Ginny shuffled over, not looking very happy either. She'd been very quiet since school had started, keeping to herself and avoiding their group like the plague. "Ginny, Luna. Luna, Ginny."
"Hello," Ginny said. "What is this about?"
"Well you're in the same year, and you both like Quidditch and horses. So you're friends now."
"Ronald!" Hermione stage-whispered. "You can't just -"
"Look, you both need proper friends your age, I know you have things in common. You're both girls. You're friends now." There was a very awkward silence. Both Luna and Ginny were unsure of what exactly was happening. They knew each other, vaguely. And Ginny had spent the events of last year's adventure crying into Luna's shoulder about how she'd almost gotten her family killed, but they hadn't spoken much.
"We're in Transfiguration together?" Luna asked hesitantly.
"Right. I'll sit next to you tomorrow, I guess. We could study sometime maybe? Are you any good at Potions?"
Ron beamed, sending a smug look to Hermione. They had to admit, it was a good idea, even if Ron's execution had not been very subtle.
"May I have your attention, students!" Dumbledore called, tapping his goblet with his wand. Ginny scrambled to sit down as the Great Hall quickly quieted. Harry had not been finished trying to weasel the names of Luna's tormentors out of her, but it could wait until later, perhaps he'd better let her calm down first anyhow.
"Thank you." Their headmaster continued. "As your curious eyes have no doubt told you, we have a few guests I'd like to introduce. The Ministry, Board of Governors, and I have come to the conclusion that after the events of last year, Hogwarts is overdue for a security inspection. Now, I assure you, the most serious of these matters have already been resolved over the summer. The Chamber of Secrets was permanently sealed off. But, a thorough inspection still needs to be performed. Alongside this, it was decided that an evaluation of other school matters would happen as well, such as the finances, staffing, curriculum, and other such things that I doubt most of you are interested in. Thus, let us kindly welcome our guests from the Ministry here to make sure the school is running as smoothly and safely as possible." There was some halfhearted applause. "You'll see them around the school these next few months. Please feel free to bring any relevant concerns to them, and if they ask you about your experiences here, do not feel afraid to share. Now let me introduce Jasper Pickerington, Hermapheous Spoonmen, Jasmine Yaxley, and Dolores Umbridge." There was some more halfhearted applause. "Now, do not let me keep you from your meal any longer -"
"Hem-hem." One of the new inspectors, a rather short, older woman in a very ugly pink-toned business suit stood from her seat.
"Would you like to say a few words, Madame Umbridge?" Dumbledore asked politely, although from the look in his eyes, one got the impression he was ready, willing, and able to punt the woman across the room.
"Why thank you, Headmaster, yes I would. Hello students! I am so excited to see your smiling faces!" A sea of unenthused teenagers stared back at her. They eyed up the stylistically challenged bureaucrat and swiftly ignored her, tucking back into their meals without giving the odd woman who had dared to interrupt their professor another thought. "I am so honored to be here on behalf of the Ministry. Your education is of vital importance, and the Ministry will do whatever it takes to ensure your education here at Hogwarts is of the highest quality. Every headmaster, every teacher has brought something new to the table in how this historic school is run -"
Harry tuned her out. That was enough, thanks. Hermione would tell him later if she had said anything significant. Ron had also clocked out, and Ginny looked rather upset that she had been separated from her plate. As he returned to his roast beef, he looked over at the professors. Mama was resting her chin on her hand and was sneaking bites of potato, blatantly uninterested. Most of the other teachers were listening but carried the same look of disturbed boredom. Well, the inspectors were hardly likely to cause any trouble. If they could just get through this speech, they all should be free from any further annoyances from one Dolores Umbridge.
Dolores Um BITCH, Am I Right?
It turned out that horcrux hunting wasn't quite as exciting as Sirius had hoped. He'd expected it to be similar to his old auror days - not that he'd been one for long. In total, it had been around a year and a half during the war. Looking back, it was obvious how they had reached the point of shipping people to Azkaban without a trial. He hadn't exactly learned much of proper judicial proceedings, it was a shoot first, ask questions later sort of training.
What Alabasandria proposed was more akin to the absolute insanity that was Mad-Eye Moody's infamous suspected Death Eater corkboard. It had covered the entire wall of the meeting room, lovingly dubbed the War Room by the man himself. It was plastered with candid photographs of the suspects doing things like brushing their teeth, as well as little bits of parchment with Moody-ish proverbs between them, and their connections all highlighted and entangled in copious amounts of red yarn. Sirius had once been tasked with running surveillance on Lucius Malfoy for sixteen hours straight, and despite his report consisting mostly of the man's breakfast choices, it had gone up on the wall alongside everything else.
This was all to say that the key to defeating Voldemort did not not include learning if the man preferred tea or coffee with his morning meal.
"So, we have a few goals here. First of all, it's imperative we discover how many horcruxes that dipshit made. Then we need to discover what they're housed in and where they are located. I will focus on trying to learn what I can from the locket, but it's obvious to me that he did not study necromancy from a master. Or perhaps it is because he split his soul multiple times - but either way, the locket is incredibly weak. There is barely any personality inside. It seems, according to my attempts to interact with it thus far, like he just shoved some anger in there. But, even if I can't learn anything from the locket, I should be able to use it as a sort of beacon that will tell us if we are physically close to another piece. I will work on it. Meanwhile, while you are a wanted criminal, we'll focus on teaching you some necromancy. Once you can move around more easily, you'll help me interrogate every person, dead and alive, who may have any clues about them as well."
Alabasandria unearthed the massive file of papers she'd already made on the subject. There were pages and pages of lists of names.
.....
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