July 6th, 1998
Dear Ms. Deadlocke,
Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be reopening in mid September of this year. If you wish to return as a fifth year student, you are welcome to do so. If you wish to return as a sixth year student, you are required to complete your O.W.L's no later than August 31rst. Please inform us of your decision no later than July 31rst.
Headmistress,
Minerva McGonagall.
Aquila stared at the letter in her hand with a sigh. Revision notes and books for her O. covered a good portion of the formal dining room table. The rest of it was covered with legal books and ledgers. Wading through the legalise and holdings of the LeStrange family holdings was a tedious task, one that she knew she was going to have to hire an estate manager for. At least it kept her busy.
The Deadlocke estate had an account manager… until he fled during the war. His office had been mostly untouched, and she had managed to gather all the documentation for the Deadlocke estate from his office. The Deadlocke estate was much smaller, only containing Deadlocke castle and a small cottage on the outskirts of Hogsmeade for property, along with a great deal of investments, some of which were worthless after the war. The Deadlocke family held stock in bookstores and publishing companies, but not much else. Some were abroad, at least, and still were making returns.
With the complete and utter mess of the LeStrange estate's properties, investments, and other holdings, Aquila began drafting a list of potential law offices that dealt with estates. She was rather disgusted with the idea of cataloguing the family's assets. She rather suspected that cleaning up and disposing of Dark artifacts and pests would be a nearly full time job.
Accepting the LeStrange family remains had been bad enough. She had simply had them cremated and tossed into the family crypt. It annoyed her that at least she had the remains of her Uncles, grandfather and Aunt Bellatrix to put in the family crypt. Her parents were both dead and she hadn't been able to bury either of their tried very hard not to dwell on the fact they were dead, it was a fact that filled with a mixed feeling of grief and rage that rendered her unproductive for hours. Her brother's urn and wand had been shipped to her and now sat on the mantle in the sitting room.
It took her most of the day to draft her letters to the various law firms. As she flooed into Hogsmeade it occurred to her that either an Apparition license or moving would make her life a good deal easier. As it stood, she made her way to the post office to send her owls to both the law firms and an inquiry to the house-elf relocation office.
Wanted posters covered nearly every available surface of Hogsmeade's walls. There were quite a few nasty Death Eaters and their affiliates such as Greyback still at large. Aquila wondered how many of the older Slytherins were even left after the defeat of the Dark Lord.
When she arrived at home she picked up the Daily Prophet. It primarily covered the various trials, captures, and the rebuilding effort at both Hogwarts and the Ministry. The shear amount of trials meant that they would be going into the school year. Aquila suspected that the seventh year Slytherin class would be fairly light on returning folk.
Mid-August, 1998
The Ministry of Magic had its own room set up for O.W.L examinations. Most of the time it was a classroom or briefing room for the Aurors, but today it was set up for the written examinations. Practicals would be done one-by-one in one of the two side-rooms. The room was primarily filled with Ravenclaws and Slytherins with a Hufflepuff and two Gryffindors prepared to take the examination. Aquila rather suspected that the fifth year class would be gaining a few members from those who preferred to take the year over. There were also a few test takers she didn't recognize- homeschoolers. They had been safe from the frightening place Hogwarts had turned into last year. Aquila was sure that their families had left Britain if at all possible. The thought of the families who had fled being safe while everyone else wondered if their relatives were dead or if they were going to get the Cruciatus curse cast on them filled Aquila with bitterness. She shook it off and sat patiently at her desk by Astoria, well prepared to take her charms exam.
"How was your summer?" Astoria asked.
"Quiet" Aquila replied, not wanting to go into detail about her parents death. Astoria was a pretty and well-meaning girl, though her aspirations seemed limited to catching a wealthy husband and settling down to raise the next generation of perfect pureblood children while holding dinner parties.
Winter delicately sat herself beside Astoria, carefully inspecting her nails as she waited for the exam to start. She was a vain girl, with long brown hair that behaved a bit better than Aquila's.
