I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them sertainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
For now, the story will update every second Saturday, until I say otherwise.
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Chapter 11: The Wind of Change
Remus knew it was bound to happen. He knew it would happen so early since he was capable of reading a calendar. Next Friday would be the full moon and while the other teachers knew of his medical problem - and didn't give him any troubles - the students were a different matter. Sure, he could have found constant excuses, but part of him was tired of running away from the problem and he would feel like a hypocrite should he talk about about being honest, while hiding his own condition.
In the back of his head was the fear that they would turn on him as soon as they knew of his condition. He'd been burnt too often in the magical world and it had become the expected outcome for him.
However, it didn't have to go that way. He'd made a very positive experience when telling Harry of his illness. Harry had first asked if it hurt, and when being told it did hurt a lot, had expressed how sad he felt that one of his favorite uncles had to go through that each month. That moment Remus had very much felt reminded of James and his reaction to the lycanthropy.
These children might not have been exposed to systemic stigmatization of werewolves, but they probably saw too many bad werewolf films. Damn, I hat these damn films!
Lost to his thoughts, he only vaguely noticed the students coming in until everyone was already seated.
Well, pull yourself together. Trying to gather his resolve, he faced his students.
"Good morning. Now, before we start, I do have to make an announcement. Please hear me out before you ask questions," Remus asked them.
Seeing that he got their attention - and seeing the knowing look Harry gave him - Remus started to explain. "Next week, I won't be available to teach you and one of the other teachers will substitute. I do suffer from a sickness and it acts up in regular intervals, meaning there will be times when I am unable to teach you."
There were some gasps; children clearly having too big of an imagination and thinking he was deathly ill.
"You don't have to fear me dying from it. I'm suffering from it for most of my life, yet here I still am."Something he didn't want to share was the fact, that the stress of the transformations - after all the human body was not meant to be so radically altered on a regular basis - would surely shorten his life expectancy without serious and very expensive medical help.
Remus knew the next was the hard part. "Now, I trust all of you to stay calm; as it is a magical sickness." Seeing everyone wait for him to reveal what it was, Remus went ahead. "I'm suffering from lycanthropy."
An number of the children simply got blank looks on their faces, unable to understand what that word meant. Others however clearly understood what he meant. The reaction of the children from the magical world was predictable; Neville Longbottom became quite pale, while the Weasley siblings looked ready to faint in fear. One brave student named Oliver Rivers then asked the question. "Sir... a- are you a werewolf?"
"Yes, I am." That got everyone to talk over each other, until... -bang!- They went silent after hearing the noise from Remus' wand. "First off, you are in no danger. Neither is it night, nor the full moon. I'm as human as all of you."
There was some silence for a moment, before a black girl named Kellah Miller slowly raised her hand. "S-Sir, how did..."
Remus knew this was bad. Calling him 'Sir' and this stuttering made it clear that there was lots of fear, again making him curse all werewolf films. "You mean how I came into contact with it? When I was a child younger than you, my father threw an unruly guest out of our family-owned inn. He had not known the man was a criminal and a werewolf. The man came back at full moon and infected me on purpose to get revenge by proxy."
There again was some uncomfortable silence, students now looking at his facial scars in a new light. Finally, a black boy - he knew he was called Dean Thomas - asked another question. "Does- does it hurt?"
"More than you would believe." Remus tried not to show how much the pain still bothered him. "Imagine your whole body feeling as being in flames, ripping itself apart before reforming into a twisted beast. To be at the mercy of a primitive instinct that has formed from the darkest corners of your mind, unable to do anything about it. I'm not even 30 and already start to have gray hair from all the stress."
The new silence was different, as several of the students no longer looked scared. No, instead they now looked sad, clearly starting to imagine the torture he went through each month. The silence however was broken when one girl stood up and boldly marched to the front of the class. From their seats, Harry and Ron realized who it was.
Finally facing the class, Hermione Granger gave them a disappointed look. "Don't you have any shame?! Do any of you think Mr. Lupin wanted to get infected with that chronic sickness?!" She heard no answer. "He has a sickness, yes, but does that mean we suddenly have to treat him differently?"
Remus was surprised that the girl was coming to his defense like this, and then listened when she revealed her motivation.
"It's like the case of a man who lived in the same street as my family. He suffered from a horrible sickness that caused him to rapidly lose weight and become very pale. Even through the sickness was very difficult to transfer, people treated him like a pariah, like an infection danger, instead of a human being. He died in almost complete loneliness. Oh yes, I understand how Mr. Lupin must feel, to be treated like an outcast due to something he has no control over."
A number of the boys and girls started to look guilty, clearly having had thoughts about Remus which had been too close to that.
"Thank you Hermione. That truly came from the heart." Remus said, while the girl in question blushed a little before returning to her seat. "While my sickness won't kill me, you are right it's ruining our lives. Werewolves are shunned by magical society. Each year laws are passed to make life more difficult for us. We are not even allowed an education; I only got mine due to the compassion of the Headmaster. All of you can imagine life is bad for us - I actually got lucky."
Now most of them looked guilty that they had thought badly of Remus in some way.
One girl named Elizabeth Stone then spoke up. "But... Mr. Lupin, isn't that... wrong?"
"That you understand this treatment is wrong speaks for you. Magical society however enjoys their illusion that they are fighting the 'dangerous beasts'. They don't want to see that the only effect is, that many werewolves become embittered over their horrible treatment. It creates the very monsters society thinks it's battling."
He could see he'd gotten his point across and now had the honest hope his students would see his problem as what it was - just a sickness he was suffering from.
Time went by and the time for recess had come.
Harry and Ron were talking about the events of the morning - Ron especially, since he had grown up with certain ideas about werewolves which he was was now wondering about. Quite a few of these things now looked rather questionable, to say the least.
"All my life I only heard all kind of horrible things about werewolves. I never thought how much these people suffer due to it," Ron confessed to Harry.
"Admit it, had he not told, you would have never guessed." Harry saw Ron blush a little. "Uncle Remus proved a werewolf is a person like everyone else. They just have a sickness that makes life difficult for them once a month."
"I still wouldn't want to meet him when he is his... other self," Ron said, stumbling a little around the proper words in order to not offend Harry.
"Trust me, Uncle Remus would be the first to say it would be insane to seek the wolf. He makes no bones about the fact that the wolf is dangerous." Harry knew Remus was right in that the wolf was dangerous and had to be properly contained each month.
"I feel bad that I did think think of these people as monsters. ... I was surprised by Hermione... She was quite... passionate about defending them." Ron honestly had no idea what to think of the girl, as she was sending conflicting signals. He had difficulties to understand what kind of person she was.
"I know. She struck me more as a bookworm than anything else. She's confusing." Truth to be told, Harry also found the girl weird and difficult to approach.
While it had been easy to befriend Ron - almost naturally so - it was as if there was an invisible barrier surrounding Hermione, making it difficult to befriend her. Harry had no idea why that was, but it clearly seemed to be difficult for the girl to make friends. This morning however showed she did have a compassionate side as well.
