Planning Opposition
Harry had a very, very bad feeling about the New Year when Sirius escorted him to King's Cross Station.
Everything started well enough. Against his expectations, he did not get into a row with Hermione regarding his departure before Christmas. Which might have had something to do with his girlfriend suffering major jet lag. Consequently, she spent most of the train ride sleeping in his arms and with her head on his lap which was a surprisingly nice experience.
Since Hermione was preoccupied, Harry spent most of the ride talking to Luna. Occasionally, Hermione hummed in confirmation or grumbled inarticulately at the oddest of moments. Three times she claimed, "I'm listening!" Just to fall asleep again immediately. It was quite endearing.
People also dropped by in numbers to check whether he had chosen a date for the first meeting of his group. Some even called it their club.
When Monday morning came around, Harry had almost forgotten about his foreboding. Everything went downhill in record time. Before classes even started, broad educational reforms were announced in the Daily Prophet.
Umbridge insisted on giving another dry and long-winded speech. Her high-pitched, sugary voice said, "As the witch in charge for the educational reforms, I hereby officially inform the student body and the professors of Hogwarts about the first educational decrees which are coming into effect immediately."
Umbridge proceeded to read the decrees out while Filch demonstratively banged in a number of iron nails. The squat witch finished with, "All gatherings of four or more students will henceforth count as unauthorized and will be punished appropriately." Somehow, she made a point of not looking at the Gryffindor table. "There will be notices in the Great Hall and in the four Common Rooms. All students are obliged to check for new notices regularly."
On the very next day and once more at breakfast, Umbridge announced that Professor Trelawney was henceforth dismissed from teaching. In a very surprising turn of events, she got saved from being banished.
Umbridge was rather flabbergasted about this and tried to argue that the former professor had to leave the castle immediately. It was very petty of her since Trelawney had apparently nowhere to go. Dumbledore stood up from his chair at the head table and declared that as the headmaster he and nobody else granted the right of residence in Hogwarts.
You could tell just by looking at Umbridge that she was not amused about this. However, she became outright livid when Dumbledore announced that he would present their new professor for Divination on next Monday. His name was Firenze. And he was a centaur.
On Wednesday morning, Umbridge dismissed Hagrid as well. Professor Grubby-Plank would take over for him. Not even Umbridge was surprised when Dumbledore rose from his chair again and announced that Hagrid would remain the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts.
The Wednesday announcement led to Harry visiting Hagrid, the one about the Educational Decrees brought him to Umbridge's office. At the hour scheduled on the black board of their common room, he found a short line of mostly older students standing in front of her door. The first one in line was Cedric Diggory. Right behind him stood a younger witch who looked especially nervous. Following her was Roger Davies.
It didn't take a genius to realize why they were here. Everyone held the same form in her or his hands. They all wanted to hand in applications for their clubs and Quidditch teams.
Harry nodded at everyone in general and took his place at the end of the waiting line.
Minutes passed with them standing around in silence. They could make out two faint voices through the closed door. However, try as he might, Harry couldn't understand what was being said.
Harry was just getting used to the idea that he would end up standing here for quite a while when a familiar figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
Angelina Johnson came over. She looked warily at him. "Um, Harry? What are you doing here?"
"I'll make our group into an official club so we can keep on meeting."
"Really?" Angelina asked in surprise.
"Sure."
"Do you think Umbridge will approve your group?"
"I can't know for certain unless I ask, can I?"
"I guess," Angelina replied hesitantly.
At that point, their whispered exchange was interrupted by none other than Graham Montague stepping out of Umbridge's office. He held a pink parchment in his massive fist. The Slytherin Quidditch Captain sneered at all of them and stalked off.
Cedric was next in line and knocked politely on the closed door.
"One moment." Umbridge's voice could barely be heard through her door.
So, they waited. And then they waited some more. Roger Davies poked Cedric and gestured to knock a second time but Cedric shook his head firmly.
So, they kept on waiting.
Finally, a sickly sweet voice called, "Come in please."
When Umbridge was once more busy, his whispering with Angelina continued, "So, you actually think Umbridge will allow us to meet again?"
Harry took his time to answer. "Not really. But I still have to try."
"Nothing against you or the club. I really like it! But" - And Angelina looked really uncomfortable when she asked this - "do you mind if I go in before you?"
