Power of the Quill

     The Power of the Quill.

Chapter 02 Toys of the Gods.

Hermione, along with the rest of Hogwarts, continued to stare at the blonde girl slowly drowning in a large bowl of oatmeal porridge. None of the Slytherins were moving to help her; they had all backed at least five feet away from her. It was as if Pansy had just caught a horribly contagious disease and anyone getting too close was in danger of infection. Hermione turned to Ron; he was staring intently at his future bride. Most likely hoping that the bubbles in the porridge would stop, thereby releasing him from his fate.

It was finally Professor Snape who broke the silence that had filled the Great Hall. "Mr. Goyle, will you please remove Miss Parkinson from her breakfast plate before she expires?"

Goyle grabbed Pansy by the collar, pulling her out of the bowl and letting her fall backwards onto the Hall floor with a loud PLOP.

"You will take Miss Parkinson to the infirmary immediately, Goyle," Snape said harshly to the young Slytherin.

Looking annoyed, Goyle grabbed hold of Pansy and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, then headed out of the Great Hall.

Fitage cleared his throat once again to regain the crowd's attention. "Under Ministry Law 246-bs416, Harry James Potter, being of half Muggle descent, is hereby betrothed to Narcissa Black, Pureblood, representing the Noble Black bloodline."

"WHAT!" Harry yelled, jumping to his feet.

"BLOODY HELL!" Draco cried, shooting from his seat.

"THIS IS MADNESS, SHE'S MARRIED!" Harry shouted.

"HE'S RIGHT, MY MUM'S ALREADY MARRIED. TO MY DAD, YOU BLOODY TWIT!" Draco barked.

Draco turned to Harry. "I know you had something to do with this, Potter," Draco said accusingly.

"Are you insane, Malfoy? What makes you think I want to marry that hag you call a mother?"

"YOU FUCKING HALFBLOOD!" Draco screamed, as he jumped up on to the Slytherin table, brandishing his wand.

"DO IT AND YOU'RE DEAD, MALFOY!" Harry shouted back.

"Expelliarmus!" Draco bellowed.

Harry quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the hex. Instead of reaching for his wand, Harry grabbed the nearest thing to him, a cantaloupe half. He fast-balled the half-melon, striking Malfoy right in the puss. The force of the melon sent Draco flying off the table in a backward somersault.

Harry and Draco may have fired the first shots, but it was Millicent Bulstrode who started the war. Millicent scooped up a large handful of Eggs Benedict and hurled it at the Gryffindor table, striking Lavender Brown in the chest. The entire Gryffindor table responded to this unprovoked attack by firing everything on their plate back at the Slytherins. The Slytherins quickly retaliated with an assault of their own. Hermione let out a scream as a bowl of porridge, looking remarkably like the one Pansy and nearly suffocated in, whizzed past her head and crashed into the far wall. Putting a quick repelling charm on herself, Hermione sprinted away from the table to the relative safety of the side of the Hall.

Hermione turned to watch Harry continue chucking half-melons at the Slytherin table. Ron stood just to his right, firing oranges at any Slytherin fool enough to stand still for more than a second. Every time Harry grabbed a melon, a new one would magically appear to take its place. Unfortunately, the fight broke out while breakfast was still being served. All the serving trays were charmed to refill as soon as they emptied. Both houses had fifty yards of unlimited ammo to throw at each other. Hermione worried that the House-Elves in the kitchen would die of exhaustion if this continued much longer. She settled in between two suits of armor and watched the carnage unfold.

Hundreds of miles away, in their small Diagon Alley joke shop, the hair on the back of Fred and George Weasley's necks stood on end. Fred turned to his twin brother and asked, "Hey George, doesn't it feel like we're missing something?"

"Yeah, it sure does, Mate," George answered. Both boys shrugged their shoulder and went back to work.

Back in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Hermione continued to watch the epic battle. Both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had joined the fight against Slytherin. Even at three against one odds, the Slytherins were able to hold their own. They had placed their chairs sideways on top of their table and were using them for cover. Hermione witnessed some interesting human behavior as she watched the silliness around her. Most of the boys tended to throw the harder objects, like fruits, rolls, and muffins. The girls, on the other hand, went for the softer stuff, such as scrambled eggs, oatmeal, cereals, and jams. These didn't cause much pain, but were messier and you were almost guaranteed to hit somebody.

