Chapter 1

"WHAT a wonderful time we had at Malfoy manor" said Magda with a happy sigh. "Why I never even knew that people lived like that!"

"It is rather an eye opener" said Gauda "Before I was orphaned, in the apartment block where I lived ten families shared a privy outside, and a pump for water. Some families were twelve to a room. The rooms we each had in Malfoy Manor were as big as the three room apartments, with a bathroom each and running hot and cold water! And the furnishings!"

"And the house was so big, even with as many guests as there were for the wedding, they all had rooms!" said Magda.

"Mr Malfoy explained one way they manage that" said Biirta "Because I asked."

"Oh Biirta! Your tongue is going to get you into trouble one day!" said Magda. Biirta flushed.

"Not with Mr Malfoy it isn't" she said "He LIKES people to ask questions, especially when it's showing off about his house, so there! Because he's proud of his family and their home. Anyway, do you want to know about it or not?"

"I do" said Gauda "Don't be a mother hen, Magda; Mr Malfoy would have one of his beautiful ladies drop a hint if he thought any of us were forward."

"Exactly" said Biirta "And I had a chat with Finn – she ASKED me to call her Finn before you start on me again, Mags – about what you thought was flirting and she said if I thought that was flirting I ought to see some of the females she and the other ladies got rid of."

"What – killed?" said Magda, slightly shocked. Biirta laughed.

"No – just embarrassed them into leaving Mr Malfoy alone. Anyway, I was telling you about rooms; there's a corridor that's enchanted, and between each of the rooms that are already there, Mr Malfoy can tap the wall with his wand to make another door appear, that opens into a room in wizarding space; and here's the REALLY clever thing. The magic knows what the tastes of the person to occupy the room are; and whether Mr Malfoy likes them or not, and whether he wants their every taste to be satisfied or whether he wants the precise opposite. He chuckled with wicked glee when he told me that" she added, grinning at the memory.

"For unwelcome guests you mean, like the ones the kids were firing missiles at and jinxing?" said Magda.

"Exactly" said Biirta.

"I should think the Malfoys are not a family one would wish to have as enemies" said Gauda. "Mr Malfoy is very genial but I have seen him smile in a way that made me feel chilled to the bone when he was asking one of those shrill ladies to leave."

"I think he'd call them 'females' not 'ladies'" said Biirta "Madam Narcissa said that being a lady was in behaviour not in birth and certainly not in wealth. And Mr Malfoy said that the mark of an English lady or gentleman is that they know just when to stop being one."

"He and his ladies have been SO kind" said Marta. "And I've been so afraid they'd think you too cheeky, Biirta."

"Well they don't" said Biirta shortly. "They enjoy word play and sardonic comments; and it's so nice to have the opportunity to indulge in such word play and with such highly educated people, and to feel that I'm learning from it. I can't HELP but join in. And Mr Malfoy was very encouraging, and made me free of his library except the books that are dangerous, because he has to understand dark magic to counter it, and some books have traps in for the unwary. I'd find him very comfortable to talk to, if only I didn't find him a bit sort of disturbing too."

"What do you mean?" asked Gauda.

"I'm not quite sure myself" admitted Biirta. "I – he's so very…..MALE."

"Bii, he hasn't made a pass at you or anything has he?" asked Magda anxiously "If he's touched you or said anything to make you uncomfortable you MUST tell Frau Professor Von Strang; just because he's her uncle won't mean she won't stop him doing anything you don't like!"

"He hasn't done anything untoward, Mags," said Biirta fighting not to sound irritable "He's the soul of – of courtesy and honour. He just sort of carries waves of charisma with him like a strong wind to buffet anyone around him; haven't you noticed?"

"No not really" said Magda "I mean, he's charismatic; but I don't feel buffeted. He's very polite and kind to me, and I thought he was to you. But if you don't like him, you can make your excuses not to go another time if he asks us again."

Biirta made an exasperated noise.

"I didn't mean I don't like him!" she cried "Because I DO! I just don't know how else to describe it!"

"If you ask me" said Gauda "You like him altogether too well! You should put such thoughts out of your head, Bii; I know you're better class than me, but fancying Mr Malfoy is an idea well out of the reach of people like us. It's as well you're not likely to see him for another whole year, because that will help you to put it out of your mind."

Biirta burned red and her eyes widened. Was THAT what it was? That she felt his personality so acutely because she was aware of him in so personal a way?

