Harry potter : Forgotten Lord

"What do you mean by we are targets," she questioned, clearly concerned about being the subject of future bullying.

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"It's quite simple; like in any animal pack the young challenge the old. That's the natural order of things. She is currently above us, but both you and I are the top first year ravens, and she is considered one of the top second years. Like any living creature, she will, in time, see us as a challenge to her position should we in the future start to overshadow her and thus undermine her position.

Therefore she will try to intimidate us, which if successful, will both weaken our own standing, whilst confirming her own. This will encourage others to pick on us in order to try to raise their own positions in the house," he said seriously, his mind thinking about the future and possible issues to deal with.

After all Daphne had talked to him about her own inner house battles for position, and her choice to stay on the sidelines, and remain neutral, like her family was known for, rather than get openly involved.

"Ok, seriously, you've obviously spent way too much time thinking about things like this and need to spend far less time talking to Daphne about politics," she said dismissively.

"Padma, I have the ill-fated distinction of being the last Potter. I have no one to protect me. So I need to think far ahead, plan my actions out carefully, and prepare for every eventuality, because if I'm considered weak or incapable, many of my future peers will consider me easy prey and I'll be targeted as a result.

At the moment, the Headmaster is my magical guardian; hence I'm under his protection supposedly. As soon as I turn 17, I become an awfully tempting target and families like the Malfoys, and even those considered light and neutral, will circle me and attack if they believe I am weak. That is why I am so careful around Draco.

I don't want to be seen as prey, but I don't want to be seen as an active enemy either," he answered coolly, thinking about the careful balancing act he needed to play whenever they ran into each other.

He personally disliked the kid, but always kept a calm, untroubled expression on his face, and would have to until the balance shifted in his favor, until he was safer and more secure from danger.

"The Headmaster is your guardian? Have you ever met him? What is he like?" she asked eagerly, since the man was like a living legend to many British magicals.

"No, I never have, he just oversaw my housing and other necessary matters, and left me with my non-magical relatives," he answered coldly, having no desire to tell Pad about the goblins' investigation into the headmaster's actions involving his accounts, and the sealing of his parents' wills.

"Oh. Anyways, with everything you said about standing and all that, what about Penny? I hardly see her as an elitist," she shot back, challenging his theory.

"Very true," he admitted, happy that the discussion was moving away from his upbringing and his non-existent relationship with the man who condemned him to misery while robbing and mismanaging his family's assets.

"Penny is very clever and popular due to the fact that she is quite simply a nice person, but at the same time, she is not a leader type per se. The simple fact is that she is seen as too nice, even if not a push over. She's just not seen as a threat to anyone.

People often rally around individuals who are seen as a source of strength and stability. Just think about how Longbottom is the top lion in our year. He's popular due to his fame and the belief that he is powerful, and everyone wants a part of it in some way.

Many purebloods will encourage their own children to gain his friendship in the hope of gaining more influence, and many pureblood families who have daughters around his age will try to get a marriage contract with him, for that very reason," he replied carefully, knowing that Padma's own family was pureblood and that a marriage contract was a distinct possibility for his friend.

He thought over everything Daphne had said on the subject, and her admission that her own family was moving towards arranging a marriage contract on her behalf, despite Daphne's desire to find her own suitable match. But it was clear Lady Longbottom was not accepting any offers at this time, most likely waiting until her grandson was older before committing him to any possible marriage and seeing what the best deal was then. She would likely take Neville's wishes into account as well.

"Like I said before, you think too much about politics. Now, how about a nice and simple game of chess" she asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

"Sure, but I'm white this time," he said, in agreement.

...

Looking around the library, she hoped to find Daphne and Tracy and chat with them about everything Harry had said a couple of days earlier about politics and being pureblood and all that. After all, her family wasn't native to Britain and therefore wasn't exactly well versed in British historical politics.

One thing she had to admit was that she had taken to discreetly watching that Chinese girl named Cho Chang and had seen at times that the girl was a bit of a bully, just like Harry had said. Given how often he ended up being right about things like that, Cho becoming a problem in the future was a bit worrying. Hopefully Harry would be wrong, but she had a small niggling feeling that he wasn't.

Looking over the various study areas available she easily spotted the two Slytherins, Daphne and Tracy, sitting at a corner table where they could watch the room for possible threats. After all, the snakes were prime targets for pranks, especially the first years, as they didn't really know enough to worry the pranksters about possible retaliation.

Sitting down, she only received a sign of acknowledgement from Tracy, since Daphne was busy intently reading a book. The two of them quickly slipped into quiet discussion about the latest gossip going around the school, and putting together their own theories concerning the latest from the Hogwarts rumour mill.

"Well, Malfoy is currently saying that he's going to be playing the seeker position next year on our house team and that his father is arranging it for him. I personally think he's just going to buy the position, since Flint is the captain," Tracy said in a quiet, disapproving tone, accompanied by a fierce shake of her head.

"Let me guess, it's because Longbottom is his house's seeker and Malfoy wants to prove that he's better than the grif," Padma voiced. After all, since the day they had arrived at Hogwarts the two boys had been constantly competing against each other in their private battle of gigantic egos.

Malfoy had taken whatever chance he could to one up Neville. It was also the reason why both houses were so far behind the ravens, by no less than a total of 200 points in the house cup. So unless something majorly unfair or unexpected happened before year's end, they had won the house cup this year for sure.

