Snapping back to the conversation, Cyrna lowered her eyes and fiddled with her wand as she spoke, "Because... I don't know, but—" she said threw a nervous glance at Harry and only continued when he nodded encouragingly. "Well, I don't think they're completely wrong; they just have different priorities. Like—like I'd assume a Gryffindor, with their noble justice, when forced to choose between sacrificing the one or the many, would choose to sacrifice the one, even if the one was unwilling to die—"
"I'd try to save them both," Harry cut in, wrinkling his nose at the thought of that situation. "Or maybe I'd just take the hit for them."
"Well..." Cyrna started slowly, but was interrupted by Ron.
"That's not always possible. Er—Harry, think about it. It's like chess—what if you're the king, the one making the choices. The game is over when the king dies. A king can't allow himself to die over something that can easily be solved by sacrificing one. A kingdom without a leader wouldn't last long, so sacrificing yourself could lead to the most deaths."
"Well," said Harry at long last. "Then I just won't be the king."
Cyrna threw Harry an unreadable look, her amusement hidden deep within her. After all, the king, in Ron's situation, would be Harry in seven years—the most precious game piece; the one who, if he had stayed dead, might've resulted in the entire war being lost.
Ron turned back to Cyrna, prompting her to continue. "Why, would a Slytherin choose differently?"
Seeing that they were coming around, Cyrna continued more confidently, "Yeah, I think if Slytherins are as selfish as you say, they'd probably choose whichever option best suits them; so really, it could go both ways. If the Slytherin had friends in the 'many' then they'd agree with the Gryffindors... but if not..." Cyrna trailed off.
Harry seemed to be thinking things over. "So if the 'one' was someone important to them, the Slytherin would be willing to sacrifice the many?"
"I think so."
Harry couldn't quite decide if that was right or wrong, just as he also couldn't decide for the Gryffindor's decision—because while his mind told him that it was right—saving more was better, wasn't it?—It also somehow felt wrong because what if that 'one' had been his friend? Harry looked at Ron, glad that he looked just as confused as he currently felt. Harry groaned, dropping his head back against his seat. "Alright! That's enough—let's talk about something else!"
"It was just a thought," said Cyrna, reverting back to her more softly spoken character.
"I'm surprised your mind hasn't exploded yet," said Harry.
"Harry!" Cyrna exclaimed, ducking her head as she pretended to blush in embarrassment.
Ron snickered then moved on to lighter topics—namely, Quidditch—until he spotted a tiny speck that grew in the distance. Immediately, he plastered himself to the window, Harry following suit. Cyrna too, could not completely resist the temptation, and she craned her neck to look.
"Blimey, we're here! That's Hogwarts!" Ron exclaimed.
The castle grew in size as the train chugged towards its destination, giving a shrill whistle every once in a while. Cyrna could now make out the tiny windows, the detailed arches of the castle, and the tall goalposts of the quidditch pitch. Seeing the pitch, Ron went straight back to telling Harry about the Quidditch teams and why the Chudley Canons was the best.
And hearing the topic, Cyrna went straight back to zoning them out. Deciding to review her first-year textbooks, Cyrna pondered for a moment before choosing Potions, the subject she was most familiar with. She'd speed through it and get it out of the way. Cyrna got to reading, and she was almost finished when their door slid open again.
Draco Malfoy and his two sidekicks swaggered in and Cyrna gave a small pathetic groan in her mind. It was just the first year! Thank god she wasn't the protagonist of the series because apparently being Harry Potter meant that you couldn't even have peace for half an hour of your life.
"So you're Harry Potter?" Draco asked. He gestured at the two boys beside him who, in Cyrna's opinion, was more meat shield than bodyguard. "They're Crabbe and Goyle. I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he said importantly.
Cyrna watched as Harry immediately frowned, no doubt remembering Draco as the blond prat from Madam Malkin's. Harry looked at her and Ron, and Cyrna saw Ron mouth 'Slytherin,' to Harry. Then, Ron smugly gave her the—'I told you so' look.
....
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