Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters, places, and ideas belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers, not me.
by Auror5
While the Sorting Ceremony was being carried out, Lily and Fiona engaged in an animated discussion about Snape, Rosier, Nott, and Gothic.
"CRAVEN, ELIJAH."
"Oh, Fi, it's Daisy's brother! Let's see which house he's sorted into."
"GRYFFINDOR."
Lily, Fiona, and the rest of the Gryffindors applauded loudly.
"CRAVEN, THORA."
About a minute later, the Sorting hat yelled, "RAVENCLAW."
After Thora took her seat at the table across from the Gryffindors, she and Elijah waved at each other. Shortly afterwards, Elijah decided to make gruesome faces at the older boys sitting directly across from him. He eventually attracted the attention of James and Sirius. James and Sirius furtively glanced around, and then bowed their heads. When they looked up, their faces were totally devoid of any features aside from a pair of large, lurid, orange eyes. Lily and Fiona gasped.
"AAAAAARGGGHHHHH." Elijah clapped his hands over his eyes.
Silence befell the Great Hall.
"Who screamed?" inquired Professor McGonagall with annoyance.
Daisy reluctantly stood. "Erm, it was my brother. He, erm, sat on a pin."
Several students laughed.
"Let's continue the sorting, and, please, no more outbursts."
Daisy hit Elijah.
"Ow! What did you do that for, Daisy?"
"You humiliated me in front of the entire school!" Daisy hissed.
"But those two boys over there scared the crap out of me."
"So? That should teach you not to make horrible faces at people!"
Lily and Fiona resumed their speculation about Snape, Rosier, Nott, and Gothic.
"MADLEY, JOHN."
"Fi, this just occurred to me."
"What?"
"HUFFLEPUFF."
"Is it possible that they were talking about becoming Death Eaters?"
Fiona frowned in thought. "Yes, it's possible, but would they talk about it so openly?"
"But they weren't talking about it openly, really, because they never mentioned You-Know-Who, Death Eaters, or anything."
"If they were talking about it, that would make Rosier, Wilkes, Erstwhilst, and that awful Nott and Gothic Death Eaters along with those other people they were talking about, Sax or somebody."
"It would also mean, Fi, that Severus is thinking about becoming a Death Eater."
"He would make a good one with his long, greasy hair and generally foul appearance."
On that note, Lily and Fiona turned to listen to the rest of the Sorting Ceremony.
After the sorting, Professor Dumbledore rose. "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!"
The Great Hall rang with applause.
"Now on to business: Quidditch tryouts will occur during the second week of the term. If you are interested in becoming a member of your house Quidditch team, see Madam Hooch.
"A reminder: the Forbidden Forest and the Whomping Willow are off limits. Off limits meaning that they are forbidden. Disobey, and we may never see you again or we may see you in the hospital wing in the case of the Whomping Willow."
Professor Dumbledore's expression became grave. "For those who have not been informed, a few weeks ago, Lord Voldemort..."
A few students screamed upon hearing the name.
Professor Dumbledore resumed. "Lord Voldemort led several hundred dementors to Diagon Alley. From the apparation point, they broke off into splinter groups to apparate into secondary alleys. The dementors were led there to administer the Kiss to the innocent."
An expression of mingled sorrow and disgust appeared on Professor Dumbledore's face.
"The Kiss was administered to thirty-three people, six of whom were children. All six of those children were students of Hogwarts. The six students were Serena Moon of Gryffindor, Aidan McConnell of Ravenclaw, Dahlia Mackey of Slytherin, Paul Switches of Hufflepuff, Isaac Towson of Hufflepuff, and Jeffrey Danes of Gryffindor. They will spend the rest of their lives in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
"Let us take a moment to remember those whose souls were stolen from them."
After a few minutes, Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I have one last announcement before we partake of the feast.
