Chapter 58

Detentions, Scars and Plans

The weekend went by too quickly, and finally, Monday afternoon came, and Lily reached Umbridge's office. She knocked on the door and waited for a moment. When she was called inside, Lily could scarcely believe how it looked. When Sirius had been there, it had been full of different textbooks, and creatures. Under Moody – No, Barty Crouch Jr, - there had been various dark detector devices and other objects.

Now, the surfaces were draped in lacy covers and clothes, with vases full of dried flowers. The walls were decorated with a large collection of ornamental plates that displayed large kittens wearing bows. Lily loved cats, but these ones looked hideous.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter," Umbridge said, from her desk. Lily glared at her, ready to leave immediately.

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to come here for the detention, but if you misgender me or deadname me again, I'm leaving," Lily stated.

"Sit, please, Miss Potter. My apologies," Umbridge said, but Lily could tell the apology was not sincere. Still, she took a seat as requested, biting her tongue.

"Now, you will write on that parchment I will not tell lies, until I am satisfied the message has gotten through," Umbridge said.

"Where's the ink?" Lily asked, seething inside.

"You will not need ink, and the parchment will wipe itself when full," Umbridge told her, smiling sweetly. Lily began to write on the parchment, seeing red letters appear as she wrote. As she did, she gasped as she felt her hand aching. She looked at her right hand and saw the words that she had been writing etched onto her hand.

She wrote another word, which then etched itself onto her hand, and as she finished the words, the wound healed, leaving a light scar, and ready to be etched again. She looked at Umbridge, who merely smiled sweetly at her.

Lily swore she wouldn't let Umbridge win, so she continued to write lines, each time the lines appearing on her hand and healing straight after.

By the time the evening was finished, Umbridge had stated that the message hadn't quite sunk in, so she would be expected back the next evening. Lily left the office, and made her way back to the dorms, seeing Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Parvati, and Lavender waiting for her in the common room.

"What did that cow have you do?" Ginny asked, clearly worried for Lily.

"Lines," Lily replied, not wanting to worry them further.

"Just lines?" Ginny asked sceptically.

"Just lines," Lily confirmed. Ginny glared at her, causing Lily to sigh. She knew Ginny would know when she wasn't telling her everything. Before she could say anything, Ginny grabbed Lily's hand, seeing the fresh scars on it.

"Just lines?" Ginny demanded. "What the hell is this?"

"It's…" Lily began, then sighed, before explaining what had happened.

"That evil hag!" Ginny snarled angrily. "I'll…"

"Do nothing," Lily insisted. "I won't let her win! I won't let anyone hurt you. If this is the worst I have to face, so be it."

"Lily, you can't let her do this to you," Ron insisted, as Hermione ran to the dorms, calling out that she'd be right back.

"Lily, I love you, but you're insane. Ron's right, you can't let her do this to you," Ginny said, still holding Lily's hand.

"I get that you're worried Ginny, but if I go to Dumbledore, what can he do? The Minister for Magic put that cow here, and if I start complaining, it'll give them more ammo to use against me, and against Professor Dumbledore. Hell, he'll probably claim that Dumbledore lets students run the school!" Lily exclaimed. Ginny looked down, wanting to disagree, but Lily knew she couldn't.

Hermione returned quickly with a bowl of a yellow liquid. "Here, put your hand in this. It's a solution of strained and pickled Murtlap tentacles. I've been doing some study into the tentacles for herbology, and it's good to help stings and scratches," she said. Lily put the back of her hand into the bowl and let out a soft sigh of relief as the stinging began to stop.

"Thanks, Hermione," Lily smiled at her friend. "It's helping."

"Good. Now, what are we going to do?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing," Lily repeated what she had said to Lily. Hermione sighed as she agreed with Lily's assessment.

"Why do you have to be right about this?" Hermione asked dejectedly.

"We'll find a way to deal with her. For now, I can take this," Lily said. "As long as I still have you guys, and my potions, I'll be okay."

