Shadow: *Collapses into a fit of happy giggles*

Brittany: *Comes in with a Popsicle* What's her problem?

Amber: She's rather giddy at the moment...

Brittany: I figured that. Why?

Amber: The guy she's been crushing on finally let her know that he likes her.

Brittany: That's sweet, but I didn't know Shadow was the romantic type.

Amber: She's a Closet Romantic.

Brittany: Well, you do the disclaimer, I'm eating :)

Amber: Shadow doesn't own Harry Potter, just me, Brittany, and Pippin.

Chapter 10: Change Before the Hearing

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. ~Victor Frankl

Arthur closed the door and the girls walked a little ways away. They sat down on a small bench on the sidewalk. Brittany leaned back, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes. She started thinking about her family, wondering if they were worried about her. But the more she tried to think about them, the farther they seemed to be from her memories. Amber poked her in the side to get her attention. Brittany opened one eye, and gave her a sidelong glance.

"Whatcha thinking about?" She asked.

"Back home." Brittany replied. "The only problem is, I can't seem to remember them. The more I try to, the harder it gets."

"What do you mean?" Amber questioned. "I can remember everything… just… fine."

She faltered, and furrowed her eyebrows. Brittany gave her a "See, I told you." look.

"Why can't we remember our families, or lives back in the muggle world?" Amber asked.

"Could it be because of us falling through another dimension?" Brittany replied. "Trans-dimensional amnesia?"

"That just sounds like you pulled it from a crappy sci-fi show." Amber told her.

"You pain me, dearest sister of mine." Brittany said, holding a hand over her heart.

"Oh shush, you." Amber rolled her eyes. "But seriously, why can't we remember our past life? Do you think it'll be permanently and completely forgotten?"

"I dunno." Brittany frowned.

"What are a pair of lovely ladies like yourselves doing in a place like this?" Asked a new voice.

The girls looked up to see a man in front of them. He was obviously drunk, even though it was only around seven in the morning. Amber and Brittany glanced at each other and rolled their eyes.

"We are waiting to use the phone." Amber replied. "We were just about to, as the person inside it has left."

"Now, you don't want to use that phone." The man replied. "It's been out of order for a while."

"It worked just fine for the gentleman who used it before us." Amber told him, standing up. "So I believe we shall be fine. Thank you for your concern."

She went to move past him, but the man reached into his coat pocket and brought out a long stick. The girls recognized it immediately as a wand. Brittany sighed in annoyance, they had to be the ones to find the only wizard in an area that was 99% muggles. The man pointed his wand at Brittany, and she held her hands up.

"If you don't want to see your friend splattered across the wall, I think you'll do as I say." He grinned maliciously, not drunk now.

Amber narrowed her eyes in anger. Brittany scooted back on the bench in shock. Her friends eyes went from a chocolate brown, to a bright violet colour. She pulled her arm back and punched the man in the jaw. He was sent flying back a good distance. The force of the blow caused him to drop his wand at Amber's feet. She bent over and picked it up, and pointed it back at the man.

"No one threatens my sister." Amber said angrily, then she waved the wand. "Serpensortia!"

A large king cobra shot out of the tip of the wand. It hissed, unfurling its hood. The man stood up and walked backwards. Amber started speaking in hisses, which Brittany recognized as Parseltongue. She stared at her friend with wide eyes, unable to do much more then sit in shock at what was happening. The snake slithered toward the man and bared its fangs at him.

"Leave." Amber ordered.

The man did as he was told immediately. Amber flicked the wand, and the snake disappeared. Her eyes returned to normal, and she turned to Brittany.

"What?" Amber asked.

"Your eyes turned violet, you did magic, and spoke in Parseltongue." Brittany replied, with eyes still wide.

"What are you talking about?" Amber questioned. "Yeah I brought a snake from the wand, but we're in the wizarding world, I would expect us to have some kind of abilities. But Parseltongue? Really? That's nearly impossible."

"But it happened!" Brittany insisted.

"Well, while we're on the topic." Amber said. "For the past few mornings, and when the pervert was hitting on you in the store, your eyes turned golden."

"Really?" Brittany asked. "Wicked!"

"You're a strange child." Amber grinned. "But I want to know what's happening to us."

"I bet Q's having the time of his life with this." Brittany offered.

"Star Trek reference is a win." Amber laughed.

"I knew you would enjoy it." Brittany grinned back. "I suppose we ought to go to the Ministry now. We'll have to speak with Dumbledore when the hearing is over"

Amber nodded, and the pair walked over to the phone and stepped in. Amber pulled out the receiver and looked at the dial pad. She typed in 62442 and waited for the dial to stop whirring. A voice came from the telephone box. It was loud, like someone was standing right there next to them.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic." The voice said. "Please state your name and business."

"Professors Amber Harte and Brittany Taylor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, here to oversee the disciplinary hearing of Harry Potter." Amber replied.

"Thank you." The voice said. "Visitors please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."

After a click and a rattle, two tags came from the coin return slot. Each one read the girl's name and said Disciplinary Hearing Overseer. The voice came back after the girls took their tags.

