AN: This is the second book in my series. The first book is titled "Harry Potter and the Magical Guardian." (s/13308768/1/Harry-Potter-and-the-Magical-Guardian). I do not manage to post weekly, but all future chapters will always be posted on Wednesdays.

The Summer Calm

Vernon Dursley took a sip of his tea as he watched the evening news on the telly, wincing slightly at the overly sweet taste of the weight drops his wife had put in it, but happy that his neck was once again distinguishable from the rest of his torso. Perhaps if he kept the excess weight off this time with some exercise he could get her to tone down the strength a little. Petunia had almost spilled it while handing it to him, something outside had spooked her. As soon as he'd taken the cup she turned and sped out the back, shouting something about her roses.

He realized what she was worried about as he took his first sip. With the boys at summer camp for the next several weeks, his nephew Harry was forced to leave his pet snake at the house. Petunia and the serpent had an arrangement with her garden where the red, black, and gold reptile kept others of his kind (as well as rodents) away and she took him in and out. An owl flew by the window over the television while he was thinking; and since the boys' bird, Hedwig, was with them, that meant it was a wild one that might have thought of Najash as a meal.

"Big as the thing is now, I wouldn't be surprised if the snake came out on top." He muttered, paying only minor attention to the news. The normal world was fairly stable, all things considered. The most interesting thing to happen recently was the closing of that steel factory in Scotland, since it was at least somewhat related to his own business.

The magical world was much less so at the moment, considering that Hogwarts School was currently embroiled in a media controversy over the fact that the school had played host to a dangerous artefact for the entirety of the previous school year. That was only just becoming overshadowed by coverage of Hogwarts hosting what amounted to a completely non magical summer camp for the first time in the institution's history. There was a not insignificant faction of powerful magical Lords who wanted problems to arise from the endeavor, but Vernon and his acquaintance, Joseph Finch-Fletchley, had managed to gather enough non magical people who were in-the-know that the camp would have minimal outsiders. If the school professors hadn't insisted that the students be allowed to go to the local 'muggle town' then there would be virtually no risk of exposure.

Vernon frowned at the memory of what magical people called those without magic. A few moments later Petunia returned with the meter long snake on her arm and hurriedly took him upstairs to Harry's room. Why the rush? He thought to himself. His wife didn't really have problems with Najash anymore, not after he saved her life more than once; her only issues now were over how much larger he was getting. The supposed-to-have-already-been-fully-grown snake had gained about a foot of growth so far in the ten months after his magical growth had been triggered the first time Harry took him to Hogwarts.

"The Greens almost saw me bringing him in." Petunia said when she made it back down the steps, referring to the family whose yard shared a section of fence line with theirs, "We have to come up with a better solution than this to keep him from being seen."

"Just have Harry teach Najash a signal to come back when you open the door." He replied while eyeing the hall towards the front door, "He's supposed to be back at the end of the week for his first lesson with Andromeda, isn't he?"

"That's a good idea." She agreed while pouring herself a cup and sitting down, "Do you want to sit in on that?"

"I'll try to get on top of my paperwork, dear." Vernon replied, "If I can get a handle on this new sale then I'll join you. If not, I can just borrow Hermione's notes."

Petunia chuckled, "You said that last week, Vernon. Don't worry though, Hermione will have you covered, I'm sure. Now, are you going to tell me what you have planned with Remus and Sirius or am I supposed to continue studying my Potions texts without explanation."

Vernon didn't answer, just returning his attention to the morning news.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

Harry Potter was having one of the most memorable summers he could remember, even more so than the previous one where he got to visit the magical world in earnest for the very first time. The first week of break had been spent being grounded for his hairbrained actions at the end of his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but even that inauspicious beginning couldn't put a damper on how great the following two weeks had been. His friend from school, Neville Longbottom, spent the second week staying at Number 4 Privet Drive as Harry's guest, during which time Harry and his family did their best to show Neville some of the more commonplace, but interesting, parts of non magical life. For the last week, the third of the break, he, his cousin Dudley, and Neville had all been attending the Wandless Magic Seminar being put on by the school along with their other friends.

