A/N: Hello, people!

I don't own Harry Potter.

I have no beta.

ENJOY!

CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON.

-Recently found out that there are portraits of the Founders in the school.

~.O.~

Theodore knocked thrice on the door to his Head of House's office. He'd tried to be patient but he simply didn't have it in him to wait any longer. He was experiencing phantom pains all over his body and he couldn't stop twitching!

"Enter."

His hands were shaking as he struggled to grip the doorknob, and he couldn't determine how much pressure he was using, but it was obvious it wasn't enough. It took several seconds for him to finally get the door open and the moment Professor Snape looked up to see who it was and why they were taking so long, he was out of his seat in a flash, his robes whipping around him in his haste.

"In!" the man ordered roughly, moving to shut and lock the door while Theo headed toward the seat in front of the man's big desk.

"What did he do?" was all Snape asked as he knelt before the pre-teen, wand at the ready.

"Cruciatus practice."

Everyone in Slytherin knew of Snape's past alliances. No one knew if his allegiance still remained with such alliances, but they knew enough about his past. And while he was a surly man with barely an ounce of patience to his name no matter how well he hid that fact, he did not wish harm upon children and he was very vocal about helping them if they needed him.

Snape had been a Potioneer in the ranks of the Death Eaters. Nothing more. Rumour had it that he wasn't sadistic enough for certain tasks. Such as murdering and torturing women and children. So he'd stayed behind to provide the Dark Lord's forces with the potions they required. And as a Potions Master, he also had to have medical training.

The professor placed a deliberate, freezing hand on the nape of Theo's neck and tilted his head back slightly while holding up a potion that seemed to manifest out of thin air. It was best he did that because Theo probably would have spilled the potion all over himself otherwise.

It was vile and yet amazing all at once. Like cooling, aged moss rubbed against the tongue. The effects of the curse seemed to vanish and he felt at ease for the first time since he'd gotten the letter that doomed his last two weeks of 2012.

He hadn't wanted to go home for Yule, but his grandfather had demanded that he come back for training. His friends had been up in arms over it, but there was nothing any of them could do about it. Theodore had only one guardian and he had to do everything he was told or else it would simply get worse than it already was. And he didn't want to find out exactly how 'worse' it could be.

Snape understood that. He didn't ask annoying questions with obvious answers. He didn't make insults about the situation. He simply glared and forced the remedy down Theo's throat.

"You'll need to take several vials of the potion for the next few days. Your pupils are still dilated and it's a blaring sign to anyone capable of paying attention, that you were using the Darkest of Artes. I don't understand what Xenophon was thinking but this would not only imprison him doing it to you, but also you, even though you are a minor who was being forced to practice."

Wonderful.

"You must not make eye contact with anyone outside of Slytherin. We can both be certain they simply wouldn't understand. I will have to charm your face so people won't feel the need to look at you too closely."

Theo suspected as much.

"I'm certain your friends are already aware of the situation and are supportive of you?"

He nodded, not feeling like voicing anything anymore.

"Then the only thing I can tell you is to get as much sunlight as possible, even if it is only generated magically. You need to be bled of the PDAA as quickly as possible."

"Yes, sir."

"If the symptoms get any worse you come directly to me, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you tell your friends that if something happens, they are to bring you to me alone."

"Yes, sir."

Theo really hated his grandfather. He could only hope that maybe one day the man would just drop dead. Or maybe someone would poison him. It would be a fine day to see his obituary in the paper. Anyone would be a better guardian. Hell, Blaise's mum would gladly take him it if it came down to that.

"You may return to the Common Room. I ask that you and your friends find somewhere other than the Library to work on your assignments for the foreseeable future. The less you are out of the better it will be to hide. Your wand has been cleared of all evidence, yes?"

"Yes, sir."

Maybe the Weasley twins would know of a good place to hide away for a while. They knew everything about the school, or so they boasted.

"We'll do our best, sir."

The man gave a curt nod and waved his wand over Theo's face in a complicated pattern. He could feel the warmth of the magic rushing over him and sighed. Snape had a Dark Core too but his magic didn't make Theo feel ill. Not like Xenophon's did.

That was the big difference and it proved that Dark Magic didn't mean evil.

Xenophon's magic terrified Theo and made him freeze. Snape's made him feel warm and safe. He wished it could be like that all the time.

"So, Bella-" Fred began.

"-Why the jewelry?" George finished.

Both had appeared out of nowhere, like usual, in order to wrap their arms around Bella's shoulders. She wasn't as shocked as she had been the first few times from it, and was actually glad they'd come to see her about the situation.

She'd sent them mood rings for Christmas because she'd gotten a clever idea that could make them some good money in the future if they expanded their business ideas.

