You're My Density (Completed)

Chapter 17: Plan B

The young couple were holding onto each other with their foreheads resting together, waiting for the hammer to fall. Petunia slipped her arms around the couple before kissing both of them on their cheeks.

"Harry and Hermione, you are both invited to our house for the summer. That hasn't - and won't - change. Now let's go do this, or did we all get dressed up for nothing?"

Two now relieved and smiling children hugging Petunia left her certain she'd just made the right decision.

Harry turned to the Minister and apologised for the drama. "Sorry about that, Sir. Now I know my family will be safe, I'll happily accept this award."

Cornelius was beyond relieved, mainly at not now looking a fool in front of the invited guests - and especially the press. He was also unsurprisingly in quite a forgiving mood. "That's fine, Harry. There's no need to apologise for worrying about your family's safety. We'll get everything sorted right after the ceremony. Let's take our seats and get that ceremony stared."

Sirius then tried to apologise to Harry and Hermione for almost wasting their day, only to find himself being thanked instead.

"If you hadn't done that to Malfoy, it would never have occurred to me the wards would be pulled down. My family would then have been left defenceless, so thanks Sirius."

"I was always going to chuck Cissi and her even crazier sister out of the Black family. When the opportunity presented itself to poke both male Malfoys in the eye too, I just couldn't resist."

Hermione chuckling at that saw a lot of tension leave the family. If she was chuckling then things must be back to normal.

It was a thoughtful Albus who followed on behind. He'd kept his promise to the youngsters and had not used legilimency on any of their family. It was impossible to miss the undercurrents though that produced the bout of emotional turmoil Harry just experienced. Simply from observing, Albus could see that the relationship between Harry and his aunt was strained - something all three Grangers were obviously aware of. Taking Harry's memory loss into consideration, adding his uncle and cousin's non appearance here today, and Albus was forming a picture he didn't much like.

With Minerva just informing him of the plans for the new courses, Petunia's involvement in them and Draco Malfoy's outburst - Albus thought there may be a way to nudge things further along the direction the young couple obviously wanted them to go. Looking at the robes the group were wearing also provided Albus with some inspiration, inspiration on how to begin fixing a problem that had existed for generations. For Albus, there was no time like the present to put those new ideas into practice.

As the hall settled, with everyone now in their seats, Albus strode toward the podium to speak.

"This is a momentous day for Hogwarts, and two of our youngest students. With the eyes of our nation on our school, I can't think of a better time to make a couple of announcements before we get to the real reason we are all here today."

That had Cornelius worried at just what was going on, and hoping Dumbledore's announcements wouldn't overshadow what he himself intended to say next.

"Starting in September, Hogwarts first and second years will be attending a new class. This class is designed to better prepare all our students to deal with the myriad of cultural differences that they face - both inside and then outside these walls. One week, they will be studying the proud heritage and culture of magical Britain. The following week will see that focus shift to the culture and customs of non magical Britain. This biweekly cycle will repeat for their first two years spent attending Hogwarts. For far too long we have expected those joining us from non magical backgrounds to integrate into our culture, without teaching them what that culture actually is. At the same time, we have ignored their culture and views. This is our attempt to readdress both those issues, and hopefully we will all learn together from these experiences. A word of warning however. The type of behaviour and views expressed by a student just before we entered the hall will not be tolerated within these walls."