Chapter 49:
"Oh I almost wish I could see Umbridge's face!" Alicia smirked at breakfast as she tucked into some pancakes covered in chocolate sauce, ice-cream and berries.
"I'll bet you wish you hadn't given up Divination now, don't you, Hermione?" asked Parvati, smirking.
It was a few days after the sacking of Professor Trelawney, and Parvati was curling her eyelashes around her wand and examining the effect in the back of her spoon. They were to have their first lesson with Firenze that morning.
"Not really," said Hermione indifferently, who was reading the Daily Prophet. "I've never really liked horses."
She turned a page of the newspaper, scanning its columns.
"He's not a horse, he's a centaur!" said Lavender, sounding shocked.
"A gorgeous centaur…" sighed Parvati.
"Either way, he's still got four legs," said Hermione coolly. "Anyway, I thought you two were all upset that Trelawney had gone?"
"We are!" Lavender assured her. "We went up to her office to see her, we took her some daffodils — not the honking ones that Sprout's got, nice ones…"
"How is she?" asked Harry.
"Not very good, poor thing," said Lavender sympathetically. "She was crying and saying she'd rather leave the castle forever than stay here if Umbridge is still here, and I don't blame her. Umbridge was horrible to her, wasn't she?"
"I've got a feeling Umbridge has only just started being horrible," said Hermione darkly.
"Impossible," said Ron, who was tucking into a large plate of eggs and bacon. "She can't get any worse than she's been already."
"You mark my words, she's going to want revenge on Dumbledore for appointing a new teacher without consulting her," said Hermione, closing the newspaper. "Especially another part-human. You saw the look on her face when she saw Firenze…"
"She's also going to be pissed Dumbledore still has authority over her. If she could be Headmistress she would be." Alicia added "She'll make another decree to help her with that just you watch."
After breakfast Hermione and Alicia departed for Arithmancy class and Harry and Ron followed Parvati and Lavender into the entrance hall, heading for Divination.
"Tell me everything!" Alicia demanded as she followed Hermione who reached back and pulled her with her. "I almost feel like I'm missing out on something. The centaurs have such a weird way of looking at things, remember?"
"It's still a useless subject."
"But it's still interesting to learn what others think Hermione." Alicia sighed at her.
They moved through Arithmancy and then matched off to their next class where Alicia waited.
"So?" she questioned immediately when Harry and Ron appeared.
"He's not very definite or set on anything." Ron admitted
"Was it a good lesson at least?" Alicia wondered
"Well his classroom has been turned into a forest and he basically said Trelawny's seeing might be right but wastes her time looking at the small things. He said we were in a calm between two wars and that it was to commence again soon but didn't elaborate which is annoying."
Alicia looked at the boy and rose an eyebrow. He noticed.
"What?" he asked
"Elaborate? Why would you need him to elaborate?" Alicia questioned
"What? You know there's a war coming?" Ron asked surprised.
"Oh Ron!" Hermione scolded clearly also as irritated as Alicia. Alicia had dropped her head at Ron's lack of understanding.
"Ron, why is Umbridge in the school?" she asked
"Because Fudge is a git." Ron returned
"And?"
"He thinks Dumbledore's building an army."
"Why does he think Dumbledore's doing that?
"Because he's making arrangements to fight You-Know-Who."
"Right and what does fighting usually lead to?" Alicia asked him.
Ron stared before his mouth dropped open.
"You mean he's talking about a war with You-Know-Who?"
"Are you kidding me?" Alicia complained in frustration, keeping her voice low. "Ron the calm between two wars, there was a war before when Voldemort was around and there'll be one again cause he's back."
"But Dumbledore's stopping him?"
"Dumbledore is trying to stop him Ron, there's a difference and he's limited in his movements because of Fudge and his stupidity. I wouldn't be surprised if that caused a lot of problems in us winning at the beginning." Alicia said "I wouldn't be surprised if some war was going to break out because of it." she frowned. "We all know Voldemort isn't going to give up any time soon so, how else would we stop him?"
