On August first, Miriam was sobbing on the platform, clinging to Danny in a crushing hug.
"I don't even know what's happening to me, I'm so sorry Danny, I just… I just can't believe my baby's finally going off to Hogwarts!"
"Oh, and Iris! I know it's only been months, but it feels like forever! It's so awful that just after we've finally come together as a family, you and Danny are sent off!"
Chuckling, James wiped at his own wet eyes, and turned to Danny.
"I'm not gonna get all hysterical and womanly like your mother, but yeah, I'm… I'm sad to see you go, Danny. You too Iris, I can't wait for you to come stay with us over winter break."
"Just remember", James said, gripping his son's shoulders, "when you get to school, don't hesitate to give Snivellus hell for me. I've heard he's teaching potions now, so I'm sure you'll get plenty of chances. He's still the gittiest of gits, an awful dark wizard, so you have my Marauder's approval to use whatever pranks necessary to get one over on him!"
"And make sure", he said, turning to Iris with a more serious tone, "that you both raise hell whenever they try to bully muggleborns, or threaten to use dark magic. It's gonna be you're your duties to keep the school safe from the dark, so don't hesitate to fight back against evil."
Danny, eyes shining, smiled widely at his father's words.
"You know it dad, the snakes won't know what hit 'em! I'll make sure to do you, Uncle Sirius, and Uncle Remus proud! We beat the snakes in the garden of Eden, and we'll beat 'em again now!"
Smiling, James ruffled his son's hair, and gently pushed him towards the train.
"Go on kids, it's time for the start of the greatest adventure of your lives! Make friends, have fun, don't slack on your homework, and above all… don't get caught!"
Miriam rolled her eyes with a fond smile. "What your father meant to say, dears, was that you should do your very best in your studies, and make sure to form strong friendships that will last a lifetime. And you most certainly will not get caught, because I don't want to hear of your pranking in the first place!"
"Yes mum…" Danny said, winking at an amused James.
"Boys, honestly!"
"Sorry dear…"
"Well, whatever you end up doing at Hogwarts Danny dear—and you too Iris—just remember to treasure the experience. Hogwarts is going to be the greatest seven years of your life, and I don't want you to waste a moment! Now go on!"
She gently pushed Danny and Iris towards the train, and waved with a renewed wave of tears as they boarded one of the carriages.
"Have fun dears, and don't forget to write! I want a letter a week, now, remember!"
"Of course mum, I'd never forget to write you! You're… well, you're my mum!"
"C'mon Iris", he said, turning away from his happily crying mother, "let's go find Ron. I can't wait to start Hogwarts, this is so exciting!"
Iris was bored out of her mind.
Honestly, Danny and Ron had been talking about Quidditch for the past hour, nonstop.
"Danny you heard about that new Bulgarian player Krum, right? I hear they won't let him play in the Hellenic Quidditch League because he'd too young, so he's transferring here!"
"Yeah Ron, I heard about him, my Dad's friends with Betelgeuse St. Pierre, he said that Krum has more potential than any seeker he'd ever seen, even more than me! But the thing is Krum's from Durmstrang, they say they teach dark magic there you know? I think he's probably using some dark spell to cheat, there isn't any way someone could be that good naturally!"
"Nah mate, you're mental! They'd never teach dark magic at a school that big, he's just that good! Wait, d'yo mean Betelgeuse St. Pierre that owns the Antwerp Ale-Makers? That's wicked!"
"I'm sorry…" Iris spoke up, "but what's Durmstrang?"
"Oh!" Ron said, "it's the elite school for Hellenia, the Greek Sprachbund. Some people say they teach dark magic there, but because of how hush-hush it is, no one really knows…"
"Oh, thank you…"
"…"
"…"
"…So, you were raised by muggles?"
Iris nodded.
Ron started bouncing excitedly in his seat. "Wow, that must have been brilliant! Did you get to watch the telly-visioner? Oh, did you get to see movers? I only went to the movers once, with my dad, but it was incredible! God, I'm so bloody jealous!"
"Yeah…" Iris said, hiding her incredulity behind her Dursley-face. "It was certainly… different"
Ron waited, obviously expecting a more detailed response. Not finding one, he turned to Danny with a brief scowl, and restarted their chat on the merits of various Quidditch leagues.
