In the Eyes of the Beholder

The seventh years stood nervously in the Great Hall after everyone had been dismissed for bed. According to McGonagall, The project couldn’t wait and would begin tonight. Most of the teachers, including Lupin, whom it seemed that it was a bad night for, and Trelawyne, who had excused herself claiming that the cold was clouding her inner eye, left the hall with the rest of the students. Some teachers, however, remained.

Plump Professor Weasley was talking to Professor Sprout, occasionally giggling in a girlish manner. Professors Flitwick and Grubbly-Plank talked in the corner about using charms to accelerate a baby blogus batworm’s growth.

“McGonagall might have put in all those Order members because she didn’t have enough time to look for a good staff. We know that Lupin and Molly, I mean, Professor Weasley have the credentials for their posts. I know that McGonagall was rather frustrated with Diggle when they were in the Order. I wonder what made her put him in her old position. But anyway, it’s a rather patched-up staff, don’t you think?” Hermione rambled rather nervously, as if avoiding the topic of the project would perhaps make it disappear. The other two nodded rather solemnly, looking pale and frightened.

McGonagall shifted out of her chair, standing in front of the group.

“As you all know, the Ministry of Magic has issued a rather provocative marriage law, which we may not be fond of but can see the merits of. They have also asked all magical schools to add an additional class, a parenting class, to your already-important NEWT classes. That is how it will be graded, as a class, but we teachers hope that you will take it more as an experience. I will allow Professor Weasley to tell you more about the logistics of the class,”

McGonagall walked back to her chair as Professor Weasley cleared her throat and turned to address the students.

“Students, this Life Choices class is meant to not only give you a glimpse of life with a child, but also impress upon you the severity of the consequences of your choice. Having someone dependent on you for one class, once a week is not an accurate portrayal of what happens when you have a child. It needs to be ingrained into each and every part of your lifestyle to help you realize that raising a child is hard work.”

“Ha, she would know. She had them like rabbits!” said Pansy Parkinson with a nasty sneer, earning her rather nasty looks from the Hufflepuffs and Griffendors within earshot.

“Therefore, to emulate what it would be like to live with a family, you and your partner will have an apartment with two bedrooms, a nursery, a bathroom, and a living room. These apartments will be located in the Fifth Floor Corridor. As an incentive to work harder this year, the furnishings, the size of the apartment, and the luxury of your lifestyle will be dependent on your marks from your final exams last year. This means that the better you scored, the more luxury you can afford. You will get a monthly allowance of fake galleons, reflecting the efforts you have put in for your classes. These will be used to pay bills and expenses you may incur. Therefore, it would be to your best advantage to work hard, and hopefully you will learn that your monetary choices will also affect the entire household. Also, the different houses have been disbanded for all seventh year students. You will no longer be held responsible in terms of house points. Your merits may earn you a better salary, and your rule-breaking will lose you money.

“Now for the part that the Ministry wanted to impress upon your young minds. Each couple will have, for a lack of a better word, a spell baby. It will be a three month old baby, with accelerated growth so that it grows one year for every two months, and completes three years in the duration of the project. Since there will be exams and deadlines to account for in the last two months of school, the project will end two months early. If a wedding occurs before that time period, to a person who is not your partner, you may ask permission to end the project prematurely. Otherwise, you will be required to complete the project. Are there any questions before I call out the pairings?”

Professor Weasley stopped talking and looked at the group, catching several eyes in the process. No one dared to raise their hand. Some of the seventh years were trembling with anticipation, and some were taciturn in their regards to the project, as if not acknowledging the speech would make the Marriage Law inexistent. But all forty of them had the same look of mixed horror and curiosity.

Professor Weasley waved her wand and conjured a small sheet of paper. She started reading out the names.

“Boot, Terry and Mandy Brocklehurst.” The couple looked nervously at each other and then turned away.

“Corner, Michael and Megan Jones.” Professor Weasley continued, “Cornfoot, Stephen and Christina Rivers. Entwhistle, Kevin and Sophie Roper. Finch-Fletchley, Justin and Daphne Greengrass.”

The pairs lined up accordingly, standing as far apart as possible without it seeming as if they weren’t pairs. Daphne Greengrass let out a very Slytherin hiss before moving to Justin, who seemed equally distraught about the situation. Hermione twisted her robe nervously. She knew it was coming, but she held on to a small hope that the past two weeks had just been a dream and she hadn’t in fact agreed to spend her last year at Hogwarts as well as the rest of her life with the person she most detested at the school.
“Finnigan, Seamus and Pansy Parkinson”

The small, black haired girl’s cry of distress wash matched by the shocked yell by Seamus and several sighs of relief from the male population. However, since Pansy was more apt to complain than to rebel, she went and stood by Seamus, who was starting to look green at the thought of sharing anything with Pansy Parkinson.

“Goyle, Gregory and Morag MacDougal. Goldstein, Anthony and Lisa Turpin. Hopkins, Wayne and Sally-Anne Perks. Li, Su and Lyra Runcorn. Longbottom, Neville and Hannah Abott (The two smiled at each other shyly). Macmillan, Ernie and Padma Patil. Malfoy, Draco and Hermione Granger”

There was an uproar from all houses, including an ill-stifled sob from Pansy.

“Professor, you can’t!”

“Is she barking mad?”

“Hermione will murder him before the project even begins”

“Poor Drakie. He can’t possibly have that mudblood as a partner!”

The two people in question were the only ones not to complain. They stood as far apart as ‘together’ would let them staring at opposite corners of the Great Hall. Hermione’s hand trembled as she stood defiantly facing the professor, not allowing herself to look into the sympathetic or envious faces of her classmates. Professor Weasley continued as if she hadn’t noticed the uproar.

“Nott, Theodore and Tracy Davis. Potter, Harry and Lavender Brown”

A squeal erupted from Lavender as she clung onto a nauseous looking Harry. He gave a small smile, and looked towards Ron for help. Ron shrugged, and continued to look ahead, his face impassive.

“Thomas, Dean and Parvati Patil. And Weasley, Ron and Susan Bones.”

The last of the seventh years took their place by their partners and turned to look at Professor Weasley expectantly. She motioned them towards the remaining teachers.

“I would request you all to retire for the night. This night has brought about many changes, and the following week will bring about even more. The parenting class, tomorrow evening, will provide more instructions on how exactly the spell for child is to be cast. However, this much is enough for tonight. You can follow the teachers up to the Fifth floor and to your apartments. Goodnight and good luck!”