Chapter 27: What to Do
Minnie brought me in to discuss career choices. I told her I couldn't decide between a professional Quidditch player or a wandmaker. She told me I should consider taking an internship with Ollivander over the summer to see if it was for me and I found myself agreeing. At least this way, it'll keep my mind off Rose being gone for the summer...
Umbridge was appointed headmistress by the following day, something Leo felt was an outrageous abuse of power given that Minnie was the deputy headmistress and thus should've gotten the spot. He was half-tempted to just leave the school but reminded himself that he had a duty to look after his friends and prepare people for the coming war. The D.A. may have been disbanded, but that didn't mean they had to stop teaching.
Leo and Draco had read and reread the educational decree Umbridge had posted that disbanded clubs and organizations and managed to find a loophole: it was only considered a group if there were three or more members. With that in mind, Leo and Harry had set up a schedule of sorts where they would train members of the D.A. one-on-one throughout the week. They split it in half, picking names at random out of a hat. Leo was disappointed when he got Zacharias Smith and pleased when Harry got Ginny. Maybe a little one-on-one time will help speed things up a bit. The blonde thought hopefully.
While Umbridge couldn't really do anything to stop them from meeting with each other, she certainly tried. She established the 'Inquisitorial Squad' - a group of Slytherin students under her command that could pretty much do whatever they wanted such as dock points or give detention. Leo, Fred, and George had an unfortunate run-in with Montague during break and had subsequently been forced to shove him head-first into the Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor before he could finish docking almost a hundred points from them.
Leo was still smiling serenely at the memory as he left Herbology with his friends and Ernie Macmillan. Ernie was telling them that Umbridge had tried to get into the headmaster's office and had thrown a right proper tantrum when it had refused her entrance.
"Makes sense," Leo stated in a thoughtful tone. "The school doesn't see her as headmistress. Reckon it'd let Minnie in though since she is the rightful successor to the position."
"Oh, I expect she really fancied herself sitting up there in the Head's office," said Hermione viciously, as they walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall. "Lording it over all the other teachers, the stupid puffed-up, power-crazy old —"
"Now, do you really want to finish that sentence, Granger?"
Appearing like a bad penny – or a Knut as they would say in the wizarding world – was Blaise Zabini, slinking out from behind the door like a slippery serpent alongside the hulking forms of Crabbe and Goyle. He looked quite pleased with having caught them bad-mouthing the fat toad that was their leader.
"Afraid I'm going to have to dock a few points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff," he drawled.
"It's only teachers that can dock points from Houses," said Ernie at once.
"Not anymore," Leo scowled. "Members of the Inquisitorial Squad can dock points."
"It irks you doesn't it, Black?" Zabini jeered. "It's upsetting that I'm more powerful than you, isn't it?"
"Hiding behind people stronger than you doesn't make you powerful – it just makes you a pathetic coward," Leo replied coolly. "You and I both know you could never best me, even on my worst day."
"Twenty points from Black for insulting a member of the Inquisitorial Squad," Zabini said through gritted teeth before turning to the others. "Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new headmistress... Macmillan, five for contradicting me... Five because I don't like you, Potter... Weasley, your shirt's untucked, so I'll have another five for that... Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a Mudblood, Granger, so ten for that..."
Ron was about to pull out his wand when Leo grabbed his arm and shook his head. They'd be playing right into Zabini and Umbridge's hands by attacking the bastard.
"Smart move for once, Black," Zabini sneered. "Keep it up and people might actually start to believe you're halfway intelligent."
He strode away, laughing heartily with Crabbe and Goyle. Leo glared after them, wishing he could stuff Zabini in a Vanishing Cabinet.
"He was bluffing," said Ernie, looking appalled. "He can't be allowed to dock points... that would be ridiculous..."
But the Gryffindors had turned automatically toward the giant hourglasses set in niches along the wall behind them, which recorded the House points. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had been neck and neck in the lead that morning. Even as they watched, stones flew upward, reducing the amounts in the lower bulbs. In fact, the only glass that seemed unchanged was the emerald-filled one of Slytherin.
"Noticed, have you?" said Fred's voice.
