I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_ron]

So, honestly? I don't know what we should do.

We've got Potions this afternoon. With Ravenclaw. And I haven't heard if Professor Slughorn is going to make us move tables or not. Or change partners, or whatever. I sort of don't think he will, but I dunno.

But this morning in Transfiguration, I thought Carrow was going to hex us for sitting where we usually sit well, where I usually sit in the back. He said we knew before we came in where we were supposed to sit, and we got another detention for not wanting to just let them tell half our class they aren't good enough to sit with the rest of us.

I mean, I'm trying to let Seamus think it's more about me not liking to sit up front like a girl, 'cause he's really

he agrees with

that some people are better

only, of course, he thinks he's in the better group, but even with the Carrows, who're making him sit in the back, he doesn't want us--Nev and me--standing up for him. He's really

I dunno

And Dean just shrugs and won't talk about it, but he's really hacked off, you can tell. And also scared expecting, I dunno, but he knows it's not going to stop with making him sit away from the rest of us. He's seen what happens, and I think he's getting ready for that. But he won't say anything to us, and I don't know if he thinks we're making it worse for him by showing we don't think this stuff is right. And Bundy. She never says anything to anyone, anyway. She just kind of flinches if you even look at her.

So I don't know what we should do, y'know? And we've got both Charms and Transfiguration again tomorrow.

Comments

[alt_sally_anne]

I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier because I could have told you Professor Slughorn didn't move our seats. Pansy and I sat together like usual and no one said a word. If you can believe it one of the Hufflepuff girls, I think it was Eloise Midgen, asked if he wasn't going to change the seats around and he chuckled and said something like, 'Miss Midgen, I have complete faith that if Madam Pomfrey or the Headmistress thinks such a step is necessary, she will let me know!' and went on with the lesson.

I was glad he didn't move us because I'd have had to partner with a Hufflepuff! It was bad enough last year when I got stuck with Lavender.

Don't make trouble in Transfiguration, Ron. Carrow hates your whole family, I reckon he's itching for a chance to cruciate you and Neville and defying him straight out would be just the excuse he wants. If you're going to make trouble do it in Charms, I don't think Acton would do anything worse than give you another detention. Though she's not REALLY making the halfbloods sit separately anyway since it sounds like she put Finnigan up front, how much sense does that even make?

[alt_ron]

Heh. Yeah, Professor Slughorn just acted like none of the rest of it is happening.

Well, it's not like we're going to do anything really stupid in Carrow's class. Not with Seamus acting like he'd be cheesed off if we did, anyway.

And, yeah. The difference between the Carrows and Acton? We got detention from Acton for putting 'the weaker ones' in danger of catching something from us; Carrow called us weak-brained degenerates and gave us detention because we're blood-traitors.

[alt_sally_anne]

Yeah I don't understand why Seamus wasn't one of the weaker ones since his father was a muggle! But you know I'd just as soon not try to make people admit this isn't really about keeping halfbloods safe. It's better if people all keep pretending. If everyone just admits they're really trying to keep themselves safe from us, my life will be a lot harder.

[alt_ron]

Oh. I hadn't thought about it that way.

I

You really think it's better to just let stuff happen? Even making people sit apart and eat at the end of the table and whatever? That's not happening at our table, y'know. There were some people who thought it should, but the rest of us said it's a load of

said no, so we're all still eating together like before.

I mean it's not like Lavender and Parvati ever let Katrina Bundy sit by them before. She always gets stuck on the other side of Neville if she even turns up to eat, but Dean and Seamus, they're still eating right in with the rest of us like always.

[alt_sally_anne]

I don't think you necessarily need to go along with making people sit separately, I mean Professor Slughorn today said he doesn't think it's necessary and clearly Professor Sprout doesn't either you know?

But right now most people are pretending they care deeply about keeping halfblood students safe. It's a lie but it's better than the truth in a lot of ways.

[alt_neville]

I feel real sorry for Katrina. Lavender's just awful to her, and Katrina's almost stopped talking entirely. I mean, I can get her to talk about Potions a little sometimes, because she's does okay at Potions, and besides, Professor Slughorn doesn't treat her like something scraped off the bottom of her shoe. But that's about it.

[alt_ron]

Well, yeah. But what can you really do about Bundy?

I mean, she doesn't act like she wants to be friends or anything. She's just sort of, I dunno. Boring, I guess.

[alt_neville]

Maybe she's just keeping her head down. Like Dean does. Just because a person's quiet, that doesn't mean they're boring.

I don't think it's that she doesn't want friends. I mean, think about it: she rooms with Lavender and Parvati, so maybe she figures it's hopeless cause nobody wants to be friends.

[alt_sally_anne]

It's too bad she got sorted into Gryffindor and not Hufflepuff. I think all the girls in our year in Hufflepuff are halfbloods.

