I received no letters from the children after they entered Grimmauld Place. Any letter I tried to send Harry got no reply. Same for any of the Weasleys and Hermione. Also with Sirius and even occasionally with Remus. The samples he sent me were getting fewer, as well as his letters. It was frustrating, but I honestly had enough left over that I should be good either way. This was probably somewhere near what Harry had felt, being left out of the loop. Then again, I could leave the Castle.

I had passed, and gotten my license. I was allowed to 'poof' places now. I often went out of the castle, wandering around to find places that I had been with the Doctor. I went to shops, bought things that I needed for potions, bought clothes, and books as well. I became a published author during this time, sending in some of the things I used for class, history books and muggle studies books put into terms that wizards could easily understand. I also did a rather fun book, a 'magic to muggle' dictionary. It explained some things that you shouldn't ask muggles for, and what not to say, as well as how to phrase what you may need to actually ask. There were also flagged bits of when to get the hell out of there because you've been acting a bit too odd and they've noticed. The publisher told me that the cover was enchanted to appear as a guidebook for wherever they were should a muggle catch them consulting it.

While that's all well and good I still hadn't made much more progress on finding the Horcruxes. I couldn't very well leave the grounds and go somewhere that I couldn't explain for several hours. Also, finding the ring on my own would be a bit of a doozy, especially if there were still death eaters hanging out at Riddle Manor, which was pretty close to the Gaunt shack if the books were to be believed.

The start of the school year once again snuck up on me, though luckily Harry wasn't temporarily expelled like in the books. Kind of hard to send dementors after him when he's holed up somewhere under the Fidelius charm or being followed around by his ex-auror of a godfather. I hadn't spoken to any of those who were locked up in Grimauld for months. The entire summer. Sirius had ignored my letters, and I was furious with him for that, but I could understand why. The fidelius charm likely gave owls fits as it was. My usual seat between Minerva and Sirius didn't exist anymore, so I ended up sitting down between Snape and the empty Defense teachers chair. The students had yet to appear and the teachers were quietly talking amongst themselves until Umbridge arrived.

That woman still managed to get a position at Hogwarts. Fudge was still denying the return of Voldemort, hushing up the evidence of the portkey and the dark magic inflicted damage on Harry. He would be proved wrong once Harry's interview with the Quibbler happened, so I wasn't particularly worried about that bit yet. Voldemort would likely be more complacent if the magical world believed him to still be dead. He'd want to keep up the ruse, to keep it all quiet until he was ready to really make waves. But I wasn't worried about that yet. What I was worried about was the devil in pink that was going to be running amok in my school.

She gave, from what I could tell, the exact same speech as in the book. It's not like I had it memorized, but the gist of it was the same. From the corner of my eye I saw the students at the Gryffindor table being filled in by Hermione. I'd also caught them sending glances my way once or twice, but I ignored it. If they needed help they knew where to find me. As it was I was too busy glaring a hole into the back of Umbridge's head.

I ate silently, leaving as soon as I could, not wanting to get sucked into conversation with the woman. I spent the next while preparing my classroom, making sure I had lesson plans set aside that she would approve of just in case she ever got it into her head to observe one of my classes. It felt a bit like hiding from her, cowering. But I was playing it smart, that's the only way I could think of it. I wouldn't be any use outside of the castle.

Harry's year had my class late on Monday's and early on Fridays. On Monday it was directly after Defense Against the Dark Arts, and on Friday it was right before. This meant that on Monday I got a lot of bitch faces staring at me before I could even begin my 'it's your OWL year' tirade.

I pouted, crossing my arms.

"Alright, who spit in your porridge?"
Surprisingly, it was Ron who spoke. "Umbridge, that's who."

I raised an eyebrow and Seamus piped up,

"She won't even let us use our wands. In a defense class!"

The Slytherin across the aisle from him, a girl named Alice, nodded her head,

"Told us to read from a book! Just...just bookwork!"

I raised my eyes to the heavens, sighing.

"I suppose it's going to be more of a self study year for you, again, isn't it?"
I let that sink in before adding,

"If there's ever a real problem with her just come find me. Or if you need help with the subject."

I twirled my wand between my fingers,

"Now! On with the show!"

