New Headmaster, New Life

Needless to say, chaos erupted.

"Ginny... hurry! LET'S GO!" Micheal yelled, drowning out the other screams, as he began to yank on her dress and firmly grabbed her hand. Together they dashed to the exit, shoving past other members of the DA who were fleeing in all directions, piling on top of each other.

Meanwhile, the Slytherins entered the room boldly and chased after the students; Blaise Zabini spotted the two but changed direction and attacked the Hufflepuffs, though perhaps it was just a trick of the light. Ginny was almost reaching the corridor with Micheal when a large Slytherin girl, Millicent Bulstrode, grabbed her by the hair.

"You're not going anywhere, squirt!" she declared, yanking hard on Ginny's red hair.

"Micheal, go on without me!" Ginny yelled desperately, struggling frantically in the Slytherin girl's grip.

"Confundus!"

A dreamy voice behind the students cast a spell on Millicent, who began to loosen her grip on Ginny's hair and looked dazed and languid. Luna Lovegood smiled broadly: she was the only one who had come back to help Ginny, not to mention that Micheal had stood frozen, watching her, thinking of a way to free her from the Slytherin.

With a gesture, Luna grabbed Micheal and dragged him away towards the Ravenclaw Tower while Ginny took a right turn, towards... where could she hide before other Slytherins spotted her fleeing towards the Gryffindor Tower? In the girls' bathroom, or the library? No, that would be too suspicious. As she ran, she heard a shout and saw Warrington grabbing Neville in a tight grip, trying to shake him off.

No, not Neville.

Acting on instinct, recalling Luna Lovegood's words, Ginny shouted, "Confundus!" and felt a tingling in her arm as Warrington let go of Neville with a vacant gaze and turned away.

"I... you... you..." stuttered Neville, his pudgy face sweaty.

"Yes, I think I did," Ginny cut him short, helping her friend up and giving him a quick pat on the arm. She was quite pleased with herself for mastering the spell on her first try, even though she had never personally used it on someone before. "You're okay, right? I only Confused him, he won't remember anything and won't mention your name if they interrogate him. Let's go!"

And both of them ran like mad towards the Gryffindor Tower, fortunately, the journey was short since the room was already on the seventh floor and it only took turning a few corridors to find themselves in front of the Fat Lady's portrait. Ginny felt her reflexes leaving her, and if a Slytherin appeared at that moment, she would not have been able to defend herself or anyone else; her spleen hurt too much.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia!" Neville almost screamed, and both of them hurried through the portrait hole.

All the DA members from Gryffindor were there, and the two friends collapsed onto the couch.

"What the hell happened? Who snitched? And... where's Harry?" Ginny asked bluntly, once she caught her breath.

"They got him. He's with Umbridge in Dumbledore's office," Ron said sadly, while Hermione was breathing heavily, her eyes shimmering with tears. "We didn't have time to do anything, and it was total chaos!"

Ginny put her hands in her hair in a gesture of despair: Harry had been caught, he who had been so ready to help them and teach them defense, now had to face the consequences alone in the headmaster's office without anyone to help him.

"Dumbledore will get him out of this," Fred said firmly to the crowd.

"Yeah!" George agreed quickly.

"But who snitched?" Ginny insisted angrily, torturing her hands in her lap.

"We'll find out soon: my jinx should have worked. But Har... he..."

Hermione was nearly in tears.

"They won't expel him, don't worry. Did they only take him?" Dean Thomas intervened.

"Yes."

"Fred is right: Dumbledore won't let them expel him!"

"Yes, I'm sure of that too... but what I really want to know is who the hell snitched!" Ginny exploded again, furious with the whole world.

"Zacharias Smith!" Lavender Brown shrieked.

"Or maybe that Micheal Corner, he's got a shifty look..." Ron couldn't help but insinuate, throwing a penetrating look at his sister.

"No, it wasn't Micheal!" she burst out, staring angrily at her brother who was insinuating something shady. Dean shifted slightly beside her, but said nothing, and no one spoke for a few minutes... minutes that seemed incredibly long.

Eventually, some kids dragged themselves to bed wishing everyone good night, and Ginny followed suit, leaving Ron and Hermione alone to wait for their friend. She entered the dormitory quietly to not wake her roommates, closing the door behind her, and absentmindedly unbuttoned her blouse, piling it to one side along with her trousers, socks, and shoes. She put on her pajamas and climbed into bed, restless: what was happening at that moment in the headmaster's office?

