Chapter IV
The return journey was a lot shorter. Either Sophie had gotten lucky this time, or she was starting to figure out the castle. Regardless, Albus was content to keep following. Maybe he should steal James' map; that might help him understand the weird logic of the castle. Then again, that assumed there was any to begin with. Given the mental instability of at least one of the founders, Salazar Slytherin, Albus wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't any.
Once they entered the Common Room, a few older students were up and around. Two of them were playing chess while the rest were offering advice. One of them looked up at their arrival.
"Oh hey Potter," he greeted, "you might want to go back to your dorm. It seems there's an argument going on in there and maybe you can do something about it before a Prefect needs to get involved.
"Thanks for the warning. I'm gone for one hour and hell breaks loose," Albus added in a low tone as he hurried to his dorm. He hadn't expected trouble to arise this fast, but perhaps he had been too optimistic. He was in Slytherin after all. With a sigh he walked to the door, hearing Burke rant at someone, presumably Scorpius.
"What did you do to Potter? Did you take him to the Chamber of Secrets to feed him to your Basilisk?" Burke shouted.
"Good morning, can you please stop killing each other and explain what's going on here?" Albus said as he walked into the room. His dad always used that phrase on him and James and usually it worked. He took in the scene and resisted the urge to draw his wand. That'd only make things worse. Burke towered over Scorpius and had him by the hem of his robes. Romulus stood a bit further and had his wand out. Both looked flustered.
"Albus?" Romulus stammered, quickly lowering his wand.
"Potter?" Burke barked as he released Scorpius, "we thought Malfoy had kidnapped you and taken you to the Chamber of Secrets."
"Yes, I heard that. I'm not in bed when you wake up, and your first reflex is to think Scorpius kidnapped me?" Albus asked, hardly believing what he had heard. Could they truly be that paranoid?
"He was sleeping on your side of the room, it seemed plausible," Romulus supplied.
"No, it doesn't," Albus snapped, "You okay Scorpius?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Scorpius replied as he straightened his robes, his pale skin slightly redder than usual.
"Good, then there's not much harm done. However, I think you two idiots owe Scorpius an apology."
"Why should we? We were just looking out for you Albus!" Romulus exclaimed, "We have to watch over each other with someone like him in our dorm."
"Don't worry about it Albus," Scorpius muttered.
"See! Even Malfoy says we acted correctly," Burke said.
"Don't twist his words Burke," Albus replied, "Just don't. While I appreciate you being so concerned for my health and safety, that is no reason to start manhandling someone. Now, that apology?"
"I don't get why you're on Malfoy's side all of a sudden Potter, but if you think I'm apologising to him, you're wrong. It's only a matter of time before he shows his true colours," Burke said as he stormed out.
"We were just worried Albus," Romulus whispered, "we might have overreacted, but it was simply because we care for you."
"Really? Or were you just looking for an excuse to harass Scorpius?" Albus pressed as he stared at Romulus. The boy blanched.
"Do you think so little of me? Is it because I'm a Muggleborn?" Romulus shouted back.
"Oh for the love of… Of course not," Albus muttered as he massaged his temples.
"Really? Because I can't help but notice you're siding with a Pure-blood," Romulus snapped as he hurried out of the room.
"He caught up quickly on Wizarding politics. At Hogwarts for one day and already he has uncovered our role in the massive Pure-blood conspiracy," Scorpius sneered, "anyway, thanks for dropping in and sorry for causing trouble."
"It's not your fault," Albus dismissed, "they're just being idiots. They'll come around. They just need some time to realise that not just Slytherin, but also the Malfoys have changed."
"Yeah, that might take a while… shall we go for breakfast?" Scorpius suggested, "All this talk about feeding basilisks has made me hungry."
"Sure. Let's see if we can find Sophie as well. I think she's still in the Common Room. She wisely decided to stay out of this one."
The trip to the Great Hall proved much less troublesome than Albus' excursion to the Owlery. As they could simply follow some of the older years, they didn't get lost, despite Sophie's occasional suggestions to take a shortcut. Soon the three of them found themselves in front of a delicious breakfast. While Romulus and Burke had taken a seat a bit further away from them and were avoiding eye contact, Albus didn't let that get in the way of his enjoyment. If his Sorting hadn't ruined his dinner, a minor spat definitely wouldn't get in the way of his breakfast. The three of them were happily putting away food, while praising Hogwarts' kitchen.
"Watch your food, owls coming in," Scorpius warned as hundreds of owls flew into the Great Hall and descended upon the tables.
Albus stared in wonder as the owls dropped down and couldn't bring it upon himself to be angry when one flew away with his sausage. After that show, the owls deserved a treat. A large barn owl dropped a package in front of Scorpius before flying off again.
"Oh no they didn't," he muttered.
"What? You don't like getting post?" Albus asked.
"Judging by Prometheus' appearance, it's from mom and dad. I asked them to hold back on the packages and then they send me this, whatever it is," he scoffed as he stared at the package, "now everyone's going to think I'm a spoiled Pure-blood."
"Everyone already thinks that Scorpius, the package won't change much," Sophie said as she grabbed her Daily Prophet and started leafing through it.
"Thanks Sophie," Scorpius deadpanned as he started to open the package, revealing several rolls of parchment and an assortment of sweets, "Looks like mom went overboard with both sweets and advice. 'Don't'get into fights'. Looks like I already went against that piece of advice. Anyone want some sweets?" he offered before biting in a Chocolate Frog.
"Merlin, I can't believe this nonsense," Sophie grunted as she tossed the Prophet away and banged her head on the table.
"What?" Albus asked as Scorpius looked at the paper and let out a similar groan.
