Inculpate Terminus: Innocence Lost
Chapter One: The Leaving Feast
A/N: This fic is derived from pieces written for Illumine RPG, and so I must give credit to my excellent cast for inspiring and plotting with me. And I will be trying to fill in the backstory as much as I can, so that none of you are confused. So… enjoy!
The seventh year students filed into the Great Hall, walking in pairs as practiced. Harry gave Parvati a friendly half-smile as he offered his arm for her to take, leading her down the aisle that had been created in the midst of smaller tables for all the families.
He was suddenly hit by a sense of feeling as though he belonged, and an even greater sense of loss as he realized that this was the last time he would be in the Great Hall as a student. His eyes wandered the hall, remembering the first time he had laid eyes on it.
He'd been so nervous, his biggest concern as to whether or not he'd get sorted into the right house, or a house at all.
He caught Ron's eye and grinned as he and Parvati took their seats at the seventh years' table, which had been arranged so it was parallel with the head table. That had worked out all right, really. He'd nearly been put in Slytherin, but in the end, he'd ended up just where he was meant to be.
He nodded to Parvati and then they took their seats, watching as the remaining students filed in and sat down.
Professor McGonagall stood, now in Dumbledore's old place at the head table. She raised her goblet to the seventh years, who stood as well. Harry felt a pang as he thought of the man that should be there, raising his goblet to them, as he had at the start and end of every year.
I"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
"Is he a bit mad?"
"Mad! He's a genius! Best wizard in the world. But he is a bit mad, yes."/I
Harry blinked, his eyes tearing up slightly at the memory as Professor McGonagall began to speak.
"A wise man once said that every ending is a beginning," she began, eyeing all of the students, her usually stern face shining with pride, her eyes the only indicator of the underlying grief. Her posture however was almost reverent, as though she were paying tribute to her predecessor with this speech.
Which, Harry had no doubt, she was.
"All of you sit here before me because you've earned this honour, this day. You've spent the last seven years working towards this. But you've also spent the last seven years helping each other get to this point. Look around you. These are the people you grew up with, the people you are forever bound to." she smiled solemnly and nodded to them. "You have laughed and cried together, worked and played, and grown together." Her smile faded as her expression grew more serious. "In looking around, I'm sure you've noticed the empty seats. There are some of us that should be here who aren't." Harry watched, certain that her eyes had misted over, even if he couldn't plausibly see something like that from the distance he was at. However, the small glance down at the chair she would have occupied if Dumbledore had been here was unmistakable.
Harry again remembered the man that had stood there before them so many times, through the good and the bad.
I"You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?"/I the memory whispered in his ear. He furiously swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, determined not to be seen with damp eyes, despite the fact that quite a few of the students were indeed sniffling.
"We have all lost someone or something over the years, but the ones we love never really leave us," Professor McGonagall continued on, echoing Harry's thoughts. "By continuing on and refusing to give up, we continue to honour them," her eyes again glanced at the empty chair beside her, "and the sacrifices they may have made," she added quietly, looking up and meeting Harry's eyes. "Remember that as you go out into the world," she continued, breaking the eye contact and again scanning the students.
"And remember that, through it all-through the losses and gains, the heartaches and joy, you have all forged a bond that transcends time and distance. I pray that you will all remain true to this bond. If nothing else from your years here at Hogwarts sticks with you but this, then we will have succeeded. Though," the faintest hints of a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth, "I hope that you will not forget everything you've learned here the minute you're no longer required to take examinations and turn in homework."
A few students laughed, and Professor McGonagall's smile grew a bit wider.
But after a moment, her expression became serious again and she surveyed them, the pride again carved into her features.
She held out her hands to them.
"I have full confidence that you are all ready for what this world has to offer. So go. Live. Do the great things we're all expecting from you."
With one last smile, she nodded to them and then sat down, gesturing for the seventh years to do the same as the entire hall burst into applause, then loud chatter as the families settled in for their meals.
Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione and, with a smile, enjoying himself in the moment, despite the events of the last few years, and the people that should be here but weren't.
The light atmosphere within the hall was very quickly broken, however, as all of the floating candles blew out and the hall was plunged into a darkness.
Harry stood up, reaching for his wand as a few gasps echoed through the hall, quickly followed by screams as the hall was suddenly lit up with several hexes.
