They All Love You

part five

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and especially a warmer welcome to those returning for their seventh and final year. Now that the sorting has been placed, I would like to talk about a very serious matter regarding the events of last school year. We all know about it, but it needs to be addressed. What is now known as the Second Wizarding War, it had occurred here at Hogwarts. Voldemort's demise was one of many celebrations, but overall the War brought much more than that celebration. It brought loss. Terrible loss. Each and every one of us have lost someone close to us. A family member, a friend, a partner, a teacher or even a mere acquaintance. It is no way acceptable to dishonor the names of those we have lost. Any involvements with this or any degrading of people for what they have done will immediately be suspended and involved in dire consequences sought out by myself."

"We all are different in what we did. Some were scared and hid, some were brave and fought, some where smart and helped, some where unlucky and suffered. No matter who we are and what we went through, we deserve to be here today. We deserve a second chance at a normal life. I understand it won't be normal, as War often leaves behind scars and terrible, awful memories. Do not invalidate someone's experience or accuse others of doing nothing. We all have different stories and reasons and I solely believe each and every one of you are great people. It may take time to discover this greatness, but it is there."

"In regards to this, my office will always be reachable on the sixth floor. To request to see me, please talk to your house's prefect and I will schedule a time to meet with you. And I urge you to help others if you see them struggling. Blood status, house, gender, race, capabilities aside. We are all humans and deserve to be cared for. Professors will be more understanding this year, making sure their students are not only keeping up with their work but also balancing out their mental life. If you are struggling, do not hesitate to reach out to them. They are here to help you. This may be quite a different and unexpected year, but I believe it can be the best year if we all make an effort."

"Without a further adue, I would like to call upon this year's Head Boy, Mr. Theodore Nott and our Head Girl, Ms. Hermione Granger to stand up and we can join in applause for them."

The Great Hall erupted with hoots, hollers, clapping and cheering. Despite most of it being of celebration of the year itself and Hermione being a war savior, Hermione managed to break out in a smile, beaming. She made quick eye contact with Theodore who was standing on his side of the table, being cheered on by his house mates, but he didn't smile. He just stood there and nodded to Hermione.

"Alright, yes, yes settle down. I am very proud of their hard work and they are also here to help you as well. Some housekeeping now, Mr. Filch would remind you to stay off the Third Floor again as death apparently lurks there or whatever blasted things he keeps up there. There are marked off areas of the castle that are still being magically constructed and rebuilt from them being damaged, so please steer clear of those areas and stay safe. First years will follow their house's prefects after our feast to find Gryffindor tower and our eighth years will be staying after the feast while everyone departs to discuss matters. Class schedules will be owled sometime during today so please, please be on time. I'm looking at you, Ronald Weasley."

Students laughed and grinned at this, making Ron look down in embarrassment.

"Bloody hell," Ron mumbled, as Hermione and Harry laughed at his embarrassment.

"And finally, fifth years taking your O.W.Ls will be given an extra , optional, study period on Friday's in Professor Flitwicks or Professor Slughorns classroom and to the seventh and eighth years taking their NEWTS, you will have the same situation on Wednesdays. Now, let the feast begin!"

The atmosphere changed as food appeared on the tables. Magic. Harry, Ron and Hermione all grinned at each other as this was their favorite part of their school year. Ron dug in immediately, grabbing meats, potatoes and countless sweets onto his plate as Harry and Hermione rather slowly filled their plate with food.