Disclaimer: I don't own either "Harry Potter" or "Avatar: The Last Airbender."
The Potions classroom wasn't too far off from the Defense classroom. The only pain for Toph was that the Professor was still inside teaching a class. She touched the walls with her bare hands to get an idea of who is inside the classroom. Professor Snape was definitely inside walking around to observe the works of his students. She didn't know which year he was teaching at the moment, but that information is currently irrelevant.
She sat down and layed her back against the cool stone walls. There wasn't much she could do, so while she waited for the bell to ring and for class to dismiss she played around with her meteor bracelet. After morphing the bracelet into different shapes (a star, sphere, and a bowl to name a few), the bell signalled the end of the period. The doors that led to the inside of the dungeon classroom opened and a flood of second or third years made their way out. She waited until there wasn't a single student left inside the classroom before she entered.
The Professor was organizing the potions his students made for an assignment. He noticed Toph as soon as she took a couple steps inside. He didn't stop what he was doing nor did he look towards her direction. "What do you need, Miss Beifong?" He said in a voice that suggests her unwanted presence.
"Got myself into some trouble in Umbridge's class," Toph said as if it were something to be expected. Toph heard the man stop his work. "I don't know what this parchment says, but she wanted me to give it to you."
"I see," he said before taking the folded parchment from the Slytherin girl. He read through the note and reread it once more. He heaved a sigh of disapproval. "What stupid thing did you say or do?"
"I guess whatever the note says," she answered.
He have her a scowl, but of course the girl couldn't see it-clearly. "She says that you have been questioning her and the Ministry excessively and have brought unnecessary topics and concerns that are too morbid for a classroom setting."
"The woman and your stupid government need to do better job at their...well, jobs. Umbridge clearly doesn't like talking about reality," she commented.
Professor Snape ignored her. "You were also found using vulgar language within the classroom."
"Won't deny that."
The Potions Master set the parchment paper down. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to calm himself. "You're an even a bigger troublemaker and headache than Potter and possibly the Weasley twins combined…" he paused. "No, that might be a bit of an exaggeration."
Toph shrugged. "Undercover work isn't my style," said Toph. She received a glare from the Professor. "But you know, as a babysitter, I did my job. Four eyes doesn't know how to keep his emotions at bay and was about to say some reckless things in front of the enemy. I can only guess it would be around the range of this Voldemort-" Professor Snape flinched from the sound of the name. Toph ignored him and continued. "-coming back. I just thought it would be a good idea to draw attention to myself before he does or says anything more stupid than me."
"Both were equally stupid," he mumbled. Toph wanted to make another comment, but held her tongue. She was becoming better at it over the last couple of years, but only when it's needed. She would never allow a filter for Umbridge if she weren't Ministry folk. The Potions Master stopped and stared at the earthbender for a minute as if considering her. "I won't say that your way of doing things was the best way of handling the situation, but I will try to recognize your efforts toward the Potter boy. However, I would advise that from now on to do in a way that doesn't draw attention to yourself. We don't need Umbridge or the Ministry to find the transfer student a threat, but I'm afraid Umbridge is going to be aware of you from now on because of your actions today."
Toph nodded. "Alright, but no promises. I'm not changing my mind when it comes to her class being a bunch of bullshit."
"Language, Beifong," warned the Professor. "This is one of the reasons why I was concerned with your being here. You are blunt, and it won't do you any good in your current situation. Bluntness and personality was bound to draw some unnecessary attention."
"Like I said to you and even the Old Man, undercover work was never my style," she said with an irate tone. "Actual field work is. I can sneak around and stuff, but pretending to be a regular student while not lying about who I really am wasn't something I ever did. I've pretended for years to be someone who I'm not, but even so it was draining to the point I needed an outlet for my stress. I'm not changing who I am."
"I'm not telling you to change who you are, just to be more careful," the Professor explained sternly. "It doesn't matter what you are good at or what you prefer, your job is to guard Potter. Stop complaining and just listen."