Magda put an arm around her.

"Don't be silly, Gauda; we're too young for such feelings" she said "As if anyone would WANT to think about things like that; it's all really very horrid."

"I doubt it is for people who feel grown up and do it with people that want to do it with" said Gauda. "The Madams Malfoy all seem to enjoy taking their husband firmly away with a lot of giggling. And Professor Von Strang is married to Professor Luytens and they have a baby which MEANS they've done it and they seem to spend time holding hands and leaning against each other; and I remember my parents enjoying each other too. You've had a tough time, but that doesn't mean you won't be ready for it too with the right man – one day."

"I – I expect you're right" said Magda "Frau Von Strang said much the same thing to me; and SHE was interfered with when she was only a little, little girl! But you can't be right about Biirta; because we're all the same age, sixteen, and not really old enough for such things!"

Biirta said nothing; Magda did not WANT her friend to have feelings she found scary herself. It was not the feelings Biirta found scary but the intensity; and she was coming to the conclusion that Gauda had been correct in her analysis that she was strongly attracted to Lucius Malfoy. After all she loved verbal sparring with him, and listening to him explaining things; and just to watch his face whether he was talking to her or to anyone else; and she realised suddenly with a dull flush that she had spent a lot of the holiday just watching him. And being near him made her feel good; and just thinking about him made her whole body feel more alive! Biirta was glad she had the glossy magazine with the wedding pictures in; there was a magnificent one of Mr Malfoy outside the house, with his iridescent white peacocks stalking about on the lawn behind him. And whatever Gauda said, Biirta knew she could never forget Lucius Malfoy and put her feelings out of her mind.

xxx

Biirta's little brother and sister were glad to see her back after two weeks away; but Jade had insisted that having time to do her own thing was essential so long as her siblings were not neglected. Biirta needed time to find herself and enjoy the last tattered remnants of her childhood. Petrus made more fuss than little Heloise; and Jade was glad she had insisted. The boy was eleven years old and needed to learn not to hang on his sister. Preferably before he got a chance to – if the wind blew the way Jade suspected it blew – hang on Lucius.

Meanwhile Jade had other matters to resolve.

There were to be an additional six sixth formers joining the seven they already had; children who had been to various dame schools to gain the few ZPs that might be offered but who wanted to continue their education into ZH level. Jade had researched the dame schools in Germany – a bit of a misnomer as some were run by mixed males and females and the one in Hamburg was a single retired Anwalt – and had discovered that there were eight that actually took subjects to ZP. This information had been easy to find since it was recorded with the examinations board in the ministry.

Jade already knew of the Hamburg Anwalt, and the schools at Neubrandenburg and Berlin and had heard of a school in Munich that for all the wizarding community there managed only three subjects; there were too schools in Würzburg, offering five subjects, Trier, offering three, the eclectic selection of Transfigurations, Potions and Ancient Runes; but DID teach Potions and Ancient Runes to ZH. Rothenburg had a school offering five subjects, which would offer out of these just Enchantment to ZH by arrangement; and Strasburg offered six subjects, none of which were such basics as charms, enchantment or transfigurations. And only Ancient Runes was offered to ZH, a poor state of affairs in the capital of the German Sphere. Two of the boys to join the sixth were coming from Strasburg, a pair of cousins whose parents thought it would be nice for them to be together. Jade was less certain of this; she had interviewed the boys – Strasburg was near enough one of her bases in Neubrandenburg after all – and felt that happy-go-lucky Kasimir Wieselkind disliked his sleek cousin Herbert; and that Herbert despised his poorer and less stylish cousin.

Relative wealth would not show in a boarding school where strict controls were kept on pocket money however; there was less chance to spend money as Strangsdorf had not yet grown into a service village the way Hogsmeade had for Hogwarts. Strasburg taught Dark Arts, Care of Beasts, Herbology, Potions, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes and Kasimir preferred to take four ZHs; the two he was better at, Potions and Herbology, an excellent pairing; and as he could not choose between Care of Beasts and Arithmancy would take both. Jade had told him that if his marks were poor it would be time to discuss dropping one after Yule; to which he had agreed. Herbert was taking a safe three, Herbology his best subject, backed with Dark Arts and Care of Beasts, eclectic but if he did well they were eclectic enough subjects to consider then teaching in schools that did not offer any of them.

