"Amanda's Animal Adventures!" revealed Tracey happily.
"Let me guess, " grinned Harry, "Amanda's Animal Adventures is a restaurant/adventure park combo that centers around an animal theme?"
"Yep!" confirmed Tracey eagerly, "I love animals and I've never been to Amanda's Animal Adventures!"
Next nanosecond, Sirius grabbed Harry and Tracey on either side of him and took them to Amanda's Animal Adventures by Side Along Apparition.
Harry, Sirius, and Tracey came out right by an empty table and took seats as a waitress approached the table. The waitress was an average sized average heighted woman with brunette hair and gray eyes.
"Hello, " said the waitress kindly, "My name is Tiffany and I will be your waitress today."
"My mom wanted to name me Tiffany, " revealed Tracey, "But dad insisted on naming me Tracey, so Tracey I am."
"Tracey is a beautiful name, " said Tiffany kindly, "I happen to know that your two friends here are Harry and Sirius. That said, are you ready to order."
"They'll need some time to look through the menu, " Sirius informed Tiffany, "This is the first time at Amanda's Animal Adventures for both of them."
"Yes, " remembered Tiffany, "You did tell me last time you were here you'd be bringing two first time visitors next time you came. Very well, I'll come back in five minutes."
When Tiffany returned, Harry, Sirius, and Tracey had all made up their minds what to order.
"I want the Crazy Cat Chicken Combo, " ordered Harry, "Three chicken tenders with a side of tater tots sounds delicious. Make my drink Coca Cola Classic."
"Spicy or regular chicken?" Tiffany asked Harry.
"Spicy, " answered Harry instantly.
"I'll go with the Lab Leg Lunch, " barked Sirius, "Three chicken legs with a side of potato wedges will be a yummy meal for me. Spicy chicken for me as well. I'll have a Coca Cola Classic for my beverage as well."
"As for me, " piped up Tracey, "I'd like the Horse Hamburger Hoard. A hamburger with a side of curly fries is right up my alley. I'll take Coca Cola Classic for my drink."
"Very well, " said Tiffany, "And all of our meals come with a side of Texas toast. I'll come back when your food is ready."
"Excellent!" chorused, 'Harry, Sirius, and Tracey.
The wait gave Harry and Tracey ample time to chat.
"Tracey?" inquired Harry, "Can you tell me what life in Slytherin house is like from your point of view?"
"I'm glad of an opportunity to tell that story from my side, " said Tracey intently, "First, bear in mind that not all of us were chummy with Draco Malfoy. Many of us, myself, Daphne, and Lily included, despised Draco Malfoy and were both glad and relieved when he was expelled."
"So, " said Harry slowly, "Malfoy was just as big an asshole and a bully to most Slytherins as he was to everyone else at Hogwarts?"
"Yes!" confirmed Tracey in a nanosecond, "He was never nice to anyone. In reality, he wasn't that nice even to Crabbe and Goyle. They were his cronies and bodyguards, but not his friends. He was too mean to actually have friends."
"Crabbe and Goyle always seemed pretty mean themselves?" muttered Harry uncertainly.
"HELL YES!" yelled Tracey, "In some ways, Malfoy's, Crabbe's, and Goyle's meanness rubbed off on each other. Crabbe and Goyle did become more subdued after Malfoy left though. I think they were scared and timid without their master. I heard it through the grapevine that Crabbe and Goyle won't be returning to Hogwarts next year either. But meanness isn't the only reason many Slytherins had disdain for Malfoy. His propensity for meanness actually gave the whole house a bad reputation. if I may ask, if you give it serious thought, how big of a factor was Draco Malfoy in your Anti Slytherin Biases."
"A huge one," admitted Harry, "But truth be told, my former friend Ron Weasley had just as big a part to play in that."
"I did notice by observation that you and Weasley didn't seem to be so tight at the end of the school year, " acknowledged Tracey, "If I may ask, why is he a former friend and what role did he play in your Anti Slytherin Biases."
"The original reason I severed ties with Ron Weasley the Jealous Glory Hound is because he was horribly mean to Hermione Granger one night in our common room. Despite having NO right to be angry at or upset with her, Ron shook bedsheets in her face, yelled at her at the top of his lungs in front of the whole common room, and took his own personal problems out on her. People who treat people in that manner aren't my friends, period. But, after detaching myself from him, it became clearer to me that he was never really my friend. He is very jealous of my fame and attention and the reason he wanted to be my friend in the first place is because he had hoped my fame and attention would rub off on him. I stayed friends with him and blinded to his true nature for too long because he was my first ever friend. I had no friends before I started at Hogwarts, " said Harry matter of factly, "He told me on the Hogwarts Express the day I met him that all dark witches and wizards had come from Slytherin."
"It sounds like he was very prejudiced on his own, " said Tracey, "But our house has struggled against a general bad reputation for years, largely because of Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort. Many people from other houses will say that Slytherin was the house of Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort and that we should never forget that."
"I recently learned that my parents were betrayed to their deaths by a man who graduated from Gryffindor, " said Harry slowly, "House affiliation does not divide people into good people and Death Eaters. Speaking of people, how many other girls do you share your dorm with?'
