Eric objected strongly to Professor Flitwick, noting that he was being as polite as possible, but Professor Umbridge was making him late. However, it was no use. If a teacher feels justified in putting someone on detention, there was nothing that could be done.

He entered the Professor's office promptly. As she saw him, her face broke out into a fat, toadlike smirk. "Well, we are off to a good start – you know to be punctual." She directed him towards an alcove. "As much as I would like to dedicate a proper amount of time to this, I do have other demands. Please pick up these cases." As Eric began to do so, he noted that they each had to weigh about 50 pounds. "Now, please stand in the alcove, holding up the cases." She smiled as he did so, closing a rail in front of him.

He did his best to remain vertical, but it wasn't long before the weight of the cases dragged on his arms. Knowing full well that detention was often a trap, he carefully eased back to lean against the wall. He found his suspicions rewarded, however, by a burning sensation everywhere he touched the wall. This was made worse due to the fact that now he was off balance, and so he had to push himself away from the wall in order to straighten up even though that burned him even more. Now that he knew the rules, he did his best to keep straight, but to no avail. On a regular basis his knees gave way or he would tip one way or another. Each time Dolores scolded him for not standing straight. Within minutes much of his body bore long strips of scorched welts.

After what felt like an eternity ( though was little more than a quarter-hour ), the heat stopped and she called him away from the alcove. "Tut tut – I'm afraid we haven't learned much. If you were a polite boy, you would know how to ask nicely, and I would have let you put the cases down. But then, if you were a polite boy, you wouldn't be in this predicament."

She smiled a fat, condescending grin at him. "Don't you feel foolish?" Eric bit hard and nodded. "Well, at least there's hope for you. Remember the lesson this evening, and perhaps we won't repeat it, hmm?" Patting him on the shoulder, she opened her office door, indicating that he could leave.

Eric's burns screamed at him, all the more agonizing where they crossed the scars he received over the summer. He tried his best to get back to the Ravenclaw common room, but he didn't even make it to the main staircase before collapsing in pain. So it was in a side hallway that Dorian found him, along with a couple other Ravenclaw students willing to bring him back to the common room.

Naomi rushed to his side when she heard the commotion. She immediately sent one of the other girls to gather a black bag that was beside her bed. "Just relax. I can help you."

Dorian was less certain. "Shouldn't we take him to the hospital wing?"

She shook her head. "These injuries were the result of a detention. Madame Pomfrey will be reluctant to heal them." She began digging through her bag, drawing out salves and her wand. "She's afraid of Umbridge – they all are. Hmm, we'll need some extra aloe." Drawing over a scrawny potted plant, she drew out her wand and chanted. The plant expanded in size sevenfold within seconds.

Even with his pain, Eric couldn't help but notice. "That was impressive!"

Naomi smiled slightly. "Herbology is rapidly becoming my specialty." She set about healing the burns with potions and spells.

Dorian watched with concern. "I don't get it. How can a new professor just march in and disrupt everything?"

As the pain eased, Eric found his voice. "She's not just some new professor. She's an undersecretary from the Ministry. With the authority of the Ministry behind her, she could be an extremely dangerous person."

Naomi finished her work. "Are you all right?"

He smiled to her. "It feels a lot better, though I don't think I can make it back for supper."

Dorian piped up immediately. "We'll bring you back something. Why don't you just sleep it off?" He offered Eric an arm to help him back to the dormitories, which was gratefully accepted.

As she put away her supplies, Naomi looked over to Eric. "You know, if you cross her, it'll be worse next time."

He nodded back. "Don't worry. I promise to stay as far out of Dolores Umbridge's path as I can."