There was no big need for consideration. Harry ceded his place to his team captain.
"Thanks."
Apparently, Umbridge noticed that she was not only wasting the time of the people waiting in line before her office but also her own. After she spent another eternity on Cedric she dealt surprisingly fast with the young witch and Roger Davies.
After having the door closed in front of her nose, Angelina knocked like everyone before and after. She waited for a minute or two, then came the muffled call, "You may enter."
She did so and thus left Harry as the last remaining petitioner for the day.
And since nobody was anywhere in sight, Harry turned his head to listen in and get an idea what was being said. He stood right in front of the door and he was almost touching the wooden surface. But no matter how much he strained his ears he could not make out a single sound. There was just a vague droning.
He spent quite a while alone in front of Umbridge's office. When Angelina stepped out, Harry heard Umbridge call, "Close the door, my dear."
Angelina said in a girlish voice Harry had never before heard from the tall girl, "As you wish, Professor."
The door was barely closed when her face darkened substantially. She held the pink permit she had received from Umbridge out for Harry to read.
A whisper left her lips but it was once more in the deeper timbre Harry was used to. "It's provisional."
Harry knocked. And they both listened for an invitation that was not to come for a while.
Harry just wondered why Angelina was still here and not on her way when she suddenly leaned forward. The hand not holding the parchment curled half around his ear and she leaned so close that he felt her warm breath on his skin. "She's going to ask you a lot of questions. Especially about people. Be vague. Ask her what the point is when you're not sure. And don't get riled up. This is an order from your team captain! Understood?"
He was about to answer, but Angelina placed a finger on her lips. So he settled for a nod. She sent one last glance at the closed door before she walked away.
"Enter," Umbridge called. Her muffled voice was barely discernible through the closed door.
Harry took a deep breath and breathed out very slowly. He told himself to remain calm no matter what. Only then he pressed the door handle down and stepped into the office dedicated to the professors teaching Defense against the Dark Arts.
"Please, close the door," Umbridge reminded him not caring in the slightest that Harry was already at it. "Good evening, Mr. Potter,"
"Good evening, Professor Umbridge."
"Please, have a seat." She gestured at the single seating option in front of her desk. It was an overstuffed pink armchair.
"Thanks." Harry sat down. He couldn't refrain from staring at the many, many depictions of moving cats on the walls.
"Now, what brings you here Mr. Potter?" Umbridge interlaced her short, fat fingers and leaned forward in her chair.
"I'd like to register a student organization."
A wide smile spread over Umbridge's face. "Is that so?" She asked in faked kindness. "And what kind of student organization would that be?"
"Here, I filled out the form for you." Harry pushed it over the table. He pointed at a number of boxes he had checked. "A regular, … unsupervised, … study-group, … with equal or more than seven members."
Umbridge's gaze had followed his finger pointing at the different checkboxes. She took possession of the form and scanned it quickly. Harry had filled it out very diligently and trashed the two specimens he had made mistakes on.
When the despicable witch pointed nothing out right away, he concluded that he had done a good job. "And you named it O.W.L.-Study-Group?"
"Yes. I thought that was an appropriate name."
Harry watched Umbridge scan the lowest part of the form. He assumed that she read the box in which he had explained the purpose of his group. It was a pretty small box. And while Harry had been annoyed by it at first, he had, in the end, decided to just go with it. He had written exactly two words into it.
Umbridge asked with feigned innocence, "And what magic do you plan on studying?"
He had thought about how he would answer this very question. And he had imagined many things he could say but Angelina's advice tipped the balance. So, Harry pretended to be clueless of what she was aiming for. "We'll study the magic which we'll need to pass the O.W.L.s."
Umbridge looked at the form and not at him. "Which course are you planning to prepare for?"
"Why is that important?"
"So, we can determine which professor would be your reference person," Umbridge explained in what was probably supposed to be a soothing voice.
"Oh, but we don't need one. We'll just do self-study. That's why I opted to form an unsupervised group."
"But what do you plan to study for your O.W.L.s?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "The stuff in the books. You know we'll quiz each other and maybe we'll help each other with charms and spells."
Umbridge probably meant to make it sound off-handed but she wasn't a very good actress. "Which charms and spells are we precisely talking about?"
"Standard spells and charms from the books."
"Which books are you referring to?"