The other two boys were both from Berlin and went to the school there run by two elderly sisters who did very well to get their pupils through four subjects, Charms, Enchanting, Potions and Care of Beasts. Oskar Wurzel was a modest youth who planned on taking Charms, Potions and Care of Beasts further; Friedrich Spinnetanz, who also had pony riding lessons, intended to study Charms, Enchantment and Care of Beasts. Friedrich had three younger sisters as well as an older one; but his parents would not hear of them going away to school, one reason perhaps that a relatively well off family of near pure bloodline did not send their offspring to Durmstrang. The family were keen on the idea of education for all and hoped that their daughters would duly come to the sixth form. And Jade's mention of a wider curriculum was in vain; they had some idea that boarding school life was rough and awful, however much care the teachers took, and if they had either of them had the Durmstrang experience in their youth, Jade could appreciate why; and no amount of words would change their belief. Perhaps when Friedrich had been there a year or two his own testimony would do so.

Of the two girls, Daria Nachtstern was from Würtzburg and would be taking Dark Arts, Enchantment and Ancient Runes to ZH because those were the subjects she had done well with; her History having been a scrape of a pass, and her Arithmancy having been failed. Jade offered her a retake if she cared to join in the ZP; and Daria considered and asked if she might think about it having sworn never to crunch another number again.

Jade laughed and said that Arithmancy was a very difficult subject to teach and some professors managed it better than others and she was welcome to sit in on the classes and see if a different viewpoint gave her a better understanding; and as she did not have to decide to go against her word precisely Daria said she might as well, which sounded ungracious, but Jade knew what she meant. A stubborn girl – Daria had a firm chin – might be led not driven.

The final girl, Kristel Kirsch, had been home educated and had been taught History, Transfiguration, Charms and Enchanting. She had a fairly good mark in Transfiguration, which had surprised her mother who felt she had not taught it very well; and Kristel also had not disgraced herself in Enchanting. She had scraped passes in Charms and History and did not want to follow them up. Jade strongly suggested taking ZPs in both potions and Arithmancy if she was to take only two ZH's; and Kristel was keen enough. She had suffered recurrent bouts of Spattergroit for a number of years and had been unable to go to school – or to ride, which in her home town of Pfarrkirchen was something of a tragedy. The muggles of the town bred ordinary horses, and the wizards bred flying horses; and the fact of having stables at the school had helped determine Herr and Frau Kirsch that this was the right decision for their daughter. Indeed for their daughters; because their younger daughter Kornelia was eleven; and they were so impressed by the level of education that had been achieved with the orphans and goblins in the school's first year that they wanted to send both their children there. Which would be the school's first pure blood wizarding family and a triumph that pure blooded people like the Kirsch family should be open minded; and ask, as they did, intelligent questions about the goblins in the school.

The six new sixth formers were to start the Friday before the new term – September the first was a Monday – to get to know the rest of the sixth. Kornelia Kirsch was to come too, and she might then meet Biirta Hess's brother Petrus who was to be in the first too, Barthel and Max Balzar, orphans too and brothers of fourth-former Martina, Greniz gan Doric, who would like Vinz come early with their sixth form brother Kole and the two lads from the castle's village Strangsdorf, Wilhelm Heuvormund, whose brother Gunnar was also in the sixth, and Hasso Anselmsohn, the goose boy. A bit tough for Kornelia that she would be the only girl who was there early, but Mava Sternschein, now in the second, was a resident and would look out for her as any marauder should, and their own adopted son Ulvik could organise the boys if Kornelia found them a bit much. She might not care; but as a gently reared child with no brothers, excess boys from anything but genteel backgrounds might be a shock. And Jade herself was taking things a little easy; she was now heavily pregnant with her second child and was a bit peeved with herself for getting the timing a little miscalculated, since if she had managed to get pregnant a month or so earlier she might have birthed in the holidays and been back to school without trouble. Being fat and seven months gone for dashing about sorting things was NOT convenient. If she had managed to have the baby in August or, better, July, she might have done all the dashing about and sorting afterwards. Well, that was life; and she loved their baby, whenever she arrived, and loved to let the children feel the kicks and listen to their little sister's heartbeat; because Jade was more prosaic about using Scarpin's Revellaspell to find out the sex than her mother was. And baby was already named Ziva Nefrita; and the younger children all kissed her tummy and said a solemn good night to her every night before bed. Ulvik, bless him, just made sure to be ready to run errands.

xxx

Jade also had a visitor.

