Chapter 39 – Easter Rising

Umbridge kept the students holed up in their Common Rooms for another full day, and half of the next. Through that time Harry found himself playing game after game with his cards, board games, and he even managed to get some homework done. But the frustration continued to build, in Harry as well as everyone else, as the only time students were allowed to leave the Common Rooms was for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

And through it all Harry could hear people making plans to rebel, aided by his augmented hearing. Some of them appeared to be making actual plans for civil disobedience, and those Harry simply ignored. One group seemed to want to occupy the Charms corridor, complete with barricades and a rotating watch.

Harry hoped they managed it.

Although as a prefect he should have stepped in – and given his agreement with Umbridge he definitely should have intervened – the students had his wholehearted support.

So he did nothing. Instead, Harry worked with Blaise and the girls on plans of their own. Tracey was able to liaise with the Welsh-speaking Slytherins, which was a definite help, and Blaise had more information from within the Inquisitorial Squad.

"…so I'm going to join in the Welsh protest," Tracey was saying quietly. "We've got that all sorted out now. Did I tell you one of the girls has a two way mirror like yours, Harry? Well, she does, and she's been using it to speak with her brother in Ravenclaw, so we've got a good bunch of the Welsh speakers in both Houses on board. As soon as we're allowed out we're going to get started."

Tracey had been cagey on the specific actions the Welsh lot were going to take, but Harry supposed she could have her little secrets there. The entire school would find out about it soon enough, anyway.

"Brilliant," Harry said. And he really did think it was brilliant. He was just a little disappointed that he couldn't participate fully in any protests himself, lest he provide too much of a reason for Umbridge to hand over the falsified letters to the Ministry. So Harry was going to have to sit on the sidelines like a coward while everyone else got to wreak havoc.

"Me and some of the guys from Creature Club are going to dump hippogriff dung outside Arlecchino's office," Millicent said. "We've picked the best stuff. Really smelly. I was thinking we might even smear it all around the wall."

"Ugh," Daphne said. "That's disgusting."

"Well, that's the point," said Millicent. "He's not going to like it, is he?"

"Well… I suppose," Daphne said. "Just make sure to wash your hands when you've finished."

"Obviously I'll wash my hands, Daph," Millie said.

"I wish we could get a hold of Susan," Tracey said. "I want to know what the Hufflepuffs are up to. I doubt Ernie or Justin will be at it, but… they've got to be planning something."

"We'll just have to wait and see," Daphne said. She turned to face Tracey. "Trace, can you let me know before you do your protests? I don't want to catch you or I'll have to report it. So I was hoping I could just avoid the area."

"Yeah, of course!" Tracey said. "I'll try. We've not figured out the times yet."

"I'll let you know the Squad patrol times," Blaise said. "Arlecchino keeps switching them up. And it's totally pointless with the bloody lockdown, but he's got us out all hours."

"At least you're allowed out," Harry said, frowning. "Prefect patrols haven't been allowed back yet."

"They obviously don't trust you," Blaise said. "But we knew that already: that's why she created the Squad."

"Well, yeah," Harry said. "But she's got to use us for something—the school's charter says…"

"Oh, bollocks to the charter," Blaise said. "God, how annoying is it that since all this Inquisition business has started everyone's become a bloody lawmage? 'The school charter says this', 'but actually the Wizengamot can't do that'. It's enough to boil my piss."

"Someone's a bit snippy today," Harry said. "And I thought I was in a bad mood."

"I think we're all in a bad mood today," Tracey said quickly before Blaise could respond. "It's being stuck in here all the time, that's all. But as soon as they let us out we can channel our frustrations into something a bit more productive, can't we? So why don't we just pretend everything is fine and do something a bit more fun than just chatting?"

"We shouldn't even be all sat together like this," Blaise said, more or less ignoring Tracey. "I'm supposed to be punishing us all for it."

"No one cares," Millie said. "Look around—everyone's breaking the rules. You're not even the only Squaddie who's doing it. So I wouldn't worry."

"Yeah, but I am the only one who's friends with Harry," Blaise continued, "so maybe I should be seen doing more. Ugh. This is shit. Just… awful."

"Tell me about it," Harry said.

"I agree with Tracey," Daphne said. "Let's do something a bit more fun. There's always board games, or if we really can't stand each other we should just read books or something. But going over all this isn't helping anymore. At least, not right now. So let's do something else."

"Right!" Tracey said.

Grudgingly Harry stopped talking about the Inquisition and its impositions and tried to turn his attention to more pleasant matters. It half worked, in that at least he was no longer actively talking about it all, but he couldn't keep his mind from straying there regardless. Still, it was a bit of a distraction.