He, George, and Draco had just come down the marble staircase and joined Leo, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ernie in front of the hourglasses.
"Zabini just docked us all about fifty points," said Harry furiously, as they watched several more stones fly upward from the Gryffindor hourglass.
"Who?" Leo frowned in mock confusion.
He received a number of eye rolls in response.
"Montague tried to do us during break," said George, indicating himself, Fred, and Leo.
"What do you mean, 'tried'?" said Ron quickly.
"He never managed to get all the words out," said Fred, "due to the fact that we forced him headfirst into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor."
"Wish we could do that to Martini," Leo snorted. "Or, even better, Umbridge."
"Yeah, I reckon that'd solve so many problems," Harry nodded. "Do think the Vanishing Cabinet could handle more than one person?"
Leo opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted – rather rudely, he might add – by Hermione.
"Don't even think about it, you'll get in so much trouble!" she hissed before turning to the Weasley twins. "The three of you are probably going to get expelled -"
"Not until Montague reappears and tells someone, and that could take weeks, I dunno where we sent him," said Fred coolly. "Anyway... we've decided we don't care about getting into trouble anymore."
"Have you ever?" asked Hermione.
"'Course we have," said George. "Never been expelled, have we?"
"We've always known where to draw the line," said Fred.
"We might have put a toe across it occasionally," said George.
"But we've always stopped short of causing real mayhem," said Fred.
"But, now with Dumbles gone," Leo began, a grin unfurling on his face. "And that bitch in charge we figured we should... celebrate, I guess would be the best way to phrase it? Celebrate a new era of mischief-making where we don't really care if she gets hurt or not."
"You mustn't!" whispered Hermione. "You really mustn't! She'd love a reason to expel you!"
"So?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "This is Fred and George's last year here and I'm past the point of caring if I get kicked out. Anything I could learn here can be taught by Remy or Sirius or my dad. The only reason I'm staying is for you lot, Luna, and making Umbridge's life a living hell."
"Speaking of," Fred said, checking his watch, "phase one is about to begin. I'd get in the Great Hall for lunch if I were you, that way the teachers will see you can't have had anything to do with it."
"Anything to do with what?" said Hermione anxiously.
"You'll see," said George. "Run along, now. C'mon, Leo."
Leo bid farewell to his friends and followed the twins through the growing stream of students headed down to lunch. They took a shortcut to the fourth floor and headed toward the mirror on the wall. Leo took out the Map, looking it over carefully before nodding to the gingers. Fred tapped the mirror with his wand, muttering a word before walking through it, George behind him.
Leo continued staring at the Map, now frowning in confusion as he saw Filch leading Harry up the stairs. Where are they -? Bollocks. He hissed as they stopped in front of Umbridge's office and Harry entered it. He looked up as Fred and George reappeared, each of them carrying large boxes in their arms. He showed them the Map, and they both stared at it before evil grins spread over their identical faces.
The three of them moved quickly down the corridor and down the stairs before stopping at the first floor landing. They unpacked the boxes, setting out various innocent-looking tubes that were covered in bright colours. They all had what appeared to be long strings attached, which they quickly lined up before tying the ends together. The three then ran upstairs, stopping halfway up so Leo still had a direct line of sight. He took a deep breath, prayed that his powers wouldn't give him any problems, and snapped his fingers. The strings caught alight and the three booked it to hide behind a tapestry a little way along the corridor of the first floor. As they entered, they heard a resounding BOOM!
Leo looked at his companions gleefully as the floor shook and they heard the sounds of running and screaming several floors above and below them. They returned equally delighted expressions when they heard Umbridge's voice shrieking not too far from them.
"Hurry, Filch, hurry!" she yelled. "They'll be all over the school unless we do something — Stupefy!"
Leo gave a serene smile as he heard a large explosion, wishing he could see the expression on the toad's face when, instead of freezing, the firework exploded.
"Don't Stun them, Filch!" shouted Umbridge angrily, for all the world as though it had been his suggestion.
"Right you are, Headmistress!" wheezed Filch, who was a Squib and could no more have Stunned the fireworks than swallowed them.
Harry joined them mere moments later, joining them in their silent laughter.