Fritti came to her and bowed.

"There is a scruffy-looking goblin who I have put in the reception room" he squeaked "Who has been lurking about for a day or two. I brought him to the castle to demand his business and he said he wanted to talk to the lady who had taken on the care of the orphanage; save that his idiom was rougher and ill educated and he did not phrase it like that" he squeaked disapprovingly.

Jade laughed.

"You're a snob, Fritti" she told the elderly elf.

"Yes Mistress Jade" said Fritti complaisantly. "Will I bring him to your office?"

"Yes please" said Jade "And bring coffee also; it may be that he is the parent of a child or children in the orphanage who could not care for them himself; which being so I may find him a job to be near his offspring. And if he is in any wise a crook out to dun me, if you think I was born yesterday, Fritti, you do me down."

Fritti sniffed.

"You is very good natured Mistress Jade" he said.

"Yes Fritti" said Jade, mimicking Fritti's own complaisant tone of voice.

xxx

The goblin certainly did look seedy. He was thin and gaunt, ragged and none too clean. He looked as though he had been sleeping in the same clothes for a considerable while.

"Do sit down" said Jade "And coffee is on its way and then you can tell me what I can do for you."

"Please, missus, I means, Lady Baronin, I'll make your chair dirty" said the goblin, who had pulled off his disreputable hat.

"It's chintz; it washes" said Jade "I have a school. My chairs get sat in by small boys who are, by their nature, grubby. It comes with the nature of the being that is involved; though your manners in mentioning it are appreciated and noted. Sit! You look tired."

"It comes of being on the run, Lady" said the goblin.

Fritti arrived at that moment and served coffee. He had put sandwiches and a generous few slices of cake on the tray too; and Jade beamed approval. Fritti was not as hard as he liked to pretend to be; and he had noticed how hungry the goblin had looked too.

Jade passed a plate and offered sandwiches, taking one herself to put her visitor at his ease. Once he started eating he wolfed down everything Fritti had brought, then looked guilty.

"Now I wager you feel well enough to tell me your story" said Jade.

"Well… thank you lady" said he, a trifle shamefaced. "It was like when I started eating I couldn't stop…. Me name is Ferrac the Gardner; I was handyman to a number of wizarding families, in one street, see, with a little cottage at the end. I was supposed to do the gardens, but I can turn my hand to a bit of carpentry see, so I did other jobs and often as not get tipped for it. Only there was one family, what had a daughter, sweet as sweet can be; Hanni her name was. And she'd chat to me in the garden, ask about the plants and so on. I never did no formal Herbology training, but I picked it up as I went along; and she went to the old dear down the road to learn a bit of charms and potions, but no Herbology, and she were the cleverest girl, liked learning all she could! And – well, one day I brought her a plant in a pot, I'd been thinning them for 'er at number seven, who was a right old besom; and Hanni kisses me and I find I'm kissing her back; and she ain't disgusted at all, but keeps on kissin' me too. And the upshot is we plans to run away, account of how her parents wouldn't never countenance it; so we does. And we has a baby, the prettiest little girl with red hair."

"Ah" said Jade "And the reason you've come to me is because you read the article I got them to put in the paper in the hopes that Lily Grace – which name she answers to now, me having no knowledge of any other – had family?"

"Yes" Ferrac nodded "Took me a while to find me way here. And – well, we hadn't actually decided if she ought to have a goblin name or a human one; so we sort of called her baby at first in the hopes we could make up our minds, because having her was the best thing. Only then Hanni's parents found where we were; and her da comes, wand at the ready to kill me, and Hanni….." he broke off and buried his face in his hands in despair. "She jumped in front of him" he said through his hands, his voice thick with tears "And the spell meant for me cut her all across her body. And her pa fell to his knees beside her, I – I reckon he musta loved her; and she turned her head and said to take baby and flee. So I did; it was her dying wish. I heard her father's howl of anguish as she musta died; but I couldn't BLAME him for wanting his daughter back. Only I didn't want him to hurt baby, and Hanni told me what to do. She always knew what to do" he added simply, twisting his hat between his hands. "And I weren't much cop at caring for baby; and rather than let her starve, I thought that an orphanage would take care of her. I never knew what they say that place was like or I wouldn't never have left her, honest!" he said.

