The halls of Hogwarts were very lively. Harry's declaration of what he intended to do had spread, and students and professors alike were talking about what had happened. Some students wrote letters home, describing to their families what had occurred.
At the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall, a conversation was taking place among students from different years of the same house.
"He said he's going to kill anyone who has the mark," Ernie Macmillan said, fear in his voice. He was trying to warn them about the possibility of Harry being a dark lord and a killer, as the Daily Prophet suggested, but they wouldn't listen.
"Oh, come off it, Ernie, you're just a wuss. If he really kills them, it's great. We wouldn't have to worry about being killed ourselves. Think about it—do you think they will let anyone who doesn't have the same mark as them live?" Susan Bones said with a fierce expression. This broke Macmillan's heart; he didn't expect his crush to brush off his concerns like this.
Seeing his friend's expression, Justin Finch-Fletchley tried to defend him, saying, "I think what Ernie said has merit. How can we be sure that he won't turn out to be like You-Know-Who and kill everyone in his way?" Although he said it to defend his friend, it was still a valid concern.
"Do you guys only listen to half of what he says? He said he only needed us to study and excel at what we do. And did any of you read the books he told us to? If you did, you would know why! We studied magic wrong from the start. I didn't even know that wizards had magic cores. I didn't know what an aspect was. All of us thought we were born wizards because our parents were wizards! Why are you fixated on the wrong thing? We wasted years at Hogwarts studying incorrectly! Am I the only one concerned about this here?" Hannah Abbott yelled at them. Even though she was shy and reserved most of the time, the stress of what she had found out made her throw her shyness out the window. Her yelling silenced most of the conversations at the table and made them reconsider their priorities.
Similar conversations were happening in the other houses, too. In the Gryffindor common room, the Weasley twins were leading a conversation of their own.
"Have any of you been in the library? It's huge now! There are floors inside the library. There's a section—a whole section—designated for prank spells, spell creation, potions, and more," Fred Weasley said excitedly.
"What my less handsome brother is trying to say is, have any of you been to the library? Everything in there is new, new magic…" George Weasley added. He was about to start telling everyone about what he had discovered, but he was interrupted by Ron's annoying voice.
"I don't want to hear about the library. I was just thinking about how Harry has changed. Now he's ordering all of us around like he owns the place. And did you hear him talk about killing all the Slytherins? I don't know; I think he might be a new dark lord…" Ron Weasley started, but stopped when he heard his brother's mocking voice.
"Ron, I know you're slow, and we still see you as a brother no matter how stupid you are. But didn't you hear him say he owns Hogwarts now?" George's mocking tone was unmistakable, causing the rest of them to laugh at Ron, whose face turned an interesting shade of red.
"But that's the problem. How can he own Hogwarts? He already has everything, and now he owns Hogwarts too?" Ron yelled, frustration dripping from his voice. The older students caught the jealous undertone and looked at him as if he was a bug.
"Um, Ron, I don't know what you're angry about. Did you forget that you were one of the first to testify against him when the Aurors came, even though you knew nothing? You're lucky that he either doesn't know or doesn't care enough to come after you," Neville Longbottom said to him in an even tone. This would have been strange to them if they hadn't noticed the way he clenched his fists and tightened his jaw while speaking to contain his anger.
"True, Ron, now you only have one chance to study what he teaches like the rest of us, or you will be sent home. I will write to Mum myself," Ginny Weasley said. Somehow, her voice carried an authority that none of the brothers had noticed before.
"Are we really not going to speak about what the Daily Prophet said about—" Seamus was silenced by the collective stare of the Gryffindor students; his words stuck in his throat. It's not that they didn't want to gossip about it. It was just that they had heard it all before. He didn't care about what happened outside or what they said. He said he wanted to create an elite society, and most people here wanted to be elite. So, they would do the logical thing and follow to see if his words held any truth.
On the other side of Hogwarts, the Slytherin students were gathered in their common room. The atmosphere was deathly quiet. They had just heard that Harry Potter intended to abolish everything they stood for. Finally, Marcus Flint couldn't control himself any longer and began to blabber.
"Why are you all so quiet? We should inform our families to stop this half-blood from destroying everything we have! He had the audacity to say that to our faces! We should tell the Dark Lord and let him deal with Potter." His voice rose with each word, his face red and his hands clenched. You could almost feel the anger and humiliation radiating from him.
"Are you really that dumb? Do you have a death wish? Did you not feel his magic? His power? He will kill every one of us if we side with the Dark Lord! He was not bluffing, and you know it," Malfoy said, his voice filled with anger. He had experienced firsthand the power of both the Dark Lord and Harry, and he knew with certainty that Harry was stronger. He wanted power like that, and if Harry was promising it, he had no problem following. After all, to a Malfoy, profit always comes first.
"There's no point in arguing among ourselves. We can just attend classes while we wait and see what happens. If he wins, we follow. It's not like any of us has the power to oppose either side," Daphne Greengrass said calmly. She had already sent a message to her parents, informing them to take refuge at Hogwarts. She could see that there would be no way for her family to stay neutral in this war.
"I think what Daphne said holds merit. We can't do anything other than inform our families about what Potter said, and don't forget about the refuge part. Other than that, we can't do anything," Malfoy said once again, gaining a nod of approval from Greengrass, Bulstrode, Davis, and the rest.
In the Ravenclaw house, the conversation was very different. Although they did discuss politics sometimes, most of the students here were bookworms.
"Did you guys read the theory of magic written by Rowena Ravenclaw? It's so different from what we've studied. It's like we've only now started studying real magic. It's great!" one Padma Patil said in an excited voice, her body vibrating in the chair while she spoke. Her hands moved around like a child who had just received an unlimited supply of their favorite candy.
"Hahaha, yes, yes, we know you're excited. We are too. How can anyone not be excited when they enter the new library? It's huge!!" Megan Jones said with a happy voice, as if one of her dreams had come true.
"True, all of this is exciting, but have you seen the spells section? There are so many books! It's a pity you can't take anything from there unless you have read the four theory of magic books first," Michael Corner said with a smile, though you could see the disappointment in the way he lowered his head a little and sighed at the end.
Just like this, their discussions continued, as did those of the other houses. No one knew for sure what was going to happen, but most of them were looking forward to what was to come.