The Carrows' Calling
Disclaimer: None of this belongs to us. It is all J.K. Rowling's. If we were, we would be rich and not spend our entire life on computers.
This is our first time writing fanfiction, so please bear with us!
Chapter One
"Ready, dear?" asked Ginny's mum, sniffing. Ginny almost didn't notice her mother speak—she was too busy glaring at the Death Eater guards at the entrance checking the students for their tickets.
"Oh, Mum," said Ginny, pulling her mum in for a hug. Ginny then pulled back and grabbed her mother by the hands.
"Mum. I love you. Stay safe, keep the boys behaved and please—please don't cry. Give dad a kiss for me. It'll be very soon until I come back for Christmas. I promise," said Ginny reassuringly.
"Oh Ginny… I love you," Mum whispered, and pulled Ginny in for a tighter hug.
"I love you too, Mum." Just then the train whistle rang. Ginny and her mother jumped back.
"Oh Ginny dear, here's your trunk and write to me once you get there!" said her mother. She hurried to help Ginny with her trunk. Ginny ran to the train entrance and waved goodbye to her mum quickly. The last image she saw of her mother before she left was her hand upraised in a last wave, tears in her eyes. Ginny sighed. It will be fine, she told herself. Christmas would come soon.
At the entrance of the train, a man asked for her ticket.
"Watch where you're going! You're late! Ticket?" asked the man dressed in a dark suit rudely, not even bothering to look at Ginny.
"I just got my trunk. Here," replied Ginny just as equally rude. She entered the train and hurried down the hall to where she and Luna had placed their belongings. Luna and Neville were already there.
"Great welcoming committee. They made me feel really great about coming here," said Ginny sarcastically.
"Did you run into the same moron?" asked Luna.
"Was he wearing black?" asked Ginny.
"No, he was wearing bright pink," said Luna dryly.
"They gave us trouble too. They took away Luna's Quibbler and told her that if they saw her with it again, she would be banned," said Neville, ignoring Luna's statement.
"I think they were warned about us." said Luna without the usual airiness in her voice.
"Why?" asked Neville.
"Because they know we're friends with Harry," said Luna. More than friends at one point, thought Ginny darkly.
"Yeah, probably because they made me open my trunk and they rummaged around in it. All of my papers are crumpled," complained Neville.
"What, do they think Harry will jump out of it?" Ginny asked dryly.
"Any news about them, Harry, Ron and Hermione, I mean," asked Luna, moving the subject along.
"No, not since the wedding," said Ginny.
"But if the Boy Who Lived was caught, wouldn't You-Know-Who post it all over the place?" asked Neville, thinking on the positive side.
"But what's the difference in the death of a blood traitor and a muggle born?" asked Ginny, with a cold tone in her voice.
"Ginny," Luna said, placing a hand on her knee. "We can't think of what it could've been, or it may happen."
"Do you guys really think he has been caught?" asked Ginny, true fear leaking into her voice.
"No. Harry knows what he's doing, and so does Ron. And plus, Hermione's with them. With her, they'll make it out of anything. I know I have," said Neville reassuringly.
"Ginny, Neville's right. With Hermione with them, they can make it out any tough situation. Without her, they'd be dead by now," said Luna, the airiness in her voice returning. Ginny laughed without amusement.
"What about the Carrows, and Snape?" asked Neville, changing the subject.
"Oh, them? Dumbledore's Army, of course," said Ginny, with an air of confidence.
"Ginny, what if the original members don't want in?" asked Neville.
"It will be just the three of us," replied Ginny stubbornly.
"Yes, but would Dumbledore's Army now be against the Death Eaters, or the Slytherins? Last time, it was against Umbridge and the Ministry. The Inquisitorial Squad was basically under the Ministry too, and that was made up of Slytherins," stated Luna, questioning Ginny statement before.
"Good point. And there will be new students and new professors," said Ginny. And headmasters too, thought Ginny sadly.
"What about we lay low for a bit and get a taste of the new people. Then we will know if we really have to have D.A. up again," suggested Neville. "But looking at the security here, I think we will."
"Yeah. We'll see if we really need to do something about the professors before we start. And for now, it should stay the three of us. I don't want to get people's hopes up," agreed Ginny.
"OK," said Luna, finalizing the idea. The three friends fell into a troubling silence, all lost in their own thoughts the entire way to Hogwarts.
Ginny stretched her legs out in front of her. The ride in the carriage was restless and bumpy. On the journey, they had talked, but most of the chatter was about D.A.
"Neville!" called the familiar voice of Seamus Finnigan.
"Seamus!" The two boys ran at each other and locked themselves in a hug as if they haven't seen each other in years.
"Padma, Parvati!" called Luna.
"Luna!" The group of the girls ran to each other and hugged each other. Trailing behind them was Lavender.
"Lavender!" called Ginny.
"Ginny!" Lavender ran up to embrace her. Ginny smiled. All that talk about D.A and Voldemort had stressed her deeply. Maybe they just all needed a little help from their friends.