Of course, the first several weeks of the seminar were actually more like a muggle summer camp, with games and such interspersed with informational sessions for those unfamiliar with how non magical people do things. The muggle raised students at the camp were practically superstars as they showed their magical peers how to do things around their cabins the non magical way or explained what the various things that they had seen on the way were. Thankfully, Harry and Hermione got a break from being bombarded with questions early on when Padma got out her torch to provide light on the second evening.

All the other purebloods in the area turned on her at first, furious that she had slipped a magical item past the teachers and potentially ruined their chances at learning wandless magic. When Harry left the camp for the weekend a few days later there were still a large number that were unwilling to believe that non magical technology could replicate a spell effect that well in something barely bigger than a wand. He mused that for many of the older pureblood students, particularly the especially bigotted Slytherins, it would probably take actually spending time in a non magical city before they really accepted that their preconceptions were wrong.

Now Harry and his best friend Hermione were preparing to portkey to Potter Isle; both to visit Harry's godfather, Sirius, and also to meet with his Family Regent, Andromeda Tonks. Aunt Andi, as Harry addressed her, had a lesson plan in mind for giving him and Hermione a crash course in Magical High Society. In Harry's case, it was necessary because he would one day be expected to take up his seat as Lord Potter, for Hermione it was simply because she enjoyed learning absolutely anything she could. That, and Harry needed support if he was going to have to sit through etiquette classes; Aunt Andi could do a passable impression of Professor McGonagall's sternness when she wanted to.

"Whoah!" Hermione yelled when the Portkey deposited them on the footpath between the two cottages of Potter Isle. When they landed, Harry continued the spinning motion that was indicative of that form of travel and ended up being flung a few feet from the landing point, pulling Hermione down as well.

"Sorry," He replied while hastily getting up to check on her, "magical travel still doesn't like me."

In fact, the only means of magical transport Harry had experienced that didn't violently disagree with him was his trusty broomstick. Floo travel, through fireplaces, spat him out the receiving end with too much speed to stay upright; and apparition, effectively teleportation, was one of the most uncomfortable things Harry had ever gone through. The last time he had been side-along apparated by his Transfiguration Professor he thought he was going to suffocate, the magic felt like being pulled through a straw and he couldn't shake the feeling off when first reappearing.

"Are you okay, Harry?" James asked from nearby where he and his sister were kicking a football back-and-forth. James and Marielle Smith were the two older children of Temperance Smith, formerly Burke, who lived on the Isle and helped take care of Sirius. When she was first hired, Temperance had been in charge of cleaning up the different houses that Harry's Family owned; but his godfather being released from prison after being framed and incarcerated for a decade threw a wrench in that plan. Thankfully, she was quite capable of helping to get the man back on his feet after continuous exposure to the Dementors of Azkaban Prison.

"We're alright." He answered the boy, "Is Aunt Andi already here?"

"Yep," James answered, understanding that he meant Andromeda Tonks and pointing to the cottage that Sirius had been staying in since being released from the hospital after his ordeal in Azkaban, "they're inside. Padfoot said if you finish in time he wants to play football."

"Hey kids, how was the first week?" Sirius asked the pair when they entered the cottage, "Any of the Slytherins get sent home yet?"

"Only Marcus Flint." Hermione told him, her voice revealing her incredulity that the now-fourth-year could be so stupid, "He kept shouting at anyone who tried to help him do anything and set the stove on fire in his cabin's kitchenette. When he panicked and shouted for water charms to put out the fire he was asked to leave."

"I feel sorry for the boy who agreed to be his partner," Harry added, "I believe he was a Ravenclaw. But I think the staff are going to invite him back for the wandless part at the end, anyways."

"At least that worked out for him." Sirius said, "Andi has some last minute stuff to get ready, and your aunt is going to join us shortly, so you kids have a little bit of time."

"She is?" Harry asked, "Why didn't she come with us?"

