A Psychological War?
Most of the older students gradually returned to their seats. Arabella and her girls kept their seats between the first- and second-years while Roy and Patricia were discussing in a low voice.
The noise level immediately grew again, but without the chants. After a few seconds, there was a loud buzz of voices again, angry shouts being shot back and forth between the Slytherins and the other houses.
"If McGonagall thinks that's it, she's got another think coming," Roy growled. "We cannot stand for the behaviour of the other houses and certainly not for the lies of the Daily Prophet. We need to talk and have to react immediately! There is no thought of class for us this morning!"
He stomped forward, not caring about the insults from the Ravenclaws he had to pass. Albus saw that Roy, gesturing temperately and stabbing his finger fiercely at the Daily Prophet, was obviously trying to persuade the Headmistress to do something she vigorously refused. After a few minutes, he returned to the Slytherin table – judging by his sullen expression without results.
"Well?", Albus heard Patricia ask as he joined her again near him.
"She won't do it! She would give the younger the morning off, but not us! Tell you what, I don't care at all now what McGonagall does or doesn't approve!", shouted Roy furiously. "I'm now announcing that Slytherin is going to boycott classes until noon and that we ..."
"You won't!", Patricia yelled.
"I should have known you'd get cold feet!" Roy barked back. "Are you fearing for your career?"
Patricia glared at him as if about to slap him. "I'm fearing for you, stupid!"
Arabella, sitting not two seats away, jerked and listened.
"If you are doing this now, you not only risk to lose your position as a Prefect, but to be expelled from Hogwarts!"
"So what? Better to be expelled with honour than to do nothing!"
"I'm not saying we will do nothing, I'm just saying you won't! On my head be it! I am much less exposed than you are!"
"You?" All of a sudden, Roy didn't look intelligent at all.
"You don't believe I am doing, do you?" she grinned archly at him, placing one foot on the seat of the next chair and whispering to herself: "I hardly believe it myself."
Roy was stunned to see Patricia, of all people, whom he so loved to mock as "Hermie's model student" and who had probably never done anything forbidden in her life, climb the Slytherin house table and put the wand to her throat, murmuring "Sonorus". The buzz died away. Everyone stared at her as she announced with trembling knees but a firm voice:
"Slytherin will not participate in classes this morning!" Outraged murmurs filled the hall. "We will not let the Daily Prophet's lies and defamation rest!"
Whistles and boos from the Gryffindors.
"We have a need for consultation and decision-making. Moreover, we are protesting against the infamous behaviour of the other houses!"
The other houses' students jumped to their feet and shouted, but not loud enough to drown her out.
"All Slytherins are going to leave the Great Hall immediately and gather in the Common Room! Thank you!"
When she climbed down, Roy – unusually gallantly – first helped her off the table, hugged her and even gave her a peck.
"Patty, I'll never forget that! For that, you may call me 'Mudblood' for life!"
She laughed out loud and replied, not without a flirtatious wink:
"For life? Watch what you say! Our life could be quite long."
As she headed off for the other end of the table, Roy smiled after her until his gaze met Arabella's, who looked as if she was about to kill someone. He pulled himself together.
The shouting had quickly faded back to a murmur. Patricia's gesture seemed to have impressed them. Gradually, everyone except the Slytherins, who were lining up, looked at McGonagall. She had scored a hundred points off the Gryffindors alone, she couldn't let the Slytherins get away with that!
"Miss Higrave!" she suddenly called sharply. Patricia swallowed visibly.
"Yes please?"
"If Slytherin is leaving the Great Hall now and staying away from class until noon, this is – approved."
"Thank you very much, Professor."
Almost all the Slytherins were now ready to leave. Just one student had remained at the Slytherin table with hanging shoulders.
"Bernie!", Roy called out to him. "Do you need a special invitation? ALL Slytherins!"
Bernie beamed, leapt up, shouted "I'm coming!" and hurriedly joined the others, as if he feared Roy might change his mind.
On the way to the common room, he caught up with Roy.
"Do I belong here now after all?"
Roy hesitated. "I still doubt that you will be happy at Hogwarts in the long run. But you're clearly a Slytherin."
"Why?"
"Because you don't run with the pack."
He turned to Patricia, who was walking beside him: "What was that? I don't know you like that, but you can keep it up, it looks great on you," he grinned.