"Oh I believe you" said Jade. "Now, what we need to decide is what is to be done about her – and you, and her future."

Ferrac looked horrified.

"You fink I'd try to take her away from a decent family what wants her and will give her a good life?" he said "She's my daughter; I want what's best for her!"

"You're a good man" said Jade softly. "I thought the best thing to do would be for you to have a job here as a handyman – goodness knows we NEED one – and she can grow up knowing you; and when she's old enough to understand we can explain why she has two daddies, and how brave her real mummy and daddy were in running away together because they ignored convention for their own happiness. And how she was loved to bits and still is and that her mummy didn't leave her voluntarily. Here, have a handkerchief" she added as Ferrac started sobbing in earnest. "You can be as an uncle to all the children; like Hagrid, the groundsman in Hogwarts, who is there for the schoolchildren who need extra love and care. And specially for Lily and Ralph, our own child, and Rory, one of our other adoptive children who are all three much of an age. Will that suit you?"

"Oh Lady! You are mighty generous!" cried Ferrac "I was hoping I might see her, not expecting to be allowed close to, you know; to get to watch her grow up….. you don't need to tell her nothin'"

"Oh yes I do" said Jade "It's important that people know their roots. And you and Hanni were very brave. And if you want to study Herbology formally and take a ZP in it, that can be arranged; and if you want to study for a ZAP to carry a wand, that can be arranged too. I'll sort it all out; and meantime let's get you fed properly and bathed and decent clothes so you feel proud to meet your daughter again."

Jade clicked her fingers for Fritti – who might be free but he still followed the summons – and issued instructions. Fritti would sort it out; he was invaluable.

Well that solved the mystery of Lily Grace; her poor little mother! And Hanni's father had only himself to blame that he was ready to cast a nasty cutting curse akin, by the sound of it, to sectumsempra that he did not know a counter to. And too that he had not bothered to wait and ascertain his daughter's wishes in the matter. If she loved Ferrac, she probably would prefer to be dead than dragged off home and married to some utterly suitable and tedious fellow who would need to be told why she had stretch marks and would doubtless incarcerate her to make sure she did not run off with other low characters and would think himself a virtuous fellow for so doing. And Ferrac would see that there were mixed couples here; Franziska and Gennic being one such pair, and many Germans would count Mortimer Bane's quarter blood as all goblin. And he would see that Lily would grow up not feeling different. Poor man! A tragedy all round; and by rights he should rear Lily, save that he had not a clue how to do so, and would feel bad over failing her; and too, poor little Lily had had enough upset in her short life, uprooting her from where she was settled now, and cheerfully and firmly leading her brothers into as much trouble as a three year old could manage would be cruel. Having Ferrac around to be an extra grown up for her was really the best solution; and gently and quietly educating him, in speech as well, would mean that Lily would not grow up feeling in the least bit ashamed of him as she might otherwise do, even if encouraged to see his excellent qualities of loyalty and steadfastness. Children were very good at getting silly about things; witness Ron's feelings of slight shame about Arthur and Molly being less well off than other Hogwarts parents, and how far Percy had gone before he realised what counted in life. If Ferrac was a wand-bearing goblin whose speech was accentless and grammatically correct nobody could get at Lily nor make fun of her over her real father. As some creep was bound to do sometime. Jade had no illusions about the inherent decency of children if they had not been brought up to it; only in their innate sense of justice that sometimes needed the guile of the serpent in the way in which it was appealed to.

xxx

"Petrus" said Biirta with studied patience "WHY did we end up in the orphanage?"

"Because you reported us as orphans" said Petrus.

"All right" said Biirta with more obvious studied patience "WHY were we orphans?"

"Because mum died after having Heloise and dad killed himself" said Petrus "What's that got to do with anything?"

"A lot" said Biirta. "Mum couldn't help being ill and dying; any more than any reasonable person would blame Heloise. But dad COULD help committing suicide. People who have responsibilities don't actually back out of them unless they're a bit inadequate. We were both ready to help him and run errands if he got self employed; I suggested having a market stall and being scrap merchants, and I could mend old clothes to sell on. But he couldn't hack it because it got difficult. And I notice you give up when things get too difficult; and now you're moaning about whether the lessons will be hard. At your age I had responsibility for you and your sister and I had to jolly well buckle down and take it – especially after I made the ghastly mistake of assuming the authorities would take care of us properly – and I haven't actually had much of a chance to whine or worry if things were going to be difficult; I did all I could because I had responsibilities. And I think I've failed because I've taken care of you too much and made a whining baby ninny out of you. Now pull yourself together or you'll end up a weak-kneed disaster like dad."