At breakfast the next day – midway through the Easter holiday – there was an announcement.

"Hem, hem," coughed Umbridge, standing. Not that she needed to – breakfasts, lunch, and dinners had all been quieter than Harry had ever known them to be in the wake of the Inquisition's crackdown. People had been watching, waiting, for an announcement since the very first day after the searches had been carried out, but none had come.

"I hope—and the Inquisition hopes—that you have all had the time necessary to sit, think, and most importantly reflect on the events which have recently transpired here at Hogwarts School," Umbridge said. "Recent events have been shocking for us all, and I cannot begin to stress how deeply unpleasant dealing with the aftermath of them has been for all us members of Hogwarts staff. There have been very few situations like the recent incident which have ever transpired here at Hogwarts School and so you must believe me when I say that we are all deeply concerned."

Concerned enough that several students caught with unspecified illicit materials had spent hours stretched out on the racks, and one fifth year Slytherin had yet to turn to the Common Room at all. Jenkins had been expelled, while Hexworthy had reportedly suffered a snapped wand and a ban on practicing magic for seven years.

So Harry didn't doubt the Inquisition was concerned. Just that the concern wasn't at all for the students.

Harry had been the subject of many whispers and rumours since the searches had happened and he hadn't been punished for anything. He wasn't the only student to have come away without any punishment, but Harry doubted the rest of the school was prepared to see the nuance involved.

"I must say that we here on the staff are all hoping that a situation such as this never happens again," Umbridge continued, "and so we have seen fit to confine you to your Common Rooms these past few days. This confinement will now end—indeed, after breakfast today, students will be allowed to visit every part of the castle which was not already considered to be out of bounds for other reasons."

A murmur ran out through the Hall at that, although it was far quieter than the ones Harry usually heard at breakfasts.

"Despite the culprits of a recent spate of vile and heinous vandalism remaining at large, the Inquisition believes it to be in the best interests of all the students that there be a loosening of the curfews," Umbridge said. "But it should be said that the ability to roam free in the halls and across the grounds is a privilege accorded to students and can and will be taken away should behavioural standards fall. Indeed, students are encouraged to bring any and all information regarding recent events to the Inquisition so that those rule-abiding students can continue to enjoy the privileges which they have earned. Thank you all."

Umbridge's announcement marked the end of breakfast, and Umbridge herself disappeared from the Great Hall immediately after. Ordinarily, breakfast during the holidays and at the weekends was a more leisurely affair running across a slot rather than taking place over a specific time like in the weekdays. But the lockdown had changed that, replacing the more drawn-out breakfasts Harry was used to at holidays with the ones from the school week instead.

But that morning, despite technically everything returning to normal, nobody stuck around breakfast after Umbridge left. Everyone flooded out of the Great Hall chattering amongst themselves.

"We're free—finally!" Tracey said as she, Harry, and Blaise walked back to the dungeons as part of a mass of Slytherins. She was grinning, although Harry noted it didn't last that long. "Well, not free exactly, since we're still not allowed out in groups of more than three unless it's a registered group…"

"And there's, like, basically half of the castle we're banned from since the last lot of Educational Decrees," Harry added.

"And not to be a downer but Arlecchino's already scheduled a load more Squad patrols," Blaise said. "Now we know why."

Tracey sighed.

"But none of that matters anyway," she said, "because everything's about to go nuts anyway. I'd like to see you even try to punish anyone when it's fifty of us at once."

Blaise shrugged.

"You know me—I try to do as little as possible at the best of times," he said. "So all this is just going to be a job for someone else."

"Let's just hope people don't lose their nerve now that they're allowed out again," Harry muttered. He felt churlish for saying it, especially since he wasn't going to be directly involved in any of the protests or hellraising, but it was a valid worry. As he walked back to the Common Room Harry decided that he would do two things.

First, he needed to speak with Sirius and through Sirius, Dumbledore. They had to be informed about everything, but most importantly, that details – however vague – had leaked about Harry's Christmas activities. And of course that Yaxley had used his Arlecchino persona to plant letters to get Harry into trouble.

But after that Harry wanted to get up to some mischief. He couldn't participate in the more public protests because of his deal with Umbridge and the likely consequences of breaking it, but he could definitely get up to some secret nocturnal protests of his own.

By then, the procession of Slytherins had made its way back to the Common Room and the passage door was open.

"I don't think they will, not this time," Tracey said. "But on that note—soon as we get in I'm going to go chat with the others and see what we're going to do. I've got to see if Efa's got her harp ready…"

"What's she need a harp for?" Blaise asked, but Tracey had surged ahead and didn't hear.

