"This is wrong," Lavender whispered to no one in particular as she eyed the spot that the new Headmaster had taken in the Great Hall that evening. She and the older Gryffindors watched with distaste as Snape stood in the place they were so used to seeing Dumbledore in.
"He can't just replace him," Neville muttered under his breath, having the same line of thought as Lavender. "No one can replace Dumbledore."
Ginny, having opted for silence as her mother had suggested, kept her mouth shut despite the fact that Snape was making her blood boil. Instead of looking at the traitorous man, she focused her attention on her surroundings. The Great Hall felt unusually foreign to her, not warm and homelike the way it usually felt. As was the case at King's Cross, the significantly smaller student body was solemn and unsmiling. Ginny noticed several of the younger kids trembling in their seats, still shaken up from the events that transpired on the train. She couldn't blame them for feeling scared. The small fires that usually burned in copper dishes hanging from the walls were so dim that they were practically nonexistent. The magnificent ceiling was stormy, thunder rumbled and dark clouds twisted overhead. And she couldn't help but feel as if the levitating candles were sharper on the bottom. She looked at one directly above her, poised as if ready to stab her hand. She quickly took her hand off the table and settled it on her lap.
"...Quidditch and other extracurriculars are suspended for the year so that students will be able to focus their attention on their studies," Snape was saying, only to be drowned out by the cries of protest that rose from the students. Several students leaped to their feet while others shouted profanities at the Headmaster, who looked unimpressed with the display of anger.
"No Quidditch? How dare he!" Ginny hissed, her silent pact suddenly broken. She threw her legs over the bench and made a move to stand up. Parvati and Neville quickly latched onto her arms, preventing her from moving.
"Silence!" The male Carrow screeched as he stood up at the staff table, his height rather unimpressive. His wand was out in an instant and he thrust it up into the air. A bouquet of ominous red flames spouted from it like a volcano, causing the Great Hall to fall silent. Jimmy Peakes, who was in the process of climbing up onto the Gryffindor table, gulped and slowly slid back into his seat.
"Thank you, Professor Carrow," Snape said with a small nod as the new professor put his wand away and sat down, satisfied. "No more interruptions, we don't want to give out detention on the first night, do we? Now, 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 to drone on with the new regulations.
"Look at them," Parvati whispered as she stole a glance at the Carrows. "They look so… evil."
Ginny observed the new teachers. Both were pasty-skinned, mean-looking people. The brother was tall with a nose not unlike Snape's while his sister was short and squat. She noticed, with disgust, that their beady, dark eyes glinted with malice in the dim candlelight.
The hall was silent as everyone listened to Snape. The sorting had been quick and depressing, with over half of the first years becoming Slytherins. Ginny felt her heart sink when "Brinkley, Jane" was called and nobody stepped forward. She must have been taken in the train raid. Ginny glanced at a couple of new Gryffindor students, all of whom were shivering timidly several seats down from her. One of them looked so similar to Colin Creevy that it hurt even looking at him. She closed her eyes and prayed silently that the Creeveys were safe somewhere, away from danger.
She then looked towards the front table where the professors sat. Snape stood in front of a seat grand enough to be a throne, the menacing Carrows flanking either side. Ginny noticed a few professors missing from the staff table, including the kind Professor Burbage. Trelawney looked close to tears as she clutched her shawl tightly around her shoulders. McGonagall was tight-lipped and silent as she shared a glance with Professor Sprout, whose eyes were full of sorrow. Flitwick fidgeted beside Hagrid, who was shaking with anger. Slughorn looked uncomfortable as he attempted to listen to the Headmaster's speech.
From beside Lavender, Neville let out a long sigh as he drifted into a daze. He 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," she chortled. Neville scowled and loaded his plate up with green beans, ignoring his chuckling friends. It was good to hear them laughing again, though, and he made no attempt to stop them.
"At least the food hasn't changed," Seamus sighed in content as he poured chicken stew into a bowl. He snagged a dinner roll from the basket to his left and gave it a kiss before shoving it promptly in his mouth.
"Is that really all you're thinking about right now?" Parvati scoffed as she flicked his ear, ignoring his grumble of protest. She looked down at her own plate and made a face, pushing it away from herself. "My stomach is too upset to eat."
Lavender swiped her friend's plate and dumped some food onto it. "Eat," she encouraged, pushing the plate back towards Parvati. "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 followed McGonagall up to the Common Room in a neat line. Parvati and Neville, the seventh year prefects for the year, lingered behind to introduce themselves to the first years. There were five eleven-year-olds in total and they stared up at the older students with solemn eyes. But after Neville made a dramatic display of eagerly shaking all their hands, their fearful expressions dropped and they allowed themselves to giggle.
"I know it's scary being away from your parents right now, but Hogwarts is going to become like your second home," Parvati assured the first-years as she and Neville guided them up one of the moving staircases.
"Do you promise?" One little boy asked her hopefully as he tripped up the stairs to keep up with the group.
Parvati smiled down at him. "I'll do my very best to make it feel like home to you," she promised, causing him to beam up at her.
There was a tugging at Neville's sleeve and he stopped and looked down to see a girl with tan skin and curly black hair staring up at him. Her name was Amna, he remembered."Where is Harry Potter?" She asked, looking at him with big eyes. "I've always wanted to meet him but Mummy said he wouldn't be here this year."
Neville felt his breath catch at the question, for even he didn't know the answer. "Your Mum is right," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Harry isn't here right now but when he comes back, I'll make sure to introduce you two."