"Maybe she just didn't want to get flung across the yard by the portkey?" Hermione mused aloud, smirking at Harry. He groaned, but laughed with her, since he could still see the humor in his predicament. At least as long as it didn't prove unfixable.

Only a few minutes later, after telling Sirius a little about how funny some of their more "magically dependent" friends were when figuring out how non magical things worked, Petunia joined them via floo and Andromeda ushered the pair into the sitting room of the cottage where she had an easel and a few large sheets of parchment ready to be put up for observation. Surprisingly, Harry's aunt brought Najash with her.

"Harry, when we get a chance we need to discuss Najash." Petunia informed him while the serpent got comfortable on his shoulders, "He's getting too big for me to bring in and without risking attention."

"I don't foresee us spending all day." Andromeda informed them, "I felt that we should start with a basic overview of the Wizengamot, and particularly which Families are traditionally allied with each other. Sirius being your godfather, and not being like the rest of our Family, has shaken that up a little, but not so much that any classic voting blocs are likely to shift about it."

"Speaking of that," Harry asked, "did Lord Greengrass ever reach out to you?"

Daphne Greengrass, a Slytherin in Harry's year, told him at school that her father was looking at moving their Family into the liberal side of the Wizengamot. The politics among wizards in Britain was weird to Harry's mind; 'liberal' more-or-less meant 'light'-aligned, but only because the 'conservative' faction was composed almost exclusively of Families that were historically associated with darker magic. The Greengrass Family was publicly seen as neutral on those issues, but Harry supposed that the destruction Voldemort and his Death Eaters caused during the war was enough to make them consider things again.

"He did," Andromeda answered, "but since then he has informed me that he is going to take a longer time to come out with it. Personally, I feel like he's waiting for the Muggle Protection Act to go through the 'Gamot. He knows that you have a direct hand in it, and will probably decide if aligning with the Potter Family is worth it based on the outcome. Lord Greengrass may be willing to accept a more progressive outlook, but I wouldn't expect him to become very openly pro-muggle anytime soon; unless it is merely a consequence of backing the winning side."

"I noticed that Daphne and Tracey weren't at the wandless magic camp." Hermione commented, "Parkinson is one thing, she probably personally insulted every single muggleborn up to third year within the first month of school, but I can't imagine those two letting their other peers get this kind of leg up on them."

"Since the school released a generalized explanation of why they believe the summer camp will help the students learn wandless magic, I assume at least a few families decided to try and get the results on their own." Andromeda told her, "Now why don't we start with a general overview of the different factions within the Wizengamot and let you ask any questions you might have after that. You've already gotten a taste of how the Chamber generally runs the last time you were there, Harry; and yes, it has always been that slow and long-winded."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Checkmate."

"No freaking way!" Dudley Dursley exclaimed, "That's ten games in a row! Strategy games are the only smart thing I beat Harry and Hermione at, what gives?"

"Don't worry, you have until the end of the camp." Ron answered smugly, "Just remember what you promised if you can't win by then."

"Yeah, yeah." Dudley waved him off, "If you keep winning, you can borrow my broom for Slytherin's Quidditch tryouts next term." Truth be told, he wouldn't have minded that anyways. He didn't think he had any intention of trying out for the Hufflepuff team, he just liked flying a broom that didn't try to buck him off in the slightest turbulence, "Now let's set these pieces up again, I want to know why Professor McGonagall did that."

Draco Malfoy smirked at Dursley's frustration from across the room where he was working on his summer homework. At the end of the last term Ronald Weasley, the first Weasley-born Slytherin in the House's entire history, had beaten an enchanted chess set created by the Gryffindor Head of House, Professor McGonagall. The Professor was a chess champion in the magical world and, generally unknown to the students, had a running bet with the other Heads over whether they could find a chess talent able to beat her. Rather than risk drawing the animosity of the whole school by stealing the House Cup at the last minute with a hundred and fifty unexplained points, he accepted enough to put them in second.

