Ness knew his morning was going too smoothly for fate's liking.
It started off on a good note with discovering his completed Charms essay that he had misplaced the week before under his bed that was due that day. Saving him from the look of disappointment from Professor Flitwick as he hurried to breakfast and found that Ron was being distracted by having to carry out his duties like a good little prefect—a role Ness completely forgot the Weasley had.
Giving Hermione a bit of peace of mind thanks to Ron's distraction and was actually being lenient to the rule breakers they had caught that morning, allowing Ginny to accompany him to breakfast without the fear of being tattled on since Fred and George were off pranking a teacher and Potter was completely distracted by studying something or someone at the teachers' table.
Ness had foolishly thought that perhaps today would be a normal school day- heck maybe even a GOOD day, which would allow him and his friends to figure out what their plan of action was. With the chaos of Umbridge had caused by being called back by the Ministry, Hogwarts had finally calmed down and it seemed obvious that she was never coming back.
The Universe laughed in his face at his foolish hopes. Especially since he had placed Professor Umbridge in the same box as Pokey. Knowing that no matter how many times you scared or chased that kid off, he would always return with some grand entrance or an even bigger scheme than before to screw up your day.
It was a life lesson Ness was now getting firmly hammered into his head when Sister Mary hissed "The devil incarnate toad has returned!" just as the doors to the Great Hall open with a tentative creak.
The lively chatter that hadn't graced the dining room in months didn't die down at first. After all it was simply a heavy sleeper rushing in to grab a quick bite to eat or the few students who enjoyed short brisk walks around the small indoor garden outside of Ravenclaw tower before breakfast, right? No reason to glance at the doorway for something as frivolous as that.
But soon the chatter and laughter were replaced with startled hushes and whispers as everyone slowly found their attention drawn to the door which didn't have the usual sound of quiet but hurried footsteps darting towards a table.
Then it died as if someone had blown out the flame to their excitement as they found themselves looking at the pink devil herself.
Umbridge.
And she wasn't alone. No, this time she was being flanked by four official looking wizards and witches wearing robes that didn't belong to outsiders. Robes that belonged to Hogwarts teaching staff.
"I knew it was too good to be true." Ness thought, his fork slipping out of his hand as Ginny sharply hissed, "Why is she back here?!"
"Who are those blokes standing beside her…?" someone murmured as Dumbledore turned to face Umbridge, his face showing no surprise despite it being painted on everyone's face with shades of horror.
"Umbridge, I see you've returned from your extended vacation." Dumbledore greeted.
"How can he greet her so easily?" Ness wondered, a small spark of annoyance forming given how abusive she had been to his students and co-workers. Sure, he understood there was a need to be polite during work but greeting her like an old acquaintance?!
"Indeed," Umbridge hummed, not bothering to suppress her venom as she took in the silent, seething students and teachers. "The Ministry says hello and sends several updated mandates for Hogwarts."
"You're joking!" someone cried out, but they were quickly hushed by their neighbors. "Oh?" Dumbledore merely said, tilting his head a little as Umbridge took out a scroll of paper and cleared her throat.
"And here comes the revenge times two…" Ness thought, biting his lip to slience any shocked outbursts as she begin to speak. "Due to the outcry and evidence provided by outside sources. Dolores Umbridge has been removed from her position as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and instructor and has been stationed as High Inquisitor and only High Inquisitor. The reason behind this is the troubling reviews of several of Hogwarts current teachers and the dangers they've brought to their students.
"These teachers—Sybill Trelawney, Astra Kale and Rubeus Hagrid are to be fired immediately and swiftly replaced with capable teachers provided by the Ministry and handpicked by the Hogwarts Board of Governors. This decree—Educational Decree Number 31—shall be put into action post haste and without any delay from opposing parties."
Umbridge finished and looked up with a sweet smile. Relishing in the exploding outcries and disbelieving cries until one of the witches—the new teacher—placed her wand at her throat, stepped forward and boomed, "Silence!" startling everyone into shying away and slamming their hands over their ears as the woman lowered her wand and spoke—thankfully—at a normal volume.
"These decisions have been decided and approved by the Hogwarts Board of Governors without any outside influence and or meddling to ensure your safety. They have also been approved on by other departments related to the Hogwarts Board of Governors to ensure that this was the best course of action that was desperately needed earlier in the school year." She glanced at Umbridge with a purposely blank expression before continuing, "Despite Umbridge's inhuman treatment of the students of Hogwarts, she is correct in the statement that Trelawney, Kale and Rubeus have been proven to be unqualified teachers and are in need of dire replacement."
