AN: I hope everyone had a good week. Here is the next chapter, and it's a bit longer than normal, so hopefully you enjoy that too. As always, thanks for all the support and let me know what you think.
Bellalphine Black - It is unfair, and I wanted to highlight that even more here. I had Ron stay prefect because while Harry has changed a lot, Dumbledore has not, and I feel like he'd still have the same mindset for why he didn't pick Harry for prefect. This Harry has studied a lot more, is a lot less isolationist, and does deserve the badge far more than he did in canon.
GreengrassRebel - Glad you enjoyed the interactions. Another interesting casting, though I could see it. I guess it depends on exactly how you want to portray Hestia. I'll definitely keep up the fun interactions and I guess you'll just have to keep reading for the rest.
Guest - Thanks! I intend for Harry to smarten up this year.
scrappy8 - Glad you enjoyed the mall. That was honestly a last-minute addition just to give them some fun, but I liked how it turned out.
psalmuel - No real special reasoning. Harry's changed and does deserve the badge . . . Dumbledore hasn't changed though, so his reasoning would be the same as canon. Thanks!
Mando-Vet - It's definitely important to give Harry time to be a kid and relax with his friends/family.
mrpvisse - Thanks for noticing that error. It helped me find two other errors that I'd made in earlier chapters which I fixed.
Chapter 50
Despite the pleasant end to the summer holidays, Harry had a troubled night's sleep, and was awoken to his scar prickling. From there, it was a chaotic morning leading up to them leaving, but finally they were making the twenty minute walk to King's Cross, with Sirius, Dora, and Mrs. Weasley, while Astra ran circles around them and enjoyed the pleasant morning air.
Once inside the station they lingered casually beside the barrier between platforms nine and ten until the coast was clear, then each of them leaned against it in turn and fell easily through onto the platform. It wasn't long after before Mad-Eye and Remus came through the archway with all their luggage, which had come separately to make it easier to bail if they had been attacked.
Soon they were saying their goodbyes, Harry hugging Sirius, Remus, and Dora, who all also exchanged hugs with Angelina, who seemed to be smiling even brighter than normal as she hugged them hard. Dora also made sure to hug Ginny and Hermione, while Harry took a hug from Mrs. Weasley.
"Keep your head down and your eyes peeled," said Mad-Eye, grasping Harry's shoulder, and patting him on the back, "and don't forget, all of you, be careful what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't put it in a letter at all."
"We know, Mad-Eye," Harry said with a fond grin, as he, his sister, and his friends got on the train.
As it started to pull away, they all waved, and their guardians, mentors, and family faded away as the platform faded in the distance.
"Well," said Fred, clapping his hands together, "can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you lot later."
"Angie?" George asked, and she nodded before winking at Harry and ruffling his hair.
"I'm sure I'll see you later, sis," Harry said, fondly, and she grinned before she and the twins disappeared down the corridor to the right.
The train was gathering still more speed, so that the houses outside the window flashed past, and they swayed where they stood.
"Shall we go and find a compartment, then?" Harry asked his other three companions.
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks.
"Er," said Ron.
"We're – well – Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage," Hermione said awkwardly.
Ron wasn't looking at Harry; he seemed to have become intensely interested in the fingernails on his left hand.
"Oh, of course," Harry said easily. "I'd forgotten."
"I don't think we'll have to stay there the whole journey," said Hermione quickly. "Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time."
"Hermione, I'm sure it will be fine," Harry said, trying to give her a reassuring smile. "Either you'll find me on the train, or I'll see you at the feast. Now, you better run along. Don't want to be late as new prefects," he finished mock pompously.
Ron and Hermione grinned sheepishly at him and they started dragging their trunks and pets' cages off towards the engine end of the train.
"Well, I guess it's just you and little old me," Ginny said brightly.
Astra barked in an affronted tone.
"And Astra of course," Ginny said, rubbing the dog's head.
"Not many better places to be," Harry said, and Ginny blushed and beamed at him.
Soon, they were struggling down the corridor, dragging their things, peering through the glass-paneled doors into the compartments they passed, which were already full. Harry could not help noticing that a lot of people stared back at him with great interest and that several of them nudged their neighbors and pointed him out.
For good or bad, the dozens of articles over the summer had drawn a lot of attention his way. He wondered how many thought he'd killed Cedric, how many thought he'd simply gone insane watching how Cedric died in the maze, or how many of them actually believed him or at least were open to the possibility of the truth. From what he could tell based on what people had written into the paper, not many did believe him, though many of those who thought he'd gone mad at least thought he deserved sympathy and help. Harry was sad to see even some distrustful looks from some of his fellow Gryffindor fifth-years like Kellah, Chris, Alison, and Robert.
Near the very last carriage, they ran into Neville, who was also struggling to drag his trunk along the corridor, especially while keeping his other hand on his toad, Trevor.
"Hi, Harry," he panted. "Hi, Ginny . . . Everywhere's full . . . I can't find a seat . . ."
"What are you talking about?" said Ginny, who had squeezed past Neville to peer into the compartment behind him. "There's room in this one, there's only Luna Lovegood."
Neville mumbled something about not wanting to disturb anyone.
"Don't be silly," said Ginny, laughing, "Luna's very nice."
Ginny slid the door open and pulled her trunk inside, with the two boys following.
"Hi, Luna," said Ginny brightly, "is it okay if we take these seats?"
The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist-length, dirty-blonde hair, very pale eyebrows and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. Harry knew at once why Neville had chosen to pass this compartment by. The girl gave off an aura of distinct dottiness. Perhaps it was the fact that she had stuck her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping, or that she had chosen to wear a necklace of Butterbeer corks, or that she was reading a magazine upside-down.
Still, Ginny said she was nice, so he would trust her judgment. Luna's eyes ranged over Neville and came to rest on Harry. She nodded.
"Thanks," said Ginny, smiling at her.
Harry and Neville stowed the three trunks and Hedwig's cage in the luggage rack and sat down. Luna watched them over her upside-down magazine, which Harry noticed was a copy of the Quibbler. He'd gotten more familiar with the various newspapers and magazines over the past year and especially over the summer after Sirius established his paper. The Quibbler had a reputation for being quite strange, and for printing rather far-fetched theories, but when it did print news, it tended to be honest, and Harry knew that Sirius did enjoy some of the theories, finding a lot of humor in them. Luna seemed to have forgotten the Quibbler for the moment however, choosing to stare at Harry, who had taken the seat opposite of her.
"Had a good summer, Luna?" Ginny asked.
"Yes," said Luna dreamily, without taking her eyes off Harry. "Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. You're Harry Potter," she added.
"I know I am," said Harry.
Neville chuckled. Luna turned her pale eyes on him instead.
"And I don't know who you are."
"I'm nobody," said Neville hurriedly.
"No you're not," said Ginny sharply, shooting him a reproving look. "Neville Longbottom – Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw."
"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," said Luna in a singsong voice.
She raised her upside-down magazine high enough to hide her face and fell silent. Harry and Neville looked at each other with their eyebrows raised. Ginny suppressed a giggle.
