chamberofsnogs | [Four] Seventh Years (Reply)

Well, we're finally at school and through half of the first day of the term. It'll be pretty different, I imagine, what with Professor Snape as the new headmaster. And I'm a bit afraid of Defense Against the Dark Arts - not to mention Muggle Studies as well (not that it was ever particularly useful, given).I think having both Carrows as professors is going to be... an experience. One I can't say I'd prefer to have, but I guess no one's got much choice. And Professor Snape announced it last night as just "Dark Arts." Does anyone else think that wasn't a mistake?

The feast last night was... subdued, I guess the word would be. It was strange - I mean, not only has half the staff seemed to change (well, maybe not half, but still, there were some distinct absences), but most of the people at our house table were acting as though nothing was wrong. But then again, half the people at our table have parents who support You-Know-Who, so I guess that's not surprising. Though maybe stranger than anything was the fact that Malfoy seemed to be one of the ones who wasn't acting like everything was normal. Ora, if you find out anything from him, definitely let the rest of us know!

The rest of the houses all seemed nervous and quieter than usual, and the sorting went much more quickly than it normally does, as though Professor McGonagall was eager to get the meal started so it could finish that much sooner. Professor Snape's "welcome" speech was nothing like Professor Dumbledore's ever were, but at least it was brief too - but that seemed more because he didn't want to be there than anything else. He didn't say anything about Quidditch, but I really, really hope that means we'll still have games this year. If we don't I think I might go stir-crazy before the month is gone! And it turns out Professor Slughorn is our new head of house, which is pretty much old hat for him. I like him all right - he's always been decent to us, so I guess this year will go pretty well in that respect. I do still wonder if he'll resume his Slug Club parties or not, but I guess we'll see soon enough.

I brought a whole box of Extendable Ears from the shop (as well as a few other unmentionables), and the twins have promised to work on improving their range and owl me as soon as they have results; I'm fairly confident they'll be able to do it, if any of their work over the summer is any indication. It was as strange leaving this year as it was last year, though - Diagon Alley, for all that it's changed, still somehow feels a lot like home, even though I've only spent two and a half months there, this summer and last. And Mrs. Weasley even said good-bye to me as I got onto the train at King's Cross - though I'm not sure if she was just grateful to get the chance to commandeer Fred and George for the afternoon after the train left. The twins said they'd try to pop over to Hogsmeade to see me if we still have our weekend trips (and maybe even if we don't), so I guess at least it wasn't goodbye until next holiday. And I called Dad Monday night from a telephone box on Charing Cross Road to let him know I was all right and that everything was set for school. He's still a bit iffy on the whole owl post system, but as it really is the easiest way for me to reach him from Hogwarts, I'll be owling him every week or so to let him know I'm still all right. He admits that while he doesn't know what's going on, he's being careful, and I suppose that's all I can ask. Mr. Weasley did say he'd pop over to Cambridgeshire every once in a while to check on him, so I was pretty thankful for that.

I guess this year is going to be unlike any we've ever had, but that doesn't mean it's anything we can't handle, right? And now I should get to my next class, I don't need to be tardy on the first day of the term!