On Sunday morning, Anna made her way to the Quidditch pitch, broomstick in hand. She walked confidently, a smile on her lips indicating a feeling of superiority that was not quite genuine.
"Ready?" asked Lennox McKinnon, who was already waiting for her there. "Let's get this out of the way first, before I start trying the others."
McKinnon opened the crate containing the four Quidditch balls and released the Snitch into the air. Mere seconds later, he and Anna were speeding off in search of the tiny golden ball. It was over pretty soon. McKinnon was good, but Anna was a blur on her broomstick, and it only took her five minutes to catch the fluttering Snitch in her outstretched hand.
"Well done!" said McKinnon. His annoyance about being beaten on the Quidditch pitch combated his enthusiasm as a captain who just found a fabulous player for his team.
"Am I Seeker, then?" Anna asked, smiling sweetly, and knowing what the answer will be.
"Better get my Keeper's gloves aired out, then," growled McKinnon.
… "Well, it looks like your chances are much better this year," Rose said to James that evening in the common room.
"What do you mean?" frowned James Potter. The cousins had always been close, despite the three-year gap between them, which is a lot until one reaches a certain age.
"The Quidditch cup," said Rose, "with Anna on the team, and Lennox as Keeper – which suits him much better than Seeking, in my opinion – and you and Caldwell as Beaters, and Lily and Bates and Logan as Chasers, the odds are pretty much in Gryffindor's favor, aren't they?"
"Yes," said James, while his thoughts strayed in an entirely different direction.
Are his chances better now that Anna is in Gryffindor? He had been trying to get Anna to notice him for years; this was their final year at school, it was now or never, and he knew it. He was determined to do his best. He was good-looking, popular, and there were always enough girls who were pining for him.
His problem with Anna, he felt, was precisely that she knew him too well. After a lifetime of friendship, of visiting in each other's house, of spending summers and holidays together, after she witnessed his pimples come and go, it was difficult for Anna to see him in a romantic light. Yet to make her see him in such a way was precisely his purpose, and he was not going to give up now.
On Sunday evening, Lavinia caught up with Anna after dinner.
"Listen," she said in an urgent whisper, "I know there's going to be a meeting of the board of governors tomorrow night, and you and McKinnon are going to be there. I'm counting on you to promote our cause, Anna. Tell them how horrible you feel, torn apart from the rest of Slytherin where you belong, from your friends, how you are a misfit in Gryffindor and so on."
"Right," nodded Anna.
"And don't forget to mention how unfair you find this whole arrangement," added Lavinia.
"I won't forget, Vinny," said Anna rather guiltily, perhaps because deep down she didn't feel such a terrible misfit in Gryffindor after all.
She wanted to proceed to the common room and get started on the week's homework, which she had not been able to finish on Saturday. But Lennox, who seemed to materialize out of nowhere, was suddenly standing in front of her.
"No point going up," he said, "the meeting starts in ten minutes, it's right here, in the little conference room just off the Great Hall."
Anna let McKinnon lead her towards the conference room. Although the meeting was not yet due to start, all twelve governors were already there, including Draco and Hermione; Anna's father and Professor Lupin, her great uncle, were there as well, and so was Professor Collins, the new Potions teacher who had already given the seventh-years his first, highly impressive lesson which instantly caused Anna to stop wondering why her father took him on.
"I see Miss Snape and Mr. McKinnon are here, good," said Mr. Spencer, the head of the board of governors, "now our Head Boy and Girl are here, we can start – if you please, Professor Snape."
Anna saw her father give Spencer only a brief, silent nod, and her heart surged with pride for her father, who wouldn't let Spencer boss him around. She knew Spencer was largely responsible for the change that was making her life so difficult.
"Let's hear about what has been going on since the start of term," Spencer smoothly carried on, "Professor Lupin, what is your impression when it comes to the mood among the students? How do they feel about the reform?"
"Well, I cannot deny I have noticed the mutiny coming from the Slytherin students," said Lupin, "especially a certain core of students from old, pure-blood families: Malfoy, Nott, Avery… but as there has been no open rebellion so far, and the students I mentioned earlier are mostly leaving at the end of this year, there should be no serious trouble during the adjustment period."
