"The idea of politics even being a skill is sort of weird."

"Well, I think it's a thing you start out bad at, do a lot, duck up a lot, and if you're really persistent and also have some innate talent you get good at it. Sounds like a skill to me."

"I meant that it's weird that you can be good or bad at it, kind of? Instead of it just being about who agrees with your actual politics opinions."

"That'd be a lot simpler. People tend to change their politics opinions a lot, though, sometimes for silly reasons you can manipulate, and care about them different amounts so they'll trade things they don't care about much for things they care about more."

Sadde peers at her appreciatively. "Seriously, are you sure you're not a Slytherin? Maybe the Hat fell and hit its head before Sorting you?"

"It doesn't have a head, and you would've seen if it'd been dropped. What, are you saying I'm not smart enough to hack it in Ravenclaw or something?"

"No, I'm saying she is smart enough to hack it in Ravenclaw," gesturing at Karen, "and yet it was you who said it. In fact, it didn't even sound like it was something you hacked, or at least you didn't hack it just now. And," he smirks, "that's I think the third time in this conversation I've said this. Come on, just admit it, you're a little bit Slytherin."

He blinks. And then he starts laughing. "That is wicked! You threatened the Hat so it wouldn't put you in Slytherin! Oh, man, that is just great!" More laughing. "What did you even threaten it with?"

"I told it I'd go to the Owly if it tried to put me in Slytherin. I could've done it, too, Renée would listen to me and they start a week later and they already sent me my letter earlier in the summer."

"It wasn't even close? But you're really Ravenclaw in lots of ways!"

"I can, like, fake Ravenclaw. I can fake it really well and I don't think it's even going to be uncomfortable doing it for seven years. But I am more 'cunning' than 'wit' and more 'ambition' than 'literally anything else'."

Sadde's laughter has temporarily rendered him incapable of speech.

It's not that funny, but when someone's so clearly out of control with laughter it's hard not to giggle with them!

"It's not that funny."

Eventually he manages to calm down, with the exception of the occasional giggle. "It kinda is! Or, well, you know I have a peculiar sense of humour." Smirk. "Threatening the hat." Fit of giggles.

"I'd rather it not get around too much."

"Your secret's safe with me," he says, and morphs his mouth away to demonstrate. Then he's overtaken by another sudden fit of giggles and has to morph his mouth back. "Sorry, sorry, I'm okay now." He clears his throat. His eyes have become a clear gold, though.

"That's a neat eye color."

He blinks. "It changed?"

"Yeah, to gold."

"Huh. Cool." He morphs it into green, though, rather than his previous blue. "Feeling more like green. Aaaannnnyyyyway, let's talk some more about Miranda's dirty little secret. So I guess I'm actually more Ravenclaw than you, huh?"

"I guess. Except for the part where I wanted Ravenclaw and you didn't."

"Did you want Ravenclaw? Or did you just want not-Slytherin?"

"I like Ravenclaw more than the other two, but I wouldn't have left Hogwarts over it if the hat had decided to put me in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. I do think Ravenclaw is the obvious second choice."