Beta: None (though it was sent)
Original release date: 11/27/2019
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other canon universe, in addition to any references to things in the real world that currently exist. AU.
Note: I (in the fledging development of this chapter) plan on making this a bit more…exciting than the previous two chapters. Hopefully this will be a lengthy and exciting chapter (because I'll admit, I LOVE Ark Survival Evolved but raising argentavis is fun (also reapers, roll rats, thylas, etc), especially the colors and the stats and this needs to be a fun and exciting series, not me droning on and on.
Chapter Seventy Two – Practically Useless
"Sorry Harry, I've gotta go to the prefect carriage, at least for part of the trip" offers Ron apologetically before taking his baggage with him and heading down the hallway towards the front of the train.
Taking a seat in a compartment of the Hogwarts Express, Harry pulls out his Omni Play and props it up against some books before Daphne remarks, "Why not have a built-in stand or a case instead of using books or other objects?"
Pausing, Harry answers, "That is a great idea. Design it and pitch it to Remus."
"I will, and you'll be jealous" smirks Daphne.
"Anyways, what would you like to watch?" asks Harry tapping a few times on the Omni Play screen.
"Put your headphones on, close your eyes, and I'll choose and we can both watch" instructs Daphne.
"How does listening it to the same time work?" asks Hermione curiously.
"When two or more headsets are connected, the device simply duplicates audio sends it to both receivers" answers Harry nonchalantly, eyes closed.
Fumbling a bit with his headphones with his eyes closed, Harry manages to finally put them on and awaits for the sound to start.
Feeling a shoulder push up gently against his, Harry pauses before opening his eyes to see and hear the opening visuals of the movie. Wrapping his arm around Daphne's shoulders, Harry smiles as they settle in to watch the movie.
/*a few hours later, after the trolley lady has passed by*/
"How goes your greenhouse, Neville?" asks Daphne curiously, unwrapping a chocolate frog.
"Great, thanks. I got some Mimbulus mimbletonia and have been nurturing it with the help of Hermione" giving Hermione a wink and a nudge.
"What does it do, the, erm, Mimubulo mimble?" asks Daphne hesitantly.
"It's more of a defensive plant, Mimbulus mimbletonia, as it ejects a dark-green and rancid manure smelling liquid called 'Stink-Sap'"(**) answers Neville.
Turning to face the now open compartment door, the occupants notice Ron entering and grabbing a handful of chocolate frogs from Harry's pile of food.
"Excuse you?" remarks Daphne as Ron reaches over her.
"Oh, thanks" responds Ron absentmindedly as he sits on the other side of Daphne, popping a chocolate frog into his mouth.
"So Parvati Patil is the other fifth year prefect" Ron injects into the compartment conversation.
"Sounds good?"
"Maybe she'll be the anchor of the two of you" remarks Neville snickers.
Cocking his head to the side, Ron adopts a confused look on his face before asking, "What's that mean?"
"That you don't always have the most rational thought process and she can greatly assist you when doling out infractions if it comes to it" answers Hermione.
As a frown grows on his face, Ron remarks, "Oh, prefects can't take points from other prefects, something about abuse running amok before."
"Who else is prefect?" asks Daphne curiously.
"Draco Malfoy and some girl, um, Hannah and Ernie from Ravenclaw, and Parvati's sister, and some guy, Goldstein?" answers Ron hesitantly.
"Ron, are you interested in a game of Gobstones perchance?" asks Neville turning to Ron.
"It will be an interesting year to say the least" remarks Harry absentmindedly.
Giving him a questioning look, Daphne gently shakes her head before returning to watching the match between Ron and Neville. As the hours count by, and dusk begins to fall, Ron stands up abruptly, "Gotta go tell people to get dressed, sorry" before grabbing his robes and hurrying out.
Looking out the glass panels at Ron's receding back, Hermione remarks, "I hope he gets a bit more organized, especially regarding the position he is in."