"Mate, probably best not to ask anyway," Harry said. "Find out along with everyone else and it looks less suspicious."

"I suppose," Blaise said, watching Tracey go. "Ugh. I've not even got a chance to sit down after breakfast though—Arlecchino wants us out on patrol. I've got to go make sure people don't loiter around Central Hall."

Harry grimaced.

"Central Hall's for loitering in," he muttered. "I don't envy you that. People are going to be right arsey after being locked up for days—I bet half of them will kick off if you say the wrong thing."

"Tell me about it," Blaise said. "Can't say I'm looking forward to it either. I was supposed to go meet my patrol partners right after breakfast, but… er… I came here instead to drag it out." Blaise sighed. "Well, I'd better go and do my job, I suppose. I'll nip to loos first and then give it a go…"

"See you later, then," Harry said as Blaise wandered off.

With Tracey gone arranging her protest, Blaise off on Inquisitorial patrol, and Daphne and Millie off on their own, that left Harry at a bit of a loss. He couldn't go and join in with any anti-Inquisition activities without raising Umbridge's ire, and nor did he want to have to tell anyone off for something. He couldn't even go for a wander around the castle because that might be seen as suspicious loitering.

But I can't sit in the Common Room all day, Harry thought to himself. Deciding that he definitely wouldn't sit around doing nothing, Harry turned right around and left the Common Room once more to head for the Chamber of Secrets instead. He didn't intend to stay there very long, but he did want to keep Sirius and Dumbledore appraised of the situation in the castle.

Harry assumed Snape or Mairi had said something about the state of the castle to Dumbledore already. But Harry didn't think anyone but he, Yaxley, and Umbridge had seen the false letters. That information needed to get to Dumbledore right away, and if nothing else it gave him something to do while everyone else was off being subversive and political.

So Harry headed right for the Chamber via its convenient dungeon entrance, a whole bunch of things in mind to tell Sirius.

Harry stayed in the Chamber chatting with Sirius for a good while, keenly aware that he had nothing else to be getting on with. Well, nothing else other than homework and revision for the exams in the summer. But even chatting with Sirius via the two way mirrors couldn't go on all day, as people were flitting in and out of Grimmauld Place on Order business, and Harry didn't want to miss lunch, anyway.

So Harry left the mirror on the repaired bed and headed back up to the rest of the castle. The Chamber was a nice enough place – as damp, secret rooms containing monstrous snakes went – but the upper parts of the castle were a bit more inviting, generally. He stopped by the – nearly completely empty – Common Room to grab a change of over robe, but as it was almost time for lunch, didn't linger. Instead Harry made his way to the Entrance Hall where he could wait out the handful of minutes left until the doors opened for lunch.

As Harry ascended the staircase from the cellar levels the noise from the Entrance Hall grew louder and louder. At first, it didn't sound all that much different from what he was used to – people talking, that sort of thing. But even before he got close, thanks to his alchemically augmented hearing, Harry realised it was so much more than that.

He quickened his pace, keen to see what the commotion was. He heard it before he saw it: music. Music and singing, along with a good bit of clapping. By the time Harry made it to the top of the stairs from the dungeon levels he didn't need to see what was going on to know that it was something very unusual indeed.

At first, the scene in the Entrance Hall appeared chaotic. Harry couldn't tell quite what was happening other than that there were a great many people spread about the Entrance Hall. But a closer look revealed a large cluster of people – students – with others arranged around them. At the edges of the Entrance Hall Harry spotted some teachers, but they weren't interfering with anything.

Instead, the teachers appeared to be watching the proceedings along with everyone else.

Because in the middle of the vast circle were handfuls of students, ringed by a haphazard collection of students wielding violins, flutes, and even some harps. Together the musicians played music Harry didn't recognise at all, although it was a jaunty enough tune and the mood in the Entrance Hall was quite buoyant. At the top of the stairs from the dungeons Harry could just about see into the circle thanks to his slightly elevated position.

People were clapping along and tapping their toes to the tune, while in the middle of the circle, other students danced.

Whirled, more like. A trio of dancers in the very middle of the circle caught Harry's attention easily enough through their fluid, graceful movements and the ease with which they followed the music. The dancers towards the outside of the ring were all boys wearing trousers and the same style of short, open-faced robe, but the three in the middle were all girls dressed in flowing, twirling robes adorned with symbols Harry thought were Celtic in origin.

And they danced, matching their movements perfectly to the beat, to the words being sung out by the musicians in the ring.

It was mesmerising.

