I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the two main pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them certainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
I do my normal rythm of publishing every second Saturday, until the year is complete. Then the story will go on hiatus again to give me time to write ahead so I can have a publishing schedule.
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Chapter 56: A Toad Named Umbridge
As soon as the official part was over and all students safely in their dorms, all of the faculty, minus Umbridge of course, had moved to the office of the Headmaster, wanting answers to the development with Umbridge, which had hit especially those unprepared who had been on the train to keep the students safe.
"Headmaster, what is going on?! We arrive from the train and are confronted with the fact that the Ministry sent Dolores Umbridge of all people to take over Defense." Professor Flitwick was very vocal about the matter as soon as they were secure in their privacy.
"Yes, what is the Ministry playing at and how did that happen? You only told us the Ministry forced you to accept a candidate of their choice with that educational decree." Professor Burbage made little secret of her low opinion of the Ministry.
"The Ministry... only revealed to me their choice of candidate this afternoon. That very likely was intentional on their part in order to give us no time for a proper reaction. Believe me, I was as shocked as all of you when hearing who it would be," Dumbledore explained how it happened.
"Is Umbridge even qualified for the position? I shudder to imagine us getting a second Lockhart," Professor Sinistra added her concerns.
"She most certainly is not qualified, but that's not the reason she is here," McGonagall said, looking concerned. "No, she is here to get Hogwarts under Ministry control and find the flimsiest of excuses to meddle in our work. Not to speak of trying to find an excuse to pin charges onto the Headmaster."
That caused new unrest among the teachers. They had already been unhappy enough that the Ministry had forced the school to accept a Ministry candidate for the position. This newest revelation however made it clear that the Ministry would start to use dirty tricks and also was not afraid to drag the students into it. Those were bad signs for the school year right there.
"I have no doubt she will meddle; and she'll start with me," Snape spat, knowing exactly what Umbridge's first act would be.
"Severus, are you sure of that?" Professor Rogers asked, seeing how bitter Snape looked.
Snape made no secret of how he felt. "The first thing she will want is to secure her position. Since she hasn't complained about it yet, I know she doesn't yet know she'll only have the younger years. Mark my words, she'll try to kick me out of Defense as soon as possible."
Snape had every right to be bitter over that. The Dark Arts and how to defend yourself against them were his passion. Teaching about it to more mature students had made his lot at the school much easier to bear. Thus the very idea that Umbridge would take that away from him was causing bitterness to rise in him. However, it didn't mean he was helpless.
"Of course that does not mean I will just accept it," Snape then added.
"Severus, better be careful. Umbridge can be very dangerous if you enrage her," McGonagall warned him.
"Compared to what I used to deal with, she is just little and petty." Those in the know knew that he meant having interacted with Voldemort in the past. "There are ways to undermine her efforts and ensure my students get what they need."
"It's an utter shame. Never before in the history of Hogwarts did the Ministry dare to interfere like that," the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black commented.
"My dear Phineas, that sadly is a sign of the changing times. Soon enough much will change - as so much already has changed," Dumbledore told the portrait.
"In my opinion it's way too much change. All of this would not have happened under my watch..." If anything, Phineas looked disturbed by all the change that happened in recent years and then left his portrait - most likely to hang out in his portrait in Grimmauld Place.
The Headmaster then looked to the faculty. "We have to accept Umbridge's presence for the time being; though we don't have to like it."
Hagrid looked unhappy with that. "I know she'll try and throw me out of the school just for what I am. Bigoted woman..."
Hagrid had little doubt she would try to make him lose his job, though the last time the Ministry had tried that, they had burned their fingers badly on the matter. No doubt Umbridge would be more careful in the matter, but Hagrid had no doubt she would still try to do so. After all, to someone as racist as her, he represented all she hated.
"She'll come after all of us. To her we are the enemy," Professor Trelawney added. "I know she'll hold me in low regard due to Divination not being an exact science. I'm already relieved I haven't made any prophecies of doom about this."
The teachers knew this would be a very hard year for them.
...September 4th...
It was Monday morning, the frst actual school day of this school year was about to begin. The students entering the great hall still looked a bit sleepy, trying to get used to again waking up early in the morning. Despite having had the entire weekend to talk about it, the presence of the unpopular Dolores Umbridge was still a main topic of conversation. Of course it wasn't the only topic, just the most discussed one.
Many students remembered the events all too well, but also wondered how Umbridge, now holding authority over them, would act in light of how she had left Hogwarts while being humiliated by its students. The worry was that she could in some way attempt to take revenge for that. Right at the moment her presence in the hall already was a form of punishment.
Still, other things were of course talked of as well.
At the Slytherin table, Dudley wondered if he had heard correctly. "I'm sorry, Parkinson does what?"
"As I said, she always wipes a toilet seat clean with a cloth she carries around before sitting down on it," Daphne repeated, knowing why he would find that strange.
"Why is she doing that?" Dudley then asked, finding such behavior strange. Even his mother - neat-freak she was - would not go that far.
Daphne shrugged. "There's rumor she developed that compulsion after being forced to clean all the toilets in Myrtle's bathroom back in our first year."
"Considering how quickly toilets can get dirty in a school, it's perhaps understandable she developed that quirk, even if it runs contrary to her normally being a slob," Millicent thought aloud, finding the contrast amusing.
To Dudley, it was just something bizarre.
Over at the Gryffindor table meanwhile, Hermione kept herself from commenting while watching Ron shovel bacon onto his plate. She knew by now that any comment on it would enter one ear and prompty exit from the other one with no lasting effect. Considering that Ron had grown quite a bit taller and bulkier over the summer, his appetite was at least understandable.
"A bit strange they won't release our timetables to us until the morning of the first day of lessons," Neville wondered, reminding everyone how they had not gotten their timetables during the weekend - September 1st this year had fallen onto a Friday.
"I asked Percy about that. He said it's to accommodate last-minute changes," Ginny said while filling her cup with juice.
"We should thank our dear gods we in any case won't have lessons with her," Harry said, looking over to the faculty table.
They knew he meant Umbridge. It was difficult to miss her sitting at the faculty table. Her atrocious fashion sense with different shades of pink made her an eyesore. In all their years the only one they had seen dressed even worse had been Lockhart. Also, her very presence seemed repulsive judging by the teachers who were forced to sit next to her looking like they wanted to be somewhere else. Hagrid was missing entirely from the table, and it was no wonder why he refused to be present while Umbridge was at the table.
"Harry, you are tempting fate to put snares into our path. I thought you would have learned by now that fate is something not to be challenged," Luna reminded Harry.
"And even if we leave out fate, considering what we know she is here for, you can bet she'll try to sabotage Professor Snape soon enough," Hermione added
"Crap, I hadn't thought about that..." Harry all of a sudden had a feeling that this year would suck even more than he had imagined. "I shudder to imagine what her teaching methods will be like."
Ron then looked up from his breakfast. "At least now we know what those two were hinting at on the train. You better believe their parents knew in advance." He looked over to Malfoy and Parkinson. "Just see how smug they look."
They did see what Ron meant and Neville had to shake his head. "Makes me wonder what else they know Umbridge will be up to?"
