"A Patronus, Cedrella! A Patronus! Our youngest grandson and produce a fully corporeal Patronus and he's only thirteen!"
"Fourteen, dear."
"Fourteen. Whatever. A fully corporeal Patronus!"
"Yes, you've said that several times."
Cedrella sipped her nightcap while watching Septimus pace at the foot of their bed. She had been reading in bed awaiting his return from Hogwarts and had been listening to him rant and rave about a variety of things for the past twenty minutes, the most repeated item of note being that their youngest grandson, Ronald Bilius Weasley, could apparently produce a fully corporeal Patronus at fourteen.
"I can't believe it!" Septimus continued, his robes falling to the ground as he went about dressing for bed. "To think that someone in our family is powerful enough, in tune enough, with their magic that they could perform such a feat!"
"Well, neither of us are slouches," Cedrella said. "No one in the family is weak, Septimus."
"No, but neither are they walking about just producing fully corporeal Patronuses at fourteen either!" He fell onto the bed, seemingly losing a bit of steam as the night's events caught up to him.
"Besides a wonderous demonstration from the Hogwarts students, what else happened?" Cedrella asked, snapping her fingers. In an instant there was a finger of brandy available for Septimus to drink. "I believe you were cursing the Durmstrang students and Dumbledore in the same breath?"
"If I were on the Board of Governors, I would be asking Dumbledore to resign immediately!"
"Yes, yes, but why?"
"A little Slytherin chit decide to announce to the Durmstrang delegation that one of her housemates was a Muggleborn. Just, straight up announced it!"
"Do you know who?"
"I think I heard someone say she was a Greengrass daughter."
"Gareth usually has a better hold on his children than that," Cedrella murmured. "He fought to keep his family neutral even if his brother ended up in Azkaban for being a Death Eater."
"Yes, well, with a wife like Aquila, I suppose some supremacy shit would get through to one of the daughters."
"Language, dear," Cedrella half-heartedly scolded.
"As I was saying, the Durmstrang students did not take kindly to having a Muggleborn sitting beside them even though moments before she and they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation."
"If they did not want to be exposed to Muggleborns, they should've stayed at Durmstrang."
"Indeed! Well, apparently the Durmstrang students wanted her to leave the table."
"I hope that idea was put to bed immediately!" Cedrella cried.
"Dumbledore made her move."
Cedrella gasped, nearly dropping her nightcap. Septimus knocked back his.
"He didn't!"
"He did. I swear, Ella, if I were on the Board of Governors, I'd have him sacked if not forced to resign. I'd have checked him after learning what I learned during Sirius Black's compensation hearing! Mark my words, Ella, Dumbledore's days are marked, and I cannot wait to see him burn."
"Mail coming!"
Aria glanced up nervously from her oatmeal as the morning mail came swooping in. She knew that there would be something in The Daily Prophet about last night and she was dreading it.
Daphne, who sat eating as if she had not had a full wrestling match the night before, accepted her letter and newspaper and gave the owl a pat on the head and bit of bacon. She then opened her letter.
"Are you going to read that?" Harry asked, gesturing to the paper. Daphne pushed it towards him, and Harry quickly unrolled it. Aria immediately sat the headline.
DURMSTRANG STUDENTS CAUSE INCENDENT AT HOGWARTS!
Aria leaned her head against Harry's shoulder as she and he read the article together. The reporter, a wizard by the name of Durham Tropp, had written an article that, rightly, threw Durmstrang under the bus. He finished his article by asking what was Durmstrang teaching its students and when had Eastern Europe lost is basic manners?
The next article had a headline that read:
INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF WIZARDS ISSUES ANOTHER REPRIMEND TOWARDS DURMSTRANG!
That article was all about how, earlier in the summer, ICW had issued a reprimand to Durmstrang for failing to hold up an agreement that said it would begin admitting Muggleborns that year. It also printed, word for word, the newest reprimand. It was scathing. ICW questioned Durmstrang's policies, it's decisions regarding who it felt could best represent Eastern Europe, brought up the fact that Karkaroff was a marked Death Eater, even if he had been aquitted, and even name-dropped Grindelwald, a name Aria vaguely remembered Viktor Krum mentioned.
"Who's Grindelwald?" Aria asked.
"The Dark Lord before He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Blaise answered, sitting beside Daphne. "I believe he was doing stuff on the continent around the same time a Muggle war was happening. With . . . Germany?"
"We've had two wars with Germany," Harry said, "you're going to have to be more specific than that."