After Dumbledore's Army ended along with their Headmaster's tenure, Hermione relayed to Ginny everything that had transpired with Harry in Dumbledore's office. It turned out Marietta Edgecombe was the informant. Umbridge had interrogated her more thoroughly, but then Hermione's jinx came into play, causing Marietta to break out in pimples spelling "sneak" across her face, a fitting punishment. The good news was Harry wasn't expelled, and none of them would face consequences, but the bad news was Dumbledore had taken the blame for everything and fled, making Umbridge the new Headmistress of Hogwarts.

Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) will replace Albus Dumbledore as Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic.

"I can't believe it, it's a scandal!" Demelza said, depressed, during a lunch with friends, Dean, Neville, and Seamus.

"Dumbledore will kick her out in no time... remember first year?" Christopher asked.

"Yeah, right!" Neville agreed, though not very convincingly.

"I hate her with all my heart!" Ginny burst out, angrily brandishing her fork, indifferent to being overheard. She was so angry with Umbridge that she didn't care about the consequences. "She couldn't wait to take Dumbledore's place, I guess. That old toad suffers from serious compl..."

"Do you really want to finish that sentence, runt?"

Ginny and her friends turned sharply: Blaise Zabini stood beside them, smirking coldly.

"Well, I don't see how it concerns you," Colin retorted bravely, continuing his meal.

Ritchie and Vick snickered, ignoring Zabini as they finished their lunch.

"I should take points from Gryffindor, don't you think?" the Slytherin continued in an innocent tone.

Ginny was the first to laugh, a bitter and cold laugh. What was Zabini's angle? After all, he had no right to interrupt her rant about Umbridge's nastiness—was this just an excuse for a fight? Ginny thought the Slytherin didn't want to risk his pretty face getting beat up by a "Blood Traitor" like her.

"You're not a Prefect!" she retorted, staring intensely into his dark eyes.

"No," Zabini replied, unfazed, "but I am a member of the Inquisitorial Squad, students handpicked by our Headmistress who support the Ministry of Magic and the members of the Inquisitorial Squad can..."

"Go to hell?" William interrupted, as angry as ever.

"... deduct points from anyone," Zabini finished with a superior air, never taking his eyes off an infuriated Ginny in the midst of a hysterical nerve crisis. "So, I really should take ten points from Gryffindor," he added simply.

"What is this about?" Dean intervened energetically, standing up.

"Go eat dung, Zabini!" added Seamus.

"Sit down," Zabini commanded Dean, who didn't move.

"Or what? You'll take more points from Gryffindor?" Dean challenged.

Now facing each other, Dean and Blaise almost looked identical, if not for Blaise's aristocratic sneer and pureblood lord demeanour. Then, Zabini turned towards Ginny, his dark eyes piercing through her.

"I forgot you're a Blood Traitor, Weasley... so, another five off!" he sneered.

Dean lunged forward, probably to beat up Blaise Zabini, but Ritchie, Seamus, and Neville restrained him and forced him to sit down. Unfortunately, by restraining Dean, they couldn't stop Ginny, who lunged at Zabini, initiating a Muggle-style brawl in the Great Hall under everyone's gaze. Hufflepuff students near the Gryffindor table intervened and separated the girl from a shocked Zabini before she could send him to the Hospital Wing.

The fight was so brief that the teachers didn't notice.

"Hey... enough, enough..." Malcom Preece, a Hufflepuff of her year who took Muggle Studies with the Gryffindors, gently said. "Do you really want to beat him up in the Great Hall? At least do it outside, right?" he added, as Zabini walked away from the Gryffindor table and Ginny muttered curses.

"Yeah, at least in the school courtyard!" Aaron Turner added humorously.

"Thanks, guys... ARE YOU CRAZY?" Demelza exclaimed, eyes wide, when her friend sat back down to the admiring gaze of Dean. The twins were crossing the Great Hall with pronounced grins, their eyes on their sister.

"I got angry..." Ginny muttered indifferently.

Vick, Colin, and Christopher kept chuckling.

"A true rebel!" Fred intervened energetically, followed by his twin.

"A rebel like us!" George added happily.

Ginny and the twins looked at each other beamingly, then Fred's expression soured: "Did he touch you?" he asked.

