" Seriously man what the hell the ministry is thinking " Ron exclaimed after hearing about their suspicion on Dumbledore .
" Stay quiet , Ron . We don't want Professor toad face to hear about this , do we " Percy said looking around the corridor on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast .
Percy looked at Harry who was scowling involuntarily at the fourth year Ravenclaws who hurried down the corridor on seeing him . Percy sighed knowing surely this is not going to be a good year .
Ron looked at Percy and asked " Harry said you controlled the weird goo . I don't know you could control it " .
Percy sighed " I myself don't know I can control it until then . I will explain later Ron . You know where we can't be heard" . Both Ron and Harry nodded with satisfaction on hearing that while Hermione squeezed his hand knowing how difficult it will be for Percy to speak about it when he don't know the reason for his increase in power .
On entering the Great Hall Percy looked at the staff table meeting Dumbledore's baby blue eyes who winked at him with amusement .
Harry said quietly "Dumbledore didn't even mention how long that Grubbly-Plank woman's staying,", as they made their way across to the Gryffindor table. "Maybe . . ." said Hermione thoughtfully. "What?" said both Harry and Ron together. "Well . . . maybe he didn't want to draw attention to Hagrid not being here."
Then a tall black girl with long, braided hair had marched up to Harry. "Hi, Angelina." "Hi," she said briskly, "good summer?" And without waiting for an answer, "Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain." "Nice one," said Harry, grinning at her .
"Yeah, well, we need a new Keeper now Oliver's left. Tryouts are on Friday at five o'clock and I want the whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the new person will fit in."
"Okay," said Harry.
Angelina smiled at him and turned to Percy " You know how to play Quidditch " .
Percy shrugged " A chaser for Wampus in Illvermourny " .
" Good . Tryouts are on Friday , remember it "
" Sure " Percy nodded .
Angelina smiled at him and departed .
"I'd forgotten Wood had left," said Hermione vaguely, sitting down beside Percy and pulling a plate of toast toward her. "I suppose that will make quite a difference to the team?"
"I s'pose," said Harry, taking the bench opposite. "He was a good Keeper. . . ."
"Still, it won't hurt to have some new blood, will it?" said Ron.
With a whoosh and a clatter, hundreds of owls came soaring in through the upper windows. They descended all over the Hall, bringing letters and packages to their owners and showering the breakfasters with droplets of water; it was clearly raining hard outside.
Hermione had to move her orange juice aside quickly to make way for a large damp barn owl bearing a sodden Daily Prophet in its beak. "What are you still getting that for?" said Harry irritably, thinking of Seamus, as Hermione placed a Knut in the leather pouch on the owl's leg and it took off again.
"I'm not bothering . . . load of rubbish." "It's best to know what the enemy are saying," said Hermione darkly, and she unfurled the newspaper and disappeared behind it, not emerging until Percy, Harry and Ron had finished eating. "Nothing," she said simply, rolling up the newspaper and laying it down by her plate. "Nothing about you or Dumbledore or anything."
After distributing the timetable for everyone other than the sixth years , Professor McGonagall started to sort out their timetables based on their O.W.L.S .
Once it was Percy's turn Professor McGonagall said consulting her notes " Mr. Jackson . Good ...good .. Care Of Magical Creatures ,Potions, Charms ,Both Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick would be delighted to have you back in his class , Defense against dark arts , Herbology , Transfiguration , all fine ..I must say .I was pleased with your Transfiguration mark .. Excellent Jackson . Keep up the good work . Here is your timetable " . She handed him his timetable with a small smile on her face showing she is clearly pleased with his mark .
Percy sat at the table hearing Ron's complaints when Fred arrived with George squeezing into bench beside Harry and started to talk about their products and scaring Ron about the upcoming O.W.L.S they had to take this year .
Once they had left Hermione asked Percy " So you are taking the courses required for Aurors right ? "
" Yep " Percy said drinking his orange juice .
"Well, it'd be cool to be an Auror," said Ron in an offhand voice. "Yeah, it would," said Harry fervently.
" What do you want to do after Hogwarts , Mi'one?" Percy asked taking a sip of his juice .