"Forgive me for interrupting," Professor McGonagall started, not even waiting for the woman's brief nod before she continued, "But why have they've been proven to be 'unqualified'?"
"Yea! I'm a 'reat teacher!" Hagrid protested before he was shushed by Professor Sprout and Professor Bins.
"Rubeus Hagrid has allowed several attacks to happen during his classes and endangers his class on a daily basis with his 'hands on' lesson." A man stated, his dark grey eyes landing on the half giant with a disapproving glare. "We have Draco Malfoy's statements from the Hippogrief attack and several school records from injured students as proof. Not to mention your status as a 'Half giant' is…troublesome for the parents."
"Hagrid wouldn't hurt anyone!" Ron exploded before he was yanked back into his seat by a fuming Harry and a pale Hermione.
"Maybe so, but his…race, is merely a small mark compared to his teaching style." The man coughed, his gaze sliding over to Professor Kale who was murmuring something to sooth a hyperventilating Professor Trelawney.
Ness froze, dreading the reason that his favorite Professor—the only Professor and adult who truly understood some of the struggles of being a PSI user in a magic based school and the curse known as homesickness would be fired. As the man opened his mouth to deal the finishing blow for Astra's career as a teacher.
"As for Astra Kale, he has proven himself as a surprisingly remarkable teacher and is apparently, a student favorite after classes. But, given the growing danger at Hogwarts and the various attacks brought on by fanatics of the dead Dark Lord's distasteful fan club. It has been deemed too risky to allow a squib to teach and watch over his class while ensuring their safety."
Cold. Everything felt cold as Ness processed the man's—the Board's—the Ministry's excuse for why they were firing Professor Kale.
Squib. Because he was a squib who couldn't wave a wand around and shout words of pure destruction to his opponents and friends.
His blurring gaze slid over to Umbridge as he felt Cloak tightened around him. He shouldn't have looked.
He shouldn't have looked.
Smiling. She was smiling.
Big.
Wide.
And ugly.
"She pulled some strings for this to happen. She had to."
"Breath, Ness." Cloak tittered, the living robe nudging its arms—sleeves, whatever- up and down to mimic a soothing gesture on Ness's arms as the fog burst into crystal clear reality at Professor Kale's morose but understanding expression. His attention drifting back to Trelawney as he tried to prepare her for the bad news.
It wasn't enough.
"Sybil Trelawney was hired due to her connections to her great grandmother, Cassandra Trelawney who was a renowned seer who could see into the future with 90% accuracy. However, it has been proven that Sybil Trelawney-while talented in her own right—did not inherent her great grandmother's ability to clearly see into the future, in fact it is suspected that she cannot see into the future at all."
"That's not true!" someone from Gryffindor yelled, a fan of Trelawney's no doubt, but Ness couldn't place the voice and he couldn't—wouldn't pull his gaze away from Professor Trelawney to get a visual conformation of the speaker.
Trying to spot the truth on the hysterical woman's face as she froze up, her body violently shaking from holding in the hysterical sobs and whimpers trying to bubble out into the open. Professor Trelawney wasn't a thief, and who cares if she couldn't see into the future?! She could teach them! Couldn't she?
"But has she really taught anyone anything?" a harsh but mournful voice whispered, as the man moved to address the sudden outburst which prompted more students to speak up. Eagerly taking the interruption as their chance try and protect one of their teachers. "After all, you can barely see anything in her class. You have better luck with the stars than soggy tea leaves and palm markings."
Ness swallowed, trying to deny it as the yelling grew louder but more incoherent. Where they even talking anymore? He honestly only attended her class because he liked her, she was a nice breeze of wackiness in the stuffy and stiff castle of wizards and magic.
But even he could admit that he personally found her class to be almost as useless as Charms and Transfiguration and was planning on replacing it with something else next semester.
"Ness! They're talking about Kale again!" Cloak hissed, shattering the loud, thundering yells as Ness looked up. His heart twisting and cutting off his shallow breathing rhythm as he caught the tail end of the man's statement.
"Trelawney has been committing acts of plagiarism and taking advantage of her co-worker. Astra Kale."
"Ness, Ness you need to breath!"
