A few of you asked me to continue this story line, so here it is!
Chapter 2: The Slytherin Question
An hour before the school would convene for the dinner feast, all the Slytherins were called to their common room by Professor Umbridge. As the Slytherins all sat around the common room, waiting for the announcement to take place, their Head of House, Severus Snape entered the room with Umbridge.
Calling for attention, she addressed the House cheerfully. "My dear Slytherins, I am sure by now that you have all either seen or heard of the actions of the Weasley twins this afternoon. I assure you that they will be punished. Their punishment will not be detentions, rather a punishment that actually matches the severity of their crimes. The punishment will be handed out today during the dinner feast, in front of the three other houses. It will hopefully serve as an example to those who are pure in the other houses to learn their lesson and act as respectable students."
"Now, dear Slytherins, you are not only in the house of the most noble founder of them all, the great Salazar Slytherin, but you have also not caused me any trouble. Due to this, I have arranged for you to have your own feast here. You clearly do not need to be reminded of who is in control of the school, thus I see no reason for your house to be punished," she declared.
"Oh, and will the Inquisitorial Squad please come with me," Umbridge ordered more than requested, sweetly smiling at Draco as she turned her back to leave.
As the rest of the house watched Umbridge, Snape, and the Inquisitorial Squad leave, the house had gone silent. It was not often that all the members of the Inquisitorial Squad were not in the common room at once. Slytherin being a very politics-dominated house, a power vacuum, one that had become familiar to those in the serpent's nest, had once more arisen.
After a few seconds more of silence, the students were immersed in a range of whispered conversations about what had just occurred. One of those conversations was taking place between two fifth years, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis.
"Ugh I hate Umbridge so much…but I am glad that she took Draco with her, wherever she went. He was becoming too much with his boasting of what was going to happen to those Weasley twins," Tracey said.
"I know what you mean Trace, but I hope the punishment won't be as bad as Draco brags it'll be. I rather enjoyed their pranks on good old Draco. There's nothing like waking up in the morning to the blonde git hollering his way out the great hall," she replied, remising on the multiple instances that had taken place.
"Yeah I hope so as well, but I don't think we can expect anything from that toad of a witch Umbridge and her poncy pet Malfoy," Tracey bitterly countered.
Their conversation was interrupted by a sneer that reminded them that Draco was not the only annoying git in their house.
"Boyle," Daphne acknowledged him flatly. "What do you want?"
"Well, missies, I just came to warn this one over here," he motioned towards Tracey without even looking at her, "that she should show more respect towards her betters."
"And you, Boyle, should also learn to show respect to your betters, if that's how you want to play it. What gall you have, calling the Heiress of a Most Ancient and Noble House a missy, when you're Heir Presumptive of the merely Noble House of Boyle?" Daphne retorted. "Now leave us alone."
His sneer deepening, he mock bowed, responding, "As you wish Greengrass. You'd do better to not hang around with scum like her though, dragging your family name through the mud," before stalking off to join a small group of a few other Slytherins.
"Sorry Tracey, please ignore the idiots," Daphne said, turning to her best friend.
"I've learned to Daphne, but half the house doesn't even want me here!"
"Then they're fools. You're a great witch, no matter what your blood status is. Now let's go find somewhere to eat."
-OOO-
"That bitch Greengrass! Pulls rank on me like that, even though she befriended a half-blood like a common blood traitor!" Boyle complained to the group he stormed off to.
"She's not like a blood traitor, she is a blood-traitor, even though she's undeniably beautiful," Scalby responded.
"Draco's wanted her for a while now, you know. Maybe when he gets back from whatever his little squad is doing with Umbridge, we can teach her a lesson."
Scalby only grinned maniacally in response.
When Slytherin House started eating their dinner, the tension in the air was thick enough to slice with a knife. The Inquisitorial Members had not come back yet, and without Heirs Nott, Malfoy, his cronies, and Heiress Parkinson, the division in Slytherin House was almost drawn equally between those who supported the pureblood supremacists' side; the likes of Malfoy, Umbridge, and the Dark Lord; and those who didn't subscribe to such beliefs, though they mostly kept their reservations to themselves.
