"Merry Christmas!" a voice said as the door of the dormitory shot open.
"Agh, Daphne, what the hell?!" I said groggily, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "It's-" I looked at the clock. "Eleven thirty…"
"Exactly, it's late."
"It's Christmas," I protested.
"That does not mean you get to sleep till noon. What were you doing all night?"
"…studying."
It was technically true. I had been in the Room of Requirement till well after midnight, and I had been really pleased with my progress. In the last two days I had more or less mastered the Impediment Hex, and there was now even a hint of an animal form to my Patronus.
"Anyway, get up already," Daphne ordered. "I'm bored."
"Ah, so you're missing me," I said.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "I just got tired of listening to Astoria harp on and on about how the last week's Quidditch League match was totally rigged. I mean it's been four days since that match!"
"Well, it most likely was rigged," I said, sitting up on my bed. "You see, the Chudley Cannons are totally pathetic, the only way they could have ever beaten Puddlemere United was by bribery and deceit-"
"Ugh, you people really don't know how to take an L, do you?" Daphne groaned. "Anyway, come downstairs, breakfast is almost over."
"Right…" I said, getting out of bed. "Er, d'you mind leaving?"
"Why?"
"I have to change, you see," I said. "Unless you want-"
"NO!" she yelled, blushing furiously as she dashed out the dormitory, slamming the door shut behind her.
Ha, she was adorable.
I came down to the common room, which was empty. There was wrapping paper strewn all over the floor, as well as a pile of unopened presents beneath the Christmas tree. Those were all addressed to me, so I began opening, starting with the one from Mum and Dad (still felt weird to say, but I'm getting used to it) a huge basket of chocolates, sweets and other treats from France. Daphne had gotten me the complete Leonidas Black trilogy (I already had the first book, but that was okay) and Astoria had gotten me a Broomstick Maintenance Kit. There were also a bunch of other stuff, like expensive quills, watches et cetera from relatives.
Pretty great haul, not gonna lie.
I went up to breakfast, where there was only one table again. I sat down opposite Astoria and Daphne
"Merry Christmas," I said happily as I sat down. "Thanks for the gifts, by the way, they were really great."
"I'm glad you like them!" Astoria said. She held up the book she was reading, the Puddlemere United encyclopedia, 1995 edition. "Thanks for this, by the way, I really love it! I only had the 89' edition, and Puddlemere was garbage back then."
"You're very welcome," I said. "D'you like yours, Daphne?"
I had gotten her an orrery, for astronomy. It was an enchanted one of course, and it was kick-ass, complete with the moons of the planets, as well as the Main and Kuiper asteroid belts.
"Well, as far as study… uh, things go, it's wasn't so bad, so yeah I like it, thanks," she said.
"Cheers," I said, and loaded my plate with breakfast.
[…]
January of 1996 started off just as cold and snowy as the previous couple of months. The rest of the students returned a few days after New Year, and most of the evening was spent catching up with each other and asking about holidays. Classes started the next day.
The first day back was actually pretty easy, surprisingly enough. I guess even the teachers weren't in the mood to go all-out right after Christmas.
After classes let out for the day, I was on my way to dinner accompanied by Daphne and Theodore Nott (who I still hadn't figured out how to convince I was on the same side as him) when Pansy jogged up to us.
"Draco," she panted. "Professor Umbridge is looking for you, she wants to talk to you."
I stopped myself from groaning.
"Alright, you guys go ahead," I said to the others. "I'll catch up."
I followed Pansy to Umbridge's painfully pink office, the walls of which were adorned by pictures of cats. Not even the cute ones, just ugly hideous cats.
Umbridge was sitting at her desk, sipping tea.
"Please sit down," she said sweetly, gesturing to the chairs in front of her.
Me and Pansy did as we were told. Umbridge put down her cup and spoke. "As you both are aware, I am the High Inquisitor of this historic school of ours."
Yeah, that gigantic plaque on your desk sorta gave that away.