Was breathing…really that important? His eyes moved over to Professor Kale who looked surprised by the accusation and was looking at Trelawney for an explanation. Trelawney looked as if she had been slapped all the way to the moon and back, her eyes glowing with frozen and forgotten tears as her mouth dropped open a bit in shock.
"I'm…I'm sorry, but. Plagiarism?" Professor Sprout stated, looking greatly confused as Professor Umbridge hummed in devious delight. "How has Trelawney been stealing Kale's work? He teaches astronomy and the prediction of the stars."
And like a switch, it dawned on Kale and Trelawney, their shocked and confused expressions morphing into one of anger and disgust. But why? What had they figured out that they hadn't—
"In America," the man started, "magical plagiarism is much more common given the scarcity of pure bloodlines and the nation's disregard for magical history and superstition. The muggles preferring to focus on 'aliens' and 'outer space' instead of wizardry and magic.
"Because of this, it is very common for Muggle-born wizards and squibs to study the stars or attempt to prove magical creatures real to other muggles. It is also very common for Muggle-born wizards to be natural seers given how limited it is to find other courses of magic to study."
He paused, allowing the information to settle before he resumed dropping the bomb. "Of course, since Muggle-born and Squibs rarely know their heritage it is quite easy for other wizards—wizards aiming for a quick path of fame and fortune—to take advantage of them by suggesting certain possibilities and recording it for later use."
"Is…is it really that easy?" Ness wondered, "Surely people have tests and stuff to figure out if you're a real seer or not."
Apparently, someone had asked his question aloud since the man was speaking again. His voice muffled as Ness's breathing echoed in his ears.
"Yes, there are tests but given how rare and complex seeing into the future is let alone divining messages from the spirits is, these tests are often used as leeway and are easy to doctor once completed. Not to mention, it's possible for a seer to lose their 'sight' and never inform others to keep either a steady income or to hold onto the fruitless hope of regaining it."
"Also in America, completed and properly documented tests are rare and often muddled by fake seers given how the muggles have blown a treasured and rare art of magic into cheap entertainment and mindless fun." The woman who had amplified her voice earlier stated, her face scrunched up into a bitter frown before it was smoothed back into a calm mask.
"And this, plagiarism." Professor McGonagall spat, "Has been proven how?! Professor Kale and Professor Trelawney are well versed in their arts and should be respected-,"
"Sorry to interrupt," Umbridge hummed, ignoring Professor McGonagall's murderous glare, "But it has been proven given how students have reported things Mr. Kale has predicting coming true while Ms. Trelawney has rumors of being a quack."
Trelawney made a strangled honk of outrage and needed to be lightly restrained by Kale who looked annoyed but kept his mouth tightly glued shut.
"That-," Professor McGonagall started when the woman coughed, "Perhaps we should continue this discussion in a more…private setting." Ness flinched as her gaze swept the room, cold and empty. "This is already a…difficult announcement to stomach, and the students of this prestige school shouldn't be forced to watch their beloved teachers ripped apart and be put on verbal trial."
"Oy! We deserve to know this!" one of the twins—Fred? - shouted getting to his feet as other Gryffindors joined him, their cries of protest slowly rallying the Hufflepuffs but convincing the Slytherins and Ravenclaws to shrink in their seats. Their expression stony but tense as Ness tried to focus on breathing.
But it seemed to be a luxury he couldn't afford as voices echoed and slammed against one another, trying to be heard and fight back against the cold new teachers as they bluntly tried to reign order and cox Dumbledore into doing his job.
"Ness," Wonderful, now the voices were in his head. He bit his lip, trying to focus on something when he felt Cloak tighten a bit, "Ness, I know this is hard, but you have to breath. Alright? One deep breath and then we teleport to class-,"
"Enough." The fiery protests abruptly dying as Dumbledore stood up. Wearing that aggravating smile of calm and serene as he turned to the teachers, as if nothing were wrong and the students hadn't been prepared to come to blows against the toad.
"In our haste to understand what was happening, it appears we have rudely forgotten to inquire your names and your teaching positions." Dumbledore stated, tilting his head apologetically as Professor McGonagall gave him a bold look of disbelief before swallowing it and turning to pass on words of comfort to Trelawney and Kale.
The pair wearing grim expressions of defeat and misery as they held onto one another like a lifeline. Hagrid wasn't doing much better, his eyes blown wide open and his mouth slightly agape as reality came crashing down like a PK Star Storm.
