This clone awoke from sleep. I had used [Sleep] on it to keep Gemma company, who was here with me. Usually, she would leave during the night to avoid being seen leaving my room in the morning, but given the circumstances, I could afford to let her rest here without worries.
I already had a plan formed in my mind about what we would do, but first, I'd have to discuss it with Gemma, and in any case, we would need to wait a few days.
Well, it was time to get up. It was still early, and it wouldn't hurt to stay in bed for another half hour, but I was receiving messages from Ginny and Luna to go explore Hogwarts. I couldn't say no to them, so I carefully slipped out of Gemma's embrace and left the room. Upon reaching the main hall of the common room, my sister was already there. It seemed the excitement of being at Hogwarts had softened her resentment towards me, reminding me of the sister I had before she got angry with me.
We left the common room and headed towards Ravenclaw Tower. Along the way, Ginny asked me several questions about things we saw in the castle and about how to solve the staircase problem when we passed by them. When we reached our destination, we found Luna waiting for us in front of the bronze eagle knocker.
The girls wanted to explore the castle, but their stomachs growled, interrupting our plans. Despite the plentiful feast from the previous night, they were still hungry in the morning. So we momentarily postponed our exploration and diverted towards the Great Hall.
When we arrived, there were already some people there, but not too many. The Slytherin table still had space, so the three of us sat down there for breakfast. The menu for the day included porridge, plates of smoked herring, stacks of toast, and dishes of eggs with bacon. We began to eat while Ginny and Luna conversed.
"The dungeons are a bit cold and dark, plus everything is full of green. But I guess I'll get used to it," Ginny commented.
"I heard that the Hufflepuff common room is the coziest and that it's next to the kitchens," Luna added.
"If that's the case, the boys from Brazil must be having a good time there," said Ginny.
"Boys from Brazil?" I asked, interrupting their conversation. "What are you talking about?"
"Didn't you see them yesterday?" my sister responded, somewhat confused.
"The only ones I saw yesterday were you two, especially you. You don't know how our parents are going to react when they find out you're in Slytherin," I said, causing Ginny to pale and stop talking, focusing only on predicting what might happen.
"Yesterday, Dumbledore introduced some kids who came from Castelobruxo. There are five of them, to be exact. Oh, and a professor came with them to replace Kettleburn when he accompanies you to Brazil. They put them in Hufflepuff House. Actually, they're over there," Luna explained, pointing towards the Hufflepuff table.
I leaned to the side and saw what she was talking about. Although they were no longer wearing their school robes and were dressed in Hufflepuff attire, I could still distinguish them among the others. They were a group of five kids sitting together at their table, talking among themselves and with the other Hufflepuffs. At times, it seemed they had trouble communicating with the Hogwarts students, as they had to repeat or use gestures to make themselves understood. Also, they all had different shades of dark skin.
"Hoo… right, just as we'll be going to Castelobruxo, they were supposed to send students here too. Although we're sending three, and they sent five. Well, it makes sense; Castelobruxo's population is much larger than Hogwarts'. One school only accepts students from Great Britain, while the other covers almost all of Latin America."
"They look nervous," Ginny commented, still a bit distressed by what I had mentioned earlier.
"It's normal. They're in a new place, surrounded by unfamiliar people, and speaking a language they're not fluent in. Keeping them together is so they feel like they have each other, and Hufflepuff is the best house for that. They're friendly and welcoming. Besides, their Head of House is the Herbology professor, one of the subjects Castelobruxo excels in. It's to make them feel more at home."
The Great Hall started filling up more and more, and even some professors made an appearance, including the one who came with the Castelobruxo kids. The Slytherins who arrived stared at Luna, sitting at our table, with some displeasure. But then our savior arrived: Pansy. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"I'm disappointed in our own house. We're supposed to be the pinnacle of wizards, the elite, nobles by right. Are we going to reject a girl just because she belongs to another house? When did we lose all the greatness we used to have?" Pansy stood up, giving a speech from her seat, with one hand on her chest and a haughty gaze directed at the other Slytherins who opposed her. "When one of ours sits at other tables, they're not rejected. Aren't we just as good as them? And if so, why should we do the same? We're better than them. Powerful, yet humble, grand enough to allow the lower class in our presence."
Seeing her so confident and assertive was admirable. If I didn't have so many issues right now, I'd go hug her for being so adorable. But that would have to wait; my mind was still on what's growing in Gemma's womb.
At some point, my siblings came to our table to check on Ginny. Well, except for Ron, who still hadn't shown up in the Great Hall. They were both concerned and surprised that Ginny was there, and that she actually wanted to be there. I had to assure them that everything was fine, and fortunately, the Slytherin girls helped by showing that they were protecting Ginny. Although my brothers didn't seem entirely convinced, they accepted that I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. Fred and George also told her that if she had any trouble, she should let them know, so they could prepare their dung bombs.
