The Art of Peace

Chapter 11

The Other Side

Truth is universal. Perception of truth is not.

Ginny walked down the station with her family. It had been a long summer. Her family and every other wizarding family seemed to be in a permanent state of mourning after Harry's death. The hardest part was not telling anyone that she knew Harry was alive. Why Harry had run away she did not know, but he had to have a good reason. He was The Boy Who Lived after all. Ron had taken it the hardest. He and Harry had had their fight during the tournament, and Ron had yet to forgive himself for what he had said. He had meant it at the time, yes, but now he could never see his best friend again. Hermione had stayed with them for almost the entire summer. Her parents had not liked it, but they understood her need to be with people she could talk to at a time like this.

Despite knowing Harry was alive, Ginny was still having a hard time. Because her house was always so crowded, she had not had another chance to send a letter. The letter Harry had sent her from wherever he was now had almost gotten her caught so she had not tried to risk it again. Hopefully now that she was at Hogwarts she would be able to sneak one out. For now she had to look suitably mournful and fit in with the crowd around her.

There had not been any attacks over the summer, but the Daily Prophet was full of raids to halt dark artifact smugglers and the like. To someone who knew what to look for, all the signs were there. Petty crimes were on the rise, and the Obliviators were running ragged from having to take care of all the muggles being harassed. If one were to read the muggle papers, they would find mentions of mysterious gas explosions and people dying of unknown causes. However, because it was in muggle papers and not the Daily Prophet, only a few stopped to take notice. Ginny's father was one of those, and when he was not comforting his family over the loss of Harry, he was meeting people in the dining room and going out late at night on secret errands. It would have been impossible for Ginny and her brothers not to notice, but they knew better than to say anything about it.

As it was every year, the Knight's Cross was crowded. There was one major difference, however. Aurors were stationed at regular intervals along the walk, and on Platform Nine and Three Quarters there were even more. It was quieter this year as well. People were huddled in groups as they moved towards the Hogwarts Express. The feeling was like they had been in the eye of the hurricane for the past several years and were now moving out into the storm again. The Minister's constant assurances that everything was alright and that no one should panic certainly did not help matters. For now though people were actually listening to him and not panicking, but how long that would last in this endless waiting game was anyone's guess.

When everyone was finally separated from their cheerful families and aboard the train, it slowly moved away from the station. Ginny was sitting in a compartment with Ron, Hermione, and Neville, who had joined them on the platform. They talked quietly as the train sped along. The food witch soon made her way through with her usual load of chocolate frogs and the like. Right after she left another person stood in the doorway, Draco Malfoy.

"So how are our little followers doing after the loss of Scarface?" he asked with a sneer.

"Why you little!" Ron started, springing from his seat.

Neville and Hermione quickly pulled him down but Ginny stood up instead. She was sick of Malfoy. All he had ever done was make fun of them and try to make their lives miserable. Yes, she knew that Harry was not dead so it should not matter what he said about it, but for some reason she could not let him get away with it for another year.

"Why do you need to know, Malfoy? Is your father still kissing the ground You-Know-Who is walking on? If your money is so special why don't you use it to buy yourself a life?"

"You can't talk to me like that," he fumed, pulling out his wand. Unfortunately for him, Ginny's had been out since the door opened.

"Stupefy!"

Draco fell to the ground with a moan. As Crabbe and Goyle finally realized what had happened to Draco and dragged him out, everyone else looked at Ginny with stunned expressions.

"What? He deserved it."

"B-b-but you stunned him!" Neville gasped. "We'll get in trouble!"

"No, we won't," Hermione assured him. "I am a prefect this year after all and that is one thing his father's money couldn't buy. He came in and started a fight and Ginny defended herself as is her right. None of us will get in trouble."

Everyone gave her a dubious look, but she was Hermione after all, she should know. The rest of the trip passed quickly and they boarded the carriages to Hogwarts without seeing Malfoy again.