Hermione noticed that the Great Hall was beginning to darken as the large windows became encrusted with flying food. She looked up at the Staff table to see if anyone was preparing to put a stop to this childishness. They all seemed content to sit back behind their own shielding charms and just watch. Maybe they figured this release of tension was reasonable under the current circumstances.

It was Nearly Headless Nick who was the first to try bringing peace back to the Great Hall. As he floated in between the tables, trying to restore order, his head kept popping off as food passed through it at incredible speeds. Soon, the multiple projectiles caused his body to distort and stretch. After half-a-minute, his unrecognizable body just hung limp in midair, like a rag doll on a string. It was the Bloody Baron who soared down from the ceiling to rescue him. He quickly grabbed hold of Nick and spirited them both away to safety.

Soon students were throwing hexes as well as food. The Great Hall was rapidly becoming a dangerous place to be.

"ENOUGH!" a voice roared, as a brilliant flash of light erupted from the far side of the Hall.

Everyone instantly stopped what he or she was doing and looked up at the Staff table. Dumbledore was standing there with his robes billowing around him, as if he were in a strong wind. But the air in the Great Hall was perfectly still. With just one wave of his hand, all the food and mess disappeared. Everyone was as clean as when they first entered the Hall.

"Children, please calm yourselves and take your seats. Mr. Fitage needs to continue with his announcements," Dumbledore ordered.

Hermione rushed back to take her seat. Soon, only Draco and Harry remained standing. Fitage poked his head out from behind Dumbledore to make sure it was safe to continue. He them boldly stepped forward with his clipboard in hand.

"Just how do you group of Ministry tossers figure that this scar-headed piece of dung could marry my mum?" Draco asked.

Ignoring the insult, Fitage began to flip through his parchments once again. Hermione didn't think there was anything on that clipboard that could explain this one. Of course, she had thought the same thing just minutes ago with Ron and Pansy's announcement.

"Ah, here we are," Fitage said. "On July 14 of this year, Lucius Randolph Malfoy was found guilty of conspiracy against the Ministry and association with Dark forces. The Ministry investigators concluded that Malfoy's crimes predated his marriage to Miss Black on June 22, 1978. On September 2 of this year, Ministry officials decided to annul the Malfoy marriage, returning Miss Black to her former single status."

"Are you saying that my mother is no longer part of my family?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Fitage answered simply.

"What about me, am I still a Malfoy?" Draco asked nervously.

"Yes, you are. Since your father has been disavowed and sentenced to life in Azkaban by the Ministry, and your mother is no longer part of the Malfoy family, you are now the sole heir to the Malfoy Estate. Normally, you would need to be of age to inherit but, under the current circumstances, the Ministry has decided to waive the age restriction and allow you control over your properties and finances at this time."

Draco slowly sank into his seat, apparently weighing the loss of his mother against becoming one of the richest wizards in the world. Hermione didn't think he looked anywhere near as upset as he did only a moment ago.

"This still doesn't make any sense," Harry said, still standing. "She already had a magical child. He's sitting right there." Harry pointed to Draco.

"Draco Malfoy represents the Malfoy bloodline not the Black. Since you're a Half-blood, your children will fall under the Pureblood's line. There are only four remaining Noble Bloodlines left, Mr. Potter. Only two of these lines are capable of producing an heir. Miss Black being one of them. The Ministry is not about to let these bloodlines perish."

"What about Nymphadora Tonks? She's a Black. Why can't I marry her?" Harry asked.

Fitage looked upset by the question. "Miss Tonks is a Half-blood same as yourself, Mister Potter. The Ministry isn't about to waste two Half-bloods on each other."

"There has to be someone else. Anybody but her," Harry pleaded.

