An announcement in the Daily Prophet days later revealed that Dolores Umbridge would be the acting High Inquisitor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This did not sit with Harry well. The faculty was even less pleased. Harry, Ron and Hermione, not only had to endure Umbridge's stunted opinion of their Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum, but the toad-like woman had begun to attend all of the other classes as well, making notes and giving suggestions as to how they should be taught. Harry thought Professor McGonagall might earn a detention herself when she voiced her disdain for Umbridge's presence during Transfiguration. Harry even found himself defending the very odd Professor Trelawney when Umbridge had demanded that she make predictions during Divination. This of course earned him another dreadful detention. The frustrated boy couldn't bring himself to care.
Even Hermione was fed up with the current state of their education to suggest an idea, that she would be against otherwise.
"Well, said Hermione tentatively. "You know, I was thinking today..." She shot a slightly nervous look at Harry and then plunged on, "I was thinking that - maybe the time's come when we should just do it ourselves."
"Do what ourselves?" said Harry suspiciously.
"Well - learn Defense Against the Dark Arts ourselves," said Hermione.
This took Harry and Ron completely off guard. Hermione had never been one to break the rules, but the more she talked about it, the more appealing the idea seemed. They certainly weren't learning anything that could save them from what was outside the wall of Hogwarts, and the threat was only growing. The question was who would teach them. Harry didn't think Lupin would have the time. But Hermione wasn't thinking of a professor, she thought it should be him.
"But I'm not a teacher, I can't -," Harry argued feebly. How could he possibly be qualified to teach people how to survive?
"Harry, you're the best in the year at Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione.
Harry still couldn't understand how both Ron and Hermione thought he was fit to undertake this task. And he couldn't understand why Hermione and Ron were smirking, and looking at him as if he were blind. When he asked why they thought this, Ron rolled his eyes, before rattling off Harry's accomplishments.
"Uh- first year - you saved the Stone from You-Know-Who," Ron started.
"But that was luck," said Harry, "that wasn't skill-"
On and on he went, as Harry did his best to make his friends see that he had always had help, or gotten lucky during his brushes with Voldemort. Harry found himself growing more and more angry as he explained he'd never asked for this; he'd never wanted to fight Voldemort and watch Cedric Diggory die. He'd had his brains and his guts, and that's the only thing that had kept him alive. Ron interrupted Harry's tirade, and Hermione did her best to calm Harry down. He knew they hadn't been meaning to upset him. With a calming breath, Harry promised Hermione that he'd think about the notion. Sleeping that night brought him no rest, as he dreamed of long corridors and locked doors, and he woke the next day with his scar prickling.
The subject of the private Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons was not broached again for two whole weeks. Harry's detentions with Umbridge were finally over, and Ron had gotten four more Quidditch practices under his belt, and had been showing some marginal improvement. He hadn't been shouted at during the last two.
While the trio worked on their Potion's essay, Hermione asked Harry if he'd thought about it. Harry was still reluctant as he thumbed through Asiatic Anti-Venoms, but he had given it a great deal of thought, over the past fort-night. Hermione did her best to quell Harry's reservations, reminding him that he'd been able to produce a corporeal patronus at age thirteen, and even threw off the Imperius curse, last year. It was when Hermione brought up Viktor Krum, when Ron began to add his two cents. The subject took a detour as Ron badgered Hermione about her pen pal, and Harry finally agreed, if it would only be she and Ron. However, Hermione made the point that Harry should teach whoever would be interested in learning. Harry took solace in his recent unpopularity, knowing that few would want to spend time with an 'attention seeking liar.'
It was decided that Harry would meet with whatever students would want to take part in the lessons during the next Hogsmeade weekend, and Hermione would spread the word till then. So, on a sunny October afternoon Harry found himself following Hermione and Ron into The Hog's Head, a dodgy pub that was rarely frequented by Hogwarts students. The three sat at a booth for a quiet minute, and Harry felt a bit of relief that it might really just be the three of them. In his periphery, Harry noticed a lone figure whose face was covered by a hooded cloak, seated two booths away. He was about to point him out to Ron and Hermione when the pub door opened and Neville, Dean, Lavender shuffled in, followed by Parvati and Padma Patil with (Harry's stomach did a backflip) Cho and one of her girlfriends, and a very dreamy looking Luna Lovegood.
