Author's Note
Yatta! Mission Accomplished, I finished the chapter before the end of the month, go me! I also finally kicked my absolute FMA binge, just needed to read some good Bleach fanfic and the super interesting chapters lately (Mimihagi-sama and Aizen, you should know what I'm talking about). It's very hard to work in one fandom when you're binging on another, so I'm glad to have achieved a balance between the two.
Oh, oh! And I made a cover for this story! Except I misspelled weirdos on it (~) and I'm too lazy to go back and fix it. I think Harry looks a little silly in it, but I still like it.
Anywho, enjoy the chapter!
The next morning found Seamus speeding through getting dressed and leaving before the others had even gotten out their clothes for the day. It soured Harry's mood as he flashed back to the previous night's argument.
"Does he think he'll turn into a nutter if he stays in a room with me too long?" Harry says venomously, aiming his words at the retreating hem of Seamus's robes.
"Don't worry about it, Harry." Dean mutters, preparing to depart himself. "He's just…" Dean trails off, not really sure what Seamus was.
"Ignorant?" Uryu suggests. It kind of fits. Seamus was being ignorant of how the newspaper was lying about Harry, about how it was hurting Harry's feelings and causing unnecessary tension in the dorm.
"I'd go with jerkish or stupid, and stupidity's contagious, not insanity." Ichigo off handedly comments while stifling a yawn. He was tired mentally from spending the whole night pushing his limits in a spar against Zangetsu. The carriage pulling creatures had brought up memories of his lack of strength, lack of control, so he'd put himself through the ringer to prove to himself that it wouldn't happen again. He knew he had hidden it well from the others after the carriage ride, but those memories of failure had shaken his confidence in himself, especially in his own self-control. He had only ever used his full hollow form once after that time on the dome and it was hardly any more controlled then than it was the first time. The only difference was that he had memories of what he did, though most of it was blurred so badly he might as well not have them at all. Sparring with control of his strength and instincts in mind had helped some, but getting scolded by both halves of Zangetsu had helped more in returning his confidence.
Ron and Neville give Harry supportive looks, telling him that it is in no way something wrong with Harry, but Seamus's problem. The other's attempts only comforted Harry slightly. He was more concerned with how many more of those kinds of actions he was going to have to deal with in the future. If current events were anything to go by, it would be a lot.
Once they were done dressing, the boys met up with the girls down in the common room. Hermione and Orihime both expressed concern when they learned that Harry was having a rough time with Seamus and while it had disheartened Harry to hear that the same thoughts were in Lavender's mind, the rebuke for lashing out at others that he got from Hermione only reminded him of Ichigo's words from the previous night. Hermione then proceeded to remind Harry and Ron that they need to be united against Voldemort and not let the slander aimed at Harry deter them.
Breakfast was rather normal. Harry, Ron, and Hermione discussed Hagrid's absence, which Uryu took note of out of a mild curiosity as to who the man was and why the trio was worried about him being gone. Angelina came over to inform Harry of her promotion to team captain and the Quidditch tryouts. Ichigo entertained the idea of possibly trying to get on the team, if only to get a bit more exercise, thinking he could make the team easily since he was good at sports in general, remembering the bidding wars he could get for temporarily joining a sports team at school back home. At least until Zangetsu reminded him that Quidditch was tossing some balls around while riding brooms which meant very little physical effort went into it as compared to other sports.
Professor McGonagall went down the table handing out the students' schedules after the post had been delivered. Ron complained about the rotten schedule that was to be their Monday classes, getting teased by Fred and George for wanting to skip classes even though he was a prefect. The Japanese didn't think the schedule looked too bad. Of course, they also had a period of sparring and spiritual power training instead of sitting in a classroom with some crazy lady who thought she could teach people to see the future and other bullshit like that, which Ichigo was very glad to be exempt from. He hated stuff like fortune-telling. They also hadn't yet acquired any dislike for any of the teachers at Hogwarts except for Umbridge.
The twins further teased the young students by telling tales of the horrors of O.W.L.s and the stress of the coming year. They almost let slip about their working joke shop, funded by one Harry Potter, before walking away, leaving Hermione and Ron to wonder about how the two got the money.
