The Hogwarts Parliament
November 8th 1992
When Harry woke up after that eventful night, he sat up quickly and stared at Colin’s body lying on the bed opposite his.
“It’s not your fault, you know.” A voice said beside him, and Harry whirled his head around and found Hadrian stretching his arms behind his back as he tried to get the discomfort out of his back from sleeping on the chair. Harry couldn’t help feeling guilty at the thought that he’d kept him here and made him uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry you had to sleep on that chair. Why didn’t you just go to your dorms?”
“I wanted to be there if you suddenly felt uncomfortable or something. Who would’ve known all of that would happen in one night?” Hadrian explained, ending his words with a small chuckle. “You have a very peculiar luck, Harry.”
The two shared a laugh at that before simultaneously turning towards the other occupied bed in the Hospital Wing.
“I’ll repeat what I said, it isn’t your fault Harry. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and breaking curfew too.”
“Still….” Harry protested, trailing off at the end.
“Nothing. He’ll be fine once the cure is finished. I just don’t know why Dumbledore is insisting on waiting for the mandrakes here when he could just request the potion from St. Mungo’s.” Hadrian said softly, tilting his head a bit in thought.
“Wait! He can do that?”
“He can. It’s weird, but when has Dumbledore ever made sense.” Hadrian sighed out, rolling his eyes in exasperation. “Anyway, Harry, a meeting will be called soon, and I want you to be there.”
“What meeting? What are you talking about?” Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“You’ll see….” Hadrian trailed off, smirking at the younger boy mischievously. At that moment, he looked like a mirror image of his father, but Hadrian didn’t know that. “Now come on, let’s get you dressed for the day. How are you feeling?”
December 6th 1992
Nothing happened for the rest of the month, and Harry was relieved by that. He’d told Ron and Hermione about everything that’d happened that night in the Hospital wing, but their only solution was focusing on the Polyjuice Potion and making sure it was perfect to be able to infiltrate Slytherin and find out who could have opened the Chamber of Secrets. It was risky, but they didn’t know what else they could do.
Meanwhile, hidden from the teachers, a roaring trade in talismans, amulets, and other protective devices was sweeping the school. Neville Longbottom bought a large, evil-smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal, and a rotting newt tail before the other Gryffindor boys pointed out that he was in no danger; he was a pureblood, and therefore unlikely to be attacked.
“They went for Filch first,” Neville said, his round face fearful. “And everyone knows I’m almost a Squib.”
And Harry would’ve believed him, if he hadn’t ended up seeing him in a different light weeks after he’d said that.
On the first Sunday of the month, Professor McGonagall came around as usual, collecting names of those who would be staying at school for Christmas. Harry, Ron, and Hermione signed her list; they had heard that Malfoy was staying, which struck them as very suspicious (they had a truce with him, yes, but it didn’t mean that they didn’t suspect him, or at least, Ron did). The holidays would be the perfect time to use the Polyjuice Potion.
Unfortunately, the potion was only half finished. They still needed the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin, and the only place they were going to get them was from Snape’s private stores. Harry privately felt he’d rather face Slytherin’s legendary monster than let Snape catch him robbing his office.
“What we need,” Hermione said briskly on Sunday, which was four days before their Potion’s lesson, “is a diversion. Then one of us can sneak into Snape’s office and take what we need.”
Harry and Ron looked at her nervously.
“I think I’d better do the actual stealing,” Hermione continued in a matter-of-fact tone. “You two will be expelled if you get into any more trouble, and I’ve got a clean record. So all you need to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for five minutes or so.”
Harry smiled feebly. Deliberately causing mayhem in Snape’s Potions class was about as safe as poking a sleeping dragon in the eye.
As they made their way out of the bathroom they’d been using as a hideout, they found Valerian Malfoy and Sebastian Nott leaning on the wall opposite the door.
“Ah, there you three are!” Valerian exclaimed as he looked up from where he’d been conversing with the Slytherin beside him.
“Good, we can get going then.” Sebastian smiled as he pushed himself off the wall.