"Did he offend you?" echoed his twin.

"Did he do anything that could have disturbed you?"

"Did he do anything that could compel us to turn that Slytherin into mincemeat?"

"He just took points off me," the girl replied, omitting the part where Zabini had gravely insulted her.

"Yeah, Montague tried it with us too," George said with a chuckle.

"Tried?" Seamus asked, confused.

"We stuffed him in the Vanishing Cabinet, and he won't be appearing for weeks."

"IN THE VANISHING CABINET?" Demelza and Neville exclaimed in unison.

"What do you mean you stuffed him in the Vanishing Cabinet?" Colin asked, curious.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun!" Fred defensively said, rubbing his hands with malignant joy. "Anyway, since Umbridge has been here we've been good, and since Dumbledore isn't here anymore..."

"...we think a bit of confusion is just what our dear toad deserves!" concluded George cheerfully, pulling out what Ginny thought were small colored rockets. "New headmistress, new life... just wait and see, behave yourselves."

Fred and George rushed out of the Great Hall and ignited those rockets in the Entrance Hall, followed by a few students who had overheard the conversation and by their sister and friends.

BOOM.

The earth shook, and utter pandemonium ensued: the small rockets had become large fireworks, exploding in the Entrance Hall and causing chaos among the students who began to run out of the Great Hall to witness the havoc outside, while Fred and George's beaming faces stood out among a crowd of cheering students. Green and gold dragons formed from sparks darted through the corridors emitting scorching flames and deafening bangs; the sparklers spelled out swear words mid-air; the firecrackers exploded everywhere like mines, and Umbridge and the others were petrified with horror.

"I hope they use the Stunning Spells!" George laughed, holding his stomach.

"Or Evanesco!" Fred added, tears of laughter in his eyes.

Chaos reigned.

But that was nothing compared to the afternoon. The day passed that way, with runaway fireworks interrupting classes and firecrackers exploding, causing screams of fear, while the teachers amused themselves by calling Umbridge every time just for the pleasure of seeing her run back and forth to extinguish sparklers and pyrotechnics.

"Now practice summoning larger objects," Professor Flitwick was almost shouting during an afternoon class, drowning out the noise from the fireworks causing havoc in the corridor. "Try with dictionaries or heavy objects, enough with the feathers! And... oh, look: sparklers!" he added, chuckling, as small sparklers made a noisy entrance into the class, causing general giggles. "Miss Weasley, could you run and inform the Headmistress that we have runaway sparklers in class?"

"Yes, Professor!"

Ginny ran out of the class, covering her mouth with her hands to stifle her laughter, and hurried to Umbridge's office on the same floor as the Charms classroom. She narrowly avoided the fireworks and knocked forcefully on the door of their new Headmistress, waiting. When the new Headmistress opened the door, Ginny found herself facing a rather battered and dusty Umbridge... which was quite amusing.

"Professor Flitwick sent me to tell you we have runaway sparklers in class," Ginny recited, with a mischievous smile. Umbridge seemed desperate, but she ran towards the Charms classroom and after several minutes got rid of those noisy sparklers.

"Thank you very much, Professor!" Professor Flitwick thanked her politely. "Of course, I could have gotten rid of those sparklers myself, but I wasn't sure I had the authority!" he added, thereby slamming the door in her face and gloating for the rest of the class with the students' giggles in the background.

That evening, Fred and George were hailed as true heroes in the Gryffindor common room. Ginny saw that even Hermione, a rule lover and Gryffindor Prefect, made her way through the cheering crowd of students to personally congratulate the twins. The Weasley Wildfire Whiz-bangs had been a hit, and it was worth it, making Umbridge's first day as Headmistress a living hell was fun beyond limits.

"Your brothers are great," Dean Thomas's cheerful voice said, leaning on the desk where Ginny was sitting for a perfect view of the entire common room and everything happening within. "Now I know who you take after, you know?" he smiled, and something in the girl's stomach stirred... a feeling she only experienced when Harry smiled and looked her in the eyes.

Was it possible she was starting to grow fond of Dean?

"Do I really resemble Fred and George?" she asked, jumping off the desk.

"Of course!" the boy replied, approaching her tentatively.

