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FORTY-FOUR: leader of a new regime — lorde
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( 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝟏𝟕 )
"Ten points from Gryffindor."
"Oh, come on!"
A new year at Hogwarts had begun. If one could even call it Hogwarts anymore. This wasn't the place that Meredith had once called her home.
It was like a wave of darkness had descended onto the castle, It was as if all the joy had been sucked out of it, removing all the colour and vibrancy that made it such a sanctuary to all its students, and replaced with murky hues of grey and black.
Meredith turned to source of the outburst, her hand pausing on its journey to shovel food into her mouth (at least that was still the same) only to see that it belonged to one courageous Neville Longbottom and an unfamiliar face who wore a sneer so deep that it seemed as if she had been born with it. He was standing behind the bench, hand twitching as if it wanted to fall to his wand, and the woman was standing on the other side.
"You can't do that to a kid!" Neville huffed, laying a protective hand over what seemed to be a first year. The benches had quickly filled up this year because the Hat hadn't dared to sing it's usual song of trepidation and warning under Snape's glare. Meredith pitied the new first years; they wouldn't experience the true magic of Hogwarts like she had all those years ago.
"Neville!" Seamus squeaked, eyes darting between the unfamiliar familiar face and said Gryffindor. The tension practically crackled between them as they stared each other down, unwilling to back down.
"I will do whatever I please." The woman hissed. Meredith saw her hand twitch over her wand tucked in her clothes as if she were preparing to draw it and curse Neville. She put down her spoon, feeling her own hand creep over her own wand tucked into her robes. Were they really going to engage in a fight during the Welcome Feast? What was this? Some kind of power play to assert their dominance over the students.
That's when Slughorn, newly appointed Head of Slytherin now that Snape was headmaster, bumbled in with a gasp, "What's going on here? Carrow? Longbottom?"
