Chapter 60

Quidditch and Decree's

As the first Quidditch game of the season came close, Lily and the Gryffindor team made the decision to remain in pairs whenever they went anywhere, especially since they were playing Slytherin, and Malfoy and the Slytherin's were trying their best to sabotage the team.

It wasn't unexpected; Malfoy was a cheat and knew he wouldn't be able to ever beat Lily when it came to Quidditch. There were several times the Slytherin's tried to attack the Gryffindors, but with the whole team being a part of the DA, they were always alert since one of the first lessons last year had been situational awareness.

The Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley, had tried to curse Alicia when she was in the library, but Angelina had been there, and cast a perfect shield charm, so Bletchley had been forced to go to the Hospital Wing with hair growing from all over his face. Colin Creevey, who had been in the library at the time, had managed to get a picture of it, which was now being passed around the school.

Of course, Umbridge was using any excuse she could to take points away from Gryffindor and heaping them onto the Slytherins. This wasn't a surprise to anyone, but what did make Lily angry was how she was also giving detentions to as many people as she could. Fred and George were being sent to detention too often for Lily's liking, so much so that Hermione had managed to whip up a large cauldron of Murtlap solution, to heal anyone's hands, giving it to any of the houses (other than Slytherin, not that they needed it because of Umbridge's favouritism).

Lily hated not being able to tell Sirius or Remus what was happening, but she didn't want either of them in trouble. She knew exactly what would happen; they would storm into the school and attack Umbridge, possibly killing her, and then they'd be sent to Azkaban.

Hagrid still hadn't returned to the school, which had Lily worried for her friend. Professor Grubbly-Plank was doing a great job at teaching them, of course, but it wasn't the same without Hagrid.

During training, Ron was proving to be an excellent keeper, especially when Lavender was watching. Hermione suspected it was because he wanted to prove himself to Lavender, and although Lily knew he didn't need to do that, she didn't want to discourage his success. In one training session, he managed to kick the quaffle across the field, scoring a goal, which even impressed Fred and George.

As the morning of the Quidditch match arrived, the Gryffindor Team were sticking together, which deterred several Slytherin's who had malice in their eyes. By the time the team were in their kit, Ron looked ready to murder Malfoy and his cronies.

"It's pathetic, trying to make all of us retaliate so he can use it as an excuse to not play against us," Ron was practically snarling. In all the training sessions, his confidence had improved, as had his skills. At first, he had been nervous and made several clumsy mistakes, but after Lily reminded Ron of everything he had done, from going down to the Chamber of Secrets, to helping with the DA, he had felt better about himself.

"We all know the Slytherin's are cheaters, so I want you to ignore everything they say," Angelina said firmly. They had seen Malfoy, and others, wearing badges that said 'Weasley is our King' and mocking how he would always let the quaffle in.

"They can't even come up with anything worse than a chant, can they? I'd bet anything Umbridge is helping them so she can punish any and all of us. She's probably still mad that Aunt Minnie got Dumbledore to let the team reform," Lily said.

"Probably," Ron agreed, as they were walking to the pitch together, brooms in hand.

"Malfoy got his friends Crabbe and Goyle as the Slytherin beaters," Angelina commented.

"They match the Slytherin team perfectly then; stupid and brainless," George commented.

"With Malfoy as the team Captain, what else do you expect?" Fred asked.

"For them to lose," Alicia teased, causing the team to laugh as they reached the pitch. Before they went into the tent, Angelina took hold of Lily's arm.

"Lily, Malfoy's going to do anything he can to provoke you. I know you're struggling with your emotions, but you need to be careful. If I could, I'd put a silencing charm on him. Just… before saying or doing anything, come speak to me, okay?" Angelina insisted. Lily nodded.

"I will," she said, hugging her friend. "Thanks Angelina."

"Anytime, Lily," Angelina replied, returning the hug before they went into the tent.


With the match underway, Angelina's prediction came true. The Slytherin supporters were all singing a song about Ron living in a bin, among other stupid comments, which was clearly getting Ron, Fred, and George angry. Angelina had to fly between the twins at one point to stop them from launching themselves at Malfoy.

