A Real Slytherin

To most students of the other houses, the fact that a Slytherin, of all people, had taken a beating to help a Muggle seemed like a fantastic joke. And what they considered downright unseemly was that Slytherin had scored fifty points for it. Albus, many felt, was a Potter and thus not really a Slytherin – no other out of that house, they believed, would have behaved as he did.

Albus turned up for dinner a little later than the others – he had dawdled a little on his homework because he had to keep thinking about Bernie. He felt terribly sorry for him; the Hufflepuffs were sure to have a down on him forever. As he entered the Great Hall, he glanced immediately to the Hufflepuff table. McDowell and his cronies looked pretty ticked off, the time with McGonagall had certainly have been rather unpleasant. Albus would probably find out what they had been sentenced to. His gaze sought and found Bernie, who was sitting at the Hufflepuff table, alone and with hanging shoulders, while the chairs around him were empty. Apparently, no one wanted to talk to him. He had already finished his dinner, yet he was still sitting there.

Albus stopped. Although his friends at the Slytherin table had already spotted and beckoned him, he went over to Bernard first.

"Hullo Bernie," he greeted him. Bernie, who had been gazing into space, looked up. When he recognized Albus, he smiled.

"Hullo Albus, I didn't have a chance to thank you earlier, you left so quickly. So," – he stood up and shook Albus' hand – "thanks again for everything."

Albus was almost embarrassed by this thankfulness. "Was just a matter of course," he muttered.

"It wasn't, and you know perfectly well."

"Have you been sitting here alone all the time?", Albus demanded.

Bernie nodded sadly. "Better to sit here alone than to listen to what they are supposed to tell me in the common room later. I won't go until a little before nine, and then I'll go right to sleep."

"Why don't you simply join us?", suggested Albus

"You mean ... you want me to sit at the Slytherin table?" asked Bernie, irritated. "I think your friends won't be thrilled about that – I mean ... they're Slytherins."

Although Bernie had been here only a few days, he already knew what the Slytherins were supposed to think about Muggles.

"I'm a Slytherin, too!" shouted Albus, half with pride, half with indignation, "and they're my friends. So come on!" He headed for the Slytherins, and Bernie followed him hesitantly.

Meanwhile, at the Gryffindor table, James was watching his little brother who seemed to seriously be trying to get Bernie to the Slytherin table.

"Oh my goodness, kid, you're in for the disappointment of your life," he muttered to himself, sneering spitefully. "They were happy to pocket your fifty points, but what you're about to try now, put it right out of your mind." He nudged his neighbours to make them aware of what was going on.

Scorpius, Lance, Malcolm, Jennifer, Hor-Hor and the other Slytherin first-years had also been watching the scene. In fact, they looked a little puzzled when Albus arrived at their table with Bernie.

"I've invited my friend Bernie to join us," Albus said in a tone as if this was the most normal thing in the world. "Surely you don't mind, do you?"

Indeed, some Slytherins were visibly unsure whether they ought to mind. They looked at Scorpius, who represented the most prestigious family – in Slytherin, the Malfoys' reputation was still intact. Scorpius exchanged a quick glance with Albus, then rose.

"Albus's friends are my friends!" he seized the opportunity to speak one of the solemn words he loved so much, but it didn't sound forced. "Welcome to us!"

And when Bernie sat down, some jaws dropped at the Gryffindor table.

Roy came even later for dinner than Albus, having once again been unable to stop reading in the library. Although he was lost in thought – when coming from the library, he mostly looked almost as distracted as Longbottom – he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the first-years were almost the last at the table, and Bernie Wildfellow in the middle of them. He smiled in amusement. Arabella Wolfe was the only remaining sixth-year. He sat down with her and treated himself to a huge piece of roast beef and an equally generous portion of potatoes au gratin.

Arabella was a medium blonde girl with green eyes, very fair, flawless skin and a shy nature that made her easy to overlook. You had to look twice to notice that she was very pretty, even though – or perhaps just because – you could see a certain vague sadness in her, not unlike the one sometimes emanated by Roy when he was unoccupied or felt unobserved.

