The Just

Gawain Riddle was by no means a stupid boy. He was clever, cunning, calculating, and above all curious. That was probably why he was very nearly a hat-stall. Or it would have been if it weren't telling him that greatness would be his, not in Ravenclaw or Slytherin, but Gryffindor. A ready sneer formed on his lips as he gazed across the Great Hall towards the table under the red banner. He'd been insulted at the implication that he was a foolish tool that would charge head first into battle. He was a Riddle not a Potter. He'd leave heroics to them.

Speaking of a Potter. His gaze shifted to the Hufflepuff table and especially onto Callie Potter. He hadn't spoken to her much, or at all, since the Hogwarts Express only exchanging a short nod of recognition as they passed each other in the halls. They didn't have many classes together except for Astronomy and Charms. And even then he couldn't really just go up to her and strike up a conversation. Normally, this would be just fine with him, but there was something about her that made him feel...complete.

This odd feeling had resulted in a letter to his mother who hadn't wasted much time in writing back.

"My sweet knight," she'd scrawled. "Just your first month back and already in love! I'm thrilled! She is a pure-blood, correct? If so, we can have the marriage contracts arranged and ready before your sixteenth birthday! Much sooner than we've managed for Gaius and Callisto. I've sent along a box of chocolates for you to give her." Below that his father had managed to a word in edge-wise. "You're much too young for such things."

He quite agreed with his father but unfortunately he now burned a deep red every time he thought about the letter. It didn't help that all following letters from his mother demanded to know how her future daughter-in-law was fairing. He'd choked on his bacon the first time he'd read this. Silas had laughed.

But honestly there was something about her than caught her attention and asking around he knew one thing for sure. It was not that she was his intellectual equal. And he was certain he knew exactly what it was. Because, really...How many people had a name like Caelestis? Celeste, sure that could be a coincidence. But not a name so...Riddle.

She'd introduced herself as a Potter, though. And his father hadn't given much credence to theory. Not that his father would share his suspicions so openly. For all Gawain knew Tom Riddle was doing research about her at this very moment.

At this moment, all the teachers who should have been teaching were sitting at the Head Table deep in conversation. The Headmaster, like always, wore a calm, twinkling mask and swept his gaze across the Hall. For all appearances, he didn't seem bothered by the rumors floating around the Great Hall. Each contained only one consistent and therefore valid element. The teachers had received an owl which unnerved them.

Draco Malfoy, a distant relative of his, was already gloating. "Father told me all about this of course. It's about time the Ministry took greater interest in our education. He and the Board of Governors have been pushing for an educational reform for some time now."

Leave it to a Malfoy to speak before knowing all the facts. Gawain returned his attention to the Hufflepuff table and barely noticed what was going on around him until Gaius placed the Daily Prophet in front of him. He looked down at the front page.



Gawain didn't bother turning to page 4 and instead slid the Daily Prophet back towards his older brother who was currently in his sixth year. "Father must be pleased," Gawain stated. "He's been trying to round them up for ages."

His brother nodded. "I reckon so. It hasn't been easy for the Ministry to get a hold of these guys. The Order has been like Hydra. Take down one guy and seven more take his place, not to mention their hierarchical system. It's been impossible to take down the leaders at the top because very few know who they are."

"How would a guy like Mundungus Fletcher know the higher ups? Isn't he just a common thief, a petty criminal?" Gawain asked barely masking his disgust as he looked down at the unkempt image of Fletcher.

Silas, who'd been listening took the paper, and opened up to the next article on page 4. "They probably needed someone who knew the streets; and who better than street scum?" Gaius answered.

"Mr. Burkes died in the attack," Silas said. "Did you know this is only the second attack in which someone died?"

"The first?"

"Sirius Black on November 1st, 1981. He blew up his supposed best friend, Peter Pettigrew, and killed twelve muggles," Gaius supplied. "Apparently he was a staunch supporter of the Order of the Phoenix, and was furious that Pettigrew had refused to participate in the downfall of the Dark Lord and BOOM! He's serving a life sentence in Azkaban."

Gawain blinked up at his brother. "That's stupid."

"Yeah, it is. Oh, by the way," Gaius said said as he began to back away. "He's probably your future wife's godfather."

Silas laughed as Gawain face-palmed.



"Come on, now. Just swish and flick!" Professor Flitwick instructed as he stood atop a stack of books. "Don't forget the pronunciation – "

"Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather rose steadily into the air as Callie watched with something akin to pride. She knew she was lousy at most things and disastrous in Potions, but this...this was something she was good at. It didn't require precision or memorization, just will and unlike in Professor Crawley's class, she didn't have to aim it at other people.

It was useful too. Last year, Ron and Hermione had defeated a troll with this spell. Harry said the spell had caught the troll's club and down it went on top of its head. Callie wanted to do something that cool and she could too. She was good.

"Sarah, look." Callie demonstrated the wrist movement slowly and Sarah nodded, imitated, and her feather rose.

"Excellent! Excellent work, girls! Ten points to Hufflepuff!" Callie and Sarah exchanged a smile and then proceeded to levitate Jacob Alexis's textbook while he was reading to figure out how to angle his wand. He got annoyed quite quickly and after a mini-rant from him, Callie decided to find entertainment elsewhere.

And then she found him. He was sitting in the back next to that Cristoff boy who caught her eye and then nudged him. He followed Cristoff's gaze and raised a brow inquisitively when he saw her looking. She grinned, waved, and pointed her wand at the feather neither boy had touched.

Callie hadn't spoken to him since before the Sorting, so she was kind of surprised when he nodded, picked up his wand and whispered the incantation.

"Brilliant! Take five points for Slytherin, Mr. Riddle!" She swore Flitwick was all-seeing.

"Thank you, Professor," he said with a grin of his own. Then he nodded back down to Callie and, as Silas muttered something in his ear, turned bright red before looked away.

Odd...giggling, she turned back to Sarah who was now levitating her own textbook just over Alexis' head. "That threat only works with a sword," Callie said aloud.

"Professor Flitwick! Do you know if Gryffindor's sword is still here in Hogwarts?" Sarah asked loudly.

Chuckling, the small professor shook his head. "I'm sorry, Ms. Abrams, but I don't."

"Ah, well."

"Yes, well, good job everyone. For homework I would like you all to practice, practice, practice! And remember there will be no class on Thursday, so you have the whole weekend!"

With that the class rose as one and began to pack up before leaving. "You don't think they'll arrest Professor Flitwick, do you?" Callie asked Sarah as they left. "He's probably the nicest, sweetest, and best teacher here. It would be awful if they did."

"No, they can't. He was here during that attack, so how could he have been involved?" Sarah responded also looking back towards the classroom with a frown. "Merlin, Callie. Riddle is looking at you again!"