Hogwarts suffered horribly under the Carrows' treatment. Snape, when he could, did his best to prevent the students from serving detentions with the Carrows, but he couldn't save them all. The professors would still glare at Snape as he walked past, but Hagrid and Flitwick were both milder in their glares now. It had felt so long since a student had laughed. The castle felt like a prison nowadays, and all its occupants would surely claim they were prisoners.

The leaves had fallen off the Whomping Willow, which only added to the depressing mood of the castle. The colder October air had moved in. It would not be long before winter arrived. The annual Quidditch match ended with Slytherin winning, but not even Slytherin celebrated the win. It was as if Dementors had sucked all the happiness from the castle.

Snape's nights had remained filled with training Harry in secrecy in the deepest and darkest part of the Forbidden Forest, and he had to admit that Harry was getting extremely better. He could see the improvement. Harry effectively blocked him when they practiced Occlumency, and Harry was competent in Legilimency, which Snape decided Harry needed to learn. He hated the fact that Harry had to use Snape's mind for his training, but neither wizard spoke of anything of what they saw in one another's mind. It wouldn't be long now before Harry learned everything Snape had to offer him.

"Well, well, if it isn't Dumbledore's harlot," Amycus sneered as McGonagall walked past.

Minerva McGonagall did as she had done since the start of the term and ignored him. It was becoming harder and harder to ignore the snide comments from the defense professor, though. She desperately wanted to hex that vile man's tongue off, but remembered Dumbledore's letter. She had to play nice until the prearranged date, and that wouldn't be too long from now.

"What's wrong, McGonagall? Cat got your tongue?" Amycus then chuckled at his joke. "All of you are stupid to think that idiot boy of yours is going to come in here and rescue you all," he sneered. "The minute that boy enters this castle, the Master's gonna come in here and rip that boy to shreds. Imagine the blood upon the walls when that happens. Then everyone is going to know that the Master is the true Dark Lord, and that the boy's survival was a fluke."

"Perhaps that will occur, but only time will tell," Minerva responded politely before inclining her head. She desperately wished Snape would just hurry up and start their meeting. She had to admit that something was off about the way Snape was acting lately. It was too reminiscent of the way Albus acted.

"Ah, if it isn't my favorite little witch," Amycus said with a sickening smirk.

"Touch me and you will lose that hand," Aurora Sinistra softly growled.

"Is that right? Maybe I will then," he replied before reaching towards her. She instantly sent a stinging hex at him, which hit him with such force that he slammed against the back wall.

"Why you little—" Amycus stormed towards Sinistra with his wand drawn. Several of the other professors whipped their wands out and leveled them towards Carrow. "Oh, I see what this is. You think that I'll hurt the freaking witch, don't you? We're just playing, though. Aren't we, Aurora? Think carefully, my dear."

"I believe she told you to leave her alone, Amycus," Septima Vector said.

"Yeah, and I believe you all know what happens when you don't cooperate, too," he sneered. He then angrily shook his head before stepping back from the Astronomy professor. "You should have joined the Master's ranks when you had the chance, Sinistra. It'd save you from meeting the same sticky end as Dumbledore."

Aurora glanced towards Amycus before scoffing. She then shook her head slowly and walked towards him. She kept her wand lowered for the moment, but it was at the ready.

"Oh, yeah, well, you can tell that son of a bitch that I'll take him any day of the damn week. I'm not scared of some pathetic little reject that gets off on other people's fears. If he thinks he's such a badass because he kills a few Muggles every now and then, then he should grab a history book and look at Grindelwald. Now there was a true dark lord."

Seconds later, Amycus's hand slammed against the side of Aurora's face. She held her ground, though, and refused to crumple to the floor from the sheer force he had put behind the slap. Her eyes were fierce as she glared at him.

"Stupid pathetic little witch," Amycus snarled.

"Am I interrupting, Amycus?" Snape asked glancing from Sinistra to Carrow.

"No, sir, just teaching her a lesson," Amycus replied.

"In the future, I'd appreciate it if you didn't teach my staff a lesson without informing me. Now, sit down before I teach you a lesson, Carrow," Snape growled. He instantly caught the man's grumbling, but he ignored it. "It has come to my attention quite recently that certain professors are assigning detentions for no apparent reasons. Therefore, each detention now will be brought to my attention, and you will have to inform me as to the reason why the student deserves one."

"What? That ain't fair, Snape," Carrow exclaimed.

"Life isn't fair," growled Snape locking eyes with the man. He desperately wanted to grab his wand and hex the man to oblivion, but duty made him do otherwise. "In other news, I had thought perhaps it would be best if we threw a bit of a party per say to help with morale. It has become thoroughly depressing throughout these halls. The students are barely going to class anymore, and that is just not acceptable." Snape then glanced towards McGonagall. "Perhaps you could gather a committee and see to the details." He nearly laughed when he saw the shock in the witch's face. "There is no need for Hogwarts to feel as close to Azkaban as it does now. Little laughter never killed anyone."

"Of course, Headmaster," McGonagall responded with a look of confusion.

"Excellent," Snape replied. "Set the date around Halloween. I understand this is rather soon, but I have a feeling that things will start to pick up around here."

"And just what are we celebrating, Headmaster?"

"I'm not quite sure yet, Minerva, but I believe we shall see it soon enough." Snape then gave her a rare smile, which he knew she would understand. He caught the imperceptible widening of her eyes as she caught his signal. Her eyes then darted towards the Carrow siblings, but she only bowed her head. "If there is nothing else, then you are all dismissed." Snape didn't wait for anyone to speak up. Instead, he quickly walked out of the staff room and headed back to the headmaster's office. A raised eyebrow from Albus greeted Snape as he walked in. "I've given her the signal, and she understands." The two wizards then drew up their next course of action. Halloween was only a week away.