As they arrived on the Hogwarts Express at Hogsmeade station and stepped out of the carriages, they saw Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts forest ranger. He was rallying the freshmen with his loud voice, urging them to follow the road that led to the lake.
Itachi knew that all freshmen arriving at Hogwarts for the first time took boats across the lake to the castle. It was something of an initiation, a tradition meant to surprise, amaze the imagination, and perhaps test their mettle. What it was really for, he didn't know, but he remembered how much of an impression it had made on him the previous year.
The seniors were greeted by the faculty heads who coordinated the boarding of the carriages.
They shouted the names of the faculties loudly and pointed the students in the direction.
Theodore seemed to be a bit distracted. He was nervously looking around as if he was searching for something.
He followed his gaze and noticed that he was looking at the carriages waiting for the students.
The carriages that were pulling...
Huge raven winged horses, more like skeletons, covered in smooth, silky skin. Their muzzles were dragon-like, with large, wide-open white luminous eyes without pupils. Their huge wings, leathery and webbed, resembled bat wings, and their tails were long and black.
"Festrals," thought Itachi trying not to show any emotion.
He looked at Theodore, noticing his trembling and pale face. He realized that Theodore was looking at the Festrals.
"He can see them?"
He knew that only those who had seen death could see the Festrals.
Surprise reflected on his face. He hadn't expected that Theodore, who seemed so carefree and cheerful, had already experienced loss.
"Afraid?"
Theodore stood for a second, as if gathering his thoughts, and then shook his head and answered quietly:
"No."
His voice sounded a little unsure, but Itachi decided to take his word for it.
They sat down in the carriage in silence and drove towards the castle.
There was silence all around, broken only by the clatter of the festrals' hooves and the creaking of the carriage wheels. Itachi could feel the slight tension in the air.
Soon they reached the gates of Hogwarts, where the deans of the faculties were already waiting for them.
The Slytherin students' faces were tense - Professor Snape looked extremely displeased. Each of them was frantically trying to remember if they had done anything that might incur the Dean's wrath. No one wanted to face the consequences, which could include detention, removal of points from the faculty, or worse, an angry letter home.
Not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to themselves, the Slytherins quickly lined up in a straight line in front of Snape. The professor silently looked them over with his piercing gaze, as if trying to identify the perpetrators of some unthinkable atrocity. His gaze lingered briefly on Itachi, and for a moment their eyes met. Itachi saw some unspoken warning in Snape's eyes, as if the professor knew something that Itachi didn't yet realize.
Without a word, Snape turned abruptly and gestured for them to follow him. He led them into the Great Hall, where students from other faculties were gathered, creating a buzz of voices and anticipation for the upcoming feast. The Slytherins, trying to keep up with Snape, walked quickly through the corridors of the castle, feeling the stares of the other students.
After leading the Slytherins to the Great Hall, Professor Snape led them with quick steps to the Slytherin table. Without stopping, he turned to them, and his voice, as always, was full of venom and sarcasm.
"I hope you haven't forgotten how to behave in decent society over the vacations. Remember, you and your behavior should be appropriate to your position. Do not disgrace me and your faculty with foolish antics and undignified behavior."
Saying this, Snape cast another piercing glare at them and quickly withdrew from the Great Hall. This was rather odd. Usually the deans of the faculties stayed in the hall during the distribution of freshmen and the welcome feast. None of the other deans were going to leave. What was it that had Snape in such a hurry? Something was clearly wrong.
The Slytherins, a little puzzled by Snape's sudden departure, settled into their seats at the long table.
Everyone was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the freshmen and the start of the placement ceremony.
After a while, Professor McGonagall stood up from behind the teaching desk and, turning to all the students, announced:
"I will now bring in the freshmen."
With those words, she headed towards the large doors leading into the hall and disappeared behind them. The Great Hall was filled with anticipation.
After a languid ten minutes of waiting, the doors to the Great Hall finally swung open.
Professor McGonagall entered the hall, followed by a string of freshmen.