"I don't know," said Hermione. "I think I'd really like to do something worthwhile."
"An Auror's worthwhile!" said Harry. "Yes, it is, but it's not the only worthwhile thing," said Hermione thoughtfully. "I mean, if I could take S.P.E.W. further . . ."
As soon as she said that Harry and Ron avoided looking at each other while Percy patiently listened about her ideas to improve the lives of house elves and about her ideas to eliminate any laws against the muggle born wizards and witches .
Percy nodded thinking if anyone could do that , it would be Hermione .
-TIME SKIP-
Percy's first day was so far good , all he have to do now was to attend Professor Toadface's class. As Percy and Katie headed towards the classroom , he saw Ron and Hermione walking out of it with angry expression on their faces . Percy motioned Katie to go to the class without him and walked towards them .
Percy asked " Where's is Harry ? "
" You will understand once you attend her class " Ron said bitterly looking at the classroom door.
"Not good " Percy asked . Both of them nodded angrily .
Hermione looked seriously at Percy and warned " Don't get angry " .
" Yes man . We don't want Hogwarts to be destroyed by your anger " Ron said with a shudder .
Before he could ask what they meant they both dashed towards their next class leaving Percy with a confused look on his face .
Percy entered the class and took the vacant seat next to Katie and found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head. Percy was again reminded forcibly of a large fly perched unwisely on top of an even larger toad. The class was quiet as it entered the room; Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew yet how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be.
"Well, good afternoon!" she said when finally the whole class had sat down.
A few people mumbled "Good afternoon," in reply.
"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her.
"There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."
Percy was not surprised on hearing that afterall she is here to not teach them anything . Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order "wands away" had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting.
Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once:
Defense Against the Dark Arts
A Return to Basic Principles.
"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your N.E.W.T year " .
"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."
She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by:
Course aims:
the principles underlying defensive magic.
to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.
the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.
When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's three course aims she said, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"
There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class.
"I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"
"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room. "Good," said Professor Umbridge. "I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk."
Percy looked around and saw everyone was trying to read the book with gloomy and disgust expression on their face . Of course they have every right for that , who in their right mind will learn theory for subject like DADA .
Percy looked at toadface who was looking at everyone with a sickly sweet smile on her face wanting Percy to puke on seeing that expression .
" I hate this " Percy muttured to Katie who nodded wordlessly at him . Unfortunately Umbridge heard that who said with her pitch voice " Do you have anything to share , Mr. Jackson ? "
Percy closed his book and said loudly for everyone in the class to hear " Yes . It is stupid " .
" May I ask what is stupid , Mr. Jackson ? " Umbridge said with a fake smile showing her small -pointed teeth , raising both of her eyebrows .
"There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells in your course aims " Percy said bluntly .
There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the blackboard.
"Using defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Mr. Jackson . You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"
" You do know we are not going to spend the rest of our lives in your classroom, right " Percy retorted back .
" Of course I do know that " Umbridge said with fake politeness but Percy could feel her patience is wearing out which is what exactly he want .
" Then you should know that we can be attacked in the outside world " Percy said with gritted teeth .
" May I ask what is going to attack you in the outside world , Mr. Jackson ? " Umbridge asked in a falsely sweet voice .
" Oh you know there are many creatures in the magical world . Chimeras , Dragons , Dementors" Percy said loudly .
" Mr. Jackson there is nothing going to attack you " This time Umbridge said with gritted teeth .
" Oh really . If I remember , this summer you were in a hearing which occured due to the attack of dementors on my friend Harry " Percy said cooly .
Everyone looked shocked on hearing that . Some students paled on hearing that . No one knew about the dementor attack , of course it would not be mentioned otherwise it would create a bad name for the Ministry . Soon the class broke into murmurs and Percy could hear everyone speaking about it . Percy smirked at Umbridge who was looking around on seeing the reactions of the students around her .
Professor Umbridge then looked at Percy with a grimly satisfied expression on her face. "Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Jackson ."
" So you will reduce points for saying the truth , huh . Very nice " Percy said still smirking .
" It is a lie " Umbridge lied through gritted teeth .
