A story about my own character, Ellie Volrock, in her fifth year. Umbridge is ruling Hogwarts, and Ellie is searching for a way to stay true to herself. But a dreadful tragedy during the Holidays leaves her feeling lonely, especially when she is betrayed by a friend...
Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or the characters and places portrayed here. I own my own characters- Ellie, Tess, Adam, Kevin, Jackson, and any other characters you don't recognize from Harry Potter.
I know the book's been altered a bit, but I had to fit Ellie in to some spots. So this goes against the book in some respects, but I tried to keep it true enough to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Enjoy!
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"What's wrong, Ellie?"
"Nothing," Ellie growled, falling to a chair in the Ravenclaw common room. She held a crumpled-up letter from her parents in her left hand, which she was squeezing with unnecessary force.
"Come on, Ellie, I know that face. What happened?"
Ellie's best friend, Tess Porlint, was sitting in a squishy armchair across from Ellie. She looked concerned.
"It's just... I can't go home for the Holidays. My parents have decided to go to Switzerland on a trip and say they can't bring me. But they can take Jackson with them."
"That's unfair. Why can they take your brother but not you?"
"Probably because he's seventeen and I'm only a fifth-year," Ellie said grudgingly.
Tess sighed and shook her head. "I dunno, Ellie. You'll be stuck here with that horrible Umbridge woman the whole time. I can't believe it. And your brother won't even be here."
Ellie mumbled something about not being bothered by Umbridge, but on the inside she was bubbling with anger. Why would her parents just leave without her? Why would they just leave her here with some ugly toad of a Ministry official while they went off to have a great time? In reality, Ellie hated Umbridge more than anybody else at Hogwarts- with the possible exception of Kevin Lucas, a snotty Slytherin boy who spent every spare minute he had antagonizing her.
"Well, Ellie, I'm heading to lunch. Are you coming?" Tess got up and surveyed her friend through a pair of rectangular spectacles. Her short brown hair was tucked behind her ears in an interesting American way. Tess was from America. She had moved to Surrey just a month before her Hogwarts letter arrived, and somehow, five years later, managed to keep the accent of her native country.
Ellie just waved a hand at her friend, motioning for her to leave without her. Her head was tipped back over the head of the chair, her eyes closed. She sighed as she heard the door to the common room shut and began to fall asleep after a few minutes. Almost everyone was down at lunch, and only a few first-years remained. She was able to drown out the scratching of quills easily, and nearly dozed off until something leapt up onto her lap. Ellie gave a jolt and looked down at her thighs. A big ball of white fur was situated there. It mowed as she jumped.
"Kiko, not now. I have to-" She didn't finish her sentence. The cat leapt off of her lap as she stood up, yawning. It had only been ten minutes, so Ellie had plenty of time. She got up and brushed her hair in her dorm, which was a wasted effort. Ellie's long and extremely unruly sandy-blonde hair was totally immune to brushing of virtually any sort. After about a minute in which no progress was made, Ellie gave up and set the brush back down on top of her bed. She trotted down the steps and made her way out of the Ravenclaw common room, moving down a spiral staircase to the landing below. She sauntered down the corridors, meeting few other students on her way.
A while later Ellie took a seat next to her second-best friend at Hogwarts, Adam Oakwood. He was also a Ravenclaw, but a fourth-year. They didn't get to spend class together because of this, but he was great company during most of the time they spent together. He smiled as she sat down.
"Is Wolfie on the hunt for some prey?" he said jokingly, sweeping his black hair out of his ice-blue eyes. Ellie threatened to hex him if he didn't shut up, which resulted in Adam making another joke. She shot him a dangerous look, at which he fell silent.
They ate for a few minutes in silence until Adam made a crack about Umbridge. The both of them laughed openly, and Ellie ended up spewing Gillywater out of her nose. This made them laugh even harder until everyone within a three-meter radius of them was staring. The pair didn't notice, however, and continued their conversation as if nobody was watching. Pretty soon the other students went back to their meals as well, seeming a bit confused.