[alt_neville]

Huh. That's worth thinking about. The Sorting Hat saw something about her that was brave.

Maybe that she was the only half-blood girl brave enough to actually live with Lavender and Parvati.

[alt_sally_anne]

I'm sure not!

The Hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw at first but I asked to be in Slytherin. And I am SO glad I did.

[alt_ron]

Yeah, I wondered about that, too. She sure hasn't shown it yet, but I'd like to be around when she finally gives Lavender and Parvati something to think about!

It's kinda hard to imagine it, though.

[alt_neville]

Oh, and I was going to say, good on your brother Percy, though, Ron. Dunno if you saw it, it's just a little thing, but Pavarti was reaching over and grabbing the platters and pitchers right by Katrina last night. You know, not letting her get anyway to serve herself. And Percy noticed, and he stopped the platter going down the table and got up to bring it back to Katrina and held it while she served herself. All the while giving Pavarti this really filthy look.

[alt_ron]

Well, if there's one thing Percy's really good at, it's filthy looks.

[alt_ron]

I've no idea what Seamus thinks it all means. That Acton figures he's less sickly than Dean? That the Carrows' opinions don't really count because they're mad?

I mean, really, they ought to all get their stories straight, don't you think? Just decide whether we're meant to be doing halfbloods a favour or showing that we think some people aren't nearly as good as others. What Acton did with Seamus just shows that it's all about who's supposed to be better, and since she thinks Mr Rosier's real important, then Seamus doesn't have to go to the back of the room with the others.

How does he not see how wrong that is?

[alt_sally_anne]

I don't think Finnigan thinks about it much at all, not if he can avoid it anyway.

[alt_sally_anne]

I mean, if you're a halfblood you have a couple of choices as I see it. Of what to believe, I mean.

1. You can believe that what the Ministry says is true, that you're really not as good as everyone else.

2. You can believe that you're as good as everyone else and so the Ministry is lying about that, which means they could be lying about all sorts of things.

3. You can believe that what the Ministry says is true but you're special and better than the other halfbloods somehow.

I wonder sometimes if I'd be different if I hadn't grown up with my mum and dad, if I'd been raised by a mean old lady like Megan Jones and told that everything I did was stupid and wrong my whole life, would I be one of the ones who thinks she deserves to sit in the back and get pushed around?

Because really it would be dead hard for me to believe the first. I can look around me and see I'm as good at magic as a pureblood.

Anyway if you want to believe everything the Ministry says is true you have to spend a lot of time not thinking much about some things. Really, I mean, even if you're a pureblood. That must be what Finnigan does because otherwise really how could he

Well anyway I think I agree with you.

[alt_ron]

Of course, you're as good at magic as a pureblood. You get top marks almost all the time.

I bet it make Patil come out in hives when you get higher marks than she does. Malfoy, too, probably.

[alt_sally_anne]

The ONLY reason I didn't get the top mark in Transfiguration last year was because Carrow wanted a pureblood to be the top student. I'm better at Transfiguration than Patil and I think it drives her mad.

[alt_neville]

Too right.

[alt_ron]

I mean, look, just writing that sounds mental. You're as good at magic as any witch. Or wizard, too. And it's got cod's all to do with whether you're a halfblood. I mean, I reckon that maybe if one of your parents was really ace at Charms, you might get that from them, and if one of your parents was really dire at Potions, say, it wouldn't be too surprising if you were, too.

But that's got nothing to do with whether you've ever had any Muggles somewhere up your family tree. Does it?

I mean, I know it's not the same, but I kind of can't explain it.

[alt_sally_anne]

Well Finnigan's father was a muggle! so he didn't get his Potions ability from his dad.

And my mum is a muggleborn so she didn't get any of it from her parents.

My mum was really good at Transfiguration back when she had her wand. My father was better at Charms. It was a real problem when all we had to eat was turnips since he was the one with the wand.

She must have been good though because she was a Ravenclaw Prefect when she was a student.

[alt_ron]

Whoa.

That's really--

I don't know. About your Mum.

It's not right, for one thing. I mean, it makes no sense that the Ministry'd take away wands from some of the best witches and wizards we've got. People like your Mum.

But, yeah. What you're good at can't all come from your parents. I mean, look at my family. Bill's really good at Charms, and the twins, too. And that comes from Mum, definitely. She's ace at spellwork.

But what about Charlie? I mean, my dad's pretty good at making stuff and figuring out how stuff works, and Charlie is, too. But working with dragons? I don't know anybody in our family who really liked creatures the way he does. I mean, Mum keeps chickens and bees and things, but that's not the same at all. So where'd that come from? No where. It's just Charlie, and he's dead good at it.

And nobody knows where they got Percy from. The twins'll tell you Mum and Dad got him on the bargain table at the goblin market. 'Course they also told me that Mum found me under a cabbage leaf, so there you go.