A Harry Potter/Throne of Glass/A Court of Thorns and Roses crossover

.27.

The last day of the school year at Hogwarts came much faster than they anticipated, all their hard work distracting them and distorting their sense of time. It had shocked many of the students from Erilea and Prytian to see their classmates of the past year packing up their dormitories to return home when they still didn't even know if the Headmistress would even allow them to return to their homelands.

After submitting their petition to the Minister of Magic just under a week before – five days ago, to be exact – they all had high hopes that they would hear back from him within a couple of days. In fact, this delay could very well be dangerous for them. Headmistress McGonagall was quickly growing far more paranoid by the day. And paranoia only fuelled her fear, suspicion and terror. As a matter of course, having not heard anything back from the Minister, they were all living in a state of constant fear. Living in fear was something that each and every one of them had thought had ended when the wars they'd lived through had ended.

It was at breakfast on the last day of the school year that Headmistress McGonagall finally made her move against them. Rising from her place at the staff table once more to make her final announcement.

"Students, this, as well all know, is the day we say goodbye to our friends, and to our school for the summer. For our graduating class, this is the day you say goodbye to your childhood forever," Headmistress McGonagall began, causing many people to rise their eyebrows and begin muttering amongst themselves. They had all said goodbye to their innocence and childhoods already – the war had seen to that. So what was she talking about? Also, what about the threats she had made against all of the intdermensional students? Was the Headmistress honestly just about to let them return to their own worlds, to go home, just like that? Hope suddenly began to cross all their faces.

"But unfortunately, not all of you will be returning to your homes," Headmistress McGonagall continued, with a cruel expression on her face, dashing their hopes once and for all. "I am, of course, talking about the guest exchange students that come from different worlds. As they are, in part, responsible for the destruction that the war wrought on our world, on our school, they will be staying here until they have paid their debt, once and for all. I have grown tired of dealing with people who do not pay what is due."

For a second there was a ringing dead silence that filled the entirety of the Great Hall. Then, not even a heartbeat later, the Great Hall was filled with students and staff all shouting abuse and cruelty at the Headmistress. Within moments the Hall was filled ringing and echoing from the din.

Unfortunately, the noise just set the Headmistress off. "Silence! I will have SILENCE," the Headmistress screamed at the top of her voice, letting off at least twenty firecrackers simaltaneously with her wand. "Until further notice, all of the interdimensional parasites – including the freaking infant – shall be housed in one of the roomier, creepier dungeons." At this, Varian held baby Ayesha tighter to him, crying as hard as his daughter.

"You can't do that!" someone from the Ravenclaw table shouted furiously. "They're people too!" At this, many people started shouting angrily again. At the start of the school year, the opinions of many of the students and staff had mirrored that of the Headmistress. But over the course of the school year, a lot of them had had reason to change their minds. The students from Erilea and Prythian may have been immortal and many hundreds of years older than them, but they were still living, breathing people. Like them, they had magic. Like them, they just wanted to heal and recover from the wars that had ravaged and devastated their lands. They were people just like them. Yes, they lived quite differently from the way the rest of the students and staff at Hogwarts lived. But different didn't necessarily mean evil. It appeared that Headmistress McGonagall hadn't yet learned the difference between the two.