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Next chapter for Cruel Angel Thesis.
Enjoy.
Claire did not want to tell the others that she and Luna were having the same hallucination, if that was what it was, so she said nothing more about the horses. Nevertheless, she could not help watching the silhouettes of the horses moving beyond the window.
"Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?" Ginny said, "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"
"He isn't a very good teacher, is he?" Luna said.
"Yes, he is!", Harry, Claire, Alex, Ron and Ginny said angrily.
Claire glared at Neville and Hermione. She cleared her throat and quickly said, "Erm... Yes... he's very good."
"Yeah... he is great!" Neville added nervously, "Awesome even!"
"Well, most people in Ravenclaw think he's a bit of a joke.", Luna said unfazed.
"Coming from someone who laughs at a Ron joke." Alex said, "You don't know what humor is!" as the wheels below them creaked into motion.
Luna did not seem perturbed by Alex comment; on the contrary, she simply watched him for a while as though he were a mildly interesting television program.
"While I can say he isn't the best teacher, from what Neville told me, he is a good person.", Luna added as the carriages moved in convoy up the road.
When they passed between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars on either side of the gates to the school grounds. The carriages jingled to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak front doors and Harry got out of the carriage first. He turned to look for lit windows down by the Forest, but there was definitely no sign of life within Hagrid's cabin.
Claire had hoped they had vanished, but the strange, skeletal creatures standing quietly in the chill night air, their blank white eyes gleaming were still there.
"Still seeing them?" Harry muttered, and Claire nodded her head and they joined the crowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.
The Entrance Hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.
The four long house tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes.
Again, Claire noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as they passed; she quietly took a hold of Harry's hand, giving it a soft press and they acted as though they neither noticed nor cared.
After saying goodbye to Neville, Luna drifted away from them at the Ravenclaw table. The moment they reached Gryffindor's, Ginny was hailed by some fellow fourth-years and left to sit with them; Harry, Claire, Alex, Ron, Neville and Hermione found seats together about halfway down the table between Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost, and Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, the last two of whom gave them an airy, overly-friendly greetings that made Claire quite sure they had stopped talking about her a split second before.
"Whatever, I have more important things to worry about.", Claire thought as she was looking over the students heads towards to the staff table that ran along the top wall of the Hall.
"He's not there." Harry said, having done the same as Claire.
"Where is Hagrid?" Ron said, sounding slightly anxious, "He can't have left."
"Of course he hasn't." Harry said firmly, "Maybe he's not back yet. You know, the thing he was doing over the summer for Dumbledore."
"Yeah... yeah, that'll be it.", Neville said, sounding reassured, but Hermione bit her lip, looking up and down the staff table as though hoping for some conclusive explanation of Hagrid's absence but instead they noticed an familiar beautiful young woman sitting next to Professor Jeager.
"Why is Fleur here?" Alex said, "They are back together?"
"No idea." Claire said, pointing towards the middle of the staff table, "Who is that?"
First they saw Professor Dumbledore, sitting in his high-backed golden chair at the center of the long staff table, wearing deep-purple robes scattered with silvery stars and a matching hat.
Dumbledore's head was inclined towards the woman sitting next to him, who was talking into his ear. She looked squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Then she turned her face slightly to take a sip from her goblet and Claire saw, a pallid, toad-like face and a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes.
"It's that Umbridge woman!" Alex said.
"Who?" Hermione asked.
"Mum told me about her, she works for Fudge!" Alex said frowning, "What on earth's she doing here, then?"
Claire turned her attention from Alex as she noticed Professor Grubbly-Plank who had just appeared behind the staff table; she worked her way along to the very end and took the seat that ought to have been Hagrid's. That meant the first-years must have crossed the lake and reached the castle, and sure enough, a few seconds later, the doors from the Entrance Hall opened.
A long line of scared-looking first-years entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizards hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim.
The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The first-years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students, and Professor McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back.