"And as such, it is my job to police the school. Make sure that discipline is upheld, rules are kept, so on and so forth," Umbridge continued. "However, there is only so much I can do by myself in this vast castle. To aid me in my duties, I have formed an Inquisitorial Squad, and you two shall be the leaders."
"It's an honor, Professor Umbridge!" Pansy said, her voice quivering with delight.
Umbridge beamed at her. "As of this moment, you two are also the only members, but I have prepared a shortlist consisting of several trustworthy students. Additionally, I have prepared a disused classroom on the fourth floor to be the headquarters of the squad.
"The others shall be assembled tomorrow for the first proper briefing, but I thought you two should be given a heads-up. Now, off to dinner, both of you."
[…]
"A what?" Daphne said.
"An Inquisitorial Squad," I repeated, taking a huge bite out of my pie. "A buncha students to basically do her bidding."
"That's very…"
"Umbridge-y?"
"I suppose."
Admittedly I was a bit concerned about this. Meaning that I had to come up with ways to sabotage the Squad. As leader, I had quite a bit of opportunity to do that, but I'd have to make sure it couldn't be traced back to me.
Getting rid of Umbridge was also on my to-do list, now that the DA was a proper thing. But getting rid of her wouldn't be as easy as I initially thought, since I was pretty sure that Umbridge was only using the dark quills on Harry, and no one else. I'd have to figure out something else.
The next day was business as usual, back to insane amounts of work.
We started off with Double Transfiguration, where we began turning animals into inanimate objects, starting with an armadillo into a pillow. It was hard work, but I think I did alright – even if my pillow did have a shell.
Next was Astronomy, which made for a nice change. We had moved onto Uranus now, and you can imagine just how every dude in the class behaved during that.
After lunch was History of Magic, then double DADA. Both were the usual snooze-fests, but Umbridge held me, Pansy and Zabini back after the bell and told us to come to her office after dinner.
There was a strange feeling in my gut throughout dinner, that even the wonderful-as-always food couldn't quite suppress. Anxiety with a hint of curiosity.
After dinner we headed up to her office, where eight or nine other students, all of them Slytherins, were already present.
Umbridge arrived a few moments later and sat down behind her desk. She cleared her throat and said, "I'm sure you are all wondering why I've summoned you here. Well, it's nothing to be afraid of. Quite the contrary, to be exact. You see, you are all students that I have judged to be trustworthy, and supportive of my – and by extension, the Ministry of Magic's – attempts to rectify the falling standards of this great school. As a result, I have selected you all for my Inquisitorial Squad. Any questions?"
Zabini raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Zabini?"
"What exactly is the… er, Inquisitorial Squad?"
"Simply put, it's a select group of students that will aid me in my endeavors to fix this school. Your job is to help uphold the discipline of the school. Punish any wrongdoings and rule-breaking. In return, you'll receive extra credit for your duties."
Several students exchanged glances at that.
"Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Parkinson will be in charge," Umbridge continued. "At the end of each day, you will report to them, and they will report to me. Understood?"
"Yes, Professor Umbridge," everyone chanted.
"Excellent," she said. She opened a drawer and pulled out a box. Inside were purple badges, with a silver 'I' emblazoned on them. One by one she handed them out to each of us and told us to put them on. After that, she led us all out of her office to the classroom on the fourth floor. The door of the classroom now had the same silver 'I' emblazoned on it.
The inside of the room was more like a lounge. There were comfy looking sofas and a fireplace. There were also four hourglasses, one with red sand, one with blue, one with yellow and one with green, on the wall. They represented the house points, just like the ones in the Great Hall. There was also a black board, but nothing was written on it.
"This shall be your headquarters," Umbridge said. "Mr. Filch will supply whatever you may need. Now, for your first duty…"
She pointed her wand at the black board, and words began to appear on it.
'PRIORITY ONE: ILLEGAL DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS GROUP'
Ah poop.
