Chapter Fifteen

Filling the Table

When Andrew went down to supervise football tryouts, he was expecting the typical one on one disagreements and even shouting matches that happened when different teams were fighting over space and trying to sort out their teams. What he wasn't expecting was a full on brawl... and one which he quickly learned seemed to be very family specific. Joey, he soon learned, had been having a particularly rough year in the hallways thanks to the Villins and the Maxens. When they unwisely attempted to continue their harassment of him out on the football pitch, Jack soon got wind of it and jumped in, as did Dawn after she realized that Douglas had been involved. Mickey ran over to help his sister. Cadha and Culver, who supposedly went over there to break it up, also ended up in the mix, along with Broc, who had jumped in to try to pull Douglas out of the dirt.

Pretty soon all of them ended up on the bench, and Andrew looked over the group disapprovingly. Standing on opposite side of the pitch, Quintin and Zelda were both shaking their heads at the group, going back to what they were doing without any comment. Zelda nodded to Madame Brittle, who walked over to the stands to join Andrew.

"I think things got a bit out of hand, don't you?" Andrew asked the students, looking between them disapprovingly.

"They started it," Jack protested.

"I really don't care who started it. You all participated," Andrew pointed out. "I want each of you to grab a sack and fill it with leaves, trash, broken bats, balls, and Snitches, whatever you find lying about this Pitch or the Quidditch Pitch, and don't report to me until it's full. Don't use magic and don't bother trying to cheat, I'll be watching. If you do attempt to cheat, I'll assign a second detention. Is that clear? Everyone?" he added when Dawn and Douglas were both reluctant to answer right away. Finally the two of them nodded reluctantly.

"I'll check off the Slytherin students for you, Andrew," Danny volunteered. "And afterwards, I want you of my students to wait in my office so we can talk."

"Expect me to speak to all of the other housemasters as well. Joey, I'll meet you in the common rooms after tryouts," Andrew said.

"Yes, Professor Andrew," Joey said unhappily.

"Go ahead and get started, and have the sense to keep your hands to yourselves this time," Andrew said. They began to file over to the pile of sacks that had appeared behind them, glaring each other as they tried to find a section away from the others. "You know, Danny, it's times like these that I really hate my mother's new points rule."

"Oh, you mean the 'no more deductions, only positive points' thing?" Danny asked with amusement. Andrew nodded in agreement. "Personally, I think it's the best idea Jennifer's had since Severus appointed her Head of Housemasters, and since it was one of her first decisions, that's saying a lot." Andrew glanced at Danny questioningly. "Negative points did nothing but exacerbate problems, really. It turned housemates against each other, and it made for lasting grudges against students who couldn't stay positive. Getting rid of negative points saved me an awful lot of headaches. Really, I don't miss them at all. Are you sure you miss them?"

"Typically, I don't. At this very moment... yes, I do," Andrew admitted.

Danny chuckled at him as the two of them walked over to make sure the misbehaving students were doing their detention properly.


It came to no surprise to anyone that Jack was quick to nominate Joey to the last Gryffindor seat. Even Olivia had to admit that Joey had things to work out.

"When something's going on with him, he doesn't speak up about it, not even to me," she had explained. "It's quite frustrating at times, really, not knowing what's going on in his head when he gets moody."

"He didn't used to be like that," Jack informed her. "It only started after we got Sorted. I think us going to separate houses had a lot to do with it," he admitted. "He always confided in me and no one else at home, so when I went to Slytherin, I think he might have felt a bit cut off. But he's always had his mates about, so I thought he'd come out of it. Olivia, Rich, Markus.. you've been inseparable at times."

"That may be, but he still doesn't open up when he's bothered about something," Olivia admitted. "Typically, we simply wait his moods out until he's back to his old self again, but it would be nice to get him to open up."

"I wouldn't be surprised if some of his goals reflects that when he gets in here," Jeremy ventured.

"Perhaps, but even if it doesn't, maybe just having a safe place to come to where he can vent as well as reconnect with his brother might help in and of itself," Olivia replied.

The vote that took place was unanimous; and it was followed soon after by the vote for Duncan Brittle, also unanimous, to take the last Dusthorn seat.

"Any progress in Slytherin?" Quintin inquired, looked over at the two empty seats.

"My cousin thinks he might be tolerant to the company," Ella suggested. "Ian Bulstrode."

"'Tolerant to the company?'" Jack repeated indignantly.

"If you don't like that, you're not going to like our other suggestion, either... Douglas Maxen," Jay said.

