Usually I like to smalltalk a little at the beginning of a chapter. But since I always write this once I'm done with the chapter I feel it'd be very inappropriate right now.
I just really need to warn those of you that are sensitive, this chapter holds some really terrible facts which you won't appreciate. Though I think its important that this will never be forgotten and since the interest in what happened is low nowadays this is the perfect way to spread it. I hope you'll cry for them, I didn't, but certainly feel weird.
The following weeks went by without much drama. Yugi had never gotten the result of Umbridge's inspection and he couldn't say he minded.
Draco couldn't do much but accept the fact that Yugi was able to give him detention and that he would be having detention until he finished the book, it took him two weeks of detention. Yugi noticed when Draco had nearly finished the book and he had put his quill down, closely he had studied the Slytherin to see his reaction. A horrified expression had emerged on the blonde's face just a split second, then he had looked up and when he noticed that Yugi was watching him he closed the book forcefully and had retrieved a cold and condescending expression. Draco had handed Yugi the book with one question: "Can I go now?"
Yugi had nodded and watched boy walk out his study. He had been disappointed although he had expected something alike. Atem had comforted Yugi but Yugi had reminded the spirit that this was something that would take time and that he was not giving up yet.
Rebecca was surprised that she hadn't been confronted by anyone about breaking Ginny's broken nose and Rebecca wasn't stupid enough to ask Ginny about it. In the mean while she and Peter were hanging out more frequently, constantly reminding each other that neither of them had any desire to have friends.
When Yugi had heard the two of them he had smiled but not commented, though Rebecca knew him well enough to know what he was thinking and went red. She knew she was proud and no matter what Yugi thought she wasn't going to lose her pride first.
Harry, Ron and Hermione had taken a great distant from Yugi and the teacher understood why of course, Dean kept the same kind of distance though Yugi appreciated that Seamus seemed to be unaware of everything Dean knew.
The game Atem had played on Umbridge had different consequences. The teachers were wary but not unfriendly towards him. Some teachers like McGonagall and Madam Hooch seemed to admire him slightly for what he had done, though they wouldn't show it. Others, like Snape and Trelawney seemed to avoid him at any cost. Of course had Dumbledore confronted him, but he had been fair enough to confront Atem rather than Yugi.
'I understand the need to protect yourself, but please do not repeat such an act in front of a class' was what Dumbledore had said and Atem had nodded, but made no promise. Also had Dumbledore warned him once again for the dangers that were coming from all directions.
Among the students the opinion on what had happened had great variation too. Some students, like Fred and George Weasley had come up to him and openly expressed their gratefulness. Others, like the most first years were at unease in his presence due to what they had heard.
Yugi had gotten into the regular teacher state of mind and was brought out of it again when Dobby appeared one Thursday morning with information that pleased Yugi a lot. Yugi had just made his bed when Dobby entered the room.
"Good day to you Dobby", Yugi said with a smile. He had been waiting for the elf, since he always showed up earlier or later and Yugi knew how disappointed Dobby would be if he wasn't there when the elf showed up.
"Listen Yugi, sir!" Dobby squeaked anxiously and was hopping up and down from sheer excitement.
"I always do", Yugi said as he walked towards the little desk in his room to collect the assignment for the fifth years. He was nearly done with the second world war and he had been pleased with what he had achieved among the students simply by telling them about it.
"Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley have convinced Harry Potter into teaching the other students Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione Granger has spread among trustworthy students that they'll be meeting in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade this weekend!" Dobby rambled hastily, eager to provide Yugi with the information.
Yugi looked up, surprised by the actual importance of the elf's information. Usually it were fun facts or things only elves deemed important that Yugi heard from the elf. This however was very useful information. The smile disappeared from Yugi's face.
/We have to act now/ Yugi told Atem, thinking deeply.
