NEPENTHE ⟶ James Potter

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"You see, it started when Renata mentioned her school's name once and then Adelmo had mentioned too, a couple of times at work. I knew I had heard about their school before meeting them, but I just couldn't remember where and when. I brushed it off, thinking nothing of it, figured I had just heard it in passing because it's another magical school, right?"

James didn't say anything, instead, he gave a nod of his head, a sign that Sirius was supposed to continue and get to the point, sooner rather than later.

"Well, I was at Andy's house a little while back," he said, talking about his cousin, Andromeda Tonks," and I was telling her about you and Renata basically being fools about your feelings-"

"Sirius!"

Not exactly offended but more so embarrassed, James made a face at Sirius, who quickly scooted back on the sofa to avoid being pushed. It seemed everyone was basically going to know the story about how Renata and James had not acted quickly on their feelings, especially with Sirius around.

"I'm sorry, but I was just venting, nothing personal. And Andy agreed that you two sounded like you went well together. So, er, at least you have her blessing? Anyways, that's not the important part. I mentioned that they had both gone to the Accademia di Magia Crusca and Andy knew what I was talking about? Why may you ask? Because at one point, her mother wanted to send there instead of Hogwarts and that's when I remembered that my cow of a mother wanted to send Regulus and me there as well."

"Walburga wanted to send you to Italy for your schooling? Why? That doesn't make any sense, not with Hogwarts being closer."

"Because James, it's a school for the elite," Sirius informed him, " the best of the best go there and you know how my family was and still is all about elitism."

"I still don't know where you're going with this, Sirius," James scratched the top of his head, " so Renata and Adelmo went to a school where people were smart or considered smarter on the average? So? That doesn't mean they are part of a cult, Sirius, their mother is headmistress. I don't think it would have mattered if they were dumber than a sack of potatoes, they probably still would have attended the school where their mother worked."

"I'm not finished!" Sirius sang obnoxiously loud to get James to stop interrupting him. " When I'm talking about elite, James, I'm talking about the selection for this school is very closed off. Only a certain amount of students are permitted to go, it's only likely that you will be able to attend if your family has gone to the school, that's it. No outsiders."

The more Sirius went on about Renata's school, it didn't sound as charming as she had made it out to be sometimes. He remembered the story about them holding Astronomy class outside, resting in hammocks to look up at the stars and fill out their charts. But the way Sirius was describing it, it was losing its charm fast and James didn't find himself feeling very envious about her attendance.

"That's why my family couldn't send us there," Sirius said, " they wouldn't take any monetary bribes or anything of the sort. According to Andy, her mother was furious that they had turned them away, not even bothering with an explanation, it was just a flat out no."

"Maybe they don't take students from outside their country," James pointed out the possibility, " I mean, they aren't the only one to do that. A lot of the smaller schools limited themselves to only natives of their country."

"That's fine and all, James, but like I said, you can only get into this school by the means of the family, with a no outsider policy, doesn't that sound a bit frightening to you? It's a school, why is it so reserved for certain families and such? That sounds like a dream come true for my family and how they view the world. Imagine if my family and all the families that they consider to be part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight were the only ones that attended one school. Wouldn't that read awful to you?"