In just over one week, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had completely changed under the rule of Dolores Umbridge. Through her, the Ministry of Magic had enacted several educational decrees (such as banning extracurricular activities, music, and physical intimacy) which significantly worsened life at Hogwarts, not only for students but for staff as well.
With the Ministry backing her without fear and without question, no one was able to stand up to her, not even newly appointed Gryffindor prefects Ron and Hermione, who had become the first Hogwarts students to get a taste of the wicked woman and her dubious ethics. Dumbledore was strangely absent during this time, stepping in only to save Professor Trelawney from being escorted from the grounds after receiving an Order of Dismissal from Umbridge.
The students however weren't fortunate enough to receive Dumbledore's help, almost all of them save a select few becoming subjected to the Professor's cruel and unusual punishment method, forcing students to write lines using her Black Quill, an enchanted quill of her own creation, used to carve whatever the holder wrote into their skin. Because of this, there would always at least be a small number of students walking the halls with a bandaged hand and a downtrodden expression.
On this particular day, the number of students receiving this punishment was unusually high, with the desks of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom occupied by wincing and tear-stricken students, blood running down the arms of a couple of first-years who happened to have softer, weaker skin than the rest. In this regard, and perhaps only this regard, Umbridge refused to discriminate. Inside the room, all that could be heard was the ticking of the clock, muffled cries of pain, and Professor Umbridge's soft humming as she sat at the front of the room, stirring sugar into her cup of tea and looking quite pleased with herself that she was able to inflict so much pain on others.
It was the same day, however, that Tim and Harry also emerged from their intensive training in the Chamber of Secrets. After about a week, it became apparent to Tim that Harry couldn't survive much longer being subjected to his training methods, and Tim, truthfully, was getting bored of being cooped up for so long anyway.
The warm glow of the sun was appreciated now more than ever as Tim dragged the exhausted young wizard through the Viaduct and walkways of the school towards the Great Hall. Tim expected to see at least a couple of students as he made his way through the school, but he didn't see anyone. After entering the Hall, Tim threw Harry onto the nearest bench. "Try and find something to eat, you need some protein." Tim said, leaving the Vitamin D deficient Harry to fend for himself.
Tim then took a second to look around. The Great Hall was almost empty, save for a few students who looked quite miserable, walking briskly with their heads down, all except for one student who came through, walking with her head held high. Not high as in she was proud of something, but high as in she just didn't care what others thought. She was just happy being her.
"Hey, Luna, wassup?" Tim greeted from across the Hall. Luna turned, seeming a little startled, but after recognizing Tim, the blonde witch smiled and wandered over.
"Hello, Professor Ihansha. It's great to see you again." She smiled. "How are you today?" Luna asked courteously.
"I feel electric, my young friend, but you don't look too good…" Tim replied, noting a bandage wrapped around the blonde girl's left forearm and hand. Tim could see blots of dark, fresh blood soaking through the bandages in patches.
"Oh, that… That would be from Professor Umbridge's punishment. I lost my homework, you see. I think Nargles might have taken it, and I can't find any of my shoes either." Luna said slowly and calmly.
"Umbridge did this to you…?" Tim asked softly, though the fury in his voice was evident.
"Oh, not just me, sir. Anyone that breaks Umbridge's rules gets punished." Luna explained.
"And what about Dumblebro? He's just letting this happen?" Tim pressed.
"I guess so." Luna shrugged. "I haven't seen him in a few days. He doesn't come to breakfast anymore. Umbridge sits in his chair now." Luna suddenly turned, looking over to where Harry was seated, the boy wizard trying and failing to move over to grab something to eat. "Is that Harry? I thought he was expelled. Is he back now?" Luna asked.
"No, he's still expelled, but his guardians didn't want to look after him anymore, so I've taken him in for the time being." Tim sighed. "Listen, it's been fun chatting with you again, but I need to go and pay an old vindictive magician a visit. I'll sort this all out."
"Okay!" Luna chirped, watching as Tim turned away, taking fast, powerful steps as he made his way to Dumbledore's office.