After lunch Ellie had Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Yippee," Tess remarked sarcastically as they headed down the corridor toward Umbridge's classroom. "Another hour of reading. Maybe something interesting will happen" The pair stood outside the classroom with a few other students, mingling as they waited for the bell to sound. A few minutes later Professor Umbridge, who was dressed in a particularly nauseating shade of pink today, jostled the group inside.
As they took their seats, everyone fought for the spots nearest to the back of the room, save for a select few who were eager to please Umbridge, who promptly took the seats closest to her desk. Ellie, after being shoved out of a seat at the back by a particularly snotty-looking boy, sat herself down at a desk in the middle row, off to the left. She was directly facing the blackboard, which was an advantage here. But she was also pretty close to Umbridge, which wasn't.
"Good afternoon, class," Umbridge said in a high-pitched tone that made the class feel like they were repeating Kindergarten.
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," Ellie chimed back with the class. She looked to her right and noticed that Tess wasn't speaking, just resting her chin in her palms and staring at the blackboard. Ellie drummed her fingertips on her desk, not bothering to take out her wand.
"Wands away, please," Umbridge said in a bright, cheery voice. Tess looked revolted. "Today we will be starting A Theory-Based Approach to the Art of Defense by Phiggle Vercuruz. It's been adapted just recently for this years Ministry-approved Curriculum. Does everyone have a copy?"
"Yes, Professor Umbridge," chimed the class.
"Splendid! Wands away please. Quills out! You'll be taking notes on the first two chapters as you read them, as these will be needed for Tuesday's assignment. There will be no need to talk. You may begin." The toad-like woman sat down at her desk and went through a stack of essays, grading out loud.
"Hmmm, an interesting idea, but I'm afraid not," she said gleefully. "A 'P' for this young Griffindor. Next one, ah, by Mr Malfoy… Mmmm… Well this is a brilliant essay. An 'O' if I ever saw one! Now, let's see…"
After a few minutes, Ellie realized that she was one of the few managing to concentrate. Many other students were staring up at Umbridge, unable to read with her mumbling about other Fifth-year's essays. Still, she pushed onward, struggling to remain interested in what she was reading. But a certain paragraph caught her eye. She reread it a few times, clenching her hands around the sides of the book. She managed not to shout something aloud, but she did make an angry noise in her throat.
"Yes, dear?" Professor Umbridge asked, looking up from her grading. Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie saw everyone hurry to bury their faces back inside their books and nearly laughed. Umbridge continued.
"Did you have a question about the chapter?"
"No, Professor. Just clearing my throat."
"Oh, it's quite alright, dear. You needn't be afraid to ask questions in my class. Miss-"
"Volrock. Eileen Volrock."
"Yes, Miss Volrock, if you have any concerns about what you are reading, you can feel free to ask me."
"Well, Professor," Ellie said, admitting defeat, "I just disagreed with a statement given in the chapter."
"Something Mr Vercuruz said?"
"Yes, Professor. He mentions that werewolves can be dangerous even when untransformed."
"And he is right, is he not?" Professor Umbridge asked. Her voice was no longer airy and sweet.
"I don't think so, Professor." Ellie's rebellious streak was reaching out again, and it was grasping her rather tightly at the moment. Ellie, doing her best to stay calm, pulled a book out of her bag. She was thankful that she had Care of Magical Creatures next, because without it she wouldn't have been able to make her point. "You see, in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander classifies the werewolf as highly dangerous. But then he gives a footnote:
" 'This classification refers, of course, to the werewolf in its transformed state. When there is not full moon, the werewolf is as harmless as any other human. For a heartrending account of one wizard's battle with lycanthropy, see Hairy Snout, Human Heart, by an anonymous author.' "
Umbridge gave Ellie a toad-like smile. "Sometimes, Miss Volrock, authors attached to such beasts will make them seem cuter and nicer than they truly are. Werewolves are nearly always highly dangerous, and if you happen to know of a student who is one, I would be glad if you let me know. Please continue reading the chapter."
