Chapter 274: The Last Opening Feast

The Great Hall, with its four long House tables and its staff table set at the top of the room, was decorated as usual with floating candles that made the plates below glitter and glow. The students of Hogwarts filled the room with their voices and words, bringing the life and energy back into the castle that it had been devoid of for the past two months.

At the staff table, the professors sat looking over the students with smiles on their faces. Dumbledore got to his feet with his twinkly eyes and bearded smile. He raised his hand, and The talk and laughter echoing around the Hall died away almost instantly.

"The very best of evenings to you!" he said, smiling broadly, his arms opened wide as though to embrace the whole room. "Now . . . to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you. . ."

The sorted first years stared at their new Headmaster with attentive ears, as if every word from Dumbledore was the truth of magic. Their pre-sorting ceremony jitters had vanished, and now decked in their house colors, they took everything from the color of the charmed ceiling to the scratched scribbles on the tabled with curious eyes.

"And Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

Quinn took out his Weasley's Candy In A Can, passed the candies to his fellow Ravenclaws, and shared a smile with those who understood the jokes while winking at the first-year Ravenclaws who gazed upon with eyes as the Headboy violated the rules in front of them.

"Those wishing to play for their House Quidditch teams should give their

names to their Heads of House as usual."

Dumbledore's words made the Ravenclaws interested in playing Quidditch for the house turned to Eddie, who they knew was the new captain as Flitwick had personally come by to congratulate him on getting the position and had handed Eddie the captain pin.

"We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year. Professor Slughorn" — Slughorn stood up, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight, his big waistcoated belly casting the table below into shadow — "is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master."

"Potions?"

"Potions?"

The word echoed all over the Hall as people wondered whether they had heard right.

"Professor Snape, meanwhile," said Dumbledore, raising his voice so that it carried over all the muttering, "will be taking over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"I knew it!" said Eddie pumped his fist, and loud enough that many eyes were attracted to him. He did not care; he was staring at Quinn and Marcus. "I said last year that the bat will get his greasy hands on the DADA post. Ha! I was right!"

Snape, who was sitting on Dumbledore's right, did not stand up at the mention of his name; he merely raised a hand in lazy acknowledgment of the applause from the Slytherin table, yet those who looked closely were sure that they detected a look of triumph on his ever scowling face.

"Wanna bet that he would be gone by the end of the year?" Eddie grinned at Marcus, who sat in front of him.

"Only if you bet him to stay, and I get to choose that he leaves," said Marcus. "Everyone knows the job's jinxed. No one's lasted more than a year."

Eddie clicked his tongue. He didn't want to take on a bet in which he couldn't win.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. Eddie and Marcus weren't the only ones who had been talking; the whole Hall had erupted in a buzz of conversation at the news that Snape had finally achieved his heart's desire. Seemingly oblivious to the sensational nature of the news he had just imparted, Dumbledore said nothing more about staff appointments but waited a few seconds to ensure that the silence was absolute before continuing.

"Now, as everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength."

The silence seemed to tauten and strain as Dumbledore spoke. At the Slytherin table, Malfoy was not looking at Dumbledore but making his fork hover in mid-air with his wand, as though he found the Headmaster's words unworthy of his attention.

"I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them.

In particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours," Dumbledore paused for a second and pointedly stared at Quinn, sitting at the Ravenclaw, who didn't meet the Headmaster's eyes. "I implore all of you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others' safety."

Dumbledore's blue eyes swept over the students before he smiled once more. "But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say good night. Pip pip!"

With the usual deafening scraping noise, the benches were moved back, and the hundreds of students began to file out of the Great Hall toward their dormitories. Quinn instructed his fifth-year Ravenclaw prefects to fulfill their prefect's duty of shepherding the first years and then joined Eddie, Marcus, and Luna.

"So, no more late-night visits, eh, Headboy West?" said Eddie grinning with one hand around Quinn's shoulder. "Or would the legend of the living ghost who wanders Hogwarts halls continue for another year?"

"No, I won't be wandering the halls after curfews. I'm the Headboy now; it doesn't suit the position. Want some?" said Quinn took out the Weasley's Candy In A Can.

"And it was fine when you were only a Prefect?" asked Marcus.

"Why look at the past when the future is so bright," said Quinn. "Also, hypothetically speaking, even if I do go out after the curfew, no one would ever know. . ."

"We sleep in the same room, doofus," said Eddie.

Quinn raised his hand, and hanging off his middle finger was a ring hoop with a solitary key in it. "Gentlemen, feast your eyes on the key to the infamous Headboy's Suite. The private living quarters, only available to the one who hold the title of Headboy, which is the great me." He patted Marcus and Eddie's shoulder, "Sorry boys, but the era of us three has come to an end."

Marcus and Eddie stared at the key in Quinn's hand with equal parts shock and surprise. They had not considered that with Quinn's Headboy position came the part where he had to move out of the Ravenclaw dorms.

"Damn it. . . I should have aimed for Headboy as well," said Eddie, snatching the key from Quinn. "Are you sure there's only room for one? I mean, how much space do two people take. I am not one to brag, but I don't take much space, so how about it?"