This left McGonagall's own house still in the lead by a tiny margin, the first time Slytherin had lost the House Cup in a decade; yet, due to Weasley's deal with her over the points, she showed up to the Leaving Feast wearing all Slytherin colours. Gryffindor's win was effectively stolen, even if they kept the Cup, as the entire student body spent the Feast whispering among themselves over her attire. No Head was more about House loyalty than the literal 'Queen of the Pride,' herself, after all. Only a few outside of Slytherin House knew who, specifically, was involved in the mystery; and Draco's estimation of his red headed roommate rose several notches at the absolutely devious power play. Especially as he taunted Dursley with the answer to his question right in front of him.

"Malfoy… could you uh…" Gregory Goyle asked from his seat across from Draco, "I'm not sure about this one."

Draco fought to keep from snapping at the overweight boy. For most of their lives they had been raised to accept a pseudo-master-servant relationship between the two. Whenever their Families met to discuss politics it was Goyle, and his compatriot Vincent Crabbe, that were 'assigned' to keep Draco entertained. That arrangement had extended into the beginning of their time in Hogwarts, with the pair effectively acting as manservants that did anything he didn't want to, such as preparing Potion ingredients.

"Sure, let me see." He answered when he realized he had been blankly staring at Goyle for a few seconds. The dynamic between them had changed after Yule, when Draco's cousin Sirius Black had been pronounced innocent of murder, the victim of a frame job, and released from Azkaban Prison.

Prior to that, Draco and his parents believed that when Cousin Sirius died in Azkaban, hopefully sooner rather than later, Draco would become the Lord of House Black. But with Sirius free, Draco was no longer only a few years away from becoming indisputably the richest lord in Magical Britain by adding the Black name to his own, he wasn't even the next in line. Sirius was not only related to Draco, he was also the godfather of Harry Potter, someone Draco had entered into a less-than-friendly rivalry with that was rooted in their different Houses, as well as upbringings; and the Gryffindor Golden Boy was now the official heir of the House of Black.

He glanced back at Dudley Dursley, Harry's cousin, before returning his gaze to the parchment in front of him and beginning to explain the relatively simple Charm theory to Goyle. Since Sirius was freed, Draco found himself pulled between his two parents. His mother had taken the incident as a chance to renew her relationships not only with Sirius, but also her older sister Andromeda. Meanwhile, his father had spent the whole of the last school term attempting to undermine Sirius and take the future of House Black back. Thankfully, Potter had offered a chance to start over between them; but ever since then, the young Malfoy Scion had been left unsure what his position was meant to be.

A half-hour later, Dursley groaned in frustration and gave up for the day. Though it was voluntary to attend, the muggles running the camp were showing some form of muggle entertainment tonight called a 'film.' Weasley was openly excited at the prospect, referencing a film that he saw while visiting Dursley's home over Yule break, and asking questions about the one they were planning to show. If it hadn't been for an offhand comment by one of the Patil twins about muggles in space then Draco wouldn't even have a clue what they were talking about. When several wizards from respectable families, quite reasonably they thought at the time, asserted that it was patently impossible to leave the planet, let alone go to the moon, especially without magic, the adults in charge had brought out a muggle tellis-vision and showed a recording of men in bulky white costumes walking on the lunar surface.

Dudley did his best to hide his grin, taking sidelong glances at Draco and Greg as they made their way to the outdoor theatre that the movie would be shown at. The larger boy wasn't really a thinker, so the real implications beyond the cool lights and sounds from the video of the lunar landing went mostly over his head; but Draco was clearly stuck, still unable to reconcile his beliefs about non magical people being backwards in relation to wizards with what he had seen in the last few days. Honestly, Dudley found it hard to believe that Draco hadn't figured out that the people in charge of the camp were largely muggleborn, or their parents or siblings. How else would they have known that having proof of the moon landing on-hand might be called for?

