To those concerned, I have my reasons for not showing the summer between the last book and this one. But, that does not mean it won't crop up throughout the story.

This sequel contains flashbacks.

When all the students had finished eating, Dumbledore stood from his chair and the noise diminished at once, and all heads turned to the front of the room.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to all students, and a few of the older students should remember that, too. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes -"

Teddie bit her lip and lowered her gaze, while Theo chuckled and nudged her. "To be fair," he said. "Your shield is uncontrollable at best."

"- nor are several other things," Dumbledore continued. "The full list can be found fastened to Mr. Flich's office door. If you wish to check it over to see what else is not permitted."

"Who'd be foolish enough to go in there to check?" Malfoy muttered.

Despite herself, Teddie couldn't help but agree.

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons."

Teddie perked up. She had noticed the disappearance of Hagrid - it would be hard not to, given his sheer size - but where was he if a new teacher were needed to come in and take over his lessons?

"Good riddance," said Parkinson. "He had no right teaching."

"Says the girl that is only taking his class to fill her timetable," said Teddie, glancing across the table. "I mean, you're not at all interested in Magical Creatures, are you?"

Parkinson opened her mouth to retort but broke off as Teddie turned away without giving her a chance.

"We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore continued, and Teddie scanned the table to see a squat woman, dressed from head-to-toe in pink, sitting beside Professor Snape.

There was a polite round of applause.

"Why is she here?" Daphne whispered, leaning across the table.

Teddie cocked her head to the side. "Who?" she asked.

"Umbridge," said Blaise. "She works at the Ministry of Magic."

"She's the Undersecretary to the Minister," Daphne added. "Her being here is not good."

Teddie glanced up at the teacher's table and eyed the woman in pink. She had short mouse-brown hair and toad-like features. Suddenly, she coughed and stood up. Silence fell over the hall - no one had ever interrupted Dumbledore's start-of-term speech before and were quite stunned that she had.

Dumbledore, himself, only looked taken aback, whereas other teachers hadn't bothered to hide their surprise. Teddie noticed that Professor Snape, despite not showing any signs of surprise, had narrowed his eyes at Umbridge as she spoke in a sickly-sweet tone as if addressing a hall of pre-school children and not young adults.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" she continued, "and to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

Teddie glanced around. None of the faces she could see looked happy.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" Umbridge added.

"Somehow I doubt that" Theo muttered.

Teddie continued to watch Umbridge. She noticed that her demeanor had changed, that she was no longer smiling like a psycho staring down at its victims and had metaphorically adjusted a tie that no one could see and began addressing them like they were in a business meeting.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young Witches and Wizards to be vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instructions. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back.

"Every Headmaster and Headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation..."

Teddie rolled her head to the side, resting it comfortably against Theo's shoulder, as Umbridge's voice and dull speech lulled her into a stupor. Across from her, Daphne had started to pick her nails, Blaise was cleaning his Prefect badge and Theo had rested his head atop of Teddie's and tangled his fingers with hers beneath the table.

They weren't the only ones no longer listening, either. All over the hall, students had taken to either whispering or giggling amongst themselves, while others seemed to be staring at Umbridge out of politeness, but neither seemed to be taking in a word she was saying.

But Umbridge either didn't seem to notice the restlessness or she didn't care in the slightest, she just kept rattling on and on about traditions."... because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be perfected, and pruning whatever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

Teddie blinked as Umbridge finally sat down. "Wait, what?" she asked, looking around at her friends.

Daphne shook her head and even Theo looked lost.

"She's as dull as a brush, I'll give her that," said Blaise. "But I understood some of what she was trying to say."

"I'm surprised anyone managed to stay awake through it all," said Teddie, fighting back a yawn.

"I think that was her intention," said Malfoy, leaning forward and dropping his voice. "I mean, if no one pays attention to what she has to say then they're even more surprised later when changes are made, aren't they?"

Teddie furrowed her brow at him. "What changes?" she asked.

"I may not have understood everything that she said, but my father said something like this would happen this year," said Malfoy. "He said something about the Ministry having more of a say in what happens at Hogwarts than they have done in years."

"What are you talking about?" Teddie asked. "Since when does the Ministry have any say in what happens behind the closed doors of Hogwarts? That's for Dumbledore and the teacher's attention, only."

Malfoy shook his head. "The school board have a say in what happens around here, too," he said. "They tried back when the Chamber of Secrets was open, but everyone shut them down and reinstated Dumbledore, despite kids being attacked under his watch, yourself included."

"I distinctively remember you wanting me to be attacked," Teddie replied, hotly.

"What's past is past, Green," said Malfoy. "We live in dangerous times. You should know that better than anyone. We need a firmer hand around here, and Dumbledore just can't provide a sense of security anymore. That's where the Ministry comes in."

Daphne leaned forward. "So, you're saying that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Your father works for the Ministry," said Malfoy, shrugging at her. "Doesn't he tell you anything?"

Daphne narrowed her eyes, but the conversation was interrupted by the scraping of stools all over the hall.

Teddie looked up. Dumbledore had finished his speech - whatever it was - and sat back down, he was now talking with Professor McGonagall, while the rest of the school was getting ready to leave the Great Hall.

"We'll talk later," said Blaise, standing up and straightening his robes. "Daphne and I have to take the first years down to the Common Room. Teddie, Theo, see you soon."

Theo nodded and watched as his two friends escorted the first years away, once they were gone, along with the other first years, the two made their way into the Entrance Hall.

"Teddie. Teddie!"

Mason and Astoria pushed their way through the crowd. "Did you hear that Umbridge woman?" he asked, finally reaching his sister. "Do you know what it means? I have an idea, but I'm not entirely sure. I mean, I think it means that the -"

"Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts," said Teddie.