As if we don't already have enough to worry about, Harry thought while returning his attention to his breakfast.
They also knew that they could forget their lessons with Dumbledore for the time being. As long as Umbridge was in the castle, there was no chance they could do so without Umbridge finding out. Nothing had been said, but they all knew extra lessons with Dumbledore were on hold for the time being.
They did end their breakfast a bit early later on, so that they could get to the administrative office before a line would build up. Entering after waiting due to some students being there before them, they then greeted Penelope, who was standing at the counter to give out the timetables.
"Hello, Penny! Everything all right for you and Percy?" Ginny greeted the young woman.
"No direct problems, but that Umbridge woman only getting announced at the last moment is causing us nothing but stress," Penelope said while looking through the Gryffindor stack for their timetables. "Although..."
"Is something wrong?" Hermione wondered when seeing the normally outgoing Penelope hesitate to voice her thoughts.
"It's not that I like to criticize one of the teachers, but..." Penelope tried to explain.
"Penny, your politeness is wonderful, but sometimes things have to be said." Percy had appeared from the back of the office. "Professor Umbridge does not show much appreciation for the administrative staff."
Ron snorted when hearing Percy's words. "To say it more bluntly, she treats you like lowly peons."
"Ronald, you have the bizarre ability to spell out things in the crassest way possible." Percy however didn't deny the truth of the statement.
Finally feeling secure, Penelope voiced her disappointment while handing out the timetables. "Without us, the teachers would have significant paperwork to go through. She is not appreciating at all how we are helping her and always gives these hidden complaints." Unsaid was the obvious implication that Umbridge most likely wouldn't be able to shoulder all that additional paperwork.
Leaving a bit later, they looked at the subjects for Monday.
"History, double Potions and double Defense," Hermione read out aloud.
"History will be boring as usual, despite how much Professor Rogers tries to make it interesting. Slughorn teaching Potions is always good. And Defense..." Harry stopped what he was about to say.
"It will most certainly be interesting, but after almost three years of being in the Dueling Club, we by now should know what Professor Snape expects. Of course now being our actual teacher, he could demand more," Luna analyzed, herself wondering a bit how it would be like.
"You mean him becoming more of a perfectionist than he already is?" Neville had trouble to imagine that.
Now they all honestly wondered how that would be even possible.
o
Later that day, after lunch, they did end up in the upper-year Defense classroom. It was easy to right away spot some differences compared to the regular classroom for the lower years.
The atmosphere was rather gloomy, with dark curtains covering the windows and despite is being day, only candles providing the needed light. This was underscored by the pictures on the walls showing the nasty results of the Dark Arts on people, resulting in either death, pain, grisly injuries or grotesquely deformed body parts.
"Yikes..." Neville gasped when seeing the decor of the room.
"Professor Snape most certainly is taking him teaching us how to defend against such destructive magic very seriously," Luna observed dryly, acting like she wasn't fazed by the pictures.
"Considering he's doing that for years now, he must be doing a good job. I can't imagine the Headmaster to otherwise let him keep this position," Hermione concluded, trying to hide she'd almost shrieked when seeing the classroom.
They saw that Snape was already sitting at the teacher's desk, reading some papers and not giving them any attention. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws sat down and didn't dare to call for the teacher's attention, knowing he would address them soon enough. He did that as soon as the last of them was inside and the door was closed.
"Put those books away. In the future only take them out when I tell you to do so. While I do have my... reservations about your previous two teachers, I do share with them that this subject is a matter of practical lessons," Snape announced right away.
Snape then did a roll call - nothing unusual considering he did the same when the Dueling Club came together.
However, when he looked to Hermione while calling for her name, she felt something.
It was something she had become familiar with after weeks of training in Occlumency - the feeling of someone feeling around if there was a way into her mind. She did remember the Headmaster telling them that Snape, who was skilled in Legilimency, would surprise-test them from time to time to see if they continued to train themselves to protect their minds.
They had not been particularly thrilled when hearing that, but had accepted under the condition the teacher would not actually intrude. Firming her defense, she felt Snape back off. Though his impression didn't change, she had the feeling he acknowledged her efforts while she said she's present. The whole thing has taken less than three seconds.
Brrr... That was unlike when the Headmaster does it. Professor Snape feels much colder, Hermione thought.
Hermione also noticed the same happening to her friends. Harry frowned a little - most likely due to Snape going harder on him as he always did - and Snape grimaced a little when probing Luna. Luna's mind, even according to herself, was a strange place that no one should try to enter without her permission. While she had played nice with the Headmaster, she didn't seem to give the same consideration to Snape.
Finally, roll call was done and Snape clearly was about to start his introduction to the subject.
"You've had four different teachers for this subject. The first two I can safely classify as a disaster." Everyone knew Snape had mainly aimed that at Lockhart. "Thankfully the other two proved to be adequate, so I won't lose nearly as much time on repairing the shortcomings of my predecessors as I did with some of the previous years before you."
"The Dark Arts," Snape then said, "are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."
The students felt a bit weird with Snape talking about the Dark Arts so fondly; almost as if he loved them. However, that possibly couldn't be it. Many of them had seen Snape's mannerisms from the Dueling Club and knew he wanted to tell them something.
"Now... Which of you does understand what am trying to impart onto you?" Snape then asked. For a few moments even the Ravenclaws looked stumped. Then, to everyone's surprise, Luna raised her hand. "You think you know the answer, Lovegood?"
"Yes, Professor. While they of course are called the Dark Arts and were, apart of course from natural creatures, developed solely to cause suffering, you still need to understand and respect those powers in order to defend yourself properly," Luna said, sounding dead-serious for once. Perhaps suffering under the dark arts had hardened her in that regard.
Snape gave her an... interesting look. "Lovegood, you make it sound like you need to enjoy the Dark Arts."
"Sir, that is a common misunderstanding. Respecting a power and enjoying it are two very different things. Respecting the Dark Arts, as we have to do, is needed so we never get cocky. Enjoying them on the other hand means to enjoy the suffering they cause." Luna's expression still was stony, like she was forcing herself to stay firm on it.
Snape however looked pleased enough with the answer. "Enough wizards do not make that distinction, so let that be your warning. The Dark Arts can be very seductive."
Harry had to think of Voldemort. The Dark Lord had clearly enjoyed every bit of the death and destruction he had caused, thus making Harry wonder if Voldemort had gotten addicted to the feeling of power the Dark Arts gave him. Thinking about it, it probably explained quite a bit not only about Voldemort, but also those that followed him.
Reminds me of Star Wars. The Dark Side is faster, easier, addictive. If it's the same for the Dark Arts... Harry thought, the comparison making a lot of sense to him.
The lesson the started for real.
During the lesson, Snape had to admit again what he already had observed over the past years in the Dueling Club. Potter was not like his father. The boy was keeping his cool and even called him 'Sir' without any hint of sarcasm. It also was clear that, unlike with certain other teachers, Potter wanted things between them be strictly professional.
Snape could live with that. He still was not exactly thrilled with having to teach the son of James Potter, but he also was Lily's son. It certainly helped that the brat behaved and that his own level of bitterness had been reduced due to his improved lot in life. Had that not happened, he most likely would have seen the boy as just a copy of his father.
