...

It'd been a few weeks since his meeting with the headmaster. More specifically since he'd decided to ignore his instincts to run from the castle and settle into it as a student.

Mostly because of his grandfather's warning about being a latecomer, first year or not, to Durmstrang. At the same time, he pointed out his having already, surprisingly to him, settled in rather well into Hogwarts, though more specifically, Slytherin.

It was always nice to know his grandfather didn't seem to expect much out of his social abilities.

But it was also partly because the Headmaster was insane enough to ignore the fact a first year had an intentionally transfigured face- Sure, he'd asked him who had helped administer it, but he hadn't pushed it any further than that. Which was worrying considering he'd elected to not answer the question, given it was an option offered by the man himself.

He wasn't particularly sure why the old man seemed so... Lenient towards him. According to his grandfather, it was because Dumbledore was a senile old fool who never learned from his mistakes, but he figured that was just his bias talking.

Regardless since then, he'd found himself rather bored of all things. He'd already covered everything he'd need to cover for the coming tests, which were due in a few weeks at that, and so had little else to do.

Sure, he could start on the next year's curriculum, but quite frankly he just... Lost interest in it? Or maybe his mind was subtly trying to deal with the coming end of the school year and his return to the orphanage, and starting up on next year's coming work was just confirming it.

Given all of that, and the fact his friends had finally deigned to start taking their approaching doom, been the tests, seriously meant he was stuck helping them through their revision.

Which translated to him essentially treating their little sessions as impromptu nap sessions until one of them disturbed him to ask a simple enough question that they could've figured out by opening a textbook.

It was how he'd found himself in the library, Blaise to his right and Daphne and Tracey to his left, all three engrossed in their own problematic subjects.

For Blaise, it was History- The boy was either unwilling or unable to discern the difference between what the tests were for, and what Binns had taught them. Oddly enough, it was because Binns wasn't actually responsible for the test itself- Given it was a written one, for some odd inane reason it was actually prepared by ministry officials that worked in the education department or some other nonsense.

While that could've been blamed on the fact that Binns was a deluded racially-driven, against goblins, ghost- It didn't actually stop there.

All written tests, which every subject had, were actually prepared by the ministry. It was the practical ones that were prepared and overseen by Hogwart's professors. And while they also included a secondary written variant, that essentially meant Defence, Herbology, Potions, Charms, and Transifugrations for their year.

Which meant two subjects' pass rates were heavily inclined by the Ministry itself.

Astronomy, the closest thing to a muggle subject, and history. A dangerous combo when it came to Pureblood perceptions.

Now as a Grindelwald he may not have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to governmental choices, but to have the Ministry's hand in literally all their subject's end-of-year exams seemed... Odd to say the least. It was essentially an avenue of influence on the future leaders of the country in a way.

He'd learned about it from his grandfather, and had it confirmed by a Malfoy of all people.

And ignoring the sense of the wrongness of his grandfather somehow knowing about it, it was rather startling that Malfoy only knew about it himself because his father was evidently a very influential person regarding said ministry.

Because it meant that very few in the castle knew about it themselves.

For all their preparations, it was startlingly easy for say someone like Malfoy Snr to give his son an unfair advantage beforehand if he wanted.

It was also something that somewhat explained why Nott had been so carefree regarding most of his subjects, only focusing on the more practical parts of magic. Because his father was similarly influenced as well.

The more and more he learned about the dealings that went on in the country the more and more he found himself... Almost agreeing with his grandfather in how utterly cursed its system was. The man's own words of course. Because quite frankly if the blatant imbalance steeped this low into the first year of education then... He couldn't imagine what it was like higher up the food chain.

Still, such thoughts were quite frankly above his pay grade at the moment, which wasn't saying much considering he wasn't getting paid at all, but still, the point stood on its own.

"Are you brooding again?" Daphne questioned beside him, jabbing his head lightly with a finger as she frowned at him. His gaze noted her closed book.

The girl's problem subject was Herbology of all things, arguably the easiest of their courses considering how few new terms and names they had to memorize. The practical itself quite literally involved being able to magically plant a specific plant, which translated to using the right magical ingredients on it and hoping it didn't die on their hour-long watch.

He shrugged, leaning his head onto his arms.

"Just bored mostly,"

"Hm." The girl remarked gazing at him. "You're not still thinking about transferring are you?" The words seemed to catch the other two's attention.

Surprisingly enough, when he'd first mentioned that tidbit to the girl, she'd been rather... Was upset the right word? He wasn't too sure, but he'd figured it was that given the silence treatment she'd elected to reward him with- Said treatment lasting a full fifteen minutes at that before she'd practically started interrogating him on the whys of it.

Needless to say, he'd taken a fifteen-minute nap, and by the end of the questionnaire that had followed, the girl herself had looked half tempted to transfer as well.

Evidently, she hadn't noticed the sheer stupidity that was Hogwarts.

"Dunno might reconsider it if the tests turn out to involve life or death," He snorted, earning a roll of eyes from the green-eyed girl. "Why, afraid you'd miss me?"

She scoffed at him for that and wished him luck in Durmstrang.

Tracey took that as her cue to riddle him with her own questions regarding her trouble subject.

Potions.

When the girl called the ingredients required for the potion she was reading about the 'green' and 'yellow' one, instead of their rightful names, he simply closed the book for her and told her it was a lost cause.

Neither of the girls found that funny, but at least Blaise let a laugh out.

"I am serious!" Tracey remarked affronted. "Why does the yellow one explode if too little green is added, but it turns into bubbles when there's too much of it?"

"...You do understand that if you name them that during the practical, Professor Snape is most likely going to fail you."

Because of course, while the Ministry did set a written test out for potions, his professor had added a small part of his own to the practical as well.

Probably because he thought they'd be incompetent or something.

Malfoy's words, not his own.

Tracey rolled her eyes at him.

"I am not dumb you know!" A single beat passed. "I am going to use this muggle technique my dad told me about it-" Cue Blaise's unsubtle cringe. "-to remember the actual names by making a song out of them!"

"..." He just stared at the girl. "Are you going to be singing during the test?" He questioned, flabbergasted.

Tracey rolled her eyes again.

"Not out loud!"

"..." He continued staring at her, which judging by the sudden loss of confidence seemed to be getting to her. After another moment, he let out a sigh and calmly told the girl to avoid Snape's eyes while she sang in her head.

"...Why?"

"'Cos he can read minds through eye contact." He deadpanned in response. "If he catches you singing in your head, he'll probably fail you out of principle."

Needless to say, that tidbit of information sent the two girls into panic mode, with Daphne giving him an absolutely serious look that somehow doubled as embarrassed as she calmly asked him whether he could do that as well.

He couldn't help but wonder why she looked so relieved when he admitted that he couldn't, and why Tracey seemed to find that funny.

Blaise in response just told him to make sure he was there when he did start learning, so he could learn it himself.

Which effectively led to him somehow getting banned from learning it by the black-haired girl, her relieved expression turning into a glare at the other boy.

And he'd actually thought his circle of friends was normal of all things.

Evidently, there wasn't a single normal thing in the entire bloody country.

...

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