The divide was quite visible; those who were pureblood supremacists sitting separate from those they deemed had lesser blood, or were blood traitors, while the purebloods who did not agree with the beliefs mostly kept cordial with those on the other side of the divide, not wanting to risk drawing too much attention to themselves.
As time went on, the feast should've ended long ago, yet neither Umbridge, nor the Inquisitorial Squad had came back. Heated discussion erupted between those who were speculating on what could've happened. None of the Slytherins, however, had guessed anything that came remotely close to what had actually happened.
-OOO-
Meanwhile, as the celebrations in the Great Hall calmed down, people started wondering what would be happening next. Most of the DA looked to Harry to take control of the situation. Sensing this, Harry gathered the DA around him to make a plan as to what to do next. Moments before, all that mattered was getting Fred and George out of their punishment, but now they had to decide how to deal with having 10 Slytherin students and multiple Ministry Employees stunned and detained by their hands.
"So, what are we going to be doing now Harry?" Susan asked.
"I'm not sure to be honest, do any of you have ideas?"
"Well I would like to know where the teachers went, for one! I'm sure Professor McGonagall and Flitwick would've helped us," Hermione deliberated.
"Yes, we could search the school for them," contributed Colin Creevey.
"No, that would take too long," Harry said, pulling out the Marauder's map. Quickly activating it, he checked for any names of the teachers. Unfortunately, none appeared. Cursing under his breath, he announced to the DA, "There are no teachers in the castle. It seems the Slytherins are all in their common room though."
"What are we going to do about them, then?" Fred questioned, and the rest of the hall burst into commotion.
"Sonorus" Harry spoke, casting his spell on himself before addressing the hall. "Please could you all be quiet!"
"Thank you," he said once everyone calmed down, and after a quick finite, "Now, I would like to hear suggestions as to what to do with the Slytherins. Preferably reasonable suggestions."
The Gryffindors, of course, were the first to speak out.
"Let's lock them in the dungeons!"
"Turn the Room of Requirement into a Prison!"
"Feed them to the Giant Squid!"
"STOP!" yelled Hermione. "Have you forgotten that they are also people? You do realize one of you suggested to have a whole house, including 11 year olds, eaten alive?"
"Well, what about locking them in the dungeons, doesn't sound bad to me," Lee yowled.
This was met with agreement from most Gryffindors, but the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw houses were oddly quiet.
"Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Houses seem quiet, what do you guys think?" Harry queried.
Hufflepuff house seemed to look to Susan, who stepped forward and addressed Harry and the Great Hall, "You Gryffindors are blinded by your rivalries. How many Slytherins have ever bothered you? Quite a few, I'm sure, but it was probably always the same people, not even the majority of the house. And of those people who bothered you, how many of them are stunned right now already?" she challenged.
"I agree," Padma added, "I have a few friends in Slytherin actually, they're really not all as bad as these over there," she gestured to the Inquisitorial Squad members, "but there are some that aren't here that I'm sure would love to hex most of us. We can't just condemn all of them though."
The Gryffindors looked skeptical, but Harry, knowing how it feels to be constantly blamed for something you haven't done, was open to hearing them out. "What would you suggest?"
Susan seemed to be in thought for a while, before she started laying out her proposal, "I think we should give the Slytherins a chance. Let's announce, using the Sonorus spell, what has happened and that Harry Potter and the DA are now in control. We tell them that they have to choose one of two things. Either they choose to mind their own business and stay in their common room until we sort out the whole situation, however that will be, or if they think they have a better chance at beating us than the Ministry Aurors did, we'll be ready for them."
"I say we just lock them up in the Room of Requirement. Too much work if you ask me, it's much safer this way," Seamus said.
"But then we unite the whole of Slytherin against us, and what happens when we're brining a whole house to the Room? They will have a much better chance against us than if we're entrenched and ready, even if it comes to the worst." Padma countered.