The proctor finally started the exam at 9 a.m, and Aquila settled herself in for a long two weeks. She had not taken all twelve of Hogwarts classes- Divination was a class that could easily be self-taught- but she was taking all twelve of the possible O.W.L.s. She hadn't taken Muggle Studies either until the joke of a class last year, but her parents had both insisted on knowledge and experience with the non-magical world. As a LeStrange, her mother had barely been exposed to it until after graduating Hogwarts.
"Time's up." the proctor said. Feel free to go eat lunch, just come back in time to take your practical."
Aquila handed in her exam and made her way to the Ministry's cafeteria. It was jam packed with haggard looking workers, press, and a lot of people who looked like lawyers.
Astoria motioned at Aquila to sit with her and Winter.
"It seems quite busy today." Aquila said as she sat down.
"It's Dolohov's trial today." Winter replied.
"Ah, I haven't been keeping up with the Prophet as much as I should." Aquila said.
"Pius Thicknesse's first hearing is today as well" said Astoria.
"I cannot imagine that it will go well for him, even if he was Imperioused."
By the end of her O.W.L exams, Aquila was quite tired, and rather wished she had a whole summer to recover. Alas, the term started two weeks from her finish date, and her exam results came a week after completing them.
They sat on the table until after she finished reading the letter from her new estate manager. Lincoln Kellington was a half-blood whose family had been specializing in law for the past six generations. He was the youngest of five, all of whom specialized in law. Aquila knew that he would not have been most people's first choice as an estate manager, but she knew that it would make him put in more effort than others would. She also valued his belief in discretion, she would not remind people that she was related to the LeStrange family at all if she could help it, and her donations to the rebuilding of Hogwarts would remain substantial but Anonymous.
Finally she steeled herself to open her O.W.L results.
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results
Pass Grades Fail Grades
Outstanding (O) Poor (P)
Exceeds Expectations (E) Dreadful (D)
Acceptable (A) Troll (T)
Aquila Arianna Deadlocke has achieved:
Ancient Runes O
Arithmancy O
Astronomy O
Care of Magical Creatures O
Charms O
Defense Against the Dark Arts O
Divination A
Herbology O
History of Magic O
Muggle Studies O
Potions O
Transfiguration O
Eleven O's and one Acceptable… in Divination which was a highly subjective subject anyway. It did make it difficult to decide what to take as N.E.W.T level subjects. Both Muggle Studies and Divination had been done purely as self-study, so they would not be subjects she would consider taking, though sitting her N.E.W.T for Muggle Studies might be beneficial for the long term. Care of Magical Creatures was an interesting subject, but Hagrid as a teacher was bad for her long-term health. A N.E.W.T in Astronomy was practically worthless, and Aquila did not fancy anymore midnight classes. History of Magic was practically a self-taught class anyway with Binns teaching. Her grasp on history and government was strong enough without having to endure his sleep inducing lectures.
That left Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms, DADA, Herbology, Potions, and Transfiguration. Seven N.E.W.T level classes was fairly ambitious, especially since she fully intended to take the History of Magic and Muggle Studies N.E. after the end of her seventh year. Rather than go to Diagon in person while it was a mad house she owl-ordered all of her books. She would pick up parchment, ink, and other essentials from Hogsmeade rather than Diagon.
Going back to Hogwarts was a bit eerie. The crowd at the platform was a mix of subdued and excited, depending on the student and their circumstances. The sounds of animals and people everywhere was overwhelming. Other than her occasional visit to Diagon, Hogsmeade, and the Ministry Aquila had barely interacted with anyone all summer. She was grateful that Winter held the dubious privilege of being a prefect for their year as she found an empty compartment and warded it against anyone who might bother her. Despite this she did not even last ten minutes into the ride until she was interrupted.
"I know you're in there." she heard Astoria's impatient voice. "I need somewhere to sit that doesn't involve Parkinson. I don't think I can make it the whole ride without hexing her."
Aquila sighed, and undid the wards to let Astoria in. She barely resisted the urge to sneer as Astoria sat down and pulled out Witch Weekly.
"How was your summer Aquila?" she asked brightly.
"Quiet and uneventful." Aquila replied. It was true, though she rather wished one or both of her parents were still alive.
"Did you watch any of the trials?"
"No, I just read about them. I have no stake in their outcome."