/Yes, we do/ Atem agreed. /Thank you very much, Dobby/ he added and bowed his head towards the elf, /you're information is of great use and Yugi and I have to get to work immediately/
Yugi and Atem conversed much during breakfast and the classes after that. After lunch he went to his next class with a sense of awe in his stomach. He had to play his cards correctly, the students needed to be in the exact state of mind Yugi needed if he wanted to be able to pull his plan through.
He opened the doors to let the students in, with Atem standing right behind him as mental support. They entered the classroom, the mood dim as always. It was this class in particular that had taken the incident between Yugi and Umbridge negative, probably because they had been there.
"Okay", he said loud and clear to call upon attention. "This will be the last lesson regarding the second world war I hope and today we will be covering the final but probably most gruesome parts of the second world war. We will be covering the Concentration camps, nuclear weapons and if we have time the liberation, if not we will take the liberation on Monday."
Several Gryffindors closed their eyes. They had heard enough about the concentration camps to know that it'd be a very unpleasant lesson, like they nearly almost were when covering the subject of the second world war.
"Just to see, how many of you know what a Concentration camp was?"
The ones who had closed their eyes raised their hands, among them were Seamus, Hermione and Dean.
"Okay then, since knowledge of these is nearly nothing I'll start from the beginning. As you all know where Jews, Gipsies, homosexuals and several others loathed, refused the right to live. I've stated this several times before, but never has a single one of you asked what happened to them if caught." Yugi threw a glance towards Malfoy, he knew that Anne Frank hadn't survived, but he didn't know what had happened to her exactly. It was about time to see how corrupted Malfoy was. "If someone was caught they'd be send to either a Concentration or Extermination camp, which are two different things and the family hiding them were often put against the wall and shot, the most common way of executing people."
Yugi certainly had the attention of the entire class now, they listened with expressions of disgusted fascination and terror.
"Already in 1933 were the first camps established, they were aimed for political opponents, mostly communists and could be everything from torture chambers to prisons and older camps. Most of those were chaos, the exception was Dachau which was established by Heinrich Himmler and run by Theodore Eicke. Dachau was well organized and functioned in a way which would later be efficient to all camps. The Gestapo, the political police, did the arresting, the SS managed the camps."
He took a pause to make sure that everyone was taking the information in, but he needn't worry, everyone was listening. Atem was listening too, he didn't know this part of history and he was sitting on the chair behind Yugi's desk with a disgusted expression that matched that of the students. Yugi himself was standing in the middle of the V-formated benches and made sure that his voice didn't get monotone.
"Himmler and Eicke got soon more powerful thanks to Hitler's influence and they both were of the opinion that Germany should be cleared from Jews and others 'undesired'. In 1936/1937 Eicke had two new camps build and these were the two first actual concentration camps, since they were build for that purpose. They were Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald, two very famous Concentration camps nowadays, though not number one."
These were familiar names to Malfoy and he wasn't pleased. Yugi realized that this was rather cruel, but he had to make this get to Malfoy as hard as possible.
The students were starting to frown, Yugi realized that he was going to slow and that they needed to be hit with full force quick if her wanted to keep their attention. That wasn't accurate in all cases, many were still listening interested but Millicent Bulstrode, Lavender Brown and Vincent Crabbe were loosing their concentration.
"The amount of prisoners was increasing faster than anyone had counted on and two more camps were established, this time Flossenburg och Mauthausen. Germany was short of manpower and Himmler saw the solution in the concentration camps, in 1938 he turned Mauthausen and Flossenburg into quarries and Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald started to produce bricks. During that time Jews were just a minor part of the concentration camps, since these were used to scare Jews into moving out of Germany. Now we have reached the beginning of the war, where things that already were terrible turned into hell."
The students that had started to doze of were awoken by Yugi's tone and they suddenly all sat up straight.
