Roberto sits on the sandy floor back-to-back with Greg, sweat soaking his uniform after Karen told them that their last hour lesson for the week was up.

"You're still here."

"I am."

"Will you be here tomorrow?"

"Greg?"

"Sorry, was thinking. I'll be here. I understand it better than normal classes."

Karen's voice surprises both of them, "Good, you did well and it would be a loss if you chose not to join Hogwarts House. One last thing before I let you go, I want you to transfigure this block of wood into a pumpkin. No wand."

With a wave of her hand a block of wood appears at Gregory's feet. With a squint of concentration he turns it into a pumpkin.

"Well done, now turn it into a bucket painted green with purple spots."

He looks around before squinting at the pumpkin, slowly it turns into an unpainted wooden bucket, and he cringes away expecting to be told off.

"Well done, now can you turn it into this?" Karen conjures a crystal unicorn with a sparkling silver horn and feathers on it's hooves standing on a rocky outcropping.

Greg looks at it and squints in concentration again as his bucket turns into a copy of the unicorn.

Karen crouches down next to him, "Well done. I think you might be a kinaesthetic learner with poor visualisation. I'll see if I can get you some material to help your visualisation, and let your teachers know about your style of learning. If we can't improve your visualisation by the end of the year I'll give you a pass next year to pick an extra subject in Natural World or Combat instead of needing to take two subjects in one of the other areas. I'd suggest taking Runes, as it's a very concrete subject that can be hands on. I assume that Mr Crabbe is similar in temperament to you. If he is, then ask him to talk to one of his heads of house, or come and see me and we'll test him. At the moment it's not too late to let him switch his subjects around and coach him on catching up. And as I said, well done both of you, and I look forward to seeing you sitting at the Hogwarts table."

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Jean-Paul kicked the door to a private room in the three broomsticks closed while carrying the drinks that his children had asked for. He smiled as Apolline raised the privacy wards on the room and added some of her own.

Putting down the drinks, he smiled at his daughters, "So how are my two little angels getting on at Hogwarts?"

"It's, different." Fleur says diplomatically.

"It's fun!" Gabrielle squeals at the same time, though he can tell it's a little forced.

"Gabby." He warns.

"No, really it's fun. It's just, some of the older kids are mean. And I feel stupid in some of the lessons."

"Who?"

"Some of the Slytherins and Ravenclaws, the only one I really know the name of is Malfoy Papa. But my dorm mates are great, and really helpful. Though I think most of them are going to be joining the Hogwarts house soon."

"Oh?"

"They all look up to Professor Azaria, and keep talking about how they're going to be like her."

"Ah, well I'm sure you'll have your own opportunity to join them."

"I will Papa."

"Now you were talking about feeling stupid."

"I know you taught us numbers as we were growing up, but in the non-magical side of cultural studies we're currently learning algebra, and in the philosophy we're working on something called Logical Inference, in Critical Thinking we're learning how to make shapes out of other shapes. History is OK, we're just catching up with what I've already done, but I've missed some bits too. And then there's the play time, I can't make the toys for the game yet." Gabrielle bursts into tears while she's talking, and Jean finds himself having to listen carefully to understand most of what she's saying.

Apolline on the other hand, gets up and lifts her daughter into a hug before going back to her seat, "It's going to be OK little one. The rest of the class has just had a term to get used to stuff already. Don't be afraid to ask for help, yes?"

"Yes Mama."

"Fleur do you know about any of what she's talking about?"

"No, though I am having my own adjustments, as Arithmancy and Runes seems to be a more fundamental version of Spell Design and Enchanting. I have to confess to struggling with Arithmancy, as I seem to have a lot of the practical knowledge but I'm missing out on some of the underlying theory. Runes is amazing, we used runes in enchanting, but it wasn't as in-depth as they do it here. Initially I was disappointed that they weren't covering imbuing charms, but Professor Flitwick has been covering that as part of the Charms NEWT. I didn't think it possible to conjure enchanted items, but Professor Babbling conjures every item that we're studying in the lesson for each of us, and all of the runes are right there on the item. I checked one of them, and each rune was absolutely perfect."

Stroking Gabrielle's hair, Apolline asks her, "Sweet heart, how are you doing with the language?"

"It's hard, but Becky helps as she speaks French very well."

"Now what was wrong with play time?"

"Nearly everyone else is running around without their wands, and they're just making the toys they need for their games, or levitating things. But I can't do it properly. And I can't use the music spell, as it just comes out as one note with my wand."

"She's right Maman, I watched them play during one of my free periods and it's amazing what they do without their wands. The second years like Ginny and Luna more than the first, though I shouldn't really be surprised about that given they're Magi, and thus aren't allowed to use wands except in lessons."

