"Umbridge inspected our Transfiguration class," Demi Celeste told me as we made our way through the cobblestone streets of Hogsmeade.
October had brought with it strong winds, and our first Hogsmeade weekend of the year was bitter, cold, and gusty. Demi Celeste had her blue and bronze Ravenclaw scarf pulled up over her mouth to keep her warm. Her black hair was tugged in all directions by the wind, and loose strands kept coiling on top of her head. Her boyfriend, Jackson Kurai, walked beside her, his cheeks red and his eyes watery. I was sure I looked no better. I had to keep pushing my gingger hair out of my face, and the ends of my maroon and gold scarf kept flapping in the wind.
"How'd that go?" I asked loudly, trying to be heard over the miserable weather.
"McGonagall was not happy," said Demi "Umbridge kept interrupting her and asking how 'Ministry approved' her methods were."
I laughed. "I wish I could've seen McGonagall's face."
"McGonagall's a badass," said Jackson cheerfully.
We walked past Zonko's Joke Shop, and I spotted the Weasley twins and their friend Lee Jordan coming out with shopping bags. Then we passed the post office with dozens of owls flying to and from the roosting tower. A little ways down the street, we saw a wooden sign depicting a boar's severed head leaking blood. The sign swayed back and forth in the wind, but we could still make out the words "Hog's Head".
Demi wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks."
"It's always crowded," complained Jackson. "I bet there's plenty of room in the Hog's Head."
He saw Demi and me glaring at him and let out a laugh. We'd let Jackson talk us into going to the Hog's Head once before—the bartender had served us firewhiskey in filthy glasses despite us being underage, and we'd returned to the castle that evening sick and slightly drunk.
"Just joking," said Jackson with a nervous laugh. "You two take everything so seriously."
Demi and Jackson were the first people I'd made friends with at Hogwarts. We'd shared a compartment on the train, and well, some friendships just sort of stick—even after I got sorted into Griffindor. Taking trips to Hogsmeade was our "thing", and even after Demi and Jackson had started dating last year thanks to the Yule Ball, we continued to visit Hogsmeade together.
"There's always Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop," said Jackson, his grin widening.
Demi sighed and turned to me. "Why are we friends with him again?"
"I don't know," I said. "You're the one who snogs him on a regular basis."
"I vote the Three Broomsticks," said Demi. "No matter how crowded it is, it's better than the Hog's Head or Madam Puddifoot's."
"I second that," I said, readjusting my scarf. "I need a butterbeer."
"Am I the only one who doesn't like butterbeer?" asked Jackson as we started back down the cobblestone road. "It reminds me of cheap cream soda."
"Where do you get cream soda from?" asked Demi. "It tastes like butterscotch—" She broke off, her gaze caught on someone down the road.
I followed her line of sight and saw a curly, red-haired Hogwarts' student entering the Hog's Head, a blue and bronze scarf wrapped around her neck.
"Who's that?" I asked.
"Marietta Edgecombe, but why is she visiting the Hog's Head?" wondered Jackson.
"I don't know," said Demi. "But Cho was with her."
"Marietta Edgecombe, she one of Cho's friends?" My knowledge of the Ravenclaw students was rather lacking. The only Ravenclaw students i knew was Cho's group of girls who bullied me, Morgana and Evie.
"She's one of Cho's friends yes," said De i. "All I know is she giggles a lot."
"You can always hear her in the common room," said Jackson, shaking his head.
"It's a pain when you're trying to do Charms homework and all you hear is Marietta's high-pitched giggle," added Demi.
"What's going on?" asked Jackson abruptly.
The three of us watched as another Hogwarts student entered the Hog's Head. This one was a petite girl with white-blonde hair and dreamy expression on her face. Judging by her scarf, she was another Ravenclaw student.
"Is Ravenclaw house having a meeting in Hog's Head that you two don't know about?" I asked.
"There is no way Luna Lovegood got invited and we didn't," said Demi. "Her dad runs The Quibbler, and she's, uh, sort of out of it."
Evie liked to read The Quibbler as a comedy piece, to see what her uncle was up to, so I knew exactly what Demi was talking about.
"But aren't those girls in Gryffindor?" asked Jackson, pointing down the street.
We watched in silence as the three Gryffindor Chasers made their way to the front door of the Hog's Head and slipped inside.
