A Chain of Debt (A Matou Shinji AU Quest)

[Daiki]

[x] Wait for a good moment

[Malorius]

[x] Wait until you get some context

Since, currently, anything we can agree with or criticize is pretty much OoC.

[alfheimwanderer]

[x] Wait for a good moment

---

Choices, when repeated often enough, tended to form habits, especially when the outcomes of those choices were good ones. Matou Shinji, certainly had made a number of choices since coming to Hogwarts, mostly to his benefit, with the common pattern being that he waited for the right opportunity. As the outsider, he needed more knowledge, since he certainly lacked the instinctual associations of Houses and values a pureblood gained through osmosis, or that a particularly desperate muggleborn might acquire through excessive reading in order to impress their betters.

A good example of the latter being the farmgirl, who once again was speaking, referencing Hogwarts: A History, as if that book was the end all and be all of knowledge, when it simply told a single version of the tale of the past. Perhaps one that was truer than others in some parts, but one that was no doubt at least in part the ravings of a historian's imagination, with entire pages of meaning spun from a single line in a fragment of a letter or such.

In short, the girl laid out how the House system had been around for almost a thousand years, and had echoed the preferences they had for students, with Slytherin taking the ambitious and cunning, Gryffindor taking the brave, Ravenclaw taking those who sought knowledge, and Hufflepuff taking the rest.

"And your opinion on it, Miss Granger?" Leonardo questioned.

"The House system works, and has worked for almost a thousand years, which is longer than any muggle institution has been around," she asked guilelessly. "In that time, Hogwarts has become the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world, so it seems self-evident that the House system - placing people where they belong from the beginning - is a good thing. Why would we want to change it?"

[ ] This is the moment
[ ] Not quite yet...

[Daiki]

[x] Not quite yet...

[Dracueri]

[x]Not quite yet....

[alfheimwanderer]

[x] Not quite yet...

---

Matou Shinji held his tongue even as someone else - Draco Malfoy - the only one of his roommates to have not faced the terror of the boggart today, spoke up.

"I agree with Miss Granger," the farmgirl's lover said. Of course he did - to do otherwise would risk him losing her affections, wouldn't it? "The system established by the Founders has served us well, helping us to sort leaders and other people of quality from...the rest. Slytherins are the natural leaders of Magical Britain - with both the ambition and practicality to match, Gryffindors the natural warriors and athletes - more Aurors and Hit-Wizards rise from the ranks of that house than any other, Ravenclaw the scholars - the Unspeakables, who advance our knowledge of magic, or some of the wisest of our Ministers. The Hufflepuffs..." the boy shook his head. "Few Hufflepuffs have accomplished much of note."

"Even say, Newton Scamander, Mister Malfoy?" the Professor asked.

"I'm glad you mentioned him, Professor, because he is the exception to the rule, exceptional in every way," Draco replied. "He, unlike the vast majority of wizards and witches, traveled the world, for no better reason than to study magical creatures. Further, he accomplished the vast majority of his deeds in other lands, and could only have done so with patronage from Albus Dumbledore. He was no Auror - he knew this and refused the offer of becoming one. He was no scholar of anything except beasts. He was no leader, merely someone to be directed. Now, I do not deny that Hufflepuffs can make good followers, or are good people, but they are not people of quality to wizarding society - neither leaders, nor warriors, nor scholars."

He took a deep breath.

"One has only to look at history to see that the House system works. That it helps those with certain talents find the places they need to be, and the place society needs them to be. This is well known and established. Why else would the majority of our Ministers be Slytherins? Why else would Aurors be Gryffindors? Why else would Unspeakables come from Ravenclaw? You speak of exceptions, but consider this: the Headmaster - a Gryffindor - said to be the greatest wizard in all of Britian - refused to take the mantle of Minister when it was offered to him thrice? Why? Because he knew that however brave he was, however mighty in magic or fierce a warrior, he was not suitable for the role of leading a nation. Directing people in a time of war, as he did with Mister Scamander, enabling the latter's works, certainly, but a nation? Britain would have crumbled under the rule of such a man."

"So in short, the system is a good thing?"

"It is. It is the root of a society where everyone knows their place, because when they do, everyone can work together, leveraging their strengths for the greater good."

