Hermione's choice
I apologise for the delay of over a year for this chapter. My previous computer died and I had to save up the money to buy a new one, not easy on a low income. As you can imagine, all of the chapters I had written were destroyed and I am now rewriting them to the best of my ability. Thank you to everyone who have stuck with the story, your patience is about to be rewarded.
As always, JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe, not me.
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As the students walked out of the Great Hall they were all unusually quiet. There had been a lot of information given in a short time and many were talking softly and working out what the new rules would mean to them personally.
Fred and George Weasley walked around the Black Lake as they talked.
"Do you think Neville was right?" Fred asked. "Have we crossed the line? Are we really bullies?"
"Maybe," replied George. "I think it all depends on who got hit by what."
"And if they have a sense of humour."
"And how public it was."
"Or how much they know about magic I suppose." Fred said thoughtfully.
"Muggleborns don't seem to take our jokes as well as magic raised kids do when we get them."
"Most of the muggleborn girls don't know that the hag powder is only temporary,"
"Or things like the itching dust gets worse under a shower."
"I guess we did cross over…"
"But not intentionally."
"Doesn't matter now anyway, a school wide ban on pranks means we need to rethink what we want to do after school is over."
"Hey, just because we can't prank at school doesn't mean that we can't at home. We can still do the joke shop, but we will need something else as well. You know, joke shop in the holidays, other work for the rest of the year."
"Sounds good to me. But what do you think we can do?"
They stare across the lake at the castle when they were startled by a great cry "Ronald Bilius Weasley!"
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Professor Sprout hurried to the door and intercepted Draco Malfoy as he left the Great Hall.
"Mr Malfoy, as you are now suspended you will accompany me as I take you home. If there is anything that you cannot live without for the next week you may send a house elf to retrieve it. Let's go." Professor Sprout briskly informed Draco.
"My father will…" Draco tried to bluster.
"Your father will have no say in the matter. The only thing he can do is withdraw you from Hogwarts if he chooses to." Sprout then led the way down the path to the gates with a protesting Draco in tow. "Hurry up please, Mr Malfoy! Unlike you I do have classes today!"
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Entering Professor McGonagall's office Ron ran into a wall of sound.
"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! Never have your father and I been called to a conference about any of our boys! What have you done? You haven't even finished your first term and you are already in so much trouble that we get called here. You…" Molly Weasley suddenly went silent and turned to glare at her husband.
Arthur Weasley calmly put his wand away and turned to Professor McGonagall.
"Sorry about that Professor. Molly has been in a strop even since we got the letter last night. What is going on?"
"Thank you Arthur." Professor McGonagall said gratefully and then gave a rundown of the problems that had been discovered in the last day concerning Ron.
Arthur's face turned thunderous as he looked at his son. "Let me see if I am understanding this correctly Ron. You insult and bully a muggleborn girl because she does better than you in class and is eager to learn about magic. You then assisted in saving her from a life or death situation you helped put her in, but then you belittle and bully her again for telling the truth about the situation because it makes you look bad. You ignored a direct order from your head of house to go to the hospital wing, and when Professor McGonagall then had to search for you she was understandably cross when she found you, and then you insult the girl again and shout abuse at her parents, adults that were guests in this castle. Did I miss anything?" Arthur finished in a deceptively calm voice.
"No sir." Ron muttered. "But she is a nightmare. She…"
"Is a girl raised in a totally different culture who is wanting to learn about the new world she has found herself a part of. If you were to be thrust into the muggle world I would hope you would do the same as she has."
"But…"
"But nothing!" Arthur snarled. "The only thing that you should be concerned with right now is this, what are we going to do with you?"
Ron gulped.
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Harry and Hermione sat together under a tree and read the new handbook they had been given.
"Hey! Listen to this. 'All teachers must teach in an unbiased manner to all students'. How long do you think it will take Snape to break this rule?" Harry asked chuckling.
"Hmm, about five minutes into our first class would be my guess. He really is unfair to you and Neville. Does it say what punishments the Professors get? I haven't got up to there yet." Hermione replied.
"In order of severity, warnings- they only get one per rule, reports- they get three per rule, loss of pay- like fines but they increase each time a rule is broken, suspension- with and then without pay and finally, loss of employment- with no reference. Cool, this means that Snape could be out of here by Christmas!"
"I hope we can get a good teacher and some proper lessons if that happens. Writing on the board and then just walking around is not teaching. Maybe we can put this in the new suggestion box?"
"That's what it's meant for isn't it?"
"Why don't we talk to the others about what we want to change here? If more people complain then more is going to happen!"
