"What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does." - Hagrid
...
After the Quidditch match, Airana was satisfied enough to stay quiet for 2 minutes. Thankfully, she wasn't talking about flying and Quidditch positions and teams every 3 seconds either.
November went by quite quickly, and it soon soon the 17th. Airana, Albus and I were walking on Hogwarts grounds on a Saturday morning after breakfast, and as we talked, I noticed Hagrid over by his hut.
"Hey, guys, what'd ya reckon Hagrid's doing?" I ask, standing on my tippy toes curiously.
"Dunno. Why don't we go and visit him? I know my Dad was good friends with Hagrid. He seems really nice too." Albus suggests.
"Good idea!" Airana agrees, smiling.
We walk over jollily, and when we approach the hut, Airana speaks.
"Hiya Hagrid! What're you doing?"
Hagrid turns around with a grunt. Standing close to the gamekeeper gives me a better look at his face. A huge tangly beard, beetly kind eyes, and a warm grin.
"Oh, Albus Potter! Ah, I knew yer Dad." Hagrid said, smiling happily at Al. "How's yer Dad and Mum? He sent me a letter last week talkin' about his job an' all."
"Er- their good." Albus replied timidly.
"An' who are you two?" Hagrid asks me and Airana.
"Airana Rosher!" Airana says.
"Ah, a Rosher! Knew yer Mum and Dad a bit too!"
"And.. I'm Scor- Scorpius Malfoy.." I said quietly, shrinking underneath Hagrid's stare.
"Malfoy? Oh.." Hagrid says strangely. I gulp nervously, unsure of how he would react, knowing how most people acted, once they knew my name. But surprisingly, "Didn't know a Malfoy could be decent." He then said, chuckling and patting me on the shoulder, nearly knocking me over with his giant hand.
I smile gratefully up at him.
Hagrid wasn't as scary or intimidating as he looked- in fact,
He was straight up altruistic.
---
We went inside Hagrid's hut, which was small and untidy, and nothing like the beautiful castle, or rich fancy stuff I was used to at home.
Nonetheless, it fit Hagrid perfectly.
"Wan' some tea?" Hagrid asks us kindly.
"Sure!" Airana and Al say simultaneously.
Hagrid pours milk out of his jug and soon finishes the tea, and gives us each three large cups full.
"Thanks." I say when he hands me mine.
"So." Said Hagrid, sitting down in his chair which creaked loudly. "How's Hogwarts for ye all?"
"It's great!" Airana said passionately.
"Which Houses are ye in?"
"Slytherin." Me and Al say.
"Ah. I heard about that. Surprised you were in Slytherin, Albus."
"Call me Al."
"Yeah- Al. Anyway, I'spose all things have a good reason, even if we don' know wha' it is." Hagrid said wisley.
Al hums in response.
"An' what about you?" Hagrid asks Airana.
"Gryffindor of course." She grins.
"O' course." Hagrid chortles merrily. "An' how did ye three come to be friends? One of you bein' a Gryffindor."
"Well.. short story, Airana stomped on a bully's foot." I say, laughing.
Al smirked, and Airana sniggered.
"There's the Gryffindor bravery." Hagrid said cheerfully. "I'm glad yer friends, all three of ye. The rivalry between Slytherin an' Gryffindor needed to end, eventually."
"Oh, it definitely hasn't ended.. But I guess your right." Airana says.
"Yeah.." Said Albus thoughtfully.
I glanced around the room, first at Hagrid- big beard and all, then at Airana's pensive expression, and then at Albus.
When I looked at him though, he caught my eye, and icey eyes found light brown ones, and then these eyes found dark brown, and looking at each other, we grinned and let go of breaths they didn't know they were holding.
And about a foot away, Rubeus Hagrid observed this little action between the three friends, all the while smiling joyously.
---
After some time of chatting, I left Hagrid's hut with Al and Airana, all three of us grinning contentedly. Hagrid had a way of making you feel like that.
Friday was uneventful and relaxing. I spent most of my time with Al or Airana, or with both of them. We had two classes in the afternoon today, and it was eventually lunch time, and I arrived in the Great Hall with Al, and Airana tagging along behind us. (she was talking animatedly to another Gryffindor 1st year)
Airana left to go to the Gryffindor table, and with a small wave to me and Al, she sat down.
Sitting down at the Slytherin table, I dug into the food, eating the delicious sandwiches. Suddenly, the owls swoop in.
People looked about, utterly confused. The owls usually came during breakfast- not during lunch... What was going on?
Lux delivered my letter. It was from my Mother, I noticed.
I tore the letter open, not hearing the quiet gasps around me.
Dear Scorpius,
How are you Scorpius? I'm very happy you have made such good friends.. I know the Roshers, and they are quite nice... they don't believe in pure-blood supremacy either, which is good. And neither do the Potters, however much your Father may dislike them.
Scorpius, this is a very serious letter. I do not wish to scare you, but only to warn you about what may happen.
Have you read the Daily Prophet yet? If not, read it right after you read this.
Scorpius, me and your Father chose to raise you the way we did because we didn't want you to believe that pure-blooded wizards and witches were the only ones worthy of being magical. We didn't raise you like that, because your Father and I grew up and were taught differently by our parents.. And we know the terrible consequences of what our families had suggested.
Please be the innocent and kind boy you are, Scorpius. We don't want you to believe in "pure-blood is royalty" kinds of things.. I know you probably think that being a Slytherin means your "bad" or "evil" in some way, but that's not true at all dear.
Being a Slytherin means you're determined, ambitious, clever, cunning, and resourceful.
These are all good things Scorpius.
They are powerful traits- and power in the wrong hands always leads to something terrible.
Remember that.