/*later at the dinner*/
"I'd like to welcome Dolores Umbridge as professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts this year" states Dumbledore before "Hem hem. Just a few moments to speak to the students, Headmaster" comes from the neon pink clad and toad-like professor arriving at the podium.
Taken slightly back at the audacity of Umbridge interrupting his traditional welcoming feast speech, Dumbledore quickly recovers and steps back gracefully, "Certainly Dolores."
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" (*)
Pausing as the students attempt to stifle their laughter, Umbridge continues in a much more serious voice, "The Ministry of Magic considers the magical education of the students to be paramount, lest the knowledge being passed on is lost to the ages. However, progress simply to progress without clear benefit to society MUST be discouraged and shuttered if in action" looking in the direction of Harry for several seconds before continuing, "while stagnation of knowledge is a threat to society, tinkering with traditions that need no tinkering is also quite an issue."
Pausing slightly, Umbridge smiles sickenly sweet before returning to her place at the staff table.
Clearing his throat, Dumbledore continues, "In light of recent information, Hogwarts has undergone a…security review. Most students will not notice any significant changes, but some enterprising individuals might find themselves in the limelight faster than expected", looking down at the Gryffindor table.
Snorting quietly, Harry smirks and continues to pay attention to Dumbledore before food appears on the serving platters on the tables. "I wonder what the headmaster meant about some people finding 'themselves in the limelight faster than expected'" remarks a girl behind Harry.
'This might require some investigation' Harry thinks to himself, adding some food to his plate. Ingesting a few forkfuls of food, Harry turns to Daphne who is staring intently at him. "Yes?" asks Harry clearing his throat.
"You know what the headmaster said was aimed at you, correct?" states Daphne firmly.
Shrugging his shoulders, Harry replies, "And so?"
"I'm just reinforcing the warning" answers Daphne before beginning to dig into her meal.
As the dinner ends, students stand up from their table and Harry quickly slips into the crowd of students heading towards the Entrance Hall. Using the memorized shortcuts, Harry quickly finds himself in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady who asks in a singsong voice, "What is the password?"
Pausing to quickly sift through his conversations, Harry is interrupted by the Fat Lady asking in a more serious voice, "Mr. Potter, what is the password?"
"I don't know, but thank you for letting me know that I don't know" answers Harry before pressing a thumb to his wristband and disappearing from view.
Smirking at his plan to bypass the portrait hole for not knowing the password, Harry's smirk is quickly wiped off his face as he looks around his bedroom in Zenith. Muttering darkly, Harry rummages through his robe pockets before withdrawing his Omni Play. Swiping through screen after screen, and staring at the map of possible Omni Connect units he could transmit to, Harry sighs. "I can either set my default location to Daphne's and arrive there, but risk getting into serious trouble with prefects, Professor McGonagall, and the likes, or I can try to sneak into the castle using the hidden pathways" remarks Harry as an aside.
Staring down at his tablet for several seconds longer, Harry puts it away in a robe pocket, puts his hood up.
/*back in the castle*/
Looking over at Harry's bed with his trunk with no sign of him, Neville asks, "Has anyone seen Harry since the feast?" Hearing no response, Neville looks around at Dean and Seamus who just look away, not making eye contact.
Sighing, Neville returns to unpacking his trunk quietly. Several minutes later the dormitory door opens with a bang with Harry being frog marched into the room with a furious looking Professor McGonagall behind him.
"Mr. Potter, I am very disappointed in you. Out after curfew, prowling the halls as if you own them. Just because your family installed the security system doesn't mean you have free reign to do as you please" states Professor McGonagall in a disappointing tone.
"Understood professor" answers Harry dutifully.
"There won't be any point deduction at this time, but I won't be as lenient next time, am I clear Mr. Potter?" says Professor McGonagall reproachfully.
"Yes Professor. I won't be caught again."
Narrowing her eyes at the response, Professor McGonagall quickly makes eye contact with the rest of the room's occupants before exiting the room, door slamming behind her. As the seconds tick by turning into a few minutes, Neville breaks the silence in the room, "So Harry, what happened?"