"They're not?"

"No, Penelope was telling me that she had to snap her own wand in order to start her apprenticeship, I'm not looking forward to that later."

"How could they!"

"Mater, that was my reaction too. The way she explained it was that it's necessary for people like us who are used to our wands as we wouldn't stop using them for everything otherwise. Gabby won't have to do that though, as she's going to be learning that it's just a tool from the get go. You need to treat the next bit like Pater's secrets."

"I will Fleur."

"Penelope told me that any second years that still need to use their wands at the end of the year will be transferred to the state school regardless of how well they do on the exams, and this is going to be true for everyone going forward."

Jean-Paul looks thoughtful, "I see, is this why the mediation classes only seem to be mandatory for the first years and transferring students?"

"Yes, it is."

"What do you think dear?"

Apolline opens her mouth to reply and pauses for a moment, "I, I think that they are teaching their students how to use their magic instead of how to cast spells. These children will be magicals when they graduate rather than magic users. I don't think the term witches and wizards will apply to them anymore, as we are defined by our usage of wands while those of different traditions use other foci. Do you remember how you told me how naked you felt when you visited the Ministry of Magic and had to surrender your wand at the check in point?"

"Yes?"

"When she graduates from here, Gabrielle's wand will be just a tool, like giving up your walking cane. You remember the speculation that you had to deal with from the photos in that Daily Prophet article, and the meetings about what it would mean for France?"

"Yes, that's why we agreed to transfer Fleur and Gabrielle here rather than wait till next year."

"All of the students here will be able to do that. I don't know what will be taught in the warlock training, but I do know that Madam Maxxine has nothing but praise and jealousy for Monsieur Lawrence's ability with magic. Though his theory seems to be lacking. Fleur, have your classmates said anything about your lessons?"

"Not in Arithmancy or Runes, though I've heard many complaints from the other classes. Apparently, the notes that used to be passed down from year to year are no longer useful, and classes are more in depth and difficult. This seems to be true across the board for those that are in the new higher class. I've heard grumbling about that too."

"What do you mean higher class?"

"It seems like they used to teach each subject by house, two houses per lesson. Now they're splitting them by ability. So those that are less able are taking the previous lessons, while those that are good at the subjects are pushed and taught more. I think that the lower class is being taught to the level that Hogwarts is currently known for, while the higher class is pushing for outstanding as the average grade, and the ICW will need to invent new grades above that. Am I right in remembering that if you can do any transfiguration or charms wandlessly you get an automatic Exceeds in those NEWTs?"

Jean-Paul shakes his head, "You're not wrong, and here Gabrielle is going to be able to do that in a few months time."

"As am I."

"Yes, you will won't you. So Gabby, who's Becky?"

"Becky's great, she's a mundane born and she's helping me with the math and other lessons as well as my English. She says that her parents are moving to Little Wining."

"Whinging"

"Whi in gin"

"Whinging"

"Whinging, so that her brother can go to a primary school that caters for accidental magic. Though there's something about selling their house that I don't get."

"Many mundane people own their own homes, so when they want to move to a new area they must first sell their old home."

"Why?"

"You know we own our own home?"

"Yes?"

"We also own a lot of other homes that we rent out to other magicals. However, we also need to make sure that the homes are structurally sound. But because we have magic, that's easy to do, and minor repairs and modifications are easy to achieve. However mundane people can't do that, so if there is a problem in the home it's difficult for them to fix it themselves. So, just like our tenants can't make permanent changes to their homes without our permission, neither can mundane people. But for them, permanent changes are much smaller than they are for us. How many times have we changed your wallpaper or bed to suit you?"

"Lots."

"Mundane people can't just do that with a swish of their wands, so they need the permission of the owner to do it. So many people try to buy instead of renting so that they don't need to ask."

Gabrielle looks puzzled, "Is that why some people think they're less than us?"

"It is, but they don't look at what else they've achieved. They can't just move from place to place nearly instantly, so they made ways to move around more quickly. Because of that they can now transport entire harvests around the world in weeks. They can't create light on demand so they developed electricity, and now they have computers that do arithmancy calculations faster than the best wizard. They can't enlarge things to look at them so they invented devices to allow them to see tiny things. On top of that, we can't use the most sensitive devices they have because our magic makes them stop working properly. Just think, most of these innovations have happened since we pulled away from the mundane world in the 17th century."

"I didn't think of it like that."

"There's no reason you would have, it's something that you'd have covered in mundane studies if you took it in your third year. It seems like you're going to have a more hands on education about the mundane world though."

