Courage

Once she had climbed off the train and pointed the two first-years in the direction of Hagrid - not that you could actually overlook him - Eleanor headed towards the carriages that would bring the older pupils to the castle. If she was quick enough, she could have a quiet ride with a couple of other leftover students who would just leave her alone.

Unfortunately, most carriages were already full, and those that still had an open seat appeared rather uninviting with what seemed like established cliques in them. Sighing, Eleanor quickly contemplated her options and then settled onto one that hosted a couple of Slytherins from her year who never paid much attention to her. With a curt "hello", she climbed into her seat and pulled out the textbook from earlier as to indicate that there really was no need to include her in the conversation. Nonetheless, she couldn't help overhearing, especially as it was too dark to actually read anyway.

"Man, I'm starving," complained a boy sitting across from her. "Couldn't they have done their stupid interrogation while keeping the train running?"

"Better yet, couldn't they have spared us the whole thing altogether? As if any Muggle-borns dared to come to school now," added the girl next to Eleanor. "With what has been going on lately, they must all fear being thrown right into Azkaban if they get caught, or worse." Eleanor shuddered as she tried to imagine the "worse" the blonde girl, Belinda if she remembered correctly, was alluding to. Unfortunately, her movement caught the attention of a coarse boy in the opposite corner who she hadn't seen upon entering the carriage, or she would have thought twice about it.

"Classes haven't even started yet, and you're already burying your nose in some book, Foster? Trying to become the new top student now that the mudblood Granger is gone?" he sneered and fixated her with his dark narrow eyes.

Before she could answer, though, a voice from behind Belinda said: "Calling others 'mudblood' isn't going to improve your own blood status, Wilkinson." Eleanor recognized his voice as that of Jonathan Owens, a boy she used to be on fairly friendly speaking terms with during her earlier Hogwarts years.

"Easy for you to say, Owens," snapped the boy named Wilkinson. "But people keep spreading rumours about me being a half-blood."

"Which you are," commented the first boy who had snacked on a chocolate frog in the meantime. "Not that we care."

"I am not!" Wilkinson insisted. "Stop giving outsiders any ideas, Irving!" He glanced at Eleanor uneasily.

"Oh, come on, as if she cares about whether you are a pure-blood or a troll." The dark-haired girl sitting between Wilkinson and the hungry boy shot Eleanor an apologetic smile.

Wilkinson, however, wouldn't let go so easily. "Don't 'come on' me, Ava! Maybe you haven't noticed it, but she used to be almost as annoying as Owens about calling others 'mudblood' or something. And then the minute Potter announces that the Dark Lord is back, she suddenly lets it pass? How do you know she isn't some opportunist trying to sell us out to the Death Eaters to get a better stand herself?"

Eleanor certainly did not like being called an opportunist by a Slytherin of all people, but she bit her tongue, knowing that that comment would just offend the others in the carriage. But it shocked her that someone could think of her like that, as somebody who would spy on and sell a fellow pupil out without batting an eyelid. Surely this wasn't how everyone saw her, though? Her heart fell when Belinda shifted in her seat in order to get away from her. Then again, she understood why Wilkinson was afraid - for the same reason she had been avoiding contact with others as much as possible for the past years.

"Maybe she just gave up because you're incorrigible?" suggested the hungry boy named Irving between two bites of his second chocolate frog.

"You're an incorrigible glutton," Wilkinson shot back and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "But fine, believe whatever you want. Just don't come whining to me when she rats you out. Seriously, the girl hasn't even said anything to defend herself, I bet she's busy taking mental notes about us."

"With the note on you saying 'mental', I'm sure," Ava commented and rolled her grey eyes, then turned her gaze back to Eleanor. "Although he is right about that attitude change of yours. Care to explain?"