Taking a seat on his bed, Harry pauses before answering in a somewhat flat tone, "I got to the portrait hole, didn't know the password, used my PRT to arrive in the dormitory, wound up at my bedroom, discovered that I hadn't set up my Omni Connect here yet to transport myself to, snuck into the castle and got caught by Professor McGonagall. The rest is obviously history."
"I see" remarks Neville.
Looking around the room, Harry asks, "Where is Ron? I figured he'd be back by now."
"On patrol around the castle" answers Seamus quietly before pulling the curtains around his bed.
Turning to Neville and receiving a head nod, Harry quickly unpacks and gets into bed, pulling the curtains around him. Flipping through his Omni Play and searching the map for Ron and not finding him, Harry's brows furrow. "Nothing about the security system and how I got caught. I mean, I'm not seeing any professors or Ron on the map, but I do see the other prefects. I'll figure it out later."
/*the next morning at breakfast*/
Taking a bite of the sausage on his plate, Harry catches movement in his peripheral vision and turns as Professor McGonagall arrives beside him, holding out a schedule, "Your schedule, Mr. Potter."
"Thank you professor" says Harry taking the schedule and looking down at it.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts…this should be interesting" remarks Harry sarcastically under his breath.
/*class time*/
"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I am Dolores Umbridge, or to students, I am Professor Umbridge. This year is Ordinary Wizarding Levels, or OWLs" states Professor Umbridge matter of factly as a piece of levitating chalk writes out the acronym on the blackboard.
"After reviewing the hodge-podge of teachers you've had the past several years, the ministry finds that the education that has been provided to you all in the field of Defense Against the Dark Arts has been at best a disaster, and worst, a catastrophe. So, we will be covering defensive theory from A to Z, so please pull out your books and take three feet of notes on the first chapter, and duplicate them as you will retain a copy but also turn in a copy to me in two days time."
"Ma'am, why do we need to have a duplicate set of notes for ourselves if we are turning in a copy? Would it not be better to have one set of notes for you, but a shorter and more memorable version for ourselves to utilize whilst studying for OWLs for more efficient study?" asks Hermione, handing jumping into the air.
"Miss Granger, is it not? Writing out one set of notes is good for studying, but duplication is more useful for retention of material than just a single time" answers Umbridge with a sickly sweet smile on her face.
Lowering her hand slowly, Hermione nods and accepts the answer before getting to the book and reading. A few minutes later, Professor Umbridge comes alongside Harry's desk and ask quietly, "Mr. Potter, why are you not taking notes immediately?"
"Professor, with all due respect, your statement regarding the duplication of notes made me stop and realize that I should simply read the chapter here, then reread later and take notes then because if making two sets of notes helps with retention, then why wouldn't reading the chapter a second time also improve retention?" answers Harry.
With a smile spreading across her face, Umbridge opens her mouth to speak before Harry interjects, "But also professor, after several pages, the book only covers theory of defense, nothing practical like incantations, wand movement. It's as if the book is only teaching us to answer a test, but not to be able to actually defend oneself from actual situations."
"There isn't any possible situations in which students would need to concern themselves with defending from any threats" answers Professor Umbridge smile sliding off of her face.
Standing up from his desk, Harry asks more loudly, "Professor, are informing us that there are zero perceivable threats to us and society that a practical education of defense is not needed?"
"Exactly!"
"Professor, are you aware that Voldemort and his gang of Death Eaters has come back into power and are you saying that they are nothing but a figment of my imagination?" accuses Harry calmly.
"Mr. Potter, Voldemort has been dead for nigh on 14 years—"
"'Dead' when he cast the Killing Curse and it rebounded off of me and hit him, yes. I am aware of my own history, thank you professor. Yet, please explain to me how I just met him a few months ago and had a fantastic duel, and survived?" rebukes Harry, crossing his arms.
"Mr. Potter, the propaganda that you and your family is spreading—" begins Professor Umbridge before being interrupted.