"Impressive," Harry said quietly, grinning. "Very impressive... You'll put Dr. Filibuster out of business, no problem..."
"Cheers," whispered George, wiping tears of laughter from his face. "Oh, I hope she tries Vanishing them next... They multiply by ten every time you try..."
"Aguamenti just makes them bigger," Leo smirked. "Really hope she tries Incendio at some point, it'll make them disappear but the explosion will be massive..."
The fireworks continued to burn and spread all over the school that afternoon. Though they caused plenty of disruption, particularly the firecrackers, the other teachers did not seem to mind them very much.
"Dear, dear," said McGonagall sardonically, as one of the dragons soared around her classroom, emitting loud bangs and exhaling flame. "Miss Brown, would you mind running along to the headmistress and informing her that we have an escaped firework in our classroom?"
Leo was relatively certain McG knew he had a hand in the 'firework fiasco of '96' - as he would later dub the incident. The thirty points she gave him for Vanishing his turtle were a pretty good indication that his hunch was correct. While Leo's day had significantly improved since that morning, there was one thing that made it even better: Umbridge's continued torment.
She spent her first afternoon as Headmistress running all over the school answering the summonses of the other teachers, none of whom seemed able to rid their rooms of the fireworks without her. When the final bell rang and the students were heading back to Gryffindor Tower with their bags, Leo saw, with immense satisfaction, a dishevelled and soot-blackened Umbridge tottering sweaty-faced from Flitwick's classroom.
"Thank you so much, Professor!" said Flitwick in his squeaky little voice. "I could have got rid of the sparklers myself, of course, but I wasn't sure whether I had the authority..."
Beaming, he closed his classroom door in her snarling face.
Leo laughed at her expression before heading up the stairs to meet Luna for their D.A. lesson. Much as he tried not to, he couldn't help but regale his girlfriend with the tale of how the dragon that had been in their Transfiguration classroom had almost eaten their new headmistress. With a little coaxing from him, admittedly. He was only disappointed that the dragon hadn't done much more than scare the toad before she was able to get rid of it. He had been hoping for something a little more damaging.
Despite his previous worries that he might be going Dark, Leo had decided to embrace the more blood-thirsty aspects of his personality. While he had always known he had a bit of a brutal streak – and maybe a touch of sadism if he was completely honest with himself – he never imagined that it would grow to the point where he'd be all right with the idea of causing irreversible damage or death to a person.
Maybe Moldy was right? Maybe I have gotten a taste for killing... He mused thoughtfully as he showed Luna the proper wand movements for the Curse of the Bogies. But that doesn't make me like him, I don't think. I only think it's okay if the person deserves it – like Quirrell, or Umbridge, or Bellatrix. I'm not like him. I won't harm an innocent. He nodded to himself determinedly before quickly flattening himself to the ground when Luna tried to cast the curse on him for practice.
Montague turned up jammed inside a toilet on the fourth floor the following day. The Weasley twins and Leo thought it was a riot and spent much time high-fiving each other and celebrating the fact that Montague didn't seem to remember what had happened to him or how he had gotten in the toilet. What got Leo's interest was when Draco informed him that, apparently, Montague could hear conversations from two separate places. This led Leo to believe that there may, in fact, be more than one Vanishing Cabinet. He resolved to tell his father about it when/if he got expelled.
He and the twins decided to press pause on their plans to cause mass mayhem throughout the school, owing to the fact that O.W.L.s were looming ever closer. While all of his fellow fifth years were busy studying for their future careers, Leo was off gallivanting with the Weasley twins as they plotted what big thing they should do next. It couldn't be loud and obnoxious like they usually preferred it, so it would have to be quiet but very messy instead.
Along with his plans with Fred and George and his occasional D.A. meetings (which had become sparse and had dwindled down to those under fifth-year owing to the increasing pressure of the exams), Leo also had Quidditch sessions to worry about. They weren't going well. Around Easter holidays, Kirke had misaimed his Bludger shot and inadvertently sent Leo plummeting to the ground. Luckily, he was only about fifteen feet in the air when he landed on the ground, glaring up at Kirke and not feeling a shred of guilt when the boy's broom caught alight.