Hair tossed one way and then another; the glint of silver and gold as jewellery caught the firelight from the braziers and floating candles; and soft, pink lips with smiles that reached their eyes—

A lump caught in Harry's throat. He certainly hadn't expected to be feeling like that just before lunch. He moved closer, although not because he needed to see better. His eyes were good enough to pick out small details, but he felt drawn in. Almost like he was being beckoned.

It was more difficult to see the closer he got to the dancers, though, as the ring of students was quite tight and went several people deep, so Harry elbowed his way through the crowd so he could see better. And to his surprise, people let him through.

Must be the badge, Harry thought. But that wasn't important. He glanced around at the musicians. He recognised quite a few of them. One was Efa, the Slytherin girl whose harp Tracey had worried about. Another was one of the Irish boys Harry had in some of his core lessons, playing a violin.

And the singers… no wonder he didn't recognise the music – they were singing in Welsh. A fast-paced, upbeat tune. Harry took another look around for Tracey, searching her out in the crowd, but he couldn't find her.

That surprised him. Harry supposed a lot of what was happening was because of Tracey and how hard she'd worked to organise things with the others, so he couldn't see why she'd miss it. Unless… unless she was elsewhere doing something very similar, but half the school seemed to be gathered in the Entrance Hall. So that didn't seem likely.

Harry shrugged to himself and turned his attention back to the dancers. The way the three girls moved really was captivating, almost like a kind of music in and of itself. If Harry hadn't been quite so interested in the visual effect he had a dim feeling that he might have had something to research, but the thought sputtered out and fled his mind almost faster than it had come.

Instead, Harry tried to figure out who the girls were. They moved fast and never stayed in one position for too long. The one in the middle felt familiar, though. Someone Harry knew. Short, petite, but with an ample—

"Tracey?" Harry blurted out to himself. He blinked. Stared, and then blinked again. It was Tracey! Harry had seen her dance before, of course. She'd even pulled off some tricky little moves during their duels. But … but what he saw her do in the circle, surrounded by half the school and accompanied by an assortment of musicians was something else entirely.

She looked… she looked… effervescent, and that wasn't a word Harry ever reached for to describe any of his friends. But it felt perfectly apt. Something about the way the light from the candles and braziers danced, the ambience provided by the singers and instrumentalists, and the clapping, cheering crowd…

Music really was a kind of magic all its own like Dumbledore said. Soon enough the song and dance ended, and the dancers dispersed back into the crowd. That was disappointing as Harry had been enjoying it, but he supposed it couldn't go on forever. But as he watched everyone move away, a new set of dancers entered the circle.

"There you are!" said Tracey, jolting Harry from watching the new dancers. "I was wondering where you'd go to, but then I thought, well, it's probably the You-Know-Where. I'm glad you got here before I was finished though—we've been working on that for days now. What'd you think?"

"Oh, er, I—um," Harry said. He turned to Tracey. "It was brilliant. I've never—I've never seen you dance like that before."

"Well," Tracey said, "we just thought that with everything going on we should do something a bit special. And some of the WADA lot helped out with the choreography too."

"How long have you been planning all this?"

"Technically since before Christmas," Tracey said. She shrugged. "You know how I've been running back and fore. But this specifically after all that stuff with the searches and… well, you know."

Harry nodded along. That was reasonable.

"The Irish lot are about to do something now," Tracey said. "I'm not sure what exactly because we haven't linked up, but it's dancing and music like we did. We just thought that was a bit of fun as well as being, you know, subversive."

Harry looked back over into the circle. Sure enough the dancers were people Harry recognised as being former students at the Irish school, and they were getting ready to dance. If it was even half as good as what Tracey and the Welsh lot had managed Harry knew he'd enjoy it, so he settled in to watch.

He didn't think the event would end any time soon either, as despite there being more than a handful of teachers present, none of them seemed at all inclined to interfere. Harry stood there with Tracey watching the students dance for a little while longer, at least until a screeching figured appeared on the grand staircase leading from the Entrance Hall.

"This is outrageous!" screamed Umbridge. Reluctantly, Harry wrenched his gaze away from dancers and towards Umbridge instead. She had Yaxley and Vipera with her, and behind them a handful of other Inquisitors.

Nothing good lasts, Harry thought to himself. But given that half the school or more was gathered watching, he wondered if even the Inquisition could dislodge them this time.

"Students are to be reminded that, as per Educational Decree Number—"

"Piss off with your Educational Decrees!" shouted someone from within the crowd. "No one cares anymore."

Cheering, claps. Even a few boos which Harry assumed were directed at Umbridge rather than the speaker. But neither the dancers nor the singers had stopped, and most people seemed quite content to ignore Umbridge.

