Jack had been distracted by one of the dark devices on the side of the room. She knew it had been used for the original group, Dumbledore's Army. She did not know exactly what it did because no one had ever bothered to explain, but for just a moment, she had seen two eyes in the mirror, to eyes trained on her. She had felt her breath catch, her body freeze.
She took slow steps towards it and then peered into the glass, but the eyes were gone, and the shadowy figures that twisted in the glass did not show any signs of wanting to recognize her, to reveal themselves to her, to open their eyes to the real world. She knew what this meant. The enemy was getting closer, closing in, trying to entrap her.
She heard voices and whipped around, watching the exchange and trying to speak but finding her voice was somewhat diminished from the realization of just how close they all were to their real enemy, to the people who wanted to hurt them. It was Miseria's words that shook her, made her realize that she really needed to step up and do what she always did.
Yell.
"Hey," she said loudly, her eyes training on the first years. "Look. You leave all that crap at the door, okay? This is no damn teenage gripe session, we're not going to hug and kiss you and tell you it's alright. Okay? There are people that want to kill you. Kill me. Kill us. And if you want to have a chance you need to shut up and just try. Or get out."
She blinked and glanced up at the clock. "If you guys want to leave you can, but if you want to try the Boggart, do it. I'm not your babysitter. Open the trunk and do it, or don't do it. I'm not going to be with you during duels, cleaning up your messes. You can't handle it?" She pointed at the door. "You can leave. Doors work two ways. I don't want you to be hurt, but I'm not sacrificing others because you guys want to complain. Make up your minds."
She glared at everyone and then shook her head. For a second, her eyes met Miseria, silently thanking her for helping out, before she turned around and walked back towards the mirror, grabbing the frame so hard her knuckles turned white. She stared downwards and slowly raised her head, seeing a reflection through a curtain of hair. A figure paused so that Jack's face was fixed on it. She blinked and the figure moved on. She closed her eyes and then turned around, opening them. "Well. Are you leaving or are you going to try?"