9
Sarah POV
"I am. I live with my mum's sister and her husband. They're Muggles." Harry explained, and I didn't push the point further. But to my surprise, the rest of lunch fell back into easy chatter. Hermione and I were ridiculously alike, and even though I knew that the conversations with me were careful, the boys were very nice too. I could tell that they were holding back information, but that didn't bother me, we barely new each other anyway. Halfway through lunch, they settled into a discussion, and out of things to do, I borrowed the Daily Prophet from Neville. I had been wary of the Prophet, they had become increasingly biased- and their news quality had really dropped. The first few pages were rather plain, not much news. But then I found an article hidden almost in the back of the newspaper, but it had the whole page.
MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM
DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST-EVER 'HIGH INQUISITOR'
I heard myself gasp, flattening the paper, trying to ignore a rather large and ugly picture of Umbridge to get to the text. "What's up?" Hermione asked, peeking over my shoulder and stiffening with dislike.
"In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time,' said Junior Assistant to the Minister, Percy Weasley." I read, then paused. "Isn't that your brother?" I asked Ron, who seized the paper, then took up reading in a disgusted voice.
"He is now responding to concerns voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve.' 'This is not the first time in recent weeks Fudge has used new laws to effect improvements at the Wizarding School. As recently as August 30th, Educational Decree No. 22 was passed, to ensure that, in the event of the current headmaster being unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry should select an appropriate person.'" With a snort, Ron threw down the paper, only for Hermione to snatch it, her face anxious as she read out loud further.
"That's how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed to the teaching staff at Hogwarts,' said Weasley last night. 'Dumbledore couldn't find anyone, so the Minister put in Umbridge and of course, she's been an immediate success-" "She's been a WHAT?" Harry interrupted loudly, but Hermione continued, "-an immediate success, totally revolutionizing the teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts.'
"Oh, Merlin," I groaned, twisting a braid nervously, reading past Hermione towards the bottom. "It says that she can inspect other teachers and boot them if she wants!" Hermione scanned down and read the rest of the article.
"That's outrageous." Hermione and I said at the same time, making Ron snigger, then laugh harder.
"Can you imagine it when she interviews McGonagall?" He sniggered harder, but Hermione was already standing up, giving the paper back to Neville and sliding her bag over her shoulder.
"Come on, let's see if she's in History of Magic. I can't believe I didn't know about this earlier, I'll have to start getting the Prophet…" she trailed off, nearly dragging us to History of Magic, but Umbridge wasn't there. Bored during the lesson, I glanced down at my hand, where the perfect cursive scars were starting to fade. I traced it with my fingertip with a frown. If Umbridge was getting more power, I had a nasty feeling that I might just be getting more detentions…
That night, while the three made it clear that they needed a private conversation, (something about a dog named Snuffles) I sat in a lone armchair by the fire and started the letter back to my parents.
Dear Mother, Dear Father,
I apologize for the delay in my letter. The curriculum this year has transcended that of last years, and I've been working harder to stay ahead. I also offer my deepest apologies for the two detentions. Although Luke and Danielle were not the cause of them, I recently broke my friendship with them over very racist and crude remarks they made. These came as a surprise, for they had never acted that way before. The detentions themselves were over a dispute with another student, one who is very brainy and surprisingly classy. Under further negotiations, we resolved our issues, and now discuss curriculum quite often. Once again, I express regret for my foolhardiness, and hope that I can make it up to you. Thank you for enrolling me in dueling classes once again, I feel as if they will come in handy someday. Some careers in the wizarding world require excellent dueling skills. Thank you for your letters, and I'll write soon.
Sincerely,
Sarah
Frowning, I folded up the letter, tucking it into my robes with a sigh. It was pretty easy to lie to my parents and write them like that, and they always accepted it as truth. But that didn't mean that I wasn't anymore ashamed to have to do it. Bitter and annoyed now, I went to sneak to the Owlery to get rid of the bloody letter, but Hermione caught my eye and motioned me over. "Tomorrow," she said, and after a second, I understood what she was implying.
