Here is a particularly long chapter for you all! I've discovered that outlining the story helps A LOT, haha, and I'm pretty sure everything will start to make more sense from this point onwards.

Saw the sixth Harry Potter movie recently, by the way. I was... disappointed, to say the least. But there were definitely some parts that made watching it worth while. What did you guys think?

Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff. Rowling does though...

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Chapter 11:

I couldn't fall asleep that night, not until the sun was poking up above the horizon. An orange glow blazed where there was otherwise deep blue, and finally my eyelids drooped for the last time. Angelina woke me up a few hours later, already dressed.

"Do I even have time to shower?" I whined, groping blindly for my uniform.

She shook her head. "Maybe you can sneak up here during free period and take a quick one, but as it is, we're late to breakfast."

Taking one moment to glare at my skirt, a piece of clothing I'd never been fond of, I shrugged into the clothes, thankful when Angelina quickly tied my tie for me. I was able to brush my teeth, wash my face, and clumsily brush through my hair before we nearly ran down to breakfast.

"So who are the other two girls in our room?" I asked as we passed the Bloody Baron.

"Louise Trenton and Patricia Gold. They pretty much keep to themselves."

We made it to the Great Hall then, and found the twins waiting for us. George and Angelina kissed before she grabbed some toast and eggs. I smiled at Fred, feeling awkward, as his ears grew slightly red.

"Ah, there you are, Miss Dumbledore," McGonagall said, hurrying over to me with a few rolls of parchment in her arms. She handed me one. "Now, Professor Snape has informed me that you have been studying over the summer, so I would like each of your teachers to sign this with a suggested year—for now you're all in first year level classes. Come to my office at the end of the day, and we'll work out a more permanent schedule then."

She stalked off towards Ron and Harry as they tiredly made their way into the hall before I could respond, and off at the end of the table I noticed Hermione shaking her head at them, a small smile on her lips.

I looked down at my schedule then, shrugging. Not too bad, I guess.

Charms

History of Magic

Herbology

Free Period

Lunch

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Transfiguration

Free Period

Potions

I would have Astronomy that Wednesday night, which was good since I needed more time to study for it.

Fred was looking over my shoulder, and grinned suddenly.

"Ha!" he said triumphantly.

"What?" I said, frowning. Had I missed something?

"We have free period together, right before seventh period."

"Sweet. More time for studying, right?" I added sarcastically.

He made a look before digging into his eggs, and I grabbed a carafe of orange juice, happy to find it was fresh squeezed. The ceiling was bright yellow, and I could almost feel the warm rays on my face. I ate more than my fair share of eggs, bacon, and toast by the time the food disappeared and it was time for classes to begin. I'd brought all of my textbooks in my backpack, so it was considerably heavy as Hermione pointed me in the right direction to Flitwick's classroom.

I took a seat in the middle of the room, too nervous (and tall) to sit in the front, trying to ignore the first years staring at me. Even though I'd been sorted into Gryffindor, I noticed in my schedule that some of my classes were doubled between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Apparently the teachers thought it was more important for me to learn at the proper level than remain with peers from my own house. I agreed. Not that I disliked my own house, but I didn't expect to form much of a bond with any eleven year olds, Gryffindor or not.

Flitwick walked in as I was reviewing the fifty most well known charms in my head, as well as the theory behind them. I had to stifle a gasp when I saw him. He stood on a large pile of books, wand nearly the length of his arm as a handlebar mustache spread across his face. When he spoke, his voice was kind but strict, and I could tell that whatever year I was placed in, I would be working hard.

After calling my name out from the roster, Flitwick seemed to ignore me the entire class—he gave us a lecture on charms and not to be fooled by the lightness of the name. "We're dealing with serious magic," he said.

Then he made a tea cup dance across the table to end the class.

I remained behind when he dismissed us, and he gave me a wide smile. "Miss Dumbledore, it is a pleasure to meet you," he said.

I grinned. "It's nice to meet you too, Professor."

"Your grandfather asked us all to test you, and though I'm sorry to make an already trying day that much more difficult, I must ask you what you've learned over the summer. Don't feel pressured though, everyone learns at their own pace."

I nodded. "Um," I started. "What should I do?"

"Let's start with a basic levitation charm, shall we?"

Flitwick seemed happy with what I could do, but he clapped his hands after I'd explained a few theories he quizzed me on.

"Give this to Professor McGonagall," he said, tapping a roll of parchment with a seal on it. "I'll supply you with the proper textbook tomorrow."

I thanked him and left, blushing with happiness as I realized I might have just passed my first test at Hogwarts. Hermione passed me in the halls on my way to History of magic (which I found all by myself) and asked how Charms went.

"Um, good, I think. Definitely interesting though."