“Oh, hi Valerian! Where are we going?” Hermione said with a small but confused smile.
“A meeting.” The raven-head replied vaguely as he moved towards them and put his hand on Hermione’s shoulder, leading her out of the hallway.
“What meeting?” Harry asked as he followed the two older boys, sharing a confused look with Ron.
“You’ll see.” Sebastian said, turning around to give the two boys a smirk. He’d subconsciously echoed Hadrian’s words from weeks ago.
The group soon found themselves in the Seventh floor’s left corridor next to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching Trolls ballet.
“Wait here a moment.” Valerian said softly before he began pacing in front of the tapestry three times. Suddenly, a door appeared in the wall in front of them, and the three Gryffindors gasped in shock.
“W-what?” Ron asked, shocked by what’d just happened.
“Welcome,” Sebastian said with a dramatic flourish, “to the Room of Requirement.”
Valerian opened the door, and the three entered to find a rather… strange sight in front of them.
There was a long table in the middle of the room, a bit like the House tables in the Great Hall, with a lot of people either sitting or standing around it. They weren’t wearing normal school robes, but very sophisticated and obviously expensive robes of different colours. Now that Harry had noticed everyone else’s clothes, he also saw that Valerian was wearing black trousers and a wrap-around short blazer with an icy blue collar and sleeve-ends. Sebastian was wearing black trousers as well, but his blazer was longer, pure black with purple swirls on one side. Both of their jackets had a crest on the right of their jackets that wasn’t their Hogwarts House crests.
At the head of the table, Harry noticed the one student he’d both expected and not realised would be there.
Hadrian Black was sitting like the simple chair was his own throne and people surrounded him from all sides; trying to get his attention and listening raptly as he spoke. He was wearing a black t-shirt that was tucked into black pants with gold embroidery and a matching blazer with a blood red cloth hanging over his left shoulder that reached the floor. He also had a crest knit into the right breast of his jacket, but Harry couldn’t see it from where he was standing. He did notice, though, that Hadrian’s hair wasn’t brunette anymore but half black and half white (like it’d been on some occasions) and left in its natural wavy style.
Standing behind his chair was a raven-haired girl with dangly butterfly earrings and a matching silver butterfly pendant. She wore a cropped blazer that reached her waist and had thin white stripes all over with matching trousers, a light pink cloth was tucked into the back of the pants like half a skirt, which reached her ankles. Her hands were on Hadrian’s shoulder and every so often she’d lean down and whisper something in his ear that he’d smirk at.
The two suddenly turned and looked at Harry and his friends, and Hadrian beckoned them forward with a small smile. The three moved towards him in a weird sorts of trance, not knowing what was happening but willing to hear the older boy out. Then, Ron gasped; Harry and Hermione turning to where he was pointing and finding the red-head’s three brothers standing together, dressed in fancy clothing as well, which was shocking since Harry knew the Weasleys weren’t as well off as most of the people in this room.
“Percy? Fred? George?” At their names being called, the three brothers turned and gave their youngest brother smiles. “What are you doing here? And where did you get these robes?!”
“Hello Ronnie.” Percy said with a soft smile Harry had never seen on the normally strict prefect’s face. “We’re here for the meeting of course, and these robes… well Grandma got them for us.”
“Grandma?! As in strict and scary Grandma Cedrella?! That grandma?”
“Ron, we don’t have another Grandma.” George (or who Harry guessed was George) said in a deadpan voice, his twin laughing along.
And the robes they were wearing truly were expensive. Fred and George were both dressed in a white shirt with a turquoise waistcoat and matching trousers, and while George had the long turquoise robe over the outfit and open to show it, Fred’s was closed so that it was fitted at the top and flowing from the waist down but with a slit in the middle to show his trousers when he moved. Their robes also had a weird crest at the right side of their chest, but it was the same for both of them. Percy was also wearing a white shirt, but he had on a burgundy tie, navy trousers and a blazer with a long back which was burgundy at the front but the sleeves and back were navy; he also had a crest on the right side of the jacket, but Harry could tell it was different from the twins’ simply by its shape.