"They do know the Hog's Head is unsanitary, right?" asked Jackson.
"They're not going there for the drinks," I said. "They obviously want to be left alone."
"Why?" asked Demi.
"And why weren't we invited to this?" asked Jackson.
We continued to watch as two tiny Gryffindor boys who might have been brothers entered the Hog's Head followed by four Hufflepuffs. I recognized Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley even though they had their heads bowed against the wind, and I was shocked to see Hannah slip into the Hog's Head behind Susan Bones. I couldn't believe Hannah would join this secret club of Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs and not tell me. I folded my arms across my chest and gritted my teeth against the sharp wind. Hannah was in for the interrogation of a lifetime next Charms class.
"Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot," said Demi, naming each one of the fifth-year Ravenclaw boys who entered the Hog's Head after Hannah.
Not long after them came the red-haired Ginny Weasley and then Zacharias Smith, the arsehole of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. The last three people we saw enter the Hog's Head were the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan.
Demi, Jackson, and I waited a little longer to see if anyone else was coming for the meeting, but it seemed everyone had arrived.
"Should we go in and see what it's all about?" asked Jackson.
I couldn't help but notice that no Slytherin students had entered the Hog's Head. A small part of me hurt to know we'd been entirely left out of this super-secret meeting.
"Nah," I said. "I want a butterbeer."
"Really?" Demi was surprised. "Aren't you usually all over conspiracy theories?"
"You know there's some real good gossip going on in the Hog's Head right now," added Jackson.
"I''m staying away from Potter," I said, starting down the street again in the direction of the Three Broomsticks. "Besides, if so many people are in the Hogs' Head, then the Three Broomsticks is probably less crowded than usual."
In total honesty, a part of me wanted to storm into the Hog's Head and demand to know what was going on. But another part of me thought that a secret meeting off-campus had to have something to do with being away from the prying eyes of Umbridge Otherwise they would've had the meeting at school and not wasted their Hogsmeade trip, and I didn't want to break up any movement against Umbridge's reign. Besides, judging by the people who had entered the Hog's Head the high amount of Weasleys) i had figured Harry Potter was involved. After all, he was main character of our school—if there was going to be a movement against Umbridge, it would only be right that Potter was behind it. And I refused to get involved with Potter's life.
By the time Sunday came, I was so busy with homework that I completely forgot to tell my friends about the movement. It wasn't until Monday morning, when we passed by the noticeboard on the way to breakfast and Evie spotted Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four, that I remembered.
"'All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded'," Blaise read aloud. "'An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students. Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor, Professor Umbridge… Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.'"
Pansy gasped. "Does that include the Slytherin Quidditch team?"
Rather than Quidditch, my mind went first to the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff students slipping into the Hog's Head. That was definitely a meeting of three or more students, and somehow, I didn't think Umbridge would approve of whatever kind of student organization, society, team, group, or club that had been formed in the Hog's Head.
"I'm sure Draco and the Quidditch team will be fine," said Morgana, still staring at the noticeboard. "I think Umbridge is targeting a different kind of club."
"Maybe she'll threaten Potter with the reformation of the Gryffindor Quidditch team," said Evie thoughtfully. "To get him to keep his mouth shut in class."
"I heard she likes giving Potter detention though," said Morgana. "It shows she's in control."
"It's the Ministry's doing," said Evie. "Fudge—the nutter—is terrified Dumbledore's trying to form a student army and take over the Ministry."
I let out a snort of laughter. "What?"
"Fudge has crazier theories than you, Ashe," said Evie, shaking her head.
"This is ridiculous," I said as we made our way up to the Great Hall for breakfast. "I'm pretty sure Dumbledore could become Minister of Magic all on his own if he wanted to. Didn't someone offer him the position a few years ago?"
"Dumbledore could have any job he wanted," said Morgana. "Does Fudge really think the Gryffindor Quidditch team or the Gobstone Club is going to take over the Ministry?"
I snickered. "You really have to watch out for those gobstone players. They're sneaky bastards, the lot of them."
By the time we had reached the Great Hall. As we settled down in our regular seats at the end of the Griffindor table, I wondered if I could find a spare moment to tell Morgana about the Hog's Head.
