Harry Potter: Raised By Roses

Chapter Eleven: Of Trolls and Cerberi

"Huh," Percy 'duh'ed.

Okay, now the Greek mages were annoyed. Even a Ravenclaw didn't know what it was. Harry had to suppress the urge to hit his head against the table.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us, boys," Melody says, her brothers agreeing. "Time for magic culture 101."

The three Weasley boys and Neville all looked at the three in anticipation.

"Where we come from, All Hallows' Eve is a day of remembrance and honoring the dead and magic," Krinos explained. "For as long as magic was a part of life in Greece, we took the day to honor the power that magic granted us. All Hallows' Eve is the day meant for that."

"And Greece isn't the only place that has a holiday like that," Harry says. "Both in the America's, Australia, and Africa are where All Hallows' Eve is also celebrated. Mexico and Spain have their own version called Dia De Los Muertos, otherwise known as the Day of the Dead. And I believe England, Britain, Ireland, and other countries in Europe are supposed to have Samhain. All are holidays, sabbats as they are known in the magical world, that are meant to honor the dead and magic with the rituals involved with them."

"I don't understand," Neville spoke up.

"The metaphor we use is like this," Melody said. "Think of the magical world as a village, and magic is the lake where all the villagers go to get water from. Day in and day out, more of the water is used up. We like to say how sabbats and their rituals are like the rain that refills the lake. They help replenish our cores and help us with our power control."

"Most magical children that celebrate these sabbats and have families that use these rituals often have fewer bursts of accidental magic and they're less destructive," Harry continued. "Trust me when I say that I had a lot of uncontrollable magical bursts before I started. Mostly spontaneous teleportation and turning one teacher's hair blue."

"If these rituals do that, they why don't we know about them," Percy asked. "There must be a reason."

"While not mundane, witches and wizards are still human," Harry says. "And what humans don't understand, they fear. But Britain seems to take it to the extreme. They believe these rituals are 'evil and dark' so they discredit them up to the point where only third generations still celebrate."

What seemed to be out of instinct, the Weasleys and Neville all looked over at the Slytherin table. The house was famous for being entirely made of purebloods. At least, until half-blood Tracy Davis entered the house at the start of the year.

"While we do know about Slytherin's reputation, it isn't just the ones in that house that are third generation, you know," Melody crossed her arms.

"She has a point," Krinos agreed. "I might know a few kids in my house that could be practicers of the old ways."

"Any of them happen to be the..." Fred started, smirking.

"Kid you dumped potatoes on," George finished, smirking as well.

Krinos stood up from the table.

"I plead the fifth," he stated, then walked away.

The English wizards looked at the other two foreigners, wanting a translation for what Krinos just said.

"It's an American saying," Harry told them.

The next class was Charms that Gryffindor was having with Ravenclaw. Harry, Neville, and Melody walked there together. Krinos was having History of Magic. Melody made sure to tell him to bring his own history book so he could self study the subject instead of nearly falling asleep from Binn's drowning in and on.