After the debate had lasted for around twenty minutes, with neither of them ever looking in her direction, Iris began to question her choice to sit with her brother. Coming to a decision, she stood up and opened the compartment door.
"Iris, where are you going?" Danny asked, turning away from the wildly gesturing Ron.
Shrinking slightly at the question, Iris had to straighten her shoulders and remind herself that this wasn't the Dursleys, and that she wouldn't be locked in her cupboard for disobedience. "I-I'm just going to check out the rest of the train, try and find some more friends."
"Oh…" Danny said, deflating, "I guess that's alright, but as long as you sit with Ron and I at the feast!"
"Yeah… of course. I'll sit with you two if I get into Gryffindor" she said, walking out the door to Ron's slightly angry expression.
"Wait what do you mean 'if'?" said Ron. "You're a Potter, of course you'll be going to Gryffindor! You're not some sorta Ravenclaw bookworm, are you?"
Danny turned to look at Ron with a slightly angry expression. "Ron, you know that's not true. Gryffindor may be the best house, but Marietta's in Ravenclaw, and she's plenty brave and stuff."
"Well yeah" Ron added, "but Marietta's a bookworm."
Unable to come up with a response, Danny turned to Iris, a worried gleam entering his eyes. "Hey, just promise me that you'll come and find us if any Slytherins start bullying you, alright? They're all dark wizards or dark creatures, so they don't like our family much."
"Of course" Iris agreed absently. She figured that she might as well attempt to recover some of her lost face, "I'll make sure that none of the snakes messes with the Potter honor."
"See!" Danny said, looking at Ron smugly, "I told you!"
With that, Iris left the carriage, hearing Ron's distant complaints. "Hey mate don't take this the wrong way, but your sister's kinda mental… I mean really, why's she so quiet all the time, it's unnatural!"
She moved out of earshot before hearing Danny's response.
After walking for a minute or two, Iris's eyes were caught by a glimpse of shiny white hair through green and silver curtains.
She knocked on the door hesitantly.
"Yes?" the blonde boy answered in Latin, opening the door
Next to the blonde boy sat a tall, lanky boy with brown hair and glowing brown eyes, who was looking at Iris with a guarded expression. A little ways away from him sat two people entwined in a familiar, intimate embrace; there was a bored-looking black boy with bright silver hair, and grey eyes that seemed to burn with an inner fire, who was curled around a beautiful, pale, willowy girl that was looking at Iris with an almost hungry interest.
"Do… do you mind if I sit with all of you?"
Looking at the pale girl, who nodded, the blonde boy shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, come one in. We still have space for two more, so there's room."
Once Iris had gotten settled in, the tall brunette spoke up. "Hi, I'm Theo Nott. This is Draco Malfoy", he gestured at the blonde boy, "and those lovebirds over there are Dante and Blaise Zabini"
The pale girl spoke up "oh stop Theo, you make it sound like we're related… that's Draco's thing."
"Oh yeah? Well at least I'm never gonna be tied down like you, with your…"
Iris ignored the byplay, trying to place where she'd heard Draco's name before. That's it! "Malfoy" was one of the names James had said belonged to the "dark and dangerous" families that worked against him!
Mentally shrugging, Iris decided that if James hated his family, they couldn't be all bad.
"So," the handsome dark-skinned boy, Dante, asked, as Blaise and Draco continued to bicker "who are you?"
"My name is Iris… Iris Potter".
Immediately, all the noise in the compartment ceased.
"Iris… Potter?" Draco asked warily.
"Yeah…" she said, trailing off as the rest of the compartment stared, her hair shifting to a dull brown.
The pale girl turned to Iris, her gaze calculating. "I wasn't aware that the Potters had a third daughter, let alone one in the same year as the 'Boy Who Lived'."
"Oh", Iris said, "I didn't… well, I'm Danny's twin, but didn't grow up with them. They thought I was a squib."
"Potter…" Dante said, "you do realize that our families and yours aren't exactly the most… amiable, don't you?"
"Well, I don't know anything about that. I was raised with m– muggles, I only learned about magic a few months ago."
"Wait," Draco cut in, "you're a Potter, and you grew up with mu– muggles?"
When Iris cocked her head, Theo clarified. "They're a noble family, Iris, it's surprising that they'd let someone else raise their child like that, let alone a group of… muggles".