"Mr. Potter, I'm becoming quite irritated with your response to this matter. You should consider yourself fortunate that the Ministry paired you with a noble bloodline. I cannot understand your reservation. I have been told Miss Black is a very striking woman. At only thirty-six years of age, Miss Black has plenty of time left to produce and raise a proper heir to her bloodline. It's quite normal for witches to have children well into their sixties now, Mr. Potter.

"THIS IS BLOODY RIDICULOUS!" Harry shouted. He then snatched up his book bag and headed out of the Hall. As he passed her, Hermione grabbed him by his robes.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Anywhere but here," Harry answered coldly.

But Harry, there is still one more announcement."

"SO?" Harry snapped back.

"Harry, please," Hermione pleaded.

"Fine," Harry said remorsefully, then walked back and took his seat.

Hermione looked up at the staff table. Both Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were giving Harry sympathetic looks. Professor Snape, on the other hand, had a huge evil smirk on his face. He was taking great pleasure in the fact that Harry and Ron's lives had just been ruined. He looked like a kid who had just received all his Christmas presents one month early. 'I wish someone would wipe that filthy smirk off his face,' Hermione thought to herself. Unfortunately she had forgotten the old adage: Be careful what you wish for, it might come true.

"Under Ministry Law 246-bs416, Hermione Ann Granger, being of Muggle birth, is hereby betrothed to Severus Titus Snape, Pureblood, representing the Noble Snape bloodline."

"MOTHER FUCKER!" Hermione couldn't believe someone would shout such a vulgar thing in front of Dumbledore and the rest of the Hogwarts' staff. She found it even harder to believe that she was the one who had said it. 'I've got to stop watching so much American cable at home,' she thought.

No one in the Great Hall had even noticed her swear. All eyes were glued on their Potions Professor, who had shot to his feet with such force that his chair had crashed into the far wall. Snape took two quick, threatening steps toward the little wizard before stopping. Fitage had quickly ducked behind Dumbledore for protection. Hermione was thirty yards away, but could easily see the veins on Snape's forehead begin to bulge out. His fists were clenched tightly as his sides. His complexion was slowing changing from its normal pale white color to a light shade of purple. He seemed to be fighting the urge to commit a public murder in front of six hundred witnesses.

Suddenly, Snape shot forward toward the small wizard. Dumbledore, who had placed his hand on Snape's chest, stopped him. Fitage quickly scurried to the far end of the table to hide behind Hagrid.

"Severus, calm yourself," Dumbledore said to his irate friend.

Snape stared menacingly at the official hiding behind the half-giant. "DRAGON SHIT!" Snape bellowed, then turned on his heels and stormed out of the Great Hall with his robes billowing behind him.

Dumbledore turned to face the students. "All students involved in these announcements are excused from their first class of the day. You are to report to Professor McGonagall in the old Muggles Studies classroom on the second floor, east wing. For the rest of you, I believe classes are about to begin."

Ten minutes later, the three Gryffindors had made their way to the classroom located on the other side of the castle. Of the three, Hermione seemed the least upset. She had been preparing herself for the bad news since Monday morning. It really didn't matter that Snape was chosen to be her mate. She wasn't about to be forced into marriage against her will, no matter whom the Ministry selected. Hermione spent the long walk from the Great Hall considering which new Wizarding school she would attend. There was Salem's Wizardry School of Magic in California, just outside of San Francisco. It had been moved there from Massachusetts back in the early forties. There was also the Yamato Sorcery College in Okushiri, Japan. Hermione would owl her dad tonight and see if he could send her brochures on both schools.

When they entered the room they saw Professor McGonagall arguing with Fitage.

"It should have been done in private. There was no need to embarrass these children like that," McGonagall said harshly to the official.

"Professor McGonagall, was it not your own Headmaster who accused the Ministry of bias? These open announcements should demonstrate to everyone that the Ministry hasn't shown any favoritism in choosing these couples."

As soon as she became aware that they were no longer alone, McGonagall turned her attention away from Fitage. "Please take a seat chidr...people," she corrected.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat together in the first row of the classroom. "Professor McGonagall, why are we here?" Harry asked.

"Please hold your questions until everyone is here, Mr. Potter," she answered.