"Twenty-three students were suspended for the first two weeks of the term for improper use of magic. I have warned you that magic is not to be used outside of school unless it is for defence or for practicing lessons. The Ministry of Magic's manpower is overtaxed with handling the present crises. The hospitals have been more crowded than usual due to serious injuries at the hands of Lord Voldemort. I will remind you now and at the end of the term: no magic is to be done outside of school except for defence and practicing lessons.
"Odyssey! Lancelot! Zeus! Sherbet!"
***
About a month had passed since the start of the term. Surprisingly, Severus Snape joined the Slytherin Quidditch Team as a Beater.
Most students actively disliked Defence Against the Dark Arts for Professor Konrad had instituted a new policy. His new policy stated that all assignments and exams would not only be checked for correct answers, but would also be checked for grammar, cleanliness, spelling, and punctuation. To worsen matters, his new policy stated that all exams would have a thirty-minute time limit. Any questions that were left unanswered would be marked as incorrect. On the first exam, no student received a grade higher than average, with many failing.
The Gryffindors had Potions with the Slytherins, and the first thing they discovered was that Professor Chloride favoured Snape. Instead of calling him "monkey" as the rest of the students, she referred to him as "pet," and treated him like a show pupil. The students grudgingly acknowledged that Severus Snape was the best when it came to Potions.
All of the fourth years had Duelling lessons together, taught by Professors Flitwick and McGonagall, on Wednesdays. Each student was paired up with someone who did not share the same house. So far, Lily duelled with Raina Ridgecrest of Hufflepuff, Catherine Indigo of Ravenclaw, and Boris Henchman of Slytherin.
By far, Lily and Fiona's favourite new lessons were Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, which they both found fun and intellectually challenging.
***
One evening, on a Saturday in early November, Samantha burst into the room, and startled Lily, Fiona, Daisy, and Ivy.
"Oh dear, guess what I heard? Guess!"
Lily and the rest of the girls stared at Samantha, who appeared flushed with excitement.
"Come on. Make a guess!"
"Erm, you won a photography contest?" Lily ventured.
"No! Think closer to home, as in Hogwarts."
"You saw Konrad kissing that really pretty exchange professor from Argentina?"
"No, Fiona, but you're close. It has to do with kissing. Guess who was caught kissing a sixth year?"
"Is it someone we know?" said Ivy.
"Yes! He's in a few of our lessons. Come on! Guess!"
"Well, gives us a hint," suggested Daisy.
"All right. He's in our Potions and Transfiguration lessons."
"We only have those lessons with the Slytherins. Was it Rosier?" said Lily.
"No!"
"Wilkes?" Fiona offered.
"No!"
"Oh, come now. I can't imagine any girl wanting to kiss Henchman, so it must have been Snape," Ivy stated.
"Yes!"
"Honestly! Who would want to kiss Snape? And did you say a sixth year?" Fiona said, incredulously.
Samantha sat down. "Let me tell you. Catherine Indigo just told me, and she said that her sister, Camille, heard it from Jorkins. Jorkins followed Snape last night without him knowing it, of course. She happened to overhear Snape mention to one of his unpleasant friends that he was going to meet some sixth year girl behind the greenhouses after supper. Her name is Morgana Florence, and she's in Jorkins' Charms and History of Magic lessons.
"Jorkins followed Snape behind the greenhouses, and hid behind a tree. She watched him and Florence kiss and become, erm, quite friendly with each other. After a little while, Jorkins left because she didn't want Filch to catch her for being out after curfew.
"This afternoon and during supper, Jorkins blabbed about what she saw to everyone she came into contact with. You know how she is. Anyway, after supper, Snape got wind of it, and cornered her in a corridor. He then put some kind of hex on her. Now, her tongue hangs from her mouth, and she slobbers, pants, whines, and barks like a dog!"
They all burst into laughter at the image of Jorkins walking around with her tongue hanging from her mouth.
Lily, laughing and holding her stomach, exclaimed, "Well, th-that sh-should t-teach her not to o-open her big mou-mouth!"