"Ah yes, you don't have any family that was on the wrong side, do you?"
"My Uncles were on the wrong side, but they both perished in the final battle." Aquila gently corrected.
"Your Uncles? I didn't even know you had any." Astoria said.
Aquila sighed, knowing that Astoria would not be satisfied until all her questions were fully answered. "My Uncles were the LeStrange brothers. My mother never spoke of them growing up."
Astoria blinked in surprise. "I didn't realize your mother was a LeStrange. Her marriage-"
"Her marriage nearly led to her being disowned. The Deadlocke's have never been one of the sacred 28 for a reason."
"Well, at least your family must have gotten a great deal of money after the war."
Aquila paused before replying. "We did, though everything is cursed and will need to be looked at before anyone touches it."
Astoria heard the tension in the room and decided to steer away from it. "Which classes are you taking this year?"
"The standard ones: Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Herbology, and Defense along with Ancient Runes and Arithmancy."
"That sounds like a very busy schedule. I've never much liked Herbology and I only got an A on Transfiguration so I'll have nearly the same schedule as you."
Aquila shrugged. "How much have you read of the textbooks? Normally I'd nearly be done, but I've been studying more for O.W.L.s than anything else."
"I made an effort to read some of the Potions text and the Charms text, but I'm not nearly as far as I should be."
"If you don't mind then, I'm going to read. I got through some of the DADA text as well, but none of the Runes text, and you know how Professor Babbling is."
Astoria gave her a nervous look. Aquila doubted that Astoria had even touched the Ancient Runes text. "Er- alright. You're probably right."
Astoria left not long after to find others to gossip with, leaving Aquila to read in peace. Finally the train began to slow.
Aquila stepped out onto the platform and was startled as she made her way to the carriages. They were pulled by thestrals, she realized, something that hadn't really registered when she went home from Hogwarts the last time. A lot more people could see them now, she decided, looking around at the other faces eying the creatures with distaste. Aquila quickly squeezed into a carriage with some of her fellow Slytherins as the sky began to open up. A light sprinkle turned into a drizzling downpour just before the carriages reached the castle. The castle itself had a mix of new and old stones. It didn't quite match the way it had before. The Great Hall had entire sections of the wall replaced.
As everyone but the first years filtered in Aquila watched her fellow Slytherins. Only the girls from last years 7th year had returned. Parkinson looked a little worse for wear. Both Malfoy and Nott had yet to stand trial. Goyle had already been convicted, and Crabbe was dead. Zabini had probably chanced taking his N.E. rather than coming back. Most of the sixth years had made it back. The academically inclined would be joining the seventh years. Of Aquila's own year the Carrow twins were missing. No one would be sorry to see them gone, they had helped their Aunt and Uncle torture far too many. Most of the younger Slytherins had returned. For some, there was probably nowhere else to go, Aquila thought bitterly. Of the other houses the dead and some of the heros were missing. Potter, Weasley, Longbottom, and Granger were all gone. Granger missing was the only one that surprised Aquila.
The sorting was a somber affair. Aquila made an effort to clap for those sorted into Slytherin. It was a fairly small class. After the sorting Headmistress McGonagall stood up.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. The war is over and Voldemort-" she paused for the gasps- " has been defeated. The school has been rebuilt and restaffed over the summer. You may notice that the student population is less than what it used to be, both due to the final battle and those that have left the country. We will regain more of our numbers next year as our students return home, and due to the open invitation that will be issued to children of age abroad to come to Hogwarts. In the upcoming year I wish to emphasize academic excellence and inter-house unity. There will be a number of collaborative projects over the next year. Of course both Quidditch and the House Cup will return in the upcoming year. Please enjoy your meal and the upcoming year." she finished wearily sitting down.
"The Headmistresses looks old." said Winter as the feast appeared.
"That's not surprising" chimed in her brother Easton. "She was in charge of overseeing all the reconstruction over the summer."
The chatter at the Slytherin house table was restricted to simple topics, and steered clear of those who were missing and which trials had happened. Almost everyone at the table had at least one relative who was a Death Eater or knew someone who was. Aquila did not make much input into the conversation. Being around so many people again made her quite paranoid.