"Those are mood rings," she told them, gesturing to their hands which were adorned with said rings. Both were the same of course. A simple-shaped band with a strip of colour inside that changed colours when it came into contact with heat. "Muggles use them to determine their moods. Now they don't actually tell you what you're feeling, they just change colour when they get warm, but I thought the idea was a good one. Imagine you make jewelry that can magically determine someone's emotional state. I can guarantee that a lot of people would like those."

The dual looks of astonishment they sent her way made her snicker.

"It seems like you always have good ideas on how to make money," said George.

"Keep this up and you'll have to become our third partner," Fred added teasingly.

"What if I mix up the information on the exam?" Hermione murmured to herself as she flicked through the notebooks she'd written specifically for their Charms class. So far there were four just from the first five months of school alone, and no one could understand how she had observed so much in such a short period of time or why she decided to write it all out by hand.

"You'll be fine," Blaise tried to assure her. "You're the best out of all of us, so of course you're going to do well in your exams."

Everyone else nodded.

Luna, who had until then been reading The Quibbler upside down, looked up with a serene smile and said, "You will receive a perfect score, plus an additional two points."

This was not the first time that Luna had said something somewhat cryptic that had eventually come true. Ever since joining their little group before Christmas, she'd been a voice of reason of sorts. Which was ironic since most of the school thought her to be insane and not worth their time.

Blaise had heard of Seers before, though little was known about them because they were rare. Or perhaps they were born more frequently than people believed and simply chose to remain hidden so that people couldn't attempt to abuse their powers.

Luna Lovegood was always talking about things that none of them could see, and saying things that she shouldn't know, and predicting the future to an extent. He wouldn't be shocked if she was a legitimate Seer and was simply not taken seriously by most of the population of Magical Britain. It wouldn't be the first time.

Cassandra Trelawney had been a Seer whom no one believed while she was alive. When she died, all of her predictions came true. Every last one of them. Only then did people revere her, but by then it was too late to show her the proper respect she deserved as a person.

As if hearing what was going through his mind, Luna turned her head until her misty blue eyes were looking into his very soul. "You're very observant, Blaise," she said almost ominously. Nothing else was murmured and he felt a slight chill run down his spine at the implications.

If she was indeed a Seer, she would be in danger. It wouldn't do well for people outside their circle to realise just how special she truly was, because there were people out there, on both the Dark and Light sides, who would gladly make use of a Seer. The Dark Lord and his followers would surely enslave her for the rest of her days, and the Ministry and its sycophants would pass a law to legally enslave her to their whims. Neither option was a pleasant one.

The only reason Hogwarts' Divination professor wasn't hounded was because nothing she said had ever come true. She was considered a joke and a fake. Not even the great Prophecy about Prunella Potter and the Dark Lord had fully come true. So one partially successful prophecy, out of thousands she spouted every year, wasn't enough for people to believe in her.

And while she was at Hogwarts, she was technically at Dumbledore's disposal. Sure, he'd been removed as Headmaster, but McGonagall was under his thumb and she would certainly defer to his judgment at any time. So Trelawney was still under his control to an extent and there was no doubt that Dumbledore paid close attention to everything she said just in case it ended up being of great import later.

Who knew what he'd do if he found out Luna was a Seer. One who could possibly See everything from the future, to the past, to other planes of existence.

It was best for the information to stay with their group for now. And it seemed like Blaise was the only one to really notice it anyway, so he'd keep quiet.

Blaise's eyes did not miss how Luna's head turned away, but her cheek lifted in what he knew to be a pleased smile.

The group went back to placating Hermione's worries about the exam, and Blaise's thoughts focused on other things. Like how Bella and Theodore were leaning on each other to share the same comic, instead of studying like Hermione wanted them all to.

Neville was smiling impishly at Hermione as she rambled, and Luna hummed a tune he didn't recognise to herself.

These were the people he'd chosen to spend his Hogwarts years with. His mum would be proud. She'd worked hard to give him a chance to make his own choices without fear of conforming to Pureblood traditions, and here he was, exercising those choices. And he had full faith that someday soon, things would change enough that he would be able to extend those choices to other non-traditional actions without fear of negative reactions or threats.

He caught Luna's eye for what seemed like the millionth time that evening, and saw her wink and nod. That was confirmation enough.

The new Quidditch season had begun and Prue was stood in the guest locker room of the Wanderer's Pitch. The crowd was going wild outside and any second, they'd be called out to the pitch.

The last two weeks had been... hell. James had decided to make a nuisance of himself, but the part that worried Prue the most was that Lily hadn't done anything. At all. She was a control freak and felt the need to order everyone around, but she hadn't attempted to contact Prue, nor did she go to the media with a fabricated story about being withheld from her 'darling daughter'.

Prue didn't for a second think the woman wasn't up to something. It wasn't Lily's way to mind her own business.

