Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All characters/settings/lore are the property of their respective owners.
"Hailey, what did you just do?"
Ron was looking at her expectantly, making Hailey wish she could just sink into the ground like her grandfather. This was what she always feared. The SCP Foundation rarely let anomalies have as much freedom as she had been given. They were not called The Jailors for nothing. And she had just committed the greatest sin a Foundation operative could commit: revealing secrets to an outsider. She could be locked up in Site 19 for the rest of her life for this.
And yet, if she could go back, Hailey wouldn't have done any differently. Her anomalous abilities saved their lives. No matter what the Foundation did to her, it would have been worth it. But still, she was suddenly faced with the prospect of never being let out of containment again. And that terrified her.
"Now isn't the time, you two," Hermione hissed, coming to her rescue. "Hailey isn't in any state to talk and we still have to get back to the common room before Filch finds us. Now help me lift her up."
Hermione may have given her a few minutes of respite, but Ron and Neville weren't going to forget what happened. At least, not until the Foundation got their hands on them. Who knows, the Foundation might scrub memories so they forgot they'd ever met her. They might even scrub Hermione's memories too. The thought of her friends not recognising her sent shivers down her spine.
Hailey didn't know how long it took them to reach the common room. She had been deaf to the world for the entire trip. Deaf to the curious looks from Ron, worried looks from Neville and caring looks from Hermione, too lost in her own thoughts and worries. She didn't hear Hermione tell the boys to leave Hailey alone until the morning or Ron bid her goodnight.
All she heard was the all-consuming blizzard of voices in her head telling her all the ways the Foundation was going to make sure she could never see her friends again.
Hailey collapsed into her bed and curled herself up into a ball. She let her tears flow freely now and cried into her pillow. Hermione sat on the side of her bed, holding her as her body was wracked with sobs.
"What am I going to do?" Hailey cried, her green eyes stained red with tears. "They're going to take me away!"
Hermione didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. She wanted to tell Hailey that it was going to be alright, but they would both know she was lying. Everything was going to change now.
The two girls simply held each other, sobs echoing through the silent dormitory until they grew softer and she finally cried herself into an exhausted sleep. Hermione stayed with Hailey until her breathing became steady and her tears stopped falling, before she too fell asleep, still holding Hailey tightly.
It was early morning when Hailey awoke again. The events of yesterday hit her like a tsunami, bringing fresh tears to her eyes. But time gave her new clarity on her situation and with that came a steely resolve to keep her friends safe from the Foundation. The more they knew about her, the more the Foundation would take from their memories. They would be safer if she wasn't here.
A small part of her considered not telling the Foundation about this information leak, but Hailey knew that would be impossible. Nobody lied to the SCP Foundation and got away with it. If she lied, they would consider he not only a security risk but also unreliable. Thaumiel-class anomalies had to be reliable and trustworthy, they'd reclassify her as Euclid if she was caught lying and she wouldn't even be able to see her SCP friends anymore.
But if she could just disappear from Hogwarts, they might show mercy to her friends. Hailey might never see them ever again, but it would be worth it to keep them safe. Maybe the Foundation could just make them believe she died, instead of erasing her existence from their memories?
She wriggled out of Hermione's hold, careful to not wake her. Hermione muttered something unintelligible in her sleep, but she didn't wake up. Good, Hailey had to do this alone. Hermione would just try to stop her.
"Goodbye, Hermione," Hailey whispered. She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead and tiptoed out into the corridor.
This might be the last time she ever saw this place. Despite having only been here two weeks, Hogwarts was quickly becoming like a second home to Hailey. And now there was a good chance she would never see it again.
She rarely felt cold. But it seemed that with every step she took towards Professor Dumbledore's office, the walls of the empty castle dropped a degree. But she had to do this. It made her heart burn to have to leave her friends and cousin behind, especially without saying goodbye, but it was for their own good.
Approaching the statue the led to the Headmaster's office, Hailey fought back her tears enough to stutter out the password. She took one last longing look at the place she had come to think of as a second home before the ascending stone platform blocked it from sight.
The strange office of the Headmaster, once so welcoming, now made Hailey feel like she was marching to her execution. Dumbledore was already there, sitting behind his oak wood desk and looking at her expectantly. A small part of her wondered what he was doing up so early.
"Professor. I- I need you to take me back to the Foundation."
He leaned forward and gave her a concerned look. "Hailey, you've been crying. What happened?"
