Work Text:
Hogwarts, it stopped being the same after the war. The ghosts of the year under death eater control won’t leave for a while. Students were tortured, the only reason it didn’t go to worse was because Snape as headmaster didn’t allow it to go worse. But still he didn’t have enough power to stop the things that happened in the secluded hallways — it’s better to not talk about what happened there. Every student had either physical or mental scars from that year. That was the situation that welcomed the youngsters at the first Hogwarts year after the war.
Every day after class, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan took a stroll near the burned patches of the forbidden forest. The Hogwarts castle was a shadow of its former self — because a week after the final battle the fiendfyre at the room of requirement broke containment and burned down a good part of the school. Dean and Seamus had got together during the summer, and settled into a routine when they returned to Hogwarts — Dean returned because he needed to, Seamus because he wanted to.
“Look, isn’t that Goyle from Slytherin?” Dean asked, pointing towards a young man entering Hagrid’s hut.
Leaning on Dean, Seamus answered, “I think he is. But think. He is the only Slytherin male that returned from our year. He must be alone. I’ve seen him hanging out with Tracey and Millicent, but I think he also wants some male guidance.”
“Our year was the most affected by this I see. Justin died — his body found mangled by snatchers, Lavender is scarred and won’t be able to find a job, Hermione stayed in Australia — her parents insisted because she was too distant from them. Among others.”
“Sadly, that doesn’t scratch the surface. Also, the people we didn’t like, and we probably considered enemies. Malfoy in house arrest, Nott killing himself at his own trial in front of everyone, Crabbe dead by fiendfyre.”
“Ugly business. You know what? We should visit Hagrid as well.”
“Now, we are talking!”
Instantly the young couple walked towards Hagrid’s hut. “Come in,” was heard from the inside. They open the door and see Hagrid, Goyle, and some other kids they didn’t know — probably from younger years. They took their seats near the fireplace.
“Nice to see you here. Most Gryffindors have been busy,” Hagrid greeted.
Dean and Seamus took some cups of tea, cuddling to the heat of the fireplace. Seamus looked at Goyle asking him, “What brings you here?”
“I’ve been looking for myself, you know? I’ve been always known as Malfoy’s dumb muscle. One of those Slytherin bullies. I think Millicent would have become the same if Tracey didn’t exist, but then she had someone in her dorm that wasn’t involved in all this … business.”
“Yeah, you had Malfoy, Crabbe, and Nott that were involved in the … business. Then there was Blaise, that was a strange case that he only did business for himself.”
“Exactly. Now I’m trying to find myself, you know? I noticed I like hanging out with the magical creatures, they bring me peace.”
“And we wish you peace.”
“You know, Christmas is coming soon, right? We should do something. To get every house together, without barriers.”
“I’m supporting yeh. Hogwarts needs some joy. Now tha' is basically a day school considering most o' the dorms have bin destroyed.” Hagrid said. The fiendfyre attack destroyed most of the dorms — only the first years were living at the castle. For the older students, the ministry subsidized a bus not unlike the knight bus for the students to take without charge for them.
Dean and Seamus spent the following hours getting re-acquainted with the new Goyle. They also told the younger students there some Christmas stories, both wizarding and muggle. They left the hut laughing and returned to their homes to sleep.
The next day the first step to set the best Christmas party Hogwarts had ever hosted had to be taken. That meant that Seamus and Dean went to Professor McGonagall’s office.
“So, you want to organise a Christmas party?”
“Yes. We must try to bring everyone together.” Seamus declared.
“Good answer. I’m willing to open the pre-winter holiday feast to people from outside. You have my blessing to organise some activities. I’ll tell the four heads of house about this.”
“Thank you, professor.”
With the blessing of the headmistress, they started to work. Dean went to Harry, who was Gryffindor quidditch captain to ask him for an exhibition match before the feast, which the entirety of the Gryffindor quidditch team — which Dean was part of — accepted.
Seamus had his own front, getting a show for the people that would be present. He went to ask the prefects and the head students if they knew anyone that was good with musical instruments — He needed a band to animate this. Seamus himself knew how to play the guitar. It was then when he was approached by Goyle, again.
“I’ve heard that you are looking for musicians, Finnigan?”
“Yeah, do you know some?”
Goyle took his flute and played an old folk song. Seamus swayed at the rythms of his beautiful tunes.
“How did you know to do that?”
“Every night after Malfoy and Crabbe went to sleep, I practiced in an abandoned classroom.”
“Cool.”
“Also, Bulstrode plays the drums, and Davis knows how to play the violin.”
“Great!”
Then Goyle and Seamus went towards every classroom they could go, so they could find more musicians.
The days passed, and not only Seamus and Dean were doing his preparations for the Christmas party, but also everyone else. The four head of houses started doing their own things: Pomona was in charge of all the floral arrangements and decorations; Flitwick prepared a light show; Hagrid, who took over as head of Gryffindor after the war, asked some contacts from Rovaniemi to bring some red-nosed reindeers — descendants of the original Rudolph; Slughorn went to some of his contacts at the Slug Club to look for presents for the people that would attend the party. Minerva McGonagall as headmistress didn’t want to be out staged, so she used her transfiguration abilities to animate some snowmen.