So far, the manager for the Cannons had to inform Prue that James had tried to get him to reconsider the contract and even made vague threats against him. Which she had to tell Sirius about because it was important for him to be involved in that.

James had also shown up at the game and had tried to insert himself into the discussion Captain Holt had planned to have before the playing officially began. And Prue was left red-faced and embarrassed by how improper the twat was acting. He couldn't even bother to attempt subtlety. It was annoying.

Thankfully, Mr, and Mrs. Weasley were in attendance, as she'd gotten them tickets in the top box because she could. And since James would also be there, she would prefer to have them as a buffer. Mrs. Weasley would tear into James if he tried something.

"Okay, team. We're going to go out there and demonstrate our improved skills. Each Chaser is expected to score at least five times no matter what. If you manage that, I'll buy you all dinner at the place of your choice" said Holt stoically.

The team members shared a look and then a nod.

"Potter, I want you standing as often as possible on that broom. Unnerve the competition as much as possible, understand? We want the audience talking about our team for the rest of the year!"

"Yes, sir!"

Broom surfing was always fun when you weren't being pelted with Bludgers.

Ravenclaw House was not taking their withdrawal from the House Competition very well, from what Bella could see. Flitwick had made good on his word and had taken them all to task severely for what they'd said. Luna had told them about it in great detail. Once they'd been punished, she got herself out of the way because there was no way certain Ravenclaws would leave her alone despite the threat hanging over their heads by their Head of House.

It was well into January, and they were no sooner closer to understanding that this was their own fault.

It was disappointing. It was like admitting to your own wrongdoings was impossible in the wizarding world. Just like making use of logic.

Bella hadn't been this disappointed in a long time.

The great thing was that because Hermione was a Slytherin now, Slytherins had to stand up for her outside the Common Room. It was an expectation of Batman's. Slytherins must present a united front to the rest of the school at all times since they only had each other on their side. Issues with each other were taken up in the Common Room only.

So when a Ravenclaw Fifth Year tried cursing Hermione while her back was turned in the Third Floor Corridor, Marcus Flint, who had been coming down the opposite direction, reacted instantly. He sent the curse back at the student and left them sprawled in the middle of the corridor with their teeth growing longer than their body was tall. The older Slytherin said nothing to the group of gaping Second Years as he passed by, but he did aim a kick at the downed Ravenclaw's shin with a promise to go to B-Man with information on the situation.

Flint was probably one of the more staunchly Pureblood Slytherins in the House, complete with inbreeding and the hatred for Squibs. And yet he had protected Hermione anyway. Because that was what Slytherins did.

This wasn't to say he'd do the same once they were back in the Common Room of course. There it was a fend for yourself kind of mentality and rarely did people, even friends, stick up for one another.

It was a pride thing.

If you needed friends to save you, you were weak. But also, many wouldn't put themselves on the line for another person without obvious gain being in their further acquaintance.

Slytherins defended Hermione, Ravenclaws got detentions from Batman like sweets passed out on Hallowe'en, and Bella sat back and enjoyed the chaos and suffering.

"What's that?" Theo asked that morning at breakfast.

The 'that' he was referring to was Bella's newest piece of jewelry. And since she didn't wear jewelry ever, of course it would be a cause for questioning when she finally started.

Said piece of jewelry was a gaudy locket but it was also kinda cool so she decided to wear it at least for the first few days and if it didn't stick, she'd simply leave it in her dorm.

"Sirius gave it to me. Over the Christmas hols he and Remus were doing some cleaning of the Black residence and found a lot of old stuff Sirius didn't feel like keeping. They donated some of it once they made sure it was all cleansed of curses and the like, but other stuff was given to me. This was one such item."

It was very old yet pretty well taken care of. Good condition. Sirius hadn't known where it came from as he'd never seen it in the house compared to all the other things, but he thought Bella would like it. "It's even got an S of Emeralds on it, it's like Slytherin given necklace fore," the man had told her that morning when she visited his office. Basically saying it looked very Slytherin and she was a Slytherin so he thought she'd like it.

It was sweet even though it seemed jammed and wouldn't even open with an Alohamora.

Luna, who had decided to join them at the Slytheirn Table since no rules said they couldn't sit at other House Tables - and she dragged Neville along for good measure - hummed. "I don't know why Salazar Slytherin's locket was in the Black Ancestral Home but it's nice that you have it now. I know you'll take care of it. It's very important to the future."

Their entire section of the table went dead silent upon hearing that revelation.

Blaise turned to the blonde. "Luna, how do you know it's the legendary locket of Slytherin?"

"Because he's wearing it in his portrait," the girl stated bluntly as she moved to butter her toast.