"I did something I wasn't supposed to. Ron and Neville, they saw me teleport. I had to save them from being eaten by a giant monster. Now the Foundation is going to wipe their memories and I'm never going to see them again!" Hailey cried, struggling to hold back another wave of tears.
"And how do you know this?"
"What do you mean? I broke their rules!"
"Often we become so focused on what we are expected to do that we lose sight of what is the right thing to do. I had to learn the hard way that these two things are not one in the same. You may have broken the Foundation's rules, but you did it to save the lives of your friends. And nobody can fault you for that."
Hailey shook her head sadly. "That's a nice thought, sir. But I don't think they'll see it that way."
"I think you underestimate the power of Human empathy. In my time, I have learnt that few people are truly without empathy, even those in the SCP Foundation. No matter how much you may all believe otherwise."
In two weeks, Hailey had gotten to know a lot about Dumbledore's character. He wasn't just a powerful wizard the Foundation trusted with their secrets, he was also incredibly wise. But hopelessly optimistic. Empathy was the first thing the Foundation sacrificed on it's own altar to protect Humanity. Hailey learnt that the first time she saw a man die.
They would not show leniency to her just because of the circumstances. If she couldn't feel empathy, why would the O5 Council be any different?
Dumbledore studied her face and sighed sadly. Without a word, he held out his arm for her to take and apparated them into the cold and windy valley of Area 192. No matter what happened, Hailey would always be grateful for the brief moment of time she got to spend with her friends, even if she would never see them again.
Ron didn't sleep well that night.
He wouldn't admit this to anyone, but he was embarrassed. He had underestimated Malfoy, and put his friends at risk because of it. Being locked in a cupboard for an hour had given him a lot of time to think. Malfoy's plan was far more extensive and ambitions than he had ever believed possible. If Ron didn't hate the bloke so much, he'd honestly respect him for it.
But Ron was more worried about Hailey. She was his first friend, the first person who wouldn't compare him to his more talented older brothers. And he knew whatever it was Hailey had done in that corridor, it hurt her. Both physically and emotionally. And seeing her hurt made him feel the same way. Especially since she had hurt herself to save Ron's life.
Why that strange Apparition-like ability had hurt her, Ron didn't understand. He was quickly discovering that there were a lot of things he didn't understand about his friend. Hailey had done something in that corridor Ron had been taught from birth was impossible: she had apparated in Hogwarts, and didn't seem the slightest bit surprised about it.
To add to the mystery, Hermione also didn't seem very surprised about Hailey's magic-defying feat. Ron knew for a fact that Hermione was aware Hogwarts had anti-Apparition wards, she had certainly read it in that book of hers. But she seemed to already know Hailey could bypass them.
Ron wanted to know what Hailey had done. But more importantly, he wanted to know if she was OK. Hermione all but carried her up to the girl's dormitory last night. And it had been his fault. If he had not been captured or underestimated Malfoy, she would have never had to find him and then save his life. If using this power had hurt in any lasting way, it would be his fault.
Maybe he could ask Hermione? She seemed to know what was happening with Hailey, even going so far as to anticipate the physical pain Hailey felt using this strange ability. His mind made up, Ron left for the Gryffindor common room, leaving the other boys sleeping in their beds.
When he found Hermione, she was curled up in the common room window frame, her back turned to him. Her brown hair was messy and dishevelled, more so than usual.
"Hey 'Mione, where's Hailey? I wanted to see how she's doing and thank her for-"
Hermione spun around and pointed at him accusingly, her eyes red with tears and fury. "YOU! It's your fault! They took her and it's all your fault!"
She tried to punch his chest, but Ron caught both of her dainty hands before they could make contact and held them still.
"Hermione, I don't know what you're talking about! Who took Hailey? What is going on?"
He got no response, instead Hermione burst into tears again and sobbed uncontrollably. He let go of her hands, allowing her to collapse forward into his chest.
"They took Hailey!" Hermione stuttered through her cries. "I'm never get to see her again!"
Merlin, what happened to Hailey to make Hermione cry like this? He stomach plummeted as he processed her words. Hailey had been kidnapped because of his mistake. Hermione was right.
He owed Hailey his life, Ron wasn't going to let her be miserable because she chose to save him. Whoever 'they' were, Ron was going to do whatever he could to make sure they didn't get away with taking his best friend.
And for making Hermione cry, a small part of his brain whispered to him.
Over Hermione's shoulder, Ron saw his brother Percy enter the common room and beckoning him forward.