"The ones we're learning from. Just our regular textbooks and-"
Harry almost missed it, but at some point, his form had been pushed half aside and an inconspicuous quill had appeared in Umbridge's hand. It was eagerly dancing over the parchment to note down what he had just disclosed. He frowned, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing, please proceed."
"Why are you taking notes?"
"Just for later reference. Nothing important really. Please, go on."
"I don't see what your question has to do with my form or my application in general."
"This is standard practice."
"There were four people in front of me. I saw the Quidditch team captains. And I think that witch was from the gobstone club. How can there be a standard practice?"
"Mr. Potter, I'm merely making notes about the kind of activities which are to occur in your club. I need to assess after all whether you need supervision."
"Okay, but why would you need notes for later reference?" Harry asked pointedly. "I was under the impression you decide if a student club gets approved or not right away?"
"This is an important decision, Mr. Potter. It can't be made on a whim. I need to assess the worth and the dangers of your club. I wouldn't want a student to get hurt for example."
Harry felt his bile rise. "Really? You care about the students' well-being?"
"Certainly, I do," Umbridge exclaimed.
Harry thought that the witch was a really bad actress if she couldn't even say something like that without sounding insincere. And also a terrible human being.
"This kind of information is important to make a good decision." Umbridge looked down at her parchment. "How about we start with the spells you practiced last term?"
He didn't want to answer any of her questions. This wasn't about filling out a form. She was trying to find things out. There was really no chance she would approve of his O.W.L.-Study-Group.
"You know if you need to sleep about this that's fine." Harry stood up.
"Oh, but I have not collected enough information to make an educated decision. You'll need to answer a few more questions."
Harry looked straight at the small witch sitting behind her desk with its small crochet tablecloths. "You've already made your decision. It doesn't matter what I say."
When he reached the door, Umbridge snapped, "If you leave now I'll ban your so-called study-group."
And didn't that sound like one of the scenarios Harry had imagined? He had the perfect answer for this, "Okay, thank you for giving me this excuse." He smirked. "It was becoming tedious to organize everything."
The shocked look on Umbridge's face was priceless. He would always remember her slack jaw and overall dumbfounded expression when he stepped out of her office and pulled the door closed with a bang.
From Umbridge, Harry went straight to the library. For once, he found Hermione not working on something but avidly reading a book without showing any inclination to make notes on it. He leaned over her shoulder and under the pretense of pecking her cheek he stole a glance at the open page.
"What are you reading?" He asked while slipping onto the chair next to her.
"A travel log about an expedition into Africa."
"Really?" Harry asked in surprise. "That's an uncommon choice for you. How come you're reading this?"
"It was suggested to me. It has exceptionally detailed descriptions." She pointed at the small print.
For a moment, Harry wondered who would give Hermione any reading recommendations. "By that bloke, you're corresponding with?"
Hermione looked up from the page she had been focused on. "Yes. By that bloke," She dead-panned. "That ninety-year-old bloke. I guess he will be very grateful that you don't see him as an old geezer when I write him next time."
Harry flinched. "I didn't mean it like that."
His girlfriend eyed him thoughtfully.
"I really don't," He assured her.
When she said nothing more on the matter, Harry concluded that he was off the hook. Hermione even did him the favor of changing the topic and asked, "Was your appointment with Umbridge met with success?"
"No. It wasn't."
"Why am I not surprised?"
Harry huffed, "I know this outcome had to be expected."
"Why did you even bother to go then?"
"Because there was a chance. I mean the form was filled out correctly and everything. And there was no technical reason to decline my request."
Hermione snorted very unladylike. "You were basically asking her to approve the very thing she made her stupid educational decree about." She shook her head in amusement. "Umbridge and Fudge made up new rules and fired professors left and right. And you think they would officially allow your training meetings because there is no technical reason not to?"
"Yes. Fine. Just say it then," Harry urged her grumpily.
"Say what?" Hermione asked clearly puzzled.
Harry frowned. "That you told me so?"
"I was not going to say that." Hermione wrinkled her nose.
For a moment they both looked at each other. The bushy-haired witch was about to return her attention to the book when Harry told her outright, "I'm going to keep the training running."
Hermione straightened her back and breathed in sharply. She turned on her chair so she was looking straight at him and whispered warningly, "You can't. You will be severely punished."
Harry smirked. "Not if I don't get caught."
"That's your brilliant plan?"
