Hey guys! Hope you enjoy the chapter! (Sorry in advance for any grammatical errors. Writing this in class.)
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NO POV:
"Before we start, I have a few announcements. First of all, welcome everyone! Welcome back and welcome first years! Second, after the feast, would all 7th and 8th years stay behind for an extra announcement. Lastly, since we have some of last year's 7th years back at Hogwarts to finish their final year, we will add an extra table for all 8th years to eat at. Go ahead 8th years, the table in the back is all yours! And with that, let the feast... begin!" Professor McGonnagal exclaimed with glee. First years quietly started eating, introducing themselves to their other house members while the small group of returning '8th' years walked over to their table. " I wonder what McGonnagal's announcement for 7th and 8th years is." Ron said, stuffing his mouth with food. "Yeah. Me too. Hermione, you're Head-Girl. Do you what her announcement is? And why are all of the 8th years sitting at their own table, not with our houses?" Hermione, uncomfortably deciding whether or not she should tell her friends about the law. Shaking her head,  Hermione answered, "uh.. nope. No idea." As dinner ended, 8th years grew anxious to hear their announcement."oh my gosh! I need to know now! I hate suspense!" Ginny said. "I know the feeling" Luna replied, reading the Quibbler.
"Alright everyone, would the prefects take their students up to their houses now. 7th and 8th years, please move forward towards front of the hall, closer to me? Thank you everyone!" McGonnagal said smiling at the students. Lower Years headed out of the hall, while 7th and 8th years made their way to the front of the room. Soon, everyone was seated and eager to hear McGonnagal's announcement. "Now before I start, I would like to personally welcome you back to Hogwarts. I am happy that you have decided to come back, especially the few 8th years. We are so happy to have you back, finishing your education. As you all know, the recent war has drastically affected our Wizard community, and more than half of our community was killed during the war. As you can tell, losing 70% of our people all at once has taken a huge tole on our community. Minister Shaklebolt has decided that it is time to to start repopulating our world. Now, I do not support his new law, but there is nothing I can do to stop it. The minister has proposed a new law, a way to help repopulate our community. This new law is going to affect every one of you. And I have no doubt that when I am done talking, you are going to be furious, and outraged. But I assure you, there is no way to reverse this law-" "spit it out already Professor! You're making this new law sound like death!" Seamus yelled from his seat. "Mr. Finnegan, I am just about to tell you what the law is. There is no need to shout at me. Do it again, and you will get a detention, understood?" Seamus sat down, gulping his nervousness away. "Back to what I was saying, Minister Shaklebolt's new law is a marriage law. Everyone from 7th years to 30 year olds in the wizard world must comply with this marriage law. Now, many of you are probably asking yourself 'what do mean marriage law.' Well, after I'm done speaking, I will call each girl up here and the sorting hat will tell you who your perfect match is." The students immediately jump in uproar. 'I'm not marrying someone just because the sorting hat says so!' In e student yelled, 'yeah! This is outrageous! You can't do this to us! We haven't even graduated from school yet!' Another shouted. "What if I don't get matched with you Harry? I can't marry someone else! I just won't!" Ginny said to Harry, tears escaping from her eyes. Harry took a step closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a hug. "Don't you worry. We will be okay. If we don't end up together, remember that I love you and that I am sure you will grow to love the person you are paired with. And if we do, then we will be fine. Either way, everything will be okay. I promise." He said, hugging Ginny tighter. Oh my gosh. This is total insanity. Why does the ministry think that this law will work for people our age. I wish there was another way. Hermione thought to herself. Looking across the room, she saw her Slytherin Co-Head prying a clingy Pansy Parkinson off of his arm. She could overhear his frustrated voice trying to pull the girl off of him. "Pansy, what in the world are you doing?! Get off of me you pug faced idiot." He said, finally successful in getting the girl off of him. "Oh but Draco, isn't this wonderful! We will finally get married! Everyone knows that we are soulmates. We will no doubt be matched together!" The raven haired girl said bouncing up and down. "Uh Parkinson, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but we are anything but soulmates. I am 100% sure that we will not be paired together." He said, walking away from the clearly upset girl. "Nice going mate. How can you deal with such an annoying person?" Malfoy's good friend, Blaise Zabini said. For a split second, Hermione actually felt bad for the Slytherin. No one should have to tolerate someone so clingy and annoying. "Now now. Everyone sit down." Professor tried to get everyone's attention. No one listened. "I said sit down and be quiet!" The clearly distraught professor yelled. Finally, the students quieted down and sat down. "Thank you. I understand that this is going to be a hard adjustment for you-" she read from the letter that the ministry instructed her to read to the students. She stopped reading, folded the paper and looked at the students. "No. This is not jut an adjustment, it is a completely life changing law, that will affect the rest of your lives, and I most definitely do not agree with requiring you to participate in this law. I am not completely against this proposition, but I do believe that students should not take part in this. Believe me when I say this, I have done everything I can to try to reverse the law. And when I say everything, I mean everything. There is nothing else we can do to reverse the law. The most we can do is try to cope with it. Now that you all know that you will be getting married, starting a family this year, I am able to tell you that this year will be different for you. Not just because of the law, but because of your living situation. You will no longer be living in you past houses. Each pair will be given a moderately sized house to fit your soon to be called family. Each house will include a bathroom, kitchen and dining room, living room, laundry room, nursery, and bedroom. I was told to tell you, the nursery should not be used for anything other than a nursery, for a baby. That means that even if you and your partner do not get along, you both must sleep in the master bedroom. Your houses will be in a little 'village.' Each village will include four different  houses. Each village is different. Some of the villages may have the houses in a circle, some may have each house have the same style, it all depends on your village. Girls, your bags have already been brought to your house, and unpacked. Gentlemen, since we do not know which house you are in yet, we have your bags on a trolley, waiting for you near the villages. One last thing before we start the sorting is transportation and location. Your villages are not located in the main castle. Each village is on a different part of campus. 7th year villages are before Hagrid's cottage, but before the dark forest. Since there are very few 8th years, your villages are some what spread apart. Only one or two of your villages will be located near the shrieking shack. But most of the villages are in between the Quidditch pitch and the Forbidden forest. Next, Once you are paired, we will give you a card, telling you which village you are in, and where your house is located. Dos everyone understand?" The stalling professor asked. No one answered. The students just looked at their teacher with some blank, some scared, and some ticked off faces. "Okay then. With that, let's begin the pairing." McGonnagal said, picking up the sorting hat from the table. "Brooke Adams" she called.
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Hey guys! I know I promised I would update every week, but unfortunately I cannot keep this promise. I am extremely busy, but I can promise you that I will try my hardest to update every week. I actually had to cut this chapter short, because I knew many of you wanted an update. And if you  are wondering if the end of the chapter was cut off, it wasn't. I purposely ended it like that. I have already started writing the next chapter, the matching/pairings!  I will try to finish an update in the next few days. But until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
-J💜