The train rattled onwards, speeding them out into open country. So, they settled in and conversations opened up, starting with Neville's new birthday gift, a rare plant called the Mimbulus mimbletonia, which unfortunately, when Neville was trying to demonstrate what it could do, shot dark green, stinky sap all over them. Ginny was the only one of them who at least managed to keep it off her face. The silver lining was that this timed out with a visit from Cho Chang, who soon left awkwardly deciding that he was busy.
Harry was a bit relieved at that because he wasn't really sure what to think about Cho. Sure, he'd had a bit of a crush on her, but they really had very little in common, and she had been Cedric's girlfriend.
He supposed she was hoping to learn what happened to him from Harry, but there were precious few people Harry had opened up to about that. He probably should sit down and talk to her, but he wasn't quite sure he was ready for that. From what he knew of her, she was going to be sobbing and wanting to know if he'd mentioned her at all near the end, and Harry really had no interest in finding himself in that situation, especially since he could offer no words of comfort. Still, he probably would ask Angelina, Alicia, and Dora about it. Probably get Hermione's opinion on it. Maybe even Fleur. He'd ask Sirius or Remus, but he wasn't sure either man would be all that great in this situation. Gods forbid he ask Mad-Eye.
Her leaving meant Harry could focus back on cleaning up the messy, green liquid, but Ginny beat him to it.
"No worries, Nev," Ginny said bracingly. "We can easily get rid of this."
With a flick of her wand, Ginny nonverbally used a 'scourgify' charm, causing all the stinksap to vanish, and Harry smiled proudly at her, still impressed with how far she had come last year while helping him train for the Triwizard Tournament. In fact, all of his friends were quite proficient with nonverbal casting now, with Ron and Neville being the weakest of the bunch, but even they had managed to get fairly proficient in the skill.
He knew they all still needed a bit of work. Harry himself had spoken words aloud during the Seventh Task and in the graveyard, his mind not quite focused on nonverbal casting, which meant there was room for improvement, but he still knew they were all well ahead of their peers. Alicia and Angelina had said that some sixth years never fully manage silent casting, and many still struggle by the end of the year. So, he, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and even Katie were miles ahead of the curve in regards to their peers when it came to the skill.
Neville still gaped at her, impressed, and Ginny grinned before they were interrupted by their second visitor, though this one was much better in Harry's opinion.
"Well, there are two of my favorite people," Katie said brightly, opening their compartment door and smiling at them. "Mind if I join?"
"Of course not," Harry and Ginny both said, returning her smile, and Luna just shook her head, while Neville shook his head politely.
Katie moved and sat right in between Ginny and Harry, across from Luna and Neville, and she quickly gave both him and Ginny hugs from the side before settling.
"Hey, Nev," Katie said, eyeing Harry's friend with a wicked gleam in her eye. "Nice mimbulus mimbletonia. Have you been stroking it? It seems rather excited."
Neville blushed deep red, and Katie laughed delightedly, while Ginny giggled and Harry shook his head with a sigh. Poor Neville didn't stand a chance against Katie when she got going. Few people did.
"I hear that's a problem that many guys have," Luna said off handedly, her eyes still focused on her copy of the Quibbler. "Getting too excited after some stroking."
Neville and Harry both blushed deep red while Katie cackled in glee and Ginny laughed.
"You and I will get along just fine," Katie said with a grin. "What's your name, love?"
"Luna," Luna replied, her voice a bit less dreamy than Harry had heard thus far.
"Luna Lovegood, right?" Katie said with a snap of her fingers, and Luna nodded, a hint of surprise in her eyes. "Yeah, you're dad's the editor and owner for the Quibbler. I do enjoy the crosswords."
Luna beamed at Katie, and Harry marveled at his friend's ability to seemingly make friends with anyone.
Ron and Hermione came back after an hour, by which time the food trolley had already gone by. Katie was still with them, happily leaning into Ginny's side as the two girls laughed and talked quietly while Neville and Harry exchanged Chocolate Frog cards. Astra was lying at Ginny and Katie's feet, her legs just brushing up against Harry's. Ron and Hermione came in, accompanied by Crookshanks and a shrilly hooting Pigwidgeon in his cage
"I'm starving," said Ron, looking to stow Pigwidgeon and then realizing that there were three more people in the compartment than he was used to.
Harry regretfully scooted the rest of the way up against the compartment wall to make room for Ron next to him, but then Katie scooted over next to him, dragging a giggling Ginny with her into her old seat, making room for Ron next to the door.
Ron looked at Katie with slight confusion before storing Pigwidgeon's cage up near Hedwig's, and grabbed a chocolate frog as he took the seat. Hermione stored Crookshanks's cage and then took the seat near Neville.
"Guess who the Slytherin prefects are?" Hermione asked, looking thoroughly disgruntled.
Harry sighed, knowing that there were several Slytherins who deserved the position, but knowing that Snape likely didn't pick them.
"Malfoy," Harry said sadly.
"'Course," said Ron bitterly, stuffing the rest of the Frog into his mouth and taking another.
"And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson," said Hermione viciously. "How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll . . ."
"Who are Hufflepuff"s?" Harry asked.
"Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott," said Ron thickly.
"Hmm, Ernie's not that surprising, but I would have thought Susan Bones or Gabrielle Truman," Harry muttered. "I thought they had better grades."
"They might not have wanted it," Katie pointed out. "That's why Cho Chang is a prefect. Marina didn't want the position."
"I guess that's possible," Harry admitted.
"Plus, they might have thought any of the other candidates had too much on their plates, or maybe Hannah's better at getting people to get along," Hermione said. "She is really nice."
"Also true," Harry agreed. "How about Ravenclaw?"
"Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw," said Hermione.
Conversation turned to Ron's desire to give out punishments to Crabbe and Goyle, which naturally had Hermione scolding him for wanting to "abuse" his position. Harry was at this point really just waiting for Alicia to come visit when the compartment door opened.
Unfortunately, it wasn't Alicia, or Angelina and the Twins. It was the person at Hogwarts Harry least wanted to see. Draco Malfoy was smirking at him from in between his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, the latter of whom probably held an even greater grudge against Harry than Malfoy.
"Tread carefully, Malfoy," Harry warned, as Astra started growling.
"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," drawled Malfoy, whose sleek blond hair and pointed chin were just like his father's. "You better keep your mutt in check as well. You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."
"They have to be justified, Malfoy," Katie said, her face in a scowl, unlike her previous happy and mischievous smile. "Besides, we all know that Harry wouldn't even consider a ferret like you to be a real threat."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville laughed while Malfoy's lip curled.
"Shut your mouth, you filthy mudblood," he said, and Harry's wand was out before anyone else could react.
"Watch what you say, Malfoy," Harry said dangerously, pushing out with his shadow magic to create fear in Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's eyes.
Malfoy licked his lips nervously before recovering.
"You're all talk, Potter," Malfoy said. "We all know that you're on borrowed time. I only hope I'm there to see it when you find out what real power is."
With one last malicious look, the three Slytherins departed, and Hermione got up and slammed the compartment door shut behind them.
"He's really getting bold considering you embarrassed him in the Entrance Hall last year and he failed to even make the finals against you once again this year in the British Dueling Circuit," Katie said with a scowl.
