"This is a joke, right?" Jake looked between the three Dragon Masters seated at his table in the Great Hall, his hopeful smile dying as none of them responded. "Please tell me this is a joke."
The newspaper popular among the wizards, the Daily Prophet, was clutched in his hands, which were now shaking ever so slightly in rage. The main article in the day's paper was about the toad woman they all despised being given the position of High Inquisitor at the school. Naturally, the article made mention of Dumbledore's supposed senility, citing his many 'eccentric decisions', of which the hosting of the Dragons of Draco Isle was included. Jake couldn't predict exactly what making Umbridge a High Inquisitor would entail, but it left a bad taste in his mouth all the same. He took the opportunity to practice his magic by suspending the black and white garbage in the air and making vicious ripping motions, tearing it to shreds over his empty plate.
"It does not sit well with me either, young dragon, but there is nothing we can do. No good will come from dwelling on it," Lao Shi consoled him, all the while glaring at Umbridge, who was seated up at the head table.
"Dragons Cause Disaster at Quidditch Pitch, yah, convenient that they didn't mention Fred saving a student or anything…" Haley huffed, dragging her fork through her half eaten meal.
"Sensationalist journalism is never accurate, Haley, and is better left ignored than indulged," Sun advised her dreamily.
"It's almost as bad as Magic Weekly…" Jake grumbled, tossing the last of a roll into his mouth. He looked over to the Gryffindor table and saw the usual trio equally irritated, and he was fairly certain he could guess the reason why.
The day went on, however, and before long Jake and Lao Shi were leaving Potions and walking out of the dungeons. Jake had used the period to look through one of Professor Snape's spare potions books, carefully examining the different recipes and noting nearly each one had several differences compared to what Fu had taught him. He desperately wanted to join in with the brewing, though Professor Snape had simply given him a cold stare when he'd asked for permission. Needless to say, he wasn't going to get his claws on any equipment in the near future.
History of Magic had passed in much the same way, most of it revolving around the 1652 Great Goblin Treaty of Bristol, until lunch was upon them. Jake and Lao Shi spent most of it visiting with Nerk, who at this point was being held down in his bed by Dominic. Nerk's insisting shouts of I feel great, just let me go! fell on the deaf ears of his Dragon Master. By the time they'd reached the Great Hall, most of the students were leaving and on their way to their next class. Jake and Lao Shi had brought their own reading material to fill their free hour with and promptly found empty benches to get comfortable in. Jake was lazily flipping through his 'muggle' math textbook, dreading the problems he'd have to complete that night, when a noise from behind startled him.
"I don't think I've read that one…" Hermione commented with interest. Jake reflexively slammed the book shut before turning to her, faking an unassuming toothy smile and making sure his outstretched hand hid the entirety of its cover. Harry and Ron were still gathering their things from their table when she'd come to see him.
"What, this old thing? It's just, you know…" he stalled, desperately trying to think of some plausible explanation that didn't involve algebra.
Hermione just rolled her eyes with a smile before answering for him, "Dragon stuff?"
"Exactly," Jake agreed with a sigh of relief. Harry and Ron were nearly upon them now, having finished collecting their things. "See you guys later in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
Though she knew he was avoiding her questions, Hermione gave him a disappointed smile and left the hall with the other two. Jake turned back to his own work and struggled to keep himself from glancing out of the windows every minute or so. He debated which was worse, his own schoolwork or having to listen to Umbridge's disgustingly sweet voice, deciding by the time they were leaving the hall that he probably should have appreciated his math work slightly more.
They found their enlarged seats in the back and retrieved the old copies of the students' textbooks that Lao Shi had acquired. As the students entered the room, most of them gave the dragons wistful glances, though Jake couldn't help but notice that their motions were filled with intrigue instead of fear. Baby steps, he thought.
Once again, Umbridge had them reading silently from the textbook, Jake deciding to join them in the endeavor given that watching them all read had been fairly dull the previous week. The author almost seemed like he was trying his hardest to bore the snot out of Jake, the actual content about the principles of defensive spells being the only redeeming quality. Yet, once again, he was distracted as Hermione's hand stabbed into the air, drawing Umbridge's sickly attention. She briskly approached Hermione and attempted to whisper their inevitable conversation, Hermione of course being clever enough not to follow suit.
She had tried to strike up an intelligent discussion about the author's beliefs, hoping to draw out the vile woman into a more educational attitude, Jake thought. Her optimism inspired him, though he was unsurprised by the professor's harsh reaction to Hermione's advance, taking five points from Gryffindor for 'pointless disruptions'. What had alarmed him, however, was Harry, once again, interjecting into the conversation. Lao Shi nudged him and raised an eyebrow at Potter's temper, nonverbally asking him well, young dragon?
"Your previous teachers in this subject may have allowed you more license…" Umbridge lectured in her poisonous voice, Harry's body language portraying his mounting fury. Jake was running out of time when an idea came to him. He gave his master a quick nod before turning back to the scene unfolding before them, cracking his knuckles beneath the wool of his cloak.