"I am Snape." she growled at the Professor. "I am doing my job. There were no rules as to how I did my job, so I did what what first popped in my head."
He shook his exasperated. "This is why I didn't want a child to work alongside us adults."
"I can't believe someone like you is a teacher. Pathetic," she made sure she enunciated the last word as best she could. "Treat your students with more consideration. You don't have to be kind and motherly or whatever crap. Hell, I drive my own students to the ground. Literally. I may have my favorites here and there, but I would always place every one of my students into consideration."
"You, a teacher?" Professor Snape scoffed.
Toph rolled her eyes (something she practiced when she's with Sokka). "Yes, I am a teacher. I taught the Avatar and afterwards built a metalbending school. Do you know why? The feeling of accomplishment when you see your pupil, whom you taught do something and be something amazing because of your hard work overwhelmed me. I wanted to continue feeling that same feeling of accomplishment and pride. That's why I founded a metalbending school to teach those with potential how to be great. Isn't that what every teacher wishes for in their students? To be great?"
No one said anything after that. The Professor was silent and didn't know how to answer the young Slytherin's passion for teaching. He never expected these turn of events. He knew that his actions and bias were frowned upon by much of the staff and at times from Dumbledore, but that was because not many of them gave equal treatment to his Slytherins. It was only Professor McGonagall and a few others were regarded every student as equal. However, now that he thought about Toph's words, was this what she wanted to express her distaste for? Or was it something else?
Ah, I know. "This is about Potter, isn't it?"
Toph nodded. "Disciplining and pointing out their mistakes is one thing, but to do it in a way that destroys a student is low. Even for you. Whatever this boy did to you in the past has nothing to do with the present…" Toph paused. "Or is it that he never did anything in the first place."
The Professor said nothing.
"Wow, you are such a great teacher," she said with blast of sarcasm. "Man, that's just grand. If Potter hates you, then it's pretty much justified."
"You wouldn't understand," he sneered. "His father is exactly like him. From his looks to his arrogant personality."
"Nope. This is just your own narrow mindedness and expectations of being like his father. I don't know what his father did to you in the past, but from what I witnessed this morning, I doubt you had ever looked at Harry Potter as just Harry. Not the Boy Who Lived crap, but just the boy. You can only go by the paper, books, and your bad experiences with his father, but never had you thought of him as just a normal kid.
"Because you wanna know something? He is just another kid. A boy who happens to be named Harry Potter."
Severus Snape once again didn't know what to say. His fists were balled up in frustration and irritation. The girl's unfocused eyes and blunt tone annoyed her. He finally was able to say some words, but they were strained with seething anger. "You have detention with Professor Umbridge every night this week."
Toph blinked. She completely forgot about the annoying woman and her punishment for her. She wondered what her detention would be like. "Uh okay," she said not sure what to say or do.
"Go to the Great Hall. You have already wasted enough of my time today," he hissed.
Toph sighed and had the urge to beat this man to the ground, but she reframed like always. She turned and made her way towards the door. No words left either one of their mouths before the earthbender shut the door behind her.
The stable air around the Great Hall shifted once the earthbender entered. At first no one took notice of her until some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs caught the transfer student from the corner of their eye. The pointing and glances spread to the Gryffindors and Slytherins. The Ravenclaws looked at her curiously. Hufflepuffs considered her, but continued to feel uncomfortable as she was in the House of Snakes. Gryffindors found her fascinating since they heard of the earlier story in Potions class, but continued to have their guard up. Then there were the Slytherins. They either showed signs of indifference and pretended she didn't exist. Toph may not be able to see the expressions of the Slytherins or those of the other houses, but she can sense the overall atmosphere.
That's the thing about being blind, you would have to use all of your other senses to compensate for the lack of sight. That was the case of Toph. She's quite sensitive to these kinds of things as much as Aang was, but of course the earthbender tend to ignore the changes in the air and continue on with life.