Petrus' eyes filled with tears.

"You're awfully unkind to me Biirta" he said.

"For your own good" said Biirta "In two years I shall have left school; whether I'll be getting married, or working, or learning to be a healer, I shan't be here to pick you up; and actually I don't think I should be picking you up anyway or you SO are going to get laughed at by the other kids in your class for being a sissy and a sister's boy. Yes, the lessons will be hard; some more than others. So you just have to get down to it and work harder on the ones that are more difficult. I expect that you'll find some easier and you can help those kids who find them hard and they can help you with ones you find hard. It's part of being at school; you help each other out. You don't lean on older siblings. And I would HOPE that you wouldn't be asking me to do any homework for you."

"Why not?" asked Petrus.

"Well of all the stupid ideas! If you have someone else do your homework the teachers don't know how to help you because they don't know what you're poor at! Petrus, please try to grow a little common sense; I'm sorry if I've babied you and not given you the opportunity to act your age but you need to take responsibility for yourself now you're to be a wand-carrying individual."

"You didn't baby him" Magda came out from behind a bush "He's a lazy little toe-rag and knew how to get round you. I applaud your decision to have as little to do with him as possible; it'll maybe teach him to grow a backbone as well as that common sense before he grows up so lazy the only career open to him will be as a criminal, and not having the industry to do that well will end up in Nurmengard."

"Don't let her SAY things like that to me!" cried Petrus "Biirta, she can't talk to me like that!"

"Why not? I'm afraid there's some element of truth in it" said Biirta. "I love you Petrus; but because I love you I want to make sure you're actually equipped for life, not a disaster. You're talented at quidditch; and that's a potential career if other academic subjects are too difficult for you. But you have to work hard to perfect techniques as well as being talented. You have to understand this."

It may be said that Biirta was partly afraid that if Petrus realised how generous Mr Malfoy was, he might try to slack and hang on the English aristocrat's sleeve; and so lose HER the chance of visiting Malfoy Manor; and though she acknowledged that this selfish thought was there, she did truly feel that her brother needed something to make him be more than someone who hung on her; and Frau Professor Von Strang had said much the same thing too, that she must not let his childishness blight her own life. And he was safe now, in this new orphanage, and would be educated; he did not need her as a prop any more.

"I think you're both rotten!" said Petrus and ran off.

"He'll learn the easy way or he'll make you resent him enough that you avoid him" said Magda.

Biirta sighed.

"I'm already beginning to" she said. "WHAT will the Malfoys make of him if he ever gets included in an invitation?"

"If I was you" said Magda "I'd tell them everything about him if that happens. And about your father, and how you are desperately afraid Petrus will be a fool like him. Which actually I'm afraid he will; though if he gets a good job playing quidditch, as he's likely to do through this school, and all goes well for him he shouldn't fall down, should he?"

"No" sighed Biirta. "Let's hope he does."

She went to find notepaper and wrote to Finn Malfoy, as she had struck up something of a friendship with the youngest Madam Malfoy; which letter Finn shared with her sister wives and Lucius when she had read it, had Biirta only known, to discuss the potential problem. And Finn wrote back that standing back to help Petrus find himself was the best thing Biirta could do, and if he failed to find himself, she must just accept that, like a squib, he was handicapped and would need some extra help.

Biirta filed that away; Petrus might actually react and grow some spirit if she had to tell him he was as helpless as a squib.

xxx

Ulvik and Mava had been unintentionally eavesdropping.

"I think" said Mava "Because Biirta's a good sort AND she's going to have enough to do with being Head Girl we really ought to divert the pestiferous Petrus."

"He is rather a pest" said Ulvik. "I wonder if we should suggest he pair off with the only girl who'll be coming early because he doesn't rate being a boy? We all know there's no difference between boys and girls, but a lot of boys our sort of age would feel that most awfully, because it's the way of life for boys to be considered as better."

"That's a little harsh right off" said Mava "and it also insults those of us girls who are not the helpless types most girls are trained to be, which I think is not the way they are in the English way, and we are being taught by English methods. I think we should remind him that Marauders sort out trouble and running to the head girl is a little extreme."