They looked small and lost, dressed in new robes that weren't crumpled yet. Some of them were clearly frightened, staring wide-eyed at the huge hall and the older students staring at them.
Others, on the other hand, were excited and excited, looking around and whispering with interest.
Silence reigned in the hall. All eyes were fixed on the freshmen, ready to go through the most important rite in their lives - distribution by faculties.
Everything was happening just as Itachi remembered from his placement last year. Professor McGonagall solemnly pulled out an old, patched Sorting Hat and placed it on a stool in front of the faculty table.
Professor McGonagall began calling the freshmen up on a list. One by one they came to the stool, put on the Allocating Hat, and after a few seconds the hat loudly announced the name of the faculty where the student was to go. The ranks of the faculties were gradually replenished, each time causing an explosion of applause and joyous shouts.
When Albus Dumbledore had finished distributing the freshmen, he gave his traditional speech, reminding the students of the importance of learning, friendship, and justice. He then solemnly announced the start of the feast.
At once the tables in the Great Hall were filled with all kinds of food. There were fried chickens, juicy steaks, savory pies, fresh fruits and vegetables, and many other delicacies. The students happily pounced on the food, filling the hall with cheerful homonyms and laughter.
Itachi took his time with the food. He glanced around the hall and noticed Professor Snape back in the Great Hall and heading towards the faculty table. He began to say something animatedly to Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, with his voice getting louder and louder.
Then Snape, deliberately loud enough to be heard by all the students in the hall, announced that Harry Potter had done something very forbidden and that he should be punished. Snape's voice had a strange sort of... joy?
After Snape's announcement, the students in the Great Hall began looking around, trying to find Harry Potter. However, to their surprise, Harry Potter was nowhere to be seen.
Bewilderment gripped the Great Hall. What could have happened to Harry Potter?
Albus Dumbledore, seeing everyone's confusion, rose from his seat and, turning to all the students, said in a calm and confident voice:
"There is no need to worry, my dear students. Everything is in order. I will now ask you to enjoy the feast and not to worry about things that do not concern you."
With these words, Dumbledore, along with Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, departed from the Great Hall, leaving the students utterly bewildered and anxious.
After Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape had left, the atmosphere in the Great Hall had heated up to the max. All the tables began excitedly discussing Harry Potter's disappearance and his alleged rule-breaking.
Some hoped that Harry was alright and had just gotten held up for some reason. Others wondered what exactly Potter was going to be punished for, making all sorts of assumptions. Still others, such as Draco Malfoy and his entourage, gloated, anticipating the trouble that would befall their chief rival.
Malfoy, with a smug smirk, declared at the top of his voice to be heard by as many students as possible:
"You'll see, Potter will be expelled along with his Weasley buddy. They've both always been a headache for Hogwarts."
Itachi frowned upon hearing Malfoy's words.
"It's true, though," he thought.
"Ron Weasley is nowhere to be seen either."
Had the two of them really done something serious? And what exactly was that?
Unfortunately for Itachi, the feast had come to an end and Harry Potter still hadn't shown up in the Great Hall. The intrigue and anxiety only increased. The Heads of the faculties gathered their wards and led them to the drawing rooms.
On the way to the Slytherin drawing room, Draco Malfoy continued his venomous tirade about Harry Potter's possible expulsion. He was enjoying the attention and anticipating triumph over his main rival. His words were full of gloating and arrogance.
"Can you imagine how funny it would be if Potter got kicked out of Hogwarts?"
Malfoy was saying to his minions Crabbe and Goyle.
"He'll be disgraced in front of the entire magical world. And Weasley, that beggar, will follow in his wake. Great news for all of us!"
Itachi and Theodore only rolled their eyes as they listened to Malfoy's gloating speech. They hated listening to his venomous comments and chose not to interfere with his conversations.
The head boy was already waiting in their room, watching like a hawk for order and steadfastly demanding that everyone go to bed immediately. He was known for his strictness and did not tolerate any violation of rules. So Itachi and Theodore changed into their pajamas and climbed under the blankets and went to bed with the future in mind.