I had to laugh at your description of young!Filius - Eustace Tilley wasn't who I had in mind, but by, golly, you are right! I was thinking more about traditional English morning dress, which is what people used to wear when going to the Proms concerts (my head-canon for Flitwick is that he comes from a very free-thinking wizarding family), but I had forgotten about the New Yorker "cover-boy". *g*
the wizarding world is crueler than the Muggle one, I think - oh, I think so, too. What passes for 'moral' there I often find troubling. I'm so very glad that you enjoyed the story!