The dining hall had been fairly empty when Belle and Ginny first entered, but by the time they'd started their breakfast, it had started to fill up.
"It's busy this morning," Ginny commented.
Belle nodded. "Not that I have a normal frame of reference, but it does seem that way."
"You're sounding a bit better," Ginny observed, referring to Belle's accent. "You have a good ear for languages."
Belle ducked her head. "Thank you," she said. "My mother was an Englishwoman. It's starting to come back to me."
"Sounds like your mother was an amazing woman," Ginny said. "I'd love to know if she really did go to Hogwarts."
"Me too," Belle sighed.
Belle looked up and noticed that Draco Malfoy had stopped behind Ginny. He was facing the head table where the professors sat as if he were walking in that direction, but he had stopped. He wore a puzzled expression on his face, which went away almost immediately as he caught Belle's eye. He looked at her with a blazing intensity that made Belle feel as if she were being X-rayed. She looked away, unable to maintain his gaze. He shrugged and kept walking.
"Great conditions for Quidditch, eh?" said another student in red robes that matched Ginny's as he sat down beside her.
"It's ideal," Ginny agreed as a few more red-clad students joined them.
Under the pretext of reaching for the jam by Belle's hand, Ginny leaned forward and whispered in Belle's ear, "More members of the team."
Belle nodded. Her eyes went back to follow Draco Malfoy who was taking a seat next to the jovial Professor Slughorn. He met her gaze and raised an eyebrow. Belle blushed and looked away.
Belle didn't pay much attention to the conversation about Quidditch. She played with her food, thinking about her situation. At the start of a new day, she felt somewhat excited about the possibilities. She still, of course, worried about her father, but she'd never had so many opportunities before. So many books available to her. The ability to learn magic.
A cacophonous sound brought Belle out of her reverie. Above her head she heard the flapping of wings, which seemed to get louder and louder. The sound of hooting joined the sound of the wings. She looked up and, to her amazement, she saw a huge swarm of owls flying above her head. Her mouth fell open. Then she felt a sharp pain on her shin, which brought her attention back to the table. Ginny was staring at her. Ginny must have kicked Belle. Ginny mouthed, "Don't look surprised." Or at least that's what Belle thought she said. Belle nodded and shook herself a little.
No one around her seemed to notice Belle's surprise. Unbidden, her eyes darted toward Draco Malfoy at the high table. He was looking at her with narrowed eyes. Belle looked away again. She wondered if he was going to cause trouble.
An owl landed in front of Belle with a rolled-up paper in its beak. The owl extended its leg to Belle. She noticed a small leather bag hanging from its leg. Belle was bewildered and not sure what to do.
"Did you forget your money pouch today, Hermione?" Ginny asked. "Here, I'll spot you." Ginny pulled a brown coin from her bag and put it in the proffered leather bag that the owl had initially extended to Belle. The owl dropped the paper on the table and flew off.
"Thank you," Belle said and picked up the paper. She was curious about the paper and also it felt like the normal thing to do. The other students around them had been watching the exchange, but after Belle opened the paper they went back to their conversation about Quidditch.
The heading on the paper said The Daily Prophet. Belle hadn't seen a newspaper since they lived in Paris. Her small village certainly didn't get newspapers. After scanning the contents, Belle supposed this was one for the wizarding world. Belle spent the rest of breakfast consumed by the newspaper. The moving pictures mesmerized her. She didn't understand at all what was going on in stories, but she enjoyed looking at them anyway.
Someone cleared their throat behind Belle. "Ahem, are you ready for your lesson, Miss Granger?" Belle startled and looked around. Professor McGonagall was standing behind her.
"Ah yes!" Belle said, standing up quickly. "Sorry about that, Professor."
"I found the Prophet rather dull today," Professor McGonagall said, "But I'm glad you enjoyed it."
Belle nodded and followed after Professor McGonagall. They strode through the Great Hall and out through the Entrance Hall. Almost immediately, Belle felt lost as they went down corridor after corridor until they entered into a familiar passageway. As they stopped in front of the stone gargoyle, Belle realized they were going to Professor McGonagall's office.
Professor McGonagall said to the gargoyle, "Pride of Portree." The gargoyle leapt aside and revealed the spiral staircase. Belle followed the professor as they ascended the stairs into the now familiar circular office.
"Today's lesson," Professor McGonagall said as she strode to the back of the office. "Is going to be different than the ones you'll likely have with the other professors. I've decided that it would be best to catch you up on the past seven years by taking you down memory lane."
"What does that mean, professor?" Belle asked.
"You'll see," Professor McGonagall said. "It's hard to explain. It's best to experience it firsthand."
The professor had opened a cabinet and pulled out a large stone basin. She then took it to her desk and withdrew her wand. She placed her wand at her temple and, using her wand, began pulling strands of silvery-looking vapor from her head. The silver substance clung to the wand as Professor McGonagall deposited it into the basin. The contents of the basin began to swirl with each new addition.
"Has Miss Weasley told you about the war?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Belle shook her head. "No, she hasn't," Belle said. "I've only heard about it in passing."
Professor McGonagall nodded. "I thought as much," she said. "It's not easy to talk about."
Professor McGonagall finished placing the silver substance into the basin. She gave it a little shake. "There was a dark wizard named…Voldemort," she shuddered as she said the name. "Forgive me, I still have a hard time saying his name. Most people referred to him as You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. His followers would call him the Dark Lord. The fact that folks feared uttering his name increased the overall fear of the man. Most forgot that he was a man.
"He rose to power almost 15 years ago and wreaked havoc over our world. His reign of terror was temporarily ended when he tried to kill Harry Potter and the spell backfired. It didn't kill him but forced him to leave his body."
"He tried to kill Harry?" Belle asked, astounded. "I met Harry last night."
"Ah, yes, that's right," Professor McGonagall said. "I saw you all at the party. Excellent job blending in."
Belle didn't remember seeing the professor there, but it had been very crowded.
"Thank you," Belle said, not sure what else to say.
"Yes, he tried to kill Harry," Professor McGonagall said. "There was a prophecy made where he believed that Harry would be the one to defeat him. But he missed part of the prophecy and didn't realize that through his actions he would give Harry the ability to defeat him."
"What does that mean?" Belle asked.
"When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried to kill Harry, he transferred some…abilities to Harry," Professor McGonagall said. "Such as the ability to speak to snakes and other things that you'll learn about as we go into my memories."
"Your memories, Professor?" Belle inquired.
"Yes, that's what you saw me pull out of my head," Professor McGonagall said. "This here is a Pensieve. It allows one to place their memories and revisit them at will. It can be very helpful when your head gets too full of thoughts and you need to sift through them."
Belle didn't quite understand, but she'd gotten used to not understanding things.
"I'm going to show you several memories today," Professor McGonagall said. "First, I'll show you my earliest memories of Hermione Granger. I'll show you certain memories of her over the years and how she's grown. Finally, I'll show you a more recent memory of Harry, Ron, and Hermione telling me about what they got up to during the war."
"Will you show me the war, Professor?" Belle asked apprehensively, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"No, not today," Professor McGonagall said. "It's not pretty and I don't want to taint you so early."
Belle nodded, feeling relieved. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be ready to see a war.
"Unless you have any other questions, let us dive into the memories," Professor McGonagall said. She waved her wand over the basin. "Take a look into the Pensieve."