The whole of magical Britain was talking with the name on everyone's lips being Harry Potter, her father had heard whispers of prominent purebloods fleeing the country with their tails between their legs and was delighted his daughter had allied herself with the house of Potter. Being that fence sitting was almost embedded in the Greengrass genes her father would wait for developments before taking any drastic action like declaring alliance.
They were currently being taught charms by professor Flitwick and, because the class was so small, being allowed to work at their own pace instead of having to wait on Crabbe and Goyle having everything explained to them six times. The lessons, learning environment and classmates that she could be herself amongst all helped to make her believe that standing up on Monday morning was the best decision she ever made.
The warm Italian sunshine and beauty of the Amalfi Coast was slowly melting the ex-Slytherin ice queen.
Pomona, Minerva and Poppy were sitting trying to organise what the Institute needed to get done before being able to open on September first, Minerva was noting all that they would need to buy and the Scotswoman was fast approaching overload at the running total so far, Hogwarts would never be able to afford this but then she was one of very few people who knew of the financial manipulations that went on, and with ministry approval.
The pureblood dogma that muggle borns shouldn't be allowed to attend was utter rubbish since without them the school would close. They paid in some cases fifteen times more fees that the purebloods for two reasons, their fees were comparable to the best muggle boarding schools and if purebloods were charged the same most of their parents wouldn't pay. As there children were either going to be married off or get jobs due to their families influence why waste all that good gold on an education.
The result was that Hermione's fees for the last three years would probably pay for the entire Hogwarts education of all seven members of the Weasley clan. She had been debating with herself whether to pass this information onto Harry, the Institute targeting of the muggle born students could end up closing Hogwarts but this story in the press would cause uproar of epic proportions. She had to tell him and let the group decide what to do with the information, she was nothing if not loyal and she had decided where her loyalties should be when leaving that Monday morning.
Pomona and Poppy were amazed at the European syllabus that actually had potions and Herbology closely linked but with healing included as well. The students had to understand the plants, the potion and the effects they achieved on the body. Again the equipment needed to start potions, Herbology and an infirmary from scratch would not be cheap.
Harry and Hermione were working with mum and dad to make arrangements for the Hogwarts students that had basically become orphans; with their parents on the phone both teens had dossiers for each student and were writing in the arrangements as they were worked out. Dan discovered two things, they badly needed computers with Internet access and the Gardiner credit cards had no limits. Amelia had also sent through a list of qualified ministry personnel that would be assisting with the plan.
...
Albus had received notice that his presence was required at the ministry tomorrow to discuss irregularities relating to Hogwarts. After reading about the death eater purges he suspected Severus had given the DMLE information but he was aware that the potions master could overcome truth serum and was impervious to mind scans.
There was also the fact that Amelia hadn't turned up with those two pet aurors of hers yet which would definitely be the case if they broke Severus. At most he was going to be getting a dressing down for his treatment of that little shit Potter, as long as they didn't cancel the tournament Albus would listen to their bullshit all day.
...
Harry, Hermione, Dan and Emma met with Amelia and both aurors in Hogsmead, Albus had already left for his day at the ministry so they should be free from interference, especially since it appeared in the Quibbler that Harry had a high opinion of Madam Bones and felt that if she was in charge he wouldn't have had to leave in the first place. She was a shoo in for becoming the next minister of magic.
Dan and Emma were pretty sure that these two were gong to use this opportunity to complete the task they had to do in Hogwarts so they were not going alone and both Grangers now carried guns.
They entered the castle and the laughing teens had to guide their parents by the elbow as they gawked at their surroundings before managing to get into the classroom that had been commandeered for their use. They quickly got organised before sending for the first appointment of the day, Draco Malfoy.
Draco strutted into the room and almost ran back out when he recognised who was waiting for him. "Malfoy if you leave this room then you must know the only decisions are which orphanage to place you in and what to do next year when you can't afford Hogwarts," Draco had stopped so Harry pressed home his advantage, "it's not very Slytherin of you to leave before even hearing the proposal, take a seat and I promise that you will get to accept or decline my offer."
Draco sat in front of the panel of five with two aurors standing behind him.
"I won't waste your time so here's what we're offering, non-magical people in America have what's known as summer camp. It's people your own age who get together to do outdoor pursuits and basically have a lot of fun. You would have to live as a muggle for the summer but on September first you would be attending Salem Academy of Magic to continue your education there. Please don't think of this as some sort of punishment, you have been told your whole life that muggles are beneath you without ever having any experience of them – this is to provide you with that opportunity."
Amelia spoke, "the ministry is assisting in this venture but it is being totally funded by Lord Potter with all fees, travel arrangements, equipment, clothes and even an allowance to be paid monthly. You are well aware of the alternatives and if this is Lord Potter's idea of punishment then he can punish me anytime – it's costing him a fortune!"
Draco sat quietly, living as a muggle for two months then being allowed to attend Salem or go to an orphanage and depend on someone's charity to continue his education. The name Malfoy would now count against him and he would need a good education to make any headway in life. On paper it wasn't a hard decision but there was one thing that was driving him crazy, why was Potter doing this?
The idea that there would be no gain or a debt to be paid off somewhere down the line was inconceivable to the Slytherin and he couldn't see Potter's angle. What did Potter get out of Draco Malfoy saying yes? He felt that if he understood that then he could fight it but how do you fight an unselfish act.
He said the only thing he could say," I'm in!"
....
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