Disclaimer: I am but a humble fan playing with JK Rowling's Universe. I do not, in fact, own Harry Potter, and I wish Warner Bros would stop rubbing it in.

Chapter 2

No matter how hard she tried to stay focused on positive thoughts, Ginny couldn't help but feel grim. Everywhere she turned, there seemed to be reasons to be depressed. Obviously, the Dementors she could see floating in the distance couldn't be helping. However, as she stopped out of the train, it was the sight of Hagrid quietly directing the first years towards the boats, instead of happily waving to his favourite students that got to her. She'd become accustomed to him welcoming Ron, Hermione and Harry with special cheers every year. This time, he only had a small wave for her and a smile that didn't reach his eyes at all.

As she walked alongside Neville and Luna towards the carriage, she stopped suddenly, frozen. They were no longer horseless as she had been used to seeing them. She swallowed quietly as she took her first look at the Thestrals. Even knowing, from what Harry and Luna had told her and from having ridden one to London, that they were friendly, she felt uneasy as she walked towards them.

"Get a grip on yourself, Ginevra," she told herself. "They always been here, you just couldn't see them before. On the whole, you're much safer now that you can actually see where they are."

She followed Neville who was climbing in a carriage that had already been claimed by Seamus Finnigan. Luna climbed after her, and they were soon joined by Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.

"Will you look at us," Seamus declared, pointing at himself, Neville, Lavender and Parvati. "Gryffindor class of 1998 has now officially shrunk by half. If it's anything to go by for the rest of the school, it's going to get a bit lonely in class this year."

"I'm not so sure," Parvati replied. "There's actually going to be new students this year, some wizards who weren't attending Hogwarts before and are now forced by the Ministry to show up."

"Are there really that many of them, though?" Ginny asked. "I mean, most wizards and witches attend Hogwarts, don't they?"

"There are actually a few that don't – some parents prefer to send their kids to Muggle school and teach them magic at home. It's common for Half-Bloods, or for people who prefer to stay a bit out of the wizarding world."

"I can't imagine they'd be too pleased with the new regime, either way," Seamus said. "They're not going to see Hogwarts at its best this year, are they? And how do they know which houses they'll be put in, anyway? Are they going to be sorted like the first years?"

"We'd better hope for them that's what happens," Lavender replied. "I wouldn't put it past Snape to send them all in Slytherin, and I have a feeling Half-Bloods and kids raised the Muggle way wouldn't last long in there."

"Well, they'd be bloody hypocrites to go after anyone for being Half-Blood, wouldn't they," Ginny put in. "After all, both Snape and Riddle are Half-Bloods themselves."

"Riddle?" Seamus asked. "Who is that?"

"That's You-Know-Who – his actual name," she answered. "Harry drilled in my head not to call him You-Know-Who though – but since the other name has been Tabooed – I'll go for his original name."

"Weird name," Lavender said with a small shiver. "Anyway, since when has being a hypocrite ever stopped a Slytherin from picking on anyone?"

"Never, as we all know," Seamus put in. "I guess I'll find out soon enough if Half-Bloods are going to be treated any different. You lot are going to be fine, but I reckon I'll be in the spotlight fairly early."

"You think we'll be fine? Really?" Neville said with a sad smile. "I'd say the six of us in this carriage are going to be on Snape's hit list this year – if he has one of these. Even if we're not as close to him as Ron and Hermione, it's no secret that the four of us in his year are friends with Harry. Everyone in the school has seen Ginny snogging Harry last year, and Luna's father has been openly criticising the Ministry in his paper since it fell. And Snape has never really needed an excuse to hate me..."

Lavender and Parvati looked fairly impressed at Neville's speech. Seamus looked grim – Ginny realised that she'd never seen Seamus Finnigan look grim before. He was one of those persons like Fred or George who could be constantly relied on to look ready to crack a joke. She filed that under another thing that depressed her.

"So what are we going to do about it then?" Seamus asked, looking very serious.

Ginny was reminded of the conversation she'd had with Neville and Luna earlier in the train. She was wondering how much of her mission she should let the other three Gryffindors know about, when she realised that the carriages had stopped. They'd arrived at the castle. Gazing out the window, she saw Pansy Parkinson looking at their small group, very interested.

"Let's talk later, in the tower," she muttered to Seamus, Parvati and Lavender. They followed her gaze, and seeing Pansy, seemed to agree that delaying conversation was the best course of action.

Parvati was right, there were indeed new faces in the crowd – students much too old to be in their first year who were admiring the castle with the awed look that everyone had when they first saw Hogwarts. Ginny found her first reason to be cheerful as she looked up at her school. No matter how many Dementors floated around, no matter that the Headmaster was now a Death Eater, no matter that the people she loved most in the world were missing from it – nothing could take away the incredible beauty of Hogwarts castle.

Looking further up, she noticed the brightest star in the sky, in Canis Major. She smiled. The presence of Sirius, the dog star, was another thing they couldn't take from her. She'd started looking at it every night after Bill and Fleur's wedding, as her own re-assurance that someone was watching over Harry, Ron and Hermione while she couldn't. She winked at the star, and silently cursed Bellatrix Lestrange. She was absolutely sure that if Sirius was still alive, he'd be right next to Harry, helping and guiding him on whatever his mission was.

Reminding herself not to dwell on if-only-s, Ginny walked in the Great Hall. Most of the students walked to their tables, but a small group was staying back – the new students. They were clearly wondering what to do with themselves, until Professor Sprout walked towards them and invited them to join the first years in the entrance hall.