Mason blinked and cocked his head to the side. "You were listening?" he asked with a teasing smile.

Teddie gasped in mock surprise. "I listen," she defended. "Not all the time, but sometimes."

Astoria giggled.

"Then how did you know that is what Umbridge meant?" Mason asked. "Have you secretly been studying and not told me?"

Teddie rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "No. Malfoy just told us," she answered.

"Malfoy?" Astoria and Mason repeated.

"He said that his father had warned him about it over the Summer," said Theo. "Why he was telling us, I don't know."

Teddie heaved a sigh. "It's because of me," she said. "He's telling us because of me. Malfoy Snr must've told him to tell us, to try and get us on his side or something. I mean, could you imagine how well-off the Malfoy's would be if they had me on their side?"

"And not just you," said Astoria. "But the Dark Lord, too."

"As if my life at Hogwarts couldn't get any worse," Teddie whined.

Mason smiled slightly and wrapped his arms around his sister. "You'll be okay," he said. "Everything will blow over, soon, you'll see."

Teddie smiled weakly and kissed her brother's head. "We should get to bed," she said. "Don't want to be caught out after hours on our first night back."

The others nodded and parted ways.

"I wonder how Professor Snape's start-of-term speech will go?" Theo asked, leading Teddie through the barely lit dungeons.

Teddie shrugged. "Can't be any worse than Umbridge's', right?" she said.

~X~

Wrong. Snape's speech, while had explained many things about what had happened earlier in the Great Hall with Umbridge, didn't stop the raised voices, arguments, and finger-pointing - mostly at Teddie - when he had finished and left the Common Room.

"It's a good thing that the Ministry is getting involved with school affairs, I mean, look at the riffraff that has let in over the years."

"My mum almost sent me to Durmstrang," said first-year, Robbie Bentley. He nodded in Teddie's direction. "It would have been her fault."

Teddie raised an eyebrow at him. "My fault?" she asked before she could stop herself. "How would it be my fault?"

"My mum told me all about you," said Robbie. "Warned me, more like. ''You stay away from that Mudblood, Robbie. She's bad news.'"

Another first-year, by the name of Henrietta Cleave, nodded. "Yeah, same here," she said. "Normally my parents don't tell me anything that happens in the Daily Prophet, but they made sure that I knew about you. They showed me the whole article, including your picture. They're going to be furious that I'm in the same house as you."

Teddie rolled her eyes. "Then I guess it's a good thing that you're a first-year," she said. "The only time you'll see me is in the Common Room, and even then, if we go out of our way to not cross each other's paths, we'll survive the whole year without being near each other."

"Why is she even allowed back here?" Warrington asked. "She's more of a danger to any of us than Potter is."

"I was waiting for when Harry would be brought into this," said Teddie, turning to the older boy. He had had it in for her ever since her first day at Hogwarts, but she was pleasantly surprised that he was arguing against her being back, and not encouraging her to be friends with him. Maybe not all pureblood families wanted Voldemort on their side.

Warrington sneered at Teddie. "I always knew there was something about you, Green," he said. "What Mudblood do you know that can speak to snakes?"

Teddie swallowed as a hushed silence fell over the Common room.

"What you talking about, Warrington?" asked seventh-year Graham Montague. He had introduced himself as the new Slytherin Captain - he had been made it last year, but given the Triwizard Tournament had been on, and Quidditch matches cancelled, it hadn't been a cause of concern. This year was different.

Warrington smirked as a look of dread crossed Teddie's face. "In the second year, I overheard Green and her friends in the library. They were discussing what had happened to Flich's cat, and Green asked Flint if there were any creatures out there that could talk that we could hear - she can already see Thesterals, you know," he said.

Teddie felt her hands clench into fists, her nails cutting against the palms of her hands.

"I didn't mean to overhear them, and you can already guess that I wasn't meant to hear the conversation," Warrington continued. "But Pucey mentioned Parselmouth and then Green and Nott left. They later returned with her two snakes, and, above and behold, Green started talking to them. You could hear the hiss from where I was behind the shelves. I tried to confront her about it, but she decided to play coy and pretend she had no idea what I was talking about."

Marlene looked between Teddie and Warrington and shook her head. "What does it matter?" she asked. "So, Teddie can talk to snakes. It's not a big deal!"

"It is a big deal!" piped up second year, David Henske. "Parselmouths are evil. You-Know-Who can speak to them."

"That's where she must get it from," said a fourth-year, Seth James. "She must've inherited from her father. It's proof that she's just like him."

Teddie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because everything I have done in the last four years shows that I am just like him, doesn't it!" she snapped, turning her glare onto Seth. He shrank back, his eyes wide in alarm. "I admit it, I can speak to snakes, yes, but that doesn't make me like anyone. I am still me. I'm not like him."

"The Daily Prophet says otherwise," said Warrington.

"Yes, because everything they say is the truth!"

Warrington's lip curled into a sneer. "So, by your standards, what they're saying about Potter is a lie?" he asked.

Teddie stood firm. "Your father is a Death Eater," she growled. "Along with many other parents of kids in this house. You know that Harry is telling the truth. You can deny it as much as you damn well please, but we all know that you're lying to save your skins. Voldemort -" several people shivered at the name "- is back, anyone who says otherwise is either stupid or too blind to accept otherwise."

Turning on her heels, Teddie stormed out of the common room and up to her dormitory. She was already dressed and pulling the curtains around her four-poster bed when Daphne entered the room.

"So much for laying low tonight," said Daphne, setting her badge down on the bedside table and pulling her robes over her head.

Teddie lay still, staring at the canopy of her bed. She listened to Daphne fuss around getting ready for bed. She wanted to say something, anything. But she was still annoyed by her confrontation with the rest of her house; even though she should've been used to it by now.