Despite that, Harry knew such a state wouldn't last long. Umbridge couldn't countenance the idea of people ignoring her authority at the best of times, but during such a public and loud display of disobedience? Not even Harry would have been prepared to let that go, and Harry thought of himself as a generally easy-going sort of wizard.

"You will stop this at once!" Umbridge said, brandishing her short, stubby little wand. "Gatherings larger than three students require—"

A sudden explosion of noise, over and above the music. Someone had cast a spell near Umbridge's head, although Harry couldn't see who. He shrank back into the crowd, keen not to be seen if anything kicked off.

"Inquisitors! To me!" Umbridge declared. "You know what must be done."

At Umbridge's command her Inquisitors surged forward, wands in hand.

"This is bad," Harry murmured to Tracey. "Think we should scarper?"

Tracey shook her head.

"No," she said. "We planned for this. Watch."

As the Inquisitors moved closer to the crowd, the dancers all moved back, hiding within the larger mass of students. As they moved, several fifth years waved their wands and covered the area in a thick, obscuring smoke.

Harry covered his mouth, but within moments the Inquisitors had conjured a great wind to disperse the smoke, and the circle was clear.

Clear of smoke and, crucially, the dancers and musicians. Even the instruments had disappeared along with them.

"See?" Tracey said. "None of them will get caught for that. But the Inquisition will have to punish half the school if they want to get on with anything. And we'll be ready to do this all again and again—and again, if we need to."

"Well…" Harry said. He supposed there were worse plans.

"They're gone, High Inquisitor," Yaxley said, looking up at Umbridge.

"I can see that!" snapped Umbridge. She looked around at the teachers. "And you! Why did none of you stop this? This is quite clearly against the rules and as members of the staff here at Hogwarts School you are duty bound to uphold the rules! And yet none of you did. What is the meaning of this?"

Silence from the teachers, at least until McGonagall stepped forward.

"Dolores, you have made it quite clear that all professors and other teaching staff are not to overstep the precise description of their jobs here," McGonagall said. "To put it simply: given the recent Educational Decrees it is no longer within the remit of the job of a Hogwarts Professor to be responsible for discipline of students. That responsibility has been handed over to the Inquisition and its Inquisitors. Indeed, you were speaking of this very thing just yesterday at the Professorial meeting, were you not?"

Harry smiled. That was a bold move from McGonagall, calling Umbridge out in such a way, but then Harry supposed the elderly witch was a Gryffindor. And she was still the Deputy Headmistress for all that Umbridge had made the role obsolete in recent months.

"And I did say at the time of implementation that such a rule is unworkable," McGonagall continued, "but my words fell on deaf ears then. But as it currently stands, my job—outwith the role of Head of House—is to teach transfiguration. The absolute best I—or indeed any of us members of staff—could do is supervise proceedings until the Inquisition arrived. And now that you have arrived, my duties are done." McGonagall paused. "You do understand that this is a direct result of the Educational Decrees, don't you?"

Umbridge's face contorted into the very picture of rage, an ugly expression writ large upon her usually saccharine visage.

"We shall speak later," Umbridge said through gnashed teeth. "And as for all of you," she said, turning towards the gathered students, "you shall all have until the count of three to disappear. Anyone left in the Entrance Hall when I finish speaking shall be punished to the fullest extent possible. I should not need to remind you all that privileges can be revoked just as easily as they can be granted. One…"

"Come on," Harry said to Tracey. "No sense waiting…"

He and Tracey slipped away before Umbridge got to the count of two, followed by a good portion of the crowd that had lingered. But the mood away from the Entrance Hall was almost joyful. Harry heard laughter, clapping, some cheers. Far from feeling chastened, it seemed as if Umbridge's rebuke had boosted morale rather than dampened it.

"That was brilliant!" one student was saying as she skipped along the dungeon corridor.

"Let's do something ourselves," Harry overheard another say to his friend.

"I can't wait to get out and do it again," Tracey said. "And we've all agreed we will—the Inquisition went too far last time."

"Good," Harry said. "But why d'you think Umbridge let us all go? Not like her, is it?"

Tracey shrugged.

"Not particularly. I suppose she didn't want to have to punish half the school. I mean, what if people just didn't agree to be punished? Doubt she'll let us get away with it again, though," she said. "But we can worry about that when it happens."

Harry supposed that was fair enough. If the entire school got in on the rebellion Harry thought even Umbridge would be hard pressed to find fitting punishments for everyone. Which was sort of the point of mass protest, after all. And they were edging closer and closer to it judging by how people in the school had reacted.

Harry just had to somehow avoid being implicated in anything, given the stakes.

