I do not own Harry Potter. Charlotte Potter is my OC.

Unsettling Discoveries

It came as no surprise when there was a new Ministry Decree plastered to the noticeboard in the Ravenclaw common room the following morning. Charlie read it with a scowl and folded arms, an uneasy feeling welling in her stomach. The decree stated that effective immediately, Dolores Umbridge would become the new Head of Hogwarts following Dumbledore's departure. Though she had expected this, seeing it in writing just made it worse.

All right, Umbridge is Headmistress. It's going to be horrible, but it shouldn't be unbearable.

Or at least, that's what she thought. Then she entered the corridors and was immediately greeted with Umbridge's voice coming from seemingly nowhere, loud and grating and booming.

"Students will not run through the corridors!"

Charlie let out a moan of agony. "I can't take this."

"We'll just have to bear it," said Hermione with a tight expression. "Professor Dumbledore will be back soon enough. There's no way he'd leave us with her for more than a year."

So they walked to their first class of the day, forced to listen to the countless rules spewing from thin air. Charlie didn't know how she was making the announcements happen, but she made a mental note to take care of it if she did happen to find out.

"Students will be eight inches apart at all times!"

"Give me a break," she grumbled.

Throughout the day students came hurrying up to her, asking for details about what happened with Dumbledore and the Minister for Magic. Charlie was at first floored that people actually knew some details of what had happened in Dumbledore's office. She doubted Marietta was in any condition to spill the story, but it had gotten out somehow.

She reluctantly answered people's questions, at least to prevent people from thinking Dumbledore had abandoned them. The only ones she gave the full version to were any members of the DA who happened to ask, especially Ron and Harry. She also made sure to let them know Umbridge didn't have any idea of who was actually in the club, thanks to her burning the list.

Another bit of bad news came her way when she discovered that Draco and Pansy, along with a few other Slytherins, had been chosen by Umbridge to be part of the Inquisitorial Squad. They had been given the power to deduct points, and all Hermione and Charlie could do was stand in the middle of the Entrance Hall and watch the sapphires disappear from Ravenclaw's hourglass.

"Well," said Charlie flatly as the two Snakes filed into the Great Hall, laughing. "This sucks."

"Tell me about it."

Fred and George approached the two girls, each looking rather irritated. "Montague tried to pull that bit on us, but we stuffed him in the Vanishing Cabinet before he could finish his sentence," said Fred with a grim smirk.

Charlie arched an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure it's called a Vanishing Cabinet because whoever steps into it gets sent somewhere else in the castle entirely."

"Who cares?" dismissed George. "Doesn't matter to us anyway."

"What do you mean?" demanded Hermione. "When he gets found, he's going to tell the story and you're going to be in serious trouble!"

"Like we said, it doesn't matter to us." Fred grinned. "We're planning on leaving, anyway."

"Are you serious?" asked Charlie with wide eyes. She knew the twins had been making comments about leaving Hogwarts before the end of their final year, but she didn't really think they'd do it. Not with Mrs. Weasley as their mother.

"Dead serious," confirmed George with a nod. "The only reason we're not gone right now is because we have some stuff to do for Dumbledore. It's because of Umbridge that he's gone, and we're not leaving until we've caused enough chaos to make her consider leaving the castle."

Hermione eyed the twins warily. "Does Ron know about this?"

"Well, he knows we're thinking of leaving," replied Fred. "But he has no idea of what we're planning. In fact, the first phase is about to start pretty soon. I suggest you head off before it all starts." He glanced at Charlie, eyes twinkling. "It's going to be a doozy, and I bet Umbridge would love to pin the blame on the person that's at the top of her hit list."

While Hermione looked torn on what to think about the twins' plans, Charlie smiled in approval. "I can't wait to see this."

"Me either," they said together, snickering. "See you later."

The twins filed into the Great Hall and the two girls were about to follow them when a wheezy voice called, "Potter!"

Muffling a groan, Charlie turned her head to see Filch standing at the bottom of the marble steps. There was a sneer on his face and he was gesturing for her to follow him. "That's my death sentence," she muttered under her breath. "If you don't see me later on today you can probably find me in the Black Lake."