"No, I-"
She interrupted him, "You should ask your former" Hermione put significant stress on the word. "club members to sign your petition to get rid of Umbridge."
"Even if that would work out – which I doubt – there won't be enough time left to make up for Umbridge's lack of teaching us stuff."
"And that there won't be enough time will teach everyone a lesson about foresight?" Hermione asked hopefully. "That they should have listened to you months ago?"
Harry shook his head. "No, I'm going to do the training secretly. And you're going to help me."
"Really?"
"Yes. I'm sure between the two of us we can easily outsmart Umbridge. We got the map. And I'm sure you can come up with some nifty magic to make things happen."
Friday brought the first Quidditch training session of the new year. Angelina had booked the Quidditch field on short notice. And while Harry usually enjoyed riding on his broom for hours on end, this turned out not to be one of those times. It was sleeting and they had squally wind.
To make matters worse, Angelina was not happy with their performance and let them train until it got too dark to proceed. By the end of their session, the icy wind had turned Harry's fingers numb.
He had barely landed when Angelina started ranting at all of them, "I want to see more from you! Yes, I know it is cold. And I know none of you has flown since before Christmas. But this is not good enough!"
"If I see a repetition of today in the next training, I'll book the pitch every free afternoon and we'll train until it gets dark! And on the days I can't get the pitch I'm gonna have you run laps!" Harry thought that his team captain sounded like a drill instructor he had once seen on TV. "I'm the captain of this team. This is my last year and my only chance to win the cup as captain. And mark my words, I want that trophy!"
"The game is only in eight weeks." George elbowed his brother so he would support him.
Fred added, "That's plenty of time to get in shape."
"You better up the ante!" Angelina looked back and forth between the twins with an almost crazy gaze. "McGonagall made me captain because she trusts me to win. And that's what I want to do. And under no circumstance will I tolerate sloppiness on the team!"
"You're worse than Oliver," whined Fred.
Harry wondered how that was supposed to help their case.
"Just play the same for me, and everything will be fine!"
Fred was about to argue with her, but this time Alicia elbowed his other side. She stage-whispered, "You can discuss that once we're all showered."
Angelina glowered angrily at the twins, "What were you two doing anyway? We were only training with one Bludger and no opponents..." Harry lost track of her rant at that point. He was completely drained. Riding a broom at high speeds was not only physically demanding. The concentration required to keep track of his surroundings, the other players and all balls was mentally exhausting. His thoughts drifted to that guy he had seen on TV.
"Harry, are you listening to me?" Angelina stood almost nose to nose with him.
He could barely refrain from rolling his eyes. Angelina was not even half as intimidating as Hermione even though she was about a head taller than the younger witch. "Yes, I am."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously and her lips had already parted, when Harry asked, "Will you make me repeat what you said, or can we finally get out of our sweaty clothes and jump under the hot shower? I mean, I could totally understand if not because there is still a slim chance some of us have not caught a cold yet."
Angelina's nostrils flared once more. "Fine, training is done for today!"
At the end of the day, their captain was right. It had been a pretty mediocre training session. Ron had still not found his form. And the regular players weren't that much better. Their performance was still suffering from the huge break caused by the Triwizard Tournament. They had lost their routine.
Harry felt that he had slackened significantly himself. He had less control over his broom and finding the snitch had taken so long, he had actually caught it the first time he had found it because he didn't want to risk elongating the training session artificially. Angelina had been by far the best player on her broom.
The prospect of meeting with Hermione and finding out what she had come up with to keep his training group secret made Harry the first to finish his hot shower.
Freshly cleaned and back in non-sticky clothes he shouldered his broom and marched off as the first of the team. He was looking forward to meeting Hermione in the library.
"Hey, Harry!"
Harry looked left and saw Cedric come out from behind one of the stands. "Are you spying on us Diggory?"
"Harry, we need to have a word."
Harry did neither stop nor slow down for the Hufflepuff. Therefore, Cedric had to hurry to catch up to him.
Once they were next to each other, Harry asked, "What do you want, Diggory?"
"You can call me Cedric." The older wizard said kindly.
"And you can leave me alone." Harry had neither forgotten nor forgiven what Cedric had done.
"Harry-"
"Hermione is waiting for me. I don't have time to spare." And just so he got clear that they were not on friendly terms, Harry added, "Especially not for you."
