“Cousin!
There you are!” Pansy hurried over to the Slytherin table and dropped into the seat beside David.
She helped herself to breakfast as she explained, “I went to your room first.
I thought you might still be asleep.” “I was up early.” David took a sip of milk without looking away from the alchemy notes in his hand.
“Training.” James had given him enough material to keep him busy for quite some time.
Pansy watched him read for a moment.
Then she leaned closer.
“Do you want to take a walk by the lake later?” Her voice dropped slightly.
“Some of the older girls said it’s really nice.” David finally looked at her.
“The lake?” “I just came back from training there.” He smiled.
“The scenery is pretty good.” Pansy immediately tried again.
“Then what about the covered bridge?” “I heard the view of the snowy mountains from there is beautiful.” “This morning?” David flipped another page.
“Don’t you have lessons?” “We’d probably be late getting back.” Pansy refused to surrender.
“Then we can just explore the castle!” She brightened.
“I heard some of the staircases move on their own.” “Sorry, Pansy.” David returned his attention to the notes.
“I’m not particularly interested in exploring the castle.” He took another drink.
“It’s old and rather run-down.” Pansy stared at him.
David continued, completely oblivious.
“And breakfast is disappointing.” “Dinner last night was much better.” “It’s nowhere near Beauxbatons.” “And Durmstrang at least had its own—” David suddenly realised something.
Pansy hadn’t spoken in quite a while.
He looked up.
She was staring at him with watery eyes and puffed cheeks, looking remarkably like an angry little frog.
David closed his notebook.
“Sorry, Pansy.” He finally gave her his full attention.
“My mistake.” Her eyes remained fixed on him.
David sighed.
“If there’s something you want, just tell me directly.” Pansy’s expression immediately changed.
“A date.” David blinked.
Pansy sounded deeply wronged.
“Aunt Mary said so!” “…When?” David stared at her.
“My mother sold me off and somehow forgot to mention it?” Then something clicked.
“Oh.” “At your house.” He rubbed his forehead.
“Pansy, Mary was teasing you.” “We’re cousins.” “We’re not supposed to date.” “Yes, we can!” Pansy immediately sat up straighter.
“I already checked.” David slowly lowered his hand.
“Checked?” “Neither Muggle law nor wizarding law forbids it.” Pansy spoke with the confidence of someone presenting a carefully researched legal argument.
“And the Black family does it all the—” “Wrong.” David interrupted.
“The Gaunts are the real experts.” He shook his head.
“The Blacks only produced one particularly stupid pair.” Several nearby Slytherins quietly began listening.
David continued.
“Orion Black and Walburga Black.” “Both Blacks.” “First cousins.” They had married largely to preserve the purity of the family bloodline.
And the result?
Two pure-blood sons.
Sirius Black.
And Regulus Black.
Both had ended up tangled with the darkest parts of wizarding Britain.
David’s conclusion was simple.
Did people with completely sound minds really spend their lives chasing Dark Lords?
Apparently the Daily Prophet had already mocked the Black and Gaunt families over the subject twice that month.
Naturally, the newspaper didn’t dare criticise pure-blood ideology directly.
It was simply much easier to make jokes when most of the people involved were dead or gone.
David proceeded to give Pansy an impromptu lecture on the dangers of repeated close-relative marriages.
Then came the history of the Gaunt family.
Generations of obsession with blood purity.
Generations of marrying within an increasingly narrow circle.
And eventually— madness.
Pansy’s eyes widened.
“But You-Know-Who came from the Gaunt family too!” David stared at her.
“That rather proves my point.” Pansy froze.
David leaned back.
“If he weren’t insane, why would he want to build an entire society around pure-blood supremacy?” He spread his hands.
“What was the plan?” “Make everyone insane together?” A few students nearby nearly choked on their breakfasts.
David shook his head.
“An idiot.” “A monumental idiot.” Then he looked directly at Pansy.
“You wouldn’t want our children to be born with hereditary problems, would you?” Pansy opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Then looked at David’s face again.
Her resolve returned.
“Then…” She hesitated.
“We just won’t have children.” David froze.
“You—” For several seconds, he couldn’t think of anything to say.
Finally, he exhaled.
“Pansy.” He stared at her in disbelief.
“You’re ruthless.” The other Slytherins at the table had fallen completely silent.
What exactly were they listening to?
