Robert Danvers
It was a Saturday afternoon when a quite unusual group gathered in the courtyard of the Hogwarts castle.
The strangeness of the group was not due to the identities of the members themselves, as they were all fairly ordinary first years, who decided to spend their free time outside the castle. What made them different from others was that every member of the group belonged to a different house. While it wasn't completely unusual for people from different houses to hang out with each other, inter-house friendships tended to blossom in the later years of Hogwarts education, rather than at its beginning.
The reason why these four first years from different houses decided to meet on a Saturday afternoon was actually quite simple, all things considered. After hearing Michael Brown's passionate speech about the harmful influence of the house system, Robert Danvers, Brown's first disciple student, decided it was time to do something. As he had no way of abolishing the horrible system created by the faculty yet, Robert decided to focus on befriending his classmates from other houses, hopefully showing people that there was no point in dividing people based on the whims of the magical hat.
It wasn't actually that easy to find people willing to meet with him, as it took him a while to find people from other houses ready to hang out with him, but eventually he was able to find three people that would help him achieve a better future envisioned by Michael Brown. There was however one problem.
Other members of the group, people Robert so painstakingly gathered, were a bunch of idiots, unable to see the obvious truth.
"Guys, seriously! I can't believe I have to spell it out for you! It's obvious that Michael Brown is the real heir of Slytherin" Robert declared, looking at everyone else with disappointment in his eyes. Why were they so blind? "Why can't you just agree that it's the only rational choice?"
"Are you being serious right now, Danvers? You think that a mentally handicapped lunatic is the heir of Slytherin? You make me laugh" Samantha Flint, a Slytherin pureblood, sneered at him with contempt "It's quite evident that the only person deserving such a grand title is Draco Malfoy, since he is already the heir to the illustrious bloodline"
"You can argue all you want, but it's obvious that Harry Potter is the real heir" Exclaimed Colin Creevey, a Gryffindor boy, his camera, already infamous in certain circles, held in his hands. He sounded extremely confident, apparently entirely convinced his theory was correct "He can talk to snakes and he defeated 'You Know Who'! It has to be him!"
The three of them started glaring at each other, unwilling to change their minds. Seeing the opportunity to join the conversation, the last member of the group spoke.
"Or Cedric Diggory is the heir" Albert Dibbley, a Hufflepuff boy, declared to the group with a smile, making everyone else look at him. Quite embarrassed, he added quietly "You know, he is cool…"
No one said anything for a while, with every member of the group looking at Albert with varying amounts of pity in their eyes. After a while Colin decided that enough was enough though, so he broke the silence.
"Harry defeated a troll last year, which means he is really strong! Burke probably started insulting him and Harry petrified him with some powerful, ancient spell!" Colin said, a confident smirk on his face.
"Nonsense, the answer is in the very name. They call themselves the heir, which indicates a bloodline, a tradition. You know who is a big supporter of both bloodlines and traditions? The Malfoys!" Exclaimed Samantha, glaring at the rest of the group.
"Nice argument, but there is one problem with your logic. It's true that the previous heir targeted muggle-born students, but the current one attacks purebloods and declares his hate for blood purity. And who is a muggle-born wizard known for openly criticizing most of the wizarding traditions? Michael Brown! He is also strong enough to defeat all Ravenclaw first year students single handedly! It's obvious it's him!" Shouted Robert, trying to make the others see the truth.
"…I was serious about Cedric. He can totally be the heir…" muttered Albert, ignored by everyone.
"Are you kidding me, Danvers? Do you really think that pranking a bunch of nerdy kids is on the same level as terrorizing the entire school by petrifying its students? That hiding his pranks from the teachers is the same as hiding from Dumbledore himself?"
"Right? The only one capable of such a feat is Harry Potter!"
"That's right…wait, No! My point is, you need connections and resources to achieve something like this. Malfoy has access to both!"