If only History of Magic had gone that well. I sat next to the window, a move I realized to be lethal as Binns began to drone on and on about the value of history in the wizarding world. At least in this class no one stared. Everyone had fallen asleep a half hour in, and I struggled to not let the warmth of the sun lull me into my own slumber, jotting down major points before zoning out completely.

Binns quizzed me after class, giving me a note similar to Flitwick's, but I couldn't tell if it was good or bad, considering the blank look on the ghost's face. I blamed his slow manner as I ran down to the greenhouses for Herbology, apologizing hastily to Professor Sprout.

"Never mind dear," she said, shooing me off towards the rest of the class. Herbology was interesting, but spending the night awake had definitely taken its toll on me. After missing three questions she asked, I trudged back up to the castle for lunch with three letters to McGonagall in my bag.

"Hermione!" I asked, sitting down next to her as Harry and Ron sat next to the twins. "How many years does it take for a venomous tactacula to become fully grown?"

"Eight," she answered automatically.

"Shit!"

She smiled. "Kat, we didn't learn that till last year. If that's the only one you got wrong, then you did better than we thought you would!"

I shook my head as I took a sip of pumpkin juice. "I think I got two more wrong."

Fred snorted into his pumpkin juice. "Don't get too much like Hermione, Kat. All that studying will fry your brain."

"I just want to catch up," I muttered, blushing. "I feel like I missed this amazing opportunity, and I don't—" I stopped then, realizing I'd almost just said, "I don't have much time." I didn't think it would be good to let everyone know that Hogwarts would most likely be filled with death eaters in two years time, even if I could stop it…

"You don't what?" George pushed.

"I don't want to stick out," I corrected smoothly.

"You're the granddaughter of the headmaster and the niece of the most hated teacher here," Harry said, "It's a bit late for sticking out."

"True," I said.

I managed to dump three of my textbooks into my dorm before Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry and Ron walking me to the room.

"She seemed like a git at my trial," Harry said, "But she's so much worse than I thought."

Ron nodded fervently.

"She is a git," I said miserably.

"And I didn't think that anyone could be worse than Snape," he said, grimacing. "Blimey, we're gonna be late to potions, Harry!"

They ran off and I took a deep breath before walking into the classroom. It couldn't be that bad, right?

It was a crock of shit, I decided halfway through class. After instructing us to read the first chapter, Umbridge talked openly about how terrible past teachers have been, and how lucky this class was to have bypassed such nonsense.

But through it all, I managed to not say a word. Some looked as though they felt the same as me, but most of the students had taken Umbridge's lecture in completely.

"Now, what can you all tell me about basic defense based on the chapter we've just read?"

"It has absolutely nothing to do with practical defense," I said under my breath.

For a moment her eyes flitted towards mine. I straightened up, bracing myself for public humiliation, when she picked on a small girl near the front of the room. I breathed a sigh of relief.

She beckoned me to her office after assigning us an essay (that I would now have to do on my own time), and to my dismay, Harry's description of the room had been accurate. An understatement, even. I stared in horror at the pink brick walls, absurd amount of doilies, and the haunting meows that echoed in the room.

"Sit, please," Umbridge said in a high sugary voice.

I sat.

"Have some tea."

Smiling, I shook my head.

Her smile faltered a little bit. "Surely, you must be thirsty."

"Actually I just had lunch before your class."

"Hmm."

I let the awkward silence build before glancing pointedly at the clock. "Class is almost over, professor."

She glared. "Very well. Now, the headmaster informed me that you have been studying all of your subjects over the summer. I'd like to hear more about what that means."

I shrugged, her paranoia already wearing on me. "I opened a few books, learned a few charms, memorized a whole lot of facts."

"Where did you study?"

"Where I stayed over the summer."

"Where did you stay this summer?"

"With some friends."

Umbridge paused, and I swear, she turned a delicate shade of pink. It was almost too much. Then she pasted the smile back on her face. "Where were your parents at this time?"

My hands balled into fists for a moment as I fought to keep my face blank. "My parents died this summer, as I'm sure you heard." The story I was supposed to tell, even though my mother wasn't dead. Yet, a small voice added.

"Oh, poor dear. Their deaths were a terrible accident, no doubt."

"Yes. Very," I said through a clenched jaw.

"Now, can you tell me what you studied, dear?"

Breathing heavily, I swallowed. "Theory, mostly." Lie. Lupin taught me how to conjure a patronus. And Sirius had tutored me in jinxes and counter-hexes...

"Could you specify?"

I shook my head.

She let out a pitying sigh. "Well that is a shame." And she handed me a letter for McGonagall, the same as all the rest, save for the color of the seal.

Pink, of course.

I was almost free as I opened the door to her office.

