"Jump, go ahead and jump." ~ Jump by Van Halen.
Chapter 29: Future Career
Dear Maggie,
Guess what? I'm the new Gryffindor Quidditch captain! I got the letter from McGonagall this morning, and I've been practically fangirling ever since, aha. I'm also the male Prefect! Mum is beside herself, and Percy is walking around, sending proud looks at me. It's really funny. Fred and George are so ashamed that I'm the Prefect, but really happy that I'm the Quidditch captain. Honestly, I think that I could ask Mum and Dad anything right now and they would give it to me. That's a bonus.
I'm certain that you won't be the Prefect. It would be cool if you were (we could patrol together) but you've had way too many detentions from Snape. My guess is that Kenzie's the new Prefect. Has she written to you? I suppose not, since she's still in France and probably thinks that she's above writing to her friends. Haha, joking. That would be you. (Again, joking)
I miss you heaps! Bill is great and all, and the twins and Ron are cool too, but they don't get me like you do. But I totally get that you wanted to spend this summer with your family. It's good that you're all so close now. I guess that my insanely brilliant advice helped that.
Anyway, only a week until I see you! Yay! If I was a girl, I would be squealing, but I'm the Quidditch captain now and I can't be seen like that.
Love,
Charlie
P.S: You know how girls seem to find me insanely hot and that sort of stuff? I'm kinda saving myself for someone, so can you please run them over with a lawnmower for me? We've had this discussion and you said maybe, so...
Charlie's saving himself for someone? Who? Who does he fancy? Is it Dora?
After a few moments of these thoughts, I realised that I should probably focus on the rest of the contents of the letter, not just the ending.
It's so cool that Charlie's the Quidditch captain! He was bound to get it, though - he's easily the best player in Hogwarts, let alone Gryffindor, and I'm being as unbiased as possible. And he's Prefect to boot! Dora and I both didn't receive Prefect badges, which wasn't a surprise. Dora used to say that she was trying to keep a clean record so that she had a better chance at becoming an Auror, but that plan kinda failed. Neither of us really cared. Kenzie probably did get Prefect for Gryffindor, and Dora thinks that Sharla would have received the position for Hufflepuff.
I guess that Andromeda was right. Fifteen seems to be the age when it all happens. Charlie's Quidditch Captain, Prefect, and he has an eye on someone. Again, I wonder whom.
It seems that everything is changing now. I bit my lip. Charlie is going to get so much attention this year, and after those jealous feelings at the end of the term...
Well, I don't know how I'll deal with it.
Oh yeah, by running them over with a lawnmower! Maybe Ted has one in his shed. I'll have to come up with a pretty good reason as to why I need it...
Anyway. I really hope that Charlie doesn't become one of those arrogant Quidditch players. Even his letter was kinda arrogant... but then again, we're best friends, and that's his way of joking around with me. After the issues in fourth year, I think we've mutually decided not to let anything come between us again. Let's just hope that that decision lasts through fifth year, which is supposed to be one of the most hectic school years.
Just as I was folding up the letter, Dora bounded into my bedroom.
"Hello," she said cheerily, sitting on my bed and stretching her legs out in front of her. "How's life?"
"Dora," I said, bemused. "We were talking ten minutes ago. Nothing has changed."
"Yeah, but you've got a letter from Charlie. So something has changed."
"For Charlie, yeah. He's Quidditch captain and Prefect!"
Dora's expression brightened. "Really? Good for him!"
"Yeah," I said, grinning. "He's in for one good year. You know, girls running after him and the like."
Dora raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound very happy about that."
I wish that she would stop making hints to this!
"I don't really care," I said casually. "He says that he has an eye on someone anyway, and he wants me to keep the fangirls away."
Dora's eyebrows shot up. "Really? So he's telling the girl he likes to keep the others away?"
My sister's comment didn't make sense to me at first, but when I comprehended what she meant, my eyes narrowed.
"Dora, no. He told me to keep them away because he doesn't want to hurt their feelings. Honestly, hurting girls like Elizabeth Stradlin's feelings is fine with me."
She stared at me for a few moments, with a piercing stare that made me feel as though I was an idiot.
"Okay. But you should make him tell you who it is first. Maybe you'll even find yourself in a relationship."
Dora took one look at my murderous glare and decided that it was a good time to run.
Smart girl.
"I still have no idea what to do with my life," I said to Andromeda and Ted on the last night of the holidays. "I have to focus on the subjects I need, but I don't know what I need!"
Dora had told me to talk to them about it, because she ran out of advice to give me. I thought that after two months of holidays, I would have thought of something.
