Hidden Wings - Part I

A new year...and dark times

The sky had turned dark by the time the students reached the castle. Mioha briefly saw Draco walking ahead with Pansy and Blaise, but he frostily turned his back towards her every time she tried to make eye contact.
The mass of students prevented her from getting near, but even if she could have, it would have been foolish to openly talk to Draco in front of the others. He had a cover to keep.

Through the large shining double doors they went and into the Entrance Hall, the ghosts glistening a pearl white just as they had a week ago when Mioha had left for the Burrow. Sir Nicholas inclined his head and waved at the students, his smile a bit strained as if even the world of the ghosts did not like the events that had occurred recently. Peeves however, seemed as unperturbed as ever, swooping down and having fun pulling on people's hair.

"I swear", Hermione said as she barely dodged Peeves, who seemed fixed on ripping her wild curls out. "I'm gonna-"

Peeves cackled loudly and swooped down again, this time his victim a little second-year Slytherin. The boy squeaked in surprise when he saw the poltergeist charge at him with a big, toothy grin, and quickly threw himself onto his stomach.

Mioha frowned.
"Oh dear", Hermione mumbled and pushed through the crowd of second-year Gryffindors, who were giggling and pointing at the little Slytherin. "Hey", she snapped, pointing at her prefect's badge. "Move it, don't you have something better to do?"
Ignoring the bewildered stares she was getting, Hermione grabbed the Slytherin by the arm and pulled him up on his feet.
"Th-thank you", stuttered the boy, his face flushed in embarrassment.

Hermione glared at the surrounding second-year Gryffindors until one by one they averted their eyes and grudgingly moved towards the Great Hall. Then she gave the Slytherin a last nod before returning to the others.

Mioha nodded at her gratefully.
"Thanks", she said.

Ron slung an arm around Hermione, who still had a grim look on her face.
"Come", said the redhead, "I'm starving."

"You can't be. You just had a huge bucket of Chocolate Frogs", said Harry lightly, although he did not look too happy either with his house's behavior.

"Food will do us some good", said Luna softly and pulled Neville by the arm towards the Great Hall. "I hope they have pudding."

Mioha separated from the others and sat down next to Erica and Levinia. Astoria was sitting a few seats ahead, apparently having a discussion with her sister Daphne. The older Slytherin looked tired, deep shadows circled her eyes, and she whispered quietly, turning her head every few seconds to check whether someone was listening. For a moment, Mioha had a mental debate about whether she should eavesdrop, then decided against it. That appeared to be family stuff.

The Feast passed by in a blur. Gandalf introduced Professor Slughorn as the new Potions Professor and Professor Snape as the new DADA Professor, which earned quite a few groans from the student body. However, the black-haired wizard shot daggers at them with his eyes and the noise quickly quieted down, for no one wanted to risk getting detention before classes even started.