A few smiles lit the faces around him. Susan grinned.
"We've all known each other for years. And now, we're about to start Hogwarts together. It's my sincere hope that by the end of these seven years, we'll be closer to each other than we are even now."
More smiles.
"There are, however, those about to start Hogwarts who know no-one. They did not grow up in our world. They do not have a legion of the best people a wizard could ask for to back them up. They are starting out alone."
Frowns.
"They will also be our friends. Our world can seem a difficult and confusing place to muggleborns, and it is our duty to protect them from those who would sooner see them thrown out of our world, rather then befriend them."
Firm nods. Set jaws. Alert eyes.
"A lot changed with the downfall of Voldemort—"
Squeaks, large pupils, flushed faces, awe.
"—And over the last decade, our parents have done a lot to move the wizarding world in the direction it needs to go. The auror force, which was devastated at the end of the last war, has slowly begun to regain its strength,"—He nodded to Susan who beamed.—"the laws around dark artefacts and magic have been strengthened, and laws discriminating against muggleborns have been defeated."
Ron thrust out his chest. Susan grinned again.
"But even as we celebrate these successes we face a newer and perhaps more worrying development than the traditional Dark families."
Tilted heads. Frowns.
"Three years ago, a man claimed the title of Lord Slytherin, and has since persuaded the neutral families to abandon their neutrality and follow him."
Hannah and Sally's frowns deepened.
"This development is worrying, not because the Gray seem to hold the same beliefs as the Dark, but because we do not know what beliefs they do hold. The Light holds the most votes in the Wizengamot, but not by much. The Gray holds even fewer than either the Dark or the Light, but so long as the Dark and the Light do not agree on something, the Gray decides if it becomes law or not. And so far, the Gray has let barely a single contentious law through."
More frowns.
"The progress that our parents made, stopped three years ago."
Ron scowled.
"What does Lord Slytherin really want? We don't know. All we really know is that it isn't what we want and that Lord Slytherin intends to keep his true intentions secret, possibly until it is too late to do anything about it."
Neville squirmed. Lavender bit her lip.
"That is why I'm asking you to stay as alert as possible around the children of the Gray. Look for the true intentions behind the pretty words. Stay friendly, but cautious, and do not allow yourself to be seduced by vague promises and slippery logic."
Slow nods. Faces set to stone.
"We are the children of the Light. We have upheld what is good and just since before the founding of Hogwarts. We protect all, regardless of nobility or house age, and regardless of blood status! We will all soon be in different houses, but that won't change that we are the Light, and that we stand firm against the Darkness.
Clapping. Ron stood and thumped him on the back. Susan hugged him, before backing off and blushing up a storm. The compartment filled with appreciative words and declarations of support.
Inwardly, John smirked. Much better than last time.
...
The small girl with long burnt-brown hair quick marched back to the first compartment, heart pounding. Her friend had found a nice second year to talk to and the older girl had regaled both of them with stories of the castle. It had been so interesting, she'd forgotten the time. When she'd glanced out of the window and realised the train was moving, she'd been horrified. She reached the first compartment and reached for the door handle.
…
Suddenly, her throat parched. Her tongue felt like sand paper. Thirst clawed at her, nagging and insistent.
…
Okay, she would find a drink first, and then come back. It was only a few minutes after all.
.....
In the middle compartment, the Hogwarts Express started moving.
Daphne sat surrounded by the children of the Gray and a few courtiers. To her right sat Tracey, Granger, and Blaise Zabini. To her left sat Parvati Patil, Zacharias Smith, Terry Boot, and Wayne Hopkins.
They all looked towards her.
"Thank you all for joining us today." She paused. "I'd like you all to look around this compartment. Look at the faces next to you."
They glanced around.
"In this compartment we have four females and four males; three noble houses and five common ones; five purebloods, two halfbloods, and one muggleborn."
A few eyes widened and Zach stole a suspicious glance towards Hopkins.
"Soon, we may also be Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins, but don't let this fool you… what we really are isn't any one of these."
Zabini leant closer.
"We are wizards, born with the gift of magic. How fast can you cast? How powerful are your spells? How good are you at bending the universe to your will? These are the questions that matter."
Boot and Zach's eyes briefly met, one raised eyebrow between them.
"The Light wishes to tame us, domesticate us, dictate to us what is and isn't safe for us to do. They set up committees to command what charms we're allowed to even experiment with, let alone use. They waste the best years of our brightest minds with the asinine business of expanding the ever-growing lists of muggle toys we're not allowed to play with. They deem to claim the moral high-ground of protecting those with no power while systematically removing said power and centralising it with an ever-growing, all-powerful, draconian ministry."
....
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