alt_arthur | Dean Thomas

I spent a very frustrating morning closeted with the administrators at Epping Forest, finalising the parchmentwork to officially change young Dean Thomas’ legal status to halfblood. It took some knocking together of heads, but I think we have worked out most of the kinks. I have been quite anxious to get this all resolved as quickly as possible, as I had arranged with the Headmistress of Hogwarts to have the boy join the rising second years on the camping trip which is being held next week. The transition, of course, may be quite difficult for him, but the camping trip might help him begin to make some friends under less formal circumstances, at least, before school begins. There has been some uncertainty as to whether he should be put with the other children his own age, even though he has missed his first year, or classed with the new first years. In the end, after I discussed the boy’s history with his work supervisors, it was tentatively decided to group him with his own age cohorts.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I interviewed the boy myself for a half hour. Of course, there are substantial deficits in his education—-he will need to be tutored in transfiguration, flying, astronomy, and history of magic. But he is quite bright and is willing to work very hard, according to the healers who have been supervising him in the infirmary where he has worked for the past four years. Unlike many mudbloods of his age, he is able to read and figure perfectly well, which is part of the reason he was selected to work in the infirmary in the first place. (Apparently, his mother was a schoolteacher and tutored him herself, until his magic manifested when he was eight, and he was officially classed as a mudblood and taken away from his family.) Since he has been assisting healers, he has a working knowledge that is quite as strong as that of any other first year of Herbology and Potions and even Charms (although limited to healing charms, mostly, naturally).

He will be leaving Epping Forest this weekend with one of the employees of the Department of Purity Control, who will take him to London and assist him in buying his wand. From there, I believe he will join the rest of the children leaving for the camping trip on Monday. I'll ask my boys Ron and Percy to watch out for him. I believe that he will continue on to Hogwarts with Professor Sinistra after the camping trip is over, where the professors will have the opportunity to assess him further and give him a bit of a crash course before the other students arrive. I imagine the final decision as to whether he will be grouped with the first or second years can be made then.

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From:

alt_arthur

I do hope that the boy will be all right, Minerva. He is bright, and very quick to pick things up, according to everyone who has worked with him. I tried to draw him out during our talk, and I think I had some success. It's clear he is quite comfortable talking with adults, and well socialised, but I think he may still be quite overwhelmed by the dizzying change in his status.

Hermione, I traveled to Smythstone and met your mother yesterday and delivered her dental instruments back to her, as well as the ring that's been charmed with the braided lock of your hair. She has been allowed to resume her work (albeit her patient list is now limited to other residents of the werewolf enclaves). I saw her in the set of rooms that has been assigned to her. You may be quite easy that her housing is adequate and comfortable, and that she has plenty to eat. She asked me to tell you that she is quite well, and sends you all her love. She also said to remind you of the night that you and your father picked out a star together, the day you left them, and to assure you that she thinks you whenever she sees it, wherever you may be.

I have the ring for you that's been charmed with the lock of your mother's hair. I just need a way to get it to you.

From:

alt_kingsley

Arthur, the Players will be performing in London on Friday for the Freedom from Tyranny holiday. I think we can still obtain a permit to perform in front of Buckingham. Hermione, do you think you might be allowed to slip away to see the Players perform?

From:

alt_molly

'Freedom From Tyranny' holiday, indeed.

What utter bilge. Especially since it's the commemoration of a bunch of murders.

From:

alt_kingsley

I know, I know. It always sets my teeth on edge to call it that, too.

(Emmeline gets quite sentimental about the old royal family, really. It was quite a shame.)

From:

alt_bill

Hermione, if you can, then you can get the ring from me. I'll be joining the Players for the day, since I'm going to be exchanging reports with Kingsley. I'll be one of the people passing the hat for coins from the crowd. Look for the bloke with ginger hair passing the purple hat, and I'll have your ring for you.

(If you can't get away so that we can meet up with you there, then maybe Minerva can send a house elf to you to deliver it.)

From:

alt_percy

I'll be more than happy to keep an eye out for him, Dad, show him around, introduce him to people. The prefects will all try to help him as much as possible.

From:

alt_percy

(I think it's brilliant, by the way, that you uncovered what you did about the boy's background. He'll be able to have a decent life now, instead of always staying stuck in the mud, and it's entirely thanks to you.)

From:

alt_bill

Bloody hell, Dad. How much of this is a put-on, do you think, and how much of it does he really believe?