"But the whole house is already against us!" exclaimed an exasperated looking Dean.
"Enough!" Harry cut them off, "I think everyone deserves a chance, and all of you thought I was a Dark Lord in Second Year, so how do you know Slytherins are really all bad? How about the DA takes a vote, and whichever solution is chosen, that will be the one that we pursue. Is that alright with everyone?" he asked the occupants Great Hall.
Most people were nodding and seemed content to allow the group that had just taken down Umbridge and represented all three of the houses there to make a decision.
"Those in favor of Susan's solution?" he asked, raising his hand himself. He looked around the DA, which was now arranged in a circle, to count the votes.
All of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw voted for Susan's solution. Of the Gryffindor contingent, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, the twins, and the Creevey brothers, were in support of Susan's idea, which was a majority.
"Right then, it's decided, we're doing it Susan's way. Now we just have to decide how we're going to execute the plan." Turning to Susan, he asked, "Did you have any ideas as to how we should organize ourselves? Padma, you mentioned being entrenched and ready if the Slytherins decide to fight, what was your idea of doing that?"
Susan was the one who spoke first, "Well my aunt taught me the disillusionment charm. I could disillusion all of you, and we could go to the corridor where the entrance of the Slytherin common room is and surround it. We'd then make the announcement using the Sonorus spell, and wait. We'll see what they do then. If they come out with their wands, we stun and disarm them. If they don't do anything, or say that they will comply, we leave after half an hour, but place guards there still under the disillusionment charm. They can use the coins to call for help if the Slytherins try anything after then."
"I think that'll work, actually, that's a brilliant idea Susan! I don't think we need the whole DA down there though, and I want some prefects here to maintain order and calm the younger students down," Harry replied, looking down at the house tables where a few first years were crying.
"Okay. Ernie, Hannah, Anthony, you please stay here and work with the others to make sure the younger students are alright and that things stay calm here. Co-ordinate and organize the other prefects as well. Lee, Alicia, Michael, you guys also stay here because we need you guys to be on alert, Voldemort sympathizers don't necessarily have to be Slytherins. Stick with the other prefects, use the galleons if to call for us if you need help, and keep your eyes open. The rest of you, have Susan disillusion you and let's head down to the Slytherin common room."
Now with the pressure on, Harry's true leadership qualities were beginning to truly shine through. It was clear that it was extremely refreshing for him to be in charge of the DA again.
After Susan applied the charms, the 20* other DA members started heading for the Slytherin common room in anticipation of another possible battle.
Once they arrived in front of the Slytherin common room entrance, they arranged themselves into position by casting low-powered Lumos spells, revealing a small light that showed where each of the disillusioned members of the DA were.
Once they were in position, Harry made the announcement.
-OOO-
The bickering of the Slytherins was interrupted by a voice calling for their attention. The common room went silent immediately.
"Good evening Slytherins, this is Harry Potter speaking. I am speaking on behalf of the other three houses of Hogwarts, and Dumbledore's Army."
The Slytherins had of course heard about Dumbledore's Army after Umbridge and the Inquisitorial Squad had exposed them, so knew what Harry was talking about.
"The High Inquisitor decided that she was going to punish a school prank by students who were already leaving school, by means of corporal punishment. The Inquisitorial Squad and Ministry Aurors were there to witness the scene and likely provide protection to Umbridge. We at Gryffindor house look after our housemates, and Dumbledore's Army protects its members, so we were not about to let that happen. We fought back and in the battle we defeated Ministry Aurors, the Inquisitorial Squad, and the High Inquisitor all at once. We come in peace, and we will leave you in peace. In return, we ask that you do not leave your common room and mind your own business until we can sort this situation out. I hope that what we have achieved tonight will be enough deterrence for those of you who think Draco and his minions are worth fighting for. We await your reply." the voice concluded.
The Slytherin common room erupted in furious caterwauls as those who supported Umbridge were enraged.
