New Headmistress

We arrived just as Umbridge left Hagrid's house and went in after knocking the door.

"I told you, I've—oh, it's you lot. Come on in, I've missed you," he said, as he hugged us and Fang licked us.

"We've missed you too," said Hermione. "Where've you been?"

I frowned when I saw the numerous cuts and dark brusies on Hagrid's face. "Hagrid, what on earth happened to your face? Those look horrible."

"It's not that bad. Really, it's not—OW! That stings, Helena!" he said, as I applied a bottle of healing ointment I'd borrowed from Madame Pomfrey to the wounds.

"It stings because your wounds are infected, now hold still or it'll sting more!" I ordered. Hagrid held still, but looked as if he wanted to protest further. "It's a miracle these aren't more infected, Hagrid!"

"Never thought I'd be told off about my health by a fifth-year," said Hagrid, chuckling.

Ron sniggered. "Well, it could be worse. You could have Madame Pomfrey fussing over you, Hagrid."

"So, where've you been?" asked Cedric. "Why couldn't you send word?"

"Dumbledore sent me to rally with the giants," said Hagrid. "I didn't have an owl with me and I couldn't give away my position with everything that's been happening. Not that hard to find the giants, to be honest. They're hiding up in the mountains. Sad thing is, there's only seventy or eighty left."

"And they hurt you?" asked Hermione.

"Not exactly," said Hagrid. "I gave them Dumbledore's message, but I wasn't the only one trying to get them."

"Death Eaters?" said Ron.

"Exactly. Remember Macnair, Beaky's executioner? He was there."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," I said, as I applied a small bandage to some of the cuts. "Alright, you should be okay now. But if they start hurting or reopen, go straight to Madame Pomfrey, okay?"

"I will, I will, don't fuss so much," he said.

"I'm fussing because you disappeared for nearly six months and turned up looking like you went through a fight!" I snapped.

"Did the mission go a little well, Hagrid?" asked Hermione.

"Afraid not," he admitted. "Macnair won them over after there was some huge squabble between me and one of the other giants."

"At least you tried," said Ron.

"Yeah," said Hagrid. "But there's still a storm coming. It's happening again, just like last time. We'd best be prepared for whatever lies ahead."

It didn't help that there were storm clouds and a chill in the air when he said this. The war was coming and it would come soon.

The next day in the Daily Prophet, there was a report of a breakout in Azkaban after the Dementors left the prison. Ten well-known Death Eaters had escaped and Fudge was, once again, blaming all of this on Sirius.

"Dumbledore warned Fudge that this would happen!" said Hermione, as we went to sit down for breakfast. "Fudge is going to get us all killed because he won't face the truth!"

"Hey, Helena, Cedric!" said Seamus. "I, uh, I wanted to apologize. Even my mum says that the Daily Prophet's account of things doesn't add up. What I'm trying to say is that I believe you both and I'm really, really sorry."

"Thanks," said Cedric.

"Thanks, Seamus," I said, as I hugged him. "Friends?"

"Friends," he said, smiling.

I noticed Neville was quiet when word of Azkaban's breakout hit him. I remembered about his parents and went to talk to him when he showed up for the D.A. meeting a little early. He was gazing at the photograph of his parents he'd taped to the mirror.

"Neville, you okay?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, I'm not. Fourteen years ago, a Death Eater called Bellatrix Lestrange tortured my parents using the Cruciatus Curse until they lost their minds. They wouldn't give in, though. They never did."

"I know," I admitted.

He stared at me. "How-how did you know?"

I sighed. "I was in Dumbledore's Pensieve last year and I saw Karkaroff spill the beans on that. I didn't want to say anything until you said it first. It was your business and I know how it feels to have attention you don't want."

"Thanks, Helena," he said. "I'm quite proud to be their son, but I'm not sure I'm ready for everyone to know just yet."

"I understand. Neville, if your parents were here, I know they'd be really proud of you. You've come so far from your first year here. You're going to keep making them proud, I promise."

Neville said nothing, but just hugged me for a few moments.

That day, we were doing the Patronus Charm in the D.A. Everyone was making some progress, but the best ones were Luna and Cedric. Luna's Patronus was a rabbit and Cedric's was a badger.

"In order for the Patronus to work properly, you need to focus on a very happy memory, the happiest you've ever felt," I said, as I inspected everyone's progress. "A full-fledged Patronus is hard to achieve, but once it's done, you'll have your protection against a Dementor."

"How're we doing?" asked Hermione, as she produced a silver otter.

"You're all doing really well, but you need to keep at it. Don't expect a complete success on your first few tries. It takes a while to master it."

"Says the girl who mastered it in a short space of time and fought off a hundred Dementors at once—twice," said Ron.

"Ron, that was just—what was that?"

A booming noise startled us and we all fell silent. The booming noise came again and part of the wall blew out. Colin Creevy peered through it before I pushed him away when I saw Umbridge and her gang through the hole.

"I'll make short work of this. Bombarda Maxima."

"RUN!" I shouted, as the entire wall blew away and narrowly missed us. Umbridge and her gang quickly rounded us all up and took Ron, Hermione, Cedric and I to Professor Dumbledore's office. Percy Weasley, Shacklebolt and Fudge were among them. Cho was there with large purple pimples stretched across her face and read 'SNEAK.' I smiled at Hermione's spell work and was furious at Cho's betrayal.

