In Dolores Umbridge's Office

Rumors at Hogwarts spread quickly in the last period of school, and soon the whole school knew that Ginny Weasley had just broken up with Michael Corner, who was now seeing the Seeker from Ravenclaw.

"A lot guys like you," Dean Thomas told her one day, as they enjoyed their usual long walk in the castle surroundings, away from all the gossip swirling around the castle. Many might think Ginny was seeing Dean for about a month, but unlike her ex-boyfriend, she had only accepted Dean's invitations to walk around the school, and those hardly seemed like the kind of dates Michael and Cho had in Hogsmeade.

"Really?" she replied.

"Yes, and Michael Corner must be an idiot to let someone like you go!"

"He doesn't seem to miss me much; he's already with someone else," Ginny said indifferently, shrugging. "But it doesn't bother me, in the end, we weren't getting along at all lately, and I guess we didn't like each other as much as before," she added, thoughtful and convinced that was the truth.

"Cho Chang can't compete with a girl like you," Dean said unabashedly. Ginny felt her cheeks getting warmer and hotter like the setting sun, and she realized the conversation wasn't going the way she wanted it to. This was certainly not a friend-like conversation! And as much as Dean Thomas fascinated her, she wasn't ready for a relationship with him, not at all.

She looked at him and smiled.

"Ginny..."

"Nice day, isn't it?" she blurted out, without any logical connection. Dean looked at her questioningly because of her strange interruption, but she just kept gazing at the landscape with almost maniacal insistence. If he wanted to invite her to Hogsmeade or somewhere else to start some kind of relationship with her, she had to refuse, even if deep down, she didn't want to.

"Yeah, beautiful day. Listen, I was wondering if..."

"Beautiful, isn't it? I love sunsets!" Ginny insisted cheekily, her eyes fixed on the sun setting on the horizon. "Do you like sunsets? They drive me crazy! It's the color of my hair, right?"

Dean chuckled. "Yes, it's true, it matches your hair color. But..."

"And then, it's so romantic... don't you think? I mean, no, no, Merlin, no... it's not romantic at all!"

I've lost my mind!

"Ginny!" Dean exclaimed, amused.

"What?" she said, all flustered.

"I was wondering if..."

No, no, no, no, noooo.

"...we could head back to the Tower. You know, it's getting dark, and I should study for my OWLs in Charms tomorrow," Dean said.

Ginny was so taken aback that she burst into hysterical laughter, then composed herself. "The OWLs... how could I forget? I should also wish Hermione and my brother good luck, and I have to revise for my exams too..." and she continued to giggle.

As all good things come to an end, so do the bad ones: exams concluded on the first day of June, and the students were so happy and carefree that they stayed chatting for hours in the Common Room or dormitories, not worrying about the next day. Actually, the last remaining exam was the practical Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Ginny wasn't worried at all since she had learned so much during the school year at the DA meetings that it was impossible not to score full marks.

"And Dean meets up with me at the end of every exam... he's really kind and sweet and... heavens, someone shut me up!" Ginny blurted out to her friends, sinking into her canopy with a look of despair. Vick immediately perked up and began to tease and tickle her.

"Aha! You're falling for Dean Thomas, huh? Well, go for it!" she chuckled.

"Mmmh," Ginny grunted.

"The truth is you're smitten!" Vicky accused, muffling her giggles in the sheets, and Ginny threw a pillow at her face. "Demelza, please... stop studying so hard because it's giving me anxiety and I can't take it anymore! Come here, hurry... run, run."

"I think I scored pretty high in Charms," mumbled Demelza as she joined the two girls, with a thoughtful expression. "And in Transfiguration too, because I managed to silence all my frogs and birds. I think Potions was a disaster because Snape made me anxious and his dark mood depresses me to the point of losing concentration. Then, in Divination, I made stuff up... and so did you, admit it!"

"Who really saw anything in that damned crystal ball?" Ginny asked wearily, yawning. Vick was about to say something profoundly repetitive when a scream from outside made the three girls' blood run cold, and they looked at each other with wide eyes.