Many, however, were extremely pleased with this development. They kept their silence for now though as Scalby, Boyle, and his gang of wanna-be Death Eaters stood up and called for silence.
"Professor Snape always told us that we must rely on our house, that the other houses will isolate and outcast us. We see that the day he has mentioned has finally come! We have been attacked! That arrogant git Potter thinks he rules the world, him and his mudblood and blood-traitor groupies! They must've picked off Draco and the others like cowards, there's no other way the inferior half-blood and his pals could've beaten noble pureblooded witches and wizards…but in an all out attack, we would easily defeat them, maybe get rid of a few mudblood menaces while we're at it. The Ministry and Madam Umbridge would be delighted with our actions!" Boyle raged on.
Listening to his speech, Daphne had to admit he was a good persuader, but she wasn't going to stand back while a bunch of idiots led her house into battle and potentially got her sister and friends injured. She knew that because of her unique position as an house among those who opposed the blood-supremacists as the Heiress of an Ancient and Noble, she would be the best suited to oppose them. Judging by the initial reactions of the house to Potter's speech, she might just be able to pull it off.
Daphne stood up elegantly with her wand out and addressed the house. "Maybe you should've been resorted into Gryffindor, Boyle, because all I see is you trying to blindly jump into an unknown situation like an idiot. What happened to being cunning? Potter just said that they were able to defeat Ministry Aurors and the Inquisitorial Squad, what makes you think you stand a better chance? They didn't ask for anything, so why not just wait until the situation becomes clearer before acting?"
Around her, she could see that some students were gaining courage, and that a slight majority of the Slytherins looked like they agreed with her. Her sister Astoria and Tracey stood up to stand either side of her in support.
"Greengrass! You coward! Pathetic bitch, have you no house loyalty? Ten of our housemates are in the hands of blood-traitors!" Boyle shot back, taking a few steps towards her with his wand out.
"I am no coward! I, unlike you, don't suck up to bleached ferrets! House loyalty? When have Malfoy or any of his goons shown house loyalty? When they bully first years? When they treat other Slytherins like shit because they're half-blood? When they besmirch the name of Slytherin house so nobody wants anything to do with us? Is that what you call house loyalty?" Daphne spat.
By now quite a few more people had stood up beside Daphne, including Blaise Zabini. While he believed in the superiority of purebloods, he preferred to silently stick to his beliefs, and was sick of not being able to make connections with other purebloods from the other houses, courtesy of Malfoy and his gang's idea of house loyalty.
Daphne's words had proven too much for Boyle to handle as his face turned crimson in rage and he shouted, "Depulso!" firing a Banishing charm at Daphne.
She quickly countered the spell with a "Protego!"
While some of Daphne's companions had put their own shields up, Scalby and Vaisey joined the assault on Daphne.
Feeling her shield weaken, she dived to the right, avoiding a nasty looking bone-breaker hex. Beside her, Astoria was casting offensive spells at the attackers. "Impedimenta! Reducto!" she yelled, as Tracey cast a Reductor curse.
The curse shattered Boyle's shield with a magnificent light, which seemed to wake up the rest of the Slytherin house from their stupor. Most younger students retreated to their dormitories as fast as they could, while most the fourth years and above took sides in the skirmish, turning it into a full scale battle.
Daphne recovered from her roll, snapping a quick Confringo at another 6th year before turning her attention back to Boyle, who'd now focused all his attention on Tracey, furious that she had been able to break his shield.
Boyle's spell onslaught was weakening Tracey fast, and it seemed though her shield was about to fall, much to Boyle's satisfaction. Using his momentary distraction, Daphne fired a volley of courses at him, "Diffindo, Expulso, Expelliarmus!"
Boyle was caught by surprise, yet was able to dodge Daphne's cutting curse, but had to raise a shield for her Expulso, which shattered his hastily erected shield. Her Expelliarmus reached her target, disarming the bulky 7th year. Just as he was about to pick his wand back up, Daphne cast "Impedimenta! Accio Wand!" and proceeded to bind him with an Incarcerous, before turning her attention back to the battle.
