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Talking with Ronald and Draco was… nice, Harry decided. They didn’t make fun of Harry not knowing things, and they were happy to tell him what they knew about anything he asked about. Including how the Weasley-Malfoy family got to be that way, since they were almost as famous as Harry.
It took a bit of getting used to, the way Ronald referred to “Mum and Dad” meaning his birth parents the Weasleys, and Mother and Father meaning the Malfoys, but Harry sorted it out in time.
They’d started speculating on which Houses they’d be Sorted to when Frederick and George returned. “Which House were you hoping for, Mister Harry?” one of them asked. “Politicians, Unspeakables, Explosions, or Minions?”
Draco rolled his eyes and Ronald snorted.
Harry stifled laughter. “Um. That would be Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, right?”
“Exactly so, young sir!” the other twin said. “Of course, I would have said the houses are Pure-bloods, Homework, Possibly Populated by Bees, and Explosions.”
“And have no doubt been telling all the first years so?” The twins seemed to be incorrigible pranksters, and were quite capable of telling someone something ridiculous while being completely serious about it.
“But of course, mister Harry!”
“So which were you hoping for?”
He shook his head. “I figure I could go anywhere,” he admitted. “Thanks to my lovely relatives, I’m no stranger to hard work, and I’ve managed to keep learning despite them trying to squash any kind of brains out of me.” He figured if word got around that the Famous Boy Who Lived had been dumped on magic-hating, abusive, violently normal people, there’d be the kind of fuss that would get him away from them. And the Malfoy-Weasleys appeared to have a fair amount of influence and money.
Harry didn’t really like being manipulative like that, but when it came to doing something that made him feel dirty versus surviving to feel dirty about it, well… He knew which way he’d choose.
“I don’t know that I’m all that brave or chivalrous, but my parents were, so maybe.”
Both twins grinned at him. “And you’re a sneaky little piece of work, so you’d fit there too.”
“There’s that.” Harry shrugged. “I guess I’ll see how it works out.”
Ronald made a disgruntled sound. “We’ve got to get ourselves an unused classroom this year. I mean, William was in Gryffindor, and Charles in Hufflepuff. Percival’s in Ravenclaw, and you two are Slytherins. I’m likely to go Gryffindor, and Draco Slytherin. How are we supposed to stay friends when there’s nowhere a body can just hang out with friends from another House?”
Another redhead poked his head into the compartment. “So that’s where you disappeared to,” he said to the twins, then nodded to Harry, “Oh, hello there. I’m Percival Weasley-Malfoy, the older brother of this… hm… horde? Collection?”
Harry couldn’t help grinning. “Horde works.” He stood for long enough to shake hands with the older boy. “I’m Harry.”
Percival raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything about Harry not giving a last name. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Harry,” he said instead. “I take it you agree with the idea of claiming a classroom to spend time with friends in other houses?”
Harry nodded. “I don’t want to limit myself to just one house for friends.” He shook his head. “I mean, if everyone is learning the same way and working with people who think the same way they do, they don’t get pushed to think in different directions. They just follow the same patterns all the time.” He bit his lip, and added, “Like, a Slytherin mindset will hatch plots and avoid direct action, where a Gryffindor will charge straight in and maybe not think about the risks, or a Ravenclaw will research it to death while a Hufflepuff will get all their friends together and try to find a compromise – no offense to anyone. And maybe the best way is a mix of all those methods. Or maybe it’s one of the ones that isn’t your House.”
All the redheads blinked and stared at him, while the blond just looked awed.
Percival said, “We’ve tried since William started here to go through the official channels to get a multi-house common room approved. I say we just claim one and let our friends know about it.” He turned to the twins. “Oh, and Wood heard your descriptions of the houses, so there’ll likely be another item on the Weasley-Malfoy banned list by the time we arrive.”
At the same time, Draco said to Harry, “If you don’t Sort Slytherin, there’s something really wrong with the school.”
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