One worry had been replaced by another, with half of the students willing to report any suspicious activity directly to Umbridge. Walking through the castle at night wasn't unusual for a professor, especially if they were patrolling the corridors, but it was getting difficult to trust anyone now. At least Hazel knew the vast majority of the Ravenclaws detested Umbridge as much as she did.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hazel spotted something moving about in the darkness. "Miss Lovegood, what are you doing?"
Luna stopped in her tracks, the only movement in the corridor the continued efforts of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet. The tapestry shimmered in the low light of her wand, Luna thinking of something quickly. "Nargles are best seen at night, Professor. I've been missing my favorite pair of earrings for a bit, and I thought they might have picked them up."
Though most professors had learned to shrug things off like this and tell her to return to Ravenclaw Tower, Hazel was acutely aware of exactly where they were. She'd found the Room of Requirement a couple of times when she was in school. She and Sev had pulled off some of their best potions there, aside form the time they caused a massive explosion that landed both of them in the Hospital Wing for a few hours. "Give the others my best. Actually, I assume you're leaving by now. Well, give them my best at your next meeting." Luna shifted on her feet, clearly uncomfortable. She had been caught, even if she wasn't going to admit it. "I know that room well. My friends and I spent a lot of time working in there after our hideout in Astronomy Tower was taken over by a group of rather audacious Slytherins. They were the only ones caught out of bed after hours, though, so the climb up here was always worth it."
"Professor -"
"I won't say a word. I know you all are as angry about Professor Umbridge's reign as I am," Hazel confided. "There is no way I can directly help you all without risking my position, and Professor Dumbledore needs me here. But if you or the others ever have any questions, I can point you to the right places in the library. Or sign off for permission to visit the Restricted Section." She didn't give Luna an opportunity to respond, instead continuing, "I need to head downstairs. I would recommend giving it a moment or two and then following. Branch off at Ravenclaw Tower. Oh, and tell your father hello for me. We haven't talked in too long. I'll send him an owl soon, but do tell him hello."
She disappeared down the hall, Luna watching in shock. She would have to tell the others they'd been discovered, but the secret of Dumbledore's Army seemed safe for the time being. If anything, they had an important new ally.
The chaos of the next few weeks kept Hazel and Sev apart. A corner of the Slytherin common room had begun to cave in under the Black Lake, springing a leak that took almost no time to fix. The cleanup effort, however, had Snape and Filch working at all hours to prevent anything from molding, dry up the bookshelves that had been drenched, and get all of the water out of the crevasses in the brickwork. Luckily it hadn't seeped into the dormitories.
Suddenly finding herself buried in work, Hazel hardly left her office. She had finally gotten a shipment of books that she'd ordered for a research project, and there was a lot more to take in than she had expected. She had been working on compiling recent magical history, detailing the rise of Voldemort and the First Wizarding War. Now it was getting more and more dangerous to order books that were critical of Voldemort, so she had to order them from out of the country. The books she had ordered that spoke well of Voldemort arrived from Borgin & Burkes at the same time, leaving her with crates of books stacked around her office.
Though she would sit up at night and read, Sev rarely joined her. He'd assigned essays to every class right before the Great Slytherin Flood, as the students were calling it, so when he wasn't stuck trying to fix up the common room, he was in his office, combing through essays that spelled "Polyjuice" incorrectly. It was only when they climbed into bed at night that they could talk, but by then, both of them would almost always be too exhausted to say much more than a quick "goodnight".
Their opportunity finally came after a dramatic confrontation in Dumbledore's office that sent a bunch of professors running. Hazel had a feeling that Dumbledore was going to be forced out of the school soon, but she had no idea that it would be at the hands of people she thought were on their side. Or perhaps they had orchestrated it all together. No one could be sure. Either way, she found herself running towards Dumbledore's office at the first signs of commotion. She'd been in the hallway nearby, and made it up there just in time to see Dumbledore and Fawkes vanish in a flash of light.
McGonagall had been right there, and she remained fuming at the Aurors and Umbridge. Madam Pomfrey arrived soon after, Professor Sprout trailing in her wake. Snape and Flitwick rounded out the group, all of them silently agreeing to discuss everything later. For now, though, Umbridge called an emergency meeting of the heads of house.