"Hog's Head then?" I asked easily, sitting on the arm of a chair, and she nodded. I tried to forget my troubles and act like nothing was wrong, but it was difficult. "How many people are you telling?" I asked, taking a quick look around and lowering my voice. There were only two people left in the Common Room besides us, and they were on the other side of the room, but I couldn't be too careful.
"Just people we know won't tell before the paper is signed. Like-" Harry stopped talking and paled slightly, squinting at the fire. Curious, I turned to look, but there wasn't anything there.
"Feeling ok, mate?" Ron asked, and Harry shrugged.
"Nothing. I just thought I saw something in the fire." Harry said, and I saw Hermione make almost a nervous twitch towards it, as if she thought Harry meant something else.
"Your eyes are probably tired, Harry." She said after a minute. I slid sideways into the chair, resting over the arms, and Ron fidgeted. For the next few minutes, I noticed them all looking nervously at each other, then at the fire. My irritation at my parents got the better of me, and I decided to break the silence.
"Ok, what's going on with you three?" I said briskly, whisking my legs around to sit up straight, leaning over slightly. All of them looked slightly taken aback. "You're as twitchy as Malfoy when he was a ferret."
"Really, it's nothing." Hermione said rather quickly, shooting a nervous look at the fire. I frowned. Usually the boys bashed Malfoy whenever they could, and they didn't even laugh as I brought up Malfoy's 'ferret-ness' again.
"Ok." I said slowly, then stood up. Whatever was bugging them I'd have to let lie. I was in such a bad mood, and I didn't want to snap at them, especially because of how nice they were being to me. "Then I'm going to the Owlery."
"This late?" Hermione asked confused, looking quickly around the Common Room. Most people had left, only the two girls were sitting in a far off corner, giggling madly with each other. I shrugged, frowning.
"I have to get back to my parents or they'd probably show up here, you know how they are." I said slight bitterness, turning to go, but stopped up short. In the fire, I swear to Merlin I saw a head. The only problem was that it looked just like Sirius Black. In fact, it was Sirius Black. He quickly vanished when our eyes met. "Merlin," I whispered, taking a step back.
"Are you ok?" Hermione asked, followed my gaze, then seemed to lose all color in her face.
"I-I think I just saw-" I started, then yelped slightly when she yanked me back over to where they boys were sitting.
"Sarah, listen to me. You can't tell anyone what you saw." Hermione said in a fierce whisper. I blinked, confused.
"Hermione, I just saw a murderer in that fire. I don't know what you saw, but-"
"I saw the same thing. But you can't tell anyone." She kept whispering.
"Hey, are you two fighting? Three Galleons on Granger!" Said one of the girls gleefully from across the room.
"Hey, nimrods. Why don't you go giggle about your pathetic little lives in the dormitories with the rest of your second year friends and sod off." I snapped. The girls gasped at the same time, offended, but left, shooting me dark looks. "Now, Hermione, what the hell are you talking about?" I demanded, and she bit her lip nervously.
"Sirius Black is innocent." Harry spoke up, standing up too. "He's also my godfather." He threw Hermione an angry look as he said it.
"What's your proof that he's innocent?" I asked after a moment, all too aware that Hermione hadn't let go of my arm. I thought fast. Was this some sort of joke? The last time someone shocked me like this, I found out that my ex-best friends were losers.
"Third year. Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus, and he was posing as Scabbers. He was only here to get to Harry. Sirius saw him in a newspaper clipping in Azkaban and escaped to stop him. Pettigrew escaped, but so did Sirius. You have to believe us." Hermione pleaded. I blinked, and it took me a minute to process what she'd said.
"How could he tell that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew from a newspaper clipping?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and low. If I looked at their argument logically…
"Scabbers was missing a toe, and all they 'found' of Pettigrew was a finger. He cut it off to fake his own death." Harry said, shooting another furious look at Hermione.
"He also was the one to sell Harry's parents to You Know Who." Hermione said quietly, and Harry scowled deeper at her. I froze- this was something private, and much deeper and more important than me. I was about to ask another question when I suddenly remembered something that had happened to me a long time ago. If I tried to fit it into their story, surprisingly, it made sense.
"I think I believe you," I said slowly, thinking back to third year as the memory that didn't quite make sense hit me. Hermione's cat had done something very strange…
"You do?" Ron asked, his voice full of disbelief.
