Cursed (Hogwarts Legacy fanfiction - original in German)

Chapter 43 - Brace for the impact

The atmosphere in the castle remained quite tense even in the week following the Welcoming Feast. The original text of the new school decree from the Ministry had been posted in the corridor outside the Great Hall, allowing all interested students to take a look. While the majority of the student body usually didn't really get excited about school politics and simply accepted and followed the decisions and regulations at Hogwarts, this decree caused some unrest and discussions. 

Cressida Blume seemed to have taken it upon herself to become active on behalf of all Muggle-borns in the castle, and had already distributed numerous leaflets in the Gryffindor common room, calling on students to sign a letter she intended to send to the Ministry. Natty held out one such leaflet, including Cressida's letter, to Phina and seemed to be considering whether she should also add her name to it.

"I think it's very brave of her. Even though I don't believe a few signatures from students can really make a difference," she said, and Phina could tell that the current developments were causing her as much concern as they were causing herself too.

"We should still sign," Phina said decisively, pulling out her quill and a small inkpot from her school bag. "Will Cressida collect all the papers again? Or how did she envision this?" she continued, as she elegantly wrote her full name in her handwriting under Cressida's text, which called on the ministers responsible for educational matters to withdraw the new decree and to once again allow witches and wizards, regardless of their lineage, equal opportunities in the allocation of places at wizarding schools. Natty then took the quill from Phina's hand and supported Cressida's initiative by adding her signature as well.

"No, she enchanted the papers so that the signatures from the duplicates appear directly organized on her original letter. See?" Natty explained, pointing to the spot where Seraphina Bloggs had just clearly appeared. The ink seemed to be increasingly absorbed by the paper and eventually disappeared completely, as if Phina had written with enchanted ink that became invisible after a while.

"That's a pretty handy spell. Why don't we use it in exams to write the correct answers on each other's papers?" Phina said with a fascinated tone, her eyes almost sparkling as she thought about the unforeseen possibilities that would offer in school life. Natty laughed amusedly.

"It's a variation of the Proteus charm, and it's far too easy to detect. Any professor would see through it immediately. Even Professor Binns!" she quickly dashed Phina's hopes. Phina sighed softly and rolled up the leaflet to take it with her for Sebastian and Ominis.

"Too bad, that would have made the NEWT exams considerably easier."
"You especially don't need such cheating tactics."
Natty grinned at Phina, who had turned a little red in the face at the compliment from her Gryffindor friend, before they both set off for Divination class.

On their way there, Sebastian joined the two of them. He casually put an arm around Phina as he caught up with her on the stairs leading to the classroom, causing Phina to almost become fearful whether she had unintentionally sent him signals through their very intimate embrace a few days ago. To Phina's further dismay, Natty now also grinned at her significantly.

"Hey, Natty, what's going on with you Gryffindors lately? Leander was all worked up, saying you guys are planning to send a letter to the Ministry," Sebastian finally said as the three of them climbed the stairs side by side, until the ladder leading to the Divination classroom came into view. Phina still hadn't dared to casually put her arm around him too as they walked, and surprisingly, she was actually quite relieved when they finally reached the ladder and Sebastian had to take his arm away to climb up. Natty led the way, answering him as they walked.

"That's right. We want to make it clear that we don't approve of Muggle-borns being so disadvantaged here at Hogwarts. Allegedly, not only here, but also at other schools this year, unusually few children from Muggle families or with at least one parent being a Muggle were admitted," she explained. Sebastian nodded, and as they entered the classroom, Phina immediately heard other groups of students also discussing Cressida's letter animatedly.