That first public act of rebellion after the lockdown kicked off a whole spate of incidents against the Inquisition. Most of them were things Harry didn't get to see – not even the consequences of them – such as Millicent and Creature Club's 'dunging' of Yaxley's office. That hadn't gone over well with Yaxley at all, but as no one had actually caught the culprits, and both Hagrid and Grubbly-Plank disavowed any knowledge of who'd mucked out the hippogriffs, nothing could be done.

But Harry did get to see some of the stuff as prefects had been given leave to patrol again. An attempt by Umbridge to counteract the spate of disobedience, but it wasn't working at all since none of the prefects were on board. Still, it got Harry out of the Common Room.

"Potter, Greengrass!" called Gemma Farley one afternoon while Harry and Daphne were on patrol near the Charms department. "With me. We've got to attend a disturbance."

"Just attend?" Daphne asked. "Or…?"

"Just attend, this time," Farley said. "It's… well, you'll see."

Interest piqued, Harry immediately made to follow her. They didn't have far to go at all, crossing a handful of corridors until they reached the Charms department itself. Where, Harry was very pleased to see, a group of students had barricaded themselves into the corridor.

"The bastards actually did it," Harry muttered to himself as he took stock of the scene. Tables, desks, and chairs from the classrooms and other spaces around the Charms department had been stacked together to form a makeshift barricade, but more than that Harry could feel the tang of magic in the air. Someone had erected protective enchantments, even.

The barricade went from floor to ceiling, with a few gaps in the wall. An impressive little fortification.

"Boo!" shouted one student, a Gryffindor girl who'd painted her face red, as she peered out of one of the gaps. "Fuck the Inquisition!"

"And its lackeys!" added a Hufflepuff boy, pointing at Harry, Farley, and Daphne.

"Oh, don't worry about us," Farley said. "We're not here to stop you. We're just here because someone's got to watch over you."

"Are we really not going to do anything at all?" Harry asked Farley quietly. Not that he was going to complain: nothing was exactly what he wanted to do.

"Cedric's orders," Farley said. She shrugged. "Doesn't want to cause an incident, Cedric. But honestly? I can't say I'd be happy to disrupt them anyway. If Umbridge wants something done she can do it herself."

"As long as we won't get in trouble for doing nothing," Daphne said with a sideways glance at Harry.

"We're just supposed to make sure they don't break anything or hurt themselves," Farley said. "Although, actually…" She glanced back at the pair of students manning that side of the barricade. "Oi! You pair—I'm supposed to tell you to pack up and stop being a nuisance. I mean, I don't care if you don't, but I am supposed to tell you. So, I've told you. Do what you want with that."

"Yeah, fuck the Inquisition!" shouted the boy. "Down with Umbridge!"

The cheer provoked his companions, hidden deeper within the makeshift camp, to shout as well.

"I wonder how long they'll be here," Daphne said.

"Depends when they run out of food," Farley said.

"Or get annoyed at having to vanish it every time they go to the toilet…" Harry said. "I mean, it's cool they're doing this, but I don't think this one's for me…"

Harry ended up being stood near the barricade for two full hours, being replaced by a trio of Ravenclaw prefects later on.

But that wasn't even the last of the events Harry was called upon to attend. All of the prefects were being used for such things, even Draco, who usually weaselled his way out prefect duties.

The latest disturbance involved the corridor outside of Umbridge's office, and so Harry and Daphne had been stationed there by Diggory to 'watch over it'.

"Why do you think she picked us?" Daphne was asking Harry as they neared the corridor where Umbridge had taken an office.

"Probably that deal I made with her," Harry said quietly. "Thinks she's got something over on me, so I'm on her side." Which wasn't too far from the truth, except that Harry still intended to do absolutely everything he could to get out of siding with Umbridge.

As they drew closer to the office Harry covered his nose with his arm.

"Ugh. The smell…"

Overnight a magical swamp had appeared outside Umbridge's office, turning a once-pleasant corridor into a literal damp, stinking bog complete with mud and water. The swamp was large enough that Filch had had to set up a ferry system for students to cross from one end of the corridor to the other, and Umbridge was reported to have taken up resident in the Inquisition Lounge instead.

But Harry hadn't been able to get up to see it until he and Daphne were assigned there by Diggory. For one thing, he didn't want to court the Inquisition's ire by getting up there and having a nose about. But on a less cautionary note, Harry had been doing research for his upcoming alchemical elixir. That was much more important than any of the protests against Umbridge and the Inquisition, even if it was a particularly impressive feat like the swamp.

As they rounded the corner the smell grew even worse, and with it came a surprisingly wet heat. The air around the corridor had been transformed as well. Flies and other buzzing creatures swarmed, and up ahead Harry could see the usual castle flooring as it blended into that of the swamp.