You're a Malfoy, you're a Slytherin, you, are my boy, and I will not allow you to think that others are beneath you. I know you don't think in that way, which I forever cherish, but I don't want the Slytherins at Hogwarts changing your mindset.
Do you understand me Scorpius?
I nearly said "yes" once I read this. I could hear my Mother's voice through the letter quite clearly.
Enjoy Hogwarts, dear.
A swirly heart was drawn here, and then with a flourish, the letter had finished.
I love you,
Mother.
I gulped, blinking back a few tears. Taking deep breaths, I reach over to a Daily Prophet that was left on the table.
DOLOHOV, SPOTTED AND A DEAD BODY FOUND- read the front page.
Dolohov, the recently escaped prisoner of Azkaban, was spotted by a 3 year old young witch, and her father. (nearby Wealdstone) A body was also discovered, disposed of in a river.
"I was growing my cabbages in my yard, and then I looked up at the river behind my house, and there I saw a hand. At first I thought it was someone drowning, so I ran over to the river and dived in, and grabbed the person out. But then I realized- the person was dead." Says a very distressed Mr.Reynolds, a 60 year old wizard who lives in the suburbs of Boatwright. "Must have been the Killing Curse, because the person didn't look injured, and his eyes were wide open."
The body was identified as Evan Blucher.
Healers say that Mr.Reynolds must be right, as the man looks simply frightened, and in perfect health, all the while dead.
Auror's are convinced that this was the doing of Dolohov, because Boatwright and Wealdstone are not that far away. The Minister is doing everything he can to capture Dolohov, and put him back into Azkaban, if not killing him.
I gasped. Dolohov, spotted- and a.. A dead body?!
Oh, what was the world coming to?
---
Slytherins got more glares than usual, that day. People whispered behind our backs, and some, some didn't even bother trying to whisper.
"It's their fault! Slytherin was the one who first started this pure-blood mania, it's all them! Now Dolohov's escaped, and-"
"And do you think that's their fault too?!" Airana hollered to the Ravenclaw 5th Year. "Perhaps you should shut up and stop talking about things you have no idea about." She snarled.
"Don't you talk to Albert like that!" A girl yelled, shrilly.
"Then teach your boyfriend to control his mouth." Sneered Airana angrily.
Things didn't go that great. That was only one of the incidents- a few times, me and Al had to hold back Airana- who was shouting and eyes blazing with rage. She lost a total of 65 points from Gryffindor.
Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff each lost 140.
"You will not speak like that!" Shrieked Professor Vita, during class. "10 points from Hufflepuff, young lady!"
"But- Professor Vita, I was just stating the truth-" A Hufflepuff girl pleaded.
"No! Do not talk again, or I shall assign you detention in the Forbidden Forest! Do you really think you know more about this situation than me? Than the staff? " Glared Vita. "I am ashamed that Hufflepuff is acting like this!"
The girl shrank in her seat slowly.
---
"Ye, anyway, have any of ye three read the Prophet yet?" Asked Hagrid, raising his bushy eyebrows.
"Oh don't even start about that." Snarled Airana. "I've had enough of this mess! Do you know how many points Gryffindor lost because of all this?! This- this is injustice!"
Me, Albus, and Airana were visiting Hagrid again, who had sent us a letter, inviting us.
"I know- it's annoying too, having to hear the muttering." Sighed Al.
"Yeah. And some don't even have the decency to whisper." I say.
Airana snorted. "Better they shout, so I can go and hunt them all down."
Hagrid chuckled at the looks on our faces. "Cheer up, here, have a rock cake."
We each took one, and the second I bit into it, I thought I could hear my teeth break, it was that hard.
"I see why he calls it a rock cake." I hear Al whisper to himself, wincing as Airana bit into her's.
"An' you three shouldn' worry about all that rubbish." said Hagrid comfortingly.
"Yeah.. well, Dolohov's escaped Azkaban, killed someone, but I suppose things will be fine soon. Go back to normal. They'll catch Dolohov." Said Airana. "I mean to say, we defeated Voldemort, I think we can handle Dolohov."
Hagrid flinched slightly at the name. "Ye completely right, Airana. We'll be good eventually."
"Of course we will." Al reassured.
"Yeah." I breathed, remembering Mother's long letter.
We'll stop the prejudice..
Soon.
Hopefully.
Right?
---
After visiting Hagrid, the three of us walked slowly back to the castle. The sun was soon going to set, and dinner would be served in the Great Hall. As we trudged up the steps, I nervously started talking.
"Y'know.. My Mother sent me a letter today."
"What about?" asked Al, Airana turned to look at me curiously.
"Well.." I swallowed. "She talked about how Slytherins aren't evil or bad.. She- she said that I shouldn't let the other Slytherins at Hogwarts let me change my mindset of muggle-borns and half-bloods."
"Really?! My Mum sent me one too!" Said Airana. "She's a Slytherin, and she said things along those lines.. Except that she added herself as an example of a good Slytherin."
"Hang on.." Albus says, looking at both of us in disbelief. "My Mum sent me one too!"
Looks like we now knew why everyone had gotten letters during lunch.
We glanced at each other, and I suddenly grinned, which led to Albus grinning, and Airana, looking at us strangely, shook her head, and a large smile grew slowly on her face.
Smiling broadly, we entered the Great Hall, and without a word, went our separate ways, Airana going to her table, and me and Al going to ours.
What we didn't notice though, was each of us looking back at the other, before going different paths.
We chose sides.
Different sides.
But the next morning, Airana was sitting with us in the library, doing her homework with me and Albus.
And I realized then, we weren't separating,
We were going our respectable ways, but staying together at the same time.
Sadly, not everyone was like that.
The letters students got during lunch differed from the kind of letters me, Al, and Airana got.
...