Hermione rolled her eyes and jostled her friend in the shoulder. "Very funny. Go on, then. It's best to get it over with."

Charlie hurried over to Filch and started to follow him. "So…who needs me?" she asked, though she had a pretty good idea.

"The Headmistress," said Filch. "She wants to speak with you."

They climbed the staircase to the first floor. Charlie noted that Filch was in a particularly good mood, or at least his version of a good mood. She knew he enjoyed how Umbridge ran the school, with a tight fist and a determination to squash any rebellion. For a man that has spent quite a long time dealing with mischievous students and Peeves, she supposed she could see why he would gravitate towards her.

Great. Filch and Umbridge. A partnership formed only in my nightmares. Oh, well. At least it's not Voldemort and Umbridge. Then I'd be royally screwed.

They reached Umbridge's office and Filch opened the door. "I've got the Potter girl for you, ma'am."

Umbridge, seated behind her desk, looked up. "Thank you, Argus. Sit down, Potter."

Charlie entered the office, which had become extremely familiar to her, and sat down. She eyed her Firebolt, which was chained to the wall behind the desk along with the Weasley twins' Cleansweeps. Her attention was drawn to the wooden block sitting neatly in front of the woman, which was inscribed with Headmistress in golden letters. She felt a flare of satisfaction that the Head's office had sealed itself when Dumbledore left, not granting Umbridge access. She wasn't sure if she would be able to handle the woman sitting where Dumbledore once sat.

Umbridge finished her writing and looked up with a sweet smile. "Potter, would you like something to drink?"

Um…what?

"Sure," she answered, slightly bewildered.

"Wonderful! Would you like tea, coffee, pumpkin juice or water?"

"Pumpkin juice."

Umbridge waved her wand and a jug of pumpkin juice appeared. She set about pouring it into a glass, her back facing Charlie as she did so. The beverage was placed in front of the Ravenclaw and Umbridge took her seat, her smile even wider.

"Now then, I realize that perhaps my method to getting you to reveal information was…unfair."

It seemed to pain her to utter the word, but her smile remained in place. Charlie warily picked up the glass of pumpkin juice, starting to sense where this conversation was going.

"So I decided that we should have a peaceful discussion. I want you to know that I won't be punishing any of you students for joining Dumbledore's Army. I know Dumbledore most likely coerced you into it, and he's a rather intimidating man. I merely want to know so I can have a talk with these students, letting them see why they were in the wrong."

I can't believe this.

"Drink up," she insisted. "So who was in Dumbledore's Army with you?"

Charlie eyed the glass, suddenly having a very good idea why Umbridge had prepared her drink with her back to her.

Ah. Truth Potion.

Pretending to take a sip, she lowered her glass. "I don't know."

"Take another drink. Surely you must know. You met with a bunch of them at Hog's Head!"

Charlie lifted the glass again, keeping her lips tightly closed so as not to accidentally swallow any of it. "Well, see, that's the thing. I very vaguely remember meeting with the members, but I can't recall any of them. It's as if that part disappeared from my memory," she lied smoothly. "I know I was caught, and I know other people were with me, but I really couldn't tell you who. It's the oddest thing. I probably interact with them on a daily basis and don't even remember they were in the group with me."

Umbridge frowned. "Dumbledore cast a jinx on that list, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Were you the one who set it on fire?"

"No." She took another pretend-drink and put a thoughtful expression on her face. "At least, I don't think so."

"Blast that Dumbledore," growled Umbridge under her breath. "He certainly covered his tracks well enough." In a louder tone, she asked, "Where is Dumbledore?"

Charlie shrugged. "I don't know."

This time, she didn't need to lie. She truly didn't have an inkling of where Dumbledore might be.

Before Umbridge could press, there was a loud explosion from above, making the floor shake. Eyes wide, Umbridge leapt to her feet and pulled out her wand. "Back to lunch with you, Potter!"

She raced out of the room. Charlie made sure she was alone before taking out her own wand and whispering, "Accio Veritaserum!"

A small vial, filled with a clear potion, flew out from the bottom drawer of her desk and into her hand. Charlie hastily dumped it out into the dried-out plant pot near the door along with her pumpkin juice. She pointed the tip of her wand at the opening of the vial and said, "Aguamenti."