The walk to Binns's classroom was spent discussing future jobs.
"Well, it'd be cool to be an Auror."Ron says, almost reluctant to reveal his desire for the future.
"Yeah, it would." Harry agrees immediately, sharing the same wish.
"But they're, like, the elite." Ron says almost wistfully. "You've got to be really good. What about you, Hermione?" Ron says.
"I don't know." Hermione says, a thoughtful expression coming over her face. "I think I'd really like to do something worthwhile."
"An Auror's worthwhile!" Harry indignantly states. When he thinks about how he's faced Voldemort, the terror and desperation of those situations, he knows that while it is horrible and hard, he would like to protect others from having to face such things.
"Yes, it is, but it's not the only worthwhile thing." Hermione says, placating Harry's anger at her dismissal of the job. "I mean, if I could take S.P.E.W. further…" Harry and Ron have to avoid looking at each other as she talks about her dreams for S.P.E.W., knowing that if they make eye contact they'll do something to set her off.
"Anyways, what are you three thinking of doing?" Hermione asks the Japanese students.
"No clue." Ichigo states. "Something that protects people I think, but I haven't really decided what."
"I'm not so sure myself." Uryu says, looking thoughtful. "There are plenty of jobs in the world to aim for."
"I want to be an astronaut!" Orihime exclaims excitedly, getting amused grins from Ichigo and Uryu, looks of surprise from Hermione and Harry, and a blank look of confusion from Ron. "Oh, or maybe a baker or a teacher. Mou, I just can't decide!" she whines.
Ichigo chuckles and pats her head. "You'll figure it out."
History of Magic was a boring class. It was an ironclad fact to any student under Professor Binns's tutelage because the man, or rather ghost, could drone even an energetic five year old to sleep. After getting over the initial shock of the "ghost" (because he certainly didn't mesh with their definition of ghost) teacher, the Japanese were hardly any more resistant to Binns's drone than the rest of the students. Uryu and Orihime would have stood a decent chance of resisting the mental disengagement if they hadn't realized that Binns was lecturing directly from the book. Instead they passed notes on sewing patterns back and forth, trying to figure out a way to liven up the school robes. Ichigo also noticed that he half remembered some of the lecture points before drifting off to sleep. Only Hermione kept her attention on the ghostly teacher, dutifully taking notes. Ron and Harry spent the class playing hangman, receiving the occasional dirty look from Hermione.
After the class Hermione chewed them all out for not paying attention to the lesson. Harry and Ron eased her wrath by praising her ability to pay attention in the class while the Japanese simply told her that the book for the course provides the same information.
On their way to Potions they ran into Cho Chang, for once not with her gang of giggling girls.
"Hello, Harry!"
"Hi." Harry nervously replies, face growing red, his only comfort being that he was not covered in Stinksap this time.
"You got that stuff off, then?" Cho asks, obviously having thought of their previous encounter as well.
"Yeah." Harry says with a forced grin, trying to pretend it was a funny incident rather than the mortifying occurrence that it was. "So did you… er… have a good summer?" As soon as the words left his lips, Harry had an urge to slap his forehead. Stupid, stupid ,stupid! Cho wouldn't have had a good summer with her boyfriend dying just before it started. Harry hadn't had a good summer because of it and he hadn't been in love with the guy, school crush or full blown.
"Oh, it was all right, you know…" Cho trailed off, obviously not really wanting to talk about it.
"Is that a Tornados badge?" Ron suddenly demands, pointing to the sky-blue badge pinned to Cho's robes. "You don't support them do you?"
"Yeah, I do." Cho replies, sounding a little miffed.
"Have you always supported them, or just since they started winning the league?" Ron says with the annoyance and accusation that only those obsessed with a sport can possess.
"I've supported them since I was six." Cho says, an edge of annoyance still in her voice. "Anyway… see you, Harry."
She turned and walked away. Hermione waited until she was halfway across the courtyard before rounding on Ron, ready to chew him out when he let out a little yelp as Uryu hit the back of his head.