They did, however, manage to launch a bludger at Bletchley, who had to dodge just as Ron repeated his move from training, kicking the Quaffle into the Slytherin goal from his side. The cheer that rose from the Gryffindor side was loud enough to shut the Slytherin's up, with Malfoy looking more dour than usual.

"And Weasley scores with a move that even the professional's haven't been able to do! After a performance like that, he might even be called to play for England!" Lee Jordan's commentary was full of glee.

"Even a traitor like Weasley has to get lucky sometimes," Malfoy hissed as he neared Lily, the two of them looking for the Snitch.

"Keep telling yourself that Malfoy, maybe one day you'll believe it. You're dumb enough to, anyway," Lily retorted, before speeding off, having seen the Snitch.

As Lily neared the Snitch, she was struck on the side of the head by a Bludger, which caused her to stumble and nearly fall, but she quickly recovered, although she had lost sight of the Snitch. Madam Hooch was flying towards one of the Slytherin Beaters as Angelina approached her.

"You okay, Lily?" Angelina's voice was full of worry for Lily's well-being.

"I'm fine. We need to keep playing," Lily replied. Angelina nodded.

"It was Crabbe, Malfoy signalled him to distract you," Angelina said.

"Don't worry, just keep scoring. I'll get the snitch," Lily promised. Angelina flew off, and within moments, play had resumed, with Katie having taken a penalty on behalf of the team, and scoring, putting the Gryffindor side up by a hundred points.

It wasn't more than two minutes before Lily saw the snitch again, and this time, sped towards it as quickly as she could. Malfoy, who had also seen it, tried to catch up, but failed as the Firebolt was far quicker than his Nimbus 2001.

As Lily caught the snitch, she ducked, and saw another Bludger hit the ground. Had she not moved, it would have struck her in the front of her face. She turned to see Madam Hooch headed back to Crabbe, with Malfoy nearby, glaring at Lily as everyone landed on the pitch.

"Saved their necks, have you Pervy Potty? Did you like our lyrics? We wanted to add more, but we couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly, for their mother," Malfoy said, not loud enough for Madam Hooch to hear it, but loud enough that Fred and George were looking ready to kill Malfoy.

"Should have asked your mother for help, she's the queen of that," Lily retorted coldly, glaring at Malfoy. Malfoy looked at Lily with pure anger.

"At least I have a mother, unlike you. If your mother hadn't been stupid, maybe you would be so screwed in the head. That's why you fit in with the Weasleys though, isn't it?" Malfoy returned.

Before Lily could do or say anything, Fred and George had run at Malfoy, with Fred knocking Malfoy to the ground and George punching him.

Lily, Ron, and Angelina grabbed the twins, struggling to pull them back. As they managed a little bit, Lily noticed that Malfoy was on the ground, writhing in pain with blood slowly seeping from what would be a fat lip, and from his nose.

Crabbe and Goyle were laughing as Madam Hooch shot an Impedimenta Jinx at the group to help keep Fred and George back, with Lily still holding the snitch.

Madam Hooch ordered them to Professor McGonagall's office, and as Lily and Angelina led Fred and George towards the castle, Lily felt a sense of foreboding in the pit of her stomach.


"I have never seen such disgraceful behaviour from any member of the Gryffindor team!" Minerva exclaimed as Fred and George stood in the office, with Lily and Angelina standing nearby.

"You didn't hear what that little bastard was saying! He was…" Fred started, but Minerva cut him off.

"Of course he was provoking you; he'd just lost! I'd have thought you'd have more intelligence than to rise to anything he was saying!" Minerva exclaimed.

"Doesn't give him the right to say whatever he wants!" George countered.

"There's freedom of speech, but not freedom of consequences," Fred added.

"Oh, I'm glad you know about consequences, because now it's your turn to face them," Minerva said.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a sickly sound at the doorway, the cough of 'Hem, hem' which Lily knew meant Umbridge was there.

"May I help, Professor McGonagall?" Umbridge asked, with a smile that reminded Lily of Malfoy when something had happened that he liked.

"Help? With what?" Minerva asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Well, after such a display, I thought you might be grateful for a little extra authority," Umbridge replied.