"NOT ON YOUR NELLY! YOU WON'T CATCH ME, DAWLISH!"

Someone with a powerful voice was yelling, and from the school park, there were sounds of blows and explosions. Ginny immediately got up, nearly falling and breaking all her front teeth in her haste, and rushed to the window followed closely by her two friends. Flashes of light crossed the pumpkin patch, and the girls could make out about half a dozen figures, including the tall figure of Hagrid and the squat figure of Umbridge.

"What are they doing out there?" Vicky asked worriedly, opening the window and leaning out.

Ginny widened her eyes. "What else does that vile harpy want?" she snapped.

"They want to take Hagrid, catch him off guard in the middle of the night and throw him out of the school!" Demelza whispered.

The men all raised their wands and pointed them at Hagrid.

"Oh, no!"

Ready to defend the giant was Thor, Hagrid's large dog. The dog aggressively threw itself at the wizards to protect its master, but one of them hit it squarely with a Stunning Spell, knocking it down. Hagrid became furious: he lifted the wizard and made him fly three meters.

"Girls..." Demelza whispered again, paralyzed with horror.

"HOW DARE YOU, HOW DARE YOU!" another figure that the girls identified as McGonagall, marched authoritatively into the schoolyard as the men still tried to Stun the giant. "Leave him be! Leave him be, I said!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He's done nothing to justify such..."

The three girls screamed in terror, almost waking the entire castle; Demelza had closed her eyes. The figures around the hut had fired four Stunning Spells at Professor McGonagall who was lifted into the air and fell to the ground, on her back.

"COWARDS!"

Hagrid's yell woke the entire castle: lights began to turn on gradually, and many students peered out the windows to see what was happening outside. The three friends clung to each other, horror in their eyes, and the thought that something very unpleasant had happened to the professor. After all, four Stunning Spells to the chest... and she was no longer that young!

"YOU FILTHY COWARDS! TAKE THIS... AND THIS..."

Hagrid landed two mighty slaps on the nearest attackers, who collapsed to the ground, unconscious. No wizard dared to approach Hagrid and ignored Umbridge's orders, retreating as far as possible from him while he carried Thor on his shoulders and disappeared into the darkness. Ginny moved away from the window with a jump, and before she could open the door, it was flung open by Alice and Rose.

"Did you see?" Rose murmured.

"My god... that was despicable of Umbridge!" Alice added, horrified.

Ginny immediately rushed to the Common Room, with all the dignity one could have wearing only short shorts and a tank top: many students had the same idea and hurried to the room, in pajamas, shocked by what they had just seen. Among them was the Gryffindor Quidditch team, the Creevey brothers, and their group.

"How is McGonagall?"

"What will happen to her?"

"Why did they want to attack Hagrid?"

Terrified whispers echoed throughout the Common Room, all focused on what had just occurred.

"To Stun McGonagall... with four Stunning Spells, four!" Katie Bell exclaimed, shivering.

"They wouldn't have dared face her in daylight," Demelza wisely said, sinking into an old armchair.

Vick was too shocked to speak, and Ginny was too busy mentally cursing Umbridge to utter a single sentence that didn't include astonishing swear words or any other very vulgar word that could scandalize her Gryffindor companions even more. Suddenly, the portrait opened, and Seamus and Dean entered the Common Room, beginning to tell the onlookers what had happened and that they had witnessed the entire scene with a telescope from the Astronomy Tower, distracted by the shouts coming from the courtyard.

"I can't believe it," whispered William, visibly shaken.

"She thought she was clever, that toad, huh?" Christopher retorted, disgusted.

Dean spotted Ginny, sitting cross-legged quietly on the couch, and sat down beside her, holding her hand and kissing it. Then, when other fifth-year students joined them and Dean saw Ron march toward an empty chair next to him, he immediately let go of the girl's hand. She was about to do it herself, as a scene from her brother after everything that had happened was better avoided.