"Visitors are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the end of the atrium." It told them.

The floor rattled, and then began sinking into the ground. Amber and Brittany waited as it went lower and lower. After about a minute they arrived in the building.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you have a pleasant day." Said the voice as the doors opened.

The girls stepped out of the box and looked around. They were in a long hallway, with darkly polished wood floors. It looked almost identical to the one in the movies, but was even more spectacular in real life. Arthur and Harry were waiting near the fountain halfway down the hall. Arthur beckoned the girls over, and they obeyed.

"What took you two so long?" He asked.

"Oh… we ran into a drunk muggle." Brittany explained. "Nothing to worry about."

"Well as long as everything is alright, let us be on our way." Arthur replied.

They headed to a desk, away from the stream of employees. A sign near it read "Security". A wizard in blue robes looked up as they approached. He put down the copy of The Daily Prophet that he was reading.

"I am escorting a visitor." Arthur said, gesturing towards Harry.

"And the other two?" The guard asked.

"We are Hogwarts Professors, here to oversee the trial and give a report." Brittany spoke up.

The guard looked at their tags, then shrugged. He turned back to Harry.

"Step over here." He said, in a bored voice.

Harry did so and the guard wanded him with a long, thin, golden rod that looked like a car aerial. Then the guard had Harry hand over his wand. After a few minutes he gave it back and let the group pass. The four walked back to the stream of wizards and witches. They passed through the golden gates, and into a smaller hall beyond them. They made their way to a group of around twenty lifts. After a little bit of jostling, they made it into one and started ascending. Amber and Brittany were squished in the back near Harry. They didn't pay much mind to the levels, until they reached the fourth one.

"Level four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and Pest Advisory Bureau." The female voice of the lift said.

"S'cuse me." Said the wizard with the fire-breathing chicken.

He stepped out and the girls followed him.

"Where are you two going?" Arthur asked.

"We have to visit someone," Amber told him. "But we'll be at the hearing, don't worry."

"Be careful, don't get into trouble." Arthur hissed as the gates clanged shut.

The girls glanced at each other and giggled madly. Arm in arm, they strode down the corridors until they reached Umbridge's office. Amber knocked on the door as Brittany braced herself for the best performance of her life. After a few seconds the door opened and looking up at them was the Toad Queen herself, she looked like she was getting ready for the hearing. It took everything Brittany had not to punch her in the face, but much to her dismay she couldn't recall why she hated the woman.

"Please excuse our interruption." Amber said with a sweet smile. "Are you Madam Umbridge?"

"I am, I am also in a hurry so if you could make it quick." She said briskly.

"We are very sorry, ma'am." Brittany commented, looking slightly downcast. "We understand you are going to that Potter boy's hearing soon. That's why we are here."

"If you're here to tell me he's innocent then the pair of you can forget…" Umbridge began.

"Oh no, that's not it at all ma'am." Amber said quickly. "We know that he's guilty. Honestly, a fifteen year old boy using a silly spell outside of school to stop "Dementors"?"

"Especially Dementors in a place like that?" Brittany added. "It's preposterous."

"I'm glad to see the youth of today still has some common sense." Umbridge smiled, making her face even uglier. "Now, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"We are new assistant teachers at Hogwarts this year," Brittany replied. "And Professor Dumbledore asked us to come and watch the hearing as our first task as teachers. I'm not sure why, he ought to know his precious student is about to be punished for his insolence against the Ministry that has been so wonderfully lenient with him."

"I suppose I could bring you with me, I'm heading to the boy's hearing right now." Umbridge thought out loud. "Yes, follow me please ladies."

She walked between the girls, and quickly down the hall. Amber and Brittany jogged to catch up with her. For a short, and rather round woman, she moved quickly. The girls glanced at each other. They could tell the other was struggling not to strangle her right there. The walk was quiet for a while, until Umbridge spoke up finally.

"You two are assistant teachers, you said?" She asked.

"Yes Ma'am." Amber replied. "I'll be helping Professor Snape in Potions, and Brittany will be helping whoever the new DADA teacher will be."

"You'll be my assistant then, as Cornelius asked me to teach Defense." Umbridge replied with a smirk.

"Oh, that is absolutely wonderful news!" Brittany smiled, resisting the urge to gag. "I cannot wait to help such an accomplished woman, I hope I'll be able to learn a lot from you, and not let you down."

"I'm sure you're not that slow." Umbridge said. "You'll do alright."

"You are too kind, ma'am." Brittany giggled, though her eyes turned golden in anger.

Amber squeezed her friend's arm, and shook her head marginally. Brittany nodded, and breathed in deeply. Her eyes returned to their normal blue. Stepping into one of the lifts, the gates closed and they descended to the Hearing.

A/N: I haven't stopped giggling for two days. Every time my parents see me, they ask "What did the boy do this time?" And it's so annoying that I can't tell them because he want's to surprise them when he asks if he can date me. So I just tell them that he's being his amazing self again, and then they roll their eyes and walk away. I think the little things he does are just so sweet :) Anyway, enough of my silly life, hope you all enjoyed the chapter :)