Was this it? Was Dumbledore seriously just going to play along? Without even offering his fateful friends—staff? Acquaintances? —a mournful glance?
"W-well, he DOES have to keep up with appearances." Sweepy tittered but his voice sounded weak and greatly unsure as Ness finally remembered how to breath and allowed his head to drop onto his hastily folded arms.
He didn't hear the new wizards—teachers—names and positions, all he heard was the thunder of his heartbeat and the shattered shards of arguments protesting that it wasn't fair and swearing revenge before morphing into a swamp of silent depression.
He didn't hear Dumbledore give them a half day of school. Their first class practically over given how long the announcement had gone on for.
He barely felt Ginny and Cloak nudging him to his feet and he certainly didn't remember entering their club room. He just felt a swirling storm of emotions and the urge to spill out his troubles to an outside party, one who would be focused on calming him down and not spitting the same hateful fire against Umbridge's return and decrees.
When he finally escaped the storm, Selvis and Luna were having a heated discussion about something while Bearable sat on his lap, humming a song while Ginny leaned against him, trying to study in between throwing in her two cents.
"Honestly! That woman just doesn't stay down!" Selvis growled, "We ripped her to shreds—publicly and the Ministry decided that keeping her onboard was a good idea!"
"At least she isn't teaching any classes." Ginny offered, but it was a halfhearted attempt to look on the bright side as Luna huffed, "That just gives her a lot more leeway to paw through our stuff. We've exposed that demon horned toad to the light, and now it's going to be desperately scrabbling for anything and everything to keep itself afloat."
"Demon horned-," Selvis started when he cut himself off with a sharp shake of his head, "Since her first plan has blown up in her face, she won't have a lot of allies. Those new teachers don't like her, which means they'll be keeping a close eye on her to ensure that their acceptance goes smoothly and without random fights popping up. Which means she'll probably be focusing heavily on her little spy to flip the tables on Ness and Potter."
"How?" Ginny asked, "The spy wouldn't be able to find anything. Well, not from us. We just use your stones and Ness's er, magical friends to share secrets."
"It doesn't matter how." Ness stated, cringing at how quiet and almost hoarse voice sounded. "People like Umbridge don't care about how their pawns get things down. They just want the results ASAP and without being questioned."
"But the spy-," Ginny tried when Selvis shook his head, "Would no doubt go along with it since Umbridge probably has a dangling sword over their head. They've already risked the wrath of Professor Snape by following Potter and Ness to Occlumency. It'll only be a matter of time before they get bold and sneak into Gryffindor tower to snoop through their things."
"If they're being blackmailed, then they're probably related to someone working in the Ministry." Luna theorized.
"But almost everyone has a parent working in the Ministry." Ginny pointed out, "And that's just counting the three houses with the skill set most qualified for the various departments."
"And we can't just go up and ask if anyone's having any money troubles." Ness noted, "That's a sensitive topic and will no doubt clue Umbridge in on the fact that we're onto her."
"Which may prompt her to burn the spy—not literally Ginny it's a phrase!—and wipe her hands clean of the entire mess." Selvis grumbled.
"So, suspects are out given the vast number of them. What about possible traps?" Luna asked, "Like, say we drop a hint about something private Ness is going and catch them in the act—"
"HOLD IT!" Ness jumped straight out of his beanbag and snapped, "A little warning next time Nagini!"
Nagini promptly poked her head around a lantern and huffed, "Doesssn't matter, I jussst realized sssomething!"
"Nagini figured something out." Ness relayed, scowling at the snake as she continued, "How did sssshe even know you and Potter had classsesss and when wassss the right time to leave dinner?"
"That…is a good question." Ness admitted, blinking as he remembered that no one outside of his and Potter's friends' group knew about their extra classes timetable, nor could they easily figure it out by merely observing them.
Sometimes Ness left later than Potter, confident in his ability to teleport to avoid being late and other times Potter would leave early to brace himself for Professor Snape's relentless hostility.
"Well?" Ginny urged, her frown deepening as Ness relayed what Nagini had said and recalled something Selvis had said that night, "Selvis, do you remember how many female Slytherins' were missing last night?"
Selvis frowned and thought for a moment, "Not…really, although I do try to keep an eye on everyone. I don't really focus that much on my own house unless I know there's a juicy secret somewhere. I know for a fact that several girls from my year were missing though. They're a tight group of friends and one of them sits next to me sometimes."
