Licht aus Finsternis

Licht aus Finsternis
Part One:
The Downfall of Slytherin House
by Eilan

Prologue:
Darkness Falls

Severus Snape was angry. Not just a little, but very. He had just received an owl from the current Minister of Magic, Mark Jule, containing 'serious information on the status of Slytherin House in the year 1998/99'.

Basically, it said that Slytherin House was stripped of all its privileges because "it is a well-known fact that most of Voldemort's followers were members of Slytherin House" and "the Ministry of Magic doesn't want to take risks after the fall of the Dark Lord", all of course just "for the safety of the students". If it wasn't so sad he would've laughed.

Being stripped of all privileges in this case meant that Slytherin House wouldn't be able to provide the Head Boy or Girl, and wasn't allowed to have Prefects. No member of Severus's House would be allowed to go to Hogsmeade during the weekends; Slytherin students were also not allowed to go home over the holidays before it had been confirmed that their parents had had nothing to do with Voldemort..

The list went on.

Slytherin students had become second-class humans.

These measures had never been necessary in the past, and weren't now because Voldemort waited until the students' eighteenth birthday before initiating them, with the exception of Draco Malfoy, the son of a prominent Death Eater, there was no student at Hogwarts who had been a Death Eater.

So yes, Severus Snape's mood was very nearly beyond angry.

Term was about to start in three days, so there wasn't much left for him to do regarding the letter. The laws laid out in it had already been passed, and were soon to be put into action It seemed that everything had been done without the knowledge of the current Head of Slytherin House. However, one signature was missing on the letter. Albus Dumbledore's.

After reading the letter for the fourth time, Severus decided to speak to the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He couldn't let the Ministry do this. It was bad enough that after the final downfall of Voldemort, they had dared investigate every former Slytherin still alive, whether they were Death Eaters or not. But now they were taking their stupid prejudices out on the students. He would not let that happen.

*

Blaise Zabini quietly closed the door behind her. She didn't want to wake her parents this early in the morning, despite the fact that she had told them she would do so, and say goodbye before she left. It was just that she couldn't stand goodbyes and preferred to leave for Hogwarts without making a scene. Her parents would give her hell for that in their next letter, but she was sure that when she returned home for Christmas, her parents would be too happy to see her to complain about her leaving without telling them.

Binding her shoulder-length dark blond hair into a tight bun, she thought about returning to Hogwarts. It had never been easy for Blaise. Sorted into Slytherin, she had never gotten along with the other students in her House and year. Sure, Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode and Queenie Greengrass had all been able to act very nice if they wanted, but most of the time they hadn't wanted to be nice. They had just tolerated her.

Blaise was different from the other girls of her year, and she knew it. She was the daughter of two rather well known and respected wizards, but she didn't have the sense of heritage the others had. Neither did she have any intention of playing around with Dark Arts. She was overall a good student, excelling in nothing but Potions, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, in all of which she was over-shadowed by the Gryffindor Hermione Granger and her classmate Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy. The name alone managed to send shivers down her spine. Draco wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts this year. He was in St. Mungo's, being treated for the after-effects of various curses, the Imperius and Cruciatus curse among them. Unfortunately, it was still not confirmed who had cursed him, nor for which side he had fought in the Great War last year.

It would be a quiet year. Millicent and Queenie had been taken out of Hogwarts by their parents the previous year, and had been sent to Durmstrang. During the war, Millicent had somehow found a way to fight for Voldemort alongside her parents, dying in the process. How she had managed that, given the close observation they had all been under last year to ensure that none of the students joined Voldemort, Blaise didn't know. Especially since Millicent had been the one who had repeatedly complained about the fact that she would have to wait for her eighteenth birthday before Voldemort would even consider making her a Death Eater.

This left only Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle in her year. They had not fought on either side of the war, neither wanting to help Dumbledore, nor being able to help the other side, which their parents were on, as Blaise had learned her fifth year. This made returning to Hogwarts a bit easier. Not much, though.