Andromeda smiled sympathetically. "When I was your age, I had the same dilemma. I didn't know what to do with my life. So I thought about the things that I liked doing. What do you like doing?"
"Erm, backchatting Snape," I began weakly. Ted chuckled.
"No, we mean school wise."
"Eating lunch."
Andromeda sent me a sharp look. "You're as bad as Dora when it comes to serious talks."
I grinned. "Okay, okay, I'll be serious. I'm good at Transfiguration, but I don't have a passion for it. It's not like Charlie is with Care of Magical Creatures, or Dora with Defense Against the Dark Arts. I couldn't pursue a career in it or anything."
Andromeda bit her lip, pondering. "Well, what about a career outside of magic?"
If there was one thing that I knew, it's that I want a career in magic. I shook my head. Andromeda looked as though she was thinking for a few moments. She was about to open her mouth, when Ted cut in.
"What don't you like?"
Andromeda gave him a weary look. "Ted, telling her to pursue a career in something she doesn't like will hardly help-"
Ted pat her shoulder. "Trust me, Dromeda. Maggie, give us a list of everything you dislike."
It was a strange question, but I suppose that this was a serious talk, so I answered.
"Many things. Snape, girls who fangirl over Charlie, History of Magic, spinach, arrogance, Black Sabbath, people who think their better than others, bikinis, Snape, pureblood supremacy, tomato sauce-"
"Pureblood supremacy," Ted said, a smile crossing his features. "That's the sort of thing I was looking for."
I frowned, confused. What did he mean?
He seemed to read my thoughts, because he hastened to explain.
"So you don't like pureblood supremacy. Why?"
I still didn't see how this was relevant to career choices, but he was definitely serious. Oh, there were so many reasons as to why I hated it.
"Well, before I found out about the whole mystery surrounding you two, I was okay with it. I mean, I disagreed with some things that my Uncle said, even before Hogwarts. Like when he claimed that muggles weren't fit to walk this earth. They haven't done anything wrong, have they? And it wasn't just muggles. But when I found out what Bellatrix Lestrange had done, and how my 'loving' Aunt and Uncle had gone along with it, I realised that I didn't like it at all. How dare they think that they're great enough to take away a child from her parents? It's more than that, though. It's like... every movement they make, every action they perform; purebloods seem to do it with such arrogance. You can see it in the Slytherins at school, when they play Quidditch, or when they taunt other kids. And the Draco situation. Look at Lucius Malfoy; his head is so far up is ass that he thinks he has the right to forbid his niece and son from seeing each other, when they grew up together."
When I finished, I watched them exchange shocked looks. I flushed. I didn't realise how passionate I had become about the subject.
"So, dear, what is it you're trying to say?" Andromeda asked gently, placing her hand on my hand.
I took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is that we're all equal. Purebloods shouldn't use their blood status as a way of making themselves feel above rules. And not just rules: they think they're above acting like human beings. They have no love or empathy. They make people – who have no control over whether they're magical or not – suffer, and it isn't fair."
Ted and Andromeda exchanged meaningful looks at my last sentence. I remember all those years ago when Andromeda told us how power and being pure of blood went to Bellatrix's head when she joined You Know Who. Look at my mother! She's an example of a pureblood that got it right. She knows that it isn't fair to treat muggles differently, let alone muggleborns and half-bloods; look at who she married!
I kind of shocked myself with how passionate I had become. I guess that being the daughter of a woman who rebelled against her family caused vendettas to be engrained deep within me, but it only took a bit to let the anger see the light. And after finding out about Bellatrix and my Aunt and Uncle...
Well, it only fuelled the anger.
"How is this supposed to help me with my career choice?" I asked after a while.
"Maggie, you're old enough to understand this. Although You Know Who may be gone, it doesn't mean that pureblood supremacy doesn't exist. And though things were worse in the day of your mother, things aren't all that much better. Bigots aren't born; they are raised. At this moment, your cousin is changing into the very person you don't want him to be. Maggie, how does that make you feel?"
"Angry," I said. "It isn't fair that he never gets to voice his own opinion. He doesn't have his own opinion! His opinion is the one that has been drilled into him since birth."
"Exactly," Andromeda said, exchanging a look with Ted. "Supremacy is a major part of our world. Of any world, really. The minister might like to pretend that all is well and that life is fair, but it isn't. There are people suffering because of something they can't help, and others who are being taught ideals that they may not believe in. Look at me," she said. "For a while, I almost believed what my mother taught me. It's rare that you find someone who rebels against what they've been raised on. You, me, Sirius..." she cleared her throat at this point. "But yes, supremacy will always be there. It will never go away; it will always be there in some form. But if you take away the bigots' power and influence..."
