Asagi5 presents to you a story about hypocrisy, deception, betrayal and the people caught up in it all.

NEW BLOOD INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY

Disclaimer: I own only the original characters in this story. All other characters belong to their respective famous owners.

Chapter Eleven:

The Blooming of Life Lessons

Flashback1

Petunia

When he was two years old Dudley was kidnapped. Petunia's back had been turned as she faced towards the cashier, digging into her over-sized bag and looking for the right amount of change. Tired almost beyond her physical limit, Petunia never noticed when Dudley stopped holding onto her skirt to wander closer to the open door. An unassuming man between the age of twenty-five to forty stood leaning on the wall to the side outside the door, hands in the pockets of faded grey sweats. Harry continued to hold on, his bright green, curious eyes staring all-over the quaint, Italian restaurant that Petunia found situated between a bakery and a department store. If Dudley had not made a startled sound when the strange man suddenly grabbed him Petunia would never have glimpsed her son's kidnapper's face. Would never have realised her son had been taken until she had finished with the cashier.

Screaming Dudley's name in shock and terror Petunia dropped her bag and took off after the kidnapper, the security guards seconds after her as they immediately realised what had happened. The security guards quickly overtook her in the thick crowd, diving in between persons with a skill that Petunia lacked.

Even as they sped towards the kidnapper Petunia could tell they wouldn't catch him. The kidnapper moved like he was completely familiar with the area and already Petunia could barely see his head. She could no longer hear her son's loud cries either. In that moment of complete panic an indescribable feeling both hot and cold poured through her veins. Her chest became tight, her breathing became difficult. Spots danced in front of her eyes and the morning's blinding sunlight became a myriad of colours and sensation. She couldn't breathe...couldn't breathe. She reached out her right hand, fingers curled inward in almost a claw-like manner towards the man disappearing down the street with her son.

The man dropped like a stone, the vein in his heart exploding in his chest and forcing him to involuntarily fling the kidnapped toddler into a nearby iron bench that caused his screams to abruptly stop.

The noise of the crowd, muted in that moment as the blood rushed furiously through the young mother's veins, came back with a sudden shock to the system and Petunia felt when her right ear drum burst as she fell, unconscious before even hitting the ground.

Flashback2

Lily

Whilst her sister was a sharp, brutally common-sensed individual, Lily Potter nee Evans tended to lean towards the emotional and impulsive side of things. She had the most unfortunate habit of jumping to conclusions based on faulty or missing information and refusing to acknowledge her wrong doings. Even when proven beyond the shadow of a doubt of said error, apologising was still rare for the far too proud former Evans.

The sisters shared this particular unfortunate characteristic. They were known to hold grudges for sometimes years on end and, quite unreasonably, sometimes transferred said grudge to anyone close to the individual they were snubbing. Lily had lost her best friend in this manner when she had gotten into a spat with one of their mutual friends and had refused to be friends with Betsy as long as she remained friends with Lila. She had lost her first lover in this manner after overhearing rumours about his brother's viral infidelity and had somehow come to the conclusion that it was a family trait due to the brothers being close. She had rebuffed the apology from her childhood friend whom Petunia had consistently referred to as 'that waif-like, ugly little Snape brat' and continued to sneer at the boy even after guiltily suspecting she had over-reacted. Lily had destroyed her relationship with her family over a supposed superiority complex and had only realised her terrible folly whilst she stood over her mother's coffin, only months after burying her father, her heart bleeding over missed opportunities and her lips trembling with choked down words.

Pride. Pride, ambition and envy had lost her the relationship with her family. Had lost her good friends and people who would have been in her corner. Lily Evans needed no one. She would succeed without assistance; raise above her financial circumstances and blood status to show them all that she was worth something. She would show them all she deserved her place in the Wizarding World.

Perhaps Lily had hurt people along the way...she would never apologise. For the youngest of the Evans impoverished family of four was far too ambitious, far too hungry for success to not take advantage of any beneficial circumstance even though they would hurt others. She pushed her parents away only to be haunted by their faces years later, devoid of any life in her nightmares. She abandoned her childhood friend for a first time offense only to take up with his tormentor.