By the end of the parade the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team was seated there. The Creevey brothers sat with Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbot, Hufflepuff Susan Bones, Three Ravenclaw boys, Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein, and Terry Boot. Ginny Weasley was there as well, catching his eye, and offering him a proud smile, before returning to her conversation with Michael. Lee Jordan was also there, sharing the last bench with a boy from the Hufflepuff team, Zacharias Smith. Altogether the count was twenty five. Harry felt a mixture of terror and relief.
"A couple of people?" Harry asked Hermione incredulously.
"Well, the idea was quite popular," She settled, before addressing the crowd. Hermione explained the purpose of the group would be to actually learn how to defend one's self, to which Michael Corner added that Hermione also wanted to get an O on her upcoming O.W.L.s. Harry wondered if Michael was sitting at the number two spot in their class, right behind Hermione. The crowd certainly perked up when Hermione responded with a declaration of Voldemort's return was her biggest motivator.
It was then that Zacharias Smith made his presence known; he began to question Harry about the events that occurred at the end of the Triwizard Tournament last year. His anger boiling to the surface, Harry informed the crowd if they had come to hear a story, then they could leave now. To Harry's amazement, no one left their seat. Hermione did her best to smooth over matters, when Susan Bones, whose Aunt was at Harry's trial over the summer, asked Harry if he could in fact produce a corporeal patronus.
"Yes," said Harry.
"Blimey, Harry!" said Lee, looking deeply impressed. "I never knew that!"
Fred and George smiled, saying that they'd known all summer, but had been forbidden to tell by Mrs. Weasley, who thought it would bring too much attention to Harry.
Harry agreed.
"And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" Demanded Terry Boot. "That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year..."
Harry's eyes snapped over to Ginny's; they exchanged a tense glance as Harry answered with a tight, "Er - yeah, I did, yeah."
Justin Finch-Fletchley whistled, the Creevey brothers exchanged awestruck looks, and Lavender Brown said "wow" softly. Harry pulled his gaze away from Ginny, feeling slightly hot under the collar at the new attention; he was determinedly looking anywhere but at Cho. Neville added Harry saving the Sorcerer's Stone back in first year, and Cho added her praise to Harry's accomplishments during the Triwizard's Tournament.
Harry did his best to arrange his face to not look too pleased with himself. The fact that Cho had just praised him made it much, much harder for him to tell the group that he had actually received help with many of the tasks he had undertook over the past five years. When the crowd heard this, they immediately rebutted with instances when Harry had no aid.
Zacharias Smith chose that moment to ask if Harry was trying to get out of teaching them Defense Against the Dark Arts. This comment got every Weasley boy to Harry's defense. Ron telling Zacharias to not-so kindly, "shut your mouth!" and Fred and George were the first to offer to help the Hufflepuff to clean out his ears with a particularly unpleasant tool, if he couldn't hear Harry correctly.
Everyone settled down after that, and the task of finding the right time to meet was addressed. No one wanted the meetings to interfere with Quidditch practices. Before a time was picked Hermione and Luna had started fighting over whether Cornelius Fudge had an army of heliopaths.
Harry thought he was going to scream when a bright, "Hem, hem," rang through the crowd. Ginny, in such a good imitation of Professor Umbridge that several people looked around in alarm and then laughed, had effectively stopped all diverting conversations.
"Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and get Defense lessons?" Ginny asked Hermione pointedly. The brunette girl gave a sheepish look, before agreeing. As they brainstormed places to meet, a paper was passed around for everyone to sign. The crowd seemed nervous to put their name in writing, proving their attendance to a meeting that was strictly forbidden by the school, but after Hermione's insistence, everyone signed.
With plans to pick a time and place, everyone said their goodbyes and headed out. Harry noticed that Cho seemed in no hurry to leave, taking extra care to make sure her bag was fastened. It was her friend, that had not seemed too keen on attending the meeting in the first place, who insisted they go with her arms crossed, and her tongue clicking her impatience. As her friend ushered her through the door, Cho looked back and waved at Harry.
As Hermione, Ron and Harry left the pub, they spoke about the meeting. Ron offered his immediate dislike for the argumentative Zacharias Smith. Hermione agreed, saying he'd overheard her talking with Ernie and Hannah, and he had been really interested in coming.
