Hello again, Potterheads! I'm back, and I still don't have that laptop... Ugh. So, before anyone comments anything, I know that this chapter takes things a little bit quickly. But, there are still a few things to adress with her story, so it won't be too much like the movies.
Lani walked down to the Common Room, seeing Harry and Neville talking, both of them also having a free period.
She sat down across the room, knowing that Neville would leave if he knew she was there. She pulled out her phone, which was enchanted to work beyond any and all magical ward and put her earbuds in, putting her music on shuffle.
She bobbed her head up and down, tapping her foot as she listened. Music had always been her way to escape back in the States.
She noticed Harry looking at her amusedly and Neville pointedly avoiding looking at her. She smiled at him and pulled her earbuds out.
"Hey, Harry. Hello, Neville." The latter didn't respond, making Lani sigh.
She gave Harry a look and he nodded. "I'll be right back, Neville, I'm going to to grab my Potions homework."
The boy nodded, still not looking at Lani. She frowned and took Harry's seat.
She opened her mouth, but hesitated; what would she say? What could she say? Then she got an idea.
She reached for her necklace and took a deep breath, catching his attention. She pulled the chain over her head and closed her eyes, hearing him take a sharp breath.
"Wha... What happened to you?" he asked bewilderedly.
She opened her eyes and expected to see disgust on his face, which was there. The strange thing was it was mixed with concern; actual, raw concern. "My parents knew ways to torture other than the Cruciatus."
She put the necklace back on, watching a particularly nasty scar along her palm disappear. He was looking at her confusedly. "I was a constant reminder to my parents of their worst moments in front of You-Know-Who. I was born at the end of July, and there was a prophecy about a child born then that he didn't particularly fancy. He nearly killed me, but my mother convinced him to spare me. She often hit me as a baby, and I only remember those beatings because of dreams. My father wasn't caught until long after my mother, so he could still beat me for years. He often said he wished for a son, wished my mother hadn't pleaded for my life."
Neville shook his head. "Why?"
"I was their one weakness. The reason the Dark Lord was often angry at them."
"That's not what I meant. Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want you to know you don't need to avoid me. I'm sorry for what they did to your parents," he winced, "but I hate them, too." She looked at her hands, folded in her lap. "I understand if you still want to avoid me, but I just wanted to tell you you don't have to."
She stood and walked to the portrait hole, before feeling a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, Atalanta."
"Lani. And you're welcome, Neville."
"Nev."
She smiled and nodded before turning and heading down the staircase. Now that that was out of the way, she needed to find that Luna girl...
She found herself walking into the library, remembering that Ravenclaws were the studious house. She saw the person she was looking for in a corner, reading.
"Hey, Luna." The blonde looked up at her dreamily.
"Hello," she said. "Lovely morning, isn't it?"
Lani smiled at her and nodded. "It is. Want to come with me go the owlery? I have a letter to send to America."
Luna smiled but shook her head. "I can't, the thestrals will be expecting me."
Lani tilted her head. "Thestrals?"
"The black horse creatures from a couple days ago. They can only be seen by someone who's seen death. How can you see them, then?"
Lani frowned. "An old friend of mine took an overdose of Sleeping Drought. I called a hospital, but it was too late to save her. I'd barely said goodbye before she flat-lined."
Luna smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry for that. My mum liked to invent spells and potions-she was an extraordinary alchemist and, overall, a fantastic witch-but a spell of hers went horribly wrong when I was nine."
"Oh, that's horrible. I'm so sorry, Luna."
She nodded. "It does upset me from time to time, but I have Dad."
Lani smiled and said, "That's good. I had a teacher who was like a mother to me, and we still write as often as possible. My real parents were... Well, you know who and what they were."
Luna nodded. "Bellatrix and Rodolphus LeStrange, You-Know-Who's best and worst Death Eaters."
"Yeah... Well, I've got to go, I'll see you around, Luna."
Luna nodded, returning to her book.
Lani walked to the owlery and stroked Athena's feathers before giving her the letter. As the owl flew off, Lani turned started to leave, nearly bumping into Theodore Nott in the process.
"Oh! Sorry, Theo, I didn't see you there."
"It's alright. I was just mailing a letter to my dad, he moved the Marking to the holidays."
Lani's eyes widened. "What?! Hermione and I've not even started tryimg to find a solution yet! You have to stall him!"
"There's no way out of this, Lan. I'll be fine." He smiled, grabbing her hand and squeezing it lightly. "You'll see. This won't be a problem." He released her hand and walked inside, approaching a black eagle owl.
She frowned and retreated fro the tower, heading back to the library before Arithmancy. 'I'll figure something out, Theo. Don't worry," she thought.
She refused to acknowledge that, of the two of them, she seemed to be the only worried one.
-Line Break-
Lani huffed as she slammed her book bag onto her desk, startling Hermione. "Theo's marking was moved to the holidays, and there's nothing in the library so far."