Lily had stepped on people on the way to the top and in the end she achieved notice but not the type she had wanted. Having graduated Hogwarts with top honours and exemplary grades in potions had her receiving an offer from a renowned potions lab in Diagon Alley right out of school. There, she had worked hard, pouring herself into her work and achieving several research breakthroughs...only to have them all posted under her boss's Pureblood baby brother's name. She quit that same day.

Anger made her reckless and ego fooled her into believing her skills were more valuable than they actually were. The young Muggleborn applied to numerous places, her job applications receiving many positive responses. It was then the reality of the job market for a Muggleborn truly became apparent. Many times she had arrived only to be offered menial or low level, low paying jobs that had nothing to do with the job she applied for. She had even gone to an interview where instead of the charms expert job she had applied for, the man had had the nerve to offer her a 'Mudblood Breeding and Entertainment contract' at a 'Mudblood farm' in an unplottable location. He had made the offer all while stepping into her personal space and trying to shove his hand under her skirt! Never had she whipped her wand out and cursed someone so fast in her life! Yet Lily would receive no support, no protection from the system. She hadn't married James yet nor was his auror's training completed when the incident occurred. Just a nobody was the uppity Muggleborn that did not know her place. Not only did her furious report to the authorities go nowhere, the employer, a Pureblood, actually pressed battery charges against her!

Everywhere she went now she was sneered at. The dainty Pureblood women of society sniffed at her in disgust as if she smelt, the Pureblood males leered at her whilst acting like she was beneath them at the same time. All her Pureblood school friends smiled at her distantly now, barely nodding, speeding up their steps, pity tinged with superiority evident whenever she caught their eyes. Only Alice Fortescue, now Longbottom, her steadfast friend throughout school, had remained.

Gentle Alice who was fierce in her loyalty and genuine in her offer of assistance. Who stood amidst sneers and frowns of disapproval from her social peers and helped Lily get employment that didn't leave her wallowing back in that poverty hole she had crawled out of. Gentle, sweet, loyal Alice who was now on a mad man's hit list because of her friendship with her Muggleborn friend.

Then the newly minted dark lord vamped up his 'Stamp out the Mudbloods in Magical society' campaign, and the underground tensions in Magical Britain exploded into an outright civil war. Everywhere people walked around, heads down, wands held tightly, fear like oxygen in the air.

And so now here she stood. There was a mad man after her for the nerve of surviving his eradication efforts, and after her son because a quack said her still toothless, drooling baby boy would defeat the terrorist bigot one day. Pride was now the reason Lily stood in a stationary store staring at packets of blank file sheets. Pride in her ability to still be considered a dangerous foe to her enemies even whilst they tried dismissing her threat level due to her blood status. Pride and love for her little boy who was already trying to sit up. Pride...and love and faith in an estranged sister that when all was said and done had always been the stronger of the two of them.

Present Day

Petunia

Petunia stared at the unfinished work her sister had poured hours of brilliance and desperation into before her death, and tried not to think upon the years of silence that had existed between them from the moment the red-haired had stepped foot into her Wizarding World. For hidden within the brilliance being displayed upon untidy file sheets, was the little girl named Lily Evans, the person before the Wizards had gotten to her. The little girl who haunted the library because she had been so very hungry for knowledge. Who haughtily disregarded condescending adults who informed her such and such was not possible because "It just wasn't". The little girl, born into horrendous poverty without much to call her own, had burned bright, a true genius stifled by circumstances and a society hesitant to allow her out of the rigid class box that her birth had dictated. The odd thought processes and sudden jumps that littered her sister's sometimes precocious conclusions were probably something only Petunia could even have stood any hope of understanding. Mama may have been able to...but Mama was dead. For a moment Petunia felt like there was a clenched fist around her heart.