"Well…It can't be those guys since they would most likely leave in a group to get some extra studying done." Ginny concluded.
"What about Ron's girlfriend?" Luna suggested, "She's close enough to Ron that he might have let something slip about Potter's afterschool classes without meaning to, plus she was missing."
"Yea, but so was Ron. I watched them both leave since Ron kept glancing over at her with a dopey smile." Ginny mimed gagging as Sawdust hooted, "Very yucky."
"Maybe you can follow her Luna," Selvis offered, a devise grin forming until Ness bluntly shattered it with reality, "She can't, Luna's…very popular in her own house, remember? Plus, Edgecombe's a year ahead of us."
"If we snatch someone's class schedule-," Selvis tried when Ginny shot him a look, "Then they'll definitely know something's up when they spot Luna hanging around their classes for seemingly no reason."
"I could make up an excuse." Luna hummed, pouting when Ness sighed, "And risk getting murdered by a teacher for leaving class early."
"For now, we'll just have to watch Edgecombe and the Slytherins that are a bit too chummy with Umbridge." Ginny stated, "It's our best lead."
"Unfortunately." Selvis grumbled, "Which means that I'll be stuck trying to watch for possible spies while Luna figures out a way to spy on Edgecombe."
"Well…we could ask Ron." Ness offered, cringing at the flat looks of disbelief from everyone, "What! He does spend time with her! Ginny could just ask if he's noticed anything weird or something!"
"Or we could just observe her during DA practice." Luna pointed out, "Aside from you, we'd all have a reason to be watching her since everyone works in random pairs."
"…You know I completely forgot about the DA." Ness admitted, prompting Selvis to splutter, "How?! Granger gave you a coin and-,"
"Actually, did Ness ever officially join?" Ginny interrupted, frowning as they racked their brains for an answer.
"I…always followed you to DA before I stopped going. Didn't make sense to practice what I didn't have after all" Ness recalled, glancing at Ginny who's frown deepened as she murmured a quiet. "Huh…"
"Wait, didn't Granger charm or jinx those coins?" Selvis asked, prompting Luna to fish out her coin which had the next meeting engraved on the back, "Yea, I think so no one could snitch on us without consequence." Luna answered, "But the spy either doesn't go to DA or hasn't informed Umbridge about it."
Selvis hummed in thought, "Probably the latter, Umbridge might still be working her way up to lethal levels of blackmail for the spy to not give themselves away."
"Or maybe the jinx is really subtle." Ginny offered, "I mean, I really don't see Granger capable of doing anything nasty and permeant."
"Eh, she'd probably do it." Ness earned a glare from Ginny for that comment. But given how smart Hermione was it didn't seem like her to make a 'subtle' threat to someone who didn't or couldn't keep their mouth shut.
"Especially since the DA has Slytherin and Ravenclaw members." Selvis added, prompting Ginny's glare to focus on him, "If Umbridge somehow managed to cox one of them into liking her they might be persuaded to throw us under the bus. Especially if she reached out before everything blew up for her."
"Okay, Slytherins maybe given how almost everyone is connected to the Ministry, but Ravenclaw?!" Ginny spluttered, scowling when Luna hummed, "Well, Professor Lockheart was a Ravenclaw and he had apparently stolen his adventures from other people and Professor Qurriel was supposedly working for the Death Eaters."
"Wow, birds are just as dangerous as snakes." Ness murmured, "Sort of wondering if letting them befriend each other was a somewhat bad idea."
"Well, considering how a sixth year Slytherin is dating a fifth year Ravenclaw and they spend their dates making nasty hexes and jinxes to protect their research…" Selvis trailed off and grinned, happily allowing them to fill in the blanks and be horrified by the possible outcomes.
"Oh, I think I know who you're talking about." Luna hummed, "Winchester's hands turned a nasty shade of green and was oozing snake venom after she tried to copy some of Vanguard's potion homework. We still don't know if she's out of the medical wing or not."
"…We've doomed Hogwarts." Ginny concluded, rolling her eyes when Ness asked, "Wasn't it doomed from the start?"
"We've doomed it even more." Luna corrected before moving onto a topic about flying eels that were the real reason behind lightning storms and enjoyed electrocuting people.