“Okay! What kind of meeting is this?!” Hermione finally snapped, asking the question that had been on the three second-years’ minds since they’d been dragged into this room.
“It’s called The Hogwarts Parliament.” A voice said behind them, and the group turned to find Hadrian smiling at them. “A student version of The Wizengamot meetings but with… more members to represent every group of students at Hogwarts.”
“That… actually makes a lot of sense.” Hermione said, her eyes widening in understanding. Hadrian had told Harry about the Wizengamot, about how it was the highest court of law and parliament in the British Wizarding World. Harry had read a bit about it as well. It was formed of the heads of every Pureblood family in the UK, the Heads of the Departments in the Ministry of Magic, those who’d received an Order of Merlin (the British Wizarding World version of a Medal of Valour), the Minster of Magic, and an organizer for the meetings known as the Chief Warlock, who was currently Albus Dumbledore, their Headmaster. He’d also heard many rants from the older boy about how Magical Creatures, the Muggle-raised and the minorities in their world weren’t represented in these meetings, and how most of the people in attendance were hypocrites with their own agendas.
“Oh, so Muggle-born students are represented here?” Harry asked his pseudo older brother, who nodded his head.
“Yes, and even those who have some type of Creature Blood and were allowed to attend Hogwarts.” Hadrian continued, and Hermione couldn’t help looking at the boy in awe.
“Wow…. Who created these meetings?” She asked softly, wanting to ask that person a million questions.
“Hadrian did.” Percy replied, giving the Slytherin a small smile. “He noticed the divide between students at Hogwarts and decided to change the status quo.”
“Oh it was nothing.” The boy said with a sheepish look, waving his hand around in dismissal. “I just wanted Hogwarts to be better than it’d been during our parents’ times.”
“Wait!” Hermione exclaimed. “You aren’t a Muggle-born?!”
“Umm, no.” The boy said with a soft laugh, rubbing his neck self-consciously.
“But you always wear cool Muggle clothes and dye your hair a hundred different colours. I mean you look like Cruella De Vil right now.”
That got Harry and Hadrian cackling, and they laughed even more when the four Weasleys looked at them in confusion.
“I kind of grew up in the Muggle world, so I’m kind of Muggle raised. But… um… this is my natural hair colour.”
“Wait what?!” Harry asked in shock. “This is what your hair looks like? Like… this is how you were born?”
“Yes.” Hadrian said simply, laughing at the look of absolute shock on everyone’s faces. “What?”
“No one is ever born with half black and half white hair Hadrian.” Fred and George said in unison, and Hadrian laughed at their incredulous look.
“I was. It’s a Black Family thing.” And while that seemed to appease the three purebloods, Hermione and Harry just looked more confused.
“What does your family have to do with anything?” Hermione asked, never really able to keep her question in when she was curious.
“The House of Black has always had some pretty weird Magic. Every Wizard or Witch who has a parent from the House of Black is born with one anomaly or another.” A different male voice said, and they looked over Hadrian’s shoulder to find Valerian and Sebastian coming towards the group. Valerian had been the one who’d spoken. “It’s been like this since the times of Merlin and King Arthur.”
“The meeting’s about to start Hades.” Sebastian told the other Slytherin, who nodded in acknowledgment.
“Oh!” Hadrian suddenly exclaimed, surprising everyone and making Ron jump a bit. “I almost forgot.”
He turned to face Harry at these words instead of standing next to him, and pointed his wand at the younger student. He waved it at Harry from his head to his feet, and the boy felt a tingly feeling run through him. Looking down at himself, he found his standard Hogwarts uniform had changed. He was now dressed in a grey shirt with matching trousers and a bright red robe hung off of his shoulders, focusing on the right side of the robe, he found a crest there as he’d expected. There was a small elegant dark grey and bright red crest with a stag in the middle surrounded by light grey vines. At the bottom, there was a bright red ribbon with the words ‘honor super omnia’ written in gold. It was beautiful.
