For first years, the following day was filled mostly with orientation sessions; fortunately one of those included a tour of the castle and navigation hints. When the official meetings concluded in early afternoon, students were dismissed to gather socially until the evening meal. Those groups, with one exception, were divided by house lines.

"Nev, great job." Harry looked around the spacious room.

As the most practical of the four, Neville had been tasked with locating their 'Headquarters for Change'. The vacant classroom was more commodious than others, and a wooden wall at one end hinted that it could be larger.

"This used to be a music room. Behind that partition is a closet which formerly stored the instruments, and once we gain permission we might be able to expand into the area if we clear it out."

At the moment there was only an assortment of dusty desks with seating, but they could see that a few cleaning charms followed by a polite request of the castle elves for comfortable furniture not in current use would make it both habitable and inviting.

Summoning four chairs and scourgifying them, Draco sat down. "Since dinner is not for another hour, why don't we share how our first night went?"

"Your idea, Drake, so you go first." Harry turned his chair and sat on it backwards, laughing at Hermione's tongue click at the action. "We're not in public right now, Mi."

Neville chuckled softly as he took his own seat. "And it's not likely that he'll forget the manners that have been pounded into us for years. Let the man relax."

"What he said. Now, Drake, tell all."

"As expected, there is no one of non-magical birth in Slytherin; mostly purebloods and a few half-bloods. None of those our age seem to be radical in the old manner."

"But then, they're only children," Hermione pointed out.

"As are we. Of the boys, Nott was the one I'd suspected we'd have to work on, as his father was as rabid a death eater as mine. However, he has been bedridden since Harry infected them all–"

"Hey!"

"–and Theo has had a series of tutors who, for some reason, glossed over the more radical portions of the old guard's propaganda."

"He would best be won over by logic," Hermione surmised.

Draco nodded. "Zabini is an odd duck, being half foreign, and Crabbe and Goyle are followers of whoever has the most clout; their dads were the same, according to my father."

"And the girls?" Neville teased, grinning.

"Yes, yes, you win the bet. Parkinson did try to cosy up to me but I set her straight. Rogers is her cousin, but it doesn't appear they have much in common. Greengrass's family stayed neutral during the war, and she has a half-blood best friend."

"Raised to sit on the fence, but it looks like she is leaning our way," Harry mused.

"Bulstrode is much the way of Crabbe and Goyle. Of the five girls, she is the least attractive and will follow anyone who will let her."

"Not a nice thing to say, Draco," Hermione chided.

He shrugged. "The boys were saying worse about her in the dorm. But, seeing as I've learned my lesson, I warned them not to insult anyone who may be a future dance partner."

When Harry knocked his chair over in laughter, Neville said, "You just volunteered to go next, Harry."

"Okay," he righted the seat, "the house of the brave seems to have a rabid bigot among them." After gasps from the others, he waved a hand. "It's early days yet, but Weasley–the tall ginger one–first tried to shove away our one muggleborn member to get closer to me, and that was before his rant about 'slimy Slytherins'."

Draco groaned. "And we thought I'd have the hardest job!"

"I think he only wants to be best friends with The-Boy-Who-Lived, but I corrected his misconception by letting him know that position was already taken. By all three of you," he exclaimed when each shot him a querying look. "Possessive, much? Anyway, I'll keep a close eye on him. The other boys were affable; a London WestEnder–the muggleborn–and two half-bloods, one of whom is Irish and already has a fondness for rum. Of the girls, so far all I can say is they're pretty. So, Neville?"

"As we foresaw, Hufflepuff is close-knit, and our year looks to be headed in the same direction. There was a little kerfuffle with a boy who thought I had taken his place of prominence in the house, as he claims descent from the founder."

"Let me guess, Smith?" Draco winked when Neville nodded. "Mother said that it's doubtful the genealogical records would hold up to serious scrutiny, unlike those of the Black line. Come off it, Harry," he protested at the boy's glower, "just because I mentioned the family name doesn't mean I'm talking about that bastard."

"Language, boys." Hermione had learned from the Princess of Wales that a soft-toned rebuke generally worked best.

"Well," Neville continued, "like Harry, I noticed that the girls are cute, and Smith's posturing cut short my gauging of their political leanings." He turned. "Hermione?"

"There was a query about my non-magical name, but it was quickly sorted."

"What did you tell them?" Harry asked.

"The official cover story: that, due to a case of accidental magic, it was deemed that I would be exposed to the wizarding world early to learn the traditions. Did anyone in your houses mention the fact that we four were separated?" At their head shakes, she concluded, "Then Ravenclaw does indeed excel in paying attention to details."

"So we can expect them to analyze things thoroughly before coming to a conclusion," Draco stated. "Anything else of import?"

She scowled at all of them in turn. "Only that the girls kept me up two hours after curfew asking about the three of you. Your favourite colour, music, food, and–most importantly–what type of girlfriend you'd want. It's not funny, guys," she protested when they broke into unmanly giggles.

"Enough!" Harry finally recovered enough for speech. "Let's meet again in a few days so we can flesh out our scheme."

As the students left the room, Draco tugged on Harry's arm. "Professor Snape wanted me to pass on a message to you."


Hermione was in charge of the next meeting, handing out a sheaf of parchment to each of the boys in an efficient manner. "Okay, these are your seating rotations for the rest of this term. This will permit all of us to spend time with each person in our year group to build bridges or strengthen bonds, whatever fits."

"Morgana, Hermione," Draco whined, "is there any chance to take Weasley off the list? Even all the way across the Great Hall he glares at me. I don't know how getting up close and personal with the berk will change his mind on Slytherins in general and Malfoys in particular."

"Just sharing the wealth, Drake," Harry commented as he perused his own chart. "Be glad he will at least be awake; the git snores louder than Neville did before his adenoids came out."

"Thanks for reminding me," was that boy's rejoinder.

"Look," she speared them all with one of her glares, "I have to put up with him too in…" she consulted the master list, "late October. Plus, he sleeps in History of Magic, so whoever has him there may feel free to awaken him by any method possible."

"That would be me," Harry said with a grin. He and Draco immediately put their heads together to come up with the most painful method that would not leave a mark. Neville decided to approach the situation from a different angle.

"Can't we get Binns fired? I mean, reading the textbook alone would give you a passing grade, but with his droning, anyone who doesn't have our educational background will face a real challenge to earn an 'Exceeds Expectations'."

"That would be a good use of our noble influence," Hermione pointed out.

"With great power comes great responsibility," Harry intoned, to which Draco snarked, "Hey, who died and made you Uncle Ben?"

"Churchill said it first," Hermione snapped, bringing their attention back to their friend, who continued to state his case.

"We recognize his shortcomings already, but it may take the rest of them a while to catch on that he is doing little to nothing to prepare us for our OWLs." As the four of them had taken pre-OWL exams in the core subjects, they were well able to notice gaps in the curriculum.

"Once we've had a few weeks to make some connections," Hermione pointed out, "they'll be more likely to agree. In the meanwhile, we can subtly question our older house members on how Binns has affected them; maybe caused them to study twice as hard, things like that."

"Remember, Harry," Draco cracked, "she said 'subtle'. Do you think you can handle that?"

He shot him a two-fingered salute. "If I've managed to keep from hexing Weasley for a week, I'm sure I'll find a way." He folded the parchment and tucked it into an inner pocket. "I'd better request that meeting with Professor Snape before this goes into effect so I won't accidentally scare one of your fellow snakes."