Picture of clothes for the last chapter now up on my profile. As well as school uniform. :) CHEK IT OUT
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER, I JUST LOVE IT.
The Alliance: Chapter 2: And so it begins.
I sat in between Fred and Taylor as we sat in the great all waiting for the feast to start. I wasn't really listening, I just watched as each first year made their way to the stool and sat down, I thought Gryffindor each time I saw a certain student and sure enough they were sorted into Gryffindor, I also noticed the Sorting Hat look over at me each time it sorted a Gryffindor. The feast soon began and we ate happily, chatting, laughing, munching and avoiding (Fred from Angelina). I was chatting to Fred about Quidditch when Dumbledore spoke, It was then I looked properly at the head table; The Defence against the Dark Art's professor looked like a toad, she was a plump woman, dressed in pink with a pink bow in her hair, she was smiling a sickly sweet smile, I also noticed Professor Grubbly-plank had returned, I wondered where Hagrid was?
"Good Evening, Children" He called. "Now we have two changes in staffing this year" He informed us, I rolled my eyes. That explained the toad. "One will be that Professor Grubbly-Plank will be taking care of magical creatures while Professor Hagrid is on temporary leave. "We also wish to welcome our new defence against the dark arts teacher Professor Dolores Umbridge." Umbridge let out a high pitched little giggle. "I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing the Professor, good Luck. Now as usual our caretaker, Mr Filch, has asked me to remind you-" Umbridge cleared her throat and my eyes went wide, she interrupted Dumbledore, how dare her! I watched as the woman stood up and made her way round the table, Slytherin, I deducted, by the way she acted, Pureblood? Possibly. Going to be trouble? Likely. Going to be pranked? Definitely.
"Thank you, head master, for those kind words of welcome." She said to Dumbledore, who seemed to be in a bit of shock. "And how lovely to see all your bright happy faces smiling up at me. I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends"
"That's Likely" Fred and George said together and I grinned at them, all three of us making an agreement to get her back for interrupting Dumbledore. Umbridge looked at us for a moment before continuing.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young Witches and Wizards to be of vital importance. Although each headmaster has brought something new to this historic school" She looked over at Dumbledore and nodded, Dumbledore copied the action. "Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what can be preserved. Perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that out to be…" She paused for a moment. "Prohibited" She whispered but we all heard her. She giggled and then made her way back to her seat. Dumbledore started clapping then we all joined in.
"Thank you, Professor Umbridge that really was most illuminating" Dumbledore praised.
"Illuminating?" Taylor asked, I sighed after deducting when Umbridge's little speech meant.
"The Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts" I said, I also heard Hermione Granger, a smart fifth year say the same thing. From here on out this year was going to get a lot more difficult.
It was later that night and Taylor and I were standing with Fred and George by the couch in the common room, their little sister Ginny came over and spoke to us as well, everyone was in there talking and chatting, it went silent when Harry Potter came down the stairs. I felt sorry for the fifteen year old, hardly anyone believed him that Voldemort had returned, and no I wasn't scared to say his name, I was one of the people that did believe him and Dumbledore.
"Dean, Seamus, good holiday?" He asked trying to break the silence.
"All right" Dean said, "Better than Seamus', anyway" Seamus slammed the Daily Prophet down on the table he was sitting at and stood up. And boy he did not looked pleased.
"Me mum didn't want me to come back this year." He said.
"Why not?" Harry asked.
"Let me see. Uh, because of you. The Daily Prophet's been saying a lot of things about Harry and Dumbledore as well."
"What? And your mum believes them?" Harry demanded.
"Well, nobody was there the night Cedric died" Seamus said.
"Well then I guess you should read the Prophet, then, like your stupid mother, it'll tell you everything you need to know" Harry snapped.
"Don't you dare, talk about my mother like that" Seamus shouted.
"I'll have a go at anyone who calls me a liar" Harry said strongly.
"What's going on?" Came the voice of Ron Weasley as he came through the portrait hole.
"He's mad, is what's going on" Seamus said pointing at Harry as Ron moved past him. "Do you believe the rubbish he's come out with about you-know-who?" Seamus asked.
"Yeah. I do" Ron asked. "Has anyone else got a problem with Harry?" Ron asked. No one spoke as Ron looked around at us all. Harry turned and went up the boy's stair case before Ron followed him. Everyone was silent; I stood up and walked to the centre of the room.
"Everyone go back to whatever it was you were doing and leave the poor boy alone" I called, No one did anything they just looked at me. "NOW" I snapped and everyone did. I walked back over to my friends and sat down in between the two twins with a sigh.
"You"
"Believe"
"Him?" Fred and George asked, I looked at them and nodded.
"Don't you?" I asked,
"Of course we do" Came the reply.
"That was so unlike you" Taylor said, I smiled at her.
"I think it's time for a change" I said.
"Bexs you sure?" She asked.
"But of course, I think these twins have made an impression on me" I said nudging the twins with one of my elbows each.
"Good to know" Fred said smiling at me, I don't know why but I found myself getting lost in his eyes and smiling back.
It was the next day and Professor McGonagall had given us our timetables that morning at breakfast, at that moment I was sitting next to Taylor in Defence against the Dark arts laughing at a joke Fred and George had just told. Then there was a little 'hem, hem' and we all turned round to see Umbridge standing by the door.