Mama with her lovely smile and sharp mind and accepting nature. Whilst Lily would have wanted to see the body, would have wanted to look upon Mama, their strong mother one last time, Petunia had not allowed it. Had informed her sister only two days before the funeral of their mother's death. Their mother…

...Mama...who had been tortured and slaughtered in her Sunday best whilst visiting their father's grave like she meant nothing to anyone. And it was her elder daughter that stood stone-faced whilst listening to the mortician try to figure out aloud whether he was even willing to attempt to put their mother back together enough for her funeral.

Petunia disliked her foolish snobbish sister but she was still her little sister. She spared her this knowledge...and of Petunia's strong suspicions that it had been Wizards who had gleefully tortured and killed and sliced their mother into unrecognizable pieces.

Petunia took a deep breath and calmly stepped off that line of thought and re-focused upon what was possibly her little sister's greatest work. Already Petunia had made progress, reaching far enough in the pile of pages to be able to disable and transfer the blood weapon that Lily had created around her old residence to here. At least a quarter of the papers that were covered in theories, calculations and drawings were set aside, red ink markings covering them. A slight smirk managed to creep up the left side of Petunia's lips as she proceeded to continue her...corrections...all over Lily's ramblings in written format. The use of red ink was not petty. Not at all.

She frowned as she continued her work, applying several mathematical theories to the latest group of disjointed ideas presented as a solid presentation by a far too optimistic person. Amusement tickled her slightly as the rambling reminded her distinctly of her nephew who was blessed with his mother's brilliance but lacked her intense drive, perseverance and self-motivation. Harry could probably give that little friend of his, Hermione, some solid competition if he actually bothered to fully apply himself. It was something Petunia honestly believed. Oh she did not delude herself into thinking that her nephew was the girl's intellectual equal. However, Harry could do far better than he was currently doing in his school work and his life in general.

Hogwarts had spoiled the boy. Easy school work and poor friends had stroked his laziness to an even higher disagreeable level. Petunia refused to suffer laziness hence the previous summer study bootcamps. The challenge this new school provided would also aid in rectifying the problem. Thinking of her nephew brought her to also think of the meeting with his godfather, the official one.

The second meeting between Sirius Black and Petunia Evans Dursley was perhaps less charged but more tense than at her wedding, where Potter and his fool sidekick had proceeded to confirm every poor assumption about Magicals she had. Unlike last time, the meeting was on the subject of her nephew's newly acknowledged Clan ability that he demonstrated during his exams. The ability which he really shouldn't have due to how far the main line of Evans he was and his lack of reaffirmation into the Kuriyama Clan.

Then again, Petunia herself possessed an impossible Clan ability due to her mundane status so she was slightly relieved to not be alone in that club. That she had not died yet from the stress placed upon her body whenever she used said ability was considered by the healers that recently examined her a miraculous feat. Remembering her weakness after sabotaging her dog Lucky's attack, and the months spent in the hospital after taking down Dudley's kidnapper, she had to concur.

As Harry's rude godfather sat in her living room with his feet on her coffee table and explained -correction- told her their plans for the boy in that arrogant, insufferably condescending manner that wizards spoke to muggles as if their thoughts and wants didn't matter, Petunia truly struggled with her patience. She did not like Black. There was something wrong with the man, something that reminded her of Lucky after he had been bitten. Something wild and cold and vicious behind the clown mask he wore like a second skin. It made the hairs on her arms stand on end and made her very wary of being around him. She had never told anyone of her uneasiness, not even her husband.

Black however, had been the one to request this meeting though you would never have known watching him. His entire body language was one of just 'humouring the muggle' though he stared at her almost assessing the entire time. His explanations were understandable, clear and detailed. He answered all questions and what he couldn't answer he assured her he would find the answers. His body language contradicted with his patient, detailed explanations and sharp watchfulness. It confused and off balanced Petunia.