The lessons went on, and when they were over, the students left kind of exhausted.
"I had thought Moody was hardcore, but Snape actually managed to top him, as impossible as that sounds," Ron said, sounding actually impressed.
"Considering what Bill told us had been Snape's teaching style during the majority of his school years, we should count ourselves lucky he became more professional. Still, the Dueling Club is harmless compared to how intense he was just now," Ginny added.
"Ehm, Harry, what was it with him putting extra attention on you? It was kind of weird," Neville asked his friend.
Harry shook his head. "If I have to guess it's because of the whole feud he'd had with my father and his history with my mother. Maybe he needed to reassure himself I'm not my father after all what happened in his past? Who knows?"
If Harry was to be honest, after all he had learned what had happened between his father and his friends on one side and Snape and his own 'friends' on the other, he didn't even want an answer. Some things were to be left alone.
All in all it had been a highly intense and difficult but also effective lesson. It looked like they had lucked out with the third competent Defense teacher in a row.
...September 6th, office of Dolores Umbridge...
The mood of Dolores Umbridge was not the best while she sat in her office - which like her clothing style was an attack on good taste - after another highly disappointing day of her as a Hogwarts teacher. She would never describe what she was doing right now as sulking, but that was what she was doing.
She honestly had forgotten the fact that the Defense teachers that were hired each year by Hogwarts were only teaching up to fourth year students, while the higher years were taught by that cold fish Snape. That arrangement of almost a decade had honestly slipped her mind when installing herself into this position.
It also undermined one of her purposes of being here. Besides getting the school under Ministry control and actively finding dirt on Dumbledore in order to finally get rid of the man for good, Fudge also had sent her to ensure that Dumbledore, as he imagined it, would not use the school as a training ground to get already skilled soldiers that in the end could overthrow the Ministry.
Her being the Defense teacher was arranged so that she could sabotage the students so they wouldn't learn anything. However, in her current position she had no access to the upper years - the ones that were truly dangerous. It also meant no access to Potter and his little gang, since Fudge had developed a serious fixation on Potter. Even Umbridge felt he was obsessing a bit too much about Potter, even in light of how much that brat was connected to Black and Dumbledore.
Granted, that Potter brat is dangerous, but there are bigger fish to fry first, she thought, trying to find a solution to her dilemma.
Of course that didn't mean she wouldn't put any attention on Potter. Hurting Potter meant hurting Black and that was something she always had a use for. She aleady had a plan for that.
Deciding that something needed to be done about her current problem, she went through her mind on what she would tell Fudge in her call to him. Things were worse than anticipated and thus they had to accelerate the timetable a bit and announce things early. Fudge may complain they were being a bit too hasty, but the man had no idea of anything.
After all, the sooner they start, the sooner they could accomplish something.
While preparing the floo call, Umbridge's mind went through some reasons why she had taken it upon herself to go to Hogwarts instead of simply installing a flunky. While she was telling herself that it was to make sure this important job wouldn't be botched, there of course also were personal reasons for that decision.
Umbridge held her years in Hogwarts in bad memory. Despite being a Slytherin, Slughorn had made no secret that he didn't think highly of her. She had thus also never gained any position of power over other students. She knew Slughorn remembered her, because the man was giving her the same looks as back then. She had been one student of many - and not a well-liked one at that. Thus her time at Hogwarts had left her with a sense of bitterness.
No, all of this not only was to further her current goals, but also to satisfy a petty desire to take revenge on the school which had disappointed her so much. Soon enough she would rule over the students and get much more than the power that had been denied to her during her school years.
Shaking her head out of her thoughts, she went to the fireplace to call Fudge. It was time to show Hogwarts who its new mistress would be.
...at the same time...
"I have to say, Mr. Black, the circumstances under which we are meeting are a bit... unusual," Horatio Bulstrode admitted while looking around, feeling a bit out of his element.
"They are unusual? Perhaps for you, but for me this is the most normal thing in the world," Sirius admitted, not having thought about that.
"Not to be blunt, but your reaction does show how much you have alienated yourself from magical society over the years," Cynthia Greengrass said. She herself was unable to resist looking around in barely concealed wonder.
Sirius shared a look with Diane and his wife understood. To them, a wizard living like this is highly unusual, Diane thought.
Sirius thanked all what's holy that he'd managed for the children to have a sleepover at the Evans house for today, since he really didn't want to have them around while having such visitors. Thomas and Veronica had been a bit perplexed at first why he felt it was so urgent, but after hearing what kind of visitors he'd get, they understood.
It wasn't that he felt his current visitors were bad people - they most certainly were not like the Malfoys - but Sirius simply always wanted to keep his young children away from such situations. That need had only grown after the surprise MI-X had sprung on them some months ago. It already was unusual enough that the meeting was taking place in his house, a fact only possible due to the Ministry spying on him and then giving out details of his private life over the press.
Honestly, Sirius was a bit relieved that there was no invasion of undesirables after his information got released like that. Granted, there had been a number of unwanted visitors - some of which needed force to get removed - but way less than he had feared to appear. Thozugh of course that could change in the future.
The Bulstrodes and the Greengrasses both wanted to have a private word with him, and as much as Kreacher would have liked it, Sirius had opted against using Grimmauld Place for the meeting, instead opting to use his own home. That was what had led to Diane and himself entertaining Horatio and Andrea Bulstrode and Magnus and Cynthia Greengrass.
One would have expected the leaders of both families to be older, but Mr. Greengass' father had died several years ago due to Dragon Pox after carlessly handling dragon parts despite being warned, while the father of Mr. Bulstrode had suffered a lethal accident some time ago. Perhaps it was better that way, since Sirius would have had little patience dealing with old geezers.
"Now, as flattering as it is to hear your talking about my choice of lifestyle, I think the time has come to talk shop," Sirius decided, having an idea why they wanted to have this conversation.
"Ah yes, let's come to business," Magnus Greengrass agreed. "As you most certainly know, both of our families decided to observe you, Mr. Black, to see how our future relations with the Black family should look like."
"Yes, indeed. And while we have seen that your deeds speak for themselves, you understand we were... let's say, reluctant to make an official offer of allying ourselves with you," Andrea Bulstrode then continued. "However, recent events forced our hand."
"The situation is deteriorating rapidly. We know exactly what the murder of the Diggory boy and the ambush of the Hogwarts Express mean. Add to it the Ministry's growing failures and paranoia - as shown by them coming after you - and we know this time our families do have to take a side," Mr. Bulstrode explained, looking truly concerned.
"Yes, trying to keep out of it this time won't work." Mrs. Greengrass didn't look thrilled by that fact, but she had accepted the facts. "There are dangerous times ahead, thus we want to open negotiations about an official alliance."
"You must truly think my husband is the right man to side with. Can you perhaps tell us your reasons for that?" Diane asked, hoping this would not be like in these novels about powerful families in Italy of the Renaissance.
"It's actually pretty simple and there is nothing sinister behind it. Sirius Black has always shown genuine concern for those in need of support. It starts with the preschool, then him helping the petrified students, his defense of Hogwarts against Greyback, his political stances and so forth..." Mr. Greengrass began to explain.