"He's always been all talk," Ginny said scathingly. "It used to be his father. Now it's his precious dark lord. He doesn't realize that Voldemort (Ron, Hermione, and Neville all flinched, though Luna was curiously unaffected) doesn't give two fucks about him and would happily kill him just to give himself amusement."
"Ginny! Language!" Hermione scolded.
Ginny rolled her eyes, while Katie grinned and pulled her into her side.
"Well, said, Red," Katie said, hugging her and getting a giggle from Ginny while Ron gave them a weird look.
The remainder of the journey went relatively easy. Alicia joined them after a bit, saying Angelina was spending time with George, so she decided to come see them, and she and Katie remained with them for the rest of the journey. The weather was rather bleak with rain splattering the windows half-heartedly before breaking away and sunlight making a feeble appearance before clouds reclaimed the sky and they rinsed and repeated.
Once they finally pulled into the station, Ron and Hermione had to leave to supervise everyone getting off the train, so Ginny took control of Crookshanks, while Alicia grabbed Pigwidgeon for Ron, and Harry grabbed Hedwig's cage, and they shuffled out into the night air, with Astra happily running around in the rain, yipping as she jumped into puddles causing students to shriek in amusement or annoyance as they were covered in water.
Harry's mirth at his familiar's antics were cut short when he didn't hear Hagrid's familiar call for the first years, and instead heard a brisk female one, a voice he recognized from the previous year calling for the first years instead.
"I wonder where Hagrid is," Harry muttered, seeing Professor Grubbly-Plank, Hagrid's sub for a short time the previous year, taking over Hagrid's duties.
"I don't know, but I'm ready to get out of this rain," Ginny muttered, and Alicia chuckled before she flicked her wrist, deploying her wand from the holster Harry had gotten her and then with a flick of her wand, Harry, Ginny, Katie, and Luna, who was still with them, all found themselves dry, their bodies seemingly repelling the water, and drying from the rain.
"You never mentioned you'd made that much progress with your water elemental magic," Harry exclaimed reproachfully, and she chuckled.
"I wanted to surprise you," she admitted with a smile. "Besides, that's a rather simple thing to do, what I did. I still can't do anything very extravagant."
"Still bloody brilliant for only one summer, Leash," Katie said, looking at her in awe.
"Why, thank you, Katie Kat," Alicia said, a bit smugly. "Now, let's go find a carriage."
As a group, they quickly made their way over to the carriages and Harry grimaced seeing that the carriages were hooked up to skeletal winged horses: thestrals. He had always been able to sense them, due to his connection with Hades, but because of Cedric, he could now see them. While they were majestic, he really wished with all his heart that he couldn't see them right now . . . that Cedric hadn't died simply for being in the wrong place.
As he looked at the horses, Ron came up behind him, and he saw Katie hand Pig over to Ron, while Ginny looked around for Hermione.
"Where d'you reckon -" Harry started to say.
"Hagrid is? I dunno," Ron said, sounding worried. "Hopefully he's okay."
A short distance away, Draco Malfoy, followed by a small gang of cronies including Crabbe, Goyle , Evelyn Yaxley, Kara Flint, and Pansy Parkinson, was pushing some timid-looking second-years out of the way so that he and his friends could get a coach to themselves. Seconds later, Hermione emerged panting from the crowd.
"Malfoy was being absolutely foul to a first-year back there. I swear I'm going to report him, he's only had his badge for three minutes and he's using it to bully people worse than ever . . ."
Hermione took Crookshanks from Ginny.
"Thanks," said Hermione, relieving Ginny of the cat. "Come on, let's get a carriage together before they all fill up . . ."
They all nodded in agreement to that as they piled into the carriage. Katie glanced at Harry, seeing his still somber face.
"What's up, Harry?" she asked softly.
"Just a bit sad that I can see the thestrals pulling the carriages," Harry muttered back, and she let out an "oh" of understanding before hugging him.
"What's pulling the carriages?" Ron asked with a frown, glancing towards the front of the carriages. "Nothing's pulling the carriages, Harry."
"Thestrals are," Luna said dreamily.
"They're skeletal horses," Harry explained. "They can only be seen by people who've seen death, and they're creatures that belong to Thanatos, the God of Death."
"Oh, fascinating!" Hermione exclaimed. "I didn't realize thestrals pulled the carriages. I've read about them, of course, but that's not mentioned in Hogwarts, A History!"
"Probably because they're considered bad luck," Ginny said. "People don't understand them, and the death thing scares people."
"Huh," Ron muttered, and then he and Hermione both looked at Harry, realizing why he could now see them, and they grimaced.
"Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?" asked Ginny. "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"
"I'll be quite glad if he has," said Luna, "he isn't a very good teacher, is he?"
"Yes, he is!" said Harry, Ron and Ginny angrily.
Katie shrugged, never having taken Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, though she did enjoy talking to the man.
Harry glared at Hermione. She cleared her throat and quickly said, "Erm . . . yes . . . he's very good."
"Well, we in Ravenclaw think he's a bit of a joke," said Luna, unfazed.
"He's quite good in the NEWT classes," Alicia said, and Luna looked at her curiously. "Honestly, most of us during our OWLs were rather thankful to have him as a teacher. Sure, he doesn't always get the material across in the best manner, but he knows his stuff, and he's able to actually allow people to get hands-on practice with a lot of magical creatures. He's gotten better each year he's been here too. He is still fairly new to this and never finished his formal education at Hogwarts."
"Well, perhaps I will revise my opinion after OWLs," Luna said, finally.
Silence fell between them as the carriages moved up the road, and Harry peeked out to see Hogwarts in the distance, looming ever closer, until finally the carriages halted and they were all able to hop out, Harry disheartened to see no sign of life within Hagrid's cabin. Either he'd left for good, or he hadn't returned from the mission he'd been on, both of which were causes for concern.
The Entrance Hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.
The four long house tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. Again, Harry noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as he passed; he gritted his teeth and tried to act as though he neither noticed nor cared. Katie and Ginny pulled in closer to him, trying to provide comfort while they followed Ron and Hermione who led the way to the Gryffindor table. Luna drifted away towards the Ravenclaw table, and as they reached the Gryffindor table, Ginny was hailed by some of her fellow fourth-years, and after giving him a smile, she drifted off to sit with them. Though, her space was filled as Angelina, the twins, and Lee Jordan came over and joined Harry, Alicia, Katie, Ron, and Hermione.
Looking around, as he took a seat next across from Hermione and Ron, with Alicia and Katie settled next to him, he noticed many of his housemates glancing at him, some friendly, some curious, some a bit cautious, and others a bit hostile. Harry looked up at the staff table and noticed that Hagrid was definitely absent.
"He can't have left," said Ron, sounding slightly anxious.
"He's probably still doing that mission for the Order," Harry muttered to them, with Katie and Alicia both glancing at him curiously.
He and Angelina had told them of the Order, after getting permission from Sirius and Dora, but they didn't know all the specifics that he and Angelina knew, though he expected some of that to change, now that they were back at Hogwarts. Angelina wouldn't want to keep anything from them, and neither did he. Plus, he knew they could trust them. He trusted them with his life.