"You thought incorrectly," Minerva replied coldly. She faced Fred and George again, a look of anger and annoyance now crossing her face. "I don't care what provocation Mr. Malfoy gave you, nothing gives you the right to attack another student. I'll be expecting you both in detention for the next week!" she exclaimed. "And don't give me…"

'Hem, hem'

"I am in the middle of disciplining two students, so if you have something to say, wait until I'm finished," Minerva snapped.

"I rather think they deserve more than detentions for their actions," Umbridge replied, her smile wider now.

"Since they're in my house, and I'm the Deputy Headmistress, it's what I think that counts, not what you think," Minerva replied coldly, glaring at Umbridge.

"Well, actually Minerva," Umbridge spoke in her usual sickly tone, which Lily knew meant trouble ahead. "I think you'll find that what I think does count."

Umbridge pulled out a piece of parchment, which contained Educational Decree Number Twenty-Five – "Another one?" Minerva practically scoffed – and began to read it out.

"When you overrode me after I was unwilling to allow the Gryffindor team to reform, by taking the case to Dumbledore, well, I couldn't have that," Umbridge said. "I contacted the Minister at once, who agreed that the High Inquisitor has to have the power to strip pupils of privileges, or she, or rather, I, would have less authority than common teachers!"

"Common teachers?" Minerva repeated the words coldly, with a cold chill running down Lily's back.

"Yes, after all, I am the High Inquisitor, and as such, the High Inquisitor will henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions, and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to alter such punishments, sanctions and the removals of privileges as may have been ordered by other staff members. Signed Elpenor White, Minister of Magic, etc, etc," Umbridge continued.

"So, as you can tell, I was right to be wary about reforming the Gryffindor team. Given their behaviour, I think I shall have to ban both of these students from ever playing Quidditch again," Umbridge replied.

"Ban us?" Fred asked, his eyes widening.

"Why, yes, Mr. Weasley. After all, behaviour like that cannot be permitted to be seen in Hogwarts. But I am not unreasonable, and I will allow the rest of the team to continue playing, especially since they restrained themselves," Umbridge said, refusing to even acknowledge Lily.

Lily suspected that was due to the fact that she couldn't punish Lily, as she didn't try attacking Malfoy. She had wanted to, but had hesitated, purely because Angelina had told her to speak to her first. She felt sorry for Fred and George, and as they left and went to Gryffindor Tower, Lily could sense a change in Fred and George. They were whispering to one another, and although she knew they were planning something, she didn't know what it was, other than something that would really upset Umbridge, and that was fine with her.


It wasn't long before Fred and George had disappeared up to the dorm, leaving Lily, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Lavender, and Angelina alone in the common room, sitting in front of the fireplace.

"She really didn't like not being able to punish you, Lily," Angelina commented.

"Probably put Malfoy up to it, to try and get a rise out of me," Lily agreed darkly, her eyes watching the flames eating the wood. "Maybe I should have done something."

"Then you'd have been banned as well," Ginny pointed out. "We knew Malfoy was going to try something, didn't we?"

"We'll get back at him," Ron promised, venom in his voice.

"I don't know how, not with that old hag in the school," Lily muttered. Angelina nodded softly.

"Well, if we can get her out before the school year, Fred and George will be back," Angelina commented.

"In the meantime, we need to find two new beaters," Ginny said.

"Well, I was thinking of moving Alicia to the spot of Beater, she's got a decent swing," Angelina said. Lily nodded; she had seen Alicia train with Fred and George.

"Who'll take her place as Chaser?" Lily asked.

"Ginny can, she's amazing," Ron suggested. Ginny blushed.

"He's not wrong," Angelina agreed. "I've seen you fly; you've got a lot of skill."

"You think so?" Ginny asked.

"I know you do," Lily told her. Ginny smiled and kissed Lily softly.

"Thanks, Lily," Ginny said, holding onto Lily.

"What am I, the next-door neighbour?" Ron asked indignantly. Ginny laughed as she gave her brother a hug, just as Hermione stood up and went to the window.

"I just… how can Dumbledore let her get away with all of this?" Hermione asked bitterly.

"I don't think he has much choice," Ron replied. "I know he needs to be careful, especially if White is a Death Eater."

"If only we could find proof," Lily muttered. Hermione turned to the group, a small smile on her face.

"Well, at least something good is happening," Hermione said. On the group's quizzical looks, she pointed out the window. "Hagrid's back."