The next morning, a rather ruffled pair of Potters take their seats at the table next to Draco, blinking slowly and looking more like zombies than children at the moment. Their friend wisely doesn't comment, knowing the two probably had nightmares of whatever happened in Egypt again. He shares a look with his godfather, who nods minutely, before turning to speak to Ardeth.
Knowing something will be done about them, he scowls at Harry, who merely nibbles at his bacon, as Ivy pushes her toast around the plate. "Maybe you two ought to go to the Hospital Wing," he murmurs, making sure none of the others sharing the table can quite hear him. "You look terrible."
"That's what a girl always loves to hear, Draco," Ivy grumbles, locking her jaw to hide a yawn.
Blaise, who sits across from Ivy, smirks, pushing a goblet of steaming tea towards her. "This ought to help a bit. And don't turn around, but Weasley is glaring so hard at you I think he might be trying to kill you."
She just blinks at him. "As long as he doesn't try to actually kill me, I won't kill him."
"That's a lovely idea, Ivy," Harry murmurs, leaning slightly against her. "But Ardeth would have our hides if I let you do it."
"I find myself in agreement with Mister Potter," Snape drawls from behind them.
Neither of them even flinch. "Good morning, Professor," they greet him at the same time.
Scowling, he hands over their schedules, along with a small vial of Pepper Up potion for each. "I will not have either of you in this state in my class," he informs them, concerned when neither of them really react to him beyond acknowledgement.
Deciding to speak to them after class if they were still in such a state, he moves on, handing out schedules as he goes. Draco glances over their schedule, mask slipping to allow his small group of friends a rare smile. "Looks like we have Potions first thing today, then Defense Against the Dark Arts, both with the Gryffindors."
Before Ivy can say something about it, two identical redheads approach them from the Gryffindor table. "Ivy Potter, right?" the one on the left asks.
She turns and regards them slowly. "If the younger Weasley sent you to attack me or something in retaliation for last night, he shouldn't have tried to touch me or my property."
The one on the right frowns. "That's not the story he told us."
She sighs, taking a long drink from her goblet of tea before turning back to them. "That little fool was spoken to by Professor McGonagall last night about this. Also, you can ask any other first year for the full story, including my brother here. Anyone can confirm he has lied to you."
Harry then turns and fixes Ron with a glare, causing their fellow first year to pale. "And while you're at it, tell him if he tries touching my sister again, I'll cut off the hand Ivy doesn't."
The elder set of twins share a look of defeat, nodding carefully. "We'll talk to Ronnykins, but we think he's sent Mum a letter, so watch out for a Howler, yeah?" Fred murmurs as they walk back to their table, glaring at their younger brother every step of the way.
Ivy glares at the girl who asked if she would be punished before the sorting, a Lavender Brown, who dares to try taking her bag as they leave Defense Against the Dark Arts, slowly drawing her dagger before Professor Sirius Black steps in, taking a shoulder of each girl in hand.
"Miss Brown, twenty points from Gryffindor for thievery, and detention for a week," he growls in disappointment, and Ivy returns the blade to the sheathe.
Blushing in embarrassment at being caught, she nods and flees the room, the laughter of the Slytherins chasing her down the hall, on the verge of tears.
"Miss Bey, I won't punish you since you weren't finished drawing your blade," he informs her, and the rest of the class, with a slight wink to his godchildren. "Now, the rest of you get on to your next class," he orders, herding them out with a chuckle as some of the Gryffindors charge from the room.
Harry and Ivy once again find themselves seated across from Dumbledore, this time with Severus, Minerva, Evy, Rick, Ardeth, and two sets of angry parents.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, why hasn't she been punished for attacking our children?" Mr. Brown asks evenly, eyes shining with warning.
The man gives a disappointed look to the Potter twins. "They have a cultural difference that your children were made aware of, and were within their rights to threaten and attack in each instance, as many of their fellow students can testify in their favor."
"This sounds more like favoritism, Headmaster," Mrs. Brown growls, glaring at the twins.
Both glare right back, a hand protectively clutched to the matching satchels. "Its not favoritism when your children resort to thievery," Ivy informs them harshly. "What kind of parents are you to allow your children to get away with such behavior?"
"Thievery?! How dare you accuse Ronald of stealing?!" Molly screams at the young girl.
"Our entire year can tell you the same thing I am telling you now: he attempted to take my bag before we were even sorted after insulting our religion twice, and attempted to lay a hand on me with less than honorable intent. In Cairo, would he dare to do such a thing, he would lose the limb, and maybe his life for daring to touch me. And your Lavender?" she turns to the other set of parents, who suddenly feel three feet tall. "She would lose her hand and be publicly whipped for taking my property from where it had been set, like any other person who would dare to steal an apple and be caught."
"Do they seem so innocent now?" Harry asks venomously. "They are lucky to no be missing any body parts now, but if they try to touch our belongings again, they will come home lacking parts."
"Now listen here, Harry," Molly starts before anyone can stop her. "There is no need for such a barbaric punishment for simple schoolyard antics, there was no harm done! Your parents would be ashamed of you, if they knew that you were threatening to dismember classmates they would be rolling in their graves!"
Their eyes harden as Evy steps forward and slaps Molly. "How dare you?" she hisses, fists clenching. "I would rather think their parents would be proud. These children could have caused untold chaos and killed thousands had they succeeded in their poor attempt at thievery! They are lucky to get off with a threat and detentions each! Believe me when I tell you, they would be better off dead than to know what happens when a simple relic turns out to be so much more than a trinket."
Rick tugs Evy away from the stunned woman and two families of suddenly terrified people. "All of us know what'll happen if their heirlooms fall into someone else's hands," Rick murmurs quietly. "It was in the papers five years ago. Dumbledore, you failed to warn the other Heads of Houses about the relics we warned you about long before Harry and Ivy received their letters. If something else happens like this, the hands cut off are your own fault. Don't bother calling us in for another meeting, or we'll send the twins and Alex to Cairo's Sorcerer's Academy."
Dear Lucius,
Harry and I have been wondering about how the investigation with the third corridor is going, as a Ravenclaw muggleborn friend of ours informed us that she got lost with a Hufflepuff pureblood friend and encountered a locked room. They were nearly eaten by a Cerberus of all things, and she noticed a trapdoor that it must have been guarding. It concerns us both that a creature like that is in a room that can be opened by a lost first year thinking it might be a normal thing to come across locked doors throughout Hogwarts.
Another thing… do you remember the meeting that was called with Rick and Evy and the other sets of parents? They seemed entirely clueless about what was happening with their children, and came with the impression we randomly attacked their children. We clearly remember filing the incident reports with Professor Snape, and him sending them to the Headmaster. This being the case, is Dumbledore not informing the parents about what their children are up to, and leaving it to students to feed their parents lies about the incidents?
Please relay our concerns to the Board of Governors in relation to the investigation, and should they require more proof, we can ask Professor Snape to help us extract memories for them to view should they not believe us.
On a happier note, we are beyond thrilled to hear that we are to spend the Yule Holidays with you and yours! Draco was over the moon when he told us, even though he denies it still. I think it should go without saying, that as long as your Lord does nothing to harm either of us, Harry and I will do the same, though if Sirius is there, he has our warning now that he will need to watch for pranks, and we will do the same in turn.
I hope this helps with everything, and I am already looking forward to the holiday break, even though we've only been at school a month! I almost wrote the wrong date in my notes today before I realized it is already October.
Wishing you and yours the best,
Ivy-Bahira Potter-Bey-Carnahan-O'Connell-Black