Chapter 14: The Great Walkout

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The next morning dawned bright and early, and since it was a school day everyone was up with the sun. Harry got Neville up but let Ron wake himself up. He wasn't his keeper anymore. Had this been last year, he would have spent a good fifteen minutes getting that boy out of bed. But this year, Ron was on his own.

Harry went to get his shower and then changed into his uniform and then went downstairs and met with Hermione. Neville was hot on his heels. The three Gryffindors went to breakfast. As they were eating, they got their schedule from McGonagall and saw they had DADA first thing.

"Are you still not going?" Hermione asked Harry. She served herself up some fruit and oatmeal. She then poured herself some pumpkin juice. She missed the overly sweet drink over the summer. It was thick and sweet and the only time she indulged herself was at breakfast. There weren't many sweet things in her house, what with her parents' occupation. Sure, there was plenty of fruit, but that was always a crap shoot.

"Nope, it's a useless class this year. Again. I can only think of two years that we actually learned something and that was the last two years," he said, shaking his head in the negative. He wanted to have a hearty breakfast, so he served himself up some bacon, sausage, ham and eggs. He was craving meat this morning. Just a serving of each, he wasn't Ron. He also made sure to have a serving of peaches. "That's 50% of our education that was pure crap. Not good odds, this makes it worse."

"Yes, for a Death Eater, Crouch Junior was a very good teacher," Hermione said with a thoughtful expression. "I could have done with more than Dark curses. Then again, I guess he was a Dark wizard. I see where you're going with this year being useless. I reread our book last night and it is not worth the parchment it is printed on," she stated with a huff. She had spent most of the night trying to find some good in that book, but it was hopeless. It was pure theory. Completely worthless. Better used as a doorstop.

"Is it really that bad?" Neville asked, having not read it. His gran, for all she says he doesn't apply himself, won't let him study ahead either. She says it won't do him any good. That he is too stupid to retain the information, or some such rot. He could have done it last night, but he had been too tired. Or he was just lazy, he wasn't sure.

"It really is," the bushy-haired witch stated, nodding her head emphatically. "I've never read something so boring and pointless, and I am very well read." She didn't like to toot her own horn, but she really was the most well-read person in Gryffindor. She was sure many of the Ravenclaws had reread the book last night after Harry's statement at the feast.

"Which is why I'm not going to that class," Harry said, eating some eggs. He had long ago polished off the meat. He was that hungry. Ever since he had come back from the grey space, he had had quite an appetite. He was growing too. He had shot up three inches so far. It was a good thing he knew how to enlarge his clothing. He was going to need to go shopping here soon though. There was only so far you could stretch cloth, even with magic.

"But, Harry, you'll get into trouble," Hermione said, fretting her hands. She understood that he had to stand his ground, but she didn't want to see him in trouble. He didn't seem to mind though.

"I don't care. Umbridge is out to get me anyway," he said, relishing his meal. He was on his peaches now and they were yummy. The juice was dribbling down his chin and he had to grab a napkin to keep it off his shirt.

"You could get expelled," she said, very concerned over this. To her there was no worse punishment. That and she didn't want to be at Hogwarts without Harry. She'd survive, but it would be very lonely.

"Nah," Neville said, waving his hand in the negative, surprising them. "He would have been expelled years ago if they ever planned on it. He's broken so many rules over the years. I'll bet he just gets a firm talking to. Dumbledore wants him here for some reason. It'll take more then skipping class to get him to expel Harry Potter," he said, then blushed from his outburst. He had no idea what had come over him, but he thought it was the correct thing to say at the correct time.

"Good job, Neville, and you're right. It'll take more than me ditching class to get kicked out," Harry said, clapping the other boy on the back. He was shocked that Neville was so insightful. Then again, it was usually the quiet ones that would notice the most. They were usually the more sinister ones too, so… He was glad to see Neville standing up for him, and hopefully they could get him to stand up for himself.

Neville looked at the Head Table, where he could see the headmaster looking in their direction. "What does Dumbledore want from you?" the shy boy asked as he quickly looked away and noted Harry waving at the old man mockingly.

"Whatever it is, he's not going to get it," Harry said, giving Dumbledore a sickening sweet smile, which made the old man wary. The old man had been very cautious around him for weeks now. It was as if he didn't trust Harry. Good, that's what Harry wanted.

Neville tilted his head and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I walk my own path and not the old man's." Harry was going to make sure Dumbledore knew that before the year ended, one way or another.

"Oh," was the confused response.

"Anyway, now that I'm done with breakfast, I'd better go find somewhere to hide out for a while. I'll see you in Divinations next," Harry said to Neville as he threw down his napkin. He was pleasantly stuffed.

"Alright, Harry," Neville said, moving to finish off his breakfast of fruit and oatmeal. He was trying to get rid of the last of his baby fat. He had shot up a few feet, but he was still chubby around the face and middle. Something his grandmother also was constantly on him about.

Harry grabbed his backpack, waved at the Head Table, then to his friends and left the Great Hall. Neville and Hermione were soon following him, along with the rest of the students.