"How was your summer?" asked Lavender.
"Fine. Yours?"
"Good. Mum almost didn't want me coming back though, with everything going on," said Lavender.
Seamus's voice cut into their conversation.
"Come on, or, we'll lose all of the good seats!"
"Coming!" Lavender called back.
"Let's go," Lavender said, pulling on Ginny's arm. Ginny quickly followed Lavender and Seamus into the Entrance Hall. Once Ginny had entered, she knew something was wrong. There wasn't the usual warm chatter of students emitting from the Great Hall. And the place felt cold and uninviting, as if the Headmaster didn't want people coming in. Ginny looked at her friends. From the looks on their faces, it looked like they felt the same thing. What have they done to Hogwarts?
Seamus forcefully pushed open the doors with a creak and entered the Great Hall. Ginny and the rest of her friends followed him. Now Ginny could tell there was definitely something wrong. The Great Hall didn't give off the warm glow and feeling it usually did. Ginny shivered, but it wasn't just the cold. The Great Hall radiated fear, as if she was a dementor and could sense fear to find food.
Just then, Ginny met the cold, black, endless, unforgiving eyes of Severus Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts, killer of Albus Dumbledore. How dare he stand in his place, fumed Ginny. Then, Seamus leaned in.
"Let's get to a seat before he kills us," Seamus whispered, referring to Snape. It was then that Ginny realized that they were still standing in the entrance of the Great Hall. Ginny hurried after her friends to an empty row of seats. As she sat down, Ginny quickly scanned the staff table.
There was Snape, in the middle, sitting in the Headmaster's chair. Hatred burned through her body. It felt disrespectful to be sitting under a headmaster who deserved no right to replace Dumbledore. Of course, no one could. But especially not Snape. There was an empty seat to the left of him and Ginny assumed Professor McGonagall wasn't Deputy Headmistress anymore. A man, who Ginny assumed was Professor Carrow, was sitting on the right side of Snape, symbolizing the right hand man. Great, now's there two idiots leading the school. His sister was beside him. Nevermind, three. Professor Sprout was beside the empty seat for Professor McGonagall, with a worried look on her face. Professor Flitwick was beside her, facing the other direction.
From the corner of her eye, Ginny caught the cold stare of Snape. Ginny quickly looked away—his eyes seemed to burn ice cold heat into her. She looked around. As hard as she tried, Ginny couldn't hear the quiet hum of chatter around the Great Hall. She couldn't even feel the warm feeling of home around her. From the looks on the students' faces around her, she could tell that the rest of them were just as scared.
Just then, the doors of the Great Hall opened and marched in was Professor McGonagall, with the first years nervously trailing behind her. They came down the hall and lined up as Professor McGonagall instructed. She pulled out the Sorting Hat and placed it on the old, rickety stool. Ginny listened in anticipation, wondering what kind of song it would sing out this time.
The hat slowly opened it's "mouth", as the first-years stared in wonder. With a deep breath, it began to sing (but perhaps with a more ominous tone than usual, or maybe it was just Ginny's mind wandering along the worst situations possible.)
Is it going to be the house of Godric Gryffindor?
Those who will be brave and reckless forevermore.
You and Slytherins don't get along,
but that is the house where you may belong.
If not Gryffindor, then perhaps Ravenclaw.
Doing those amazing spells while others stare in awe.
With a quick and intelligent brain,
doing unique magic while others do plain.
Now let's talk about Hufflepuffs.
They are gentle like a Pygmy Puff
Sweet, modest, and dedicated
But a lot of them are underestimated.
Ginny was lost in thought, and tuned out the rest of the song. A firm, familiar voice pulled her back to reality.
"When I call your name, you shall place on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," said Professor McGonagall. "Abagot, Elizabeth!" Ginny felt a pang of sympathy for the girl; it was always the hardest to be sorted first, and it was even harder in times like these. A pink-faced girl with braided blonde hair slowly walked up to the hat and placed it gingerly on her head. After what it felt like hours, the hat shouted: "GRYFFINDOR!" Ginny clapped loudly along with her fellow Gryffindors. At least one thing wasn't change; housemates still clapped for each other. She saw a few second years welcome the girl into their ranks. Ginny suddenly felt a pang of pity. All these young witches and wizards, and their first year at Hogwarts would be the hardest yet. They wouldn't be able to enjoy it like she or her brothers did. They would never see Hogwarts as she did. Not now at least. Not with Snape as Headmaster.
As Ginny was lost in her thoughts, the Sorting flew by. Before she knew it, Professor McGonagall had reached the end as she called out:
"Zimmer, Anthony!" called Professor McGonagall. A black-haired, blue-eyed boy walked up confidently to the hat and eagerly jammed it on. The hat just skimmed his head when it shouted,
"SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table on the other side clapped and cheered. Anthony walked, again with confidence to the Slytherin table and sat down. Great. Another Malfoy, thought Ginny. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and stool and took her place at the staff table, beside Snape.
