Some things will change
August 3, 1975. (Sunday)
“I was thinking about going to see Sev’ today,” said Lily while the three sisters were cleaning the breakfast table. “To let him know that Ivy really is magical, and to tell him how wrong he was about goblins, an-“
“No. You don’t say a thing to him, Lily. I forbid it! You can be her friend or whatever, but this is our family’s business, not his. I know you like him, and you trust him, but I don’t.”
“But his mother is a pureblood! She can know things about the Sayre, and she can help us learn how to do this!”
“I said no, Lils. You can’t say a word about this to him. And I don’t care about his mother. If she is the one who taught him to talk to the goblins like you did yesterday, I don’t want to learn anything from her.”
“And I don’t want him to know about me, at least for now,” piped up Ivy, arms crossed on her chest. “I don’t like him either. He is mean to Tuney, and it is worst when you are not around. And he was kind of less mean to me when he thought I was magical, but you saw how he reacted on Friday night. He was all but sneering at me!”
Defeated, Lily nodded.
“Alright, I will not tell him about you, V. And I will not tell him about you either, Tuney. But he will know soon enough, you know? And when we will be at school, he will know about the Sayre family too. So I can at least tell him about that, right?”
Petunia seemed to be considering this for a moment before sighing.
“I would prefer you not to mention anything about it, actually. But, well, you’re right. He will learn of it soon enough. But that means he will also know that I’m magic if you tell him I’m the Head of House. So… Maybe you can let your ring at home for now? At least until we know enough to not be acting like fools with all this nobility thing?”
“Fine, I won’t tell him a thing. For now. But I make no promise for when we are back at school!”
“Deal!”
The two sisters shook their hands, smiling lightly, and Ivy added hers too.
“I want to go back to Diagon to take a look at the books. And to pick an owl! We need one, right?”
Lily laughed and Petunia shook her head.
“Alright, V. While Lily is going to see the Snape boy, we will be going to Diagon Alley. Maybe mum and dad will want to come with us?”
“Yay! I will ask them!”
And the little eleven years old ran into their parent’s room while Lily and Petunia finished cleaning the table.
Half an hour later, Petunia, Ivy and their parents were inside the Knight Bus, holding on for dear life on their seats. Well, Ivy was having fun, but the rest were not really filled with confidence with the magic bus.
“I really, really, hate this bus,” said Petunia, looking a little green.
“But it is awesome! It’s like the rollercoasters, Tuney!” Her little sister protested.
“Thank you for reinforcing my point, V. I really hate those too.”
The little girl laughed and took the hands of their mother and father to show them the alley.
“Come! This way for Flourish and Blotts! Lily said they have lots of books!”
Chuckling, the two adults followed their youngest and their eldest. Their day would be filled with books, it seemed. But they didn’t mind if that meant that they could help their girls in this magic world.
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Meanwhile, Lily was ringing her friend. She knew that his father was already out, drinking, and that his mother was really sweet. He would not be punished for her call.
“Sev? It’s Lily. Do you want to come? I’ve got the house, Tuney and V are in town all day with mum and dad. We can work on our summer homework and have fun afterwards? Good, I will make some iced tea! See you soon!”
Her call ended, she did as she promised and made some iced tea for her friend, before taking her books and parchments in the backyard to work in the sun.
At noon, she made some sandwiches, and they ate them while lounging on the deck chairs.
“Say, Sev… How did you know how to talk to the goblins?”
“My mother taught me. She comes from a noble pureblood family, she just left, she didn’t forget.”
“But, how do you know it’s the right way? I mean… It’s pretty harsh!”
“Because they are beasts. They have near-human intelligence, but they are still beasts. We need to be firm with them, or they will take advantage of us. They need to know their places.”
“But… That’s pretty much what the pureblood are saying about muggleborn… That we need to know our places… I… I don’t think it’s right.”
“No, Lils. That’s different! You are a witch; you are not a beast! I don’t care what the others says, you are not inferior.”
“But the goblins aren’t inferior either! They think like us, they talk like us, they are capable of magic, they are as intelligent as us! They are not beast!
“They are not humans either,” he sneered. “You are!”
Lily shook her head.
“I… It’s not right, Sev. We have no right to treat them like that. They control our economy, for fuck’s sakes. Do you think it wise to be rude to them? To be treating them like shit?”
“They are not worthy of our time, Lils! Just because they have a veneer of… Of near-human comportment, they are not like us! They are savage, they would be primitive if we didn’t help them learn how to do their jobs. They don’t control our economy. We graciously offer them the chance to participate in a civilised society. They should be grateful for everything we do for them! And yet, the rebel every century!”
“You can’t think that!” Exclaimed the redhead. “Have you really been talking with them, or is it just ingrained prejudice taught to you? After all, you said it yourself, your mother comes from a noble pureblood family. She has been taught every prejudiced way all the purebloods have.”
“You have no right to talk about my mother like that, Lily. You have no right to judge her because she doesn’t fit your vision. You always do that! You, and all the muggleborns, you always disparage our ways! You always bring back the worst of the muggle prejudice with you! That’s why the purebloods are so against you!”
Wide-eyed, Lily stared at her friend for a moment.
“You… You could have told me earlier! I asked you, Sev! I asked you if my being of muggle descent was important! You said no! But you could have told me that purebloods were posh prats who loathed the muggleborns! You could have told me why, and I would have listened to you! I would have tried harder to not be judgemental, to not belittle your customs.”
Her friends gaped at her, wondering how they came to this discussion.
“I think you should go home. I… I need time to think myself. I don’t want to say something I regret.”
Stiffly, Severus took his bag and put his parchments, ink and quills inside.
“For your information, goblins are really helpful if we are not rude to them. You might want to warn your mother.”
He sneered and left. He didn’t look back and he tried to not appear to be running. She could see it, the way his back was straight, the way he looked resolutely in front of him. But she didn’t regret confronting him about the goblins. She has learned far more in this argument between them than since the beginning of their friendship. She saw, now, the face he showed Petunia. She saw the prejudice he had always had regarding muggles, despite (or because) his own upbringing.
She didn’t know if he was still her friend. He lied to her about important things. And with everything she learned these past days, she didn’t think she liked the way his prejudiced shaped him. She didn’t want to hear when her friends told her how he acted in school with other muggleborns. She didn’t want to believe it. But maybe they were right. Maybe she was just the exception to the rule. Maybe… Maybe Petunia was right. Maybe Severus Snape was bad news.
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