"But the more students the better," Hermione went on, "- I mean, Michael Corner and his friends wouldn't have come if he hadn't been going out with Ginny -"
Ron, who had been draining the last few drops from his butterbeer bottle, gagged and sprayed butterbeer down his front.
"He's WHAT?" said Ron, outraged, his ears now resembling curls of raw beef. "She's going out with - my sister's going - what d'you mean, Michael Corner?"
Harry found himself shaking his head, as Hermione explained to Ron that he and Ginny had met at the Yule Ball last year. It was Ron who had told him that Ginny had been writing Michael over the summer. Harry had put two and two together, that they were dating, which had been confirmed by Ginny herself on the Hogsmeade Platform. Of course Ron would be outraged when they weren't around Ginny. Harry thought Ron needed to work on his timing, especially since Ginny was no where in sight.
"Which one was Michael Corner?" Ron demanded furiously.
"The dark haired one," said Hermione.
"I didn't like him," said Ron at once, and Harry agreed silently.
"Big surprise," said Hermione under her breath.
"But," said Ron, following Hermione into Scrivenschaft's Quill Shop, "I thought Ginny fancied Harry!"
Hermione looked at him rather pityingly and shook her head. "Ginny used to fancy Harry, but she got over him months ago. Not that she doesn't like you, of course," she added kindly to Harry while she examined a long black and gold quill.
Harry, whose head had been full of Cho's parting wave, suddenly had a strange feeling in his gut. Of course he already knew all of what Hermione was telling Ron, but hearing it voiced aloud made him feel rather tense.
"So that's why she talks now?" Ron asked Hermione suddenly. "She never used to talk in front of Harry.
"Exactly," said Hermione. "Yes, I think I'll have this one..." Harry watched as Hermione went up to pay for her new quill, Ron breathing down her neck the whole time.
Hermione was wrong. Only Harry knew that he and Ginny had been talking without difficulty for almost a year now. Ever since their conversation at the Yule Ball last year things had been running very smoothly between the two. Although Harry hated keeping secrets from Ron and Hermione, the bond was not only his secret to tell.
Ron continued to chunter under his breath all the way down the street. Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry and then said in an undertone, while Ron was muttering imprecations about Michael Corner, "And talking about Michael and Ginny...what about Cho and you?
"What do you mean?" said Harry quickly.
It was as though boiling water was rising rapidly inside him; a burning sensation that was causing his face to smart in the cold - had he been that obvious?
"Well," said Hermione, smiling slightly, "she just couldn't keep her eyes off of you, could she?"
Harry had never before appreciated just how beautiful the village of Hogsmeade was.
Harry felt happier for the rest of the weekend than he had done all term. He and Ron spent much of Sunday catching up with all their homework again, and although this could hardly be called fun, the last burst of autumn sunshine persisted, so rather than sitting hunched over tables in the common room they took their work outside and lounged in the shade of a large beech tree on the edge of the lake.
Knowing they were doing something to resist Umbridge and the Ministry, and that he was a key part of the rebellion, gave Harry a feeling of immense satisfaction. He kept reliving Saturdays meeting in his mind: all those people, coming to him to learn Defence Against the Dark Arts . . . and the looks on their faces as they had heard some of the things he had done . . . and Cho praising his performance in the Triwizard Tournament. Harry was still cheerful on Monday morning, despite the imminent prospect of all his least favourite classes.
But Monday morning hit he and Ron right between the eyes, when after having descended the boy's dormitory staircase, the presence of a large sign quickly burst the weekend high. By order of the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, all student organizations, societies, teams, groups and clubs were henceforth disbanded, until permission was given by the High Inquisitor herself; Educational Decree Number Twenty-four.
Harry and Ron were immediately suspicious that their secret meeting had been leaked by one of its attendees. Ron was the first to throw out the suspicion of Michael Corner, and although Harry wasn't as convinced, he liked the way Ron was thinking. The two immediately took off to discuss the matter with Hermione. Surely they would all be serving detentions if their little rebellion had been discovered. To their immense relief, Hermione informed them that she had charmed the paper everyone had signed on Saturday; that if anyone snitched, it would cause the tattler to break out into terrible boils.