"I think girls in general are confusing. There are times when I don't get what Ginny is talking about, and she's my sister." Ron was thankful that Ginny actually wasn't like some of the girls in school - giggly and liking girly stuff that mad his sensibilities shudder. That would have been a nightmare.
"Speaking of... girls ahead," Harry cautioned Ron.
Indeed, Harry saw three girls approach them. He had expected Ginny, the girl was making an effort but it was clear she was still wrestling with years of hero-worship and it would take some time before she could treat him like any other kid. Luna he hadn't had any chance to speak with yet, but from what Ron told him, she was supposed to be a bit strange. Hermione was walking with these two girls, looking like she was trying hard not to roll her eyes.
"That doesn't make any sense," Hermione complained to Luna. "Where did you even hear that?"
"My Daddy wrote it," Luna told her.
If anything, Hermione looked a bit annoyed now. "Just because he wrote it doesn't mean he's right."
Luna didn't look pleased with that answer. However, Ginny, sensing that this could devolve into a longer argument, took the chance when they were close to Harry and her brother. "Oh... Luna, I don't think you've met Harry yet."
"Oh, eh... hello?" Harry was a bit unsure how to greet the girl when she gave him an unreadable look.
It took several long seconds, before Luna started to talk. "It is understandable why Ginny is so disappointed. After all, you hardly look like the Prince Charming she has been pining for to take her on great adventure."
"LUNA!" Ginny gasped, blushing hard enough that she almost matched her hair color. She then heard Ron snicker. "Ron, that's not funny!"
Ron tried his best to get himself back under control. "I just... can't help it..."
"Well, I'm not what Ginny imagined. And you are Ginny's friend Luna, the one she already told us of?" Harry asked the blond girl.
"Yes, that is me." Luna then gave Harry a closer look. "No, you clearly are not a big adventurer. Unlike in that book Ginny showed me, you wouldn't last long against a dragon, not even against a small one."
"Eh, thanks?" Harry wondered what it was with that girl.
"Don't mind that, Harry. She always says what's on her mind, even if it gets her into trouble," Ron told Harry, remembering a few times in school where Luna's habit had gotten her into trouble.
Honestly, one incident from spring especially came to Ron's mind. He didn't know what exactly Luna had said to one girl, as no one wanted to tell him, but it had resulted in the girl getting angry and slapping Luna so hard, it had caused her to bleed from her mouth. And yet, while Luna did grimace in pain, she then had told the girl coldly that hurting her won't make what she'd said any less truthful.
"Honesty might be a good thing, but if you lack any tact it becomes hurtful," Hermione said, still trying to understand how that girl was thinking.
Luna gave Hermione a deep look. "It would no longer be honesty if I try to disguise the truth," she then told the girl plainly.
"Is she always like that?" Harry whispered to Ron.
"Yeah. Considering how often she's around, I got used to it. Just go with it and she's nice enough," Ron told Harry. He then looked to Ginny. "What is it with these two?"
Ginny, thankful she wouldn't have to talk to Harry and ridicule herself, rolled her eyes. "Hermione seems to take offense at some of the things Luna believes in. Luna is annoyed by Hermione blindly believing authority figures. Do the math."
Ron and Harry vowed right away to stay out of that little feud between these two girls.
...Ministry of Magic courtroom, October 3rd...
Mr. Brookman looked ready to have a heart attack when the court made its final judgment. They had faught tooth and nail to avert the outcome, but in the end it had been futile. The problem was two-fold. He was used to using his influence to get out of legal tight spots, but since Sirius Black came from an old - and especially rich - family, it meant his usual methods would not work. Even worse, Mr. Shark had proven to be a smart and vicious opponent who seemingly took great delight in ripping apart the positions of the opposition.
He had even tried the defense, that since Mr. Black had made himself impossible to contact, it was his own fault. Though the court had shot down that rather ridiculous reasoning pretty fast. In the end his publishing house had run out of ways to avoid what was coming.
"This therefore is the verdict. Bookman Publishing was found guilty of violating the personality rights of a minor, Mr. Harry Potter, to profit from his fame. No contract had ever been made. This court therefore sentences Brookman Publishing to pay a penalty of 20.000 Galleons to Harry Potter. Furthermore, a share of 30 percent of all future profits from sales of items connected to Harry Potter goes to the wronged party."
20.000 galleons... gone! Brookman barely held back a cry of dismay. That was a really big sum and would eat up a big part of their reserves. However, the 30 percent share of all future profits now going to Potter was perhaps even worse.
Looking to the prosecution table, he saw Mr. Shark giving him a cold, toothy smile that was quite menacing and really honored his namesake. Sirius Black on the other hand hadn't attended the whole court battle. As Mr. Shark explained, he did not want the all the publicity, just wanted to be left alone. After all, there had been no need for him to appear in person.
Even worse for Brookman was the purgatory of the press that took him prisoner right outside of the courtroom. Their questions made an already bad day even worse and Brookman really felt like he needed some hard alcohol to get through it.
Had he been smart, he would have taken the back exit like Mr. Shark did, but right at the moment he hardly was in any position to think clearly. Half-blind from all the magical flashlights going off, he ignored the questions from the reporters and tried to force his way through the blockade. No way he wanted to deal with this.
Two men were watching the whole spectacle from a distance.
"Black might be a massive disgrace to all pure-bloods, but this proves that we should never underestimate the man," Lucius Malfoy commented, shaking his head at the media circus surrounding the Brookman case. "What a loss for our cause."
"Yes, such a pity that he turned full blood-traitor. Had he not gotten all these strange ideas, he would have been a strong ally for our cause. Well, it's no use to cry over spilled milk," Mr. Nott agreed and both of them walked to the lift back to the atrium.
"In past years the Ministry existed to service us. I don't like how far from its true purpose it has fallen," Mr. Nott complained on the way after being sure no one else was around. "It's like a nasty rot is slowly happening with the number of mudbloods in the Ministry slowly rising with each year."
"Patience, I have heard from my sources that Bagnold has become tired of her position and doesn't want to try her hand at another re-election," Mr. Malfoy said while they entered the lift, making no secret of how he felt this was an opportunity.
Nott raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that's fortunate, but who could follow her as next Minister? Crouch is discredited with his career being at a dead end, and neither Bones nor Scrimgeour have any wish to leave their current positions. And of course we all know Dumbledore's position, though many will of course try to convince him otherwise. Not that any of them would be to our liking."
Malfoy gave Nott a knowing smile. "I have someone already vetted to take the job; I only need to invest some money into his campaign. It's Cornelius Fudge."
"Fudge? He's a paper-pusher in the Department of Magical Accidents with little real skills an deven less sense for politics. Why him of all people?" Nott asked, finding the choice less than impressive.
"Oh, him being incompetent and not a bright light is no problem. He has one redeeming quality that will further our cause greatly: thanks to his weak character he's easy to influence, especially with the right coinage," Malfoy explained his reasoning.
