The next day Draco woke up with a yawn. Unfortunately he could not spend much time with Daphne as he would have liked last night. He quickly took a shower and got dressed for the morning classes.
Blaise and Draco met with Tracy and Daphne and immediately left for the great hall to have break fast. There were only very few students in the hall. They took their seats in the Slytherin table and began to tuck in.
"So what do we have first?" Tracy asked
"Potions with Snape, followed by the DADA with Umbitch." Draco said as he flipped through his schedule
"Draco, don't say that." Daphne said immediately
"The walls have years." Blaise warned
"Hmm, she is a bitch though." Draco said with a shrug
The rest of the students began to fill in.
"We better finish quickly. Prof. Snape was in a bad mood last night." Daphne said
"Why was that?" Blaise asked
"Apparantly the Weasely twins managed to create a swamp inside the corridor and he had to remove it." Draco said
"How did they manage to do that?" Tracy asked
"I have no idea. But they have mad skills." Draco said
"Well we better get moving then. We don't want to test Snape's patience." Blaise said as he rose from the table
They left the hall and walked towards the dungeons. They entered the classroom nd sat atvthe front row in pairs. Tracy and Daphne sat together which left Draco and Blaise to sit next to them at the far end of the row together. Other students began to fill into the room.
Snape walked in as his robes bellowed in after him which made him look like a bat. He walked towards the center of the class and with a wae of his hand the door closed with a thud.
"Before we begin, I'd like to mention that at the end of this year, you will be sitting a very important examination. This test will prove exactly how much you have learned regarding the composition and uses of potions. Dunderheads as many of you appear to be, I expect you all to manage at least score an 'Acceptable' in your OWL. However, I only accept those who have scored an Outstanding in potions OWL into the sixth yer potion class and this requires a certain aptitude and discipline some here solely lack and I will be happy to not see them again in my class next year" Snape said as he glared meaningfully at Potter
"Now We will start the year off with a concoction that will most assuredly come up in your examination in some form. The Draught Of Peace. Read the instructions through very carefully, as this is quite a temperamental potion. Ingredients are in the cupbord and the instructions are on the board. You may begin." Snape said
Draco and Blaise worked diligently and followed the instructions perfectly. It took one hour for the potion to turn a silver shade. They placed some sample of the potion into a glass vial and sealed it. They labeled their names and presented it to Snape. He took a quick peek and graded their potion and collected the vial.
"Clean your work station and leave. Also ten points each for completing the work wthin the time period." Snape said
"Thank you, sir." Draco and Blaise said as they began to clean their work station and waited outside the class.
Within a few moments Daphne and Tracy came out of the class. They left towards the DADA class. They were the first to arrive so they took a bench at the very back. Students began to fill in not long after.
Umbridge walked in with a poisonous smile in her pink robes.
"Good morning class." she said sweetly
Some returned the greeting uncertainly.
"Now that won't do. All of you say, ' good morning Madam Umbridge." she said with a smile
"Good morning madam Umbridge." the class repeated
"Now that is good. The ministry is aware the quality of your defence classes has fell short in the last few years by incompetent teachers hired by the headmaster and one was even a warewolf." Umbridge said
"Prof. Lupin was the best teacher that we had." Dean Thomas interrupted
"If any one have to say anything then please raise your hands. Otherwise don't interrupt." Umbridge said
Hermione raised her hand but Umbridge acted like she never saw it.
"Now as I was saying, your previous teachers were not successful in giving you a proper education. So it is the Ministry's objective to turn you into law-abiding and well-educated citizens. Now each of you will be taught by me using a ministry approved book." Umbridge said with an earnest look
With a flick of her wand, a number of thin books flew in from the cupboard in the class and began to be distributed to each student.
"This book follows the ministry approved syllabus. Now turn to page four and read through it." Umbridge said as she sat behind her desk.
Draco opened the page and began to read the book. From the first page itself, he knew this book was utter rubbish. It was as if the book was written by a mentally retarded person. The book advised not to use any magic if one gets attacked while emphasizing to report to the ministry and the Aurors would solve all their problems. It also advises to negotiate with the attacker instead of apparating away or to defend oneself. He read further into the book but it was filled with utter bullshit. After reading a few pages he got the urge to murder this person in cold blood. He searched the author's name and saw it was written by a man named Alex Pike.
He looked up from the book and looked at Blaise. His face was red from trying to hold in his laughter. Draco looked around sneakily and saw many were looking incredulously at the book and at Umbridge. Hermione had her hand raised up and trying her hardest to draw the attention of Umbridge. Finally Umbridge called her.
