Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 14: Back to School (pt 3)

26 August 1993
8:30 a.m.
The Tonks Clinic and Personal Residence

As the sun beamed through the kitchen windows of the Tonks household, Theo No-Name sat down for breakfast with his de facto guardians and their daughter. The boy had been made well-aware of young Nymphadora's antipathy for her given name, but it was impractical to call her "Tonks" around the house since everyone else who lived there had the same surname, so she finally gave him permission to call her "Dora," Ted's pet name for her. Andromeda usually insisted on calling her "Nymphadora" and in fact seemed to derive a minor but perverse pleasure from doing so. But while the Tonkses had been nothing but welcoming since his arrival, Theo was aware of the growing tension in the household. Ever since the Azkaban breakout, Dora had been put on inactive status with the aurors, and based on the news reports, it was to some extent because of him. Theo's own ex-father had been the one to suggest in front of the Wizengamot that the family's charitable act of welcoming an outcast like him into their home suggested something nefarious. Combined with the family's blood relationship to several of the escapees and the probable involvement of Metamorphmagi, the residents of Hogsmeade had been giving the Tonks Clinic the evil eye for weeks now, and the number of patients Ted and Andi saw had dropped noticeably. Theo felt sure that the Ultimate Sanction was only making things worse for them all.

Just as the Tonkses and their summer guest were tucking into their morning meal, their house elf Iris popped into the room bearing an envelope.

"A letter has arrived for the young master by owl post. It says it's from Hoggy Warts." The tiny creature handed the letter to Theo.

"Thank you, Iris," he said before opening the envelope with some trepidation. Good news had been on short supply this summer.

To all Hogwarts students,

It has come to the my attention that many of our students have expressed difficulty in studying effectively within the individual Houses due to the school's current communal dorm structure. It has been suggested that by requiring all students of the same year to share a single common dorm room, Hogwarts has deprived its student body of the benefits of privacy and solitude necessary for academic progress. While I am mindful of the importance of tradition, and particularly traditions dating back to the time of the Founders, I am nevertheless committed to exploring every avenue to improve academic performance. And so, with the permission of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, I have instituted a pilot program for the coming school year. Beginning this September, the dungeon level that previously housed all of the Third Year Slytherin students will instead be divided into separate private rooms for each individual student. The academic progress of the Third Year Slytherin class will be compared at the end of the year with both the other three Houses and with prior Slytherin exam results, and if there is noticeable improvement, this program may be expanded in coming years to the rest of the student body. Room assignments will be provided to the affected students at the Welcoming Feast, at which I look forward to seeing you all once again.

Until then, I remain

Prof. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft

Theo read through the letter twice before sharing its contents with the Tonkses. "It seems I'm getting a private room this year, along with all the other Slytherins in my class." He frowned. "I don't know if that's good or bad. On the one hand, I won't have to share a room with people who might want to do something to me in the night. On the other, I won't have any witnesses if people break into my room to do something to me in the night."

"I'd focus on the former, Theo," said Andi drily. "Pessimism is rarely helpful. But just to be on the safe side, I'll provide you with a few nasty but non-lethal wards I learned from the Black family grimoire."