The newest Educational Decree, Number Twenty-eight, had been posted overnight, announcing that Dolores Umbridge had replaced Dumbledore as the Head of Hogwarts. But that did not explain how almost every single person within the school seemed to know exactly what had happened in Dumbledore's office.
It had also become common knowledge that Umbridge had attempted to go back to the office, later that night, but it had sealed itself against her. Afterwards she had gone and picked a few select students, all of them from Slytherin, and formed them into something called the Inquisitor Squad.
No one, aside from the Inquisitor Squad, was happy about the changes, luckily, Fred and George provided them with the perfect way to get back at Umbridge without her being able to do anything about it. It happened during lunch. Amanda was sitting at the head table, speaking in low tones with Severus, when all of the sudden –
BOOM!
The very floor of the great hall shook. Amanda, along with nearly every other teacher, slipped out the back entrance and sprinted down the hall towards the source of the commotion. On they way someone in front of her screamed and ducked, a large rocket, twirling madly through the air, hurtled over her shoulder, nearly taking her head off.
Someone – Fred and George – had set off a huge crate of fireworks. Dragons made up of gold and green sparks soared down corridors, emitting bursts of flame and loud bangs as they went. Bright pink Catherine wheels five feet in diameter whizzed lethally through the air like so many flying saucers. Rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls. Sparklers were writing swear words in midair of their own accord. Firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere Amanda looked, and instead of burning out, they just seemed to gain energy and momentum the longer she watched.
Filch and Umbridge were standing, transfixed with horror, halfway down the stairs. One of the Catherine wheels whirled towards them with a sinister wheeeee. The two adults screamed and ducked. Meanwhile, several of the dragons and a large purple bat that was smoking ominously took advantage of the open door to escape to the second floor. Amanda stepped down the stairs slowly, surveying the scene with appraising eyes. She stopped next to Umbridge and looked down at the cowering woman coldly.
"It seems you've been welcomed to Hogwarts, Headmistress," she said frostily. "I hope you can handle it."
The shorter toad-faced woman looked up incredulously and then jumped up, moving down the stairs quickly.
"Hurry, Filch, hurry!" she shrieked. "They'll be all over the school unless we do something – Stupefy!"
A jet of red light shot out the end of her wand and hit one of the rockets. Instead of freezing the rocket exploded with such force that it blew a hole in the portrait of a soppy looking witch in the middle of a meadow, she ducked out just in time, reappearing in the painting next door, where a couple of wizards playing cards hastily made room for her.
"Don't stun them, Filch!" shouted Umbridge, sounding for all the world as if it had been him who suggested it.
"Right you are, Headmistress!" Amanda sincerely hoped they would attempt to vanish them next; she and the boys had worked it out so that instead they would multiply ten-fold.
The fireworks continued to burn and spread all over the school, not that the teachers minded.
Amanda's tongue clucked as a large purple and gold dragon whizzed into the room, flying easily through the large oak doors, which Amanda had left open for the first time since she started teaching. The dragon flapped around the room, belching flame and banging around, knocking things over and leaving black marks on the wall.
"Mr. Finnegan," she said, looking at the large sparkling dragon with interest, "would you be so kind as to run along and find our dear new Headmistress, I really think I should leave this to her."
After class Amanda had the pleasure of waving a disheveled and soot covered Umbridge from her classroom.
"Oh thank you, Headmistress," she said, using the same sweet smile Umbridge had so often worn herself. "I'm sure I could have finished it off myself but I wasn't sure I had the proper authority…"
Being able to see Umbridge, the woman who would probably be trying to make her miserable for the rest of the school year, dejected and miserable was the highlight of Amanda's day. Nothing Umbridge said to her over dinner could make the smile drop from her face, but her good mood still didn't last.
She was running through the woods, and something was chasing her, crashing through the bushes and trees loudly. Amanda tried to run faster but she couldn't get away. Something caught her around her ankles and she fell. Amanda tried to get up but she kept tripping, so she reverted to crawling. A shadow fell over her and she froze, cowering. A hand flipped her over and Amanda looked up, meeting the eyes of her attacker, and screamed.
And suddenly she was attacking herself, slashing with claws she shouldn't have at the form screaming on the forest floor. Blood splattered into her face, blinding her and making her roar in rage.
Amanda awoke, sweaty and screaming. She looked around, welcoming the familiar darkness of her own room. Moonlight filtered through the window and lighted her way as Amanda shakily crossed the room and donned her silk black robe. Her hands shook and she paused, forcing herself to take several deep, calming breaths, or at least that's what they were supposed to be, they came out more like shallow gasps.
She fled her room soon after, lit wand in hand. The corridors were eerily quiet but she was glad, in this state if anyone were to step around the corner Amanda was likely to scream, hex their ears off, or, in the more likely case, both. Amanda wasn't entirely sure where she was going, she'd seen Severus clutch his arm earlier and knew he was at a Death Eater meeting and Dumbledore was gone, so she couldn't talk to him. She wasn't really as close to Firenze as she had been with Gryis, so that was out of the question.
