Ancient Equality

They had a quiet lunch in their common room with Lady Helena, who mostly asked questions about how each of the trio had grown up. Both Neville and Hermione were amazed to when they heard the basics of how Harry was raised. Apparently, a number of books had been published, detailing Harry's supposed childhood.

Depending on which book was to be believed, he had either grown up secreted away in a castle with dozens of servants, or had traveled around the world having grand adventures. He was also supposedly a protege of anyone from Dumbledore to Nicholas Flamel to the Dark Lord himself (who, according to that author, was still alive and controlling Harry like a puppet).

Those stories, and the fact that his name was a household one in Britain, were as shocking to Harry as the knowledge that he had grown up with his magic-hating muggle relatives, as ignorant of his ability as any muggleborn, was to the other two.

Hermione spoke of growing up with her nose in a book, shunned by other students both because of her better grades and because of her parents' profession. She and Harry then had to explain to the two Purebloods what a dentist was, and why that job should have a stigma to children. Lady Helena also did not understand why Hermione should be punished for being studious, as her mother had always pushed her to be her best.

The trio had to explain to her the intricacies of bullying and bookworms, which then led Neville to explain about his family thinking that he was a squib. That was another term unfamiliar to Harry, and though Lady Helena knew the word, she was shocked at Neville's tale.

"But my brother Lares is one of your squibs!" she exclaimed. "He is married to a witch and is the constable of this castle!"

"Constable?" Harry asked. He had only ever heard the term used to refer to the police.

"He is in charge of the castle itself; the construction, the staff, everything." Lady Helena explained. "Selly, an Elf, is the bailiff, meaning the one who is in charge of the entire estate. Selly is second only to the Lords and Ladies of the land - Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Lares, as a son of Countess Ravenclaw, technically outranks Selly, as the bailiff, but as a younger son, he will likely never inherit."

"And as the Constable, the castle staff, not including the scholars and masters, are commanded directly by Lares. However, as the Constable, Lares is of lower rank than Selly. He and several folk in the village are thus directly under Selly's command."

"You have a house elf in charge of all of Hogwarts?" Neville squeaked.

"What is a house elf?" Lady Helena asked.

"A House Elf! Like Frally!"

Lady Helena frowned. "Wait a moment, please." She closed her eyes and took deep, even breaths. After a minute or two, she finally opened her eyes. "I understand," she told Neville.

"The Elves we have in this time are pure beings. They are our equals, using a magic that is similar, yet not the same, as a wizard's. Many, many years from now, an unscrupulous wizard will invent a spell that binds the powers of an Elf to a wizard. He then raises young elves in horrible conditions, enforcing a mindset of servitude. From these slaves your House Elves were born."

"That's barbaric!" Hermione exclaimed.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked.

Lady Helena smiled. "I am a kind of seer. I am the conduit, if you will, between your time and this one, allowing you to exist in this space. I can connect to my future, ghostly, self, to some extent."

"That's impossible!" Hermione declared.

Spreading her hands to take in the room around them, the food that had been magically delivered by Elf, the moving paintings on the wall, and Hogwarts itself, Lady Helena quirked one eyebrow. "Is it?"

Hermione opened her mouth, then closed it again. Her brow furrowed, and she hunched over in thought. Harry and Neville watched her silently for a moment, before the latter turned back to Lady Helena.

"So squibs, elves, and wizards all live together here? As equals?" he asked.

"Squibs, elves, wizards, muggles, centaurs... many beings live here together in harmony," Lady Helena said. "Status is determined by birth, gender, marriage, profession, and several other factors, but not by magical ability or species. My father is what you call a muggle, one with no magic in his recent bloodline. My mother's parents were both magical. Of my five living siblings, three, plus myself, are strongly magical, and the other two are not. One has a small amount of magic, while Lares, as I said, has none."