The first-years' faces glowed palely in the candlelight, the whole school waited with bated breath. Professor McGonagall began to read out the list of first-years' names, "Abercrombie, Euan."
A terrified-looking boy stumbled forwards and put the Hat on his head; it was only prevented from falling right down to his shoulders by his very prominent ears. The Hat considered for a moment, then the rip near the brim opened again and shouted: "Gryffindor!"
Claire clapped loudly with the rest of Gryffindor house as Euan Abercrombie staggered to their table and sat down, looking as though he would like very much to sink through the floor and never be looked at again.
Slowly, the long line of first-years thinned. Finally, 'Zeller, Rose' was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall picked up the Hat and stool and marched them away as Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"To our newcomers. Welcome!" Dumbledore said in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "To our old students, welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"
There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate, for food had appeared out of nowhere, so that the five long tables were groaning under joints and pies and dishes of vegetables, bread and sauces and flagons of pumpkin juice.
"Excellent." Ron said with a kind of groan of longing, and he seized the nearest plate of chops and began piling them on to her plate, Claire silently agreed with him, as she began to dig in herself.
When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the Hall was starting to creep upwards again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more.
Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the Headmaster. Claire was feeling pleasantly drowsy now, her four-poster bed was waiting somewhere above, wonderfully warm and soft...
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices." Dumbledore said, "First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too."
Harry, Claire, Alex, Ron, Neville and Hermione exchanged smirks.
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door."
"We have had three changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We are also delighted as to introduce Professor Delacour, she will assist us other teachers and will provide guidance, advice and you first, second and third years will be able to voice your concerns or any trouble you have to her. We are also happy to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the..." he broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge.
As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, "Hem, hem." and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.
Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk.
Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Claire had ever seen it.
No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.
"Thank you, Headmaster." Professor Umbridge simpered, "For those kind words of welcome." Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish and, again, Claire felt a powerful rush of dislike that she could not explain to herself; all she knew was that she loathed everything about her, from her stupid voice to her fluffy pink cardigan.
She gave another little throat-clearing cough and continued, "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth, "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"
Claire looked around, none of the faces he could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"
Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.
"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan." Parvati whispered to Lavender, and both of them lapsed into silent giggles.
Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again, but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them for ever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."
Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her. Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawk-like, and Claire distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Jeager as Umbridge gave another little "hem, hem" and went on with her speech.
"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. Then again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation..."
The quiet that always filled the Hall when Dumbledore was speaking was breaking up as students put their heads together, whispering and giggling. Over on the Ravenclaw table Luna had got out The Quibbler again.
Meanwhile, at the Hufflepuff table Ernie was one of the few still staring at Professor Umbridge, but he was glassy-eyed and Claire was sure he was only pretending to listen in an attempt to live up to the new prefect's badge gleaming on his chest.
Professor Umbridge did not seem to notice the restlessness of her audience. Claire had the impression that a full-scale riot could have broken out under her nose and she would have ploughed on with her speech. The teachers, however, were still listening very attentively.
"...because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."
She sat down, Dumbledore clapped, the staff followed his lead, though Claire noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping.
A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.
"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating." he said, bowing to her, "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held..."
"Yes, it certainly was illuminating." Hermione said in a low voice.
"You're not telling me you enjoyed it?" Ron said quietly, turning a glazed face towards Hermione, "That was about the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy."
"It was illuminating, not enjoyable. There is a difference." Alex said, "It explained a lot."
"Did it?" Neville said in surprise, "Sounded like a load of bullshit to me."
"There was some important bits hidden among the shit." Alex said, "Okay, that sounded gross."
"Was there?" Harry said blankly.
"How about: 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged'?" Hermione asked, "How about: 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited'?"
"Well, what does that mean?", Ron said impatiently.
"It means the Ministry is going to interfere at Hogwarts." Claire explained plainly.
There was a great clattering and banging all around them; Dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the Hall.