To Matou Shinji, that last sentence sounded almost like what one would expect from Japan, only they didn't use a House system for that, exactly. He didn't quite know who these people were either, but...could a great warrior not be a leader? Japan had examples of Shoguns who ruled the nation as the Emperor's regent...

[ ] Speak up
[ ] Wait

[Dracueri]

[x]Wait

[Daiki]

[x] Wait

[shanagan]

[x] Wait

[alfheimwanderer]

[x]Wait

---

"What an utter load of rubbish," Amber Noel interjected, shaking her head at the words the golden-haired boy had said. "Does anyone actually believe that nonsense?"

"Nonsense?" Draco echoed, quite offended by Amber's commentary.

"Yes. Given how little sense the convoluted logic you use to justify your argument makes, I believe I am perfectly justified in calling it nonsense," she stated blandly. "You speak of a society where everyone knows its place, but it is your very society which does not knows its place."

"W-what are you--"

"A society which uses a system as primitive and outmoded as the castes of India to determine a person's worth is a backwards one indeed, compared to any modern system," she sniffed. "Really? Relying on the judgement of a moldy hat when one is still very much a child to determine the course of one's future is a travesty, and anyone who buys into such a system should ashamed of themselves for thinking like a barbarian."

Perhaps the words of the young noblewoman were...somewhat harsh in retrospect, but Amber Noel had little patience for those she considered to be idiots.

"Now, it may be that your 'society' has grown complacent, believing that because the system has not completely failed you, it is good, but simply because a system has been in place for a very long time does not mean it is a terrible system," Amber noted, her eyes harsh. "People are not born as warriors. They are not born as leader. They are not born as scholars, and certainly they do not become so by the tender of eleven! Nor are an entire fourth of a nation people of no quality simply because at the age of eleven, they are not yet ambitious, or brave, or wise!" She took a moment to catch her breath, as she was clearly quite agitated about this. "You and your ilk even ignore or seek to minimize the fact that when a Hufflepuff like Newton Scamander was given the opportunity to rise above what society had said his role must be - he took it and became great! Yet what opportunity would a Hufflepuff have in your system, when everything has already been parceled out to Slytherins, Gryffindors, and Ravenclaws?"

"The opportunities are parceled out to them because they are the best ones for the job! History says so!"

"How immensely self-serving that your history, built upon this system, says that the system works. How unsurprising that you, a Slytherin, a leader under this system claim that it works well, when you are one of the ones who benefit most from it staying in place. It is quite convenient, isn't it, that under the system you acclaim so highly, Slytherins are the best at leading, without any conditions, while Gryffindors lead only in war or athletics, Ravenclaws in knowledge-based fields, and Hufflepuffs have no talent for it, relegated to clerks. Effectively, you have created an underclass - a class which has no incentive to become great or to work hard, because no opportunities will open up for them. Further, this is something that disproportionately victimizes Muggleborns, who often know very little about this world and do not realize that the Sorting will determine their future!"

She scoffed.

"And that is without even considering the people who didn't go to Hogwarts? People from one of the other schools, who I am sure receive few if any opportunities, if simply being in the wrong house at so-called finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world is enough to ruin one's career forever."

"Well...yes," Draco admitted. "But why would we want to give opportunities to lead to someone who isn't the best at what they do?"

"Mister Malfoy, do you honestly believe that going to Hogwarts means you are more qualified to lead than those who did not? Or to take other jobs?"

"...why wouldn't it?" the blond boy insisted. "We are the best school, with the best training, and the best teachers in the entire world! Where else could possibly compare?"

"You...you're serious?" Amber asked incredulously. "You are seriously asserting that there is no school on earth greater than Hogwarts, and that as such, those who did not attend it can rot?"

"More or less, yes," Draco admitted.

"Well, all the more reason why the House system - taking the preferences of four individuals for who they wished to teach a millennium ago and using it as the roadmap for how to organize an entire society can only lead to unmitigated disaster."

"Then where is it?" Draco exclaimed. "Where is this disaster you speak of? Wizarding Britain is the greatest magical nation in the world."

"So Britain did not spend ten years fighting a bloody civil war, where a Dark Lord nearly destroyed the entire system? And people will not flinch if I say, oh...Voldemort?"

Draco flinched, yes - as did most of the class.