"There's not much to explain," Eleanor replied and tried to hold withstand the girl's piercing look. Two interrogations, first by Death Eaters and then by schoolmates, before the year even started were not a very pleasant experience. And while she had somewhat anticipated the first considering the circumstances, the latter had come unexpected after she had spent the last two years at Hogwarts exchanging little more than the necessary amount of words with her peers. Had her behaviour really evoked that much suspicion? "I just felt like keeping to myself and studying, you know, first for the OWLs, and now for the NEWTs." At her last sentence, she heard Wilkinson cough a clearly audible "swot", for which Ava elbowed him in the side.

"I wonder if we even get to take the NEWTs, now that Professor Dumbledore is... gone. We already had Death Eaters on the train, who says there won't be more at Hogwarts?" Belinda, who had shifted back to her previous position a little, pondered out loud and thus diverted the attention away from Eleanor.

"McGonagall wouldn't allow Death Eaters in Hogwarts," Ava stated, but the look on her face betrayed her confident tone.

Wilkinson snorted. "Then what is Snape?"

"Do you really think that he killed Dumbledore?" asked the hungry boy Irving. "I really can't imagine it. I mean, I can't imagine anyone being capable of killing Dumbledore, but Snape..."

"He is the only teacher in Hogwarts who was biased for Slytherin, not against it. Dumbledore sure was a great wizard, but he always seemed to prefer the Gryffindors. It's just not fair." At Belinda's words, everyone went quiet for a while. Eleanor felt bad for her fellow students. While she as a Ravenclaw and a particularly quiet one, too, had never gotten much attention either compared to the bold members of Gryffindor, it must have been especially terrible for the Slytherins, being constantly pushed into the position of antagonists by the more popular house. When she thought back at past Quidditch matches, it seemed like no other house had ever supported them; she even remembered matches between Slytherin and Gryffindor where both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had been on the "red" side of the supporting crowd.

"Well, going around calling people 'mudbloods' isn't going to help our case." Eleanor had been wondering if Jonathan Owens would say anything else during their ride when he finally spoke again. "Even if it's just some of us doing it, they ruin the reputation for the whole house," he stated quietly.

"Not much more to ruin there, right?" Wilkinson replied just as calmly.

Before anyone could answer, the carriage came to a halt and the six students climbed out of it to walk the last few meters up to the castle. Eleanor had been too engrossed in the conversation and not looked out of the window to see their destination approach as she always did. Maybe it was just her imagination, but Hogwarts seemed darker than she remembered it from previous years. Then again, since they had arrived later in the evening than usual, it was probably just the light.

While everyone was hurrying towards the entrance as quickly as possible, probably starving by now, Eleanor let herself fall behind a little. She had always liked going to school, but now she dreaded going inside, unsure what was waiting for her behind the tall wooden doors. She doubted that the Dark Lord would be sitting in the Great Hall in person, having appointed himself as the new headmaster, but even if he wasn't, with him taking over the Ministry it would feel almost as if he had. For a moment, she contemplated turning around and leaving on the spot, but before she could act on it, she reached the entrance and was urged inside by Argus Filch who was waiting to close the doors behind her.

The Great Hall seemed empty and lifeless compared to the previous years. A large number of students was missing, with the Slytherin table being the one that seemed to have the smallest decrease. Apparently the number of Muggle-borns had been lower than in the other houses, which didn't surprise Eleanor given the attitude of some - though not all - of its inhabitants. Several pupils from her year were also absent, including one girl and and two boys from Ravenclaw. Where might they be now, Eleanor wondered, when their own school, their own community had made it clear that they were no longer welcome and would be punished if they were found. Around her, everyone was whispering with their neighbours, trying to gather information about missing friends and classmates. There was none of the usual laughter that accompanied the start of the year feast, instead many fearful glances towards the slightly elevated top part of the hall which seated the Hogwarts staff. In the middle of the table, on Dumbledore's former chair, sat Professor Snape with his usual dark expression. Eleanor glanced at Professor McGonagall standing next to the door to a small back room, who made no effort to hide how displeased she was with the development. Then, Snape slowly rose. The hall went silent.

