Ninja Wizard V: Order of the Phoenix 05
By David
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and company belong to JK Rowlings.
Author's Notes: These marks '[ ]' indicate Japanese being spoken.
Ninja Wizard V: Order of the Phoenix 05
"Another Year Begins"
Harry sighed as he took his seat in a compartment in one of the rear cars on the Hogwarts Express. It had been one hell of a summer, fighting the DE's, going through a farce of a trial, and dealing with the bad press he had been getting through the Daily Prophet. He had a good idea of who was behind it all but there was no way he could prove it. So he let that go for now. They weren't worth it. Harry had much better things to do like hang out with his friends and fight the DE's. Now he was headed back to Hogwarts for another year. He hoped this year would be a bit better than last year. He would know the moment he walked into the castle. He looked up when Hermione came through the door. Harry immediately noticed the prefect badge on her robe.
"You made prefect," Harry noted. "Always knew you'd get that post."
She sat down next to him. "Thanks Harry," she said. "Miss McGonagall handed it to me herself as she was in my neighborhood to meet up with a potential first year. I went with her to meet the family. Alice is the first in generations to have magic and her parents were concerned about her having magic. I was able to help put their fears to rest."
Harry smiled. "You did good, Hermione."
"I can introduce you to her later. In fact, I could introduce you to the lot of them in a bit and maybe you could give them a quick lecture on Hogwarts," Hermione suggested.
Harry thought about that for a moment and then made up his mind. "Why not? Sounds like fun."
"Good. We could do that in about an hour before arrival," Hermione suggested.
"Even better. So what are you doing for the rest of the ride?" Harry asked.
Hermione sighed. "I've just got out of the prefect's meeting. I've got to walk the train a few times to make sure everything's okay. Just to let you know, Malfoy's been made prefect for Slytherin House."
Harry closed his eyes and let his head go back against the wall behind him. That bit of news he did not need. Malfoy would definitely become a problem.
"Just one more person to avoid," Harry said a moment later.
Hermione rested a hand on his left shoulder. "I know. My only suggestion is to document everything he says and does and report him to McGonagall. If enough complaints about him build up she can rescind his prefect status. He might then learn he can't get away with what he does."
Harry smiled at the thought. "Pass that around. If a lot of us do that, it will make him look like crap."
"I'll do that. Everybody's coming down here so you can have a quick meet to plan for the next year. Ron's on the train, and he's looking for you," Hermione informed him.
Harry scratched his chin and nodded. "Right. I'll have a go at him first and then he can join us. I take it he's passed everyone else?"
"He has, including me. I say give him a chance to prove himself. He's changed for the better, Harry. Dumbledore is right in some respects. You can reform somebody," Hermione stated.
"Provided you intercede before they get any worse," Harry pointed out.
Hermione stood up as somebody knocked on the door. "I agree on that."
She turned to the door and opened it to find Draco Malfoy and his two goons standing there. Draco wore a very nasty smile on his face.
"Something you need, Mr. Malfoy?" Harry asked, closing his eyes. "I am rather tired, having gotten to bed very late last night."
"I suggest you start showing me proper respect, Potter. I am a prefect now and I can and will report you to Professor Snape or Miss McGonagall for any infractions or disrespect committed in my presence, and there's nothing you can do about it!"
"I'm so happy for you, Malfoy. Now kindly do me a favor and take your two boyfriends with you and go somewhere else, like out the back door of the train," Harry said.
"You're just jealous of me being a prefect and you're not," Malfoy accused him.
Harry chuckled. "Jealous of you? Never gonna happen."
Draco growled and stormed off as Harry laughed. "What a wimpy little boy."
Ron showed up at that moment. "What did I miss?"
"Harry putting Malfoy in his place," Hermione told him.
Ron blinked. "Really? How did Harry manage to get him down the toilet?"
"Ron, please don't tempt me," Harry said with a smile. "Malfoy just might enjoy the ride."