"We won that--"

"You won because some 'child of prophecy' died for you," Amber said, her words as cold as ice. "Not because the system could withstand the power of Voldemort." There it was again, another flinch. "Not because the Ministry - and the few Aurors it had - stood a chance. Not because of scholarship, not because of hard work, or anything that was the result of your bloody system. Your precious system created this monster, a monster most simply stood aside and refused to face because they were not the warriors, or the leaders - and how could they be, when many of the leaders, like your father, went over to the Dark Lord's side."

"M-my father was a vic--"

"Yes, yes, of the Imperius curse," Amber said, cutting him off. "It's a matter of public record. But that does not change the fact that your system, where Slytherins led, created the conditions for a disaster, when some of the most notable Slytherins willingly or unwillingly went over to the other side, paralyzing your leadership. Had it not been for whatever the Potters did that fateful night eleven years ago, Magical Britain would have fallen, destroyed from within by the very system you cling to so desperately. And while yes, it did not fall, remember this, nothing has changed since those years, not really. The same conditions which let him rise once will let someone like him rise again, and this time, everything you know will be at an end."

Perhaps this is the moment?

[ ] Interject
[ ] Stay quiet

[skulkidcachi90]

[ ] Interject

[Skull Leader]

[X] Interject

Time to give the Foreign viewpoint and to dial it down a bit by hitting them with more stuff they have not considered that can not be simplely ignored because Amber is a "Muggleborn"

[Dracueri]

[x]Interject

[Daiki]

[x] Interject

[alfheimwanderer]

[X] Interject

---

And what do you say?

[ ] Write-in

[Daiki]

[x] Ask Hermione and Draco to provide proof that Hogwarts is the best school in the world. Confirms with Professor De Lune whether or not there are unbiased studies from the ICW that confirm the students' claim. Then question their knowledge about the rest of the world and those schools that they are superior to. Make a point for them to understand that each individual should decide their own fate.

[Dracueri]

[x]Ask Hermione and Draco to provide proof that Hogwarts is the best school in the world. Confirms with Professor De Lune whether or not there are unbiased studies from the ICW that confirm the students' claim. Then question their knowledge about the rest of the world and those schools that they are superior to. Make a point for them to understand that each individual should decide their own fate.

[shanagan]

[x]Ask Hermione and Draco to provide proof that Hogwarts is the best school in the world. Confirms with Professor De Lune whether or not there are unbiased studies from the ICW that confirm the students' claim. Then question their knowledge about the rest of the world and those schools that they are superior to. Make a point for them to understand that each individual should decide their own fate.

[alfheimwanderer]

[x] Ask Hermione and Draco to provide proof that Hogwarts is the best school in the world. Confirms with Professor De Lune whether or not there are unbiased studies from the ICW that confirm the students' claim. Then question their knowledge about the rest of the world and those schools that they are superior to. Make a point for them to understand that each individual should decide their own fate.

---

A hand shot up into the air, with the incensed farmgirl seeming like she was about to jump to her beleaguered lover's defense when---

"Hold it!" Shinji exclaimed, smacking the surface of his desk with both palms as he stood up.

"...you have something to add, Mister Matou?" the professor inquired.

"I do, Professor," the boy stated. "But first, I have a question for Mister Malfoy."

"...yes?" the blond boy asked, feeling slightly nervous as he remembered what Matou had done to a little girl in defense class.

"Mister Malfoy, you claim that Hogwarts is the best school in the world, with the best training and the best teachers, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Do you have proof?" the Japanese boy asked.

"...proof?" Draco echoed, before shaking his head. "What are you on, Matou? Everyone knows this is true?"

"Everyone, you say? And how do they know it is true?" Shinji pressed. "What evidence do they have?"

"What do you mean? It's obvious, isn't it? The leaders of Britain all went to Hogwarts, and Britain is the greatest country in the world, so--"

"OBJECTION!" Shinji cried, as if this was some sort of courtroom. "What source are you citing for Britain being the greatest country in the world?" Draco blinked, not expecting to be questioned on this. "Or do you have a source?" he inquired. "Do you even know much about the rest of the world?"

"...my family came from France."

"I see - but have you ever been there?"

"Professor!" Hermione exclaimed. "Matou is badgering Draco for no reason."

"Mister Matou, do you have a reason for this line of questioning?"

"Absolutely, Professor," Shinji replied. "I intend to prove that Mister Malfoy has no basis for his claims about Hogwarts or Britain."

