Chapter 3
Christmas day is upon the muggle and wizarding world alike. Hermione spends the first half of the day with her folks opening presents and enjoying each other's company. The later half of the day is spent with the Weasleys, her second family. Hermione receives a gift from Molly who has always made her feel like a part of her family. This inclusion in the family is only deepens when she opens the gift to find one of Molly's knitted scarves, a purple one with a signature 'H' sewn into one side. Hermione smiles brightly and thanks Molly for the scarf which appears to have a heating charm applied to it.
Hermione and Harry get to talking later in the evening about recent past events which included his vision of Voldemort and Nagini attacking Arthur Weasley at the Ministry. Hermione was very interested to hear about the private lessons Professor Snape had been giving Harry. The lessons were about Occlumency which is a skill wizards and witches can learn to bloke their minds from being invaded by the powers of Legilimency. Hermione had not come across these magic terms and spells in her previous studies, and she thought this was likely because they were locked away in restricted section of the library as Legilimency was a dark kind of magic. Harry had told Hermione that the lessons were not going so well as he found it hard to make is mind go blank a requirement to successfully perform Occlumency. Hermione had resolved that when they returned from their Christmas break that she would attempt to look into Occlumency and Legilimency as Legilimency was a was a skill commonly used by Lord Voldemort and his followers so learning to fight it with Occlumency would be useful for not only Harry but the rest of the trio.
As they return to Hogwarts the trio find that Fudge, the Minister for Magic, is still blaming Sirius for the recent disappearances that the Order knows is related Voldemort. They read the latest news from Fudge in the Daily Prophet that he now seems to think that the latest breakout from Azkaban of 10 known death eaters including Bellatrix Lestrange was orchestrated by Sirius because Bellatrix is his cousin. Hermione scoffs at this and thinks to herself Fudge is out of his mind and he is going to get us all killed if he can't face the truth!
At the mention of Bellatrix Hermione's thoughts seemed to once again drift off towards the older witch… Curiosity and intrigue surrounded her but just and soon as it started Hermione caught it and internally scolded herself. She wasn't sure why the crazed death eater seemed to capture her thoughts and she wasn't sure that she wanted to know either and quickly dismissed her train of thought.
Dumbledore's Army was at another practise in the room of requirement. They had moved on from stunning and were trying some more advanced magic by attempting to cast Patronus charms. After much practise and concentration Hermione was able to cast a full body Patronus and was delighted when a little otter started swimming in the air around her. However, that delight didn't last long as the walls around them started to shake and loud banging could be heard from outside the room.
It all happened so quickly…
Umbridge breaking into. the room…
The Minister visiting and Dumbledore and trying to arrest him…
Umbridge being appointed the new headmistress…
Dumbledore's Army being forced to endure the same punishment as Harry earlier in the year, leaving horrible scars of their written words on their skin…
It was a dark time at Hogwarts with Umbridge as the headmistress, all the fun and joy had been stripped from the halls and classrooms.
Hagrid had asked the trio to meet him at his hunt one afternoon, he was very secretive about what he wanted them to meet him for. He walked them silently through the forbidden forest until Hermione was shocked by what stood before them. Hagrid explained that the giant tied to the tree was his brother Grawp. He had brought the trio to meet him as Hagrid was sure he would be getting the sack any day now with Dumbledore gone, and he asked them to keep his brother company.
Before Hermione could soak up everything Hagrid had told them she found herself in Grawp's grip and being lifted from the ground. As she struggled against the grip, she could hear Ron yelling bellow her at Grawp to put her down and for Hagrid to do something. With a stern voice Hermione ordered Grawp to put her down and he did as she demanded. Once on the ground Ron pulled her back and yelled at Grawp to stay away from her. She shook her head slightly at Ron's overprotective demeaner towards her and realised it was likely the result of his all to well known crush on her. Harry seemed thoroughly amused by the whole situation.
It was now time for the fifth year students to sit their OWLs. Hermione was more than stressed by the prospect of taking her OWLs. She felt incredibly underprepared and was feeling let down by the falling standards of teaching if you could even call it that which had been happening now that Umbridge had taken over. She was ready to pull at her hair in frustration.
A large pendulum of a clock swung side to side at the front of the great hall where they were sitting their OWLs. Similarly, to when the room of requirement was broken loud bangs could be heard outside the hall and the pendulum shook as it swung. As Umbridge stomped down the centre of the hall to investigate what was happening she was stopped in her tracks by the doors flying open and the Weasley twins bursting into the room setting off poppers and fireworks left right and centre. Before long, their papers were flying off the desks and Hermione while slightly shocked by the disruption, was also secretly pleased by their shenanigans as it relieved some of the tension she was feeling.
All the students ran outside cheering in celebration, Hermione looked around for her friends and noticed Harry falling to the ground. When Harry had regained his senses the told Hermione and Ron that he had seen a vision of Sirius being tortured in the seem place he had seen Arthur previously.
Hermione was apprehensive about running off to Sirius's aid, "What if he meant for you to see it Harry, what if it's a trap?"
"So what, I'm just supposed to let him die?" posed Harry. "He's the only family I have left Hermione."
She couldn't argue with him there… "How are we going to get there?" She asked.
"We'll use the floo network in Umbridge's office, it's the only one unguarded." Replied Harry.
They managed to enter Umbridge's office without hassle from anyone along the way but before they could leave for the Department of Mysteries they were caught red handed by Umbridge herself.