On the other hand, it hardly mattered in the short term. Except Hermione Granger and Nigel Wolpert for Gryffindor, the first-years Lions had univocally chosen their leader. The fact Neville had already received magical education before some of them knew a magical world existed no doubt helped, but there were other reasons: Neville could, when he wanted, be charismatic (until his natural arrogance re-emerged) and designate targets which for one reason or another fail to live up to the standards of stupidity and suicidal courage which was expected of Gryffindor House. Nigel Wolpert, a boy who was clumsy and lacked confidence in himself, was as much an exile in Gryffindor as Alexandra herself was in Ravenclaw, but without the strength of character to defend himself. His only support was Hermione Granger, and the bushy-hair girl was too much in love in books to realise she was in the same situation with her year-mates.
The hierarchy was not definitive, but it was on a good way to be, as Neville revealed himself one of the most skilled Gryffindors in hexes and jinxes. Leo Black, her supposed godfather's son, had taken the post of prankster-in-chief of his year, and Ronald Weasley those of sidekick. The manners and the meals habits of Weasley proved every day more disgusting, and everyone who had a weak heart had stopped at lunch to look at him. To be honest, Weasley was creating himself a reputation of gluttony, tardiness and laziness who made him persona non grata among the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The youngest of the Weasley family currently at Hogwarts was also ruthless with those he believed were weaker than him. Thankfully, it was not a lot of persons right now with Weasley being a Gryffindor first-year, but it was not encouraging for the future. The senior girl in Gryffindor was Lavender Brown as the gossiper-in-chief, with Parvati Patil, Thelma Holmes and Fay Dunbar as her underlings fashion-victims and intelligence sources. Seamus Finnigan, a boy who managed to explode anything in his vicinity when he drawled his wand and Dean Thomas, a muggleborn fan of football, were considered to be subordinates to Black and Weasley.
In Slytherin, the order was less clear, because Malfoy and his new followers rarely spoke in the library and the corridors in loud, thrashing voices. When a student of another House came close to them, they closed the ranks and presented a united front, making any information difficult to find. The members of the House of Slytherin were also not adverse to sabotage their competitors' efforts. According to the rumour, Tracey Davis had been guilty of exploding Flora Carrow cauldron in Potions Class, but had avoided punishment affirming it had been Leo Black's fault, and Professor Snape had taken this affirmation at face value, taking twenty points from Gryffindor. Clearly, Draco Malfoy was in charge of the first-years for the moment, with Crabbe and Goyle as bodyguards, thugs, executants, but his power base was considerably less powerful than Longbottom. Pansy Parkinson led the hierarchy of the Slytherin House girls, and Theodore Nott led the rest of the boys.
Unlike the Gryffindors, watching the Slytherins try to do any magic was a spectacle that oscillated between the pathetic and the horrible. If the two massive boys answering to the names of Crabbe and Goyle had brains, they hid it well. Neither she nor the rest of the Ravenclaws had heard these gorillas utter a full sentence since the beginning of the school term. They only communicated in grunts and groans. She had heard some third-years Ravenclaws betting one galleon if "the two trolls following Malfoy knew how to write?"
The rest of their first-years Snakes were no better for a battle of wits. Pansy Parkinson and Tracey Davis were Malfoy's fan girls, following him like servants or damsels-in-distress depending the occasion. Millicent Bulstrode and Byron Vaisey tended more towards the Crabble and Goyle model in body, though thankfully a bit more intelligent in brains. They knew how to read and speak. Only Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini appeared to have any skill to practise magic, but their cold and distant character put them into the "outcast" position of Slytherin House. Not that they seemed to care. Blaise was as distant as the day she had met him on the train, while Greengrass continued to show a frosty face of a pureblood princess no one was able to crack. Theodore Nott and the Carrow twins Hestia and Flora were sadist and cruel to anyone who was not a Slytherin and a pureblood. It explained the struggle between the Carrow Twins and Davis, as Davis was a half-blood. It also explained why three-quarters of the schools never presented their backs to them. All in all, her impression of Slytherin House was not pretty, most of her year-mates were pureblood supremacist with ideals going from sadism to genocide. Charming.
Gryffindor and Slytherins had their hierarchies and their struggles for power, Alexandra had remarked. Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had theirs too, but it was less precise and less structured. So far, she had not seen a true leader emerging in these two Houses. The Ravenclaws spent all their time in their books and doing group studies, not even bothering to explore the castle a bit. Terry Boot and Stephen Cornfoot went together. Kevin Entwhistle and Antony Goldstein were friends, but it seemed to have begun a long time before Hogwarts. Su Li and Padma Patil formed a Ravenclaw foreign group, and the last three girls, Lisa Turpin, Morag MacDougal and Mandy Brocklehurst studied together.
There was no post of leadership in the last House. The Hufflepuffs had taken the maxim of "All for one, one for all!" to a new degree and were travelling in a herd, all equal under the banner of the badger. It was a bit surprising, as Bones, Jones, Abbot, Macmillan, Moon were influential names in the Wizengamot and the rest of Magical Britain. But Hufflepuffs qualities on unity and equality weren't just for show and the celebrations.
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