"We can do it more tactfully than that" said Ulvik "We can inform the whole lot of the new ones who are early, since most of them will have sibs in the sixth, that running to sixth formers and prefects over everything is a bit too much and that most problems can be solved at grass roots, and people like us who are old hands can advise them if their problem needs to go to a pree or not."

"Brilliant" said Mava.

"We are when we work together" said Ulvik.

xxx

The Friday before the beginning of term when all the sixth formers gathered together with any younger ones, Ulvik and Mava marched up.

"You first years are to come with us while we show you around and explain what's what" said Ulvik. "We're Marauders; and that mystery too will be explained to you. Your revered elders will want to get to know each other and discuss policy and so on to junior oiks like us lot and I say, Vinz gan Doric, making with all that mirth is NOT becoming to an aged third year type. You don't have to come; this is for your kid brother and the others."

"Sorry Von Luytens" said Vinz. "Hop it, Greniz; I'm off to put in some time in the library" he added to his younger brother.

Kornelia Kirsch looked distinctly taken aback to hear a goblin speaking so authoritatively and walking so tall. Mava smiled kindly at her.

"You're the only girl starting early I'm afraid!" she said "But I'm assured there will be thirteen girls in the year all told; you're actually to have two dormitories so you get the first chance to bags which one you're in because as you have to settle in early, you can't hardly be unsettled. But if Ulvik and I run through some of the more obvious unwritten rules first you lot here will all be streets ahead of the others when they come and you will be able to put them right; because those of you who have sibs in the sixth REALLY need to know what is done and what is NOT done."

This foundation gave Ulvik the opportunity to point out that those with siblings in the sixth, especially those whose siblings were prefects, were in the same sort of position as he was as the child of two of the professors, which was to say that the prees had to be extra hard on them to avoid accusations of favouritism; and that running to their siblings was a bit off unless business was serious.

"Which is what Marauders are for" he said "It's a not-very-secret society that was started in England by Herr Harry Potter's father to help people who needed it – he and his friends formed it because one of them was a werewolf before there was ANY alleviation let alone cure – and it's gone on through the ages of people who want to help out, ultimately fight dark wizards and have a load of fun in the meantime. And you have to be picked by older marauders to maraud" he added. "I inherited it through being adopted by a retired marauder; and by the way, marauders fought Voldemort in England and Odessa here in Germany and most of the teachers here have fought Odessa so don't even THINK about volunteering unless you can hack that. We marauders here – Mava and me and Ria and Klemens and Lurtz and Ebert and Berthold – were bait, with a load of protective spells up, when some racists attacked the school last year. But once we'd flushed them out of cover we had to duck back and keep out of things, because we're a bit young to do serious dark wizard fighting" he added. "Only we CAN fight bullies if there are any and sort out some troubles, or at least advise people if they need a pree or a grown up. Savvy?"

"So it's open to any race? Not just goblins and part goblins?" said Kornelia "If Herr Potter's father was a founder?"

"It's for anyone with the guts to maraud" said Ulvik, firmly. "In England there are elves – free elves – who Maraud. It's not about race. It's about people willing to give up their childhood so that others don't have to give up theirs."

"That's a very big decision to have to take" said Kornelia.

"Yes, and anyone who realises that has a better chance of getting picked if they decide that they can do it" said Ulvik.

"Not for us, eh, twin?" said Max to Barthol Balzar.

"They sound rather too insane, if awfully well intentioned to me" agreed Barthol.

"I think it sounds exciting" said Greniz.

"Rather a bore to have to help people" said Petrus.

"Well Harry Potter has glasses so I guess that wouldn't preclude me if I decided to go for it" said Wilhelm Heuvormund.

"And as your brother's the cleverest boy in the school that doesn't go amiss if you have his brains" said Mava.

"I love the having fun bit which I bet is bucking authority and getting into mischief" said Hasso "I'm longing to have fun at school as much as to learn; it'll beat dealing with ornery critters like geese day in day out!"

"Well we shall watch and see who works well with whom and who is a true leader in the class and helps out others" said Ulvik "And I'm sorry , that sounded fearfully pompous. Come on; let's get you sorted into dorms. Twelve boys and thirteen girls anticipated mean two dorms apiece but with plenty of space. Then you can talk the other new oiks you like into sharing a dorm with you once they arrive."

It was rather splendid being second years and being able to sort out new ones firmly!