"Ah, just the people I was looking for!" Percy said, seemingly oblivious to Hermione's crying. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see you two and Neville Longbottom in his office, immediately. Do not keep the Headmaster waiting."
As soon as he had finished, Percy left again for the dormitories to wake Neville. Hearing his words, Hermione's sobs intensified and she clutched onto him tighter. Her face was now pale, instead of the angry red it was earlier.
"It's them," she whispered, shivering in fear.
Neville descended into the common room, followed closely by Percy. He nodded at Ron and gestured to Hermione concernedly.
'Not right now,' Ron mouthed to Neville silently.
Hermione eventually composed herself enough to stand on her own. The trio trailed behind Percy silently to the Headmaster's office. Ron and Neville exchanged confused glances as Hermione alternated between crying and terror.
"Hermione, who's 'they'?" Ron asked after what seemed like an eternity of silence.
"Hailey's caretakers. They won't be happy about what happened last night," she replied cryptically. "She broke their rules. And now she'd going to pay the price for it."
"But that isn't fair!" Neville shouted. "Hailey saved us!"
A single tear slid down Hermione's cheek. "No, it isn't fair. But it's what they do."
No more words were spoken between the trio until they were standing before the griffon statue and Percy opened it with the password. The trio ascended the staircase to find themselves in the strange office of the Headmaster. Ron noticed curiously that the room was very dark, the lights were off and the windows blocked. Hadn't Fred and George described it as bright and silvery?
A spell hit him in the back, causing his body to seize up. Paralysed, he could do nothing as a black bag was forced onto his head and he was dropped roughly to the floor with a thumb. Two more thumbs followed.
"Must you manhandle my students?" a voice Ron recognised as Professor Dumbledore's spoke from somewhere above him.
"Yes," a gruff male voice responded. "Now stop asking questions and take us out of this place."
"Sonum," a female voice whispered from somewhere above him.
Ron suddenly felt unnaturally tired. His eyelids fluttered shut and his head rolled back on the ground. The last thing he felt was being roughly picked up, before he drifted into an empty void.
A dull humming sound in his ears was the first thing Ron heard as he drifted into consciousness. His head felt like it was swimming, making it impossible to form a coherent thought. A fog of grey danced in his vision as he struggled to shake off the effects of the sleeping spell.
"It would be easier to just pump him full of amnestics and send him back" a distorted male voice echoed through the room.
"Do I have to remind you O5-11 has given his approval for him to be questioned beforehand?" another distorted male voice replied.
Ron regained control of his eyes and tried to look around at the cell he was in. It was large, the size of a two story house, and roughly cubical. At the top of the wall to his right, there was an opaque window overseeing the room, roughly two metres from the ground. It was the only source of light. But the light wasn't any kind of light Ron had seen before. It seemed unnatural, providing none of the warm orange glow of a fire. Instead it was a cold and lifeless pale colour.
"Just because you managed to convince the O5 Council doesn't mean I have to like it. 5536 is putting our security at risk." the first voice accused. "Oh look, he's awake."
The bright light of the window hurt his eyes, but he could just make out 4 shadowy humanoid figures on the other side. Something about the window kept him from seeing any more than the shadows of the three people. What kind of place was this?
"Begin Interview Log: PoI 5536-46," the softer male voice said. "Your name is Ronald Bilius Weasley, is that correct?"
Ron suddenly became aware of tight metal clamps on his arms, tying him down to an uncomfortable metal chair. He felt panic start to bubble in his chest as he struggled against the bindings. What was this place? Who were these people? The last thing he remembered was walking into Dumbledore's office, now he was kidnapped by strange people asking him questions.
"Answer the question!" the first male voice shouted down at him.
But Ron was too busy panicking. He was remembering Hermione's words from earlier and the terrified way she spoke about Hailey's "caretakers". Merlin, were these the people that raised Hailey? How could she speak about them so fondly?
"Ro- Weasley. I advise you to answer the question immediately and truthfully," a female voice pleaded. Something about this voice soothed him, piercing through the fog of terror in his mind. The more he focused on this female, the calmer he felt. It was like just knowing she was there caused his aggression and fear to melt away.
In the back of his mind, he realised that this calmness didn't seem natural. But he couldn't bring himself to care.
"Yes, that's my name. Who are you people?!"
"We'll be asking the questions, Mr Weasley," the calmer male voice said. "What was it that you saw Hailey Euphemia Mardas do on September 12th, 2021?"
