Dark days and darker doings

Prowl within those walls, those halls —

A den of despair.

The grounds are vacant

When they once rang with laughter,

A last trace of good days.

What lies within for me

Is naught but pain and strife,

A farewell to innocence.

I stare up at Hogwarts,

Whose every brick weeps for justice,

A scar upon posterity.

For a minute, I falter,

Sure I’m Harry’s pale stand-in,

A shadow of a hero.

But in the air without,

There is almost a song of hope,

A murmur of support.

I have to go back,

To stand guard over my classmates,

A soldier for the weak.

For I have been chosen,

Charged with carrying on —

A beacon of courage.