Being forced to leave them, Hazel went back to Ravenclaw Tower, calling all of her students down to the common room. Since it was after hours, nearly everyone was there, save for a few in the Hospital Wing. "You will hear the news in the morning, but I think you should hear it from me. Professor Dumbledore has been driven from the castle." The whispering started up fiercely, but she continued, talking over them to assure her students that all would be well. "Professor Umbridge is going to announce it in the morning. I'm sure the Ministry will place her in charge." More muttering ran through the room. "I do not know everything going on behind this, but I have faith that Professor Dumbledore saw this coming, and I have faith that this is part of a bigger plan of his. Whatever Professor Umbridge announces in the morning, we will stand together as Ravenclaws and as a school."
Flitwick returned soon after, taking his turn to address the students who were still milling about the common room. Pulling Hazel aside, he told her that there would be a staff meeting the next evening, where Umbridge was going to outline her new plan for the school. Both of them agreed that their priority would be continuing their students' education and protecting the school now that Dumbledore was gone. The only wizard Voldemort truly feared had left them defenseless. Not totally. They had collected some of the best and most capable wizarding minds, but the fear of Dumbledore being there to protect the school was now gone.
The staff meeting held no surprises. Umbridge had taken over as headmistress and she was going about instituting even more rules, which would be announced to the students as soon as their meeting was over. All "non-educational" products were now banned, as was the Quibbler. Flitwick's choir practice hours were cut in half, and all songs had to be approved. Hogsmeade trips were reserved to one Saturday a month and would be supervised by as many professors as possible. They were likely to be phased out completely soon enough. All disciplinary measures were to be reported directly to Umbridge, not just the offending student's head of house. Even the sweets and candies in the school were regulated and had to come from approved suppliers - Honeyduke's - only, or students might face expulsion. Any books by non-wizards, and especially those by non-humans, were to be burned in the Great Hall fireplace. Some could be kept in the library for "historic and educational value" but could not be removed from the Restricted Section.
Professors were banned from giving students any information on subjects other than the ones they taught. Even mentorship advice was banned, except for that given in career planning meetings with the Head of House. That meant Hazel wasn't allowed to talk about her time as an Auror and encourage students to apply to the Ministry. A little counterintuitive, especially with Umbridge's emphasis on pro-Ministry propaganda.
It took an hour for her to read all of the new regulations and explain them all, the professors doing their best to keep their faces neutral as their freedoms were being chipped away. Hazel's head was spinning by the time they left, but she headed up to the Owlery to send a note off to Molly. She had to check up on Arthur, who was recovering at the Burrow after an attack by a mysterious snake at work. She'd dropped in to visit the Burrow on her way back to Hogwarts after an Order meeting, but hadn't heard much since. Arthur was probably back at work by now.
The whole thing was unsettling, her mind churning as she made her way back towards the dungeons. Lost in thought, she was taken by surprise when a hand reached out of nowhere and pulled her into the Potions storeroom. "Sev, what -"
"It has been far too long since we last talked. Actually talked, beyond saying goodnight and good morning," he explained, closing the door behind them. They stood in the tiny room, surrounded by glittering glass bottles and carefully-indexed herbs. There was a sense of urgency in his voice, Sev hastily rolling up his sleeve to show her the jet-black Dark Mark burned into his arm. "He's been calling us in more often. We all have roles to play in this, and mine is getting more complicated every day." He rolled his sleeve down, still embarrassed by the scar, even in front of her. It was a constant reminder of his failures. "I wanted you to know, in case I need to disappear for a while. Dumbledore is in hiding, per se. He wrote this morning. Things are getting more dangerous, and -"
"Sev, I know." She stopped him, saying, "It's going to be fine. We'll sort this all out. We take it one step at a time. First we need to make sure the students still get the best education they can, and we need to make sure the castle is still protected." Some of the stress faded from his face as he smiled tenderly and leaned in to give her a kiss. "Careful, boys and girls aren't allowed within eight inches of each other," Hazel laughed, pulling him close.
"Then we best not let Umbridge see us."