"I don't know. We in this room about to be eaten, but she tackled us out of the way and the next thing I know we landed outside in a corridor safely."
"And besides Miss Granger and Mr Longbottom, no other people saw or know of this event?"
"No, just me. Why, do you want to know if you needed to kidnap more people?" Ron shouted at where he assumed the man was. But the shadowy figure behind the window didn't even flinch.
"How did you react when you saw Miss Mardas use her anomalous abilities?" he asked, completely ignoring Ron's jab.
"With shock, obviously. Apparation within Hogwarts grounds is supposed to be impossible."
"And why exactly were you and Miss Mardas in this room to begin with?"
Ron felt a wave of anger wash over him. He could tell this person knew exactly why they were in the forbidden corridor and just wanted Ron to admit that it was his mistake that forced Hailey's hand. It must be some kind of interrogation tactic, to try and break him with guilt.
"I'm not answering anymore questions. Show me Neville and Hermione are OK, then we'll talk."
The figure in the window stiffened slightly. The larger one behind him leaned over to whisper in the speaker's ear, loud enough that Ron could just hear what was being said.
"It's not too late to wipe his mind."
But the interviewer didn't respond. Instead, he gestured towards the door with his hand, causing the smaller female from earlier to leave the room.
"Mr Weasley, would you like to meet my daughter?" he asked after a few minutes of silence. "I'll release you from the restraints, she'll be down there in a few minutes," the man finished, not waiting for his answer.
The metal clamps on his wrists sprung open with a soft hiss. Ron stumbled out of the chair and rubbed his hands. Scanning the room, his eyes found a small metal door behind him. Whoever that person was, apparently he was supposed to meet with his daughter? Who was she, and why would he be asked to talk with her? She must be some kind of interrogator, maybe these people thought he'd talk better if they hurt him.
Ron shivered as a feeling of dread washed over him. He was alone, trapped in some strange prison cell and about to meet an interrogator that was probably going to make him feel more pain than he had ever felt in his life. And when they realised Ron had nothing to tell them, they'd wipe his mind. Or worse...
Well, he wasn't about to make it easy for them. He was still a weak 11 year old, but he'd rather die with dignity than have these people torture him into doing something he'd regret. Like mentioning his family, maybe they'd visit them just to make sure. Decision made, Ron pressed himself against the wall next to the door. When the interrogator entered the room, he was going to rush out of this room, damn the consequences.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ron saw a flash of blue light and spun around just in time to see a black-haired blur racing towards him.
"Ron! I thought I'd never see you again!" Hailey cried as she leaped at him and pulled him into a crushing hug. Hermione, who was standing behind her rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face betrayed her true feelings.
"Hailey! Where have you been?"
"I had to leave Hogwarts early in the morning. Nobody was supposed to know about my anomalous abilities and my caretakers have a tendency to erase people's memories to keep their secrets. I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye, but the less you knew the safer you would be. But Professor Dumbledore managed to convince one of our leaders that you and Neville could be trusted with knowing and now I can tell you all about me friends oh there's so many people I want you to meet and-"
"Again Hailey, remember to breathe," Hermione sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. "Honestly, what would you do without me?"
"Die painfully from suffocation?" Hailey grinned at Hermione.
"It's good to see you again but could either of you tell me exactly where I am?" Ron interrupted. He hated to break up such a pleasant moment, but there were so many questions spinning in his head that needed to be answered right now or he was going to have another panic attack.
"Ah, right. I suppose this is pretty scary for you? I know how you feel, I was introduced to all this stuff only a year ago," Hermione said, gesturing vaguely around the room. "This is the SCP Foundation, a secret group of Muggles that know about magic and other assorted weird stuff. They capture and study abnormalities and protect the rest of the world from discovering these things exist. If you ask me, they've done more to keep wizards a secret than the wizards themselves."
Muggles that know about the Wizarding World? The idea that there was an organisation that has known about magical society for who knows how long without them being aware of it terrified Ron. His family was old enough to have tales of when Muggles would organise witch hunts. And unlike the other pureblood families, the Wealeys didn't conveniently forget that the Muggles were bloody good at it.
"I'm what they call an SCP- an anomaly," Hailey added, blind to Ron's internal panic. "You two are technically anomalies too, because you're both magicals or as the Foundation calls you an instance of SCP-5500. But due to an agreement within our organisation we don't interfere with magical affairs. I'm a special case, as far as the Foundation is aware my spatial manipulation powers are unique to me. So I'm given a different designation: SCP-5536."