Ron ended up taking them both up to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey told Leo he had several broken ribs and Kirke had severe burns on his legs. Leo felt stirrings of guilt at the fact that he had lost control again and hurt someone. Kirke didn't deserve it. He's an okay bloke, just stupid. He grimaced as he drank the cup of Skele-Gro Madame Pomfrey forced on him, coughing at the foul taste and not particularly fond of the way it burned on the way down.
He cheered up when Fred and George came in, refusing to accept the chocolate Easter eggs they had brought with them in case they had pranked them somehow. The three fell into quiet discussions over when they would enact their upcoming prank. They managed to narrow it down to after the Easter Holidays but before the Quidditch game against Ravenclaw. They weren't sure of the exact date they would do it, but they were getting close.
Notices appeared not long after Leo's stint in the hospital wing stating that each person would be meeting with their Head of House to discuss their career opportunities. Leo was quite pleased to see he'd be missing Defense Against the Dark Arts in order to meet with his favourite teacher. Panic set in a moment later when he realized he had no clue what he wanted to do with his life. He and the other fifth years spent a considerable part of the final weekend of the Easter break reading all the career information that had been left there for their perusal.
"Well, I don't fancy Healing," said Ron on the last evening of the holidays. He was immersed in a leaflet that carried the crossed bone-and-wand emblem of St. Mungo's on its front. "It says here you need at least an E at N.E.W.T. level in Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I mean... blimey... Don't want much, do they?"
"Well, you're responsible for people's lives," Leo rolled his eyes, crumpling a paper detailing what people in the Werewolf Capture Unit did and lobbing it at the ginger. "They don't want an idiot trying to cure antlers and instead giving people squid feet."
"You don't seem to need many qualifications to liaise with Muggles," Hermione commented as Ron lobbed the paper back at Leo. "All they want is an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies... 'Much more important is your enthusiasm, patience, and a good sense of fun!'"
"You'd need more than a good sense of fun to liaise with my uncle," said Harry darkly, earning a snort of laughter from Leo. "Good sense of when to duck, more like..." He was halfway through a pamphlet on Wizard banking. "Listen to this: "'Are you seeking a challenging career involving travel, adventure, and substantial, danger-related treasure bonuses? Then consider a position with Gringotts Wizarding Bank, who are currently recruiting Curse-Breakers for thrilling opportunities abroad...' Sounds like the job was made for you, Leo... oh, wait, they need Arithmancy..."
"Eh, no worries," the blonde shrugged. "I don't really fancy working with goblins to be perfectly honest."
"What do have against goblins?" Hermione questioned, her eyes narrowing sharply.
"Had a bad experience with them," he replied in a curt tone, recalling the dragon he had seen.
The next day sped by in a bit of a blur. One minute, he was sitting in History of Magic, idly perusing a pamphlet on Aurors. The next, he was busy ignoring Snape in Potions class as he carefully mixed his Invigoration Draught and handed it in to the greasy-haired git. He ate lunch with Luna in the kitchens since Umbridge had forbidden the Houses from mingling with each other during eating time. Ancient Runes passed by the same as it always had, with Draco forcing him to take notes and Hermione covering up her test so Leo wouldn't be tempted to cheat off of her.
In no time at all, the bell rang for the end of class. Leo quickly packed up his things before rushing down the stairs, taking a shortcut down until he was crossing the corridor to McGonagall's office. He knocked on the door to her office and was bade to enter. He did so, pausing at her irate expression and wondering what Harry – who had been in right before him – had done. A quick sniff informed that it was not, in fact, Harry that had done something. The slowly fading scent of Umbridge was a big tip-off.
He felt a surge of annoyance that the fat toad had had the audacity to attend his cousin's private meeting as he sat down in front of McG's desk.
"Well, this meeting is to talk over any career ideas you might have, and to help you decide which subjects you should continue into sixth and seventh years," said McGonagall. "Have you had any thoughts about what you would like to do after you leave Hogwarts?"
"Uh, not really," Leo smiled sheepishly. "Nothing's really caught my eye..."