Toph didn't mind the change. The only time she mind is if it pose a threat to her. An intent to kill-or maim, both suck. She sat in the same place where she sat during lunch, in the very edge of the table. After eating dinner, she made her way out of the Great Hall to the Slytherin common room. The halls and passageways were quiet and not many loiter around. When she said the password at the common room's entrance, she avoided being bumped into a recently acquainted seventh year.
The older girl jumped and stumbled when she noticed the younger. Books fell out of her arms and only a few were still in her hands. It appeared to surprise Toph when Bailee didn't pay any mind to the books. Instead, the seventh year's eyes widened and looked at her intently before sighing in relief. "You surprised me there, Beifong." She brushed her long auburn hair back behind her ear and began picking up her books.
Toph lend a hand and helped pick up the fallen books on the floor. It surprised the earthbender just how thick the books were. She can only guess that they were about several pages thick while there were a few that had at most a hundred pages.
"Can you come along with me to the library?" Bailee asked.
Toph shrugged. "Sure."
They made their way down the halls to the library with each girl carrying many books in the arms. Both didn't say a thing as they made their way there. After returning the books, they went back to the Slytherin common room. Toph was expecting the way back to be as quiet as the way in, but was mistaken.
"You should be refrain from drawing attention to yourself," Bailee advised sternly. "Word of what happened earlier has made it to all four houses."
"Yeah I know," Toph sighed. She could feel the spike of irritation in her voice as she said those words. She didn't need another tiring argument with another human being. "Snape already said more than enough about that."
"Professor Snape," she corrected her. "I would then like to remind you. Those with differing opinions will have a harder time in Slytherin and I'm afraid it will be worse in the long run."
"I don't give a damn about what those brats have to say about my opinions, Lynwood," Toph spat. "My reputation shouldn't matter in this school. There are only two more years left in this school, right? Shouldn't be a problem."
"That's not what I was referring to," Bailee said calmly, but seriously. They entered the common room and they went to their separate ways to their own rooms. Before Toph was too far from the older Slytherin, she said to the younger in a warning voice, "Professor Umbridge isn't the only one to look out for. Correction-she isn't the one to look out for."
Toph had turned turned her way towards Bailee, but her door to her room was closed shut. There were many things she was getting used to in this unfamiliar setting. There were things she is ignorant of despite being briefed by the Old Man and Professor McGonagall beforehand. Bailee's words to her floated around in her head for the rest of the night.
The first class of the day was Herbology with Professor Sprout once again. She could get used to this class being first thing in the morning since it gave her a way to go outside when the weather was nice and cool. That's until they got into the greenhouse, but that's alright with Toph. They were analyzing some self-fertilizing plants since yesterday was just an overview of certain things with a bit of background information leading up to the next part of study. She was given two sets of five points for Slytherin in this class for her abilities and answering a question in this subject. Professor Sprout was delighted, while the Slytherins gave her disapproving looks. The Ravenclaws replied indifferently or show a hint of curiosity.
Once the first class ended, she found a crowd of students who were either sixth or seventh years crowded around the greenhouse. Toph didn't recognize any of them, and went passed them.
Transfiguration with the Gryffindors was her next class. Malfoy distanced himself from her and acted indifferent, but he would occasionally look behind towards Toph's direction. The kid may be an ignorant spoiled brat, but at least he is continuing his duty like any decent bloke should.
When the Slytherins entered the classroom, Toph made herself comfortable near the front of the class. She may hate the idea of being in the very front, but this teacher is strict. She will need to listen to everything the Professor says.
The Transfiguration Professor began with a short speech on the importance of application, practice, and study when it came to achieving an O.W.L. in this class. Her voice was stern and she looked into every student's eyes expecting all of them to pass. That will only be if they work hard of course. Neville Longbottom didn't think so, but Professor McGonagall says otherwise. From only the first ten minutes of class, she loved this Professor's attitude when it comes to teaching especially after having Snape and Umbridge yesterday.