That number was familiar to him, somehow. He'd heard it recently. "Wait, was it you that man was referring to earlier?"
"Yes. Again, sorry you had to go through that. Agent Kemp is a bit abrasive, but he means well. Oh, by the way, the other person up there was Achilles, my father. You might remember him from the train station?"
Merlin, that guy was in on this too? Ron felt a bit stupid. Half the people he had met since that day were part of some secret society that he was oblivious too. Was Achilles even Hailey's father, or some kind of guard? The way Hermione had described this place made Ron think of Azkaban, so his assumption couldn't be too far off. And Hailey seemed oddly OK with it.
"So, what happens now?" he asked after a moment of tense silence. "Are they going to lock me up in here?"
"No. You'll be going back to Hogwarts. But you can't tell anybody about my abilities, this place or anything else they tell you," Hailey pleaded, forcing a smile and looking like she was expecting him to panic. "I'm honestly surprised they actually agreed to let you in on our secret. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting them to just wipe your mind of my existence," She paused and leaned forward to embrace him tightly. "But I'm glad they didn't, I don't want to lose my friend."
Didn't want to lose her friend? That's why she brought him to this nightmarish place?
"And did you consider that I might not want a powerful organisation breathing down my neck for the rest of my life?"
Hailey tilted her head and gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that I don't think you considered what I wanted. I am freaking the hell out, Hailey. Muggles that know magic, terrifying secret societies and people who want my mind erased."
"Ron, that really isn't-" Hermione began, but Ron wasn't in the mood to listen to her.
"Now I'm supposed to keep this whole thing a secret or some people are going to kidnap me and probably anybody I've spent too much time around and steal our memories. And I still don't know what you've done with Neville. What happens to him now?" Ron paused for emphasis and carefully considered his next words. "If you ask me, you were just thinking of yourself. You wanted to keep your friends around, even if it meant inviting them into some glorified prison!"
Tears welled up in Hailey's eyes and her lip trembled slightly. Ron felt a stab of guilt, but he stifled it. She was his friend, but that didn't give her the right to assume that he would be OK with accepting orders from an organisation that erased memories as punishment for disobedience.
"Why don't you get Neville?" Hermione whispered to Hailey. She nodded slightly and teleported out of the room, momentarily illuminating the dim room in blue light.
Hermione sighed and gestured towards the door. "Come with me, I think we have to talk about some stuff."
Ron followed Hermione silently through the strange interior of this building. The walls were made out of some stone-like grey substance. Dimly he remembered his dad telling him that Muggles made buildings out of a liquid stone called concrite or something like that. His skin bristled under the harsh synthetic light that seemed too bright and yet provided him no heat like candles or fires he was familiar with.
They stopped in front of a metal door. Hermione placed her hand on a black object to the side of the door, which slid open at her touch. Merlin, the Muggles really did know how to use magic!
"We can talk in here," Hermione said after what felt like hours of silence.
The interior of this room had small metal tables and some unused counter against the far wall. Ron trailed meekly behind Hermione, trying to sort through the chaotic whirlpool of thoughts in his head. He was angry at Hailey, but relieved to see her again. She had risked her life and freedom to save him, but then dragged him into this whole mess without his consent. What if she slipped up again? Would the Foundation be taking his family next?
Hermione sighed and sat down at one of the tables. "Look, I know you're angry. And you have the right to be angry. I'm new to this Foundation thing too, I think I can understand what you're going through."
"Can you Hermione?" Ron asked her. "I'm going to assume your parents already know about this place?"
Seeing her slight nod of confirmation, Ron continued.
"Well mine don't. And neither do any of my siblings. So what happens if I let something slip, or Hailey does that weird Apparation thing in front of them? That is assuming I even get back to my life, from the way you described this place I don't think that's a certainty anymore. At least, not with my memory intact."
"I know what I said earlier. And I did expect them to just wipe your mind and take Hailey away. But they surprised me. The Foundation already let you leave the holding cell, they've already agreed to release you."
"It still doesn't change the fact that Hailey sent a bunch of scary Muggles after me just so she could keep me around. I'm still not sure if how much of that was motivated by selfishness."
Hermione sighed and scooted across the metal seat until she was sitting next to him.
