Chapter 9

NEW BLOOD INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY

Disclaimer: I own only the original characters in this story. Every all other characters belong to their rich owners.

Chapter Nine: Trials & an offer

Upon Nikita's explanation on what was a soul bender Sirius was elated. His godson was even more special than he originally thought. Upon being informed who the last soul bender was (and still is), as well as the previously believed impossibility of two existing on the planet at the same time, his enthusiasm promptly shattered. Harry really couldn't get a break.

He decided to just be truthful and read them what the boy had written in his letter. It wasn't strictly speaking ethical to do such a thing but Harry really should know by now that celebrities were hardly given the same standard level of privacy as their less publicly visible peers. Then he dropped the name of the school and a little information about it (mostly the information Grindelwald had revealed). Oh he knew his people and their responses...were even better than he expected.

After making his announcement to the student population of Hogwarts he sat back down into his throne like seat under the disapproving eye of his deputy and smirked behind his goblet of pumpkin juice. Ronald Weasley had turned a brilliant red that clashed with his red hair completely before letting loose a quite spectacular flow of verbal diarrhea. Minerva's immediately appalled removal of over a hundred points from her own house did nothing more than further infuriate The Boy Who Lived's 'Best Friend'.The Grinffindors loudly spoke over each other in shock and denial, the Ravenclaws shook their heads in disbelief at the The Boy Who Lived's poor choices and disregard over his own future, the Hufflepuffs looked lost as they tried to adjust to this new reality and the Slytherins...one would think this particular group of individuals would be happy to have their 'mortal enemy' removed from their presence. In normal circumstances this viewpoint would be wholly correct. Afterall, he had been a thorn in their side, a constant reminder that their Lord had not won the war, a known obstacle in the road towards Pureblood domination of their delusional mudblood inclusive society. However, Harry Potter had left Hogwarts not because he was afraid of the newly resurrected Dark Lord as he should be. Not because he had finally realised his sheer inferiority as a Half Blood. Not even because he was unable to keep up with the school level. Harry Potter had left Hogwarts for a 'better' school, for a mudblood school that was supposedly superior, for a school that had somehow succeeded the extremely high level of education set by Hogwarts, the known premier school in the world for Pureblood heirs of Britain...The blooming fury on the Malfoy scion's face alone…

He cheerfully toasted them on their outrage.

The next morning the Minister for Magic called him, distressed, a copy of the Daily Prophet newspaper clenched in his left hand.

"Is it true Albus? Harry Potter is attending some school for reject muggleborns somewhere? Harry Potter withdrew from Hogwarts?"

"I'm afraid it's quite true Cornelius" said the old man solemnly.

"Preposterous! Outrageous! Fix this Albus! The Boy Who Lived can't abandon Magical Britain for some two galleons school! Why we'd be the laughing stock of Europe! They don't even accept magically raised you say?"

"I'm afraid not Minister. They only cater to Muggleborns and muggle raised."

"Preposterous! Truly outrageous! Why if we did blood division schools we'd be strung by our heels! The Purebloods are furious Albus! FURIOUS! This looks terrible! Harry Potter going to a blood discrimination camp! HARRY POTTER?! Fix this Albus!"

"It's a school Minister not a camp..."

"SCHOOL! What SCHOOL! I've never heard of them! New Blood International Academy? What kind of name is that! Why it sounds positively MUGGLE!"

"Well it does cater for those from the muggle world. Children are allowed to attend any school they and their parents please unfortunately. There really IS nothing I can do Cornelius..."

"Nonsense! Nothing to be done?! Well we'll see about that! Your hands may be tied Albus but I am the Minister! I will consult my head of education and we'll come up with something. Nothing to be done indeed! Harry Potter not at Hogwarts? The Greatest School in the world? Preposterous! No no this cannot stand. The Boy Who Lived cannot be educated at an inferior school that's not even within Great Britain! The People will not stand for such a slight!"

And with that final statement the Minister's head disappeared from the Headmaster's fireplace.

Water droplets abandoned soaked tresses to slide down the pecks of a body conditioned and designed through years of intensive training. Slowly, it journeyed downward taking many twists and turns over lean muscles and scarred skin to pool all over the posh, marbled floor of the bathroom. Yet the Nara heir didn't notice, and continued to stand frozen just outside his shower, too busy inside his own head to make the move towards the towel within arm's reach.