During the following two weeks, the students teased Snape, Jorkins, and Florence unmercifully until Professor Dumbledore put a stop to it all.
***
During the last week of November, Professor McGonagall announced the Yule Ball before Transfiguration ended. After lessons, Lily and Fiona discussed the Yule Ball while on the way to Arithmancy with Professor Vector. Before they entered the room, Oliver caught Lily's attention. Fiona proceeded on without Lily.
"Lily, could you hold on a second?"
"All right. What is it?"
His face reddened slightly. "Do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?"
"Erm." Feeling uncomfortable, Lily hesitated before replying. She did not wish to attend the Ball with him, but was unsure how to tell him without hurting his feelings.
"Please?"
Professor Vector stuck her head out the door to remind them that class would begin in two minutes.
"Please say yes."
"Erm, all right," Lily responded, feeling miserable and very disappointed with herself.
"Thanks!" Oliver grinned, and buoyantly ran into the room with Lily slowly following in his wake.
"No running in class, Mr. Arbuckle," chided Professor Vector.
On their way to Defence Against the Dark Arts, after Arithmancy, Damien Wilkes asked Fiona to the Yule Ball. Fiona shouted for all to hear, "NO! I will not be seen with a stinking Slytherin! Do you understand?"
Wilkes turned beet red and glowered at Fiona before stalking off.
At the end of lessons for the day, Lily heard James calling her while she and Fiona were on their way to the common room. Feeling miserable, Lily stopped and turned. Fiona walked a little ways ahead to wait for Lily.
"Hi!"
"Hello," Lily replied with an overwhelming sinking feeling.
"Will you go to the Ball with me?"
Feeling absolutely awful, she responded, "Erm, I'm sorry. I'm already going with someone else."
James' face fell with disappointment. "Oh." He turned and walked in a direction opposite of the common room with his shoulders slumped.
Lily, with tears in her eyes, caught up with Fiona.
"Are you all right?" Fiona gazed at Lily, and noted the tears spilling down her cheeks.
"No. I'm not all right," Lily cried. "I'm so stupid."
The next day, Lily found it difficult to face James, and therefore, avoided him whenever possible. After Potions, Severus Snape cornered her to ask if she would attend the Yule Ball with him. She informed him that she was already going with someone else.
"Who are you going with?" Severus demanded with teeth gritted together, and while staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Oliver. Oliver Arbuckle."
His lips thinned, and a greedy expression briefly passed across his face. "You can do better than that, Lily," he sneered, and walked away.
By the end of the day, Fiona had rejected every boy who asked her to the Ball, including Anthony Zephyr, a Ravenclaw. Lily was beginning to think that Fiona had gone mad.
During the following week, after Care of Magical Creatures, Toby Brentwood of Hufflepuff asked, while blushing furiously, if Lily would attend the Yule Ball with him. He was crestfallen when she informed him that she was going with someone else. After supper, on the same day, Boris Henchman, with face scarlet, asked Lily to accompany him to the Yule Ball. He walked away, nearly in tears, when he learned that she was already committed. Lily thought, guiltily, that she would not want to be seen with Henchman because of his looks. He had very light blonde, closely cropped hair on his pumpkin shaped head; large, bulging, pale grey eyes; a long, pointed nose; and large, clownish red lips.
By mid-December, Fiona had rejected every boy that had asked her to the Yule Ball. Lily finally tried to inject some reality into Fiona.
"Fi, you're not making any sense. Why are you telling every boy that you will not attend the Ball with him? What was wrong with Anthony?"
"I don't want to go with any of them."
"Why?"
"Because I just don't."
"Is there anyone you would like to go with?"
"Yes. Maybe."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Lily sighed. "All right, Fi, don't run to me crying that you didn't get a date to the Yule Ball."
"All right. I'll go with the next boy that asks."
"That's the spirit!"