" Oh ... now you say it is a lie . Well news flash . You and I both know it is not a lie . You were in Harry's hearing and I was the witness since I killed a dementor myself " Percy finished with a low voice .
Percy could feel every pair of eyes staring at him with jaw slacked expression but he is still glaring at Umbridge who said "Mr.-Jackson-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," in one breath .
" It is a truth whether you reduce points or do worse " Percy said angrily .
"Detention, Mr. Jackson !" said Professor Umbridge triumphantly. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office " .
" Look I don't care about detention , go ahead . It is the truth and we should learn the defensive spells for our protection because dementors and other magical creatures are not going to ask questions before killing you besides that there are still many death eaters out there . Everyone here in the class knows about the death eater attack during the Quidditch world cup last year . You cannot deny this as a lie " Percy said defiantly not even caring about the detention .
Professor Umbridge's face was quite blank. For a moment he thought she was going to scream at him. Then she said, in her softest, most sweetly girlish voice, "Come here, Mr. Jackson , dear."
He kicked his chair aside, strode across the room up to the teacher's desk. He could feel the rest of the class holding its breath thinking he was angry but he knew what he was feeling is not anger it the disgust for the fool of the Professor before him .
Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink, and started scribbling, hunched over so that Percy could not see what she was writing. Nobody spoke. After a minute or so she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that he could not open it.
"Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to him. He took it from her without saying a word and left the room slamming the classroom door shut behind him hard enough , the door broke out of its hinges and fell down loudly startling everyone in the class .
Once Percy was on the half way along the corridor he could not keep the smirk out of his face . It was his plan after all , to infuriate Umbridge and besides that he knew the news about the dementor attack will spread through out the school like a wild fire . Percy don't know whether the it is enough for everyone to believe about the return of Voldemort but Percy knew it is enough to infuriate Umbridge .
He may have to go to detention but Percy really doesn't care about it . It was not the first time he was given detention .
When Percy stood in the front of Professor Mcgonagall's office he knocked on it . He opened the door when he heard a voice saying " Come in " .
Once Percy entered her office her eyes narrowed to the notes on his hand .
" A note from Professor Umbridge " Professor Mcgonagall guessed . Percy wordlessly nodded at her wondering how she knew about it .
Professor Mcgonagall groaned surprising Percy motioning forward to give the note to her .
Once Percy gave the note to her ,she told him to sit down . He waited patiently while Professor McGonagall took it from him, frowning, slit it open with a tap of her wand, stretched it out, and began to read. Her eyes zoomed from side to side behind their square spectacles as she read what Umbridge had written, and with each line they became narrower.
"Well?" said Professor McGonagall looking up from the letter "Is this true?"
"Is what true Professor?" Percy asked wondering what the toadface had written in it .
" You told her teaching is stupid "
" Yes "
" You told her about the dementor attack on Harry infront of the class "
" Yes "
" You called her a liar "
" Yes "
"Have a biscuit, Jackson ."
"Have — what?"
"Have a biscuit," she repeated impatiently, indicating a tartan tin of cookies lying on top of one of the piles of papers on her desk.
Once Percy finished eating the cookie , she told " You are not the first one with note from Professor Umbridge " .
" Who is that ? " Percy asked with surprise wondering who got the detention on first day of the school along with him .
" Potter" Professor Mcgonagall said simply .
" Of course , I should have known . What did he do ? " Percy asked .
" Potter said You know who is back and like you he called her a liar " Professor Mcgonagall informed .
" But it is true . I saw him " Percy defended his friend .
" For now it doesn't matter whether it is true or not . Professor Umbridge is from Ministry " Professor Mcgonagall snapped .
Percy nodded solemnly .
"It says here she's given you detention every evening this week, starting tomorrow," Professor McGonagall said, looking down at Umbridge's note again.
Percy nodded causing Professor Mcgonagall to raise her eyebrow at him " You didn't seem to be concerned about the detention . Potter looked worried about Quidditch tryouts " .
" To be frank this is not the first time I had gotten detention " Percy said with a shrug " Between the two matters in my hand I don't think tryouts are important now " .
Professor Mcgonagall nodded satisfied with the answer before shooing him out of her office .
Stay tuned till next chapter .