For Harry, Dumbledore and George Weasley’s Ear

By: Poppy P

Summary: While serving detention with Snape, Ginny and company cook up a way to undermine the new headmaster’s rule at Hogwarts.  Set during Deathly Hallows.

A/N: This is a Harry Potter story inspired by the movie “The Breakfast Club”.  Many of the lines in the detention scene are directly from the movie “The Breakfast Club”.  Sorry, being a child of the 80’s, I’ve always wanted to do this.  Kudos if you can guess who’s who from the movie.  A huge thank you to Hallie for the Brit pick; she’s awesome! 

Sadly, I do not own Harry Potter or the Breakfast Club.  This story is written for entertainment purposes only. 

Chapter One

            To Ginny, it felt like she mouthed the word twenty times before it finally came out. 

            “Noooo!”

            When it finally came, it was loud and shrill and the force of uttering it propelled her to her feet. 

            It was as if Ginny had broken the spell which held the Great Hall in silence.  All around her, voices that had been still suddenly burst into sound. 

            “He’s our new Headmaster?”

            “But I thought he…”

            “Dumbledore…”

            Snape stood up in front of the staff table, his arms open in an unconscious imitation of Dumbledore’s typical welcoming gesture.  However, unlike Dumbledore, Snape’s gesture held no warmth.  It was as if he were trying to physically suppress the hundreds of students from protesting further. 

            “Silence!” he commanded, bringing the murmurs to a halt. 

            Ginny, who apart from Snape remained the lone figure standing, pointed a shaking finger at him and roared “You evil, vile…”

            Before she could continue, Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at Ginny and silenced her.

            Undeterred, Ginny continued to rage at Snape silently, adding quite a few colourful hand gestures for good measure. 

            “Remove her, Minerva,” said Snape coldly.  “If Miss Weasley cannot control herself, then she is not welcome at the feast.  Take her into the side chamber.  After I finish the welcoming, I’ll see about her punishment.”

            Professor McGonagall cast him a frosty look but quickly complied.  She approached Ginny, put a shaking hand on her shoulder and began to lead her out of the Great Hall. 

            Before they had reached the side chamber they heard Snape pronounce, “Any one else who cannot control their emotional outburst during the welcoming feast, can join Miss Weasley.”

            As soon as McGonagall ushered Ginny into the side chamber off the Great Hall, she lifted the magical gag.

            “Why the hell are you working for him?” demanded Ginny the moment she could talk.

            “Miss Weasley,” said Professor McGonagall quite sternly, “I will not tolerate such language.”

            Ginny was beyond caring.  “But you will tolerate working for a…a…murderer?”  She was shaking with rage, her voice rising.  “He’s a Death Eater!  He cut off my brother’s ear!  He…he…”

            “Lower your voice this instant or I will be forced to gag you again,” said Professor McGonagall in a voice that indicated she meant exactly what she said.

            Ginny crossed her arms, threw herself into an armchair and glared up at Professor McGonagall.

            Minerva took a seat on an adjoining chair and began to speak with an urgent and desperate tone that immediately caught Ginny off guard.  “Ginevra, I know exactly what that man is.  But we staff members have no choice.  We were told that if we failed to cooperate with Snape we would go the same way as Professor Burbage.”

            “W-what happened to P-professor Burbage?” asked Ginny, a chill running down her spine. 

            “We’re not sure exactly.  But Snape hinted that she was murdered by them in retribution for a recent article she wrote defending Muggles.”

            Ginny gasped.

            Professor McGonagall glanced at the door before continuing.  “I don’t care about the danger to myself.  I could go into hiding if it came to that.  However, I’d rather be here where I can protect you students.”  Her eyes suddenly became over bright.  “It’s what Albus would want.”

            Ginny, as much shocked by the news of Professor Burbage’s death as by the moment of weakness displayed by McGonagall, softened immediately.

            “I’m sorry I yelled at you, Professor,” she muttered.  “It’s just the shock of seeing him here.  And he…he…cut off George’s ear…”  Ginny broke off, furious with herself for the tears that welled up suddenly into her eyes.

            Professor McGonagall laid a comforting hand on top of Ginny’s, her voice returning to her usual, no-nonsense tone.  “I’m sorry about your brother’s wound.  However you can’t go around mentioning George’s incident without admitting that your family’s involved in the Order.  The best thing you can do is to keep your head down and stay out of trouble.”

            “Fine,” said Ginny grudgingly, “I’ll go along with him being Headmaster, but I won’t subscribe to his despicable ideas about Muggleborns and I’m not going to make it easy for him.”  She glared at Professor McGonagall, daring her to contradict.

            McGonagall looked directly into Ginny’s eyes, conveying much with this simple glance.  “I didn’t expect you to,” she said plainly. 

            Just then there was a commotion at the entrance of the chamber as the Carrows dragged in Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ernie Macmillan and Seamus Finnegan.  They were immediately followed by Snape, who swept in like a malevolent bat and shut the door behind him with a bang. 

            Professor McGonagall stood up immediately, face scarlet with rage as she surveyed Luna’s rumpled robes, the cut on Seamus’ lip and the rising bruise under Neville’s eye.  “Severus, what is the meaning of this?”

            Alecto, who was holding onto Neville and Seamus by the back of their robes, giggled stupidly.  “Wouldn’t stay quiet during Headmaster’s speech.”

            McGonagall ignored the Carrow’s leers and appealed to Snape.  “Is this how we punish students now, Headmaster?”  She put as much contempt into the title as possible. 

            “How we punish the brats is none of your concern, you old cow,” said Amycus.

            Neville struggled against Alecto.  “You don’t talk to her like that!”

            Amycus let go of Luna and Ernie and belted Neville in the stomach, winding him.  Severus watched impassively as Neville sagged, clutching his middle.  Ginny ran to help him up.

            “Leave him, Weasley,” said Snape coldly.

            “What kind of punishment should we give them?” asked Alecto, practically drooling with anticipation.

            “I will be seeing to their punishment myself,” said Snape in a silky voice.  “All five of them of them will report to the dungeons for all-day detention on Saturday.”

            The Carrows looked distinctly disappointed. Snape looked over the students coldly.  “I will expect you at eight a.m. sharp.  Is that clear?”

            “Yes, Sir,” muttered all of the students except Ginny.

            “I didn’t quite ‘ear that, Professor.  Could you repeat it?”

            Snape contemplated Ginny for a few seconds before turning to McGonagall.  “Professor McGonagall, see that these students make it to their dormitories.  There will be no feast for them.”  He turned to the Carrows.  “We will return to the Great Hall.”

            Snape left, the Carrows following reluctantly.  Professor McGonagall waited until she was sure they were gone before pointing her wand at a small table, producing a plate of sandwiches and a jug of pumpkin juice.  The students heard her muttering something about refusing to starve students. 

            “Eat quickly,” she said softly, “and Miss Weasley, don’t forget what we talked about.”

            “I won’t, Professor,” said Ginny grimly.