"I have reason to believe that there is a secret, illegal Defense Against the Dark Arts group practicing spells that have been prohibited by the Ministry," Umbridge said. "This sort of rebellious behavior cannot be tolerated. Your first assignment shall be to gather as much information as possible regarding this group's activities, members, and hideout, so we can wipe out the whole thing in one clean strike.
"There are certain students that I suspect are a part of this illegal group," Umbridge said, waving her wand yet again so more words appeared on the board.
'SUSPECTED MEMBERS:
HARRY POTTER
RONALD WEASLEY
HERMIONE GRANGER
NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM
CHO CHANG
DAPHNE GREENGRASS'
Oh shit, this is way worse than I thought.
"You will monitor these students discreetly. Do not mention this investigation to anyone other than me, Mr. Filch or fellow squad members. We cannot risk alerting them, is that understood?"
"Yes, Professor Umbridge!" Pansy said gleefully.
"Very well then," Umbridge said. "You may leave."
That night, I lay in bed for a whole thinking about this whole thing. How did Umbridge know about the DA? Could Marietta Edgecombe have snitched already? No… that's not likely, Umbridge only had suspicions, so it couldn't have been Marietta. Umbridge does have ears all over the school… it's likely she may have noticed something that tipped her off.
Still, I should focus on finding a way to get rid of her. And in the meantime, try to slow down the Squad as much as I could. I was the one reporting to Umbridge, that means I could bend the details. There was also Pansy though. Her being the other leader could be problematic.
And of course, Daphne was on the suspect list as well, and since the whole squad is Slytherin, that meant things were gonna be tough for her, at least until I found a way to get her off the list.
Man, my days just keep getting better and better, don't they?
[…]
(The next day)
"You okay?" Daphne asked during breakfast.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" I said.
"Well, you look like something's bothering you," she said.
Eh, fuck it, I'll tell her. It's best she knows so that she and the others are more careful.
I took a quick glance at the high table, Umbridge wasn't there. Just to be safe though, I spoke in a low voice, "It's about what Umbridge told us – the Inquisitorial Squad, I mean – last night. I'm taking a risk telling you this because she's forbidden us from mentioning this to other students."
"Ooh, top secret? how dangerous," Daphne damn near purred that last bit, which I'll admit was kinda hot.
"Erm… well, she suspects that there's a secret Defense Against the Dark Arts group active in Hogwarts that's practicing spells the Ministry's forbidden, and she's having us investigate it."
Daphne's eyes widened for barely a moment before she put on an impassive face.
"That's absurd," she said.
"Yeah I know, but that's not the end of it," I whispered. "She has a list of students she suspects may be members and she's keeping an eye on them and having us do the same. You're one of them. Potter's on it as well, as well as Granger, Weasley and Longbottom."
She was silent for a moment.
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.
"We're friends," I replied. "I thought you ought to have a heads up. Also, fuck Umbridge."
She smirked at that. "Wow, she really picked you as the leader?"
To be honest I think she only picked me as the leader because of Lucius Malfoy. I'm sure Draco did a fair bit of ass-kissing to Umbridge in the books but I hadn't done that. In fact, I had even sort of argued with her on literally day one of school. Admittedly, nothing after that, but still.
"Y'know, I really like this new side of you, Draco," Daphne said, leaning forward. "You always came off as a bit of a prick before – well, not a bit, quite a lot actually – but I guess you hit your head really hard over the summer or something. Like really, really, really hard."
"Thanks… I think?"
"Draco, can I talk to you?" said Pansy's voice from behind me.
"Sure," I said, and followed Pansy out the hall with a sigh.
Outside, Pansy turned to me and said, "What do you think you were doing?"
"Having breakfast? It's an important part of the day, Pansy. Y'know, breakfast like a king-"
"No, not that, I meant making googly eyes at Greengrass!" she hissed. "She's literally a suspect!"
"In a study group," I said dryly.