The dining hall filled up, but we didn't leave just yet. The girls took their time chatting with each other, introducing themselves both among my year's group and Ginny's. They spoke so casually that I didn't want to interrupt them. Meanwhile, I was sending [messages] to the girls in my group, chatting for a while. I also spoke with Gemma, telling her about what we'd be doing from now on.
In the middle of this breakfast, a commotion erupted at the Gryffindor table as Errol, our family's old owl, crashed into the table, looking like he was on the brink of death. I think it's time to buy another owl and gift it to my parents. That poor animal needs to retire and rest; it's terrible that we keep making him work.
The murmurs in the Great Hall fell silent, but quickly returned as they saw what the owl had brought: a Howler. Just like the one I received last year, though I was lucky enough not to have to hear it. Ron probably wouldn't be so fortunate.
There it was—the thunderous sound that echoed through the hall. If discretion was intended, it was far too late; everyone was listening.
"…STEALING THE CAR! I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF YOU HAD BEEN EXPELLED. WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU! I SUPPOSE YOU DIDN'T THINK ABOUT WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I FELT WHEN WE SAW THE CAR WAS GONE…" Our mother's voice reverberated through the hall, making every Weasley feel ashamed and intimidated, even me a little, though more from fear of my mother than embarrassment. "…LAST NIGHT, WHEN DUMBLEDORE'S LETTER ARRIVED! I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME. WE DIDN'T RAISE YOU TO ACT THIS WAY. YOU AND HARRY COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!" Ron nearly hid under the table, and Harry also felt humiliated at hearing his name mentioned. "…THEY'RE INVESTIGATING AT YOUR FATHER'S JOB, ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! AND IF YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, WE'LL PULL YOU OUT OF SCHOOL."
We all thought it was over, and some were laughing at Ron's misfortune, but the letter wasn't done. It flew a few more feet until it stopped in front of Ginny and me. I worried and prepared to do the same as last year, while Ginny paled even more.
"…AND YOU, GINNY, I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO YOU, MY BABY! I'LL PERSONALLY GO TO TALK TO DUMBLEDORE TO FIX HIS MISTAKE. DON'T WORRY, MOTHER IS ON HER WAY. STAY CLOSE TO YOUR BROTHER UNTIL WE CAN MOVE YOU… AND MAYBE HIM, TOO."
The letter fell to the floor and burned to ashes. My sister, already pale, turned a deep red, then a mix of both. She was strong, but something like this still affected her enough to make her dizzy and nearly faint with embarrassment.
That was our signal to leave. Ginny, Luna, and I said goodbye to our friends and left the Great Hall, trying to forget what had happened.
…
We got as far from the Great Hall as possible, reaching close to the courtyard, though still inside the castle. However, we couldn't fully escape the crowd, as the castle was quite busy at this hour. After a slow walk that allowed us to catch our breath and recover, we decided it was time to explore. We'd have classes soon, but there were still girls in the Great Hall who could receive the schedules and send them to me via [message], so we had some time.
When we finally decided to truly explore—or rather, start running through the castle like I did last year—Luna jumped onto my back, clinging to me.
"Onward!" she shouted, extending her hand and pointing forward.
She was riding me as she did at home. This embarrassed me a bit because it was one thing to play horsey at home, with no witnesses, but quite another to do it and have her shout it in front of all the students passing by, who now stared at us. Even so, if this made Luna happy, that was enough for me. I didn't intend to explain anything to anyone.
"Do you want to join?" I asked Ginny. Since I was doing this, I could humiliate myself a bit more and carry two girls around the castle.
"No, I'm fine," Ginny replied, clearly embarrassed. She knew how Luna was, but that didn't stop her from feeling a bit of secondhand embarrassment seeing her act like a small child.
"Alright."
"Onward, onward, onward!" Luna shouted, bouncing a little on my back.
"Onward!" I shouted as well, holding back a bit.
I started running with Luna on my back, in full view of everyone. Ginny, who didn't move for a few seconds, finally gathered the courage to overcome the embarrassment and followed us, running by my side.
We ran through the castle, even though it was forbidden, dodging other students and Filch, who yelled at us from afar. It was fun and thrilling, and once we picked up speed, the stares and laughter of others no longer mattered. Sometimes we went so fast that I decided not to stop and simply made a thick blood wall to run into. It was fun while it lasted, but class time was approaching, and we had to stop.
A couple of clones guided the girls to their respective classes, while two others went to different subjects. Due to my ability to create clones, the professors had assigned me, in addition to my regular classes, to attend all possible Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures classes, regardless of house. This was to prepare me for the trip to Brazil and, in a way, to avoid embarrassing Hogwarts. Plus, I'd have many tutorials, with additional classes from Sprout and Kettleburn. And not only me—Hannah and Neville would also have extra classes, though without the parallels. I was the only one who could be in several places at once, so the professors would take full advantage of this power to teach me and ensure that I'd leave a good impression of Hogwarts when visiting Castelobruxo.
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