"What was that for?" Ron asks, rubbing the back of his head and glaring at Uryu.
"For being a tactless idiot." Uryu says, pushing his glasses up and causing them to glint in the light.
"What? I only asked her–"
"One: you were rude about it. Two: She wanted to talk with Harry, not argue with you over sports." Uryu calmly cuts across Ron's protest. Uryu isn't one to play match-maker, but he had easily realized through the course of the conversation that Ron was dense (maybe even denser than Kurosaki) and felt that some level of intervention was required. Not to mention that Ron was just being rude to the poor girl and Uryu was a gentleman.
"Uryu's right, Ron. There was no reason for you to attack her about her Quidditch team."
"Attacking? I wasn't attacking her, I was only–"
Uryu lets out a small sigh. He figured a small reprimand might make Ron consider his actions in the future, but now Hermione had seen it degrade into a simple argument over what had happened.
The argument between Ron and Hermione lasted all the way to Snape's dungeon, leaving Harry to mull over his terrible luck at looking good in front of Cho. Soon enough it turned to hope as he realized that Cho had sought him out twice in as many days and hadn't seemed to hate or resent him for coming back alive when Cedric hadn't. Maybe there's a chance for me after all. She had even failed to treat him like the crazy liar that the Prophet made him out to be. Hopes for future dating prospects were filling Harry so that even the dreaded lair of Snape didn't bring his mood down.
"Settle down." Snape says coldly. The words were unnecessary though, the Japanese teens noticed. Upon the closing of the door, all the students had gone silent, turning to near statues in their seats.
Ichigo let a slight frown curl his lips downward. Looks like a strict teacher. He had nothing against strict teachers, they were usually the ones who really knew their subjects, making them quite qualified for their job, but it always seemed that the strict teachers had something against him. It didn't help that he would always mouth off when he felt that they were targeting him because of whatever prejudices they had against him. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid trouble here. Though he seriously doubted he would, it just wasn't within his personality.
Snape proceeded to give a small lecture on the upcoming O.W.L.s before giving them and hour and a half to brew the Draught of Peace using instructions that he conjured onto the blackboard at the front of the room.
Potions, Uryu decided, was very much like a form of highly meticulous cooking. The ingredient measuring and preparation, the adjustments to the fire, the stirring methods, it all reminded him of the few times he had felt like treating himself and had tried some more intricate recipes at home. Even with the experience of cooking for himself for the past several years, the preciseness of the instructions and methods made it a bit of a challenge for Uryu, especially when the stages where timed and he couldn't spare the time to double and triple check that he was following the instructions to the letter. When he had a moment, he took a quick look at Ichigo and Orihime's work because he knew with his past as the top student of their grade that if the two of them struggled with Potions they would look to him for clarification. He was relieved to see that they seemed to be doing alright and that his worry of Orihime's strange cooking habits making it into the class were unfounded.
With ten minutes left to the allotted brewing time, Snape prowled among the students, looking over what would likely be their final products. Hermione and Uryu had achieved the silver vapor that Snape had described, and while theirs wasn't silver, Ichigo and Orihime had both gotten a light gray steam. Ron's potion spat green sparks, but it was Harry's clouds of dark gray steam that Snape decided to criticize and in the end vanished and gave no credit for.
During lunch, Hermione tried to console Harry about being treated unfairly by Snape, but she only ended up getting in an argument with Ron over Snape's trustworthiness, leaving Harry in a worse mood and stalking off towards the North Tower.
After lunch, Orihime, Uryu, and Ichigo split off from following any member of the Golden Trio to class. Instead they met Shinji outside the Great Hall and let him lead the way to their "spiritual arts" class.
"Kami, do you build secret training rooms everywhere, Geta-boushi?" Ichigo says with a deadpan face upon seeing the interior created by the Room of Requirement. Honestly, he thought it was a perfectly legitimate question. Urahara had one in the Soul society under Soukyoku Hill, one in his own basement in Karakura, and Ichigo was fairly certain that Urahara had made the one in the vizard base too.