"Absolutely positively not!" Dawn snapped. "Those Maxens all take orders from Griselda these days, or haven't you noticed? I've even seen Culver come to heal at her beckon call... and Cadha."

"Of course we've noticed. In Slytherin it's impossible not to notice," Jay replied evenly. "Which is why we were thinking that some of them might need a break from it."

"Being in here won't give them a break from it," Rus warned solemnly. "The rest of the Maxens aren't like Eben. I can read them all quite clearly, and if I can, Zelda certainly can... and she doesn't need to see their faces to do it. They're connected no matter where they are."

"Rus is right. I think it would be unwise..."

"Why? It isn't as if we talk about anything sensitive in here," Jeremy argued. "Really, what do we have to protect? We're not some secret organization or anything, we're an organization about school pride and cooperation, not some superhero league. What have we got to hide?"

"Jeremy's right," Elliot said solemnly, glancing across the table at Rus. "I understand plainly why the Snapes have good reason to be on edge about the Maxens, as well as other Truth Seekers who were taught a level of restraint that the Maxens aren't, breaking the rules as we all know they do, especially in the corridors when there's no staff around to call them out on it. But the Order of the Owls has nothing to do with that directly. We're not here to keep students out, we're here to foster cooperation between houses, school pride, and personal responsibility. I don't see anything about that which would keep someone out just because someone's born into a certain family. Everyone should have the opportunity to come in here and put in the work, and if they don't, we can always vote them out."

"That's never happened in the entire history of this order," Rus said. "Even though I've heard it came close a time or two. Personally, I'm not sure I want to be in the order when that happens."

"Then how about we don't tempt fate by letting anyone in who's questionable?" Dawn said. "I'll vote for Ian, and that's that."

"Three members are better than two," Ella pointed out to Jay.

"Fine," Jay said with a sigh. "We'll leave the other seat open for now," he said, and Ella nodded in agreement.

Broc, it turned out, was less than happy to find out that his best friend had been voted into the Order of the Owls.

"Why in stars did you get in? Are you a Snape collaborator or something?" Broc asked when Ian told him the next day at breakfast.

"Ella got me in. We're cousins, you know," Ian explained calmly. "Aunt Stella is my father's sister, so she was able to make a case for it. And really, it's not like the Order of Owls themselves had much to do with the paper on Slytherin, that was all Dusthorn's doing."

"Which the Order of Owls helped by kitting out their common rooms," Broc said.

"They did the same for ours too, when our extension opened up," Ian pointed out. "Look, it's not like being a member of the Owls is going to change me in any way, you know. If anything, it'll give you more insight to what goes on in there, won't it?"

"It's better than nothing," said Zelda, and they both looked over as she stepped over to their table. "But it isn't the same as having a Maxen or Villin in there, is it?"

"There is one more seat to fill," Ian pointed out.

Zelda glanced over at the other end of the table where Ella and Jay were speaking with the football team about scheduling, including several of her siblings. Despite their distraction, she didn't have to search Ella long to find an answer.

"They were going to leave it empty for a while. They don't want to risk letting someone in they have to kick out and they think our family is too high risk," Zelda murmured. "Cadha is the best choice... she's so much like Aunt Blair now that I doubt they would see her as a threat, and the fact that she's a seventh year may alleviate their concerns about having to get rid of her."

"Sure, but how do we get her in?" Broc asked.

"It won't be hard," Zelda assured him, finishing her breakfast. "They've already been considering it, so a little nudge will be easy."

"Aren't you worried about Professor Ravenclaw catching you again?" Broc asked under his breath.

"I won't have to do anything," Zelda said, then glanced over at Culver, sending him a message. Culver glanced over and then said something to Gloria, who got up to get ready to walk to Goblin Accounting with him.

"I hope I didn't drop any fractions this time. You know how he gets, especially about those one thirds and two thirds," Gloria said as she and Culver stepped into the corridor.

"Aren't you good friends with Professor Boulderdash? I mean, well he is your primary advisor, right?" Culver asked.

"That makes it harder when I get a bad score, not easier," Gloria protested. "Because he wastes no time inquiring if I need extra tutoring at lunch when I go to the Owl Room."

"I'm sure it's just because he wants you to succeed. Goblin accounting isn't easy on anybody, you know. Besides, you were at the top of Wizard accounting last year. So what if you're not good with some of the conversions? You can hire someone else to do that once you get out of school. You're not going to have to run the company single-handed, you know."

"That's true," Gloria brightened. "Although to be fair, the only reason I was at the top of Wizard accounting was because my father had taught me the basics before I took the class... and I went to my mother's office any time I got stuck last year," she admitted under her breath.