The task for today was to use a Vanishing spell on a snail. The Professor mentioned that it was easier than a Conjuring spell, a spell that is N.E.W.T. level. Vanishing spells, however are still high in difficulty when it came to the O.W.L.'s. Toph couldn't agree more. The first few attempts were tests and confused wand waving. She couldn't tell if the snail was visible or not since she can't actually see. The Professor had to either shake her head or nod to tell her the result. Even after those few attempts, they were not there. By the third time, Hermione Granger already managed to vanish her snail. Toph ignored the girl's success and continued on with her attempts. She remembered and recited the instructions aloud. What could it be?
She then thought of Hermione's success.
The earthbender shook her head. She is not going to ask help on some stupid transfiguration spell. She could do this all one her own. Toph waved her wand and tried once more. The Professor gave out another shake of the head. Toph groaned. She tried again. And again. And again.
Three shakes.
"Are you serious?" She ran her fingers viciously through her hair. She could feel the disapproving look from the elder woman, but could she honestly blame her? The subject was like a stubborn grandpa-rock hybrid. Old guys tend to be stubborn and too attached to the past to move on and accept the future, and as for the rock...well, all rock was stubborn hag. Accept, rocks only need a shove. Talking or arguing with them isn't necessary. (Thank goodness!)
Thoughts went back to the Gryffindor girl.
She sighed.
Toph got up, grabbed her tray with the snail on it and went to the Gryffindor girl's table. "Hey Granger," Toph greeted to get the girl's attention.
Hermione turned around surprised to see her. Ron glared and Harry looked at her curiously. "What are you doing here?" Ron said in a low growl. Where did the decency on the train go?
Toph ignored him. "Granger, I was wondering if you could help me with the spell," she said through gritted teeth. Oh how much she disliked asking for help.
Hermione blinked. "I-um...well. Okay. Um, are you sure?" she glanced over to the tables filled with glaring Slytherins. "The other Slytherins seem to be…"
Toph frowned. "Just ignore the idiots. Anyways, I just need a demonstration of the vanishing spell and I'll be done here."
"Don't do it Hermione, she's up to something," Ron warned.
"Oh don't be ridiculous Ron, she's just asking for help," Hermione scolded. She looked at Toph and sighed. "Alright, well, take a good look then."
Toph made sure to examine Hermione's wand and hand and its motion. Her words words that left her mouth her also important to hear. Again, the wand motion was simple and the same as her own. The voice was firm like hers, and in the end the spell succeeded and its success was confirmed from the nod of the Professor. Toph wondered what she had done wrong. The motion was the same and spell was, too. Toph thought for a moment.
"Granger," she began. "What is needed to be successful in Transfiguration?"
"Well, you need to know the words of the spell and the simple wand movement, but the wand movement doesn't really do much," the other girl replied.
"Explain?"
"The wand movement isn't what powers the wand in the way Charms is. What powers the wand would be purpose and will. Charms of course needs those two, but all it would need would be confidence. When performing Transfiguration, you need confidence and purpose. Why do you need to vanish the snail. A purpose as simple as wanting to perform the spell is enough, but you need to focus on it," she explained. "Your purpose is what directs your wand movement. The movement is simple in every individual's, but if you look closely, there is a slight difference of movement each time a Transfiguration spell is performed."
Toph nodded. She understood where she was wrong. She had purpose, but she isn't allowing it to direct her wand movement. Professor McGonagall did say that one needs confidence, but she didn't say much about purpose. Maybe the purpose comes naturally that nobody really notices. Toph smiled. She realized that it was a lot like earth bending.
The earthbender got out her wand. She won't care as much about her wand movement anymore. Just let her will guide it for her. The snail is a rock, a stubborn rock. A rock that needs to vanish. Toph made one quick motion with her wand and repeated the spell firmly.
Professor McGonagall nodded.
"You did it!" Hermione clapped. "You really did it Toph! Um...you don't mind if I call you Toph, right?"
Toph shrugged. "Yeah, Toph is fine. Hermione?"
The Gryffindor girl nodded.
