BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight.
Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic
The notices had gone up all around the school overnight, but they did not explain how every single person within the castle seemed to know that Dumbledore had overcome two Aurors, the High Inquisitor, the Minister for Magic, and his Junior assistant to escape. Harry had told Ron, who told Ginny, who told Luna, who told Isabella, who spread it to the rest of the Ravenclaws. And, other than a few randomly bizarre mistakes, it was surprising how accurate the rest of their information was.
Marrietta (whom all Ravenclaws other than members of the DA referred to as 'Poor Marrietta') was in the hospital wing.
"I heard that Umbridge is offering extra credit to students who join this Inquisitorial Squad thing she's set up," Alex whispered to Morgan, Luna, and Isabella over lunch.
"That's mental!" Morgan said, a little too loudly. "Who'd want to join that but a Slytherin?"
"Forty points from Ravenclaw," someone drawled. It was Urqhart, a Slytherin Chaser. His pale, flabby face was alight with malice. "For calling our new headmistress 'mental'."
"It's only teachers who can dock points from houses," Morgan said, her green eyes ablaze with fury.
"Members of the Inquisitorial Squad can," Urqhart sniggered, pointing towards a tiny silver 'I' on his robes just beneath his prefect's badge. "A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic."
As Urqhart sauntered away, the four Ravenclaws looked towards the giant hour-glasses set in niches along the wall, which recorded the house-points. A few sapphires flew upwards, reducing the amount in the lower bulb. Gryffindor had been neck and neck with Ravenclaw that morning, but now the numbers of rubies in the lower bulb was reduced by half. In fact, the only glass that seemed unchanged was the emerald-filled one of Slytherin.
BOOM! The entire Great Hall shook. Isabella exchanged shocked looks with Alex, then they sprang to their feet and joined the crowd rushing out to see the what the source of all the uproar was.
Somebody (Isabella was inclined to suspect Fred and George) had set off what seemed to be an enormous crate of enchanted fireworks.
Dragons comprised entirely of green and gold sparks were soaring up and down the corridors, emitting loud fiery blasts and bangs as they went; shocking pink Catherine wheels five feet in diameter were whizzing lethally through the air like so many flying saucers; rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls; sparklers were writing swear words in midair of their own accord; firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere Isabella looked.
Several of the dragons and a large purple bat swooped towards the doorway in which she stood. She ducked and they soared harmlessly overhead, off toward the second floor.
Umbridge and Filch stood in the middle of the hallway, apparently transfixed with horror.
"Hurry Filch, hurry!" shrieked Umbridge. "They'll be all over the school unless we do something - Stupefy!"
A jet of red light shot out of the end of her wand and hit one of the rockets. Instead of freezing in midair, it exploded with such force that it blasted a hole in a painting of a soppy-looking witch in the middle of a meadow; she ran for it just in time, reappearing seconds later squashed into the next painting, where a couple of wizards playing cards stood up hastily to make room for her.
"Don't Stun them Filch!" shouted Umbridge angrily, for all the world as though it had been his incantation.
"Right you are, Headmistress," wheezed Filch. He dashed to a nearby cupboard, pulled out a broom and began swatting the fireworks in midair; within seconds the head of the broom was ablaze.
"They're escaping, Filch!" Umbridge yelled.
"All over the school..." Isabella repeated, turning to Morgan and Alex with an evil grin. They smiled back and then dashed away, throwing open doors and letting fireworks into every hallway and classroom. Isabella ushered a few Catherine wheels upstairs and left them on the third floor.
Soon all the members of the DA were helping. Isabella found Neville trying to open a fourth floor door, which a rocket was bumping against hopefully.
"That isn't a door," Isabella told him. "It's only a wall pretending to be one. Come on!" She and Neville helped the rocket into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, leaving it for Umbridge to deal with.
The fireworks continued to burn and to spread all over the school that afternoon. Though they caused plenty of disruption, particularly the firecrackers, the other teachers didn't seem to mind them very much.
Professor Vector seemed supremely unbothered by the sparklers that wrote swear words, which had infiltrated her classroom during their arithmancy class.
"Oh dear," she said, only stopping the lesson when the sparklers moved to the chalkboard and stared to scribble on that. "Miss Waits, would you ming running along to the Headmistress and informing her that we have some rather rude fireworks in our classroom, there's a good girl." When Alex opened the door a green and gold dragon slipped in.
"Truly remarkable," Professor Vector commented, watching the dragon twist and twirl. Then a sparkler collided with the dragon in a huge BANG! Now the dragon spat fiery swear words instead of plain fireballs.
Professor Umbridge arrived, looking hassled. Her perfect hair was out of place and singed in some spots. Isabella wondered whether the rocket she and Neville had put in her classroom had done that.
Umbridge tried to Vanish the fireworks, with the delightful result of nine more swearing dragons erupting in midair and sailing away.
"Thank you," Professor Vector said sincerely. "Now class, turn to page 558 and numerical table number 57."
The last class of the day was Charms, and Isabella could have sworn that Professor Flitwick was intentionally letting in every type of firework the twins had created. When the last one, a large Catherine wheel, whizzed by with a sinister 'wheeeeee', Professor Flitwick finally sent Collin Creevy to fetch the Headmistress.
Umbridge arrived as the final bell was ringing, looking very sooty-faced and dishevelled.
"Thank you so much, Professor!" said Professor Flitwick in his squeaky little voice. "I could have got rid of the sparklers myself, of course, but I wasn't sure whether or not I had the authority." Beaming, he closed his classroom door in her snarling face.
Isabella ran to catch up with Collin Creevy, who was at the far end of the corridor and turning to go down the marble staircase.
"Collin! Hey Collin!" she called. The little Gryffindor boy turned, blushed and dropped all his books. Isabella knelt and helped him collect them. "Listen Collin, can I borrow your camera tonight?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," Collin said shyly, glancing around to make sure his friends were watching him talk to the pretty Italian. He handed her the camera and she accepted it with a big smile, hugging Collin tightly.
That night Isabella sat beside the window of her dorm and snapped photos of the fireworks to send to her cousins. The blazes of the Catherine wheels were brighter against the dark night sky; the rockets shot past like streams of bright unicorn hair; and there were, or course, sparklers resolutely spelling out dirty words. She managed to get a good shot of the only swearing dragon that passed by Ravenclaw tower that night.