"They're going to get sorted with the first years," Luna said. "At least we won't have to worry about them all ending up in Slytherin."

Ginny gave her a quick squeeze before she left their small group for the Ravenclaw table. She took a look at the staff table, and felt all colour drop from her face.

"Seamus, hide me!"

The Irish boy looked surprised, but took it in a stride and stepped in front of her.

"What exactly am I hiding you from, Miss Weasley?"

"That fat man, at the table, with black hair – that's Amycus Carrow. I duelled him last year. I don't think he's going to like me much..."

"Shit, Ginny. You Weasleys really do like to get on the bad side of Death Eaters, don't you?" Seamus muttered. "You can hide behind me tonight, but if he's in the staff, he's bound to see you sometime this year."

"Well, let's delay that for as long as possible, I'll deal with it soon enough. Is there anyone else new at the staff table?"

"There's a woman, ugly thing. She looks a bit like him," Lavender answered.

Ginny risked a glance.

"I think that's his sister, Alecto. Tonks told me about her."

"Who's Tonks?" Parvati asked.

"She's an Auror – well, she was. She's on the run from the ministry now, she's done too many things to antagonise the current regime. She's awesome, really. And she's been helping me prepare for this year over the summer. Made sure I would know something about the Death Eaters we might run into."

Neville looked impressed.

"You're going to have to tell us about that!"

"Later," Ginny muttered, as Professor McGonagall started bringing the first years forward. Eyes turned to the Sorting Hat, waiting for its usual annual song.

The Hat remained silent.

McGonagall shifted, looking unsure of herself.

The Hat remained silent.

Whispers started around the student tables.

McGonagall took out her parchment and called.

"Abbott, Andrew!"

A small boy who looked a lot like Hannah stepped forward, trembling. Ginny felt a pang of sympathy for him. The Sorting was scary under normal circumstances already. She couldn't imagine how he was feeling.

"Gryffindor!" the Hat yelled, after barely two seconds on the boy's head. Andrew ran off towards the table after McGonagall took the Hat back. Neville and Seamus clapped hard and immediately made space for him.

The ceremony went on, going through the first years at the beginning, and once they were all Sorted, McGonagall beckoned the older new students forward. As she went through the roll once again, Ginny started to notice something. Looking around the Gryffindor table, and then glancing at the others, she saw she wasn't the only one who had noticed the strange event. By the time Finn Walsh had been sorted in Ravenclaw, the whispering was overtaking the Great Hall.

Not a single new student, first year or older, had been Sorted in Slytherin.

Snape looked very much like Fred had when their mother had announced Christmas had been cancelled because of a mean prank he'd pulled. His lips were so thin they might as well not be there. He was looking everywhere except for the Slytherin table. The new Headmaster stood up slowly.

"Hogwarts is this year going to start taking your education seriously," he started. McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick were watching him in a way that made Ginny wish that looks could kill. "We have two new members of staff. Professor Alecto Carrow will be teaching Muggle Studies. Professorr Amycus Carrow will be teaching the noble topic of Dark Arts. Both these classes are now mandatory for all students in all years."

Here, even Snape's dark looks could not keep the whispers away.

"Did he just say...?"

"I can't believe..."

"No way in hell!"

"Silence!" Snape's loud voice was more effective than a Silencing spell.

"The Professors Carrows have also been charged with maintaining discipline in the school this year. They will be helped in this task by Mr. Filch. There will be no tolerance for foolish and childish pranks in this castle as long as I am Headmaster. I do hope I make myself very clear."

He sat back down and snapped his fingers. Food appeared on the tables. In complete silence at first, then whispering, then talking quietly, and then normally, the students started to eat.

"Not a single new Slytherin, can you believe that?" Lavender said, beaming.

"The Sorting Hat does have its ways of making point, doesn't it," Neville answered.

"Has that ever happened before?" little Andrew Abbott asked, seeming to scarcely believe his luck at having been invited to sit by the older students.

"Not that I know of," Ginny replied. "Even at the beginning of the school, when Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin had their big fall-out, it still sent students in Slytherin."

"Well, this sounds like a really nice practical joke against the snakes," Seamus said with a smirk. "But it didn't sing! That was really disturbing!"

"What do you mean, it didn't sing? Does it sing normally?" one of the new students asked.

"It normally makes a new song every year," Neville answered. "Usually it's just for fun, but in recent years, it's been giving warnings about the war. And now... I guess it figured we'd be warned enough. Silence is a stronger statement I guess."

Dessert had appeared on the table – the treacle tart reminded Ginny of Harry, and she wondered for a moment if she was destined to feel a pang in her stomach every time she thought of him for the rest of her life. She saw Amycus Carrow rise from the staff table in the distance and nudged Neville on the other side of the table.

"I'm quite tired, I think it's time for bed," she said quickly, pointing discreetly at Carrow.

"Right, good idea Gin, let's go. Anyone know the password for the tower?"

"The password is Albus, Mr Longtbottom." Ginny turned and smiled at Professor McGonagall. "And I would recommend for you and Miss Weasley to stay out of Professor Carrow's way as long as you can manage. Though it seems you had understood that on your own," she said with a curt smile.

They both nodded and stood. Next to them, several Gryffindor stood as well and gathered around them. They seemed to have taken McGonagall's words as an order to shield them. Over at the Ravenclaw table, she saw Michael Corner and Terry Boot stand, acting as Luna's bodyguards.

Ginny smirked at Neville.

"What was that you said in the train about not being popular?"