"...and he'll have to rejoin the Clan once he hits second year. Here's to hoping that will give Harry access to proper training. Goodness knows Dumbledore wasn't offering any. Nikita believes that it was the killing curse that awoke this ability. That at the moment of contact it accidentally reactivated the genes from the Evans line to full force. That, coupled with whatever the hell Lily did resulted in two soul benders existing at the same time. For some reason that bastard knew too and actually had the gall to contact Nikita about it! How on earth he knew that whilst being in a prison worse than Azkaban is beyond all of us. Unfortunately we don't have any other teachers."

"I do NOT want Harry being taught by a war criminal!" she had cried, alarmed and completely offended.

"He won't be. Just a few letters. So he could receive a few basic exercises and the like."

She sat there, her lips pursed in disapproval. She would not pretend to like the idea of her nephew communicating with a world renowned war criminal that even Dumbledore was wary of in any way, shape or form. Nor was she in favour of him joining any Clan too early before he even properly understood himself. Even if that Clan was Kuriyama.

Petunia had reaffirmed into the Kuriyama Clan, yes, but that had been a personal decision. She refused to make that choice for Harry and she certainly won't be forcing Dudley into membership either. True both her son and husband got a couple of benefits due to her own membership but she stubbornly refused to allow her family to join simply because she had chosen to.

She had even heard of Harry's friend being forced into a Clan before she even properly started school! Petunia had been outraged! Certainly it seemed a rare occurrence and mostly brought on by the child's own insufferable nosiness but still...the thought made her uncomfortable. She had no desire to pull Harry out of one cage and shove him into another. Regardless of the wrench it may place in others' plans, Petunia intended to ensure that her sister's boy had the freedom to choose his own path.

As he was leaving Black had turned around and suddenly grabbed her right hand, bringing it up to his mouth and pressing a kiss on the knuckle.

"Thank you" the baffling man had said with a genuine smile on his face for the first time since she had met him. And Petunia had stood there gaping like a fool as the man sauntered out her front door with his stupid cocky gait.

Petunia Dursley did not like Black because she felt he was weird and creepy but it was also obvious the man loved Harry and would do anything necessary to protect him. She did not like Black...but she did not have to like him to work with him for the betterment of her nephew's future. For that she will swallow her discomfort and keep it moving.

Britain

Albus Dumbledore stroked his long, white beard in a thoughtful manner.

"Shouldn't you wait a bit before removing the law addition and offering this instead Cornelius? You just amended this law, not even half a year has passed. Surely people will talk if you remove this amendment so soon?"

Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic of Magical Britain actually had the audacity to lightly pat the Headmaster's hand in comfort. Dumbledore nearly hit the impudent creature.

"Don't worry Albus, we've got this in hand. The people may be upset at first but just think! THE CLANS Albus! Plus we can get inside and get enough information on this school to undermine it! Then everyone will flock back to Hogwarts like they should and we can make the Clans see that we are the better option."

Albus Dumbledore kept his frown to himself. His goal had been to force the Granger chit, and by extension Harry back to Hogwarts. However, to his utter surprise, payment for the tuition in full had been made within days of the amendment's announcement. He had been unaware that the girl's parents were making enough to afford such easy compliance with the law. The family had seemed barely middle-class even with both parents being some sort of doctor of teeth.

Still, getting Harry through the girl can probably still be done but it seems this may no longer be the best course. If this school was opening its doors to outsiders finally there's no reason Albus couldn't send in a few of his own people. All Albus needed was access and hence control over the boy so as to ensure he did his duty when the time came. The school interestingly had a degree section (a rather muggle concept) so it really should be child's play for someone like Bill Weasley to get pass these 'entrance exams' and into an advance course on cursebreaking. As for the trial year being offered...well. Albus knew a grandmother who would welcome her grandson being given the opportunity to expand his educational horizons. Young Neville may not quite have the brains for these exams (especially if there's a potions section) but Albus was sure that with his grandmother on the case the young man would certainly be getting in. Then Albus would be able to get reports from someone within Harry's inner circle.

Finally tuning back into the conversation, he managed to pick up the tail end of Cornelius long rambling about something or the other.

"I'm certain you know best Cornelius."

The Minister puffed out his chest like some odd skinny rooster and the Headmaster quickly bit back his laughter.