In the end, Hermione was awarded ten points for succeeding the spell by her third try with an additional five points for helping another student. Toph was awarded ten points for also succeeding. The points didn't matter to Toph, but she knew that she would be given a lot more points in this class in the future.
Lunch was quite pleasant. Toph asked the Charms Professor about the seating and he didn't seem to mind her sitting with his Ravenclaws. Toph went to sit beside Luna, who was humming while chewing her food. The younger girl was surprised by the earthbender's appearance, but welcomed her all the same. Toph began asking trivial questions about classes, homework, and teachers. Luna answered them simply with an extra part about unusual sounding creatures. One of them she hears a lot from them were nargles. It was weird that Toph didn't mind the small conversation between another person, especially someone she barely knew. She could only think that it's the dreamy voice the younger one possesses.
"Your voice is nice," Toph thought aloud.
"Oh thank you," Luna said. "My mother had always said that to me in the past before she died. Father would say that it calms him and described it to be mellifluous."
"It is. (Whatever that word means.) It's also calm, too. It makes me think that everything is just fine," she says. Not a hint of sarcasm could be heard from Toph. "My friends back home don't have a voice like yours. The closest soothing calming voice would be Iroh's. He's pretty old, but his muscles aren't too shabby."
"Who is Iroh?" the Ravenclaw girl asked curiously.
Toph thought for a moment. "A man who gives good advice and makes great tea."
Luna hummed. She then began asking some questions about her home and what it was like. Toph had to do some major lying in some areas, like the fact that she had to travel around the world in one year just to help fight against the Fire Nation. Other than not mentioning the some very important things, she continued through with her cover story about being rich and being home-schooled (which were obviously true). They continued to converse and eat until the bell rang for the next class to start.
Toph followed behind the familiar fifth year Slytherins to the next class which was Care of Magical Creatures. She was interested in fighting the creatures and seeing how badass they are, but inside she hoped there would be creatures like the badgermoles. Badgermoles made great company and were excellent teachers. Her mind drifted to memories of when she was young and first met those amazing creatures. How are they doing now? She hadn't visited them in years. Last time would be a week before meeting Aang, Sokka, and Katara. After the war, she was busy with building and maintaining her school for metalbenders. On some occasions she would help out one of her friends, but in the end she would find herself back to the school where her students were continuing to train. It was a wonder to Toph of how long it had been since she last seen them.
Her thoughts of the badgermoles were disturbed when she noticed that the Malfoy and his usual company stopped and took their seat while keeping their laughs in the appropriate volume. She hadn't noticed that they were already in the class. Toph payed little attention to what was happening in the class with those Bowtruckles or whatever they are. What interested her was the forest that was so close to where the students are right now. An air of mystery and life could be left by Toph through her feet. She wondered if they would ever be able to go inside the forest.
Would it be similar to the Swamp? She had only been their once because Aang told her of the place having little people living there and it was filled with spirits. The first time she stepped inside the place, it felt amazing. The earth never beated so strongly of life. Toph wanted to know if the forest felt like the Swamp.
Toph raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Beifong was it?" called Professor Grubbly-Plank.
She nodded. "Will we ever be entering the forest over there?" She gestured towards the forest.
"The Forbidden Forest? There are times we do, but of course not often," she answered. "The place is quite dangerous for students like yourselves. That is why unless told otherwise, it is forbidden for students to venture into the forest."
Toph nodded. Dangerous, huh?
Why I wonder...
The earthbender couldn't tell which was more boring: sitting in History of Magic class with Binns or hearing the same annoyances from Umbridge. Both were equally bad and boring to sit through. She ended up sleeping in the ghost's class and had to be shaken awake by none other than Malfoy. She didn't expect the Slytherin boy to wake her up, but she felt than the he understood how uninteresting the class is. He didn't really speak many words after waking her up. It was just some reminders of how this class was last period and that dinner was going to be served. After that, he went on to meet up with the usual Slytherins that follow him around.