"When the war started the amount of prisoners increased fast cause the groups of 'undesired' people were many. Not only Jews and gipsies but also Soviet war-prisoners, Poles and mentally retarded. Many new Concentration camps were build but there were simply too many people they had to deal with and thus started Himmler with a new plan. Many people in the Concentration camps were unable to work, often mentally retarded weren't able too do so and thus they were of no use even in there. Himmler's plan was called Action T4 and was to gas every mentally retarded that entered the camp to death immediately. Of course they didn't stick to mentally retarded people, with Action 14f13 any person unable to work was selected by so called T4 doctors and gassed to death, but also random people were selected to be gassed to death due to their race or political opinion. At least 14 000 died in that way. Since this wasn't enough to stop the abundance of prisoners more plans alike targeted random groups of 'unwanted' people like plan 14f14. With 14f14 the different ways of execution were depending on the camps. In Auschwitz, the most famous concentration camp, they used Zyklon B-gas. These were mass murder techniques that later would develop into the Final Solution."
To Yugi's great satisfaction sat several people with tears in their eyes. Dean Thomas held Tracey Davis hand as she with her other hand repeatedly wiped the tears from her face. Others were sitting with the beginning of anger on their faces, the kind of anger that led to rebellion, the anger Yugi required. Now he had to increase that feeling.
"Hitler needed more weapons because the war hadn't been as successful as he had hoped and thus he turned the concentration camps into war fabrics, creating weapons and other things required for the war in 1942, during the same time the Final Solution was established, Final Solution was to rid entire Europe of Jews. The first Extermination camps were established. Can anyone tell me the difference between Concentration and Extermination camps?"
Seamus raised his hand and straightened his back, but did no effort to wipe the tears from his face. Yugi nodded at him, both to allow him to speak and to acknowledge the strength he showed.
"The concentration camps were places where you were supposed to work, in some rare cases you could be released and everyone was send there, political opponents and common criminals as well as 'undesired' and they were place filled with slave labor, illness, little food and exhaustion. Extermination camps were different, they were for Jews mainly and they killed people systematical, mostly as soon the people arrived in gas chambers, but there were also combined Concentration and Extermination camps who kept a minor part of the new prisoners alive so they could die due to starvation, exhaustion, sickness or by random mass-shooting while working."
Yugi nodded. "Very good, you know a lot about it."
Seamus turned red and looked away. "Grandpa was part of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, sometimes he told us, he didn't want us to ever forget how terrible people could be."
"Can you tell what kind of camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was?" Yugi asked, pushing the Gryffindor further.
"It was combined, was in Poland, it was one of the worst. Most people died there." Seamus looked away and wiped his tears. Yugi and Seamus were equally surprised as Tracey leaned backwards so she could put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. She gave him a weak smile which he returned, grateful but confused. A low fuss erupted among the Slytherins.
/I'm proud of her/ Atem remarked lowly. /She is brave, I think you chose the right person./
"People arrived at the camps, regardless of which kind of camp by train. Many died already during that trip due to dehydration. A Swedish diplomat described what happened in Belzec, which was a Extermination camp that killed everyone that arrived within a couple of hours. With exception of the Sonderkommando, which were workable Jewish men who were allowed to live four months and do the dirty work. The diplomat couldn't interfere but he wanted to alert the rest of the world about what was going on, which is what he did." Yugi picked up a book and opened it at the place the corner of the page was folded. "Let me read this to you: 'Unterscharführer Hackenholt was making great efforts to get the engine running. But it doesn't go. Captain Wirth comes up. I can see he is afraid, because I am present at a disaster. Yes, I see it all and I wait. My stopwatch showed it all, 50 minutes, 70 minutes, and the diesel engine did not start. The people wait inside the gas chambers. In vain. They can be heard weeping, "like in the synagogue", says Professor Pfannenstiel, his eyes glued to a window in the wooden door. Furious, Captain Wirth lashes the Ukrainian prisoner assisting Hackenholt twelve, thirteen times, in the face. After 2 hours and 49 minutes — the stopwatch recorded it all — the diesel started. Up to that moment, the people shut up in those four crowded chambers were still alive, four times 750 persons, in four times 45 cubic meters. Another 25 minutes elapsed. Many were already dead, that could be seen through the small window, because an electric lamp inside lit up the chamber for a few moments. After 28 minutes, only a few were still alive. Finally, after 32 minutes, all were dead. Dentists then hammered out gold teeth, bridges, and crowns. In the midst of them stood Captain Wirth. He was in his element, and, showing me a large can full of teeth, he said: "See, for yourself, the weight of that gold! It's only from yesterday, and the day before. You can't imagine what we find every day — dollars, diamonds, gold. You'll see for yourself!'"