"Four," answered Tracey, "My BFF Daphne Greengrass, my other BFF Lily Moon, the bitch Millicent Bulstrode, and the bitch Pansy Parkinson."
"Actually, " interjected Sirius, "Starting this fall, zero. The roommate concept is being jettisoned at Hogwarts. Over the summer the several rooms for up to five are being magically transfigured into many rooms for one."
"Source?" questioned Harry.
"Headmaster Lupin told me about this, " explained Sirius, "There are multiple reasons for this. First, Remus morally opposes the roommate concept as he believes that everyone, no matter who he or she is, should have the solace of his or her own space. By eliminating the roommate concept, now any student who wants some quiet time or alone time can easily go up to his or her dorm room and take it. Secondly, sleeping in a room by oneself leads to much better sleep. Despite the fact my home life sucked when I was a kid, I always slept well at home because I had my bedroom to myself. With the room sharing at Hogwarts, I could never sleep very well because of other people's snoring, breathing etc-"
"Hear, hear, " said Harry matter of factly, "There's no doubt that having one's room to one's self is a necessary condition to sleeping well."
"Exactly, " said Sirius briskly.
"Back on topic, " said Harry, "Tracey, how did Daphne and Lily become your besties?"
"In the case of Daphne, we've known each other since we were babies, " explained Tracey brightly, "My parents and Daphne's parents were close friends at Hogwarts, having been a close quartet in their school days. It naturally followed from that that Daphne and I met each other super early on in our lives. Lily Moon is a much different case. The long and the short of it is that, during the Welcoming Feast, we had noticed Lily in tears. We asked her what was wrong in our common room and she simply said that she missed her parents. This is not unheard of for first years, but it seemed to be worse for her. Lily is in fact close with her mom and dad. Daphne and I reached out to Lily and offered to be her friends. After hearing Lily's story, I felt it was important for her to make a couple of good friends right away. The "I'm sad because I miss my parents syndrome" is far worse if one is lonely. Lily gratefully accepted our offer of friendship and we've been a trio at Hogwarts ever since."
"See again, " put in Sirius, "How Tracey is a good person in Slytherin. She befriended the lonely girl who was struggling to adjust and convinced Daphne to do the same. How many people in any of the houses would've gone out of their way to do that?"
"Relatively few, " admitted Harry.
"Exactly," said Sirius simply.
"AND IT CAME BACK TO HER!" screamed Harry suddenly, "Just as Tracey befriended the lonely girl her first night at Hogwarts, you reached out to the sad Tracey to give her this opportunity."
"What comes around goes around, " said Sirius firmly.
"I should stress though, " said Tracey clearly, "That I really am happy for Daphne and Lily to have the opportunity to go on those vacations with their families."
"What is your opinion of Severus Snape?" Harry asked Tracey.
"I felt no emotion for his passing, " said Tracey bluntly, "I always disapproved of his bullying and his favoritism towards Malfoy. That said, I just never had much to do with him or much contact with him."
"Here's the biggie," Harry asked Tracey, looking her eye to eye, "What does Slytherin actually mean to you?"
"Generally speaking, the traits associated with a rank and file Slytherin are determination, resolve, and resourcefulness, " explained Tracey, "But the trait Salazar Slytherin most prized was ambition. The cream of the crop Slytherins are the ambitious ones."
"Are you one of those?" Harry asked Tracey.
"The Sorting Hat told me I am, " answered Tracey uncertainly, "The Sorting Hat debated between Ravenclaw and Slytherin for me. The hat told me before yelling "SLYTHERIN! that while I was very academic minded on the surface, my truest quality was a deep seeded ambition that would reveal itself in time. I haven't found that yet, but it does say in Hogwarts a History that many students don't discover their true selves until sixth or seventh year."
"I suppose that makes sense, " said Harry.
Next nanosecond, Tiffany had arrived with their food.
It turned out to be one of the most fun lunches any of them had ever had.
Harry's Crazy Cat Chicken Combo turned out to feature chicken tenders that came in the shape of domestic shorthair housecats that really mastered the flavor of spicy chicken and tater tots that meowed until they were eaten. To Harry's delight, his Coca Cola Classic was the coldest Coca Cola Classic he'd ever tasted.
Sirius's Lab Leg Lunch had tasty chicken legs that were shaped as black labs rather than legs, potato wedges that barked until they were eaten, and a super cold Coca Cola Classic.
Tracey delighted in her Horse Hamburger Hoard, which included a bun and angus beef patty the shape of a horse and curly fries that neighed until eaten along with the most refreshing glass of Coca Cola Classic she'd ever had.
As delicious as all that was, the Texas toast that came with all the meals was the biggest hit. It was just perfection.
The food was so good that no talking happened during the meal as Harry, Sirius, and Tracey were taken in by their food and savored their meal.
They paid Tiffany, including giving her a very generous tip, before moving on to go to the adventure park.
At the entrance to the adventure park, They were met by a woman of average size and height with medium brown hair and brown eyes.
"Hello, guests, " said the woman kindly, "My name is Amanda Alworth and I'm the owner of Amanda's Animal Adventures."