There was another moment of shocked silence, before Hermione grabbed the younger girl's arm and asked excitedly, "You found Salazar Slytheirn's portrait?!"

"I found all of the Founders' portraits while I was wandering."

It had been centuries since anyone had seen one of the Founders' portraits. And even longer since Salazar's had been seen. Some said his was burned after leaving Hogwarts because people didn't like his beliefs.

"Please show us!" Hermione begged. "I have so many questions and portraits are impressions of the original person's will and magic. They hold all memories up until creation and would have information we currently don't have!"

Luna looked around for a moment, before sighing. "I suppose we could go this afternoon before dinner."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Hermione was practically bowing out of excitement.

Was Bella going to meet Salazar Slytherin? Tom and Voldemort's ancestor?

Luna had lead them up to the seventh floor, very near the Gryffindor Common Room or so she'd said. It surprised no one that Luna would know where everything in the castle was. She probably knew all the secret entrances and exits too.

"Behind this wall," she said of the blank wall in front of the group.

Before they could pose their many questions, the blonde began to walk back and forth several times, until, as if by magic, a large iron door seemed to curl into existence right before their eyes, taking up most of said wall and towering over all of them.

Luna was already heading inside. "This is the Room of Requirement. My mum used to tell me all about it when I was little and I had made plans to explore it in depth as much as possible. Things that go missing in Hogwarts, tend to end up here. If you need a specific type of room, you pace in front of the wall while thinking of it as clearly as you can, and it'll manifest for you. This time I simply wanted the place where things are hidden."

When Bella stepped foot inside, it was like looking into a hoarder's house. Furniture from many different eras was stacks into massive piles all the way up to the ceiling that looked far too high considering there were only seven floor in Hogwarts and the only higher places were Gryffindor Tower and Ravenclaw Tower which weren't near enough to where they were stood.

Piles of chairs, tables, old lamps, and trinkets. A collection of Quidditch brooms leaned up against the wall to their left. Rolled up carpets stacked to the right of those. Lanterns that were lit, hanging from the ceiling and illuminating the entire room. And portraits taking up every bare space of wall they could see.

It was truly amazing, yet all Bella could think of was how the furniture was going to waste and it could be donated to charity shops to help those who needed it. There was one in Diagon Alley even.

"Follow me," ordered Luna as she proceeded to head into the mess, following the very thin pathways made between the towers of junk that wasn't being put to use. "They've been in here for the last fifty years after being lost for centuries."

She lead them further into the room, until they came upon a massive , wall-sized fireplace that had a mantel that was covered in trinkets of all kinds. And above the flameless hearth, were four portraits that eyed them with unconcealed interest.

And one portrait in particular, was wearing a very familiar locket.

Would wonders never cease?

"These are my friends," said Luna. In order of how they were stood, she said, "Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, and Belladonna Potter-Michaels."

One of the two women, and Bella was going to assume it was Rowena seeing as she was wearing blue, looked perturbed. "You were re-sorted, Luna?"

"To Hufflepuff no less!" said the man who was obviously Godric judging by the all red and gold he was wearing and ridiculously ostentatious sword at his hip. He just screamed Gryffindor.

"Hufflepuffs and Slytherins make great friendships," Helga, who was clothed in warm yellow, said with a smile. She turned to look at Salazar with an expectant grin. "It's that right, Sal?"

The man rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Sal and I have always been close," Helga told the children with a conspiratorial wink. "We're Servants of the Earth together."

The two Hogwarts Houses who almost never interacted because of their very opposing opinions of each other, had Founders who were actually very close. The bloody hell was going on?

"Hermione and I got re-sorted because Ravenclaw isn't what it used to be. I'm sorry, but staying somewhere that makes me unhappy isn't productive nor will it let me reach my goals," Luna explained to her former House's Founder. "And that kind of atmosphere isn't healthy for the mind either."

"Yeah, Ravenclaws are fucking arseholes," Bella agreed much to the embarrassment of her friends. "They didn't deserve either of you." Bella was being crass in front of the one thousand year old portraits of the Founders. The horror. The disrespect. The fucks she did not give.

Rowena Ravenclaw was gaping at Bella's use of language as well as the insult to her House and possible values. Salazar was staring her down with interest, no doubt noticing the green of her robes and the locket around her throat, and probably wondering why a Slytherin was being so... not subtle.

Bella was a Slytherin because of her ambition and cunning. Having both qualities didn't always mean someone had to end up like B-Man. Stiff and unhappy weren't the requirements for Slytherin House.

"So I wanna ask the question I think the rest of us students are wondering," Bella began, noting how Hermione stiffened in realisation. "Salazar Slytherin, did you campaign for the murder of all non-magical people and children born to them?"

The absolute horror on the Founders' faces was enough to tell her that he in fact, did not.