"Hey, don't leave me out," said Marcus. "I too want to live in my own Suite."

Quinn smiled as his shoulders relaxed. Three of them had been roommates for six years. Their dorm room was a place filled with memories for all three of them. It represented a lot in all three of their lives. In the past six years, they had spent more time in that dorm room than they had spent at their own houses. To hear that there was going to be some change to that dorm room was a significant change. He was sure that Marcus and Eddie were bothered by him moving out, but seeing them making jokes did put him at ease.

"I'm still going to meet you in the morning for the workout," Quinn said to Eddie and then turned to Marcus, "and I'm going to be there at breakfast. I'm still going to attend classes with you. Hell, I probably will spend time in the common room. It just won't be there at night. . ."

"Shut it! I don't want to talk about it," said Eddie.

"And, you know, I'm going to be free after Christmas. . . Don't tell this to anyone yet, but I won't be doing AID after Christmas."

" "What?!" "

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Now that blew both of their minds. AID was synonymous with Quinn. AID was part of Quinn, and it also went the other way around. Just the thought of Quinn not doing AID in that office seemed strange and unnatural.

"So, you're going to close AID?" asked Marcus.

Quinn shook his head, "No, AID isn't closing. I'm going to pass it onto another person — my successor."

"Who?"

"That's a secret. Everyone will know when I announce it, which is going to be soon — most probably the day after tomorrow."

"Is it Luna?"

"No, it's not Luna. . ."

"Does she know who it is?" asked Marcus, but then narrowed his eyes at Quinn. ". . . You haven't told her yet, have you?"

Quinn shook his head. He hadn't gotten the chance to talk about it with Luna. He was going to talk to her tomorrow. He just hoped that she would take it as he thought she would take.

"Damn, that's one start to a year," muttered Eddie. "Snape's left behind Potion to teach DADA. You're moving out of the dorms. And now AID is going to be run without you. . . by someone else," he made a face as if he ate something strange, "it just doesn't feel right."

"Any other surprises you want to share with us?" asked Marcus, his thoughts the same as Eddie.

"Hmm. . . not yet, I don't think so," said Quinn, putting on a mysterious smile.

"Oh, don't do that!" Marcus groaned. "That smile just makes me curious!"

"What can I say fellas, I'm a mysterious fellow," said Quinn.

"What else is there?" asked Eddie. "You're going to stop being a commentator?"

"Oh, not all. Why would I do that?! Who's going to praise you if I leave. In Ravenclaw, only Luna is interested in being the commentator, and you know her; she would talk about everything but Quidditch. So, if I leave, someone from the other three houses will take over, and believe me, those guys don't like you."

The amount of dislike that Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff felt for Eddie was unprecedented. Harry Potter had been sneaking snitches under the other teams' noses for five years, and in Quidditch circles, the Seeker wasn't liked at all(except Gryffindor) — they would boo at him when Harry would come out. But Harry had nothing on Eddie. It has taken just one season of Hogwarts Quidditch Cup for Eddie to become the villain of Hogwarts Quidditch.

Eddie smiled an evil smirk, "Let them come. . . their petty jealousy will be music to my ears as I tear havoc through their defenses."

"Do you want me to push that image?" asked Quinn. "Because I think I can turn the dislike to hate. . ."

"Oh ho?" Eddie put his hands on his chin. "That. . . doesn't sound bad. . ."

Marcus stared at his two best friends as they put their heads together to formulate how to make Eddie more hated. Sometimes he wondered if he was the only sane one between them.

Quinn might have been moving out, but it seemed nothing was going to change for the three amigos.

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- (Scene Break) -

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Quinn entered the Headboy Suite for the first time after doing his Headboy duties of the day. It was guarded by a portrait of the first Headboy of Hogwarts, and behind it was a locked door which Quinn had the key of.

He roamed his new quarters and took the lay of the land. The Suite was bigger than his dorm room — however, unlike the dorm room, he was going to live alone here. There was a dedicated living room area, a spacious bedroom, a walk-in closet, there was an in-floor bathtub in the bathroom, and all the space any student would need.

After breaking in the bathtub, Quinn sat on his new bed in his nightclothes.

He slipped his hand into his shirt and pulled out a thin silver chain around his neck. Hanging from that chain was a pendant piece in the shape of a triangle with a circle inside which had a line going through it — the Deathly Hallow symbol.

Quinn wrapped his fist around the pendant piece, and when he opened it, the black Ressurection Stone sat in his palm. It was the thing from the legends and the urban story tale that could summon souls of the dead back to the mortal plane.

"Now, let's see what you can teach me about the Soul," said Quinn with a deep, thriving curiosity and desire to learn hiding behind his eyes.

It was time to take the first step towards completing the Trinity.

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-*-*-*-*-*-

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Quinn West - MC - Magic is always at the forefront.

Eddie Carmichael - Seventh Year - Villain image suits him more.

Marcus Belby - Seventh Year - The sane one.

FictionOnlyReader - Author - Tomorrow, we see what Quinn does every year after returning to Hogwarts.

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