"Shit," Alicia swore, and Harry glanced at her, before noticing she was looking up at the staff table.
"What is that bitch doing here?" Angelina muttered angrily.
Harry glanced up, wondering what he'd missed when he swore under his breath. Sitting next to Dumbledore was a squat witch, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair, in which she had placed a horrible pink band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan that she wore over her robes. Her toad-like face was impossible to forget. Dolores Umbridge was at Hogwarts.
"What is she doing here?" Harry asked, a bit worried, and Alicia shook her head gravely.
"Nothing good," she muttered back, and then they and Angelina quickly explained who Umbridge was to the others, who immediately looked at the women with a hint of nervousness.
"There's no other seats," Harry said, looking closely at the staff table, and he frowned. "Is she the new Defense professor?"
"Oh, merlin, I hope not," Katie said with a groan. "If she works in the Minister's Office as the Senior Undersecretary, then she isn't likely to have a Defense Mastery. I wonder if she's even qualified to teach!"
"I thought the Ministry passed a decree so that they had to fill the position with someone competent!" Harry said, angrily.
"I don't think the decree said competent," Angelina said with gritted teeth. "Fudge probably just implied that so he could get her into the position."
"Fuck," Alicia and Katie both swore.
"She'll also probably be gunning for you, Harry," Angelina muttered. "This might be Fudge's way of getting back at you."
"Surely he wouldn't do that, just to get at Harry," Hermione said worriedly.
"He nearly got our country suspended from the ICW to get at Harry," Angelina retorted. "Do we really know what he might or might not do?"
Soon conversation was cut as McGonagall led in a group of scared-looking first years, carrying a stool and the frayed Sorting Hat. Soon, the whole hall was listening to the Hat's new song, which told a small history of the school, the houses, and the founders before it warned them that dark times were coming and that all four houses needed to band together in order to fight and survive.
The Hat became motionless once more at the conclusion of its song; applause broke out, though it was punctured, for the first time in Harry's memory, with muttering and whispers. All across the Great Hall students were exchanging remarks with their neighbors, and Harry, clapping along with everyone else, knew exactly what they were talking about.
"Branched out a bit this year, hasn't it?" said Ron, his eyebrows raised.
"Too right it has," said Harry.
"As gloomy as the times we're in," Alicia said softly, and Harry glanced at her, surprised at her tone.
"I wonder if it's ever given warnings before?" said Hermione, sounding slightly anxious.
"Yes, indeed," said Nearly Headless Nick knowledgeably, leaning across Neville towards her (Neville winced; it was very uncomfortable to have a ghost lean through you). "The Hat feels itself honor-bound to give the school due warning whenever it feels-"
But Nick soon stopped talking as McGonagall started the Sorting, and they all patiently waited for all the new first years to be Sorted into their respective houses, clapping enthusiastically or politely as needed. Finally, Dumbledore was standing up to give his opening speech, and while Harry wasn't particularly happy with Dumbledore at the moment, it still soothed him to see Dumbledore standing before them all.
"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands – welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"
There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate – for food had appeared out of nowhere, so that the five long tables were groaning under joints and pies and dishes of vegetables, bread and sauces and flagons of pumpkin juice.
With that, they all dug in, while Nick continued to explain that the Sorting Hat had given warnings before, always at times that the hat seemed to detect periods of great danger, and then some theories on how the Hat knew about the danger.
When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the Hall was starting to creep upwards again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the Headmaster. Harry was feeling pleasantly drowsy now. He was looking forward to bed.
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students – and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too." (Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged smirks, while Alicia, Katie, and Angelina shook their heads in exasperation, and Fred and George actually looked a bit proud).
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door."
"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause, during which Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged slightly panicked looks; Dumbledore had not said for how long Grubbly-Plank would be teaching. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie shot Harry concerned glances. They knew how much Hagrid meant to him.
Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the –"
He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.
Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall"s mouth was as thin as Harry had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts. Harry and his friends and family, though, exchanged startled glances. This was a sure sign of things to come.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."
Harry grimaced, hearing the same high-pitched, breathy, and a little-girlish voice that had made him recoil during his trial. She gave another little throat-clearing cough ("hem, hem") and continued.
"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"
Harry glanced around. None of the faces he could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"
Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins or grimaces. Several jokes were being mumbled all around the room.
Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("hem, hem"), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."
Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her. Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and Harry distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little "hem, hem" and went on with her speech.
"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation . . ."
Harry's scowl deepened the longer she talked. Under the polite or grandstanding words of false admiration she provided was the undercurrent that was the backbone of the Death Eater's propaganda. Witches and wizards had rare gifts that needed to be passed down the generations, and ancient knowledge must be guarded. Underneath that was a clear message: The Ministry was going to do its best to interfere with things at Hogwarts and change things in whatever manner they deemed fit, and they would "prune" whatever they deemed "appropriate" to prune.
That Dumbledore was allowing this told Harry all he needed to know. Dumbledore was helpless to stop it, until such time as the Ministry over played its cards.
Around the Hall, he saw others starting to ignore Umbridge. Cho was animatedly talking with her friends at the Ravenclaw table. Luna had got out the Quibbler again. Down the Gryffindor table, Parvati, Lavender, and Ava were all discussing fashion, while he could see Chris and Zach already nodding off to sleep at the table.
Professor Umbridge didn't seem to notice or care about the restlessness of her audience and continued to speak.
". . . because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."
She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.
"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held . . ."
"Yes, it certainly was illuminating," said Hermione in a low voice.
"You're not telling me you enjoyed it?" Ron said quietly, turning a glazed face towards Hermione. "That was about the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy."
"I said illuminating, not enjoyable," said Hermione. "It explained a lot."
"Yeah, we're in for a rough year," Harry said, and Hermione nodded.
"You mind explaining to me?" Ron asked dryly.
"It means that Umbridge is going to be doing her damndest to make life hard for everybody at Hogwarts in an attempt to obtain as much control as she can," Alicia said.
"Oh," Ron muttered, before Hermoine got him up so that they could go corral the first years to guide them up to Gryffindor Tower.
It was an easy jaunt up to the Gryffindor Tower, with Alicia, Angelina, Katie, and the twins, and he was looking forward to an enjoyable night's rest, which was slightly soured by fearful and horrified glances from some of the first years, and then he got into a fight with Seamus, Chris, and Kellah, whose parents all thought he was cracked and that they shouldn't return to Hogwarts because of him and Dumbledore. After the rather vocal insults thrown both ways when Harry refused to be baited into talking about the night of the Seventh Task, Harry went to bed angry, which meant he had a restless night before he finally succumbed to sleep, knowing that eventually they'd all know he was telling the truth, and he hoped they remembered how quick they were to call him a liar.
**HP**
"That son of a bitch!" Dora swore, reading a letter she'd just gotten from Angelina.
"What?" Remus, Sirius, Arthur and Molly, all said. Mad-Eye cocked an eye at her.
"The new defense professor is bloody Umbridge," Dora said angrily. "Fudge put her as the new defense teacher."