"It probably also helps that his actions and that of Harry were part of keeping your own daughters safe, right?" Diane knew she had hit dead-center.
"That especially..." Mrs. Bulstrode looked a bit pained when remembering how Millicent had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets. "That is something we can never repay."
There was some silent conversation between Diane and Sirius for a short moment and Diane understood her husband wanted her to continue. She had the ability to be perfectly nice and yet manage to get to the meat of a matter and the truth underneath. It was an ability their children had come to dislike. After all, their mother managed to always find out the truth.
"I can tell all of you are very truthful about this. Also, the entire evening you treated me as an equal instead of thinking I'm lacking just because I have no magic of my own," Diane then finally said.
Their guests grimaced a bit at the reminder of how many old families were treating people that held no magic. "If anything, recent years showed us how baseless that feeling of superiority truly is," Mr. Greengrass admitted.
"Our daughters being friends with the Dursley boy really helped us understand," Mrs. Bulstrode added, remembering severable memorable things, including her actually pulling off acting like she was not a witch.
Sirius by now had heard enough to know this was all genuine and that he honestly could not deny the offer without looking like a complete arse. Sure, that alliance would not impact the Order for the time being - if anything it would take time before that connection would be made - but it was the first and most important step.
"Will it be announced in front of the other old families? While I am very open to your offer, you have to remember that my current allies, the Weasleys and the Longbottoms, had been known to be close to me for years. Both of your families announcing the alliance will raise the pressure for the others to declare where they stand. Not something easily done in the current climate," Sirius asked them, wanting to make sure.
"Our families will become targets anyway." Mr. Bulstrode sounded very sure of that. "Many in... certain circles have not forgiven us for not taking a side in the last war. Better be proactive now than to regret later."
Seeing how both families looked determined, Sirius knew this was it for real. "Then let us hammer out that alliance, and we can make it official soon enough..."
Sirius was thankful how easy this was being. Two weeks ago he had helped out MI-X in one of their cases, where people in one area had turned up with injuries that were determined to be magical in natue. He had done so in order to further relations with MI-X. However, the case had turned ugly when it turned out that the culprit was a Muggle-hating older witch. That particular confrontation had ended with her missing an arm on top of being arrested. After he'd gotten home, Diane got surprised by his need to make love with her to compensate for that nasty encounter.
Yes, compared to that, he does prefer what he was doing right now.
...Hogwarts great hall, morning of September 8th...
The students of Hogwarts were talking animatedly, though not in positive excitement. Instead they looked like someone had kicked them into the stomach. The reason for such a reaction was found in what they were reading in the Daily Prophet.
MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM
DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST HOGWARTS HIGH INQUISITOR!
EDUCATIONAL DECREE 24 ENACTED
In a stunning and decisive move, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, enacted new legislation and declared that Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary at the Ministry and current Professor for Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, ascends to become the first Hogwarts High Inquisitor. The Minister was cited with the words: "I trust her fully that she can bring Hogwarts to new heights."
In addition, the new Educational Decree 24 was enacted as well, decreeing that all subjects at Hogwarts are only to be taught by those Professors specifically hired for the subjects in question. It is rumored this decree is aimed at making the school more efficient than it currently is...
Putting down the newspaper, Ginny couldn't help but to snort loudly. "That's a whole lot of bull. We all know exactly that she was butthurt that Snape is teaching us."
"I'm more concerned about that part that declares her the High Inquisitor," Hermione said while frowning with worry.
"What kind of title is that anyway, and what power does it give her?" Ron wondered, feeling a bit uneasy at the sound of it.
Hermione quickly read through the relevant parts. "For the moment it officially is only the power to inspect the other teachers and give the Ministry her official opinion how to proceed with certain teachers. Of course that the Ministry now has a say in such things also is a new thing. However, there are hints that this is only the start."
"Indeed. After all, what is stopping her from getting more power? Piece for piece and all of a sudden the Ministry controls the school," Luna said matter-of-fact. "They most certainly make no secret of that, which is bold."
The mood at the table darkened at the thought, but there was little they could do about that right at the moment. Harry meanwhile looked over to the faculty table. Umbridge was not betraying anything, but Snape looked unhappy with that turn of events. The other teachers tried to hide their emotions and Hagrid was still avoiding the great hall, unable to stomach sitting so close to a proven bigot like Umbridge.
"Good thing Hagrid isn't here. Considering how Umbridge sees him as a sub-creature, I understand why he stays away. I have the bad feeling that toad will try to do something to him." Ron looked disturbed enough that he had not yet touched his loaded plate.
"You mean the inspections? Maybe we should ask Hagrid to be extra careful. I can see her just looking for a pretext for firing him," Ginny thought aloud.
Hermione finally put the newspaper away, having extracted all useful information from it. "We can only hope the other teachers can contain the damage..."
"I honestly don't want to imagine lessons with her. Granted, Snape's personality won't win him any popularity contests, but he IS effective at what he is doing," Harry then said, not looking forward to next Monday and the first lesson under Umbridge.
"Yes, Snape can be quite scary, especially when he gets angry, but I prefer him over Umbridge," Neville admitted, having been a bit intimidated by Snape in the past.
It was after breakfast was over, that several of the teachers had a little conversation with Snape in an unused classroom.
"Severus, we..." Professor Burbage tried, but stopped when Snape held up a hand.
Watching him, they saw him transition from open anger to a controlled, cold fury. Finally, with his emotions back under control, Snape addressed his colleagues. "I said so right at the start. Now it has happened, so it is just as expected."
"That may be, but we are surprised you didn't curse her," Professor Sprout said, being positively surprised at the restraint Snape was showing.
"Oh, I was tempted; I'm downright furious. However, there are other ways to deal with her." How calmly Snape spoke was a hard contrast to how he felt.
"I'm concerned for the students..." Professor Burbage said. "No one will learn anything in her classes. And while the lower years can get away with learning on their own, the students you were supposed to teach will now have their education sabotaged."
"No, they won't." Seeing that he'd gotten their attention with that statement, Snape explained further. "I will teach them and that Umbridge woman can't stop me. Oh, I have no doubt she'll try, but I'm prepared."
Truth to be told, Snape in a cold fury was very scary. Umbridge had managed to achieve what very few managed to do - reach a level of Snape's loathing that was reserved for very few people. Besides of course the late James Potter, only his own father and Gilderoy Lockhart had managed to reach that level before Umbridge - and she had reached it in record time.
o
In the back room of the administrative office, Percy sat at his desk. While he had already known things were going bad with the Ministry, this morning's news had felt like a fist into the face and showed him where the journey was going, should no one try to go against it. Percy was scared when imagining where this was leading to.
"Percy?" Looking up, he saw Penelope approach him. "Are you thinking about what happened this morning?"
"Penny... you know I like things to be orderly. Despite knowing better, part of me still believed that everyone would play by the rules... that the law is respected even by those very high up. ... Today showed me that I was very naive about that," Percy told her, making no secret of how awful he felt.