"An illegal study group," Pansy said.
"Study groups are not illegal," I retorted
"They're not, but the practices of this particular study group may be! Or at least, out of curriculum… But that's besides the point."
"And what exactly would said point be?"
"We're supposed to be monitoring them!" Pansy said.
"And makes you think I wasn't doing that?"
"What?"
"Umbridge told us to monitor them discreetly, right? Well, the best way to do that would be to act as if nothing's different, wouldn't it?"
"I… suppose so," Pansy said unsurely. "Yeah, I suppose that does make sense."
"Well, there you have it!" I said. "Now can I please go finish my breakfast-" the bell rang. "-oh, never mind."
[…]
That night, at half past nine I headed towards Umbridge's office to fill her in on the day's proceedings. Pansy had patrol duty tonight, but I didn't, so it was only me today.
So, what had happened during the day? Well… pretty much all of the suspected members of the DA had done a whole lot of nothing apart from their normal school routine. There had been some minor rule-breaking by a couple of second years during break, and Peeves had yet again tried to knock over the bust of Paracelsus on top of somebody's head.
In other words, nothing new.
Really the only thing remotely suspicious was the number of points being deducted from the houses. Hufflepuff was down by about fifty. Ravenclaw by about a hundred, and Gryffindor had almost been slashed in half. Slytherin, on the other hand, was more or less the same, at 492 points.
Yikes. Subtlety was not on the menu today.
Honestly, if we had had the ability to award points in addition to removing them, Slytherin would be up to at least 700 by now.
Anyway, I reached the door of Umbridge's office and knocked on it.
"Come in," she said sweetly.
"Good evening, Professor," I said as I stepped into the horrid office.
"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy," she said. "I trust you're here for the daily report?"
"Yes, Professor."
"Would you like some tea?" she asked.
"No thank you."
"Suit yourself," she poured herself a cup and took a sip. "You may begin-"
She paused and shakily put down the cup.
"Professor? Are… are you okay?" I asked.
She nodded, but then immediately clasped a hand to her mouth and dashed out of the office.
"What the fuck…?" I said, genuinely bewildered.
"Ooooh careful now blondie!" a sniggering voice said from overhead. I looked up and saw Peeves floating around the chandelier. "Can't be using bad words when you're a Prefect! A member of the Inquisitorial Squad too, oh the shame! You've brought dishonor on-"
"Did you do this, Peeves?" I cut him off, while moving away from beneath the chandelier just to be safe.
"Well, a certain someone may have given me a certain toffee that may cause a certain bodily function that may be known as regurgitation…" he said mischievously before flying out of the room.
God he was annoying to listen to.
But he had told me what I needed to know. A toffee that caused vomiting could only be the Puking Pastille, which meant that the culprits were Fred and George.
Now throwing up is a pretty unpleasant experience (controversial take, I know) but since it was Umbridge, it was well-deserved. I reckon it'd take even Madam Pomfrey a few minutes to fix it. And honestly? The fact that Fred and George had somehow gotten Peeves to cooperate with them was genuinely fucking amazing. Like holy shit, that was impressive.
Also, good thing I said no to the tea. Phew.
As I waited for Umbridge to return, I noticed a paper on her desk. It was a half-written letter, addressed to none other than the Minister of Magic himself. I began reading it. It wasn't finished yet, but I got the main gist. It was basically a request to the Minister to ban student organizations, study groups, teams, clubs etc. Basically the same stuff as Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four from the books.
Wait… didn't I prevent this from happening? I obliviated Willy Widdershins, didn't I? Or did that not work… no, that couldn't be it. He had been completely clueless after the spell, he couldn't have snitched. And that was over two months ago, why would he wait so long to tell?
But then again, Umbridge had eyes and ears all over the castle, even without the Squad. It's possible she gained some inkling of the DA's potential existence even without someone directly snitching to her. I mean, the DA did have a lot of members, and you couldn't expect all of them to be vigilant all the time. I guess that sort of made sense.