"What?!" Sirius exclaimed angrily. "The whole promise for that bloody decree was putting in a qualified teacher because Albus couldn't find one. It was all about ensuring that we kept our international standards. What the fuck did we put that useless bint in there for?!"
"Sirius!" Molly scolded.
"He's not wrong," Remus said. "She's one of the most bigoted, hate-filled creatures I've ever had the misfortune to meet, and she's made it her life's goal to make the lives of all 'half-breeds,' miserable."
"Oh, this isn't going to stand," Sirius said. "We might not be able to do anything to her, but I'm bringing this up in the next Wizengamot meeting next week. Fudge is going to regret putting her there. He told us all that he had several candidates that they were vetting, and we all assumed someone from the DMLE or the DRCMC would get picked."
"Is it possible she's qualified?" Molly asked, hesitantly.
"I doubt it," Sirius said, "but maybe. She's his senior undersecretary, so I wouldn't know why she'd have a mastery in defensive and offensive magic. If she'd had that during her career, she probably would have been sent to the DMLE, and as someone like her who enjoys politics, having a DMLE background would have been beneficial to her."
"Let's not be hasty," Arthur said with a sigh. "Let's see what our kids say throughout the week and see if she isn't doing a decent job. This could be Fudge's way of putting someone who actually is competent in, but is completely pro-Ministry, so that she can try and convince students to follow his line of thinking."
"The only people who will be glad she is there are those who work for her," Dora said darkly. "She's a right nasty piece of work, and her subordinates will be glad she's gone for a school year. Harry, Angelina, and that lot will not be happy she's there. Mark my words."
"I'll let the Chronicle know that we might have a good story for them next week," Sirius remarked, a bit more cheerfully.
**HP**
It was already shaping up to be a rather terrible monday. After a rather prickly morning, he and the rest of the school received their timetables, and Harry had had to agree with Ron that they had one of the worst mondays he'd ever seen. Sure, Ron had it a bit worse, since he was taking Divination, but they still shared History of Magic, and Double Potions together for their morning. Then, Harry had a double dose of Defense Against the Dark Arts before he'd move to his one enjoyable class of the day, Magical Theory. Still, Binns, Snape, and Umbridge all in the same day did not spell for a good day. Plus, Dumbledore had mostly avoided him since the Seventh Task, so he wondered if the man would even give him the time of day in his class.
The only bright side that he could see was that he was getting to do Defense with Katie. This ended up translating to him having a rather unenjoyable lunch, after a boring History lesson, frustrating potions lesson, and a fight with Ron and Hermione who wouldn't stop arguing about Snape and his unfairness, before chatting with Katie while they prepared for DADA, which was so far the best part of his day.
He and Katie enjoyed talking about how Angelina would handle being Quidditch captain, what they expected her to be like, and wondering who might turn up for tryouts on the upcoming Friday, especially since Angelina had put out that she wanted to take on several reserve players.
They also talked about classes since getting classes was different for the sixth years than it was for the OWL students. After OWLs, students had to see what classes they qualified to continue on with, based on their scores. However, several of the OWL electives didn't continue into NEWT years, or at least not directly. Magical Theory, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes all ended after OWL year, which freed up space to take NEWT electives, unless a student didn't want to continue with a certain field of study.
As a general rule, students were not encouraged to take more than twelve classes in either OWL or NEWT years: the seven core classes, and up to five electives for OWL students, and any variation for NEWT. Most Hogwarts students didn't even take a full twelve, though there were a fair few that did, and among the most studious of the muggleborns or purebloods, there were a fair few that often achieved thirteen OWLs or NEWTs, since they generally took either the Muggle Studies OWL and NEWT for muggleborns or the Wizarding Studies OWL and NEWT for purebloods, without taking the courses.
Katie's grades were above reproach, so she could pick what she wanted, and she had taken Runes, Arithmancy, and Magical Theory, along with Magical Law for OWLs meaning she had a wide range of options available.
NEWT electives included continuing Muggle Studies, Wizarding Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, Magical Law, Government, and the Magical World, Divination, and World Languages, if one chose to do so and received the required grades to continue (save for World Languages which had no OWL, and simply relied on students taking language WOMBATs as they progressed).
However there were also several new elective options, some of which were based on your OWL grades and which classes you continued, and some of which weren't.
People who achieved OWLS in Transfiguration, Charms, Defense, Potions, and Herbology were possibly eligible (depending on grades) to take a Healing Class with Madam Pomfrey, which often featured guest lectures or lessons from St. Mungos personnel to free up Madam Pomfrey's time to care for sick or injured students. For those who achieved OWLs in Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms, there was an Alchemy Class taught by Dumbledore, though many years, nobody took the class, potions grades being a key reason.
For those who had taken Arithmancy and/or Runes and/or Magical Theory, there were three classes offered that were continuations of those three OWL electives, those being Enchanting (which required OWLs in Arithmancy, Runes, and Charms, with Magical Theory being recommended), Ward Creation and Deconstruction (which required OWLs in Arithmancy, Defense, Charms, and Runes, with Magical Theory being recommended), and Spellcrafting and Alteration (which required OWLs in Arithmancy, Magical Theory, Charms, and Transfiguration, and Defense was recommended).
Lastly were three classes that had no prerequisites which were Domestic Magic and Home Economics, which was designed to help teach young witches and wizards how to live on their own; Economics and Accounting, a business and finance course especially useful for those wishing to one day own their own business or work with Gringotts in banking; and Gods, Goddesses, and Ritual Magic, which was a class that helped teach NEWT students about the hundreds or thousands of deities and what deities could offer you, and what you would have to give in return. It helped teach students how to do ritual magic and create contracts with deities, including brief introductions on elemental magic and becoming a mage.
Katie continued on with Charms, Transfiguration, Defense, Potions, Herbology, and to Harry's surprise, History of Magic, from her core classes, all designed to help her one day be an Auror or Hitwitch. She had continued Magical Law, Government, and the Wizarding World into the NEWT class, and had picked up Ward Construction and Deconstruction, Spellcrafting and Alteration, Domestic Magic and Home Economics, and Gods, Goddesses, and Ritual Magic for NEWT electives, the latter being heavily influenced by Harry and her lessons with elemental magic. She had had her first class on Warding that day, so as they walked to Defense, she was eagerly telling him about how much more interesting the class was than Runes, since it was basically applied Runes and Arithmancy, the two OWL electives being nearly all theory.
"My gods, Harry, you're going to enjoy this class when you take it next year," Katie said eagerly, and he loved that she just knew he would take it because she knew him well enough and had faith he'd be qualified for it. "I liked Runes, but this class is so much more intuitive, and it's wonderful finally using everything we've done over the past three years in Runes. Now, I'll be able to really help my mum and brothers by putting up some home and protection wards around their places too!"
Harry just continued to listen, enjoying Katie's enthusiasm, enjoying her bright disposition, enjoying her smile and happy eyes as she glanced at him and spoke, letting it sooth away the bitterness and anger that had filled him through the night and the morning, with so many openly against him.