"Ahh!" Now Nott understood. "Malfoy, I don't know if I have said so before, but it's your calculating mind, not your very potent magic, that is truly your most devastating weapon."
"No flattery, please," Malfoy chuckled, "It will take some time, but at the end of Fudge's term all these mudblood-lovers will rub their eyes at how different things will have become."
The lift then arrived and they exited into the atrium in order to use the public floos to return home. Yes, soon enough things again would go in their favor at the Ministry. They might have lost the war, but their enemies would lose the peace.
...magical preschool, October 7th...
It again was recess in the magical preschool and the children were sitting at the tables in the big hall, enjoying their packed lunches while socializing and talking in excitement about the things they had been told in class. After all, for almost all of them magic and the culture surrounding it was a completely new world.
It looked a little awkward how two tables were pushed together, but it had been practical. While these tables could seat four people, it would have been crowded. It had been Ginny's idea to put two tables together to make it easier for them. At the moment Harry listened attentively to the Weasley siblings describing some things from the magical world while Luna had her nose in a book about the Bermuda Triangle.
Hermione was missing, but that wasn't such a surprise, as the girl seemed to have trouble interacting with children her own age. Oh, she was trying, but just as often she came over as somewhat insensitive or even annoying. While Luna didn't seem to mind - it was difficult to gauge the girl - and Ginny was trying her best with her, Ron and Harry at times were tempted to roll their eyes.
"So your father has to fix it whenever some wizard or witch enchanted ordinary items and then got careless with them?" Harry asked, having listened in fascination what Mr. Weasley did for a living.
"That's basically it. You wouldn't believe what kind of stupid stuff Dad encounters on the job... at least those he told us of." Ginny had become better around Harry, though still a bit reserved. Getting over hero-worship was more difficult than one might imagine.
"Yes, like that one witch who thought it's smart to enchant a coffee-maker and then use it in mixed company. Dad got nightmares from all the injuries that came out of that one. Yikes!" Ron remembered.
"Eh, but I remember you told me he owns a car that can fly?" Harry asked, remembering his reaction when Ron had told him that nugget.
"Oh, but he's allowed to own that. He managed to smuggle some kind of loophole into the law when it was made," Ron said proudly, feeling that had been quite clever of his father, testament of how much people tend to underestimate him. "Though, Mum was not very impressed with him," Ron added, remembering how his mother had given his father serious grief over it.
"It is amazing what you can accomplish once you know where the gaps in the system are," Luna remarked dryly, not looking up from her book.
"Does he even have a driver's license?" Harry wondered, shuddering a little when imagining someone without one driving through London.
"Surprisingly, yes." Ron laughed a little. "He got a stern talking to from some of the forget-guys because he damaged someone else's car and without the papers, it took them to clean up the mess. After that, he worked really hard to get a license."
Harry understood what Ron was talking about. As a constable, Sirius was also needed at the scene of traffic accidents, and he had told Harry quite a bit about his duties whenever that happened. Thus, getting caught without a license or other papers would have been highly unfortunate. No wonder Mr. Weasley got them after that; he must have been highly embarrassed by the incident.
"However, that's only some of Dad's work. Most of his work is about Muggle baiting. Dad says that it shows we are not as good as some pure-bloods say we are," Ginny added, remembering some of the stories about mean items. To her, that was plain bullying.
It was that moment that Hermione appeared, plopping down onto her chair. She looked stressed, but none of them dared to ask her what was wrong. Hermione ignored their conversation - highly unusual - and munched on her lunch for several minutes, until she noticed the book Luna was reading and saw the title.
"Urgh, that author. I swear he's on the same level of fraud as von Däniken with his Chariot of the Gods?," Hermione grumbled, clearly having a low opinion of the author.
Luna finally looked up from the book. "Oh, the claims are quite outlandish; even in the magical world they would be. I do read it for the entertainment value."
"You find entertainment by reading factless speculation which has the sole intent to make the author rich?" Hermione asked, finding that hard to believe.
"Everyone is different, and one's boredom is another's entertainment." That said, Luna returned her attention to her book.
That girl is honestly weird. She had given up on understanding how Luna's mind worked, as it had caused her headarches.
"Uh... hello?"
The voice was nervous and uncertain, and none of them could honestly tell who it was. So they looked to where it came from and got a surprise. The boy who stood there, looking highly nervous, was Neville Longbottom. None of them knew him that well, since he was awfully quiet and didn't seem to socialize with the other children. To be honest, they also hadn't seen him get much of a result during their first practical lesson, yet he obviously had to have magic.
It was Hermione, who after some seconds of silence spoke up, feeling reminded of her own social awkwardness. "Ah, hello. You are Neville Longbottom, aren't you?"
"Uh, yes... I am."
This was new for Neville, that no one knew of his status. Those from non-magical families didn't know anyway, while Ron and Ginny were too young to be interested in such things. Luna perhaps could know, but she kept her mouth shut, proving she did know when to better stay silent. The lack of any expectation had certainly helped Neville to relax a bit, but that didn't make him any less nervous, especially after the disastrous first practical lesson, where he hadn't even produced sparks.
Seeing how the boy fidgeted, they decided to take pity on him. "Want to sit at our table? We still have one free chair," Ginny offered.
Neville did as offered."Thanks. Uh, no offense... but..." Neville finally gathered his courage. "Are you the Harry Potter?"
That clinched it that Neville was from the magical world, as only they tended to ask that question. Harry sighed and pushed back his hair to show his fainter scar. "Yes, I am. It has healed a lot, so I can't fault you if you are unsure. However, I'm nothing like everyone thinks I am - including these books."
"Oh..." Neville noticed Ginny blush a little, cluing him in that she had been part of the target audience of the Harry Potter Adventure Books. "So no one is expecting great stuff from you?"
That sounded interesting to Harry. "My guardians right now only expect me to do well in school. Lots of pressure on you however? Is it your parents?"
"No, my parents are not pressuring me. It's... well, everyone else." Neville tried hard not to remember the humiliation of other magical children calling him a squib since he hadn't shown any obvious magical potential in years.
"The children from old pure-blood houses are always judged more harshly; weakness is not tolerated by many houses." Luna then noticed the looks she got and put down her book. "The Longbottoms are a well-known pure-blood house. Didn't you know that?"
Hermione felt a little embarrassed that Luna in that regard was better informed than her, despite her parents having bought her a few books from Diagon Alley - made possible with a little charm on a chain that allowed them to see the Leaky Cauldron. She'd had no idea that the Longbottoms actually were part of the elite of magical Britain.
"Oh no..." Neville already saw them now looking different at him.
"Oh, should I not have said this?" Luna asked.
There was some uneasy silence, until Ron snorted. "Ah, forget all that blood stuff! Our own family are technically that as well, but we can't buy anything from it. As far as I'm concerned, as long as you don't try to wave around your status while having your nose high in the air, you're an OK bloke in my book."