I set the wand down on my desk, waving for the chalk to start doing its thing.

"You guys have the misfortune of being the first group at Hogwarts since Dumbledore to take this class on OWL level. Congrats."

Hermione's expression just screamed that she would be setting impossible records. All power to her.

"Now, I have a rather loose syllabus on what the OWL examination is expecting of you, and I say loose because they gave me time periods rather than exact points or key events, the pugknuts."

Ron mouthed the last word to himself, grinning slightly. I smothered my own, turning to pick up the book from my desk.

"You got the book? Goooood, turn to page 415."

They did so, looking confused as to why they would be starting at the back of the book.

"This is a timeline of all that the book covers. Now, this book doesn't have all of the material needed because the committee that made the exam this year, again, pugknuts. The library, like it does every three years, got an influx of new material because of a grant fund started several hundred years ago by a relative of a fourth year Hufflepuff you may know. Among all of this new material are several copies of a few books I requested be added and these are going to be essential in completing your homework in an acceptable manner. You may want to write down the titles now."

Hermione looked ready to faint. The last time the library got an influx of new books, or replaced well used ones, she had been a second year and likely wouldn't have been informed, or perhaps had been too busy with the whole Chamber of Secrets/getting petrified thing. I could sense where she would be going the moment this class let out. I empathized with her, I really did. I had been nosing around the new stuff in the restricted section already, perks of being a teacher.

I outlined the stuff we were going to be going over, the dates I was giving tests, and a guestimated timeline of when we should be studying which time period. When it came time to leave I gave them my best sorrowful expression.

"I regret to inform you that the homework load this year from me will increase. Dramatically. I apologize for that, but it's the only way I can think of to help prepare you for these exams. I'll need half a foot of parchment on early muggle philosophers. It's a rather vague assignment, take advantage of that. If you need help, there are those books I mentioned at the beginning of class and of course, you know where to find me."
I was cleaning off my desk when I finally noticed that a few students had stayed behind. Namely, a certain three. I flopped down in my chair, raising an eyebrow at Harry,

"Can I help you?"
He grimaced, fiddling with the edges of his sleeves for a second.

"I'm sorry we didn't write you over the summer, we weren't allowed to."

I shrugged,

"I can understand why you didn't, Sirius mentioned at Christmas that the house was protected. Those particular protections befuddle owls and make it difficult to send and receive post."

He didn't stop his fiddling.

"Yeah, well, I was just wondering...was there anything I missed? That you had planned?"
Ah. I could see in his stance and expression that he expected to be turned away. He must assume that since I had been ignored all summer I would be writing him out of my plans. Fat chance. If I shared then he would share. No way was I operating without knowing where this kid was. Miscommunication as a plot device was practically a crime in my mind.

I waved my hand, shutting the door and pulling up advanced wards. That done I pulled a runestone out of my desk, setting it down on the middle of the flat surface and activating it with a touch of my finger. The Star Trek-like lines and words appeared, getting the desired awe from this particular crowd. Hermione looked like she was fit to burst with all of her questions, but managed to hold them back. I walked the three of them through my progress on the cure, telling them what steps were left as well as what I had left to do at the Ministry.

"That project of mine poses a problem at the moment. You see, Umbridge is here. I don't like her, you don't like her, no one likes her. But the Ministry can't be denied. With Umbridge here keeping such a close eye on everything I'm a bit limited."

At the expressions on their faces I continued quickly,

"Not that I'm giving up, I'm just extending the timeline and getting sneakier."

They left a little bit later after swearing they wouldn't tell what they'd learned. I saw them later that day at dinner, plotting amongst themselves. I could only imagine what they had up their sleeves. Hopefully it would be the formation of Dumbledore's Army, though I never was sure how early in the year that had happened. Once they started using the room of requirement I would have to lay off. That was a bit irritating but it was more important that they form deep bonds with the other students and for all of them to learn to defend themselves. Those were important skills to learn, even if I did plan on never letting the war get far enough to touch them.

ALL MY STORIES ON HIATUS UNTIL NOVEMBER 2017. I'm sorry, really and truly, but it's unavoidable. Guaranteed chapters for all stories at the end of November.

~TimeLordOfPie