"You believed the best in people; that's nothing bad." Penelope sat down facing him. "It shook you that badly?"
"That misuse of political power really opened my eyes to how things will go here." Percy then sighed. "I also saw something in her eyes... To her I'm little more than dirt."
Penelope saw Percy trace the scars on his face and understood that Umbridge in her racism no longer saw Percy as fully human due to the cursed scars Greyback had caused. She then took hold of his hand. "I remember I told your siblings and their friends I won't criticize teachers, but you don't have to stand for that."
"Indeed, I don't." Percy felt a spike of anger that he realized came from the changes he had gone through since he got his injuries. "Penny, I know our contracts state that we are forbidden to work against the interests of the school. But..."
It dawned on Penelope what Percy was playing at. "You mean that we should be as unhelpful as possible to Umbridge because that is in the interest of the school?"
"Oh yes. She does not appreciate our work and ignores us? Very well. Then we will bother her by the book. All the paperwork we've taken off the shoulders of the teachers? Well, if she thinks she is capable of it, we should not stop her," Percy started to explain.
"And not only that." Penelope was on board with that plan. "We have established direct communication with the teachers... but why should we give her that luxury? Let her deal with the highly bureaucratic official way."
Percy knew what the official way was: a needlessly complicated procedure that involved several forms. In practice quick communication was the norm and they just filled everything out post-facto in the office and then let the teachers sign so that all decisions had the correct paper trail. However, now with Umbridge, she would have to go through the official procedure for even getting something as small as an inkwell.
"I only wonder if she will even notice?" Penelope then wondered.
"Oh, she will notice over time. But when she does, we can cite the rules to her and just continue with it." Percy was by nature not a confrontational or aggressive person, but challenge him and he would find unusual ways to hurt you.
Penelope couldn't help but to like seeing Percy look that determined. It was a trait that had grown stronger ever since Greyback had hurt him. She honestly didn't care if that slight shift came from the scars, she found Percy being down and ready to throw down the gauntlet - even if in his own way - very much attractive.
Oh my... Considering the hints Molly has given me over the summer how good we look together, Percy and me are starting to look more serious, Penelope then realized.
...at the evening, Gryffindor dorms...
The Six were sitting close to the fireplace of the common room at the evening, talking about the rumors that had been circulating about the day's events and what they had experienced themselves. From the sound of it, Umbridge had wasted no time in using her newly given powers.
"Yes, Colin told me how Umbridge had wasted no time to 'inspect' Hagrid's class - in this case the 4th year students that had him today," Ginny told them, remembering how annoyed the normally easily excitable Colin had been. "She was constantly hovering nearby and making notes when she wasn't interrupting Hagrid."
"Poor Hagrid, must have been pure hell for him," Neville said, feeling for the tall man.
"Well, Colin told me Hagrid never lost his cool, but clearly was highly annoyed. He said Umbridge always first used that 'hem-hem' to call attention to herself and then packaged her thinking that Hagrid is a dumb brute inside questions that expressed doubt at his qualifications," Ginny explained what Colin had told her.
"Must have frustrated her that he didn't bite and wasn't acting as she had anticipated," Ron guessed.
"It will be interesting to see how she'll act around professor Flitwick. After all, he does have some goblin ancestry," Luna said.
"Luna, that is..." Hermione then stopped herself and thought for a moment. "Actually, it makes sense. Knowing her, she most likely also has something against goblins."
"What I'm not looking forward to is her inspecting any class we are in. Us being forced to endure whatever crap she has cooked up for Defense is already bad enough. The less we see of her, the better," Harry said with a grimace.
"Knowing our luck, it'll happen more than once," Neville sighed, having no illusions about things going their way. "As strange as it sounds, I honestly would want to continue under Professor Snape."
"Yes, he won't win any popularity contests, but I think that's not his intention. His goal is to ensure we understand what he is teaching us." Hermione then looked to the clock. "Harry, Ginny, don't you have Prefect duties soon?"
"Ah yes, us patrolling the corridors. It honestly is a bit boring, since the only people we meet are other Prefects, some teachers and the ghosts." Harry by now knew despite how others had made it sound like, most of the prefect duties were rather boring stuff.
"Don't forget Filch and his cat Mrs. Norris," Ginny reminded him.
"How could I?" Harry said, remembering one incident where Filch had appeared so suddenly that it had scared them.
"I get that the man is a cat lover, but the affection he shows that cat at times looks like an obsession. Doesn't he have anyone else close to him?" Ron asked, then noticed the silence and especially Luna looking uneasy. He then understood. "Sorry, I forgot what's being said about him."
It was an open secret at the school that Filch was a squib, meaning he couldn't use magic despite his magical ancestry. No one however wanted to make an issue of the matter, especially since ticking off the school disciplinarian was a very bad idea. Luna's reaction was understandable considering the fact that her baby sister Selene also was born with no magic of her own.
"I have to learn that it can come up. My parents plan to mostly withdraw from magical society in some years for the sake of Selene," Luna finally said. "Not that it is difficult, since our lives already mostly take place outside of it anyway."
Her friends had to admit that it still took determination to want to cut off most of their ties, but clearly little Selene took priority and her parents didn't want her to grow up feeling like an error. They were however more concerned for her due to the constantly worsening conditions in Magical Britain. With Voldemort looming, the future at the moment didn't look bright after all.
"We better get ready for our rounds..." Harry then said and Ginny agreed, both of them getting up and checking if their badges were visible.
Ron waited until those two had left before he remarked "It's a bit weird to see Ginny handling authority and actually take it seriously. Growing up, she always was the rebellious one - especially when it came to Mum."
"We are all older now, Ron," Hermione reminded him while opening her Charms book. "I know there is a lot of talk about teenage rebellion, but almost no one talks about how behavior can shift a lot even before that. Can you honestly say you are the same person as you were at age nine?"
Ron thought about it and then felt his past behavior in parts had become strange to him. "Eh... no. Neville, mate, what about you?"
"Considering I was shying away from social interaction and couldn't even produce a spark of magic before meeting all of you, I think I've changed significantly," Neville said while starting to sketch out something for Herbology.
"See?" Hermione told Ron before turning her attention to her book.
That left Ron thinking. He then tried to tend to his own business - namely planning ahead for the replacement of some players in the reserve team which had been unable to continue, but he was distracted. His attention was wandering back to Hermione, who seemed oblivious of the attention he was giving her while reading her book.
Strange, I've seen her read books countless times, but with her sitting so relaxed, it looks quite sexy, Ron thought.
He couldn't have known that Hermione had indeed noticed the looks he was giving her and had interpreted them correctly. The feminist part of her was solding herself for shifting a bit to give Ron some more to look at, but she couldn't help it.
...the next day...
It was a Saturday, which meant no lessons and also no need to be in uniform. It also meant they could take their time walking to breakfast. However, the boys noticed right away when arriving in the common room that something was going on when seeing other students being clustered around the Gryffindor bulletin board. Each house had one of those in their common room and normally it never created such a level of attention.
"What is that about?" Neville wondered.
Dean Thomas then noticed them and quickly walked over to them. "Guys, you have to read that! Trust me, it's the hottest news going around. Professor Snape really is giving honor to his house traits."