Hannah Abbott came in by herself, as did Blaise Zabini. Each took seats in the first row, on the opposite side of the three Gryffindors. Finally, Marietta showed up, but not alone. Cho Chang was at her side. The two girls took seats next to Hannah.

"Miss Chang, why are you here?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"As Head Girl it is my duty to know everything I can about actions involving students here at Hogwarts. Besides, Marietta is my best friend, and I have this period free," Cho answered.

"I'm sorry, Miss Chang, but we will be discussing very private matters here. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave," McGonagall said.

"Please let her stay. I don't think I can bear to go through this alone," Marietta begged.

McGonagall stared at the two Ravenclaws a moment before saying, "Very well, she can stay. It's not likely that anything said here will remain a secret past lunch anyway."

Just then, Draco Malfoy entered the room. Before he could take a seat, Professor McGonagall asked, "Now, why are you here, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Professor Dumbledore said al students involved in the announcement should report here. And I was involved in one of the announcements."

"You were not directly involved, Mr. Malfoy. Please leave," McGonagall said curtly.

"Fine," Draco said, sounding annoyed. "But I have a question for Mr. Fitage."

"What may I help you with, Mr. Malfoy," Fitage asked.

"Sir, why wasn't I selected? I am the last of my line. I sent a request to the Ministry on Monday to be paired with a Muggle-born," Draco said, then gave Hermione a quick glance. Hermione's skin began to crawl at the thought that Draco had actually petitioned the Ministry for her.

"I'm afraid you were deemed unacceptable for our program, Mr. Malfoy," Fitage said.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"While your test scores and magical abilities are well within the norms, Mr. Malfoy, they are below what your parents were at the same age. The Ministry has determined that there is still a 35% chance that your offspring would still be born a squib, even with a Muggle-born wife. Our recommendation to you, and other Purebloods in your situation, is to marry a full Muggle."

"Are you serious?" Draco asked.

"Quite serious, Mr. Malfoy," Fitage answered.

"You people obviously don't know what you're talking about," Draco said angrily. "I don't want that filthy Mudblood anyway," Draco said as he left the room.

McGonagall shut the door with a wave of her wand.

"We are here to discuss arrangements that will need to be made so that you may continue your education here at Hogwarts. Some of you will have your spouses here with you. If so, you will receive your own private chambers in the east wing. Those who will have spouses living and working outside of Hogwarts may choose a private chamber for yourself, but your spouse will only be allowed to visit you on weekends."

"For those of you who wish to have your ceremony here at Hogwarts, Headmaster Dumbledore has offered his services as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and will perform the marriage ritual of your choosing. Starting next summer, Hogwarts will be opening a nursery. You may use it free of charge for as long as you are a student here. Madam Pomfrey will be offering free prenatal care and pediatrics for after childbirth."

Hermione observe that all three boys turned a little paler at hearing the words prenatal and childbirth.

McGonagall continued. "Of course, you don't have to make any of these decisions today. We understand that most of you will want to involve your families in any choices you make. When you are ready, just owl the Headmaster and we will help you with all the necessary arrangements. Are there any questions?" McGonagall asked.

"Yeah I have a question, Professor," Ron said sarcastically. "Who made these matches, the Dark Lord himself?"

Professor McGonagall gave the redhead a stern look before saying, "I don't know how these peculiar pairings were made, Mr. Weasley. For that will have to ask Mr. Fitage."

Hermione's hand quickly shot up. "I have a question for Mr. Fitage."

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Fitage asked.

"Did the Ministry give any consideration to marital compatibility when making these matches?" Hermione asked.

"No, Miss Granger. Our mandate wants to create the greatest chance of magical births among these couples. Marital bliss was not our concern."

"Marital bliss? I'll probably end up in Azkaban for murder long before any magical birth takes place," Ron said, only half jokingly.

"I know. We can trade," Ron said seriously, as he turned to Hermione.

"WHAT?" Hermione said in surprise.

"Yeah, Hermione. I'll take you and Snape can have Parkinson." Ron said excitedly.

"Why do you get Hermione, Ron? I'm the one who really needs a trade," Harry said.

"You can't, Harry. Remember, you need a Pureblood," Ron answered.