A jet of clear water streamed out and filled the vial. Charlie quickly replaced the stopper and set the vial back where it had come from. Here's hoping she doesn't need another vial of Veritaserum anytime soon, she thought.

She hurried from the office and raced down a floor, where she immediately encountered the source of the loud bangs.

Shimmering green and gold dragons weaved through the corridors, streams of fire coming from their mouths. Large, deadly hot pink pinwheels whizzed around, leaving scorch marks on whatever they happened to crash into. Sparklers were writing obscene messages in the air and firecrackers were everywhere, going off at random.

Grinning, Charlie watched the pandemonium with the rest of the crowd that was gathered. Umbridge and Filch stood at one end of the corridor, watching the fantastical fireworks with panicked expressions.

"Argus, we have to do something!" hollered Umbridge. She pointed her wand at one of the fireworks and called, "Stupefy!"

The red blast struck a pinwheel and it exploded, sending sparks flying everywhere. Students ducked and the people in the portraits raced into neighbouring frames to avoid the collision.

"Filch, why did you Stun them?" demanded Umbridge crossly. "Hurry up and find another method!"

Snickering, Charlie watched as Filch fruitlessly tried batting at a nearby purple, smoking bat with a broom. It immediately caught on fire and as Filch frantically tried to put it out the fireworks found a way onto the second floor.

Glancing towards the tapestry that hid a passage, she suddenly had a keen idea of where the Weasley twins would be. She slipped over and entered, finding the two redheads in fits of laughter. "Good one," she praised. "Those are definitely going to be your bestsellers."

"Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-bangs," said Fred joyfully. "We used up our whole stock on this, so we're going to have to start over. But we have a waiting list if you're interested. No charge, of course."

Charlie smiled. "I'll think about it. But I don't think you could get better advertising."

George rubbed his hands together gleefully. "I really hope she tries Vanishing them. They multiply be ten each time you try."

She looked at them in admiration. "You guys rule."

They took a bow. "We certainly do," they chorused.

The fireworks plagued the castle for the rest of the day. The teachers suddenly seemed incapable of dealing with them themselves, so Umbridge found herself racing all over the castle, attempting to deal with the tricky fireworks as best she could. Charlie smirked as she passed by Umbridge at the end of the school day, the woman blackened with soot and looking extremely agitated.

Professors, you rule too.

It seemed that, for once, the Weasley twins only had to worry about punishment from Umbridge. The entire school, with the exception of the Slytherins, was against Umbridge. Flitwick had been right. Dumbledore may have been gone, but that didn't mean the new Headmistress was going to get even a tenth of the respect Dumbledore received.

Night approached and Charlie fell into bed, exhausted and content. She soon fell into slumber, and it wasn't long before a familiar dream filled her mind.

She was walking through the Department of Mysteries again. This time she went through the plain black door with no problems, emerging in the circular room that was lined with more doors. She selected an identical one, having an instinct of where to go, and stepped through.

She was now in a dimly lit room, which was filled with towering shelves that sprawled through the rectangular space. The only sound was mechanical clicking, but she didn't know where it was coming from. On the shelves were hundreds and hundreds of small, dusty, glass spheres.

Great excitement blossomed within her, almost overwhelming her. This was it! One of those glass spheres, that's what she needed! She was finally going to get it, the very thing she'd been searching for—

BOOM!

Charlie jolted upwards with a soft gasp, heart racing in her chest. Her dorm mates were gathered at the window, watching the firework display below with delighted expressions. Hermione was still sleeping, having not been awoken by the loud noise.

The raven-haired girl settled back against her pillows, biting down on her bottom lip. She shouldn't be having these dreams. She should be closing her mind every night before going to sleep so it wouldn't happen. She knew she could block them, if she really tried.

But…she really wanted to know what the weapon was. And she was so close to figuring it out.

…

On her way to her next Occlumency lesson with Snape she ran into Cho. She had not spoken to her fellow Ravenclaw since the DA had gotten busted.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about Marietta," she apologized desperately. "I didn't think she'd ever rat us out. She's a lovely person, really, she was just worried about her mother's job."

