Hey guys. I know it's been a while. Life got busy for me, but I hope you all are willing to stick around despite my crazy upload schedule. I got a PM a few weeks ago from someone who was furious that I hadn't uploaded in a while. To that person: I have a life outside the fandom, you know! The message you sent makes me think you may not! Also, don't demand things be put in my story just because you want them, buddy! (Yes, he/she/they did make several demands for how the story will go! And no, there will be no Dralizabeth, and Elizabeth will not be a teen mom with Draco as the baby dad! She won't be a teen mom at all!)
Hope you enjoy the chapter. Please review below.
After a filling and festive feast, Elizabeth discreetly separated from the group of Gryffindor fourth years and snuck down the corridor to the McGonagall quarters. Well, it wasn't like she wasn't supposed to go there, but it felt like it. Something about the note felt off. She couldn't put her finger on it, but a little voice in the back of her mind told it had something to do with Umbridge.
Carefully taking her necklace with her key off to unlock the door, Elizabeth walked into the quarters that were ever so familiar to her. She smiled when she saw Edgar, the tortoise she had worked so hard to transfigure from a teapot, happily sitting in his terrarium. She was fond of him, both because he was evidence of her improvement due to hard work, (and it had been very hard) and because he was adorable. His speckled shell and kind gaze made him a creature you couldn't help but like. She picked him up out of his terrarium and stroked his head lovingly.
"Ah, you're here. Good. I have something important to tell you." Minerva said as she walked in the room. Elizabeth flinched in surprise. "Sorry." Minerva apologized.
"It's not your fault. I was just lost in my own little world. Why did you call me here? To talk about my Transfiguration marks? Or how this year is going to be harder than the others?" Elizabeth guessed with a grin as she held the tortoise. His presence had put those ideas in her mind for why her mum would call her to her quarters on the first night of the school year.
"No, but that is a worthy topic of conversation. We'll be discussing that later if the need arises. This one is much more important." Minerva said with an air of seriousness. It made Elizabeth's smile fell from her face and her expression was replaced with one of listening.
They sat at the small table in the kitchen, with cups of tea in front of them. Elizabeth had taken a courtesy sip, but she had had pumpkin juice at the feast and was still full from the dinner.
"Now, I'm sure you were paying attention to the speech Professor Umbridge gave at the Welcoming Feast?" Minerva asked. Elizabeth nodded. She'd been paying close enough attention, but her mind had started to wander a little towards the end. Not that she would ever mention that to her mum.
Minerva set down her teacup. "Elizabeth, it is very important for you to understand what I am about to tell you. Professor Umbridge has been sent here by Fudge to ensure that Professor Dumbledore is not plotting to usurp him as Minister of Magic. She is not qualified for her position, and frankly, I do not expect you to be learning much from her this term. The curriculum has been reevaluated and made anew, and there is much missing." she informed her.
Elizabeth was flabbergasted. "Why? I know they were trying to cover everything up, but wouldn't this draw attention to the fact that they're doing that?" she asked.
Minerva looked at her in surprise. "You know about their smear campaign?" she asked.
Elizabeth sighed and nodded. "I found out about it on the train. Julia showed me an article in the paper. It's awful."
It was Minerva's turn to sigh, but she shook her head instead of nodding. "I knew you would find out soon enough. I wanted to give you the summer to be oblivious about it and enjoy yourself. You needed time to be young and not worry about these things."
Elizabeth agreed. She knew all too well the allconsumingness of war. She wouldn't say she was completely oblivious to everything over the summer, but she had certainly been oblivious about this. She loved Minerva very much for letting her be oblivious.
Minerva knew the decision of letting her be young and clueless for a little while meant that she'd be feeling worse when the news came, but she still did not regret her choice. She herself had lived through the last Wizarding War, which was long and hard. If this one would resemble the last, Elizabeth would graduate during it and would join the fight against Voldemort full time instead of going after her dream career as she should. She needed to be a young girl before the war took her aspirations away and turned her into a soldier. Like it or not, she knew Elizabeth wouldn't sit by in this war.
Realizing that Elizabeth was still waiting for more instructions, she cleared her throat and continued. "Tell her nothing of the Order. It doesn't even exist to her. It will be hard, but you must keep your opinions and beliefs to yourself. She is not tolerant of outside opinions at all, and she'll punish you severely." She warned firmly. She did not like having to tell her daughter this, but knew she had to for her own safety.