Just before the holidays, her Head of House, Professor Snape, had confidently told Blaise that it could be that she would be made Head Girl that year, seeing that she had no ties with Death Eaters. She had waited for the confirmation the entire summer and when it didn't arrive she had tried not to show her disappointment. After all, Voldemort had just been defeated; one couldn't expect a Slytherin to be made Head Girl right after that. Still, Blaise hoped that now that the other Houses had no reasons to despise the Slytherins any more, they would at least treat them better than before.

The bus that would take her to Muggle London, from where she would catch the Hogwarts Express arrived, and still lost deep in thought, Blaise boarded it.

Chapter One:
This is Not Happening

Upon arriving in front of the Hogwarts train at King's Cross Station, Blaise immediately went to the Prefects' compartment that she had used for the past two years. However, she was stopped just before she entered the train by a low voice calling her name. "Miss Zabini."

Spinning around to see who had called her, she recognised the speaker as her Head of House. She couldn't help but to notice that he looked different. It was a subtle change; his hair was not as greasy as it used to be, but she couldn't exactly say he had changed for the better. He looked tired and weary.

Without any greeting, he indicated for her to follow him and hesitantly, she did. He led her to a compartment at the very back of the train and mentioned for her to get in. Without any further notice, he left as abruptly as he had appeared, obviously looking for another student.

Inside the compartment sat a boy she knew, Kenneth Longcom, a Slytherin Prefect who was now in his sixth year. He had short brown hair and was much taller than Blaise.

"Hello, Kenneth," Blaise greeted him and sat down on the opposite bench. Kenneth seemed to be just as confused as her about being here instead of in the Prefects' compartment.

"Hey, Blaise."

"Have you any idea why we aren't with the other Prefects?"

"No. Snape didn't say anything. Maybe it's about who will be the other seventh year Prefect now that Malfoy won't be here this year or something."

At that moment, Professor Snape stepped into the compartment, bringing with him the sixth year Prefect Elisabeth Thatcher. So it was indeed something like a Slytherin Prefect meeting. Just where were the fifth years?

Snape closed the door and seated himself next to Blaise, while Elisabeth took the seat next to Kenneth.

"Professor, aren't the fifth years coming?" Kenneth asked. "I mean, all the other Prefects are here…" Kenneth trailed off, seeing the harsh expression on Snape's face.

"No, Mister Longcom."

The train had begun moving now, and King's Cross Station was slowly fading out of sight. Blaise had always found this view fascinating, as represented the transition she underwent each year, between her home and Hogwarts.

"Why, Professor Snape?" she asked quietly, still absorbed by the view outside the window.

"Because, Miss Zabini, there are no fifth year Prefects this year."

Blaise started and stared at him. He had to be kidding, right? Why? Were there no fifth year students? As far as she knew there had to be at least eight fifth year Slytherins. And at least two of them should have enough qualifications to become Prefects.

But before she, Kenneth, or Elisabeth could ask anything, he motioned for them to stay silent Knowing their Head of House and his temper, they shut their mouths.

"There are no Prefects in fifth year, just as there are no Prefects in sixth and seventh year. Over the summer holidays, the three of you lost your places as prefects. You Miss Zabini, were also not allowed to be made Head Girl. This is not because you were unable to fulfil your duties as prefects, but because the Ministry of Magic and the School Governors decided that due to the ties to Voldemort many Slytherin students have, there will be no Slytherin Prefects this year. Slytherin students will neither be allowed to visit Hogsmeade, nor will any but a few be allowed to return home for Christmas Holiday. Slytherin students will also be under the teachers' close watch. No new students will be Sorted into Slytherin. Further, you will not be allowed to play Quidditch nor win points for the House Cup."

Silence filled the compartment when Snape finished. Blaise knew that Kenneth's older sister had just been sentenced to ten years imprisonment in Azkaban for being a Death Eater. Vincent and Gregory's parents had all been arrested, and she knew of many more trials against relatives of Slytherin students. But still she couldn't bring herself to understand what Snape had said so emotionlessly.