The young Hufflepuff was genuinely excited to see what his companions' reactions to the film would be. If there was enough interest, they would probably show the entire trilogy over the next couple weeks, too. Just as the sun was setting, Dudley sat down next to Ron with a few slices of pizza on a plate, chuckling at those raised in the magical world as they tried to figure out how to eat the food without getting their hands dirty, and prepared to be bombarded with questions once the previews were finished. It sucked being one of the only ones partnered with a Slytherin that was actually familiar with non magical culture, most had come with half-blood students that were still barely able to turn on a ceiling fan and managed to get by on technicalities; but if any non magical story was going to enthrall them, it was Star Wars.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"I wasn' sure what to think o' this muggle thing, but today hasn' really been all that bad." Wesley Oakes offered to the conversation between the recipients of the newly established Wolfstar Foundation's 'No Wand Left Unclaimed' scholarship initiative. Three of the five children present were purebloods who would normally have been unable to attend, or have difficulties attending, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I wish there was a place like that park in Diagon Alley." Angelina Goyle added, "My mum and I sometimes get food there while my father does business in Knockturn Alley, it would have been nice to have somewhere so pretty to eat and relax."

"I agree Gina, Mister Fortesque's Ice Cream Shop, with those hedges around his seating area, is the closest I've seen." Christina Polkiss, the only muggleborn present, concurred; calling the other girl by the more common name she preferred, just as she, herself, went by 'Tina,' "But there isn't a lot of extra space in Diagon Alley, you know?"

"That doesn't mean a space couldn't be added with magic." Luna Lovegood, the other outlier, being a pureblood that was participating in the day's activities but was not a scholarship recipient, said without looking up from the magazine she was reading.

"You shouldn't read while we ride in the car," Tina told the girl, craning her head around to read the title of the magazine since she was holding it upside down, The Quibbler, "you can get motion sickness that way."

"I'll be okay, Christina, but thank you." The other girl answered without looking at her, or even physically acknowledging that she was part of a conversation besides her verbal responses, "But still, with magic, space should not be a problem. But pretty gardens and outdoor places are known to attract nargles if too many people know about them; so even if a place was made, it would not be pleasant for very long before the nargles began their trickery."

"Uh huh… yeah." Wesley said in a deadpan voice while he glanced at the last young magical in the group, Ginny Weasley. It had been her father's request that saw Luna joining the group for their summer outings in the first place. Thankfully for her, their destination was only a few minutes' drive from the park and she didn't have to endure much more scrutiny.

"Alright children," Arabella Figg called from the passenger's seat as the three-row SUV pulled to a stop, "Sir Finch-Fletchley has rented out a conference room here where a few early presentations will be. Your parents will be there as well, and you will have time to tell them about your day before you need to be in the conference room."

When the last door closed, Mrs. Figg gently placed a hand on Gina's shoulder, "Your father could not make it, but your mother is here, dear. Relax."

The tension in her shoulders bled away at once as she broke into a weak smile, "Thank you."

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" The young muggleborn man that had volunteered to help chaperone, Henry, if she remembered correctly, asked as he fell into step beside her and behind the children, "I couldn't see well from the driver's seat, but she seemed upset when you mentioned parents."

"Everything is fine," she replied, "Gina was worried that her family wouldn't be able to make it, but I let her know her mother will be here."

"Her name seems familiar somehow." He mused aloud as they walked, "Where have I heard of a 'Goyle' before?"

"You know, I just remembered where I've heard that name." He announced quietly a minute or so later. Arabella pinched her nose in frustration at the slightly distrustful tone in his voice. The children were only just reuniting with their parents, at least the young man had taken this long to put it together.

"Don't bring it up," she insisted to Henry, "the scholarship is for any child who wouldn't have gotten to go to Hogwarts without severe Family hardship. It doesn't matter who that Family is."

"Understood ma'am." He replied, schooling his face and wiping the frown of uncertainty off it, "I just remember hearing stories of who I assume is her father from some of the older students when I was in Hogwarts. He sounded like bad news."

"We hope to change that," Arabella asserted, "starting right here."

"Hi daddy, hi Uncle Moony!" Tina said on the other side of the room as her father almost crushed her in a hug, "Everyone had a great time at the park! I couldn't believe that Luna Lovegood was the only one who'd ridden in a boat on a pond before."

"Angelina? How has your day been?" Annis Goyle asked her daughter, doing her best not to gawk at the muggleborn girl who was talking so loudly.