Elizabeth nodded. "I won't tell her anything. And I'll do my best to be good in her class. I promise."
Minerva returned the nod, and seeing Elizabeth in her Hogwarts uniform again made her realize how old her daughter was now. She smiled. Her little girl was already a fourth year. Time had passed so quickly. Minerva was hit with a wave of longing to have been Elizabeth's mum for her entire life. Part of her wished she could have had Elizabeth since birth, and truly been her mother. But she knew in her heart of hearts that this was the path that fate wanted them on.
With a tight hug and goodnights exchanged, she sent her daughter back to where she belonged with her peers.
Elizabeth walked into Gryffindor Tower and quickly noticed some of her fellow Gryffindors looking at her and quickly glazing away. She realized with a pit in her stomach what they were probably thinking.
One step forward, two steps back. She thought.
Sighing, she just continued walking through the common room, honestly just wanting to get to bed. She said hello to the Weasley twins along the way. As she was about to walk up the stairs, she felt a tap on her back. She turned and saw it was Allie.
"Hi." she said quietly. Allie had always been a quiet girl, so that wasn't odd. But she and Elizabeth had never really been friends, either. After the initial novelty of having Elizabeth as a roommate, Allie had drifted back to her group with Zarah and Olivia. They hadn't really hung out since.
"Hi." Elizabeth replied politely, even though she was cautious about what Allie could want.
Allie shifted her stance. She looked obviously uncomfortable. "Erm, I want to tell you something. Everyone's disagreeing about what happened at the end of June." she said even quieter.
Elizabeth nodded. "I know." she turned once again to walk away, but Allie reached for her hand. Her expression looked nervous and urgent.
"Just… be careful of what you say. You never know who's on your side or isn't."
Elizabeth simply nodded again, unsure and now nervous herself.
After Allie's rather cryptic message, Elizabeth walked into her dorm room ready to collapse on her bed. But someone had already beaten her to the punch.
Ginny. She was petting Novo and looking rather annoyed. Elizabeth let the door close before saying, "Okay, spill it Gin."
Ginny sighed, very frustrated, and launched into a rant.
"All of our roommates are prats! I walked in after the feast, while you were at your mum's, and Olivia called me over and asked about you and my take on your situation! Like you're some mental asylum patient! I tried setting things straight but Olivia and Zarah just kept cutting me off!" she punched Elizabeth's bed in frustration.
"Don't hit my mattress, and what did they say, exactly?" Elizabeth ordered and sat on the other side of her bed, reaching out a hand to pet Novo on his head. The cat purred in contentment.
"What didn't they say is more like it. Zarah kept citing these articles she'd read from the Prophet, and asking if I really believed that you reinstated the wards. Of course, I said yes. I even explained the whole process you went through. They thought I was brainwashed into believing the 'nonsense' Dumbledore says! They were even talking about getting a room switch from you and me!" Ginny spewed furiously.
Elizabeth groaned and buried her head in a pillow so it couldn't be seen. Then, she screamed. Twice. And once more for good measure. Then, she lifted her head. Ginny looked bewildered.
"Anything else?" she asked.
"No, that was pretty much it. Allie was quiet the whole time, though. It was kind of weird." Ginny said.
Elizabeth nodded. "She actually came up to me just now. She told me to be careful about what I say. Don't you say that, too. My mum already warned me."
Ginny's expression piqued with curiosity. "Really? What else did she say?"
Elizabeth quickly filled her in. Ginny was a good audience as always, her actions were always at the right times and appropriately exaggerated. By the end of it, both girls were annoyed and frustrated. (Ginny may have taken a moment to scream into the pillow as well.)
"Well, we'll find out tomorrow just what Umbridge is like. I heard Flitwick in a corridor talking about getting us after her lesson." Ginny informed Elizabeth.
"Really? We have her first thing tomorrow?" Ginny nodded grimly. At that point, the door opened, and their three other roommates entered in a cluster, Olivia leading them.
There was silence. Ginny and Elizabeth looked at them. They looked back. Olivia walked by Elizabeth, and over to open her trunk. Zarah and Allie followed suit.
"Anything you have to say, Olivia?" Ginny asked. Elizabeth shot her a look.
Olivia looked over and scowled. "I have nothing to say to either of you. I have much better people to associate with. Saner people." she said curtly. And with that, she snapped her trunk shut.