"Thank heavens Madam Pomfrey isn't being forced to stop giving it to you by the ministry," Ginny said.

"Agreed," Lily smiled at her girlfriend. Her smile faded as she saw several students walk into the common room, glare at her, and then head to the dorms. She sighed. "And we're back to last year, again," she said.

"I swear, I'm already hating this year," Ron commented. "I kinda want to be out of here and learning from someone decent."

"I was thinking about that," Hermione said. "It's time to start the DA."

"You think Umbridge is going to let us?" Ron asked.

"Not her call, Professor Dumbledore already agreed. I'll start speaking to the people who signed up last year, and make sure they're all onboard, before arranging a date for the first meeting," Hermione said, before frowning. "Can anyone else hear that tapping?"

"Yeah," Lily said, pointing to the window, where Percy Weasley's owl, Errol, was waiting. Ron went and opened it, letting Errol in, who dropped a letter into Ron's lap.

Ron read it aloud, first congratulating him on being a prefect and now going down the 'Fred and George' route, before suggesting that Lily was dangerous, and if Ron was worried about anything, to go to Umbridge, whom he could absolutely trust, who would have more power soon, and to see the paper the next day.

"If I didn't know he was undercover, I'd be really annoyed," Ron whispered.

"He's warning us to be careful, no doubt," Hermione replied in a whisper. "Look how he said you had gone down the opposite route that he had thought. Knowing Percy, that means that you shouldn't trust Umbridge at all."

"Makes sense to me," Ron agreed, petting Errol, who hooted and left. "Not that we needed to be told to not trust her."

"Agreed," Lily said, her hand still soaking in the Murtlap solution. "I just want to know why this is happening. How the hell is this White the Minister? Didn't anyone try to stop that?"

"He clearly had a lot of friends, including Lucius Malfoy. I'm still thinking that White works for You-Know-Who," Hermione commented.

"You're not wrong, but how can we prove it? We're kids," Parvati sighed as she leant back in her chair.

"Again, not wrong. Look, we can't do much, but we can get things going with the DA, and make sure everyone's ready to defend themselves against whatever's coming," Lily said. "I… I've been having second doubts about being the teacher though. I mean, I'm not that great."

"Says the one who has fought Voldemort three times now, and won, and survived when you were a baby," Ginny pointed out, with everyone wincing at the use of Voldemort's name.

"And getting through the maze, and the stun wave, and outflying a dragon," Padma added.

"Not to mention you saw off a horde of Dementors!" Hermione reminded her.

"I had help with that. Last year, we did it all together, remember?" Lily asked.

"Lily, you need to have more confidence in yourself. Have you been taking your meds?" Ginny asked softly. Lily nodded.

"I've been keeping in touch with Lana, she's an amazing doctor, and a caring person. Apparently, she's been in touch with Madam Pomfrey, in secret of course," Lily explained.

"That's something. Still, right now, I want you to tell me, honestly, why are you so worried about this?" Ginny asked softly. Lily looked into her eyes, taking her hands. She noticed her hand wasn't hurting anymore, thanks to the Murtlap solution.

"Because… I'm scared," Lily confessed, her voice barely a whisper. Ginny held onto Lily, wrapping her arms around her.

"I know you are, and I think I know why," Ginny told her, again meeting her gaze. "You're scared because… you think you failed him."

"I did fail him," Lily didn't even bother trying to hide her feelings; Ginny could read her like an open book.

"How? You couldn't have seen that attack coming, and he chose to sacrifice himself, for you. He always said you were the best hope the wizarding world has, Lily, and he knew it," Ginny told her kindly. "He was able to see the attack coming, and he knew that the only way you'd be safe was by jumping in the way."

"If he was still here… things would be different. Umbridge wouldn't be here, and we'd be safer. We'd probably have Sirius or Moody teaching us," Lily surmised.

"We can't focus on what if's, Lily. We can only focus on what is," Hermione told her.