"Professor, with all due respect, were you there when Voldemort returned? Have you dueled him? Woken up in the middle of the night sweating as you remember the fight for your life? If not, kindly take your opinion elsewhere. Harry has been through enough in life, and does not need the ministry's propaganda that you are attempting to spread, of which you have zero proof to rebuke ours where as the Marauders Emporium has video and audio evidence" states Daphne taking a stand beside Harry.
"ENOUGH! ENOUGH OF THIS! Miss Greengrass, Mr. Potter, detention for a week for you two. Come to my office this evening at seven and bring your three feet of notes ready to be turned in immediately! I WILL NOT have such blatant lies and propaganda being spread against myself and the ministry!" shrieks Umbridge shrilly.
"I should say the same about yourself, with absolutely zero proof, and hired by the ministry instead of Dumbledore directly, having 'Dearest Cornelius' secure this position for you. Remember, for every step you think you are ahead, you are two steps behind" answers Harry firmly before returning to his seat, Daphne doing the same.
"Mr. Potter, come here" dictates Umbridge dangerously, pulling out a quill and parchment.
Steeling himself, Harry stands up and walks to Umbridge and standing stock still as Umbridge continues to write on the parchment. Several long seconds later Umbridge takes the parchment and tightly rolls it before tapping her stubby wand to the parchment, creating a seal.
Looking at Umbridge expectantly, Harry remains quiet as Umbridge hands him the scroll and states firmly, "Mr. Potter, take that scroll directly to Professor McGonagall, and take your things."
"Professor, unlike Professor Binns, I am unable to go through floors and ceilings to get to Professor McGonagall directly. I will have to take a longer route through the hallways to get to her successfully. Unless you are meaning for me to perform magic to magic a more direct pathway to Professor McGonagall?" remarks Harry with a serious look on his face.
With eyes ablaze, Umbridge trills, "HALLWAYS MR. POTTER!"
"Understood, Professor" before walking back to his desk, grabbing his bag and sweeping out of the room. Wordlessly Harry makes his way through the quiet halls, finally reaching the door to Professor McGonagall's office minutes later, knocking on her door.
Opening the door, Professor McGonagall blinks before asking in a suspicious tone, "Potter, what are you doing here?"
"Professor Umbridge sent me here, professor" answers Harry before holding out the sealed scroll.
Tapping her wand to the seal and reading the contents, Professor McGonagall states firmly, "Take a seat and have a biscuit, Potter."(*)
"And if I say no?"
Sighing heavily, Professor McGonagall states, "Potter, knowing you, you are surely aware that Dolores Umbridge is from the Ministry of Magic and to whom she answers to. You would do best to tread lightly around her."
"I am quite aware of her origin, professor. And what if I don't back down from her obvious lack of foresight? Theories are academically great, but when it comes to real world realization, can be utterly useless."
"Potter, are you aware that your shenanigans from years past will no longer be tolerated so lightly, and if Professor Umbridge finds you, she can very well get you expelled from Hogwarts."
"Is this related to the 'security upgrades' that Dumbledore mentioned?" remarks Harry.
"Headmaster, but that is correct Potter."
"Naught but interlopers in a perfectly fine system" remarks Harry darkly.
"Potter, may I remind you that despite your position as the godson of Sirius Black and knowing so much of the technology that is in place in the castle for security that you are NOT granted free reign to roam around the halls at your leisure. You are NOT the headmaster nor a professor" rebukes Professor McGonagall narrowing her eyes at Harry.
Suppressing an eye roll, Harry asks dutifully, "Professor, am I dismissed for the next class then? Since your lecture seems to be over."
"Keep in mind what I've just told you. Mull over it and try to stay under the radar" states Professor McGonagall dismissing Harry with a wave of her hand.
"And Potter. Lose the rebellious teenage attitude or check it at the door when you leave the dormitory in the mornings" calls out Professor McGonagall as Harry leaves her office.
