Draco's suffering

21

This stupid school. 

That was the main thought of Ron and Harry. They hated almost everything about it. It was bad enough having to go to Hogwarts, but now they had to go to school during the summer as well? It was horribly aggravating. Hermione, consequently, was having quite a bit of fun learning all the different behaviors and mannerisms which where necessary among the Pureblood Wizarding elite. She began to understand just a little more as to why the Slytherins hated Dumbledore so much. Perhaps...Perhaps she was beginning to understand why they also seemed to dislike muggleborns and halfbloods as well. Though she hesitated to admit that to herself. As for Dumbledore, though the other may be incredibly powerful, he did none of this at all, nor did he have anything which even offered classes to learn. If you were a half blood or a muggleborn you would not know unless you sought the knowledge out yourself. She also began to realize just how hypocritical the old man was, especially since there was a muggle studies class which he just assumed purebloods would apparently take. While some did, it was a very small handful, and most of the people within the class were muggleborns who would get an A, just because it was simple and they already knew everything and they used it to try and up their general grades, or to just take an easy course so they can focus on the other classes.

There was so much which went into the pureblood society. It was so...interesting. It reminded her of the upper class in England in the old days. It was rather fascinating to learn, and everything was so precise and careful. She began to understand people more and more, pure bloods of all kinds, not just the Slytherins (Who she still thought were overly uptight and ridiculous). She was utterly fascinated by all of the classes. They reminded her a bit of what she suspected muggle royalty would take. When she thought about it, Purebloods were kind of like wizarding royalty. They were incredibly wealthy, highly influential, and vital to the wizarding world. Though many would argue otherwise, Hermione may be set in her believes and perhaps she disliked purebloods more than other muggleborns, but she could see where importance lay. Purebloods were everything to the wizarding world. They were a wealth of knowledge, more so than half bloods. Not to mention that they had history, and a good deal of it. Tons of money, knowledge, and ability.

It was also how she realized that muggleborns really did have nothing going for them when it came to trying to endear themselves to the wizarding world. She had heard muggleborns constantly complain about things among the wizarding world, wanting to change things, or 'fix' the wizarding world. Always questioning why the wizarding world did something, or not really understanding it. She had been guilty of the same exact thing, thinking that things were wrong and not bothering to try and understand why perhaps they were that way. She had not even really bothered to even read up on anything, and just assumed things. For instance, with the HouseElves. Hermione could clearly see where she had gone wrong now. As much as she did not like the thought, that was one of the very first things that they had spoken on in class. HouseElves were created to serve. It was like telling a running horse it could not run. When she thought of Dobby, he had been happy to leave the employment of Lucius...but had he? Had he not just turned his mastership to Harry now? Not to mention, he was still working...albeit in Hogwarts. Furthermore, while they heard him speak ill of the Malfoy Master, that was another thing which Hermione had learned. The master of a house elf was the head of the house, which was Lucius, not Draco. So apparently they had accused Draco of behavior ill towards House Elves and the Malfoy had been right to tell her to not speak of things which she did not understand. Honestly, she had not understood a lot, and she was beginning to get rather embarrassed about her past behavior.

All in all, upon reflecting on her behavior, unlike Ron and Harry who rolled their eyes and made annoying complaints about the school and not wanting to be there, she began to realize just how important certain things were, and how unbalanced the wizarding world could become without it. She realized now why Slytherins seemed to dislike muggleborns so much, and certain pure-blood families and half-bloods. Because, upon reflection, there were certain half-bloods they had no issues with. Severus was a well known half blood but the Slytherins idolized him. Then again, Severus had cut all ties with the muggle world the moment he had turned seventeen. She began to also understand why they seemed to dislike all of gryffindor so much as well. Gryffindor house had the most muggleborns. A different type than the ones which moved into HufflePuff and RavenClaw. Gryffindor was filled with prideful people. While some muggleborns in HufflePuff and RavenClaw would likely have no issue conforming to the ancient Wizarding traditions, gryffindors? Much less likely. They would see it as an insult, something that was wrong and why should they? It was now clear why Salazar and Godric had such a rivalry, and one which continued to this day about who they should let into the school, and why. She was beginning to feel a little daft. She had to admit that it was definitely not a pleasant feeling, and she most certainly was not fond of it.

She felt embarrassed, as well, for many of the things which she had said and she was beginning to see why the others had laughed at her, the slytherins and even some from other houses, about some of her hopes, and the behaviors she had taken. She was learning, and taking this chance to really think about things from a different point of view. Something which it was obvious Ron and Harry were not doing in the slightest.