Dinner was just as pleasant as lunch with Luna. She silently wished for her to be the History of Magic teacher just to listen to her for a whole class period. The younger girl started by telling about the things she did in Herbology. She told Toph that it was one of her favorite subjects, probably in the top three on her list. The Slytherin girl couldn't agree more and it was nice talking to her about their interest in the subject. The earth and life that surrounded them felt relaxing and...well, magical. Dinner couldn't have been better, but with tea from Iroh. Speaking of tea, Toph asked the girl if there was a tea shop near Hogwarts they could go to.
"A tea shop, hm?" the Ravenclaw girl thought hard. "There may be one in Hogsmeade, but if we can't find one the Three Broomsticks would be the next best thing. Unless you wanted somewhere quiet and relaxing that is."
"That all depends. Back home there used to be this tea shop Iroh owned called the Jasmine Dragon. It was a nice tea shop," she told the girl. Feelings of carefree and happiness filled her as she thought of her friends drinking tea. "My friends come there and laugh like a bunch of idiots. The atmosphere was nice and welcoming."
"It sounds like a nice place to be in," Luna hummed. "The Three Broomsticks I think is louder than the Jasmine Dragon. Maybe when the weekend comes, we can go around and find a nice tea shop. I've only been in one somewhere in Wales during one summer and it was pleasant."
Toph smiled. "Tea is only pleasant with good company," she said and blinked. "Woah I feel like I'm turning into Iroh."
"Is that a bad thing?" Luna asked as she tilted her head to the side.
"Iroh is a cool guy, but he's old."
Luna giggled. "Well in several decades we will, too."
"That's a long time from now and even after that many years, I'm still going to kick butt," she said as she held out her arm and flexed her bicep.
Luna nodded. "And I will continue looking for nargles."
Dinner continued on like this until it was time to head back to the common room. There wasn't much for her to do besides napping and then waking up to relax at her seat. Her homework can't be done on parchment since she can't even write. Reading isn't too much of a problem as long as it's simple. After the war, Sokka encouraged her to learn how to read so that it would be easier to communicate information with her students. There were so many characters to memorize that it was a complete chore. The grammar was pretty easy, just the number of things to memorize was. That must be why she had gotten better with memorizing.
The translation bracelet should be able to make it seem like she is listening, speaking, and reading in her native language. Speaking of the bracelet, she would have to get the spell done again within this week.
Now that she thought about it, wasn't there something she had to do this week? It didn't feel important, but at the same time it was. What did she have to do again? Yesterday she got in an disagreement with Snape during potions. After that would be pissing off that annoying Umbridge woman. That was quite the fun time. After what happened in the classroom, that stupid teacher had her take some note to Snape. "What did that note say again?" Toph thought aloud. Punishment with some pathetic reasons, but what was the punishment again? Detention? "Wait a minute…"
Detention…
"Oh right, detention."
Shit.
She didn't know what time she was supposed to be there, but she better start heading to that classroom before Snape is involved in any of it. Right now Toph was not in the mood to see the Potions Master just yet.
Toph knocked on the door of the Defense classroom a few times before she had to hear the sugary voice of Umbridge telling her to come inside. That girly voice of hers makes her want to puke if she hasn't yet made her point yesterday or the day before. She stood faced towards the earthbender as she entered.
"Good evening, Miss Beifong," the woman greeted.
"Evening," Toph said evenly. "So what's my punishment? Push ups?"
Umbridge shook her head. "Oh no. Giving physical exercises is unfair and complete lunacy. Not everyone is strong and it wouldn't do well for your poor bodies."
Toph could only think that this woman was downright infuriating.
The woman continued. "You will find out what you will be doing for me once you have taken a seat over there." She pointed towards a what it seemed to be a table.
Toph followed to where she was pointing and took a seat. She rested her elbows on the surface and felt a blank parchment. She could feel the blood drain from her face as she knew what she would have to do. Millions of curses flooded her mind and blasted like lightning towards both Umbridge and the parchment lying in front of her. She sincerely hoped the woman paid no mind of her expression-whatever it was. The earthbender thanked her strands of hair that covered at least some of her face.