“What… is that?”
“It’s the Potter Family crest. You’ll be joining this meeting as Heir Potter. You don’t have to say anything or act like a pureblood; everyone knows you weren’t raised like us. I just want you to get used to the environment and way these meetings go. You are the last of the Potters after all.”
“I- okay….” Harry said quietly, unable to say anything else. He swiped his hand over his new robes from the nerves, took a deep breath and nodded to Hadrian, who gave him an encouraging smile.
“Come on then. The meeting will start soon, and I want you three to give any opinions you may have on the topics discussed. Ron as a Weasley and Gryffindor, Hermione as a Muggle-born and Harry as the Potter Heir.” The three friends nodded at Hadrian’s words and followed him towards the long table. Harry sat to the boy’s left, where he was directed, while Ron sat beside his brothers and Hermione found herself between Valerian and a girl wearing a pretty Slytherin green suit, who had light brown eyes and shoulder length red hair. She gave Hermione a comforting smile before turning towards the head of the table where Hadrian was sitting like it was his own personal throne.
Harry had seen his friend and pseudo brother displaying a lot of different personalities and emotions, but he’d never seen him look so… authoritative. He was truly embodying his title, and Harry could tell that he’d been born to lead.
“Hello everyone! Welcome to another one of these ‘council’ meetings. I apologize that this was planned on such short notice, but; unfortunately, the current situation needed to be addressed immediately. You’ll notice that we have three new additions as well. Heir Harry Potter will be attending as the Heir of the Honourable and Most Ancient House of Potter, Miss Hermione Granger will be joining our Muggle-raised committee, and Scion Ronald Weasley is joining as a strategy consultant, which I think at least some of us can attest to after being beaten by him at chess.” That got laughs from all the Gryffindors at the table and some others from different Houses that must’ve played Ron at some point. Harry was shocked to see very familiar faces at the table; Angelina Johnson and Justinian Griffin from the Quidditch team, Neville Longbottom, who looked shockingly regal in his burgundy shirt and brown waistcoat and trousers. He also had a crest on the right side of his waistcoat.
“As this is the first meeting since the one we had at the start of the year, why don’t we introduce ourselves to the new additions. I’ll start! I’m Hadrian Black, the Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and the Daring and Ancient House of McKinnon. I’m also the… creator of these meetings so to speak. To my left is Heir Potter, and to my right….” Here Hadrian trailed off, gesturing to the girl Harry had seen beside him when he’d first entered the room.
“I’m Seraphina Rayne, I’m the Heiress to the Discerning and Most Ancient House of Rosier. It’s nice to finally meet the famous Golden Trio.” That caused laughter to start around the room while the aforementioned trio blushed in embarrassment at the name.
“I’m Sebastian Nott, Heir to the Machiavellian and Most Ancient House of Nott and a Scion to the House of Abbott.”
“I’m Theodore Nott, Sebastian’s younger brother and a Scion to the House of Nott.” The two brothers were sitting side by side. Harry was familiar with both of them, as one was his classmate and the other had helped him on a few occasions and was Hadrian’s best friend, but he’d never noticed their contrasting features until now. Other than Sebastian’s blond streak at the front of his brunette hair, the two looked almost identical except for a few differenced. Theo didn’t have the streak but he did share the brunette hair with his brother, and the two brothers had different coloured eyes; Sebastian’s were hazel while Theodore’s were sage green. The two did have the same facial structure, though. It wasn’t difficult at all to see they were brothers, as the two even sat in a similar way.
“I’m Valerian Malfoy, Heir to the Vigilant and Most Ancient House of Malfoy and a Scion of the House of Black.”
“I’m Draco Malfoy, Valerian’s younger brother and a Scion to both the Houses of Malfoy and Black.” The two brother were sitting in front of each other, and no one would’ve been able to tell they were brothers from their features alone, which shocked Harry a bit since he’d rarely ever seen the two boys together. Draco’s hair was a very platinum blond, his eyes were a silvery grey-blue and even with the baby fat, it was clear he had very sharp features. On the other hand, Valerian had raven black hair, the same eyes as his brother but a rounder face with the same sharp cheekbones that most purebloods had. Shocking to most, the two brothers shared a small smile before turning towards Hadrian.