The...situation with Hermione Granger had not improved in the weeks following the contract meeting. She continued to avoid him, offering instead glares and rude remarks underneath her breath whilst passing. She taunted him constantly, infuriating him by her blatant disregard for his point of view and her high and mighty attitude. And she was manipulative. Deliberately challenging (for it could be nothing else) his control by returning to her school girl flared miniskirts, high heel boots and coconut shampoo. He loathed her snobbishness and complete pretense that she was utterly unafraid of him. Yet he physically wanted her so badly that it sometimes ached. To add insult to injury, the bint didn't even realise how solidly she had landed on her feet.

He felt at war with himself. The cool, logical part of him completely understood and even agreed with his father's move. He had read the full report done on this aggravating girl's family line and history himself. The Granger family were a lineage of geniuses running back eighteen generations. Those family members who were not geniuses, were at least way above average only reason the family had remained off the Nara Clan radar for so long was because they were almost strictly a British lineage and until recently the Clan had no solid contact within Britain. If the Grangers had been based anywhere else, had produced reiryoku blessed children before now, and such blessed descendants had continued their lineage, then they very well may have ended up as one of the Nara Clan's rivals. Or had already been folded into the Nara Clan. Unfortunately, due to the constant changing physical environment within that country, changes within the family financial circumstances, and several social shifts resulting in discouragement of large broods of offspring, the Grangers had produced less and less children with every generation. If Jonathan Granger had been even slightly more careful, this generation would have only seen the one child. As it is, a lineage which started in the hundreds had dwindled to two children. The family, regrettably, was on the verge of dying out. As it was, with both children being female the family name will die with this generation.

As the heir of the Nara Clan, Shikamaru completely understood collecting the best genes for the main branch. Of ensuring a monopoly of those best capable of driving the Clan forward...whether they wanted to be a part of that driving force or not. They were the clan of the intelligent; known far and wide for their genius, information network and infiltration skills. They were at the top of the food chain of the top clans in the world.

Hermione Granger did not care. She wanted no part of it. For such a smart girl, he found her stubborness incredibly stupid. Or maybe that was his offended ego talking...Nevertheless, he was quite a prize especially for clanless females and he knew it and he knew Granger knew it. Hermione Granger was too logical, too overly ambitious...it was unthinkable that she had not considered the enormous benefits to be had as a Nara and specifically as the wife of the future leader of said Clan. Hence, the girl's disregard towards such upward social mobility was truly baffling. Honestly speaking she had been hostile towards him from the beginning before the contract made everything even more complicated between them, a move that could have resulted in social suicide if he had been a real petty son of a bitch without a sense of humour. Or perhaps she was quite aware of the potential benefits for herself but had already invested in another...the thought made Shikamaru pause, uncomfortable in ways he was unused to. In hindsight, it was a thought that should have occurred to him earlier and one, he realised, that probably should be given some genuine consideration moving forward. If this strand of thought proved true the issue would have to be dealt with.

On the one hand he wanted to give her time. Wine, dine and dazzle her into acceptance of the situation. Engage her mind with all the information that the Naras had collected over hundreds of years. Get her to realise this wasn't the prison ball and chain she seemed to think this was. On the other hand he was a warrior. Hermione's evasive and obnoxious attitude when she was the one who had brought this whole contract problem upon herself was triggering aspects of his personality that he had previously been unaware of. As illogical as it sounded, he kept feeling challenged by Hermione's arrogance. He was an unapologetic conqueror and this overly goody-two-shoes snobbish act the girl was wearing around her like a coat whilst acting like he wasn't worthy enough for her shoes to walk on was testing his patience in the absolute worst way.

With a sigh, Shikamaru ran his hand through his rumpled, damp hair. He won't even lie to himself he wanted to break her a little. He wanted to place her in front of an open window, pull up her shirt, pull down her bra, push up her skirt and completely ravish her. He wanted to take that control away from her, knock her off her pedestal and force her to moan her defeat in front of as many people as possible. Yeah...that's probably a bad idea. It didn't change that's what he ached to do. He knew he wasn't a saint but for such a lazy person who tended to just allow others to do as they will because he was too laid back to care, Shikamaru was rather shocked to realise he had this side.

