"Certain unpleasant individuals decided our communication was crossing boundaries acceptable for colleagues. Those individuals informed my parents, and they, in turn, took certain corrective measures along with restrictions."
"My sympathies."
"I sympathize with myself very much too, Granger. Anyway, I came to say you shouldn't take my deliberate ignoring of your person personally."
"Understood. Maybe I should send pastries to your parents too?"
That question surprised both Hermione and Daphne a little.
"Well, why not? They have pastries called 'Tenderness' and 'Kindness,' right? If you believe the menu description, they should turn even a stale bureaucrat into a soft pudding."
Hermione shook her head, pressing a hand to her face with a bitter little smirk, and Daphne smiled, very faintly.
"You can try," the brunette said. "But I don't think something like that can smooth over the fact of your origins."
"There, Hector!" Hermione spoke quietly but it was like a shout, accusingly pointing a finger at Daphne. "Slytherins think about blood purity and nothing else."
"Oh, come on, Mione," I waved it off. "That's like reproaching someone in the Vatican for being Christian."
"But what matters is what kind of wizard you are," Hermione protested.
"All right, I said what I came to say, and you can argue about morality here without me," Greengrass smirked. "Have a good evening."
She smirked and left.
"Mione. I've started to understand the wizarding world a little. Yeah, power and knowledge matter here, but only until the point where you outclass everyone by a head, and better yet, by a factor of two, it doesn't mean much."
"That can't be true," my sister shook her head stubbornly. "Someone talented who works hard will always make their way in life."
"Let's put it this way," I leaned back in my chair. "Imagine you're from Africa in the U.S. in the sixties. The level of public disdain would be about the same, just without the extra radicalism."
"That's horrible. It has to be changed," Hermione nodded importantly, pulling her books closer.
"Well, good luck. Going into politics? I picked a different path, and I hope I'll accomplish something meaningful. Healing," I answered my sister's unspoken question, and we went back to reading.
I'll need to find a reason to get Daphne talking sometime, to get more details. I'm not thin-skinned, but on a human level I want to understand the reasons and the core of what's going on better.
On Saturday of the first week of the new term, when the snow around either had been blown away or melted, but in the morning frost still appeared on the trees, I, after my usual physical exercises, shower, and breakfast, went to the Headmaster's office. Climbing to the right floor and walking down the corridor, I reached the alcove with the gargoyle. Only there was no gargoyle there right now, and the passage with the spiral staircase up was open. Shrugging, as in, what isn't forbidden is allowed, I boldly went up, and I didn't even have to knock, the door was open.
The Headmaster's office in the morning looked completely different than it did late at night in the light of a few mystical blue lamps. Now it was sunny and bright, and even all those seemingly out-of-place trinkets and artifacts created a certain proper look. The palette of wood and bronze shades emphasized the mystical side of the office, making it look like the typical study of an old, respectable archmage, but I'd noticed that last time too. Only in the dim blue light the atmosphere was gloomy, and now, in the rays of morning sun streaming through the large windows, it was... solid. Hard to say.
"Mr. Granger?" Headmaster Dumbledore sat at his desk, looking with displeasure at a large stack of papers, some documents, parchments with seals. "What brings you here on such a fine Saturday morning?"
"Good morning, Headmaster. Your door wasn't locked, and I have a couple of questions. But it looks like you're busy..."
"No, no," Dumbledore briskly pushed the stack aside and smoothed his beard. "I am always glad to help a young wizard."
"All right then. I want to study magic in the Restricted Section."
"Ahem." The Headmaster actually choked on my statement. "You don't look for shortcuts, Mr. Granger."
"You could say that."
"But tell me, what interests you in the Restricted Section? Books of extremely complex magic are kept there, and they must be approached with full responsibility and understanding, with youthful maximalism set aside. And Madam Pince, I'm sure, has told you about the restrictions."
"She has. The reason I want to get in is that I chose becoming a Healer as my goal. In the Restricted Section there is literature on disciplines needed on that path."
"Hm..." The Headmaster thought. "Yes, I recall, perhaps a couple dozen books. That's off the top of my head. Possibly more. A Healer, yes? That is a very worthy goal and no less worthy a profession, Mr. Granger. I see that you are a fairly sensible young wizard, and you must understand that I, as Headmaster, cannot simply write you a pass."
I nodded, ready to listen.
"Young wizards are prone to hot tempers and lack of restraint, and a school is full of reasons for small conflicts that are insignificant in their root cause, but extremely painful. Can I be sure that in response to an innocent but insulting spell, in the heat of the moment you would not use something from the Restricted Section? Use it, condemning a student to an unenviable, agonizing fate, and that is the best case, because you could perform that magic incorrectly, and then far more students would suffer, you included."
"So what do I do?"
"Focus your attention, Mr. Granger, on studying the available disciplines and materials. Believe an old man who sometimes looks into the regular section of the library himself, adding to his store of knowledge, there is much to learn there. And in the future, for example, after fourth year..."
Dumbledore paused.
"Yes, I think if Professor Snape confirms that you are sensible and mature of mind, and the other professors agree that you are competent in their subjects... then, it seems to me, I will be able to grant you access, but not to the whole section, only to certain books."
"Why Professor Snape specifically?"
Dumbledore looked at me with surprise and a faint smirk hidden behind his beard.
"Have you, Mr. Granger, fallen under the general trend and consider Professor Snape somewhat..."
He paused, choosing words and giving me a chance to voice my own opinion of the professor. I decided to play along and say it.
"A nasty, vile bat from the dungeons? No, of course not."
"I intended to put it more gently, but Professor Snape is indeed known as such a person within Hogwarts," Dumbledore nodded. "However, though it may not be obvious, he cares about student safety perhaps more than anyone, and his standards for people are excessively high. Yet precisely because of that, if Professor Snape says you are a sane and sensible young wizard, then it is more than true."
"All right. That seems fair. In that case, I'll focus on what material is available."
"Of course, but not at the expense of the main curriculum. By the way, Mr. Granger. Rumors reached me that you have learned the Patronus Charm," Dumbledore leaned forward slightly, openly curious.