Spencer nodded, satisfied.
"And you, Professor Collins? As a new teacher, what do you have to say about the level of discipline, organization and inter-house dynamics at Hogwarts?"
"I am perfectly satisfied on all these points," said Professor Collins, imperiously inclining his head. Then he, surprisingly for Anna, addressed her:
"Miss Snape, as one of the Slytherin students currently undergoing the transition, what have you to say?"
"Erm," Anna cleared her throat. This was her chance to represent the Slytherins – just what Lavinia, Gertrude, Travers and the others were counting on. "I – I don't think you realize, Mr. Spencer, just what the Slytherin students are going through right now. It's like being torn away from our home. We feel like outcasts in the other houses, we don't really belong there."
"But you have a brother in Gryffindor, don't you, Miss Snape?" asked Spencer, tilting his head slightly.
"Yes, and I have Gryffindor friends too," said Anna, "but…"
"Most interesting, most interesting indeed," nodded Spencer. Anna wanted to add something, but she noticed her father's look of cold warning and fell silent.
"I think it would be foolish to deceive ourselves and think that lack of open protest means that the Slytherin students have resigned themselves to the change," said Professor Snape. "Remember, Spencer, I have been Head of Slytherin for many years, up until three years ago when I became Headmaster. I taught the parents of the students you mentioned," he nodded towards Draco Malfoy, "and I know their attitudes perhaps better than anyone else. If you truly want to keep this up, we will have to keep close watch on the Slytherin leaders at all times."
"As for that, I think we can count on our new Head Boy and Girl, can't we?" said Spencer, looking fondly at Lennox and Anna. Lennox puffed his chest proudly.
"Yes, sir," he said pompously, "you can trust me to report anything unusual or suspicious. If I come across but a whiff of rebellion, I'll go straight to Professor Snape."
"And so will you, Miss Snape, won't you?" Spencer stared pointedly at Anna, who gave a tiny nod.
"Y-yes, sir. I will, sir."
So this is how people become double-crossing spies, she thought. And then, Mr. Malfoy spoke up:
"The transitional period might be difficult, but I believe it's better for everyone involved, in particular my daughter Lavinia. Personally, as someone who had been a Slytherin himself, I account this for many foolish acts I committed in my youth. There is nothing like bad company to make each boy and girl's negative traits tenfold worse."
Anna listened to Mr. Malfoy, hardly believing her ears. It appeared that Lavinia had miscalculated. She could hardly count on her father to support the SSS.
It was late when Anna returned to Gryffindor tower. Since the common room was starting to get chilly, she went up to the girls' dormitory, climbed into her warm bed, and pulled out her Ancient Runes homework – doing one's homework in bed was extremely geeky, Anna thought; an indecent behavior worthy only of Molly Weasley. But there was no choice – she had to hand in that essay tomorrow, and so she plunged in, scratching away with her quill.
"You've translated that rune wrong," Molly Weasley called out from the bed next to Anna's. Anna promptly hitched her homework away from Molly's sight.
"You must have misread my handwriting," she said coldly. She didn't appreciate being told she was wrong at Rune translation – after all, she was the best in her house, and got an "Outstanding" OWL in her fifth year.
"No, I didn't," insisted Molly Weasley, "I'm absolutely sure. You can borrow my Rune Dictionary if you want to check for yourself," she indicated towards the thick book on her bedside table.
"No, thank you," Anna said pointedly and continued to scribble away, scowling.
"Suit yourself," Molly shrugged, "I was only trying to help."
… Only Professors Snape and Collins remained in the conference room after the governors were gone, ushered out by Professor Lupin.
"I would like to thank you again for appointing me, Professor Snape," said Professor Collins, "it was a risk you took, allowing me to teach at Hogwarts."
"Not at all," countered Snape, "you have lived as Eugene Collins for the past twenty years. Nobody ever needs to know you were once called Anton Black."