"Salazar would never!" Helga blustered, looking more offended than the man himself did. "Though he really didn't favour the Mundanes because of how they treated those of us with magic, he had more important things to see to than murdering people! We had a school of children to control. Only four of us against hundreds of adolescents! There would be no time for that!"

Godric and Rowena nodded.

"But you four were crafted before the real Salazar left the school and the supposed row he had with Godric. So could he have changed enough to want that by the time it happened?" Bella asked.

"The real me left half a year after this portrait was created and the portrait wasn't found for some time," Salazar stated. "Much can happen in that span of time but nothing I can think of would make that a possibility. And we were all exposed to the rest of the real Founders until they died. The other portraits had not been created before I left though."

Interesting. "So the whole school has been operating under false information and Slytherins have been treated like utter rubbish for centuries, for literally no reason. Lovely."

Just fucking wonderful.

"Why are Slytherins being treated terribly?" Helga asked. Bella could already tell she was a bleeding heart and the portrait would no doubt burst into tears once she learned of the history of Hogwarts.

"Well..."

And so the children explained to the best of their knowledge.

"So we wanted to put them up in the Entrance Hall because that way everyone would get to see them."

Severus Snape was staring at the group of children stood in his office. And four of them were holding the long lost Founders' portraits. Of course it was Potter's group of friends that was involved.

"Why not each to their own House?" he asked, curious to hear their reasoning.

Granger was the one to speak up. "It promotes exclusion. All four founded the school so all of their wisdom should be equally available to the students. It isn't fair to take the option of learning from a specific Founder, away from 3/4 of the student population."

She had a point.

"I will talk to the Headmistress about it. She is rather level-headed for a Gryffindor, I'm certain she'll see no issue with it. It isn't as if she can get rid of them."

How much would this change things? Salazar Slytherin's portrait hanging up in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts for the first time in centuries. Merlin have mercy on them all and the drama that decision would cause.

"Mione, what're you doing?"

Hermione beamed at the chance to talk about her findings! She always did like explaining things to people and now she had friends who actually listened when she talked and asked questions about what she was up to! It was everything she'd wanted in her imaginary friendships as a child.

"Remember how I put that Slytherin in his place when he tried to attack us?"

Her fellow Slytherins nodded whilst the Hufflepuffs of the group listened with interest. They hadn't been there but Bella had regaled them both with the details because of course she would.

"So I said that his blood was infected and that it was because of the inbreeding. Chances are he didn't truly understand that, but it's been on my mind ever since. Muggles have learned that children spawned from incestuous unions aren't healthy. Specifically, the genes of their parents are too similar and may cause negative recessive traits to spawn once again. And the worse it gets, the worse the traits build up."

Bella nodded, obviously understanding as she had come from the muggle side and knew enough about the topic to have a clear understanding of it. The rest looked completely lost, but seeing as Magicals didn't teach science, she wasn't surprised.

"What are genes?" asked Theo, looking genuinely interested.

"Something passed down from your parents inside the body," answered Bella.

Hermione nodded. "More clearly, the Google definition is, 'a unit of heredity that is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring'. Like how everyone in the Black family has storm grey eyes, or how everyone born to the Malfoys have such pale hair. Genetics are the reason for that. Recessive traits pass on through the genes, and if the genes of the parents are too similar, it'll cause problems for the child."

Blaise looked unnerved, but he stiffened his jaw anyway and asked, "What problems?"

She wasn't going to sugarcoat it. "Deformities of all kinds."

The ominous answer had everyone but Bella gaping.

She nodded at their shocked silence. "Yes. Too much inbreeding leads to Inbreeding Depression, which is when the biological fitness of the inbred individuals fail. This means the chances to breed are… impossible the further the inbreeding goes. Infertility is what often occurs. So gene variation is important. Introducing new genes into the pool gives you a better chance of healthy breeding."

There was silence for a moment, before Blaise said, "My mum's parents were cousins as their parents before them were as well. But mum got pregnant with a Pureblood from Italy in order to have me. Is that what saved me from deformity?"

The revelation wasn't necessarily shocking itself, but the fact that Blaise shared it was. However, she had to nod. "Yes. Something I've noticed is that British Magicals don't expand their reach past their borders. The magical community here stays here and doesn't branch out ever. In fact, the only non-British born students that I currently know of, are the Patils, and yet they're from a section of India that was heavily occupied by the British colonists."

"Because they never open themselves up to change even if it was Purebloods from the continent, everyone here is distantly related," said Bella, understanding sparking in her eyes. "I'm related to the Blacks, Malfoys, Weasleys, Longbottoms, Bones', Greengrass', and probably many others."

"Exactly!" Hermione nodded. "So I was thinking about this and the obvious infection in those who have been inbred too much. Taking the Blacks for example, and I'm not trying to be rude, Bella, I swear."