Snape had now stood up. He spread out his arms with a blank expression on his face, as if he was brainwashed. Maybe he was, thought Ginny. He addressed the students,
"Welcome back to Hogwarts. If you have eyes you can see that I am the new Headmaster. Do not expect me to be as easy on you as Dumbledore. All those grown lazy and undisciplined would be smart enough to change their ways into my expectations, or unnecessary consequences will be severe. Meanwhile, we have some staff changes. Welcome Professor Amycus Carrow, and his sister, Professor Alecto Carrow. They will be teaching Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts. They will also be in charge of discipline; all Professors will send their detentions to Professor Carrow here. " Amycus Carrow had a hunched back, pale and doughy face with tiny dark eyes. His sister looked a lot like him. The Professor Carrows stood up to acknowledge their arrival. The students and staff clapped, but with a muted excitement. Ginny noticed that a few of the teachers clapped only once or twice. Snape spoke again:
"And there will be dementors patrolling all grounds and all entrances in and out of here. All of the entrances." Snape's eyes locked with Ginny's. She quickly looked away, away from his piercing eyes, away from his voice, which seemed to cut into her like a blade.
"There will also be an earlier curfew. For all students," Snape said. "By 7:30, I want all students to be in their common rooms. If you are caught by any of the professors here, you will receive detention. As I have said before, this rule applies to all students, all ages, all houses. There will be no exceptions. For anyone." Snape met eyes with every student in the room. Ginny felt that he didn't need too. His speech was rooted in her mind for all eternity.
"There will also be no Inter-House Quidditch Championships. But the Inter-House Championship will continue," said Snape. What? No Quidditch? And an earlier curfew? Bloody Snape. As if you haven't ruined Hogwarts already.
There were downsides to the early curfew. It would be harder to sneak out, with curfew so early, and without Harry's invisibility cape, Ginny didn't know how they could do it.
"And now you may tuck in," said Snape, and with the Headmaster's say, the food appeared on the tables. And where's the Hogwarts song? thought Ginny. We always have a song… until now. Why does Snape have to ruin everything?
Ginny snapped back to reality by the slight sounds of forks and plates colliding; she hadn't realized she was hungry. And once again, the hall was silent. Ginny didn't dare talk; Snape had already singled her out with his eyes once. She didn't need it again. Ginny quickly finished her dinner and hurried to whisper to Neville that she was going to bed. Ginny rushed to the portrait of the Fat Lady and once she got there, she realized she didn't know the password. An idea buzzed through her head, and Ginny thought that it was worth a try.
"Hello, may I enter?" Ginny asked politely to the Fat Lady.
"Do you know the password?"
"I should, I'm a prefect, Professor McGonagall just didn't have time to tell me," Ginny replied, with an air of importance. The Fat Lady narrowed her eyes at Ginny.
"You're that Weasley girl, aren't you?" asked the Fat Lady. Ginny nodded, not sure which way this would go.
"Well, if you could answer some of these questions only the Weasley girl can answer, I'll consider letting you in," said the portrait. Ginny once again nodded, not sure what to say.
"Let's begin-" The Fat Lady said until she was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"What are you doing, Miss. Weasley?" a firm, no-nonsense voice startled her. Ginny whipped her head around and saw Professor McGonagall standing behind her.
"Uh, um, Professor—" Ginny stuttered. Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrow.
"I presume that you don't know the password?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"Um, yes. Sorry about that Professor. I just really wanted to unpack my things and go to bed, you know," Ginny stammered.
"Yes, yes, of course," Professor McGonagall sighed. Up close, Ginny realized that she seemed rather tired. There were bags under her eyes and her posture wasn't at all like usual. It looked like she was holding herself together, as if she had been hurt. Then a thought hit Ginny. A terrible one.
"Are you hurt, Professor?" asked Ginny timidly. Professor McGonagall immediately stood up straight and forced away any expression on her face away.
"No, I'm fine. Why do you ask, Miss. Weasley?" Ginny knew better than to lie straight to Professor McGonagall's face.
"Well, it seemed as if you were hurt," said Ginny.
"I thank you for your concern, but I am perfectly fine. As you have asked for, the password to the common room is "periculum". Now move along Miss. Weasley, you don't want to be caught around here at this time." said Professor McGonagall. She left Ginny standing there, staring at the portrait. Ginny wondered why Professor McGonagall had said that: "you don't want to be caught around here at this time." Then she realized why. Ginny checked her watch (which her mother gave her years ago) and saw that it was 7:15. Fifteen minutes until curfew.
Ginny said the password to the Fat Lady and hurried in. Once she entered the common room, she felt if something was wrong. It was like the Great Hall. There was no warm buzz of chatter, no warm feeling of home. It was then that Ginny noticed that there was no one in the common room. Snape, Ginny raged, he did this on purpose. He did this so he could get students in trouble. All the students still in the Great Hall had to know that curfew was soon. Very soon.
Author's Note: We hope you enjoyed it! If we get three or more reviews, we'll update more! About one chapter a week! :)
-Zigostia