"We've been watching them for weeks, Minister. Your fears that the headmaster was conspiring against you have been confirmed. Look at this! They've been calling themselves, Dumbledore's Army," said Umbridge.

I looked at Professor Dumbledore, as his eyes slid over the list of names on the paper. For a moment, I thought he looked touched and saw a glitter of tears in his blue eyes, but it vanished quickly.

"What have you to say, Dumbledore?" said Fudge.

"Well, Cornelius, it's time I come clean. You see, the list doesn't say Potter's Army, it says, Dumbledore's Army. Tonight was the first meeting. I was planning to recruit some of the students. Helena was to be my second-in-command."

I froze as I realized what he was saying. "No, Professor! It was all my idea. You had nothing to do with it!" I yelled.

"It's alright, Helena. It's so good of you to cover my part in this for me, but I must tell the truth," Professor Dumbledore said. "Helena, I am very proud of you."

"I knew you were planning to revolt against me, Albus, and here's the proof!" Fudge yelled. "Shacklebolt, Weasley, arrest him!"

"I'm sorry, Cornelius. If you're expecting me to, oh, what is the phrase? 'Come quietly'? I fear I shall not. I'm not going to Azkaban. I'm not going with you at all."

Fawkes flew over; Professor Dumbledore grabbed Fawkes's feet and disappeared in a flash of fire.

"You may not like him much, Minister," Shacklebolt said. "But you have to admit, Dumbledore's got style."

Fudge and Umbridge, who were red in the face, didn't say anything as we four took the chance to run out of the office.

"This is my fault!" I said when we were outside and near Hagrid's hut. "Dumbledore's gone and why? Because of me!"

"Harry, it was my idea to start the D.A. in the first place!" Hermione said. "You agreed because I insisted on it."

"Dumbledore did what he did of his volition, mate," said Ron. "You didn't know what he was going to do. Besides, the old hag was bound to catch us sooner or later."

"Ron's right, Helena, Dumbledore said he was proud of you and I agree with him," said Cedric. "You were doing the right thing. He and I may not be on best terms right now, but at this moment, I think he did the best thing he could've done to save you. Don't beat yourself up about this. Dumbledore wouldn't want that. He'd want you to continue fighting."

"I hardly know what he'd want anymore," I said, softly.

"Psst!"

Hagrid was on the edge of the Dark Forest and beckoning for us to join him. We followed him into the woods.

"Hagrid, what's going on?" asked Cedric.

"Well, there's something I need to tell you about. I wouldn't be bothering you at all with this, but with Dumbledore gone and me on probation, it's only a matter of time before I get the sack," said Hagrid. "But I just couldn't go without telling someone about Grawp."

"Grawp?" Ron repeated.

We came into view of a gentle-looking giant with torn pants and a torn vest We all stared and slowly backed up.

"This is Grawp," said Hagrid. "I found him in the mountains. He was getting picked on by the other giants for being a runt, only sixteen feet tall. I couldn't just leave him there because he's my brother, well, half-brother."

"And you want us to do what, exactly?" said Hermione.

"Keep him company, maybe teach him English," said Hagrid.

I was suddenly picked up by Grawp, who held me in his enormous hands.

"Grawpy! We talked about this. You do not grab!" said Hagrid. "That's your new friend, Helena."

"Grawp, put me down, please," I said.

Grawp gently put me down and then handed me a bicycle bell, which I rang and made him smile.

"He's not that bad. He's kind of sweet," I said.

"I know," said Hagrid. "The thing is, Grawpy can get his own food, but its company he'll be needing when I'm gone. He can speak a little. Grawpy, say my name."

"Haggar," said Grawp, slowly.

"See?" said Hagrid, proudly. "So, will you do it?"

"Uh, sure, Hagrid, sure," said Cedric.

Ron and Hermione stared at us like we'd just agreed to take care of an angry Horntail before we left the Forest.

Umbridge was made Headmistress of Hogwarts, but Professor Dumbledore's office had locked her out. The D.A. meetings had ceased, but the members still maintained contact, minus Cho. None of us would speak to her after she'd sold us out to Umbridge.

Umbridge only punished me with one of her Blood Quills as Professor Dumbledore had said I was to be his second-in-command. Cedric mended my hand again, but it he couldn't take away my anger towards Cho and Umbridge.

The Inquisitorial Squad was formed, just Slytherins—including Malfoy—who were loyal to Umbridge, and they were given more power than the prefects. More Educational Decrees were formed and she tightened her control over the school. She even tried to force Hagrid to leave by sneaking up on him in the middle of the night before he fought her off with the help of Professor McGonagall, who made it clear that Hagrid was staying put.

The post was being searched, every chimney except for Umbridge's was being watched so I couldn't even risk contacting Sirius anymore. Filch gained more power to dish out punishments to students including whippings—but no one got in his way, thankfully. While Peeves went out of his way to cause plentiful amounts of trouble for Umbridge and Filch and Cedric and I went on little dates, it wasn't enough to ignore what was happening.

With everything that had been happening, plus the stress of passing my O.W.L.s and my tiring Occulumency lessons, I was about ready to burst with frustration and tears. One night, I was about ready to collapse.