The Carrows' Calling
Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. We hope you will enjoy this chapter! Sorry about it being really short, it's exam season after all. Happy reading!
Chapter Four
Ginny knocked thrice on the door and waited for Professor McGonagall to answer. Slowly, the door hand began to turn and the door swung open. Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway, illuminated by the fireplace in her office.
"Pomana, I—" Professor McGonagall paused mid-sentence; clearly, she was expecting someone else. "Miss. Weasley! What a surprise. What brings you to my office?" asked Professor McGonagall politely.
"Headmaster Snape sent me to your office about my actions," said Ginny; she couldn't help but let some pride leak into her voice. She regretted nothing she'd said.
"Come in. What happened?" Professor McGonagall said, welcoming Ginny into her office. "Sit down." Ginny did what she was instructed and sat down into a hard backed wooden chair. Right in front of her was Professor McGonagall's desk, neat and tidy as she expected it to be. Professor McGonagall slid into the chair behind the desk and clasped her hands together.
"So, um, I talked back to Professor Carrow during her class," Ginny said a little hesitantly.
"And?"
"And she got mad at me and—" Ginny paused, unsure if she should she tell Professor McGonagall about Professor Carrow slapping her. Professor McGonagall looked at Ginny pointedly over her square glasses and raised an eyebrow.
"Yes? She got mad at you and—" Professor McGonagall said, pushing her to complete. Then she stood up and grabbed a small tin container wrapped in tartan patterns. She placed the tin container on her desk and pushed it towards Ginny.
"Have a biscuit," insisted Professor McGonagall. Ginny obediently obeyed Professor McGonagall's wishes. She knew better than to anger McGonagall. When Ginny finished the biscuit, Professor McGonagall continued on.
"What happened after Professor Carrow became unhappy with your words?" Professor McGonagall said the word 'Professor' with disgust, as if she was revolted that she shared a title with her.
"Um, well," Again, Ginny was unsure if she should tell Professor McGonagall the truth. "So, she got really mad at me and couldn't control her temper. Then she slapped me." The words were out of Ginny's mouth before she knew it. Professor McGonagall started at her in shock.
"She slapped you? Across the face?" Ginny simply nodded. Professor McGonagall slumped back into her seat. "Are you OK, Miss. Weasley? Did she hurt in any other kind of way? What happened after?" Professor McGonagall sprouted a bunch of questions.
"I, after she slapped I fell to the ground and, well, we had a little argument and I sat on the floor because of it," Professor McGonagall tensed up and Ginny quickly corrected herself quickly. "No, no, not like she forced me to sit on the floor, I chose to." Professor McGonagall visibly relaxed.
"Then?" she asked.
"After that Professor Carrow told me to leave the classroom," said Ginny a little hesitant. Professor McGonagall leaned against her desk on her elbows, rubbing her temples. She made a hand gesture for 'go on.'
"I said 'no' and she threatened to use the Cruciatus Curse on me," Ginny's voice got quieter as she spoke on. Professor McGonagall jumped up from her seat, her hands flat on the desk.
"What—did—she—do?" asked Professor McGonagall, her voice dangerously quiet.
"She threatened to use the Cruciatus Curse on me," Ginny said quietly. Professor McGonagall stared at Ginny with her eyebrows raised. Her eyes had a fire of determination.
"So you had a little spat with Professor Carrow and she threatened you with the Cruciatus Curse?" there it was again, the way Professor McGonagall had said the word 'Professor' with disgust. Ginny nodded, wondering if she should tell Professor McGonagall about Headmaster Snape entering the scene.
"Anything else you have to tell me, Miss. Weasley?" asked Professor McGonagall with an eyebrow raised.
"Well, after Professor Carrow threatened me with the Cruciatus Curse, Headmaster Snape came in and then Professor Carrow made a huge scene about me being crazy. Then Headmaster Snape sent me to you," replied Ginny, her voice once again fading as she spoke on.
"Headmaster Snape sent you to me?" asked Professor McGonagall incredulously. Ginny nodded. Professor McGonagall once again stared at Ginny in shock. She then fell back into her seat and placed her head in her hands. "Of course, of course," Ginny heard Professor McGonagall mutter.
