A/N: I was planning this chapter covering a lot more time, but the story got away from me. I'm hoping to get the next chapter out next Monday, but I may have been a little optimistic with the weekly updates. I will try, but no promises. Updates should not take any more than two weeks though.
Thanks to all the great reviews! Needless to say this is just the start of a war between Umbridge and the Potters. As a special note, thanks to Hannibal ad Portas for review – your stories are great!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Chapter 15: Detention and Paybacks
Dinner came and went far too quickly for Harry's taste. He was not looking forward to spending the evening with Umbridge and whatever punishment she had devised for him. He hugged and kissed Ginny goodbye and nodded gloomily at Hermione and Ron as he left for his detention and they returned to the tower.
"Oy, Potter!" called a female voice that Harry instantly recognized as Angelina Johnson's.
He turned to find a very angry Angelina, "Yeah?"
"Tell me you did not land yourself in detention for TWO WEEKS!" she spat angrily.
"Er…" Harry did not really know what to say or why she was mad.
"Now you are going to miss keeper tryouts! What's wrong with you?" she demanded.
"What do you mean what's wrong with me? It's not like I want to be in detention!" Harry yelled back. Finally glad to have an almost authority figure he could yell at even if it was only a quidditch captain.
"Look Potter, if you want to stay on the team you have to show up for practice. I'm going to let you off this time, but…" Angelina said.
"Knock it off, Angelina. You know I'll be there if I can," Harry turned around and started back on his way ignoring the still ranting captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.
Harry examined the office in horror. There was lace and technicolor kittens everywhere. Harry shivered in disgust.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter," the voice made Harry jump and he looked around for it. Professor Umbridge was waiting for him with a quill and piece of parchment sitting on her desk. She gestured to it and then to the uncomfortable looking chair besides her desk. Harry took the hint and sat down. "You will be doing lines," she said silkily and Harry shrugged; lines were not so bad. "You will write, 'I will not tell lies,'" she smiled at him, "until it makes an impression. Use this quill."
Harry nodded and barely stopped himself from retorting. As he took the quill he realized he was missing ink. "Professor, I don't have any ink."
"It won't be necessary."
Harry looked at her smile with worry and then returned to the blank piece of parchment. The moment he touched the quill to parchment he knew something was wrong. He started to write the first word and gasped. The quill was carving the line into the back of his hand and on the parchment was red ink….it only took him a moment to realize that it was not ink, but blood.
That's not right! Ginny screamed in his mind.
I'm not going to give her the satisfaction…
Shut up, Harry! It hurts and you know it…I can feel it. This can't be legal…hold on.
How am I…
"Is there something wrong, Mr. Potter?"
"No," said Harry as he set quill to parchment again.
Back in the common room Ginny was furious. It could not be legal to use a quill like that. She looked around the room trying to find something that would give her an idea of...her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Hermione silently reading a large tome.
"Hermione!" The older girl jumped at being addressed by Ginny for the first time in a month.
"Yes?"
"What do you know of quills that use your own blood as ink and carve an impression…"
"A blood quill?" interrupted Hermione, "They are considered a tool of the dark arts and are illegal why?"
Ginny's eyes flashed dangerously, "Because Umbridge is using one on Harry!" She rubbed the back of her right hand absently. Harry was using the quill again; her anger increased ten fold.
"What!" Hermione's own eyes flashed at the thought, "That evil woman." Ginny gave her a look that told her that she had been forgiven of her past transgressions.
HARRY! STOP USING THAT QUILL RIGHT NOW!
Harry dropped the quill.
STAND UP TO THAT TOAD! Just demand to go to Dumbledore if she tries to make you use it.
Harry looked at the quill and realized that whatever punishment he could get from not following Umbridge's directions would pale in comparison to having an angry Ginny in his head.
"Why aren't you writing?" Umbridge asked silkily.
Harry looked up and quickly reviewed what Hermione had told Ginny, "I don't have to."
Umbridge widened her eyes, "Oh, but you do you arrogant boy. Now finish your lines."
I'm going to finish you, you filthy, rotten, evil toad and then I'm going to feed you to Hedwig.
Harry's face flushed as Ginny's anger began to seep into him and said, "No. You can't use a blood quill as punishment," taking a deep breath he continued, "If you want to use it then I want to see Dumbledore."
Umbridge reddened, "Well, I never, how dare you?" She was obviously flustered by his ultimatum. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him, trying to gage how much he knew about blood quills. "Leave my sight! For the next two weeks you are to report to Filch for your detentions." Harry fought to keep the smile off his face as he left office. The thoughts and images going through Ginny's head were incredibly amusing to him at the moment – he never realized there were so many creative ways to obtain revenge.
…………………………….