"Not at all, Kurosaki-san. Whatever would make you think that?" Urahara says, waving his fan and laying on his goofy personality rather thick.
"Oh, I don't know… Maybe the fact that I've seen three other training rooms just like this one built by you." Ichigo replies.
"That doesn't mean anything." Urahara denies, waving his fan dismissively.
"Riiight." Ichigo replies, adding in an eye roll for good measure.
"If yer done bein' a smart ass," Shinji says pointedly, "let's make use of the time we've got here. Unless of course, you don't want to learn anything, which is fine by me, I'm sure I can find somethin' else to do."
"Alright, alright. Let's get started then." Ichigo says and Orihime and Uryu nod in agreement.
"Excellent. I hope you're ready for this." Shinji says, a dark grin lighting his face.
When Uryu, Orihime, and Ichigo caught up with Ron, Harry, and Hermione before Defense Against the Dark Arts, they were looking a little tired, but in a good mood, especially Ichigo. He was mostly just feeling satisfied with having gotten an actual fight of some kind where he could actually use his powers. He may not have been a fighting addict like Kenpachi, but he liked a good fight well enough and going so long without a proper one made the training session that much more satisfying. He was feeling a lot calmer and relaxed than he had been in the past few weeks with that immobile tension relieved through applied violence. Orihime and Uryu were also feeling good about having gotten to use their powers, like stretching after being still for so long. None of them had realized how much they missed using their powers nearly every day back home until they got to feel their powers at work once again.
Upon entering the classroom all students fell quiet. Umbridge sat at her desk, awaiting them in her fluffy pink cardigan and black velvet bow, and the students gave her silence as they had not yet determined how strict of a teacher she was, deciding it was best to err on the side of caution at the moment.
"Well, good afternoon!" Umbridge greeted with false cheer once the whole class was assembled and seated, receiving a few mumbled replies.
"Tut, tut." Umbridge scolds the class, a small frown on her ace. "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." The class chanted back. Many of the students who had attended any schooling before Hogwarts were reminded of their grade school days where such practices were normal and nearly all of the students felt like small children with the practice forced upon them.
"There now, that wasn't too difficult, was it?" Umbridge says sweetly and the students can't help but feel as if she truly thinks they are no better than little children. Any good mood from before the class is being shattered by Umbridge's treatment of the class. "Wands away and quills out, please."
The mood of the class dropped even farther at these instructions. It was a magic school and there wasn't really anything magical about note taking, so the class wasn't promising to be very interesting at this point. However they were students, so with anticipation of dullness ahead they followed her instructions. Meanwhile, Umbridge had pulled out her rather short wand and tapped it against the board, causing words to appear on the board:
Defense Against the Dark Arts
A Return to Basic Principles
Uryu softly snorted at the words. If 'A return to basic principles' was the particular name of this defense class, then the current note taking setup was nearly worthless. After five years of study in a subject, a student should be very familiar with the basics and any return to them should be a practiced refinement of them, not writing down what they were again. The class had barely begun and he could already tell it was useless. Of course, knowing the nature of the class and with Umbridge's attitude toward the students, it was going to be miserable to sit through. At least it'd be entertaining when, not if, Ichigo picked a fight with Umbridge. That was only going to be a matter of time because Umbridge looked down on students and Ichigo had a problem with authority figures, especially ones who acted like they owned or knew everything.
"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" Umbridge states, turning to face the class as she clasps her hands 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 O.W.L. year."
Orihime frowns at this statement. She wasn't entirely sure, but she didn't remember reading anything about the Ministry regulating classes besides expecting at least some of the students to pass their standardized tests at the end of the year. From the sound of things, classes were rather free form as long as they went over the necessary materials. Not to mention that the teens in Grimmauld Place had seemed to find most of the teachers they'd had over the years to be decent at teaching, even if they weren't decent people.
"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." Umbridge continues, tapping the board once more with her wand, replacing the first message with a new one.
Course aims:
1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.
2. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can be legally used.
3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.
The sounds of quills (Stupidest thing ever, pens are so much better, Ichigo couldn't help but think) scratching on parchment filled the room as the students copied down the course aims. Once the room had quieted and the students were looking up expectantly, Umbridge asked, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" Once again, dull murmurs were her received response.