"Well, Miss. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said, sitting up again and adjusting her hat. "Thank you for coming to me, you may leave now. Don't worry about the door, it'll close on its' own," Ginny got up from her seat and mumbled a "thank you" to Professor McGonagall. On her way out, Ginny looked back and could've sworn she saw the professor give her a small smile.
Ginny checked her watch once she got out of Professor McGonagall's office. It was 3:30. She still had half an hour left of her free period. Ginny rushed to the common room, and dropped her Muggle Studies things on the floor of her dormitory. The dormitory was dark and cold, just like the Great Hall. Merlin, I wish things could go back to normal. Ginny pointed her wand at the dusty cold fireplace and whispered 'Incendio.' Red hot flames burst from Ginny's wand into the fireplace, crackling brightly; as if they've been lit for hours. Once the room was warmed up, Ginny grabbed parchment from her trunk and began to write a letter to her mother. But when her quill started to touch the parchment, Ginny paused. She didn't know what to write. If she wrote too much, her mother would be worried. But if she wrote too little, her mother would be suspicious.
Dear Mum,
I really hope that you're well. There has been a new Headmaster; Headmaster Snape. There are also two new Professors, Professor Carrows. Brother and sister Death Eaters. Don't worry Mum, they're not bad, they're actually rather fine professors. Better than I thought they would be, at least. The brother teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts and the sister teaches Muggle Studies. Neville, Luna and Lavender are great company. Hogwarts is great, my class are going fine. I really hope that you and Dad are OK. I'll see you at Christmas, I promise. Any news about Ron? How is he doing? Give him my wishes to get better soon. I love you.
With all my heart,
Ginny
Ginny finished the letter with her signature. She felt slightly guilty; she had lied more than once in the letter. To be honest, Ginny would have been delighted to use foul language to describe the Carrows, but she didn't for her mother's sanity. Ginny rolled up the letter and sealed it. She ran down the hall to the owlery and found an owl that seemed to be trustworthy enough. She tied the letter tightly; not too tight for it to hurt, and the owl soared off into the dark, stormy endless sky. Ginny half heartedly raised her hand in a wave goodbye and whispered a "good luck," to the owl. She ran back to common room—she didn't want to be caught by Snape or the Carrows. Once she got back to the common room, Ginny saw the familiar silhouette of Neville, asleep in front of the fireplace. Ginny walked over and realized that there was a long, bloody gash on his left hand. It was dripping the bright red liquid over the handrest of armchair. His head was leaned to one side and and his uninjured hand was rested on top of a piece of parchment that Ginny assumed was homework. She gently shook him awake.
"Wha! Who?" Neville said, waking up.
"It's me, Neville," just then, Ginny felt a rage of anger. "What the bloody hell happened to your hand?" Great, I'm starting to sound like Ronald.
"Oh yeah. That."
"Oh yeah, that. That's all you have to say?" yelled Ginny. "That's all you have to say, not 'oh, I really should tell my friend about it!'" Neville got up.
"Well, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to tell because you didn't let me!" He threw his arms up in exasperation. Neville turned around and began to leave. Ginny grabbed his good arm.
"Neville, I'm sorry—I didn't mean to, I—just, it just came to me. I'm sorry, OK?" Ginny said. I can't do anything right now, can I? Neville slowly began his way back to the armchair and collapsed into the pillows.
"Ok, I'll start from the beginning. We had Defense Against the Dark Arts—or, I'm sorry, 'The Dark Arts' and I talked back to the little idiot. All of his stupid talk about curses and how the Cruciatus Curse is so important. He kept on rambling on about how killing people is defense—even for innocent people. Especially muggles," Neville ranted bitterly. Ginny knew about how Neville's parents had been tortured to insanity and now are staying in St. Mungo's.
"Then?" Ginny probed Neville on.
"Well, then, I couldn't contain my temper and he—that little insolent jerk, used this curse, I didn't hear it clearly and it left a slash on my hand," Neville explained darkly, but Ginny thought that she could hear a bit of pride leak into his voice.
"What did the curse sound like?" asked Ginny; she had an idea of what the curse was.
"It sounded like Sectumempia, I'm not completely sure."
"Was it something like Sectumsempra?" asked Ginny. She'd seen the curse in the textbook Harry had last year.
"Yeah! It was like that! How did you know?" Neville said with excitement. Ginny shrugged, not sure if she should tell Neville about where she got the curse from.