The girl waved her off, obviously wanting her to continue.

"They're mad," was Hermione succinct statement.

No one disagreed. It was common knowledge or at least a common belief they treated as fact.

"I looked up some things, and the sanity of every Black in the last century has been called into question numerous times. Even Sirius Black. The family was one of the ones who especially believed in keeping it in the family. The main branch, the one Sirius Black is from, only ever married each other. The side branches intermarried with the Malfoys, Rosiers, and Lestranges. While that is good it's not good enough, because they only intermarried with those three families save for a few outliers who were banished and married Weasleys or Prewetts or Longbottoms."

Neville looked pale just at the mention of his possible relations.

"The Blacks used to have a plethora of Metamorphmagi in their line. Hogwarts had dozens of them as students over a century ago according to Madam Pomfrey. They've practically died out by now. But recently, a Metamorphmagus of Black descent was born. From what I've gathered, her name is Nymphadora Tonks and she's in the Auror Program after graduating last year. Her Pureblood mother married a Muggleborn and suddenly this long-dead ability in the Black family rears its head once again after so much inbreeding?"

Hermione could tell that both Blaise and Theo were completely baffled, but her facts were just that. Facts. And what they alluded to made sense!

"So when I got the special class for magical menstruation, Madam Pomfrey said that magicals struggle with having children even though we technically have two times the chances muggles do. But for some reason the eggs are mostly dead and that families as big as the Weasleys are rare nowadays. Why? How? And can any of you guess?"

It was Luna who answered next. "Inbreeding. Too much is making it so they can't pass on their genetic material. That's why the eggs are always dead. I suppose this is different compared to how it works for muggles?"

Hermione could only nod. It was very similar but also considerably different.

"So the wizarding population of Magical Britain is dying out because of inbreeding," Bella said, summarising the entire conversation. "This basically goes back to Pureblood politics and traditions then. But even for those who accept the muggleborns and inter-mix with them, they're only British muggleborns. So their new blood and genes won't do much but prolong the inevitable if something isn't done soon."

And that was the crux of the issue. This was something very serious, and everyone needed to be made aware of it.

"The population of Magical Britain was around one hundred thousand back in 1850. It is now under fifty-thousand," Hermione revealed, slapping her file holding her findings, down for her friends to see for themselves if they were curious. "Where Hogwarts used to have a thousand students at any given time just a century ago, it's now teaching about seven hundred at the most and the dorms are getting smaller and smaller."

The numbers didn't lie, even though she wished they did. Just so things wouldn't look so bad.

"Something has to be done."

It was Theo who surprised her then as he aimed a small smile her way and said, "Then I suppose it's a good thing you're going to be our Minister, huh?"

The emotions that twisted up Hermione gut had her tearing up.

Their faith was appreciated.

You should start looking into Ancient Runes now, while you have the time. The moment
you enter your third year, you'll have even less time than you do now, and if you begin
practicing your writing now, you'll bypass the introductory section of the class which is
several months long.

?Huh?

Bella hadn't even gotten to say anything yet. Tom's weird ability to sense whenever she came near to him could be really annoying sometimes. Yet he was giving her good advice so she could just suck it up.

Runes are a language. Cultures have different Runes of their own. What Hogwarts teaches
is the Elder Futhark Runes. It will be treated like learning English was. Assignments based
on memorising them will become the norm during the first term in the class. If you already
know how to write them all before you even start the class, and have them in memory in
order as presented, you'll be better off.

Meh!

Oh. That doesn't sound fun.

I personally found it very relaxing. The repetitive motions are calming.

Tom was weird though.

Well yeah, but you're like super duper smart so of course you would end up liking
schoolwork. I however am a perfectly sane person and I don't like doing it. But at
least I will be finished with my muggle work by then so my schedule won't be too
crowded.

Then it'll just be Hogwarts and training. Hogwarts and training. Over and over until she got to the big competitions! She was so excited! She even had a competition comping up!

I was under the impression that your friend Hermione enjoys school very much and loves to
learn ahead.

Well yeah, but that doesn't mean I think she's sane for it.

Hermione was like a breed of person all her own. There was no way

Is your dislike of learning because of the fact that you legally have to or else, or is it the
the soul piece and what it does to you every time you try to get through a new book that
puts you off?

Tom was very good at reading people. In another life, and maybe with less manipulative tendencies to his character, he'd be a good psychiatrist. No wonder he made a good Slytherin. And he was Slytherin's last real descendant too!

...the latter. Still haven't finished the Thesaurus and it's frustrating as hell! It's
not fun to learn if I'm being punished with the mother of all headaches while I
am doing it. Things used to be much more simple and now I can't even read a
book normally.