The three of them laughed over that and then Hermione turned to walk down to the end of the train. Ron turned to Harry.
"Come on in, Ron. Grab a seat," Harry said. "What's on your mind?"
Ron sat down after closing the door. "Thanks Harry. Just wanted to say thanks for giving me a second chance, even though I don't deserve it."
Harry sat up and opened his eyes. "You deserve it, Ron, for the simple reason that you did see the light after people got through to you. Some people do deserve redemption when they ask for it. The DE's don't due to their unwillingness to change."
"As you may have heard, I have a distant cousin who is very opinioned and I made the mistake of listening to him and it just snowballed from there," Ron said.
"Add to the fact that you were a bit young when you first met the guy and he thought you were the perfect target of his bigotry and got you indoctrinated into it," Harry said.
"He's not around anymore," Ron said. "He got sent to someplace else where he'll be watched and helped for that."
"Good," Harry said. "Now I take it this is the last we'll ever discuss this?"
Ron nodded. "We will. Fred and George told me there's some kind of meeting going on down here?"
Harry smiled. That was the signal he had been waiting for. "There is, and you're invited."
Neville and Luna were the first to arrive, followed by Ginny, with the twins close behind. Hermione slipped in at the last moment, and she sealed the door and checked for listening spells.
"Okay, let's come to order. First item on the table is Ronald Weasley. All those in favor of him joining us say aye, those opposed nay."
The vote was yes.
"Welcome to the New Marauders, Ron. Our purpose is to take the fight to the DE's and to the one we call the Idiot-Who-Must-Be-Named," Harry said.
Ron looked surprised at that. "But I thought you were a part of Dumbledore's group!"
Harry sighed. "He never invited me, Ron. He's still chasing me trying to get me under his thumb. Besides, I have it on good authority that all they do is sit around and talk, no action."
"And you're doing something?" Ron said.
Harry nodded. "We are."
"But that guy in black the papers are saying he's been taking out the DE's left and right, and he's embarrassed Dumbledore a few times," Ron stated. "He's really the one taking out the trash."
Harry smiled at that as the others chuckled. Ron stared at Harry for a few minutes until it all came together in his mind.
"You're the guy in black," Ron said.
Harry leaned forward. "I am, and I know you're ready for that information. Fred and George say you learned the mind arts very well, having tested your mental defenses a few times. A big chess set in your head. Very nice, Ron."
"That's not all I can do!" Ron stated, and a moment later a red fox stood there grinning at them.
Harry leaned forward and scratched Ron behind the ears. The fox sighed and shivered in pleasure.
"Mr. Red," George said suddenly. "That's his Marauder name."
Ron morphed back into his human self. "I like that one. I'll take it."
Harry checked his watch and then leaned back. "Okay. The one thing that needs to be reported is that Malfoy is a prefect. He's already gunning for me so I need to be a lot more alert than usual, and so do the rest of you. He'll be looking for a way to snare one of us up so badly that we'd be in either serious trouble or eliminated. So everybody be careful. Document everything he says and does. If we pile more than enough complaints on him on McGonagall's desk she will have to act on that. Pass that around discretely. George, Fred, any idea who the new instructors are going to be this year? Rumor intelligence has it that McGonagall was unable to find anyone for DADA so the ministry sent her one."
Both of them and Ginny shook their heads no.
"Dad hasn't said anything," Fred responded.
Ginny turned to Harry. "I asked him this morning and he said he didn't know so that leads me to conclude that the ministry is keeping the identity of the DADA instructor a close secret."
Hermione frowned at that. "I don't like the sound of that."
"Neither do I," Harry agreed. "There's nothing we can do right now so we'll just have to wait and see. About the last hour of the trip Hermione and I are going to call all of the newbies together and give them an introduction to Hogwarts, answer questions, and so on. Since this is Friday night, I'm thinking tours around the castle on Saturday."
"Some of us could demonstrate things," Fred offered.
Harry nodded. "I like that idea. Let's do it."
