The Next Day:

  Lotty and Ed agreed to go to the Foxhole Chamber together on the weekend.

  According to Anita, Llywelyn seems to be friends with Horrible Hector now... Lotty said she'd heard Luke Stevenson talking to Silas about Llywelyn. He said he'd been 'terrorising' us Slytherins with his 'practical common sense'. She said Silas put on a fake laugh and changed the subject.

  Later: I was sitting in the Common Room this evening, quietly studying, when I was interrupted by a commotion in the room. Dominic was standing on a coffee table, clapping his hands together. Regulus was standing on the floor next to him.

  "Everyone listen up!"Dominic called,"important meeting!"

  "Only True Slytherins allowed,"Regulus put in,"remove him!"

  He meant Llywelyn. Llywelyn stood up the moment some students approached him.

  "Fine! I'll go by myself!"he said, and went off to his dormitory.

  "Someone needs to make sure he stays there,"Regulus said.

  "It's alright, I'll lock him in!"a 3rd Year said, gleefully, and ran off after him.

  I didn't like the look of this. Lots of students were gathering around Dominic now.

  "I'm not sure if you're all aware,"he announced,"but Silas Warren is back! And you know what that means? More trials! More harassment! More obstruction to our education!"

  There were murmurings of agreement.

  "But if we all stick together,"Dominic continued,"they won't be able to hurt us. Last year they made sure to separate us, and went for us when we were alone, like cowards! This year we won't make it easy for them!"

  "No, we won't!"Regulus said, punching his fist into the palm of his hand, aggressively.

  "This is the year we fight back!"Dominic declared.

  This was followed by cheering and applause, some students had fists raised in the air.

  "Maybe we'll even get a chance to teach him a lesson!"Dominic went on, encouraged by the animated response,"him and all the rest of them! We won't let them bring down Wizardkind!"

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  Cheers and applause.

  "We won't let them destroy magic! We won't let them end our legacy and our culture!"

  More cheering.

  "I'm proud to be Pureblood! Let me hear you all say it!"

  "Proud to be Pureblood!"Regulus bellowed.

  Most of the students in the common room chanted the same, but not us Carrows, and Antonius didn't either.

  "Let's hear you all say it!"Dominic yelled again, looking over at us.

  "I'm going to bed,"Jared said, getting up.

  "I should have already been in bed,"Anita said, also heading off.

  I closed my book.

  "If you're not with us, then you are against us!"Dominic persisted,"what about you, Antonius? What's gone wrong with you?"

  "I'm not proud of something I haven't achieved,"was Antonius' response.

  I looked at him, slightly surprised. I know he has changed a lot since last summer, but it seems he has changed a lot more than I thought! I felt a warm glow of happiness.

  "Then you are ashamed,"Dominic said,"they've succeeded in making you ashamed!"

  "I'm not ashamed to be Pureblood,"Antonius answered him.

  "I'm not ashamed either,"I said.

  Dominic gave us a sour sort of look and went on with his speech. I couldn't be bothered to stick around to hear it. I decided go to my dormitory and continue studying there. It was hard to concentrate, especially with the Sanding twins having a noisy discussion in the background. I was also upset about what had happened in the Common Room. It looks like trouble. Like the war between houses that I feared was going to happen last year was going to happen now, any time. Would there be any peace?

  So a while later, after Priscilla entered the dormitory, I decided to go and see if the Common Room had gotten quieter. To my joy, it was almost empty. I sat down in a cosy seat by one of the fireplaces, and began reading.

  But it was difficult to focus. I found myself reading the same sentence over and over as my mind wandered off into the troublesome territory of overthinking. Before I'd even realised it, the book I was supposed to be reading was now on the cushion next to me, abandoned.

  It was while I was thinking and thinking; about the memory potion, and what I could do to possibly ease the tensions between houses... I knew I could get Max to help... That was when I heard something.

  It was a strange humming sound, almost musical, it was familiar, yet not familiar. I looked around and realised it must have gotten really late by now. The Common Room was empty of everyone but me, and it had gotten very dark, though the light from the fireplaces was still glowing.

  I got up and looked around to see if I could hear where the sound was coming from. It seemed to be coming from over by the steps leading up to the dungeons, where a small waterfall pours down. I couldn't see anything there, but then I thought I heard whispering...

  That scared me! I ran as fast as I could out of the Common Room up to my dormitory. I was glad to find the Sanding twins were still awake, as I felt really unsettled hearing those noises in the dark Common Room all by myself. Priscilla was fast asleep and snoring loudly, even though the Sanding twins were still noisily buried in conversation.

  I got ready for bed and then remembered that I'd left my book in the Common Room. Well, it could stay there! There was no way I was going to go back into that place alone tonight!