"Well, if you're willing to go to your own parents for help, I don't see why you wouldn't want to go to old Boulderdash when you get stuck too, especially if he's offering," Culver said.

"I guess you're right. It's just that I hate it that I need to be tutored in practically every subject outside of Charms and Herbology," Gloria said. "It often feels like this whole inheritance thing is pulling me into a direction I don't want to go and classes I don't want to take."

"Maybe you should talk to Boulderdash about that too, then," Culver suggested.

"Maybe," Gloria admitted.

"So how did things go at that Order of Owls meeting yesterday?" he asked.

"Alright. We're going to help fundraise to pay for the last of the masonry work that needs done in the Dusthorn wing," Gloria said.

"Did you get any new members?" he asked.

"Yes, my little brother got in, along with Joey Black and Ian Bulstrode," Gloria said.

"That just leaves one spot open, right?" Culver prompted.

"Yes, one in Slytherin, but they're in no rush to fill it, so that's probably it for now," Gloria admitted. "Rather a shame there's no room in Ravenclaw, especially now that the houses are going down to four each. I would have loved to have had you in there too."

"That's alright," Culver said. "I have a suggestion for your last seat, though... my sister Cadha."

"Cadha?" Gloria repeated unsurely. "Why would she even want to be in the Owls?"

"Because she doesn't really have any friends outside of the family, if you haven't noticed. She never has," he pointed out. "On top of that, my father and aunt have been putting a lot of pressure on her since Mari disappeared." Gloria frowned uncomfortably at that. "Not that she minds my aunt all that much. In many ways, they have a lot in common... which means she'd be a help to the Owls too, because she's a good organizer and is good at getting things done... especially when it involves social events and the like. She might be good at fundraising."

"Alright, alright. I'll suggest it, but I don't know how it'll go over," Gloria warned him.

"Thanks, Gloria," Culver smiled, and the two of them started up the main stairs towards class.

Back in the Owl Room for lunch, everyone listened to the reasons behind Gloria's nomination thoughtfully.

"Culver isn't anywhere as close to his sister at he used to be, but being twins, I'm sure his assessment of Cadha is pretty accurate," Gloria told the others.

"Well, I can say he's right that she doesn't have any close friends and mostly hangs with her family," Ella reported, then shifted her gaze. "Except for troubling Elliot, of course."

"I really wish that she wouldn't," Elliot admitted. "It's quite uncomfortable her asking even after I told her that I wasn't really interested in anything romantic... she even asked if I'd go to her deb ball when we were out of school. Other than that one point, she's fairly personable and polite overall, and I don't mind her in general. If you can just get her to back off and tone it down a little, I'd have no objections myself."

"I'll talk to her," Ella promised, and Elliot nodded at that.

"Fine. Then once that's settled, I will vote for her," Elliot decided.

Jeremy frowned at that, but didn't say anything. After seeing his expression, Quintin decided to wait until they got back to the common room to bring it up.

"You have a lot of reservations about letting Ian and Cadha in, don't you?" he asked Jeremy seriously.

"Let's head to my room," Jeremy suggested, and the two of them walked through the long corridor to the wizard's quarters, greeting the painting of a wizard chef with a floppy hat, who let them into the room.

Jeremy's bed was at the end, close to one of the four windows looking out on the front grounds. Jeremy sat on his bed. Quintin turned a chair around at the study table and sat down.

"Dawn's been pretty vocal about her skepticism and objections to the Slytherin recommendations, and considering what I've picked up from you over the last two days, you've felt the same way, but you haven't been very vocal about it. Aren't we Brits the ones that are supposed to always bite our tongues and you Americans are the loud mouths?" Quintin taunted his friend.

"Not compared to Craws and Snapes," Jeremy retorted.

"Fair enough," Quintin acknowledged. "But still..."

"Yeah, I know," Jeremy said, rummaging through his books to find something to study. "Cadha may not be a full-on Truth Seeker like you, but after working with her on the school paper, I do know she uses her Legilimens training often enough to find out nosy details about people... and she isn't afraid to publish it. In fact, the whole reason that she's in charge of the Slytherin column is because Anna and Professor Hermione were getting complaints from the sports teams about her interviews."

"I heard about that," Quintin admitted. "She was asking them about fellow teammates and writing down what they were thinking about them instead of what they were saying in the interview. Are you certain she was doing it on purpose, though?"