Charlie rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I wish she didn't tell. But I can understand why she did."

Relief flooded through Cho. "I knew you'd understand. Everyone else is so mad at her. I mean, I can see why, and even I'm still a bit miffed with her. But I wish they could see why she did what she did."

"If she runs into trouble, let me know," said Charlie. "I think those pimples across her face got the message across. She doesn't need further heckling."

Cho hesitated. "Was the jinx really necessary?"

Charlie nodded. "If Hermione hadn't done it, then we would be in a lot more trouble than what did happen."

"I suppose," said Cho, though it was clear that she still didn't agree with the jinx Hermione had cast on the DA list. "But hey, thanks for looking out for us. I'm sorry you got caught."

She laughed. "Story of my life."

Cho stared at Charlie's scarred hand with guilt. "I'm glad Professor Flitwick got you out of there. You shouldn't have taken the Blood Quill for us."

"I had some time to think about it, and I think that it's fitting."

Cho tilted her head to the side, expression curious. "How do you mean?"

"I've got two great enemies in my life. Both of them hold the same ideals, but they have different methods of achieving what they believe to be the perfect world," explained Charlie. "Vol—, uh, You-Know-Who and Umbridge are the greatest forces I've ever gone up against. I think it's rather fitting that I've been marked by both of them."

"Charlie…" whispered Cho, unable to think of anything else to say.

Charlie smiled. "I'm not bothered, so you shouldn't be. They're both going to go down. Of that, I'll make sure. Listen, I got to go. I'll see you later!"

She hurried off, and Cho watched after, unable to understand how the girl had not gotten in Gryffindor with her amount of bravery and courage.

Charlie made it to the dungeons, where Snape was waiting for her. But they had barely gotten a chance to start when Draco burst in. "Professor Snape! We found—oh…sorry to interrupt."

He was staring at Snape and Charlie with surprise. Snape stared at his Snake with an arched eyebrow. "Forgotten to knock, have we?"

Draco flushed slightly. "Sorry," he muttered.

"What is it, then?"

"It's just that Pansy and I found Montague. He's stuffed in one of the toilets on the fourth floor. Umbridge needs your help. He looks pretty out of it."

"Well then, Miss Potter, it looks like this lesson will have to resume tomorrow evening."

Though Snape didn't specify what 'lesson' she was taking, Draco had no reason to believe otherwise that she was taking extra Potions lessons. His face filled with realization and understanding and he smirked, casting a sneering glance at the annoyed Ravenclaw.

Snape swept from the dungeons, leaving Draco to hover in the doorway. "Some Ravenclaw you are," he taunted.

Charlie sighed. "Oh, go get Montague out of the toilet before someone flushes him."

"Ten points from Ravenclaw," he declared. "And I suggest you learn to watch your tongue!"

He gave his wand a sharp wave and Charlie found herself flying backwards, crashing into Snape's desk. Cackling, Draco took off, shutting the door firmly behind him. Groaning, she wearily grasped for something to help her stand up, her hand clinging to something made of stone. With a grunt she hoisted herself to her feet and realized in horror that she was hanging onto Snape's Pensieve, which he had not gotten the chance to put away before Draco's interruption. The sleeve of her robe was a second away from touching the silvery surface of Snape's thoughts.

"Oh, cr—!"

She was pulled into a cold blackness, spinning wildly until she landed in the middle of the Great Hall. She looked around frantically, staring at the dozens and dozens of students sitting at small wooden desks, writing furiously on pieces of parchments.

She had landed straight in an exam.

"Oh, this is bad," she whimpered. "I need to get out of here."

She happened to turn and notice a teenage Snape sitting behind her, nose half an inch above his parchment. She caught a glance at the exam paper, which read at the very top Defense Against the Darks Arts—Ordinary Wizarding Levels.

Something in her clicked, and she realized if this was Snape in his fifth year, then that meant…

Her eyes darted about and her heart swelled with joy at the sight of her father, sitting a few aisles away. She drifted over to him, studying the face of fifteen-year-old James intently. His eyes were hazel, and his nose was longer, but they both had rather unruly hair and a scrawny body.