Shedecided to finally ask the question that had originally brought her here, "Daphne, do you mind answering a couple questions for me? It's just that Harry brought up some points a couple nights ago that I didn't know about and quite frankly have a hard time believing, and I want your thoughts on it," Padma asked cautiously, knowing the blonde wouldn't give something away freely and that she would have to pay something back in time.

"Depends on the questions," Daphne replied coldly, looking up from her book for the first time. They both respected each other, but they were mainly friends due to both of them sharing Tracy's and Harry's friendship.

Padma went on to explain Harry's theory on the house system and term ideology to both of the girls, Tracy's face turning a bit sour at the muggleborn reference since her mother was a muggleborn and her father had been a pureblood before his death during the war. Taking her time before replying, evidently thinking seriously over everything that Padma had said, Daphne replied in her normal cold tone of voice. "It's certainly possible; it wouldn't surprise me at all if that is accurate to a point."

"What about bloodline gifts?" Padma asked carefully, since Harry had said it was a delicate subject since most British purebloods did historically have some well-known bloodline trait or ability, but the abilities had either severely diminished in potency or died out entirely in most family lines by now. Harry suspected that it might be a result of too many successive generations of inbreeding and a lack of genetic diversity in British magical society.

"Why do you ask?" Daphne questioned, clearly interested in the subject of discussion.

"Well, Harry said that it's at the root of the whole blood supremacy ideology, he also said it was a sensitive subject now, which is not often talked about anymore," she asked, while wondering if she had some type of ability.

"Mostmagical lines gain traits over time, reinforced by successive generations. If your parents specialized in charms, for instance, you probably would find charms easier, due to their magic and affinity for the subject running through your veins. But it only makes it easier; it still requires effort and study to learn. Bloodline abilities are dying out and have been for some time, it's rather rare for a person to have one nowadays," she answered.

"Do you have one?" Padma asked out of interest.

"I don't know, but it's unlikely. Most don't develop them until their later years, closer to their late teens, near adulthood. Historically, my family, due to our druidic roots, have been able to manipulate plant life, hence the reason why our family name has 'green' in it. I know my father doesn't have the gift, nor did my grandfather, but my great grandparents did. And my mother's line had similar strengths that have since died out," she replied coldly, clearly not happy about the loss of the ability.

"I wonder what factors would cause it to strengthen or weaken over time," she said in a curious, speculating tone. "I wonder if Harry has a bloodline ability?" she mused out loud.

"He most likely does have a number of traits and abilities, since his family line is very old, but you'd have to ask him." Daphne said, in an almost factual tone

"Really? You sound so certain." Tracy commented, jumping into the discussion with interest.

"Simple really, the Potters have never said what their ability was or even if they had one. It's likely their gift gave them some advantage that they didn't want to lose.

I doubt they would shout it to world, telling everyone of it, in fact it's probably a closely guarded family secret. If no one knows what your bloodline gift is, no one can counter it. Besides whole families and bloodlines have been wiped out due to their gifts or in some cases enslaved," the blonde Slytherin argued.

"Really?!" Padma and Tracy exclaimed in union, shocked at what they were hearing, causing the librarian to start walking over to them. They quickly apologized for their outburst and turned their attention back to Daphne.

"Of course, gifts like being a seer have often led to that person being taken and bound against their will, since the ability could be so useful to a family. Wouldn't you like to have that kind of power under your control? To have forewarning of plots and schemes against you, or access to small flashes of the future? To know whether a plan will be successful or not? The sad thing is that, historically, male seers have been eliminated by their rivals," she ended.

"Eliminated? You mean killed?" Tracy asked, in case there was some kind of miscommunication as to her friend's meaning.

"Yes. Killed. In a male dominated society, like our own, a male seer could be very dangerous since they could hold political office. It's only been in the last 300 years or so that witches have gained a measure of equality in government.

Even then that's only the purebloods who have proven themselves capable and have the backing of their powerful husband or father to support their career. Women have long faced this barrier, hence a witch with such an ability was seen as far less of a danger and is, for the most part, easier to control," Daphne said seriously.

"Control?" Padma asked.

"Yes, since seer ability often runs in family lines, consider holding a witch's children hostage to ensure her obedience and loyalty. There are also many rituals you could use to achieve the same end. There are also the perks of a bound female seer," Daphne finished, obviously thinking that no more needed to be said about that particular matter.

"Perks?" Padma questioned.

"Sex... you know..." Daphne replied in an annoyed tone, obviously getting fed up with having to explain everything and the constant questions she'd been answering. This rather frank description of the perks of a bound female seer caused both girls to blush like tomatoes.

Several minutes passed in total silence before anyone spoke again.

"So, you think the Potters were secretly seers then?" Tracy asked, Padma obviously trying not to annoy Daphne further with another question, but happy this was asked so she wouldn't have to.

"No," Daphne replied before explaining further, even though she felt that this was extremely obvious. "If they were seers, then they probably wouldn't all be dead, except for Harry, now would they? Besides seers have several key giveaways. If the Potter line had such a gift, it would have been recognised ages ago.

The simple fact is that most seers look like they're in a dream and I've never seen Harry in a dreamy state. Seen him meditating, yes, dreaming with clouded eyes, never."

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