"Yes, Miss Granger you have a doubt regarding the content." Umbridge asked
"No professor but I have doubts regarding the course aims." Hermione asked
"What doubt would that be?" Umbridge asked with her sickly sweet voice
"Well, for one thing, there is no practical spells in the book. It only contains theory." she asked
"Yeah, and OWL's have practcal tests. How will we do that." Dean Thomas asked
"Raise your hands Mr. Thomas. As for your practical session you have studied enough for the four years. That will be more than enough for your OWL's." Umbridge said
"But we need to know how to defend ourselves from what's out there." Ron Weasely said
"There is nothing out there Mr. Weasely." Umbridge growled out with a scowl
"But there is. You-know-who has returned and we need to fight him. Harry saw him." Weasely shouted
"I will say this only once. There has been a preplanned campaign done by some disturbing individuals to destabilize the ministry. Whatever they have told you is a lie." Umbridge said and she was borderline hysteric while saying that
"It is not a lie. Voldemort is alive. I saw him and fought him." Harry shouted back like a moron
"Stop spreading your lies." Umbridge saifmd seething in anger and now there was a cruel glint in her eyes
"I am not lying or do you think Cedric Diggory just fell dead on his own. Voldemort killed him." Harry shouted
"Detention Mr. Potter for this whole week with me. I will not have such behaviour in my class. Everyone get out." Umbridge screamed
Everyone scrambled out in a rush.
"I did not see that coming." Tracy said as we walked to the Transfiguration class
"She was obviously goading Potter to say something and she succeeded." Draco said
"He is a total moron and he surround himself with other morons. For someone like Umbridge who deals with politics on a daily basis in ministry, Potter is an easy pray." Daphne said
"But what about the OWLs. We will be unprepared for them." Blaise asked
"We can self study." Daphne said
"Why is Dumbledore even allowing this Toad inside Hogwarts? I just don't get him. He has the influence and power to remove her and Fudge but he just sits idle." Blaise asked
"Dumbledore is afraid of too much power. He hesitates to take extreme actions all the time. That is the only reason I can think of." Draco said
The first week passed without much problems other than the constant goading Umbridge did to land Potter in detention. The weekend presented a perfect opportunity for Draco to have a meeting with Dumbledore as Umbridge had left the school to the ministry. So Draco sent an owl to the headmaster requesting a meeting. The owl came back with a message informing him to visit his office after lunch. So Draco prepared for the coming conversation with the headmaster.
Draco reached the Gargoyle that guarded the office of Hogwarts headmater. "Lemon drops." he said to the statue. The gargoyle spun and a staircase rose from the ground. He climbed up the stairs and reached the door. He was about to knock.
"Come in Draco." Dumbledore said from the inside
He pushed the door open and saw the twinkling eyed fool.
"Good afternoon, sir." Draco greeted
"Good afternoon to you as well my boy. Take a seat. Have a few lemon drops." Dumbledore said as he placed a bowl filled with lemon drops on the table.
"No, thank you sir." Draco said
"Now my boy how can I help you. " Dumbledore asked jovially
"Sir, last time whe I visited you I told you how my father destroyed one of the dark lord's soul anchors. But I was unable to tell you how. This summer we were remodelling our home and we found a secret room in our home that father used. There I found these." Draco said as he took out the glass container which contained two Basilisk fangs.
He passed the container to Dumbledore. The headmaster began inspecting the fang. He opened the container and took it out.
"It is a Basilisk fang sir. It has the most potent poison in the world. I think father used the fang to destroy the diary." Draco said
"Are you sure Draco?" Dumbledore asked still looking at the fangs
"Yes, sir. He made certain notes regarding the Horcrux. He wrote only Basilisk venom and Fiendfire curse were able to destroy a Horcrux." Draco said
"Where are these notes? Do you have them with you?" Dumbledore asked
"No, sir. Mother burned it after we had the fang and read through it. She said it would be dangerous for any of it to remain there." Draco said
"Narcissa is correct. Do you know how your father acquired these fangs? There have been no recorded Basilisks in the world that I know of." Dumbledore asked
"Unfortunately we have no idea where he purchased it, sir. We have looked through all his notes but the sellers name was nowhere. He must have had a secret trader that we never knew." Draco said
"That is unfortunate. Still, something is better than nothing. I have been looking for any ways to destroy those foul things but had yet to find any safe ways. But this has changed everything." Dumbledore said.
"Sir, there was one more thing. Last summer Thadeus Nott came to see us. Mother was in France so he met me. He was recruiting for the Dark Lord." Draco said
"Hmm, what did you say?" Dumbledore asked
"I managed to deflect him for the time being. He has been the driving force behind Minister Fudge's campaign against you and Potter this entire summer. He is now sniffing around the Neutral Pureblood houses for more support." Draco said
"I am aware of that my boy. Sooner or later Voldemort will reveal himself in public. Until then all we can do is defend. " Dumbledore said sagely
"Then I will take my leave, sir. There is a quidditch trials for Slytherin house to be held soon enough." Draco said as he stood up from the chair
"Yes do so. Also, I have very good reports from your teachers regarding your academics Draco. Keep up the good work." Dumbledore said
"Thank you, sir. Have a good day sir." Draco said as he stepped out of the room and descended the stairs.
He walked straight back to the Dungeons and changed into his quidditch robes and took his Nimbus 2001 broom and left to the ground. He has a team to form after all.