"Too bad nobody did that for us in our first year," Ron grouched.
Hermione sighed. "I agree with Ron. That's why we're doing it now."
"I just hope somebody keeps up the tradition we've started when we leave," Ginny said.
Everybody in the group agreed.
"Okay. Later tonight we can meet in my flat after the Welcoming Feast once we know who this mystery professor is and discuss options. Then we'll discuss other things," Harry said.
The meeting broke up and everyone went in different directions. Ron stayed with Harry and Hermione.
The last hour of the train ride Harry and Hermione went looking for the newbies and got them together in one of the cars that had group seating. Once all of the newbies got settled in they turned their attention to Harry and Hermione.
"Hi, my name is Harry Potter and this lady here is my girlfriend Miss Hermione Granger, and we called this little meet just to welcome all of you to Hogwarts and to answer any questions you might have about Hogwarts," Harry started, and it went from there.
There were a lot of good questions, and Hermione was able to answer nearly all of them while Harry took his share of the questions. The meeting broke up when the voice over the loudspeaker announced Hogwarts in ten minutes. The newbies ran off to get their robes as Harry and Hermione stepped out of the way. A moment later they were alone.
"Were we really like that when we got started here?" Hermione wondered.
Harry had to smile. "We were, and we have grown up some."
"Some of us have," Hermione agreed.
Harry leaned forward and kissed her. "Have I told you that I love you yet today?"
"You just did," Hermione smiled.
"Mind if I do it again?"
Hermione giggled. "You can do it as many times as you wish, kind sir."
"Thank you love," Harry said and kissed her again.
Harry wrapped his arms around her and held her for a few minutes until the train came to a full stop.
"Guys, I hate to break up the mushy stuff but it's time to go," Ron's voice came at them from the door to the rail car.
Harry and Hermione sighed. They kissed again and then let go of each other.
"Back to work," Hermione sighed.
Harry laughed. "Yipper."
They got off the train and began directing the newbies in Hagrid's direction. The half giant beamed when he saw Harry and Hermione helping him out.
"Yeh all right there?" he asked.
Harry grinned up at his friend. "Doing just fine, Hagrid. We'll come see you later."
"Good, an' I'll have me best tea waitin' for yeh both," he said, and then turned to the first years. "Okay you lot, into the boats, four to a boat."
The kids cheered and began getting in. Harry grinned at the memory of his first night here came back. He turned to Hermione and offered his right hand to her.
"Thinking about that first night here, Harry?" she asked him.
Harry smiled. "Yeah. It is something I'll never ever forget. Number two on the list of best memories."
"What's number one?" Hermione asked Harry.
"The first time we kissed in the hospital wing," Harry grinned as he led her up to a cart.
They got in and the door closed. Hermione leaned into him.
"Can never forget that," she said.
The cart set off towards Hogwarts, taking the scenic route. It was obvious it had been raining because everything was wet and the air smelled like fresh pine from the wet trees. It wasn't long before the castle came into view. Just like the first night every window was lit up brilliantly with torchlight. Harry gazed at the view before him and decided he was going to deposit the memory into his pensive and make a photo from it. It was simply an amazing sight.
Harry and Hermione walked in, Hermione on his arm. Harry escorted her to the Gryffindor table and left her there. He went to his usual spot at the foot of the Ravenclaw table and sat down. He glanced up at the head table and Flitwick nodded to him. Harry looked at the other teachers and staff looking for a new face. Snape as usual glared at him and Harry had to smile at that. Snape was being his usual self. Dumbledork nodded to Harry and Harry gave him a slight nod. They were acknowledging each other and that was good enough for now. McGonagall in her center seat favored him with a smile. Harry returned the smile and a bow of his head. He kept looking at the people up at the high table until he got to the one face he never expected: Umbridge.
"Oh Merlin, not her!" Harry slapped his face.