"Hogwarts students, welcome back for the new school year." Somehow, Eleanor felt everything but warmly welcomed. "As you may have anticipated, there are a few adjustments to the staff which I hereby announce. Following the demise of Professor Dumbledore, I was appointed as the new headmaster of this school." Several loud gasps resounded in the hall, and those who were not too shocked by the news discussed them with their neighbours.

"Silence!" Snape roared. The hall grew quiet, but just as the new headmaster opened his mouth to speak again, someone shouted: "Murderer!"

Again, gasps were followed by murmured conversations, but this time, everyone turned their head towards the Gryffindor table. Neville Longbottom had stood up and faced Snape, fury showing on his face. "You murdered Professor Dumbledore, and now you dare take his place?"

For a moment, Snape and Neville stared at each other. Nobody said a word, and some students even held their breaths. Then, Snape said, in his usual snarl: "If I were you, Longbottom, I would keep my accusations to myself unless I could prove them. We wouldn't want to put you in detention before classes even start. The same goes for you, Weasley," he added with a glance to Ginny Weasley who had stood up next to Neville. "And for you." This time, he was looking at the Ravenclaw table were Luna Lovegood had also risen to her feet. "Sit down, all of you. Now, I will attribute your indiscretion to your empty stomachs and delay all further announcements until after dinner, when I expect them to be heard in silence. The same goes for the sorting hat ceremony which may begin now." He sat back down on his - or Dumbledore's - chair as Professor McGonagall ushered the first-years in. Eleanor did not pay much attention to the sorting and before she knew it, plates loaded with food appeared on the tables. Not everyone was eating, though. Some were discussing the latest relevations, and others, like Eleanor, seemed to have lost their appetites.

After she had forced herself to eat at least enough to not wake up hungry in the middle of the night, Snape stood up again to make those 'further announcements' he had spoken of. "Let me introduce you to the two new deputy heads of Hogwarts, Alecto and Amycus Carrow." No wonder McGonagall looked like she was chewing on a slice of lemon. Instead of being the new headmistress now, she even had the position of the deputy taken away from her. Eleanor felt sorry for her teacher, who had always been one of her favourites due to her fairness towards all students.

"Professor Alecto Carrow will be taking over Muggle Studies, replacing Professor Burbage. The subject will be compulsory for all students this year." Loud groans and protests resounded through the hall until Snape silenced them again. "Defence Against the Dark Arts will be taught by Professor Amycus Carrow." Here, it was Snape himself who looked sourly. Everyone knew that he had wanted that job for a long time, and now that he had finally gotten it the year before he had to give it up again. Nobody seemed to feel very sorry for him, though, not even the Slytherins. The changes he was making were not being appreciated by the Hogwarts students.

"I strongly advise you to listen to your teachers and not get yourself into any trouble. If you do, punishment will be severe. Now, will the prefects escort their houses to their common rooms. The feast is closed." Snape concluded his speech and the students got up and started following their house prefects out out the Great Hall. This time, Eleanor did not let herself fall behind - she wanted to get away from Snape and the two new deputies as fast possible. That thought seemed to be a common one and there was much pushing and shoving before the Ravenclaws were finally on their way to their tower. Walking down a corridor that led to their spiral staircase, Eleanor found herself next to the smaller of the girls that had shared her compartment on the train earlier.

"I got sorted into Ravenclaw. Well, I guess that's obvious now, isn't it?" She twirled her blonde hair self-consciously.

"That's nice. I'm sure you'll fit right in," Eleanor said, trying to sound somewhat friendly and yet uninterested at the same time. She was not much in the mood for company at the moment.

Unfortunately, the younger girl didn't seem to notice. "So I was wondering if you'd answer some more of my questions on Hogwarts and on Ravenclaw in particular, and, you know, on my classes if I'll have any later, and I'm sure I will have some. Plus, I'm really sure I will get lost tomorrow." She looked at Eleanor shyly.