"That woman is going to pay!" Ginny said as she paced in the common room. Most Gryffindors had found their bravery had fled them and, like it, they vacated the common room. Ginny was now being watched by the twins and Ron and Hermione. "You two!" she said pointing at Fred and George who immediately adopted innocent expressions at the accusatory voice out of instinct. "Oh don't look innocent! I know you're not. Besides, I'm not accusing you of anything." The twins visibly relaxed. "Do you think you could invent something to turn that toad into a toad?"
Fred smiled broadly and George looked pensive. Looking at each other and seeming to talk mentally, the twins turned back to Ginny with smiles, "Absolutely," they said together.
George sidled up to Ginny's side and put an arm around her shoulders, "So, baby sister, how would you like this concoction of ours delivered? Liquid, pill, or powder?"
"Powder. Now tell me what else you're working on." Ginny's smile increased as she considered the possibilities.
Harry walked in and found Ginny huddled in a corner with Fred and George. He smiled at what they were discussing. It was going to be a very interesting year. He let Ginny and the twins concoct their mischief and moved sat down with Ron and Hermione. Ron was reading a book about quidditch, but Hermione was reading a rather large book that looked very old.
"What are you reading?" he said peering over her shoulder.
"It's a book about Occulumency," she stated flatly still engrossed in the book. "Oh! Harry, I didn't realize it was you. You should really read this before you have your…"
"Shhh, Hermione. No one's supposed to know, remember."
"Sorry, I…is your hand alright? Ginny said Umbridge was using a blood quill," said Hermione.
"Don't worry about it. Can't you tell me what the book says instead of me reading it?" asked Harry hoping to change the subject. He was not sure that she would approve of what Ginny was planning to do in retribution.
Hermione turned and spread the book out flat between them. Her face and voice adopted that of an instructor, "Okay, Harry, Occulumency is the art of defending the mind against external intrusion. Usually, it is a counter to Legilimency, which is the opposite of Occulumency. The most basic form of Occulumency is simply clearing the mind of thought and emotion so a legilimens can't use your emotions to find your memories. More advanced forms would allow you to show a legilimens only what you wanted him or her to see."
"How do you learn it?" asked Harry figuring it would be a good idea to prepare himself before he faced Snape.
Hermione flipped a few pages before answering, "Well…you have to meditate and try to clear your mind until you can control what you are thinking about and not think about." Hermione continued explaining for several minutes. Listening carefully to every word, Harry could not help but think it sounded a lot like how he used his connection to Ginny to escape the visions from Voldemort. A sudden epiphany hit him; he did not have to learn Occulumency. Tom Riddle could not get at Ginny, at least completely, because she retreated behind their bond and he had done the same several times during dreams he had had. Harry saw no reason why this should not work, but also did not see the harm in learning Occulumency especially if it kept Voldemort form ever entering his mind.
"Is it possible to block it or only control what a legilimens sees?" Hermione smiled at the serious question.
"Only the most skilled occulumens can completely block a legilimens with only their mind. The book is not terribly precise on how you are supposed to do this. Several times it refers to a battle of 'will and mind,' but nothing specific."
"Can a legilimens get into your mind without you knowing it? And how do I practice?" asked Harry still serious. Legilimency sounded a lot like mind reading and he had a sudden suspicion about Snape's searching looks over the years.
Hermione smiled pleased with the questions, "The book says that even someone who masters just basic Occulumency can detect when someone is trying to enter their minds. To practice, like I said before, you meditate, but the best way is to have a legilimens attack your mind." Harry had a horrible feeling he knew what Snape would be doing to him. "Don't worry too much about it. Dumbledore is only guessing and Vol…Voldemort may not even be able to use the link at all." It was the first time he had ever heard Hermione question something Dumbledore had said.
They were both quiet for a moment and Harry noticed the common room had emptied even further leaving only three scheming Weasleys in a corner and a sleeping Ron in a chair. Hermione looked around the room and then back at Harry; in a whisper she asked, "What's it like? I mean, what is it like being in love?"
Harry blinked at the unexpected question and change in topic. "I'm not really sure how to answer," Hermione bowed her head, something was obviously bothering her, "I mean, what I have with Ginny, well it's like breathing. I'm not very good at this. I'm sorry."
"Oh well…I…" Hermione did not finish her thought.
"What's wrong Hermione?"
"This is just too weird to be discussing with a boy!" Harry actually laughed. The conversation was rather odd and Hermione's expression did him in.
"You could talk with Ginny," suggested Harry; he knew Hermione did not have too many female friends.
"Are you sure? She only just…" Harry rolled his eyes. Hermione gave a small laugh, "I suppose you would know, huh?" Then Hermione did something she had not done in a long time, she hugged him. Harry smiled and hoped he had told Hermione the complete truth; Ginny had forgiven her, but he was not sure if Hermione would ever be able to regain Ginny's trust.