"I see. Well, in that case, let's see where this goes," Leonardo spoke, overruling Hermione's objection.

"Well, Mister Malfoy?"

"...no, I have not," the blond boy answered. "I almost went to Durmstrang though."

"And what do you know about Durmstrang then?" Shinji asked. "Do you know what they teach? How they are organized? Where they accept students from?"

"...no, but what does it--"

"Do you even know what any of the other schools teach, or if they produce leaders in their own countries?"

"I--"

"Do you even know what country I am from?"

"Don't be stupid, Matou, everyone knows you're from Asia--"

"--except that Asia isn't a country," Shinji replied, with a smug 'take that' expression. "It's a continent. If you don't even know that much, then how can you prove Britain is the best country in the world?"

Draco could not answer.

"You can't, can you?" the boy from the east concluded. "So your reasoning breaks down entirely, because Britain isn't the best nation in the world, then the fact that that all of its leaders come from Hogwarts is meaningless."

"But it says right in this book that Hogwarts is perhaps the finest institution of witchcraft and wizardry in the world!" Hermione interrupted, trying to help out Draco, who seemed like he was on the ropes.

Shinji turned to the Professor, who seemed almost...amused at the display.

"Professor, are you aware of how many magical schools there are in the world?"

"A vast number, though only eleven that are certified by the International Confederation," the Professor answered.

"And has the Confederation done any studies comparing the schools to one another?"

"It has not," Leonardo responded. "Its role is merely to assess whether the certified schools are meeting a certain standard of performance. No more, no less."

"So the Confederation does not support the claim of Hogwarts being the best school in the world?"

"The Confederation will not go on record as supporting such a claim by any of its certified schools. One is of course, welcome to check the schools' performances in various events, however, and come to one's own conclusions."

"And how has Hogwarts done in these competitions?"

"With respect to the discontinued Tri-Wizard Competition, it ties with Beauxbatons. With respect to the Potions Championship, Mahoutokoro and Uagadou dominate, while Hogwarts has not sent a representative in decades."

"I see," Shinji noted. "One more question, if I may."

"Ask."

"How many of the certified schools explicitly label themselves as a School for Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

"Oh, just one."

"Would that one be Hogwarts?"

"Yes," Leo confirmed. "I see you're going somewhere with this. Care to share your conclusion?"

"Of course, Professor," Shinji replied with a smirk. "While the evidence does not show that Hogwarts is the best school in the world, there is still a way for it to be the best School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Simply put, if it is the only school of 'Witchcraft and Wizardry' then of course it is best at that, because it has no competitors in the category it so narrowly defines so as to cut out all of the other certified institutions. However, any proper historian should be able to see past this framing, to compare Hogwarts against its peers."

Hermione looked stricken.

"T-then, that means--"

"That the author of that book was either mistaken - or purposefully perpetuated a fraudulent claim for her own interests," Shinji stated triumphantly. "And if she lied - or bent the truth once - how do we know everything else she says in there isn't twisted for her benefit, if not outright fabricated."

"I..."

"Face it, Miss Granger, that book...is history."

"I...uh...I...uh..." Hermione Granger gibbered, her body shuddering as her eyes rolled up in the back of her head, collapsing on the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

"As such, with no proof that Hogwarts' House system has worked, nor that it has propelled Britain to prominence within the international community, I am forced to agree with Miss Noel, that the system is broken."

"I..."

"Do you deny it, Mister Malfoy?"

"Yes!"

"...do you have any evidence in your favor?"

"...no."

"Then i think the verdict is clear, isn't it, professor?"

Leonardo chuckled.

"So it is. Your assignment, over the weekend, is to come up with ways to improve the current system. To make things easier, I ask that you work in pairs."

Classes are over for the day

[ ] Visit the infirmary
[ ] Keep working on cooking
[ ] Talk with Draco
[ ] Chat about fixing the system with Miss Noel

[Skull Leader]

[X] Talk with Draco

While I rather do something else like work with Amber or visit Zabini. I think we need to talk with Draco before he goes deep in the rival Shinji in everything and an enemy. Maybe talking with him will work, maybe not. But not talking to him now is likely going to set him against Shinji for the rest of Hogwarts experience, so extend a olive branch to him and talk with him.