For those of you in our facebook group - Bubbleybear & Pienuniek's Story Nook - this news will come as no surprise. But I recently lost a very dear friend to cancer who was also an unofficial Pre-Reader for the Under Her Spell Series. Leonie Price, I miss you, so very much but I hope that you are free from pain, wherever you are.

In her honour, I am dedicating, not only this chapter, but this entire book to her. Her enthusiasm helped me continue to write on many days where I felt ... lost. In fact, one of the last emails she sent me was that she wished that these books had been on the big screen; that they were better than the originals. I know it will never happen, but the thought was enough to encourage me. Please keep her in your thoughts as we continue with this story. Cheers.

I'm so glad that I can finally give you the next in the series. Just know I've already read Book Six and have taken my notes. Now ... I can say that I've started to write!

Thanks must go out to my team. My pre-reader Pienuniek and my Beta Alice's White Rabbit. I would be lost without the pair of you, truly.

I don't own Twilight, or Harry Potter, I'd be a richer person if I did. But I do so love to create my own places for them out in the world. No copyright infringement is intended.

See you at the bottom ...

Chapter Ten ~ Lessons for the OWLs

Bella was able to sleep all through the night, not waking until early the next morning. So early, in fact, that she was up before the sunrise. She quietly made her way downstairs and crawled up onto my lap.

"What's up, my girl?"

She shrugged and snuggled her face into my neck. I just wanted to have a cuddle before the day begins. It's about to get hectic, I think.

"Hmm, I don't doubt that." I hummed as I wrapped my arms around Bella and pulled her in close. My lips falling to the top of her head. "It's going to be another year where we're going to have to fight for our right to study magic."

How hard do you think Professor Umbridge will fight us? How much control will she have?

I sighed, softly. "I have a feeling she'll be much like Lockhart was. She will refuse to teach us. As for the rest of the lessons, I suppose that depends on how long until she has control of just her class or the entire school."

Think it'll get that far? Bella looked up at me.

"I have a feeling that Minister Fudge won't stop until he can discredit Dumbledore completely. And that will include taking this school away from him."

Fantastic.

Bella and I fell quiet after that. What more could we say. Once again, someone was threatening us, our education, and there wasn't a damn thing we could do about it.

Instead of speaking, Bella and I spent the intervening hours making out in our little corner of the Gryffindor Common Room. It was something that we had gotten quite good at over the summer. Spending any small amount of time we had together, practicing. In between make out sessions, I would pull Bella close to me and hold her tight, her head resting over my heart. We were in the middle of one of these cuddle breaks when movement started out over head. The children of Gryffindor were beginning to rise.

Bella and I stayed quiet as they began to move around in the dormitories above. They dressed, making as little noise as possible. They began to migrate down to the common room, waiting on friends, before making their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Most of them ignored Bella and I, but some of them nodded hello. Harry was one of them. He grunted out his hello as he stepped off the stairs.

Harry was going to head downstairs to have breakfast, not waiting for anyone, except he was waylaid by the new Gryffindor quidditch team captain.

"Hey, Angelina," Harry said to her when she stepped in front of him. He tried to take a step to the side to go around her, causing Angelina to do the same thing to stop him.

"Hey, Harry."

Harry tried to go to the other side. But stopped when Angelina did it again. "Uh … what's up?"

"We have quidditch tryouts this Friday. 5 p.m. The whole team needs to be there, and that includes you, Harry."

Harry looked Angelina in the eyes. His brows furrowed. "I had every intention of doing so." Harry tilted his head to the side. "Are you telling every member of the team, or me specifically?"

Angelina sputtered for a moment. She had placed the advertisement on the board last night, but she hadn't planned on speaking to anyone about it, except for Harry. She sighed. "I wasn't going to talk to anyone else. But I know you've had a bad summer. I wanted to make sure things were on board."

"Then maybe ask instead of making demands. I've been at the tryouts every year since I joined the team. I wouldn't miss it."

Angelina nodded. She looked contrite. "Sorry, Harry. I know you're dedicated."

Harry waved it off before inviting her to have breakfast with him to discuss the plan for the year. They left together, chatting her strategies to get the best out of the hopefuls.

"Shall we get going?" Bella asked after a moment. "I want to compare class schedules."

I kissed Bella soundly. "Sure, baby. Let's get ready."

It didn't take us long to get ready and catch up with some of the others on our way down the stairs to the Great Hall. By the time we sat down at the Gryffindor table, we had all pulled out our schedules we had received the night before. We all had a History of Magic lesson—with Jasper—first up before a double lesson of Potions with Snape. Neville and Harry would then head to Divination while Bella and Ginny had Muggle studies. In that same time slot, Hermione and I would have Arithmancy before we would all meet up again for double Defense Against the Dark Arts. The following day, we would have a double lesson of Charms before a double lesson of Transfiguration, all before lunch, then Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. It was going to be a big couple of days.

This year was going to be busy, really busy.

The morning edition of the Prophet was delivered before our breakfast was served. What was funny was that every single student in that hall who'd had the Prophet delivered actually pulled out The Truth before placing The Prophet aside. I could see that Umbridge wasn't happy about it; in fact, I was sure steam was going to be coming out of her ears. If that woman gained the power I was worried about, then I had a feeling The Truth would be banned from entering the school at all.

