Harry's response, when his year mates in the House of the Eagle confronted him about it, was, "It is not my responsibility to ensure you people do your work to the best standard you can. You're supposed to be in the House of intelligence and wit; demonstrate it!" The older Ravenclaws backed him and scowled down anyone who thought they had a right to complain to him.
One older Ravenclaw said to Morag MacDougal, who wanted to berate Harry for not helping them instead of his friends, "You seem to think this is Hufflepuff House; where friends stick together and work hard together. It's not! Push it, and I'll inform Professor Flitwick you need to be resorted!"
That Sunday afternoon, Harry and Daphne held a party for the members of the etiquette club, whose membership swelled to forty members before they closed off membership for the year.
The elves happily supplied some snacks and Professor Flitwick supplied a keg of butterbeer. Though some Ravenclaws were just a little disappointed there wouldn't be an exam; Harry had to point out it was a club, not a class, they attended.
Standing at the front after everyone became settled, Daphne said, "Harry and I first - conceived of this idea when we learned a good friend of ours was completely unaware of the traditions and customs of our world. And that Hogwarts did not provide any lessons for those unaware to learn.
"We felt we would be lucky if we had two dozen people interested in our little club. We were very happy that, within a few weeks of starting, the numbers swelled to forty. The numbers would have swelled even further, if we did not make the difficult decision to close off membership and advise those who didn't get in on time to apply next year.
"We two feel you have all gained so much over this year we are comfortable you can now go into wizarding society and purport yourselves with dignity. You will not disappoint us. Very well done to you all."
It was a Second Year Gryffindor who then stepped forward and, offering a proper courtly bow to Daphne, then Harry, said as he did so, "Lady Daphne - Lord Potter - on behalf of the members, I pass to you our sincere thanks for you setting aside some of your personal time to assist us in this matter. I am at your service."
With a small but pleased smile Daphne dropped a little into a formal curtsey while Harry, as Head of a Noble and Most Ancient House, gave a small nod in return. As it was his place to do so, Harry said, "The honour was ours, Mister Chambers; we accept your thanks in the spirit it was given. And your service is unnecessary And that was very well done." Chambers gave an acknowledging bow in response while wearing a pleased smile.
The last two 'lazy' weeks had passed slowly enough that Harry was about ready to go and get the Hogwarts Express, drive and have it at Hogsmeade Station himself. He felt the last week at the castle was a complete waste of time.
When Hermione pointed out they wouldn't have received their summer assignments if they didn't remain for the extra week, Harry argued back the assignments could have been handed out the week earlier.
It was Tracey who said the last week was occupied with the Fifth Years doing their OWLS. And that was why the Great Hall wasn't available when classes were normally on. And the train couldn't really do the run back to Kings Cross until the Fifth Years were finished. Finally, on the morning of 20th June, it was time to head home for summer. The Seven gathered in the Entrance Hall, said goodbye to the few Professors who came to see them all off, and walked out of the castle for the carriages.
The last week, as Harry suspected, they had received their summer assignments from each of the Professors. It made Hermione happy, at least.
It took them a little effort to convince her they didn't need to complete them before they headed for home.
Finally boarding the Express, the Seven found themselves an unoccupied compartment. Harry had his note for the outside of the door ready and quickly stuck it to the door with a Sticking Charm. This time, the note said, 'Try Knocking' on one line with, 'The Seven' directly underneath. As soon as the trunks were all stored overhead, Harry closed and locked the door before using the Door Sealing Charm on it. He had thought about using a Notice-Me-Not Charm, one of the latest spells he had taught himself, but thought it was for the best if he didn't, just in case someone really did need to come and see them.
Just after the train departed from the platform, they had their first 'victim'. They were still settling down and pulling out books and magazines to read - for Harry, it was the Daily Prophet as he deliberately saved reading it until now - when there was an attempt to open the door with the latch rattling.
They all waited for a few moments to see if the 'non-reader' would knock but, when it was apparent they wouldn't, they ignored it. It happened again about half an hour later.
"That'll be one of the Prefects coming to check on us," said Hermione. "We should let them in."
"What on earth for?" asked Harry.
"The rules state that the Prefects are responsible for checking on the students during the times we're aboard the Express," replied Hermione almost as if she was explaining to a small child. "It's their duty."
"That it is, Hermione," said Harry. "However, it states nowhere in the rules that we have to open the doors for them."
"But they can't do their duty if they can't get in!" she said exasperatedly.
"And that's their problem," said Harry almost snapping back, before he relented a little and said, "It's a simple Door Sealing Charm, Hermione. There's no password component or anything tricky about it. All they need to do is strip the charm off the door, then use the Door Unlocking Charm to enter. As Prefects I would have thought they would know the Spells.
"Of course, if they simply knocked, I'd be happy to open it for them. It would only take me but a few moments. But no; whoever was on the other side of that door, as I'm sure they've moved off by now, was being rude; even if they are wearing a Prefect's badge. And there is no excuse for rudeness; Prefect badge or no Prefect badge."
Hermione huffed and clearly appeared to be angry about it.
It was Tracey who said, "Hermione, you really need to take a breath and think before you speak. Just because someone has authority does not make them right. And there are a significant number of Prefects who, when they get their badges, let it go to their heads and think it means the rules no longer apply to them.
"Common courtesy dictates you knock first before even thinking about entering a space not your own. A Prefect badge does not absolve you of breaching those basic rules of human decency. What if we were stripped down and getting changed in here; and the person who suddenly wrenched open that door was an older bloke? Would that make it alright?"
Hermione frowned while she thought about that. "No, it wouldn't. But we weren't getting changed," she replied.
With a shrug, Tracey said, "But how would whoever was outside that door know that?" Hermione frowned for a while more before she sighed and replied, "You're right. I didn't think it through enough. I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted," said Harry before Tracey said, "All we can ask you to do is think it through before jumping to a conclusion. What might be wrong on first look, might actually be right if you consider it for a while. And vice versa."
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