Okay, so, this wasn't a chapter I had written, nor was I planning to write it, but anthony111 asked if I would do a chapter with the others reacting to Umbridge, and i was inspired to write this immediately.
Can you even call this a class?
Lilli quickly decided that Umbridge was the most boring teacher at the school. Even more so than Professor Binns.
At least Professor Binns actually taught. Umbridge merely told them to read a passage and did who knows what while they read. This was only the first class, though, so things would get better, right?
Right?
Lilli was a fast reader, so she finished early. When she asked Umbridge what she was to do, she was told to "simply read it again".
So read it again she did. Lilli looked for anything in the passages that she could have missed the first time, but she couldn't find anything.
There was no point in bothering the teacher again. She would just tell Lilli to read more thoroughly. Lilli had more than a few questions.
How were they supposed to learn from just reading?
Why was a teacher so opposed to teaching?
Why wasn't anything else planned for this class?
Pondering these questions was actually more entertaining than rereading the same thing over and over again. Go figure.
Lilli was bored, so she decided to take out a quill and parchment. Unfortunately, Umbridge saw this.
"What are you doing, Miss...?"
"Zwingli, Professor. I wanted to take notes on the chapter."
Umbridge nodded, she seemed impressed. Lilli had no intentions of writing notes, she wanted to draw. Careful to not make long strokes with the quill lest Umbridge realised she was not, in fact, taking notes, she started drawing the owls that brought her here.
-Linebreak-
Ludwig wasn't one to start trouble. He didn't want to say anything when Professor Umbridge assigned a small chapter from their books to read during the entire class period.
He didn't want to badmouth anyone, but he had to say that this was possibly the most boring class Ludwig had ever attended. After reading the chapter three times and jotting notes down on a piece of parchment, he was perplexed.
What was he supposed to do now? Looking over to Lilli, he saw her intricate drawings. Ludwig did not enjoy drawing or writing. He did enjoy reading. Would it be alright to read ahead? He raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr...?"
"Beilschmidt, I was wondering if I could read ahead, onto further chapters?"
She was taken aback, "I, why, yes, I suppose so."
"Thank you, Professor."
He turned to the next page and started reading. This chapter was not anymore interesting than the last one. He didn't understand.
Was this England's idea of a defense class?
-Linebreak-
Roderich didn't hate people very often. He found that it required way too much energy to hate someone, or even something.
He would rather put effort into hating Umbridge's class than put effort into reading the assigned chapter. It was just too bland, too boring, it was almost meaningless.
If they spent this class time actually learning, imagine the progress they would make! Instead, they were sat at desks and hunched over thick books.
Roderich almost wanted to ask if there was anything else he could do. Though, it was likely to get him in trouble, which he definitely didn't want to do.
Roderich spent most of the class time staring at his book. He wasn't reading it, nor was he seeing the words in front of him. He was composing a song in his head about how much he loathed this class.
Most of the piece was composed of violent key smashing.
-Linebreak-
Basch usually had something meaningful planned for every part of each day. Even the smallest things had purpose. Rearranging books make them easier to find, writing things down makes them easier to memorize, sorting things makes them easier to put away.
He thought the same when Umbridge assigned them chapter reading. It must make learning the actual spells easier. The information might be on their big tests, what were they called? The Owls?
For such a long class, the chapter was surprisingly short. Not wanting to waste time, he raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr...?"
"Zwingli, ma'am. I've finished the chapter. What am I to do now?"
"Have you read it thoroughly, Mr. Zwingli?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then you may read on."
Read on he did. But there was on small problem. The book was extremely dull. Basch found himself zoning out here and there.
This class was almost certainly meaningful. It had to be.
-Linebreak-
Elizabeta was tired.
Not because she didn't sleep, but because this woman though they could learn complex spells from reading about them. That's just not how learning works. You can't just...
You can't just read something and magically know it. That's where Elizabeta drew the line. There may have been spells for conjuring water, setting things ablaze, opening locked doors, or even paralysing people, but there was not a spell for magically knowing how to perform spells.
That much she knew.
Yes, Elizabeta was tired of this class, this woman.
-Linebreak-
Gilbert knew the woman seemed fishy at the opening feast. He knew her presence meant nothing good.
His theory was proven during her class. She was adamant that they didn't need to learn any actual defense, okay cool, fine. But why become a DEFENSE Against the Dark Arts teacher if you weren't going to teach any defense.
He wanted to bang his head on the desk. After thousands of years, this one woman was going to drive him insane.
-Linebreak-
Needless to say, none of the transfer students enjoyed Umbridge's class.
None of them were looking forward to having her again.