At the end of the week, a tall, skinny sixth year by the name of Darren Borgin asked Fiona to the Ball, and she accepted.
On the night of the Yule Ball, Lily and the girls were in the room making last minute preparations. Lily wore a violet dress robe, and her hair was straight and sleek, falling across one shoulder. Fiona wore a deep pink dress robe, and her hair was worn in an elaborate braid wrapped around her head. When the girls finished their toiletries, and after Samantha had taken their photograph, they walked downstairs to the common room. Elijah and his best friend, Christopher McDonald, whistled at them.
Lily and Ivy waited in the common room while Fiona, Samantha, and Daisy left to meet their dates. It suddenly occurred to Lily that she had no idea who Ivy was attending the Ball with.
"Ivy, who are you going with?" Lily said, curiously.
Ivy smiled shyly. "Remus."
Lily's mouth dropped open in surprise.
At that moment, Oliver and Remus walked into the common room. Oliver wore a dress robe of the colour midnight blue, and Remus wore a dark green one.
"Are you girls ready?" Oliver said.
"Yes, we are," Lily replied while grinning at Ivy.
Once in the Great Hall, they found places to sit. Lily and Oliver shared a table with Craig and Sasha and some of their friends. Remus and Ivy joined James, Sirius, and Peter at another table. Lily observed several Slytherins such as Rosier, Avery, Wilkes, and Nott wearing identical black dress robes with a green serpent insignia just below the left shoulder. Lily spotted Severus with Tara Yolke, and wondered which one at the table full of Slytherins was Florence. Her eyes were drawn to the table where James was seated next to Tamara Green. Sirius' date seemed to be Patricia Allspice, a Hufflepuff, who appeared unable to stop giggling. She did not recognise the mousy brown haired girl Peter was with.
Frank Longbottom and a pleasantly plump, pretty girl with dark, fluffy hair and dimples strolled over to where Lily was seated.
"Hi, Lily! This is Diana, Diana Pheasant, my uncommonly lovely girlfriend. Diana, this is Lily."
"Hello. How do you do?" Diana offered Lily her hand.
Lily shook Diana's hand. "Hi. Erm, pleased to meet you. Frank told me about you."
"He did? Well, I do hope that whatever he said was nice."
"It was, my sweet treacle tart." Frank grinned.
"Oh, erm, this is Oliver Arbuckle. Oliver, this is Frank Longbottom. You've seen Frank around in the common room, right?"
"Yes," Oliver mumbled.
"We better leave now, to find some seats. 'Bye, Lily!" Frank and Diana strolled away.
Lily watched everyone milling about in the Great Hall waiting for the feast to begin. Her eyes kept darting over to steal glances at James with Tamara.
"Lily, how was the Ball last year?" Oliver inquired.
"It was great! Hex2 played."
"Really? They're my favourite band! I hope Dumbledore asked them back for this year."
A few minutes later, the feast began. After it ended, they rose, and the tables cleared the floor. Professor Dumbledore announced, to Oliver's extreme delight, that Hex2 would provide the music for the Yule Ball. Hex2 started to play a slow, melancholy number as the Head Boy and Girl stepped out onto the floor with their partners. Virgil Newton, Head Boy, and his girlfriend Renee Bedford, and Alanna Hillman, Head Girl, and her boyfriend, Bartholomew Zill, danced dreamlike to the music while other couples slowly joined them on the floor.
"Would you like to dance?" Oliver said.
"Sure."
While dancing with Oliver, Lily suddenly realised that he had become quite handsome, and she spied other girls furtively glancing over at him. After dancing to the next six songs, Lily and Oliver decided to take a break from the floor. While sipping butterbeer, Lily watched James with Tamara, and thought that they did not seem to be enjoying each other's company very much. I wish I had said, no, Lily thought, and, just then, James gazed over at her from across the hall seemingly right into her eyes. Lily blushed, and glanced down at the table.