Movement in a portrait caught her eye; a small unicorn was being chased around by a young maiden in a meadow. Amanda mentally smacked herself, of course, how could she have forgotten Carlisle?
Amanda pushed the great oak doors open, letting the cool night air waft inside for a moment before carefully closing the door behind her. She stole quickly across the grounds to a tree near the edge of the lake and sat, waiting. She didn't have to wait long, a moment later Carlisle stepped out of the shadows of the forest, his silver pelt glowing faintly in the moonlight.
"Thanks," she whispered, her legs curled up to her chin. Carlisle lay down beside her, allowing Amanda to use him as a backrest; she leaned against him gratefully, entwining her fingers in his warm fur.
Amanda shut her eyes and breathed in the sweet scent of the unicorn's fur while he sifted through her mind, searching for the nightmares that had plagued her for the past few months. He smelled foresty, like fresh earth, but somehow sweet at the same time; she tried to focus on his smell rather then relive the horrors of her dreams. At last Carlisle stopped looking through her nightmares and spoke.
You have been letting your own horrors and fears mix with the atrocities you experienced through Voldemorts mind.
"If I knew how not to," she said, slightly irritated, "I would not let them do anything."
Perhaps 'let' was poor wording on my part, I was not trying to say you were at fault here. He paused before he continued, as if choosing his words carefully. This Severus Snape, you do not have your nightmares when he is around?
"No, never," she said, "but I can't sleep with him every night!" she added, catching on to Carlisle's next thought.
I don't see why you humans have to make these things so difficult, it's obvious he likes you and we both know you like him, why must you continue to pretend otherwise?
"It's complicated, I've known my feelings for so long, and if he truly does care about me then it is something he's only recently discovered." A ruthless smile took over her face. "Besides, he loved Lily, and I don't want to be her substitute."
They sat in silence for awhile longer, simply watching waves lap at the shore of the lake. The forest behind them was alive with noise but Amanda was not welcome in there anymore, not that she minded too much, she still had Carlisle. She agreed with him though, she wished Severus would say something. She doubted he would though, he might care for her but not the way he had for Lily.
Amanda's thought drifted to Voldemort. It was hard not to think of him, she saw his red eyes in everything, and she heard him laughing every time she closed her eyes. How she hated him for what he'd done. For all the people he'd tortured, and the ones he'd killed. She hated him for all the people he'd had her kill. She hated him more for what he'd made his followers do, what he'd made Severus do, and what he was still making Severus do.
"I can't stand him anymore!" Carlisle didn't need her to tell him who 'him' was, he'd been keeping track with her thoughts. "He's everywhere, it's like there's nowhere I can escape to."
Carlisle said nothing.
"I thought I could handle him but I guess I was wrong," she said, softer this time. "I just want out. But I don't know how. He's horrible and disgusting and I can't seem to get rid of him, even when he's not around!"
A rustle in the trees nearby made Amanda look up suddenly, but she saw nothing.
Had she gotten up to look she would have seen Severus, stalking angrily away towards the castle after having just returned from a Death Eater meeting. She wouldn't know that he had heard what she had just said, and even if she did she would never have guessed that he had assumed that she was talking about him.
But Amanda had not gotten up; instead she remained leaning comfortably on Carlisle, unaware of the sulking Potions Master that was making his way to the castle, angry and confused.
After awhile Amanda rose and returned to the castle, slipping into her bed and falling quickly into an uneasy sleep.
The next day was no better, Severus refused to even look at her during breakfast, and when she angrily asked him what his problem was he just glared and said, "I have no problems." Nothing Amanda said after that got any better results, he was snide and rude to her for the next several weeks, using every insult in the book and then some. She tried to keep cool, but it wasn't long before she was shouting her own insults back at him.
The effect Severus's attitude was having on Amanda was evident, even to some of the students. Now without even the periodic respite from her nightmares Amanda found herself falling asleep between classes, while she was grading papers, and once in the middle of a staff meeting during which Umbridge had been making a long-winded speech about their job performance. The lack of sleep lowered her already weakened immune system and she kept getting minor colds and flu's, leaving her even testier then before. During her classes Amanda tried to behave no differently then normal, but her laughs were forced and her smiles rather strained.
It wasn't until three weeks later that she found anything to really smile at. Something was going on in the entrance hall, and what looked like most of the student population was in there, shouting and moving about. It was just like the night Trelawney had been fired, everyone was standing in a kind of circle and Umbridge was on the stairs, glaring down at her prey. Only this time many of the people in the crowd were covered in what looked like Stinksap, and it was Fred and George who stood in the center of the hall, gazing coolly up at the professor. Amanda watched from above, leaning over a stair rail several floors up.
"So!" said Umbridge triumphantly. "So… you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"
"Pretty amusing, yeah," said Fred, looking back up at her without the slightest bit of fear. Filch elbowed his way forward, clutching at some papers and almost crying with happiness.