From:

alt_arthur

Wish I knew, son. He's been home for almost two months, and I still don't know.

From:

alt_arthur

Thank you, my boy.

From:

alt_frank

bloody great news that, mate.

good to hear that everything worked out with the kid.

sorry that tonks woman got in trouble though. what's the latest on her? she still got a job?

From:

alt_alice

I'm glad to hear that Hermione's mum has her ring, and that Hermione is to get her own soon. Thanks for all of your help with this, Bill. I couldn't have done it without you!

From:

alt_alice

It's quite rich, isn't it?

What we have right now is more tyrannical than anything we've ever had before.

From:

alt_sirius

Well done, Arthur!

I hope you're right and the others accept him more readily on the trip.

From:

alt_hermione

I can I can!! Harry just gave me the afternoon off! So I'll be out to see you and nobody can complain that I went to see the celebrations, can they?!!

From:

alt_bill

Brilliant. I'll keep an eye out for you, then.

From:

alt_arthur

They're dragging their heels on reinstating her, but I've been hectoring Internal Affairs as much as I can on her behalf. I think I've managed to convince Haley in that department to at least restore her to half-pay, which should help ease the pressure on her a bit. And she's sticking to her story, that she simply got lost, and leaving me entirely out of it. I'm exceedingly grateful for that.

From:

alt_arthur

And I meant to say thanks to you, too, Frank. If you had never met the boy, if you didn't have that admirable auror's knack for remembering faces, he might have languished at Epping Forest as a drudge forever.

From:

alt_molly

If only we could save all of them that way.

From:

alt_seamus

There was a halfblood boy our age in a mudblood camp?

That's terrible. I'm glad you found out.

From:

alt_arthur

Yes, I'm glad I found out, too. It was an honest mistake in his legal classification, but it has now been corrected. Of course, he has a rather daunting task ahead of him, to catch up with the others students his age.

I do hope that you and Ron and the rest of your friends will try to make him feel quite welcome next week. Of course, he doesn't know yet what House he is in--and won't, until the Welcoming Feast. It will all be rather strange for him, not knowing anyone, and everything will seem quite new to him. I've met him several times, though, and I can say that he seems quite a personable young chap. I hope he will manage to make friends quickly.

From:

alt_seamus

Of course I'll try to make him feel welcome Mr Weasley.

Are they going to sort him like he's a first year then? Even though he'll be with us?

From:

alt_arthur

Yes, he'll be sorted at the Welcoming Feast.

(Of course I have a sneaking loyalty to my own House, but I think it's quite brave of the boy to agree to leave everything he's ever known and try to carve out a new life for himself at Hogwarts, especially when he's already a year behind. Perhaps he'll be sorted into Gryffindor!)

From:

alt_megan

Ooooooh, that's not right. You mean I only know as much Herbology and Potions and Charms as a mudblood who's exactly my age? Even if he's not really a mudblood. He was learning in a mudblood camp. And everyone else, like me, was being taught at Hogwarts. So that's still not right. Is it?

From:

alt_arthur

Well, it's hardly surprising, my dear, since he has been working in an infirmary for the past four years--and doing quite a good job of it, too. People can learn in all sorts of circumstances.

From:

alt_ron

Yeah, I told my dad the same.

I was thinking we should have room in our tent since we didn't ask for a full tent, anyway, so I asked Dad if he could owl Professor Sinistra to see if Thomas could be in with us. I mean, can you imagine if he got stuck in with Malfoy? or with Smith?

I was thinking if he's got his wand already, we could catch him up on charms. And then I remembered that with you helping, he might just learn to blow holes in the roof!

Kidding, mate!

I wonder if he'll have much trouble learning what to do with a broom? I guess if he does, Neville can make him feel better about that!

So. Are you bringing your Snap! cards? (They're a lot better than any we've got at home is all. Y'know, louder and wilder. Ours have got kind of tired, I think.) What else are you planning to bring? I got some things from the twins that should be fun to try out!

From:

alt_padma

You're welcome to him. I'm glad he's a boy and none of us girls have to have him in with us.

Still, I suppose it's better to find out and put him back where he belongs. But suppose he's learned all sorts of bad habits with the other mudbloods?

From:

alt_pansy

Mr Weasley, I don't understand something you said about knocking heads together. If he's really a halfblood, why wouldn't the people at the camps help you bring him to Hogwarts? I mean, wouldn't they want to put him where he belongs?

