Hermione indignantly stared at the eagle-headed bronze knocker guarding the entrance to Ravenclaw tower. "What do you mean you won't let us in? We answered correctly!"
The eagle-headed knocker stared back. "You didn't honestly think that answering a riddle was the only thing you had to do to get in here did you? I can see you're not a Ravenclaw from your crest!"
Hermione huffed. This situation felt annoyingly familiar.
Beside her, Justin snickered.
"Yes, well, laugh it up." She turned to the browny-blond haired muggleborn "I guess we'll be here until someone comes that can take a message."
Justin pointed behind her.
She turned. "Oh."
An older Ravenclaw prefect walked towards them, arms full of books.
They exchanged greetings and the prefect agreed to take their message.
"Just let me do the talking," Hermione said, as they waited for Sophie to arrive.
Soon after, the door opened and Sophie emerged, followed closely by Padma, Lisa, and Terry Boot.
"Hey, Hermione, what's up?" Sophie asked.
"Hi." She glanced at the other three Ravenclaws. Padma and Lisa had been friendly yet cautious to her and Daphne after the troll incident, but she was still hesitant to talk to Sophie about delicate matters in front of them. "I was wondering if we could talk to you about something in private?"
Padma stepped in front of a surprised Sophie. "Anything that needs to be said can be said in front of us."
Sophie looked between Padma and Hermione, confusion showing on her face. "Um… I really don't mind-"
"Sophie," Padma interrupted, "right now it's really not a good idea. She can speak with us all together."
Hermione frowned. "I only wanted to talk about wizarding culture."
Padma and Lisa both narrowed their eyes.
Lisa laid a protective hand on Sophie's shoulder. "Even more reason then, and shouldn't Heiress Greengrass also be here for this?"
Hermione looked between the two hostile witches, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What reason would Daphne have to be here? This has nothing to do with her."
Behind the four Ravenclaw witches, Terry urgently mouthed something to her, although she couldn't quite make out what.
"Wait," Padma tilted her head. "This isn't about the troll?"
Hermione stood in front of them, nonplussed, feeling like they were all reading from completely different scripts. Then the lightbulb switched on. Her eyes widened. "You thought I was going to call in a life debt!"
Padma and Lisa's face went completely blank, instantly confirming her realisation.
"What's a life debt?" asked Justin and Sophie in unison.
Hermione threw up her hands in exasperation. "This is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about."
Padma and Lisa took a tiny step back.
Hermione turned to Justin. "A life debt is a magical debt created between two people when one of them puts their own life at risk to save the life of the other with no expectation of future benefit." She turned back to the Ravenclaws. "I just caught Malfoy trying to goad Justin into attacking him so he could make things difficult for him and his family, but I stopped him. I want to get all the muggleborns together for wizarding culture classes to put a stop to that kind of exploitation going on."
Padma's eyes widened. " That's what you wanted to ask? Why the secrecy then?"
Hermione lowered her eyes for a moment. "Well, you've always said you didn't trust me. I figured you'd think I was trying to pull something."
Padma had the grace to look ashamed.
Lisa tapped a finger on a thoughtful chin. "Culture lessons aren't actually a bad idea. I wonder why no one's done it before."
Padma muttered. "Maybe because certain families would kick up a stink?"
Lisa pouted.
Sophie edged around her friends. "Ah, Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"Can they really hurt my Mum and Dad?"
"If you did something sufficiently extreme, yes."
Sophie looked towards Padma and Lisa, the question obvious in her eyes.
They both nodded, awkwardly.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Sophie's voice sounded somewhat hurt.
Padma rubbed her arm. "It's not the kind of thing that's pleasant to talk about so no one really does, and your situation isn't nearly as bad as some of ours." Her voice lowered so only the girls could hear. "At least you don't have to worry about being married off to someone."
Sophie put a horrified hand over her mouth.
Justin stepped into the circle. "So, are you in?"
The girls all looked at him for a few awkward moments.
Then Sophie nodded. "Yes. I suppose I'd better do it."
"And I'd like to sit in on the first lesson, at least," added Padma.
Hermione nodded, slowly.
Lisa shifted uncomfortably. "I'd like to join too, but it's probably not a good idea… all things considered."
Hermione nodded again. The Turpin's attempts to court the Dark were well known.
Terry waved to them from the doorway to the Ravenclaw common room, a large grin firmly attached to his face. "Well, I'm getting back to our potions essay. Take care of Sophie, you two!"
Sophie's cheeks reddened.
...
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