With their heads down and their ears open, the three left for breakfast in the Great Hall. Once there, it was apparent that the notice had been circulating all over the school, as the large room was abuzz with chatter. Harry, Ron and Hermione had barely taken their seats when Neville, Dean, Fred, George and Ginny descended upon them. The group was all low whispers; speculating whether the decree was specifically about the meeting on Saturday.
"What are we going to do?" asked Ginny, who had taken the seat next to Harry.
He looked down into her inquisitive gaze, and found the tension that had been hanging around him since he'd read the decree slowly lifting. Harry glanced around to make sure there were no teachers near them.
"We're going to do it anyway, of course," he said quietly to the group.
This earned Harry a winning smile from Ginny, and a, "Knew you'd say that," from George, who beamed at him and thumped him on the arm.
It seemed everyone from the meeting was eager to hear that it would continue on as planned. Hermione had to wave away Ernie and Hannah, who had wanted to join the discussion, in order to keep suspicions low.
"I'll tell Michael," said Ginny impatiently, swinging herself off the bench.
She hurried off towards the Ravenclaw table; Harry watched her go. Cho was sitting not far away, talking to the curly-haired friend she had brought along to the Hog's Head. Would Umbridge's notice scare her off meeting them again.
But the full repercussions of the sign were not felt until they were leaving the Great Hall for History of Magic. Angelina, acting Gryffindor Quidditch captain, desperate and out of sorts, found Harry and Ron in the hallway and reminded them that the decree included Quidditch teams as well. They would need Umbridge's permission in order to play. Harry wondered if this day could get any worse. They parted ways with the captain, but not before she begged Harry to keep his temper in Umbridge's classes. With a promise that he would try, Harry, Ron and Hermione headed off to a full day of classes.
Harry was half expecting to see Umbridge in Professor Binn's classroom, to give her official opinion about the curriculum, but instead he was met with a thoroughly mangled and injured Hedwig. The great snowy owl's wing was hanging oddly, and her feathers were sticking at odd angles. It looked as if the bird had been attacked. With a lame excuse of feeling poorly, Harry quickly scooped up his feathered friend and raced to find Professor Grubby-Plank in hopes that the Care of Magical Creatures professor, could help Hedwig.
Racing around the castle, he finally found her in Professor McGonagall's office. After explaining why he was out of class to a very stern McGonagall, Grubby-Plank agreed to look after the injured owl. Harry was about to leave, when the tall Transfiguration professor reminded him of the letter attached to Hedwig's leg. Harry knew that McGonagall understood that this letter almost certainly came from No. 12 Grimmauld place, and she warned him that all mail was being monitored both in and out of Hogwarts.
Harry met up with Hermione and Ron once again, quickly reading the scrawled note that had been attached to Hedwig's leg.
Same time, same place?
Snuffles
The three conjectured that Sirius had meant the common room fireplace late this coming Sunday night. They all thought it too risky, but non could think of a un-risky way of letting Sirius know that. Trudging down to the dungeons for Potions, they were met by Draco Malfoy who was bragging that he had gotten the Slytherin Quidditch team's approval by Umbridge that very morning.
"Well, it was pretty automatic, I mean, she knows my father really well, he's always popping in and out of the Ministry...it'll be interesting to see whether Gryffindor is allowed to keep playing, won't it?" Malfoy boasted, making a point to meet Harry and Ron's eyes.
Despite Hermione's insistence that they don't let themselves get caught up in Malfoy's bait, it was surprisingly Neville who charged past Harry to take a swing at Malfoy. Harry and Ron grabbed the round boy, preventing him from what would have been a sure pummeling from Crabbe and Goyle. By the end of things, Ron, Harry and Neville had all gotten a detention from Snape.
It was a gruelling day of classes. Harry did his best to behave with Umbridge's presence in Potions. Followed by Professor Trelawney's near melt down in Divination and Angelina informing he and Ron that Umbridge was 'taking time to consider' the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Harry was ready to have this day over with.
Harry, Ron and Hermione ended up being the last in the common room again, with Harry needing to finish up his extra Potion's essay he'd earned that day from Snape. There were three collective gasps when Sirius' head popped up in the flames of the hearth once more.
"How're things?" Sirius asked his godson empathetically, as if he already knew the answer.