"Er . . ." Blaise tapped his chin. "I think I remember learning from my tutor that Germany had a Dark Lord too? Hisster? Heilster?"
"Hitler?" Aria supplied.
"That's it!"
World War II era then. Aria went back to reading the article.
"So, this Grindelwald was expelled from Durmstrang," Aria read, "because even he was too extreme. Merlin, I'd have hated to meet him."
"Dumbledore defeated him," Theo said, joining the conversation. "Grindelwald nearly took over all of the continent before Dumbledore stepped in and fought him. It's half the reason why he's got so much political pull. Many people tried to defeat Grindelwald, and Dumbledore did it single-handedly."
"This is the stuff Binns needs to be teaching in history class," Aria muttered. "It's far more interesting than the Goblin Wars."
Teddy Lawrence swung through the canteen at the Ministry on his way to the Hall of Records. His father had him doing some research for several clients and he was ready to spend almost an entire day in the records looking for things.
As he received his cup of coffee, a loud voice reached him and he tried not to flinch at the annoying laughter of Ludo Bagman, a man who had somehow earned the title as Head of Magical Sports.
"It really was quite something!" Ludo was telling a colleague. "The entire Durmstrang delegation demanded that one of the Hogwarts students leave her house table simply because she is a Muggleborn! And Dumbledore made her move!"
He nearly spun about to demand to know who Bagman was talking about, but the colleague had already done so.
"It was a fourth year," Bagman said. "From Slytherin."
Aria Bourne. Teddy nearly broke the cup he was holding. He knew that once Prudence, Tracey, and Marcus graduated that things might get a bit tougher for the girl, but he had at least held out a slim chance of hope that Dumbledore would have her back. Clearly, that was too much to ask for. He disliked Slytherins, even Muggleborn ones.
"I saw in The Daily Prophet that the ICW has already issued Durmstrang another reprimand," the colleague said. "I wonder if ICW will issue one to Dumbledore."
Probably in private, Teddy thought. ICW was good at calling people out when needed, but even it had a blind spot when it came to Dumbledore. Defeater of Grindelwald and whatever else the headmaster was known for. 12 uses of dragon blood, something like that.
Once in the records department, Teddy chose a secluded worktable in the corner. Before pulling any records that his dad wanted, he sat down and pulled out a clean sheet of parchment.
He had a letter to write to his little cousin, Adrian Pucey.
Percy was startled when Prudence Attlebury came bursting into the office. He was the only one there at the moment, everyone else was out at lunch at the moment, and he was finishing up several things before taking his own lunch. So, having Prudence come in like a whirlwind was startling.
"Have you seen today's Prophet?" Prudence demanded, waving the newspaper under Percy's nose.
"No," Percy answered. "I left for work early so that I could get off early do a date with Oliver tonight. Why?" He barely managed to snatch the paper from Prudence, and she flopped dramatically into a nearby chair. Percy stared at the headline, his jaw dropping further and further the more he read.
"Is this . . . this isn't written by Skeeter, is it?" he asked, glancing at the byline.
"Surprisingly no," Prudence answered. "And I would have been here much earlier, but I didn't get to see the paper until later this morning. It's the most ridiculous thing. I'd have made Durmstrang move if they did not want to sit at a table with a Muggleborn, let alone Aria. Did you see where it said that she and three others produced corporeal Patronuses?"
Percy scanned the article until he found the part in question. Aria's name was listed beside Hermione's, Harry's, and Ron's?
"Ron can produce a corporeal Patronus?" Percy questioned. The Daily Prophet was known for sometimes publishing outlandish stories, especially when it was Rita Skeeter doing the writing, but this did not seem like something they would make up. He pictured his little brother, so unassuming, and obsessed with chess.
"Pretty spectacular if I may say so," Prudence said. "I always knew she had quite a bit of magic inside of her. She wouldn't have been put in Slytherin if she hadn't."
"I don't think that's how it works," Percy said.
"I'm thinking that we should get together with the others," Prudence continued, completely ignoring Percy, "and send her letters of encouragement. See if she needs any of us to send anyone itching powder."
"Probably whoever outed her as a Muggleborn," Percy muttered. "It just says a Greengrass daughter."
"Probably Astoria," Prudence scowled. "I can't imagine Daphne being that obtuse about Durmstrang, nor can I see her being so rude as to just drop that bombshell like it's been reported in the paper."
"Isn't she only a third year?" Percy asked.
"Yes."
"Is she just that obtuse or do you think there's something malicious there?"