Slytherin House had just lost its status among the other Houses.

"I will now Apparate to Hogsmeade. You can decide what you want to do with this information yourself. Whether you want to tell the other students yourself, or whether you want to wait until the Headmaster announces it at the Sorting Ceremony is your choice. I will wait for you in Hogsmeade and take you to Hogwarts myself."

And with that, he left them.

"What are we to do?" Elisabeth spoke first. Her face had fallen and she looked shocked. Elisabeth had never been overly friendly to Blaise, like a typical Slytherin, but she was protective of her year, just like every Prefect should be.

"I have no idea," Blaise replied honestly. "Will we tell them?"

"It wouldn't be easy to tell them. We've practically lost everything as a House, haven't we?" Kenneth looked very concerned, just like Blaise felt.

"Yes, we have," she whispered.

"I think we should tell them; at least the younger ones. They're all eager to win the House Cup for Slytherin this year and so on. Now they won't even have the chance."

"Kenneth, how are we going to tell only the younger ones? I think we should let Dumbledore and Snape do it. They can probably break it to them better. I mean, I don't have a death wish. We can help everyone afterwards. We might have just lost our places as Prefects, but there's no one telling us we can't still be there for our House," Blaise replied.

"I agree with Blaise," Elisabeth added, "Dumbledore and Snape probably have all the details and can explain why this happened much better than we can."

"Okay," Kenneth agreed. "We should stay here for the rest of the train ride. I really don't want to run into our house-mates now. Or into members of the other Houses for that matter."

*

Severus swore quietly when he arrived in Hogsmeade. That had been harder than he had expected. He was proud to be a Slytherin, but now Ministry Officials and the School Governors wanted to tell him that it was something to be ashamed of.

He had been ashamed of it most of his life, but now that Voldemort was defeated he saw no reason for it. Why hadn't they made these changes when Voldemort had risen to power instead of when he was defeated and most Slytherins students wouldn't return to Hogwarts?

It would be quite a few hours before the train arrived at Hogsmeade. He needed to meet Dumbledore beforehand, and so he began walking back to the castle. He would have to take broomsticks on the way back, so that he could talk to the remaining three Prefects before the Sorting. Of course, they were not officially prefects anymore, but they had been picked because of certain character traits. Whether they were called prefects or not didn't change the fact that the other students listened to them.

Dumbledore's office was as warm and welcoming as always, and Albus smiled when he entered the room.

"Severus, good to see you. Please sit down."

Snape took the offered seat and reluctantly began to speak.

"I told the former Prefects Longcom, Thatcher, and Zabini of the changes Slytherin House has undergone over the holidays. I also told them they were free to inform their fellow students themselves or leave it to us. They have probably decided on a course of action by now. I think they took the news as well as was possible."

"Which probably isn't saying very much."

"No, I suppose not."

"Are they going to tell their house-mates?"

Severus thought for a moment. "I don't think so. They wouldn't risk being ridiculed by the other Houses before the Sorting."

"Which will probably happen anyway. Let's hope the other Houses have enough sense not bother them too much."

Severus sighed. "This will only widen the gap between the Houses; especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"I'm afraid it will. However, I believe Minerva will do her best to help in every way she can."

"It won't be enough, Albus. They're children, they won't know how to deal with it."

Dumbledore smiled weakly. "Yes, they are children. But they are intelligent children. Let's hope they find a way."

"Yes. Let's hope so. "

*

The atmosphere in the compartment was depressing. They had talked occasionally, but for the most part, there was silence, and every one of them was lost deep in thought.

Blaise was worried about what would happen next. Sure, she only had one year left at Hogwarts and there were only three other Slytherin students left in her year, so it would probably be easier for her to cope than for everyone else. Sadly, she had never been on very friendly terms with the Slytherins in her year, but since so few were left she would probably survive the next year.