…………………………
The first week flew by and, by the end of it, Harry was extremely tired of hearing about the importance of O.W.L.s. If O.W.L. year stresses were not bad enough, he was also having problems with Seamus. Seamus had hardly said a single word to him since the start of term and it was only through Dean that Harry had finally figured out what the problem was with the other boy. Evidently, Seamus' mother had wanted him not to return to Hogwarts this year because of what the Daily Prophet had been printing. It saddened Harry that Seamus, who had known him since he had started Hogwarts, would turn on him.
Then there was Umbridge. While Harry was extremely glad not to be serving detention with her, even Argus Filch was better, the fact that he had challenged her and gotten away with it seemed to have incensed her as she was continually taking points from him. So far he had managed to avoid any more detentions, but that was only through sheer force of will. He never would have believed it possible, but he hated her more than he hated Snape. Snape was vindictive, mean, and unfair. Umbridge was simply evil. He and Ginny had held off retaliating immediately. They were waiting for the twins.
He could not wait until the twins were finished with what they had termed "The Toad Project." They had been spending most of their time working on it and even Hermione could be heard wondering why the twins had only earned a handful of O.W.L.s when they were obviously very smart. Hermione had even encouraged the twins' efforts and had suggested a few things to them that might help. When Ron had questioned her, she had stated that she thought this project was better than them testing their skiving snackboxes on unwitting first years.
Aside from detention, Harry along with the other fifth years (most of whom, along with the rest of the school, were keeping their distance from him) had spent almost all of his time doing homework. Harry knew he was lucky. Being bonded to Ginny was making things far easier than they should have been. It often meant that they could halve the studying between them, although they still had to do individual essays. When they had mentioned their studying strategy to Hermione she had huffed and muttered about having to compete with two minds instead of one, but had actually been helpful and drew up a study calendar that took the strategy into account. Harry got the distinct impression she was trying to makeup for her past behavior.
Ron was one of the few exceptions. He had spent most of the week practicing quidditch instead of doing his homework. Harry had been disappointed that he had missed Ron's tryout, but Ginny had been there and had kept him informed of how it had gone. The first practice had been on Saturday and, while Harry would never say anything to anyone but Ginny, he had not been impressed by Ron's performance. Ginny insisted it was just nerves and Harry had commented that if Ron was nervous at practice he would be even worse at the first match, which, since it seemed Fate hated them, was against Slytherin.
……………………………..
Sunday evening found Hermione frowning at the spread of open books in front of her. Ron was working on a Divination essay. Hermione pushed back from the table and peered over Ron's shoulder to read his essay.
Ron shot her a worried look. Hermione always found mistakes with his essays, "What?"
"How many times can you die?" she asked with obvious amusement.
Ron laughed. If Hermione had criticized him on any subject other than Divination he would have been worried, "Don't worry about it Hermione! Everyone knows Trelawney is happy if you have miserable predictions." Hoping to find a way to procrastinate further, he decided to ask Hermione about her homework, "What are you working on?"
Ron was shocked by the way Hermione's face lit up. Oh no. She's up to something… "I'm glad you asked," Hermione started, but Ron interrupted.
"This had better not be about spew!"
"IT'S S.P.E.W. and NO it is not. These are defense books," explained a miffed Hermione.
"Why are you looking at defense books? It's not like we actually are learning anything," he ran his hand through his hair nervously; he knew he had just said the wrong thing – Hermione was rather tender on the subject of O.W.L.s and anything that could impede a perfect mark.
Hermione smiled indulgently, "Exactly! I've been trying all week to learn what I need to learn for O.W.L.s and I realized something. We need to learn all of these spells, hexes, jinxes, and curses because of," she took a deep breath to steady herself, "because of Vol…Voldemort. He's back and we aren't learning anything that will allow us to protect ourselves and our families."
Ron had flinched at Voldemort's name, but he could not help but agree with the logic. "Okay, what are you suggesting?"
"I think that if this Umbridge woman won't teach us then we should find a way to teach ourselves!"
Ron looked doubtful, "How are we supposed to teach ourselves. If you can't learn it from reading this then how are we supposed to teach ourselves?"
"We need a teacher."
"Hermione! You just said we have to teach ourselves since Umbridge isn't teaching," protested Ron who was getting frustrated. He hated always having to drag what Hermione was thinking out of her.
"Harry," she said.
Ron opened his mouth and then closed it and gave Hermione a sidelong look, "I'm Ron."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's misunderstanding, "No, I mean Harry can teach us. Ginny probably could to with," she looked around and then lowered her voice to a whisper, "the bond and everything, but Harry's the only one of us who has actually fought Death Eaters. He knows…"
"I agree," Ron said before Hermione launched into an in-depth defense of her choice. "Do you think Harry will agree?"
Hermione smiled wickedly, "No, but Ginny will."
"Why would Ginny agree?" ask Ron bewildered.