But this was Lust. And the need for Power.

So yes he understood his father's move and yes he wanted the girl but relationships were supposed to be a bit more than just wanting to screw the female until the curls in her hair became complete frizz. He didn't want a marriage where the woman was determined to remain a cold stranger throughout it and he had to look elsewhere for companionship.

The persecution of muggleborn parents who had withdrawn their children from Hogwarts for any reason started off small. One young, ambitious, previously unknown journalist had somehow stumble upon the confidential information of the location of a young muggle mother of 30, who had withdrawn her muggleborn daughter the previous year. The problem, of course, was that the young girl in question, a Sally-Anne Perks, was still in ownership of her magic. This indicated that Miss Perks had not abandoned the notion of a magical education, but rather, had transferred to another school. This journalist, assuming that the child had been withdrawn to attend this previously unknown muggleborn academy, proceeded to document her token protest by writing a scathing article on the mother's poor life choices, terrible parenting skills, how very unsuitable muggle parents in general were for their magical offsprings, and then added a dangerous level of questioning of whether muggles really should have custody of their magical children. The already agitated public ate it up.

By the time the defamation of the mother's character had been addressed, (la petite mademoiselle had withdrawn from Hogwarts due to the death of her father and a subsequent downgrade in the family's financial situation; she now attended a far cheaper local magical trade school), it was too late to douse the fires which had been lit under the overly eager crusaders within the British magical population. The harassment of muggleborn parents who had withdrawn their children…

Far too many times were aurors called in by frightened, barely trained muggleborns who were nevertheless the only ones qualified to protect their families. There was occasion to sometimes modify the entire families memories including the muggleborn who had made the call. Possibly riding a power high, British wizards rallied behind a ridiculous amount of offense towards a child's changed place of learning, and their resentment became fertile ground for the resident Dark Lord. This villain, quite delighted by this unforeseen turn of events, embraced the opportunity presenting itself and inserted his agents within the very heart of that society: The Ministry.

He stared at the imported Daily Prophet newspaper in disbelief.

Harry Potter had been attending New Blood International Academy for barely one cycle of the new moon yet not only British Magical society, but the entirety of Western Magical Europe had already lost their collective minds.

He binned the offending paper and hurried to his 5am Potions class. He would regret not finishing reading the rag.

The British Minister of Magic made good on his threat to deal with the 'problem' and brought onboard his fellow ministers who saw a chance to gain favour with their respective populations. Riding on the wave of public indignation towards muggle parents and their ungrateful muggleborn children, the Ministries of Magic in Western Europe implemented a law that would see several Muggleborns scrambling in disbelief from the almost crippling financial blow. This law, which was actually just an addition onto an old law, would result in short term disasters but have even farther reaching consequences.

The original law acknowledged that a great difference existed in the monetary systems between muggle & magical nations, with magical nations having the higher currency rate. Based on this fact, all Magical European schools were required by law to supplement tuition for muggleborns. Depending on the circumstances, this discount could be as low as 40% to as high as 60% of the student tuition covered. It was considered a necessary investment by the nations' schools in the future generation. As one could imagine this law was the main thing allowing quite a few muggleborns whose families were of average financial means to gain a magical education.

The ministry's addition to the law now stated that the student could not leave the institution they originally attended unless this accumulated financial debt was paid in full to the school for the previous years of attendance. It stated that it was unfair for a school to spend years investing in a student only for them to suddenly leave. If the student could not pay this debt then they must remain at the original school. The addition to the law was set to impact all school age students from year seven downwards. Such a simple addition had a massive effect on Muggleborn parents whom, after receiving the bill, were completely panicking. Suddenly children enrolled in other schools around the world who had attended any European magical school for any length of time found themselves practically dragged back to their original schools due to their families inability to pay what amounted to over hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases.

Those who had transferred from one European magical school to another had bigger problems. The addition to the law meant a return to the previous school would render parents indept to the European school they had vacated! The loud outcries following this addition (not only by Muggleborns) were deafening. They were also ignored.

Minerva McGonagall sat at the table in the Great Hall and stared at the newspaper in horror. She leaned towards the Headmaster of Hogwarts and started whispering in a harsh tone.

"Albus! You need to speak to the Minister about this addition! These parents can not afford this!"