"Our family is unusual for the era, in that my mother earned our family title, not my father. She was named Countess for her part in creating Hogwarts, which made my father an Earl, and myself and my siblings Lords and Ladies. My oldest brother, Marius, will become Earl upon the death of my mother. My father will lose his title if she dies before him, as it is hers, not his."

"If my brother dies without an heir, which won't happen, as he already has two young boys, but if, let's say, all three were to die, then the title would pass to me. I would become Countess. Most titles are only passed through the male line, but it is different for wizards and witches. For us, a title is passed to the eldest child, and next eldest. It doesn't matter if that child is male or female, magical or not."

"That's amazingly progressive for the time!" Hermione said, rejoining the conversation.

"Our parents are considered quite progressive," Lady Helena said wryly. "Of course, I understand from my future self that that will eventually change."

"You said that one of your siblings only had weak magic," Harry remembered. "Is that still a thing, Neville?"

Neville considered that. "I don't think so? You either have enough magic to get a Hogwarts letter, or you don't. If you don't get your Letter, they call you a squib and usually you're sent to the Muggle world."

"That's also barbaric!" Hermione cried.

"Well what determines if you get a Hogwarts Letter?" Harry asked. Neville shrugged, so both looked to Lady Helena.

With a fond sigh, she closed her eyes and began breathing deeply. When she returned from her trance, she frowned. "They have created a scale of magical power, which all children are judged against. The accidental magic a child commits during their youth is rated, and that determines whether or not they get a letter."

"That seems to make sense," Hermione ventured.

"The problem is that there are different kinds of magic," Lady Helena explained. "For example, Slytherin can speak to birds and snakes. Would you call that a magical power?"

All three children nodded. "Yet speaking to a snake would not register on the Ministry's record of accidental magic. There are several kinds of magic, which you might call passive magic, that do not register on that recorder. Self-healing, speaking animal languages, helping plants to grow, several forms of mind magic, metamorphmagus changes; all of these magics would not be recorded by your Ministry. And several others I cannot think of off the top of my head!" Lady Helena was quite upset now.

"Why, dozens, maybe even hundreds of magical children have been overlooked, deemed squibs or muggles because their young magic was passive instead of active! Several of our current students and teachers would not be accepted at the Hogwarts of your time!"

"So I might have passive magic?" Neville asked. "That's why my family thought I was a squib?"

Lady Helena looked at him sharply. "You have talent for self-healing and plant magics," she declared. "You should also excel at potions, offensive and defensive magics and strategies, and the study of languages. Most of those are indeed passive magics."

Neville looked like a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Harry thought that he must have wished for active magic just as much as Harry had wished to hide his freakishness. His magic had certainly been active during his childhood!

"What about me?" Hermione demanded.

Lady Helena studied her. "Your talents lie in transformations, mind magics, and crafting. In school, you should excel in history, arithmancy, spell and potion creation."

All of them then turned expectantly towards Harry. "Would you like to know your skills?" Lady Helena offered.

"I guess," Harry said.

With a wry smile, she read him. Her smile soon morphed into a frown, however. She began to reach towards his forehead, but then halted her movement. "I need mother and Aunt Helga to see this," she muttered. She snapped her fingers and an Elf popped into the room.

"Lady Helena?" it asked.

"Evvie, could you please bring Countesses Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff here? It is quite important."

"Of course," the Elf said before popping away.

"That was a female, wasn't it?" Hermione asked brightly. "I looked at the ears!"

"It was," Lady Helena said, smiling at the eager girl. "Evvie is responsible for running the school aspects of the castle. She keeps the schedules for the professors and masters, and knows where they hold their lessons. She is usually the best one to call for if you want to find a teacher during the day."

"And how did you call her, specifically?" Hermione pressed.

"The snap is a spell, or at least the way we generally perform it. It acts as a memory device for learning the spell, and it also allows those without magic to call an Elf. The Elves simply use their magic to 'listen' for snaps. If you have magic, you think the name of the Elf you would like to call while you do it. If you do not think of a particular name, or if you have no magic, then whichever Elf is free and closest to you will respond to your summons."