Now having become curious, they walked over to the bulletin board, not waiting for the girls to arrive. And official-looking big notification was pinned to it - it must have happened so early that no one had been awake - and its content was sure to put a certain someone into a bad mood.
"Man, toad-face won't like this, that's for sure," Ron said with a snigger, referring to the secret nickname for Umbridge - coined after her slightly toad-like features - which quickly had made the rounds among the students.
"Of course she won't like it... well, sucks for her. Kudos to Snape; he managed to give her a full salvo without her being able to do anything about it," Harry agreed, making no secret of how he felt about it.
"Eh, what's going on?" That was Ginny. The girls had walked down the stairs and seen the attention students were giving the bulletin board.
"Oh, of course you can't know," Parvati said, stepping aside to allow the three girls to take a look. "Girls, isn't this interesting?"
They finally did read the notification pinned to the board.
It was an official notification from Snape that the Dueling Club from now on would meet every week. Snape also spelled out explicitly that the club is seeking to widen its membership and thus an invitation to students especially from the upper years was given to join. Anyone willing to join was told to drop their application into the mail slot connecting to Snape's office.
"How thoughtful of Professor Snape. He is concerned about our education and offers us a way to improve ourselves," Luna said while taking off her glasses to wipe them clean.
"The best part is, that he is very well in his rights to do so. Any attempt to suppress that would look highly dictatorial He truly is a Slytherin," Hermione remarked, acklowedging that this was a very clever move. "Even if Umbridge does sit in club meetings, she'll find little to use as an excuse considering what the club is about."
"I bet she'll find a way," Neville reminded them. "After yesterday I would not put it above her to walk to Fudge to get some bogus decree in that regard."
Ginny had to admit, that was true. "But that will take time and also will make her look bad."
"Let's enjoy that victory for now. Let's go downstairs. I really want to see her reaction." Harry knew a vindictive side of his was speaking there, but Umbridge had managed to get the highest non-Death Eater position on his shit list, which was quite a feat in itself.
They quickly made their way into the great hall and were greeted with the sight of Umbridge trying her hardest to look indifferent. That of course was not entirely successful and it was clear she was avoiding to even look in Snape's direction. Perhaps she was fearing she could break her emotional mask when looking at the man who had given her this defeat. As for Snape himself, he was acting like nothing was wrong, being his normal, closed-up self. However, when looking closely it was almost like he was making a show of how much he was enjoying his breakfast.
"Man, she's trying waaay too hard to act like nothing has happened, considering she probably would love nothing more than to strangle Snape," Ron said with an amused look while they sat down.
"Ah, our dear brother, you noticed it as well?" Fred said with a smirk from a bit further down the table.
"We for our part have been enjoying this sight for quite some time," George added.
Angelina rolled her eyes at the antics of the twins. "Good thing I can easily keep both of you apart. There is only one George Weasley, and I won't return him."
Now Fred rolled his eyes when watching George and Angelina giving each other that kind of looks, which made him feel like dying of sugar shock. "Here we go again..."
"What is that supposed to mean? After all, you seem to quite enjoy my presence as well," Parvati asked, causing Fred to sputter and try to explain himself.
Meanwhile, over at the Slytherin table, several students had found new respect for Snape.
"...considering the way Umbridge acts, she had not foreseen this," Daphne concluded with a healthy dose of satisfaction. "Which shows she has underestimated Professor Snape a lot."
"What I wonder is, why Professor Snape isn't more popular in our house? I mean, he may be strict, but he most certainly is a very competent teacher," Dudley wondered, remembering their Defense lessons with Snape.
"It's little wonder you don't know that, Dursley," Theodore Nott commented. "Professor Snape has a negative reputation in certain pure-blood circles, which has been given to their children."
"What kind of reputation is that?" Dudley asked, though he had an idea due to knowing some things about Snape's past thanks to Harry.
"That of a traitor. Professor Snape in his youth used to be a Death Eater, but then renounced his ways. It's all public record. You can get an idea why certain families have not forgiven him changing sides." Nott left unsaid that his father had tried to instill such thinking into him as well.
That made a lot of sense to Dudley. "Yeah... they wouldn't forgive him that. However, it does explain why he is so good at teaching us about how to defend ourselves against the Dark Arts. He used them himself and knows from experience what he's talking about."
"So, it's going to be pretty much everyone in our year now joining the club apart from the usual suspects?" Millicent thought aloud while glancing to where Draco and Pansy were complaining loudly that they still were banned from joining the club after the incidents at the first meeting.
"Guess so. After all, otherwise there is no chance to learn anything, since neither is Umbridge qualified for the job, nor is she willing to do so." Daphne was echoing the majority opinion in Slytherin: that they disliked Umbridge. Of course, others were sucking up to her.
At the faculty table meanwhile, Umbridge was stewing.
While she knew all she needed to know about Severus Snape, she honestly had not expected him to pull such a stunt. She knew exactly what Snape was doing - simply move his Defense lessons to the Dueling Club - and thus she also knew she had to find a way to sabotage that effort.
Of course that would be difficult, since she first had to find leverage aginast Snape. His past wouldn't work, since that had been public record for almost fifteen years now and thus worthless. For the time being she had to resort to keeping an eye on what that club was doing and try to find a pretext for dissolving it - easier said than done.
Of course, in case that proved to be fruitless, she could just use more... crude methods. After all, those who made the rules can always change them to accommodate their needs.
...September 11th, Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom...
They had dreaded this day. It now was Monday and time for they first Defense lesson with Dolores Umbridge. None of them had looked forward to it due to already knowing what a horrible person she was. Thus they were talking while on their way to the classroom - which was not the one Snape was using for his lesson but the one used by the lower years.
"I don't even want to imagine what her classroom looks like. Her fashion sense already is bad enough," Ron grumbled.
"Considering all the screaming orange in your room, that means something," Ginny remarked, playing at Ron's room back home showcasing the color of his favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. "Though to be honest, Colin was very tight-lipped about the matter, looking disappointed when I asked him about it."
"It's not only that. Try to think of the chaos she caused with the timetables. Not that she cares about such things..." Hermione knew Umbridge couldn't care less about actually teaching anything.
"I can imagine that, considering the looks other teachers are giving her." Harry then shook his head. "What I'm actually concerned about is whatever she's about to do in the classroom. Not to speak her potentially using me to hurt Uncle Sirius."
"She would be foolish to do something in front of witnesses," Luna said, her own discomfort shining through. "Better be careful Harry, she could try to provoke you so she could get alone with you in detention."
"Detention with Umbridge... brrr, horrifying thought." Harry had thought nothing could be worse than the detention he'd had with Lockhart and his piles of fan mail, but being alone with Umbridge would be even worse than that.
They had already gotten a taste of Umbridge in today's Potions lesson, after all.
Umbridge had tried hard to keep up her mask, but even then it had been plain obvious that she held a serious grudge against Slughorn, which meant something since Slughorn was a fair teacher to everyone, not just those he had selected for the Slug Club. Regardless what Umbridge's beef with Slughorn was, it had made her especially petty and pedantic.