Then she cleared her throat. "I understand that losing a loved one can be quite painful, and if you ever need someone to talk to, my door is always open." I'd barely turned around when she added, "And I have it from very good authority that the ministry is working hard on their case. We will find out what was behind their untimely deaths."

Even before Umbridge finished her sentence, I felt anger welling up inside of me, threatening to burst. When it did, I closed my eyes as every plate in her office burst into tiny shards. The meowing died swiftly as she let out a shriek, cringing as the debris cleared.

Umbridge said nothing as she wrote a second letter for McGonagall, this one quite a bit longer. Once it was sealed, she sent me on my way, glaring the whole time.

Bitch.

I stomped to McGonagall's office, muttering to myself the whole time. The halls were crowded but I barely noticed anyone around. Most of my attention was on the parchment in my hand. The pink seal seemed to smile up at me mockingly.

Finally, I'd made it to her classroom, surprised to find it empty. She sat at the front of the room, directing the chalk over the board with her wand, writing formulas and names that I vaguely recognized.

"You're early," she said without turning around.

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me.

"How has your day been thus far?"

Shuffling my feet, I shrugged. "Good up until recently."

McGonagall turned around then, arms crossed as she surveyed my expression. "You just came from Defense Against the Dark Arts, am I correct?"

"Yes, Professor. Speaking of, I have a letter for you from Professor Umbridge."

"We will talk about it after your classes are—"

"No," I said miserably. "This one is different."

Her lips thinned considerably as she took the letter from my outstretched hand, tapping it irritably with her wand. I grew more nervous as she read, her eyes narrowing as she finished.

A few students began to meander in, watching us curiously. McGonagall glanced up at me, and then noticed them. "Well," she said, "Let us discuss this in my office, shall we?"

I followed her through a door at the front of the room into a smaller room filled with books. Of course her room was filled with books. She sat down behind her desk, gesturing me to sit in the chair opposite her.

"Gingersnap?" she asked, thrusting the pan of cookies towards me.

"No thank you," I said quietly.

"Have one."

I grabbed one, deciding it would be better not to argue.

"Professor Umbridge wrote that you blew up half of her office," she said, surveying me with a calculating look.

"I didn't do it on purpose—"

"That is not the question I asked," she said pointedly.

"Yes," I said quietly.

"And you are aware of the delicate situation with the ministry?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "Then I expect you to be much more careful in the future, no matter what is said in your presence."

I nodded, standing.

"She decreed a week's worth of detention, either to be served with myself or Professor Snape."

"A week?" I asked. Then I frowned. "Not with her?"

"I suspect she values her things too highly to try your patience again," McGonagall said, her lips twitching slightly. "Take this note to Professor Snape. Now, let's get back to class, shall we?"

After transfiguration was over, McGonagall made no move to talk to me after class, so I ran up to Gryffindor tower to take the shower I'd missed earlier that day. When I went down to the common room, Fred and George were waiting for me.

"Where are we going?" Fred asked, smiling at my wet hair.

"Why do I get to choose?" I asked.

"You're the new student of course," George said. "The castle is your clam."

"Oyster," I corrected, laughing. "Ok, I wanted to go to the library—" They both groaned. I ignored them. "To get a copy of Quidditch through the ages."

"Oy, why didn't you just say that then?" George said.

"Come, milady, let us away!" Fred said.

By the end of free period, I hurried off to potions, glad when one of the second years pointed me in the right direction. Almost as soon as I grabbed a seat in the back of the room, Snape himself burst into the room, robes billowing behind him theatrically.

I tried hard not to smirk.

"I do not expect many of you to do remotely well in this class," he began, and I swear, I saw a few first years cower.

But I soon became entranced by the lecture, thankful that his little pop quiz didn't involve calling on me, even though I was fairly sure I knew all of the answers. After the quiz, though, there was little class participation. I felt guilty to admit it to myself, but I found it fascinating, and all too soon, class was over.

"Miss Dumbledore," he called out. I came to the front of the class where Snape sat, correcting some upper level summer homework. As his quill scrawled angrily across the page, I couldn't help but feel a little pity towards whomever he was grading.

"Where can one find a bezoar and what are the most practical uses for it?" he asked.

"A bezoar is found in the belly of a goat, and its most common use is as an antidote for most poisons," I replied without missing a beat.

He continued grading the paper in front of him, not meeting my eyes. "And what is the key ingredient in the draught of living death?"

"Powdered root of asphodel and an infusion of wormwood."

"And what can be used as an additive in Amortentia should the maker wish for a more subtle effect?"

I bit my lip. "I think the additive is peppermint."

"You think or you know?" he asked, flipping the parchment over to the next essay.

"Peppermint."

Finally meeting my eyes, he nodded.

It didn't stop there, of course, and I knew that had it not been the end of the day, I would have missed half of my next class. At least.

