out the name of the lady involved," said Sprout.

But she saw Ivan stare at her, and realized how it must have looked to him: HE was going out on a limb, and SHE seemed anxious to cover her arse. This was so needlessly complicated.

When she got back to Ravenclaw Tower – the Door's riddle seemed singularly stupid this time - she sought out Ishtar Evans. She had been shocked a few weeks ago to learn that Ishtar was secretly sleeping with her boy friend, but now Rebecca realized that the Prefect would be sympathetic to a love relationship. So after receiving assurances that Ishtar would keep the situation confidential, Rebecca told her the whole story.

"So he's a Hufflepuff?" asked the Prefect, "Hmm, that's not good."

"Why the hell not?" demanded Rebecca. "Why can't a Ravenclaw befriend a Hufflepuff?"

"Well, the whole division into Houses is based on the notion of compatibility."

"Compatibility can be taken too far. I mean, what am I? I'm a Jewish witch. Do you know how many Jewish witches or wizards there are at Hogwarts? Seven! We can't even form a minyan, a quota of ten, without going to Hogsmeade. What sort of state would I be in if I decided not to hobnob with anybody who wasn't a Jewish witch? But I don't restrict myself like that. I take baths with Gentile witches, and during the holidays I go horse riding with Jewish Muggle girls. And now I have a Hufflepuff boy friend, so what?"

"It's not you who would have compatibility problems, " said Ishtar. "It's him. You know the intellectual games and riddles Ravenclaws enjoy. Would he fit in?"

"I'm sure he'd fit in with enough effort. He's quite clever." Why the assumption that Ivan couldn't fit into Ravenclaw? Because the Sorting Hat had put him into Hufflepuff?

"Well, we'll see what Sprout says. If not – well, off the record, I can tell you a few tricks about how to meet somebody privately."

Yes, I bet you know a few, thought Rebecca sourly. So people don't catch you with your sweetheart with your knickers off.

After Herbology class a couple of days later, Sprout privately asked Rebecca to come to her office later that afternoon. When Rebecca came, she was not surprised to see Ivan there already.

"Ahem," said Sprout, looking awkward, and Rebecca guessed immediately that it was bad news. "I have discussed the possibility of inter-House transfer with some other people at the school, and there are difficulties. Suppose that Ivan does transfer into Ravenclaw, leaving his original friends behind in Hufflepuff – and then the two of you fall out of love. Then he'd be stranded in the wrong house for the rest of his stay at Hogwarts."

"We're not going to fall out of love!" protested Rebecca.

"How can you be sure of that? You are both 14 years old. Have either of you ever been in love before?"

"No," said Rebecca.

"No," echoed Ivan.

"And how long have you been in this relationship?"

"Um, a week," said Ivan reluctantly.

"Precisely. It's much too early to make a decision that will affect Ivan's future at Hogwarts."

"But what's the alternative? Sneaking around school, kissing in dark corners, as if we're doing something dirty?" demanded Rebecca.

"Yes, I quite sympathize with that. So I'll make you an offer: if you two wish privacy, you can continue to meet in my greenhouse. As long, of course, as you leave my plants alone. And I'd prefer that you not -"

"We're not going to make love in the plant beds, if that's what you're insinuating!" said Rebecca angrily.

"Um, yes. Now, a further concession. If, after say a few months, you two still consider yourselves very much in love, then we can reconsider the transfer."

They argued a little more, but Sprout would not change her mind. It suddenly occurred to Rebecca that the teachers, so clever in general, had little experience of love. Not one of them was married, though Rebecca didn't know if that was a rule, or a coincidence. It left them unable to empathize with a young pair of sweethearts.

The pair gave up and walked out into the hallway, and then Rebecca hugged Ivan and cried with frustration.

Ivan, perhaps because he was a boy, was angry rather than weepy. "All this because something a magic hat told them about where I belonged. My grandpa was right, when he said, 'Boy, don't let a stupid hat tell you how to live your life!"

TO BE CONTINUED

(Author's Note: For consistency's sake, I am assuming that there are two Professor Flitwicks: the gray-haired uncle who teaches Charms and is the advisor for Ravenclaw, and the much younger nephew who teaches music at Hogwarts. This is to account for the change in Flitwick's appearance and profession between movies 2 and 3.)

(Author's Note: Ishtar's argument based on "compatibility" was borrowed by me from a conversation in the novel DIVERGENT )