"I loved it, mama." Gina replied, her voice barely above a whisper and unheard by anyone but her mother, "It was so pretty, and there was so much to do. It was all in a small area, too; and none of us needed more than two Galleons in muggle money. I even have a lot left over!"

After the children had caught up with their parents, or their friend's parent in the case of Luna Lovegood, who was there as Ginny Weasley's guest, Remus set up a table that could easily be seen by everyone and had them gather around. The parents had all been told this would happen, though all of them were skeptical; their host claimed that Tina Polkiss could perform numerous spells, both wanded and wandlessly, and was also partway through the first years' Potions curriculum.

Their skepticism was instantly dissipated when Tina made a simple gesture with her hand, softly incanted, "Wingardium Leviosa," and levitated the whole table they were gathered around without tipping over any of the stacks of parchment and paperwork on it. The children and their parents all shared similar looks of awe while the young girl in front of them carefully lifted the table above everyone's heads before it started to wobble. She slowly brought the piece of furniture back to the ground, without knocking anything over, to polite applause from all around.

"Feeling alright, Tina?" Remus asked. In truth, the table was fairly heavy for an eleven-year-old; but he was actually checking to make sure that she didn't have any discomfort from using her wandless magic. Last winter she was laid up in the hospital because her practice with her powers had led to her accidentally stifling her own magic in her attempts to control it.

"Mhmm," she answered with a nod, "it wasn't too heavy or anything. I can do a few more."

"She has a great desire to be strong." Luna said quietly to Ginny.

"I hope we can all learn how to do stuff like that." The redhead whispered back to her friend without taking her eyes off the muggleborn girl in front of them. Tina was now making her hands, both of them, glow with a soft, white light that started to weaken and brighten in an alternating rhythm.

After a few more demonstrations of wandless magic, Remus pulled out samples of a potion Tina had made recently, a water-repelling oil. The potion was generally taught in second year. It wasn't actually that difficult to brew, but it had exacting requirements for the means of preparation and quantities of the ingredients that made it more of an intermediate potion, difficulty wise. Molly Weasley was the only parent actually familiar with the potion, but the shocked praise she lavished on the young witch was enough to inform the other parents that it was no simple feat for her age.

After that, the floor was handed to Remus, Arabella, and a slightly-behind-schedule Sir Finch-Fletchley, who had just arrived, to present a general overview of their goals for the children's extra schooling prior to Hogwarts. A secondary goal of the meeting was to try and convince the parents to let their children spend the time together in the non magical world; and only Annis Goyle refused the offer by the Foundation for a two week long schooling vacation, though it was clear she wished she could have accepted, for her daughter's sake.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"I can't say that I noticed that before, Harry." Andromeda said, looking over the Family lines they were discussing, "But I see why you think that."

"How can something as big as this not be noticed?" Petunia asked, frowning at the implications she was looking at with her nephew and honorary niece.

"Well, research into something like this would not be easy to do." Andromeda replied, "If you were not Pureblood, yourself, then the information would be almost totally inaccessible; and if you are, then you probably have a vested interest in this kind of thing not getting out."

"But there are practically only about thirty-five Families on the whole of the so-called 'Pureblood Family Registry.'" Hermione exclaimed, "Not eighty!"

The Families in question, considered by Britain to be the most-pure of all the Purebloods on the Island, had intermarried with each other extensively in order to maintain that status. Almost four hundred years after that trend started becoming much more prevalent, just after adopting the Statute of Secrecy, they had repeatedly done so so frequently that, from a non magical perspective, they couldn't all really be considered separate families anymore. The Potter Family only lost its status on the registry in the mid-nineteen hundreds, having been extremely involved with four or five other named Houses, repeatedly, until then.

"The 'Sacred Twenty-Eight' would also probably be considered to only be like, seven blood Families at this point; if you looked at it realistically." Harry added, referring to a subset of the Pureblood Registry that was Families both Pureblooded and also older than the modern Wizengamot, "Look, the Bones and Longbottom Families married into each other every generation for six generations there, the last time in eighteen-twenty; Bones was also close with the Crouch Family. They're different families in name only at this point."