"Oh, yeah," Harry said, sounding defeated.

"So, what do you think, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"I'm not marrying you, Ron. I'm not marrying anyone."

"It was just a thought," Ron said, sounding a little hurt.

"I'll trade you for Professor Snape," Marietta said to Hermione.

"What. You like Snape?" Ron asked.

"No, but he's a lot better than the Neanderthal I'm engaged to now. At least with Snape I won't have to worry about having a bunch of Knuckle-Draggers for kids," Marietta said seriously.

"Hermione, take the trade," Hannah Abbot said. "I heard Flint just signed a huge contract with the Tornados, plus he's gotten a lot hunkier since he left school."

"No, I'm not going to marry Marcus Flint either," Hermione said flatly.

Marietta turned and began to whisper to Hannah and Cho.

"Hey Weasley, I'll trade you for Parkinson," Blaise Zabini said.

"What's wrong with Claudia?" Hermione asked, as she turned to face Blaise.

"She's a stick," he answered.

"She just happened to have had the second best grade-average at Hogwarts last year, behind myself," Hermione said, defending her friend.

"That's just great, Granger, but I need a girl with a few curves on her. I know Pansy's got them, thanks to your little curse yesterday," Blaise said.

"So, what you think, Weasley?" he asked.

"I don't know, Zabini. Just how flat is she?" Ron asked.

"RON!" Hermione said angrily. "You know perfectly well there's nothing wrong with the way Claudia looks."

Blaise leaned around Hermione to talk to Ron. "Listen, Weasley. When I told my parents I was replacing Montague as lead Chaser this year, they went out and bought me a brand new Firebolt Two. I haven't even ridden it yet. I'll trade you the stick plus my new broom for your Mudblood."

"DEAL!" Ron shouted, as he thrust his hand towards Blaise in agreement.

"RON!" Hermione cried.

"We decided to trade, too," both Hannah and Marietta said together.

"Great, all we need to do now is find a half-decent Pureblood for Harry," Ron said.

"ENOUGH!" Fitage shouted, but without Dumbledore's air of authority. The small wizard's irritation brought a thin smile to McGonagall's face. "There will be no trading. It took the Ministry a lot of time and hard work to make these pairings. Each one was scientifically selected to insure the birth of an above-average magical child. You will just have to live with whom the Ministry has chosen for you. Any questions?" Fitage asked.

"Bollocks," Ron said, slumping in his chair. Hermione wondered if Ron was more upset about still having t marry Pansy or about losing a new Firebolt Two.

"Mr. Fitage, I have another question," Hermione said, with her hand in the air.

"What is it, Miss Granger?" he asked.

"You said the matches were scientifically based. But I noticed that all the pairings were between intelligent witches and athletic wizards. Were these the only factors in your decisions?" she asked.

"No, Miss Granger, they weren't. We also used a blood test for greater compatibility. We did use the model of intelligent female paired with an athletic male as our base. This base pair has been shown to produce the most highly talented witches and wizards. If you want proof, just look two seats to your left."

Hermione looked over at Harry. "You mean Harry?" she asked.

"Yes, Miss Granger. The Potters were our base couple for this program. We're will be watching with great interest the development of Mr. Potter's children as they will give us perfect second-generation data," Fitage said.

"If that's true, then why was I matched with Professor Snape? He's no athlete," Hermione asked.

"You're quite right, Miss Granger. Professor Snape's intelligence far exceeds any athletic talent he has ever shown. That is why we had to reverse the process. We wanted an intelligent male/athletic female couple for comparison purposes. You were selected for you excellent hand-eye coordination. Your school records show that you could master complex wand movements at a very young age."

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You're saying that he's the brain and I'm the jock in this pairing?" Hermione asked.

"That's correct, Miss Granger. We feel that Professor Snape's superior intelligence will make up for any of your intellectual shortcomings," said Fitage.

Hermione slowly rose from her seat, placing both her fists on the table in front of her. She leaned forward, staring the small wizard in the eye and screamed, "SREW YOU!"

She then slung her school bag over her shoulder and stormed out of the room.