Katie's presence also helped to seemingly deter Cho Chang from speaking to him, she giving them nothing more than a calculating look as they passed by her, on their way to Defense. It was another thing he was grateful for, her having run into him, Ron, and Hermione earlier in the day, with Ron's insensitivity coming in clutch and ending that conversation early.
When they entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom they found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the same fluffy pink cardigan from the night before and the same black velvet bow on top of her head. Harry was again reminded forcibly of a large fly perched unwisely on top of an even larger toad.
Harry glanced around the room, noticing other familiar faces in the room. NEWT classes were generally smaller, with not everyone making the required grades to continue on to NEWT levels for every class, nor all students wishing to do so, so classes weren't necessarily split by House anymore.
From Gryffindor, he noticed Cormac McLaggen, who was glaring at both of them, still bitter from the Yule Ball the year before. McLaggen's mate, Carson Horn, as well as another of Katie's roommates, Amelia Stone was there. He could tell there were a few other sixth year Gryffindors that he didn't know by name, only by sight.
From Ravenclaw, he recognized Cho Chang, who also shot Katie a slightly cold look, though why, he really didn't know. Cho had one of her curly haired best friends with her. The last two Ravenclaws Harry recognized was a boy named Marcus Belby, and Marina Witcher, who shot both of them friendly smiles, but seemed to remain rather aloof, as Harry had noticed she tended to do.
He only knew two Hufflepuffs, Cyrus Parks and James Harder, both of whom had been mates of Cedric's and had been rather cruel during the Triwizard Tournament, and both of whom had gone out of their way to try and insult or antagonize Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. Needless to say, he was not happy to see either of them, and rather wished they were seventh years like Cedric would have been had he survived.
The only Slytherins he recognized were Haley Quentin, Gemma Farley, Byron Miller, and Cole Spenser. Haley and Byron were two rather neutral Slytherins, and Haley was one of the people he often saw with Daphne Greengrass. Gemma and Cole were those who fell under Malfoy's line of thinking, but didn't have the power or station to be above someone like Malfoy, Warrington, or Montague.
Umbridge frowned at him slightly before smiling wide before returning to looking around the room and observing the other students. Katie and Harry exchanged startled glances before they took seats near the back of the class.
The class fell silent, with the last few entering and taking seats. Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be.
"Well, good afternoon!" she said, when finally the whole class had sat down.
A few people mumbled "good afternoon' in reply.
"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'. One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her, and he grimaced, and beside him Katie did as well. This was going to be miserable.
"There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."
Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks. Harry shoved his wand back inside his bag and pulled cut quill, ink and parchment.
Professor Umbridge smiled at him.
"Mr. Potter, are you lost?" she asked, sweetly, and Harry frowned in confusion.
"Um, no, Professor," he answered hesitantly.
"Then, I must ask why you are in this class?" she asked in her simpering voice.
"Professor?" Harry asked in confusion.
"This is the sixth year class, Mr. Potter," Umbridge said. "Surely even you must have realized that you were in the wrong class."
There were some laughs from the Slytherins and others in the class who didn't like Harry.
"Um, Professor, I'm supposed to be in this class," Harry said slowly. "I took my exam early to skip the fifth year class."
"Well, that all sounds nice, Mr. Potter, but I have not yet ascertained your abilities, which means you are not yet qualified for this class."
"Professor, he passed his OWL," Katie said, sounding a little outraged. "He got an O on his Ministry approved exam. He -"
"I'm afraid, dear, that you did not raise your hand," Umbridge cut off Katie, smiling wide. "Your name is?"
"Katie Bell," Katie replied.
"Well, I'm afraid, Ms. Bell, that your opinion is hardly relevant," Umbridge said, sweetly. "Mr. Potter is a fifth year student, and he is in the wrong class."
"If he passed the OWL, then he belongs in this class," Marina spoke up, and Umbridge turned.
"You are?"
"Marina Witcher," Marina replied levelly, and Umbridge's smile fell slightly. "If Harry passed his OWL, which Professor McGonagall would have vetted before he showed up here, then he is qualified to be in this class. Your opinion is irrelevant as long as he obtained the required grade. If he did indeed receive an O, which I do believe, then the only way to remove him from this class is to remove everyone who did not score above an O, which is impossible, since we'd be disbanding the class."
"Ms. Witcher, are you a Professor?" Umrbidge asked, and Marina's face started to turn stony, and Harry saw a flash of anger appear.
"No, Professor," she replied.
"Then I fail to see how your opinion is relevant. Like Ms. Bell, you have interrupted the lesson. Five points from Ravenclaw."
Angry muttering broke out in the room.
"Silence," Umbridge said, and then she gave her fake giggle. "Now, Mr. Potter. You are disrupting my class. Please leave. I will see you in the fifth year class, later this afternoon."
Harry couldn't believe what was happening, but he knew that arguing would only lead to further issues, so he packed up his stuff, giving Katie a nod before he made his way out of the room.
He quickly made his way to McGonagall's office, and knocked on the door. After a moment, McGonagall opened the door, and looked at him in confusion.
"What are you doing here, Potter? Why aren't you in class?" she demanded.
"Professor Umbridge kicked me out of her class," Harry said, and she frowned.
"Why?"
"Apparently I'm a fifth year student and not qualified to be in her NEWT class," Harry said sardonically, and McGonagall frowned sternly. "Apparently I made a mistake and walked into the wrong class."
McGonagall huffed and then she started walking back towards the defense class, and Harry followed her, conversation nonexistent. The room was already dead quiet when they walked in, but when they saw him and McGonagall entering, muttering broke out, and he saw Katie smirk.
"Professor McGonagall," Umbridge said with a frown.
"Professor Umbridge," McGonagall said curtly. "It seems to me that there is some confusion regarding your class's attendance. Mr. Potter took his OWL at the end of last year, with everyone in this room and achieved an O. He chose to continue this course and belongs in this class."
"I'm afraid you must be mistaken, Minerva," Umbridge said. "This is my class, and I don't believe that Mr. Potter belongs at this level. I have not evaluated him."
McGonagall's eyes narrowed, and her eyes flashed.
"Dolores, you are not allowed to deny him entrance to a class he has made the requirements for," McGonagall said archly. "If you wish to deny Mr. Potter entrance to this course, then I'm afraid we'll have to take this to the Board of Governors and the Headmaster, but until you have done so, Mr. Potter will be in this class. If you continue to refuse, then I'm afraid I will have to suspend you from your post until such time as this issue is resolved and your bias is addressed."
Umbridge's eyes widened before they narrowed.
"Very well, Minerva," she said curtly. "Mr. Potter may take a seat for what remains of the class."
Harry nodded at McGonagall, impressed with her handling of Umridge, and he retook his seat next to Katie, as McGonagall left the room.
"Did I miss anything?" Harry asked quietly.