"Are you all right?" Oliver said with a concerned expression on his face.
"Yes," murmured Lily.
They resumed dancing once they finished their butterbeers. After dancing to another ten numbers, Lily and Oliver exited the Great Hall for a bit of fresh air. Outdoors, they strolled about the grounds, and chatted amicably with the other couples they met. They inadvertently stumbled across Anders Urchinn and Raina Ridgecrest kissing behind a rose bush.
"Sorry," Oliver responded when Urchinn and Ridgecrest noticed him and Lily.
Lily giggled.
Oliver took Lily by the hand, and they slowly headed back in the direction of the castle.
"Lily, may I kiss you?"
"What?"
"Will you let me kiss you? We can go someplace where no one will see us."
"I don't think so."
Oliver appeared very disappointed and hurt. "All right then." He let go of her hand.
They returned to the Great Hall, and watched the other couples for a while. Lily sneaked peeks at Oliver and observed that his face appeared rigid with anger.
"Erm, do you want to dance? This is a good song," Lily haltingly ventured.
"No," he replied, curtly.
"Oh. All right."
They sat through several more numbers, and watched the other couples dance. Lily eventually resigned herself to the fact that Oliver had no intention of dancing with her ever again, at least not at this Yule Ball.
"Erm, I'm going to get a butterbeer. Do you want one?" she said.
"No."
Lily sighed, and walked over to the refreshment area. On her way there, James stopped her.
"Lily."
Lily felt slightly awkward. "Hullo."
"Will you have this dance with me? It's the last one. Please?"
She smiled shyly. "All right."
He took her by the hand, and led her to the floor. While dancing to the slow, melodic number, Lily noted that he danced much better than he did at the concert, and wondered if he had taken lessons.
"Lily," he whispered in her ear.
"Hmm?"
"Will you go to the Yule Ball with me next year?"
"Yes."
***
Late at night, on the second of January, Lily was stretched out on a rug, in front of a roaring fire, reading Arianna of Hogsmeade Gables and eating Honeyduke's Finest Chocolate Truffles, a gift from James. Suddenly, she heard a sharp tapping at the window. She jumped up, and cautiously pushed the curtains aside to stare out into the dark. It was Capricorn! Lily quickly unlatched the window, and opened it wide. Capricorn flew in on a gust of cold wind and a spray of ice pellets. She fought with the curtains billowing into the room, and struggled to close the window. Finally, she was able to get it shut and latched.
"Lily, is everything all right down there?"
"Yes, Dad! It was just Fiona's owl!"
"When you are done with whatever you are doing down there, come upstairs and go to bed! It's late!"
"All right!"
"Could I get some sleep around here?" Petunia yelled shrilly from upstairs.
Capricorn made himself comfortable on the rug in front of the fire. Lily sat down besides him, and removed the parchment attached to his leg.
"Poor thing, you must be chilly," Lily crooned to the owl. "I'm sure that you do not want to go outside anytime soon, do you?"
Capricorn stared at her with a "what do you think?" expression on his face.
Lily opened the parchment, and read.
Lily,
Oh dear! You must read this! It's so awful!
Love,
Fi
p.s.
Don't forget to be at our house at 10 o'clock so that we can make it to King's Cross on time.
Carnage Rings in The New Year
-Rita Skeeter, Assistant Correspondent
Bloody, gory, revolting, and nauseating are just a few of the words that describe what occurred in King Arthur's Square at the dawn of the New Year.
About one hundred wizards and witches gathered in King Arthur's Square on the night of New Year's Eve to bid farewell to the old and welcome in the new. Unfortunately, the celebration turned into the worst nightmare imaginable for the revellers when the clock in the square chimed midnight. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and a number of Death Eaters, according to the few survivors, apparated on the perimeter of the square at the precise moment the clock began to chime. Panic quickly ensued, as the crowd attempted to escape, but You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters had blocked all access from the square.