"Why go after Hagrid?" Angelina was protesting, all indignant. "It's not like with Trelawney; he taught much better than usual this year!"

"Umbridge hates half-humans, she's always wanted to throw him out," Hermione explained sadly.

"I just hope Professor McGonagall is alright," murmured Lavender Brown in a tiny voice.

"They brought her back to the castle; we saw it from the dormitory window. She's definitely not in great shape..." Colin interjected sadly.

Only around four in the morning did the common room empty; Ginny and Dean waited for Ron to head straight to his dormitory to spend time together, and finally, when her brother decided he was too sleepy to stay another second in the room, the two sighed and smiled at each other.

"So, how are you?" Dean asked, caressing her face.

"Mmh, it was a terrible scene to witness, but I'm fine," she replied, shivering at Dean's touch on her face.

"And..." the boy visibly hesitated, "about your ex, Michael Corner? I mean, have you made up?"

"Of course not!" Ginny snapped irritably, thinking about how foolish Michael Corner was.

"That's great news," Dean responded.

Ginny glanced down, her gaze indistinctly sweeping over her bare legs. She should have covered up before running down like a madwoman to the Common Room... and now? She was completely alone with a boy and practically wearing nothing but a tank top and shorts: a disgrace! The girl hoped Dean wasn't as forward as Michael and started fiddling with a pillow, which she placed on her legs.

Dean seemed to notice her slight embarrassment and was good at making her feel comfortable, simply looking at her with an encouraging smile: he was definitely very different from Michael Corner, and there were no doubts about that.

"Ehm... I think it's better to go, we have the last exams tomorrow," she blurted out, quickly slipping into her slippers and setting down the pillow. She walked around the couch and found herself a few inches from Dean, who had thought it necessary to follow the girl's example.

"Time flies when I'm with you!" he sighed, giving her a loud kiss on the cheek. Ginny felt her insides twist, and she cursed them mentally for it. "Alright, good night and good luck with your exam!" he added, turning left.

"You too!" Ginny called back to Dean, climbing up to her dormitory almost skipping.

Dean watched her, puzzled but accepted her strange version of events without saying anything, and it was precisely at that moment that Ginny realized her life without Harry Potter could indeed be wonderful next to this sweet, dark-skinned boy.

The buzz about Professor McGonagall's incident quickly spread among all Hogwarts students, but only a few Slytherins seemed to defend their Headmistress and mock McGonagall, to the disgust of the other students. Ginny spent almost the entire afternoon waiting to be called by Umbridge for her practical Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, meanwhile, Selwyn, Harper, and Jugson heckled her under Astoria Greengrass's indescribable gaze.

Regardless, the practical Defense Against the Dark Arts exam went more than well (a furious Filch interrupted it, making it shorter than expected), and Umbridge had no choice but to award Ginny full marks. Naturally, Ginny was eager to share this news with the DA members. As she hurried out of the classroom, she encountered Luna Lovegood, elegantly seated on a chair, her protruding eyes quickly locking onto Ginny.

"I've been waiting for you," said Luna calmly, greeting a somewhat perplexed Ginny.

"Weren't you gone ages ago? Did Umbridge call for you? She's still here."

"No one called me, I'm here on my own," Luna continued, flashing a big smile. "My exam finished a while ago, yes, but I was passing by on my way to dinner and thought I'd wait for you," she added, nonchalantly.

"Oh... eh..."

Ginny blushed slightly as she walked alongside Luna Lovegood towards the Great Hall. She was genuinely amazed that Luna had waited for her all through her exam just to keep her company, and that painful lump in her throat that she felt whenever Luna spoke to her became really unbearable.

"That's kind of you, Luna," Ginny managed to reply with a smile, miraculously.

"It's nothing. You know, people are really mean to me," Luna Lovegood murmured, turning right into a corridor. "They keep calling me 'Loony' because I am who I am... but I don't care, honestly. After a while, you get used to it, and their snide comments start to slide off you like raindrops on a big raincoat. Don't you think they're repetitive?"