Parvati Patill sat with her face buried in her hands and Lavender Brown held an arm around the girl with a blank expression on her face wich told Yugi that she was refusing to progress the information. Hermione Granger cried too and Ron Weasley didn't seem to know what to do, eventually he put a hand on Hermione's back while Harry was more comfortable with comforting the clever girl as a flaming anger burned behind his glasses. Malfoy was pale, now that he knew what exactly had happened to the girl and her family which he had read about he was shaking with disbelieve. Daphne Greengrass was crying too, something Gregory Goyle was very uncomfortable with. Blaise Zabini looked confused, Yugi assumed that he was the first to make the connection.
"Many of these people were told that they'd be deloused and the SS working in the camps played that theatre good, really good. They small talked about camp life, they helped the young and the older to undress, gave them even towels in some cases, they even went in with them untill the door would close. Someone was always waiting outside the door as if he'd been receiving them after they'd 'showered'."
"How could they all fall for that?" Hermione wondered horrified.
"They didn't, already after they left the train he SS removed the ones who would warn the rest of the prisoners and shot them; and then there were the people that realized that there was nothing they could do. Those people could joke with the children while mortal fear was visible in their own eyes. Many guessed while in there. Many mothers tried to hide their children under their clothes, there were SS walking around the changing rooms just to prevent that. Mothers were encouraged to take their children with them. It is said that the people in there didn't suffer, they died before feeling anything. But does any of you think that matters? Do you think pain could bypass the fear they felt, many went hysteric while undressing, those were taking outside and shot."
Yugi made a shrugging gesture. He had to take a break himself if he didn't want to start crying. The students were in shock, each and every single one of them. Atem was too.
"Are you all still listening or is better if we take a break?" he asked.
"Can't we finish this now?" Parvati wondered without looking up. "I don't want to know that I'll be entering this class next Monday to know that I'll be hearing the continuation of this."
"I agree", Tracey said and several others nodded.
"Okay then, but listen", Yugi said and the ones who had been staring out the window or down at their benches looked at him. "After they died they had to get rid of the corpses, which they did by burning at that point since burrying them took too much time. Though in Bergen-Belsen they burried people in mass graves, a girl named Anne Frank lays there", Yugi said and looked directly at Malfoy. "She died from illness, a typhus epidemic got hold of the camp in the winter of 44. Many died, Anne and her older sister Margot were nothing to the SS that burried them. They disappeared among the other dead faces."
Malfoy's expression shifted between an anger turned directly towards Yugi and devastation. He didn't cry, but he was close. He narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Crabbe and Goyle were watching him.
Yugi just carried on with a voice filled with emotion, many different emotions. Bitterness, determination and sadness were the strongest to color his tone "First dentist checked for golden teeth and things alike and then the Sonderkommando took over. The heads of the dead persons were shaved so the stench would be less when they were burned. The Sonderkommando's worked with surprising diligence, according to Hackenholt, although they knew that the same fate was waiting for them. It happened that a Sonderkommando encountered the corpse of a relative and although they were visibly affected by it, no problems ever occure due to it. There is an example of a Sonderkommando who encountered his dead wife, he didn't react at all, which is probably the greatest of reactions." Yugi took a deep breath. "There is so much more to these camps, like Josef Mengele also known as the Angel of Death, who did medical experiments on prisoners, like trying to change the eye color from brown to blue by injecting ink, which often resulted in blindness. He preferred doing experiments on dwarfs and twins. Some of these experiments involved vivisection and operations in which he randomly took away different parts of the body. Many of his operations and experiments were done without anesthesia, turning it into torture. He also injected chloroform directly in the hearts of victims so he could work with fresh corpses."