"I've got the form, Headmistress," he said, waving the parchment over his head. "I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting… Oh, let me do it now…"
"Very good, Argus," she said. "You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."
"You know what?" said Fred. "I don't think we are. George," he said, turning to his twin, "I think we've outgrown full time education."
"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," said George lightly.
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?"
"Definitely," said George.
And before Umbridge could say a word, they raised their wands and said together, "Accio Brooms!"
There was a loud crash in the distance. And then Fred and George's broomsticks, one still trailing the heavy chain behind it, hurtled into the hall. They turned left, streaked down the stairs, barley missing Amanda, and stopped sharply in front of their owners.
"We won't be seeing you," Fred told Umbridge, swinging his leg over his broomstick.
"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," said George, mounting his own. Fred gazed around, looking at the assembled students and teachers.
"If anyone fancies a portable swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley- Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes," he said in a loud voice. "Our new premises!"
"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat!" added George, pointing at Professor Umbridge.
"STOP THEM!" shrieked Umbridge, but it was too late. Fred and George pushed off from the ground, shooting a good fifteen feet into the air and arriving just in front of Amanda. They made a sort of bowing motion with their heads.
"Good bye, Professor, and fond farewells," Fred said, making a show of waving his hands. George mouthed the next words, so that those below couldn't hear.
"And thanks for the swamp, it's lovely," he whispered. So saying, they straightened up and looked over at Peeves, who was floating not far from Amanda.
"Give her hell from us, Peeves."
And Peeves, who had confessed to Amanda to secretly liking the twins, swept his hat from his head and sprang into a salute as Fred and George wheeled about to tumultuous applause and sped out of the open doors into a glorious sunset.
The story of Fred and George's flight was retold so many times over the next few days that it was sure to become the stuff of Hogwarts legend. Not to mention the fact that they had not left instructions on how to remove the swamp, or at least, not with anybody who would actually share. Umbridge and Filch had been observed trying various means of removing it but with no success. Amanda knew she could have disposed of it, and she was quiet certain her mother could have as well, but, just as in the case of the fireworks, they decided to let Umbridge struggle.
Inspired by Fred and George, a great number of students were vying for the now vacant position of troublemakers. Dung bombs and Stink pellets were dropped so often in the halls that it became the new fashion to perform a Bubble-Head charm on oneself before leaving classes.
Filch stalked the corridors with a horsewhip ready in his hands, desperate to catch miscreants, but there were now so many of them that he didn't know which way to turn. Meanwhile, it became clear just how many Skiving Snack boxes Fred and George had managed to sell. Umbridge had only to enter her classroom for the students to faint, vomit, develop dangerous fevers, or else spout blood from both nostrils. Screaming in rage Umbridge tried to track the source but the students stubbornly told her they were suffering from "Umbridge-it-is."
But not even the Skiving Snack Boxes could compete with the masters of chaos, Peeves and Amanda. Amanda pulled out all her old tricks; enchanting dusters to chase after people; making chalk boards shout whatever was written on them backwards in high pitched voices; charming armies of small animals to chase after Umbridge day and night. She ripped out all the windows in the great hall, making it so teachers and students alike had to hold their hats down with one hand and their food with the other. The hallways leading to Umbridge's rooms were constantly covered in something gooey or filled with some sort of foul smelling concoction. Three times she made small storms in various parts of the school, leaving hallways covered in snow or hail. She even put glue on the students' benches, trapping them all in their seats for the majority of the day, and then doing the same thing to Umbridge that night.
But while Amanda kept her plotting secret, where perhaps only her mother and Severus could possible know what she was doing, Peeves was open about his pranks. Cackling madly, he soared through the school, upending tables, bursting out of chalkboards, and toppling statues and vases. Twice he shut Mrs. Norris in a suit of armor. He smashed lanterns and snuffed out candles, juggled flaming torches above the heads of screaming students, caused neatly piled stacks of paper to topple into fires or out of windows, flooded the second floor when he pulled off all the taps in the bathrooms, dropped a bag of tarantulas in the great hall during breakfast and, whenever he felt like taking a break, spent hours at a time floating after Umbridge and blowing loud raspberries whenever Umbridge spoke.
None of the staff seemed to be stirring themselves to help her. Indeed, a week after the twins' departure, Professor McGonagall, the elder, was seen walking right past Peeves, who was determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier, and it was sworn that she whispered, "It unscrews the other way," before walking calmly away.
Amanda was reveling in the chance to get back at Umbridge. The only things that could dampen her excitement at that were her nightmares and Severus's behavior. He was still being an absolute beast to her, insulting her at every chance, and she was positive that it wasn't an accident when her coffee had spilled on her at breakfast, three times. When she couldn't spout her own insults back at him Amanda poured her pent up frustration out in her pranks against Umbridge. Although even that was sure to come back and bite her in the butt eventually.
I don't own Harry Potter! Thank you guys for the reviews, you all are always so nice. I hope you like this one, even though not much really happened.