Trees and vines grew up out of the bog, fed by a muddy stretch of water that spanned a good section of the corridor. There was even grass. At the far end of the bog Harry could see Filch and his little boat, although no one was currently trying to use it.

It really was an impressive piece of magic. If Harry didn't know any better he'd have assumed it the work of one of the teachers. But he assumed it was Fred and George Weasley based on their work with Yaxley's office and from what they'd let slip to him. They hadn't outright said, but all the hints they'd dropped about having something special for Umbridge certainly painted a picture.

"Ugh," Daphne said, pulling a face. "We've got to stand here all day. That smell…"

Harry nodded.

"Yeah. Smells like rotten eggs."

Although… I bet I can just… Harry thought. Thinking on it, Harry realised he didn't have to suffer through the smell. He knew several spells that could help, he just had to pick the right one.

Ventus? No, too temporary, Harry thought. But… He knew the Bubblehead Charm. He cast it on himself immediately, keen to replace the foul odour with something a bit more neutral.

"That's a good idea," Daphne said, copying him.

The two of them moved closer to the swamp although Harry was very careful not to step on anything wet or squelchy. Not only was he keen to avoid getting his shoes wet and dirty, he had some idea of the tricks the twins got up to and didn't want to trigger any unfortunate traps. But the closer Harry got to the swamp, the more impressive it became. The twins – and Harry was sure it was the twins who'd made it – had managed something very tricky indeed. Harry wasn't even sure he could guess at the various different spells they'd used to create the whole thing.

The trees and plants were relatively easy to create, although would have taken quite a bit of time. But they were things that were taught in Transfiguration lessons. Even conjuring water. But muddy water, and deep enough to require a ferry, which couldn't simply be vanished… that was impressive. Even the layers of mud beneath the grass, and the way the tiles blended into it all seamlessly.

"How do you think they made this?" Harry asked Daphne. The words came out muffled; speaking from within a Bubblehead Charm was always a bit a weird. But Harry thought Daphne should be able to understand him well enough. "It's… a lot, right?"

"Oh, definitely," Daphne said. "This is really good work. I bet it was some fifth years. Probably taking Charms and Transfiguration to NEWT."

"Yeah," Harry said, although he thought her guess was a bit far off the mark. It had to be the twins. Nobody else would have put quite so much effort into it, and the result wouldn't have had quite as much flair. "But, like, I can't figure out how they made it. You can just do aguamenti for water, right? But they can't have just done that because no one's been able to dispel any of the swamp. It's not just… what I mean is, they've obviously layered the spells together. It's not just a series of different spells." He paused. "I don't think it is, anyway."

"Hmm," said Daphne, seeming to consider it. "I hadn't thought of it like that. But you're right. Even Flitwick said he couldn't take it down—that's what I heard, anyway. Although he was probably just lying…"

"Probably," agreed Harry. None of the teachers would be at all keen to help out Umbridge or the Inquisition with the swamp – or indeed any of the other bits and pieces of protest that had been cropping up around the castle – and the Inquisitors themselves seemed unable to. "And even if he couldn't do it on his own I reckon him and McGonagall could get rid of it together."

Harry and Daphne discussed how the swamp could have been made for a little while after that, although eventually they started chatting about other things entirely. They didn't see many people at all, save for a couple of second years using Filch's ferry service to cross the corridor. Harry knew Tracey and the others had planned some sort of concert or performance in Central Hall, so Harry assumed a good many students would be watching that.

And those who weren't would be on the Inquisitorial Squad, prefects, or part of the ever-growing cadre of miscreants and ne'er-do-wells participating in all of the protests and vandalism. So Harry didn't think they'd have much to do while posted to swamp-watch.

After an hour or so, Harry had a thought.

"Do you think we should be on opposite ends of the swamp?" Harry asked. "Since it's quite big, I mean."

Daphne titled her head to one side, then shrugged.

"Probably, if we wanted to do the job properly," she said, "but I don't think we do. Do we? I don't, anyway. We're only here because we have to be."

Harry laughed.

"Fair enough," Harry said. "As long as we're both on the same page. We're here until after lunch, right?" Harry glanced at his watch. "Good. Not long now. What are you going to ask the elves for when we go to the kitchens? I was thinking—"

Voices from around the corner took Harry's attention and made him stop talking. Students.

"Quick! Get the dungbombs ready!" one of them was saying to the other. It was whispered, but thanks to Harry's augmented hearing, he could hear everything.

"I've got them ready," said the girl's companion, a wizard whose voice Harry was sure he recognised from somewhere. "You get the paint ready and we'll splatter the door!"