"OK, Neville, do you need anything for that?" asked Ginny, changing the subject.
"Well, no. I'll just clean it up and wrap it."
"Wait, Neville, did you tell Professor McGonagall about it?" asked Ginny, worry was evident in her voice.
"No, why?"
"Well," Ginny began, not sure how she should tell Neville about it. "Well, during Muggle Studies, the oaf—no sorry, Professor Carrow began 'teaching' the class about how muggles are stupid and all, and I talked back to her. She got really mad at me and slapped me. I fell out of my desk onto that disgusting, grease covered floor—no really, it was really disgusting!" Ginny said when Neville began to laugh.
"Ginny, you never cease to amaze me. You just got slapped across the face and all you think about is how gross the floor is?" teased Neville, laughing his head off. Ginny gave him a glare worthy of McGonagall. But she ended up finding herself bursting into laughter too. Merlin, it feels good to laugh!
"Well, yes. Then Snape—forgive me, Headmaster Snape came in and the oaf made a huge scene—no, you should've seen her! Remind her to never start a career in acting. Then Headmaster Snape sent me to Professor McGonagall. We talked and she knows about everything that happened," Ginny continued.
"Wait, Professor McGonagall knows about everything?" asked Neville, a hint of fear in his voice. Ginny slowly nodded.
"Wait, if Professor McGonagall knows about all of it, wouldn't she go and protest to Snape? Merlin, she already looks exhausted enough and it's only the first day!" Neville exclaimed, the fear in his voice was clear.
"Neville, she'll be fine. Professor McGonagall has a level head and probably wouldn't tell Snape anything yet. She'll think through what she does," Ginny said reassuringly. I hope, thought Ginny; her thoughts wandering back to the time when McGonagall had ran into the night to defend Hagrid and had gotten struck down by four stunners. Neville nodded. He placed his head in his hands. Ginny stared into the fireplace, lost in thought.
"Ginny?" asked Neville apprehensively.
"Yeah?"
"Do you really think that this will be the last year of Hogwarts?" Ginny was taken aback. She wasn't sure how to answer the question. Hogwarts didn't feel like home; Snape was Headmaster, a war's coming up. She wasn't sure.
"I don't know Neville. I—really hope not. I'm really not sure," said Ginny defeated.
"We should start up D.A. again. We have to save Hogwarts before it's destroyed. Snape can't have it. I won't let him," Neville said, with a surge of determination.
"But Neville, I don't want people to put themselves in danger because of me!" protested Ginny.
"Ginny! Don't you realize! It's not about you! People are dying out there!" Neville yelled, pointing to the window looking out onto the Quidditch pitch.
"I know people are dying! I don't want more people dying because I wanted them to join some club!" Ginny yelled back. Their conversation was starting to draw eyes.
"Ginny, I know, but we have to do something! Otherwise no one else will," Neville said desperately.
"Fine. We'll start D.A up again, but just the three of us. I don't want anyone risking their lives because of me. Not anymore," Ginny said with a huff, giving in to Neville's argument.
"OK. I'll talk to Luna and we could get out the coins again. Do you still have yours?" asked Neville.
"Yep."
"OK, maybe Luna would be able to tweak them to send messages to each other," suggested Neville, trying to fix the argument. Ginny nodded. She checked her watch. It was 3:55.
"Oh! So sorry Neville, I have to get to Divination!" said Ginny, jumping out of her chair and rushed to her dormitory. When she looked back, she saw Neville hunched over in his chair. What have I done? She grabbed her books for Divination and hurried to the North Tower. Once she had reached the classroom, it was already filled with Hufflepuffs. She found an empty armchair and table and sat down. Professor Trelawney soon came in with her normal wispy entrance. Ginny thought the entire lesson was a bore and wondered why she even stayed in the subject. An agonizing hour later, the school clock struck 5:00. Ginny was one of the first to rush out of the classroom. She ran down to her dormitory and dropped her things on the floor. Ginny sat on her bed, lost in thoughts until the clock struck 6:00 for dinner. She hurried down to the Great Hall and realized that the warm buzz of chatter was back. I need to talk to Luna. When she walked in, Hogwarts, for the first time, felt like home.
Author's Note:
We really hope you enjoyed with chapter! And please, please, PLEASE, review!
-Zigostia