"Hailey never told me much about her upbringing. I've only known her for a year, and these past two weeks have been the most time I've ever spent with her. But from what I can tell, Hailey was and still is a lonely person. This was the place she was raised in, you can imagine how that could turn out. She doesn't get a lot of chances to be around friends, especially ones her age. I can think of one other person our age Hailey speaks to, and she gets to see her for maybe an hour a week or two. And don't tell her I said this, but I think she is starved for affection."
That only made his guilt worsen. Ron couldn't imagine a life without his siblings surrounding him. And he didn't want to try. If this was Hailey's life, he could almost understand her feelings. But it still didn't make them any less selfish.
"Hailey really cares about you, more so than she really should for a person that she only met two weeks ago. But that's Hailey for you, she seemed to have the instinctive ability to make life-long friends with people she's just met. And she'd do anything to protect them," Hermione continued, subtly reminding him of what caused this whole mess in the first place. "I think this is her way of inviting you into her life. Hailey must have an awful lot of trust in you to let you in on the real her. And honestly Ron, she risked her freedom just to save your life. If that isn't selfless, I don't know what is."
Merlin, now he was really feeling like an awful person. Hailey may have been acting selfish, but it was motivated by genuine friendship. He put her in danger by being captured, and still she chose to save him knowing that the Foundation could have her locked away.
"You're right Hermione," Ron sighed. "I can't hold that against her. If I'm being honest, I'm just still panicking slightly and I think I took it out on her."
Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "Like I said, I understand how you feel. This place terrified me at first, and still kind of does. But you get used to it."
She paused, with a look of contemplation on her face.
"Hailey introduced me to one of her SCP friends when I first arrived here. It really helped me realise that this place wasn't just scientists, soldiers and monsters. Would you like to meet it?"
"Are you sure that's safe?"
"Trust me, you'll love Blub."
She grabbed his hand and practically dragged him down the corridor. As he stepped out onto the grey stone, Ron noticed that the synthetic lights didn't seemed just a tiny bit warmer.
A/N: You would not believe how hard this chapter was to write. I swear I had to rewrite the entire thing 3 times before I had something satisfactory. It didn't help that it fell right in the middle of examination week. Hopefully the next one will be slightly easier for me.
This was my first attempt writing Ron's POV, I hope I did it justice. I couldn't decide how Ron would react to the Foundation, I eventually decided that since he is the most "normal" one of the Golden Trio personality-wise, he'd probably react like any other regular person would being introduced to the SCP Foundation: terror and panic. I also wanted to explore a bit of Ron and Hermione's relationship, this would be the point in time when they first became friends.
PasiveNox: As usual, glad you liked it.
Yukine-ren: Malfoy is a personal favourite character of mine, I wanted to show him as a far more Slytherin and competent antagonist (for now, he's the antagonist). Next chapter I'll show you just how cunning he can be. And SCP-682 is brutal, but let's be honest Hailey would be pretty desensitised to death, considering her upbringing and the company she keeps. SCP-682 is going to be a more important SCP character as the plot progresses (since as you know he has certain relationship with the main antagonist who you've probably already guessed). But I'm not going to introduce him for a while, since I don't want to just dump characters into a story like that.
brnicholas: The usage of spells like that two weeks into Hogwarts is part of it, but I didn't think it would make sense for Hailey, Hermione and Slytherin Purebloods to know no magic. Hailey has the Foundation's knowledge and all their magical employees (some of which I introduced in this chapter), Hermione is Hermione and the Slytherins were raised in the magical world and thus had access to private tutors. But yes, I'm trying to make some characters more powerful to compensate for Hailey's boost.
Hoodedgenius98: Yeah maybe, I could include it in an omake or possibly some kind of alternate universe since this is the SCP Verse we're talking about.
Fast Frank: No they are not. As you can probably see the character dynamics of the trio have changed. Ron is now left as the only member of the group that relates to other people in a "normal" way (as opposed to Hermione's social ineptness and Hailey's Foundation-bred aloofness). But Draco definitely isn't unhappy. Theo showed up the duel, and got busted by Filch. Since Hailey and co weren't caught, people are going to assume that they were the ones that informed Filch. As far as anybody in Slytherin is concerned, Theo just got out-Slytherined by Gryffindors. And for Draco, that's a rival cut down.
Pinks99: Thanks, I hope I've done the same in this chapter too. In this one, I wanted to show that while Ron can understand people and their motives better than anybody else in Hailey's group, that he is still just an 11 year old boy that would be terrified out of his mind in the SCP Foundation.