But whatever, back to the letter. I should do something, but what? I couldn't change the letter or throw it away. Umbridge would know it was me since I was the only in the office at the time. I'd get screwed over and she'd simply just write another letter again.
There were the blood quills. They were obviously hidden somewhere in this room, and if someone like a teacher found out about them that could be the end of Umbridge…
Yeah, that could be it. An educational decree would take some time to pass, even if Fudge tries to speedrun the process. This on the other hand, could have Umbridge gone by this time tomorrow. I pulled out the Marauder's map from my pocket and look at it. Umbridge's name had just reached the hospital wing. Meaning she was three floors below me and on the complete other end of the castle. That distance, combined with the treatment process, meant that I had at minimum ten minutes, so I began looking through the drawers of the desk in search of the quills. The first few drawers were clear. The bottom one had a lock on it, so I took out my wand, muttered "Alohomora!" and opened it.
Inside was a black box, which sure enough, contained the blood quills.
So… what do I do now? Smuggle them out? It would get Umbridge kicked out, sure, but I don't think snooping around a Professor's personal possessions and stealing from them would do me many favors.
But then again, that was just an assumption. That might not happen at all. Blood quills were super illegal. The shitshow that would follow their discovery in Umbridge's possession would massively overshadow everything else. And even if I do have to face consequences (again, may or may not happen) the benefits would outweigh the costs. Heck I'd be a fucking hero. Taking the bullet for the school…
As I mused these thoughts, I heard a *POP* sound behind me. I placed the box back, backed away from the desk and saw…
"Dobby?!"
Dobby let out a small shriek upon seeing me, but maintained his posture.
"What're you doing here?" I asked.
"Dobby works at Hogwarts now!" the elf said defiantly.
"No, I know that, but what are you doing here, in this room specifically, at this time?"
"Oh, well, we elves clean the castle at night. We clean the common rooms, the corridors, the classrooms and the offices!" he explained.
Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Didn't know they did offices as well though… that gave me an idea.
While Dobby got busy cleaning up the rest of the office, I edged back towards the desk, and took out a single quill from the box and placed it on top of the desk. Then I put the box back, locked the drawer and left the office.
Basically, my plan was that Dobby would notice the quill while cleaning her desk, recognize that it was a dark object, and report it. Most house elves wouldn't inherently be familiar with dark objects, but I knew for a fact that dobby would know a blood quill if he saw one. He had served my family for most of his life, after all, and during that time, he handled more dark objects in a week than most wizards did in a lifetime.
As for him reporting the quill? In History of Magic, we recently studied the Goblin Rebellions. Specifically in the 1612 rebellion, which was based in Hogsmeade, a cursed ring was found by an elf in the office of a professor who turned out to be pro-goblin. In other words, Hogwarts elves reported any dark objects they may find (they didn't actively look for them, meaning they didn't go rummaging through private possessions, they just reported it if they happened across one).
The quill was in an obvious place, there was no way Dobby could miss it. My only concern was that Umbridge may get back before Dobby got a chance to report it. Back in my dormitory, I chanced a glance at the map. Umbridge had left the hospital wing and was now slowly making her way back to her office, while Dobby was long gone from there.
If luck was even slightly in my favor, I reflected as I fell asleep, Umbridge would soon be gone from Hogwarts.
And that was an encouraging thought.
[…][…][…]
Yes, I am in fact, alive. It's been what, two months since the last chapter? A bit more than that? Wow.
Anyways, I'm free from exams now and have a LOT more time on my hands, so I'll definitely be posting more frequently for a while.
Okay just one main note, since I feel some people might point it out. Yes, last chapter, Dumbledore did say he'd look into the Umbridge matter and yet so far nothing has happened even though a couple of weeks have passed (canonically). There'll be an explanation for all that in the next chapter, so please hold any queries you may have regarding that particular bit.
Other than that, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Signing off for now 3