Only while chewing did he notice that she had obviously already had her meal. Not without embarrassment, he asked: "You didn't wait just for me, did you?"

Arabella slightly blushed: "Of course I didn't."

Of course she did. Roy, however, felt more comfortable pretending to believe her. To avoid a pause, he asked between two bites:

"How did Wildfellow get to our table?"

"Guess who invited him."

Roy laughed. "Thought so. And the others didn't mind?"

"You see it," she smiled. "Little Potter is quite popular and is friends with Malfoy. They don't like to deny him anything."

"You've got a good eye for kids."

"I would rather say girls generally have more psychological sensitivity than boys have. Maybe because they're not so afraid of their own feelings."

Roy preferred not to delve into the subject, but rather into his roastbeef, which he had already half wolfed down, for he was a notorious fast eater.

The first-years now got up to head for their common room. Roy saw that Albus and Bernie had stopped. They seemed to be discussing, Albus eagerly, Bernie doubtfully.

After a while, they seemed to have agreed. Roy was just pushing his plate aside when the two of them came straight at him.

"Hullo Roy, I've got an idea," Albus said, excited. "Bernie has no friends among the Hufflepuffs, and they will probably make his life hell there. How about making him a Slytherin?"

Roy had been prepared for exotic proposals, but not for this one. "What kind of a crackpot idea is that?" he asked rudely. "What if anyone did that who has a problem with their house peers? It's just part of being at Hogwarts to stay in the house you've been sorted into."

Albus was disappointed but did not give up so quickly. "You know some things are different with Bernie. He's afraid of the Hufflepuffs, but comfortable with us."

"Yes," Bernie nodded eagerly, "I get on very well with the Slytherins, and my only friend here so far" – he looked to Albus – "is a Slytherin!"

"McGonagall won't allow that. She will say that the Hufflepuffs would be downright rewarded if they got rid of their unloved classmate after beating him up. Forget it!"

Albus persisted. "If you, as a Prefect, support us, she might do it after all. She is said to appreciate you and respect your opinion."

"Maybe, but certainly not enough to let me interfere in her decisions as a Headmistress!"

"At least we can try. I mean, you of all people should understand him. Someone has to help him, and who else but you?"

In Bernie's and Arabella's presence he didn't want to say anything Roy wanted him to keep to himself. He therefore leaned forward and whispered: "You said yourself you would have been happy to have someone to help you at the Muggle school."

"I did, but I also said," Roy returned in a normal voice, "that my problem was that as a wizard I was out of place in the Muggle world."

"Oh, so you think Bernie doesn't belong here?"

"I'm sorry," Roy now turned to Bernie, who was following the discussion sadly, "but I trust in the Sorting Hat, and his opinion was clear."

"But now Bernie is here, McGonagall has taken him in." Albus was really insistent. "Now he's desperate because he's stuck in a house where he is bullied. You could help him, but you refuse to!"

"I doubt I could help him."

"But you're not even trying, which means you don't want to help him!" Albus was outraged and disappointed.

Roy sighed. Albus' stubbornness forced him to reveal his motives.

"You know, Albus, if Bernie just happened to find his way to Hogwarts and I knew he was going to be the only Muggle here, I wouldn't have a problem supporting his admission to Slytherin. But I think your aunt is doing an experiment with him to prove that Muggles actually do belong at Hogwarts. And I won't support anything that allows her to finally claim that her experiment was successful."

Albus stared at him, aghast: "There's someone needing your help, and you're abandoning him just to spoil the Ministry's plans? But Hermione is harping on about principles? You ... You ..." Before Albus was able to say anything he might have regretted later, Roy cut in, sadly but resolutely:

"It wasn't me who brought about this situation. And before you get any more upset, remember Columbus."

Albus didn't know how to answer. In any case, any further discussion would be fruitless. That's why he only said: "Come on Bernie, let's go! Bye!"

Roy glanced after the pair of them leaving the hall.

He sadly sighed. "Was that right?" he asked Arabella.

"You have good reasons on your side."

"Albus too."