Hogwarts Year 7
The students filed slowly into the Great Hall. There was none of the usual excitement or hustle and bustle. The room was very dead and reserved. The Great Hall was lit more dimly than ever and the sky was full of nothing but dark clouds. The students were virtually silent as they sat down for dinner. Neville looked down at his plate. There was no pudding or steak or delicious pies; none of the delicacies that used to be served at the opening feast. It was just bread, water, and half cold meat. Neville looked up and caught Ginny's glance, she was sitting next to him,
"Well this is going to be a fun year," she said. Neville tried to fake a smile but it looked more like a grimace.
When dinner was done, Headmaster Snape went to the podium where Dumbledore once stood. There Dumbledore would fill the children's heads and hearts with hope and promise. Just a year earlier he had warned them that the Dark Lord was plotting to take control of Hogwarts.
"So this is our fault," Neville muttered under his breath.
"What?" Ginny leaned into him and whispered.
"Our fault," Neville repeated, "We are the Dark Lord's greatest weapon, remember? Dumbledore's speech last year, he's won because…because we were too weak."
"What's the matter with you?" Ginny Whispered rather loudly, "It's not our fault and he has not won. Keep your head together. We just have to…"
"What are we going to do? What can we do? It's over…" Neville interrupted and hung his head in shame.
"Are you really that pathetic? What happened to the Neville who used to be…" But Ginny was again interrupted, this time from the front of the room.
"SILENCE!"
Snape's voice rang throughout the Great Hall. Ginny muttered something under her breath. Neville stared at the table with an empty glance. "As you know," Snape continued, "Hogwarts is… under new management. Things are going to be very different around here. There will be a strict curfew every evening following study hours. Those caught carrying on after hours will be punished severely. We wish to avoid the expulsion of students who have… disciplinary issues, however, certain steps will be taken to enforce policy and conduct."
Snape glanced over to his right to two ominous looking characters standing behind the Slytherin table. "I would like to introduce two new additions to our faculty this year. They will also be serving as 'policy enforcement officers.' Would Amycus and Alecto Carrow please step up to the faculty table." The two characters walked slowly behind Snape and stood perfectly still. The Carrows both had a nasty scowl that the students would soon learn was pretty much their natural face. However, the terrifying aspect of them was not their scowl, but rather the inappropriate smile that accompanied it on their faces. They stood behind Snape in virtually the same stance with their hands behind their backs holding whips. They seemed to be carbon copies of each other except that Amycus was male and Alecto female.
"Amycus Carrow will be teaching Understanding the Dark Arts and Alecto Carrow will be teaching Muggle Studies. With your cooperation, I expect to have an informative and productive year. That is all." Just as Snape was about to step down one student from Gryffindor shouted,
"Murderer!"
The entire room gasped and looked around. Snape stood at the podium and stared out at the student body in silence. Amycus broke the silence,
"Who said that?" Everyone murmured loudly.
"I know it came from over here!" He pointed toward the general direction of Gryffindor table. Alecto, brandishing her whip, moved toward Ginny and Neville. Neville knew it was Ginny who spoke. He looked on in horror as the menacing figure walked toward them. Ginny sat nervous yet boldly waiting to take her beating. She began to stand up but Neville grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back in her seat. Ginny let out a small whimper of shock at Neville's sudden move. Neville looked Alecto straight in the eye.
"It was me," He said. "I said it."
Alecto looked at him suspiciously, "That was a pretty high pitched sound for a boy your age," she said. "So I've been told," Neville replied. She considered his statement for a moment, then grabbed Neville by the arm and flung him to the floor of the hall. Before Neville could register what happened Alecto was whipping him over and over again. With every lash, Neville let out a gruesome high pitched moan. Ginny's face was red and tears were welling up in her eyes. She stood and grabbed Alecto by the arm holding the whip, preventing the next would be strike.
"Stop it! You're murdering him!" She screamed.
Alecto grabbed Ginny with her free arm and flung her back to the Gryffindor table. Ginny flew so fast that she didn't have time to brace herself for the impact with the wood. Her face slammed onto the table and then her body collapsed beneath it at the feet of her fellow classmates.
"Sit down," Alecto remarked, "Or it's you who'll be next for a whippin'" with that, she wrapped up her whip and walked back toward the faculty table. Several faculty members had risen to their feet including McGonogall. Before any teachers could run to the aid of their students, Snape had turned around and made a wordless gesture of warning to them. They knew that defying Snape could cost them their position at Hogwarts and a Death eater would only replace them. So they stood helplessly and watched as Neville writhed in pain on the floor of the hall beaten and humiliated and Ginny rose to her feet cradling a bloody nose.
"Let that be a warning to anyone with a loose and foolish tongue," Amycus boasted from the spot which he hadn't moved an inch from during the whipping. The room was dead silent for what felt like an eternity. The only smiles in the room came from the Carrows who exchanged smug glances. Then mercifully, Snape said,
"Go immediately your rooms and get some rest. Make hast and do not dawdle, the Carrows will be patrolling the halls for any… stragglers."
With that, the Great Hall began to empty of students in relative silence. Ginny knelt beside Neville and put her hand on his shoulder, the other hand still at her nose,
"Are you alright? Can you stand?" She asked.
"I'll be fine," Neville practically growled. His voice was hoarse from screaming. Ginny helped Neville up to his feet.
"Next time don't be such an idiot, I can take care of myself," Ginny said.
"Next time?" Neville said, "What next time? I'm never doing that again," Ginny smiled and leaned into Neville's ear,
"Thank you," she said and walked on ahead of him. Neville held his waist and walked slowly, he was one of the last ones to exit the Great Hall. He turned and surveyed the Hall, he remembered his first year when all the new students had lined up to wear the sorting hat. He remembered how frightened and shy he was to walk up and sit before the entire assembly. He remembered Dumbledore's calm and smiling face and the giggling and murmuring of hundreds of excited students.
Neville shook his head and exited into the corridor. He realized that he no longer recognized the Great Hall.
*A/N- I'm shooting for continuity with the seventh book so feel free to comment on any inconsistencies you notice. I'm sure I will make plenty.