Trousers
When they calmed down, Sev asked Hippolyta, "Don't you want to try to sleep a little?"
"What time is it?"
I'm going to tell her exactly, like she does. "Six forty-two."
"Two multiples of three."
They laughed.
"It's no longer worth sleeping, we'll leave the house at a quarter past seven," said the girl.
"Well, you still have half an hour."
"I prefer to stay chatting with you."
"Okay. What do you want to chat about?" he asked.
"I've been thinking more things. Since I was angry with you yesterday I didn't even ask you how your Potions exams went."
"They both went very well for me, for Outstanding."
"What potion did you prepare in the practical one?" she asked.
He told her.
"That's from fourth year," the girl remembered.
"Bravo, Hippolyta!"
"Of course, I already told you that I had read the entire theory."
"But you remember," Sev valued.
"I also told you that I have a very good memory. I even remember some ingredients."
"Oh really? Let's see, say."
She told them.
"Very good!" he exclaimed, admired. "You got almost all of them right."
"Which ones have I missed?"
"Only two." He told her.
"I will no longer forget them, because I do not forget anything that happens to me with you," said Hippolyta.
"Well, I prefer that you forget the bad times we have had these days."
"No, Prince, not that either, so that it doesn't happen again."
"Okay, I agree with you, but don't think too much about it, don't have a bad time."
"Okay, Prince, I'll listen to you, I promised you. What did you get in theory?"
Sev told her.
"A recipe from each year."
"Very good, Hippolyta. You are amazing, just having read it."
"If you want, I'll tell you the ingredients too."
"Go ahead."
She told him, the third year recipe was perfect, including the quantities, and not all of the others, but none wrong.
"You are incredible, Hippolyta," deeply admired. "You have not made a mistake in any of them."
The girl laughed. "How did Anthony do?"
Well, she cares about family too. "Also for Outstanding, although he only needs Exceeds Expectations."
"Of course, because for Defense they only ask for EE. What about Heather and Fiona?"
"Also for Outstanding, they do need it," Sev responded.
"What NEWTs are they going to take?"
"Fiona, Potions, and Heather, Medimagic."
"What subjects are needed for Medimagic and what grades do they require?" asked Hippolyta.
He told her.
"Wow... it's more difficult than Defense, one more subject, and doing both requires six Outstandings," she realized.
Wow… she hasn't even had to think about it, she's very quick-thinking, that's why she has such good reflexes.She will catch up with the numbers quickly. "Yes, but many coincide, that's why I have been able to get both. I don't have as good a memory as you and I was terrible at Transfiguration."
"What grades did you get in Transfiguration?"
"Exceed Expectations," Sev responded.
"Well, that's not you were terrible at it."
"For me it is, because I am everything Outstanding."
"And don't you need to study?" Hippolyta asked. "You're wasting your time with me."
"Of the seven I only have three left, I don't have the next one until Tuesday afternoon and I'm over the top, Arithmancy, always Outstanding."
"And what are the other two that you are missing?"
"Defense on Thursday and Transfiguration on Friday," he replied.
"Ugh… two days in a row."
"Yeah, it's a bummer, luckily now I'm over the top at both as well."
"And the exams you have already taken, how were they?" she asked.
"All for Outstanding."
"Wow… you are going to win the prizes."
"Well yes, I hope so, but we won't know until next year, the OWL grades are not known until the end of July," Sev clarified.
"Yes, I already knew it. Do you know? I already know the subjects that are needed for Astronomy."
"Oh really?"
"Yes, I asked Valerie when we returned from the Quidditch pitch," Hippolyta said.
"Well, tell me."
"Outstanding in Astronomy and Arithmancy and Exceed Expectations in Charms and Divination."
"Wow… you will continue studying Arithmancy also during the NEWT," he realized.
"Well yes, numbers, numbers, I really want them, I've had a great time doing my Astronomy homework these days."
Great, she will be very interested.And she is very atypical, she likes numbers and at the same time has a good memory, she will be an exceptional student. "The bad thing is that only Charms matches with the Defense ones. You will have to take eight subjects during the NEWT."
"You see what a problem, now I have seven, and you are also going to make seven during the NEWT," she played it down.
"Yes, but in NEWT you take more than one class per week on all subjects."
"Well, if necessary, I'll ask for a Time-Turner and that's it."
"And have you already thought about what electives are you going to enroll in next year?" Sev asked.
"Have you already asked the old man if I can?"
"Yes, he has already told me you can."
"Great... I would like all of them, but if I have to catch up with numbers, which I'm good at but I'm very slow, training with the Army, flying, walking through the Forest with you... I can't afford to waste so much time, so for the moment I will only enroll in those two," the girl responded. "Depending on how I get on with Arithmancy and learning to write during the summer, I will think about Ancient Runes and Care of Creatures. Surely not Muggle Studies, because Ariel has told me that if you want you can study it on your own by reading the books, which are all in the Library."
