Chapter 54: First Day Back

Septmeber first approached. Viktor and I already packed out things. Hogwarts still came through with the train ride to school but under the tight security of Aurors. I saw Nymphadora Tonks wink at me as I entered the prefects carriage. I was astonished to see Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood there.

"Been made prefects by McGonagall," Ginny muttered, "Fred and George threatened to disown me!"

Ianthé smiled at her, "If that's not a big shocker, well, you're in front of the new Head Girl…" She took her badge out of her pocket.

"At least, you're one that I can trust…"

They sat down beside Luna who was still immersed on the latest edition of the Quibbler.

"Hello, Luna."

The dreamy-eyed girl smiled at her, "You're the one who told the others to lock the dormitory doors…"

Ianthé blushed, "Yep, that would be me… So who's Head Boy?"

Ernie McMillan entered the carriage, "That would be me…"

"Slytherin prefects?"

The two on the farthest corner raised their hands in recognition.

Neville Longbottom entered the carriage panting, "Am I late? Am I late?"

Ianthé smiled at the Gryffindor, "You're just in time and sit down. You need to rest first. Ernie? Could I talk to you for a bit?"

Ernie McMillan nodded.

"Did Professor McGonagall owl you?"

Ernie shook his head, "She went directly to our house to talk about our other responsibilities… She told me something about an escape plan for the castle…"

Ianthé nodded, "Yes, so far, we need to patrol the corridors and search the whole castle for the escape plan. An Auror or two might accompany us…"

"Honestly, I'm quite skeptical about the Slytherins…."

"Leave them to me…"

"They might be spying for the Death Eaters…"

"That's why McGonagall depends on us to keep everything under wraps. Of course, there are a few exceptions, like the prefects who were part of the DA…"

Ernie looked shocked, "How did you know about that?"

"Ginny and the Weasley twins filled me in on that… You seem like a trustworthy bunch…"

Ernie nodded, "When are we going to meet the Auror?"

"One of them will be disguised as another Hogwarts prefect when we look around. We take turns so the others," Ianthé meant the Slytherin prefects, "won't be suspicious…"

When every prefect was already present except for one who seemed to them will not show, Ernie stood up.

"Good afternoon, we will be discussing how to make Hogwarts safer…"

The Slytherin prefects groaned, "Not again!"

"No, dunderhead, this is not opening remarks bullshit, so pay attention!" Ianthé said in a drawl similar to a familiar Slytherin.

The Slytherins frowned but gave their attention to the Head Boy.

Ginny looked at Ianthé as if to send a compliment.

Ianthé smiled at her.

"We will be delegating tasks to each of you and we will patrol the corridors in pairs, am I clear?"

The whole group nodded.

"Herze and I will then monitor your tasks every week."

The meeting was done and the prefects stood up to patrol the entire train.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" the trolley lady asked Ginny and Ianthé as they walked.

Ginny bought a Cauldron Cake while Ianthé refused.

Ianthé took out a wrapped sandwich out of the pocket of her robes.

"You actually eat food from home?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, they really delicious… Rissie, my personal house elf, makes delicious turkey sandwich.

"You have a personal house elf?"

Ianthé nodded, "We don't mistreat them or anything…. You should have seen Hermione's face when she saw Rissie!"

Realizing that she slipped a vital information, Ianthé immediately changed the topic.

"So, how are you and Harry?"

"He broke up with me during Dumbledore's funeral….for noble reasons I have no clue about…. Hey! Don't change the topic! What are they doing in your house?"

Ianthé silently mouthed, "Order meeting."

Ginny understood and did not press on further.

There were a large number of girls peering on a glass of a compartment.

"What the….?"

Ianthé realized who was in the compartment, "Hey, all of you! What are you doing here! Return to your compartments!"

A Gryffindor, probably a year younger than Ianthé, with black hair snorted, "Who are you and who put you in charge?"

Ianthé glared at her.

"She's Romilda Vane," Ginny discreetly whispered.

"If you don't know who I am, I am Ianthé Morgaine Herze and I will personally make your life a living hell if you cross the line. Who put me in charge?" she pointed to the Head Girl badge pinned on her chest, "The Headmistress did, so if I were you, you should go with your little group back to your compartments."

The girls scowled at her and muttered something along the lines of "She's just an uptight virgin!"

Ginny was ready to pull out her wand but Ianthé stopped her.

"It's not worth it. We should check on the new professor…"

Ginny peered on the compartment window.

"Blimey! It's Viktor Krum!" she whispered to Ianthé.

Viktor seemed to have fallen asleep while reading a book.

Ianthé gently knocked on the door, "Is everything okay, Mr. Krum?"

Viktor woke and smiled, "No. Thank you for your concern, Miss Herze."

Ianthé nodded and left the compartment with an astonished Ginny. She pulled the latter to walk towards the next carriage.

"Nice acting… Mister Krum?" Ginny laughed.