"So, what's it like taking the OWLs?" Bella asked as she looked at Fred and George.

Fred shrugged while George looked over at us. "It's not as hard as what you're probably thinking."

I frowned in their direction. "What do you mean? We have exams, right?"

Fred nodded. "The Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. They're exams, but they aren't. They're different from what you've had in the past. They're a little more … um, intimate … I suppose is the best way to explain it." We must have looked a little confused because George went on. "The exams for your OWLs will be a one-on-one exam instead of in a group."

I thought about it for a few minutes. "Surely, they aren't completed by the professors here? They wouldn't have enough time on their hands for that."

"Ours weren't," George agreed. "But considering what's been going on with you guys, and what's happening now, who knows."

We were quiet for a few minutes, eating our breakfast, before Harry asked a question that had been plaguing him. "You two"—he pointed at the twins—"seem to be here more as an experiment. What are you doing?"

George shrugged before looking at his brother. Fred studied George before turning and looking at us. "We don't think an academic career is for us."

"We're not even sure that we're going to finish this year. We decided to come back this year for research for our products. If we don't pass, we don't pass," George concluded.

Molly will love that, Bella thought.

"Mmhmm," I hummed. "That will not go well," I whispered to her. "Don't you think your career choice might be better received if you actually finish school?"

Fleur and Gabrielle approached our table, taking a seat to wait while we finished eating our breakfast. They listened to the tail end of our conversation.

Fred and George looked at me, then at Bella, who had tilted her head to the side to show her interest in the question. I could see that they were thinking about my questions seriously and having a conversation between themselves. Fred looked at me. "You think Mum will be more accepting if we finished our schooling?"

Bella snorted. "I think Molly is going to hate whatever you decide to do because it isn't you two working at the ministry. But I think it will be better received if you at least finished."

"Huh," they both said together, but that was all they said. I could tell, though, that they were thinking about what we had said.

"What do you plan on doing when you leave school, Bella?" Gabrielle asked excitedly. "I can't believe I've never asked."

"Ooooh, don't ask her that!" Hermione laughed. "She's got so many ideas that the list is never ending!"

Laughter burst out at Hermione's description. She wasn't wrong though. Bella had so many things she wanted to do, to experience, that her list grew weekly, if not daily.

"It's not never ending," Bella pouted. Chuckling a little when everyone laughed again. "I just don't want to limit myself."

I pulled Bella into my side, kissing her forehead. "Nor should you, my girl. But Gabrielle—and Fleur for that matter—are dying of curiosity. Give them your top three at least."

"Oh, that's easy. Inventor, Professor, and Headmaster of Hogwarts." Bella laughed at the look of shock on Gabrielle and Fleur's faces. "What? I can't be those?"

I chuckled at the girls. Laughing harder when they broke from their stupors and started talking over the top of one another, trying to tell Bella she could do anything she wanted to. Bella laughed at them before holding her hands up. "I thank you for your support. I know that I can be anything I want to be, and those are just the ones at the top of my list."

Fleur nodded, agreeing. "Nice choices, Bella. Zose sound like admirable occupations. I had no idea vat I vanted to be before I changed schools, now I have even less." Fleur looked around at everyone. "Vat about you, Harry?"

"I'm going to be an auror. I want to make sure that what happened to my mother never happens to someone else's."

I reached over to pat Harry's shoulder only to encounter Hermione's. She was already comforting him. "That's very admirable, Harry, and I think you can do it if you put your mind to it."

"There is so much we can do now, Fleur," Gabrielle said, channeling Alice by bouncing up and down in her seat. "What do the rest of you want to do after school?"

Conversation broke out all around. We all had different ideas on what we could be once we finished school. Everything from professor, to journalist, to author. But it was Hermione's politician that stopped everyone talking. We all turned to face her.

"Politician?" Neville asked.

"Uh …" Hermione froze, thinking about how to explain what a politician is.

When she kept coming up blank, I spoke up for her. "A politician is essentially what most of those who work for the ministry are. Those who are ministers for different departments, those who work under the minister."

"Those who help make the laws and change the laws that we live by," Bella piped up. "Right?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Right, sweet girl." I kissed the top of her head.

Fleur tilted her head to the side. What made me chuckle was Gabrielle did the same thing but opposite to the way Fleur did. It placed their heads almost together. It was Fleur who asked the question floating through both of their minds. "Vat do you vant to be zat for?"

"Because I started a group called the Society for the Protection of Elvish Welfare, or S.P.E.W for short. I started this group to find ways to help the house elves get better working conditions …"

"But they don't want to get paid, do they?" Gabrielle interrupted. It was like she couldn't hold it in anymore. We couldn't help but chuckle at her. Gabrielle had been eagerly asking questions since she and her sister joined us over the summer. This was just another instance where her innocence shined through.

"No." Hermione smiled while shaking her head. "But they deserve to be safe when they work. Be treated right and to be respected. When I say I want them to have better working conditions, I mean I want them to be respected for who they are and what they do. But that isn't all I want to do."

"That's a lofty goal," Gabrielle said with awe. I think Hermione had a fan. "But I think it's an admirable one. What more could you want, if that's not all?"

Hermione chuckled a small self-conscious laugh. "I don't want just better working conditions for the house elves, but I want equal rights, fair working conditions, and better treatment of all creatures."