"I think we'll try that again." Umbridge says, a disapproving note in her voice. "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." The class droned back, a couple of the more rebellious students mumbling insults on the end.
"Good. I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics of Beginners.' There will be no need to talk." Umbridge says, taking a seat at her desk and watching the students follow her instructions.
Turning to page five, it only took a few minutes for the students to fall into a stupor similar to the one inspired by the History of Magic class. The reading was simply too dry and dull to hold any student's attention for long. Ron was twirling his quill between his fingers, Orihime had begun doodling on her parchment, Uryu had slipped a smaller book into Slinkhard's and was reading that instead, and Ichigo had slumped back in his seat with his eyes closed, thinking about taking a short nap. Harry had looked around after failing to really read the book and noticed their laziness. However, it was Hermione's actions that caught his attention.
Contrary to her usual course of action when presented with a book and told to read it, Hermione had her hand in the air, staring pointedly at Umbridge, her book untouched. He stared at her, letting his eyes question what she was up to, but Hermione simply shook her head, denying him an answer at the moment, instead continuing to focus on Umbridge, who was doing her best to ignore Hermione.
It didn't take long for nearly half the class to give up on reading the dullness known as Defensive Magical Theory and instead watch the battle of wills between to the two women. As more of the students abandoned the rather pointless task of reading the insult to literature, Umbridge realized that her desire for them to read the mind-numbing material would go unfulfilled until she stopped ignoring Hermione and finished addressing her concern.
"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" Umbridge asks as if she hadn't been ignoring Hermione for the past few minutes.
"Not about the chapter, no." Hermione coolly replies.
"Well, we're reading just now." Umbridge says with a false smile. "If you have other queries, we can deal with them at the end of class."
"I've got a query about your course aims." Hermione soldiers on, determined to see her question answered.
Umbridge's eyebrows raise at this further display of determination. "And your name is –?"
"Hermione Granger."
"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read through them carefully." Umbridge says with forced sweetness.
"Well, I don't." Hermione bluntly states. "There's nothing up there about using defensive spells."
This statement catches the class's attention and many look to the board to verify what Hermione had just explained.
"Using defensive spells?" Umbridge repeats with a little laugh, as if such a thing was a joke. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"
"We're not going to use magic?" Ron asks loudly in disbelief.
"Students raise their hand when they wish to speak in my class, Mr. –?"
"Weasley." Ron replies, thrusting his hand into the air.
Umbridge turns her back to Ron with a smile, feeling that she has properly reprimanded him. Harry and Hermione both raise their hands, wanting to voice their own thoughts. She eyes Harry for a moment before addressing Hermione.
"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"
"Yes." Hermione affirms. "Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"
"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" Umbridge asks in a falsely sweet tone.
'Are you?' Ichigo mumbles under his breath, getting a few suppressed snickers from those who heard him.
"No, but –" Hermione starts, ready to make her case when Umbridge talks over her.
"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study."
'If she's one of them, I doubt it.' Ichigo mutters once again, and Uryu subtly kicks him under the table. It's hard to keep a straight face with Ichigo muttering good insults at Umbridge.
"You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way –"
"What use is that?" Harry loudly cuts in. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a –"
"Hand, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge sang.
'Oh sure, doesn't have to ask for his name.' 'Will you shut up, Kurosaki?!'
Harry raises a fist in the air, but Umbridge promptly ignores him. However, more students have raised their hands with newly found concerns.
"And your name is?" Umbridge says to Dean.
"Dean Thomas."
"Well, Mr. Thomas?"
"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it?" Dean says. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free –"
"I repeat," Umbridge cuts in once more, fake smile directed at Dean, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"
"No, but –"
"I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," Umbridge says, the irritatingly false smile on her lips.
'Yeah, and I don't wish to never see you again.' 'Kurosaki!'
"-but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed –not to mention," she gave an ugly little titter, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."
'Hmph, you haven't even seen dangerous.' Uryu kicked Ichigo in the shin a little harder this time.
