Hey! So, a review pointed out that this story starts very similarly to another one- Harry Potter and the Hunters of the Dark Arts by D.K. Dracona. I have read it and I'm aware of that and have gone out of my way to try and make my story as different as I can from that one, but I couldn't find a better way to set up the start than with the Starks.

So, a guest asked two questions:

1) Will you bring people back to life?
2) Will time travel be involved?

No, I won't be bringing anyone canonically dead so far back to life, although characters that haven't died yet may survive in this story (Meg, for example), and I'm not planning on including time travel but you never know.

Also, ten chapters already! Wow! I kinda can't believe the amount of support this story has gotten, so thank you all very very much!

Anyways! On with the story!

~o~

"But why would anyone want to banish an angel?" Hermione asked as Ron led them through the halls to where he'd seen the sigil from the book. "It doesn't make sense."

Hermione hated when things didn't make sense.

Ron took a sharp left turn and came to a stop in front of a fading painting of an old witch in a rocking chair. It was slightly crooked, and a reddish-brown line peeked out past the frame. He propped it up, ignoring a weak protest of 'oh, not again' from the subject of the painting, revealing the same circular pattern they'd seen in the pages of the book.

Harry blinked, reached out, and touched the jagged lines. The rusty brown paint flaked off on his fingers and then he made a rather undignified noise and frantically brushed his hand off on his robes. "Is that blood?"

"Oh, bloody hell," Ron breathed.

~o~

That night, there was someone new at supper. A short, squat toad of a woman dressed all in obnoxiously bright pink sitting at Dumbledore's right hand, where McGonagall usually sat. Neither McGonagall nor Dumbledore looked particularly happy about this. For all her cheery bright colors, the woman's eyes were startlingly harsh and cold, and when they landed on Harry he shuddered.

Before the meal began, Dumbledore stood up and introduced the woman. "Students, before we begin, I'd like you to please welcome Dolores Umbridge, our new representative from the Ministry of Magic-"

"Hogwarts High Inquisitor," the woman corrected, her tones crisp and clipped. "I've been sent to investigate some... disturbing rumors circulating lately and ensure you children are receiving the best education possible."

She sent a dirty look at the Winchester brothers. Sam was ignoring her- Dean gave her a shit-eating grin and a wink, which made her face turn approximately as pink as her clothes. Harry was secretly hoping she'd pop a blood vessel- he already hated her. He didn't doubt one of the 'disturbing rumors' she'd been sent to quell was Voldemort's rising.

Sure enough, she continued to speak for almost half an hour as the food got cold and students (and teachers) sent it longing looks, as they couldn't eat until she was done talking.

(Several Gryffindors, notably Fred and George, decided to override this commandment in favor of their growling stomachs and eat under the table.)

She talked about the lowered hiring standards at Hogwarts (here she sent another nasty glare at the Winchesters, who didn't even seem to notice, as though they'd been stared down by much scarier things than a toad in pink), about several... changes that were going to be made (no more 'frivolous' extracurricular activities, for one) and, finally...

"You have been informed that a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."

Harry desperately wanted to stand up and shout that it was true, that Voldemort was back, but Ron and Hermione's restraining hands on his arms held him back and he had to just settle for glaring daggers at her and her smug smile, like the cat that ate the canary, and wishing looks could kill.

~o~

"I bet she's a demon," Dean said.

"She's not a demon," Sam replied without looking up.

"Have you ever met a person that nasty before? No way, she's possessed," Dean objected, then paused to answer his own question. "Well, there was that waitress-"

Sam clapped his hands to his ears in protest. "Dude. No. I don't want to hear about your sexcapades."

"I'm just saying. If she could be possessed, so could Strawberry Shortcake's ugly grandma out there. Besides," he added with a grin, "you know all about your hookups being possessed, don't you?"

Sam blushed. "Shut up. I wasn't thinking straight. You were dead."

(There was a small surprised squeak from outside of the door. Neither of the brothers noticed.)

"And anyways," Sam continued, "if she was a demon- which she's not- she would have gotten stuck under the devil's trap we put in the entry hall."

"Meg got out of a devil's trap when she was possessing you," Dean pointed out, and Sam winced.

"I'd rather not talk about that ever again."

Neither of them noticed the Extendable Ear trailing under the door.

~o~

"Maybe they're dark wizards," Ron suggested once they had all reconvened in the Gryffindor common room around the fire. Their homework was piled around them (Hermione, being Hermione, was still working on a lengthy Arithmancy essay even while holding a conversation with them) and Ron was shredding the latest Daily Prophet into the flames. "Doing dark blood magic and keeping angels away."

"They're Muggles," Hermione reminded him, sounding irritated like she always did when the facts didn't add up. "They said so themselves, and S-Padfoot confirmed it, didn't he? And anyways, Dumbledore wouldn't hire dark wizards."

There was a lull in the conversation during which Harry was fairly certain they were all thinking of Quirrel and Mad-Eye (or his imposter, at least) and possibly Snape, too.

"Dumbledore wouldn't hire dark wizards on purpose," Hermione amended, sounding a bit less sure of herself.

"Well, maybe he doesn't know," Ron challenged, warming to the idea. "Why else would they be talking about possession and demons and all that? They said Professor Winchester... um, the short one, his brother said he died."

"Impossible," Hermione immediately objected. "There's no currently known spell that can restore the dead to life. And demons aren't real."

"Maybe there is," Ron argued, "And we just don't know about it 'cause it's dark magic."

"No, I mean it's really not possible. It would take more magic than the human body can hold. The energy transfer alone would-"

Harry and Ron both tuned out the ensuing lecture and shared a worried look, before their attention was caught by an owl flapping at the window. Harry squinted. "Is that Hermes?"

"Yeah, but why would Percy be writing?" Ron wondered aloud, already easing the window open to allow the bird in, where it settled on his shoulder and promptly began to preen its feathers, sticking out a leg with a sheaf of paper tied to it. He carefully undid the knots and the owl took off through the window again the moment it was relieved of its burden. He unrolled the paper and Harry watched over his shoulder as he read it. Hermione, having at some point realized they were no longer listening to her, moved over to them and skimmed the writing too.

It wasn't too long before Ron started making noises of disgust at Percy's shameless pushing of the Ministry's propaganda and disapproval of their family. Harry just glanced away from the words, feeling a pang in his heart. Hermione pressed her lips together tightly and frowned.

'Seriously, Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the same brush as Potter.'

'It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter- I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent.'

Harry, his voice trembling slightly, tried to act like he thought the letter was a joke (even though they all knew it wasn't and that made it much worse), but before he could even say anything else Ron was already ripping the letter to shreds and tossing it into the fire, his face contorted in anger.

"He is - the world's - biggest - git!"

~o~

I didn't want to quote the full text of the letter, since it's in the book anyways, but you can read it here with the first two sets of parentheses removed: wiki/Percy_Weasley%27s_letter_to_Ronald_Weasley_(1995)_II