BROTHERHOOD ⟶ Harry Potter

Chapter Ten

With the Welcoming Feast always full of delicious foods and happy chatter between students, Milo no longer found himself worried about the relationship with his little brother for the time being. He had plenty of people to catch up with as they couldn't fit everything in a letter without it becoming a novel in some respects. There were funny stories of the summer adventures of his peers and of course, enjoying the wonderful meals that had been whipped up in the kitchens. Although he caught his mother's eye on multiple occasions, he continued to fill his plate with sweets, thoroughly enjoying having dessert for dinner that evening. He would probably regret it later on when the sugar caused him to crash and when he woke up the next morning with a terrible ache in his stomach.

His brother had been sorted into Gryffindor, just like their parents and the house of Milo's mother, which for the first fifteen minutes after Harry took his seat, Milo had questioned what was wrong with him. How could everyone in his family including his adopted family be sorted into Gryffindor and yet he had been the oddball out in Hufflepuff. He loved Hufflepuff, from the Head of the House to the smallest space in the Common Room, but he wondered why his destiny was so different from his brother's. It was odd that all of it had fallen onto Harry's shoulders, considering Milo was the first born. 

He almost wondered if he was some defect so that it decided to go to Harry, who appeared to be the Golden child of the family. He looked like their parents, he was sorted into the same house as them, and the fate of killing You-Know-Who had gone to him as well when the boy was only a year old at the time.  Not that Milo was much older but he couldn't help but think there was something wrong with him as things occurred. When he asked his mother why he and Harry could not remain together, she explained that it would be asking the Dursleys' far too much to take one boy in, let alone two.  He asked why Dumbledore didn't ask her to take in Harry and Minerva didn't seem very comfortable with giving the answer right away.

She claimed that Harry needed to remain hidden and the only way to protect him was to place him in the care of their mother's family. Which ultimately meant that it was far more important that Harry remain safe over Milo.  The older Potter wasn't offended and was pleased that Minerva had agreed to take him in when she certainly didn't have to. But it bothered him that Dumbledore didn't seem to care about them equally. 

If he cared at all. 

There had been a change of events where the usual Muggle Studies professor, Professor Quirrel would be taking over as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts position, leaving Milo to wonder what had happened to Professor Rosewood.

"I heard she had a nasty run-in with a vampire over the summer," Heidi whispered to him. "They're trying to keep it all hush-hush around but I heard she nearly died."

"But Professor Quirrel as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor?" Maxine scoffed. "I haven't had classes with him, but you've seen him in the corridors, always looking so nervous. We're as good as doomed with him teaching."

"It wouldn't hurt to give him a chance," Milo said. "He might find his calling there rather than muggle studies."

"He needs to find his calling in one of the wards of St. Mungo's," Heidi mumbled.

When the feast was over, the first years were told to follow the prefects and the Head Boy and Girl to their respective houses for the evening to get settled in. Milo saw his chance once more to approach Harry, hoping that the two could share breakfast in the morning and talk about their horrible first meeting after so long. He didn't want the term to start off on a bad note.

"I'll catch up," he told Heidi and Maxine. "I'm just going to tell Katie goodnight and then ask Harry if he wants to sit for breakfast in the morning."