The thing that strikes me, not only about Harry's openness to Seamus now he's Mr. Rosier's foster son, but about all the Hogwarts kids save Padma and Millicent is how little clique-ishness they are displaying so far. It's especially striking to me about Pansy, because it's such a contrast to the usual way she's portrayed in fandom. On one of our early speculation threads someone noted how different the Slytherin kids seem to be in this AU where they have not grown up as the offspring of a shamed, defeated group of former Death Eaters but have grown up, instead, as the next generation of Wizardom's social elite. I agree that this means they are not automatically defensive and ready to disparage those who judge them (as, for instance, Draco is in canon), but I expect that we should see a social pecking order emerge pretty soon to replace all the generally friendly interactions we've seen this past term. We've seen hints in Draco's coolness towards Padma when she tried to presume on her mother's connections with his mother, but he seemed to soften some. And Teddy and Millicent seem to have a more developed sense of superiority than Pansy, Sally-Anne, or Harry. I'm holding my breath to see which of these kids will develop a full-blown bias against half-bloods and whether that will marginalize Sally-Anne within Slytherin House (or whether house solidarity will prevail as the more important value).

It seems that at eleven, these students are still on the cusp of adolescent social sorting and haven't begun separating themselves into fiercely separated groups. That's something to look forward to... ouch.

Speaking of which... I've been missing Ron. I've really enjoyed his interactions with Pansy.