House of Black

Hate is Here

The next morning as I entered Potions class the atmosphere was tense, to say the least. The Slytherins sat on the left side of the room and the Gryffindors on the right, the divide between us had never been more glaringly obvious. As the day went on, I couldn't help but feel ostracised, in classes the Slytherin's were first choice for everything, they were already firmly in the lead for the House Cup with all the points that had won. At lunch Ginny and I were discussing it in hushed tones when Luna joined us.

'I noticed too, McGonagall and Flitwick are the only teachers not heeling to their every word.'

'Do you suppose it's Snape's orders? Or are they just scared of repercussions?' I asked quietly.

'Maybe a bit of both, it must be hard to go against Snape when he's got such...scary backup.' Ginny eyed the Carrow siblings as she spoke and I nodded in agreement.

'I wouldn't want to go up against them, that's for sure.'

Almost as if they could sense our gaze, they whipped their heads towards us with matching smirks, a shiver wracked through my body and I turned my attention to the food in front of me, minutes later Ginny nudged my side.

'Come on daydreamer, it's time for us to go.' she said softly.

With a nod of my head I finished my pumpkin juice and rose to join her, Ginny shook her head and laughed as she picked a piece of lettuce out of my long brown hair and threw it back into my plate. I knew that it needed to be cut but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, Mum loved to play with it and I didn't want to deprive her of what little joy she had left.

I was so consumed in my own thoughts that I didn't see Zabini and Astoria walking down the corridor towards me, Ginny's calls were lost to my ears as I collided with Blaise.

If not for his grip on my upper arm I would have fallen to the ground, a grip that was surprisingly soft – a direct contradiction of his icy tone of voice.

'Watch where you're going idiot.'

I wrenched my arm from his hand and glared at him, Astoria cut me off as I was about to land myself in detention with a few choice words.

'Come on Blaise, you'd better wash your hands after touching the filthy Mudblood.' her words were laced with a tone of utter hatred and I bristled at it, I may not have been a Muggleborn but she didn't know that and her choice of words grated at me.

'I wouldn't worry Greengrass, he's probably already caught worse from you.' I spoke with a sweet smile and flicked my hair over my shoulder, mimicking her own habit before marching away with Ginny.

I could have sworn I saw Zabini supressing a smile but when I looked back, he was stone faced as always.

We had rounded the corner before Ginny was furiously trying to pull up my sleeve and muttering about how she'd love to hex Zabini.

'I'm okay Ginny, I promise, Zabini didn't even squeeze.' Ginny frowned at that and I could see the overactive cogs in her brain trying to process this piece of information. 'Come on, we don't want to be late for Carrow.'

'Which one is it again?' Ginny asked as we began to approach the Muggle Studies classroom.

'I honestly couldn't tell you, they're both as ugly as each other.'

Our laughter died down quickly as we entered the Muggle Studies classroom and saw that it had undergone some changes, gone were Professor Burbage's colourful Muggle pictures and in their place were magic pictures of the Salem witch trials, the gruesome images of witches being drowned, hanged and burned were everywhere. The model airplanes, boats and submarines that were once suspended in the air were replaced with what appeared to be blackened bones and the fish tank had been emptied of the colourful fish to make room for...shoes? My stomach bubbled as I wondered what poor souls the shoes belonged to but I stopped that train of thought when I noticed a tiny pair of pink ballet pumps resting atop some old Nike's.

The room was shrouded in silence, nobody dared to breathe too loud as we waited for whichever Carrow would be our teacher for the year – we didn't have to wait long to be quite fair, she emerged from the shadows seconds after the last student entered and sat down. I exchanged worried glances with Ginny and Luna as the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws sat in silence.

'Good morning everyone, I am Professor Alecto Carrow and our Dark Lord has appointed me as your new Muggle Studies teacher. I am here to correct the misinformation that has been spread by your previous teacher. She believed that Muggles posed no threat to our kind, she was WRONG!' Alecto slapped her hand down on her desk to emphasise her message and a few students, myself included, jumped. With a malicious smile she pressed on. 'Muggles are nothing more than a scourge on this earth and that goes doubly for Mudbloods, these vile Muggles steal wands in order to worm their way into our world and pollute the most noble bloodlines. The Muggles forced us into hiding after the Salem witch trials, during which they slaughtered their own kind because they believed them to possess our power, they even got lucky and killed some genuine witches. We have lived in secret ever since. Filthy bastards.'

I recoiled in horror as she spat on Gemima's desk before whipping out her wand.

'You there, what is your blood status?' Alecto demanded with her wand pointed at Gemima's nose.

Gemima trembled like a leaf as she desperately tried to speak, the wand tip pressed further into her nose and she was finally able to find her words.

'Pureblood.'

'Prove it.' Alecto snarled.

'My parent's both work for the ministry, my father Alder Hunt works in the courts and my mother Celeste was Minister Fudge's secretary for years.'

Alecto seemed satisfied enough the remove her wand from Gemima's face, the poor girl's tan skin had lost all colour and she was almost as pale as me for a few moments until she regained her composure. Professor Carrow continued to spew her vitriol until the end of class and we all but ran to escape the stifling atmosphere of the classroom.