Hogwarts: My Grandmother is the Queen

"What are the conditions?" the three asked in unison.

"You must teach me too," Henry said.

"Teach you?" Draco asked, somewhat surprised. "Teach you what?"

"Teach me your family history, your traditions, your way of seeing the world," Henry said. "I can't know everything, and there are things you know that I may not know."

Draco nodded thoughtfully: "That's acceptable."

Pansy said, "My dad has told me a lot about the history of the Parkinson's family, and I can tell you about it."

Daphne said softly, "The Greengrass family has some knowledge passed down through generations. If you're interested..."

"Then it's settled," Henry said finally.

The next day, after dinner, Henry had just sat down by the fireplace in the common room when Draco came over.

"Your Highness," he lowered his voice, "are there classes tonight?"

Henry looked at him; the guy's face was full of expectation, but he was trying hard to act like he was just asking casually.

They're still kids, so it's normal that they can't keep things to themselves.

"Do you want to attend class?" he asked.

Draco nodded, and Pansy and Daphne came over and sat down on the sofa next to them.

Crabbe and Goyle have disappeared somewhere; they've probably gone to the kitchen to find something to eat.

"We want to too," Pansy said.

"Then let's go," Henry said with a smile.

Several people sat around the fireplace. There were other people in the lounge, but they were all on the other side, and you couldn't hear them talking.

Henry leaned back on the sofa, relaxed.

"However," he said, "you'll teach me first today."

"We'll teach you?" Draco asked, somewhat incredulous.

Can you teach me?

Your Highness is too modest. Isn't that going against the natural order?

“Yes,” Henry said. “Didn’t we agree yesterday that you would teach me about your family history and traditions, and how you see the world?”

Draco and Pansy exchanged a glance, then looked at Daphne.

Daphne asked softly, "Who should we start with?"

"Draco, you speak," Henry said.

Draco sat up straight, his expression serious.

"I believe you are familiar with the history of the Malfoy family," he began, "which dates back to the Norman Conquest."

"I know," Henry said.

Draco nodded and continued, "But do you know why he was so highly regarded under William?"

Henry shook his head: "I don't know."

Draco lowered his voice.

"Because he was a wizard—William the Conqueror knew he was a wizard. There were several wizarding families who came with William the Conqueror, not just the Malfoys. William needed them to help him fight, to help him consolidate his rule, and to help him deal with enemies who could use magic."

Henry nodded thoughtfully.

"This is also recorded in royal secrets, where wizards and Muggle nobles have been cooperating for a long time."

“Yes.” Draco’s tone became fervent. “Wizards were in the shadows, Muggles in the light. Wizards fought for Muggles, and Muggles gave wizards land and status. Then the Act of Secrecy was enacted, and this cooperation became secret.”

He cleared his throat.

"The Malfoy family has always been adept at this kind of secret cooperation; no matter who is in power, we can always find a place."

Yes, Henry knew better than Draco himself about the Malfoys' agility.

Pansy echoed, "Parkinson's family is the same. My dad said our family motto is 'Go with the flow.'"

"Moving with the wind?"

"Yes." Pansy felt that what she said was not quite right, and began to explain, "It doesn't mean being a fence-sitter. It means seeing which way the wind is blowing and then standing in the right place."

Daphne added softly, "The Greengrass family had a similar saying. My father said, 'Don't get too close to the center of power, but be close enough to see where it flows.'"

Henry nodded knowingly; these pure-blood families had been surviving in this peculiar way for centuries.

"Your Highness," Draco asked, "what are you thinking about?"

Henry snapped out of his reverie, smiled, and said, "Thinking about your family traditions is quite interesting."

"Interesting?" Draco clearly hadn't expected Henry to make that comment. "I thought you'd think we were too snobbish."

Henry held up one finger and shook it.

"It's not about being snobbish, it's about survival wisdom," he said. "Your family has survived for hundreds of years, not because of luck."

"My father would love to hear that," Draco grinned.

Next, Pansy told the history of the Parkinson's family.

The Parkinson family, unlike the Malfoys, was still one of the "Holy Twenty-Eight." Their fiefdom was in northern England, near the Scottish border. The region was perpetually turbulent, and the Parkinsons learned a unique survival strategy: maintain a low profile, but always have a backup plan.

“My dad said,” Pansy said in a low voice, “that the Parkinson family never puts all their eggs in one basket.”

Henry asked, "Did your family ever support Mysterio?"

He didn't call Voldemort by his name directly. After all, this was the magical world, and Voldemort had even put a curse on his name. Henry didn't want Voldemort to discover that there were disrespectful little creatures in Slytherin just because he was being a little show-off.

Pansy fell silent for a long time before finally speaking in a hoarse voice.

"...I supported it."

She paused for a moment and then said, "But it wasn't all support. My dad said that at the time, the family was divided into two factions: one supported it, and the other waited and saw. Later, when Voldemort fell, the faction that had been waiting and seeing stepped in to sort things out."

Henry nodded, betting on both sides—this is the way of all great families, both ancient and modern, across the world.

"Leaving yourself a way out is also a kind of survival wisdom," he said.

“Yes,” Pansy said. “That’s why the Parkinson family is still around. Many of those families that bet everything on Voldemort are gone, or at least they’re no longer active on the surface.”

They talked for a long time. Draco told the story of several generations of the Malfoy family—some were shrewd, some were foolish, some were incredibly successful, and some almost suffered annihilation; Pansy told how the Parkinson family survived the turmoil and found their place in every power shift; Daphne told the Greengrass family traditions and how the knowledge accumulated over hundreds of years became their family's greatest wealth.

Henry listened attentively, occasionally asking a question or two.

Although these families' stories differ in detail, they share a common thread—they all found their own path between power and survival.

It may not be the most glamorous, but it is probably the longest-lasting.

"Your Highness," Draco suddenly asked, "do you think our family is doing well as it is?"

"There's no such thing as good or bad," Henry said. "It's just a matter of whether it suits you or not."

"What do you mean?" Draco didn't understand Henry's meaning.

“What I mean is,” Henry said slowly, “that your family traditions were formed over hundreds of years, when the magical world was different from it now, and your family’s situation was different too. Tradition is the answer, but not the eternal answer.”

(Daphne...her face wasn't shown in the movie, but she was quite beautiful.)