James gave a yawn and, making sure Flitwick wasn't looking, turned to grin at someone sitting behind him. Charlie followed his gaze and brightened at the sight of Sirius, sitting four seats away from his best friend. Sirius winked back and lounged back in his seat, his long hair falling gracefully into his eyes.

And a few seats away from Sirius was Remus, who was hunched over his parchment and rereading what he had written. He looked rather pale, which meant a full moon was either approaching or had just passed.

The Marauders, she thought. And where there's Moony, Prongs and Padfoot, there's also…

She didn't have to look too far. Sitting diagonally across from Sirius was Peter Pettigrew, a small boy with mousy hair and a pointed nose. He had a look of confusion on his face as he stared at the exam paper and then at his parchment.

"All right!" called Flitwick, causing Charlie to turn around in surprise. "Time is up! Quills down! I'm going to collect your parchment. Accio!"

A hundred rolls of parchment flew towards the tiny professor, piling into his arms. Now that the exam was over, students were standing up and chatting with their friends, starting to file out of the Great Hall. The Marauders walked casually towards the doors, and Charlie cast a glance towards Snape, who was reading his exam paper as he walked around the tables.

You need to leave now.

She knew she would be in so much trouble if she was caught. But she couldn't bring herself to leave, not yet, not when her father was so close and she hadn't seen her mother.

She followed after James, hoping that she would not have to divert from them. This was Snape's memory, after all.

"So, question five was horrible, wasn't it?" asked Sirius, elbowing Remus with a smirk.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes, extremely," he drawled. "It was rather hard coming up with five ways to identify a werewolf."

"I got three," said Peter anxiously. "You think that'll be enough?"

"Hardly," snorted James. "What's wrong with you? You run around with a werewolf once a month. You should know that off by heart."

"Ease up," chided Remus. "Don't worry, Pete, I'm sure you did fine."

Charlie was relieved to see that, while Snape didn't seem to have a desired path, he unknowingly followed after the Marauders outside. They entered the summer sunlight and walked towards the lake. Snape settled down in the shade of the bushes and the four Gryffindors gathered beneath a beech tree, lounging about in the grass.

She watched as James pulled a quivering Snitch out of his pocket. Sirius stared at it in awe. "Where'd you get that?"

"Took it," he replied with a smirk.

"What, you couldn't get me one?"

James laughed and let go of the Snitch. It flew about a foot away before he snagged it again, his reflexes sharp and accurate. Remus pulled out a textbook and started reading. Peter was watching James play with the Snitch and applauded every time he made a rather difficult catch. Charlie thought that her father would tell Peter to stop, but she noted that James seemed to enjoy the attention. He also kept glancing over at a group of girls gathered at the edge of the water, as if hoping one of them would notice him.

Charlie felt her stomach sink slightly. Okay…so he likes some attention. Doesn't mean that makes him as arrogant as Snape always said, she rationalized to herself.

"Will you quit it?" demanded Sirius after five minutes of Snitch practice. "Seriously, before Pete blows a gasket."

Peter flushed and James stuffed the Snitch into his pocket with a smirk. "Sure. I would hate for you to get jealous."

"Oh, shut up." Sirius stretched lazily with a sigh. "I'm so bored."

Snape stood up then, stuffing his exam paper into his bag and starting off. James noticed him and a slow grin crossed his face. "Well, I think we can fix that."

Sirius followed his gaze and when he spotted Snape, he sat up straight. "Snivellus."

Charlie felt her blood run cold.

The two stood up, though Peter and Remus remained seated. Remus still had his head burrowed in his book, but the crease between his eyebrows told him he knew exactly what was going to happen. Peter looked rather excited, his eyes darting between James and Sirius eagerly.

"Oi, Snivellus!" called James.

Snape immediately whirled around, hand reaching into the sleeve of his robe for his wand, his posture defensive as if he were expecting an attack. But before he could even raise it James said, "Expelliarmus!"

The wand flew from his hand and landed a distance away in the grass. Sirius laughed and raised his own wand with a wide, anticipatory grin. "Impedimenta!"