"Nothing you wanted to hear," Katie whispered back. "The board up front has her course aims, which you'll notice are a return to basics even though we're in a NEWT class. You might also notice that she doesn't intend for us to do any magic. Marina already got detention for bringing up that NEWTs required practical applications. It seems the Witcher Clan does not like the Ministry interfering . . . though knowing their history, that's not too surprising. She also insulted Remus, calling him a dangerous half-breed, and she makes us say "yes, Professor Umbridge" or "no, Professor Umbridge" everytime she asks a questions, just like if we were five fucking years old. Since then we've been assigned to just read the first chapter of the book, and that's it. She also started -"
"Mr. Potter! Ms. Bell!" Umbridge called out, with a hint of triumph. "Apparently you wish to continue disrupting my class."
Harry frowned, ready to protest, but Katie beat him to it.
"We didn't disrupt your class earlier, Professor," Katie said archly, and Harry realized she was far angrier than he'd realized. Whatever she had been about to tell must have really added fuel to the fire. "You made a scene and unfairly kicked Harry out of the class, and then spent a good portion of the class telling us about how we wouldn't be doing magic, and how we needed to get back to the basics, despite the fact we are NEWT students, and there is a heavy practical piece on the Defense NEWT. Harry was just trying to find out what he missed, quietly without having to disrupt the class."
"Detention, Ms. Bell," Umbridge said with a wide smile. "It seems you have been spending too much time with Mr. Potter. You're picking up his nasty lying habits and lack of respect for your betters."
Harry stood up forcefully, his magic starting to exude causing people to shift in their seats as they watched with a mixture of curiosity, fear, and interest. Insults to him were bad enough, but he wasn't going to let her or anyone for that matter call themselves Katie's better, nor call her a liar.
"I would have thought you would have learned better about calling people liars this past summer when you all lied about me at my trial and got in trouble for it," Harry said angrily. "I would think that was double for people you don't even know."
"That trial was a sham," Umbridge replied sweetly. "A nasty temper you have and just because you paid a pureblood of standing like Cyrus Greengrass to save you doesn't mean you aren't delusional and prone to rule breaking and lying."
"Tell me, Professor," Harry shot back. "What have I been lying about?"
"Like I told the students in this room while you were, appropriately, removed from a subject a boy like you has no hope of understanding," Umbridge said softly, "they have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead. This is a lie."
"Voldemort was never dead," Harry spat angrily, "and he has returned! I fought him!"
"Detention, Mr. Potter!" said Professor Umbridge triumphantly. "You, Ms. Bell, and Ms. Witcher will all report to my office tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. The rumors of the dark wizard's return are lies," she said addressing the rest of the room. "The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, "Basics for Beginners'."
Professor Umbridge stood up and leaned towards them, her stubby-fingered hands splayed on her desk.
Harry's eyes narrowed, and his magic crackled around him for a moment, causing some gasps.
"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked, his voice shaking.
There was a collective intake of breath from the class, for none of them, apart from Katie had heard him talk about what happened that night. Cho and Cedric's friends had a mixture of desire looking at Harry, hoping to hear what he had to say, but while Cho looked at Harry like he was brave, the two boys seemed to be more in agreement with Umbridge's opinion.
Professor Umbridge, who had raised her eyes and was staring at him without a trace of a fake smile on her face.
"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she said coldly.
Harry opened his mouth to retort, but the tension in the room was split as Marina Witcher stood up, with a disgusted shake of her head, packing up her things.
"Where are you going, Ms. Witcher?" Umbridge asked dangerously. "Class is not over."
"It is for me," Marina said dismissively. "I have no intentions of staying in a class with an incompetent teacher who is clearly here to use her position to sabotage the defensive grades at this school and seek petty revenge, not to mention belittle and undermine the death of a friend of mine."
"You cannot leave, Ms. Witcher," Umbridge said coldly.
"Yes, I can," Marina said again, and Harry felt Marina's power fill the room, as she eyed Umbridge distastefully. "This is a NEWT class Madam Umbridge, which means anyone who achieves the required grades can attend, but anyone who wishes to drop the class can also do so. I don't have to sit here and read a book I can read on my own, not that I will, of course. This book belongs in a trash heap. I'll study on my own and take the NEWT with self-study. I also don't plan to be in your detention because I'm allowed to voice my opinion on the sorry state of a Professor trying to rob me of my education, an education that is paid for, and I won't apologize for doing so. I was respectful and within my rights, so I'll be appealing your punishment."
"Sit down, Ms. Witcher," Umbridge said, as Marina started moving towards the door.
"Or what? You'll curse me?" She asked with a smirk, eyeing Umbridge coldly. "I'd like to see you try. Attack me and I'll blast you through the wall and the Ministry will deal with Clan Witcher."
"Is that a threat?" Umbridge demanded.
"It's a promise," Marina said coldly. "Goodbye, Madam."
With that, she walked out of the room, leaving most of the room in awe. Harry glanced at Katie who shrugged, and he grinned, feeling some of his anger fade away as she stood up, gathering her things.
"I guess that is a way to avoid an issue," Harry said, glaring back at Umbridge.
"We'll drop the class as well," Katie said. "Self study will be better than this."
"You can't take the NEWT exam without my say so," Umbridge said imperiously.
"That's not even close to true, but we have two years anyway, and I'm sure you'll be gone by the end of the year," Katie said with a shrug.
With that, they left a spluttering Umbridge as they walked out.
"What a bitch," Katie muttered, and Harry laughed, and she smiled at him. "I guess we'll study together and learn the sixth year curriculum together."
"Of course," Harry said. "I wouldn't have it any other way. We can time it around shadow magic with Ginny."
Katie nodded eagerly as they made their way to the library to spend some time doing some actual defense studying before Harry would have to head off to Magical Theory and Katie would head off to Transfiguration.
Unfortunately, while they were in the library, McGonagall found them and reamed them out, saying that Umbridge had assigned them both detention for the rest of the week for their attitudes, and that they would serve the detentions. This meant that after their afternoon classes, they met up and dejectedly made their way to the Great Hall, running into an equally dejected looking Alicia, already having heard many people discussing his yelling match with Umbridge, though most sounded skeptical of his claims.
"What's up, Leash?" Harry asked, concerned, seeing her face.
"Umbridge is a bitch," Alicia muttered angrily, and Katie and Harry exchanged startled looks.
"What did she do?" Harry asked swiftly, his temper rising fast.
"Gave me detention for the rest of the week for sticking up for Jamie after she called her a whole slur of bad names. She basically ambushed me to insult Jamie, so I can't even appeal my detentions because it's her word against mine."
"Did the same for us. Called us liars and brats, basically said I needed to learn how to respect my betters," Katie said. "Said Diggory's death was a tragic accident. Called Harry a nasty attention seeking liar."
"She didn't," Alicia said in horror, and Harry nodded darkly.
"Wait . . ." Katie said, looking at them both in horror. "Does that mean we all . . ."
"Potter! Spinnet! Bell!" Angelina's voice called out angrily.
"Shit, she hasn't called me by my surname in years," Alicia muttered, and Katie and Harry both winced, thinking the same thing in regards to themselves, or at least she hadn't called them by their surnames angrily in years.
They all turned to see Angelina, who was in a towering temper.
"I told all three of you we had tryouts this Friday! I told you all that I wanted the whole team there to see who meshed well. Now I find that all of you landed yourselves in detention that day! How could you?!"