"With Astoria? Absolutely malicious. The Greengrasses, Parkinsons, and Bulstrodes, have become a bit persona-non-grata in society. Apparently, and I heard this from my cousin's friend who works at Harrod's and overheard them complaining, Ladies Greengrass, Parkinson, and Mrs. Bulstrode tried to get Professor Lupin and Aria kicked out of G.K. and Family when they came into get dress robes with Harry this summer."
Percy's head spun as he tried to keep up.
"Okay . . . and that has to do with Astoria how?" he asked. Prudence sighed and Percy felt like she was deeply disappointed with him.
"G.K. and Family is only the hottest boutique in Europe at the moment," Prudence said. "Anyone who is anyone shops there. Well, somehow, and I'm not even sure how, Aria knows Gloria Keetering, the owner. She witnessed the Greengrasses, the Parkinsons, and the Bulstrodes trying to get Professor Lupin and Aria kicked out of the boutique and let it be known how rude and uncouth they were especially since Remus Lupin is poor Harry Potter's guardian and it was distressing for Mr. Potter to witness his guardian and best friend be treated in such an atrocious manner."
Percy gaped at Prudence who was grinning wickedly.
"That's . . . that's . . ." he stuttered.
"So, yeah, Astoria may be obtuse in a lot of places, she is also cunning," Prudence said. "I doubt she planned to expose Aria like she did, so saw an opportunity and took it. Or worse, she just did it because she was mad, and that's far more dangerous. But she was smart enough to know where to hit so that it hurts."
"How . . . how do you know all this?" Percy cried.
Prudence rolled her eyes.
"Are you going to help me give our favorite little Muggleborn a word of encouragement or not?" she asked.
"No, no, I'm all in," Percy assured her. "Are we getting together to do this letter writing campaign? Or are we all on our own?"
"I'm thinking getting together tomorrow evening. Marcus' flat?"
"Does Marcus know we're coming?"
"Not yet. But he will."
"Miss Bourne, I'd like to speak to you."
Aria glanced at Harry.
"I'll wait for you outside," Harry told her. He walked out of the DADA classroom with the other Slytherins. Aria was certain that he would have waited inside the classroom if he had the choice, but a sharp look from Professor Moody meant that he had to stick to the next best thing.
"Got yourself a protector, Miss Bourne," Moody commented.
"He's just a bit worried," Aria answered. "He was clingy after the World Cup too." Harry had literally followed her to work and back a time or two before Remus and Aria managed to talk sense into him about how Death Eaters were not lurking on the street corners of Cokeworth.
That, and he also had a session with Healer Tonks. Aria personally thought Harry might need a few more sessions with her favorite Mind Healer, but that was not her decision.
"That was quite a night last night," Moody said. Aria laughed.
"I'm just glad no one's tried to murder me in my bed yet," she answered.
"Professor Snape said he put wards up around your bed and things."
"Yes."
"It would take the Dark Lord himself to get past any wards Snape put up." Moody leaned against his desk. "The first dueling club meeting is this week. Will I be seeing you there?"
"I plan to be there."
"Good. I plan to make duelers out of all of you, but you . . . you're gonna need to work harder if you're gonna keep yourself safe for uppity Durmstrang students."
Aria sighed. She had already thought that.
"I also want to ask you about your Head of House," Moody continued.
"Professor Snape?"
"I think you're smart enough to guess that your Head of House and I don't get along."
It had been mentioned a few times in the common room, Aria thought. Moody had arrested a great many people during the last war, and it was rumored that Snape was one of them. The rumor was fueled by the fact that Snape and Moody did not speak to each other in public and actively ignored each other at the Head Table. A few upper students had caught them glaring at each other in passing in the hallways.
"It has . . . been noted," Aria answered. "But Professor Snape and I do get along. He's helping me with potions research! I want to find a cure for lycanthropy."
Moody huffed, amused.
"Your other professors have good things to say about you," Moody said. "Hard working, curious, loyal . . . stubborn." Aria grinned sheepishly. "Have you thought about being an auror when you're older?"
"I've not given a whole lot of thought about it," Aria said. "I suppose I might end up having to be a Potions Mistress if I'm going to find the cure for lycanthropy."
"Giving Snape a run for the youngest potions master in the world, eh? Well . . . if you can put as much effort into dueling as you do that, I believe you'll give Flitwick a run for his dueling champion title." Moody leaned closer. "But keep vigilant while those Durmstrang students are about."
"I've got to be vigilant anyway," Aria said. "I'm a Slytherin."
"Aye, that you are." Moody waved her off and Aria hurried from the classroom, joining Harry in the hallway as the two hurried off to their next class.