Ginny felt her heart pounding hard in her chest and cursed herself: what was happening to her now? She was with Michael, even though she hadn't liked Michael as much as before for a long time. Lately, he had become too proud and sullen... in fact, he resembled a male version of Moaning Myrtle, and Ginny would bet it was Cho's influence making him that way: that human watering can had infected him, and had infected Harry too... who looked like Myrtle's handsome twin, let alone resembling her!

"It's late!" the girl exclaimed when Dean got closer. "Demelza, Vick... we have to go! Come on, hurry up... up!"

"What?" Vick protested, busy chatting with friends.

"We have to do that thing"

"What thing?"

Demelza, the most perceptive of the group or at least the quickest to catch significant signals, quickly understood and dragged Vicky away from the boys towards the spiral staircase while Ginny said goodbye to Dean and followed them up to the female dormitory, with a certain urgency.

"But will you explain?" the blonde demanded, as Demelza pushed her into their dormitory and locked the door.

Ginny sighed. "We have a big problem..." she declared.

Vicky was quite shocked that her friend felt a certain attraction towards Dean Thomas and even considered him more interesting than Micheal Corner, but she made no further comments and kept her opinions to herself. Especially since Demelza had glared at her if she tried to say anything bad: she was radiant and couldn't wait for Ginny to clear things up with Micheal.

To top it all off, there were practices on Sunday, and Angelina demanded that the boys give their all: she had not yet forgotten their defeat to Ravenclaw. In fact, that defeat had not been forgotten by any Gryffindor, and at that practice, they were all out to avoid ending up like the previous match against Ravenclaw.

"I know your boyfriend is in Ravenclaw, but give it your all because we have to win!" Angelina told Ginny when the practices were about to end, while Ron huffed and accidentally dropped the Quaffle on Alicia's nose, his mood stormy as ever. "I mean, I'm sorry you're in this situation but..."

"Angelina, don't worry!" the girl reassured her, even trying not to tell her that she would do anything just to beat Micheal in that game: in those days, he was becoming really unbearable and kept teasing her about how Ravenclaw would surely win. "I don't give a damn if Ravenclaw loses and Micheal gets mad... we really have to win otherwise we lose the Cup!" she added, rather harshly.

"Oh... okay. Keep going, guys!" yelled Angelina.

The practice lasted a long time, and Ginny really gave it her all, working hard to catch the Golden Snitch. The whole team was trying hard, everyone except Ron... who would surely ruin all of Angelina's plans for the next day. They couldn't lose the Cup, they couldn't lose that Cup after all the effort they had made, and not because of Ron.

"JACK, OH MY GOD! HOLD HIM!" suddenly exclaimed Angelina with a sharp shriek, and all the players immediately dove down, just in time to see Jack Sloper firmly held on his broom by Ron. "What the heck happened? I was turned away and didn't see!" she added, very worried.

"I heard a really loud noise," Alicia trembled.

"I-I... Jack hit himself with the bat..." stammered Ron, as red as his hair.

"What?" asked Ginny, puzzled, noticing that Jack Sloper was struggling to stay on his broom and tended to close his eyes as if dazed. "He hit himself with the bat and passed out? But that's so... surreal. How did he manage to hit himself?" she insisted, watching her brother stammer even more.

"What do you want me to know!" he retorted, furious and embarrassed.

Ginny exchanged a look with the Chasers, and Angelina declared the practices over, ordering Ron to take Sloper to the Hospital Wing when he would recover a bit and regain consciousness. The complicit glances exchanged by the three girls was eloquent and meant only one thing: Ron had missed the Quaffle again, and in anger had hit Jack Sloper so hard that he lost consciousness, causing the practice to end quickly.

Obviously, the team would continue to believe that Jack had hit himself.

"Umbridge wants to see you in her office," croaked the grumpy voice of Filch, the caretaker, as he stood in the hallway, flanked by his cat Mrs. Norris and a grimy rag. Ginny, just back from Quidditch practice and on her way to the Gryffindor Tower, didn't anticipate anything good from this encounter. Explaining to Filch that she wasn't up to any mischief was like explaining the concept of flying to a penguin.

"Why does she want to see me?" Ginny asked, expecting the worst.

"Just hurry up!" Filch replied, his voice as welcoming as a dungeon door slamming shut.

