The Education Liaison
"Did you manage to hunt her down?" Remus asked as Sirius entered the Shrieking Shack and sank heavily into the couch, looking as though he was about to be sick.
"Yeah," Sirius grunted.
"So you gave her a piece of your mind?" Remus asked again cheerfully.
"I did." Sirius looked pained.
"She freaked out and swore never to come near Harry and you again?" Remus persisted.
Sirius gave a long sign. "How I wish you're right. I yelled at her, sprouted vulgarities and waved my fists at her. I've done everything except punch her fat face. But the woman is really mental. She seemed not to have heard a single word of what I said. In fact, she behaved as though I was whispering sweet nothings to her and kept holding on to my arm and refused to let go," Sirius shuddered at the recollection of his latest encounter with Dawn Umbridge.
"That's bad," Remus remarked sympathetically.
Sirius shook his head in resignation and continued in a voice filled with shock and disbelief, "No, it's worse than bad. As soon as I stopped shouting at her, she started asking me how many kids I want to have and proceeded to tell me a whole list of names she had decided for OUR kids. And she was referring to kids by ME and HER." Sirius looked as though he was about to throw up any moment. "She's a total nightmare. Remind me never to go near that woman again."
Remus was speechless. He knew that Sirius could appear very frightening whenever he lost his temper and judging by the murderous look on Sirius' face when he stormed off earlier to locate Dawn Umbridge, this was definitely one of his worst. Remus had expected Dawn Umbridge to be at least a little discouraged from her pursuit of his friend.
"At last you've met a woman you can't handle, Padfoot," Remus tried to make light of the situation.
Sirius shot him a dirty look. "If you're my friend, you ought to help me think of how to get rid of her or at least avoid her instead of gloating at me," he said accusingly.
"You know that's not going to be easy. She managed to get Fudge to make her the Ministry's Education Liaison. That gives her the right to visit Hogwarts frequently and even Albus can't turn her away."
"What if we leave the school?" Sirius asked in desperation though he knew what the reply would be.
"Then she'll hunt you down and may even find accommodation somewhere near you to keep you in sight," Remus said matter-of-factly. If Sirius had not looked so down and upset, Remus would have thought the situation was ridiculously funny.
"Yeah. At least at Hogwarts, I get some privacy in the evenings and nights," Sirius conceded grudgingly. "But there must be a way. I'll lose my sanity if I have to tolerate more of her. As it is, I was really close to beating up a woman for the first time in my life."
"Don't worry. We'll think of something," Remus tried to comfort his friend.
*
"We have to find a way to get rid of that horrible Dawn Umbridge!" Hermione declared determinedly.
"That's easier said than done," said Harry moodily.
Ron tried to be helpful. "How about asking Professor Dumbledore to ban her from Hogwarts?"
"Ron," Hermione began crossly. "We've been through this. That Umbridge woman has been appointed the Education Liaison, which means that even Professor Dumbledore can't stop her from being here."
"Oh, I forgot," Ron's face turned crimson. "Dad mentioned in his letter that she has an aunt in the Ministry who's the Senior Secretary to the Minister. She must have pulled some strings to get the position."
"Well, we can't let her get her way! Not after what she did to Harry!" Hermione said fiercely.
"Maybe you should talk to Sirius about this, Harry. Perhaps he can find a way to make her leave Hogwarts," Ron said.
"I've already done that. It's no use. Sirius wants to stay far away from her. If he has a way, he would have used it."
"And Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his head glumly and Hermione threw her hands into the air in exasperation. "There must be a way. I can't bear the sight of that irritating woman striding around as if she owns Hogwarts! She's even more pretentious than ten Professor Trelawneys!"
"Wow! This is the first time I hear you praise our Divination professor!" Ron quipped and promptly received a glare from her.
"Umbridge is such a pain. I looked at my ring when she tried to speak to you this morning, Harry. And the stone turned the colour of mud!" Hermione told Harry.
Harry felt a pang of guilt. "I left my ring in my trunk and forgot all about it since April left. If only I had worn it that day we first met Umbridge after Potions, I would have known right away that she was lying and not thrown the tantrum at Sirius."
The three friends sat gloomily together under the oak tree in the courtyard, each lost in thought.
"If only April is here. She's full of crazy ideas," Ron mumbled to himself after a long period of silence.