Was this supposed to be romance?
A relationship so committed that it ended the bloodline entirely?
And more importantly— did David Rowle talk about You-Know-Who as though the Dark Lord were some incompetent family servant?
Insane?
An idiot?
If Voldemort somehow heard this from beyond the grave, wouldn’t he claw his way back just to slap the two of them?
Slytherin House valued pure blood.
But after listening to David’s lecture, several students had begun quietly wondering whether their own family trees contained rather too many repeated surnames.
Why had no one ever properly studied the consequences of generations of cousin marriage?
People joked about the Gaunts collapsing into madness all the time.
Apparently no one had bothered asking why.
Pansy, meanwhile, had become increasingly determined.
The argument continued until she finally declared that if David wanted children that badly, he could have one with someone else and bring the baby home.
She would help raise it.
David went numb.
This girl was eleven.
Why did she already have a relationship strategy that sounded like it had survived three inheritance wars?
“Pan… Pansy.” David took a moment to reorganise his thoughts.
“We’re both still very young.” Pansy watched him suspiciously.
“We can discuss things like marriage much later.” David spoke with the calm patience of someone defusing a bomb.
“We have our whole lives ahead of us.” “Right now, our priority should be our education.” “Well said, Mr Rowle.” David went still.
Professor McGonagall was standing behind them.
He had no idea how long she had been there.
She gave him a small nod.
“I admit I’m rather surprised by some of your views.” Her mouth tightened slightly.
“But I find it difficult to disagree with your final conclusion.” David stood immediately.
“Thank you, Professor McGonagall.” “Good morning.” Then he noticed the older girl standing beside her.
Pretty.
David smiled.
“Hello.” He offered his hand.
“I’m David Rowle.” “Tch.” Pansy folded her arms.
She muttered under her breath, “Five seconds ago we were ‘too young.'” David pretended not to hear.
The girl smiled back.
“Hello.” She didn’t introduce herself immediately, instead glancing towards McGonagall.
The professor explained.
“Hogwarts has a tradition of assigning transfer students an older student mentor.” “Normally, the responsibility goes to a fifth-year.” She gestured towards the girl beside her.
“This is Kelsey Morgan, a fifth-year Hufflepuff.” “She has agreed to help you adjust to Hogwarts.” David nodded politely.
McGonagall continued.
“She’ll also help you catch up on any first- and second-year material that differs from what you studied at Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.” “I reviewed your academic records.” Her expression softened slightly.
“They’re very good.” “But you’ll still need to work hard.” Then, with the unmistakable pride of a Hogwarts professor, she added, “Our curriculum is broader than that of your previous schools.” “And Hogwarts itself is considerably larger.” “I’m certain you’ll learn a great deal here, Mr Rowle.” “Thank you, Professor.” David smiled.
“I completely agree.” “And I’m grateful for the school’s help.” He glanced around the Great Hall with sudden enthusiasm.
“I’ve actually been wanting to learn more about Hogwarts.” “Especially the castle.” Pansy slowly turned towards him.
David continued as though he hadn’t spent the entire morning complaining about it.
“It’s extraordinary.” “I’ve even heard the staircases move by themselves.” He gave McGonagall an almost wistful smile.
“I’d love to explore properly.” Pansy stared at him.
Speechless.
McGonagall looked extremely pleased.
“Very good.” She turned towards Kelsey.
“Miss Morgan, I’ll leave Mr Rowle in your hands.” After exchanging brief farewells with them, she left.
Kelsey handed David a sheet of parchment.
“Your timetable.” David looked it over.
“You chose two elective subjects.” She nodded approvingly.
“Good choices.” “Thank you.” David smiled.
“I was actually wondering when I’d receive this.” Then he gestured towards the table.
“Would you like to join us?” “I’ve already eaten, thank you.” Kelsey tapped the timetable in his hand.
“You don’t have lessons during the first two periods this morning.” “If you like, come find me in the library.” David nodded immediately.
“Of course.” “I’ll be there.” “Definitely.” Kelsey smiled brightly.
“Then I’ll see you later.” She waved and walked away with her schoolbag held against her side.
David’s gaze followed her until she disappeared through the doors.
Only then did he sit down again.
He looked at Pansy.
“I think I’m starting to like this school.” Pansy stared at him.
Her expression said everything.
The school?
Is that really what you like?
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