"That's no problem," Cedric said a little taken aback but not entirely surprised. "I'll just walk a bit with you."
"Can't stop you from doing anything," huffed Harry.
"I get it, you're cross with me." The tall Hufflepuff sighed.
"No. Why should I of all people be cross with you?" Harry asked sarcastically. "It's not like you lied about me and claimed I was hit by a Confundus Charm without actually needing to. You said nothing but the truth."
"I had no choice."
"Really? No choice? Were you threatened? Maybe with Azkaban? If you were not, I'd say, you had a choice."
"They threatened you with Azkaban?"
Harry bit his tongue. "I never said that."
Cedric tagged along in silence for a few steps. "Harry, um... I need to ask this. Is it true? Is you-know-who back?"
"No-o-o," Harry stretched the word. "It's not true. I got hit by a Confundus Charm." He spoke slowly and treated Cedric like the proverbial idiot, "You should remember this. You were the one who cast the Confundus Charm after all. I mean, I can't be sure about what happened because I was hit by a Confundus Charm but you should. You know, a Confundus Charm really hampers one's ability to discern the reality."
Harry realized that it was petty to rub it in so heavily but he felt like being petty.
Cedric looked rather pale and also shaken. "So it is true?"
"I'll answer your question as well as I can. Listen closely because I'm not going to repeat myself." Harry stopped and effectively forced Cedric to do the same.
"Under the influence of your Confundus Charm," Harry poked Cedric in the chest. "I thought Voldemort" Cedric shuddered. "used the Cruciatus Curse on me." Ignoring the story he had told the Daily Prophet, he added, "I was so convinced he did so Madam Pomfrey treated me with Potions against it once I was back at Hogwarts. But I guess I cursed myself. I mean, I was confused. I probably aimed my wand at myself and crucioed myself for a few minutes!"
That said Harry stormed off.
At the Great Staircase, Cedric caught up to him once more. He hissed, "We can't keep doing this."
"Doing what?" Harry asked coolly.
"Lying," Cedric answered instantly.
They had to wait for a turning staircase. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"This is too big," Cedric whispered urgently. "When the attacks started, I was asked by so many people if I really hit you with that nonverbal spell."
Harry smirked, "Can't stand the fame?"
"If You-Know-Who really returned from the dead-" Cedric shuddered. "Nobody has done that before!"
"Well, I guess we're all lucky since Voldemort has not returned." Harry pulled Cedric aside so they wouldn't be interrupted. "Your delusions are your problem, not mine."
"They've still not found out where you've been in the time when you were missing. Or where the cup is."
For a very short moment, Harry considered explaining Cedric why he couldn't take his false story back. But he would not risk Hermione's freedom over a small chance that the public would believe him. After what had been written in the Daily Prophet over the last week, he had no hope about them doing so. If people were not listening to Dumbledore they wouldn't listen to him either. Therefore, he replied, "I only know where I thought that I was."
Cedric stared urgently into Harry's eyes. "This is not only the last year at Hogwarts for me. Harry, Umbridge is teaching rubbish to the entire school. We're learning nothing useful in Defense!"
"Oh! So you realized that you'll be living out there in a few months?" Harry gestured at a window. "And by the way, I know how shitty Umbridge is," Harry said unimpressed. "That is why I was collecting signatures in November. I found about ten people willing to sign. I also tried to get in contact with the Board of Governors. But apparently, nobody has relatives on our school's board."
"That's why we have to come clean about what happened in the summer."
"It's way too late for that." Harry shook his head. "It's been more than six months! People barely remember the incident you were lying about."
"Harry, I'm really sorry about that!"
Harry huffed in annoyance. "Too little, too late."
"No matter what you think about me. We really have to do something. We both know the truth. Lives are in danger!"
"Everybody knows the truth. Dumbledore has been relentless about it." Harry explained cynically, "The general public has just chosen to ignore it."
"Harry, please."
"Welcome to the real world where things are not served on a silver plate. Oh, and congratulations for messing up big time as an adult." Harry snarked. "If you want to do something, good luck. But don't count me in." And with that being said he left his former competitor for the Triwizard Cup behind.
A/N: Thanks to SweetShireen for giving me a solution to a problem I solved differently in the end. And my special thanks to Kanade Tachibana for beta-reading this chapter in record time so I could still post it in February!
