Harry mentally made note of the fact Dumbledore had been in Gryffindor. Hagrid had been extolling the virtues of that house over the others and had given Harry an outright warning away from Slytherin which probably meant Gryffindor was where Dumbledore wanted him to go. Thwarting the plans of that man was a large part of who he intended to be, but he had every intention to do it in such ways that if the old man objected he would look the fool hence Harry's efforts to know the rules inside and out before stepping into enemy territory. After all as Sun Tzu said, the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans.
"What about you both, where do you think you'll be sorted?"
"Does it matter?" was Harry's sardonic reply.
Harry's reply overlapped with Neville's dismal, "I'll probably be in Hufflepuff." Things got quiet again until seemingly in unison all three children's stomachs rumbled and they all reached in to various bags /boxes and pulled out lunch. Harry's was sandwiches, Petunia had made not only a roast beef and cheddar with lettuce and tomato, but also two cucumber sandwiches that were Harry's favorite, she had included a bag of crisps, some celery and carrot sticks and a pear. Neville had a picnic basket that had a spill proof tureen of a beef, barley and vegetable soup, some Cornish pasties, and an apple and some biscuits for dessert. Hermione had a large salad, a muenster cheese sandwich and an orange. As each of them thought the others lunches looked delicious they all decided to share, and they used the cups on Harry's thermos for the soup. As they shared they asked questions about each others pre-Hogwarts school experiences.
Neville had been home schooled as was common in the wizarding world and he was really looking forward to Herbology.
Hermione had gone to an all girls junior academy after infant school but hadn't had friends between being the smartest person in the school and her occasional bursts of accidental magic. She wasn't sure which class sounded the most interesting but she was sure she would miss her literature class and foreign language classes.
Harry was quick to state he had attended a public primary school where he had done well academically but had been average in most other ways. He had looked at all the classes and was looking forward to Potions as he felt it was a combination of cooking and chemistry both of which he had enjoyed when he was in primary school.
Midway through lunch the blond bigot from Diagon Alley opened their compartment. He was flanked by two large hulking bodyguard type boys. "Honestly Longbottom, one would think to have more pride, two mudbloods. A pureblood like yourself should think of what you owe the family name. But then again an almost squib like yourself can't be choosy I suppose. Come on Crabbe, Goyle, Potter is somewhere on this train supposedly let's go find him." Then he left.
"Who was that? And what did he mean calling us Mudbloods?" Hermione asked.
"That was Draco Malfoy…" Neville stopped too embarrassed to continue.
Harry took it on himself to explain. "You see Hermione there are certain factions in magical society that feel anyone who comes from… non magical roots, are inferior. Mudblood is an extremely derogatory term for muggleborn wizards or witches. I am technically a half blood because my mother was muggleborn as you are. Malfoy, the prick and probable member of a family in one of those factions, saw me with my muggle aunt who raised me in Diagon Alley and made the assumption I was muggleborn. It's all a crock of… My mum left me a letter stating she thinks that some of those families have problems with the consequences of inbreeding, mental retardation, insanity, and declining magic levels. My family the Potters, in general marry muggle every five generations and have no such problems."
"Mine too, in fact mine is just about due. I won't be marrying a pureblood. If not muggleborn I'll at least marry a half blood." Neville stated.
"How positively… gothic. Professor McGonagall didn't say anything about this."
"Of course not. The magical world lives in secrecy. Muggleborn witches and wizards are brought into this secret society to maintain that secrecy. I could be wrong but I would bet that any muggleborn that doesn't choose to come gets their powers bound and memories wiped. I would also bet that a compulsion is put on the families of muggleborn students so they can't talk about magic to anyone not in on the secret."
"But that's..That's horrible."
"Yes but that hasn't stopped the magical world from regularly producing people like Hitler, I mean just in the last half century Voldemort," Harry paused when Neville squeaked before continuing, "Grindelwald. Magic isn't all hearts and flowers, wave a wand and everything is wonderful."
Neville looked around, "Where's Trevor?"
"Trevor?" Hermione asked.
"My toad!"
"Relax Nev," Harry said. "We'll help you look. He probably got out when Malfoy came by."
"Maybe we should get into our robes first so people will know we're first years." Hermione stated.
"Works for me."
....
Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)
Free members get 2 chapters free.
Join Right Now