politics Harry Potter

It’s the first day of September, and the Hogwarts Express has left the station. Ginny, Neville, and Luna boarded the train, but Harry and Ron and Hermione are still ensconced in Grimmauld Place. Death Eaters watch the square.

Dealing with Moody’s anti-Snape jinxes has become routine, the horror diminished. Harry, having made it past both spells and Death Eaters, is greeted by an unrecognizable Kreacher–clean, happy, hard at work making a home out of the grisly old place. The locket of Regulus Black hangs over the old elf’s heart, catalyst to its change.

Plans and Schemes

Harry has news: Voldemort has put Snape in Dumbledore’s old role as headmaster, assuming control of Hogwarts by proxy. Hermione, with the very uncharacteristic exclamation of “Merlin’s pants!”, remembers that a portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black connects Grimmauld Place to the Hogwarts headmaster’s study. Phineas Nigellus goes in the beaded bag, from whence he will later appear with important consequences.

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