They had even stayed for a bit after lessons to ask Slughorn if he was all right, since the man had looked a bit unsettled. Slughorn had thanked them for their concern and said he hadn't expected such thinly-veiled dislike. He'd muttered in addition that some people simply can't get over childhood grudges, thus giving some context to Umbridge's behavior.
They finally reached the classroom. Next to the door was a stack of books, with a sign saying that this was the Ministry-approved book for the subject from now on, and that each student had to take one. That already was a bad sign right there while each of them took one.
They then looked through the open door. "Ah man..." Neville groaned.
The Defense classroom had gone through a change for the worse. During the times of Remus and Moody it sported all kind of items related to the subject on shelves as well as interesting charts about the matter - some a bit more graphical than required but nothing compared to what Snape had in his classroom. All of that was gone now, making the room look utterly bare. It was like all personality had been sucked out of the room.
Standing next to the blackboard was Umbridge herself. While walking to their seats they saw she had written 'Defense Aginst the Dark Arts - a return to basic principles' onto the blackboard, which already gave an idea what she was going to try.
"What does that mean?" Ron wondered.
Hermione's eyes narrowed while they sat down. "It means we won't learn anything in this class. Wait and see what I mean."
"Well, good afternoon!" Umbridge said when finally the whole class had sat down.
A few people mumbled "Good afternoon," in reply. "Tut, tut," Umbridge said. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her.
"There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."
"Does she think we are toddlers?" Neville wondered.
"She sure as hell wants to treat as us such," Ginny snored, starting to get an idea what Hermione had meant when saying they wouldn't learn anything in this class.
Umbridge then droned on. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."
While Umbridge made a whole list of the goals of the course appear on the blackboard, there was little doubt that her speech had angered more than a few students. Remus had been a highly popular teacher and Moody had earned their respect as well. Thus, shitting on both of them like that was not doing Umbridge any favors. However, the students tried to not show their anger.
Once that tedious list was copied, Umbridge had them open the book and start to read the first chapter. The book was a strange one, since unlike all of their previous books it contained nothing of practical value and instead waxed endlessly about highly simplified and yet cryptical theory that was useless to students wanting to learn anything about defending themselves.
You've got to be kidding me! So that's how she's playing it, Hermione thought. Looking around, she saw that her friends were having the same realization, as did some other people.
Hermione raised her hand to ask a question and Umbridge managed to ignore her for almost twenty minutes before finally seeing that Hermione was not giving up. "Do you need help with the chapter..." Umbridge looked at the seating chart, "...Miss Granger?"
"My question is why are we even reading this? This book is pure theory and pointless for school work in this subject since nothing about actually using defensive spells is written in it," Hermione said, then waited how Umbridge would react.
Umbridge did not lose her faux-nice act, but when she spoke again, it sounded like she was talking to a mentally disabled toddler. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You are not a Ministry-trained educational expert, so I can't expect you to know better. Also, what situation could arise in my classroom that would have you need to use defensive spells?"
Hermione however would not be intimidated. "The whole point of this subject is to learn how to use defensive spells for later in life. Are you implying that the whole point of your subject is irrelevant?"
Umbridge seemed not used to people talking back to her, but quickly caught herself. "Again, you are not an expert, thus your obviously naive opinion on the matter is not to be taken into account." That was not answering Hermione's question at all. "Besides, I wonder what kind of troubles you are expecting in today's safe society?"
Finally, Harry couldn't hold back anymore and raised his hand. Unlike with Hermione, Umbridge wasted not a single second to address him right away, which Harry noticed. "Yes, Potter?"
"With all respect, Professor, 'in today's safe society'? Have you missed the news over the past few months?" Harry tried hard, but some sarcasm bled into his words and everyone noticed.
Umbridge didn't show it, but she was displeased when hearing that. She of course was no idiot and knew - unlike that fool Fudge - that something was going on. She had made her personal preparations as well. However, Ministry line was to deny it. On the other hand, that was just the opening she had waited for and now she would bait Potter, hoping that he would lose his temper.
"Why, Mr. Potter. Are you implying that your teacher is ignorant? Hmmm, it could be the influence of your godfather. After all, Black had always been a problematic troublemaker," Umbridge then baited him.
Harry was about to defend Sirius, but stopped himself. All the meditation he'd been doing to help learn Occlumency now helped him to stop himself from being impulsive. Realizing the trap, Harry decided to play it safe. "No, Professor, I was just curious."
Umbridge was disappointed that Harry had not taken the bait, but knew there would be more chances to subtly provoke him so she could bring the disciplinary hammer - in her own style - down onto him. "Curiosity can be very dangerous, Mr. Potter, so better keep that bad habit under control. Now, everyone, back to reading."
The rest of the lesson was tedious, especially for Harry. Umbridge tried several more times to bait Harry with questions that, while sounding innocent on the surface, were actually quite insulting. However, Harry now knew what her game was and forced himself to not give in to his anger. It was some kind of torture and when they finally left the classroom, Harry looked like he wished he was old enough to drink alcohol.
"That damn toad..." Harry growled, really wanting to smash something after what he had gone through. "But Luna... you were right, she was trying to provoke me."
"Professor Umbridge made little secret of it, if you know what to look for." Luna had had her mask on during the entire 'lesson', so it had been impossible to read her mood. Now however her control was slipping. "She will try again, there is no doubt about that."
"Lucky me..." Harry already knew this would be some kind of torture.
"Eh, Luna, how do you feel?" Neville asked.
"You mean considering the farce the subject has been turned into or the fact that she had been treating us like we are imbeciles? Her behavior is insulting the students." Luna took a deep breath. "And I feel personally insulted. It dragged up old memories."
Luna was quite unhappy, which was little wonder. Over the years she had developed a dislike of others treating her like she was mentally challenged or insane just due to her being different. The way Umbridge had treated them had opened old wounds. Seeing the world more clearly had also shown her painfully how little some people thought of her.
"Still... we now know her game regarding Defense. The Ministry doesn't want us to learn anything so we won't become a 'danger' to them. Good thing Professor Snape is still teaching us over the Dueling Club," Hermione said, now knowing the official lessons in Defense by Umbridge were worthless.
"Question is, for how long?" Ginny reminded them. "That toad will find a way to cut off that as well."
"Guys, let's cross that bridge when we have to. I'm just glad I won't have detention with her. God only knows what she then would have done to me to hurt Sirius by proxy." Harry honestly didn't want to imagine that scenario. "You think she'll get worse than this?"
"Mate, have you seen the looks she's given you?" Ron asked Harry. "You keeping your cool only seems to have made her more determined to finally trap you with something. I think she's angry you didn't fall for her tricks."
"Shit..." Harry honestly had the feeling that all the lessons with Umbridge from now on would be even worse. He'd thought up until now that nothing could be worse than Lockhart's Defense 'lessons', but now he had been proven wrong.
Umbridge was easily worse, for while Lockhart had been an incompetent fraud, Umbridge was actively malevolent against them right from the start.
...September 16th, Quidditch pitch...
