The Weasley clan found themselves at Kings Cross station among a slew of other hurried and exasperated magical families, trunks topped with strange animal cages, and more than enough long robes to turn every muggle's head. Ginny was more upset than she had been in a long time, aware that 10 was way too old to be throwing a temper tantrum, but not caring anyway.

"WHY can't I go NOW, Mum? With Ron! They'll never notice!"

"Shut it, Ginny," Ron replied. "Wait your turn! You can go next year."

"You have dirt on your nose, Ronald. And what am I supposed to do all year while you're gone? Play Quidditch against the gnomes?"

"Both of you, hush!" Molly reprimanded sharply. "Alright, where is that platform? I can't see a thing in here for the crowd. Packed with muggles, of course!"

Ginny noticed a small, sloppy-looking black haired boy with think-rimmed glasses and a beautiful owl turn and follow them up to Platform 9 and 3/4. His clothes were much too big for him and he looked very confused. She giggled silently, admiring his snowy white owl.

"Now, what's the platform number?" Asked Molly.

"Nine and three-quarters!" Yelled Ginny, anxious to prove herself to her family. How could her mother forget such a silly thing? Every wizard in Britain knew the platform number!

Feeling that her display of magical knowledge had been sufficient, Ginny tried one more time. "Muuuuuummmmm, can't I go?"

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."

Ginny watched, defeated, as her brothers left for the year, one-by-one without her. Ron was preparing himself to leave when the black-haired boy Ginny had noticed approached her mother. She listened silently as Molly explained how to walk through the barrier. As he nervously turned to run, Ginny called a small, "good luck!" after him, but she wasn't sure he heard.

Five minutes later, on the platform, when the family realized that the awkward boy was Harry Potter, Ginny felt like she'd been hit by a ton of bricks, like she'd tried to run through the barrier and failed. Harry Potter? Really?! Right here?! She'd been dreaming of meeting him her entire life! And she had thought he was some weird kid and giggled at him!

"Oh mum, can I go on the train and see him, mom, eh please…" she begged.

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo…"

There was nothing to be done. Next year, she thought, next year I'll meet him and everything will be right…

Platform 93/4 was at its usual hustle and bustle the next morning, although Ginny couldn't help but notice the lack of students boarding the Hogwarts Express. A sinister mood hung in the air. Was it possible that the train's colors actually looked darker? Ginny recalled with a sad smile the first time she'd ever seen Harry, he had looked so frightened and confused attempting to run through the wall, and she had giggled at him before she understood why. Nothing could make her giggle like that now, she thought. That poor 11 year old Harry Potter had no idea what was in store for him when he reached the other side of the platform, and now, she thought miserably, neither did she.

The goodbyes were rough. Molly was still reluctant to let her go, even after her month-long parade of reassurances. Ginny hugged her mother tightly and promised her for the 126th time that she'd be fine, she could take care of herself, and yes she knew that she could come home any day. Ginny insisted that Molly not follow her through the barrier. She had the foresight to realize that nothing good lay on the other side. Better her mother not see so she couldn't change her mind.

The platform area was crawling with Death Eaters. Men and women in dark cloaks with silver masks moved through the crown like snakes hunting prey. Surely they had to know that Harry wasn't there. Ginny found herself face to face with Lucious Malfoy in her hunt for Neville and Luna.

"Ms. Weasley," he sneered. "Too bad your little boyfriend couldn't make an appearance this morning. I had so hoped we would see him."

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "Too bad your boss has you scouring train platforms for teenagers instead of doing something more useful with your time. Still sneaking diaries into little girls' cauldrons?"

Malfoy tightened his grip on his wand. "I would be more careful if I were you, Ms. Weasley. I believe you will find this Hogwarts to be much changed from the one you left in June."

He left her quickly, but not without a hard brush to the shoulder on his was past. He was an imposing figure, and the force knocked her off her feet. She stumbled backwards. She was going to fall over…

"Got you!" She left a pair of hands on her back, pushing her back up. Once balanced, she spun around to see to whom they belonged.

"Neville! And Luna!"

Finding Neville and Luna was the welcome relief Ginny had been searching for during most of August. Finally, two people who she could actually talk to about what was going on; two people who wouldn't worry her to death; two people who were her best friends. They exchanged hugs and made their way onto the train. All around them students were waving goodbyes at their nervous relatives. It was surreal to watch. Unlike the cheerfully tearful goodbyes of the past, today held an intense gravity, and it seemed to pull the train further and further into the unknown.

The three of them tried to pick a compartment on the train as far away from prying ears as possible. Settled in between four nervous looking first years and a few loudly gossiping Ravenclaw girls, Ginny pressed her temple against the window pane, appreciating its coolness and the increasingly barren landscape under the grey September sky.

They were barely out of London when Neville decided to out the elephant in the room.

"So?" He whispered excitedly across from her, "Where are they?"

Ginny didn't move her head or her eyes in Neville's direction.

"I don't know, Neville," she said dully.

Though Ginny's eyes weren't on him, she could sense his incredulousness. "Well you've got to know something."

Ginny gave an already exasperated sigh and finally turned to face him.

"I don't know anything! They disappeared a month ago and no one has seen or heard from them since. Not me, not mum, not the Order, no one."

Luna chimed in next to her, her voice airy and yet full of truth as usual. "Three seventeen year olds trying to take on the world alone," she mused. "It sounds incredibly noble and incredibly stupid. What could they possibly be doing?"

