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When Harry, Voldemort and the rest of the Death Eaters arrived at the castle, it was as if the people in Hogwarts had sensed it and were waiting for them at the entrance of the main Hall.
Hermione was relieved to see that Harry was alive and behind the Dark Lord. The presence of Hagrid was more surprising, but he seemed calm enough; she wondered how Harry had managed that. The Dark Lord seemed healthier, he actually looked human, and his followers looked sane, calm even. It was a strange sight, to be honest. Now she just had to listen to whatever speech Lord Voldemort had to say, which would tell her what was awaiting them.
“As you can see, your saviour has surrendered to me. Surrender as well, and there will be no more death; resist… well, you know what will happen if you resist.” A few Death Eaters chuckled at that.
There was a beat or two, and at first Hermione thought that what Andromeda, Tonks, Remus, and her (Sirius was knocked out at the time and only woke a few minutes ago) had done in the time Harry had talked to Tom Riddle had worked. Alas, it was a good wish. Soon enough, some people on her side emerged and started firing spells at the Death Eaters. The swiftness and rapidity with which they were dealt with made Hermione wonder if the Death Eaters had been toying with them the whole time. She had noticed that they tended to go harder on the older generation than the younger ones who were barely out of school (some were still in school), but to this extent, it… surprised her.
“Anybody else?” the Dark Lord asked. Apparently, the swiftness of his men was enough to deter the rest of them.
Once again, he waited a bit before talking again.
“Enough.”
The word was soft. It did not need to be louder.
“You have had your moment to test my patience. Consider it concluded.”
His eyes moved slowly over the crowd, as if counting them.
“I am aware that some of you still believe this is a battle to be won. That if you strike fast enough, hard enough, the story you were taught will somehow become true.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“It will not.”
A faint, almost amused breath left him.
“Had I wished for annihilation, Hogwarts would already be a grave. You are alive because extermination is inefficient — and because I am finished wasting magical blood on Dumbledore’s delusions.”
He turned his gaze to Harry, resting there for a heartbeat too long.
“Your so-called saviour stands here alive by my decision alone. Understand what that means.”
His voice sharpened.
“From this moment forward, resistance will not be negotiated. It will be neutralised. Stunned if possible. Broken if necessary.”
A pause. Heavy.
“Those of you who continue to act after this warning do so with full awareness of the consequences. I will not mourn you.”
He straightened, hands clasped behind his back.
“Order will be imposed. Certain individuals will be placed under supervision. Others under protection. Call it captivity if it comforts you — the result is the same.”
His eyes flicked briefly to the Death Eaters. None of them moved.
“Any of my followers who harm a protected individual without my explicit command will beg for Azkaban by the time I am finished with them.”
That, more than any threat against the crowd, drew a sharp intake of breath from several students.
“Hogwarts will continue to function. Professor McGonagall will remain Headmistress. Lessons will resume when stability allows.”
He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping to a near whisper that somehow carried.
“You will lay down your wands. You will comply. And you will survive.”
He held their gaze.
“Defy me — and you will become an example. Not tonight. Not loudly. But permanently.”
Silence followed.
“Choose.”
At first, nobody moved. Then Hermione took out her wand and placed it on the floor. Andromeda followed, then Tonks, Remus, and the rest followed.
“Good,” the Dark Lord said. “As I said, some of you will be placed under supervision. You will have masters; these masters will own you until you are considered trustworthy. As many of you can guess, those masters will be members of my inner circle.” He marked a pause, and with a wave of his hand they walked right beside him.
Hermione already knew who was going to choose her. After all, she had already been marked by that person. She just hoped that Harry knew what he was doing.
“But first, it is time to welcome some of you back into my ranks, some of my followers who have been away for too long.”
Andromeda, Ted and Sirius moved forward and went to their family on the other side, where Bellatrix and Narcissa embraced them. Shocked faces appeared in the assembly. Even Tonks appeared shocked; her mother had told her about the real reason for this war and what the Dark Lord was really fighting for, but she didn’t know that her parents and cousin were double agents.
“Now, my friends, you can choose. This is your moment. Those chosen, pick up your wand and move towards your new master or mistress — we do have a Lady here.”
Bellatrix rolled her eyes at what her friend had said. He was trying to make a joke, but that was never his strong suit. She was the first to talk.
“I want the young Miss Granger and Miss Weasley.” (Molly let out a scream of anguish at that.) Bellatrix paused, looked at them, and then she felt a pull towards the Veela girl. She couldn’t explain it, but she decided to listen to the magic and said, “and the Veela girl.”
Now that caused a commotion. While Hermione and Ginny made their way without resistance toward the Dark Lord’s first lieutenant, Fleur was unable to.
Bill simply refused to let her go, and was (for some reason) helped by his mother, even though she was fighting against him to go. It got to the point where he was hurting her, and fear could be seen in her eyes. Hermione went back to help her friend; she wanted to use her wand to stun him but was scared of how that would be interpreted by the Death Eaters. Instead, Bellatrix appeared seemingly out of nowhere next to her and stunned Bill and Molly, letting Hermione take the Veela in her arms before marching back together to the Dark Lord.
Lucius then came forward.
“Heir Longbottom, and Miss Lovegood, you are with me.” They looked at each other, Neville unsure, but Luna’s eyes said don’t worry, and they walked to join Lord Malfoy. Draco used this moment to make his way back to his parents, who embraced him before looking over their new charges, making note of their wounds.
Rabastan followed. “The Weasley twins are with me.” Fred and George looked at each other; they didn’t expect to be chosen. They knew that one of their siblings would be chosen to keep them in line and weren’t surprised when Ginny had been called, but them — that surprised them.
Then it was Greyback’s turn. “Remus, come and bring your wife.” Remus paled but went toward the werewolf who had turned him, holding his wife’s hand. When they reached Greyback, he looked at them and whispered, “Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you or your family. Once we leave, we will go find your child; nothing will happen to him, and you will be able to go see your parents whenever you want.” He said that while looking at both of them. It did little to reassure them, but Andromeda used the fact that they were on this side of the courtyard to hug them, whispering some reassuring words.
After that, things went rather quickly. Yaxley chose Percy, Dolohov chose Dean, Cho was chosen by Mulciber, Seamus by Avery, Rookwood took the Patil twins, Macnair took Cormac, Rowle took Lavender, and Lord Nott took Michael Corner.
After every one of the inner circle had chosen, the Dark Lord turned back toward the assembly.
“My inner circle has chosen. They will now take their charges back to their homes, where they will be taken care of. Remember, as long as you keep in line, nothing will happen to them, and I dare say they might have a good life. Now, the rest of you can go home. Those with healing knowledge, I will ask you to stay, as I think that Madame Pomfrey will appreciate your help. Those who can’t be healed here will be sent to St Mungo’s. Once everybody has been healed enough to go home or has been sent to St Mungo’s, the rest will go home. We will decide in the next days or weeks how to proceed. Keep in mind that your help will be needed to rebuild our world, and while I would prefer not to force anyone, I will do it if necessary. To the Hogwarts staff: you will be called upon sometime in the next month to decide how the next year will go.”
After that, those who could leave did so. Most of his followers left; the Black sisters stayed because the two younger ones had experience in healing magic, and one of Bella’s charges, Hermione, also knew enough healing spells to be of use.
Before going in to help inside, Hermione looked up to the sky, then to Harry, and they smiled at each other. He wasn’t of any help here, but as the Dark Lord’s charge, he had to stay until he left.
There were still a lot of things they didn’t understand, but now they had the time and the possibility to learn and change. And in time, they would be okay.