He knew deep down in his heart she was going to be trouble. A lot of questions went through his head, all of them speculating. Did she fall out of favor at the ministry? Was she here to spy on him? Was she here to disrupt Hogwarts? Was she to try and put the Dumbledork back into power? Harry could only guess. He glanced over at Hermione and she looked like she was trying to read Umbridge's mind. Harry decided to have Hermione do a bit of research on the woman in the next few days to see what she could find out. That might give them a clue to her line of thinking. Harry knew from having observed her at the trial she was gunning for the minister's job from the way she was looking at Fudge. Harry decided to observe her during the Welcoming Feast. Perhaps she would make some kind of speech in which she would reveal her plan to the school. Harry dismissed that thought immediately. She wasn't that stupid. He turned his attention to McGonagall when she stood up. The hall went quiet as she stood at the podium with clasped hands in front of her resting on the podium.
"To all of you I say welcome back to Hogwarts!" she stated, getting a round of applause.
McGonagall continued. "In a moment the first years will enter the hall to be sorted. Please make them welcome. I was informed by a number of people that Mr. Potter and Miss Granger had taken it upon themselves to meet with the first years and give them an introduction to Hogwarts. Both of them have earned twenty points each for doing so. Mr. Potter, do you intend to lead them on tours around Hogwarts tomorrow?"
Harry rose and faced her. "If it pleases the Lady McGonagall I shall."
"It does, and we will announce that before the end of the feast," McGonagall said.
Harry took his seat and she continued. "The first years will now enter."
The hall broke out into polite applause as the first years entered the hall and walked down the center aisle to the front. Madame Hootch, the flying instructor, entered stage left with the three legged stool and placed the sorting hat on the top of it and stepped back. She looked down at the first years.
"After the hat sings to us, I will call your name. You come up, sit on the stool, and place the hat on your head. It will look inside of you to see what you're made up of and choose which house you are to go to," she said and then stepped back.
A moment later the hat came to life and looked around the room at everybody, and then looked down at the first years. He smiled at them.
"Oh goody, fresh meat," he said, cracking up everybody. "Now listen up!"
McGonagall just sighed as the hat began to rhyme in time his new song. The first years perked up and clapped along and then a moment later the rest of the hall joined in. The hat finished a moment later and then bowed as the hall applauded. Hootch slid forward with the list of names in her hand. The hall went quiet as she glared at everybody. Harry wondered if she ever clashed with Snape, and if she did, who won the fight. Harry would have put money on her immediately. He observed Umbridge during the sorting. She looked like she was observing everybody and Harry wondered just what she was thinking. Whatever it was Harry was sure she was up to no good. He turned his attention back to the sorting and smiled each time Ravenclaw gained a newbie. Right after the last newbie was sorted, McGonagall stood up and the hall went silent once more.
"Now that the first years have been sorted, let the feast begin!" she declared, and in moments the food appeared on the tables, the first years reacting in delight.
Harry had to smile as he remembered his reaction the first time that happened to him the first night he was here. Some things never changed. Harry looked over the choices in front of him and started in on salad, and then moved on to steak, potato, corn on the cob, and finished off with a slice of chocolate cake. He knew he was putting an extra hard work out in the morning. As he ate, he listened to the talk going on around him, and it seemed like nobody was concerned about Umbridge being here. Somehow he had the feeling that she would be the start to what was to come. Harry hoped not.
The hall grew silent as McGonagall rose once more. Harry turned his attention to her and glanced at Umbridge as he did so. She had a slight smile on her face and Harry wondered what she was going to do.
"Thank you for your attention," McGonagall began. "I do have a few things to say. First off the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all. I say that because of what lurks in there. We know very little of what kind of creatures lives in the forest, and they are dangerous or not. If one of you should go in there, it would be very easy for you to get lost in there. That is why it is forbidden to go in there, ever."
The hall was silent as she let that sink in.
"Second, I am pleased in inform you all that Professor Grubbly-Plank is returning to teach Care of Magical Creatures for another year. I would like to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," McGonagall stated.