"Do you think they're chasing after You-Know-Who?" asked Neville. "Like actually chasing him down?"

"Dunno," said Ginny. "I'd bet not. It'd be stupid to go looking for a fight." Although, she remembered, Harry didn't always make the most calculated decisions. Thank god Hermione was there to keep him and Ron grounded.

"I bet they're collecting weapons or something," Luna added. "Maybe infiltrating the Ministry. What else is there?"

Neville sighed. "I'd kill to help 'em out right now." He turned to Ginny. "Wouldn't you?"

"You have no idea."

The train chugged slowly into Hogsmeade Station shortly after nightfall. Ginny, Luna, and Neville stretched and gathered their belongings as usual. Although she would never admit it, her heart was pounding out of her chest. Everything will be fine, she reassured her herself. How bad can it be, afterall? It's a school for Merlin's sake.

But just as the students were preparing to walk into the corridor, they heard the voices of the prefects shouting, "Stay where you are! No one leaves the train until all trunks have been inspected! Stay where you are!"

Ginny poked her head out as one was walking by. It was Devon Billingsly, a 6th year Hufflepuff she recognized from Quidditch. "Devon, what's going on?"

"Just stay in your cabin. They have to search everyone's trunks before we can get into the castle."

She scowled and stepped back in.

"It's going to take forever to…" she started.

"Look!" cried Luna.

The three of them rushed to press their faces to the glass. Trunks were scattered all over the platform, their lids being blasted open by a middle-aged man and woman she didn't recognize.

"Who are they?" She asked.

Neville swallowed nervously loud enough for all of them to hear. "I think they're the Carrows. Brother and sister. Nasty lot from what I hear. Their family's supported muggle cleansing for generations. I reckon their Death Eaters and Snape recruited them to help out."

They watched as everyone's belongings exploded and spilled out of their containers. Socks, underwear, books, caldrons, robes, and hairbrushes littered the ground.

"What are they looking for?" Ginny wandered aloud.

"What else?" Luna answered. "Information on Harry. Did you pack anything?"

"No of course not. Not with Snape as headmaster. Not even a photograph. Did you?"

"No, but I suspect we'll be questioned anyway."

Typical Luna, thought Ginny, nonchalant about sinister things. She and Neville looked at each other anxiously. Of course they would be questioned. They were Harry's best friends. And from the looks of things on the platform below, it wasn't going to be a nice question-and-answer kind of interview.

Half and hour later the Carrows finally seemed satisfied that Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't hiding in students' trunks. With the flick of a wand everyone's possessions returned to their rightful home and they were allowed to board the carriages up the hill. From the ground, the castle glowed with its usual fervor. Every year when she looked up at it, she could remember what it was like to look for the first time, with a child's sense of amazement. That was before Tom Riddle's diary and Cedric's death and all the terror of war.

Although the glow was still there 6 years later, the wonder held by magic was quickly becoming extinguished.

The emptiness of the Great Hall was striking, with only pure-blooded wizards in attendance. The Carrows dined loudly at the professor's table while McGonagal, Hagrid, and Slughorn hardly touched their soup. The usual smiles and cheer that came with the beginning of a new year were absent. When Snape stood to speak, the silence came not from respect, but from fear.

"For over a millennia," he began, "Hogwarts has been the finest institution of witchcraft and wizardry on this earth. But during that time we have continuously held ourselves back from being our very best because the quality of pupil we accepted was sub-par. Those of you lucky enough to be in this room tonight are the ones who deserve to study magic, and your muggle-born contemporaries have been excluded appropriately."

The Carrows burst into clapping. McGonagal was red in the face as though she intended to pounce on Snape and strangle him at any second.

He continued, "Make no mistake, that the Hogwarts of today is not the Hogwarts of the past. We will develop your abilities in ways that you could not have imagined before. We will teach you how to serve a greater purpose in the magical community, and we will hold you to much higher standards of behavior. Do not think for a second that even slight infractions of the rules will be tolerated at our new Hogwarts."

The Carrow man smirked.

"Move quickly to your chambers for bed. Tomorrow you begin to live and study in the new world."

There was little chatter among the students has they filed out of the Great Hall for bed. The threat of punishment seemed very legitimate. Ginny saw a first year Gryffindor girl shuffling through the crowd, eyes wide with fear.

"It's not so bad," she assured her. "Really Hogwarts is a great place, they just have to be strict at the beginning of the year so that things don't get…"

"WEASLEY!"

She felt sharp tug on the back collar of her robe, almost choking her. She whipped around in shock, pulling out her wand from habit and aiming it at her attacker. She was face to face with the Carrow woman.

"Are you pulling a wand on a professor?!" She shrieked. The students had stopped in their tracks by the door and were staring at the scene in front of them. Ginny and the Carrow woman stood not three feet apart.

Ginny took a deep breath, trying and failing to conceal her anger. Her wand was still out. "Only ones who assault me… professor."

The Carrow woman stepped forward, shaking from anger. "You little…"

"Excuse me!" interrupted McGonagal, stepping between the two. "Ginny, put your wand away. And -, I'm sure that if you had words to say to Ms. Weasley, you could have simply asked her to talk instead of yanking at her robes?"

- Carrow's eyes narrowed as she turned to McGonagal. "You don't call the shots here anymore, Minerva. We do." She pointed at Ginny without taking her eyes off McGonagal. "And we'll need Weasley, Longbottom, and Lovegood to come with us."

Ginny found Neville in the crowd. His eyes were wide in fear.

"NOW!"