Disclaimer: You get the idea
Changed Tactics
On entering the Great Hall Ron felt a twinge in his stomach, something akin to the carsickness he'd vaguely experienced in the Ford Anglia in second year; everything was slightly skewed. At all of the tables sat students happily devouring lunch and yet there were seats empty that should have been filled: Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Creevy brothers, all missing. And then there were those that shouldn't have been there, faces he didn't recognise including, of course, one person who defiantly oughtn't have been eating quite happily on the Hufflepuff table- Cedric Diggory.
It was impossible to merge the image of the surprised corpse carried out of the maze on that disastrous night with the happy, smiling lad eating cheese sandwiches surrounded by friends. The surprise on Ron's face showed and Hermione quickly pushed him down onto the bench between Harry and herself.
"What's he doing here?" he questioned Hermione pointing towards Cedric.
"He's come in for a couple of days to give a talk on what to do after Hogwarts."
"That's not what I meant."
"Look Rob," she whispered, "I know that things are different here but do try not to let every little thing phase you."
"Well I'm sorry but seeing the dead come back to life is a bit of a surprise," he hissed back.
"Well now you know how we feel."
"Hush you two you're drawing attention to yourselves," Harry warned.
Ron obliged by stuffing his face with a Cornish pasty, ignoring Hermione's withering look.
"Hi, Rob Millings is it?"asked a familiar, male, Irish voice across the table as he too helped himself to lunch.
"Yeah, you are?" Ron asked remembering just in time to feign ignorance.
"Seamus, Seamus Finnigan. So where are you from?"
"Uh," Ron's mind quickly snatched a memory, "Staffordshire. A school in one of the villages down there."
Hermione quickly realised that Ron was stumbling and hurried to help him, "Parents moved him up here when it got a little more dangerous, that's right isn't it Rob."
"Yeah that's it." He sent a smile of thanks to her,
Seamus changed the subject obviously happy with the information, "So have you worked out where to go then?"
"Hermione and Harry have been showing me around."
"Well you're lucky there mate they haven't really talked to anyone sinceā¦"
"I know about Ron."
The other boy looked relieved that he didn't have to explain it and tried to cover it up with another question, "So what have you got next?"
"Oh, er," Ron fingered through his bag until he found his timetable, "potions."
Seamus laughed at the disgust in his voice, "You know about Snape then."
"Definitely." His firmness surprised his new/old friend, he grasped for an excuse for knowing something he shouldn't have, "Ran into him earlier."
Seamus nodded in understanding and technically it wasn't a lie- just not the whole truth.
They carried on talking through lunch, Ron trying to keep the amount of half-truths he was telling to a minimum. As the conversation drifted along he casually looked around the hall trying to spot any other changes when his eyes were drawn to the head table.
This world had definitely changed the teacher rostra: Lupin sat there! As did Umbridge, and a Snape who didn't glare at the Griffindor table quite so often as usual. McGonagall was missing along with Flitwick and there was a new teacher that Ron didn't recognise sitting in Dumbledore's seat, there was no sign of the headmaster.
He looked again at the seat snatcher to see a seemingly ordinary woman, disarmingly pretty without attracting too much attention with long, brown, straight hair and wearing a conservative black robe. Everything seemed perfectly normal and safe about her until he glanced into her eyes, just as her's caught his.
They were cold, ice cold, with an edge of a black outline that screamed intolerance. Their hardness was unreadable and it felt as if she could see right through him. Unable to break away he sighed with relief as she looked away and continued to cast her gaze along the row. It was then he realised that by her hands, resting on the table, was a long sheet of parchment with a quill resting on top of it. The quill moved without the aid of her hand seemingly in a tick like fashion as her stare shifted from one person to the next, so this was the register.
Surreptitiously Ron shifted up the bench towards Hermione. "Who's that?" he asked in a quiet whisper.
She followed his gaze, "Hogwarts High Inquisitor- Malevolous Smith."
"Who?"
"Fudge brought her in some time ago, at first she was called a 'Ministry Education liaison officer' but over time her power has grown. She now has as much, if not more, control in this school than Dumbledore."
"How did that happen!?" he exclaimed.
"Shush!" she hissed, "Now is not the time for a history lesson."
"Hermione" he whined.
"Fine, but do try not to make it look conspiratorial."
"What?"
"Stop looking around every two seconds you're attracting attention, just act as if this is a normal conversation. Pretend that we're talking about quidditch."
"You, talk about quidditch," he snickered.
"Alright if you're not going to be serious." She turned away from him and reached for some pumpkin juice.
"I'm sorry okay," Ron pulled at her and force her to face him, "Look I'm being serious so what happened."
Checking that Seamus was quite happily talking to Dean Hermione looked over to Harry for some help in explaining, Harry however was staring morosely into his food, so she began her explanation.
"I don't know who brought Voldemort back in your world but here it began with Black, or so we thought." she added quickly when Ron looked as if he was about to interrupt, "Apparently they used an ordinary wizard for the blood in the sacrifice after Voldemort was persuaded that going after Harry would be more trouble than it was worth. Lucius Malfoy is the monsters new right-hand man and it turns out that he has quite a flattering tongue. Instead of the all out fighting the order half- expected, night time raids etcetera, it hasn't turned out that way." Seeing Ron's bewildered face she continued, "I've already told you that Voldemort didn't really use the link he shares with Harry in the fourth year, he's changed tactics."
"Does he know all of the prophecy then?" he question, trying to understand the overload of information.
"We don't know. His actions suggest he does but we have no idea how he could have found out- the only people who know are Dumbledore and us. Instead of attacking Harry out right Voldemort has been getting right into the ministry, slithering like a snake into all areas of power until he now has followers in every office. Smith is the last stage of getting Hogwarts; he's going to enter this school through the main entrance knowing that there will be no resistance."
The bell for next lesson rang and Hermione shook Ron out of his stupor. "I know that this is a lot to take in," she whispered comfortingly in his ear, "but don't worry. I'm sure that you'll be long gone before that thing gets in here."
"Maybe I wont be the only one to leave," he whispered under his breath but Hermione didn't here as the trio headed towards the dungeons.
AN: I've beaten my PB on reviews so thank you and to nattieb for betering so quickly
Expect some length in the next chapter.