When she nodded, Draco's face turned even paler. "What… what was it like? Did they try to tie you down and examine you? Did they cut you open? That's what my dad said would happen if the mud– muggles ever got wind of magic."
Iris giggled and shook her head. "No, nothing like that. But I did see a cool medical examination on the telly once, when Aunt Petunia didn't know I was watching."
"But it couldn't have been pleasant, could it?" Draco continued. "Did they do all sorts of awful stuff to you because you had magic?"
Iris grimaced. "I mean… you're not wrong. I just don't like to talk about it. All I'll say is that, yes, they… they weren't very kind to me, and leave it at that. Growing up with mu– muggles isn't a part of my life I like talking about."
Draco deflated, pity entering his eyes. "Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry Potter, I wasn't thinking and it just slipped out."
"Draco, enough." Blaise spoke up for the first time, her cool tone silencing the room, and getting a mild look of awe from Iris. "We all know how awful muggles are, and we shouldn't be forcing someone who's experienced that firsthand to relive it."
"And Potter," she turned, "you're among… like-minded people now, so don't hesitate to call the muds what they are. Also P–… Iris… feel free to use our first names, if you'd like. I have a feeling you'll be a much more agreeable Potter than the ones we're used to."
Iris relaxed minutely. "That's… that's good to know, and thank you, I'm honored. You guys are all Rells then?"
"Yeah," Draco said, "well I mean, at least our families our, but I mean I agree with all their–"
"However", Blaise cut Draco off, ignoring their irritated scowl, "I will admit that I am curious as to why your… illustrious family allowed this to go on? The Potters are many things, but I had not thought child neglecters—or abusers, if I'm reading your tone right—to be one of them."
"Well," Iris said, attempting a casual façade, "apparently they didn't really know what was going on."
As Blaise quirked an eyebrow, and the others scoffed their disbelief, she felt her mask slipping.
"Yeah apparently," she said, her mask breaking, "Dumbledore told everyone I was a squib, so they sent me off to live with my relatives."
She was growing angrier and more impassioned by the second, losing herself to her rage. Maybe there was more of James Potter in her than she thought?
"They never even checked up on me, not once! They were sitting over here all basking in their magic, while I was cut off from it, living with a bunch of abusive muds! and constantly beaten because Vernon couldn't handle someone getting promoted over him! I hadn't met a single person in my life who didn't glare at me until James showed up on my doorstep!"
"He basically told me that not only was my family extremely wealthy, and lived all posh in a fucking manor, but my twin brother was one of the most famous celebrities in the world! Honestly, how are you supposed to react to that? 'Sorry dear, I know you've lived in a cupboard for your whole life as a penniless orphan, wishing desperately that your parents would come and take you away, but surprise! Your father was alive, he just didn't want you! Also, he's a rich and famous celebrity!' I mean for god's sake my Hogwarts letter read 'The Cupboard Under the Stairs', but because I'm not their precious 'Boy Who Lived', it didn't even matter!"
"…"
Iris came down from her rant, paling as she realized how out of control she'd gotten.
"You're… you're not going to tell them I said that, right? I mean, if they knew how I felt about them, they'd kick me out of the magical world, and magic is just so wonderful, and–"
"Relax, darling," Blaise spoke up again, hand patting Iris's leg. "None of us like the Potters very much, and none of us have those silly ideas about the type of people you grew up with. I assure you, we understand your feelings completely."
Still blushing down to the roots of her hair, literally so, due to her changeling gift, Iris began to look around the compartment in the awkward silence that followed her outburst.
"So… Iris…" Dante spoke up for the first time. "Do you know how to play exploding snap?"
For the next hour or so, Iris's yearmates taught her how to play a variety of magical games, from exploding snap to chocolate frog racing. Gradually thought, the conversation switched back to more serious subjects, as the four future Slytherins began to explain the various magical races and cultures Iris would encounter at Hogwarts.
"Wait", Iris squeaked, "Blaise… you're… you're a… you're a vampire?!"
"Why, is there something wrong with that?" While Blaise's tone was self-assured, and her smirk was firmly in place, the whole compartment could hear just the slightest amount of hurt enter her voice.