~*~UHS~*~

Edward, look, Bella thought as we stood up from the table to head to History of Magic. I looked down at her, and she tipped her head in the direction across the hall. I wasn't the only one to turn in the direction she was indicating. Fleur, Gabrielle, and Jasper did as well. Esme and Emmett had already left for their duties.

When I followed her direction, I found Umbridge sweet talking Argus Filch.

Is she … ew … Bella's face scrunched up with disgust … flirting with him?

"Argus," Umbridge said sweetly.

"Yes," Filch replied dreamily. He seemed to be eating up the attention she was giving him. He was staring at her with an almost lovesick expression on his face.

Ewww, I heard from all the supernatural creatures who were listening in. I couldn't help but silently chuckle.

"I'm going to need your help," she breathed gently, placing her hand on his arm. "I want to try to keep those filthy half-breeds out of my class. And I think I'm going to need your help keeping them in line. Can you do that?"

Filch nodded. "Sure. I'll do what I can."

I shuddered. This was going to be a bad year if she got her way. "Come on, Bella; let's get to class. I want to know what Jasper thinks of our new teacher."

"Yeah, let's go." Bella reached out for my hand. I weaved my fingers through hers and tugged her away from the table. The others followed along behind us. We paused in the foyer of the Great Hall to say our "see you laters" to Fleur and Gabrielle before heading off to the History of Magic classroom.

We chatted as a group as we walked through the corridors of Hogwarts, meandering along. We eventually found our way to Jasper's classroom. He raised his eyebrow at us because we walked through the door just before the bell rang. Jasper waited a few more minutes as everyone took their seats, Bella sitting between Neville and me.

"Welcome, fifth years, to your first class of the year. Let me welcome you back to Hogwarts. This year is going to be intense. As you know, you're going to have your OWL testing at the end of this year. It's not going to be easy …" for most of you "… for most it will be incredibly difficult. The subject matter will be harder, and the homework just more. And that doesn't even include the testing next June." Jasper looked around, seeing that he had the attention of everyone in the room. He could also feel that most of them were apprehensive at what was to come. "Now, since I have given you the lowdown of how this year will go, let's start on our new topic for History of Magic.

"Welcome to the Giant wars of the nineteenth century." It was at this point in Jasper's speech that he looked at me pointedly. Know anyone who could talk to giants?

I frowned up at him before looking down at my desk to think. There were only two people I knew of who could potentially talk to giants … Hagrid. My head snapped up to stare at the side of Jasper's face. He was studiously ignoring me, but the small smile on his face said it all. Hagrid was taking a leave of absence to hunt down giants, and it was all for the Order.

Dumbledore must have handled that away from our meetings. Why didn't he want us to know? And how did Jasper find out?

After my revelation, I tuned into what Jasper was talking about. For the next hour and a half, Jasper started our introduction to the giant wars. It was a subject that could have been really boring—and we had to study it for an entire year—but with Jasper's usual flair, the boring became something better.

Jasper eventually faced the class head on. "That's it for today, ladies and gentlemen. Let me be the first to give you your first bit of homework." He smiled at the groans that sounded out from around the room. Bella snickered at the slightly evil smile Jasper was giving. "I told you this year was going to be more intense. And I'm going to start you off with eighteen inches of parchment. I want you to find a battle that was recorded in the giant wars and give me a summary. The more relevant the battle, the better the grade. See you later!"

I gave Bella an amused glance as we left Jasper's classroom. All the others around us were grumbling about the amount of homework Jasper just assigned us. It wasn't the size of the parchment—although that was part of it—but it was also because they couldn't just pick a skirmish at random. They were going to have to research them.

Are all students like this? Do they all grumble about homework?

I snickered. "In every school I've been to, sweet girl. Every student, in every school, across the world."

Do they think they can just learn everything in class?

"That's what they hope for." I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "They want to have all the spare time outside of class and only have to do the minimal work inside of it."

Yet still get all the grades? Bella looked up at me.

"Exactly. Teenagers"—I waved my hand around all of our fellow classmates making their way to their mid-morning break—" want to get what they want for the least amount of work possible."

"Yeah, yeah," Harry grumbled. "We're lazy and hate homework. But can you blame us? Eighteen inches of homework! And that's only the beginning."

Neville, Ginny, and surprisingly even Hermione were nodding along with Harry's words. Bella tilted her head, looking over them all. "But how can you learn what you need to if you aren't willing to put in the work? And what are you going to do, Harry, when you're an auror? Are you going to get someone thrown into Azkaban on the first flimsy bit of evidence you can find—or overhear—or will you put in the hours to discover if they truly belong there?

"Or how about you, Hermione? How will you fight to change things for house elves, and other creatures, if you don't study the law? And you, Neville? How will you teach if you don't know the subject matter?"

Their mouths dropped open with Bella's questions. They had never thought about it like that before. Granted, it had crossed Hermione's mind, and she tended to put in more work than the others, but every now and again, she wanted to skate by.

Bella stood straight, reaching out for my hand. "How you run your life now will be how you continue on through adulthood. Remember that. Come on, Edward. I want to catch up with Fleur and Gabrielle before the next class."

"Sure, Bella." We left our friends behind, gaping at our backs. We had given them something to think about at the very least.