Polite applause greeted that announcement. Harry glanced up at the high table as he set down his cup of tea. He blinked in surprise as Umbridge stood up. Nobody had ever done that before. He watched as she came around the high table and smiled sweetly at McGonagall. McGonagall did not look happy.
"Thank you for those wonderful words of welcome!" Umbridge gushed happily.
Harry could almost feel his blood sugar levels go up at the sweet, sugary words. He glanced over at Hermione and she looked pissed off. One thing Harry had learned long ago was that you never pissed off Hermione. McGonagall took a step back as Umbridge turned to face the hall. He had a bad feeling down deep in his gut telling him to run like hell.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born with may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding Community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching," Umbridge stated.
Harry didn't see anything wrong with that. He approved of what she had said so far and it seemed to him that even McGonagall approved of what she said so far.
"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"
Harry noticed that people were losing interest in the speech. He observed people whispering to each other. Up at the high table Hagrid was nodding off. Snape looked bored. McGonagall was tapping her right toe. Dumbledork was calm, but the look in his eyes suggested anything but. Harry glanced over at Hermione, and she was listening.
"… because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited," she said loftily, and then went to sit down.
People suddenly snapped to and gave up a bit of applause. Harry scratched his chin for a moment and then glanced over at Hermione. She was definitely pissed off. Harry nodded and then gave the signal for an emergency meeting in his private flat. He knew that this year was not going to be fun. At all.
Dumbledore sat back and quietly analyzed what Umbridge had just said. He stood up and bowed to McGonagall and she nodded back to him. Dumbledore then left the high table and went behind the backdrop to a small door that went into a long hall. He slowly walked down the hall, his hands behind his back, as he tried to make sense of what Umbridge had just said. He was aware of the arguments that McGonagall had with Fudge in the weeks prior to the start of term, she had appeared in his quarters a few times to vent her frustration. Dumbledore had offered her tea in an effort to calm her, which had done no good. Dumbledore emerged into the main foyer of the castle and then climbed the stairs to his quarters inside the History of Magic classroom. He sat down in his squishy recliner after pouring out a glass of fifteen year old scotch. He raised the glass and considered the amber colored liquid inside his glass as his mind slowly worked out what it was that Umbridge had been trying to say. All he felt at the moment was that she was up to something, and he wondered if she had browbeaten Fudge into going along with it. One thing was becoming clear to him, and that was the fact that Umbridge was becoming a very dangerous person to have there at Hogwarts. He sipped the scotch slowly as he turned the problem of what to do with the woman over in his mind. He knew history was littered with people like her, and somewhere, someplace, someone had come up with a solution to deal with problem people like her. Dumbledore slowly smiled as he hit on what he thought was the solution. He would concentrate his instruction on people who overcame great odds, and hoped that Harry would get the message he would be trying to send. He certainly knew Miss Granger would. By flying Harry at Umbridge, he would be looking for the perfect opening he needed to get the boy back under his control.
Once the hall was dismissed, Harry began looking for Hermione. He did run into a very happy hyperactive house elf named Dobby.
"Master Harry!" Dobby beamed. "A message for you!"
He handed Harry a bit of parchment and then disappeared. Harry stepped off to the side and read it.
"Lord Potter, it appears that you will have to stay in your private flat again this year. The situation within Ravenclaw House has not been settled as of yet. Flitwick," Harry read to himself.
Harry sighed. That would explain the very unfriendly looks he had gotten when he sat down at the far end of the house table. Harry turned and headed up the stairs, following the crowd until he got to the third floor landing and stepped into the small foyer area where a number of classrooms were. Harry leaned up against the wall observing things for a moment until he was sure nobody was paying attention. He went to the hall just around the corner from the boy's room and went down it until he got to the picture of Tomotsu Miyamoto. The old samurai opened the large painting the size of a door into the private flat that Harry called his home when not at the Doghouse or Potter House.
[Harry, welcome back,] Miyamoto said.
Harry smiled. [Good to see you. I have friends coming.]
