Homework

October, 2087

Gwen Rutledge sat in the Hufflepuff common room, right next to the fire, with her long brown hair falling over her face. The first year Hogwarts student moved her hair over her shoulder and sighed, as she'd read the same textbook page five times and it just didn't seem to be sinking in at all.

"How's it going? Finished yet?"

Gwen looked up to see that her roommate Binh had put her chin on the back of the opposite chair. As the firelight played over Binh's features, Gwen wished she could be like her, all different and pretty. "Not even close. I think I've read this a million times and it just isn't sinking in. You're so lucky; nobody in your family is magical except you. Almost everybody in my family is which means that I have a ton more work to do. It's not fair."

Binh moved from around the chair and sat down next to Gwen. "It might not be fair for History of Magic, but think about everything else. Dad got transferred, we'd just moved here from Vietnam, I had my eleventh birthday and got a letter from Hogwarts. Everything was new. Come on, Gwen, everybody has their problems. So what's your problem, your family's too big?"

"Definitely." Gwen shut the book and tossed it onto the rug. "You know how Mum doesn't like to talk about the family; says it feels like bragging? You remember when she came up for the first Quidditch match. But this is for school, Binh; you'd think she'd want to help!"

Binh gathered her leg underneath her, letting the other one dangle over the side. "I'll help. I mean, my report took me two minutes. Nobody has ever been magical in my family except me. The end."

Gwen looked at Binh, down at her textbook and then back up to her roommate. "Ok, but no teasing."

The two girls sat on Gwen's bed in the dormitory, the curtains pulled around them except for one side which was open towards the enchanted window, which currently showed dark clouds gathering over the lake. Gwen pulled out her History of Magic textbook and put it on the bed between them.

"Binh, have you read much of this?"

"Are you kidding? That book is a million pages long. No, I just read the chapter on the founding of Hogwarts that was assigned."

Gwen reached into her rucksack and pulled out another book. "You don't have this one because you're not taking Muggle Studies. Must be lucky to have Muggle parents. Ever heard of it?"

Binh looked at the title and shook her head. Suddenly, her face brightened. "I do have a book by the guy who wrote it, though. They give it to Muggleborn students when you start Hogwarts."

Gwen nodded. "Ok, I'm going to show you my problem. The person who wrote that book, the one about fitting in to the wizarding world? He also wrote the Muggle Studies textbook, even though they revise it to keep it updated. That's my great-great grandfather."

Binh's eyes widened. "And he was headmaster! Oh wow, you've got someone famous in your family!" At hearing that Gwen began to laugh hard enough until she almost fell off the bed. Binh initially thought it was funny, but after a while her expression changed. "I don't know your family, remember? I'm trying to help you?"

"Sorry. You'll see why that was funny in a minute. Find the chapter about the great war with Voldemort in the history book." As Binh flipped pages Gwen sat back against her pillows, looking up at the top of her bed, specifically the canopy.

"Ok, I found it. What now?"

"See how long it takes you to find the name Harry Potter." Gwen sighed and then began counting in her head. She'd reached four when she heard Binh comment that she'd found the name.

"Wow, his name's all over the place. How's he related…"

"Another great-great grandfather."

"Wow." Binh was quiet for several minutes, and Gwen knew that she was reading about Harry Potter.

"See my problem, Binh? I can't write ten inches about my family when just one of my relatives has tons of books written about him. Maybe I could write about my great-grandfather…hey Binh, where did you get your wand?"

"Ollivander's. Why?"

"Did an old man smoking a pipe help you pick out your wand?"

Binh nodded. "Un-huh. He was really tall."

"That's my Great-Grandpa HR. Binh, my relatives are everywhere. I mean, who's teaching History of Magic?"

"Professor Malfoy." Binh looked over to Gwen. "No, really?"

Gwen sighed. "Yes. Professor Malfoy's mum is my Great-Grandpa HR's sister."

"Wow." Binh closed the textbook and handed it to Gwen. "I think I see what you mean."

"Oh it's worse than that. Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, the university, not to mention the Ministry, all of that stuff. Binh, how am I supposed to do this assignment?"

"I don't know Gwen. Maybe do something different. Are there any Muggles in your family? Why not write about them?"

Kitty Malfoy sat at her desk in her office, reading over the assignments. She'd have to have a conversation with Binh; even if she didn't have any magical relatives less than twenty words did not meet the requirements of the assignment. It wasn't the worst paper turned into History of Magic on the topic for the last ten years, but it was in the running for the shortest. As usual the students had it wrong again, as the assignment wasn't about who was famous or wonderful in your family tree, the assignment was to write about someone in your family and how that person fit into history. The best papers over the years had been the ones that the subject was an ordinary, everyday person, and how even those who didn't have their names all over the history books were just as important as those who were famous.