"You can change how society works," I finished, it all piecing together like a puzzle. "So you want me to find a way to take away their power? To make everyone completely equal?"
"Yes," Ted said, smiling. "Let me tell you, being a muggleborn is hard. It's harder to find jobs, for one. And you wonder why purebloods are the ones who own the estates."
This whole supremacy issue was closer to home than I thought. Andromeda fought against it, Ted has been a victim of it... and I've been both. If it wasn't for Bellatrix thinking that she has the right to fuck people's lives up, I would never had had to fought against it in the first place.
"There's an organisation," my mother said. "It's called Pureblood Power Abolishment. There's no law saying that an organisation of that calibre is illegal, but there is a reason why it's secret. I've mentioned the Order of the Phoenix before, and this is sort of like it. Both organisation's aims are to fight evil, and this is a lesser yet just as bad evil. Their aim is to take away the power of purebloods. Men like Lucius Malfoy always get their way when it comes to ministerial decisions, and it seems that if you have the blood status, you have the power. The organisation is only in its early days. It mainly involves catching the pureblood crooks for now. And you, Maggie, would have a plethora of names to dish."
"Yeah," I agreed. "I know most of the nasty purebloods in Britain."
"Good," Ted said. "When the organisation gains more power, its aims will be to talk to the ministry about the unfair treatment of wizards with a lesser blood status and the authority that purebloods are given, purely because of, well, their pure blood. It will eventually involve muggle rights legislations and the likes."
"So it's illegal?" I asked, needing more clarification on that front.
"Not exactly," Andromeda said, looking uneasy. "But any organisation that is aimed against the ministry is illegal, although the organisation isn't meant to be against the ministry directly; just some bias that they hold towards purebloods."
I raised an eyebrow. "So if I join, I'll be taking a risk?"
"But you like risks," Ted reminded me. "And it's for the greater good. It's against the people who ruined your childhood, Maggie, and whose ways are ruining the minds of people like your cousin."
I bit my lip, thinking. Finally, something that I actually wanted to do! I was passionate about it, it sounded dangerous yet exciting... I'm in. Just one thing...
"How will it help people like Draco, whose minds and opinions are already being distorted?"
Andromeda smiled sadly and squeezed my hand. "There isn't much the organisation can to for Draco."
I sighed; I had seen it coming. But Andromeda looked as though she was going to speak again.
"But for Draco, there is something that you can do. You can continue writing him letters. Prove to him that he's loved. If I had someone who loved me like you love Draco when I was a child, it would have meant a great deal to me."
I slowly started to smile. So all the letters I had written weren't for a waste, according to Andromeda.
"But," Ted began, "by taking away the power of purebloods, you take away their influence. Their children just need to be educated in a way so that they can make up their own mind."
I pondered on his words for a few moments. There was so much that I could do to change the future of the wizarding community. I was filled with a sort of hopeful feeling. Maybe I could change things.
"So basically," I began, "the fair way that society is being run isn't actually fair. It fraught with bias and prejudice, and this organisation will change it for the better."
"Exactly," Ted and Andromeda said in unison, giving me a smile. I blinked a few times. This was so much to process.
"What qualifications do I need?"
"You'll have to talk to Dumbledore about that," Andromeda said. "When Ted brought up the pureblood supremacy idea, I knew exactly what he was talking about, because the whole organisation is run by a friend of mine, called Kingsley Shackelbolt. He's an Auror, but his main focus, unknown to the ministry, is this. He has a fair amount of people behind him, and a lot of them are Aurors too. Some people are in action, acting as though their duties are Auror duties, and others work behind the scenes. It's much like being an Auror, without as much fighting and capturing. It's more about digging up secrets about pureblood society. During your career consultation, ask McGonagall if you can talk to Dumbledore. She'll know why. He has all the information you'll need. But you'll have ages to think about it, if you want to change your mind."
I shook my head resolutely. There is no way I'm changing my mind. This idea is brilliant! It's exactly what I never knew I wanted to do.
"Thank you both," I said, standing up and giving them both hugs. "Without you, I would still be clueless. You've given me a sense of purpose and I'm grateful."
They both hugged me at once, Ted stroking my hair and Andromeda rubbing my back.
"You've always had a purpose, Maggie. You've been our amazing daughter," Ted said.
"And we couldn't be happier to help," Andromeda added, smiling at me warmly.
Later, I'll have so much to think about, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy being with the best parents ever.