"Yes, we've seen Hogwarts students in Little Whinging, so I'd imagine that once you can go to Hogsmeade they'll start to take you to Little Whinging for some of your education."

"Papa, what's a recession?"

"Where did you hear that word?"

"It's what Becky said was the problem for selling their house."

"Ah, I'm not actually sure, so I'll ask someone when we go back to Little Whinging. Maybe you can ask your cultural studies teacher, and when we see each other again we can see what we both learnt."

"Yes Papa."

Smiling he took down the extra privacy charms and they started talking about less sensitive things.

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Karen paused outside the suite in the Library that Azira and Tonks use. After checking with her magic, she knocks on the door and waits. A couple of minutes later, and sounds of people moving around, Tonks opens the door wearing a dressing gown.

"Sorry to intrude, but I need to talk to Azaria."

Yawning Tonks closes the door and shuffles back into the suite, a minute later Azira opens the door wearing the same dressing gown.

"How may I help you Headmistress?"

"I'm actually here as a Magi."

Azaria straightens up and looks more alert, "How can I help you Magi?"

"As you know I found Petunia over Christmas."

"Yes."

"What you don't know is that she's living with your clan and has been proclaimed their Titania. Which is handy as she's married to me. She has also magically adopted your sister."

Azaria sags against the doorframe, "How are they?"

"They're doing fine now, though your sister almost died in a Winter court outpost due to the iron manacles they put on her. But, that's also where Petunia was sent, so they shared a cell. She was able to teach your sister how to supress her magic the way we do, and also access her inner world."

Azaria goes ashen at the news of what her sister had to go through, but pulls herself together, "What do you need from me?"

"Until Petunia declares herself a Titania the winter court is going to continue to keep hostages. What they want is a statement from you that you've sought sanctuary with the Bloody Rose and you're not going to relinquish the clan headship, and that you have an heir on the way. Garund thinks that will be enough to allow them to rotate out the family hostages back to the clan lands. This is important to him because Sorcha wants to visit."

"By the light, I love my mother, but I don't want her around for the next 17 Great cycles."

Tonks shouts from further in the suite, "Don't forget you'll only be pregnant for 9 months here."

"Oh, that's true."

Karen looks puzzled, "What do you mean it's only 9 months here?"

Tonks pads out of the bedroom and hugs Azaria from behind, "Both Poppy and Healer Gosling have been examining us every week, and we're both progressing at the normal human rate. They're probably going to rope you in on it soon, as I think you should have popped already if it was the standard 9 months."

"Ah, yes, well there is that. So, Azaria do you think you could do that?"

Caught off guard at the sudden return to the main point, Azaria stumbles her response, "Er, sure, I mean, yes I'll talk to the healers and see if they'll allow me to go to the sanctuary to talk to Hogwarts in person."

"Thank you, I've just got to go now, bye."

With that Karen steps away before they can drag her to a healer.

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François Mitterrand looks around the high security meeting room at the strange guests that are present.

"You are telling me that you know who is doing the kidnappings across the country, that it's magical in nature, and you can't do anything about it?"

The head of the Bereau des Aurors coughs discreetly, "Unfortunately, yes. We've spoken to our British counterparts and they agree that it looks identical to the spate of kidnappings they had there. They ended up needing to work with the British government to devise a deterrent."

"Yes, yes, I know, my own police chiefs came to me with some coq-à-l'âne story. They said that we needed to mint 99.999% pure iron coins and send them to every French resident."

"That's because that's the only solution we can come up with."

"What next, putting horseshoes above doors again?"

"Well, actually that's probably not the worst idea ever."

"We are men of science not superstition."

"I'm sorry to say that this isn't superstition, pure iron is antithetical to magic, and the kidnappers are highly magical."

"So what do these coins do?"

"They don't have to be coins, just pure iron. And so far as we can tell, it disrupts their method of entry, so that they can't just appear and disappear in the house or apartment. Of course our rural houses are somewhat larger than British houses, but it has shown to be effective in their towns and cities. It wasn't really problem in their rural areas where they still have larger homes. We, that is my counterparts and I agree, think that it's because it's hard to find individual houses in the world they're coming from, so instead they've been concentrating on areas of dense populations where they don't need to be so accurate in their initial scouting."

"Does it affect your magic as well?"

"To a certain extent, yes."

"How much?"

"Ah, erm..."

The political representative speaks up, "What my colleague is trying to avoid saying is that we can't directly affect iron objects if they are pure enough. It works well enough that we use especially pure iron containers for certain magical ingredients that degrade if they are allowed contact with the ambient magic."

"Right, I will arrange a test, and if what you say is true I will talk to the cabinet and we'll work something out."