Dumbledore leaned back in his hair and stroked his beard slowly.

"You know once Cornelius gets an idea in his head it's extremely difficult to talk him down from it my dear. I did tell him that students could attend wherever they like but he seemed very offended about this fact."

"Albus! Take this seriously! This addition completely infringes upon the rights of Muggle parents! You know this isn't about the Muggleborns at all! No one cared whenever they transferred schools before until Potter decided to transfer. This addition doesn't even make sense the Potters gold will cover this with barely a dent in the boy's monthly pocket money! It's the muggleborns' families with no roots in our society that will feel this! What are they supposed to do! Sally-Anne was withdrawn because her family could no longer afford to send her to Hogwarts even with the discounts! The Perks CAN NOT afford to send her HERE! Yet if they withdraw her from her current school then they will now owe that trade school as well because it's located in England! What on earth are these ministers thinking? And these penalties are far too harsh!"

McGonagall suddenly stopped speaking, a thoughtful look overcoming her previous horrified expression. She stared at the newspaper in front of her before glaring at Albus. The sheer harshness of the look had Dumbledore suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Her voice when she spoke was almost hoarse, so coated it was in fury.

"This law is aimed at Hermione Granger isn't it? No don't bother to answer that. Cornelius just thinks this is his idea, isn't it? You planted this ridiculous idea in that moron's head so you can pull Harry back through Miss Granger who's family certainly cannot afford to pay this absurd amount. You plan to destroy hundreds of muggleborns' families across Europe over one person."

She stood up, every line of her body rigid, and exited the hall without another word. Albus Dumbledore stared after his deputy's departing form completely stunned. Perhaps he had miscalculated how fond Minerva was of the girl? His deputy had certainly never even hinted that was case. In fact, she often complained in staff meetings of Miss Granger's cultural insensitivity, headstrong attitude and entirely too long essays that always gave far more information than requested. On this particular point Minerva and Severus were always in agreement.

Potions Master Severus Snape, situated two seats down from the furious whispering school heads, used his raised coffee cup to hide his smirk at his head's gobsmacked expression.

The atmosphere at New Blood International Academy's board meeting was tense. The addition to the law was being felt by muggleborns who had previously attended European schools all over the world. Those that were attending NBIA were no exception. Already six hundred and twenty five students had withdrawn. Their hands shook as they handed in withdrawal letters written in their parents shaky handwriting. Their faces were drenched with their tears as they stood still to receive the necessary memory editing of their time at NBIA. Though their European incoming student rate was low as most unfortunately did not pass the entrance exams, the law's addition would also affect all future students invited to attend from that section of the world. That most would not be able to even think of trying for the school… most families just wouldn't be able to afford the sudden financial strain of paying off in full their children current schools in addition to NBIA tuition fees. This would almost ensure that even the low amount of students attending from that part of the world would drop to almost nothing.

NBIA was not an elitist school despite what some may think. They did not invite only the New Bloods from Western Europe because the school was thumbing their noses at their prejudice Magical societies. Those children simply had the necessary educational foundation to allow them a fighting chance at passing the entrance exams and surviving the school's brutal educational regime.

NBIA existed for the sole purpose of finding and grooming the best of the best of their planet's youngins, making and shaping the next generation of leaders of reiryoku society. That in order to do so they needed to be brutal in their entrance exams and entrance requirements however did make them appear elitist by outsiders. That they only invited New Bloods from magical schools did make them certainly appear to be blood supremacists by their respective ministries.

New Blood International Academy was created to find, shape and create the next generation of leaders. They could not be practically barred from such a large part of the population, low as the income rate from those societies may be. One never knew where the next great world leader may reside. They needed something to offer these magical governments to retract this addition to the law.

"Perhaps we can offer a foundation year where magically born or raised are introduced to the various unfamiliar subjects? A bit like how certain countries who give scholarships to foreign students who don't speak that country's language. They offer a foundation year to learn the language." suggested a petite, red-headed woman with a no nonsense attitude. She offered students talented in languages the opportunity to travel the world, both reiryoku and mundane, whilst performing necessary translation duties in both societies. Her people were very high in demand.

