Hermione could hardly breath as she turned to Harry for some sort of confirmation, the young witch wasn't sure just what she wanted him to say. Harry could only go with the truth. "The head of the Potter family will become Lord Potter, and be wealthy enough to make the Malfoys appear paupers. Not that they would ever flaunt their wealth - things like that are only done by people trying to impress."
Hermione sat there with her mouth open. The best friend, who she'd been crushing on since laying eyes on him, was some multi-millionaire lord, and one that every girl in the school would now be chasing after.
Harry could see what was happening and decided to put a stop to it at once, he stood and offered Hermione his hand. "My Lady?"
Hermione's eyes nearly popped out of her head at the double meaning now contained in those words. She took his hand to stand and was soon in her usual position, on Harry's arm.
"You said yourself Hermione, the whole thing is utter rubbish. I'm still Harry, and still your best friend."
Hermione held onto his arm with both hands and rested her head on Harry's shoulder in relief as they made their way out the hall. Hermione was so overcome with relief, she didn't care that every pair of female eyes were now on them far less what kind of statement they were making. She was on Harry's arm and the world was once more fantastic in Hermione Granger's opinion.
Padma and Neville soon joined them, as did the rest of the first years who were all heading for the greenhouses.
Draco was also smiling, though for a far different reason. His father had cautioned him to sit back and observe, sending home any information he discovered. The head of the Malfoy family had decided he would wait until the story publicly broke before making his move, figuring that he would have more opportunities of manipulating things they way he wanted then. After seeing today's Prophet, Draco knew his father would shortly be bound for Hogwarts.
Albus was also expecting visitors after reading how the Prophet chose to break the news. Cornelius would soon be making his way to the castle and the headmaster didn't really know how he was going to deal with the problem. Nothing in all his years had prepared him for a situation like the one he now found himself in. Albus was going to have to play the entire thing on the fly - he couldn't remember when he'd last had to do that either.
Ron Weasley was the only first year not heading to herbology, rather the Gryffindor set off toward the owlery. Ron thought his meal time problems were far more important than any class about stupid plants. His twin brothers had told Ron what was expected of him to end this torture. He knew within himself that was never going to happen so it was time to call for reinforcements. Ron decided this time there would be no messing about, he was going straight to the top. It was time his mother found out just how much torture her youngest son was being forced to endure inside Hogwarts.
-oOoOo-
Professor Sprout soon had them all working so there was no time time for any comments about today's Prophet, Harry was quite happy with that. After the lesson, he overheard the other three Ravenclaw first year boys discussing what they thought was going to happen after lunch, it was now common knowledge that Professor Quirrell had 'left' Hogwarts.
Harry thought this might be good opportunity to start working on those 'snubbing' rumours. "Guys, my father is arranging a private defence tutor for me. If you want, I can ask them if it's okay to up the numbers a bit?"
Michael, Anthony and Terry were all keen but Malfoy had overheard. It was with a superior sneer he addressed Harry, loud enough though to ensure everyone else heard. "If you think any 'proper' pureblood witch or wizard would ever stand for a goblin teaching them, you really are as big an idiot as Weasley claims Crow."
Padma was quick to jump all over Malfoy at his implied insult. "My family were recognised as pureblood witches and wizards while your ancestors were still herding goats in the French mountains. We apparently have different opinions about what constitutes a proper pureblood. Daddy having plenty of money doesn't change the fact it was only a few generations ago that the British branch of the Malfoys were chased out of France with their tails between their legs."
Draco was livid and moved threateningly toward Padma, only to find his way blocked by both Neville and Harry. This was Hogwats first glimpse of Neville standing up for himself and it took everyone, including Malfoy, by surprise.
"Like Padma says, we have a different definition of what a proper pureblood is. While your ancestors were herding those goats, The Longbottoms and Potters were already magical lords in this country. By any definition you care to make, my blood is classed as purer than yours."
Padma was standing beside Hermione and couldn't help but whisper to her, "Told you Robin was a good name for Neville."
Neville though wasn't quite finished yet. "If the defence teacher Harry's father provides is half as good as Master Pitslay, then I'll be first in line for that class too. Goblin or not, it's whether they can teach that counts and even a house elf would have to be better at teaching defence than Quirrell."
Neville had effectively cut the legs from under Malfoy and the blond Slytherin was let to storm away as the Ravenclaws, Gryfindors, - minus a missing Ron Weasley - and the Hufflepuffs all quickly confirmed to Harry they would be delighted if he could arrange for them to join his defence lessons.
Malfoy's posse, and the rest of the snakes, accompanied him as he stormed off. The other Slytherins had been deliberately non-committal though, preferring to take the Slytherin approach and see who could be teaching them first. Tracy, Daphne and Millicent had barely poked their collective heads into the great hall when they were doing an about-turn and heading back to ask Harry if they could join the lessons too.
Harry was pleasantly surprised and said he intended to include them when he asked the new tutor. When the group of friend reached the great hall, the mystery of the girls' sudden change of heart was there for all to see. The wizard standing beside McGonagall was clearly on good terms with the professor as they stood and chatted, while every witch in the castle suddenly wished they were in the Deputy Headmistress' shoes and talking to the handsome wizard.
He was rugged, tanned and appeared to be in his early twenties. With dark red hair that was shoulder length and held in a ponytail, the wizard was at least six feet tall and his dragon hide jacket really emphasised those broad shoulders. As McGonagall led him over toward Harry, they caught a glimpse of a dragon tooth earring too. Hermione suddenly had a warm and fuzzy feeling deep in her bones. Apart from the colour of his hair, this was probably a close approximation of what Harry would mature into at the same age. This had the young witch smiling to herself and holding her best friend's arm even tighter.