I looked over and saw that Potter, Weasley and Granger were surrounded by their fellow Gryffindors—most of whom I'd seen entering the Hog's Head on Saturday. They were speaking in frantic voices, and Granger kept glancing up at the teacher's table. I watched as Hannah and Macmillan rose from the Hufflepuff table and started walking across the Great Hall in the direction of Potter. I almost wanted to call out to Hannah and tell her that going to the Gryffindor table would alert Umbridge to the organization. However, I kept my mouth shut and watched as Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein, and Terry Boot started heading that way as well.
Lucky for them, Granger noticed the other students making their way to the Gryffindor table, and she started to warn them away. Ginny Weasley bounded across the Great Hall to give Corner a quick kiss and tell him and his friends to sit back down.
My suspicions of Potter being involved with the Hog's Head meeting were definitely confirmed—which meant that telling Morgana about the incident would put me out a sickle. Still, this had nothing to do with this school being Pottercentric; this had to do with a movement against Umbridge, a movement from which we were being deliberately excluded.
However, I didn't find a moment alone with Morgana during breakfast, and McGonagall watched us students like a hawk throughout Transfiguration class. It wasn't until we were making our way down to the dungeons for double potions with the Gryffindors that I managed to separate Morgana from the rest.
"What's going on?" asked Morgana in a low voice as the other students got further and further ahead of us. "You've been fidgeting all morning."
"I owe you a sickle," I said.
Morgana raised her eyebrows. "Why?"
"Education Decree Number Twenty-Four exists because Potter's forming a student organization against Umbridge."
Morgana stared at me for a moment and then let out a long sigh. "That theory is worth three sickles, Ashe. What happened to ignoring Potter?"
"Well," I said. "I would ignore Potter except Demi, Jackson, and I saw a bunch of Hogwarts students going into the Hog's Head on Saturday." I explained to Morgana what we'd seen and what had happened this morning, and I watched as understanding dawned on his face. Then, her expression darkened and a scowl tugged at her lips.
"I know they don't trust us," said Morgana. "Do they think we like Umbridge or something? We want to get rid of her just as much as they do."
I opened my mouth to respond, but we had just reached Snape's classroom and Draco's snide voice filled the hallway, forcing the gathered Gryffindor and Slytherin students to listen to him.
"Yeah, Umbridge gave the Slytherin Quidditch team permission to continue playing straightaway. I went to ask her first thing this morning," said Draco loudly. "Well, it was pretty much automatic, I mean, she knows my father really well; he's always popping in and out of the Ministry… It'll be interesting to see whether Gryffindor will be allowed to keep playing, won't it?"
I couldn't see Draco over the heads of the other students, so I just glared in his general direction.
"It wouldn't kill him to shut up for ten minutes," muttered Morgana.
"No one gives a shite about his father," Evie added.
"I mean," said Malfoy, his voice getting even louder, "if it's a question of influence with the Ministry, I don't think they've got much chance. From what my father says, they've been looking for an excuse to sack Arthur Weasley for years."
Standing a little ways down from Morgana, Evie and me was the Golden Trio. Weasley's freckled face was contorted with rage, and it seemed as though Granger was holding Potter back with a hand on the sleeve of his robes.
"And as for Potter," said Draco, "my father says it's a matter of time before the Ministry has him carted off to St. Mungo's. Apparently, they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic—"
Of all the things that could have happened next, I would never have predicted it. Neville Longbottom—the pitiful Gryffindor boy who had a toad for a pet and had spent the last four years being bullied by Crabbe and Goyle—threw himself through the crowd of students and started hitting and punching and kicking and biting Draco.
Someone screamed, "Neville, no!"
" Neville, Yes!" It sounded like it cam from Pansy
Potter lunged forward and tried to drag Longbottom away. Personally, I was urging Longbottom on, hoping he would do some serious damage to Draco, maybe break something important.
Crabbe and Goyle moved forward, preparing to deal with Longbottom, but Evie and Morgana and stepped in front of Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe and Goyle stopped in their tracks to avoid colliding with Evie and Morgana, which gave Potter and Weasley just enough time to pull Longbottom away from Draco.
Longbottom's face was bright red, and his bottom lip was bleeding a little. Spluttering, Longbottom said something along the lines of "Not funny…Mungo's…show him…"
My heart twisted uncomfortably. Some time in our third year, Nott had told us about Longbottom's family. The Lestranges, Death Eaters and relations to Morgana's family, had tortured Longbottom's auror parents to insanity, and they now lived in a ward of St. Mungo's, not even recognizing their own son when he came to visit. And if Nott knew all that, then I had no doubt that Draco—whose father told him everything—knew as well.
