In The Shadows² ★ Draco Malfoy

*Back to school

Being back in the Great Hall immediately made Briar forget about all of her worries and doubts for this school year as the warmth and beauty of the room overtook her completely. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds ofcandles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables werepacked with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one sideof a fifth table, facing their pupils

Briar, Ginny, and Henry sat down close to their classmates Kaz, Rylee, and Colin, until they were also joined by Harry, Hermione, and Ron

"Hiya, Harry!" Colin grinned excitedly when the dark-haired boy sat down

"Hi, Colin," said Harry 

"Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother's starting! My brotherDennis!" He exclaimed

"Er - good," said Harry. 

"He's really excited!" said Colin, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. "Ijust hope he's in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?" 

"Er - yeah, all right," said Harry. He turned back to Hermione, Ron, Briar, and Ginny. "Brothers and sisters usually go in the same Houses, don't they?"he said, judging by the Weasleys 

"Oh no, not necessarily," said Hermione. "Parvati Patil's twin's in Ravenclaw, andthey're identical. You'd think they'd be together, wouldn't you?"

To pass the time Harry and Hermione began scanning the staff table, which seemed to be more empty than usual, and after a while Hermione realised who was missing

"Where's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" she asked

For the last two years Briar had been at school they had had a different Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and after her dad resigned last year they would surely have yet another one this year

"Maybe they couldn't get one," Briar shrugged

"The job's cursed anyway" added Ginny "It would be hard to find anyone mad enough to take it"

"They could always give it to Snape," said Harry "He's wanted it since he came to Hogwarts"

"Yes but Dumbledore isn't mad enough to give it to him" Briar chuckled

"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, beside Harry, "I could eat a hippogriff."

The other all nodded in agreement and Briar now too looked around the large hall. Unfortunately her eyes were caught by a familiar head of platinum blonde hair on the table next to hers. She tried to quickly look away but he had caught her gaze before she could get away with it

"Lupin!" he called and her friends all looked over at him too "Where's your dad? Still in the forest?" The Slytherin boys around him cackled and Briar held up her middle finger before looking away

"Ignore him," Ginny sighed

The doors to the Great Hall finally opened and in came Professor McGonagall leading a long line of first years to the top of the Hall. The kids looked like they had swum across the lake rather than sailed because of the heavy rain outside, and they were all shivering - whether it was due to the cold or the nerves she couldn't tell

One of the young boys was wrapped in Hagrid's moleskin overcoat which was so big on him and it dragged on the floor. His small head and mousy hair peaked out from the large coat, and Briar recognised that face to be one similar to Colin Creevey's, so this boy must have been his brother

Professor McGonagall now placed the familiar three-legged stool on the ground before thefirst years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. The firstyears stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then along tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song