"Just because, unlike you, I don't wantonly mess with all the world and his brother," she said in a cool tone, contradicted by the fact that she was also grinning, "it doesn't mean I'm one of those who – as you just said – 'run with the pack'. I reasonably try to conform, yes, but I can do otherwise if I am forced to. And after fourteen generations of Higraves I will not be the first to put up with my house and that of all my ancestors being dragged through the mud!"
They were silent for a while. As they descended the last staircase to the Slytherin rooms, she said: "By the way, you were right. I shouldn't have reported what Malfoy said."
"Patty," Roy said, still grinning, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
She smiled a little bemusedly, but seemed quite flattered.
Once in the common room, Roy immediately started speaking.
"We need to answer two questions: Firstly, how do we behave towards the other students, especially the Gryffindors ..."
"We smack them in the gob!" someone shouted, and everyone laughed.
"That's what they would deserve," Roy admitted, but immediately became serious. "We don't know if what happened earlier was a spontaneous outburst of hatred, ignited by the Daily Prophet's reporting and forgotten by noon, or if it was planned and we have to expect further psychological terror or even violence. I felt that the shouting was coming from a hard core, but I'm not sure." Albus raised his hand. "Yes?"
"Rose – of the Gryffindors," he added, explaining, "told me yesterday that Hermione, I mean the Minister, visited the Gryffindors in their common room. She said she had given them 'tips'."
"Tips?" Roy frowned. "What kind of tips?"
"That's what I asked her, too," Albus replied, "but she said it had nothing to do with me, so I didn't insist. But now I think she just meant that it had nothing to do with me personally, and what she actually meant was that it had something to do with Slytherin."
"Would look like them," Roy grumbled. "I heard the phrase 'It's nothing to do with you personally' a hundred times, and it's always when they were slagging Slytherin."
"Just a moment," Patricia interjected, "that would mean that the Minister in person has set on her former house against us – and has given strategic instructions for a psywar?"
"In any case, we cannot rule it out."
"Roy, this is absurd! A Minister for Magic personally plotting a student feud? I'm sorry, but that's the kind of thing I simply can't believe!"
"Patty, it seems to me you're backsliding," Roy teased, looking at her almost lovingly. "Didn't you read Prantice's editorial? It must have been approved by the editor-in-chief, and when it comes to important issues, Northwood wouldn't print anything not in line with the Ministry's position. You can bet that at least the general tenor was agreed on with the Minister. Yes, considering the importance she attributes to the matter, it is at least conceivable that she tries to engage the Gryffindors in a mini-war, as this is not so mini to her. What did Prantice write? 'A struggle of life and death'."
The Slytherins were depressedly silent.
"So what are we doing now?" asked one of the third-years.
Roy took a deep breath.
"What I'm saying now is just for precaution, maybe I am really imagining things and it will all blow over. This being said, until further notice we are proceeding this way: No one goes through the house or across the grounds alone, always stay together in groups as large as possible, and as for the younger: If possible, there should always be two or three of the older with you. Never allow them to provoke you! If they are insulting you, ignore them as best you can. Never, never, never be the first to draw the wand! Except when you have to call for help and magnify your voice with 'Sonorus'. The older will show the younger ones how it's done. Try to always be within sight of a teacher. That's it. Any questions?"
Nobody had a question.
"Well. Then on to the second topic, the Daily Prophet and how we respond to his lies."
He carefully picked apart every single lie of the Daily Prophet once again, as most Slytherins had been sitting in the back rows during Hermione's speech and had not heard and seen everything that was going on in the first rows. Then he continued:
"So, now everyone – except the Muggle-born – are taking their quills to write a letter to their parents. It is imperative that they learn how it really was, right now, before the Daily Prophet's version takes root in their minds. We have to give them something to counter when they are asked by their friends, colleagues, and superiors. This is especially true for those who work in the Ministry and are more or less dependent on the Minister."
"Does that do anything?", Macnair demanded. "After all, our parents are only a small minority among the readers of the Daily Prophet."
"I estimate they make up about a tenth of the reading public, which is not small. This is the advantage of a small world like ours. When a Muggle newspaper or even TV is lying, a protest is simply lost in the vast mass of their readers and viewers. For us, two hundred letters are a real campaign. Well, and feel free to mention the sleazy behaviour of our dear schoolmates!"
Scorpius asked:
"Should I send the letter to my dad's office in the Ministry or rather home?"
Roy thought for a moment. "If you have a very fast owl who can make it to the end of the day, then by all means to the Ministry – it can't hurt to shake things up. Otherwise, send it home."