"No quidditch, no clubs, no Hogsmede trips, no Weasley products." The new headmaster said, glaring pointedly at Ginny over his crooked nose. "Slytherin prefects will be in charge of nightly patrols from now on.. Students will walk to all meals with their house in an orderly formation. Tardiness will result in fifteen house points being taken away as well as detention. Any brooms found will be confiscated by Mister Filch. Curfew is now moved to ten o'clock… "
"When he said 'new rules', I didn't expect him to go on for twenty minutes." Seamus muttered angrily as Snape continued talking in a monotone.
"No quidditch? How dare he!" Ginny hissed, making a move to stand up. Parvati and Neville quickly latched onto her arms, preventing her from moving.
"Look at them," Lavender whispered, her focus on the Carrows. "They look so… evil."
Neville observed the new teachers. Both were pasty, squat, and mean-looking. He noticed, with disgust, the malicious glee on their faces. Their beady, dark eyes glinted in the candlelight.
The hall was silent as everyone listened to Snape. The sorting had been quick and depressing, with nearly two-thirds of the first years becoming Slytherins. Neville felt his heart sink when Brinkley, Jane was called and nobody responded. She must have been taken in the train raid. He glanced at the four new Gryffindor students, all were shivering timidly several seats down from him. He then looked towards the staff table. Snape was perched on a seat grand enough to be a throne, the menacing Carrows flanking his sides. He noticed a few professors missing from the group, including the kind Professor Burbage. Trelawney looked close to tears, McGonagall was tight-lipped and silent, Sprout's eyes were full of sorrow, Flitwick was fidgety, Hagrid was shaking with anger, and Slughorn looked uncomfortable.
Neville sighed and propped up his chin with his hand, promptly putting his elbow in the butter dish that had suddenly appeared to his right. He flinched, not realizing that dinner had begun.
Ginny snorted into her mashed potatoes. "Smooth, Longbottom." Neville scowled and loaded his fork with green beans, ignoring his chuckling friends. It was good to hear them laughing again.
"Least the food hasn't changed." Seamus sighed contentedly, stacking his plate high with dinner rolls and potatoes.
"Is that really all you're thinking about right now?" Parvati scoffed. She then sighed. "My stomach is too upset to eat."
Lavender dumped some food onto her friend's plate. "Eat," she encouraged. "Starving won't do you any good." After a couple of moments, Parvati gave up and picked up some soup with her spoon.
Dinner was dismissed and the Gryffindors headed up to the Common Room. Parvati and Neville made their way to the front, talking with the first years and giving them information they needed to know. They attempted cracking jokes with them to brighten the mood but were fairly unsuccessful. The new students were scared out of their minds. Neville felt a surge of joy when one small girl let out a small giggle at one of his comments.
"Well that was a depressing dinner, wasn't it?" Ginny sighed, flopping onto the couch with Neville once the first years were situated in their dormitories.
"Yeah, it was pretty awful." Neville agreed. He felt a heavy feeling in his stomach at the thought of Snape sitting in Dumbledore's place. It was wrong on so many levels.
"So when are we holding our first meeting of the year?" Ginny asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
"What? What meeting?" Neville asked, sitting up suddenly. He had a feeling that he knew exactly what is was, but he hoped that wasn't the case. Keep her out of trouble. Please. That's what Mrs. Weasley had asked him to do earlier that morning. At the time he had nodded, dumbfounded, but after the incident on the train, he was adamant on keeping that promise.
"Don't play dumb, Neville."Ginny rolled her eyes. "Dumbledore's Army? Ring any bells? When are we going to have our first meeting?"
Neville winced. Damn. He chose his next words carefully. "Maybe we should wait."
"Wait?" Ginny's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait for what?"
"Wait until things even out?" Neville said, unsure of how to convince her.
"Nev, listen. This school is going to hell if we don't do something about it. Our world is falling apart and we need to fix it." Ginny said, eyes big and pleading.
"I don't think so, Gin. It's just too dangerous."
"Why would you say that? The whole Wizarding World is dangerous right now." Ginny threw up her arms, frustration growing in her voice.
"Exactly! All that Dumbledore's Army would do is get people in trouble. That's the last thing we need right now."
"You're being such a bloody idiot right now." Ginny rose up from the couch and spun on her heels. Neville watched her storm up the stairs towards the sixth year girls dormitory and sighed. He sat alone on the overstuffed sofa for twenty minutes longer before heading up to his own dormitory. When he got there he found Seamus unpacking his bag.
"Hey," Seamus waved half-heartedly. He put down the extra robes he had in his hands and sat on his bed. "Guess it's just us this year."
Neville thought of Ron, sick in an attic. Harry, on the run from the many people who wanted him dead. Dean, in hiding like all the other muggleborns and unidentified half bloods. "Yeah, just us."
Seamus looked down at his hands. "Sorry, probably won't be as good company as the other boys."
"Don't be daft." Neville scoffed. He spotted his trunk sitting on a bed on the other side of the room. He walked over to it and hesitated before pulling it off of the bed and dragging back towards Seamus. "Mind if I take this one?" He asked, nodding at the bed closest to Seamus.
Seamus looked at him, first baffled then almost relieved. "Not at all, mate."
The two of them caught up with each other, discussing their summers and their worries for the school year. Seamus checked his watch, noting that it was getting late. Neville agreed and quickly changed out of his traveling clothes and into his pajamas. As he lay in his bed, a thousand thoughts flooded his mind. He shook his head in attempts to clear it. Sitting up, he blew out the candle on his bedside table before settling back in. He let the warm darkness of the room slowly soothe him to sleep.