"Yes," Ginny responded quickly, ashamed of herself for having laughed at the girl in the past.

Luna knew she hadn't been exactly saintly, but had chosen to approach her anyway. But why? Perhaps she understood that Ginny didn't laugh at her out of malice or to embarrass her, perhaps she wanted her company for some reason known only to her... perhaps.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable!" exclaimed Luna, her eyes widening for the first time in apparent concern. "You know, it's really unpleasant when people start avoiding you, but you didn't do that... why didn't you?"

"I-I... see no reason to avoid you," Ginny retorted firmly, and Luna gave her a big, radiant smile.

Luna Lovegood had seemed so decidedly odd, childish... and yet? She was all that but so much more. A friend, one might think. A true, loyal friend... a friend from whom Ginny could learn to make herself a better and beautiful person, just like her.

"IF YOU THINK I DIDN'T SEE THAT..."

A voice they both knew well made them jump, right at the moment they were outside the first-floor corridor door heading to the Great Hall. They exchanged inquiring looks, then Luna Lovegood spoke.

"That was Harry Potter's voice, right?" she asked.

Ginny pressed her ear to the door just as Harry began to yell again.

"I ASSUME YOU WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY IF YOU KNEW WHAT I JUST..."

Curious and determined, Ginny opened the classroom door, causing Harry, Hermione, and her brother Ron to turn abruptly. She entered with an inquisitively curious air, followed closely by Luna, who seemed to have ended up there by accident, and indeed, it was an accident.

"Hi..." Ginny said hesitantly, slightly embarrassed. "We recognized Harry's voice and... what are you yelling about?"

"It's none of your business," he replied brusquely.

Ginny raised both eyebrows. "No need to use that tone with me, I was just wondering if I could help."

"You can't," he quickly retorted, quite insolently.

Whoever divine power at that moment spared Harry Potter from being completely flattened by Ginny Weasley, who looked like a living fury as well as deeply hurt and offended by his tone. She helped him and intended to keep helping... why did he always have to act so haughtily? Ginny knew Harry had spoken out of anger, but that didn't stop her from mentally accusing him of being a big jerk...

"You're really rude," observed Luna unfazed, interrupting the girl's brief mental tirade.

Harry huffed impatiently and turned his back on them.

"Wait... they can help us," Hermione said, hastily. "Listen, we need to find out if Sirius has really left the Headquarters... and I beg you! Before we rush off to London, let's check if Sirius is at Grimmauld Place. If we find out he's not there, I swear I won't try to stop you... I'll go with you and do whatever it takes to save him!" she added, all trembling.

Sirius? Save him? Ginny tried to speak again cautiously, but Harry started yelling again.

"Voldemort is torturing him now!" he bellowed.

Voldemort was torturing Sirius?

"And if it's all a trick by Voldemort? We must check, we'll use Umbridge's fireplace!" Hermione insisted, terrified at the thought. "We'll find a way to lure her away from her office again, but we need someone to keep watch... someone like them!"

Ginny and Luna nodded vigorously.

"I'll go to Umbridge and tell her that Peeves is destroying the Transfiguration Department, just a few steps away from hers!" Ron said with extreme readiness, as if reading the girl's mind.

"And I and Luna can stand at both ends of the corridor!" Ginny proposed quickly, struck by a stroke of genius. "We can warn everyone not to go that way because someone filled it with Garrotting Gas!" she added, explaining.

Hermione looked at her surprised, and so did everyone else, but they said nothing, and Harry hurried to fetch his Invisibility Cloak from the Gryffindor Tower while they organized the plan and listened to Hermione's account. One wrong move and Sirius would die alone at the Ministry of Magic, and they couldn't afford to let anything happen to him.

It was indeed time to get involved.

"You can't come down here!" Ginny announced loudly a few minutes later, making sure all the students could hear her. Some Ravenclaws looked at her as if she were mad and didn't want to take her word for it: they started to cross the corridor, and she stood in their way, boldly. "No, sorry, you're going to have to go round by the swiveling staircase. Someone's let off Garrotting Gas just along here!"