Iris's began to grow distressed, horrified at the thought of losing one of her first real friends. "Oh no I mean you're really nice and cool and pretty and all I was just wondering 'cause like I watched a movie once with vampires and they were all gross and evil and stuff and James was talking and said the same thing and–" she said, rapid-fire, waving her arms around wiildly.
Blaise's smile became just a little bit more forced, as Iris grew more and more frantic, trying to apologize for her unintentionally offensive statement.
Dante cut Iris off, looking at Blaise. "Those stereotypes are well-known to vampires, Iris, and they can be… distressing. Many people in our society, like your father, believe similar things. That vampires are leeches on sorcerers, or are seductive monsters that entrap unwitting young mages to suck their blood dry."
At Dante's words, Blaise began to relax a little, her customary smirk regaining its self-assuredness. "My bond-mate is correct, darling. While I won't deny that we vampires can be quite… seductive"—Iris squeaked, she could swear that Blaise was looking directly at her when she said that!—"all those nasty stereotypes are completely fictional, designed to discredit us and make us seem monstrous."
"Well then…" Iris asked, calming down, "could you tell me what vampires are really like then? And wait, 'bond-mate'?"
Blaise turned to Dante, her expression adoring. "Well, I suppose that's as good a place to start as any."
"You see, Iris, vampires do have to drink blood to survive, but", she snarled, "it is nothing like the rape that Nics say feeding is."
She continued, composing her expression. "Feeding, for vampires, is an incredibly intimate experience. It's a raw connection of magic, love, and emotion, that brings us closer to the person we feed on, and helps our love for them grow. When a vampire is feeding on someone, we can literally feel the emotions they feel, as if they were happening to us."
"While this makes feeding on someone in love with you", she smirked at Dante, "a simply indescribable experience, it also means that the type of violent attacks that Nics accuse us of would be like poison. I mean, imagine if you were kissing someone, and instead of love and affection, all you felt was fear and hate. Does that sound like a pleasant experience to you?"
Iris began nodding along around halfway through Blaise's explanation, the tension that had built up since the revelation slowly dissipating. "Wait, that doesn't explain what a bond-mate is", she realized, looking between Blaise and Dante.
"Patience, Iris", Blaise said, childing. "A bondmate is a lot like a spouse for sorcerers. When we feed on someone who we care for three times, with the intention to bond, a powerful connection is formed, making that person a 'bond-mate'. This connection is the vampiric equivalent to a marriage, and emphasizes the vampire's feelings of love and protectiveness towards the bond-mate, and the bond-mate's feelings of affection and security towards the vampire."
"So it modifies your mind?" Iris asked.
"Oh no, nothing at all that crass" Blaise said, horrified. "What you have to understand is, the bond for a bond-mate can only form if those feelings already exist. They can only emphasize what's there, not create new feeling out of nothing."
"I promise", she chuckled, "there's no rogue vampire in London going around and forming a harem of hypnotized love-slaves. That type of thing only exists in propaganda."
"Oh…" Iris said, mollified. "Wait, you and Dante are already married? You're so young!"
The whole compartment chucked at that. "What you have to realize", Dante said, "is that the age of marriage is very different depending on what race you talk about. Some, like Vampires, marry incredibly young, while others, like the Kinnara Fae, will only marry after knowing their partner for over fifty years. Besides sexuality, it might be the most variable thing between various magical cultures."
"Wait, sexuality? Are you saying you're a… you know…"
"A what?"
"A… you know a lesbian."
"Well", Blaise said as she smirked, "that would make my relationship with Dante quite problematic, now wouldn't it?"
Iris breathed out, her blush receding.
"Although, if you're asking if I'd take a female partner to bed, the answer is… absolutely"
Iris squeaked, and drew into herself, her hair once again turning bright red at Blaise's innuendo-filled look.
Taking pity on Iris, Theo spoke up; "Basically Iris", he said , "unlike the muds, most magical races have some sort of defined sexuality, with very few people outside of it. A lot of hardcore Nics and more religious Christians don't like to acknowledge that they don't exactly have a 'righteous Christian sexuality', but most of the more lenient and neutral ones generally do, because of how pretty much ubiquitous it is."
"Vampires, like sorcerers, almost all have a more traditional sexuality, they'll form relationships with people regardless of their gender. Both vampires and sorcerers will also form polyamorous relationships—that is, relationships with multiple participants—but only vampires actually marry into them."