"What the Hell have you been doing?!" Tim asked, standing in the doorframe, having knocked the door off with a powerful kick.
"Oh, hello, Tim. Yes, I'm fine. How have you been? Of course I have time to chat." Dumbledore sighed plainly.
"Do you want to explain why Luna's out there walking around with massive cuts on her hands and nothing's been done about it?!" Tim snapped. "You've let that Umbitch woman take over, haven't you?"
"The Ministry thinks I'm building an army, Tim. I can't show myself willing to fight against the Ministry in any capacity. At least not yet." Dumbledore said calmly. "You'll just have to trust me."
For one very brief moment, Tim lost complete control of himself, his power overflowing as the entirety of Hogwarts Castle began to shake as though the school had been hit by an earthquake. Dumbledore's eyes widened as the room started to tear itself apart, Tim grabbing the elderly wizard by his robes and pushing him up against the wall, the flawless God of a man bringing his power back under control.
"Trust you?" Tim asked with tranquil fury. "I don't think so. You've been keeping lots of things from me, old man. The diary, Voldemort's true identity, and I'm pretty sure there's more you're not telling me. But you know what really pisses me off? The fact that you're willing to let every student at this school get physically abused by some mad woman while you sit here in your ivory tower. You're a coward, and you make me sick." Tim removed his hands from Dumbledore's robes as he turned away in disgust. "If you won't do anything, then I guess it's up to me. And if it's an army they want, it's an army they'll get…"
Tim stormed through the halls, knowing exactly what he had to do.
Retracing his steps back to the Great Hall, the Professor found himself where he had spoken with Luna. Harry had only moved a few inches from where Tim had left him. Tim walked over to him and lifted Harry up by the back of his shirt. "Hope you've filled your stomach, Harry. We have more work to do." Tim said as he proceeded to drag the boy along the floor.
"I… hate… you…" Harry wheezed, blood dripping from his dry, cracked lips as he spoke. But Tim didn't seem to hear him; he was too busy plotting out his next step. It was only when he left the Great Hall for the second time that he saw dozens of framed proclamations hanging from the outside wall.
"This must be what Luna meant…" Tim whispered. Harry coughed, but again, Tim paid him no mind, instead focusing on each of the educational decrees hanging on the wall. As he read each one, his heart pumped more and more righteous sanguine fluid through his otherworldly vessel.
Dragging Harry behind him, Tim moved quickly out into the Entrance Courtyard, finding that it was much like the Great Hall, mostly empty. The warbling of birds and Harry's rough breathing were the only sounds that could be heard outside. He walked aimlessly around the courtyard for a few moments, before heading out into the exterior walkway, surprised to find Hermione and Luna together, talking with hushed voices, both sets of eyes eventually drawn to Tim's magnificent presence.
"P-Professor!" Hermione stammered. "And Harry?!" Hermione sounded positively delighted to see her old friend again, rushing into Harry's arms and giving him a hug. "Where have you two been?"
"I've been training him, but I think Harry's reached his limit in terms of physical strength." Tim told his former students as Hermione moved away from Harry, looking at his pale, yet sturdy build.
Luna nodded, directing her words towards Harry. "You certainly do look more rugged."
"Thank you," Harry breathed.
"Anyway," Tim said as he began looking around, "I've been looking for you, Miss Granger." Tim said, causing the young girl to blush. "How do you feel about teaming up with me to take down Umbitch?"
"Do you know what's going on with her?" Hermione asked softly.
"All I really know is that Umbitch is imposing all these rules and Dumbledouche isn't doing anything to stop her. He says the Ministry's afraid that he's making an army, so I figure let's go ahead and make an army. We can get together a bunch of students that want to learn how to defend themselves and we can teach them. What do you guys think?"
Luna's eyes lit up. "That sounds like fun. It would be like having friends."
"What about Voldemort?" Hermione whispered. Tim paused, Hermione shaking her head. "Luna and I, we both believe you, but… no one else really does." Hermione then turned to Harry, and said quietly "Not even Ron."