"What are you talking about?" a girl asked, impatiently.

"What do you mean we have to use the swiveling staircase?"

"I don't want to take the long way..."

"I can't see any gas!" blurted out a grumpy voice.

Ginny rolled her eyes, smirking at the thought that no one could deny her an award for this performance. "That's because it's colorless!" she said with a convincingly exasperated tone. "But if you want to walk through it, go ahead, then we'll have your body as proof for the next idiot who doesn't believe us!" she added, stubbornly. Luna, from the other end of the corridor, was waving her arms to stop the crowd from passing through.

Slowly, the students turned back.

"Good job," Hermione's voice said as she and the boy slipped into Umbridge's office.

Ginny nodded, relaxed, and approached Luna, flashing a big smile: it seemed the news of the Garrotting Gas had spread because no student dared to pass through that area. Unfortunately, not everything always goes well, sometimes: they heard noises from the end of the corridor, and suddenly a large, formidable Slytherin appeared behind Luna, holding her firmly. Ginny panicked and ran forward: should she warn Harry and Hermione not to come out and sing the alarm song? Yes, she should... but while her mind was processing everything, the Inquisitorial Squad arrived.

"Luna! Hold on, I'm coming!" she yelled, but a large hand brutally covered her mouth.

"No... no you're not," Warrington's croaking voice replied.

Ginny bit the boy hard and tried to run towards Luna, who was wriggling in search of her wand. The Slytherin sneered, and Warrington grabbed Ginny by the hair as she was about to raise her wand and Stun the girl holding Luna.

"DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER!" Ron roared at Warrington, struggling from Umbridge's clutches.

"Well, well... look who we have guarding my office," Umbridge gloated maliciously, and Draco Malfoy behind her burst into a loud mocking laugh seeing his comrades holding back his enemies. "Gag them and bring them inside, let's see who else was foolish enough to break into my office..." she added, making her way into the office followed by Draco with a sneer.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH MY SISTER!" Ron shouted angrily, elbowing Goyle in the shin to quickly free himself as he tried to help the others. Warrington lunged forward, letting go of Ginny, who seized the moment and grabbed her wand.

"Oh no, you don't move!" Warrington snarled again, as Ginny raised her wand to Stun him.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Neville's voice bellowed as he aggressively lunged at Warrington. The boy was caught off guard and began to struggle against Neville, who had pinned him to the ground. Ginny cast a Stun Spell that missed Warrington by a hair's breadth, and another large Slytherin grabbed her from behind in a tight grip and confiscated her wand.

"No, let me go! Neville, get out of here!" Ginny exclaimed desperately.

"Shut up!" the Slytherin snapped.

"Stupid Puffskien! Crabbe, are you going to do something?" Warrington berated furiously, and Crabbe stupidly moved forward, grabbing Neville by the shoulders and putting a large arm around his neck to choke him.

Ginny struggled to kick the Slytherin. "Let him go, he'll suffocate! Let... aah!"

They were gagged: it was over.

"Got you all!" Warrington announced cheerfully, shoving Ron brutally into Dolores Umbridge's office. "Him," he pointed a stubby finger at Neville, "tried to stop me from stopping her," pointing at Ginny attempting to kick the legs of the large Slytherin. "And so, I caught him too!" he concluded.

"Well... it seems soon there won't be a single Weasley left at Hogwarts," Umbridge said maliciously, approaching Ginny and observing her struggles. Ginny could smell the pungent odor of her strong perfume, making her head spin.

Draco Malfoy laughed.

"So, Potter... was trying to go to Dumbledore, right?" Umbridge said menacingly. Ginny quickly looked around: Ron was bleeding from the lip as he struggled to free himself from Warrington's grip; Neville was almost turning purple in an attempt to loosen Crabbe's grip around his neck; Luna stood motionless next to the Slytherin, absentmindedly looking out the window; Hermione was pinned to the wall by Millicent Bulstrode; Harry had been thrown onto a chair with Umbridge pointing her wand at his chest.