"If you mean Professor Lupin," Dean pipes up angrily, an anger most of the other students reflect, "he was the best we ever –"
"Hand, Mr. Thomas! As I was saying –you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal."
'And what isn't lethal? I've brained oyaji with a chopstick.'
"You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day –"
"No we haven't!" Hermione refutes. "We just –"
"Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!" Umbridge trilled, turning away as Hermione put her hand back up in the air. "It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you –"
"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" Dean says, anger still lacing his tone. "Mind you, we still learned loads –"
"Your hand is not up, Mr. Thomas!" Umbridge trills once more before continuing in a calmer voice. "Now it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about."
'Yes, because there's no application for what we learn in real life.'
"And your name is?" Umbridge asks, having noticed Parvati's hand having shot up.
"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the countercurses and things?"
"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions." Umbridge says dismissively.
'Tell Renji's kido that.' Uryu just buries his face in his hands.
"Without ever practicing them before?" Parvati asks in bewilderment. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"
"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough –"
"You might just succeed in getting it to blow up in your face." Ichigo cuts in, a bored look on his face.
"That is not true, Mr. Kurosaki." Umbridge says, a small frown marring her face.
"Oh really? 'Cause I know a guy who knows the theory for some offensive spells, has even practiced actually using them for some years, and he still can't pull them off all the time." Ichigo replies, raising a brow in challenge. "And that's discounting all the times he's used it in combat." Ichigo adds, almost as an afterthought, a slight smirk curling his lips.
"Ichigo's got a point. And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" Harry says loudly, his fist in the air.
"This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world." Umbridge softy replies.
Ichigo frowns. 'Really? 'Cause I could've sworn school was part of the real world.'
"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?" Harry demands.
"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter." Umbridge dismisses.
"Oh yeah?" Harry challenges, letting slip some of the anger that has been steadily building in him all day.
"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" Umbridge inquires, poisoned honey in her voice.
Uryu's eyes narrow. He knows a set up when he sees one and Harry's too wrapped up in his anger to realize that she is stringing him along. Perhaps it is time to step in on this conversation, try and keep Harry from falling into Umbridge's trap.
"Muggers and terrorists." Uryu replies with a straight face, speaking up before Harry can figure out a good mocking way to answer Umbridge.
"Muggers and terrorists?" Umbridge repeats, looking dumbfounded.
"Yes. Muggers take anything of value a person has on them, regardless of age, and sometimes those encounters lead to altercations. Terrorists on the other hand, may specifically target children to use as hostages, both against the government in general as well as against specific individuals." Uryu explains as if it were all so simple. "And those are the ones that leave the attacked with more… dignity."
Umbridge's mouth opens and closes as she struggles for a response that can nullify Uryu's perfectly good point. The class falls into silent snickers before she recovers herself and replies, "The Aurors will have dealt with any such individuals long before you ever see them. And I was asking Mr. Potter, Mr. Ishida."
"Hmm, let's think…" Harry says in a mocking tone, pretending to give his answer some thought now that he's allowed to reply, "maybe, Lord Voldemort?"
Ron gasps, as did many others in the class, Lavender utters a little scream, Neville slips sideways off his stool, and Uryu lets his head thunk down on the desk. So much for that plan. Umbridge didn't flinch, instead she let a small grin of satisfaction curl her lips.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter."
The tension in the classroom sky-rocketed and the students split their attention between Harry and Umbridge, waiting in silence for the showdown to begin.
"Now let me make a few things quite plain." Umbridge says, standing up and leaning forward as she splayed her stubby hands on her desk. "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead –"
"He wasn't dead," Harry angrily retorts, "but yeah, he's returned!"
"Mr.-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself." Umbridge somehow manages to say in one breath, not even looking at Harry as she delivers her reprimand. Ichigo and Uryu both have to give her a grudging respect for managing so much in one breath. "AS I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This a lie."
"It is NOT a lie!" Harry bursts out. "I saw him, I fought him!"