Loud protests erupted in the class, they were filled with disgust and disbelieve. None of them seemed to know what to do with their hands or where to look. Most of them settled for comforting their neighbors and stared at their benches but when Yugi told them about Josef Mengele they were all watching him with a sort of plea in their eye, a plea that wanted him to say that it wasn't true.
Yugi sighed. "Quiet! It is true and nothing I can say can change that. I could deny it, make it disappear in history but the reason I am here is actually to throw history in your face and make you feel it. This you'll never forget, cause it is something that fills you with grief and anger. You hate to hear that some prisoners were given salt water to see if they could live on that, they went insane, to the point of licking newly cleaned floors just to get some mort of fluid in their system. You hate to hear this, but you must. All of this wasn't even a mistake, this was evil. Now there is only one more thing I want to tell you before you can all leave."
The students nodded, some were still trying to stop the flood of tears and others had clenched their jaws with anger.
"But first, which teacher do you have after the break?" he asked no one in particular.
"McGonagall", Neville Longbottom said and repeatedly wiped his eyes.
"Professor Flitwick", Tracey said and did the same as Neville.
"Okay, I'll have to talk with them", Yugi said. "As for the thing I wanted to say. I taught you this for one reason only. Look at what happened then and I pray that you all do so with anger, sadness and disgust, I hope that none of you is inhumane enough not to care. If so … that's a very lost soul, a soul that once would be ripped away to prevent it from growing stronger. Then when you look back, compare it to what is going on now. I suppose that you all know what I mean but still … You Slytherins, your house is so well known for its Death Eaters, can you see your parents, your family as SS and Gestapo and be proud of them? You Gryffindors, said to have brave hearts, where are those brave hearts? How many of you refuse to believe that this is happening until it's too late?
Let me just put it this way: Theodore Nott, could you kill Hermione Granger, someone you've known ever since you started school? Ron Weasley, could you burn her corpse without reacting to it?"
/Yugi?/ Atem wondered alarmed as horrified expressions appeared on the students faces.
Yugi ignored both the Pharaoh and the expression of the students. "I think you can."
Loud protests erupted throughout the classroom once again and Yugi let them hold a while. It was Zabini who didn't protest at once but waited until the protests had faded to ask: "Why, Professor?"
"In the U.S they did a test on university students that learned medicine, though these students didn't know that. A certain amount of students signed up and each individual had to enter a room with a lot of fancy instruments. There was a Professor there that told them that a volunteer had signed up for a test in which they'd see how much electricity you could send through a humans body and what it did to that human. All the students had to do was increase the strength of the chocks and push the button. Now the students couldn't see the man, but they could hear him. They pushed the button a first time and nothing happened, they increased power and pushed a second time and they could hear a little whimper, so they went on. Eventually the man was screaming with agony bypassing most of yours imagination and yet the students carried on pushing the button whenever the professor told them to."
Atem and the rest of the class were frowning, uncertain about where this was going.
"Of course this was all fake, the man was an actor and the instruments weren't real, though that doesn't matter. Each and every single student went on until they had reached far over deadly amounts, all of them. When they were asked why all they could say was: 'Because he told us to.' People shut down after a while, become zombie-like. They just do as them is told without thinking, it was what these students did! It was what happened in the Concentration and Extermination camps. This part of survival instinct is vital to us, yet if someone knows how to use it they have far more control over one than if they use the Imperius curse! I hope this knowledge is of any use to you when pure warfare falls upon us, cause heed my words, it is nearby and this is what will happen. Class dismissed."