Ron looked pale at this. Alicia rolled her eyes.
"He also wanted me to give Hagrid a message." Harry said
"What?"
"The attempts not working, and he would do better to abandon it." Harry replayed and Hermione and Alicia stared at him.
"So what ever it is that's beating him up, he's attempting to work on it in some way…" Alicia sighed "And why he can't tell us about it I have no idea."
Harry didn't have a chance to tell Hagrid the message from Firenze. As March blurred into April and the excitement from The Quibbler had long since died away and Umbridge was still inspecting Care of Magical Creatures lessons. He managed eventually by pretending he'd left his textbook but as he told Ron, Hermione and Alicia, it did not seem to do anything. Nor did Hagrid tell him what was going on.
Meanwhile, as the teachers and Hermione persisted in reminding them, the O.W.L.s were drawing ever nearer. All the fifth years were suffering from stress to some degree, but Hannah Abbott became the first to receive a Calming Draught from Madam Pomfrey after she burst into tears during Herbology and sobbed that she was too stupid to take exams and wanted to leave school now.
Life at Hogwarts would have been extremely unhappy if it had not been for the D.A. meetings. Everyone had progressed so far and Alicia and Harry had laughed about how Umbridge would react when the D.A. members all received outstanding in their Defence Against the Dart Arts O. .
They had finally started work on Patronuses, which everybody had been very keen to practice, though as Harry kept reminding them, producing a Patronus in the middle of a brightly lit classroom when they were not under threat was very different to producing it when confronted by something like a dementor.
"But it also gives you the chance to calm down and find that perfect memory to produce one." Alicia added more happily.
"Yeah Harry, don't be such a killjoy," said Cho brightly, watching her silvery swan-shaped Patronus soar around the Room of Requirement during their last lesson before Easter. "They're so pretty!"
"They're not supposed to be pretty, they're supposed to protect you," said Harry patiently. "What we really need is a boggart or something; that's how I learned, I had to conjure a Patronus while the boggart was pretending to be a dementor —"
"But that would be really scary!" said Lavender, who was shooting puffs of silver vapour out of the end of her wand. "And I still — can't — do it!" she added angrily.
"The only problem would be your memory isn't strong enough." Alicia said "They have to be happy but they also have to very powerful and strong, not just any memory." Alicia explained "Sometimes it doesn't even need to be a memory."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked
"Well, for example, it could be something, like a thought, an idea, a dream that makes you feel overwhelming happiness."
"What do you think about?" Lavender asked her
"My memory is when I found out I had a brother. I was no longer alone in the world, I actually had a family member." Alicia smiled as she turned to Harry "But that of course will be different for you all. And I have no doubt in my mind that I might find something happier some day. Perhaps a wedding day." she smiled and Lavender and Pavarti started giggling.
Neville was having trouble too. His face was screwed up in concentration, but only feeble wisps of silver smoke issued from his wand tip.
"You've got to think of something happy," Harry reminded him.
"I'm trying," said Neville miserably, who was trying so hard his round face was actually shining with sweat.
"Harry, I think I'm doing it!" yelled Seamus, who had been brought along to his first ever D.A. meeting by Dean. "Look — ah — it's gone… But it was definitely something hairy, Harry!"
"Hey progress is happy." Alicia said positively
Hermione's Patronus, a shining silver otter, was gambolling around her.
"They are sort of nice, aren't they?" she said, looking at it fondly.
The door of the Room of Requirement opened and then closed again; Harry looked around to see who had entered, but there did not seem to be anybody there. It was a few moments before he realised that the people close to the door had fallen silent. Next thing they knew, something was tugging at Harry's robes somewhere near the knee. He looked down and saw, to his very great astonishment, Dobby the house-elf peering up at him from beneath his usual eight hats.
"Hi, Dobby!" he said. "What are you — what's wrong?" Alicia moved over to Harry worried all of a sudden and crouched beside the elf.