/*later that day after classes*/
Arriving back at the common room after eating a quick dinner, Harry quickly pulls out his DADA book and begins rapidly taking notes, verifying that they are legible. Half an hour later with three feet of parchment of notes and twelve minutes to make a copy and get to Umbridge's office, Harry quickly packs his bag with his things and heads to his dormitory. Taking the three feet of parchment and popping it into a drawer in a unit similar to the Omni Connect, Harry taps a few virtual buttons on the metallic surface and a minute or so later two scrolls of parchment with exact copies of his notes roll out into a shallow drawer that pops out. "Good, notes have been copied" remarks Harry smirking, grabbing the two scrolls and examining them closely.
Arriving at Umbridge's office, Harry knocks twice before entering into Umbridge's office. Looking around the neon pink room with several dozen plates with pictures of kittens moving on them, Harry turns to the smiling Umbridge who motions to one of two desks on opposite sides of the room. Wordlessly Harry takes a seat and withdraws from his bag, and asks politely, "Professor, would you like the copy of my notes now or later?"
"Now will be fine Mr. Potter" answers Umbridge still smiling, toad like arm out ready to receive the scroll.
Placing the scroll into Umbridge's outstretched hand, Harry then asks, "Professor, what is—" before hearing a knocking at the door with Umbridge answering, "Come in".
"Miss Greengrass, do you have a copy of your notes? Mr. Potter, in addition to the scroll that you've already handed me, I would like to see the original notes so I know you actually made a copy and not just hand me the only copy that you have" instructs Umbridge.
"Understood professor" chorus the two, handing over their respective scrolls.
"While I inspect your notes, you two shall be doing lines. You need not your quills, I have some prepared for you" instructs Umbridge handing Daphne and then Harry a quill.
"Professor, there isn't an inkwell" remarks Daphne.
"An inkwell, you need not one. Miss Greengrass, you shall scribe 'I won't tell blatant lies'" states Umbridge, the smile on her face growing ever larger.
"And how many times shall I write it?" asks Daphne.
"Until the message is quite clear to you" states Umbridge.
"And what line shall I write, professor?" inquires Harry.
"Mr. Potter, you shall scribe…'I will not publish propaganda that slanders the Ministry of Magic's name'."
"I assume until the message is clear to me as well for how many times?" intones Harry.
"That is correct Mr. Potter. Please begin" instructs Umbridge before grabbing Harry's scrolls and looking over them intently.
Smirking, Harry begins writing his designated line, the smirk quickly fading as the words he writes form on the back of his hand, a prickling sensation radiating from the words. Peering over the scrolls, Umbridge remarks with concern, "Is there an issue that is causing you to stop writing so quickly, Mr. Potter?"
Looking at the back of his hand, and the words on the parchment, Harry answers, "No Professor, there isn't" before returning to writing the specified line.
A few hours later, Umbridge states, "That should be enough for this evening. Miss Greengrass, Mr. Potter, here are your notes back. I say Mr. Potter, your notes are quite thorough, and you didn't miss a single word between your notes. I do hope that you didn't duplicate them using a spell."
"Thank you professor" before accepting one of his scrolls back, "if you'd like, you can inspect each letter and see that there are variations on how they have been put onto the parchment, showing that I didn't make an identical copy using magic."
Narrowing her eyes, Umbridge answers, "That isn't needed Mr. Potter. Now Miss Greengrass, I did notice that your second copy of the notes was beginning to get sloppy near the end of the parchment. I do expect better next time, even if they are just your notes."
"Yes, professor" answers Daphne shooting Harry a quick look before retrieving her notes from Umbridge.
Arriving back in the common room, Daphne turns to Harry and remarks quietly, "I think those quills, Professor Umbridge had us used are torture devices."
"Getting any kind of proof will be difficult if we want to pursue any kind of significant action" answers Harry quietly.
"I think that we need to expose her and—" begins Daphne before Harry interrupts, "We need to formulate a plan to minimize risk of being caught and maximizes her being caught AND something to be done about her being removed from her position."
"Agreed. Now, how did you do it?" demands Daphne turning her full attention to Harry.
Cocking his head to the side Harry answers "What do you mean?"
"Your notes. You read during class, and didn't take notes, yet your notes were perfectly done and legible. How did you do it?" accuses Daphne, eyes narrowing.