The students didn't leave the classroom with a lot of noise and talk but sat still, deep in thought. Eventually Neville Longbottom got up and left the room quietly, staring at the ground in deep thoughts. It took a while but the rest followed his example.
Luckily for Yugi Tracey was one of the last people to leave. "Tracey Davis, I want a word with you", he said so that as few people as possible would hear.
She looked surprised and not very pleased, but obeyed. When the last person, Dean Thomas, had left and closed the doors he sat down on his desk. Yugi liked sitting on furniture you weren't supposed to sit on. Desks, tables, armrests and kitchen dressers, they all sufficed.
"Miss Davis", Yugi started. "You once stated that even some of you would fight against him. Did you refer to yourself or were it empty words?"
Tracey looked at him and thought a couple of minutes. "Someone needs to change what's going on. Professor Umbridge doesn't prepare us for anything, the Ministry has put its head in the sand like an ostrich and people are attacked and disappear at random. It's scary, I'm scared but I believe ..." She took another pause. "... I believe I'd fight nonetheless once hell comes crashing down. Why?"
"A rebellion is starting this weekend. A more skilled teacher will teach the students willing to oppose Umbridge to prepare them for when Voldemort comes out in the open." Yugi was disturbed when Tracey winced violently at the name. "Why do you fear the name?" he wondered slightly annoyed. "A name is just a name, if I say You-Know-Who or Voldemort do you see anything different? By now the name You-Know-Who should indulge more fear than the name Voldemort does."
"Yes, Professor, I know", Tracey sighed. "It's just not wise to say the name. My parents have always taught me that. See, in the previous war there was a taboo on the name, speaking it would summon Death Eaters immediately", she explained.
Yugi was very disturbed by that fact and bit his lip. "I better take heed to that warning. Thank you, if you're uncomfortable with it I won't speak the name again", he said.
"It's fine, but what about the rebellion?" she wondered sincerely interested, in the good way.
"So you'd be willing to join a student group that will go behind Umbridge's back to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Yugi wondered. "Despite the fact the probably overall distrust and dislike will be direct towards you. I assume you realize that you'll be the only Slytherin attending the group."
"I can do that. It doesn't matter what they think, what matters is that we can do defend ourselves!" she said affronted.
"Good, that's the attitude I desired", Yugi said satisfied. "It was Hermione Grangers idea to start this rebellion and she wants Harry Potter to teach you all. She has spread the message among people she thought to be trustworthy and to make sure that Umbridge won't find out. Now I am telling you. I'm offering you the chance to proof that they can't automatically assume that you Slytherins will side with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, if you fail that chance you'll ruin it for everyone in your house. I'm taking a huge gamble and if you would go to their meeting this weekend you'll be tasked with something very tough. Think about it thoroughly, you should know I did."
"Professor", she said fairly quickly. "That class you taught today was amazing, terrible yet amazing. I'd be a coward if I'd simply watch the Wizarding World slip into something like that without trying to do anything about it simply because I'm afraid of what others would think. I'm going to fight and I'm going to stand opposite Voldemort, all I need to know is where the meeting is."
That she spoke the name was enough to convince Yugi of Tracey's genuine desire to support the rebellion that Hermione Granger was attempting to start. "Very good. The meeting is at the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade this weekend. Please don't tell anyone I told you about this, I'd like to stay anonymous in my slight attempts to change the course of where this is heading, it'd be much easier for me."
Tracey nodded. "I can understand that, I believe."
"Now you should go before someone wonders where you disappeared to", Yugi said with a smile. "Be careful."
Tracey nodded again. "I will. Thank you very much Professor, I believe you're doing more than you realize." With those words she hurried out of the classroom towards her next class.
/Well Yugi, finally you're starting to believe the best about people again and for once it paid of rather than that you got yourself in trouble/ Atem said and Yugi could simply hear the teasing smile in his voice.
"That's not funny", he said, not the least amused but Atem didn't care. "Ah, well, now we only have to tell Rebecca and then make use of my skill in dealing with tugs in alleys."