Neville was speechless at that declaration. Perhaps things wouldn't be as bad as he had imagined them to be? "This is all new for me... The children my parents tried to have me befriend..."
Harry had a good idea where this was going. "We can imagine what happened. Just say what's on your mind. We won't hold it against you."
Neville had a feeling this would be better than he had imagined.
o
Neville Longbottom honestly had no idea what he was supposed to think while their teacher for this lesson, Ms. Feversham, showed them the movement that was supposed to make a rainbow erupt from their training wands - normally useless, but ideal for children to train with due to its harmless nature. It was not even a spell, no incantation was involved.
He'd went through his entire life more or less friendless - he had acquaintances, but no friends. Children his age either had no idea how to deal with him due to his withdrawn nature, or looked down on him due to his seeming lack of magic. He had learned to associate children of his age as nothing but trouble, which of course had only made the problem worse.
Things were vastly different in this place.
For one, no one knew who he actually was, nor the social status that came with it. Thus they also had no expectations and just treated him like they did everyone else. That was an entirely new experience for Neville and it felt good to simply vanish into the numbers of the students. Yet, years of distancing himself from others had taken its toll and he'd felt himself incapable of approaching anyone on his own.
That was, until today. After all the stories that had circulated about Harry Potter, he'd finally gathered his meager courage and approached the boy in question.
That had been a great surprise, as Harry was nothing like the rumors said. If anything, Harry Potter was a very ordinary boy with normal interests - so certainly not visiting Australia or riding dragons. If anything, that was a relief to Neville, as it meant they truly had no expectations from him. It even was downright humbling how they invited him to tag along with their loose group - loose, because after such a short time one couldn't expect strong bonds yet.
Those surrounding Harry were an interesting bunch and quite different from each other.
First there were the Weasley siblings Ron and Ginny. His grandmother once had called the Weasleys 'nice people, but way below our class'. However, he could already identify more with these two, who had the freedom to express themselves as they wanted, rather than these children from rich families. Ron clearly didn't care for things like blood status and Ginny seemed more interested in his misadventures with some of the garden plants.
Next there was Luna Lovegood. That was a truly strange girl. She stayed quiet often, only to then throw in some remarks that were often quite painfully to the mark. Yet, the girl clearly wasn't cruel about it and he'd caught her more than once stopping herself before she could say something that was too hurtful. She also gave him strange looks he didn't understand.
Last there was Hermione Granger - no doubt about her being an overachiever. Neville had real trouble to understand her, with her being muggleborn and just introduced to the magic world. If anything, she was even more of an enigma than Luna was.
Right now however, the enigma that was Luna was facing him at the table they shared as partners.
Doing as instructed, Luna produced a beautiful rainbow from her training wand - the only spell these special wands could do until being re-programmed. Neville was a bit dismayed. "Oh, right on the first try..."
Now, it was a misconception that Luna had no emotions, she had the same range of emotions like everyone, she only rarely expressed them openly due to her brain being wired somewhat differently. The eyes behind these glasses could see right through Neville and she understood while he didn't sound very enthusiastic.
"You feel humiliated, because you think you can only fail," Luna said, getting right to the point. Her blunt honesty was her most obvious trait.
"I didn't even mange to produce sparks. How am I supposed to produce a rainbow?" Neville said while blushing, starting to indeed feel humiliated.
Thing about Luna was, she was capable of great compassion, but in her own way. "With such an attitude, you of course will fail. Those children from noble houses did not appreciate the talent you have, so you now don't even want to succeed anymore."
Neville felt like he's just been slapped. "It's not like I don't want..."
"But you do. You don't even want to try." Luna knew it was a bit cruel, but she saw that it did the trick.
Yes, Neville was timid, but with the right words, even he could be angered. "Not want to try?! I'll show you!" he said heatedly and then violently arced his training wand. The rainbow that came out of it wasn't perfect - not even Hermione had managed a perfect one - but good enough. "Well, who is now... eh... huh?"
Luna gave Neville a small smile when seeing his reaction. "Much of magic is intent. If you think you can only fail, you will do so. Maybe I should request to always be partnered with you? It seems to benefit you."
"Uh... that... that would be nice, I think..." Neville blushed a little at how intensely these blue eyes behind the glasses were watching him.
At a different table, Dudley had more troubles with the spell.
"I don't think they'll accept a rainbow with only three colors," a boy named Justin Finch-Fletchley commented after observing the results of Dudley's first try. "Let me give it a try." He tried, and his rainbow was in monochrome. "Uh, not as simple as they make it look like."
"Guess both of us didn't see too many rainbows..." Dudey mumbled before trying again.
Truth to be told, Dudley had trouble to concentrate - something he always had problems with - due to the massive changes in his life.
Ever since the incident with that monster, his life wasn't the same. The horrible visions that thing had shown him had opened his eyes by force. He now was utterly aware that his life until that point had been rapidly leading towards a dead end. A dead end which at the same time was causing great misery to those around him - especially on Harry.
Change was difficult and scary, especially to someone as young as him. Trying to change your ways after you acted like that all your life was even more difficult.
The whole magic thing made it more complicated. Dudley now understood why his parents disliked Harry and had encouraged him to antagonize the boy. However, like the one time he'd thrown a boomerang and it had come back to smack him into the face, his parents' hatred had turned against them like a boomerang. He had turned out to be one of the group of people they hated so much.
It's frightening to see how much they are bending themselves to ignore what's going on, Dudley thought.
Even he could see clearly that his parents were trying hard to pretend that nothing had changed; that he in due time would go to a boarding school and little else. Magic had become a complete taboo topic, which was hard on him since he was unable to talk with them about the things he was seeing. It was depressing and Dudley was forced to see how their prejudices were now locking out a part of his life.
All of a sudden his parents didn't look so smart or wise anymore.
Taking a look to Harry, he saw him and his redhead friend joyfully waving around their training wands, being surrounded by rainbow light. He'd also seen Harry with other children, clearly having befriended them. He felt bad that he had denied Harry these joys over the years out of simple pettiness.
Now however the roles were reversed. His supposed friends at school didn't look so great anymore, now that he had started to question himself. At the same time, while the other students here didn't dislike him, they also weren't exactly waiting in a line to befriend him. He now knew how it felt to not be socially part of a group you were in.
However, he couldn't bring himself to approach Harry, mostly due to him knowing that an apology, especially now, would not be enough. Shame was a new feeling for Dudley, and he didn't like that one at all. Ironically, he now got it in spades.
Yes, life had become quite complicated all of a sudden.
...November 9th...
"Strange, I thought this would never happen in my lifetime. Now watching this happen feels almost surreal, like the world is changing before our very eyes and we have a hard time to accept it," Diane said, while they all watched the live reporting on the TV.
It had been late at the evening, with the children already being in bed, when the reports started in the news, before it switched to a live broadcast a bit later. The whole thing had been so big, that Thomas and Veronica had joined them after a phone call. Together, they watched in amazement on TV how history happened. It indeed felt a bit surreal.