"What is it you said again?" Hermione asked.
Ron swallowed nervously, wondering if he had said something wrong again. "I was just saying if April is here…"
"That's it!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.
Harry began to brighten up considerably as well. "April is always full of ideas. She'll be able to think of something."
"Yes! How could we have forgotten that she was the one who outsmarted Voldemort, nabbed Peter Pettigrew and got Sirius' freedom back!" Hermione added happily.
"So we'll write to April and ask her to help think of some ideas to get rid of Dawn Umbridge?" Ron asked.
A mysterious smile was tugging at the corners of Hermione's lips. "We'll do that later. Right now, we'd better hurry if we don't want to be late for Charms."
"Yes, we'll do that later. Come on, let's go," Harry stood up and led the way back to main school building. His heart was pounding with excitement as he thought of what he was going to do.
*
The three friends had unusually good appetites the next day. Each of them was trying to hide their smug grins from one another.
It was not until that afternoon when the subject of writing to April was brought up again.
"I've written the letter to April," Harry announced suddenly as they left their last lesson of the day.
Both Ron and Hermione stopped dead in their tracks.
"You wrote a letter to April? Have you sent it?" Hermione was asking.
"Sure I did," Harry replied cheerfully.
"When did you send it?"
"I went to the owlery last night."
"Oh no!" Hermione groaned while Ron continued to look aghast.
Harry frowned. "I know I should have waited to write the letter together with both of you. But it was very late last night and I couldn't sleep so I…"
"Harry," Hermione interjected. "I sent a letter to April last night too."
"WHAT?" Harry and Ron cried at the same time.
Hermione looked miserable. "I thought I'll surprise you by sending the letter and get April to return. I didn't want to see Dawn Umbridge around for a day more, so I didn't wait and went ahead on my own."
"Oh." That was the only sound Harry managed. His thoughts were racing.
"What did you say in your letter, Harry?"
"I told her that Sirius is in trouble and we need her help."
"Oh no!" Hermione gasped.
Ron went pale.
"What did yours say?" Harry asked Hermione, suddenly suspicious.
"Mine said Professor Lupin is in trouble and asked her to come back to help as soon as she can."
"Oh no." It was Harry's turn to say these words. "Now she'll never come back. She'll know that it's all not true." He felt a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Do you think there's a chance that April will believe both Sirius and Professor Lupin are in trouble at the same time?"
"It's not likely, but not entirely impossible," Harry said after some consideration, refusing to lose hope.
Ron cleared his throat loudly. "Excuse me…"
"Not now, Ron! We need to think this through!" Hermione snapped.
Ron spoke up in a slightly louder voice. "She will not believe our letters."
"Why not? There's a chance…"
"Wait a minute. What did you mean by our letters?" Harry interrupted Hermione.
Ron's face turned the shade of his hair. "Because…because…I…well…this morning…I sent her a letter too," he stammered, speaking in a small voice. "I was hoping to surprise both of you."
"What did yours say?" Harry and Hermione asked together.
Ron bit his lower lip and avoided the eyes of his friends. "I told April that the two of you are in trouble and asked her to rescue you."
Harry and Hermione stared at Ron in disbelief.
"There's no way she'll believe that all four of us are in trouble and need her to rescue us. Not at the same time," Hermione said in despair.
Harry nodded blankly. "She'll not be back afterall."
***
Please please please review! Why am I getting this nagging feeling that some have given up on this story… If I get 15 reviews on this chapter, I'll update on Monday. This is a promise! C'mon, click that icon on the bottom left. I'll love you A LOT if you do.
peachgirl1608 / Sunshine*girl-Hermione / TS: Thanks!
padfoot1979 / Ms. Padfoot / Fire'N'Ice / Tiger Lily (er…I refuse to add the number. Know how much u hate it) / Star06: Dawn Umbridge will be punished!!! I'm having a fun time writing that chapter now.
Someone Reading : I must have read and re-read your review about 10…no, 20 times. Thanks! :)
Destructor-of-peace : Nope, you're not mad at all…only crazy! LOL (*Invisi nods vigorously*)
Jena Jinn : I've made the amendment. Thanks!
Summerkins : Thanks for including me as your favourite author, and for your cookies and candy! I'm a Sirius-fanatic too!