Reluctantly, Ginny followed Filch through the corridors to Umbridge's office, wondering what she had done now. Could someone have told Umbridge about her near-brawl with Blaise Zabini, or had Marietta Edgecombe snitched again? Entering Umbridge's office for the first time, Ginny was greeted by an overwhelming amount of cat-themed decor, a stark contrast to the previous occupants' tastes.

"Professor Umbridge, you wanted to see me?" Ginny asked, emphasizing "professor" with a mix of reluctance and disdain.

Umbridge looked up from her parchment, her voice dripping with faux sweetness. "Yes, dear. This package arrived for you. It was late, so I took the liberty of inspecting it thoroughly..."

Ginny, not in the mood for niceties, grabbed the package and left without another word. Umbridge's curiosity had been met with a solid wall of privacy, courtesy of the Weasley resilience.

Back in the common room, Ginny found Hermione buried in her studies. "Hermione, got a minute?"

"Of course!" Hermione replied, making space for her friend.

"This must be from mom, for you" Ginny said, handing over a chocolate egg adorned with miniature books and scrolls. "Ron must've told her you're the best in your year, so..."

Hermione beamed, unwrapping her gift. "How thoughtful! But weren't you at Quidditch practice?"

"Yeah, but Ron had to take Sloper to the infirmary, so we cut it short. Where's Harry?"

"In the library. He's been down lately... fought with Cho over Marietta."

"Sorry to hear that," Ginny lied, her heart doing a little dance of joy.

"Harry just wants Cho to be happier, I think. He's bored with her."

Ginny laughed so hard she drew attention. "I get it. Micheal and I are drifting apart. He's been hanging out with Cho, and I... I'm growing fond of Dean Thomas."

"Dean Thomas?" Hermione echoed, surprised.

"Yes, he's a friend of yours, right?" Ginny asked, standing to leave. "I'll take this to Harry; maybe chocolate will cheer him up."

After leaving the common room, Ginny headed to the library, hoping to lift Harry's spirits. "Harry?" she called quietly, finding him staring into space.

"Hey, Ginny. Why aren't you at practice?"

"It just ended. Jack Sloper had to go to the infirmary," Ginny explained, sitting next to Harry and handing him a chocolate egg.

Harry looked at the egg as if it might explode. "You okay?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, just... I wish I could talk to Sirius."

"We'll find a way," Ginny assured him, optimism lighting her features.

"With Umbridge watching our every move?" Harry scoffed.

"The thing about growing up with Fred and George, is that you sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve." Ginny said, earning a heartwarming smile from Harry.

Their moment was shattered by Madam Pince's screech. "CHOCOLATE IN THE LIBRARY! OUT!" the librarian shouted and, with a wave of her wand, chased them out of the library, smacking them on the head as they ran at full speed, not even having time to exchange a single word. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady in no time, holding their sides from the effort and with aching spleens.

"That one... is really... crazy!" Ginny gasped for air. The Fat Lady coughed loudly, but the two were too busy catching their breath to pay her any heed. "Seems like she does it on purpose, every time I'm in the library!"

"Do you end up in that situation often?" Harry chuckled, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Yeah, almost every time. Anyway, I'll talk to the twins... don't worry, I'll make sure you get to talk to Sirius."

"Ginny..." the boy called out to her, and she paused for a moment, overwhelmed by the sound of her name in his voice: it sounded so melodious, so decisive. "Thank you..." he added, with a tender smile that Ginny returned.

"So," trilled the Fat Lady, brandishing a small glass of wine, "are you going to give me the password, or should I leave you both out here while I go wandering?"

Translators note

Eyoo i managed to rope Helena back into editing the storyy woopwoop , we getting the gang back together. So in a while the chapters i translated will be more coherent especially in certain parts, please be patient.

Notes for the chapter, I went and found the og english educational decree instead of translating it from this chapter. (which turned out to be useless the translation was pretty accurate unlike usual since, usually they have at least one word different lool).

Also i started adding line breaks since the spaces seem to be formatting weird once you publish the chapter?

Original authors note:

Here you can see what happens to Ginny when Harry is caught by Malfoy, and I liked adding the part where Luna saves her and she saves Neville, since in the end, they are the ones who carry on the rebellion in the seventh book. After this chapter, Micheal and Ginny will break up, and Dean will have a clear field. To the happiness of many, but not mine... I don't like Dean, pfffff.

A big kiss!

NEXT CHAPTER: The twins escape and the last match of the season