"I'll read it out loud," Sophie said as she snagged per Prophet back, "Last night, several prominent witches and wizards presented what they called the 'Wizarding Culture Manifesto'. This expansive document was aimed at the Ministry and set out a list of grievances and suggestions to protect important traditions."
"Aunt Hermione's going to hate this. She's spent the last years getting rid of those traditions," Albus commented.
"Wait, there's more. 'One of the authors, Quinn Fowler was quoted saying the following, 'while I welcome diversity in our society, it can also pose a threat. The death of many after the second Wizarding War left a vacuum that has mostly been filled by Muggleborns and Half-bloods. This has led to the abandonment of many fine traditions. We solely wish to protect these by ensuring newcomers are aware of our vast and rich history.' What fine traditions?" Sophie asked, "Nepotism?"
"Bribery?" Scorpius offered, "that used to be really big at the Ministry. Maybe there's a budget deficit and they want to fix it that way? Bringing bribery back would make my grandfather happy, that's for sure."
"Arranged marriages perhaps? It could be that one of the authors has an unruly child who wants to run off with the love of his or her life? I don't know. Who supports that nonsense and why is it on the front page of the Prophet anyway?" Albus scoffed.
"Well the answer to the former also explains the latter," Sophie said as she scanned through the article, "you've got some lunatics in there of course, like Tiberius Black, but also quite some prominent witches and wizards. Some heroes from the previous wizarding war, like Swann. Even two of our teachers. Professors Fiére and Hawke of Astronomy and Muggle Studies respectively."
"Tiberius Black? I thought that family was extinct in the male line," Albus remarked, "the last one was my dad's godfather and he didn't have any kids."
"He's some loony who claims he's the bastard son of Orion Black and a Muggleborn witch," Scorpius explained, "Most people think he's crazy, but as he's harmless they just let him be. He even changed the family motto to 'presque toujours pur' to match his heritage. I saw him in Diagon Alley once, ranting that the newest Nimbus had a spell on it that encouraged you to buy more Nimbus products."
"Okay, I get why he signed it in that case. But why would actually respectable people sign this drivel?" Albus wondered.
"Beats me," Scorpius shrugged, "to start a discussion?"
"They definitely seem to have succeeded," Sophie said as she pointed at the staff table.
Albus looked up and saw both Fiére and Hawke were involved in a discussion with Perrine. The latter had turned red and was banging his fist on the table but the two women seemed hardly impressed. Albus looked across the Great Hall and saw several groups of people waving the article around. Even James had gotten hold of a Prophet and was now casually setting fire to the paper.
"So, what do you think of the Manifesto, Malfoy?" Burke asked in a loud voice. Immediately conversations around them fell silent.
"It's nonsense," Scorpius declared.
"Why? Doesn't it go far enough for you? Does the Manifesto lack a clause on the Muggleborn Registration Commission?" Burke pressed.
"No, I think the Manifesto lacks a clause on common sense. As far as I'm concerned, it's a desperate attempt by desperate people to hold on to the past," Malfoy replied coolly, "I think the recent innovations have been great. There's a reason why my family's name is not on it."
"Probably because they didn't ask you in the first place. Death Eater support's not that useful as it once was," Burke muttered, but he left it at that and turned back to his Daily Prophet.
"What's his problem anyway?" Albus mused as he continued eating.
"Beats me," Scorpius replied as he tried to read the rest of the article over Sophie's shoulder.
"Well they make some good points," Sophie said.
"Et tu Brute?" Scorpius jested.
"Oh stop that," Sophie muttered, "I'm not saying I support this Manifesto, but there are some valid concerns and suggestions in there. Such as why we're not doing more of an effort to introduce Muggleborns to the Wizarding World. We have Muggle studies, why not have something similar for Muggleborn first years? Or their criticism of Muggleborn quotas, I could get behind that. They might help counteract the old Pure-blood and Half-blood biases in recruitment, but the best person should get the job."
"It's more complicated than that," Albus disagreed. He remembered his aunt Hermione explaining those quotas one Christmas and it had made sense. Sadly he couldn't remember what exactly she had said, making it rather hard to actually convince Sophie.
"If you say so. How about you Scorpius? How do you feel about quotas?" Sophie asked.
"I've learned that for someone with my past, it's safest to never agree with something that might be anti-Muggle," he replied.
"Fair enough. Still, it might be worth discussing."
"Don't let Perrine hear you say that," Albus said. At the main table, their head of house was still arguing vehemently. Fiére seemed to have slipped away, but Professor Hawke was now arguing back and judging by her colour, she was equally passionate about the subject. He'd have studied them further, but his attention was drawn by their two Prefects.
"Timetables, get your timetables here!" Shane shouted as he distributed pieces of parchments among the students, "never miss a class again with these brand new timetables!"
"Can't you ever do something without making a show out of it?" Claire countered, though she smiled when she did so. She was on the other end of the table, sending timetables to people with rapid flicks of her wand.
"I'm afraid that goes against my nature," Shane remarked as he gave Albus and his friends their timetables and snatched a Chocolate Frog from Scorpius.
Albus quickly scanned over it and was pleased to see they had quite some classes together with the Gryffindors. It'd be nice to be able to talk to Rose again.
"Oh joy, Herbology to begin the day. I can't wait to start my week with magical plants. Do you think we'll start with plants that bite, or plants that are poisonous?" Scorpius drawled.
"No complaining please Scorpius. My godfather teaches that class so you better give it your all in there, preferably without the sass," Albus reprimanded with a grin, "anyway, let's get going. We don't want to be late."
"Yeah, we might be fed to a man-eating Geranium otherwise," Sophie replied as she stowed her Prophet in her bag and got up, "Follow me! I know the way to the Greenhouse!"