Harry immediately told him about the newest educational decree, "..which means we're not allowed to have Quidditch teams-"
"Or secret Defense Against the Dark Arts groups? offered Sirius.
Harry demanded how on earth, Sirius could know about that, to which he answered that Mundungus Fletcher had been tasked to watch Harry that day during the Hogsmeade weekend, and had overheard their little meeting. Harry wasn't too keen to learn that he was still being followed.
Sirius was the first to point out that the first thing his godson, who was supposed to be staying out of trouble, did on his first weekend off was organize an illegal defense group. To Harry's relief, Sirius sounded neither disappointed or mad, rather he was looking at Harry with distinct pride.
He then passed along a message from Mrs. Weasley, forbidding Ron to take part in the Defense Against the Dark Arts group, and strongly urging Hermione and Harry to refrain as well. Once again Harry was surprised when Sirius advised them to do the exact opposite of Mrs. Weasley.
"Well, better expelled and able to defend yourselves than sitting safely in school without a clue," said Sirius, and Harry and Ron agreed enthusiastically.
"And make sure Ginny gets to those meetings as well, Harry," Sirius added firmly, giving Harry a stern look.
"Oh, yeah, she was at the meeting. The twins too," dismissed Ron, missing the significance of Sirius' words. Harry gave a solemn nod to Sirius. She would always be in danger because of him.
The subject was soon changed to where these meetings would take place. A large passageway was suggested and shot down, then the Shrieking Shack was suggested; the first promising notion. And then suddenly Sirius was gone. The student's looked at each other, wondering why he would just leave, when a hand appeared amongst the flames, groping as though to catch hold of something; a stubby short-fingered hand covered in ugly old-fashioned rings. Umbridge's hand.
The three of them ran for it. At the door of the boys' dormitory Harry looked back. Umbridge's hand was still making snatching movements amongst the flames, as though she knew exactly where Sirius's hair had been moments before and was determined to seize it.
The next day in Charms, Hermione told Harry of the depressing notion that it had been Umbridge who had attacked and injured Hedwig, wanting to read the letter attached to her leg. This made Harry very nervous, knowing that if Umbridge had been even a minute earlier the night before Sirius would already be in Azkaban by now.
Luckily good news came in the form of Angelina.
"I've got permission!" she said. "To re-form the Quidditch team!"
Their first practice was that night at seven o'clock, and the weather could not have been worse. After squelching through a miserable rain-filled practice, Harry felt completely out of sorts. His scar was hurting, and he felt that he knew that Voldemort was upset about something. Once practice was called Ron asked him about it. Harry did his best to explain, but his head was throbbing too much. Ron suggested he go tell Dumbledore, and Harry reminded Ron that Dumbledore already knew, so what was the point. He had been absent almost completely from Harry's life these past few months. Why would Harry go to him?
That night Harry did his best to study Herbology only to fall into restless sleep on the couch, all the while his mind buzzing with Voldemort's emotions. He was walking once more along the windowless corridor, his footsteps echoing in the silence. Just as he was finally about to see beyond the closed door, Harry found himself awake in the common room once more, in the presence of Dobby the house elf.
Harry was happy to see Dobby, and they chatted on about about Winky and Hedwig. It was then that Harry got the notion to ask the house elf if he knew of a room in Hogwarts for Harry to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.
The word was spread, and the next night all twenty eight students met in the Room of Requirements. The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors and a large, cracked Foe-Glass that Harry was sure had hung, the previous year, in the fake Moody's office.
The first order of business, per Hermione was to elect a leader, to which Cho immediately argued that Harry was obviously the leader. Harry's stomach did another back flip at this. Hermione insisted a vote was taken, in order to give the leader authority. It was a unanimous vote for Harry, even Zacharias Smith raised his hand, though he did it half-heartedly.
Then the business of picking a name. A few cracks about Umbridge were thrown out, before Cho suggested Defence Association.
"The DA for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about," Cho added.
"Yeah, the DA's good," said Ginny. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"
There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and laughter at this. Harry shot a warning look over to the fourth year red head. She was entirely too spunky. That kind of attitude would only land her in detentions with Umbridge herself.