"Well, the only one present for your brother's wedding are the only ones who knew I'm dating Viktor Krum. We agreed to keep it from the public… Teacher-student policy, remember?"

Ginny nodded, "But why did he agree for the job?"

Ianthé scooted closer to whisper to Ginny's ear, "To keep me safe… He's also an Order member."

Ginny nodded.

"Do you have an idea who's going to be our Transfiguration professor?"

Ginny shrugged, "No idea whatsoever. By the way, Fred and George said hi. I'm still puzzled on how you knew them…"

"Oh, it's a long story…" Ianthé found a compartment with a single student.

"Nikki!"

Nikki jumped, surprised, "I thought you and Viktor are marrying? I thought you won't return to school because I couldn't find you anywhere!"

She saw the badge on Ianthé's robes.

"No way, please tell me you're kidding…."

Ianthé shook her head.

Nikki took out something from her pocket. It was a prefect badge.

"I thought I would talk to Flitwick about turning down the position as prefect because I thought you weren't going to attend Hogwarts."

"So you're the missing prefect!" Ginny commented.

Nikki nodded.

"Charlie talked non-stop about you. It was always Nikki this and Nikki that… I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if he still didn't pop the question!" Ginny ranted while Nikki blushed at her statement.

"And at first we thought you were just one of the dragons he was handling!"

Ianthé laughed with the two.

"Come on, let's patrol the other corridors together…"

Nikki nodded and followed them out of the compartment.

The Head Boy and Head Girl monitored the arrival of the students as many rode on the horseless carriages.

The Welcoming Feast was very subdued comparing to the previous years. There were an obvious decrease in the students and also the incoming first years.

There was clinking of glass and the whole school went silent.

"Your attention, please…" Professor Flitwick clinked his glass with a spoon.

Professor McGonagall stood up, "Last year, we received a very terrible blow, the death of our beloved Professor Albus Dumbledore…"

Hagrid blew into his handkerchief.

"We must remember that for him, death was just another adventure. So now, he is probably hunting for crumple-horned snorkaks as we speak," McGonagall looked at the now-listening Luna Lovegood.

The crowd smiled at her words.

"As you can see, the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is occupied by none other than Mr. Viktor Krum."

The crowd, mostly girls, applauded loudly.

Viktor stood up and gave a small wave with his hand.

"He had shown talent during the last Triwizard Tournament. I expect that all of you treat him with respect he deserves."

The crowd applauded again.

The giant oak doors suddenly opened and there were two men of the same height and stature wearing billowing hooded cloaks of crimson red. The black dragon skin boots together with the blood red cloaks gave an aura of foreboding for the students.

Viktor chuckled and shook his head, while Professor McGonagall was on the verge of either laughter or shouting.

The two men went to the High Table and sat on the two empty seats beside Viktor. They still did not take off their hoods.

Professor McGonagall continued with her speech, "Now that I am Headmistress, the position of Transfiguration is vacant. However, when I asked them, they agreed on one condition… They will teach Transfiguration together. May I present Mr. Fred and George Weasley."

The two men stood up and removed the hoods of their cloaks. Identical smirks were on their faces as they watched the shocked faces of the students.

"Pulled a good one on them, Gred…"

The other twin nodded, "That's exactly what I'm thinking, Forge…"

The students seemed to have awakened from their stupor clapped loudly and some even whistled at the twins, who waved back.

The clapping died when Professor McGonagall raised her hand, "Now, as they are the undisputed masters of pranks, I suggest the students to stop trying to imitate them…"

The crowd laughed.

Professor McGonagall again raised her hand, "I have a few words before dinner…. Nitwit, oddment, blubber, tweak."

The crowd roared once more at McGonagall's tribute to the former Headmaster.

Ianthé walked towards the Head Girl's room. Ernie's room was on the other side of the Professor's Wing.

"Never tickle a sleeping dragon," she said to the portrait of a forest nymph.

The portrait door opened.

"Wait!" a figure ran towards her as she stepped into the room.

It was Viktor.

"Liked the surprise?"

Ianthé motioned for him to go inside with her.

"I think I will not survive Transfiguration with a straight face…."

Viktor sat down on the couch as the fireplace cackled merrily.

"You better watch out, Viktor…" Ianthé sat down next to him.

"And why is that?"

"Many girls might want to end in detention with you…"

"Well, that is if they look forward to spending detention with Filch…"

Ianthé changed from her usual school shoes to a pair of more comfortable trainers.

"Come on, let's start patrolling…"

Viktor followed her outside the Head Girl's room.

"So, who will be the Auror accompanying us?"

"That girl with pink hair…"

"Oh, Tonks…"

That girl materialized as they turned to another corridor.

"Wotcher Ianthé!"

"Hey, Tonks…"

"Loverboy is coming with us then?"

Ianthé rolled her eyes, "We should give him a tour of the whole castle for starters…"