"Me as well. I thought the status quo was so cemented, that nothing could ever change it. Now look at this, the world is changing before our very eyes," Thomas added.
Indeed, the broadcast was from Berlin in Germany, and the breaking news from there were almost unbelievable, if not for the pictures showing them to be true. The Berlin wall had fallen. Well, not exactly fallen, but considering that for decades it had been the most brutal border imaginable - how else could a kill zone through a city of millions be described - with current events there was no other way to describe it. It used to be impassable and now... it was not.
It was still unclear what exactly had happened to cause this, but in the end the loud demands of the people made the border troops give in. With that decision, the dam was broken and there was no way they could take that decision back. That very moment the wall, that horrific monument to the disregard of those in power for the rights and lives of their subjects, had lost its power.
"How much will that change everything?" Veronica wondered, watching how on TV how some people were climbing onto the wall to show how this concrete monstrosity had been defeated by the common man.
Diane leaned back in her seat. "I think nothing will be the same again. I know many think things like that are far away from our island, but the waves of this will hit us, mark my words."
Sirius, who up to then had been silent, looked thoughtful. "This will send shockwaves through the magical world as well, regardless how much many want to deny it. Ever since Kusnetsov's death three years ago, the cracks in the sphere of influence he created by force became visible. Now seeing this... you better believe that it's only a matter of days at best, before there is an uprising in the parts of magical Germany that are still under the control of his successors."
"You mean it will all collapse? Like a house of cards?" Thomas asked.
"I'm no politician, but even I know that Kusnetsov's helpers only managed to keep on top with violence and intimidation. Mark my words, in one year the world will look very different." Sirius leaned back a bit. "You also better believe that all that change will scare the local pure-blood circles here in Britain."
Veronica knew what he was talking about. "They are scared of change, right. To see Kusnetsov's heirs get sent to hell would scare them a lot, as it shows them no one can stay in power forever."
They returned their attention to the screen, where they saw the utter helplessness of the border guards with the situation, essentially destroying the aura of menace and danger they had used for so long to keep people from trying to leave. Something everyone had thought would lead to a war was now being solved by the common people. No way things would ever return to what it used to be - not after this day.
"I can already imagine the headlines in the conservative press. They'll reach deep into the box of Nazi stuff to paint this as the coming of the Fourth Reich. Kind of stupid, considering how often they also preach about self-determination," Diane remarked, having her experience with the press.
"I don't exactly want to imagine the headlines in the Daily Mail ot The Sun. I bet five Pound that at least one newspaper will have a huge swastika on the front page," Thomas snorted, being cynical about the British press.
Diane snorted very un-ladylike as well. "It's things like that which at times make me wonder why our country is supposed to be so great."
Sirius closed his eyes for a moment, trying to imagine something like this happening in the magical world. His imagination failed.
Who am I kidding? Magical countries only change when they are forced to it.
There was truth to it. Magical France had went through a fundamental change when its aristocratic class got their heads chopped off by underclass wizards and witches working together with the French Revolution. Magical Germany got changed forever by Grindelwald's actions resulting in the destruction of its pure-blood society. The magical United States even had went through a short but very bloody civil war, which shattered the old regime and supporters of Rappaport's Law.
Especially the last one was spooking the conservatives in Britain, considering that had happened a mere twenty years ago and the pictures of members and helpers of the old regime being hanged from the streetlights had been very vivid. I was no coincidence that only a few years later, many pure-bloods were all too willing to support Voldemort.
Whenever they remember it, they fear that that will be their future. But instead of trying to better themselves, they only became worse. Sirius felt that what happened in magical America had been a big contribution why many pure-bloods had flocked to Voldemort's side.
Sirius tried to not think of the past right now.
No, he instead wanted to keep his eyes open at what would happen next. It looked like the future, which had looked static not so long ago, now was in constant movement.
...magical preschool, March 10th 1990...
Ron was enjoying the longer than normal recess. In class, Dean Thomas had suffered a sudden fit of accidental magic, causing a watermelon to explode violently. The mess had been great enough they were let out early for recess. Normally, Ron used recess to socialize with his group of friends, but today, after being done with his lunch, he was on his own. However, he did have a good use for the free time.
Looking at his portable chess set - a set that was non-magical and worked out well for Ron, since there now were no distractions from arguing chess figures - Ron tested out a new move he had thought up, wanting to see if it worked out as intended. He supposed he was kind of good at the game, as others have told him after losing to him, but no way he could be that good, right?
Ron was not regretting getting into this place. The instructors, especially Mr. Lupin, did their best to make everything interesting and entertaining. Stuff that he normally would have found boring, they managed to convey interestingly. Even better, there was no grading, thus no pressure, which was something helping Ron quite a bit.
Then of course there also were these lessons with the instruction wands.
Granted, these wands were not the real deal, created as a new line of teaching tools by Mr. Ollivander, these wands could only do one specific spell at a time and were re-programmed by the teachers each time a new spell was trained, but they were better than not using any magic at all. It certainly was lots of fun and had already given him several small success moments.
Ron then saw Hermione approach and he had to hold back a groan.
Granted, the girl was honest in wanting to befriend them, but her problem was, that she was way too competitive for her own good. To her it seemed to be a need to answer each question as fast as possible, he'd witnessed Mr. Lupin tell her to keep essays at topic and near the instructed length, and she also had the annoying habit of correcting others even if her input was not wanted or asked for. Some of the others were already wondering about her.
It's like she's ignoring that we aren't graded, Ron thought, feeling that Hermione was trying way too hard to be the best.
Ron's other friends felt a bit uneasy about Hermione. Harry felt intimidated by the sheer drive Hermione was showing in trying to get the top spot. Neville couldn't help to be to be reminded of his own inability to be at the top and Ginny was a bit worried how difficult it was to interest the girl in non-intellectual activities. Luna said nothing, but the small disputes that tended to flare up between these two girls over various things were answer enough. Luna's habit of stating the naked truth at times could be hurtful.
Now, Ron was not a vindictive person, he wanted to befriend the girl for real, but that was difficult with how she was right now. Looking at his chess set, he had an idea. Granted, it wouldn't exactly be nice, but right at the moment he just wanted to give the girl a dose of her own medicine.
You can't be good at everything. Let's see how you like a share of humble pie...
Hermione for her part felt a bit humiliated while approaching Ron.
Mr. Lupin had again spoken with her about her essays. He'd told her that the length requirements were not for fun and that going so much over what's required - and at times off-topic - would not be tolerated at Hogwarts. She had to compress it and concentrate on the relevant parts. He'd also told her that she should give the other students a chance to answer questions, instead of her always jumping to answer at the earliest moment.
And he told me my teachers had allowed bad habits to develop. I can't help it! If I know the answer, I feel the need to say so. Just like I can't help correcting others or writing down additional information!
To be fair, Remus had made her understand that her behavior was making the other students feel uncomfortable, but part of her felt that everyone else was unreasonable und unwilling to accept that she simply knew more.