-OOO-
Just Outside the Slytherin common room, Dumbledore's Army anxiously waited for a response. They heard a few loud cries of outrage, followed by a discourse that lasted for around one minute.
Nobody dared break the silence as the discourse seemed to end. Then, without any warning, Harry made out a few yelled spells and the shattering of furniture as more yowls joined the others as a full-scale battle erupted in the common room.
Harry remembered Susan and Padma telling him they had friends in Slytherin, "Susan, Padma, any idea what is going on in there? What could've happened? You seem to be the most confident in that not all Slytherins were against us."
Padma hastily explained what she knew about the Slytherin divide, "Harry without the Inquisitorial Squad, there is about the same amount of people for and against pureblood supremacy and Umbridge. I'd guess the house was divided on what to do next, and it escalated."
"Got it. Susan, you're a good tactician, any ideas as what to do next?" Harry
"If we don't interfere and those who support Umbridge win, then we could have a full-scale battle on our hands. Now at least we'd be fighting with a part of Slytherin. Plus, people could get hurt, the majority of those who support Umbridge also support Voldemort, so there's no saying what curses they would use," she said hurriedly.
"Okay, that's all good, but how do we know who is the enemy, and who to defend?" Harry asked.
"I know some Slytherins I'm sure would be on our side of the battle. Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini, Rachel Wilson and Melvin McKee. Help anyone fighting with them, attack anyone fighting against them. For sure Boyle, Montague, Scalby, and Vaisey. Anyone fighting with those boys, attack them," Susan replied.
"Right, doesn't sound great, but it's the best we have. If you are unsure of someone, stun them, we'll ask one of the people in the first set of names Susan mentioned who they were fighting with," Harry decided. "Let's also disillusion ourselves…otherwise we might be hit by friendly fire in close quarters."
"Ready?" he asked. Receiving no objections, he blasted the Slytherin common room entrance open, and the DA filtered in to join the battle.
-OOO-
Daphne had just noticed Montague badly outmatching her sister when the entrance to the common room was blown open and what she assumed to be Dumbledore's Army came in, led by none other than Harry Potter.
"Oh lord," she thought, "will we also have to fight them as well. He promised us peace." As she turned her attention back at the battlefield and to where her sister was struggling, she trained her wand on Montague, a curse on her lips.
Before she could hex him though, she saw him being flung backwards by a powerful banishing charm. He recovered quickly though and flung another few curses at Potter and her sister.
Daphne had gotten too distracted though, and barely realized in time to dodge a cutting curse flung at her by Adrian Rosier. Turning back at her aggressor, she fired a Bombarda back at him, forcing Rosier to shield, before having to raise her own shield against his entrails-expelling curse.
As she returned his fire with a strong Expulso, Susan Bones appeared beside her, joining her in dueling the 6th year. She was impressed with the skill Susan possessed as they pushed the Slytherin back until they were able to disarm and stun him. Looking around, Daphne saw that similar scenes were taking place throughout the room, as the tides turned heavily in favor of Daphne's supporters as a fresh fighting force of 20 skilled students arrived to help them out.
Scalby and Montague had banded together, and were fighting Potter and Granger. If Susan was a good dueler, Potter and Granger were dueling masters. The two worked in unison, alternating between going offensive and defensive, all the while using a large spell arsenal and pushing the two older Slytherins back. Daphne rushed to join them, and together, the three of them were able to overpower the brutes.
When the three of them looked up from their duel, it was to see an absolute mess. All the furniture in the common room was in pieces, while the Slytherins who supported Umbridge supporters were lying stunned and bound throughout the room. With the help of the DA, Daphne's supporters had won the Slytherin civil war.
Thanks to Randver for giving me the idea to write about what happened to the Slytherins!
As always, let me know what you thought, I hope to get the next chapter up next Sunday!
*7 DA members were left in the Great Hall, 20 went to the Slytherin common room. It's 27 and not 28 because I didn't involve Marietta.