"Someone's coming," Harry said, warning Daphne. He took out his wand in case he had to deflect any errant dungbombs. "They've got dungbombs and paint."

"Really? How'd you know that? I didn't hear—oh. Well. I suppose that makes sense," Daphne said. She took out her wand.

Two aspiring vandals crept carefully around the corner, quiet as they could – to absolutely no avail whatsoever. Not only had Harry already heard them, it was daytime and the corridor was lit well enough that they were totally visible. They hadn't even tried using Disillusionment.

The girl noticed Harry and Daphne first, and her face fell.

"Shit," the boy said.

Harry didn't recognise the girl at all, but the boy was Arthur something-or-other, a fourth year Ravenclaw who was in Flight Club.

Harry glanced at Daphne. He didn't much feel like punishing anyone for trying to further vandalise Umbridge's office. And as there was nobody else around to see him fail to carry out his duties, Harry didn't intend to carry them out.

"Isn't it really weird," Harry said loudly to Daphne, "how we haven't seen anyone at all today? I heard someone was planning to use dungbombs on the door, but we haven't seen anyone at all with dungbombs. Have we?"

Daphne caught on quickly enough.

"No, we haven't seen anyone at all today!" Daphne said, looking directly at Arthur and his companion. "I do like having a quiet day sometimes, though. It's just so much more pleasant."

Finally having worked out they weren't about to be punished, Arthur and his friend backed out of the corridor and went on their way somewhere else. Harry hoped they hadn't given up on their idea, though; he really wanted as many people as possible to join in the protests. Just… preferably in a way that meant Harry didn't have to punish anyone.

The rest of Harry and Daphne's guard duty went by without anyone intruding at all, something for which Harry was extremely pleased. A pair of Inquisitorial Squad eventually came by to relieve them of duty, and so after the end of lunch the pair of them made their way to the kitchens to get a late lunch of their own.

At dinner that evening Umbridge stood up to make an announcement. Thus far, she hadn't directed addressed the situation in the castle. Some days she hadn't attended meals at all, which Harry was sure was a breach in some Hogwarts regulation at least, let alone the Educational Decrees Umbridge had been passing.

But skip the meals she had. Harry put it down to how large sections of the two thousand strong student body booed, hissed, and jeered at her during mealtimes.

"It is time for you all to straighten up and behave," Umbridge said without preamble. "You have had your fun. You have congregated, massed in groups; you have vandalised and defaced school property; you have danced and sang out vulgarities in languages best left unspoken; some of you have even camped out in corridors and made a general nuisance of yourselves."

Harry snorted. That was an understatement: the Charms corridor was still under occupation, the barricade having been transformed quite impressively into a proper fortification with advanced spellwork. Someone had been supplying the students with food, even, so Harry thought the only way it was going to end was if the occupants grew bored with their protest.

And the musical protests had simply never stopped. New ones happened every day, sometimes multiple times. Harry hadn't managed to see most of them, but quite a few of the students had good things to say about them.

"It is time to stop. You have made your feelings known. Now is the time for—"

A loud, wet-sounding fart ripped through the Great Hall. Someone had cast a spell to interrupt Umbridge. Immediately, others followed: loud booms, bangs, and one group of students had even set off magical fireworks from their wands.

"Get fucked!" shouted one of the fifth year Slytherins.

"We ain't listening!" shouted a Gryffindor.

"Umbridge go home!" shouted others.

"She's lost control of this," Harry said to Blaise who was sat next to him. "I wonder what she'll do now."

"This is unacceptable!" screamed Umbridge. "If you are not prepared to respect the authority of the Inquisition, perhaps you will think twice before ignoring that of the Ministry of Magic! If you do not start behaving properly immediately I shall be forced to call in the aurors so that—"

A series of loud bangs went off throughout the Great Hall, and every single candle in the gargantuan hall blew out at once. It wasn't quite dark, at least not to Harry's eyes, since the ceiling showed off the moon outside. But it was as close as it ever got in the Great Hall.

Umbridge let out an impotent scream then.

"Dinner is over! Get back to your Common Rooms—Heads of Houses, do your jobs!" Umbridge said.

"Might as well just get going," Harry said to his friends. "No sense dragging it out."

"Bit dark, though," Blaise said above the din in the Hall.

"Just light your wand," Harry said. He stood up. Students elsewhere in the Great Hall had much the same idea, so there was a slow exodus from the Great Hall while Umbridge raged to the teachers.

"Do you reckon anyone's going to listen?" Tracey asked as they walked back to the Slytherin Common Room.

"Doubt it," Millie said.

"I feel like people are just getting started," Harry said. He definitely didn't think anyone was going to stop. Probably not unless the aurors actually were called in.