The answer seemed to satisfy the girl. She let go of Neville's sleeve and slid her hand into his. He looked down in surprise but made no move to stop her. He instead gave her hand a squeeze and tugged her along to catch up with the rest of the group at the top of the stairs.
Parvati had just finished introducing the first-years to the Fat Lady. The portrait hole swung open and she ushered them inside. She looked over her shoulder as they were crawling through and smiled at the sight of Neville holding the hand of the little girl.
"Well that was a depressing dinner, wasn't it?" Ginny's voice greeted Neville from her position stretched out on of the Common Room's couches as he entered through the portrait hole. Neville gently pushed Amna towards the staircase and she obediently trotted up to Parvati, who took her hand and guided her up to the first-year girls' dormitory.
"Yeah, it was pretty awful," Neville agreed as he made his way over towards her after giving Parvati a grateful wave. He collapsed into an armchair, groaning with pleasure as he sank back into the cushioned seat. He allowed himself to shut his eyes as he took in the cozy atmosphere of the Common Room. Snape may have managed to turn the Great Hall cold, but that coldness would never be able to penetrate the Gryffindor Common Room's warmth.
"So when are we holding our first meeting of the year?" Ginny asked suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence that Neville had begun to grow used to.
"What? What meeting?" Neville cracked one eye open as he sat up and looked at her. He had a feeling that he knew exactly what it was, but he had hoped that it wasn't the case."Keep her out of trouble. Please." That was what Mrs. Weasley had asked him to do earlier that morning, which felt like ages ago. At the time he had simply nodded, dumbfounded, and slightly shocked by her plea. But after the incident on the train, he was adamant about keeping that promise.
"Don't play dumb, Neville," Ginny said with a roll of her eyes, tossing a golden pillow at him. "Dumbledore's Army? Ring any bells? When are we going to have our first meeting?"
Neville winced as his plan backfired. "Maybe we should wait for a bit," he said, choosing his words carefully.
"Wait?" Ginny's eyebrows furrowed. She sat up and leaned in his direction with a suspicious look on her freckled face."Wait for what?"
"Wait until things even out?" Neville said unsurely, though it sounded more like a question than an answer. "Those Carrows seem unpredictable and ready to lash out at any inconvenience, we should hang back and try not to provoke them."
"Nev, listen. This school is going to hell and it'll only get worse if we don't do something about it," Ginny said, her eyes big and pleading. "Our world is falling apart and we need to fix it. Or at least try to."
"I don't think so, Gin. It's just too dangerous," Neville's eyes fell to the carpet on the ground. He traced its elaborate patterns with the toe of his shoe.
"Why would you say that? The whole Wizarding World is dangerous right now." Ginny threw up her arms, frustration growing in her voice. "Hogwarts is safe compared to what's out there! We're safe compared to Harry and-"
"Yeah, what about Harry, eh?" Neville's head snapped up and his eyes met hers. "Where is Harry, then? And Hermione? And Ron, because I sure as hell know he doesn't have spattergroit." Ginny fell silent and she looked away from him guiltily. "Yeah, that's right, I'm the only one who doesn't know. I thought that maybe our little stint at the Ministry had brought the six of us close enough to talk about this kind of stuff, but I guess that was a bloody stupid wish."
"So that's what you're mad about?" Ginny scoffed, tossing her head. "You're mad that we aren't sharing information with you? That's childish, Nev."
"I'm mad because I thought you trusted me enough to tell me," Neville cried, his eyes burning with anger.
"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to believe it!" Ginny burst out suddenly, causing Neville to fall silent. "Forgive me for being selfish but I didn't want to believe that the three of them left without me. That Harry broke up with me," she mumbled the last part, her eyes turning slightly glassy. "I feel so useless, they didn't want me on their little quest. Dumbledore's Army was going to be my way of making a difference, of helping in some way."
"All Dumbledore's Army would do is get you in trouble. And that's the last thing we need right now," Neville said softly, putting a comforting hand on her knee.
"You're being such a bloody idiot right now!" Ginny slapped his hand away. She rose up from the couch and spun on her heels furiously. Neville sighed as he watched her stomp across the Common Room and storm up the stairs towards the sixth year girls dormitory. He sat alone in the overstuffed chair for a while longer, staring at the fire, before he finally stood up. He followed in Ginny's footsteps and made his way up to his own dormitory. He pushed open the final door at the top of the staircase and shuffled in. Inside he found several empty, cold-looking beds positioned around the dark room.
"Hey," Seamus waved at him half-heartedly from the floor where he was unpacking his trunk. He put down the extra robes he had in his hands and got up to greet Neville. "Guess it's just us this year," he said with a sigh, sitting down on the bed he had claimed.
Neville thought about Ron and Harry, who he had only just learned were on the run, no doubt trying to save the world. His mind then drifted to Dean, in hiding like all the other muggle-borns and unidentified half-bloods. "Yeah, just us."
Seamus looked down at his hands. "Sorry, you're stuck with me, I probably won't be as good company as the other blokes would be."
"Don't be daft," Neville scoffed. "I would choose you over Ron any day, I've never heard someone snore as loud as he does."
"You've got me there," Seamus said with a laugh, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly. "God bless my soundless sleeping habits."
Neville chuckled before 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. With a grunt, he dragged it 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 as they unpacked in the candlelit room. They avoided the topic of summer break, instead opting to discuss classes and how ugly looking the new professors were. After a while, Seamus checked his watch and noted 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, most of them related to the fight he and Ginny had just had downstairs. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it to no avail. 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.