Understandable. I cannot hold that against you seeing as it's technically my soul doing it
to you.

Thanks, Tom. Good of you to say.

Admitting his own mistakes even if he didn't personally commit them, was a good step!

Bella was proud!

BTW, Tom! I had a question!

Yes?

So like, you would need either a person with magic or another Horcrux in order
to get a body, right? Does the kind of person matter or does it have to just be a
magical person?

A magical human of any sort. I would prefer an adult though. Murdering children isn't an
appealing thought and adults have already gotten their chance to live. And I'd personally
target someone that I find offensive. You'd feel less guilt in hurting people you don't like.
A common thing in our species. So if you give me to someone so I may get a body of my
own, I'd advise you to give me to someone you absolutely cannot stand and wouldn't be
sorry to see them go.

Damn. Tom was coming out with the straight facts! Though he didn't believe in sugar-coating things just because Bella was underage and a girl, which was nice of him. She just kinds wished reality wasn't so bloody effed up.

Right, right. That's basically what I've been thinking. Because I have considered
giving your book to someone, but I just don't know how to get it to him and make
him actually touch and/or open it.

Who, may I ask?

Xenophon Nott.

He'd ticked Bella off for the last time. After Christmas, Theodore had been very ill. Super ill. To the point of needing magical sunlight in order to counteract the affects of his grandfather's training! And he'd been shaking and incapable of even gripping a quill due to possible nerve damage. Xenophon Nott's plan to ready his grandson for Voldemort's service was also going kill him before Voldemort ever returned.

Enough was enough.

He's one of my Knights.

?

Knights of Walpurgis. A group of founded in school of my acquaintances.

Yeeeaaah. We all basically know that he is one of Voldemort's original Death
Eaters. There is no legit proof that he is a DE, but these things seem to run in
the family. His son was a DE and is in Azkaban now, and he has been torturing
Theodore to prepare him to serve Voldemort when he returns.

It was disgusting!

He honestly believes that Voldemort would support him torturing his child in preparation
for servitude? Even though he's risking his health and could possibly make him incapable
of doing anything should it continue?

Yeah. But Voldy's a bit whacko now so are you really shocked?

I suppose not. But I am severely disappointed.

Yeah, me too.

Xenophon would recognise my Diary however. I did carry it around often in my fifth year,
and my name is on the back. He would probably revere it as he would be one of the only
people left who knows exactly who I was.

So giving you to him would work?

Yes. If you truly feel that it is necessary of course.

We'll need to talk more on what your plans are once you leave the book though.

Of course, Bella.

She wasn't stupid enough to just free Tom and let that be that!

Some assurances had to be made first.

And I also wanted to tell you that we found the Founders' portraits and we got
them all hanging up on the Entrance Hall now!

WHAT?! Salazar wasn't burned?

Nope! He still exists and he's been tearing some new you-know-whats into some
people! It's been great!

Also, he told me I better protect his locket and do him justice and I told him I'm
a Parselmouth and that I'm a pretty damn good Slytherin. He seemed pleased.

You have Slytherin's Locket?

Yeah?

I had hoped to use that as a Horcrux if I ever found it.

Oh.

Bella had left the locket at school, but now she was going to give it a closer look. How would she know if it was a Horcrux or not?

She could hiss at it and see what happens.

"I want to work on the Quad Toe Loop only today," Bella announced the moment they got to the rink. She'd been thinking about it a lot in the past month and had decided that she had enough time before Juniors to begin practicing her Quad attempts more regularly. If she got the first one down soon, she'd be able to move onto other Quads.

Bella wanted to join Miki Ando as the second Ladies skater to ratify a Quad jump. Miki had ratified the Quad Salchow back in 2002. Bella was going for ratifying the other Quads.

It was literally an entire year away for Juniors. She had dance classes to constantly work on form and expression. Her choreo was getting better and better every time Aaliyah gave her one of her little music challenges. For the most part, her Triple jumps were decent and had a success rate of 70% thus far, which was good. Seventy percent of her jumps were perfect and she was pleased by that.

And since the Toe Loop was the easiest jump, in Bella's opinion, the Quad would be the easiest as well no doubt. And she wanted to get that out of the way before she could move up the ladder of difficulty. She just needed to work on the landing!

Aaliyah sighed as she placed her bag down on the nearest bench. "I'm all for practicing everything, but I don't want you to fall into the hole that other skaters are beginning to fall into as of late. You don't need Quads to win gold."

Not exactly true. In recent years, figure skaters were attempting more and more difficult jumps, and the scoring had become a little… unfair in a sense.

A good example would be a Senior men's skater who performed an entire routine with only Triples and a single Quad, managing to beat a Senior skater who used Quads for half of his required jumps, even though he may have stepped out on a couple of them. Quads had more base points naturally so the point deduction from the base points, for stepping out, wasn't that big. So how could the first men's skater win when awarded less base points and less than two additional points on each jump?