For the elf's eyes were wide with terror and he was shaking. The members of the D.A. closest to Harry had fallen silent now: Everybody in the room was watching Dobby. The few Patronuses people had managed to conjure faded away into silver mist, leaving the room looking much darker than before.
"Harry Potter, sir…" squeaked the elf, trembling from head to foot, "Harry Potter, sir… Dobby has come to warn you… but the house-elves have been warned not to tell…"
He ran headfirst at the wall: Harry, who had some experience of Dobby's habits of self-punishment, made to seize him, but Dobby merely bounced off the stone, cushioned by his eight hats. Hermione and a few of the other girls let out squeaks of fear and sympathy.
"Don't let him hurt himself." Alicia said strongly
"What's happened, Dobby?" Harry asked, grabbing the elf's tiny arm and holding him away from anything with which he might seek to hurt himself.
"Harry Potter… she… she…"
Dobby hit himself hard on the nose with his free fist: Harry seized that too.
"Who's 'she,' Dobby?"
"Umbridge!" Alicia said instantly and many people looked worried around her. "She knows!" Alicia called very loudly to everyone.
"What about her?" Harry double checked "Dobby — she hasn't found out about this — about us — about the D.A.?"
He read the answer in the elf's stricken face. His hands held fast by Harry, the elf tried to kick himself and fell to the floor.
"Is she coming?" Harry asked quietly.
Dobby let out a howl, and began beating his bare feet hard on the floor. "Yes, Harry Potter, yes!"
Harry straightened up and looked around at the motionless, terrified people gazing at the thrashing elf.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellowed. "RUN!"
They all pelted toward the exit at once, forming a scrum at the door, then people burst through; they could hear them sprinting along the corridors and hoped they had the sense not to try and make it all the way to their dormitories. It was only ten to nine, if they just took refuge in the library or the Owlery, which were both nearer —
"Alicia, Harry, come on!" shrieked Hermione from the centre of the knot of people now fighting to get out.
Harry scooped up Dobby, who was still attempting to do himself serious injury, and ran with the elf in his arms to join the back of the queue.
"Dobby — this is an order — get back down to the kitchen with the other elves, and if she asks you whether you warned me, lie and say no!" said Harry. "And I forbid you to hurt yourself!" he added, dropping the elf as he made it over the threshold at last and slamming the door behind him.
"Thank you, Harry Potter!" squeaked Dobby, and he streaked off.
"Come on Harry!" Alicia demanded as he glanced left and right, the others were all moving so fast that he caught only glimpses of flying heels at either end of the corridor before they vanished.
"Now!" Alicia demanded taking his hand and the two started to run right.
"AAARGH!"
Harry's hand was wrenched from Alicia's and he was suddenly skidding along the floor and past her.
Someone behind him was laughing and Alicia turned around in time to flick her wand and block a jinx with the shielding charm. Malfoy was concealed in a niche beneath an ugly dragon-shaped vase.
"Trip Jinx, Potter!" he said. "Hey, Professor — PROFESSOR! I've got one!" Alicia looked horrified but before she could even think of helping Harry up, Umbridge came bustling around the far corner, breathless but wearing a delighted smile.
"It's him! Ah and Miss Evans! No surprise you'd be together." she said jubilantly at the sight of Harry on the floor. Alicia glared at her. "Excellent, Draco, excellent, oh, very good — fifty points to Slytherin! I'll take him from here… Stand up, Potter!"
Harry got to his feet, glaring at the pair of them. He had never seen Umbridge looking so happy. She seized his arm in a vicelike grip, did the same to Alicia and turned, beaming broadly, to Malfoy. "You hop along and see if you can round up anymore of them, Draco," she said. "Tell the others to look in the library — anybody out of breath — check the bathrooms, Miss Parkinson can do the girls' ones — off you go — and you," she added in her softest, most dangerous voice, as Malfoy walked away. "You two can come with me to the headmaster's office, Potter, Evans."
Alicia and Harry shared a look and both had the same feeling.a