"Good idea. Hey, Dean!" called Harry.
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At the Gryffindor table Ron was eating as much as he could when his twin brothers sat on each side of him.
"We couldn't help hearing our mothers dulcet tones earlier." George commented.
"A personal howler was it?" Fred continued.
"Piss off you wankers!" Ron said heatedly.
"Ronald Weasley!" a stern voice said from behind him. "May I remind you of the new rules against swearing and calling people derogatory names? You are already on probation so do not allow this to happen again." Professor McGonagall said as she handed the three boys their new class schedules and moved on.
"Probation? Not even we have been put on probation!" George exclaimed.
"Given detention's and yelled at yes, but you are in real trouble now!" Fred stated.
"Do you know what this means?" George asked seriously.
"Yeah, that prat's like you two get away with everything!" Ron said, stuffing his lunch in his mouth.
"It means that you need to pull your socks up and fly right or you are going to be sent home!" Fred said sternly.
Ron just ignored the twins and continued eating.
"Oi, Percy! Over here! Weasley family meeting." George called, exasperated with Ron's attitude.
Percy Weasley walked over and sat opposite his brothers. He knew that the twins would not call a family meeting in public unless it was serious.
"Our youngest brother is in a bit of a tight spot." Fred started
"He is now on probation for his actions yesterday." George followed.
"We don't think he would believe us if we tell him the facts about what he needs to do…"
"So we need you to tell him!" They finished together.
Percy looked at Ron incredulously and asked. "You are on probation? You do realise that probation is only one step away from being sent home, don't you? How long is it for?"
"Until Christmas is what the old bat said" Ron muttered. "Dad said he would send me to live with Aunt Muriel if I got sent home."
"And that is the perfect reason for you to try your hardest here." Percy said. "While you are on probation you can't break any rules, call people names or fail any of your classes. How are your marks?"
"Dunno, I never look." Ron said, unconcerned.
Percy frowned. "I will check with your teachers. Are you up to date with your homework?"
"Dunno" Ron shrugged.
"Right, I have a free next so I will check it all out and at dinner I will let you know what we need to do. Do you have any questions for me?"
"No" Ron said sullenly.
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Percy had checked with all the teachers and was shaking his head in disbelief. Not only was Ron already failing every subject but he had not handed in a single piece of homework since the year began! This was going to be even harder than he originally thought.
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After lunch Harry and Hermione entered their first 'Magical studies' class, eager to learn all they can about this strange new world they were living in.
"Good afternoon. I am Andromeda Tonks, mother of Hufflepuff's She-who-must-not-be-named, and I will be your instructor for the next few weeks until a permanent teacher is appointed. I grew up in a pure-bloodhouse so I was asked to teach you some of what I know. Let's start with the basics. When first meeting a new person…"
Harry was astounded at how different manners were here. Even if you disliked someone you were expected to at least be polite. Not shaking hands was a major insult and insulting somebodies family was all but taboo, it just was not done at all. He had a lot to learn.
"Tomorrow we will be looking at the social hierarchy of the magical world. Most of you may never need this but it is important to know that there are still a few families that are of similar rank here in the magical world as the nobility of the muggle world. See you next time. Mr Potter, please stay behind."
Harry waited, wondering if he was in trouble.
"Mr Potter, I have to admit that I was surprised to see your name on my class list. Are you sure that this is the class you need?"
"Yes Ma'am, I grew up in the muggle world so this is the class I need."
"Alright, but won't this be boring for you? Your magical guardian will have given you all the information I am going to be teaching for the next few weeks already."
"Excuse me, magical guardian? What's that?"
"It is someone that acts as a parent or guardian here in the magical world. By law you should have been meeting with whoever it is a minimum of twice a year. This person instructs you on how the magic world works, teaches you what you need to know and for you, helps you to understand and manage your finances."
"No one has ever done any of that. I didn't know about magic until I was eleven and Hagrid brought me my letter and he had my vault key."
"Something is definitely not right here. Leave it with me and I will make some enquiries."
"Ok, thanks Mrs Tonks."
Leaving the classroom Harry hurried to meet up with Hermione.
"Hi, what did Mrs Tonks want?" Hermione asked.
"She was wondering why I was in her class. Do you know anything about Magical Guardians?"
"A little bit. Professor McGonagall is mine. She gave me some books to read and we meet up about once a month to answer my questions. Why?"
"I don't know who mine is. I didn't know anything about them until just now."
"That's not good. A M.G. has control over a lot of your life."
"That's what Mrs Tonks said. She is looking into it for me."
"Good."
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