Fully practical, how I like it, and efficient, she has already planned everything, she will be a magnificent organizer also when she is commander.She has it all, she is extraordinary. "Very well thought out, Hippolyta. We will study Muggle Studies together."
"Life is not going to be enough for us, Prince!"
They laughed.
"It will ve enough for us, it will." I'll leave for another time to tell her about the Dueling Chair.I will do it when we return alone to the Forest, which will be soon.Let's plan it so that she have hope until then. "What exam do you have after Astronomy?" he asked.
"Defense, Tuesday afternoon."
"Well... you're really good at that one... I imagine you know the theory verbatim."
"I do."
"I'll ask you on Tuesday morning," Sev proposed. "Don't do the practice non-verbally, otherwise they'll catch us that I taught you."
"Ugh, Prince... you offend me," sad. "I have already shown you that I know how to hide."
"True, sorry, but I hadn't warned you, I had to. Do you have an exam on Wednesday?"
"I don't, day off," Hippolyta responded.
"Great, then on Wednesday I can help you with Thursday's and Friday's ones, which are Charms and Potions."
"That is, Potions on Thursday and Charms on Friday. Both in the afternoon."
"Then it occurs to me that we can take the next flight class on Monday after dinner, because the next day you have a subject that you don't need to study," he suggested.
"Wow... great…" she was excited.
"And on Tuesday morning we'll escape to the pond again, and I'll ask you there about the Defense theory."
"Wow… Prince…. yes..." even more so. "And we'll bathe again... Is it going to be hot?"
"Yes, it's going to be hot, but we'll bring clothes to change into. Do you have two t-shirts?"
"Yes I have."
"And we'll grab food from the kitchens to eat something mid-morning," Sev proposed.
"Okay. Do I have to hide again?"
"You don't, Hippolyta, we'll have breakfast normally. I'll explain to the others what we're going for, I'll tell them that I'm going to train you for Defense practice. Maybe we won't spend as much time as we did on Thursday."
"Well, it doesn't matter," somewhat disappointed, and anxious. "Will we go another day after the exams?"
"If I can, we will."
"Well, three times, multiple of three."
. . . . . . . . .
During that dinner, as Hippolyta already behaved well, eating a large part of the first and second course and a little dessert watched by Valerie, Sev dedicated himself to talking to Dumbledore about the girl's problem, with Deborah listening, in order to that they let her wear trousers for the remainder of the school year.
"Oh… I had already noticed that you were arriving earlier at the Great Hall," the Headmaster told him. "Why haven't you told me before?"
"We found out on Thursday, Albus."
"Oh… what a problem. What are you doing about it?"
Sev explained it to him.
"Very good, it seems to be working," Dumbledore approved. "When do you think you will get the response from Deborah's parents?"
"Surely she will receive a letter from them tomorrow morning."
"I suspect that they will not have been able to contact such a doctor during the weekend, that they will not be able to do so at least until the next weekdays. It occurs to me that we could do something else in the meantime."
"Tell me, Albus."
"I think the doctor will need her data, height, weight and perhaps other body measurements to make an adequate assessment of the severity of the situation. Take her tomorrow to have Madam Pomfrey measure and weigh her and have Deborah write to her parents again in the evening so that they have all the information first thing on Monday morning, before going to visit the doctor. I myself will explain to her everything you have told me, so that you do not have to do it in her presence. I will also ask her to write a report with her general impressions and you will collect it before sending the letter. I'll tell her to invent that we live in a boarding school. In addition, it will also help us compare them with those we will take the day before returning home, to know if she has experienced improvement in the few days left until the end of the term."
"Great, Albus, brilliant idea. Do you think we should write to her parents now and tell them?"
"No, don't do it. They're going to be very alarmed and want her to come home. Things are going well, you are doing great and there are very few days left until the end of the term. Let the girl finish her exams in peace, play her Quidditch final and enjoy the rest of the days after the exams. At home she will be less controlled than here, you can read her, her parents can't. You'll talk to them as soon as you get home. Let her write to them as soon as she finishes her exams asking for permission to give you her address so that you can visit her."
"We thought that Deborah and Valerie would do it in case they saw the Daily Prophet news with my portrait."
"Well thought out, although I don't think there was a major problem," said the Headmaster. "Her parents are Sly blood traitors, contrary to dogma, I think they should have been happy about what happened."
"Maybe they don't trust my change of sides."
"Let Deborah and Valerie test them, and in any case, cut your hair so they don't recognize you, Prince. You would do it for this, right?"
The old man also get me, Sev thought. "Yes, for this reason I would."
"Not for your own life and yes for that of another person."
Indeed he will ask me to become a double agent so that I can save the entire Wizarding World by sacrificing myself.
Deborah, who was listening to both the conversation and his thoughts being bonded to him, looked at him meaningfully.