Snape's questions ranged from the general effects of certain ingredients to the wand movements required of dangerous potions, to the lengths of time it took to brew various serums, to methods of cutting porcupine needles versus eye of newt.

"And what color should Felix Felicis be approximately fifty minutes into preparation?"

I raised my eyebrows, fairly certain that the question he'd just asked was at sixth year level. And of course, I didn't know the answer. By this time, Snape had put away the essays, focusing his attention on me as he clasped his hands. He waited patiently as I racked my mind for a color… I'd read about that potion over the summer, and I knew the basic list of ingredients, but for the life of me, I didn't know.

"Mauve or Royal purple," I said, not bothering to add "I think," at the end of the statement.

Snape made an odd expression, grabbing a roll of parchment and writing on it.

My shoulders sagged slightly. "I was wrong."

"The answer was Royal Purple," he said, again without looking up at me. Tapping the parchment with his wand, it rolled up and a black seal shined on it. "You no doubt made use of your free time this summer. I am placing you in fifth year potions; you must take your O.W.L. before I let you go any further.

That was almost a compliment... I smiled, and for a moment it seemed as if he was about to do the same.

Then he cleared his throat. "I would like you to know that your status in my class is probationary. I do not have the time to test you on practical preparation, and if that area of your skills is lacking, I will have no choice to demote you as I see fit. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir," I said.

"Well then, shall we head down to Professor McGonagall's office?" he said, almost politely.

Then I remembered. "Um, one more thing," I said, handing him the parchment that McGonagall had read earlier.

Snape's face, which had miraculously become less angry than usual, fell back into a blank mask. Then his eyes glinted angrily. "That was very foolish." His voice didn't rise at all in volume, but it took on a dangerous quality that gave me goose bumps.

"I know."

"And you react this way every time someone angers you?"

"No one's made me so angry since my magic was…unbound."

"Not even over the summer?"

"Well, there was you," I said honestly.

He cocked an eyebrow. "What, exactly happened?"

I hesitated, silence engulfing us both.

"Katarina, I have no time for—"

"She brought my parents," I muttered.

He watched me for a moment and then sighed. "You will serve a week's detention with me, down here. I want you to report here immediately after dinner every night, starting tonight."

I nodded, sulking as I made my way to McGonagall's office alone. She evaluated my teachers' letters, and handed me a new schedule.

History of Magic (fifth year)

Herbology (fourth year)

Charms (fourth year)

Free Period

Lunch

Defense Against the Dark Arts (first year)

Free Period

Potions (fifth year)

Transfiguration (fifth year)

I'd done better than I thought in most classes, but Snape's anger somehow eclipsed whatever success I'd had so far.

At dinner, I went over my first day.

"Where's your schedule?" Hermione asked, beaming with pride. "Let me see it."

I handed it to her.

"How was Defense?" Harry asked darkly.

I shook my head. "I have a week of detention to serve with Snape," I said, earning pitying looks from everyone.

"What happened?" Angelina asked.

"I blew up half her office."

They all broke out into laughter. I smiled reluctantly, admitting that there was a silver lining.

"Oh, that'll make my detention tonight better," Harry said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"This is odd," Hermione piped up, still engulfed in my schedule. "Defense against the dark arts, it's the only subject where you're still at first year level."

"That's bullocks," Fred said angrily.

"I'm not surprised," Harry said. "I mean, the woman wants to keep us as dumb as possible. It's like she doesn't want us to be able to defend ourselves."

"I don't care." I said, sighing as I finally began to pour mashed potatoes and chicken onto my plate. "It's not like I'd learn much anyways."

My schedule was passed around a few times, and I was thoroughly congratulated by the time Fred got it.

"Bloody awful," he muttered, glaring at the small parchment.

"What?" I asked, trying to see what had made him so upset.

"We don't share a free period anymore."

"No!" Hermione piped up. "But we do! All four of us!" She gestured to Harry and Ron. "It'll be great! We can go to the library and work on essays!"

I smiled earnestly as Ron made gagging noises next to her. "Sounds like a blast. I do have a lot of catching up to do, and every teacher asked me to write an essay due Monday as a condition of skipping a few years." I grimaced at the thought.

"That plus detention?" George said, frowning, "That'll take away from our work time."

I shrugged, glancing around. "Oh crap, speaking of…"

Harry and I hurried from the Great Hall together, wishing each other luck—I couldn't help but think I'd gotten the better end of the deal as I thought of the terrible methods Umbridge used. Thank god I'd pissed her off enough…

As I reached the door to the potions classroom I shivered, the air cold around me. Maybe Snape would be nice to me, I thought. Then I pushed away the ridiculous notion. The whole detention would probably be something disgusting and relatively pointless, like cleaning out his storage closet without magic.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked.

*****

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