Chapter 4

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The train pulled into the station with a shudder, and they followed the stream of students out onto the small platform. A plump, disheveled woman waited outside, and as the students gathered she raised her wand to her throat and spoke a quick incantation. Her voice boomed out across the crowd. "Welcome, students. I am Deputy Headmistress Pomona Sprout. We're nearing the end of your journey, so if the first-years will please follow Professor Hagrid, the rest of you can come with me. You can leave your luggage and your familiars at the end of the platform; they will be delivered to your quarters." Rose glanced at the Doctor, smiling, and he grinned back, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was still wearing his ratty trainers. As he was opening his mouth to speak to her, though, he caught a glimpse of someone over Rose's shoulder, and his expression shuttered. Without a word, he turned and left.

Rose's mouth dropped open, and she began to turn, but Donna grabbed her shoulder and led her into one of the carriages. "No, don't. Don't look. He hasn't noticed you, yet."

Rose shook her off, confused. "Who hasn't? And what the hell was that about?"

"That was the Doctor, trying to protect you." Martha settled next to them as the carriage jolted into movement. "You weren't facing him, which is good."

"Facing who?"

Donna sighed. "Koschei Rosier. He's a right nasty piece of work—the worst of everything Slytherins can be. He's been obsessed with the Doctor from first year." She snorted. "If you ask me, he's just mad the Doctor's not interested."

"It's more than that, though." Martha wrapped her robes more tightly around herself and frowned. "He's been second best to the Doctor from the beginning, and he can't handle that." She turned to Rose. "The Doctor won't care if people are cruel to him, but he can't stand his friends getting hurt. 'S why Koschei's pretty much turned it into a specialty. Last year… last year, he got to do pretty much whatever he wanted." She glanced at Donna. "Seriously, I'm so glad you two weren't here last year. There's no telling what the Doctor would've gotten himself into. Sometimes I think he should've been in Gryffindor."

Donna shrugged. "Nah. He's too calculating for us. He did tell me the Sorting Hat almost put 'im in Ravenclaw, though."

Martha straightened, her eyes brightening. "Really?"

Donna winced, and Rose spoke up. "What year's this Koschei guy, then?"

The redhead turned to her. "Sixth, same as the Doctor." She paused and grimaced. "Or it would be, if the Doctor had ever actually done his homework. I keep forgettin' that. The Doctor's in his fifth year, actually."

"Same as me, then." Rose bit her lip and smiled.

"And me." Martha's grin was a little forced, but as Hogwarts came into view Rose forgot about that. She gasped.

"Oh, my god." Hogwarts was as enormous as she remembered, but the overwhelming majesty of the school was gone. The evidence of spells gone awry pock-marked the school, leaving scorched streaks in some places and crumbling walls in others. The high stained-glass windows were marked with smoke residue, and their carriage jolted as it passed over a particularly rough section of the cobblestones.

Donna stared up at the school, blinking back tears. "I didn't know it was still this bad. Ginny said they'd been concentrating on fixing the structural damage all summer—how bad must it have been, to ignore all this?"

Martha sighed. "Some of the other prefects said they've had to close off whole sections of the school 'cause they're still so badly damaged."

Rose tugged on her braid as she stepped out of the carriage. "I just don't understand why Voldemort would choose to make the whole face-off at a school."

Donna followed her out. "If you want control, what better way than to take over the future?" She looked around them at the flood of students disembarking from the carriages, and the way so many of their eyes lingered on the skeletal horses pulling the carriages. "Voldy may be gone, but he's done enough to hurt the Wizarding world for years to come."

Martha waved at a girl calling her name and turned to Donna and Rose. "Right, I'm off to shepherd students—see you later, yeah?" She paused and forced out a smile. "It was nice to meet you, Rose."

After she hurried off, Rose and Donna joined the rest of the Gryffindors on the way into the Great Hall. Rose cocked an eyebrow at Donna. "What's her deal?"

Donna sighed. "Oh, she's been in love with the Doctor since she was a kid. It's best if you ignore the times when she goes gooey-eyed—Lord knows the Doctor does." Rose nodded slowly, and Donna raised her voice into a shout. "Oi! Ginny!"

A tall redheaded girl turned around at that, her bright brown eyes curious. She caught sight of Donna and grinned, hurrying over to hug her. "Donna! It's so good to see you!"

Donna hugged her back before stepping back, her hands on Ginny's shoulders. "How've you been?"