I approached the small group of survivors while gingerly stepping over pools of blood and gore. The only person able to speak coherently was Olivia Perks, whose children and husband were huddled, in a dazed shock, next to her. It was obvious that Olivia wore the trousers in the Perks' home. I asked Mrs. Perks to try to tell me calmly and clearly what transpired after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Death Eaters arrived.
"He began to laugh hideously, and shivers went up me spine for I was so afraid. I thought we were all going to die! Suddenly, we heard what sounded like the flapping of a million wings and a loud buzzing overhead. We looked up, and, oh God..."
Mrs. Perks then began to shake uncontrollably and to rock back and forth on her heels. I yelled for a strong drink to give the woman, but it took a few minutes before it was forthcoming, no thanks to dull witted Ministry wizards. After I encouraged the hysterical woman to drink a goblet of Goblins' Gold, she calmed down enough to continue her story.
"Floaches! Thousands of floaches! He summoned them! They landed on people, and began to feed. Oh God, it was awful! We, me family and I, ran blindly as floaches tore chunks from our bodies. My little Christopher, he's only six, found a hole at the base of the clock, and we all squeezed in. The floaches tried to come in after us, but we managed to keep them at bay with charms and hexes. Oh God! Those poor people trapped outside were eaten alive!"
Disgustingly, Mrs. Perks began to vomit. Fortunately, medical personnel quickly rushed onto the scene to escort the survivors to hospitals. I noted that all of them were bloodied, with several sustaining serious injuries. It is likely that some will be forever disfigured.
Apparently, You-Know-Who bred the floaches with a taste for human blood, and, as a horribly, cruel joke, decided to unleash the monstrosities on innocent people.
Sixty-six men, women, and children of the ninety-nine present in King Arthur's Square were horrifically slaughtered at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day.
Query: Why is the Ministry of Magic so inept? Is the Ministry satisfied with its role of cleaning up after You-Know-Who? Does a yellow streak run through the heart of the Ministry? I will answer these questions in a special article in the next issue of Witch Weekly.
Lily felt utterly sick after reading the article, and picked up the second one while hoping that it was not as revolting as the one she had just read.
Hogwarts Student Mysteriously Disappears on Christmas Day
-Rita Skeeter, Assistant Correspondent
Raina Ridgecrest, age fourteen, disappeared from the family farm on the night of Christmas. According to Horatio Ridgecrest, Raina stepped outside to check on some newly hatched owlets in the barn. The Ridgecrest family breeds and raises an assortment of owls for a living, and is one of the major suppliers of Eeylops Owl Emporium. When Raina did not return after about thirty minutes, Agnes Ridgecrest, a homely, tiny, bespectacled woman, sent Horatio Junior and Adam, ages ten and eight, outdoors to tell their sister to come inside from the cold. The boys returned without their sister, and a search party was quickly assembled, but its efforts were in vain.
This case bears a remarkable resemblance to that of Kristin Dewdroppe who, a few years ago, vanished from her backyard, only to be found dead a few months later. It is hoped that Miss Ridgecrest does not follow a similar fate.
Lily fervently prayed that Raina was found safe and well. After musing over the articles for several minutes, Lily stretched and yawned. "I'm sleepy," she whispered to herself. "I only hope that I can fall asleep after reading these awful articles. Thanks, Fiona."
"Come, Capricorn. It's time to for bed." The owl stared at her indignantly, and refused to budge from his location by the fire.
"It's all right. My room is warm, and I have a cage for you. Remember?" The owl hooted softly, stretched out its wings, and flew upstairs.
About thirty minutes later, Lily was in bed sleeping a dreamless sleep.
***
When the students returned to Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore, with black drapes behind him, gravely informed them that thirteen of their number had been killed on New Year's Day while celebrating in King Arthur's Square. He read off the list of those who were slain amidst sniffles and sobs. Afterwards, he told the students that Raina Ridgecrest had been missing since Christmas, and was presumed dead.