"Oh, well, you see, Sarah - that's your name, right? - I'm pretty tired, so I'm heading straight to bed now. Maybe it's best if you ask one of the prefects, they're a lot more qualified than I am anyway." It pained her a little to let the girl down, but she really didn't feel up to a long session of questions and answers. "I'm sorry," she added when she saw the disappointed look on Sarah's face. "But really, the prefects are very nice."

"I guess you're right. Sorry to bother you." Sarah quickened her steps and closed up to one of the prefects walking in front, whom she proceeded to talk to then.

Eleanor let out a small sigh before she climbed up the rest of the many stairs and finally entered the Ravenclaw common room. Once inside, instead of lingering like most others, she headed straight for the girls' dormitory and into the room she was sharing with the other sixth-years. Her luggage was waiting next to her bed and her cat was meowing loudly from inside her transport box as soon as she spotted her owner.

"Sorry I left you inside that thing for so long, Bluebell," Eleanor said while she opened the box. Bluebell jumped out at once and stretched her limbs several times before she meowed again loudly and rubbed her head against the girl's legs. "You're hungry, aren't you?" Eleanor pulled a sachet of cat food and a little bowl out of her bad and presented it to the hungry cat. Normally, pets roamed the school grounds freely and frequented food sources provided by the staff, but the house elves never let them out of any cages or boxes, so for the first night of school she always brought her own food.

While she was watching Bluebell gobbling down her food, Eleanor was interrupted by the arrival of two of her roommates who were deeply engrossed in their conversation. "I can't believe Chris isn't going to be here this year," one of them said. "And only because he's Muggle-born? I never even knew about that, because blood status has absolutely nothing to do with magical ability - he was brilliant, and now who knows when or if I'll get to see him again. Just when things were starting to look good between us..." She began to sniff.

"Now, now, calm down, Nicky. I'm sure he's alright and hiding somewhere safe." The other girl, Rebecca, put her arm around Nicky's shoulders and led her to her bed to sit down. "Of course, whether we'll ever see him again or not is a different issue..." Nicky began to actually cry now, and Eleanor actually felt sorry for her despite never having liked her much before.

Just at this moment, Bluebell finished her supper and jumped on Eleanor's lap where she curled up and purred loudly.

"Oh, we didn't realize you were here," Rebecca said. "If Chris was half as good at making himself invisible as you are, he probably could have gotten into Hogwarts despite being Muggle-born."

"Possibly," Eleanor replied curtly. This conversation was turning into a direction she didn't like. "So Christopher won't be here this year, and Fiona won't be either, I guess," she said with a glance towards an empty bed in the corner of the room.

"Neither will Mark. It's a shame, really, especially about Fiona. Couldn't they have made some rule that let us keep her and get rid of Loony Lovegood instead?" Nicky, who had finished crying for the moment, said with disdain in her voice.

"We can always hide some of her stuff," Rebecca suggested. "Why don't we do it now while she's still downstairs doing whatever and we have access to her things?" With a malicious grin, she got up and strolled over to Luna's luggage near her bed. "Come on, Nicky, you'll feel better when we're done."

Nicky shrugged, blew her nose and then stood up as well to join her friend. "Let's keep it in the Ravenclaw tower, though. I really don't want to go outside now that those Carrows are here."

Eleanor's new-found pity for the girl turned into disgust when she and Rebecca opened Luna's trunk and pulled out various items which they proceeded to charm on the ceiling or hide under the Fiona's empty bed. Yet again, she cursed herself for not having the courage to stop the two girls from their nasty pranks. But she had decided to make herself as indiscernable as possible, and this year would not be the time to change that resolution.

Making as little noise as possible, Eleanor set Bluebell down on the foot of her bed, changed into her sleepwear and got into bed. Until she actually fell asleep, however, several hours passed and it when she finally did, it wasn't a very peaceful night.