The great day arrived, the quidditch stands were full. Not only the students were there, but also most of their families. Because it was a mini tournament for fun. The Gryffindors played with switched postions: Demelza as keeper; Harry and Ginny as beaters; Ron with the beaters played as chasers; Dean as seeker. Well, it was supposed to be a tournament but the other three teams decided to merge as an all-star team because they wanted to give a good show against a team with three heroes — Harry and Ron for obvious reasons, Ginny for being a leader of the Hogwarts resistance.
The match was pretty even, with the score being equals 50-50. Gryffindor’s chasers weren’t doing that well offensively, even if they intercepted most of the balls going towards them defensively. Harry and Ginny were doing a good teamwork even with trading bludgers with the other team. Demelza was bored because most balls didn’t go to her direction.
Dean flew around looking for the snitch. When he spotted, it he hovered close to the opposite seeker to block his vision. He waited until the most advantageous opportunity arose, the opportunity that allowed him to show-off. He did a perfect vertical dive, catching the snitch. He flew a victory lap around the quidditch pitch, and handed it to his boyfriend — as it is tradition for every seeker that catches the snitch when their significant other is present.
With cheers the group returned to the great hall, where the feast started. Headmistress McGonagall opened the feast with a speech:
“We are here all together, students, families, and staff, and some guests, in a moment of celebration but also of remembrance. The last few years have been difficult because of the war. Hogwarts may have seen better days, some scars will leave their marks, but I hope we all heal together. We shouldn’t care about the colours your ties in your uniforms have, we are in this together!”
The people at the great hall clapped and the feast started.
“Hello, Dean!” Hermione’s voice was heard.
“Hermione? I thought you were in Australia!”
“I was able to finally convince my parents of returning. Now that they found out Hogwarts was basically a day school. They want to spend time with me, you know?”
“Of course! My mum was very happy when the war ended. She was worried about me; she feared the worst.”
“Yeah. Nice to see you. I must look for Ron.”
Dean pointed at Ron who was with Harry, Ginny, and a tall brown-haired woman with a baby, “There he is!”
“Thank you!”
The feast continued. Dean and Seamus opened their presents, courtesy of Professor Slughorn, some beautiful chocolate boxes. The couple then spent the rest of the feast talking with the rest of the people they knew, and even some they didn’t know.
As the feast came to an end, Seamus went to the stage with Goyle, Tracey, Millicent, and the other musicians they could find. It was an eclectic collection of instruments, a specific style wasn’t that discernible, some people may describe it like a folk(of many places)-rock-jazz fusion. Seamus got to the mic, “Ladies and Gentlemen!”
The crow cheered. “I love you Seamus!” Dean yelled.
“How is your Christmas going!”
“Yay!!!”
“1,2,3. Let’s go!”
The violin started playing the opening. Seamus started strumming some chords and started to sing:
Today is the great day of winter’s dawn
Looking how far everything has gone
Everyone together is the best cure
Against all the pain we had to endure
The roar of the lion makes us feel safe
The big eagle is on everyone’s case
Badgers are burrowing to give us warmth
Our sneaky snakes from various threats warn
Hogwarts gave us warmth
Hogwarts gave us food
Hogwarts gave us knowledge
Hogwarts suffered from the intransigence of their occupants
We must repay Hogwarts’ kindness
The crowd lit their wands, “We must repay Hogwarts’ kindness!” The red nosed reindeers and the animated snowmen ran into the great hall and kneeled towards the other end of the great hall. There an albino woman stood wearing a long purple and green dress. She shouted, “Thank you!” tears falling down her eyes.
Goyle walked down the stage playing his flute, towards the albino lady. Some birds entered the great hall and posed all over Goyle’s body. He kneeled, “Lady Hogwarts.”
Hearing what Goyle said, the rest of the guests all rushed to kneel as well.
“Children of Hogwarts. It has been more than a millennium since my walls were built. I’ve seen how people that stepped in my halls have been both virtuous and sinful. No matter what, there’s something I must tell you, you are deifying the Hogwarts four too much. The world is so different to how it was when I was founded. I’ll never be the same as before. Your mission is to be better than your predecessors.” Lady Hogwarts faded into the wind. Some snowflakes started to fall in the great hall.
Everyone at the great hall rushed to hug their loved ones, then also the strangers. The festive atmosphere was resonating everywhere. Everyone formed a line, going to the memorial obelisks of the fallen in the war against the Dark Lord. The white tomb was covered by wreaths and flowers.
Dean and Seamus separated from the group — going to the hills near Hogsmeade where there was a good view of the Hogwarts castle. They embraced watching the light show, courtesy of Professor Flitwick.
“This has been a beautiful experience, my love.”
“Yeah it was. I’ve heard Hogwarts was sentient but seeing it was otherworldly.”
At the top of Hogwarts’ tallest tower Lady Hogwarts was watching the celebrations, with the sorting hat at her side. She had never seen so much unity in her lifetime.
