MTLNOVEL Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Chapter 6:
Hermione sat down with a concerned look on her face. "I suppose it might," she said slowly. "Is that why you made a point of calling me Miss Granger?"
Harry held up his copy of Dilworth's. "There's a whole chapter in here on when it is or is not appropriate to call someone by their first name. My impression is that to most people, it doesn't matter ... but to the wizards and witches who run the country, it matters a lot."
The girl nodded at that. "But why did you think I might be offended at that?"
"Well, you're obviously smart, but you are obviously proud of your Muggle heritage. Which is fine! My, um, mother was a Muggleborn and she's a Hogwarts professor teaching Muggle Studies. Being Half-Blooded and Muggle-raised myself, I don't have any problem at all with Muggleborns. But the last Wizarding War – the one that ended when Jim Potter destroyed You-Know-Who – was started by Purebloods who wanted to kill all the Muggleborns because of a crazy belief that they were somehow stealing magic away from Pureblood children. And the Wizarding War before that was started by Purebloods who wanted to conquer the Muggle world outright because they thought wizards were just naturally superior and it was only proper that we should rule over the Muggles for their own good. I certainly don't think you should hide your Muggle heritage, just as I don't plan to. But I think our time at Hogwarts might be a lot less enjoyable if we don't address the fact that, well, we're the outsiders here."
The two continued to talk for a good five minutes. About what little they both knew about wizarding politics and history. About the incredibly vague definitions of Pureblood, Halfblood, and Muggleborn. About the vast number of unwritten rules that mark Muggleborns as outsiders. About how in the otherwise highly secular Wizarding Britain, it was a horrible faux pas to take the Lord's name in vain, so most people use "Merlin!" as a generic expletive.
"Honestly," said Harry. "I only care about this stuff because ... well, because my father, James Potter, is from a very old Pureblood family. And someday, Merlin willing, I'll inherit his seat in the Wizengamot, so I'm trying not to accidentally insult anyone important needlessly."
"Merlin... willing," she repeated while shaking her head. "That's going to take getting used to. Any other major blunders I should avoid making? Bearing in mind that I don't plan on changing my principles just to appease bigots."
"Me neither. And like I said, I don't think most wizards care about etiquette unless you do something very offensive or the wizard is a Pureblood from a very old family, but better safe than sorry." Harry thought for a second. "Oh, here's a big one that's important to us since we're just now starting school. Never raise your hand in class."
"What?!" Hermione said incredulously.
"Well, more specifically, never raise your hand in class unless you're asking the teacher a question or they have clearly asked for a volunteer, usually after someone else has tried to answer and flubbed it. Whenever the teacher first asks a question, he usually has someone specific that he plans on asking but is just giving the student a few seconds to prepare an answer. My ... my mother was very specific about this. Apparently, when she was a First Year, she was treated as an outcast and couldn't figure out why. Finally, someone took pity and told her that raising her hand every single time the teacher asked a question implied that she thought her classmates were too dumb to know the answer if called upon."
"Wow," she said. "I would never have considered it like that if you hadn't explained it to me!" She blushed slightly. "Before Hogwarts, I went to a gifted school where classroom participation was a big part of the grade. I'd have made a complete fool of myself if I'd gone into Hogwarts with the same attitude."
Harry nodded sagely. "There's a lot of fiddling stuff like that can cause newcomers to this world like us to stick out like a sore thumb if we're not careful. Basically, Miss Granger, you and I are about to start our first year at Oxbridge, you as a scholarship student, me as a legacy raised abroad, and neither one of us having been raised to know anything about Oxbridge culture."
Hermione looked down at the floor. It was a lot to take in. "Do you think, Har... Mr. Potter, that I'll be discriminated against because my parents are Muggles?"
Harry hesitated. "I'm ... not sure. Personally, I reckon I'll be treated like an outsider to some degree, at least at the start, and I'll have to figure out to react from there. I'm sure some people will be biased against both of us because of our heritage. Of course, not everyone will feel that way, and even the bigots will hopefully be somewhat restrained since their side lost the last war." He paused. "Have you thought about what House you want into?"
"I was hoping for Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Why? Do they have different attitudes towards Muggleborns?"
"Well, all I really know on that topic is what my parents told me, so take this with a grain of salt. A lot of Slytherins followed You-Know-Who during the last war, and I'm sure some of their children will be among our peers, so I'd expect them to be hostile to Muggleborns and probably to the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived. Not all I hope, but it's to be expected. The Ravenclaws are the most academically focused, so you might like that, but they're very traditional and have a reputation for elitism, so it might be kind of cutthroat. The Hufflepuffs pride themselves on tolerance and accepting everyone, but the price they pay for it is to be looked down upon by the other Houses as lacking standards. My father called them the House of Duffers, but I doubt that's true, seeing as how there have been more Hufflepuff Ministers of Magic than any other House. Surprisingly, my birth mother said that Muggleborns do best in Gryffindor. They're the closest thing to a House of Rebels we'll find, and apparently they embrace Muggleborns and Halfbloods just to thumb their noses at traditionalist Purebloods. They're also the ones least interested in formality and etiquette so they'll be more forgiving of minor social mistakes. Of course, she was a Gryffindor herself, so she might be biased."
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