They quickly moved onto doing homework after Ness recalled that he had actually fought electric eels on land during his adventures and freaked Selvis into threatening to glue both of their mouths shut.
Ginny didn't help by laughing and teasing Selvis about it, prompting the Slytherin to add her to his list of people to hex later in the future.
Their free day ended with the members of Boundless in somewhat higher spirits than that morning and everyone wondering what exactly would happen with the new teachers.
After all, according to Selvis even though the Ministry had the right to recommend and force teachers onto the school it was still the headmaster's choice since he might have other teachers on standby to fill an emptied spot.
Granted, Dumbledore probably did have enough tricks up his sleeve to ensure that Hagrid stayed but Ness wasn't sure how he would save Professor—no, Kale and Trelawney. Not when they had such heavy accusations and restraints against them.
"Seems like everyone's wondering about this…" Ginny murmured as they entered Gryffindor tower to find everyone lingering in the common room, talking about this morning and the possible fates of their beloved teachers.
"Well, given how Umbridge probably arranged it to be a giant show…it's no wonder no one can get their minds off of this." Ness replied, "I can't believe they would accuse Trelawney of plagiarism, or even using Kale."
"Yea…I honestly thought they were dating." Ginny admitted, "But I guess we'll have to wait for tomorrow's verdict."
"Indeed." Cloak sighed, ruffling its sleeve a little as Ness bid Ginny good night and headed to bed. Not caring that it was only seven PM as he collapsed on the bed and almost crushed Nagini.
"Watch it!" the snake hissed, angrily curling into a ball and giving him a glare. Ness ignored her and Cloak who was crowing about Nagini getting her 'just deserts' and reached under his pillow to grab his pen—since quills were awful and Paula had sent him one just so he would stop writing 'chicken scratch'—and paper to update everyone about the new mess.
It must have been pretty late over in America since only Jeff replied with a grumpy, "Please tell Nagini to stop landing on my head. I was in the middle of researching something for an essay." And theorized that the Ministry was trying to give Umbridge enough rope to hang herself so they could get rid of her.
She had probably used the same tactics she had at Hogwarts to get as far as she did, only building a thicker defense and utilizing people who could easily be arranged to 'disappear' from their position at the Ministry, something you couldn't really do with a group of students who had already seen a version of the truth and were firmly leaning towards believing it.
Unless people began protesting for her to be removed from the Ministry, they couldn't actually get rid of her without something blowing up and being accused of foul play.
"For now, just wait and find the spy. Don't play into her hands." Jeff finished, leaving Ness feeling sick with annoyance that 'waiting' seemed to be the only safe move at the option. Even with the extra help of having eyes almost everywhere they couldn't act without catching the culprit in the act with proof to convince a teacher to get rid of Umbridge and put an end to it.
"And tomorrow will no doubt be an even BIGGER bombshell." Ness mentally groaned, closing his eyes and vaguely listening in on Nagini's and Cloak's argument over the right of landing on someone's head.
When morning rolled around it felt as if everyone was walking on eggshells. The quiet talk hushed and worried as Ness focused on keeping a steady breathing pattern as the groups of students slowly approached the Great Hall doors, as if it had turned into a monster overnight, waiting to leap out and attack them all.
"Although, I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happened." Ness thought, shoving his hands into his pockets as he shuffled inside the eerily quiet Great Hall. The air thick with dread and muted hope resting heavily over the student body as they robotically sat down and glanced at the teacher's table.
Ness's heart skipped a beat when he noticed that Professor Trelawney and Hagrid were seated, but Professor Kale was nowhere in sight. "One of the Ministry teachers are gone as well." Cloak pointed out, prompting him to look to the end of the table and see that Umbridge was sitting next to one of the men from yesterday and the woman. The third was indeed gone, making him wonder what was going on.
Why was Kale gone when Professor Trelawney and Hagrid could stay? Did Umbridge bully him into leaving Hogwarts—doubtful but it was sadly, still possible—or did he leave of his own free will? Although, judging by the sour look on Umbridge's face she obviously didn't have a hand in Kale's disappearance, and neither did Dumbledore since her expression didn't darken when the Headmaster stood up and cleared his throat to silence the already quiet Great Hall.
"I would bid all of you good morning. But, given yesterday's shocking news it's probably best if we skip the pleasantries and simply get straight to the point."
"Which issss?" Nagini hissed, sounding annoyed as Cloak spluttered, "Are you listening in? Are you in the room?!"