The Quidditch tryouts for this season had started, and on this Saturday morning, it was tryouts for Gryffindor and Slytherin. In the past, that would have been impossible, but things had become easier between both teams, especially now with Ron being the Gryffindor Captain and Slytherin also getting a new Captain who was much more relaxed about such things. Thus in order to save time, an agreement had been reached that each team could use half of the pitch for their tryouts, and for both teams to respect said agreement.
Of course, some hiccups remained.
"Well, oh great Captain, what are your orders?" Fred said said with a laugh, finding it bizarre that he would take orders from his younger brother.
"Yes, you now have something to prove, after all," George added, also looking like he wanted to treat this with humor.
Ginny on the other hand didn't see that as funny at all. "Have you forgotten my promise?"
Fred and George flinched. They had not forgotten Ginny's threat that for each time they would give Ron a hard time in the team, she would reveal one of their secrets to their mother. Considering how they now were especially reliant on everything going well in order to not break their contract with Sirius, they realized they better stop it now or suffer the consequences.
Angelina looked to George. "George, you are about to enter the world outside of school, don't you think it's about time to show some more impulse control?"
George blushed a little, as Angelina had stepped into his personal space. "W-well, maybe some restraint would be good."
Fred rolled his eyes when seeing that display. "Those two..."
Fred had watched things develop between those two over the months and realized that George was on his way into a serious relationship. Angelina had even asked if she could work in their future shop since she wanted to sort out her further options after school for some time. Fred however knew that she also did that because it would mean staying close to his twin.
The whole situation was something very alien for Fred. For most of his life it had been George and him doing everything together, but now George was doing something he had no part in and it left Fred confused. The differences between the two of them were growing and it left him wondering what he should think about that.
Ron for his part ignored the whole by-play and concentrated on his job. "All right, one of our reserve beaters had to bail out, saying his parents pressured him to concentrate on school work due to his low grades. One reserve chaser is also no more, since she suffered a severe allergic attack over the summer and is forbidden from flying..."
"That's still better than the Slytherin team having to replace the majority of their reserve team," Harry commented, looking to the other side of the pitch were the Slytherins were holding their tryouts.
Ron shrugged. "Well, they got bad luck with graduations and students being pulled out of school." He then looked to the applicants. "We only try out for beaters and chasers, so any of you for a different position is out of luck."
Some people left and Angelina then pointed to one of the remaining people, barely holding back her scrowl. Ron sighed. "McLaggen, don't even bother! I'm on the same page as Angelina and will never let you into the team."
Said McLaggen looked angry while walking away, before sneering at Fred at George "I also won't forget how you tossers tried to get me to eat a pound of doxy eggs yesterday! I'll get even with you!"
"Hah, good luck with that!" George called after McLaggen, actually hoping that the idiot would try to get back at them.
Angelina looked after him and then snorted. "What was he thinking?"
"Who said anything about thinking?" Katie Bell said, causing the team to have a good laugh before they started the tryouts.
Meanwhile over at the Slytherin side, things also were starting up.
"I see we have lots of applicants. Good... we need them," the new Captain of the team said when looking at the interested students.
In the normal course of things, vacant positions in the main team were to be filled up from the reserve team. However, the Slytherin team had been hit especially hard. Three of their team had graduated - which had also resulted in a new Captain ascending from the reserve team. Additionally, they'd had the bad luck of two members of their team, one regular and one reserve, being pulled out of the school by their parents.
Besides filling up the reserve team however, there now was one additional problem. One of the pulled-out students had been one of their beaters, meaning a decision had to be made who would take his place. That was a thorny issue, because of the intense dislike between the reserve beaters Millicent and Sevenstone. Both girls very much hated each other.
However, unlike his predecessor, the new Captain would no longer beat around the bush.
"Bulstrode, Sevenstone, step forward," he said, wanting to get over with it as quick as possible. Both girls did as told, and he continued "Before we start with the tryouts, the matter of filling the vacant beater post has to be solved."
"About time..." Sevenstone snorted, looking very convinced that she would get the position, while Millicent just rolled her eyes at that display of arrogance.
"Ah yes..." The Captain tried to sound neutral, but his true feelings were shining through. "Unlike my predecessor, who was too chicken to address the issue, I won't drag this out anymore. First off, Bulstrode, you've got the position."
"YES!" It burst out of Millicent before she realized her outburst. "Ooops, sorry."
"No problem," the Captain said, looking more amused than anything.
Sevenstone on the other hand looked livid. "I demand an explanation! Why her and not me?!"
"Gladly, Sevenstone. That also brings me to the second point I have to address." The Captain then gave her a hard look. "I've had enough time to watch you. Whatever talent you might have is far outweighed by the negative impact you have on the team. This team is supposed to work together to win games. You on the other hand seem to think you can use your position for petty grudges. Your teamplay is poor and your motivation is highly questionable."
Sevenstone was trembling with anger while the rest of the team looked floored at such a dressing-down in front of everyone, though Draco's expression was unreadable.
"You are a poor player, Sevenstone, and you have no place in this team. Your services are no longer needed," the Captain concluded.
Angry, Sevenstone ripped off the house patch from her uniform and threw it at the Captain's feet. "I won't forget this humiliation! Mark my words, you'll come to regret this!" She the stomped off.
"Wow..." Dudley said, barely noticing how the tryouts then were being organized. He only was pulled out of his surprise when Millicent walked up next to him.
"I honestly had not expected that." Like him she looked surprised. "But look over there..."
Dudley did look and saw that Draco had moved to the exit gate, where he was now animatedly talking with Sevenstone. Whatever they were talking about, Sevenstone's anger seemed to ebb away, being replaced by a downright sadistic smile. They did one last handshake before Sevenstone left and Draco returned to the rest of the team.
"Whatever that was about, I have a feeling it's nothing good. Too bad that Malfoy can't be removed from the team as well," Dudley then said.
"Yes... even our new Captain wouldn't dare to remove Malfoy out of fear he could run to his parents. But look at his mood," Millicent pointed out. "It's like last year. He knows something, and that could spell trouble for us."
As much as Dudley wanted to dismiss the idea, after last year he knew Draco holding a secret couldn't be good.
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"The Fall of Azkaban"
Notes:
Here the notes.
I decided to give more context to what the teachers think of Umbridge's presence. Now, however, you very likely were more eager to see Snape's new teaching style. I did take some inspiriation from canon Book 6. He's still himself, but he dies have adapted due to his changed circumstances. I hope the scene does him justice.
Of course Umbridge doesn't like it and has to make a grab for the whole position - that will have consequences for herself once the curse kicks in. We also see more of her pettiness in her reason for beign at Hogwarts besides the obvious.
Following that, we do see how Percy intents to go against her. Don't laugh, it can be quite crippling if the people working in the office hate you, since they can sabotage you in many ways. Also, Snape is not defeated so easily and has already found a way to still do his thing for the time being.
I wanted to show that behind the scenes Sirius is being busy. He's not doing nothing. That however does not mean the Ministry will be more effective once the truth is out.
We do see that Umbridge's "teaching style" is like in canon, though here Harry knows better and doesn't get baited by her, much to her frustration. Since everyone already knows she's a bitch here, this is torture for everyone involved.
While the Quidditch scene at first looks like filler, there are some hints you can find in it...