Draco interjected, "for some, like veela", they gestured vaguely in their own direction, "the Christian ideas of 'heterosexuality' or 'homosexuality' don't even make sense, because we're a species with only one gender. You don't have to say 'Mr.' or 'Ms.' with us, by the way, or anything."
To say Iris was shocked would be an understatement. Living with the Dursleys, whose hatred for all things "unnatural" extended far beyond magic, she had never really had any exposure to gay people beyond Vernon's slur-filled Sunday rants. To find out that not only were the majority of her new.. acquaintances gay, but the majority of her new world? It was a bit much to handle. And what was this about only having one gender?
She stared at Theo, "a-are you saying that you like men and women?"
"Well yeah, I like everyone. I haven't dated anyone yet", his cheeks became tinted with the slightest blush, "but I wouldn't be opposed to dating anyone, no matter what they are."
"You should understand this Iris," Dante said, "as a changeling, you're not just guaranteed to be attracted to every gender, but to be every gender." He chuckled, "that's gotta make for a confusing puberty."
Iris reared back, horrified. She may not have liked Vernon or his hatred, but his ideas had been pounded into her head through sheer repetition. "A-ARE YOU SAYING", she paused and lowered her voice, "are you saying that I… I, y-y'know, like girls?"
"Well", Blaise said, frowning, "not necessarily. There have of course been cases where a changeling is only attracted to one type of person, but they're incredibly rare."
"Well," Iris said, calming, "th-that's me then, I g-guess I must just be that rare type. I am not attracted to girls or anything. I mean not that there's anything wrong with a girl being attracted to girls" she quickly clarified, turning to a smirking Blaise, "but that's just not me."
Turning to Draco, even as she could hear Dante quietly curse "those damn muds" under his breath, she changed the subject. "So, Draco, you said you were a veela? What's that?"
Still confused and concerned from Iris's reaction to their assumptions, Draco was glad to have an opportunity to change the subject.
"Well," they said, puffing up slightly in racial pride, "Veela are a type of Fae, with a really long and awesome history. Like I said earlier, we only really have one gender, but we have this thing called an 'allure' which pulls in people who are attracted to us, and pretty androgynous appearances that a lot of those Christian heterosexual men find appealing, so most people on your father's side of the political court consider us women."
"Fae? Allure?"
"Yeah! The Fae are this really broad category of a bunch of different races that all share a government and the ability to use elemental magic. Elemental magic basically just lets you manipulate an element without spells."
They paused, and conjured fire in the palm of their hand to Iris's shocked gasp. The rest of the compartment looked at her with momentary wariness, but then seemed to calm once nothing happened.
"As for the 'allure', it's kinda like a magic field that we can turn on to attract people who are normally attracted to us. It doesn't like, make them fall in love with us don't worry", Draco said, remembering Iris's earlier reaction to Vampiric bonding, "it just makes them want to impress us and stuff."
Iris shrunk back, a little uncomfortable. "Well, how do I know you're not using it on me or anything? I mean you're not… bad looking, so how do I know that you're not trying to make me do stuff for you?"
Draco reared back, their face contorting in anger. "I would NEVER do something like that. How dare you–"
Blaise cut Draco off before they could start an argument. "Iris dear, the 'allure' isn't really any different from the species-gifts any other race has. For most Veela, the allure is an important part of their relationships and mating customs; they'd never even consider using it for an underhanded purpose like that. And besides, an allure of any race which possesses one isn't some sort of mind-control, it can't convince anyone to do something they wouldn't already be inclined to do."
"You're a changeling," she continued, "and the ability to shift to look like any sorcerer in the world could let you do a lot of awful things. Would you like it if I asked you if you were just getting to know me so that you could imitate me later, and commit a crime using my face?"
"No!" Iris said, looking horrified, "that's ridiculous!"
"So then you understand why saying something like that would really offend Draco, now don't you?"
"Yeah…" Iris said. She turned to Draco. "Hey, Draco, I'm sorry. You know I'm… I'm new to magic, and I really do love it, but sometimes I don't know what I'm saying. I really didn't mean to offend you, I promise, you're one of the first wizards"—"mages, dear" Blaise absently corrected—"one of the first mages that I've met that I actually get along with. Please forgive me?"