“I’m Heir Neville Longbottom of the Chivalrous and Most Ancient House of Longbottom, but you three already knew that.” Neville said with a soft laugh, but Harry and Hermione shared a shocked look. They hadn’t known the boy was an heir.
“I’m Marcus Ollivander, Heir to the Ingenious and Most Ancient House of Ollivander. I’m also Nev’s cousin.” The older boy gave Neville a bright, boxy smile that he returned with one of his own. The two looked nothing alike, but you could tell they loved each other deeply. Marcus had naturally grey hair, very light blue eyes that almost blended with the whites of his eyes, sharp cheekbones, a pointy chin, and very fair skin. Harry wondered if his hair was dyed like Hadrian liked to do or if it was natural. He was wearing a white shirt underneath a simple grey suit that was a very similar colour to his hair and round glasses. Harry could also tell that there was a crest on the right of his jacket.
“I’m Yolanda Macmillan. I’m the Heiress to the Thoughtful and Most Ancient House of Macmillan.” The girl looked distinctly Latin with her tan skin, and she had very bright yellow hair and sage green eyes that made her look like a fairy. She was wearing a white suite jacket with elaborate cuts and a yellow cloth crossing over the chest and dangling slightly at her right hip; a crest was also visible on the right of her jacket. She had a very bright smile on her face, and Harry could tell she was a very bubbly individual. The girl sitting beside Yolanda smirked as all eyes turned towards her.
“I’m Wilhelmina Prince, Heiress to the Innovative and Most Ancient House of Prince and the Astute and Ancient House of Holmes.” That had a few people gasping, and it seemed it was the first time people were hearing these words. Even Hermione was looking at the girl with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. She was very pretty, with raven black hair that reached just above her shoulder and bangs that swept over her eyes and glowing blue eyes that had specks of green in them. Even though she was on the shorter side, it was obvious she was very fierce and capable. She was dressed in a white shirt with a navy blue tie, grey slacks and a blazer matched but had navy blue shoulders, cuffs and lapels. “I’m sorry I hadn’t revealed this before, but I just got confirmation from Lord Prince to talk about this. Unfortunately, while I might’ve been Muggle raised, I am not a muggle-born, but a half-blood.”
“So the House of Holmes has returned to the table?” A blonde girl that Harry recognised from some of his classes asked, and the other girl, Wilhelmina, nodded.
“Yes, we have.”
“I’m Justinian Griffin. I represent Gryffindor alongside Miss Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell. We represent the Purebloods, Half-bloods and Muggle-borns respectively.” The two aforementioned girls waved their hands in greeting. Harry was familiar with the two and easily recognized them. He’d been playing alongside Angelina for over a year now and was familiar with her dark skin and very curly hair that was sometimes in cornrows and he’d seen Katie around a few times, so he knew she was the slightly tan one with bright brown eyes and wavy brunette hair. Harry didn’t notice, but most people bowed their heads in Justin’s direction, and he’d returned it with a small smile.
“I’m Perseus Weasley, Heir of the Dependable and Most Ancient House of Weasley.” Percy said with a small smile.
“Has it been confirmed then?” Neville asked curiously, and Harry had never heard him so confident before.
“Yes, both William and Charles abdicated during the summer. My Grandfather, Lord Septimus Weasley, just confirmed it at the Wizengamot last week too.” Percy answered, smiling proudly as he spoke.
“Well congratulations Heir Weasley. May you bring honour and wisdom to your House as you’ve done to Gryffindor so far.” Hadrian said formally, giving the older boy a smile.
“Thank you Heir Black.”
“I’m Heir Oliver Wood of the Spirited and Most Ancient House of Wood.” The Gryffindor Captain said with a wide grin, and shockingly enough, he was sitting between Percy and Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint, who introduced himself next.
