There weren't many people in Ancient Runes, at least not enough that Teddie had to worry about them talking about her. Hermione sat at a table in front of Theo and Teddie, by herself, and looked around at them when Professor Babbling told everyone to make a group of three or more in order to complete today's task.
Teddie shuffled to the left, making room for Hermione, and the three set to work on finding a Rune that could represent them.
By the end of the lesson, the trio had chosen three different runes, and each agreed to write half a parchment on them before next lesson.
"Time to find out what Umbridge has in store for us," said Theo, leading Teddie and Hermione out of the class at the end of the lesson.
"I'm curious how Harry and Ron did in Divination," said Hermione.
Teddie nodded. "Daphne and Blaise have that class, too," she said. "Do Harry and Ron enjoy it as much as Daphne and Blaise do?"
Hermione shook her head. "I told them they should've dropped it when I did, last year," she said. "But they never listen."
"They're boys, when do they ever listen?" asked Teddie.
"Hey!" Theo exclaimed.
Teddie and Hermione laughed.
Upon reaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom they entered together and them split off, heading towards their respective friends.
Professor Umbridge was already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on her head.
Daphne and Blaise offered small smiles as Theo and Teddie took their seats from behind their desks, and the silencing that filled the room as the rest of the class entered was deafening.
"Well, good afternoon!" Umbridge said once everyone was present and seated.
A few people mumbled a response, which caused Umbridge to shake her head and tutter under her breath.
"That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they all chanted back at her.
"There, now," said Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."
Teddie shared a startled look with Theo at the order of 'wands away'. The command had never come from a Defense teacher in the past, and they were curious what Umbridge expected them to learn without their wands.
"Even Lockhart never told us to put our wands away," Teddie whispered.
Theo shrugged and pocketed his wand.
While the class pulled out ink wells, quills, and parchment from their backpacks, Umbridge opened her own handbag and extracted her wand.
"Clearly the rule of 'no wands' doesn't apply to her," Theo muttered.
Teddie bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing out loud.
With her wand, Umbridge tapped on the blackboard and the words – Defense Against the Dark Arts: A Return to Basic Principles – appeared in thin white letters.
"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face them. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry – approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now being rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."
She rapped the blackboard again, and several more sentences appeared.
For a couple of minutes, the only sound in the room was the scratching of quills on parchment.
Teddie furrowed her brow as she wrote each word carefully, trying her hardest to see what exactly Umbridge intended for them to learn. She expected a theory-based course to be something that Ancient Runes or Potions, where wand-waving was hardly essential, but Defense Against the Dark Arts was a practical lesson.
"Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" Umbridge asked once everyone had finished.
There was a dull murmur.
"I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"
"Yes, Professor Umbridge."
"Good. I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basic for Beginners.' There will ne no need to talk."
While Umbridge settled into her chair, students all over the room started to exchange looks before skimming through their books to the allocated pages. How was reading a book supposed to help them in their O.W.L.s?
As she stared at the page, Teddie jumped as a piece of paper landed in her field of vision. She opened, glancing at Umbridge discreetly, and found half of the class staring at something across the room, she paused and turned to see what had caught their attention, and nudged Theo when she saw Hermione sitting with her hand in the air.
"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" Umbridge asked Hermione.
"Not about the chapter, no," said Hermione.
"Well, we're reading just now," said Umbridge. "If you have any queries, we can deal with them at the end."
"I've got a query about your course aimes,2 said Hermione.
Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. "And your name is -?"
"Hermione Granger."
"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge.
"Well, I don't," said Hermione.
Teddie shared a surprised look with Daphne.
"There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells," Hermione continued.
One-by-one heads turned to the board. Hermione was right, there was nothing there about defensive spells.
"Using defensive spells?" Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"
There was a small murmur as students turned to one another, questioning whether they had heard Umbridge right.
"We're not going to use magic?" Ron asked.
"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr. -?"
"Weasley," said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air.
Umbridge smiled widely and turned her back on him. Teddie watched as Harry and Hermione raised both their hands.
"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?" Umbridge asked.
"Yes. Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?" Hermione asked.
"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" asked Umbridge.
"No, but – "stammered Hermione.
"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way – "
"What use is that?" Harry asked loudly. "If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a – "
"Hand, Mr. Potter!" Professor Umbridge said.
Harry raised his hand and Umbridge ignored him. "Your name is?" she asked, her gaze falling onto the Slytherin side of the room.
"Daphne Greengrass."
Teddie looked to her friend.
"Well, Miss Greengrass?"
"Well, it's like Potter said, isn't it?" Daphne asked. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free – "
"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"
Daphne shook her head.
"I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," said Umbridge, addressing the whole class, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed, you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet dark attacks every other day – "
"No, we haven't," said Hermione.
"It is my understanding that my predecessor not only actually performed them on you – "
"Well, he turned out to be a Death Eater in disguise," said Blaise.
"But we still learned loads," said Dean Thomas.
"Hands!" Umbridge snapped at them both. "Now, it is the view of the ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more sufficient to get your through your examinations, which after all, is what school is all about."