"Simple. It would mean doing something to spite Umbridge." Ron nodded in understanding. Since Harry's detention his little sister had been using all her free time plotting. Ron was incredibly thankful he was not the target.
"Shouldn't you be doing your homework? You hardly did anything during the week!" Ron groaned and return to his essay.
…………………………………
Harry looked out over the dark grounds. There was no light, not even from Hagrid's cabin. It was another reminder that Hagrid had not returned from whatever mission Dumbledore had sent him on and Harry was worried. He knew that Dumbledore would not tell him anything, the Grubbly-Plank woman had brushed him off, and McGonagall would not go against Dumbledore. There was no one at Hogwarts who he could ask about Hagrid; not that he thought many in the Order would tell him except maybe Sirius or Remus.
Smiling at the thought of the two marauders, he decided to write Sirius. Moody had told him not to put anything into writing, but he thought he could do it so that no one would be able to understand it even if the letter was intercepted.
Why don't you just flame to Grimmauld Place?
Dumbledore…he knows I'm a phoenix. He's probably added extra wards or something…and I don't need to be in any more trouble. I'm rather sick of detention.
Then I will go.
No. If he has done something then it might detect you too.
So, a letter?
Harry nodded as he scratched his letter to "Snuffles." He read it over several times before sealing it, confident in the belief that it would be unintelligible to anyone who might intercept it.
Harry caressed Hedwig's head as he leaned in and whispered, "Stay safe," she hooted softly and then gently nipped his finger before soaring into the night.
A soft sniffing sound caught his attention and he peered into a darkened corner of the Owlery. Mrs. Norris was there; however, when he caught her eyes she stopped sniffing immediately and backed away cautiously. The cat was still terrified of him. Harry smiled and considered changing into his panther form to make sure Mrs. Norris did not so much as consider informing Filch of his presence, but his thoughts were interrupted by the noise of footsteps. Harry turned to face the newcomer, fully expecting to find Filch.
Instead of Filch's reedy voice informing him that he had earned another detention, Cho Chang was standing in the doorway looking a little flustered.
"Hi, Harry," she said her face flushing prettily. "What are you doing here?"
"Er…I'm just sending a letter," said Harry feeling a little foolish.
Cho smiled, "Me too." She moved toward the owls and called one down. Harry considered bolting, but thought it would be rude. "I was hoping to run into you again. I want to talk to you," he just hoped that she would not want to talk about Cedric. As she absently tied her letter to the owl's leg she turned to him again, "I really like you, Harry." He was about to sigh in relief when it registered what she said.
"Er…"
I'M GOING TO KILL HER, screamed Ginny's voice in his head. Ginny had been distracted by something Hermione had been saying, but now Harry's situation had her full attention.
"Er…" Harry's tongue seemed to have left him and he felt himself blushing crimson in embarrassment. Back in the common room Hermione was forcefully restraining Ginny as the petite redhead mumbled darkly about Cho.
"So, would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?" Cho's smile faltered a little when Harry did not respond immediately.
"Er…" Harry said again trying to figure out what to say.
"You already said that," Cho said her smile widening as she misread his crimson face.
"Cho, I…um…I like you too, but…er…not like that – I'm with Ginny," Harry managed to finally say.
Cho's weak blush became furious and she began stammering, "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. It's just. It's just that Ron Weasley said you wanted to ask me to the Yule Ball last year, but I was already going with Cedric," she sniffed and Harry could see tears in her eyes. He once more found himself at a loss for words as Cho started to cry.
He did not know what to do. Ginny he knew how to comfort, but Cho was practically a stranger.
Oh, Harry, don't be such a boy! Pat her on the back and say 'it's okay', Ginny said her previous anger apparently gone. Of course I'm not angry at HER; Ron, however… Harry felt sorry for Ron as he heard Ginny say bates mocos. He knew that Ron had just been subjugated to the bat-bogey curse. His sympathy for his friend disappeared as Cho flung herself at him, crying into his shirt.
…………………………….
Percy Weasley finished his letter to his youngest brother with a heavy heart and hoped Ron would follow his advice. He knew better than to send a letter to the twins, but they were in a different year than Harry Potter anyway. Sending the letter to his baby sister was out of the question. Percy suspected that Ginny would throw the letter in the fire and he needed to make sure it was actually read; Ron would read it and convey the message to her. Sighing at the thought of Ginny's reaction; he did not have much hope that she would stop her relationship with Potter. She had been taken with him ever since she first saw him and it had been apparent to all in the family, with the exception of Ron, that the two were destined for a relationship.
Tying the letter to Hermes' outstretched leg, he sent the owl off with specific instructions to deliver the letter in the Gryffindor common room rather than the Great Hall. With the task done, Percy looked down at his ever growing list of things to do. Being the Minister of Magic's personal assistant was a lot of work. Some of the tasks were tedious, but they were important. Percy looked down the list looking for something interesting. Toward the bottom, with the rather dubious deadline of "Before 1996" was an item that caught his attention: Check the Record of Soul Bonds.