"Don't you get involved!" Hermione snarled at Harry. He could feel the familiar heat rising through his face, the hatred for the stupid woman in front of him pouring out of his body. He could already barely stand to be in the same room as her after the article in the Daily Prophet that morning, not to mention how she'd treated Professor Trelawney during their Divination class earlier. But for her to act as though she and the Ministry were their salvation, to even try defending Quirrel after what he'd done in their first-year?
He started to loudly rebel against Umbridge, "Oh yeah, Quirrell was a great…" when his glasses jettisoned from the bridge of his nose, crashing to the floor in a spray of broken glass. He was completely baffled, but quickly turned back to Umbridge. Before he could say anything, his chair toppled sideways and he was on the floor next to the remains of his glasses while a few of his classmates fell into giggles.
Umbridge waltzed up to him as he was getting up, a flick of her stubby wand righting the chair and reassembling his glasses. "Were you going to say something, Mr. Potter?" she asked sweetly, looking at him expectantly. Harry opened his mouth, about to take the bait, when a tuft of hair at the base of his neck received a stinging yank. He looked around instinctively while rubbing the spot, meeting Jake's stare at the back of the room. The dragon simply gave him a single, slow shake of his large head.
"…er, no, Professor," he answered, the initial spontaneous rage ebbing as Harry turned to face her and sank back into his seat.
Umbridge eyed the scarred hand that Harry had been rubbing his neck with, a look of immense satisfaction lighting up her powdered face. "There will be no more disruptions. Continue reading until class is dismissed," she instructed, returning to her cozy little desk at the front of the room. Harry chanced a look back at Jake, who was smiling at Lao Shi until he saw Harry watching. He shook a single clawed finger as if to say now now before opening his hand and twisting it around, Harry's head snapping back down to his book while Hermione snorted softly next to him.
"Honestly, Harry, you should be thanking him," Hermione laughed, thinking back to the flying chair as they left the room at the end of the period and headed down the stairs. "You would have gotten another week's detention for sure if Jake hadn't stopped you."
Harry just rolled his eyes as they entered the Great Hall for dinner, getting stopped by a furious Angelina Johnson before they could make it to their table.
"Potter!" she shouted as soon as they entered. Harry had to fight the urge to grab Ron and sprint right out of the hall as she neared. "What's this I hear about you causing trouble with Umbridge?"
"I didn't do a thing!" Harry shot back defensively, "No detention, no points, nothing!" Johnson didn't believe a word of it and turned her deadly stare to Ron, who had already been quivering to begin with.
"Well I mean, he almost got into an argument with her, but Jake stopped him so nothing happened, really…" he mumbled, now shying from Harry's own glare of traitor.
Johnson was her furious self again, wheeling back to Harry. "Potter, get a grip. The last thing we need is to have our Seeker stuck in another week of detention, and the dragons aren't always going to be there to rescue you!"
Harry flinched at that, thinking back to Fred's broken body in the Hospital Wing. Johnson realized what she'd said and immediately backpedaled, "That's not what I meant, and I wasn't talking about…Fred," she finished with wide eyes looking over Harry's shoulder.
The Great Hall had mostly filled by this point and the students were eagerly awaiting their meal when the procession of dragons had entered. Fred was at the front, his cloak undone to reveal his wings bound with gauze around his torso, his left arm in a sling, and his left leg wrapped in thick bandages. He hobbled in with a crutch stuck beneath his left arm and Jake and Haley off to his sides gently supporting him, the three Dragon Masters following close behind. The entire hall had quickly grown still at their entrance, everyone training their eyes on the struggling dragon.
Though Harry wasn't sure if dragons could blush, Fred still managed to shrivel a bit at the overbearing attention and quickly motioned for the others to help him down the aisle to an empty table. They hadn't made it two steps before Professor Dumbledore stood at the head table, his chair scraping against the stone floor. Fred paused as the old wizard watched him with twinkling eyes and slowly began clapping his hands, the sound booming out into the profound silence. Professor McGonagall instantly joined, along with everyone on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Before long the entire hall had erupted into cheers and shouts, the combined applause actually shaking the window panes around them.
Jake looked ecstatic, though Harry could see Fred was uncertain behind his toothy grin. Everyone present had seen his incredible act of sacrifice for the sake of a wizard he barely knew, and they weren't about to let him forget about it any time soon. The dragons eventually found their seats amidst the crowd just as the food appeared on their plates. The meal continued like normal, Harry laughing at the site of the Hufflepuffs near the dragons all clustering as close as they could to talk to Fred, who was proudly displaying a small golden ball he'd pulled out of his loose cloak.
Harry decided it was probably the only Snitch he was glad he hadn't caught.
As always, if you have any opinions or advice (positive or negative), PLEASE review and comment! Any feedback is great feedback, and it lets me know you at least cared enough to respond! This is my first fanfic, so I'll take what I can get.