Dumbledore rose, and the Great Hall immediately fell silent.
He offered none of his usual quips. The roiling dark clouds overhead were reflected in his blue eyes, making them seem particularly deep.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts, everyone."
His voice was quiet, yet it reached every ear clearly.
"And welcome to our new members."
He gave the first-years a slight nod, then changed the subject, his expression becoming more serious than ever.
"I believe everyone here has heard something of the events that took place this summer."
Everyone held their breath.
"They reminded us, in the way we least wished to see."
Dumbledore spoke slowly.
"Darkness has never truly left us. It is merely lying low, waiting. We must stand united, remain vigilant, and become stronger."
His gaze seemed to carry a tangible weight as it slowly swept across the long tables of the Four Houses.
Almost instinctively, everyone's eyes turned toward the end of the Slytherin table, as though drawn by an invisible force.
There, Crabbe and Goyle were huddled in their seats.
They were fatter than they had been last term, but their bulk had an unhealthy, bloated quality.
Both kept their heads deeply bowed, awkwardly cutting the steaks on their plates as though they wished they could shrink into their robes.
Their fathers had been identified as rioters in the disturbances at the Quidditch World Cup and were now serving their sentences in the cold cells of Azkaban.
The news had spread like a plague throughout the journey on the Hogwarts Express.
Several openly hostile looks shot across from the Gryffindor table like arrows.
The Ravenclaw students whispered among themselves, analyzing the pair's slightest movements with the scrutiny of someone dissecting fantastic beasts.
Most of the Hufflepuff children looked away. Though they loathed what the boys' fathers had