We made our way through the castle to where I heard Fleur and Gabrielle talking. We caught up with them and found out that their first day was going well. Fleur was enjoying the more challenging subject matter. Thanks to all of our former-years' books she was able to keep up with everything the professor was saying. Gabrielle had enjoyed her first two lessons with Professor Flitwick in Charms. She had even managed to make some new, tentative friendships with a couple girls in her class.

As we left, Bella asked me, "Do you think the others are upset with us?"

"For what we said?" She nodded to my question. "No. I think it was something they needed to hear. Hopefully, they'll put in the extra effort now."

"And not complain?"

"And not complain. But don't count on that."

"Okay." Bella sighed, leading the way through the crowd to the stairs leading down to the dungeons. "I'm so not looking forward to this lesson. I wonder how unpleasant he can be this year."

I snorted. "Probably more unpleasant than last year. Let's just get this over with."

We made our way quickly down to the dungeons, making it with plenty of time, yet finding the door to Snape's classroom wide open. The man himself was already inside and agitated, even though his thoughts were hidden. Pokey was also in the corner. Even though we'd learned from Fred and George that our professors weren't going to handle the exams, Snape was still going to be monitored. Professor Dumbledore would want to make sure that nothing untoward was going to happen with a ministry official at the school.

Not that Bella and I thought it would make any difference. If anything, Snape's behavior toward Harry and myself might put him in her good books.

"As I'm sure you're aware," Snape began in a bored voice. He was trying to sound indifferent to those around him, but I could see that his thoughts were anything but. He was fascinated by Professor Umbridge and what she might stand for. "This year is your OWLs. I expect all of you to get an Acceptable; I will accept nothing less." He growled at all of us. Showing more emotion than he was before. "If you want to continue on with potions past this year"—He glared around at all of us. Harry, Bella, and myself in particular like he expected us to refuse to take his class any further. If that was the case, I snorted, he was going to be sorely disappointed—"then I will only be accepting the very best for the NEWTs."

Bella and I looked at each other. If our futures were to come to fruition, then we needed to be in the potions NEWT class. That meant we had to make sure that our potions passed with flying colors. Besides, we had plans for next year.

With one final glare sent around the class, Snape spoke again. "This lesson you will be drinking the Draught of Peace. A potion that is used to calm anxiety or soothe agitation." Snape snorted. While he had seen it work on other people, he would never use it on himself. He didn't think he needed it. "If you are too heavy handed with the ingredients you can cause people to slip into a heavy sleep that may be irreversible." With a flick of his wand, a board that had been placed to his left flipped over. "The ingredients and the method are written on the board, follow it to the letter, as this potion is difficult … and very fiddly." With another flick, the cupboard over to the side opened. "The stores are in the usual cupboard. You have an hour and a half to complete this potion. If I don't see light silver vapor coming from your cauldrons with ten minutes to go, you may very well fail."

I pulled a notebook from my bag; instead of just reading over the potion-making process, I decided to take notes and write it down. It would be easier for me to look down at my notebook rather than up to the board. Bella had read over the ingredients and collected all that we would need.

"Thank you, sweet girl," I said as I placed the notebook between us. We worked together better than any team I had ever known.

Welcome, Edward. Bella looked up at me through her lashes before she reached for the first ingredient, Moonstone. It needed to be powdered before it could be added to the well water we had collected from the gargoyle in the corner of the dungeon.

For the next hour and fifteen minutes the class worked quietly, except for the occasional mutter of ingredients or huff of annoyance. Even Bella was quiet, working through the potion quickly but effectively. During this time, Snape was also quiet in both thought and voice. It seemed he had used his occlumency to keep me out, not that he knew that. Pokey kept a close eye on the potion making going on while simultaneously making sure that Snape didn't move to sabotage any potions in the room.

Five minutes later, vapors began pouring from several of the cauldrons. I looked around the room to see that there were several that had light silver—such as Bella, Hermione, and myself—others had a darker silver like Harry, Ginny, and Neville. Then there were others who had vapors in the complete wrong color. Someone even had a pink one! Those who had finished putting our potions together started to bottle them. Bella, Hermione, and I labelled them and handed them off to Pokey, only to turn back and start cleaning up our stations. By the time Snape had turned around, the three of us were making notes or, in my case, working on adjustments to the potion itself.

"Why aren't you three working on your potions?" Snape growled, approaching our stations with anger. Instead of answering him, the three of us pointed in Pokey's direction. "What?" he said as he spun, only to see Pokey already holding our potions in a box at his feet. "Hmph."

He stalked around the class, glowering at the others as they bottled their potions and cleaned their stations, but he didn't growl or demand that they hurry up and get it finished. Once everyone was finished, he spoke. "Now that you all have handed up your, probably less than stellar, potions, I'll give you your homework." Snape smirked. It seemed that he wasn't going to go easy on us either this year. Although, he never had before. "Due on Thursday, I want a twelve-inch parchment on the properties of moonstone, and …" Snape's smirk widened at some of the groans from the others. "And their uses in potion making. Remember … Thursday."

Hermione and the others didn't make that groan of complaint this time. Bella looked at me out of the corner of her eye as she reached for her bag. Think they took what I said to heart.

I reached out for her hand, listening intently. I looked down at her and nodded. It seemed that she was right. I was about to say something when Snape called out from behind us. "Don't forget, this year could make or break any of your career ideas. I reiterate; I will only take the best for my NEWT classes. Make sure you get an outstanding or you won't be accepted."

