The perfect Slytherin was hard to find. Everyone had their own notions about what being a true Slytherin required. Some would suggest a pureblood with pride, whereas others would give it to the one whose future shone brighter than their peers. Gryff...
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What good are wings without the courage to fly?
⊰᯽⊱┈──╌❊╌──┈⊰᯽⊱
Albus Dumbledore held a staff meeting once a week to discuss the students' progress. But his absolute favourite one was always the one at the end of September, when they discussed any potential the first years showed. More often than not, the staff were excellent judges of character and skill and knew from the first few classes with their students who had a proclivity for their subject, and who hadn't.
"Welcome, everyone," he motioned around, smiling widely at the gathered teachers. They were all here, except Professor Trelawney of Divination, but that hardly surprised Albus. She must've forgotten where she was going, probably saw the future in the amount of stones in her office and gotten distracted. "Our first order of business is the talented individuals that have recently joined Hogwarts. Shall we proceed alphabetically? Has Hannah Abbott of Hufflepuff shown any particular skill?"
It went on for a while. Although every teacher tried their best to say something nice about every first year. Except Professor Snape, of course who made his dislike for most students more than obvious. Albus now just assumed that anyone lacking a complaint from the potions master was extraordinarily good at his subject.
What Albus got out of the discussion, however, is that there were quite some students who could be considered far above average for their age. There was Susan Bones, who showed a good aptitude in both Charms and Herbology. But then, Dumbledore expected nothing less from a witch in the Bones family.
Harry Potter, to Albus's admittedly slight disappointed, appeared pretty average. He was after all the son of Lily and James, and they had each been extraordinary in their chosen fields. However, he did come from a Muggle background and it usually took those students a while to get used to everything magic. Which is why Hermione Granger stood out so much. Several teachers pointed her out as the most eager to learn in her year. Somehow having managed to turn her knowledge from books into perfect practical spells. Filius and Minerva were both very impressed with her, and Albus knew that Minerva wasn't easily impressed at all. Severus had to grudgingly admit she had also shown some potential in Potions, but he added that she was so determined to prove herself, she often tried to take the glory away from other students.
Of the Slytherins, Daphne Greengrass was mentioned as having potential in Charms. But she lacked the interest to show what she could do and got distracted quite easily. Minerva described her as, "Very intelligent, but a difficult to teach student nonetheless."
Draco Malfoy got praised into the sky by Severus, while the other teachers seemed to be less inclined to think much of him. They found him clever, but his personality reminded them of his father's or so they said gently.