"What would you do if I did turn someone in and said that they were a werewolf? What would you do to them?" Ellie asked, barely managing to rein her temper in.
Umbridge smiled even more widely. "You needn't worry about it, Miss Volrock. I assure you that there are no werewolves that will harm you under my watch. If someone is scaring you with silly fibs about the creatures, please inform me about it at once."
Ellie snapped. "There's nothing wrong with werewolves!" she shouted, standing up. "How many werewolves do you know, personally?! NONE! You don't even know them! They're just good people with a problem! They aren't BEASTS!"
The smile jumped away from Umbridge's face. "Detention, Volrock! Tomorrow night in my office at six-thirty! Now please continue reading the chapter!"
Half of the class 'oohhh'ed at this, the other half simply exchanged looks with friends. One of the students up front said "Good call, Professor. Disrespect at a maximum."
Ellie felt like ripping his head off, but instead she sat down. She stuck her face in the book, but refused to read any more. She stared down at the same spot, turning the page at random intervals.
After what seemed like ages, Umbridge dismissed them, assigning an additional essay on werewolves for Ellie's outburst. At this, many of the other students shot her dirty looks, but Ellie positively beamed. She could give Umbridge what she deserved in this essay. She vowed to herself that from today on, Umbridge would remember her. No matter what, Ellie would certainly make an impression.
Ellie sat at a desk in the common room, recording her most recent dream in Trelawney's dream diary. She wouldn't have taken Divination if her mother hadn't insisted upon it. Ellie's grandmother had been a Seer, so her mother was anxious to see if Ellie possessed the ability as well. So far Ellie had shown some aptitude, but still no signs that she was going to be making world-changing prophecies any time soon.
"Hey, Ellie," said a familiar voice. Ellie kept on scribbling, but decided that it would be best if she bothered to reply.
"Hello, Adam. I'm assuming you heard about-"
"Who didn't? Padma Patil was pretty keen to share the story with her sister, who told Lavender, who told-"
"Yeah, I get it, Ellie cut in. "All heck broke loose after that, didn't it?"
"Basically." Ellie could tell that he felt sorry for her.
"Do the Slytherins know?"
"Unfortunately. C'mon. Let's go to the Great Hall for dinner."
Ellie nodded and picked up her things, tossing them up in her dormitory before exiting the common room with Adam.
As was expected, some Slytherins were waiting in the entrance hall for her. They closed her eyes and howled like wolves, laughing at Kevin Lucas's exaggerated re-enactment of a werewolf transformation. Most of them were boys, but a few girls hung in with them, too. Pansy Parkinson, who was as muscular as Ellie was, hadn't resorted to mimicking wolf habits yet, but her snide remarks were still making Ellie shake with anger.
Ellie and Adam brushed past them without a word, and made their way into the hall. The Slytherin table was home to more howls and jeers, and Ellie was cursing angrily under her breath as she sat down at the Ravenclaw table next to Tess and Rachel Steins. Rachel looked at Ellie with an unfathomable face, brushing a lock of fiery red hair out of her face. Luna Lovegood sat across from them, holding The Quibbler.
"I don't think they're being very nice," Luna said, looking up at Ellie from behind her magazine. "They're acting very strange. And besides, you're not a werewolf; you're just defending their rights. The Ministry is trying to bring down werewolves by enslaving them to do some terrible deeds. They even get hired to kill the goblins that Fudge is trying to get rid of. Of course, when they find out about the Rotfang Conspiracy, the Ministry may have other plans for the werewolves."
Ellie had always liked Luna, though she was a little… strange. But Luna had been wrong about more than one thing. Because, though she wasn't enslaved, Ellie was indeed prejudiced against. Well, at least her kind was. There was a very important reason that Ellie planed to make a mark on Umbridge's mind, and a reason that Ellie was very offended by Umbridge's view on the subject of werewolves.
Eileen Volrock was a werewolf.