Chapter Four: Your Medieval Methods

"Pass the salt?" Ron asked Lizzy, his mouth already full of bacon and sausage. Everyone was sitting together that first morning, eagerly anticipating their schedules for the upcoming year.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Ronald, why must you be so sloppy? Most people apply the condiments before putting the food in their mouths."

"Sry, Hr-my-nee." Ron sarcastically spat and he grabbed the salt shaker from Lizzy. "Thanks."

"No problem." I knew my sister much too well, and oh, how in love with Ron Weasley, she was. Though I also knew he was three years her senior and probably wouldn't end up giving her a chance, I didn't want to be the one to break her heart. Let the twelve-year-old get caught in the throw of young love.

"Welcome back, Miss Hughes."

I swivelled on the bench to see McGonagall hovering over me. "Thanks, Professor."

She handed me my schedule and as she gave Fred and George almost identical pieces of parchment, she asked, "How are you?"

"Professor...?"

"I'm aware you and Mr Diggory were good friends."

"Oh. I'm getting by."

When Fred was sure McGonagall was out of earshot, he put his lips to my ear. "Do you want to start walking to our first class? We've Defence Against the Dark Arts together." He could tell I was heading back to depressing territory and was instantly in the mood to be alone.

"George and Katie, too?"

"George and Katie, too. We can get away from the rest of them."

"...Okay."

Fred nodded and raised his voice again. "Sara and I are going to Umbridge's class; did you two want to come along?"

George and Katie looked up, obviously aware he was addressing them. He answered for the both of them. "Yeah, definitely; let's go."

I was so used to Herbology following breakfast every morning that if everyone else hadn't headed for the grand staircase, I would have gone straight outside to the greenhouses. "So, do you know where exactly we're going?"

"Yeah," Fred responded, taking his time climbing the staircase, thus causing us to fall greatly behind Katie and his brother. "It's actually right next to the classroom we had last year." He double-checked the schedule and pointed it out. "Yeah, see?" He could tell I wasn't in the mood to talk, or put much thought into anything else that wasn't the topic already on my mind. "You okay?"

"I really miss him."

Fred wrapped his arms tightly around me and gave me a peck on the forehead. "Don't worry; you know George and I will always be here for you if you ever want to talk about it."

"Thanks."

"Come on then; let's get to Umbridge's class... Take your mind off him."

We never suspected that going to Defence Against the Dark Arts would only take me out of one mood and put me in another.

"This is your seventh year at Hogwarts; am I correct in making this assumption?" The stumpy, toad-like witch dressed all in pink stood at the front of the classroom. George sat in the single desk to my left and Fred, to my right. No one wanted to answer her question, so she scoffed. "So I can assume everyone here will be completing their N.E.W.T examinations at the end of this year." There was a brief pause before she exhaled sharply and said, "Hm?"

The class took her hint. "Yes, Professor."

"Good. Now, due to the constant replacement of the post I am currently filling, your background on the subject has been terribly uneven and off of the curriculum since Professor Quirrell."

I looked to my left. "Who...?"

"Nutter carrying You-Know-Who attached to the back of his head. Apparently that story never got out to the Ministry..." George whispered, being very cautious as to not attract Umbridge's attention.

"I'll be giving out your new textbooks. There will be no usage of spells in my classroom." There was a low rumble of muttering rippling through the class. "Enough! This is my classroom and you will do as I say. There is no need to use spells to pass your written exams, so there will be no using spells! Understand?" She ignored the protests. "Now turn to page four and study Chapter One."

As the days passed, things ceased to improve. There was virtually no reason for me to even own a wand, and even the teachers had begun to grow frustrated with the way Umbridge was treating her students. On our way to the common room one evening after dinner, Fred, George and I were walking along the seventh floor when we heard two very familiar voices arguing around the corner.

Before George could carelessly wander into the open, I grabbed the collar of his robes and pulled him back into me. "Hey, what...?"

"Shh!" I put a hand over his mouth so we could hear exactly what McGonagall and Umbridge were discussing.

"I do not want you punishing my students, Dolores." McGonagall sounded stern, but the anger with her co-worker was seeping through the more she talked to her. "If you have any issues with one of them, you can refer them to me."

"Are you saying you don't trust me, Minerva?"

"I'm saying I don't agree with you and your medieval methods."

"I don't know what in heaven's name you're talking about..."

"Oh, I think you know perfectly well what I mean, Dolores."

"I tolerate many things, but one of those that I am incapable of tolerating is disloyalty."

"Disloyalty?" McGonagall scoffed, failing to hide a laugh afterward. "I am not disloyal to anyone, especially not the Ministry."

"Things here are far worse than I assumed. I'm going to talk to the Minister and directly apply some new changes around here."

"'New changes', what the hell does that mean?"

"It sounds like she's got it in for us, George."

I'd been silent the rest of the journey to our common room. Once the portrait of the pink lady had swung open, I tagged along behind the twins and started for the girls' dormitory.

"Hey Sara, where are you going?" George asked. Fred had a similar look of confusion on his face.

"It's late; I'm going to relax upstairs with Katie and the girls." I gave Fred a kiss before moving over to George, giving him a big hug. "I'll see you boys in the morning."

I thought that maybe with some sleep I would feel better about what we'd previously overheard, but the morning only brought upon me identical fears. I woke up late, planning on lounging around the common room, seeing as how I didn't have class until almost noon. That plan quickly got erased when I noticed I wasn't the only one still in the common room. "Morning, Sara."

"Hey Neville," I greeted him with a yawn. "What's got you sitting around here?"

He was still in his blue, flannel pyjamas. "I'm not feeling too well."

"Did you see Madam Pomfrey?"

"No," he shook his head gingerly. "I'd just like to lie down for a while." There was a pause. "Wait, why are you still here?"

"No class on Tuesday mornings."

"Oh. Have you seen the bulletin board yet?"

"What, no?"

Neville led me over to the board on wall opposite the chair he was sitting and pointed out a flyer that was obviously the most recent – it was not torn and seemed to be overlapping everything else. It was on pink parchment.

Proclamation

Educational Decree No. 23

Dolores Jane Umbridge has been appointed to the post of Hogwarts High Inquisitor.

"What does that mean?"

"She makes rules... does whatever she pleases." Neville sucked in his breath. "I think it makes her almost as powerful as Dumbledore in this school."