Our group was quiet as we made our way out of the dungeons and up toward the Great Hall for lunch. Bella was thinking about moonstone; she was excited to do the homework that Snape had set. The others were thinking about what Bella had said earlier. In fact, they couldn't get it off their minds.

"What are you thinking about so hard over there, baby?" Bella giggled to herself at her question. She'd never used a pet name for me—except for Teddy—before, and she thought it felt weird to say.

"Just wondering what other amounts of homework we're going to receive today." I snickered as I listened to the other students of Hogwarts. "It seemed that Snape and Jasper aren't the only ones to set long papers."

"Is it across all year levels?"

"No. Just for the OWL and NEWT students. Ours aren't as big though. It seems the NEWTs are that much tougher."

"Huh," Bella mused. That'll be interesting.

"Mmhmm." I nodded linking her arm around mine.

We made our way to the Gryffindor table, already finding Fleur, Gabrielle, and Luna sitting there waiting for us. If the others were surprised, they didn't say it, and I didn't bother to check. We were quiet as we picked out what we wanted to eat. In fact, nobody spoke until we had all taken a few mouthfuls.

"Bella, I want to thank you," Hermione began. Bella looked up with a frown. "For what you said earlier. You were right. I shouldn't be complaining about homework. If I want to make a difference, I need to be proactive. I need to learn everything I can to help."

Bella opened her mouth to say something but Harry spoke first, causing her to snap her mouth closed. "I want to say sorry too. Bella, you made me think about what I want to do and how I want to do it. You were right about everything. So, I too want to say thank you." Neville just nodded, agreeing with everything.

"That's not to say that we won't complain about it though!" Ginny laughed before she settled. "Both of you were right. I know Bella spoke to you before she spoke to us, and I can understand what you meant. We need to focus and learn all that we can."

"What happened?" Gabrielle asked after watching the conversation happen.

We explained to her Bella's innocent question about students and complaining about homework and what had transpired afterward.

"Oh! I never thought about it like that. I always thought I needed to do as best I could to be all that I could be. Who would want to do anything else?" Gabrielle looked around at the others taking in their expressions. "Huh." She shook her head.

Luna chuckled slowly like she always did. "I would have thought Hermione would have studied hard, at the very least."

"You would think so." I laughed at Hermione's put-out face. "But I guess every now and again, even the most studious of us can have a moment of laziness."

Laughter broke out from our group as we picked up utensils and began to eat once more. We ate before getting up to head to our elective classes. Harry and Neville were off to Divination, a single lesson, while Bella and Ginny were going to Muggle Studies with Esme, and Hermione and I had Arithmancy before moving onto Ancient Runes. We would all come together again for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Well, I hoped we would.

~*~UHS~*~

Instead of meeting at the Defense Against the Dark Arts class room, we all met at the beginning of the serpentine corridor on the third floor. Bella and I wanted witnesses to what we thought was going to happen.

"Enjoy your break, boys?" Hermione asked when Harry and Neville caught up with us.

Harry rolled his eyes while Neville snorted. But it was Neville who answered. "We were reading over the homework we were given in Divination. It's riveting stuff."

Ginny looked at them with a confused look. "How so?"

Harry snickered. "We have to keep a dream diary for a month and use The Dream Oracle to interpret what our dreams mean. I'm not sure she'd want to have interpretations of my dreams."

I snorted, shaking my head. "I think yours are pretty straightforward. I'd love to get Umbridge's interpretation of them."

We were all snickering as we approached the door to the defense classroom, which was open but blocked by our new professor, Umbridge.

"Oh, boy. I'm not sure this is going to go well," I murmured. Bella nodded in agreement.

By the time we all stood in front of Professor Umbridge, our entire group was quiet but staring back at her. I could see from her thoughts that she hadn't expected to come up against us in front of everyone else. The fact that she did was unnerving her a little. It almost caused her to change her mind. Almost. We all watched as she looked over everyone before sneering in our direction ever so slightly.

Umbridge pulled herself up, trying to use her size—and perceived adultness—to intimidate us. "You two will not enter my classroom. I will not be teaching you."

I rolled my eyes, but Bella snorted and sighed. "Not this again."

"Why the hell not?" I asked belligerently. "Professor Dumbledore sees fit to have us learn magic, otherwise we wouldn't be here."

Umbridge's eyes narrowed. She didn't expect me to ask her why. She had expected me to just comply with her demands. "Because this is my classroom. These are my lessons. And I reserve the right to teach those whom I think have the most potential. You two do not."

Bella's and my snorts weren't the only ones that voiced their disagreement. Ours were just the loudest. Bella tilted her head, studying the teacher in front of us. She's afraid of us. It's why she doesn't want us in the classroom. Can you smell the sweat breaking out on her brow?

"Mmhmm," I answered her as quietly as I could. "Would someone with no magical potential have been accepted into the Triwizard tournament?"

Bella smirked, while others snickered, not only was I correct, but Umbridge had no definitive argument for it except to say, "Detention, Mr. Masen, tomorrow night at five. Now you two will leave my presence." With that said, she turned on her heel and made her way into the defense classroom.

Hermione looked up at us. "Like we didn't see that coming."

