To Thwart The Darkness {Book 3}

All Wizards Are Barking Mad

Three times I rewrote this (sorry for the wait)

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Hogwarts

The Great Hall was quiet and still. No one talked, no one moved. Everyone was watching the staff table where Snape sat in the headmaster's seat. It was only the third day of school and absolutely no one was happy. It was as if smiling itself had been banned from the corridors. And it was only the third day.

"It just doesn't make sense," Neville whispered at the Gryffindor table. "Why is Snape next in line? He never did anything for this school except bully his students."

"Death Eaters," Jason nodded up at the Carrow siblings sitting either side of the headmaster.

"The deathiest," Nico agreed before taking a bite of his toast.

"I know we dropped the joke in our first year here," Piper said, "but it looks like they actually eat death for breakfast." Nico gave her a pointed look as he continued to eat his breakfast.

"Hey, Seamus," Will leaned into the table and called a few people down, "where's Dean?"

"He couldn't come back this year," Seamus replied.

"Why? I thought he was half-blood," Jason added, also noticing that Dean was missing from his usual spot next to Seamus.

"He can't confirm it," Seamus shrugged. "Never knew his dad."

"Do you reckon Hecate confirmed our blood status?" Piper whispered.

"We haven't been kicked out yet," Will shrugged, "so she must have."

"We should probably head to Muggle Studies," Jason said, shrugging the bag he'd borrowed from the Weasley's over his shoulder. After telling Mrs Weasley that Hermione had taken all their bags, she'd given each demigod an old satchel, previously possessed by Charlie, Bill, Fred and Percy Weasley (George's was beyond repair). "Something tells me that we don't want to be late to her class."

So they made their way through the corridors and up the moving staircases to the Muggle Studies classroom. Muggle Studies was a now compulsory class that was now taught by Alecto Carrow, the female Carrow sibling. Her brother took Defence Against the Dark Arts (now renamed Dark Arts, also compulsory) and the Gryffindor group had already had a class with him. It hadn't been pleasant.

The demigods, Neville and Seamus all took seats at the back, eliminating any chance eye contact that they could make with their Death Eater professor.

Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs filed in quickly, presumably all having the same idea of being late to this class. Desks towards the back were filled up first and the last stragglers, unfortunately, had to take seats in the third row. No one dared to sit in the front two.

There was quiet talk floating around the classroom as they waited for their professor. Nico and Jason got into a conversation about the potions class and Piper and Will talked, across their boyfriends, about Pepper the pygmy puff (who was stuffed inside Will's robe pocket — he didn't want to leave her all alone in the dormitory where she could get up to mischief).

Then, silent as a snake moved through long grass, Professor Carrow walked through the doors. Conversation stopped almost immediately and each student watched their teacher walk through the desks to the front. She had a very heavy gait, but each step she took was terrifyingly quiet.

"Welcome to Muggle Studies," she said when she reached the front. "We will begin with the interbreeding consequences and effects between Muggle and Wizard. Take notes." And with that, she began to teach. There was no introduction to the course, like most classes, there was just that. There was some scuffling as students got out their parchment and quill but other than that, no one breathed a word.