Oh, and also, do you think he'd like some Chocolate Frog cards to start a collection? I could bring some.

From:

alt_ron

So you're coming, then?

Thought maybe you wouldn't.

From:

alt_megan

~~It's not fair. I worked so hard for my~~ I suppose since he really was a halfblood, he had to learn something. Even there. Perhaps they would have figured out he was a halfblood from how well he was doing, if it was as good as a real Hogwarts student.

From:

alt_seamus

Of course I'm bringing my snap cards! And yeah its fine if he's in with us. Definately. Do you think the grownups will be cross if we start him learning how to ride a broom? All the first years passed in the end. Even Neville. So he'll have to do that with the first years even if he's in with us.

From:

alt_seamus

Then he'll unlearn them. Because he's a half-blood. Not a mudblood. Its a really big difference.

From:

alt_sally_anne

Well he couldn't have practised the charms at all, even if he knows the incantations. It's not learning the words that's the hard part or some people's feathers wouldn't have caught fire when they first tried to levitate them.

But this boy should have been with us from the beginning. I expect he'll be able to catch up. At least he can read and write, plenty of mudbloods never learn to do either.

From:

alt_sally_anne

Too bad they can't foster him with the Woods for the rest of the summer, Oliver would get him caught right up.

From:

alt_sally_anne

I expect he'll have to have flying lessons with the first years even if he's in with us the rest of the time. It'll make for an odd schedule but it's an odd situation. Imagine living for years thinking you were a mudblood and then finding out you'd been a halfblood all along.

From:

alt_sally_anne

This boy was raised with muggles and mudbloods his whole life up till now and until last week he thought he was a mudblood. So maybe the camp staff was afraid it was too late for him to learn proper loyalty. To really think of himself as a wizard instead of as a muggle who would be able to use a wand, if he ever got one.

But his real father was a real wizard so it wouldn't be right to keep him there. At Hogwarts he can be taught properly, just like any other half-blood. And he'll be really motivated to work hard don't you think? Because he definitely won't want to go back to the mudblood camp.

It's pretty strange to think about though. You know some of those stories I told you about my village school, well Dean Thomas never had a village school. He wasn't taught the proper way to be a half-blood, he was taught the proper way to be a mudblood.

Imagine what Transfiguration's going to be like for him.

From:

alt_ron

Yeah, but if he's quick at it, he won't have to do it for long. That's what I'm thinking. If we can teach him enough while we're on the trip, he could test out on the first day. Maybe they'd let him do it before the firsties come, even. Dad says he's going from Cornwall straight to school, so he'll have a chance to do some extra lessons and stuff before anyone else gets there.

From:

alt_arthur

Well, people at first sometimes don't like to admit that a mistake has been made, you see. But of course once the situation was properly explained, they came around. We are all eager here at the Ministry to see Mr Thomas succeed.

I'm sure any boy would welcome a few chocolate frog cards to start a collection. It is most kind of you to think of it.

From:

alt_arthur

Sometimes their optimistic innocence is almost heartbreaking, isn't it? No, if we hadn't uncovered the truth, he would have ended his days emptying bedpans and scrubbing floors. His cleverness would simply be something to exploit, not proof of his worthiness to hold a wand--because this regime can't face the fact that all who can do magic have the right to do so.

From:

alt_arthur

Well, I certainly hope so, Ms Jones. The Ministry of Magic does its best to make sure that everyone is put their proper place in our society.

From:

alt_sally_anne

I don't think he'll have enough time on the camping trip to practice as much as he'll need to test out.

I mean if you looked around at flying lessons the first day, you could pick out who'd been on a broom a lot (you, Finnigan, Draco, Harry) and who'd been on one a little (Patil, Brown, Pansy) and who'd never used one before (me, Neville, Bundy). The ones who'd flown a lot all tested out by October. The people who'd flown some mostly tested out before winter hols. The ones who'd never flown before were taking lessons until spring.

I mean maybe he'll have some sort of natural gift but have you ever seen that happen with something like flying on a broom?

From:

alt_neville

Too right!

From:

alt_neville

Your right. Even if he's behind our year a lot, there's a good chance he'll be better than me at flying anyway. And EVERYONE's better than me at Transfiguratiohn. Hope that'll make him feel better!

(If you've got stuff from the twins, I hope it doesn't set fire to the tent around our ears!)