Parvati raised her hand. "Parvati Patil and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense O.W.L.?" she asked. "Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter curses and things?"
"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells."
"So, you're saying that the first time we actually do a physical spell is during the examination?" Daphne asked.
"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory – "
"What good is theory in the real world?" Harry asked.
Umbridge clasped her hands together in front of her and looked down at Harry with a condescending smile. "You aren't in the real world right now, Mr. Potter," she said. "This is a school."
"I'm aware of that," said Harry. "But what about what is waiting for us out there?"
"There is nothing waiting for you out there, dear, who would want to attack children such as yourself?"
A scream echoed around the room, and it took Teddie less than a second to realise that it was hers.
When the spell was lifted, Teddie hunched forward, bracing her arms against the wooden floor and resting her head on them. Her chest ached from breathing so hard and sweat clung to the nape of her neck.
She wasn't sure how long she had been screaming, or how longs he had been locked in the room with Avery. All she did know was that the pain had been never-ending.
"Is she ready?"
"Not even close."
Voldemort circled Teddie as she knelt in the centre of the room. She was hunched over, her arms leaning against the hard wood floor, her hair hiding her face, and her breathing was heavy, like she had run a marathon.
"I remember her tolerance to the torture curse four years ago," said Voldemort. "It wasn't strong then, either. However, my most trusted ally assures me that she is well protected against the Imperial Curse."
Avery nodded quietly; she too remembered the report from Crouch Jr on Teddie's defense lessons."
"There is one other reason that she's not ready," said Avery. "Why she isn't open to me."
"That is?" Voldemort asked.
Avery pointed her wand at Teddie. "Something is blocking me," she said. "She wasn't aware of who she was, even after I had removed the enchantments. The magic surrounding her is strong, my lord. I have an idea on who is responsible, but from what I have gathered during our time together, there could be more than one enchantment. It seems she's been given repeated enhancements to strengthen then charms, over time that could cause a blockage."
"How long before she is ready?" Voldemort asked.
Avery shook her head. "There is no telling, my Lord," she admitted. "She would need constant supervision while undoing the charms and spells. If you wish for her to be at your side, it may do us well to hold off a while longer."
"He wasn't dead!"
Harry's voice cut through Teddie's fog and pulled her out of her memory and back into the Defense classroom. She felt a hand on her wrist and looked to see Theo watching, concern on his face.
Teddie offered him a small smile, swallowed and turned back to Umbridge as she reprimanded Harry.
"As I was saying," Umbridge continued. "You have been informed that a certain Dark Wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."
"It is not a lie!" Harry yelled. "I saw him. I fought him."
"Detention, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge yelled, finally losing her cool. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office."
Teddie watched Harry from the corner of her eye. He had roughly pushed back his chair, his face screwing up in anger.
"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked, his voice shaking.
Professor Umbridge stared at Harry without a trace of her sickly sweet smile. "Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she said coldly.
"It was murder," said Harry. "Voldemort killed him, and you know it."
The class held its breath as they all looked between Umbridge and Harry. No one had ever heard Harry's version of events until that moment.
"Come here, Mr. Potter, dear," said Umbridge. Teddie could tell that she was trying her hardest to not unleash a torrent of anger onto Harry.
Harry kicked his chair aside and strode to the front of the class. Umbridge pulled a roll of pink parchment from her handbag, scribbled on it with her quill, and then handed it to Harry.
"Take this to Professor McGonagall," Umbridge instructed.
Harry snatched the slip and turned away. He met Teddie's gaze as he passed her desk and wrenched open the door. He stopped when he heard Teddie speak, her voice barely a whisper.
"They tortured me," Teddie said. For a few seconds it seemed that no one had heard her, but slowly people started to look in her direction.
Umbridge, too, looked towards Teddie. "What was that dear?" she asked.
Teddie took a deep breath and looked up, meeting Umbridge's gaze. "I said, they tortured me," she repeated. "Voldemort and Avery. They tortured me every day for a week, always for hours, and always to the point where I would pass out from exhaustion because of all the screaming."
The room was silent, everyone seemed to be leaning forward, listening with earnest to what Teddie had to say.
Tears pooled in her eyes, and Teddie had to force them down as she continued. "It is easy for you to say that he is not back. Easy to just sweep it under the rug, forget about it," she took a deep shuddering breath. "But it didn't happen to you. So, you're not just sweeping aside the truth, you're brushing aside victims. People who rely on you for help or protection."
"That's enough," Professor Umbridge said, her voice quiet
Teddie swallowed hard. "You're afraid," she said, still staring at Umbridge. "That is why you and the Ministry want to pretend that he's not back; why you're trying to silence the only people who know the truth, and lull the rest of the world into a false sense of security."
"I said that is enough, Miss Green," said Umbridge. "That story you've concocted may fool those you're trying to convince of your plight, but it won't work on me. You will join Mr. Potter in detention tomorrow night, do you understand me?"
Teddie glared at Umbridge, causing the older woman to lean forward on her desk and smile at the youngster.
"I said, do you understand me?"
"Yes, Professor Umbridge."