Percy smiled at the idea. He had been meaning to investigate the book since he first saw it when searching for information on thin-bottomed cauldrons. One of the record keepers had told him what it was, but he had not had the time to investigate it. Percy made his way to the elevator, nodding to several important people along the way. He was happy that his office was closer to the Minister than all the department heads' offices. True it was a bit small, lacked a window, and smelled of cleaning supplies, but it was closer. It was also formerly a closet.
The dust that rose from the book caused him to cough and Percy waved his hands hoping to clear the air. Percy started at the top of the page. There were only three entries on it. The first entry was from 1611, the next 1715, and then to Percy's complete astonishment was 1991. He moved to read the entry:
The soul bonding of Harry James Potter to Ginevra Molly Weasley took place on 1 September 1991.
Percy gave an audible gasp and moved to sit down, realizing too late that there was no chair. He made no move to rise. He had always studied a broad range of topics, wanting to consume as much knowledge as possible, and one of them had been about bonds. His knowledge of soul bonds was limited to say the least – the topic did not have a lot of known facts – but he did remember most of what the books had reported. Mentally reviewing everything he could remember on the topic, he stopped as he came to some of the legal ramifications.
Blinking in astonishment, Percy said aloud, "Ginny's married?" Questions began cascading through his mind: How did this happen? Does Dumbledore know? Did his family know? How could they not? How come he was not told?
He shook himself and slowly stood. He looked down at the entry again and considered the facts. If Ginny believed Harry then it had to be true: Voldemort had returned. Percy had never considered himself brave and he had been surprised when the Sorting Hat had placed him in Gryffindor. Up until now he had suspected that the Hat had done so more out of habit than proper placement. Ravenclaw or even Slytherin would have suited him better or so he had thought. Percy closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. It was the type of breath his mother often took when she was trying to control her emotions when Fred, George, or both of them had done something truly awful. His eyes opened and he left the room; there was much to be done.
…………………………………..
Harry collapsed on to one of the common room's couches. His detention with Filch, of which he still had four more to look forward to, had been tedious. He had made him polish the school trophies. The fact that he had to polish Tom Riddle's award had not made the task any more enjoyable, although he had toyed with the idea of magically altering the award, but he had not wanted to risk Filch's wrath.
Looking up, Harry saw Ron reading a letter. The redhead was slowly becoming the same color as his hair. He threw the letter down and looked up, seeing Harry, he grimaced. "Where's Ginny?" he said with anger, although Harry did not think it was aimed toward her.
Taking a brief moment to locate her, Harry answered, "She's in the dormitory…with Hermione." Harry frowned; Ginny and Hermione were talking, but he did not know about what. Ginny was blocking him. Which made him remember that he needed to practice Occulumency; he wanted to be prepared for whenever his lessons with Snape began.
"Oh. You can give her this," Ron threw the balled up letter to him and Harry raised his eyebrows in silent question, "It's a letter from my git of a brother, Percy. Go ahead and read it – it's all about you. Stupid git."
Harry unballed the parchment and flattened it as best he could and read:
Dear Ron,
I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister of Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect.
I was most pleasantly surprised…
The letter continued on in Percy's confident, but arrogant fashion. He went on about Dolores Umbridge quite a bit saying how it would be wise for Ron to side with her. He also insinuated several times that the Ministry was planning on removing Dumbledore. Harry sighed as he reached the end of the letter; he could not believe Percy thought so little of him.
Again, Ron, congratulations on becoming a prefect! I wish you the best, but please take my words into account. Supporting Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore is not wise – you do not wish to be tarred with the same brush. Also, I would like you to ask you a large favor. Please try and talk some sense into our baby sister. It is neither safe nor wise for her to be with Harry Potter. I would have written her directly, but I fear she would not have listened. Good luck with your Hogwarts career.
Your brother,
Percy
Harry finished the letter and put it aside for Ginny. It bothered him a little that she was blocking him, but he figured Hermione must want privacy. "Do you know what their talking about?"
Ron had been glaring at the fire, fists balled, but he did turn toward Harry. "No, Hermione has been acting odd lately. More…I don't know. Girly?" Harry scrunched his face up in confusion. "You know Harry. Her hair has been straighter, she's wearing different cloths, and I swear she's wearing perfume!" Ron was quite for a bit and then said almost inaudibly, "I think she's been writing to Krum too."
"Really?" said Harry worriedly. The last time Hermione and Krum had done anything together Ron had reacted very badly.
"Yeah, she's writing these letters all the time and when I ask her about it she blushes and changes the subject," Ron frowned as he relayed the information and then his expression seemed to deepen even more, "And I know I've seen the word 'Viktor' on at least one of the letters."