Hermione frowned. "We'll find something, Lani."
"Hermione, I don't think he wants us to do anything."
"What? He made it clear-"
"I know, but..."
"We should keep an eye on him, along with Tracey and Daphne."
-Line Break-
Hermione rolled her eyes and asked Ron, "Do you ever stop eating?"
"Wha'? I'm 'ungry!" he said with his mouth full.
Lani snorted and shared a look with Ginny before Harry approached.
"Harry," Hermione greeted awkwardly.
"Can I join you?" he asked, making Lani frown.
"You don't have to ask to-"
"... Professor, but what exactly are you insinuating?" came Dumbridge's voice from the corridors.
Lani stood and went out there, along with half of the students.
"I am merely requesting that, when it comes to my students, you conform to prescribed disciplinary practices." McGongall threw back at her.
"So silly of me, but it sounds that you're questioning my authority in my own classroom, Minerva," taking a step up to meet McGonagall's height and saying 'Minerva' like it was a disease.
"Not at all, Delores," she bit back. "Merely your Medieval methods."
"Why-! I am sorry, my dear, but to question my practices is to question the Ministry and, by extension, the Minister himself. I am a tolerant woman [Atalanta rolled her eyes at this.], but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty."
McGonagall took a step down, shaking her head in disbelief. "'Disloyalty.'"
The toad took a step up and spoke, addressing all the students and staff present. "Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I'd feared. Cornelius will want to take immediate action."
The nest thing anyone knew, Filch was nailing up a board that read,
"Educational Decree No. 23
Delores Jane Umbridge has been appointed to the post of Hogwarts High Inquisitor."
-Line Break-
It had been weeks since then, and Umbridge had been doing evaluations on each of the teachers. McGonagall's had been funny, as Umbridge kept interrupting her, which irritated her immensely.
"I wonder," she had said, "how you expect to gain an idea of my teaching methods if you continue to interrupt me? You see, I do not generally permit people to talk when I am talking." Lani had shared a look with Harry and snickered.
Suddenly, students started flooding into the courtyard, and Harry caught up with Luna, Lani right behind him. "Luna, what's going on?"
"I believe Umbridge is getting rid of Professor Trelawney."
Lani looked out and her heart broke slightly for the poor teacher. She had sat down on her luggage as Filch brought out another bag.
Ron, who had appeared next to Harry, scoffed. "Serves the old faker right."
Hermione slapped him upside the head, saying, "That's not very polite, Ron."
Umbridge walked out, looking smug as ever. Trelawney stood again and stumbled weakly, tripping over one of her bags. She looked powerless to stop this, and she was.
Her shaking voice could be heard saying, "Six-" her voice broke. "Sixteen years I've lived and taught here. Hogwarts is my home." Tears started leaking from her eyes. "You can't do this."
Umbridge held up a paper, likely her High Inquisitor form. "Actually, I can."
McGonagall rushed forward and pulled Trelawney into an embrace.
Umbridge looked at her cockily. "Something you'd like to say, dear?"
"Oh, there are several things I would like to say!"
The doors to the school opened and Lani grinned when the Headmaster walked out. "Professor McGonagall," he said, "might I ask you to escort Sybil back inside?"
Trelawney smiled at him, still sobbing as McGonagall led her back in. "Thank you, Dumbledore," she sobbed.
"Dumbledore, may I remind you that, under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Three, as enacted by the Minister-"
"You have the right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to banish them from the grounds. That power remains with the Headmaster."
"...For now."
Dumbledore looked around and said, "Don't you all have studying to do?"
Students disbanded as Harry chased after the Headmaster.
-Line Break-
"That foul, evil old gargoyle," Hermione growled. "We're not learning how to defend ourselves, we're not learning how to pass our OWLs. She's taking over the entire school."
Harry turned up the radio as something about 'disappearances' tying together with 'notorious mass-murderer, Sirius Black' was said.
Lani looked out the window. "He really is out there, isn't he?" she asked rhetorically. "We've got to be able to defend ourselves. And if Umbridge won't do it, we need someone who will."
The three of them turned to look at Harry before Ron and Hermione also looked at Lani, making her shake her head and say, "Not me. I can't teach for crap."
"And everyone thinks I'm a nutter. No one will want to learn from me."
"Atalanta knows the most about these spells, and Harry has the most real-world experience with it."
Lani shared a look with Harry and grimaced. "She has a point, Harry. We're the most qualified to do it."
He thought for a few moments before sighing and nodding. "Alright, we can try it. But we only tell people we trust and tell them to do the same."
They nodded and went up to their dorms, all of them falling asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.
Like I said earlier, I know things (with Neville and Luna and Theodore) went really quickly, but I still have a couole things (Bellatrix, Draco and Felicia, DADA, Tracey and Daphne) before it becomes too much like the movies, with a little book finesse added in.
Anyway, I hope this was a satifdying chapter. See ya later!
~Ravenclaw'sHeir