It was a controversy that sparked a lot of heated discussions in the skating circles. Many believing it to be unfair and others defending such scoring. And it influenced said scoring.

Other examples of odd scoring had skaters who attempted Quads that all came out imperfect, receiving better scores than someone who skated a clean routine with no Quads and better PCS.

Bella was kind of on the fence about it all because she knew she could do Quads if she worked hard enough. And she wanted to get the points for the Quads and set records that would have her name going down in history. So the new shift in attention to the technical elements worked in her favour somewhat. At the same time she didn't think it fair that someone who only performed Triple jumps, was still able to win over someone who had used a variety of Quads. It just didn't seem right in the end.

Of course not everyone held the same beliefs, but Bella's opinion on Quads was shaped by the current scoring system and the attention being placed on people who dared Quads, so of course that would be how she thought. Aaliyah grew up when the requirements were a bit different.

"I want to do Quads though," Bella told her guardian. "I have worked up my stamina for this and I have an edge over my fellow competitors that others simply don't have. I've got the time to work on these things without fearing that they will completely destroy my body. And I will age much more slowly than most other skaters."

Her Healing ability from being a magical twin was very useful she'd come to realise. While other skaters would be complaining of bleeding feet that were rubbed raw, and pained knees and hips, Bella could power on through because everything healed up automatically. Sure there was pain, but if she ignored it for long enough it would fade into the background.

Aaliyah didn't seem so convinced. "I just find PCS to be more important. Call it my history in Synchro shining through."

Well duh. Aaliyah had learned to make patterns and do group lifts and put forth a specific mindset at all times. Bella's side of the sport required a bit more in terms of difficulty.

Many people assumed that all skating sports were the same, but singles skating was different from speed skating, which was different from pairs and synchro and ice dancing.

"You've been doing well lately, so I suppose it won't hurt to get in a few days of jumps practice. But I want you to do some suicides on the ice to warm up, first."

Ugh! Bella hated suicides the most! They were Aaliyah's clever way of telling her she didn't like what Bella was focusing on but couldn't see a legit reason to put a stop to it and cause drama.

"Ah! The life of raising a teenager!"

Both looked around to find Deborah approaching, wearing her usual 'uniform' which was basically a very dark, fuzzy vest over a long-sleeved white jumper and a big, blue lanyard labeling her as the staff of the rink, in place. Her hair was pulled into a bun like always and her cheeks and nose were flushed red from the chill of the rink.

"I'm twelve," said Bella.

Deborah shrugged. "I'm counting those nine months in the womb."

Ew! "Don't remind me of that! I wanna forget that ever had to happen!" Especially since she didn't like the owner of the womb she'd come out of!

Both Aaliyah and Deborah snorted at her and focused their attention on each other. Like always.

It was in that moment of watching them silently look into each other's eyes, that Bella realised something very important. Deborah didn't know that magic existed. And because same-sex marriage wasn't legal in their country, Aaliyah wouldn't be allowed to tell her according to the ancient laws of Britain's Ministry of Magic.

And that sucked.

Prue stared down at the letter as if would possibly catch fire and burn her alive. Of all the things to ruin her day, this had to be it.

Dear Prue,

It's been a while since we've gotten to speak. It's a shame Azkaban doesn't
allow visitation to the common public. I have no doubt that you would have
visited if you could. And I'm certain Sirius didn't even bother to tell you that
you could write to us.

I've been looking into your situation and will be bringing my findings to the
Child Welfare Division. A child should be around their birth mother first and
foremost. I'll be settling this ridiculous contract Sirius and Molly have drawn
up and you'll be back home in no time.

Don't worry.

Your loving mother,
Lily.

Despite what the letter said, Wales had never truly been a home. And certainly not one for her.

And why couldn't she just see that Prue didn't want to deal with her? Prue had made no effort to talk to she or James ever since they'd been released, and she wasn't too stupid to know that Azkaban inmates could get mail. She simply didn't care enough to write to them.

And she had to scoff at the 'child should be around their birth mother' tripe. She obviously hadn't believed that a decade ago when she literally sent away one of her children for not being good enough for her! The hypocrisy that Lily seemed to bathe in on the regular was beginning to annoy Prue.

And nothing about the letter was loving. It felt condescending. It felt like Prue was being treated like a child instead of the almost-teenager she was. She wasn't stupid even if she wasn't the best student in her year.

Now she had to go to Sirius to warn him about whatever the redhead was planning. She didn't know what Lily thought she had over Sirius and Mrs. Weasley, but Prue wasn't going back without a fight. Even if running away was necessary.

~.O.~

A/N: Another is done!

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