Neither Ginny nor Hermione came down before the fire started to die so Ron and Harry retired for the night.
Harry blearily awoke and walked down to the common room. Hermione and Ginny were sitting on one of the couches whispering. Ginny, of course, noticed his arrival first and smiled at him. Hermione also smiled, "So did Ron tell you about Umbridge inspecting Divination yesterday?" Harry shook his head no and had the distinct impression Hermione was trying to avoid talking about something.
That's because she is – don't ask about it. She made me promise not to tell. Ginny could feel Harry's irritation building, Don't worry. I told her I couldn't keep it from you for too long. I think she's just embarrassed and confused.
"What was it like?" he asked Hermione.
"Ron said that she stalked around insinuating that Trelawney is a fraud," Harry grunted and Hermione made a low laugh in agreement, "I wish I could have been there too, but if she's inspecting other teachers her powers must be increasing and that is not good." Harry and Ginny frowned in agreement.
"That's not the only bad news either. Here," Hermione reached behind her and pulled a newspaper out of her bag. She handed it to Harry, who moved so that Ginny could also see. "Check page three at the very bottom to the left." There was a small article about a break-in at the Ministry. Hermione did not give them time to read it however, "Sturgis Podmore! Can you believe it? He's part of the order isn't he?"
"He was supposed to be part of my guard, but he never showed. I remember Moody grumbling about it – it was why he wanted Si…Snuffles to come with us," said Harry.
………………………………..
They met a surprise when they entered the Transfiguration classroom. Professor Umbridge and Professor McGonagall were glaring at each other.
Inspection, Harry said flatly.
This should be interesting.
By the end of the class Harry's fist was in his mouth. Ginny had buried her head into his shoulder and was shaking in silent laughter. Off to their left Ron was gazing at the two professors with rapt attention; he was enjoying the struggle of wills immensely. Hermione's eyes never moved from Professor McGonagall. Harry did not think it was possible, but Hermione now seemed even more impressed and awed by the Transfiguration professor.
Umbridge was also in Care of Magical Creatures. She was not nearly as offensive to Professor Grubbly-Plank as she seemed more focused on trying to find out where Hagrid was to bother the substitute. She did not even stay the entire class when it became clear that Grubbly-Plank would not slander either Dumbledore or Hagrid.
"McGonagall is so awesome," Ron said as he sat down for dinner.
"Yeah, that was great seeing Umbridge put in her place," agreed Dean from across the table.
"What did we miss?" asked Lee Jordan arriving with the twins in tow.
Ron quickly launched into a replay of the class. Lee and the twins were laughing hard at Ron's explanation. "I knew McGonagall was tough, but…" said Fred between laughs.
"…going toe to toe with that great big toad that's gutsy," finished George recovering from his laughter.
Harry quickly wolfed down his dinner and bade them all goodbye. He had detention.
It was almost midnight before Harry started back to the common room. He was seriously beginning to wonder what else Filch could have him clean. The miserable man had made him scrub the entire entrance hall.
Ron and Hermione want to talk. Hurry up. He could tell Ginny was tired and irritated with Ron and Hermione for preventing her from heading to bed.
The common room was empty when he entered except for Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Taking a seat besides Ginny, he looked at Ron and then Hermione waiting for one of them to speak.
"Harry, Ron and I have been thinking," Ron made an indistinct noise that sounded a little like a protest, but Hermione ignored him. "Ron and I have been thinking and we've decided that we need to do something about learning Defense Against the Dark Arts." Ron pushed himself back into the cushions of the couch. Harry could not figure out why he was worried.
"Okay," he cut his eyes at Ginny who shrugged, "What do you want to do about it?"
"Well, we need a teacher." Ron nodded and Harry began mentally reviewing who could teach them.
"I don't know Hermione. I mean Lupin might do it when he has free time, but he would only be able to on Hogsmeade weekends and Sirius, I know he would be willing, but it would be dangerous."
Hermione shook her head, "No, you don't understand. We need someone who can teach us at least once or twice a week if we are going to be able to pass our O.W.L.s and to be ready for Voldemort." Ron flinched at the name, "Ron! Will you quit flinching. It is just a name," Hermione cried exasperated.
Ron frowned and prepared to protest. Ginny cut him off wanting to avoid a long bickering session, "Who then?"
"You, Harry."
"What?" He could not believe Hermione was suggesting this.
"You," she repeated. "You did very well last year in the tournament and you know what we need to learn."
"I don't know Hermione. I'm no more qualified then anyone else." said Harry.
"But you are," protested Hermione, her voice was becoming irritated. "You beat my score on the only Defense test that was worth anything."
Harry closed his eyes. Hermione was not to be dissuaded, "Okay, if it's just the four of us..."
