章節 48: Chapter - 48 : The Freedom Exchange part - 3

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"All of you – except for you, Astoria – will be starting Hogwarts in a few short months." Cassiopeia met the eyes of each of her students. "With the purchase of your wands from Ollivanders you will be beginning your journeys to becoming adult witches and wizards. Social blunders will soon no longer be dismissed as mere childish mistakes. The Houses of Black, Malfoy, Macmillan, Crabbe and Greengrass are highly respected, and it will be your duty to ensure they remain so."

Harry glanced sideways at Ernie and saw him draw himself up proudly, while the others had various expressions of determination, arrogance or, in Crabbe's case, dull incomprehension on their faces.

"I hope the Numerology Charts will teach you more about yourselves – allowing you to play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses," Cassiopeia continued. "Does that answer your question, Draco?"

"Yes, Aunt Cassie," Draco answered, chastened.

They all got to work, pulling out parchment and quills in order to start following Cassiopeia's instructions. Harry wasn't at all sure his chart would make any sense seeing as they had to use things like their age, star sign and parents' names in their calculations. Harry was lying about almost all these things (only his star sign was the same, though he and Sirius had decided to change his birthday to the 23rd of July), so their arithmantic properties shouldn't apply to him.

"Is it Gemini that's represented by the number three?" Ernie asked Harry, bits of parchment strewn over his desk and a confused expression on his face.

"No idea," Harry said honestly, paging through his copy of 'Numerology and Grammatica' and trying to figure out whether he had to divide by seven or multiply by thirteen in order to get his Soul Number. He really wished wizards used calculators, but instead they had to go through the whole arduous process of long division and counting on their fingers.

"It's five," Crabbe grunted, deep in his own calculations.

Ernie quickly scribbled that down. "Thanks," he said.

"What about our Heart Numbers, how do we work those out?" Daphne spoke up from where she sat primly beside her younger sister, her posture perfect as she made notes in beautiful calligraphic script.

"There's no point you trying to calculate it," Draco said snidely. "We all know you don't have a heart." He was clearly still miffed that Daphne had called him 'an immature brat with the brains of a pygmy puff' the week before when he'd thrown a fit over her beating him at chess.

Eight year old Astoria glared at the Malfoy heir. "Don't insult my sister like that!"

"Why should I listen to a baby like you," Draco said, smirking at her.

"Don't call me a baby!" Astoria shrieked. There was a sudden blinding flash and Draco was shoved off his chair as if by an invisible hand. Ernie and Harry snickered at the sight of Draco sprawled inelegantly on the floor, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment and his normally slicked-back hair a complete mess.

"Children!" Cassiopeia exclaimed, rounding on them. "Show some decorum! Draco, get up off the floor, and Astoria, do try and control yourself."

Astoria wore a look of injured innocence. "It was an accident!"

"Yeah right," Draco muttered to Harry as he pulled himself back onto his chair. Harry shared the other boy's scepticism. Astoria seemed rather talented at controlling her magic and that was the third time in as many days that she had unleashed it on Draco after he had made some insulting comment.

"Nevertheless, Astoria, accidental magic only occurs in the presence of uncontrolled emotions." Cassiopeia sounded stern, though Harry thought he could see her lips twitch in amusement. "A witch should remain calm and poised at all times – not resort to temper tantrums."

"Yes, Lady Cassiopeia." Astoria sighed and tried rather unsuccessfully to imitate her older sister's regal bearing and gracious smile. Harry was glad she hadn't entirely managed it, since he found the sight of children trying to act like miniature adults rather creepy.

"Well, if you all have the time to cause trouble then you should be finished with your charts," Cassiopeia said. "Ernie, dear, what numbers did you get?"

"Well my Character and Heart Numbers are both threes," Ernie said, glancing down at his notes. "That means my general personality and my inner hopes and fears are the same; I don't hide any deep dark secrets or anything like that. The number three indicates humour, talent and social ease." He puffed his chest out, clearly pleased to be considered talented.

"Those are your strengths, but what about your weaknesses?" Cassiopeia prompted.

"Er, I jump to conclusions and am easily offended and… superficial." Ernie looked rather cross as the other children smirked at him. Harry found the description to be quite accurate; he still remembered how the Ernie from his world was convinced Harry was the Heir of Slytherin just because he spoke Parseltongue.

"And your Soul Number?" Cassiopeia asked.

"It's a nine, which means I'm loyal and prepared to work tirelessly, but can be arrogant and conceited if things don't go my way." Ernie frowned down at the textbook he was reading from. "Hmm, that must be wrong - I'm never conceited!"

Cassiopeia leaned over his shoulder and checked his calculations. "No, dear, it all seems right to me."

Draco snorted and nudged Harry with his elbow. "Hufflepuff for sure," he whispered.

"Well, Draco, how about you?" Cassiopeia said, turning to him.

Draco turned out to be an eight, which he was pleased to announce indicated the possibility of great success in business, finance and politics. In quieter tones he admitted it also meant he could be jealous, greedy, domineering and power-hungry. According to Cassiopeia the number Eight was one of the most unpredictable numbers and hinted at the potential for reaching either the pinnacle of success or the depths of failure. Draco looked as if he wasn't sure what to think of that.

Daphne had widely opposing soul and heart numbers, signifying that her inner personality was very different from the one she showed the world. Astoria was apparently adventurous and energetic, but also conceited, irresponsible and quick-tempered, which Harry thought fit the younger girl rather well. Crabbe claimed to be loving, amiable and talkative, prone to gossip and laughter. Harry couldn't think of a description less suited to the surly boy, but it soon turned out he had made mistakes in his calculations. When Cassiopeia urged him to try again, Crabbe refused. Since he should have got it right the first time considering he was actually good at Arithmancy, Harry decided the other boy simply wanted to avoid telling everyone his strengths and weaknesses – a surprisingly cunning move.

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