Umbridge opened class by announcing to the seventh years that Defence against the Dark Arts was going to be strictly theory during her reign as professor.
She didn't get very far into her "little" speech before she was interrupted.
"What do you mean we won't be learning any spells?" Fred spoke up, outraged.
"Excuse me, Mr…" Umbridge paused to look down at what I assumed to be a class list, "Mr Weasley…you will be learning spells in my class, just as they should be learned—from your text. And I do not permit speaking out in class."
She tutted at him and I glared at her as she straightened her back, as if to be authoritative. It was a role that she was not going to be able to manage easily, that's for certain.
"Hem, hem. You are correct, however. This class will involve theory, but your wands shall not be necessary to complete this term," she said in her silly little high voice.
"How is that any bloody help at all?" I questioned angrily, many people gasped, no one had ever heard me speak like this; well no one had hardly heard me speak. "We'll never know how to use any of the spells unless we practise them! You can't honestly expect us to learn—"
She smiled grimly at me. "There is no reason for you to need to use any spells learned in my class," she stated simply.
"I can think of a good reason," I cut in.
"Yeah, how 'bout…I don't know, um…to fight Dark Magic?" Fred said sarcastically. "That's why it's called Defence against the Dark Arts, isn't it?" me and Fred looked at each other and nodded.
Umbridge was beginning to look flustered and angry.
"Mr Weasley," she said sternly, "who on earth are you expecting to defend yourself against?"
"I can think of a few possibilities," Taylor spoke, she wasn't one to leave me by myself, and Umbridge snapped her eyes toward her instead. Cleary, I wasn't the only one who didn't like this woman.
"Yeah," Fred jumped back in, "with You-Know-Who out and about again, there's bound to be plenty of chances for us to use our defence skills."
She opened her mouth to say something, her face steaming with anger, when George jumped in.
"Unless of course you'd rather see us all get blown to smithereens. In that case your method will probably work just fine."
"That is ENOUGH!" she screeched. "There will be no more speaking out of turn!"
We all put our hands in the air and starting talking.
"How can you possibly expect us to learn—?"
"What's the use—?"
"—how thick—?"
"Hem, hem!" she squealed. "The next person to speak without being addressed will receive detention."
We exchanged disbelieving looks and settled for glaring up at Umbridge in disgust and loathing.
She put on an obviously forced, sickly-sweet look and smiled round at all of us.
"I must say, I did not expect such foolishness from a class as adult as you, but it seems the air must be cleared. I will say this once and once only…" It was then and there I realised that she was going to drive me crazy. "Now, as everyone is well aware, there have been rumours about the return of a certain dark wizard."
She had everyone's attention, and Lee, Katie, Fred, George and I glared at her in suspicion.
"I want to assure all of you that these rumours are just that—rumours—"
"Just rumours?" Fred and I roared together.
"What about Cedric Diggory?" I asked. "How did he die then?"
"Not another word!" she screeched. I tried to ignore the eyes on me from all angles of the room.
"Mr Weasley, Miss Gryff…detention!" I sighed and decided to shut up, it was going to be a long enough year without me getting so many detentions I couldn't do my work. "My office eight o'clock tonight" I rolled my eyes. Brilliant Becky! Great time to grow a back bone.
Me and Fred went to our detention and knocked on the door.
"Ahh, Miss Gryff and Mr Weasley, you two are going to be doing some lines" she said. We nodded and sat down at the two small tables she had ready for us.
"What would you like us to write?" I asked, going to get my quill and ink out of my bag, Fred doing the same.
"No, no, you'll be using very special quills of mine" she said handing us each a quill; I recognised it immediately, blood quills. This was torture. "I want you to write 'I must not talk back'" she ordered us.
"How many times?" Fred asked.
"However many it takes for the message to sink in" She replied, we both started writing, and first my hand started tingling then it started to get painful, then I felt searing pain. I kept writing. I was pretty sure I had tears streaming down my face, because my vision had gone blurry.
"Let me see" she asked after, what felt to me, hours. We both let her see our hands. She prodded the writing and I hissed in pain. She looked at me before dropping my hand.
"That's enough you've got the message" she said, "You may go" I nodded, grabbed my bag and hightailed it out of there. I got to by the fat Lady before I slid down the wall. I looked at my hand, I pulled my wand out of my pocket, Willow, dragon heart string, 12 3/4", I waved it and my hand was bandaged, I put my head back sighing and shutting my eyes. I stayed still for a moment before I heard someone sit down next to me; I smelt a familiar smell of the quidditch pitch and soot. I opened my eyes to see Fred; well I thought it was Fred, sitting next to me.
"You okay?" he asked, I nodded.
"You?" I asked in a croaky voice. He nodded as well.
"I'm good" he said, it was getting cold sitting on the floor so I moved closer to him, he looked down at me and smiled putting his arm round me. "We're not going to let her beat us are we?" he asked, I looked at him.
"What do you think?" I asked, he laughed. I laughed too.
Filch, is coming your way, move hurry I heard Hogwarts call to me. I stopped laughing and stood up. Fred looked at me in surprise.
"What?" He asked.
"Filch is coming" I hissed in a low voice, Fred's eyes widened.
"Get in the portrait hole" He said, We both looked at the portrait hole and both groaned, in annoyance. The fat lady wasn't there. We looked at each other and thought the same thing. We were done for.