The Great Hall was filled with returning students assembling at their respective houses' tables. Ginny let a small smile slip when she realized that there was an extra chair at the Gryffindor table. Obviously, Headmaster Dumbledore was expecting Harry to return as well; it was not like him to forget a detail such as that despite all of his quirks. Looking up at the head table she noticed that all the teachers were there talking to themselves. However, two were missing.

"Ron! Snape and the Headmaster are both gone!"

"Maybe Dumbledore is getting rid of Snape!" Ron replied hopefully.

"Ron, you know that we would have heard about it. I don't see a Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher either. Maybe they are just having a meeting," Hermione said.

Even as they spoke, Dumbledore and a woman entered the room and sat at the head table.

"Good evening everyone," Dumbledore began. "I know everyone is anxious for the sorting to start, but I have a few things to say. Probably all of you have heard of the death of young Mr. Potter. You have probably also heard that it was done by Muggles. To both statements I must say that you should not believe everything you hear. Yes, a body was found, but whether or not it was Mr. Potter is unclear. Also, I believe you all remember that at the end of last year following the unfortunate events of the TriWizard Tournament I told you all that Voldemort had returned. It is my belief that he was behind the attack that is said to have claimed Mr. Potter's life. It was an unfortunate incident, but I must caution all of you that he has defeated death before, and he may have again. Just so you know, the Forbidden Forest is still forbidden, and Mr. Filch has a list of the banned items in his office. I have with me Professor Ugliano, who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. Thank you, and let the sorting begin."

As Dumbledore sat down, silence followed his words. The mention of Voldemort's name had stunned the students, but had really shocked them was his insinuation that Harry was still alive. Ron and Hermione were looking at each other in shock. After a few moments of silence the main doors flew open with a bang and Professor McGonagall entered with the first years. The Sorting Hat was in its chair in the center of the Hall and as the children sat down it began its song.

For years untold my story has been sung

My tale told to the old and the young

As Hogwarts was founded

It was already divided

Four houses for four Founders

To teach the children true

Slytherin taught cunning

While the intelligent wore Ravenclaw blue

Bravery for the Gryffindors

And Hufflepuffs to stay true

Four different houses with four different names

Yet when they worked together what fame they could claim

The Hall was silent again as people tried to work through what the Hat had said. The next thing they knew, Professor McGonagall was calling the first name.

"Averhill, Michael!"

The sorting continued for a while longer and finally ended when, 'White, Susan' was sorted into Ravenclaw. The houses congratulated their new members and finally sat down to eat. The feast was good as usual, the only things wrong with it for the Gryffindors being Harry's death, and Hermione complaining about how much work the house elves had to do. As usual everyone ignored her, but her attempts were half-hearted at best anyways. Everyone seemed to be trying to act normally but were only half succeeding. In fact, the only table with any semblance of life was the Slytherins. The feast finally wound down to a close and people started to leave the hall.

The night passed quietly and Ginny's classes began the next day with Potions. To her surprise, the classroom was empty when they arrived. Just as the clock struck the hour, the door opened. To everyone's delight it was not Snape who entered but Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Good morning, class," he began. "I will be teaching today as Professor Snape was unavoidably detained on important business. We will begin with a bone restoring potion. Please open your books to page 173 and begin."

The class passed by uneventfully. Thankfully the fourth year Gryffindor class did not have a Neville Longbottom, although Colin Creevey came close at times. This led to a lot less points being lost by Ginny's year, making up for all the points Harry and Neville kept losing. It was near the end of class period when the door slammed open. As the startled class looked up, a wild-eyed Professor Snape flew into the room. He stormed to the front of the class, giving the students a rare view of a slightly flustered looking Albus Dumbledore.

"Headmaster! We need to talk!"

A/N: Yes, this is a short chapter, but since you all love cliffhangers so much I just had to throw in another one. Hopefully the next chapter will come a little faster. This one was very hard to write, despite its short length, and school was really kicking my butt at the same time. Hope y'all enjoy it. Peace.

-Ueshiba