"They would still be behind" replied a tall bald headed man with a dismissive smile. His company was one of the leading distributors of MagiTech. He had applied several times to various european countries to export his products to their people and had been denied all times. He was also one of those who believed that european students were an unnecessary addition to their school. Those who were good enough to get in barely made it to graduation. Those that did graduate rarely added anything of value to Ivor Lonnath's society's growth and never became high within their respective Clans.

"Perhaps offer lessons a year prior? A few months of cram school like what the Japanese offer their children and then an entrance exam more geared towards magically raised children. We already offer summer study before the normal entrance exams. It could be a slightly longer version of that. Perhaps also mandate the additional foundation year will have an entrance exam at the end that is comparable to our normal entrance exams? At least we have offered every avenue for success. European magicals may frown at being forced to do an additional year even though they clearly need it, but without the necessary educational foundation the children will only fail out of the school." suggested a fairly young, dark, wide-eyed beauty with a guileless face and a far less obvious sharp tongue. She was the head researcher at one of the largest magical research companies in France and taught the 3am Magical Theory class. She was fully aware of the head of MagiTech Inc. stance on european reiryoku students. It was better not to allow him the opportunity to voice a solution.

"That may actually work" replied Headmaster Xeith. "Even with all their posing and supposed offense over our 'snub' it's obvious these people are curious about NBIA. I doubt they have even realised that there is an entire society attached to it or that the Clans scout almost solely from here. We can tempt them with the fact that the Clans scout members from here whilst hinting at the possibility of there being much much more.."

"So we are using their curiosity and desperate need to lord over each other against them then? If that actually works then we'll have to demand they sign something to ensure they can't just change their minds later. Goodness knows these people change their minds with every change of the wind" stated a stern faced, dark haired woman in her forties. She was the Headmistress of the local primary school over on Ar Vandor (Great Forest), one of the six Crystal isles.

"Are we planning to ignore this entire nonsense is because Britain is throwing a tantrum over the lost of the Potter boy? All the european new bloods are suffering due to Britain's possessiveness over one boy. Why not just give him back to them? I'm sure he will be disappointed but...well such is life." suddenly enquired a sharp looking, curly haired man wearing a fedora and a designer italian business suit. He was a gentleman of some dubious distinction within Italy, and an adviser to the heir of one of the more famous Clans.

The board members watched each other uneasily.

"I received a letter from the High Lord today. Harry Potter's attendance is not up for debate unless all avenues have been exhausted or the boy fails out of NBIA himself." replied the Headmaster.

Shocked silence greeted this statement. The Italian narrowed his eyes, the light of boredom they once held being replaced by curiosity as he realised something more was going on.

"I see." he replied.

The Ministers of the various countries sat around the round, highly polished, mahogany table. In front of each lay a packet of glossy papers, material undetermined. All contained the same information written in their various languages. All contained the same offer for retracting the addition made to the muggleborn education law.

The offer from this previously unknown school, this New Blood International Academy was tempting. The packet of papers made from an unknown material alone rose questions. The highly glossy pictures which captured beautiful sceneries said a lot. What really piqued their interest however was the additional letter written by the High Lord of Ivor Lonnath (of what? Of where?). The name of the place was unknown to them. They recognised none of the places in the pictures. They recognised none of the names. Some of the subjects' descriptions held jargon they were unfamiliar with. They knew nothing of a High Lord. However, what really stroked their excitement was the nonchalant statement that this school's graduates were sort after by The Clans.

The Clans were the top of magical society on the planet.

They rarely took anyone from Western Europe.

A few of the Ministers of Magic were a bit peeved and somewhat offended that this muggleborn school located who knows where had attained the great Clans notice whilst their own schools and countries were often ignored. The British Minister in particular was quite irritated at what he perceived as a complete snub of Hogwarts, which was Europe's greatest school. Nevertheless, at the end of the day everyone who sat in that room was a politician. They would decide upon what would benefit them the most then figure a way to sell it to their respective populations. The people would become very excited at getting their children into a school that practically ensured a higher status for themselves and their families. Not to mention that this was the school Harry Potter chose to attend. It would be easy to turn public opinion towards a more positive outlook. And if they happen to slip in a few spies so as to give their own schools a few notes on their rival, or to gather information on the strengths and weaknesses of what they were beginning to be suspected was more than just a school, well then that could only be to their gain.

Lucius Malfoy once again presented the Daily Prophet to his Dark Lord.