At least trying to find actual friends was making progress, or at least she hoped so. It certainly was going better than in her school, there were others she liked being with. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasly, Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom. However, she was not blind. There was some kind of invisible obstacle which was stopping them from truly opening up to her. They were more friends with each other than with her. Even Neville, who was quite timid and not exactly a social butterfly, had managed to itegrate himself into the group better than she did, despite meeting them later. It made Hermione worry what she was doing wrong that she had made so little progress.
"Ah, hello Ron. I couldn't help but to notice you often hover over a chess board," she asked awkwardly, feeling this would be a nice distraction. "You are playing the game often?"
"Oh, I do. It's a hobby of mine and I have some skill in it. You play it as well?" Ron baited her, hoping she would take the bait.
He was not disappointed. "Oh yes, I do. I also think I'm quite good at it."
Gotcha! Ron hoped his glee was not showing. "Well, want a little game?"
"Gladly, but don't be disappointed once it's over." Hermione was so sure of her victory, she felt bad for Ron. Little did she know that her attitude made Ron swear to annihilate her in the game, just to drive home a point.
A little over ten minutes later, Ron put his bishop into position. "Checkmate."
Hermione looked in utter disbelief at the board, but saw that it was true; Ron had checkmated her in record time. "I... I can't believe it!"
"You better believe it," Ron told her, seeing that their game had attracted quite an audience, who were now whispering, some not even hiding their glee that Hermione Granger got creamed at something.
Hermione blushed in humiliation; Ron had managed to utterly demolish her like it was no trouble at all. Worse, it hadn't even felt like he'd taken her seriously as an opponent. Deep inside it fed into jealously over his skill and she felt the burning need to get back at him for humiliating her like that in front of everyone else.
"How did you do it?" Hermione asked, trying to understand.
"I've played the game for years." Ron didn't feel that it needed more answer than that.
If anything, Hermione felt even worse after that answer. "I want a rematch!"
Ron had expected that answer, Hermione was a really persistent girl and she clearly was unable to live with such an embarrassing loss. "Sure, when?"
Hermione knew that she first needed to know more about chess, or there would be a repeat performance. Yet, her pride also cried for making this one more satisfying. "I'll tell you one week in advance, and then it's five games in a row!"
There's no way she can become that good in any reasonable time, Ron thought, knowing Hermione was biting off more than she could chew, but said nothing about it. Some lessons had to be learned the hard way. "Alright"
Hermione left and Harry, who has said nothing, finally found his voice. "I remember how you creamed me multiple times. That's not exactly fair to her, you know? There's no way she can beat you."
Ron snorted when hearing that. "It's not like I'm forcing her. She doing all of that herself."
Harry didn't want to press it, especially since Hermione's at times aggravating habits convinced part of him that the girl really needed her head get deflated. She did have a too high opinion of herself. "Just don't be cruel about it, OK?"
"I promise I won't gloat." Despite his temper at times, Ron was not a mean person. He then noticed Ginny standing there. "Anything to add, Ginny?"
"Not much. Just be really gentle once you've demolished her. Yes, she's a bit arrogant about her smarts and thinks a bit too often that she's in the right, but it's no reason to be mean to her." Ginny had a feeling that Hermione under the surface was insecure and vulnerable.
...Lovegood home, March 13th...
Potion brewing was one of Pandora Lovegood's favourite activities, especially when it can to experimenting with new mixtures that could have a beneficial effect. It was a passion she'd held since her early school days, when brewing potions under the watchful eye of Professor Slughorn. Granted, she had never caught his eye for that social circle of his due to her personality, but that hadn't stopped him from saying that she was a natural at brewing.
Truth to be told, her ambitions had been fired up after reading that book from Professor Snape, in which he revealed his discoveries. It had made her feel inadequate and since then she had worked much more on her experiments, feeling she would soon make a breakthrough. She'd had become a bit to complecant after Luna's birth, but now the fire of competition was back.
Adding some powdered roots, she watched the color of the bubbling potion change to a pale blue, which so far was exactly what she had intended. Such things had to be done with care, or the results could be disastrous.
"Mum, what are you brewing there?"
Turning around, she saw her daughter standing in the metal door that normally was locked to hide away the magical items of the house. Seeing the school uniform, Pandora realized that Luna was getting ready for school and she had pulled an all-nighter, as it already was morning and she had forgotten breakfast for her daughter. While her husband didn't mind and just got a bite on the way, Luna was quite picky about it.
"Oh dear, little treasure, I completely forgot the time!" Pandora gasped, then left the cauldron on a small flame to make up for her oversight. The potion needed to stay like that for a while anyway.
"So, what is that?" Luna asked again while her mother escorted her back upstairs.
"A little experiment of mine. If it works, we'll finally have a working potion against acne," Pandora told her daughter proudly. "You'll thank me once you are older, since acne is a teenage girl's nightmare."
"That's too bad. After all, it's part of the experience," Luna said, sounding totally serious.
Pandora didn't blink an eye at that statement. She herself had some strange views and thus felt it was not her place to question her daughter's view of the world. Little Luna just was a bit different than the other children.
There was not enough time left for a real breakfast, however, so she had to improvise. Luna was happy enough to munch on her cereal and didn't complain. It always was easy to satisfy her, she didn't have any extravagant or expensive wishes.
"Are you all right on your own?" She got a nod from Luna, who was busy with chewing. "That's good. Just remember to leave in time." Pandora was about to return downstairs, when... -riiiing- "Oh, that must be the postman."
Living in a house in town and immersing themselves in their surroundings also meant they also got some mail with the postman, and him ringing the doorbell meant she had to confirm delivery. Her husband loved their living arrangements and Pandora found that even now each day was a small adventure in itself.
She had just greeted the postman...
-BOOOOOOM!-
An explosion in the cellar shook the house, causing Pandora to stumble and fall. Smoke started to emerge from the cellar stairs and Luna had run to her, looking scared. The postman did notice the smoke as well. "Fire! Quick, get out of here!"
Minutes later, Pandora and Luna sat outside, shell-shocked, while the fire brigade had arrived to battle the fire in the cellar. Pandora had become pale when realizing that if the postman had not arrived at that moment, the potion would have exploded right in her face. She held no illusions that she could have survived that. She held a shivering Luna close.
"Oh, thank goodness!"
Pandora and Luna suddenly were held by a sobbing Xenophilius. Right now they didn't care how he got notified of the incident; him being there was all that mattered at the moment. They sat in silence until the leader of the local fire brigade approached them.
"Fire's out. The house itself is mostly all right, though you have to get the smoke damage repaired. The cellar on the other hand... we only found slag and ashes down there, so whatever was down there is a total loss," he reported to them.
Xenophilius shook his head. "Our family is in good health, that's most important. Everything else can be replaced."
"Luna!"
They saw Ginny Weasley making a beeline for them. News like these travel fast in a small town like theirs, so Ginny must have heard it on her way to school and decided that this was more important. Ron stood a distance away, clearly feeling that this was Ginny's moment, so he kept back.