Draco moved away from the corner they were fuming in, their angry expression breaking at the sight of Iris's broken face. "Yeah… I guess that's alright. Just make sure you learn from your mistakes, and don't ask something like that again. It's just… with your family being who they are, hearing something like that from your mouth sounds like the shit I've been hearing my entire life from you Father and his friends."
Iris's earnest expression took on the slightest coloring of rage. "I promise you Draco, the very last thing I want is to be like my father."
She turned to the rest of the compartment. "That goes for all of you guys. If I ever do something stupid that makes me sound like James, just let me know, alright? I promise, I didn't mean anything by it, I just didn't grow up around mages like you all did."
"We understand dear", Blaise said, lightly brushing Iris's arm, causing Iris to breathe in sharply, "coming into your rightful heritage must be so hard for you."
"For what it's worth", Dante piped up with a smirk, "I'm a wyvern, which means if I want to, I can turn into a great big flying lizard with two legs and fiery breath."
"Oh hush now Dante, your draconic form can't be more than five feet long."
She turned to Iris, smirking wickedly: "You do know how boys like to exaggerate their sizes to impress us ladies."
With that, the whole compartment laughed, and the tension bled out of the air as the conversation moved onto lighter topics.
Around three hours later, Iris turned away from a conversation with Draco about different magical sports, and checked the time. "Sorry guys, but I have to go, I left my luggage in my brother's car"
"Oh no, stay!" Draco said, an almost whining note in his voice. "I was just about to tell you about Basajaun Wild Hunts! That's where the muds got the Yeti from, you know."
Blaise cut him off, "Don't be a bore, Draco, I'm sure that Iris has heard enough about sports to last her the month." Turning to Iris, she continued, "it's a shame to see you go, darling, we have to get together again some time. If you get into Slytherin, you simply must sit with us at the feast! We'll all be sitting near each other, so you can see everyone again."
"Slytherin?" Iris said, with a mildly uncomfortable expression. "Trust me, I really want to go. I love my magic, even though its new to me, and want to go to a place where I can learn everything about it, and the culture that comes along with it."
"So…"
"So the thing is, James Potter. You know him, the Sword of the Light? I'm still under James's thumb until I turn 17—or die of a heart attack from repressed fury, whichever comes first—so I can't go there. I've seen James wrath"—her hair paled—"and it is not pretty."
"Nonsense", Blaise said, "I'm sure his wrath isn't nearly as bad as you'd expect it to be. You already live with the muds, what else can he do? Do you really want to spend seven years in a place you don't belong, simply because a man you hate wants you to?"
Iris didn't respond, but fixed a curious expression on her face. "Alright, I'll think about it. It would be nice to go into a house having some… people I know."
"Yes, well, it's your decision to make dear," she said, "but just remember that if you want friends, we Slytherins can be very… friendly." With that, she sent Iris off with a suspiciously low pat on the back, making her let out a little whine. Dante just rolled his eyes.
"B-Bye guys, I'll see you at the feast!'
"Bye!"
"Seeya"
"Bye."
"Goodbye, darling"
As Iris left down the hallway, a blush on her face, Dante turned a bemused expression onto his bonded. "You couldn't even wait until the first week to seduce the shy, blushing witch into our bed, could you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Dante dear. You heard her, she's completely heterosexual."
Blaise's haughty expression dissolved into snickering at the flat stares of the rest of the compartment.
"Who did you end up sitting with, sis?", Danny asked, never looking away from his game of exploding snap.
"Oh, just some Ravenclaws in their second year," Iris replied. "You were right, it wasn't all that interesting. I should have stayed here".
Danny turned to look at her, a brief hint of victory flashing across his expression. "Well, you know, you weren't raised in the magical world, so I can kinda understand I guess."
Ignoring his comment, Iris turned to the other person in the carriage, a small girl with adorably bushy brown hair. "Hello, my name is Iris, Danny's sister. Who are you?"