Bella chuckled. "The refusing us entry to the classroom, yes. The detention, not so much." She looked up at me with a smirk on her face. "Did you mean for that to happen?"

I shook my head, reaching out for her hand. "Completely accidental, I assure you."

There were a few more snickers before the rest of our group made their way inside the classroom. With some deep sighs, Bella and I make our way back the way we came, only to stop short as we made our way around the corner. Standing there, seemingly waiting for us, was Professor McGonagall.

"Come this way," she stated in her normal commanding tone before she, too, spun and walked down the corridor. We followed along behind her as she walked around a couple of corners and up a flight of stairs before she guided us into a classroom that was familiar. "Professor Dumbledore has given you use of this room previously, yes?" We both nodded to her question. "Then this room is yours to use when you can't get into Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Thank you, Professor," we both replied together, giving each other a small smile, which also caused McGonagall to smile herself.

McGonagall nodded before she made her way to the door. "This classroom is yours for the year." We both looked up at her when she spoke, and we continued watching her because we could see she had more to say. "I have a feeling you're going to need it."

With that, Professor McGonagall stepped from the room with a flourish.

"Well, that was ominous," Bella stated.

"She doesn't trust that Umbridge is here for just Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Which means she thinks Umbridge will gain control of the school." Bella sighed.

"Yup. That's exactly what she thinks." I sat down at the table, pulling out the book that Umbridge wanted us to study this year and flipped through it. "This is crap." I threw it on the table. "This is stuff we learned in first year."

Bella picked it up and flipped through it, stopping at a particular page. She read through, then flipped through a few more. "You know what I've noticed about this book?"

I shook my head. "No. What?"

"These are all theory based. There's not one mention of a practical lesson. There will be no practical magic practiced in that classroom."

I groaned. "That's not going to go over well with Hermione. Maybe I should keep an eye on the class?"

"That might be for the best."

So, while Bella flicked through more of the "book" that Umbridge wanted us to read, I listened through both Hermione and Harry. They were both staring at Umbridge as she waited for the students to settle down.

Umbridge took slow, measured steps to the front of the classroom, raising her wand as she did so. She pointed at the board, and as she started speaking, the chalk wrote on the board. "Ordinary wizarding level examinations. O. . More commonly known as Owls. Study hard and you will be rewarded, fail to do so, and the consequences may be severe." All of this was said with a smile on her face. Neville thought she looked a little deranged, and I couldn't help but agree with him.

"Your previous instruction has been disturbingly … lacking; pull out your books, please." Umbridge paused while waiting for the students to grab them from their bags. "You'll be pleased to know that from here on out, you will be following a carefully structured, ministry-approved course of defensive magic."

I couldn't help but groan with Umbridge's words. Bella looked up at me but realized I was listening to our friends.

"Yes?" Umbridge asked as she looked over our classmates.

Hermione, who'd had her hand up, spoke up. "From what I can see, we won't be using defensive spells. Is that right?"

"Using spells? I can't imagine why you'd need to use spells in my classroom," Umbridge said with a disbelieving laugh.

The children were stunned. All thoughts stopped. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. So much so that our quietest member of the group—Ginny—spoke up before she realized that she was doing it. "You mean, we're not going to use magic? At all?"

"You'll be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free environment."

Harry shifted. I could hear in his thoughts that he was gearing up for a fight. "What use is that? If we're going to be attacked, it's not going to be risk free."

"Students will raise their hands when they wish to speak," Umbridge said, turning and walking back to the front of the classroom.

"Umbridge is getting frustrated." I looked at Bella.

"Why?"

"Because the misfits are arguing about how they should be using magic. Learning the spells that they'll be reading about."

Bella snorted, shaking her head. "They aren't wrong. Let me guess … Harry is the most vocal."

"You would be right."

"Here." Bella slid the sixth and seventh-year Defense Against the Dark Arts books. "At least, study while you listen in."

I gave Bella a kiss in thanks as Umbridge started talking again. "It is the view of the ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be enough to get you through your examinations. Which, after all, is what school is all about."

"And how is theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?" Harry demanded.

"There is nothing out there, dear. Who do you think would want to attack children such as yourself?" Umbridge question.

Harry snorted. "I don't know. How about Lord Voldemort?"

Once more, the classroom became silent. You could have heard a pin drop. The other students weren't questioning Harry however. They all spun to look at Professor Umbridge to see what her response was going to be.

I had a look into Umbridge's thoughts. She was beginning to panic; she knew she was losing control of the classroom. Which is why she said what she did next. "Now let me make this quite plain. You have been told that a certain dark wizard is at large. This is a lie!"

Twenty-five children gaped up at the teacher. Not one of them believed a word that was coming out of her mouth. But this was the point where Harry refused to back down. "It's not a lie. I was there. I fought him."

"Detention, Mr. Potter," Umbridge finally snapped. Considering I was still in her thoughts, I could see how angry she was. I could also see what her detention methods were going to be.

"So according to you, Edward and I were attacked by an unknown force. A different dark wizard?" Harry also snapped.

As Harry and Umbridge continued to argue about whether or not Voldemort was, indeed, back, I started to pack up our belongings.

"Edward?" Bella watched me warily. "What's going on?"

"I've got to go and fix Umbridge's detention plans. What she does is akin to torture, but if she tries it with me, none of it will work."