[I will be looking out for them,] Miyamoto said.
Harry sighed and went to the couch where his pack was. He began unloading things from the pack and putting them away. His four level trunk went against the wall in his bedroom. His swords went into the stand on top of a black lacquered table in the living room. He hung some of his Japanese art on the walls of the living room, kitchen, and the bedroom. Dobby popped up with a load of snacks and drinks for the meeting and then popped away. Hermione was the first to arrive, bringing Ron with her. Then it was the twins with Ginny, followed by Neville and Luna. Harry offered up the drinks and the snacks, taking a cup of tea for himself. He sat down on his two seater couch, Hermione sitting down to the right of him. The others took their usual places. Ron sat down in a blue beanbag. Harry opened the meeting.
"Did anyone hear her speech?" Harry asked.
"Put me to sleep," Ron said.
Neville shook his head. "Boring!"
"Sorry Harry, we were planning some new thing," Fred stated.
Luna sighed. "The ministry is making an attempt to take over Hogwarts through her."
"You caught that?" Hermione asked in surprise.
Neville looked at Luna. "You think so?"
"In so many words, yes. Daddy and I have heard rumors for ages that Fudge hated Dumbledore because he is afraid that Dumbledore is going to try and take over," Luna informed them.
"Well I don't know about that bit but that's what I got out of the speech," Hermione spoke up. "She's here to try and cause dissention, and by doing that, give the ministry opportunity to come in and take control of Hogwarts."
"Wasn't Hogwarts created first?" Ron piped up. "The Wizengamot came much later."
Hermione nodded. "It was, by the four Founders. That really was the first organization in the Wizarding World, someplace in the 9th or the 10th centuries. The Ministry of Magic didn't happen until 1707, with the Wizengamot a little bit thereafter."
"So Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic are completely separate, nothing to do with each other," George stated.
"So what gives the ministry the right to poke their tiny noses in Hogwarts business?" Ginny wanted to know.
"To prove that they can get away with anything?" Ron asked.
Harry smiled. "That's it, right there."
"If I may," Miyamoto spoke up.
Everyone turned to look at the old samurai leaning back in his chair with a cup of sake.
"Back in my day there were lords and those in power who thought that they were beyond approach, that they could get away with anything. They upset the natural order of things. Now understand that there are those in power that are responsible for educating the young. They were charged with ensuring that the young learned what they needed to learn in order to better themselves and provide leadership. There were a few individuals who thought that they had the right to control what the young should learn," Miyamoto sipped at the sake.
"So what happened to them?" Ron asked.
Miyamoto casually picked up his tanto (a short knife) and used it to slice an orange in half. "They were forcibly removed by those they pissed off."
Ron turned pale. "Oops?"
"No, more like good riddance to bad trash," Miyamoto grinned as the others laughed.
Harry turned back to the others. "The best thing we can do for now is to be cool and see where she takes things. We can document things and if she does start to get out of control, put the documentation and take it to the Wizengamot. If that fails, there's always the press. Enough stuff comes out on her, people are gonna start taking notice and then Fudge is gonna have to pull her. Unfortunately with all of the bad press I've been getting, it's gonna have to come from somebody else. But we'll deal with that when we get there. Don't push her, don't piss her off, just be cool."
"Fifteen minutes to curfew," Miyamoto announced.
That broke up the meeting. Everyone left cautiously. Hermione was the last to leave and managed to catch a moment with each other before Hermione left. The door closed behind her. Harry smiled as he turned away from the door. He headed to his desk and sat down with a cup of tea. He cleared his head for a moment and then wrote one letter and used the copy spell to make a second copy. One copy went to his Japanese family, the other went to Sirius and Remus. They needed to know what was going on. Hopefully Sirius could shed a bit of light on Umbridge's personal history. He stood up and stretched out, popping things in his back, and then headed off to bed.
Harry met Hermione in the area in front of the great hall the next morning. She didn't look too happy and Harry wondered why.