Hermione jumped up, looking flustered. "Alex, we're supposed to show the first-years where to go!"
"I have to?" Alex said, who had obviously forgotten, "Okay, okay. Hey! Hey you lot! Midgets!"
"Alex!"
"Hermione!"
"You can't call them midgets!" Hermione said.
"Okay fine!" Alex said annoyed, ,"Vertically challenged people! This way!"
A group of new students walked shyly up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, all of them trying hard not to lead the group. They did indeed seem very small.
"Where we ever that small when we were that age?" Claire asked as the group of first years walked past them.
Harry grinned at them, a blond boy next to Euan Abercrombie looked petrified; he nudged Euan and whispered something in his ear. Euan Abercrombie looked equally frightened and stole a horrified look at Claire, who felt the grin slide off his face like Stinksap.
"Never knew that kids thought your smile was that creepy." Claire said as she, Harry, Ron and Neville exited the Great Hall, doing everything they could to ignore more whispering, staring and pointing as their group passed.
The Gryffindor first years followed Alex and Hermione through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. The people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed as Alex twice led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries.
They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Hermione talk to some of the more nerveus first years.
Alex suddenly came to a stop when he over heard one of them mentioning Claire, and how she was his insane cousin who thought you-know-who was back.
"Okay, I don't like you and no matter what you do, I never will like you." Alex said pointing to the first year boy who bad mouthed Claire, "If you kids want to bully anyone, pick on him because I won't be looking!"
At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" she said.
"Mimbuius mimbletonia." Hermione said, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it.
The Gryffindor common room looked as welcoming as ever, a cozy circular tower room full of dilapidated squashy armchairs and rickety old tables. A fire was crackling merrily in the grate and a few people were warming their hands by it before going up to their dormitories; on the other side of the room Fred and George were pinning something up on the noticeboard.
After saying goodnight to Hermione once the first years had been led to their dormitory. Alex pushed open the door to his own dormitory to hear shouting.
"Leave my mother out of this, Potter!" Seamus shouted.
"What's going on?" Alex said, his wide eyes traveled from Harry pointing his wand at Seamus, to Seamus, who was standing there with his fists raised, "I leave you blokes alone for ten minutes!"
"He's having a go at my mother!" Seamus yelled.
"What? Harry wouldn't do that. That's such a thing I would do." Alex said, "We met your mother, we liked her..."
"That's before she started believing every word the fucking Daily Prophet writes about Claire!" Harry said at the top of his voice.
"Oh." Alex said, comprehension dawning across his face, "Understandable, cast away Harry."
"You know what?" Seamus said heatedly, casting Harry and Alex a venomous look, "He's right, I don't want to share a dormitory with you two anymore, your just as crazy as her!"
"Hey, Seamus, look at me, look at me! I'm the prefect now." Alex said, pointing to his chest, "Think carefully before you open your mouth to talk shit about my cousin."
Seamus looked for a few seconds as though detention would be a reasonable price to pay to say what was going through his mind; but with a noise of contempt he turned on his heel, vaulted into bed and pulled the hangings shut with such violence that they were ripped from the bed and fell in a dusty pile to the floor. Alex glared at Seamus, then looked at Dean.
"My parents are Muggles, mate." Dean said, shrugging, "They don't know nothing about what happened at Hogwarts, because I'm not stupid enough to tell them."
"You don't know my mother, she'd weasel anything out of anyone!" Seamus snapped at him, "Anyway, your parents don't get the Daily Prophet. They don't know our Headmaster's been sacked from the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards because he's losing his marbles..."
"My parents says that's rubbish." Neville pipped up, "It's the Daily Prophet that's going downhill, not Dumbledore. Even my gran has cancelled her subscription. We believe Claire.", he climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin.
Nobody else said anything, Seamus got out his wand, repaired the bed hangings and vanished behind them. Dean got into bed, rolled over and fell silent.
That's the chapter.
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See you beauties next time. Mischief Managed.