"Detention, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge says triumphantly. "Tomorrow evening, five o'clock, my office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in any danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners.' "
Umbridge reclaimed her seat and Harry stood up. Hermione pulled at his sleeve trying to get him to sit down again, hissing out a warning against his course of action, but Harry ignored her.
"So according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asks, voice shaking in an icy anger.
The class's attention was immediately captivated. None of them had heard the actual story of what had happened that night to Cedric, except for Ron and Hermione. They looked between Harry and Umbridge, whose fake smile had finally disappeared, waiting for round 2 to start.
"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident." she coolly replies.
"It was murder." Harry denies, still shaking from this rage at the stupid Ministry's stance on what happened that night. He hadn't really told anyone about what happened that night, certainly not to such a large and eager crowd, but he couldn't hold his tongue now. "Voldemort killed him, and you know it."
Umbridge's face was kept carefully blank. Many of the student's thought she was but a moment from snapping and yelling her head off at Harry. Instead she said in a voice soft and sweet like cyanide, "Come here, Mr. Potter, dear."
Harry kicked his chair aside and angrily strode up to her desk. He ignored the looks of worry that Ron, Hermione, and Orihime were giving him, as well as the eyes of the class that he could feel on his back. The anger inside him that Umbridge had stirred up left him uncaring of whatever fate she was going to assign him.
As for Umbridge, she pulled out a roll of pink parchment from her bag, spread it on the desk, dipped her quill in ink, and began writing, hunching over it so that Harry could not see the contents of the note she was writing. The class was so silent that a pin dropping could be heard. After a minute she rolled up the parchment and sealed it with a tap of her wand so that Harry couldn't open it to view what she'd written.
"Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear." Umbridge instructs him, holding the note out for him to take.
Harry takes it without a word and strides towards the door.
"You should probably write another one of those." Ichigo says calmly and Harry stops in his tracks.
"Wha-"
"Because you and this class are complete and utter bullshit."
The classroom's silence intensified at the utterance of such words. All eyes nervously locked onto the orange haired foreigner, awaiting the reaction of the teacher of said class.
Umbridge haltingly turned to look at Ichigo, disbelief written across her face. "Would you care to repeat that, Mr. Kurosaki? I don't believe I quite heard what you said." She inquires in a stilting voice.
Ichigo hesitates to answer for the barest of seconds, pulled at by the old habit of trying to avoid direct confrontations with teachers that he has practiced since junior high, but one glance at Harry standing there reminds him that he won't, can't, stay silent about this farce of a class. He had sat by and let her trample all over everything he knew about danger and the real world, but this obvious targeting of Harry and willing obliviousness to threats was really starting to piss him off.
"Sure. I said that you and this class are complete and utter bullshit." Ichigo says, looking her in the eye, no trace of fear or hesitation present in his piercing stare.
Umbridge's mouth flaps open and shut, flabbergasted at the sheer audacity of the student before her. No words can escape her through the surprise at his rebellious actions. She had expected resistance from Potter, a denial of the Ministry's firm stance about the happenings in June, but for a foreigner to simply trample all over what the Ministry was trying to do without any consideration at all was an attack from out of the blue.
Ichigo just cracks his knuckles and rolls his shoulders before letting a predatory smirk take his face. "Ya wanna know why this is bullshit? It's 'cause you're lying when you say the world is a safe place. So what if this Lord Borudemoru," letting his Japanese accent take over and mangle the Dark Lord's name, "hasn't returned, as you claim? Doesn't mean there won't be some psycho out there with similar illusions of grandeur and a merciless mindset won't pop up and start terrorizing and killing people. And if you're so concerned with the safety of your students, you should be letting them practice using spells, or who knows, maybe they'll blow their arm off when they screw it up. I understand the theory behind baking a cake, doesn't mean I can make a good one." He was really warming up to this rant, enjoying venting every frustration at her stupidity and watching Umbridge's look of disbelief and horror only makes it better. "Oh, and back on the subject of getting attacked, there's plenty of smaller situations to get attacked in. Thugs and bullies, thieves, the occasional wild animal, you get where this is going right? Hell, I'd get attacked by wanna-be gangsters nearly every day back home, sometimes on school grounds."