"Luna, I heard... Are you...?" Ginny had difficulties to ask, none the least due to er having run all the way.
"No... I'm not..." Clearly Luna was deeply shaken that she had temporarily lost her normal behavior. "Mum... Had I not asked for breakfast... It would have exploded into her face..."
Today had been a close call and reminded everyone painfully, that life could very easily be taken away when you would least expect it.
...magical preschool, April 21st...
Their game had attracted a lot more attention than anticipated and even caused Remus to drop the next lesson, since everyone wanted to see it come to its final conclusion. Yet the room was dead silent while Hermione waited for Ron to make his next move.
She didn't have to wait for long, seeing in horror how she lost her second bishop to Ron's rook. Hermione already felt like sinking into the ground in sheer embarrassment, seeing as this final match also was going badly for her as well.
She had thrown herself into learning chess strategies from as many books as possible and played many matches against herself to try and improve herself. The only way all this preparation showed however, was in the fact that she was not losing as badly as the first time some weeks ago. Granted, the next of each of the five matches was longer than the one preceding it, with her slowly getting a feel for her opponent, but in the end it made no difference. Ron was still handling her with startling ease.
"That's no game, that's more of a massacre than anything else..." Harry whispered to Neville while they were watching the game in the audience.
Neville couldn't help but to agree. "Not exactly smart of her to challenge Ron. I should know." After he's lost a few games to Ron, he'd conceded that Ron simply was way too good and he could not give him a proper challenge.
Ron for his part felt a little sorry for Hermione by this point while he stealthily boxed in her king in preparation for the finishing blow.
He had already won the first four matches and was close to winning the fifth one as well. Considering how red the girl was by now, it was pretty obvious she was highly embarrassed by her performance. Ron was less surprised; intense preparation did not work against someone with years of experience, even though she had improved significantly. While he felt that Hermione had already learned her lesson and got deflated, his pride forbade him to throw the last match.
Finally, the inevitable happened. "Checkmate."
The whole class applauded Ron for his flawless victory, some louder than the others due to how they relished seeing know-it-all Granger being put into her place. Yet, Ron didn't exactly enjoy his victory, feeling a bit guilty now when seeing Hermione's mortification at how she had been steamrollered.
"I'm amazed..." Neville said in awe after seeing such a show of dominance.
"Congratulations, Ron. That was a very impressive display of strategic thinking," Remus told Ron, then looked to Hermione. "Don't take it too hard. While you have a bright mind, you did learn a valuable lesson today; there always is someone better. Humility is something that sadly can only be learned the hard way."
"Hermione, I..." Ron tried to apologize for humiliating her in front of everyone, but she stopped him.
"Ron, no. It may sound stupid... but I needed this." While her pride had been hurt badly, she did understand what had happened. "It was my arrogance that made me challenge you."
"Ron, you might feel bad right now, but Hermione finally has been forced to see that while she is gifted in the intellectual field, others have their own fields they are especially good at," Remus added, in order to clarify for the children. Remus himself had never been arrogant about his intellect, perhaps due to his lycanthropy having destroyed that kind of arrogance early on. He had always been the good boy.
"Ron, that was awesome! All these games against Bill and I still had no idea you are that good!" Ginny beamed with pride while hugging her brother.
"Is it really that impressive...?" Ron asked.
Harry laughed at the question. "Are you joking? I remember how you flattened me. Hermione is lots better than me, and you still made a clean sweep."
"Uh, really? I felt like my game was horrible," Hermione asked.
"Eh, you actually were really good. The only one who gave me as much trouble was my brother Bill, and he plays the game for years." Ron hoped that would make her feel a bit better.
"Oh, you all have to forgive Ronald. He is never taking proper credit for his feats and does not know of his true worth. That is strange, because he is capable of seeing the skill of others," Luna said with a straight face.
There was some uncomfortable silence and Luna just gave everyone a look as if wondering what the problem was. Luna had the habit of stating truths that others didn't say outright due to tact - the girl simply had no filter and always said what was on her mind. While some said that honesty is a virtue, there also was too much of it, as Luna had painfully experienced a few times.
"You actually mean that?" Ron asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable after Luna had spelled it out.
Luna gave him an unreadable look and pushed her glasses up her nose. "You would prefer me to be dishonest? I've heard some prefer that."
Ron had no idea what to say, but Hermione did. "You're really good... Have you ever considered applying for the junior chess tournament? I read about it while preparing."
"Eh, what...?!" Ron thought he hadn't heard right.
"No, really! Please think about it, all right? Application for the local qualification rounds is still open." Hermione asked Ron.
"Eh, what do all of you think? I can't exactly see me doing that." Ron was unsure if Hermione had joked or if she was serious about it.
"Ronald..." The light reflected on Luna's glasses and it looked somewhat scary for a moment.
"I know! I know!" Ron knew the girl was annoyed that he seemed to have ignored her insight. "Just... you guys think I can actually do it?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Ron, you are my brother but at times... Just try it, OK? Nothing bad will happen if you don't get in - only you then know there's someone better than you." Ron knew that Ginny, while loving him dearly, at times was less than impressed with him.
"Now, why don't you try? Worst case you don't get far. Come on, Ron! Don't you want to see how good you are?" Harry encouraged his friend.
That left Neville, the one member of their group who was the least vocal and the most nervous. Seeing how the others gave him a look, he knew he had to say something. "Uhm, you won't know how good you are until you try?"
Having heard all the encouragement, Ron decided to perhaps give it a try, though he would have to ask his parents about it, since there surely would be a small entrance fee into the competition. He also would need to ask Hermione how to actually enter, since she hadn't given him any details about that. Ron still was a bit skeptical if he would get very far in the competition, but at least he should try.
They are right, what's the worst that could happen? But I still think I would need so much luck... "All right, I'll ask Mum to enter me."
"You know, Ron, I have to thank you. I was not a good friend to all of you. I really needed this to wake me up." Hermione looked a bit depressed at the memory how she had been quite a bit condescending to them.
"Hermione, don't say that!" Ginny tried to defend her.
"No, I really wasn't that nice." Hermione closed her eyes, being disappointed with herself. "I've never before had friends. I was fumbling badly to try and make it work and wasn't good at it."
She was not prepared for when Harry, Ginny, Ron, Luna and Neville surrounded her and drew her into a group hug. She had no idea how to react, but the message was clear. They did forgive her her errors and were giving her a second chance. She felt moved how they all still wanted to be friends with her, despite her blunders.
She really wanted to do better this time.
o
"Ron, could you please check the mailbox?" Molly Weasley asked her youngest son while being busy with cleaning up the breakfast table.
"No problem, Mum!" Ron called and went outside.
It was a warm but overcast July the 14th and comfortable silence surrounded the Burrow apart from the sound of the wind in the leaves of the trees. Walking down the dirt path that led to the front gate, Ron was somewhat aware that the mailbox was a somewhat recent development, together with some other things.
