Magic and Myth

Chapter Six: Back to School

Harry's POV:
It felt weird getting into my old school robes and going back to Hogwarts, but seeing as I had skipped my senior year to chase Horcruxes, it felt only right to finish my seventh year. Ginny and I could finish school together, without having to worry about Voldemort. I touched my scar happily.
Ten minutes before we arrived,
Everyone got changed, except for Thalia of course. I still wasn't quite sure what to make of this girl. She kind of scared me...
We all met up with Ron and Hermione in front of the carriages. I watched as everyone looked at the Thesterals in awe. By now, everyone had seen at least one death, if not more. Even Thalia could see them. Ginny choked back a sob as headed up to the castle. I thought about everyone that had died. I thought about all those people who gave up their lives so that we could win the war.
Ginny looked at me with tear-stained cheeks. I wrapped an arm around Ginny in an attempt to comfort her.

Soon enough, the castle started to come into view. Even now, the sight of Hogwarts still took my breath away.
The castle had definitely improved since I had last seen it. The ruins from the war were still visible not only on the castle but on the returning student's faces as well. People filed in, shivering slightly from the cool of the night. Thalia looked around her in a loss of words. Her eyes watched hungrily at everything, as if she wanted to keep the image in her mind forever. Ginny and I walked in front as Thalia and Luna followed closely behind. Soon enough, we met up with Ron and Hermione as well.
"How is Neville doing?" I asked, after some time. Last I had heard, Neville Longbottom was aspiring to become a Hogwarts teacher, but I hadn't heard from him since.
"He's doing good, I think," Ginny said. "McGonagall is trying to get him the herbology job. He will probably be working by next year, because I think that's when Ms Sprout is retiring." I smiled at that. I was positive that Neville was going to be a fantastic teacher.
We entered the Great Hall and I looked across at the students. There were much less than previous years but every one of those students turned to look at us. Wait, scratch that. They were looking at me. I caught the eyes of a couple people I recognized. Collin Creevy gave me a thumbs up.
We started walking down to the Griffyndor table. Suddenly, people started whispering. Their attention strayed from me an landed on Thalia. She stood out immensely. She wore no school robes, just her punk outfit from before. I saw McGonagall looking down at us from the headmaster's seat. She got up and walked over to us, in a surprisingly short amount of time
"Harry, what is the meaning of this?" She asked, looking at Thalia with obvious distaste.
"Professor, this is Thalia-" I looked around at her
"I don't use my last name. Just call me Thalia." Thalia said, glancing at McGonagall.
"We met Thalia at platform 9 3/4," Hermione explained. "She got through the barrier and we think that she should be here for... Some reason," she finished, awkwardly.
McGonagall looked, first at us, then at the students who were listening intently.
"Let's talk in my office, shall we?"