"No," the boy replied curtly.

"Liar!" Umbridge screamed, her tone mad.

"Did you call for me, Headmistress?" Snape's voice asked from the threshold.

"Yes, Snape! Have you brought the Veritaserum?" Umbridge turned towards Severus Snape, who observed the incredible spectacle with an inscrutable expression. Ginny thought for a moment that he might intervene to help the students on his side, on the Order of the Phoenix's side like him... but Snape quickly shifted his gaze to that Umbridge toad.

"You have used up all my stock interrogating students," Snape responded coldly, turning on his heels.

"He took Padfoot! He took Padfoot to the place where it's hidden!" Harry suddenly yelled desperately, looking at Snape.

"Padfoot?" Umbridge exclaimed, her eyes darting madly from Snape to Harry. "And what is Padfoot? Where is it hidden? What does this mean, Snape?" she added, her voice rapid-firing.

"I have no idea," Snape replied after a moment and truly turned on his heels, disappearing from their sight.

"Very well. You leave me no choice, Potter," Umbridge said desperately, as if convincing herself to do something. "Since this concerns the security of the Ministry, you leave me no alternative... the Cruciatus Curse will loosen your tongue!"

"No, Professor... it's illegal!" Hermione cried out alarmed.

"What Cornelius doesn't know, won't hurt him," Umbridge replied madder than ever, taking a breath and raising her wand. Ginny didn't give up struggling from the grip of the large Slytherin, clearly in desperation. "Cruci..."

"NO!" Hermione shouted with a broken voice. "No, we have to tell her! She'll get it out of you anyway, what's the point of resisting?"

Ginny immediately stopped kicking the girl who had her pinned and stared at Hermione, stunned: they couldn't tell Umbridge about Harry's vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort in the Ministry's office when she herself denied Voldemort's return.

"Aha! Girl, who was Potter trying to talk to just now?"

"He was trying to talk to Professor Dumbledore..." Hermione stammered.

"Dumbledore? What did you want to tell him?" Umbridge pressed, with a sudden flicker of interest.

"We wanted to tell him that it's ready!" Hermione sobbed, covering her face with her hands to hide her tears.

Ginny and the others still stared at her in disbelief, sure she had a plan.

"Ready what?"

"The... the secret weapon!"

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise, and fortunately, everyone was focused on Umbridge and Hermione to see the reactions of the others. In reality, there was no secret weapon, but this probably was just a trick by Hermione to get them all out of there. Ginny looked closely at her friend pinned to a chair by the old toad and saw she wasn't crying: it was just a ruse.

"Weapon?" Umbridge's eyes seemed almost ready to pop out of their sockets. "You've built a weapon to use against the Ministry on Dumbledore's orders, right? Take me to where it's hidden immediately! We will go, she and I... and Potter, eh? Get up!"

"Headmistress," Malfoy interjected promptly, "someone from the Squad should accompany you, for surveillance..."

"I am a certified Ministry official, do you think I can't take care of two wandless kids?" Umbridge retorted sharply, pushing the two students out of her office and pointing her wand at their backs. "Stay here and make sure no one escapes," she added, and the Slytherins sneered.

And with that, she rushed out of her office following Harry and Hermione to who knows where. Ginny removed her gag and looked at the other three, who gave her a complicit glance: now it was their turn to get involved.

OG Author's Corner

And with that, this chapter is wrapped up! I hope you enjoy the confrontation outside Umbridge's office; I really put my all into it. The dialogue in the office is mixed from both the movie and the book to avoid being too lengthy, and those of us who have read the book know all too well what happens when the Slytherins catch the gang. In the next chapter, our heroes will spring into action, and there will be much more movement. Promise!

Kisses!

Next chapter title: THE DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES... THEY NAILED THE NAME, RIGHT?