Hi, first off thank you for going into so much detail.  Let me tackle the first part first and go from there; is that okay?  Yes I am aware that the Commonwealth is not an empire.  What I am suggesting is that the boys and other Hogwarts students might have the misconception that it is or perhaps in the British Magical world that it is still apart of Britain.  I haven't decided and I apologize for not addressing that in my story.  I'll either re-edit the chapter or readdress it in a different chapter with the information I know and the information that you have given me.... Again, thank you.  I'm well aware of the struggles that the different countries have gone through to gain their independence, as i have quite a few friends living in said countries or have duel citizenship in those countries.    I wanted to show that the boys and even Snape have a fuzzy understanding of this because they are insulated from the Muggle world and I am unsure when that history is taught in English, Welsh, Scottish, Southern Irish, and Northern Irish schools. When I was in school we did not teach any of the outside history of the world until we were older, so I was uncertain if this was taught the same way in different countries.  I apologize if I offended anyone and will make that publically know.

The reason for Harry and Ron's acting out, which I planned to reveal at a later date, is due to a series of events that occurred earlier in one of the previous terms that involved what they considered to be "unfair treatment" by "biased Slytherin-like teachers."  They have no real support system, stricter supervision and demands at school(remember it is college prep), and things don't run the way that they are used to.  Plus there is the undisclosed series of events, which I will not be addressing in this review.  As for what made Ron's punishment much harsher? It isn't actually.   Despite Severus thoughts, Ron will not be getting his wand snapped, he is just getting sent home.  When he first entered the State-side school, Ron was already on probation due to what the principal and Dean of students considered to be "poor grades" and at the time Harry's grades were just high enough to keep him off the probation list (which will be explained later). By the time this chapter rolled around they are just starting the 3rd term and 2nd term reports have come back in and Ron still is not performing up to standard... so they are sending him back because he did not fufill the requirements set forth by his Visa (which in this story requires him to at least have Cs they were given a one quarter grace period so they could adjust).  Harry on the other hand, who did poorly the last two times has been put on probation. Harry is in threat of getting his wand snapped because of something he signed on that paper that Ron didn't (probably due to his father and mother reading over the contract, but that remains to be seen.).

Does that answer your questions?  If not, feel free to contact me.  Again thank you for the review and for being will to discuss the misconceptions! I hope you have a good night or day depending where you live at!