Aeternum: Group Chat

Chapter 25: Ronald Weasley's Punishment

"I'm so sorry, Harry," Arthur Weasley rubbed his closed eyelids as his shoulders slumped a little. An hour ago, Headmaster Dumbledore contacted him about an incident where his son, Ron attacked Harry. For over two hours, the Headmaster, Professor McGonagall, and the Weasley parents had been talking about what had happened. George, Fred, and Ginny also decided to talk about what had been going on with Ron and how he had handled his relationship with Harry.

And Harry, who had only arrived a few minutes ago and having heard things and Father Weasley's apology, just sighed before shaking his head.

"Don't worry. You have family issues to deal with right now that you have to apologize to me for. Anyway, nothing happened to me."

"No...", Arthur said seriously and an equally serious expression that accompanied it. "Ronald has crossed the line. He shouldn't have done that, ever."

Harry just nodded, a little surprised by Arthur's current stance and attitude. It seems that even such a kind and permissive man had his limits with his children. It was a little surprise for Harry. But, he was more surprised to see Molly standing next to Ron, not speaking, but giving her son a scathing look.

Harry understood that she was just holding back and that when she got home, hell would break loose for Ron. After all, even if Dumbledore decided to punish him, he didn't suspend him. But, both parents agreed that Ron would not attend Hogwarts for a few days and would return home to be disciplined. The headmaster couldn't deny the parents' request, especially since, even with the second chances that Albus Dumbledore gave, this was no longer in his hands completely, but in Arthur and Molly Weasley.

When everything was said, Harry left the headmaster's office, walking straight to the common room.

When he arrived, he found a cheerful Hermione sitting there reading a book. Harry tilted his head slightly, curious about her seemingly good mood.

"Did something happen to you? You're quite cheerful."

Hermione smiled at him and nodded, "Yes! I was finally able to get to the point of sensing the magical particles properly! Now I don't need to meditate every time I want to feel them, I just close my eyes and concentrate a bit."

Harry nodded. He had also achieved that kind of control, but with his morning training, he had moved to a new level. He just needed to be aware of his connection to the magical particles to sense them. He couldn't see them unless he entered sage mode, but he could still feel if they were getting stronger or weaker, even some small, deeper changes.

"So..." Harry said quietly. "Tomorrow, let's start unraveling the secrets of these magical particles. We can do it in a safer and more suitable place."

Hermione nodded, glad to be able to work on this kind of thing with a friend like Harry.

"By the way... What finally happened to Ron?" she asked with curiosity and a bit of concern.

"His parents came. Dumbledore had grounded him for over a month, with no chances of leaving the castle, with Filch and, even more so, studying during his recess time. However, Arthur and Molly decided it was best to take him home for a few days and teach him... well, Molly probably unleashed hell on Ronald."

Hermione frowned a little, not because the punishment seemed little or unnecessary, but because of Dumbledore's behavior.

"Don't you think Dumbledore's way of acting was a little different than usual?"

Harry nodded slowly, but he understood the reasons a little.

"Although I would like him to act this way before, I understand that the director had certain difficulties," Harry answered.

Tipping her head slightly to the side, Hermione asked: "Difficulties?"

"Well... there's the Hogwarts Board of Governors. This group is made up of twelve wizards and they oversee the running of the school. Additionally, they are required to take action when a parent seeks redress in any matter relating to Hogwarts," Harry answered easily.

"However, Lucius Malfoy was the president until 1993. That's part of the reason why Draco had so much freedom when it came to swearing or casting magic. Mostly towards me or Muggle-borns. Parents like yours can't really lodge complaints, and I don't have parents, so I wasn't a problem to cause trouble. Unfortunately for them, Lucius was removed from that position, causing Draco to lose his 'benefit' of bullying."

"And up until recently, he continued to harass me, this for the same reason as before: I don't have parents and I can't lodge complaints. Now however, I'm emancipated and I can do so... Didn't you notice that he left those brooches and hasn't even tried to approach me?"

"Of course, this doesn't apply to everyone, but most 'purebloods' think they can do whatever they want because of this. And also, it's one of the reasons Draco Malfoy has a following."

Hermione nodded, but frowned: "The method is quite flawed, especially when a student can't lodge complaints personally. They should be able to, even without magical parents."

Harry simply shrugged.

"One of the many flaws of the governmental and school magical methods."

Hermione sighed a little, knowing that there were many flaws or loopholes in the laws of the magical world. This made her a little worried about her future, especially since she, who always studied, knew that the jobs that existed - at least in Great Britain - weren't that many.

"Well... I'll go rest for today. See you tomorrow, Hermione. And I hope you wake up with all the desire to work," said Harry, jumping off the couch and walking to the fourth year boys' room.

When he got to his room, he jumped into his bed and closed the canopy curtains before throwing himself face-first into his pillow. He wasn't exactly tired, but rather bored. Doing all the things and receiving good words from his teachers was something he was proud of, but when you didn't have a healthy competition with other students or a challenge that made you feel like continuing to move forward, it was hard to continue studying, especially when you knew everything you needed to pass the current and next year of teaching.

After his mission in Konoha, Harry's enormous drive to study, research, and learn new things ended up causing him to read a large part of the Hogwarts library. This would be impossible in such a short time, but with his psychometry ability and shadow clones, it was even possible to read the entire library, especially since his Memory-Make magic allowed him to have a much higher recall capacity.

"It would be great if I could sleep until the third task of the tournament...", Harry mumbled into his pillow. He wanted to do fun things, travel, fight others, see new magic, many things. But, right now, he was unable to attend Hogwarts and have to be part of the Triwizard Tournament.

Harry turned around, placing his forearm on his forehead as his gaze remained fixed on the canopy ceiling of his bed.

"I wonder... Would it be good to graduate early?" Harry asked himself. He knew that with his previous research published, he already had a reputation in the wizarding world. And, at the same time, he demonstrated his knowledge in some areas; adding his current knowledge with his emancipation, then he could choose to take the NEWT test.

"I would have to get my Ordinary Level Magic Tests (also known as OWL), in order to take the NEWT," Harry closed his eyes as he thought about this. He would have to think carefully, because while he had the knowledge to pass his OWLs, the NEWT tests were more difficult and longer, so he could make mistakes if he wasn't careful. Plus, added to that was the fact that this would help him in the future of this world.

For example, an Auror would need five highly qualified NEWTs to be able to perform that kind of job.

"I suppose I could really do that... after I finish the research I'm starting with Hermione," Harry nodded, deciding on his course of action. He knew that it would take him at least a few months to fully prepare for the tests, so it wasn't a bad idea to study during the holidays and take the tests during the next year.

______________________