But Ginny only returned a defiant raise of her eyebrow, and Harry had a hard time keeping his stern expression from turning into a proud smirk, as the twins commended their sister on showing what they called the "true Weasley spirit."
It was another unanimous vote, and Hermione pinned the piece of parchment with all of their signatures on it on to the wall and wrote across the top in large letters: DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY
Harry thought it felt very odd to be issuing instructions, but not nearly as odd as seeing them followed. Everybody got to their feet at once and divided up to practice disarming spells. He partnered himself up with Neville who made amazing progress, successfully disarming Harry when he was caught unawares.
Harry congratulated Neville and moved off in the middle of the room to watch everyone's progress. Ginny was teamed with Michael Corner; she was doing very well, whereas Michael was either very bad or unwilling to jinx her. Harry made a note to himself to pair against Ginny at some point to make sure she was getting good practice later. He watched as Luna Lovegood made Justin Finch-Fletchley's hair stand on end, and Ernie Macmillan flourish his wand in the air unnecessarily.
He finally got the nerve to go over and talk to Cho, who immediately sent a rogue spell bouncing off of her friend Marietta. Harry was pleased to hear that he had made her nervous.
Before too long practice was over, everyone eager to find a time to get together again. Everyone bustled off in the direction of their respective dormitories, Harry following an arguing Ron and Hermione, who were determined that they had disarmed the other more often. They argued all the way back to the common room, but Harry was not listening to them. He had one eye on the Marauder's Map, but he was also thinking of Cho saying he made her nervous.
Harry felt as though he were carrying some kind of talisman inside his chest over the following two weeks, a glowing secret that supported him through Umbridge's classes and even made it possible for him to smile blandly as he looked into her horrible bulging eyes. He and the DA were resisting her under her very nose, doing the very thing she and the Ministry most feared, and whenever he was supposed to be reading Wilbert Slinkhard's book during her lessons he dwelled instead on satisfying memories of their most recent meetings, remembering how Neville had successfully disarmed Hermione, how Colin Creevey had mastered the Impediment Jinx after three meetings' hard effort, how Parvati Patil had produced such a good Reductor Curse that she had reduced the table carrying all the Sneakoscopes to dust.
Hermione soon devised a very clever method of communicating the time and date of the next meeting to all the members in case they needed to change it at short notice, because it would look suspicious if people from different Houses were seen crossing the Great Hall to talk to each other too often. She gave each of the members of the DA a fake Galleon that would show the date of the next meeting where the numerals on the edge of the coin would be.
But DA meetings would have to wait as the first quidditch game of the season was fast approaching. Harry was not too concerned, seeing as his team had never lost against Malfoy before. However, tensions were high as the Slytherins took to relentless teasing and trickery of their Gryffindor contenders. Alicia Spinnet was sent to the Hospital Wing after the Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley, jinxed her eyebrows to grow at an alarming rate. But it was Ron who took the brunt of it, as every Slytherin sported a shining medal on their chest that said, "Weasley is Our King!"
Ron who had always faltered when confidence was down seemed paralyzed with fear on the day of the first quidditch game of the season. Harry had to drag Ron down to the Great Hall that morning, and a worried Ginny wondered if he was fit enough to play. Surprisingly, it was Hermione who seemed to bring Ron out of his terrified state. She wished him luck, and lifted herself up onto her toes, kissing the terrified Keeper on the cheek.
The November day was bright and chilled as the game began. It was hard to say if things could have gone any worse, what with the Slytherin fans singing a rousing song, titled 'Weasley is Our King' to match their badges. Ron blundered back and forth on the pitch, his ears glowing as red as his hair. Rogue bludgers knocked through the air. Harry waited, expecting for Gryffindor to catch up to the Slytherin's goals, but Ron couldn't seem to stop the quaffles from zooming through his hoops.
Mercifully, Harry spotted the glint of gold shining just above the ground. Malfoy was closer, but Harry streaked toward the little sphere. Neck and neck, Harry extended his hand and clasped it around victory. He had done it! Gryffindor had won! Harry was elated until he was tossed to the ground by a bludger to the back, hit by the sore loser Crabbe, and it seemed like all the Slytherin's were going to be sore losers. As Harry was congratulated by his team, and the Gryffindor students who had rushed the pitch in victory, Malfoy made it a point to discuss the lyrics of the recently popular, 'Weasley is Our King.'