"I agree with you that Malfoy is incompetent enough to need his family's fortune just to petrify a cat Flint, but it doesn't mean he is the heir. Michael Brown on the other hand was able to…"
"Shut up, Danvers! Draco Malfoy is the heir!
"He is not!"
"Exactly, Harry Potter is!"
"Shut up, Creevey!" Both Robert and Samantha shouted before looking at each other "Don't mock me!"
"...Cedric is cool. And nice..."
"Malfoy is a jerk!"
"At least he isn't insane! And stop making pictures, Creevey!"
"Hey, watch it! You almost destroyed my camera!"
"Oh no! I am so sorry! Without it you wouldn't be able to take pictures of 'the boy who managed to reach adolescence! It would be such a tragedy!"
"Shut up, Danvers!"
"You shut up!"
"Both of you shut up!"
"...Cedric..."
Soon the conversation devolved into a screaming match between three children, as Robert, Samantha and Colin began hurling childish insults at each other, not even trying to convince anyone anymore. The only one not participating in the fight was Albert, who was watching the rest of the group screaming with a small smile on his face, convinced that he had won the argument on the basis of every other participant giving up on giving real arguments.
After almost an hour of fun, the meeting came to an end.
"Same time next week?" Asked Robert, cleaning himself with scourgify, as at some point Samantha decided to push him into the ground. He returned the favour, however, by dousing her with water afterwards.
"Sure, it was quite fun!" Colin replied, grinning widely.
"I suppose meeting again would be acceptable" declared Samantha imperiously, though there was a slight smile on her face.
"I will surely come again. It was great!" exclaimed Albert, giving Robert thumbs up.
After that the group dispersed, leaving Robert alone in the courtyard, tired but happy. He was about to leave too, satisfied with the results of his plan, but then he noticed two Gryffindor students approaching him, apparently just waiting for the meeting to end.
The first one, walking in the front, was a ginger boy with a round face and worn out clothes, walking in his direction with a complicated expression on his face. Following him was a small, bushy-haired girl, who was staring at Robert with a determined glint in her eyes. They were both around his age, though judging by the fact he didn't know them, they weren't first years. After they had reached him, the ginger boy spoke.
"Hi mate" the boy began, awkwardly raising his hand in greeting. His voice sounded slightly strained, as if he didn't actually want to talk with Robert, but was forced to do that. It wouldn't even be that surprising, judging by the quiet pressure the girl behind him seemed to exude "You're Robert Danvers, aren't you?"
"…Yes, that's me" Robert replied, quite confused about the situation he found himself in. Who were these people? "And you are?"
"Ah, sorry. Name's Ron Weasley. Sorry to bother you, but me and Hermione accidentally overheard you talking about Brown pants…" At that moment the girl following him, apparently named Hermione, hit his ribs with her elbow, making Ron wince in pain "I mean, talking about Michael Brown. Do you know him well?"
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call us close friends, but he took me to a quidditch match once" Robert replied "There was also that time in the forest…"
He felt silent after saying that, remembering his and Kevin's experience. So many jobberknolls, so many beaks…No! don't think about the forest! Don't think about Jobberknolls! Happy thoughts Robert, happy thoughts.
Robert took a deep breath, calming his nerves. He was safe. Jobberknolls wouldn't hurt him anymore.
"…anyway, I know him reasonably well" He said. Ron and Hermione didn't seem to entirely believe him ,as they were both looking at him with a slight worry in their eyes. They shouldn't though. While Michael Brown might have traumatized him a little, he also showed Robert a new, bright path towards a better future. Robert was grateful for that, even if that meant being unable to enter the forest by himself anymore.
"…Right" Ron said hesitantly, before bracing himself. "So, as you know Michael Brown fairly well, can you tell us a little about him?"
While in the past Robert would find it quite suspicious, with them asking about Brown out of sudden, now he knew better. They were probably just another students whose lives had been changed by Michael Brown's brilliant mind. There was no harm in telling them more about their new idol.
"Sure, what do you want to know?" Robert asked with a smile.