"Maybe."
"Nagini!"
"Quiet." Ness ordered, feeling a little guilty at how abruptly the two heeded his words but he ignored it for now. He would apologize once the dreadful boulder of worry was destroyed by Dumbledore's explanation.
"Now, as Umbridge as explained, the Ministry is within their right to place teachers selected by the school-board to work at Hogwarts in cases of emergency or if a teacher chosen by the Headmaster is found incompetent. However, the teachers chosen by the Ministry can be turned away if the Headmaster has chosen a suitable replacement and prearranged lodgings for them."
Dumbledore paused, allowing his words to sink before he resumed speaking. "Unfortunately, despite our best efforts until the accusations against Professor Trelawney and Professor Kale have been proven false or accurate, it is impossible for them to resume teaching.
"Trelawney has been replaced with a teacher chosen by me while Professor Kale and Hagrid have been replaced by the Ministry. But this isn't the last time you shall see Trelawney or Hagrid, Hagrid is still working as the groundskeeper and Trelawney is staying here, in Hogwarts until she is proven innocent."
"Or guilty." Umbridge unhelpfully added, ignoring Professor McGonagall's stern glare as Dumbledore kept talking, acting as if he hadn't been interrupted by the toad. "As many of you have noticed, Kale isn't with us. Sadly, this is because he believed it was in his best interest to distance himself from Trelawney until the investigation was finished despite our offer of allowing him to stay at Hogwarts.
"He has informed us that he is going to spend some time with a friend and that he is leaving tonight by train. Giving those who wish to say goodbye or wish him luck plenty of time to visit him in his office during break and mealtimes."
He stopped, allowing this to sink in as well as a mournful rumble of whispers floated into the air. Ness just focused on breathing and ignoring the big fat ugly toad still sucking on some invisible sour lemon.
"I wonder why Umbridge looks so miffed…" Cloak murmured, "I mean, she got what she wanted, Professor Kale is gone and is being investigated."
"But not where she can tamper with the evidence." Defe whispered, "He's out of the way and no doubt staying with a muggle friend. She can't make random checks on him or 'accidentally' overhear something to incriminate him like she can with Trelawney."
"Issss it me? Or do the people clossssesssst to Dumbledore ssseem a little miffed as well?" Nagini asked.
"They…do. But why?" Ness wondered, noticing how Snape kept sending Dumbledore odd looks that seemed to be boarding on scrutinizing as the man talked about their new Divination teacher who would be using the ground floor to teach them.
It was sort of unimportant given how Ness was going to drop the class after this announcement, so he didn't feel too bad about spacing out on that announcement or the new teachers' introduction.
"Maybe they wanted Kale as well?" Cloak suggested, prompting Potio to murmur, "Possible, having not one but two talented seers would give Dumbledore an edge. Especially since many would overlook Kale given his status as a squib."
"From America." Nagini added, "That place issss cursssed."
"Did Giygas's attack leave a lingering effect? One that no one really understands since the time paradox wiped out large chunks of information?" Ness asked, slowly realizing that no one in their group really knew what had caused them to forget and remember certain events with clarity or how these new places which didn't belong in the past were suddenly tightly integrated with the 'present'.
"Just…what happened to cause the paradox?"
"Wizards." Sweepy huffed as Dumbledore finished his announcements and everyone slowly focused on grabbing something to eat before heading to class and having their first class with their new teacher.
"Maybe Kale knows." Cloak stated.
"Maybe…but everyone will be visiting him." Ness pointed out, "And with Umbridge back I don't think we can send a letter to him."
Nagini gave an indigent huff and hissed, "Did you jusssst, forget about the magical mail ssssnake?"
"Oh, yea." Ness ignored the snake's rant of the utter disgrace of being a mere mail snake and glanced around the Great Hall to see what his friends' reactions were. Wondering if they had missed the subtle tension between Dumbledore and his two closest allies.
"Just how tangled is this web?" Ness wondered as Selvis tapped his book of Defense Against the Dark Arts and had Defe give a blunt relay of, "Professor Kale created a wave of some sort."
Perhaps waiting for the spy to reveal themselves wouldn't be too bad now that they had 'side quests' to work on.
I'm alive...! Again! Schedules and focus are not my friends ;-
But I bring 12 chapters to make up for my not planned hiatus! So consider this first chapter 1 out of 12!