Form behind us, there came the cold, sneering voice of Snape. "Fighting, Potter, Weasley, Longbottom? Ten points from Gryffindor. Release Longbottom, Potter, or it will be detention." He turned his dark eyes on the rest of us. "Inside, all of you."
The Slytherin and Gryffindor students made their way into the classroom. I made sure to "accidentally" step on Draco's foot when I walked by. Morgana rolled her eyes at me but didn't say anything as we settled into our seats and set up our workstation.
"Draco is and always will be a ferret," I muttered under my breath.
Morgana nodded, but her eyes were focused on something in the far, dimly lit corner of the dungeon.
Snape closed the door behind him and made his way to the front of the classroom. "You will notice," he said, "that we have a guest with us today."
With this, I finally saw who Morgana had been looking at. Umbridge was seated in the corner, clipboard on her knee a cardigan as pink as ever, watching with narrowed eyes as Snape paced about the front of the classroom.
"We are continuing with our Strengthening Solutions today," said Snape, "you will find your mixtures as you left them last lesson, if correctly made they should have matured well over the weekend—instructions on the board. Carry on."
The first part of the lesson went on as usual. Morgana muttered instructions to me while I tried desperately not to screw up. My potion, thankfully, was reasonably close to the color the textbook indicated.
Towards the end of class, Umbridge rose from her stool and made her way to the front of the classroom where Snape was flipping through the potions book.
"Well, the class seems fairly advanced for their level," said Umbridge briskly. "Though I would question whether it is advisable to teach them a potion like the Strengthening Solution. I think the Ministry would prefer it if that was removed from the syllabus." I wondered if Umbridge also believed that Dumbledore was forming a student army to march on the Ministry.
Snape stared at her coldly.
"Now, how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?" asked Umbridge, quill poised over clipboard.
"Fourteen years," said Snape stiffly.
I wasn't always Snape's biggest fan; I didn't like his teaching methods or his treatment of the other houses. But I certainly liked him better than Umbridge. I willed Snape to show her exactly who was the most frightening professor in this school and why.
"You applied first for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?" asked Umbridge.
"Yes." Snape's voice was low and deadly.
"But you were unsuccessful?"
Snape's lip curled. "Obviously."
After scribbling something else on her clipboard, Umbridge asked, "And you have applied regularly for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?"
Snape was white with rage. "Yes."
"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?" asked Umbridge, continuing along the same stupid line of questioning.
"I suggest you ask him," said Snape.
Umbridge gave him her sweetest smile and said, "Oh, I shall."
And then she walked away to ask Pansy about the class. Disappointment curled in my stomach. I had expected greater things from Snape, more sarcasm and disdain. Instead, Umbridge had succeeded in pissing off Snape. It made me miss not-Mad-Eye Moody; he wouldn't turned Umbridge into a toad for looking at him wrong.
Eventually, Umbridge moved to Morgana and me. With a wide smile, she asked, "And what do you two think of this class?"
"It's challenging," said Morgana, while I glowered at Umbridge, "but we learn a lot."
"And do you do well in this class?" asked Umbridge.
"Some of us," said Morgana.
Umbridge glanced at me and made a soft tut-tutting sound in the back of her throat. I longed to pull my homework out of my bag and shove my "Exceeds Expectations" in her face. However, before I could do that, she turned away from us and headed across the room to talk to Draco. Morgana waited until she was out of earshot before hissing, "Are you stupid? Stop glaring."
"I hate her," I said.
"We all do," said Morgana. "But don't let her know that."
"We're not all good at acting like you are," I muttered, stirring my cauldron clockwise.
"The instructions say counter-clockwise." Morgana wrenched the stirring spoon out of my hands.
I sighed and leaned back on my stool. "Yes i know but this Advanced potions making book as a scribble that says stir once clockwise and seven counter clockwise "
"It what."
As if on cue Snape appeared " It seems that i have greatly underestimated you Ms Braxton, impressive Strengthening Solution " Snape said, he turned and began to walk away " One point to Griffindor "
Morgana snickered, i was confused.