"Hmm," McGonagall replied, looking at him over her spectacles. "If you'd like, I can recommend a few careers I believe you'd have an aptitude for, Black."
Leo gave a slow nod before his eyes widened in mild shock as Minnie began to fire off careers that hadn't even been mentioned in the many pamphlets they had been given.
"There's also Magizoology, Dragonology, Monster hunter, Quidditch player, Professional Duellist -"
"Wait, that's an actual career?" Leo questioned in a shocked tone.
"If it wasn't, I wouldn't have mentioned it," McGonagall replied with a small smile, extracting a piece of paper from under the pile on her desk. "There are competitions that you can take part in that offer hefty sums for winning. Of course, I daresay competing in a few duels each month won't be enough to pacify someone like you, Black. Pursuing a career in Magizoology might be a good way to, shall we say, pass the time between competitions."
"What do Magizoologists do?"
"Magizoology is the study of magical creatures," McGonagall explained. "But a Magizoologist's obligations are not limited to merely observing and taking care of magical creatures. They actively track and rescue them from less-principled parties." When Leo merely blinked at her, she sighed and decided to simplify it. "You can track down and rescue magical creatures from those who wish to do them harm."
"Oh, well that sounds brilliant," Leo grinned broadly. "What do I need for that and Duelling?"
"Care of Magical Creatures is, of course, a requirement," McGonagall replied, taking out another piece of paper from under her pile. "Knowledge in Herbology, Potions, and Charms would also be helpful for taking care of sick or injured creatures. As for Duelling... your uncle has informed me that you like to incorporate a wide variety of spells when you duel. To that end, I recommend continuing Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"I ought to tell you now, Black, that I do not accept students into my N.E.W.T. classes unless they have achieved 'Exceeds Expectations' or higher at Ordinary Wizarding Level. I'd say you're averaging 'Outstanding,' so you should have no problems continuing next year. Professor Snape absolutely refuses to take students who get anything other than 'Outstanding' in their O.W.L.s, so you will need to do some work in that class if you plan on taking it next year. Your Charms grade has always been exceptionally high, as has your Defense Against the Dark Arts grade. Your Herbology grade needs some considerable work as you are currently averaging between a 'Poor' and a 'Dreadful'." She paused to give him a piercing look. "Care to explain?"
"At least it's better than a 'Troll'?" Leo tried to joke before quelling slightly under her sharp stare. "Plants don't really like me, Professor. Probably has something to do with me being a fire Elementalist."
"I see..." McGonagall responded, continuing to stare at him. "Well, in any case, all your other classes seem to be in order. Just bring up your Potions grade and you should do fine."
Leo nodded slowly before rising from his seat when Minnie dismissed him. He thanked her for the advice before striding out of her office, making sure he closed the door behind him. He cast the time spell, frowning when he saw he still had an hour of Defense left. I don't think Minnie will tell the old toad I skived off the last of her lesson so... I think it's time for As to stretch his legs. It's been a while, after all.
Cheered by this thought, Leo took out his Map, scanning it over before his eyes alighted on Draco's dot, which was in Snape's office. He vaguely recalled that the pale blonde was also getting career advice and decided to head down to the dungeons to wait for him. The meeting wouldn't take very long considering Draco had aspirations to be a professional Quidditch player and there weren't any classes that were required for it.
He entered the dungeons just as Snape's office door opened. Leo quickly hid behind a pillar as he heard the sound of Draco's footsteps approaching him. He grinned before reaching out, clapping his hand over the teen's mouth before pulling him into the shadow of the column. He grunted in surprise when Draco elbowed him in the stomach, whirling out of his grip and pointing his wand at Leo. He only lowered it slightly when he saw who it was.
"What're you playing at?" he asked in a very cross tone.
Leo was suddenly reminded of a similar situation in their first year and fought hard to stave off a broad grin.
"Well, I figured with our career advice done, we could go have some fun," he replied, unable to help the smile that spread over his face. "What do you say, Jet?"
Draco looked thoughtful for a moment before he checked his watch and nodded. Leo was mildly surprised that he didn't have to try harder to convince his friend to skip class. He shrugged, deciding not to question it as he led the Slytherin out of the dungeons through the entrance hall and out the oak double doors.