"You are going to be writing some lines for me if that is okay with you. 'I must know my place.' I suppose it is good that you didn't bring your supplies with you," Umbridge said as she glance at the empty space around the table. "You also don't need any ink. You are going to be using my quill. It's quite special." She gave a feathered quill to Toph.
The quill was long and thin. Toph touched the edge of it and pricked her finger. She could have sworn the woman was smiling down at her when she said, "Careful, Miss Beifong. It's quite...sharp."
There was something Umbridge was not telling her about the quill. Even an idiot could feel like something was strange just by how different from all the other quills the other students and teachers use on a daily basis. Toph touched the sides of the pointed edge carefully. She had to be careful not to cut herself again as she found the edges to be sharp as well. She then tried to imitate the way Sokka hold his writing utensils as best she could. This would be one of the few times in her life she will be writing something down without earthbending the text. She could only hope that Umbridge won't notice and just think that her handwriting was always this terrible.
Toph took a breath and began to write the first word with care.
She flinched.
The pain of something cutting open her skin stung. The cut stung and it felt deeper than when she pricked her finger. She touched the back of her right hand. There wasn't blood, but it was like the skin was in a process of healing. Even though blood was not dripping from the small wound, it smelled of a fresh cut of flesh. Toph could only wonder where the smell of blood was coming from for it was not from her finger. It was fresh and it was close.
The girl continued to write the whole sentence, not caring how fast she was writing. After finishing the sentence, she not only felt the sting of the cutting of her skin, but also the blood that was supposed to be dripping from it. The scent was stronger thankfully and she finally knows where it was coming from. Toph leaned over the parchment to get a good whiff. The smell of her blood was imprinted on the parchment's surface. The quill's point is a dagger. The ink is her blood. Finally, the parchment is her skin.
This Umbridge woman plays sick and crappy games.
Having something cut themselves up and using their blood as ink is quite the twisted punishment. Toph held the urge of getting up out of her seat and heading down the halls to the Old Man while dragging Umbridge behind her. She could do it, but it wouldn't be the best decision at the moment. This person is from the Ministry and because she is a government official, she has the ability to shut her up and make her an example. Umbridge, Fudge, and the rest of this country's stupid government will make sure I shut up whether she is a foreign student or not. They seem to care more about denying the rise of some lunatic than the safety of their own people.
Toph continued writing each sentence as fast as she could and taking a break after the pain has settled. She continued on and on as the quill repeated the process of slice and heal. Slice and heal. She couldn't remember how many times she had to do this. The earthbender couldn't remember how many times she wrote the same sentence while letting the stings from those wounds reopen so many times.
It wasn't before long that the woman decided it was time for this punishment to end. "Come here," she said as she waved her hand over.
Toph placed the quill down. She touched the area of her hand where the quill decided to pick up the blood. The Slytherin girl had to touch the healing skin gently for the surface was tender.
She went up to meet Umbridge, who held out her own hand. "Hand."
The earthbender absolutely hated the touch of his woman. Her stubby fingers full of rings felt cold and disgusting against her hand. She really wanted to knocked this woman out cold.
"Tut, tut, it seems you have yet to learn," said Umbridge as she shook her head. "I suppose that will be okay for now. I will be seeing you once more tomorrow evening. have a good night."
Toph left the room without a straight face without a word getting past her lips. The halls were very quiet and from where she was standing, her footsteps were the only sounds made down the hall. It had be very late for this hall to be so cool and silent. How long did Umbridge keep her in that classroom all to cut herself? All Toph knew is that right now it was late and she needed to get some rest.
She wondered if that woman was serious about keeping her this late at night.
Author's Note:
This took a bit longer than I expected and I apologize, but finals! Finals, man! They are done (for this semester). I'll be starting the next one next week, and man, let me tell you how much I'm not looking forward to it. You can expect slower updates. I apologize in advance.