"Without a moment's hesitation," Sev responded to Dumbledore.
Deborah shook her head.
"You can also write to me and I would get in touch with them telling them about you," said the Headmaster.
Damn old man, he said it after testing me, he played it on me.
Deborah nodded.
"Can we tell them what we read?" Sev asked.
"No, don't do it. What you have to do is continue to keep her under close surveillance the rest of the summer. You won't be able to read her. Deborah only from the twenty-fifth of July, until that date Jack must do it. Let the girl visit you at his house at least three times a week."
"If they want to keep her under control, on the recommendation of her doctor, they may not let her go out so much."
"You will have to convince them that it is the best for her," said the Headmaster. "Do you have good excuses?"
"Yes, we have them, help her with her studies. She is one of the people who wants to enroll in electives next year, she is also thinking about taking two NEWTs."
"Great, everything fixed then. Let her also tell them that by letter. Do her parents know that she wants to be a warrior?"
"I don't know that," Sev responded.
"It doesn't matter, whether they know it or not, they will be delighted that she wants to develop another profession outside of Defense. She is an only child, they will be very afraid of losing her. What other NEWT does she want to take?"
"Astronomy."
"It's not that it's a very good profession, but it's a good argument for letting her be with you during the summer, for her to have an alternative to Defense," Dumbledore said.
"Any other recommendations, Albus?"
"At the moment, no. If I think of anything else, I will talk to Madam Pomfrey and have her tell you tomorrow when you go to pick up the report."
"Shall we take her in the morning?" Sev asked.
"It is not necessary, do not miss the training. Take her after lunch, Madam Pomfrey will have all afternoon to write the report."
"Very good, Albus, a magnificent exchange. One last question, since she doesn't have an ounce of body fat, she feels cold in her uniform skirt. Can you give her permission until she recovers to wear trousers?"
"Of course, I am already in charge of talking to the teachers," the Headmaster agreed.
"Thank you, Albus. And I'll take this opportunity to tell you that another of the proposals I wanted to make to you is that we be allowed to dress in class however we want."
"Boof… that's already more problematic. Uniforms have a reason for being, and that is that students from very different social backgrounds come to school, from very humble, like yourself, to very wealthy, like some of your friends. If everyone dressed in the type of clothing they can afford, the difference in each person's social class would become very evident. That is the real reason for wearing a uniform, and not a mere imposition."
"True, I had never thought about it, and I myself have only had the school uniform as the only decent clothing for almost five years," Sev realized.
"Settle for dressing differently on the weekend and during free time. In classes, in uniform. In any case, we will do without ties, to make segregation less obvious."
"But then Hippolyta will attract a lot of attention for wearing trousers."
"I have an idea.Allow girls who wish to wear uniforms with trousers instead of skirts," proposed Dumbledore.
"Very good idea, yes sir."
"I will also announce it at the End of Year Feast and inform the supplier where you buy them in Diagon so that they are prepared for the avalanche of requests for trousers."
Deborah was grinning from ear to ear, Sev smiled back.
"Great, Albus. A new revolution."
"I've already lost count. Shall we leave it for today?"
"Yes, they are already finishing dessert. Thank you for everything, Albus."
"Thanks to you, Prince."
Deborah told him, bonded, "How you screwed it up, Prince."
"I already know."
"This time he has been much more clever than you, you have realized, I have warned you and you have not reacted. Honesty is destroying you and he is not honest at all. You are a much better person than him, and if you don't toughen up, you will end up giving in to blackmail when he proposes it to you. You've gotten too good. Be still good, but don't show it to him, he doesn't deserve it, he's not going to have any mercy for you."
"You are absolutely right," he agreed.
"He is not stupid, and even if you don't tell him or he can't read you, he must already imagine, from everything he knows about you, that you were tempted to become a Death Eater, and he is going to make you pay. He doesn't forgive you like the rest of us forgive you, he's going to use you because he doesn't know how to love people, he's spent his entire life alone. He doesn't care about people, we are all pieces in his chess, he only cares about his own goal, defeating Voldemort. You, for the moment, are an important piece until everything is set up, but as soon as you graduate and have instructed another person to take charge of the Army you will become sacrificial. You are doing his dirty work."
"You're right."
"And he is still going to go down in history thanks to you, to all your ideas to improve Hogwarts," she added.
"Well yes."
"We should kill him and have Minerva succeed him."
"That's what Lauren told me, but we can't do it yet, we need him," objected Sev. "One of these days I'll explain why."
"As soon as possible, Prince, I require all the information to help you, I am your second and I will suffer your same fate, this is the third time I'm telling you."
"Okay, since Hippolyta is going to bed as soon as she has dinner and I haven't appoint Ariel until the Library closes, we have one hour. Let's go to the hidden space, to the armchairs, and have a serious talk, that way I get it out of my head too. Get ready, I'm going to give you a few scares."