"Send the school course packets and such to the students in the morning Cornelius. If we are to do this then the students must of course be given as much study time as possible. You said there are weekend study classes on the different courses?"

"Yes that's what is written there. Classes from 10am to 8 pm Saturday and Sunday. The students can attend any of the classes with courses they're interested in. Sounds terribly disorganised if you asked me. Who on earth would want to go to class on the weekend? The letter also said it'll start two weeks from now at the beginning of the next month at one of the trade schools in each country. I haven't received word from the trade school for Britain yet."

"Well I'm sure they'll let you know soon. In the meantime the students can choose which courses interest them."

"Yes yes I'll send everything right along tomorrow with the post. I suppose I'll have to give a press conference. My my but I'll need my best acromantula shirt and bowler hat for that!"

"Yes I suppose I'd best leave you to your work Cornelius." replied Dumbledore as he once again bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. Cornelius waved him off already deep in his mind planning his wardrobe.

When the new-school-on-the-block packets arrived during the morning post, all the students received them with a puzzle expression on their faces. That soon changed.

"Is this some kind of joke!" shouted Draco Malfoy in disgust.

"Is this the school Harry went to? Wicked!" said someone at the Gryffindor table.

"Why would I be interested in attending an inferior school? Mother sent me to Hogwarts because it's clearly the best!" said a snobbish ravenclaw of Pureblood ancestry dating fourteen generations.

"These pictures are really pretty." said a small boy, Colin Creevey with an awed look on his face. He was a budding photographer.

"Never heard of even half these courses Hannah have you?" asked Susan Bones, niece of Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She sat at the Hufflepuff table.

The Hogwarts great hall descended into cacophony as everyone spoke about the new school all at once. Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts, was surprised his Slytherins had received course packets like everyone else. He had expected, based on the school's past actions, for them to ignore those they knew would be uninterested. His Slytherins certainly fell into this category.

Snape couldn't help but wonder if at some point he too may have received an offer from this institution during his school years. If he did there would have been no way he would have accepted since he was very much aware going to a Muggleborn school was societal suicide. Well it was back then and certainly now would still be a disowning event for any of the Purebloods in his house and probably some in the other houses as well.

Severus Snape was a realist. He always had been. The only time in his life that he had dared to dream was with his best friend Lily Evans back in his childhood years. That had quickly changed upon entering Hogwarts and whilst they still hung out together regularly, each year had placed additional strain on their friendship until one day it had snapped under the pressure.

He had loved her.

Completely and utterly. Even after she broke off their friendship in a fit of rage and went on to have nothing to do with him anymore. Even after she had started dating and then married the boy who had bullied him throughout his school years. He had loved her enough to protect her from some of the more cruel, vicious Purebloods in the school by deliberately developing a vindictive enough reputation that they feared his retribution more than they hated her for her blood status. He had loved her enough to convince a renowned potions lab to accept her in his place so as to spare her the harsh realities that Muggleborns faced after they left the safety of Hogwarts.

He had loved her enough to put his life on the line and beg that she be spared when he realised who the prophecy was about. If he knew where she was, had thought she would actually accept his letters and not bin them he would have tried to warn her.

He couldn't stand to look at Harry Potter. A reincarnation of his tormentor with his Heart's eyes. He hated the child with a passion. He was happy the brat went somewhere else even though that meant he couldn't fulfill his life debt. Thank goodness he didn't have to watch his greatest failure every day.

And yet he worried about the boy.

It was infuriating.

Remus

Sirius was eating a tuna sandwich when he wandered into the room. Remus just sat with his phone in his hand whilst staring blankly. The Werewolf's stillness made Sirius immediately stop chewing in concern.

"Remus? Moony what's wrong?!"

"Padfoot?" answered his long time best friend as he looked at him with such heartbreaking pain and despair in his eyes that Sirius instantly felt the cold fist of dread in his stomach.

"Remy what's…"

"Siri...the Professor. He...Siri he was found with his soul broken into pieces."