Elizabeth fell asleep while still feeling the tension in the air.
The next morning Elizabeth woke up early, like she usually did. She quietly got ready, so as not to disturb the other girls. Things might be icy, but she didn't want to start any bickering so early in the term.
Though she got ready quickly, Elizabeth took a little extra time to do her hair. Instead of her two braids like she'd done for the previous two years, she decided to just do one braid. She was a fourth-year now, and wanted to update her appearance. Unfortunately, doing one singular braid was unfamiliar territory, and she had quite a bit of hair to braid if it wasn't divided, so it took her a few tries to get it quite right. But the end result was pleasing. She felt ready to face whatever Umbridge was going to throw at her.
Breakfast was uneventful. Reuniting with friends wasn't as important, since she had spent her summer with most of her friends. But Luna and Julia were an exception, so Elizabeth and Ginny sat back to back as usual and caught up with each other before classes commenced.
Their first class of the day was Defense Against The Dark Arts, with Professor Umbridge. Elizabeth walked in cautiously, Ginny right beside her for support. It was likely that Umbridge would believe what the papers said about her.
At first, things were pleasant enough. Attendance was called, and their professor seemed quite sweet about it. Though, if one watched closely, one could see Umbridge's nostrils twitch when certain names were called.
The real trouble began when she began her speech.
"Students, I have been looking over your past teachers and their experiences with teaching, and I must say I was vastly disappointed with the results. None of you poor dears have ever been consistently properly educated. What knowledge you could have learned. What knowledge you are missing."
She walked up and down the aisles of desks. She made eye contact with Allen, a boy in Hufflepuff. "Mr. Jeansin, could you please tell me what charm is most useful against a Cornish Pixie?"
Allen paused for a moment but eventually shook his head. "No, Professor. I can't." he said.
Umbridge tsked. She continued her walk, and the next person she made eye contact with was Elizabeth.
"Miss Gryffindor, surely you can remember Professor Lockhart's lecture on Cornish Pixies?" she asked, looking Elizabeth dead in the eye.
Before she could say a word, Ginny did. "Professor, she can't. She wasn't here for it."
Umbridge snapped her head over to Ginny. "You are speaking out of turn, Miss Weasley. Mind your tongue. Now, Miss Gryffindor, could you please answer the question?"
Elizabeth nodded. "While I was not present the year that Lockhart taught, I can demonstrate the spell, Professor."
Umbridge quickly shook her head. "Oh, no, dear. We won't be demonstrating any spells today. Or practicing spells. The theory is all you need."
Elizabeth's jaw dropped. She looked over to Ginny, who bore the same perplexed expression.
"What do you mean, Professor Umbridge?" Allie asked from the back of the room.
Umbridge smiled. "I mean, there will be no practical work this year. It's not hard to understand, is it? There's no need for it, so you won't be doing it."
Elizabeth spoke up before she could stop herself. "Of course there's a need for it!" she exclaimed.
Umbridge turned her head. "What, dear?" she asked.
Elizabeth stood up. "I mean, there is absolutely a need for practice! Voldemort has returned, and we need to prepare for what might happen!"
The click-clacking of Umbridge's heels echoed through the classroom as she walked over to where Elizabeth stood. "Miss Gryffindor, please sit down, and mind the rules of my classroom. There will be no yelling about made-up stories in my class. Do you understand?" she asked.
Elizabeth looked the witch in the eye. Oddly enough, they were the same height. The intimidation Umbridge was trying to convey did not cease the fury Elizabeth was feeling.
"I am not making up stories! Voldemort has come back, I know it! I was the one to feel it when he took down the wards here in June! Only someone of founder blood could have done it, and it certainly wasn't me!"
Umbridge pursed her lips. "Miss Gryffindor, please Sit. Down."
Elizabeth crossed her arms. "That is not my name. My name was changed over the summer. I'm Elizabeth Gryffindor McGonagall, as a way to respect both of my families. Please respect my name, Professor."
Umbridge looked like she was going to explode. "Enough! If you cannot mind your manners and follow my rules, then I am going to have to ask you to leave my classroom. You can come back when you have learned respect. And, I shall be seeing you in detention this evening, and every evening for the rest of the week!"
Elizabeth stood there for a moment, a little surprised. But then she quickly gathered her things and left the classroom in a huff.
Some teacher Umbridge had turned out to be.