Andromeda wasn't sure when her lesson on the history of the various Family Alliances turned into a continuation of a conversation they had had back over Christmas Break concerning magical pureblood Families and the risks of inbreeding; but she felt that she had seen this tangential path forming in Harry's eyes in the minutes leading up to his pointed question about the Black and Lestrange Families and how they were literally all as close as second cousins, if not closer, yet still regularly intermarried. Her personal research after Harry's outburst the last time, over a Family Tapestry that tipped him off to the problem within his own Family, revealed that there really was some correlation between Family Line-protection and the decrease in Family size, with subsequent increases in Squib births. Granted, that data was spotty, and she was having to make a few assumptions since the Pureblood Families she suspected of having these issues the most don't talk about or report them.

"I do not mean to cut you off, or try and refute what you are saying;" Andromeda said to try and veer the conversation back to what she was actually trying to teach them, "but if you want, we can discuss it more towards the end of the summer. I am still waiting on information from St. Mungo's from the last time this came up. It is important that you know which Houses are either traditionally, or officially, Allied with or against yours. Everyone found out very quickly in your first year that you were raised in the muggle world, so they gave you a bit of lee-way, but that excuse will not continue to hold going into the next one. By then, other heirs will expect you to have learned what you didn't get a chance to while growing up; especially with Sirius and I now involved in public capacities."

It would be especially bad if they didn't finish this lesson, and then Harry asked this kind of question of his classmates, especially Neville Longbottom or Susan Bones. Both of those Families were, traditionally, extremely close with the House of Potter; but they likely wouldn't take an implicit insinuation of familial weakness lightly. Harry's realization that each of the primary voting blocs within the Wizengamot were also all related by blood, such that it was more like four or five family groups arguing with each other rather than a proper House of Lords, was startling and should have been blindingly obvious; yet it seemed to be something of a blind spot for Magical Britain.

As the lesson went on, explaining the different Houses and their general dispositions and groupings caused Harry and Hermione to bring up another issue that was glaringly obvious to them, even at their young age. The way the Wizengamot was set up, it wasn't actually dedicated to the betterment of Magical Society, but rather to improving its own status. All Department Heads within the Ministry were chosen from among the Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, even if the person in question wasn't really qualified, like Arthur Weasley; and often lead teams rife with nepotism, leaving no chance for proper advancement for anyone without the right Family connections. This isn't really a problem for most Purebloods, as their Family is almost guaranteed to be connected to a sitting House somehow, but handily excludes Muggleborn from all but the most menial positions without actually having anti-muggleborn rhetoric in the law.

"I'll add it to your list." Hermione said as she reached into her enchanted bookbag, a gift from Harry for her birthday last year, pulling out a notebook, and scribbling a note near the bottom of the page. Taking a peak over her shoulder as she walked by to open a window for some air, Andromeda suppressed a shudder at the changes that Harry wanted to try and push for. The list was a long series of things that muggleborn often felt was wrong with Magical Society, and she couldn't disagree with most of it. That being said, it would be a difficult, uphill battle for most of the things they wanted reformed to happen; one that she felt she would end up being in the middle of, if the gifted youths weren't amenable to waiting until they were of-age.

Under such topics as 'Werewolf Rights,' 'House Elf Protection,' and 'More Medical Exchange With Muggles,' Hermione added the heading, 'More Open Elections.' The heart of the childrens' problems, which she suspected were encouraged by Petunia to some degree, was rooted in the fact that elected offices in Britain were not decided by open, free, elections like in the Muggle World. A candidate for an elected position had to be nominated by a sitting House on the Wizengamot, and generally only the 'Gamot voted once all the candidates had been determined; leaving the vast majority of magicals, but particularly Muggleborn, with no direct voice in their own government. As well, despite the Minister receiving a popular vote, there had still never been a Muggleborn Minister for Magic in Britain because the candidates needed a Wizengamot nomination to run.