"Oh!" Hermione said, surprised, "My name is Hermione Granger! I'm a muggleborn, so I didn't know anything about magic until this year, so this is all so new and exciting! Really, imagine an everyday card game played with exploding cards, that's so fantastic! My parents and I met Ron's family on the platform, and they were so nice; Mrs. Weasley said that Ron would save me a seat, but I can't believe it was next to the Boy Who Lived! Did you know your brother is mentioned in Great Wizards of Past Century, and Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts? I can't believe I'm sitting next to an actual celebrity! But oh no I've been talking this whole time, and I haven't even asked you a question. What was it like growing up with Danny, how did you hide away from the press? None of the books mention you, you must be very diligent about keeping out of the spotlight!"
"…"
"…"
"…yeah.", Iris replied. In slightly awe of the brunette's pure wave of information.
Recovering, she answered Hermione. "Oh… uh no, I was never raised around Danny. My… father thought I was a squib, so he sent me off to my muggle relatives to be raised."
"Oh, so you're just like me then!", Hermione said. "How was it when you first learned that magic existed? For me, Professor McGonagall came to my house on my b–"
"Breathe Hermione", Dan butt in, chuckling.
"Oh… sorry Danny" Hermione blushed and sank down in her seat.
Iris may have been a bit overwhelmed by Hermione's presence, but she wasn't the one to let her brother put someone down in her presence.
"Oh no it's fine Danny," she said, taking Hermione's (very soft no don't think about that) arm in hers. "I was actually looking forward to discussing my experiences of the magical world"
After that comment, Hermione's face lit up with a bright, pretty smile, making Iris smile in turn. As Hermione started to talk again, she thought that maybe, if it wasn't Ron Weasley, she could get along with one of Danny's friends.
Iris and Hermione talked until the train pulled in to Hogsmeade, and both left Danny's compartment with a bounce in their step.
AN: Title for the Chapter comes from the Gospel of Thomas 25: "Love your friends like your own soul, protect them like the pupil of your eye."
It's an apocryphal work that was banned and destroyed by the early church father for promoting the Gnostic sect of Christianity, which was an early rival to the Christianity we know today.
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Recommended Fic for this chapter is the Black Queen series by Silently Watches. It's perhaps my favorite fanfic ever written: I highly, highly recommend. Also yes, I've decided to do a "Recommended Fic" section, they've been supremely helpful for me in the past when I've wanted to find new fanfiction.
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Yes, Hogwarts in this universe starts on August 1st, and runs until June 15th. This means that the months are more balanced around the winter break, making the plot flow a lot more naturally.
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In case it wasn't made clear in Chapter Three, humanoid mages mature faster than muggles do, both mentally and physically. Iris, as a twelve year old sorcerer, is the mental and physical equivalent of a fourteen or fifteen year old muggle. From here on out, any "looks like they're X old" comments will refer to the expected physical maturation rate of mages, not muggles.
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Terms like 'heterosexuality', 'homosexuality', and 'bisexuality' exist in the magical world, but only in the context of talking about integrationist, Christian ideals.
Yes, those terms came from muggle psychiatry, and in many ways actually arose specifically to combat religious categories of sexual behavior, but for the Nics, muggle is muggle is muggle. I'm fudging the timescales here so I can use the terms, but just pretend that those terms were adopted by Christians much quicker than they were irl, and it works out fine.
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If you think that Iris is being unfair to the Potters, blaming them for sending her back to the Dursleys when she never told them about the abuse, this chapter is why I think that argument doesn't hold any water. It wasn't like Iris didn't unintentionally make it glaringly obvious that there was something rotten in the state of Dursley. If you don't recall, read the dinner-table conversation in Chapter Four. Remember, even a single visit over her childhood could have stopped the Dursleys' abuse, so in Iris's mind, the Potters are just as bad as all her neighbors, who didn't do anything even when it became glaringly obvious that something was wrong.
James and co. never checked up on her thought, and didn't really pay attention to those warning signs, because they're Nics with an incredibly pro-muggle ideology. Their subconscious thought process is that Iris was raised with muggles, and muggles are far more advanced than wizards and witches are, so Iris must have had a wonderful childhood.
Also, on a more personal level, that's what they've told themselves for almost twelve straight years to justify the very obvious problem of having one of your children raised by someone else, so evidence that doesn't fit the reality they've built up just tends to go in one ear and out the other.
The reason she opens up more than she expected to the Slytherin foursome on the train, is because they immediately got it. When she told them "I was the child raised by muggles", warning bells went off in their heads. They were the first mages Iris had ever met that actually questioned her highly suspect living situation.