“I’m Heir Marcus Flint of the Rugged and Most Ancient House of Flint.” He says with a smirk on his face. The two captains were wearing similar outfits to Percy, but while Flint’s was in a very dark green and black, Wood’s was in a muted orange and white. The three sitting next to each other was quite a sight.
“Ah yes, the Council of Three. Good to have you with us gentlemen.” Hadrian greeted with a mischievous smirk that the three older boys mirrored. Harry didn’t know what that was about but he felt a slight shiver at the thought of those three teaming up in any way.
It was the Weasley Twins’ turn, and they stood up to give the room a dramatic bow.
“We are Fred”
“, and George Weasley,”
“Heirs to the Creative and Most Ancient House of Prewett.” Fred had started, George following him and then the two had ended their introductions in one breath. They waved their hands like some type of royalty before sitting back down. Their actions had elicited laughter all around the room, which seemed to have been the Twins’ goal if their triumphant grins were anything to go by.
“Uhm, well I know I won’t be able to top that, but I’m Daphne Greengrass, Heiress of the Objective and Most Ancient House of Greengrass. I apologize, but my sister Astoria couldn’t come today as she’s quite sick, but she does send her regards.”
“Of course,” Sebastian responded, as he seemed to be in charge alongside Hadrian, “please send her our sincerest well wishes for her recovery.”
And the introductions continued from there, every other heir and heiress introducing him/herself. The other House representatives also greeted the crowd and it seemed only the most popular or the most misunderstood had been chosen to sit at this table, diverse people who’d actually give wise opinions and suggestions.
As soon as this was over, Hadrian decided to start the discussion immediately.
“We are here to discuss the recent events at Hogwarts; aptly labelled by our research team as ‘The Opening’ or ‘The Petrification of Hogwarts’. I’m sure all of you already know this, but a few weeks before, on Halloween night, Mister Filch’s cat was petrified and behind her, written in what was later discovered to be a bird’s blood, were the words ‘The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies of The Heir, Beware.’ Students obviously realised the threat was meant towards those of us with Muggle blood, and have become very scared by the threat, and that wasn’t helped by the fact that Colin Creevey, a first year Muggle-born Gryffindor was found petrified very early on November eighth. Now, the… obvious suspect isn’t around any longer, so he can be removed from the suspect’s list.
“Can he?” Seraphina Rayne asked, staring at Hadrian in the eyes. It was the first time Harry had noticed the girl had a slight accent that seemed French. “Because for all we know, he could still be out there, plotting all our deaths. No body, no death.” That got some murmurs of agreement.
“And yet, he couldn’t possibly have breached Hogwarts so… obviously. The wards wouldn’t allow it.” Cedric Diggory, who apparently wasn’t just a hotshot Quidditch player but also the Heir to the Hardworking and Most Ancient House of Diggory, spoke calmly.
“How would we know that?” Valerian asked with a slightly dark tone. “Who knows what Dumbledore has done to this school these past few decades?”
“Why the hell would you care, Malfoy?” Zacharias Smith, another Heir of an Ancient House, scoffed with a sneer, and Valerian’s eyes darkened even more.
“Watch your tone Smith. Why the hell would I want my family enslaved again? Isn’t this why all the Dark Heirs are here?”
“Enough!” Hadrian barked in anger, and everyone jumped slightly at his tone. Harry had never heard his friend sound like this before; it was weird. “If you can’t keep your mouth shut, Heir Smith, I’d suggest you leave now.”
“Whatever….” The boy muttered petulantly, not really as quietly as he’d probably hoped but those gathered decided to ignore him.
“Now,” Hadrian said with a calm smile; the change in is demeanour was drastic, “while I do agree with Valerian that the Headmaster isn’t very… forthcoming with his knowledge and activities, we still don’t have evidence that it truly is the Dark Lord who’s the cause of this. At this point, the assailant is an unknown, and we’ll continue to see it that way until evidence shows otherwise. We are currently talking about the safety of our fellow students, our decisions cannot be based on assumptions.”