/You're going to crash the meeting?/ Atem wondered.
"Yes, but they won't know that", Yugi said and flashed a smile at the empty room. "I believe I'm going to need those black robes."
Harry was sure that Professor McGonagall got one of the greatest surprises in her life when she saw an entire group of fifth years coming late nearly all with clear traces of tears on their faces. Some of them had done an attempt to hide the fact that they'd been crying but McGonagall noticed it at once.
"Dear Lord", she said confused and worried. "What's happened to you all?"
It was Neville who was gathered enough to say: "Professor Muto will explain to you. Some of us are still in shock so don't expect to much out of us today."
The Hufflepuffs they had Transfiguration with erupted into loud questions but not one of the Gryffindors was alert enough to answer or even care about the other students.
"This is unacceptable!" McGonagall protested. "I believe I'll have to talk to Dumbledore about this. No Professor should leave any student in this kind of state. Just look at you all!"
What McGonagall said was understandable Harry noticed. Ron had his face buried in his hands and was clearly very taken by the example Professor Muto had set. The mental image of Ron dealing with Hermione's dead corpse the way that had been described was something that he was sure to haunt his dreams. Yet Ron was in clear shock due to the very same thing. He had been very pale ever since Professor Muto had started quoting the notes of the Swedish diplomat but he had gradually begun growing green when he heard the example the odd teacher had set.
Parvati Patill was nearly hysterical, she couldn't stop crying at all and she soon gave up the attempts. She cried silently in her bench and Harry wouldn't have been surprised if she'd started screaming, he wouldn't have blamed her. He felt like doing so himself.
Lavender who was sitting next to Parvati was of little comfort to her friend. She was staring straight forward with an expression of devastation and she kept whispering: "I didn't know that, I didn't know that."
Seamus was sitting with a murderous expression on his face that made sure that everyone avoided him but Harry supposed that it was Seamus's way of dealing with everything he'd just heard. After all, Seamus family had been part of the entire story. Harry could compensate with him just as well as with Parvati, the two feelings clashed within him.
Neville had an expression of hopelessness but also of pride on his face. It was a bitter pride that Harry found unnerving but than he remembered what Moody had told him about Neville's parents. They had gone insane after being tortured by a Death Eater named Bellatrix Lestrange. They had fought to stop things like these they had just been told about and Harry suddenly realized that Neville was thinking just as much about the families hiding the 'undesired' as about those who ended up in the Concentration or Extermination camps. Those families who'd sacrificed their lives and who were only briefly mentioned. Certainly Harry understood why Professor Muto hadn't mentioned these families more clearly, but still... The feeling of emptiness within Harry increased even further.
Dean seemed to be the one of them who was coping best. He had a grim expression but his mind seemed to be somewhere else. Harry could have sworn that he'd been holding Tracey's hand throughout the class and Harry understood that his thoughts were there, Tracey had seemed devastated when she heard Professor Muto tell about the horrible things that had happened. Harry found the relation between the two very interesting and he hoped that they'd be okay. As far as he knew there had never been a relation between a Gryffindor and Slytherin, at least not open and he was sure it would lead to trouble.
Hermione was pale too, like most Gryffindors in the class were. She whispered something very low and Harry was sure that what she was saying was pure fact on something on NEWT level. Something to keep her mind in order so she wouldn't collapse, but she clearly found it difficult. Hermione was simply in deep shock, just like Ron.
How he was doing himself Harry didn't know. What he did know was that he, like Neville, was one of the few able to speak. "No", he said. "Don't go complain to Dumbledore. All Professor Muto did was throw fact in our face, we needed it."