They walked through the courtyard, across the bridge, and down the lawn toward the Forbidden Forest. They stopped at the edge to talk to Hagrid, who was busy teaching some Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth years the difference between knarls and hedgehogs. He had Leo come over and pick up a knarl to show the students how indistinguishable it was from the hedgehogs. Leo held the little fellow in his arms, tickling its belly and keeping it calm as one by one the students came up to look at it. Ginny lingered longer than the others.
"What're you up to?" she whispered, her eyes curious as she rubbed the knarl's belly. "I'd've thought you'd be off pulling pranks on that toad, not sneaking into the forest. Didn't expect Draco to be with you either."
"Yeah, that one's a mystery," Leo frowned, still wondering why the pale blonde had agreed to accompany him so quickly. "Anyway, I wanted to get away from the castle for a bit – mingle with the local wildlife... Speaking of mingling, how're things going with Harry?"
The redhead's cheeks turned red and a broad smile spread over Leo's face. That well, huh? He mused as he set down the knarl and watched Ginny walk away. He made a mental note to tease Harry about it later as he and Draco continued on toward the Forbidden Forest after bidding farewell to Hagrid. Hagrid waved back at them before returning to his class, having long since given up trying to keep Leo out of the forest.
The two blondes waited until they were some distance into the forest before shifting into their Animagus forms. Aslan stretched before giving a shake of his mane and taking off, Jetwing flying above him and screeching loudly with glee. The hawk spotted a herd of unicorns and angled toward them, the lion following beneath him as the earthy smell of horse and a magical undertone that made him think of stars hit his nostrils. He playfully chased the unicorns around, Jet swooping down now and again to join in on the fun.
After a while, the two departed from the unicorns to head back to the familiar inlet, drinking copious amounts of the refreshing water. They returned back to their human forms, shedding their uncomfortably warm robes as they relaxed on the rocky shore. They talked about their career advice sessions, where Draco told an unsurprised Leo that he would be pursuing a Quidditch career.
"Might want to talk to my dad about that," Leo advised. "He played Quidditch for England, might be able to convince a few scouts to take a look at you."
Draco looked thoughtful at the suggestion and nodded, resolved to question the man when next they saw him. Leo then told him about his own session with McGonagall, wherein Draco didn't look the least bit surprised to find out that the lion Animagus would be pursuing a career as a professional duellist and as a Magizoologist. Draco advised him to get in touch with a man named Newt Scamander, the most famous Magizoologist of all time and author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. Leo looked intrigued by the suggestion and decided to send a letter with Apollo when they returned to the castle.
During their discussion, Leo noticed that Draco was repeatedly checking his watch. At first, Leo thought he was checking to see when classes would end and dinner would begin. However, when the sun began to lower and the sky alighted into resplendent colours of orange and pink – indicating dinner was halfway through – Leo had to revise that assumption. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Draco check his watch again.
"All right, what's going on?" he finally asked. "It was too easy getting you out here and you haven't stopped checking your watch since we've been here. What're you hiding?"
"I -" Draco paused to check his watch again before nodding and looking at his companion. "The Weasley twins asked me to keep you busy and out of the castle until after dinner. I figure this is close enough."
"Why?" Leo demanded, curiosity and irritation warring within him.
Draco didn't answer, instead reaching over to his robes and taking an envelope out of one of the pockets. He handed the envelope over to Leo, who read his name on the front before opening up the envelope and taking out the letter within. His eyes narrowed as he read:
Leo,
Well, you're probably wondering what the bloody hell is going on and why we've written this letter. Truth is, we figured this was the best way to say goodbye. We wanted to go off with a bang and left a rather nasty present for our dear headmistress that will ensure she'll have a lot of trouble for a while yet.
We know you're probably mad that we didn't invite you to join in on our last prank at Hogwarts, but we decided it was for the best. We know you don't really care about staying at Hogwarts anymore, but we need you to stay. Someone has to carry the torch and hold the title of Chief of Mischief – and who better than you?
Give that toad hell from us!
Your mates in mischief,
Gred and Forge