"Of course I'm certain," Jeremy said sincerely. "I know that in your case, you can't help but see the words and mental thoughts of a person when you're looking at them, it's second nature. But for anyone else to do it, it takes a lot of effort, even with training, which means it's always deliberate. So yes, I'm on Dawn's side on this, because I'm pretty sure she'll be nosing in on the Order of the Owls in the same way."

"Then why didn't you say anything when we were debating it earlier?" Quintin said with exasperation.

"I don't know how much of my belief is because I don't like the family," Jeremy admitted. "I don't know how much of my objection is biased prejudice." Quintin's shoulders went down and he smiled at his friend.

"I get it," Quintin replied. "I remember questioning my own opinions because of that and mentioned it to my father, and do you know what he told me? That there's no such thing as an unprejudiced human. As hard as we try to be impartial, we all have a unique perspectives, so bias is inescapable. Impartiality is just another unobtainable goal that people strive for, because reaching it is impossible. All humans have things they believe in, and we strive to justify those beliefs whether we're consciously doing it or not." Jeremy pondered that for a long time before turning to him.

"You know what? He's right. And not only that, I realized something just now," Jeremy said.

"Oh?" Quintin prompted, glancing at his friend.

"It must really suck to have Snape as a Dad," Jeremy said.

"What?" Quintin asked in surprise.

"It'd be like being the son of Obi Wan or Gandalf or... Juan Ramirez from Highlander," Jeremy said, putting up a finger.

"Who?" Quintin laughed.

"Every time you try to say or do anything, they spout off some wise saying you have to live by... or worse... they take you outside and make you train or do forms like Mr. Miagi."

"Andrew teaches me forms," Quintin protested. "And I'm guessing from the first two names that you're talking about films again."

"Tell me, has your father ever told you that what you think is reality isn't what you think it is?" Jeremy asked suspiciously.

"Sort of. Why?" Quintin asked.

"I'm trying to decide whether to eliminate Morpheus or not," Jeremy explained.

"I can't make heads or tails about what you're saying, and even your thoughts don't make much sense, but I can tell plainly tell that you're picking on me," Quintin accused him with a chuckle. "I was just trying to help by passing his advice on, that's all."

"It did help," Jeremy admitted, getting up and going over to the study table. "I don't trust her, but I think we should probably risk it anyway... you know... to do the right thing and all."

"Me too," Quintin agreed, pulling out his defense homework.

They had barely gotten started on the reading when an owl landing on the window with a letter, hooting questioningly. The two of them looked up and Jeremy went over to get the letter.

"Oh, it's addressed to me," Jeremy said when he took it, and the owl gazed at him intently.

"That makes sense, considering it dropped it off at your window," Quintin taunted him.

"Most of mine gets delivered by that Hogwarts Owl that handles international post," Jeremy explained, opening it.

"Featherwig," Quintin offered.

"Yeah, that one," Jeremy agreed, then read the letter. Then he read it again, before finally getting excited. "This is it, Quintin, this is it!" he yelled.

"What! A dream date?" Quintin guessed, cupping his ears pointedly against the yelling.

"It's from the Dashing Doppler," Jeremy explained. Quintin stared at him fixedly.

""I would be happy to sit down with you and your escort for an interview in Hogsmeade at a time that is convenient to you. Please send details along with this fine, handsome owl so I may consider your arrangements,'" Jeremy read.

"Why would he do that?" Quintin asked in shock. "Why would he be so willing to meet with someone on the school paper like that? Isn't he in remotely afraid of being caught?"

"Probably... he wants to consider my arrangements, which probably means he wants to make sure it's safe and that I haven't told the authorities about the meeting or anything," Jeremy said.

"And just who are you going to pick as an escort, assuming you even obtain permission to leave the castle?" Quintin asked.

"I'm going to ask Anna. In fact, I already asked, sort of," Jeremy said, ignoring the fact that Quintin's stare seemed to be boring through him. "I asked in Journalism if I ended up getting an exclusive for a really important story in Hogsmeade if she could escort me over there to do it, hypothetically speaking, and she said she'd need my parents permission first... which I got and I already had her file."

"Wasn't she in the least bit suspicious about that? I would be if I were her," Quintin said.

"I don't know. She just shrugged, filed it, and told me to get back to setting type," Jeremy replied. "You can tell she's a Snape, because she doesn't really react to all that much of anything."

"When she does, it's explosive," Quintin warned.

"So like your father does then," Jeremy ventured.

"Well, not in the same way, maybe, but just as intense," Quintin admitted.

"But she can protect us if things got out of hand?" Jeremy asked.

"That much I guarantee," Quintin agreed, and Jeremy smiled at that and wrote the owl a quick note before returning to his work.