McGonagall looked very shocked and disbelieving and for a moment Harry was uncertain about how he looked. If he looked anything like Seamus he wouldn't blame her for questioning his opinion on the matter. Yet Neville came to his aid: "He's right Professor. We might have taken it hard now, but what he did was good. I'm willing to sleep terrible a couple of nights to have heard what I just heard. I didn't know and I'm so glad that it changed. I gained something Professor and I'm sure I am not the only one. He could just have made the little difference that is required." With these words Neville went back to his brooding, completely unaddressable.
Dean was the only one who had registered what had been said too. "There is nothing to add to it. Professor Muto doesn't aim for what any other teacher aims for and uses his own methods and although they are harsh, they're the most effective I've ever seen."
Professor McGonagall just shook her head. "I'm looking forward to that explanation", she said, her tone somewhere between disbelieve and fear. Her normally stern face was now showing worry beyond measure.
Harry who had been keeping a close eye on Ron wasn't surprised when Ron just stood up and walked out of the classroom.
Professor McGonagall was about to protest but Harry was faster. "Let him go Professor, he's in shock and especially he has every reason to be, I believe he won't be able to do much here anyway." The Gryffindor head of house did not protest to Harry's great surprise, but she seemed very out of balance all the sudden. She sat down on the chair of one of the free benches and left Dean and Harry to take care of the shocked Gryffindors.
Harry swiftly moved over to Hermione, ignored her whispers and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. She jumped in surprise and turned around quickly. "Oh, Harry", she said her voice filled with relief. Harry didn't want to know who she'd been expecting.
"You should go after Ron, he took it very hard. I believe he blames himself for something that hasn't ever been done."
Hermione's gaze lit up with understanding and she stood up hastily. "He's such an idiot", she said with a tone that Harry couldn't describe in any other way but loving. She quickly left the classroom.
The Hufflepuffs had fallen silent and they were watching the Gryffindors with awe written on their faces. They looked scared for understandable reasons.
Dean was with Lavender and Parvati, clearly he hadn't dared dealing with his best friend yet. Dean was trying to get a reaction out of Lavender but he didn't succeed. He left the girl to stare as he checked upon Parvati. "I'd ask you if you're okay, but that obviously is a stupid question. Do you need to go to the hospital wing or something?" he asked gently, hiding his grim expression.
"No, I don't", Parvati sobbed through her tears. "I just want to see Padma."
Understanding dawned upon Dean. "You have a twin." Harry put a hand on his mouth, he hadn't thought about that either. Dean continued calmly, "I didn't think about that, I'm sorry. You know where she is?"
"She's having Charms with the Slytherins right now", Parvati sobbed.
"Okay" Dean said, still calm in a way Harry couldn't help but admire deeply. "We'll first bring Lavender to the hospital wing, then we'll go find Professor Flitiwck. I'm sure he has the same problem with the Slytherins right now." Dean and Harry simultaneously threw McGonagall a look but the teacher just nodded and started to instruct the Hufflepuffs.
Neville was clearly sticking to what he said because he followed McGonagalls instructions and since there was no way that Harry was going to approach Seamus when he was wearing such an expression there was no other option left for him but to join the class, there wasn't a chance in the world that he'd go see Madam Pomfrey now.
Suddenly he wasn't looking up towards the meeting this weekend anymore. He'd prepare as many students as he could so they'd be able to fight whatever was approaching, he'd let them know what he knew. If he could gather some inspiration from Professor Muto he was sure that he'd be fine.
Just for your information, this was all fact. I didn't make anything that Yugi said in class up. You can google it, just be forewarned for the pictures if you do. This chapter was probably worse for me to write than for you to read.
Anyhow, I just hope you realize that this message that Yugi tried to bring forth towards the students I tried to bring to you. The test happened too, something that's good to know. The simple knowledge of it could make a difference when you're put in the same situation as the university students.
Just a note, child soldiers operate that way too. It's terrible.
So, I know that you're probably all down right now, I know I am. It was a nice way to spend new years day, learning exactly how the Concentration and Extermination camps worked with a dead girls diary by my side. Yet I do pray you'll review to brighten my day and give me your views on whatever.