Still, she was worried. She spent enough energy on getting along with Pansy, Gregory and Vincent; she didn't need any further pressure on her because her House was stripped of all its privileges. It would take House rivalry to a whole new level. Kenneth broke the silence: "The Gryffindors will be thrilled." He had obviously been thinking the same thing as she was.

"They won't just be thrilled. They'll find it fucking hilarious," Elisabeth mumbled

"Damn those Gryffindors," Blaise replied. The other Houses might consider her part of the 'better' half of Slytherin, but when it came to Gryffindors she shared the sentiments of every 'true' Slytherin.

"Just imagine what Potter and his friends will say when they hear about this. And that Malfoy won't be here this term either." Kenneth's family was distantly related to the Malfoys, and even though they hadn't exactly been friends, they had often been seen chatting with each other.

"They'll probably be smiling from now till Christmas," Blaise sighed. She didn't dislike Harry Potter per se, but she had a very strong distaste for Hermione Granger, just like Kenneth seemed to hate Potter, and Elisabeth Ron. Blaise's not so friendly feelings towards Hermione were mostly the result of her extreme touchiness when it came to her grades, even though she was not one of the best students. Taking her three best subjects with the only students who could easily overshadow her didn't argue for tolerance. That, combined with her dislike for Gryffindors in general, had made her a fierce rival, especially in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. In Potions she had never stood a chance against both Malfoy and Granger.

"We should get changed. We'll be there soon," Elisabeth reminded them. When Blaise looked out of the window, she could nearly make out Hogsmeade.

An unusual sight greeted the students when they got out of the train. Professor Snape stood next to Hagrid, with four brooms at his side.

Everyone, apart from Kenneth, Elisabeth, and Blaise, who had of course expected Snape, stared at him in shock. But even the Prefects hadn't expected him to bring brooms.

Giving them a sympathetic glance, Hagrid took charge of the first years and told the other students to take their places in the carriages while Snape motioned for the three to come with him.

"You don't seem to have told them," he remarked matter-of-factly when the other students were out of earshot.

"No, sir. We have decided that it would be better if they were informed by a member of the staff," Blaise replied formally.

"You're probably right, Miss Zabini. Still, you three are required to meet with the Headmaster before the Sorting."

They just nodded and took the brooms he offered them. Unlike Kenneth and Elisabeth, who were both on the reserve Quidditch team - or rather had been, as it no longer existed - Blaise was terrible at flying. She liked watching Quidditch, but didn't feel comfortable on a broom, especially at high speeds.

Soon enough, they reached Hogwarts. Blaise got off her broom, shacking slightly. Not for all the money in the world would she ever fly this fast again. Snape was obviously a good flyer; he didn't mind going as fast as the school brooms allowed.

Headmaster Dumbledore, who had been waiting, greeted them as soon as they arrived.

The group moved into a room Blaise had never seen before. Situated next to the Great Hall, it was small but light, with green windows through which filtered the last sunlight of the day.

"Do your fellow students know what awaits them here?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, sir. We believe it would be best if they were told the news by someone who knew the exact details," Kenneth answered.

"And has more authority," Elisabeth added. She valued authority; considering that her parents were - as she put it - 'sometimes too nice to me than is good for them', although they too had been Slytherins.

"And won't get into a life-threatening situation when telling them, am I right?" Dumbledore commented, his eyes twinkling. Slytherins were not known for being kind to bearers of bad news.

"That too," Blaise admitted. "Headmaster, Professor, why... why have they done this? It's not like we're all Death Eaters in disguise. Or do they really think that?"

For a moment, the Headmaster looked far from his usual calm and reassuring self; his face clouded over by distant worries. But he quickly composed himself. However, Professor Snape just continued to stare off into space, stone-faced.

"It's not that easy, Miss Zabini. Hogwarts and the School Governors are under a lot of pressure. Please note, however, that none of the teachers are happy with these changes, they all support the Slytherins. If there are any difficulties, the faculty will be eager to help you." After a short pause he added, "I believe the Sorting is about to start. Let us join them."

To be continued...