"I don't think that would be fair though – I mean we all have Umbridge and everyone is going to be affected by Volde...Voldemort," Hermione said stumbling over Voldemort's name despite her earlier chiding to Ron who had flinched again.
"You've got to be kidding?" exclaimed Harry.
"Why would we want to do that?" asked Ginny coming to Harry's defense.
"Because it is a way for us all to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts properly and," Hermione looked directly at Ginny, "we will be defying Umbridge." Ginny's eyes lit at the last part and Harry knew that he no longer had a decision to make.
"Just keep the group small," he pleaded. Hermione smiled and nodded.
The rest of the week went by as slowly as the first week back. When Friday finally rolled around, Harry was ecstatic: it was his last detention with Filch. Between his daily detentions, homework, practicing Occulumency, and quidditch practice Harry had precious little free time. The only good thing that had come out of the past week was that he discovered Occulumency practice to be fairly simple.
Indeed, he discovered that it was natural to him. When he cleared his mind of thought and emotion he inevitably found Ginny's presence in his mind – her presence was warm, comforting and enveloping. He was now meditating before bed each night and found that he had far fewer dreams about long hallways. Instead, one of the side effects of mediating was that he found his dreams linked with Ginny's own dreams. Over the week the dreams had become increasingly passionate and Harry hoped that he did not talk in his sleep.
Thinking back to Occulumency, Harry supposed the real test would come when Snape held his first lesson, which Harry had yet to hear any word about. Although he was eager to learn whatever secrets Dumbledore was keeping, he was not eager to have any one-on-one time with the Potions professor. He was sure that his two upcoming detentions would be bad enough; Snape was sure to come up with something vile.
Sunday found Harry and Ginny curled up in one of the oversized chairs in a corner of the common room. They had spent most of the time studying and were now relaxing. Ginny was dozing with her head on his shoulder and Harry was absently people watching as he absently wrapped Ginny's hair around his finger. Fred and George had just walked into the room and were talking excitedly. When they spotted the couple, the twins hurried over with large mischievous smiles.
"Harry! Ginny!" called Fred. "We've done it!"
"One of our finest inventions," crowed George.
Fred pulled out a bag a light green powder and George waved his arm theatrically acting as a stage show assistant.
Ginny slid off Harry's lap and inspected the bag; Harry leaned closer.
Fred looked around the common room to make sure they could not be overheard, moved closer, and then said, "We wanted something that would cause the transformation on contact, but as far as we've researched, experimented, and developed transformations must either be done by wand or potion. So you need to get this powder," he shook the bag, "into the toad."
"Yes. We suggest that you put it in her food. You could put it into her drink, but it might add a bit of color to it," added George.
"And then what?" asked Ginny
George laughed at Ginny's eagerness, "Impatient little sister? As my dear brother said, we wanted so that the transformation was caused by contact, but discovered it needed to be ingested in the target's system. We decided on a compromise," George took out a bag of white powder.
"This is the real genius of what we've done," said Fred. "She won't turn into a toad from ingesting the first powder, but on contact with the second powder she will."
"You don't need much of the second powder to cause the transformation – only a grain or two to make contact and poof. There are four doses of the green powder. Each should last a week," answered George with obvious pride.
"How long will each transformation last?" asked Harry.
"About an hour, but were not completely sure," answered Fred.
"You two are geniuses!" squealed Ginny launching herself at Fred, who was closest of the twins.
George looked on happily, "Yes, we know."
Harry was suddenly suspicious, "If you can do this why did you only get three O.W.L.s?"
"We were busy," Fred said pushing away from Ginny's back breaking hug.
"Busy? Doing what?" Ginny's curiosity was peaked.
Fred and George exchanged a look "I suppose it would not hurt to tell you two, but you can't tell mum or anyone for that matter," Fred stated seriously.
"Follow us. We need more privacy for this," George motioned toward the exit.
They followed the twins down an intricate set of corridors and through several secret passageways before coming to rather small room. It looked like it had been furnished haphazardly. It had a couch and two chairs that looked very old and not well cared for.
"Welcome to our haven from Filch!" announced Fred.
"We found it in our second year. He does not know about the last two secret passages we took," George said puffing out his chest.
"Spill," commanded Ginny.
"You mean show," Fred said cryptically. He nodded to George. The twins began to morph and their shapes grew smaller.
Harry and Ginny looked down at two red weasels that immediately began squeaking and running circles around them before coming to a halt in front of them again.
"How long?" asked Harry.
The two red weasels transformed back into the twins and George began speaking, "We started researching in our third year and it took all of our fourth year to save the money for the potion ingredients."
"You spent all of fifth year working on the transformation!" said Harry earning him nods from the twins.
"Mum would kill you," Ginny said happily. "I bet it comes in handy being so small."