Everyone nodded at that, and Harry watched in awe as Hadrian rallied everyone and led the discussion very easily and effectively. It was amazing to watch.
“So what? We just continue in the unknown and try to protect the students until anyone finds out anything?” Marcus Flint asked incredulously.
“That doesn’t sound as productive as you make it seem.” Shockingly enough to the Golden Trio, it was Neville who’d spoken, and he sounded so confident. Harry was very proud of his friend. He was still quiet, but his voice resonated throughout the room. “There has to be something else we can do.”
“If I may make a suggestion.” A boy who’d introduced himself as Jeffrey Viola, a very fashionable Ravenclaw, said calmly. Harry found his outfit really eye-catching. He was wearing a white blazer that was buttoned up with a white top underneath that wasn’t really visible and matching well-fitting slacks. His hair was long and slicked back with two strands in front of his eyes. “Why don’t we leave research on the cause of this and the Chamber of Secrets as a whole to our research team and get back to discussing safety measures? That way, we don’t lose time theorising on this and can actually come up with ideas to help the students.”
“That’s an amazing idea Jeffrey.” Hadrian said approvingly.
“And I think I have an idea for the safety issue.” Penelope Clearwater, Ravenclaw prefect and who’d introduced herself as the head of the Muggle-born representatives, said with a smile. “We use a buddy system!”
“What is a buddy system?” Flint asked incredulously, the other purebloods looking just as confused as him, except – shockingly enough – Hadrian, who just smirked at the others’ confusion.
“A buddy system would entail two people always sticking together basically.” Hermione said, speaking for the first time in the meeting. Her voice sounded clinical but with a hint of mischief there.
“Yes, so a pureblood or a half-blood would be sticking with a muggle-born at all times. This should be made easier for people who already have friends that fit this category, but those who don’t should stick with these groups or we can assign a ‘buddy’ for them.” Hadrian explained calmly. “We know that those with muggle blood are the ones being targeted, so this should be a simple solution until we know more about the threat.”
“Isn’t this being implemented with the hope that purebloods won’t be targeted at all? What if the monster doesn’t care enough when it chooses a target? What if purebloods get caught in the crossfire anyway? It wouldn’t really matter then, would it?” Daphne Greengrass said in a suspicious tone. Hadrian nodded in agreement at her words.
“Unfortunately, if this is the case, then nothing we do will protect the students and everyone will get hurt one way or another. This is all we can do with the assumptions we’ve made based on history and legend. By all means, if you have another suggestion, please tell us so we can discuss it.”
“I think this is a good first step for now, at least until we know more about this monster.” Neville said in a thoughtful tone, and everyone nodded at his words. Harry had never seen people show Neville this much respect, but it seems in these meetings he has a lot of authority that he surprisingly knew how to use.
“So we’re all in agreement?” Hadrian asked, and everyone nodded even if some still looked sceptical. “Then please spread the word in your Houses. If anyone sees a Muggle-born walking alone or a group of them, they should shadow them or walk with them until they reach a busy area like a classroom, the library or the Great Hall. So in general terms, no one is left alone anymore; we travel the halls in couples or groups.”
“The Slytherin way.” Draco Malfoy said softly, getting a nod from the Slytherins in the meeting.
“Exactly, the Slytherin way.” Hadrian confirmed, sharing a smirk with Sebastian. Harry didn’t know what they meant by that, but he resolved to ask about it later.
For now, he continued listening as the meeting continued onto logistics of the plan and then other topics like lessons, Hogsmeade trips and House rivalries. He didn’t speak, wanting to only observe and see how these meetings went, but it was relatively peaceful, which Harry found quite surprising since the people in this meeting were all from different Houses, backgrounds and had different thoughts and beliefs, but they talked calmly and respectfully to each other and didn’t cause any fights, well except for Zacharias Smith, but he’d stayed quite after Hadrian reprimanded him, only occasionally mumbling something that was probably insulting but was ignored.
Harry liked these meetings, and resolved to be included in them from now on, just to know what is going on in the circles he knew he’d have to integrate in soon.