In the past, since no one non-magical visited the Burrow, it was enough to simply maintain an illusion built into the structure of the house that from afar made it look like an ordinary farmhouse. However, with their growing involvement in the non-magical world and sending their children to school, certain problems arose, forcing Arthur and Molly to adapt.
For one, in order to prevent accidents with anyone too curious, they had built a fence at the edge of their property. Also, since the amount of non-magical mail they got had increased, it became impractical to pick it up from the post office in the town. Nowadays, they did have a mailbox right next to the gate leading to their property and should it be necessary, the postman could ring a bell right next to it - though Ron had no idea how exactly that thing worked.
Unlocking the mailbox, Ron took out some letters and looked them over on the way back to the house. However, he stopped when seeing that one of the letters was addressed to him. In was from the organisers of the local qualification round for the junior chess tournament.
I know they told me I did well, but now I'm curious how I did, Ron thought.
Ron felt he had done well in the qualification games, but he had been critical of himself at times taking too many turns to win the game, due to him wanting to experiment with his tactics a bit. There also had been a few games against adults, due to them wanting to gauge his skill level. Ron had lost some of those - these men and women were damn good - and he worried that this could have undermined his wins in the qualification itself.
Walking back inside, Ron gave his mother the other mail and then opened up his letter. Reading it, his eyes widened. "Eh, what? Mum, can you come for a moment?"
"Ron, is something wrong?" His mother hoped that it was nothing bad.
"Please tell me I've read this right," Ron asked her, handing her the letter.
Molly took the letter and read it herself. Her eyes widened when she realized why her son had wanted her to confirm what was written in it. She laid the letter down, before suddenly hugging her son. "Oh, Ron! Qualified for the national tournament!"
Truth to be told, while Molly had believed her son was good at the game, she had humored him when he'd asked to be entered in the regional qualifications for his age group of 9-12 years. Ron had done well, she had seen so herself, but the competition was stiff and she had not wanted to get his hopes too high. This letter however had proven her wrong. Not only did Ron qualify, but he even had impressed the adults supervising.
She had been told that the games against them were solely meant to give the aspiring chess players a reality check and show them the level that adults played at. They were not meant to win those games. As she'd read in the letter, Ron had won two of those games, before his opponents had taken him seriously, a feat none of the others had managed.
"I'm so proud of you..." She had feared Ron would stay in a strange state of limbo, but clearly something had changed.
Ron felt great to finally get that kind of feedback, but he was a little overwhelmed. After all, if this was his mother reacting to him qualifying, how would she get once he would start to advance in the tournament itself?
I hope there isn't anything like being hugged to death, Ron hoped.
...Hogwarts, June 22nd...
Another school year had passed and it had been mere minutes since the students had been sent home and Hogwarts had fallen silent for the summer. However, the two men walking up the stairs to the office of the Headmaster, unlike the students, were not in high spirits. With the end of the school year, an unpleasant situation had become reality and both men now needed to have a final discussion, before the other would leave the school for the time being.
"I honestly have to say that I am sad to lose you as a teacher, Quirinius," Dumbledore told the as of one hour former Muggle Studies professor after both men had sat down in the Headmaster's office, now that the students had been sent home for the summer, with the school year being over.
"Oh, please... both of us know that my decision only accelerated the inevitable. I... I do after all know that the Board was already pressuring you into replacing me, Headmaster," Quirinius Quirrell told his former boss, having no illusions.
The Headmaster sighed at that reminder. "Yes, their complaints surely have gotten to you, despite my defense."
Fact was, that the Board of Governors had taken a closer look at Quirrell's lessons in Muggle Studies and even they had deemed them outdated - something that was quite telling. So they had put the pressure on Dumbledore to replace Quirrell, whom they had deemed not fit for teaching the subject anymore. The Headmaster had wanted to fight for his professor, but Quirrell had decided that perhaps it was for the best the resign.
"It was not my fault that all the material I got pretty much ended in 1920, making my subject very outdated. They accuse me for it, despite them being the ones setting it all up originally. Hypocrites, all of them. At least I was able to use the time to find a proper replacement," Quirrell sighed.
"Ah yes. Charity Burbage surely will be able to get some fresh air into the subject. Her knowledge stretches quite far into this century," Dumbledore acknowledged the new professor for Muggle Studies.
"She surely is good. At least I got the chance to select her myself." Quirrell then fell silent and leaned back in his seat.
Dumbledore was a little concerned when seeing the way Quirrell acted. "Quirinius, if I may ask, what are your future plans?"
Quirrell was silent for a few more moments. "I plan to travel the world for a year. I feel like my life has reached a point where I'm pulled into several directions. I want to explore the wonders of the world, seek out mysteries. Perhaps it will help me to solve my inner conflict."
"Can I call upon you once that year is over? You know how difficult it has become for me to fill the Defense post, despite the solution we have found to preserve the well-being of our professors," Dumbledore asked the ex-professor.
Quirrell sighed, giving the Headmaster a knowing look. "After all you have done for me, how can I deny you? In one year I will take up your offer. Please don't let the poor sap who takes the post in the interim suffer from something."
Quirrell then excused himself to pack his things. He really wanted to start his journey as soon as possible.
Watching the former professor leave, Dumbledore leaned back in his own seat and thought about the situation. Charity Burbage was more than qualified to take over Muggle Studies, but he still felt that the Board essentially had bullied Quirrell out. While he had lots off leeway as the Headmaster, the Board could overrule him in certain cases, or just use their influence to move things towards their liking.
In his mind, Quirrell had given up a bit too easy, as he had been prepared to fight for the man. However, it was understandable considering the inner turmoil Quirrell currently was in - not exactly the best state of mind to make rational decisions about the future.
Well, at least he would have him on his staff for one more time in a year.
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"The Pieces Move into Place"
Notes:
Here the notes.
Now, first off, the title of this chapter plays upon the song of the same name from the German rock band Scorpions, which had the changes in 1989/1990 as a background.
I know that Rowling had intended the AIDS-parallel with Remus' situation, and the neighbor Hermione talks about was in a situation that many victims of AIDS were in in the 80s. However, since Hermione is so young, she of course has no idea of extactly what sickness is was.
While we see Brookman lose, I really wanted to show what Malfoy's original plan was: him actually sponsoring Fudge, who is ill-equipped for the job, only to then make himself irreplaceable to the man and transform him into a useful idiot, through which he becomes the puppet master.
Finally I introduce Neville to the group. He's surprisingly difficult to write. I couldn't resist the scene, where Luna manages to coax some magic out of him.
Now you see the changes that caused Pandora Lovegood to survive. Essentially, being inspired by the Weasleys sending their children to school and thus changing their lifestyle as well. Luna wanting breakfast made her mother leave the cellar, and them now actually getting mail by the postman kept her upstairs and thus she survived.
Yes, this here is the moment where Hermione finally realizes that she does have flaws as well. It will be a constant struggle for her, but since it happens at such a young age, she is far more open to working on herself and how she treats others.