George smiled wickedly, "Yeah. We hid from mum a couple times during the summer, but after she heard us she mistook us for rats and started blasting at us with her wand." George shuttered, "We stopped after that, but so far this year we've escaped Filch four times!"
"Mrs. Norris doesn't care for us either after George here bit her!" Fred said and George nodded enthusiastically.
"How come we can't smell you?" asked Ginny sniffing. She could only get a faint whiff of their animal form.
"Unlike you two; we did our research properly," said George not revealing anything.
Fred smiled, "We used a potion."
They parted with Fred and George, who said they had their own plans for the rest of the day, and made their way down to the kitchens.
I know how we can get the powder into her food.
The house elves aren't going to put anything into Umbridge's food. It has got to be against their orders! Protested Ginny.
Not Dobby's. He's not bound like the others.
Several house elves had greeted them, but Dobby was no where to be seen. Harry looked down at the nearest house elf and asked, "Where is Dobby?"
The house elf's smiled disappeared, "He is taking care of the other disgraced elf. Would you like anything else young master?" Harry shook his head and the elf disappeared.
They were just about to leave when a soft pop announced Dobby's return. He looked rather bedraggled, but smiled when he saw Harry. "Harry Potter, sir! You have come to visit Dobby! You allow Dobby and Winky to help fix the great Sirius Black's house and now you come to visit! It is too much!"
Harry smiled down at the excited elf. Dobby and Winky had done an amazing job at Grimmauld Place. By the time they had left the old house was no longer dark and grimy. The house had become habitable. Even Sirius had commented that he no longer thought that the house was depressing.
"What happened to Winky?" asked Ginny remembering what the other house elf had said.
Dobby's ears drooped, "Winky is not doing well. She has gone back to drinking. Dobby has put her in the Come-and-Go room."
"Come-and-Go room?"
"Oh yes! Dumbledore calls it the Room of Requirement, but it is the same. It is a most helpful room. It is…" Dobby looked around and then motioned for them to lean down and whispered how the room worked.
Harry and Ginny smiled. A room like that could come in very handy. Dobby's revelation of the Room of Requirement almost distracted them from their original purpose. Ginny pulled out the bag of green powder.
"Dobby, do you think you can put some of this in Professor Umbridge's food tonight?" asked Ginny sweetly.
Dobby's face instantly changed to a worried expression. Harry suspected he knew why.
"It does not cause…permanent harm and I forbid you from punishing yourself," said Harry.
Worry vanished from Dobby's face and he smiled devilishly, "You are going to prank Umbrigge?" Harry nodded and Dobby's smile grew wider, "Umbrigge is not nice. She is always ordering the house elves to punish themselves." Harry felt his stomach grow cold at Dobby's words. His hate for Umbridge increased. "Give Dobby the powder," Dobby stretched out his hands.
Walking out of the kitchens Ginny tucked the remaining powder into her pocket and smiled at Harry, "I can't wait for tomorrow. Defense Against the Dark Arts is going to be great." Harry had to agree with her.
…………………………………
Ginny and Harry rushed through the empty corridor to the Defense classroom. Harry looked around furtively and whispered, "Alohomora." The door clicked open and they slipped inside. Harry stood by the door and peeked through the crack while Ginny went to the professor's desk and lightly sprinkled white powder on it.
She stepped back to observe he handiwork and smiled. There was not a lot of powder on the desk and it hardly looked like anything more than dust. Her smile turned wicked as she imagined Umbridge walking into the class room and sitting down at the desk. The evil woman always put her elbows on it as the class read from the textbook.
Let's get out of here.
Good. I'm hungry.
You're sounding as bad as Ron.
Except I don't talk with my mouth full like your brother does. Ginny giggled and they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Despite his hunger, Harry did not eat that much during breakfast. He was too excited about the upcoming class. He nodded to Fred and George who immediately understood that their product was going to be tested.
"What are you two up to?" asked Hermione as they sat down and waited for Umbridge.
"Nothing," Harry and Ginny answered simultaneous, which only increased Hermione's suspicion.
All conversation stopped and eyes turned toward the front of the room as Umbridge entered and said, "Good morning class," which the class chorused back. "Very good. Please read Chapter Three."
She sat down at the desk and surveyed the class. She smiled in satisfaction at their obedience and put her elbows on the table. There was whooshing sound as air invaded a previously occupied space. Everyone in the class stood up looking for the vanished professor and began chatting excitedly.
A loud croak issued from behind the desk. The entire class went completely silent except for Harry and Ginny who were desperately trying to hold their laughter in, which they were failing at. When a large toad jumped out from behind the desk the rest of the class joined them in laughter. The toad continued croaking, which only made the class laugh harder. It took about ten minutes for everyone to finally control themselves; although, every time the toad croaked it sent the class into peels of laughter. For the remainder of the period the class talked amiably and did their best to ignore the toad.