"Harry, someone else is going to lead the tours around Hogwarts today, due to a rash of complaints. McGonagall decided it would be best if the prefects from each house led their first years around the castle," Hermione informed him.
Harry sighed in frustration. "When are they gonna let it go?"
"I don't know, Harry. It's their choice to do and say what they want. Sooner or later it's going to come back on them," Hermione said. "I know you much better than they do, and I know that you are a good person."
Harry smiled at that. "Thanks Hermione."
Harry sat at the foot of the Ravenclaw table and had breakfast, reading the Daily Prophet as he usually did. There was a big picture on the front page of McGonagall calling the hall to order with an article reporting the Welcoming Feast at Hogwarts. That was the only thing newsworthy at the moment. Harry tucked the paper away in his pocket and left the table when he was done. He headed outside, pulling his heavy jacket around him as the cold morning enveloped him. Hermione came up behind him and Harry turned around and smiled at her.
"A bit cold this morning," he said.
Hermione wrapped her arms around him and sighed. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I will love," Harry said after a moment. "Let them play their little pathetic games."
Hermione nodded. "I'm behind you one hundred percent."
"I know you are," Harry felt relieved to know he had somebody on his side.
She let go of him. "I gotta meet my first years in a minute. See you later?"
Harry nodded. "I'll find you. Library?"
"Yes," she stated. "I want to look up that woman."
Harry grinned. Hermione was off on another mission. "Deal."
She went back inside and Harry went down the steps onto the grounds. The peace and quiet was what he needed so he could work on the problem of Umbridge in his head. He wandered down to the boathouse where the docks overlooked Black Lake. He sat down on one of the benches and sighed. Suddenly Dobby popped up next to Harry. "Master Harry! I bring hot tea for you!"
"Thanks Dobby. I could use a bit of hot tea," Harry said as he took the metal tube from Dobby.
"I'm on your side, Master Harry," the elf told Harry with a serious expression on his normally cheerful face.
Harry smiled at Dobby. "Thank you Dobby. I really appreciate that. I'll be okay. I just need to work some things out in my head right now."
Dobby disappeared and Harry turned his attention to the lake. He sipped at the tea in the thermos as he examined the problem of Umbridge in his mind. No matter how he looked at the situation, he couldn't help but realize that Hermione and Luna had spoken the truth about Umbridge. There was one question that kept nagging at him. Where was Cedric Diggory? The last Harry had seen of him was the night of the final task. After that he had virtually disappeared. Harry wondered if his father made him leave Hogwarts, or did he leave on his own? Did someone pay him to keep quiet about what happened? Was he killed to get him out of the way? Harry decided he would get someone to send a letter and if it came back then he would know that Cedric had been taken out. The only reason that he was still here was that he had gone into safety during the summer. Now that he was back at Hogwarts, the potential of getting attacked had increased significantly, and it would be easy for someone to try and attack him. Harry decided to meditate a lot more to practice being aware of everything that was going on around him. As for Umbridge, he decided to see what Hermione came up with before starting to form an opinion on the toad like woman owing to the fact that she really did look like one. Harry stood up and headed back up the steps to the grounds. He headed across the lawns towards the gardens as he liked them and they provided a much better place for meditation. Halfway there he heard voices and saw a group of kids heading to the gardens. He changed course and headed towards Hagrid's place. Hagrid wasn't there so Harry decided to just head back to the castle. He walked in the main foyer and then went up the stairs to the fourth floor where he knew the charms classrooms were. He found Flitwick in his room.
"Ah, Mr. Potter! Just the man I wanted to see," Flitwick said as Harry walked in.
Harry smiled. He really liked and respected Flitwick.
"Anything I can do to help you out sir?" Harry asked.
Flitwick nodded as he walked over. "Please. I need a bit of cleanup help here."
Flitwick then directed Harry to what needed to be done. Harry got started with the magically assisted cleaning while Flitwick went back to the stack of papers and rolls of parchment.
"I have your classes here," Flitwick said, holding up Harry's time schedule.