"A good magician never reveals his secrets, though luckily for you I am no magician" states Harry before leaning in and whispering into Daphne's ear, "my MageSCP can analyze my handwriting and adapt when copying if enough samples are provided to include the same words, but with different ways of how I write my characters, making it seem like I actually hand wrote them, but didn't. And it can do this in minutes or less."
"So, in a sense you DID copy them using magic, but made it seem like there is enough variation that you hand wrote them. I want in on that" states Daphne firmly.
Shrugging his shoulders, Harry answers, "That's fine, but this remains between you and I for now. It's still in development, so it isn't perfect. But it seems to work fine for now, which is why I used it with Umbridge. I figured she would inspect the notes quite closely to see if we had used magic for copying the notes."
"Fine."
/* Days later, a Friday night*/
"We need a better way of learning defensive spells and practices" remarks Hermione sitting at a table in the common room after dinner
"What are you thinking of then?" remarks Daphne turning her attention to Hermione.
"We need some form of targets for us to perfect wand movements and to actually send spells to get a hang of them. Similar training to Neville and Harry have undergone."
Pausing to think, Daphne replies, "Why not have them instruct us in a controlled environment?"
"But finding an environment where such things can be controlled as to prevent any potential bodily harm would be difficult, in addition we must think of some professor oversight?" interjects Hermione.
"Why would we need professor oversight?" remarks Harry nonchalantly.
Turning in unison to face Harry, Daphne and Hermione chant, "Safety?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Harry replies, " I haven't had any issue before, but I can see the cause for concern."
"But wouldn't we run into potential issues with professor involvement, especially with subject material that supposedly to be taught by another professor in official capacity?" remarks Neville joining the discussion.
"Why not make an unofficial club?" offers Ron looking up from his Divination homework briefly.
Looking around at the others faces, Harry remarks, "I'm down with that. But that means we'd need to vet who joins as to prevent others from leaking to professors what we are doing."
With a gleam in her eyes, Hermione says excitedly, "Leave that to me."
"Ok then. Then we need a secluded but safe area to practice in next. Any ideas?" asks Harry pulling out a piece of parchment and quickly scribbling down notes.
As silence engulfs the group, Neville pipes up, "Is there an area that Marauders Emporium owns that we could use?"
Shaking his head, Harry replies, "All it would take is Amelia catching wind and we'd find ourselves in a lot of trouble. We'll have to find somewhere else."
"I'll can keep a look out when I'm on patrol" offers Ron.
"That would be helpful, Ron. Let's not immediately rush into this and take some time to look over the details with a fine tooth comb" remarks Harry before returning to his Divination homework. Taking a cue, everyone else turns their attention back to their respective studies for the evening.
Author note: (*) denotates a quote from the book (Kindle EBook, Order of the Phoenix, US version). (**) denotates descriptions taken from the book and the wiki (checked in both versions). Thanks to all who have made this a wonderful 6 years reading what I have written! Just looking at my inbox makes me happy, especially the constructive criticism. Hopefully I finish this before the 10th anniversary (because 6 years is long enough honestly, but I can't quit now). Also, before anyone says that I am inconsistent with things like 'Umbridge instead of Professor Umbridge' outside of dialogue, it's planned/me doing it on purpose and not being lazy (though I wouldn't surprise myself if I was lazy on it). I hope to everyone who is celebrating Thanksgiving Day to enjoy it and the time with family. :)
-Teachergirl – I was thinking that Daphne had trusted that Harry wouldn't go to Hogwarts like he said and that he did was a betrayal of her trust. Though I'll admit that the last relationship I was in, was, erm, 3 years ago? Then 4/5 years before that, so when it comes to relationships I do ask friends what would be considered normal. Not everything will be perfect in relationships, so they are bound to encounter issues and overcoming them is something that strengthens their bonds? Regarding Sirius giving Ron something that not even Harry has, I have a plan though it won't appear for another few chapters. Originally it was to appear in this chapter, but I need to make it not feel rushed.