"I don't know what it's like in Japan, but we do not allow such archaic or barbaric practices here." Umbridge defiantly states, finally finding a spot to interject her own thoughts and stop his rant. She will not let this foreign brat usurp her control over the class with the ridiculous reasoning of his home country.
Ichigo growls in response. She's stupider than his crazy dad pretends to be. He has half a mind to rush her and plant his fist squarely in her squat face just to prove that people are not in fact safe from attack just because they are at school, an idea that the Hollow half of Zangetsu is all too eager to goad him into acting on. It doesn't help that the Quincy half, so often acting as the voice of reason against his more violent counterpart, has no objections to this. His priority is the safety of Ichigo, and with his master's penchant of putting himself in harm's way to protect others, that purpose is better served if those Ichigo has decided to protect can hold their own in combat.
Believing herself to have won the argument, Umbridge settles down more comfortably at her desk.
"If the world's a safe place, how come my mom was murdered when I was nine?" Ichigo's voice is low, cold, and sharp, daring Umbridge to deny the trauma he has lived with for most of his life. "And don't you dare say it's because I'm from another country. It doesn't matter where they're from, people get murdered because there are bastards out there who don't give a damn. If it was safe, then how could I get the idea in my head that I should learn karate to protect my little sisters when I was only four? That I'd need to teach them how to defend themselves when I was nine? The world isn't safe just because you say it is. If we're not actually learning to protect ourselves in this Defense Against the Dark Arts class, there's no way in hell you're a teacher, you damn toad."
Umbridge shakes in silent fury, lips pursed tightly as she glares at Ichigo. "I believe you were right, Mr. Kurosaki. Please come up here, dear." Huffing, she collects herself a bit before continuing. "You will be going with Mr. Potter, Mr. Kurosaki."
Ichigo glares at her before wordlessly collecting his things and sliding from his chair. His steps click in the silence, carefully measured as he moves down the aisle to her desk. The students shiver and scoot in their seats to keep a maximum distance between themselves and him. Umbridge herself pales at the predatory grace with which he moves, flaunting the danger that exists within her "safe" classroom.
Internally, Ichigo is struggling to keep his mouth shut and hands at his sides. He wanted trouble, but he knew it would be a bad idea to take it any farther than Harry had. We'll share this miserable fate, he morosely thinks. It's like he mentioned to Umbridge, he's been learning to fight and applying that knowledge for most of his life. He taught his little sisters the basics for self-defense a few months after his mother's death because he had realized that he wasn't strong enough yet to protect them from everything. He'd trained to save Rukia and Orihime. He'd nearly died more times than he'd like to count protecting the things he held dear, while the number of times he'd gotten hurt doing so was more than he could count. And that toad was saying that all he'd ever truly accomplished with his life, his sweat and blood shed for others, was pointless and unneeded and it pissed him off to no end. He was sure that Uryu was just as pissed off as him considering that the Quincy had been through just as much, but his cousin had always had a better handle on himself than Ichigo did. However, it wasn't something Ichigo could just pretend to ignore, but he also knew that as satisfying as curb-stomping her would be, he couldn't do it. At least not without getting into more trouble than the toad was currently worth. So he just had to satisfy himself by making her squirm as much as possible from his killing intent and a display of what fifteen years of combat looks like.
Umbridge's hand shook a little as she handed Ichigo his note and he smoothly executed a turn on his heal before gracefully stalking to the door.
"Iku, Harry." (Let's go, Harry) he softly murmurs as he reaches Harry and even though Harry doesn't really know what Ichigo said, he gets the idea and follows the older boy out of the classroom.
Author's Note
So I hope my confrontation with the toad didn't disappoint you guys. I just thought that Ichigo knows how to behave himself until he can't really take it anymore. Besides figuring out his snide comments was fun! Sorry if you wanted to see the training, but I've been putting off finishing this chapter for long enough and didn't feel like figuring it out. Besides, I'm sure you all have great imaginations for torturous training exercises, or not, depends on what you want to think.
Please review/comment to tell me how I did.