After reading through several other papers Kitty took off her glasses and shook her head. Maybe she needed to stop using this assignment. They never really seemed to get it, even after she told them why she kept her maiden name instead of using her husband's last name or hyphenating it. Malfoy-Gundmundeson didn't exactly roll off of the tongue, but that wasn't the point; the point was that you didn't have to have a famous name to be proud of your heritage, or in her case, to show how perceptions of names can change over time. Binh would need to learn this lesson, to be proud of her Muggle heritage, even though her family would never have been mentioned in the Wizarding histories.

The next paper brought a smile to her face, as she saw Gwen Rutledge's name at the top of the paper. It would be interesting to see who Gwen wrote about, as her family was full of people that would be considered an important part of the history of the Wizarding world, not to mention that Gwen was related to her through the Boyd family. Kitty put her glasses back on, took a sip of peppermint tea and started reading. After making it through the paper, Kitty sat back and laughed. "Finally, one of them actually got it!"

"Well, Catherine, a good paper, I take it?"

Kitty looked over her shoulder to the painting of her grandfather. "Yes, Grandpa Hank, one of them did. Your great-great granddaughter Gwen, to be exact. You'll never guess who she wrote about."

Headmaster Hank Boyd took off his glasses and smiled at her from his portrait. "Hmm…the last person I would ever think of would be my mother-in-law. She didn't write about Lane Bramble, did she?"

Kitty laughed. "Oh no. Your brother Nate."

"Really? That is surprising." In his portrait Hank leaned forward. "What did she say?"

"That Nate was the most accepting of everyone. He didn't have any magic, married Lavender Brown, a woman who had been bitten by a werewolf, adopted a witch when she was just a baby and was supportive of everyone, even though he never owned a wand. How he kept on living like a Muggle but straddled both worlds, Muggle and Wizarding, and was an example that proved the point that all Muggles aren't bad."

"Very, very interesting, Catherine. Her mother will be very pleased. I told her that if she left Gwen to do things on her own she'd be happy with the outcome."

That Monday the History of Magic class was very apprehensive, as Professor Malfoy would have their papers graded. As she walked into the classroom, her robe billowing out behind her, class quickly came to attention. They knew that failure to pay attention in class was the worst thing you could possibly do in History of Magic.

"I have your graded papers." Professor Malfoy put down a stack of parchment on her desk. "And I think we need to see if we can perfect a listening charm because two-thirds of this class did not understand the assignment. The point of the paper was not to tell me about someone famous in your family; the assignment was for you to talk about someone in your family, how they fit into history. Even someone whose name has never appeared in The Daily Prophet has just as many interesting things about them as do those who are quite well known."

Binh looked over at Gwen and pulled an awful face.

"However, some students did grasp the objective of the assignment, and those papers have been graded accordingly. There will be one opportunity for those who did not complete the assignment as intended to hand in another paper, due by the end of the week in addition to the rest of your tasks."

Professor Weasley then walked through the class, distributing the papers. Binh was not surprised to see a Troll mark on her paper. The comments Completely inadequate. Did not meet required subject matter or length. were written on the bottom of her paper. When Gwen got her paper she was very quiet, and then let out a very loud laugh.

"Miss Rutledge? Is there something you would like to share with the class?" Professor Malfoy looked at Gwen, and for a moment Gwen saw a small glint in her eyes.

"No, Professor. Sorry."

At the end of class Binh and Gwen began gathering their papers, and Binh leaned over to Gwen. "What was so funny? I can tell you my grade isn't, that's for sure."

Gwen reluctantly slid her paper over to Binh. In large letters at the top was the Outstanding grade. At the bottom of the paper were two sets of comments.

Miss Rutledge, you have done exceptionally well on both the content and structure of your paper. By choosing Nate Boyd as a subject you have perfectly grasped the intent of the assignment, especially with the large amount of magical family members at your disposal. The next comment will be from Headmaster Boyd, your great-great grandfather. His portrait hangs in my office, and I could not help but read him your paper. Please excuse the following, but it is an exact quote, and was written using a Quick Quotes Quill. Stop by my office soon and I'll explain further.

Gwen, I hope that you will visit my portrait sometime in Catherine's office, I'd love to tell you some stories. Excuse me, Professor Malfoy's office. You did a very good job of describing how my brother made his way in the wizarding world, but I couldn't help but laugh. My brother was all the things that you wrote about, but you are missing one thing; a lot of time he was a giant pain in the ass. Shit, I shouldn't have said that. Dammit, now I did it again. Is that thing writing down everything, Kitty? I can't edit it? Merlin's socks, pants and underwear. Screw it then. Right, enough about having a completely well-rounded picture of Nate. Please stop by the portrait, I have a few stories for you. Well done, Gwen.