Bella stood and packed up her stuff as well. "You want to make it so that she thinks it's working, but you want to make sure that it doesn't actually hurt anyone."

"Exactly."

"I think Charlie had something like that in his books. I think it was called Magical Implements of Torture; you should check there. Let's go."

I followed Bella out of the door so we could make our way back to the Gryffindor dorm. I didn't know if I had that book in the collection from home, but I'd find a way to fix Umbridge's detention, and she wouldn't even know it.

~*~UHS~*~

It took me a couple hours, but I finally finagled a potion using dragon's blood to create a never-ending ink supply. All I would need to do would be to fill Umbridge's "special quills" with the potion. I would also have to blunt the tips of them without actually making them look blunt.

I came up out of my trunk to see that Bella was where I had left her. She was studying more of the sixth and seventh-year lesson books. It seemed that our plans for next year were full steam ahead.

"All done?" Bella asked without even looking up.

I smirked. "Yep. Did you know that the trunk acts like the room of requirement? Only it's linked to things from home?" Bella shook her head. "It'll certainly make getting things easier. Now, let's get this to Umbridge's office."

"That it will." Bella smiled but reached her right hand out and placed it on a pile of papers. She looked at me with a smirk as I finished climbing out of the trunk. She smirked before she said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

I barked out a laugh as I helped her unfold the map. We both looked it over, scanning it until we located the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"There's the class and her office, but where is Professor Umbridge?" Bella asked as she looked over the map.

I couldn't help the snicker that came out. "This is like a game in the muggle world called 'Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?'"

"What?" Bella laughed. "What in the world is that?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. "Exactly that. It was a computer game and television show in the early nineteen-nineties. You had to travel around the globe investigating where Carmen Sandiego went to." I waved my hand at the map in front of us. "They would have had more luck if they'd had a map just like this one."

"All law enforcement would have better luck catching people if they had a map like this one." Bella snorted, looking back down at the map. "In any case, where is Deloris Umbridge?" She rolled her eyes when I snickered again.

It took us a few minutes, but we eventually located Umbridge as she was making her way along the corridor, heading toward the gargoyle leading to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"If we don't go now, we may not have another chance before our detention at five o'clock," I noted as I pulled out the watch I had in my pocket.

"Then let's get to it." Bella folded the map back up with a "mischief managed" and placed it in her pocket.

We reached for each other's hands after coming out through the portrait to our common room. As we made our way down the stairs, we bumped into Harry, Neville, Ginny, and Hermione.

"Hey, guys, where are you off to?" Ginny asked, stopping on the landing.

"Professor Umbridge," I growled, starting to get a little bit angry at her methods, "has an inventive way of giving us detention. I'm just making sure she can't hurt anyone."

"Like what?" they all asked at the same time.

I pulled us off to the side as some others made their way up to the seventh floor. We all waited before they turned back to me. "Umbridge has some quills that aren't normal. They don't have feathers on the top. They have a spell on them—which I need to alter slightly—that cuts into your skin, using your own blood as the ink. It's akin to any torture device I've seen in the muggle world."

Our friend's mouths dropped open as I was explaining what I had seen in Umbridge's thoughts.

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked because he was going to join me in detention that afternoon.

"Make it so that it makes the mark on our hands, but doesn't actually cut into our skin. I've got the ink, and I'll blunt the tips a little. All we'll have to do is pretend."

Once we were done, the others decided to come with us to foil Umbridge's detention plan. They were going to stand at all different points along corridors and use their thoughts to tell me when she was coming. Bella was going to stand at the door to her classroom. It was on our way down that we ran into one of our new friends—a ghost by the name of Peeves.

"Itty bitty humans, magical Veela, and the big bad vamp! What are you doing sneaking around?" he cackled, floating around us.

I smirked. I had a way to get this poltergeist on our side. "Professor Umbridge wants to take your title, Peeves. She has a way to torture the students in this castle."

Peeves gasped, covering his mouth comically. "Does she do it for fun?"

We all shook our heads in the negative, but it was Bella who answered him. "She does it for control, Peeves. She wants to hurt us. And she's going to use her position in authority to do so. We're doing what we can to stop it, but she might come back while we're trying to do so." She tilted her head at him, adopting this faux innocent expression. "Want to help distract her so we can get it done?"

"Sounds like fun!" Peeves giggled before getting serious. "Besides, nobody tortures Hogwarts students but me!"

The six of us, plus Peeves, made our way through the remaining corridors. As we walked toward the defense classroom, each of our friends would stop off at certain points, with Harry leaving last. He was going to walk past the classroom and go and stand at the other end of the corridor. Peeves, however, was going to make his way up to the seventh floor where the gargoyle for the headmaster's office was located. He wanted to meet up with Umbridge as soon as possible.

Bella reached up and kissed me just as I left her at the door to the classroom. I used my natural speed to unlock Umbridge's office. It took me several moments, even with that speed, to locate where she had hidden those special quills. Once I found them, I was able to replace the ink and blunt the tips just slightly before casting a new spell over them that would make sure that when used, they wouldn't actually hurt someone. The words would come up on their skin, but they wouldn't hurt.

That was the hardest part of the whole thing. It was also the most time consuming because it was several different incantations to make the whole thing work. It's why I needed to have a lookout, or several as the case may be, so I could be warned when Umbridge was coming.