' - we couldn't fit in useless loser either - for his father, you know - '
Fred and George had realised what Malfoy was talking about and falfway through shaking Harry's hand, they stiffened, looking round at Malfoy.
'Leave it!' said Angelina at once, taking Fred by the arm. 'Leave it, Fred, let him yell, he's just sore he lost, the jumped-up little -
' - but you like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter?' said Malfoy, sneering. 'Spend holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasleys' hovel smells OK - '
Harry grabbed hold of George. Meanwhile, it was taking the combined efforts of Angelina, Alicia and Katie to stop Fred leaping on Malfoy, who was laughing openly. Harry looked around for Madam Hooch, but she was still berating Crabbe for his illegal Bludger attack.
'Or perhaps,' said Malfoy, leering as he backed away, 'you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it - '
Harry was not aware of releasing George, all he knew was that a second later both of them were sprinting towards Malfoy. He had completely forgotten that all the teachers were watching: all he wanted to do was cause Malfoy as much pain as possible; with no time to draw out his wand, he merely drew back the fist clutching the Snitch and sank it as hard as he could into Malfoy's stomach -
'Harry! HARRY! GEORGE! NO!'
He could hear girls' voices screaming, Malfoy yelling, George swearing, a whistle blowing and the bellowing of the crowd around him, but he did not care. The crowd of students pushed into the fray, as a few tried to break up the fight.
'What do you think you're doing?' screamed Madam Hooch, as Harry was pulled to his feet by Ginny Weasley. While Madame Hooch tended to the sniveling Malfoy on the ground, Ginny looked Harry over for injuries.
"Feel better, now?" Ginny scoffed, surveying his still clenched fist.
Adrenaline was still humming through his veins when he answered with an irritated, "Yes, actually."
The redhead rolled her eyes, "Well, remember this fleeting feeling of satisfaction, when they're doling out your punishment."
Harry watched as Madame Hooch episkied away Malfoy's bloody nose. "I have a feeling this memory will keep me happy for a long time," he told her honestly.
Ginny gave out a tsk tsk, her fingers grazing over his already bruised knuckles, before she replied, "You realize you're one of the best duelers in the school, yet you had to use your fists?"
Harry flexed his fist in her hand, reveling in the pain. "What he was saying about your dad-"
"I doubt my father would concern himself whatever Draco Malfoy was saying," Ginny interrupted, and Harry closed his mouth at the truth of her words. His jaw clenched while she used a healing spell on his bloodied knuckles. "But," Ginny added primly after a beat, looking up at him, "if Malfoy ever talks about your mother that way again, you'll be pulling me off of him."
Harry found himself smiling, the stinging of his hand ebbing a bit as Ginny healed him. "You're such an idiot," she added with a shake of her head.
He looked around the fray. The crowd of students was dense and loud; Malfoy was still curled up on the ground, whimpering and moaning, his nose clean now; George was sporting a swollen lip; Fred was still being forcibly restrained by the three Chasers, and Crabbe was cackling in the background. But it was Madam Hooch's livid expression that brought Harry to agree. "Yeah, it seems like it," he conceded, bracing himself as Madam Hooch's ears seemed to almost steam. They were in for it.
"Hell of a right hook, though," Ginny added quietly into Harry's ear.
Harry found himself smirking when the flying instructor opened her mouth and screamed, "'I've never seen behaviour like it - back up to the castle, both of you, and straight to your Head of House's office! Go! Now.''
It was time to face the consequences. "Make sure you tell Michael about that," Harry told Ginny with a quirked eyebrow, before joining Fred and George to head back up to the castle.
It was educational decree number twenty-five that got Fred, George, and Harry banned from Quidditch for the rest of the year. This decree allowed the High Inquisitor take over all punishments at Hogwarts, and although Professor McGonagall was vehemently against Umbridge's meddling, her hands were tied. There was no celebrating in the Gryffindor common room that night. It was hard to say whose spirits were lower, Harry for never getting to play Quidditch again, or Ron, who had no choice but to. Hermione offered a bit of news that she hoped would help them out of their foul moods. Hagrid was back.
AN: As always, tell me what you think. Still a lot of summary, but I'm trying to weave things carefully.