"Lina, we're sorry," Alicia said pleadingly, looking extremely apologetic. "She called Jamie a lying whore. She called Harry a liar and kicked him out of his NEWT defense class and said he didn't belong. Told Katie to respect her betters, and also called her a liar."
Angelina's eyes narrowed and her temper drew back in.
"She said, what?" Angelina demanded dangerously.
"She targeted us all," Harry said, realizing just how much Umbridge was clearly willing to do to make his life miserable. "She did it and we fell into her trap. Have you seen her yet?"
Angelina shook her head, her teeth grinding, her eyes closed, and he knew she was warring with her desire to rage at them for messing with the first step in her successful Quidditch season which would lead to a successful career, her desire to hug them and provide comfort, and her desire to eviscerate Umbridge for messing with her family, regardless of what it would do to her Quidditch career.
Harry sighed. He felt bad. He really did. He knew exactly how much this season meant to her. There was a reason they had worked so hard while they had been at Shadow Hold. He knew Alicia and Katie knew just as much as he did. They were Angelina's sisters in everything but blood.
"I'm sorry, Angie," Harry said despondently, and he moved forward and hugged her. "We'll try to do better."
Angelina sighed and hugged him back, and soon he felt Katie and Alicia hugging Angelina from the sides, also trying to apologize.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to take points from Gryffindor for inappropriate behavior in the hallways," a high girlish voice said, and Harry felt all of them tense as they pulled away.
"Ms. Spinnet, Ms. Bell, and Mr. Potter," Umbridge said, smiling at them. "I would have hoped you'd learned your lessons, but apparently I will have to take ten points a piece from Gryffindor to help sink the lesson in. Ms. Johnson, ten points will be taken from you as well."
"It's Potter," Angelina said, scowling.
"I'm sorry?" Umbridge said. "Are you saying Mr. Potter is forcing you -"
"No, I'm saying my last name is Potter," Angelina said firmly, and Harry glanced around seeing they were attracting a crowd. "My name is Angelina Potter."
There were mutters at that.
"I'm afraid I can't let you continue to use that false last name," Umbridge said simply. "I can see why your father thinks you are such a disappointment Ms. Johnson."
There were gasps around the room, and Angelina shook with rage.
"My last name is Potter!" Angelina nearly spat. "Kenneth disowned me, and I was blood adopted into the Potter family. Harry is my brother, and I am a Potter!"
"Tut, tut, nasty liars, all of you it seems," Umbridge said triumphantly.
Suddenly a growling filled the room, and Astra came walking from the crowd that was eagerly letting her through, and she was snarling at Umbridge, whose face fell. Behind Astra was McGonagall.
"Dolores, she is in our books as Angelina Potter," McGonagall's stern voice broke through their standoff. "You would do well to call her by her appropriate name."
Umbridge eyed McGonagall, her eyes leaving Astra for the moment.
"I'm afraid that her blood speaks for itself," Umrbidge said. "The House of Johnson was just made an Ancient House, and thus outranks House Potter. She is a Johnson."
Angelina gasped, and Harry saw her tense in fear. He put a hand on her arm trying to provide comfort, but inside he was seething. Nobody was taking his family from him.
"I'm afraid I have a formal letter of disownment from Kenneth Johnson, who wished to no longer fund Ms. Potter's schooling," McGonagall replied coolly. "In addition, Sirius Black and Nymphadora Tonks took over as her magical guardians and financed her schooling, and I have a legal written notice of blood adoption into House Potter. House Potter is a sub-family of House Black and House Black outranks House Johnson. I also have her written notice of self-disownment, dropping her name, and she is of age, and legally able to do so. Mr. Johnson's improvement in standing has little bearing on Ms. Potter. Now, you will apologize to Ms. Potter or I will be forced to suspend you from your position here and now for disrespecting this institution and disrespecting your position."
"You have no authority, Minerva," Umbridge said coldly.
"I do, as Deputy Headmistress," McGonagall replied firmly, her nostrils flaring. "I cannot allow you to insult a student and cross impropriety. You have now given more detentions and taken more points on your first day of classes than any teacher before in the history of this school, and they seem remarkably targeted towards those who testified in Mr. Potter's trial this summer or those who are well known as his friends or family of those at the trial. Ms. Bell, Ms. Witcher, Ms. Potter, Ms. Spinnet, Ms. Daphne Greengrass, Ms. Astoria Greengrass, all three Weasley boys, Ms. Weasley, and Ms. Granger were all either assigned detentions or docked points today by you."
Harry felt his blood rise. So the bitch had gotten Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George for something too. Plus, Daphne and her younger sister Astoria, simply because their father defended him.
"Be careful, Dolores, or you will have your punishment privileges revoked. Now, apologize to Ms. Potter." McGonagall said in a clipped voice.
Umbridge scowled.
"Very well," she said sweetly. "My apologies," she said stiffly, and she walked off in a huff.
"Thank you, Professor," Alicia said, and McGonagall nodded, though there was a worried look in her eyes as she moved on.
"We'll have to watch out for Umbridge," Katie said. "It's clear she's targeting us. Angie, avoid her as much as you can. She'll do everything she can to take away your captainship and put you in detention."
"I can see that," Angelina said, her face falling. "I'm sorry for yelling at you all. I was ready to curse her myself after only a few words."
"Trust me," Katie said, scowling. "You don't realize how much you want to kill her till you interact with her. She's vile."
"I should have prosecuted her at that custody hearing years ago," Harry muttered bitterly. "She wouldn't be here now."
"Fudge probably would have just found another vile toad," Alicia said, but none of them could imagine someone else as vile as Umbridge.
Astra walked up to them, and they all immediately lowered down to give her a round of loving pats and strokes.
"Thanks for looking out for us, pretty girl," Angelina said, rubbing Astra's head, and the shadow hound's tail wagged happily.
Needless to say, that night they hid away in the Room of Requirement to do homework, study some of their own things, and then enjoy a night trying to recenter themselves before starting fresh the next day. Anger was too prevalent in their group at the moment, and the more angry Harry was, the more his scar burned, and the worse he slept.
Still, over the summer, he had noticed that the dreams were sometimes blurrier at times, and he didn't know why. Some nights he clearly could see the corridor that he had realized was the Department of Mysteries, and at other times, it was like looking through fog. He also couldn't help but notice the nights when his dreams were clear, his scar burned the most.
It almost worked to calm them down, until they returned to the common room which led to a confrontation between Hermione and the twins who were paying younger students to test their products, which she had a problem with. Ron tried to stay out of it, which admittedly only got him ripped into after the fact by Hermione for his lack of support.
When she ran off, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie also ripped into Ron, much to his embarrassment, since they basically called him a coward for not backing Hermione and that if he couldn't stand up to his brothers then he needed to turn in his badge and let it be given to someone who had the stones to do so, regardless if they agreed with Hermione's position.
It didn't go over very well, which meant Harry ended up spending the rest of the night avoiding an angry Angelina and Alicia who both went to sit with some of their own yearmates and friends and a surly Ron by hiding in a corner with Katie and Ginny. He couldn't complain about the company, but he wished it was under better circumstances. It was going to be a long year. He could already tell.