I had just started the spell casting when there was an unholy clatter, manic giggling, and rather girly screaming coming from the seventh floor.

It seems Peeves has already begun his tricks, Bella thought wryly from the door, causing me to snort. I wonder how long he can distract her. How much longer do you need, Edward?

"Not too much longer. A few minutes."

It might be all you've got. I don't think Peeves is blocking her too well.

"Don't worry about it. She's currently being waylaid by Ginny."

Okay then. Get to spell casting.

"Yes, ma'am." I snorted at Bella's snicker but got to doing what she said.

After a few small incantations, and a carefully placed potion or two, the quills were ready to go. And it was a good thing too because Professor Umbridge was about to walk down to the last corner before coming to her office. The plus to that was that Hermione was standing there, and she had a lot of questions to ask her.

"Let's go; let's go!" Bella chanted from the door. "Edward! She's almost here."

"Okay, okay! I'm done." I put things back and raced back to the door, scooping Bella up on my past. I locked the door and sprinted down the hallway toward Hermione. I placed Bella on the ground before we made it. Instead of making a big fuss, Bella and I held hands and casually walked around to see that Hermione was standing in Umbridge's path. She was asking the inanest questions.

"Hey, Bella, Edward," Hermione said cheerfully with a wave. "I found Professor Umbridge. She's been answering all my questions. She's been ever so helpful."

I could hear Bella laughing in her thoughts at the sour expression on the professor's face. But all she said was, "That's wonderful, Hermione. We were just taking a walk around the castle before dinner. Would you care to join us?"

"I am feeling a little hungry. Dinner might be good. Would you like to walk with us, Professor?" Hermione looked up at Umbridge with the most innocent expression on her face, causing Bella to do the same.

I went to hide my smile in Bella's hair but frowned slightly when I heard Umbridge's thoughts. I must have stiffened up a little because Bella noted the change in me. I squeezed her hand to let her know that I would tell her later.

Instead, I listened to this dreadful woman. When I'm in charge, there will be none of this togetherness. There will be rules. Rules will need to be followed. Instead of saying any of that though, Professor Umbridge replied with, "No, thank you. I'll be down for dinner in a while. Mr. Masen, I will see you and Mr. Potter for detention."

"Yes, ma'am. We'll be here. Let's go, girls." I pulled Bella's hand as I walked around the professor, with Hermione following. I waited until we were a few corridors away before I spoke again. "That woman is going to be trouble. But I'll tell you all about it when the others are around."

They both nodded, following my direction. We made it down into the foyer of the castle just as Hermione, Harry, and Neville joined up with us. "Get it done?" they all asked together. With a nod to their question to indicate we should get into the Great Hall.

I looked around to see that Fleur and Gabrielle were waiting on us, so I extended the invitation with a wave of my hand to the Gryffindor table. Fleur nodded and guided Gabrielle to us. Once we were all sitting down, I let out a sigh.

"What's going on in zat head of yours, Edward?" Fleur asked once dinner had appeared on the table.

"We were right. Umbridge isn't just here to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts …" I began, only to get questions fired at me left and right. There were so many of them that if I hadn't been a vampire, I would have missed half of them.

"If you can call what she's doing teaching," Neville interrupted.

"Have you read that book?" Hermione asked. "There is no practical aspect to these lessons."

Harry huffed before crossing his arms. "How are we supposed to pass our exams? Aren't we supposed to show we can actually perform them?"

"And what are you guys going to be doing since she won't allow you in the lessons?" Ginny added in.

Fleur frowned before she asked, "Vat do you mean, you aren't allowed in ze lessons?"

Gabrielle looked like her head was spinning, but she was able to say, "What does that mean for Fleur and me?"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," I said, holding my hands up. The only one who hadn't said anything was Bella, but she knew I would explain if given the chance. "I'll tell you everything, just"—I sighed—"give me a moment. I can't answer all your questions when you're asking them all at once."

There were mumbled versions of apologies before everyone began to eat their dinner. I waited until some of them managed a few bites—myself included—before I began to describe all that I'd heard today. "Like I said before, Umbridge isn't just here to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. She wants power. She wants control, and she's going to look for any opportunity to get it.

"I think both she and Fudge have a plan in place for her to become the headmistress of Hogwarts. Which wouldn't ordinarily be a problem, except for the fact that she has more plans, more rules, than could fill a boat, including making sure that girls and boys are no closer than eight inches."

This time, it was Bella who scoffed. What a load of crap. How does she plan to enforce that kind of rule? I shrugged because I had no idea.

"What is zis about your lessons?" Fleur asked when we'd been quiet for some time.

"She wouldn't let us participate in the lesson. In fact, she kicked us out," Bella stated angrily. "We've been accepted as part of the student body of Hogwarts. We have magical aptitude, but still, she won't allow us entrance. We've been removed from the class for the rest of the year."

"Why?" Gabrielle asked quietly.

I looked at Gabrielle, then over to Fleur and Bella. "Because she doesn't see us as human students. Bella and I, and Fleur even, are seen as creatures. And creatures should not be taught how to use magic."

~*~UHS~*~

So ... Umbridge is a peach, isn't she? I believe she is going up against more than she will ever bargained for. We'll just have to wait and see.

See you in a fortnight!