Snape fell to the ground and struggled, as if he were trapped with invisible ropes. Students that were gathered around the lake turned to watch, and some started to laugh. "What's the matter, Snivellus?" taunted Sirius. "Walking on two left feet?"

The Slytherin started to curse him out, expression murderous. James raised his wand and said, "You ought to watch your tongue. Scourgify!"

Pink bubbles started to stream from Snape's mouth. Charlie felt sick to her stomach. She didn't want to watch this.

"Hey! Potter! Leave him alone!"

James immediately smoothed down his hair, turning around with an easy grin as a girl with dark red hair and emerald green eyes stormed up to him, expression furious. "Hey, Evans."

Charlie felt her heart pound, joy welling within her at the sight of her mother.

"Get away from him!" demanded Lily. "What's he ever done to you?"

"Well, he exists. Does that count?" asked James with a charming smile.

The students laughed and Lily scoffed in disgust. "You're an arrogant git, Potter."

Snape finally regained control of himself, the jinx wearing off. He crawled towards his wand and picked it up. Sirius noticed, but before he could call out a warning Snape already moved, a flash of light sailing towards James and cutting him across the face. Blood dripped onto James' robes and he was quick to retaliate.

Another flash of light later and Snape was hanging upside down the air, his underpants showing. For a very brief instant, Lily looked vaguely amused, but soon the fury returned. "Potter, put him down this instant!"

"Whatever you want, Evans." James waved his wand and Snape crashed to the ground. "You're lucky she's here, Snivellus, looking out for you."

"I don't need help from Mudbloods like her," snarled Snape, glaring at the ground.

Lily's expression turned cold. "Well, I'll be sure to remember that, Snivellus."

While she didn't seem terribly outraged by Snape's insult, James was. Face red with rage he pointed his wand at Snape. "Apologize to her right now!" he roared.

"No, I don't want you to make him apologize!" she hissed, whirling on him. "You're just as horrible as he is, with your hexing anyone who annoys you, and showboating whenever you can. You disgust me, Potter, and I'll never go out with you. So you might as well keep dreaming."

She took off, striding across the grounds with her head lifted high.

"Evans!" cried James. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, and it was clear her words bothered him. "What's the matter with her?"

Sirius, while he looked slightly sympathetic to his friend, was blunt. "She thinks you're an arrogant prick and wants nothing to do with you."

James scowled, turning to glare at Snape, who was struggling to stand. "Whatever. I'll show her. Evans will go out with me, just wait and see."

Filled with fury, he directed it onto his favourite target. Snape was once more in the air, and James sneered, "So who wants to see me take Snivellus' pants off?"

No! I don't want to see this!

Charlie managed to wrench herself out of the memories, appearing on the floor of the dungeons with a gasp of horror. Not wasting a second, she took off and exited out the door, heart pounding in her chest. She feared running into Snape, but she managed to make it to Ravenclaw Tower without an encounter, for which she was relieved. He would know something was wrong, for her face was pale, she was trembling and heartbroken.

She had known her father and Snape hated each other. But she had thought it was just a rivalry, much like the one she held with Draco and Pansy, though she could say for certain she didn't hate them. But after seeing what she did, she was suddenly finding it difficult to feel pride, like she had at all the times anyone compared her to her father.

Now she felt…sick.

Sirius and James had harassed Snape for absolutely no reason, merely because he was there and they were bored. Remus had done nothing, letting it all happen. Wasn't he made a prefect to exercise some control over his friends? Why had he sat around and let them torture Snape?

She didn't know when this rivalry began, or what Snape had perhaps done to the Marauders in turn. Calling Lily a Mudblood was definitely out of line. But as she recalled the cut he had created on her father's cheek, she felt cold when she realized that he had deserved it. What he had done to Snape was cruel and horrible, and it reminded her of the things Dudley used to do to her at school, and what Draco and Pansy did to her on the regular.

She'd spent years believing her parents were wonderful people. While her mother seemed to be a decent person for standing up for Snape, there was no mistaking she loathed James Potter. How on earth did she end up married to him?

As she numbly answered the riddle and filed up the stairs, she couldn't help but wonder in fear if James Potter was everything Snape had ever said he was.