Harry took it from him and looked at it. "Thank you sir."
"Any trouble yet, Mr. Potter?" Flitwick asked him.
Harry sighed. "Other than Malfoy throwing what tiny little brain cells he has around over the fact that he's prefect, no sir. I have suggested to people that they document everything he says and does to them in the event he tries to use his status as a prefect to cause trouble. If enough people get together and present a long list of complaints to McGonagall or the school governors, he'll lose his prefect badge. Be a good way to knock him down."
"Good thinking, Mr. Potter. I'll support and such action if I feel it warrants my support. Truth be told he is an arrogant little mutt," Flitwick said. "Just keep me informed and don't let anyone get to you. There are acceptable ways to blow off that anger."
Harry nodded. "I agree with that, sir."
Harry stayed in the Charms classroom cleaning whatever it was that needed cleaning until lunchtime. He went down to lunch and saw Hermione looking at him. She tapped a book that was on the table in front of her and Harry got the message immediately. Hermione wanted to tell him something.
They met in front of the library right after lunch. Hermione led Harry to a very secluded corner where they sat down in chairs. Neville, Luna, and Ginny joined them.
"What did you discover, Hermione?" Neville asked.
Hermione opened a book and showed them the picture of a dumpy looking girl. "Umbridge. She was Slytherin House under a Professor Horace Slughorn. He taught potions. From there she joined the ministry and slowly worked her way up the ladder. I think it was more of clawed and slashed her way to the position of Undersecretary to the Minister. According to what I was able to find out, her father was employed at the ministry as a janitor. He's not there anymore, having retired quite a few years ago. It's been said that he left England about that time. Where he is now is anybody's guess. As for the rest of the family I haven't been able to find out where they are. That information came from Rita Skeeter's articles in Witch Weekly and not the Prophet."
"Gran thinks she's full of it," Neville said.
Harry looked up. "I wouldn't be so quick to discount that information, Neville. I have the feeling that information may be accurate. The two, three times that I've been able to observe her I've had the feeling she's capable of anything. If she can convince Fudge to let her come here and take over Hogwarts then she's capable of doing anything."
"Do you think she's connected to…" Ginny suggested.
Harry thought about that for a moment. "Very possible. If she sees him as a way to power, that's what she'll do if she hasn't already. He's a hell of a lot worse than the ministry."
"Especially if she screws up," Hermione said.
Harry smiled. "People like her usually do screw up. Question is will she survive the encounter with him? I seriously doubt that she will."
"I say we wait and see what she does here first before doing anything," Hermione said.
Ginny shifted in her chair. "Observe and report?"
"Yes. Then we act to countermand her, but I rather she burn herself out first and fade away before we have to act. If she goes further then we act to preserve Hogwarts," Harry stated.
"I'll pass that around to the others," Neville said.
Harry sighed. "Be nice if this year is a nice quiet one."
The others just smiled.
Monday morning Hogwarts got started officially. Harry left his room just in time to make his first class of the year, History of Magic with the Dumbledork. Harry hoped that Dumbledork would just concentrate on being a teacher and nothing else. Up to now he had done just that, despite his excessive demands that Harry be turned over to him. In fact Dumbledork had covered subjects that Binns hadn't, and that made Dumbledork look better. He was sitting in his chair behind the desk watching people come in while sipping tea. The bell rang and the door to the classroom closed. He called roll, and then stood up. Harry wondered what he was going to say.
"Good morning to all of you, and welcome to fifth year History of Magic," he began. "This year we shall study a number of people who stood up and fought back against insurmountable odds and won. We shall take a look at what it was they did to encourage other people to stand forth and defend their beliefs and freedoms."
Harry suddenly wondered if this new direction was due to what Umbridge had said at the dinner Friday night. Was it possible the Dumbledork had seen past Umbridge's words and saw he for who and what she was? Harry had the sudden feeling that this might turn out to be an interesting year after all.
Next Episode: Professor Umbridge