Ginny ducked her head and tucked her hair behind her ear. "It's been good to be so busy, here at Hogwarts. Mum only left last week—Harry's moved us all in with him at Grimmauld Place until Mum and Dad can get the Burrow re-built. Percy's been working on plans with George, when he's not at the Ministry." She giggled a little, her eyes a bit damp. "I have a feeling the Burrow will be a lot better structured, this time around."

They sat at the far side of the Gryffindor table, and Rose looked over and caught the Doctor's eye. He smiled warmly at her before quickly looking away, but a trim brown-haired boy in Slytherin robes had followed his gaze to stare at her. Rose hastily turned away, and Donna glanced at her. "Oh, right. Guys, this is Rose—she's a fifth-year, but she's been out of Hogwarts for a while. Rose, these are Ginny and Hermione."

Rose looked up and met the curious brown eyes of the girls across from her. Ginny was even lovelier than she'd seemed in the shadowy light of the entrance hall, with a heart-shaped face and wide eyes trimmed with long, pale brown lashes. Hermione seemed a bit older, her long, thick hair hanging loose over her shoulders. She was holding herself carefully and seemed a bit on edge, glancing away every few seconds to look around at the flood of noisy students. Rose smiled at them. "'S nice to meet you."

Ginny grinned at her. "Same here. It's nice to see some new faces around here. What did you do while you were away?"

"One of my neighbors is a witch, and she taught me as well as she could." She grimaced. "I'm still a bit nervous, to be honest. Muggle school's not anything like this."

Hermione looked at her, curious. "Are you a Muggleborn, then?"

"Kind of—my mum's a Muggle, but my dad was a wizard. He's gone, though." She looked down at the empty plate in front of her. "Some Death Eaters got him a few months after I was born."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It was a long time ago." She smiled weakly at the older girl as the first years trooped in, staring wide-eyed at the enormous hall and the star-lit ceiling.

Ginny was watching them meditatively. "I can't believe we were once that innocent."

Professor Sprout stepped forward to sort the students, and they applauded on cue as the kids were sorted into the different houses. The hall grew quiet as Headmistress McGonagall stood and approached the lectern.

Rose stared. Minerva McGonagall looked decades older than she had when Rose saw her last, only three years ago; her dark hair was now liberally streaked with silver.

When she spoke, though, her voice was strong and clear. "I would like to welcome you, one and all, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The past few years have been hard ones for the Wizarding World. We have lost many that we loved, including our past two Headmasters and three of our professors. At times, it seemed like there was no light in the world. But this school stands as a repudiation to that darkness. Hogwarts endures because of the hard work and sacrifice of people from all houses, from all family backgrounds. Those that would impose their small-minded limits on our society have failed because we stood together, and we will continue to do so. Within these walls walks the future of the Wizarding World, and it is a bright one. No matter our past, we will carry on. With that in mind, I'd like to introduce the new members of our faculty. Professor Bryn—" a short, rotund woman bobbed to her feet, nodded at the students and sat back down—"will be teaching Transfiguration this year. Professor Cosgrove—" a tall man with long, curly brown hair rose to his feet and bowed shortly at them—"will be taking over Astronomy during Professor Sinistra's convalescence, and Professor Smith will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts." The last person to stand was a brunette middle-aged woman, her hair back in a neat ponytail and her robes impeccably tailored.

Rose applauded with the others as McGonagall sat back down at the Head table and gestured for the food to appear. Hermione was watching the Headmistress, her brown eyes thoughtful. Ginny nudged her in the side. "What's on your mind?"

"I'm glad she mentioned the last two Headmasters." She looked over at the Slytherin table, more sparsely populated than any other. "It was really bad for the Slytherins that stayed to help rebuild Hogwarts, over the summer. I hope things will be different now that school's started."

Ginny scowled down at her full plate. "It's not really a surprise, considering how they've treated everyone else over the years."

Donna frowned. "Oi! Not all Slytherins are like that."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at her. "Come off it. Your uncle's not a typical Slytherin, and you know it." She looked down at her plate. "Besides, Donna, you weren't here last year. They pretty much got free reign of the place, and of the people." There was a tense silence before she looked up, a smile pasted on her face. "But enough of that. What classes are you taking?"

The rest of evening went quickly, and Rose found herself relaxing as Donna and Ginny joked with each other. Maybe she didn't need to feel so awfully out place, after all.

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