Chapter 2 - The President

The men in white walked around the perimeter of the fallen castle until they got to the part were the sloping Hogwarts ground met with the flat Panem ground. They roamed the castle with their guns pointing forward, rounding up all the people inside and sending them out. After what seemed like an hour, the castle was empty of people. Hilaria pulled a megaphone from seemingly thin air and started to speak to the people of Hogwarts.

'New citizens of District Seven, Panem. You will now have your name and blood recorded by one of District Seven's Peacekeepers. If they ask you a question, answer it. Your compliance will help make this operation go smoothly and quickly. Do not be offended if they ask your age, they need to know.'

A Peacekeeper walked up to McGonagall and pricked her finger, then dabbed it on a sheet of paper.

'Name?' the Peacekeeper asked.

'I hope that was clean,' McGonagall said sternly.

'Name?' the Peacekeeper repeated.

'Minerva McGonagall.'

'Age?'

'Twenty-one and a bit.' McGonagall joked.

'Age?' the Peacekeeper asked again, crushing all possible humour that could have been.

'Eighty-four' McGonagall said, seriously.

'Date of birth?'

'Fourth of October, nineteen thirty-five.'

The Peacekeeper moved along to James, changing the needle then stabbing it into James' index finger. McGonagall thought about what terrible things might happen to the innocent children caught up in this mess. What would the president do? She decided to ask.

'Hilaria?' McGonagall called.

Hilaria walked towards her, nearly tripping up in her ten-inch high heels.

'Can I help you?' Hilaria said, proud of her power over them.

'I just was wondering if we would ever meet this 'President Snow'. He sounds like someone I would enjoy seeing in the flesh,' McGonagall asked slowly.

Hilaria giggled. 'You seek council with the president? Don't make me laugh!'

She walked back over to the Peacekeepers. McGonagall just sat and waited for the census to end, though she didn't know what would face them next. After about an hour, the Peacekeepers had finished.

'OK, everyone!' Hilaria shouted into her megaphone. 'You will now follow me to District Seven's Justice Building, where a very special someone is waiting to meet you!'

They rose, and formed a straight line behind Hilaria and the Peacekeepers. Lily ran to stand beside Albus.

'What do you think will happen?' Lily asked.

'I haven't a clue, but it will be fine,' Albus answered, trying to keep his sister from crying.

They walked through the gathering of trees; the forest seemed to be endless. They kept in their straight line, Peacekeepers at the start and the end. Not one of them knew what the Justice Building was like, but they had an idea of who was waiting for them. The trees stopped, and they arrived. The grand Justice Building was surrounded by people, the citizens of District Seven. It seemed that they had all gathered here to meet the new additions. Someone was standing on the stage-like platform in front of the building, a man with white hair. The crowd parted for the line of people walking towards the building. The way that the Peacekeepers followed them made them seem like criminals. They stopped walking, and formed a crescent in front of the stage.

'Welcome!' the white-haired man boomed. 'Welcome, newcomers, to District Seven! I came as soon as I heard about your building falling from the sky into the woods. I am the President of Panem, Coriolanus Snow.'

There was complete silence. The people from Hogwarts knew that this man was going to do something dreadful to them.

'You may have heard of Panem's famous annual tradition, 'The Hunger Games'. It is a spectacle of courage and sacrifice. Each district of Panem offers up in tribute one young man and woman from the ages of twelve to eighteen, to be trained in the art of survival, and to fight to the death. The names of the district's young women are all put into a bowl and the district's young men into another. How many times your names are in depends on your age and tesserae. Unfortunately I cannot explain in great detail how tesserae work, as I do not have enough time. I only came here to tell you that we have decided that in order to give the newcomers a better understanding of how things go here in Panem, only the names of their young adults will be placed in the bowls for this year's Hunger Games.'

The sounds of joy from the people of District 7 filled the air. They were safe for one year; they didn't have to worry about the Hunger Games. The newcomers, however, were already being punished. All of them knew what Scorpius had done, and all of them hated him for it. McGonagall pushed her way towards the stage, trying to catch Snow's attention.

'Mr President!' she screamed, in a pleading voice that wasn't suited to her. 'Please reconsider! Only one child rejected your kindness and hospitality!'

'I see,' he said, thinking about it all. 'What age is the child?'

'The boy is thirteen, sir,' McGonagall said, hating how much Snow now owned her and her students.

'Very well,' Snow said. He put both of his hands in the air to bring silence to the crowd. 'For this year only, in District Seven only the names of those from thirteen to eighteen years old shall be put in to the Reaping, with the names of the thirteen year-olds in once, going up to six times for the eighteen year-olds. That is all. Good day, District Seven, and may the odds be ever in your favour!'

McGonagall set about bringing all of the Hogwarts students and teachers together. Albus was comforting Lily, who looked like she was about to cry.

'It's OK, Lily. It'll be fine,' Albus said, rubbing her arm.

'Albus, two of us will be dead!' Lily said, defying Albus' calm approach. 'It could be us, it's not OK!'

'Don't worry about getting picked, and don't worry for anyone else.' Albus said, kneeling down. Then he said those words of accidental poison. 'Your name's only in there once, Lily. They're not going to pick you.'

Days of dread had passed; it was now the night before the Reaping. Lily couldn't sleep for fear of being picked. Albus and James decided to return to Hogwarts when everyone was asleep. Everyone from the school had been relocated in District Seven like evacuees. Some were still in possession of their wands, most, however, were not. James had his, Albus didn't. That was one of the reasons that they returned, the others being that they just wanted to see the castle that had been their second home. James led the way through the forest, wand illuminated. Albus stood right behind him, keeping an eye out for the possible dangers hidden in amongst the woods. They soon found it; it was very difficult to miss. The trees hid it to the people of District Seven, hopefully no-one had come across it and ventured inside.

'Stand still, Al. I'll get you up there,' said James, pulling out his wand. Albus stood straight and closed his eyes, preparing to be lifted into the air. 'Wingardium Leviosa!'

James lifted Albus up into the air. Albus flailed around above the greenhouses. Once he was over the soft grass, he gave James the thumbs up. He slowly descended to the ground. He landed, and walked into Greenhouse Two where his wand lay on a table. He picked it up, spun it up in the air, and caught it. He jumped off, casting a Cushioning Charm, and landed beside James.

'The stars are different here,' Albus said.

'What do you mean?' James asked.

'Some are gone, some new ones are here.'

'How can you just tell?'

'I pay attention in Astronomy, unlike some.'

'You should have been in Ravenclaw.'

'Well, I was put in Gryffindor, wasn't I?'

'You tell me. Were you put in Gryffindor, or did you put yourself in Gryffindor?'

'I don't get it, why are you being like this?'

'I'm sorry, I'm just tired. We had better head back.'

'OK, sure.'

They started to head back through the forest, both of their wands illuminated.

'Are you nervous about tomorrow?' Albus asked his brother.

'No, there's only one name that will be in the boy's bowl; Scorpius Malfoy.'

'I suppose this "Capitol" bunch is likely to set it up in their favour. They won't need odds.'

'Agreed. I'm just worried about Lily. What if she gets picked? It's not as if we can volunteer for her.'

'You can volunteer? Why would anyone do that?'

'I heard there are some districts closer to the Capitol where the people volunteer to play in the Games.'

'Mad people. I'll never understand them.'

They arrived at the houses in District Seven, and walked into the hut they shared with Lily and each other. Albus walked up to Lily and stroked her head. She had fallen asleep. It didn't seem like a bad idea, considering how life changing tomorrow, or rather later today, could be.