Very Nice chapter- I liked Neville's story for Dumbledore. Glad you found a way to put that in; I look forward to the next one. ^_^
Overall, the chapter looked good to me... I'm looking forward to the next chapter.
Oh, two more thoughts/comments...
One, I have no idea on the specifics of it, but my brain is trying to wrap itself around the idea of something involving the events/reprecutions of the mass seventh-year exodus... maybe something inivolving the seventh years all returning from a bar together - 7th years from ALL houses... maybe just Draco coming back completely drunk and embarassing himself in the great hall at dinner. I dunno. It's quite late, and my brain just isn't able to pull the idea completely together. Maybe you can make something from it.
The other thing is I noticed in the story that the 7th year's freedom isn't mentioned to be limited to Hogsmeade trips or weekends...
Author's response
- The thought just occurred to me that there was something just unexplored about this school subjecting 'adults' to 24 hour control. Since you have to be 11 to start at Hogwarts, and the Wizarding age of majority is 17, that means that every single member of the 7th year is an adult. Really, outside of class, what control can the school actually place on them?
- As far as I'm concerned, as long as they're in class on time, the 7th years could go anywhere any time out side of class, limited only by their finances and abilities.