"You're not alone. We're all here for you Lily, and we all love you and care about you," Padma added.

"If anyone can do this, it's you," Ron insisted. "I've seen what you can do. I was there in the Chamber, and I saw you go after the bloody Basilisk without hesitating. You care for others so much, and you have a strength greater than all of us. Please mate, trust us," Ron said. Lily looked at the group and nodded.

"Doesn't seem like I have much of a choice," Lily finally conceded. "Alright, let's do this."

"Good. Now, I think you need some sleep; it's been a long night for you," Ginny insisted, taking Lily by the hand and leading her to the dorms. Lily was too tired to fight it, and as she did fall asleep, with Ginny staying in the dorm, just holding Lily as she fell asleep, Lily felt thankful that she had the friends she did, knowing that she'd never be alone.


Breakfast the next morning came with the news that Percy had warned them about; a news article which made Lily's heart sink deeply. She handed the paper to Hermione, who began to read out the article.

"Ministry Seeks Educational Reform. Dolores Umbridge appointed First-Ever 'High Inquisitor' for Hogwarts," Hermione began

"What in Merlin's name is that?" Ron asked, scowling. Hermione continued to read the article.

"In a surprise move last night, the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 'The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time,' said Junior Assistant to the Minister, Percy Weasley. 'He is now responding to concerns voiced by anxious parents who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve of," Hermione read out.

"Well, he wasn't kidding about there being a danger," Lavender commented dryly.

"Apparently, this is how Umbridge was appointed. Looks like White passed an educational degree, stating that should the current headmaster be unable to find a 'suitable' candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry will select an 'appropriate' person," Hermione stated darkly.

"I'll bet you anything White made up whatever lies he could to make sure Sirius, Moody, or even Uncle Remus, were deemed unsuitable for teaching," Lily said, glaring at Umbridge, who was sitting at the top table, with her usual smile that gave Lily the creeps.

"So, what does this mean?" Padma asked.

"According to the article, Umbridge now has the power to inspect the other teachers and make sure they are all 'up to scratch' according to the ministry," Hermione explained.

"Can't see Aunt Minnie liking that one," Lily commented, with a small snort of derision.

"I can't either, but she'll have to be careful. If I'm reading this right, the ministry will be able to replace anyone they deem to be unsuitable," Hermione cautioned.

"Lucius Malfoy is getting his five minutes, naturally, saying how this makes him and other parents feel better, and there are some ministry officials who seem to be following White happily," Ginny said, as she looked at the article.

"Several people seem to have complained, and look," Hermione said, pointing out the bottom of the article. "This person's being linked to subversive 'Goblin groups' as a way to discredit her."

"Like they've been doing with Professor Dumbledore and me?" Lily asked. Hermione nodded, sighing.

"They're definitely stepping up their game. Whilst everyone's being kept focused on the school, Voldemort's free to do whatever he wants to build up an army of some kind," Ginny muttered.

"Which means we need to be extra careful with the DA and the Order of the Dragon," Hermione replied.

"The Room of Requirement is still the best option we have then, especially if we need to stop people like Malfoy from getting inside," Ginny said. Lily nodded, looking at her hand, seeing the words on there. She looked up suddenly when she felt Ginny's hand on her shoulder. "Lily, please, tell Sirius or someone," Ginny pleaded.

"I can't. It'll be put down as some sort of punishment, then a law will be passed letting Umbridge do that, and she'll make life hell for anyone who tries to stand up to her. It's why we need to be very careful when we do this," Lily said, meeting Ginny's gaze.

"We're going to find a way to stop her," Ginny promised. "I love you, Lily, and I won't let her beat you."

Lily knew Ginny meant what she had said, but she was now worried for all of her friends. Would they be able to handle Umbridge? Would they get in trouble with the Ministry, and would Umbridge make the others do lines like hers, or worse? She didn't know what was going to happen, but she would find a way to protect her friends, even if it meant taking all the punishment from Umbridge herself.