Harry gritted his teeth, absolutely livid at Ron's ignorance. It didn't matter to Harry that they were no longer friends, but he'd have thought that Ron would have at least believed him that Voldemort was back. Especially when it was, after all, the truth. "That… that motherfu-"
"Calm down, Harry. Ron's not important, don't worry about him." Tim sighed. "I know it's gonna be difficult to convince everyone, especially with Dumbledick doing nothing to help, but-"
"I know," Hermione interrupted, "we have to try. I'll go around and talk to some people and see what they think about having our own Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. You leave everything to me." Hermione smiled.
"Are you sure?" Tim asked.
Hermione nodded. "That woman's taken over the entire school. Even if they might not believe that Voldemort's returned, I know the fifth-years will want to be learning spells to help pass their exams. If you can, meet me at the Hog's Head Inn before dinner tonight. I'll bring along whoever I can convince."
"Alright," Tim said. "But please stay safe."
Hermione nodded once more. "Don't worry. I will."
"Oh yeah," Tim smiled. "I heard through the grapevine that you became a prefect. Congrats."
Hermione blushed. "Th-thank you, sir."
Tim, Harry and Hermione sat in the Hog's Head Inn, looking out at a sea of mixed facial expressions, belonging to a fairly large group of students. Tim recognized all of the students. Ginny, Fred and George Weasley, but no Ron, Colin Creevey and his younger brother Dennis, Nigel Wolpert, Lee Jordan, Luna, Cho Chang, Parvati and Padma Patil, Susan Bones, Michael Corner and Zacharias Smith.
The students were surprised, curious and angry to see Harry sitting with Tim and Hermione, but it was due to the fact that Harry was there that Hermione was able to convince many of the students to come to the Hog's Head Inn at all. All of the students at Hogwarts were curious to know what really went down between Harry and Voldemort the previous year, and unfortunately, Hermione had to use that as an incentive to get potential members to even consider defying Umbridge. Unfortunately, Hermione underestimated just how many people would show up.
Hermione cleared her throat, standing up as she nervously addressed the students, Harry still looking incredibly pale. "So," Hermione began, "thank you for coming. Um… okay, so, Umbridge isn't teaching us anything, and, aside from the older students needing to learn how to perform spells to pass their exams, we also need to learn how to properly defend ourselves-"
"Yeah, and why's that?" Zacharias interrupted, Tim rolling his eyes.
"Voldemort's back, you spastic." Tim said bluntly.
Zacharias looked towards Tim. "Yeah, you keep saying that, but if he was back, you think he'd, you know, start actually doing things. All we've got are what you, Harry, and Dumbledore have said, but no real proof."
Tim looked to Harry. "You took Fredric's body with you through the Portkey last year, didn't you? Where's he buried?" Tim asked, Cho visibly on edge. "Look, if you want proof that Voldemort's back, I'll dig up his body."
"We're not going to dig him up, you sick freak!" Harry snapped at Tim, before turning back to the group. "And I'm not going to talk about Cedric either, so if that's why you're here, you can clear out now." Harry said firmly.
Tim sighed, standing up to properly address the students. "Alright, listen: unless you want me to go and dig up Fredric's body, you're just going to have to trust what we say. Fredric was killed by Voldemort's servant, Wormtail. The boy happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then he died." Tim swallowed, a limpid emotion festering just below the surface. "The unfortunate thing… is that if we don't learn to fight, we're all gonna end up like Fredric, because it seems as though the Ministry is just going to let this happen. So you can either sit here and whine, like Harry, or you can sign here," Tim tossed a sheet of paper to Nigel, "and fight, both with your wands and with your fists."
"Our fists?" Zacharias asked incredulously, seemingly having a penchant for arguing.
"You're not skilled enough to use magic without wands, so if you get disarmed, you'll be nothing more than a liability. I can teach you guys how to fight without wands, and Harry can teach you guys all the magic stuff."
Without another word, Nigel signed his name on the paper Tim had given him, before passing it to the Creevey brothers who did the same. The Weasleys then all signed their names, and one by one, all the students at the Hog's Head Inn had signed their names on the paper.
Hermione turned to Tim, and smiled as she reached her hand out to his, intertwining her fingers with his own.