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Neville and Hermione sat together in DADA. They were there before anyone else, trying to get the seats they wanted. Hermione insisted. They sat in the middle of the classroom so they would not draw attention to themselves. They took the wall end of the three seater desk.

Right now, they were concerned as to how the class would play out without Harry there. They knew that the Boy-Who-Lived would cause trouble if he were there, but he would also run interference. They were unsure how to play this out. Should they keep their heads down, or be rebellious?

"It'll be alright," Hermione said as she pulled out her book and put it on the desk. "He'd only cause more mischief if he was here anyway." She decided to keep her head down and see if the woman was of any worth.

"Yeah," Neville agreed, though he didn't. He too decided to be docile. He was a shy boy by nature anyway. If the opportunity presented itself, he'd take it, but he wasn't going to start anything.

"Besides, we have to try to stay awake in this class and try to learn something as well," she said as she set up her desk to take notes. She didn't know what kind of lecturer Professor Umbridge was, but she wanted to be prepared.

"You know that isn't going to be possible," he stated, taking his book out and waving it around.

"How would you know? You haven't even read it yet," she said with a lifted eyebrow. She knew he hadn't read it. He had said as much over breakfast.

"I trust you and Harry," Neville stated, putting the book on the desk in front of him. He looked around as the rest of the students started coming into the classroom.

"Oh, and what do they say?" Dean asked, sitting next to Neville, Seamus sliding into the desk in front of them.

"Nothing," Neville squeaked. He didn't know how much he should be saying to anyone about anything.

"The book is useless," Hermione said, seeing nothing wrong with saying that much. She was more surefooted in what should be said.

"Hermione Granger saying a book is useless, the world is coming to an end," Ron groused as he sat in a chair in front of them, next to Seamus. There was a sneer on his face. If Harry wasn't there to torment, he'd take Hermione.

"Shut it, Weasley," Neville said. Though he really didn't understand why they weren't friends anymore, he wasn't going to stand by and let Ron pick on Hermione. He had done that for too long and Harry wasn't there to mediate. He didn't know if he could take Ron in a fight, but he'd go down defending his friend.

Hermione sniffed imperiously and then smiled at Ron like he was a simple-minded person. "Don't take my word for it, read it yourself. Oh, that's right, that would mean you would have to do your own homework, something you have never done before," she said sweetly. She put an elbow on the table and then put her head on her fist and blinked her eyes at him.

"Bugger off, Granger," Ron said with a snarl. He took out the book he had not even opened yet and slammed it on the desk.

He blushed in embarrassment. It was true, he wasn't academically inclined. Hermione had been helping him with his homework during his entire school career. He just knew his grades were going to suffer this year. He was going to need to buckle down if he wanted to pass, but he really wanted to try out for the Quidditch team this year too.

"Face it, Ron, you have never done your own homework. Even this summer you had to have your sister's help to finish," Hermione said, knowing that was true too. Ginny had complained and joked about it often enough when they shared a room at Grimmauld Place.

"Isn't she a year younger?" Neville needled. He thought that was hilarious.

"Fuck you, Granger," Ron said a bit loudly, taking it out on Hermione since she was the one who pointed it out. He said this just as Umbridge came into the room.

"Mr. Weasley, we do not use that type of language in this classroom. That will be ten points from Gryffindor," she simpered, stopping right in front of the classroom, just in the middle of rows of desks.

"Yes, Professor," Ron said, turning around and facing front, his face red. He just knew he was going to get in trouble today. He was sure it was Harry's fault somehow.

Hermione felt bad, she hadn't wanted to get him in trouble with the bitch. She'd find a way to apologize later. Not for what she said, but for the timing.

"Now that that unpleasantness is taken care of, good morning, class," Umbridge said with her hands folded in front of her. She was still wearing all pink. Even the kitten plates on the walls were pink. Many wondered what her bed chambers looked like, then wanted to bleach their brains for just thinking that.

A few of the class mumbled back a 'good morning' and those were bland at best. The rest looked at each other as if to say, 'Is this woman for real?'

"Now, now, that will never do. I said, good morning, class," she said a bit sharply, like she expected a return response.

More of the class responded, though not Hermione or Neville or quite a few others.

"That's better," the bitch said, pacing in front of the class. Then she went into a speech on how they were only going to read the book and not do any magic in the class. How if they studied hard enough, they would learn from the book.

"You're joking. No magic. No wonder Potter didn't want to take this class," said a Ravenclaw from that side of the room. Hermione wasn't sure who it was. She thought that it might be Padma Patil, but she wasn't sure. "Are you trying to set us up to fail?" the voice asked.

"We raise our hands to talk in this class, Miss Patil," Umbridge stated, turning towards her. She lifted an eyebrow and smiled sickly sweetly at her.

"We are not toddlers, ma'am," Padma said, standing and looking at the woman who was treating them like they were in nursery school. "We have OWLs this year, and we are going to have to show them what we have learned. That means performing magic in front of them. We cannot do that if we don't learn any. You are telling us that you are not going to be teaching us any magic. Do you even know how?" she asked, wondering if the woman were as bad as Lockhart.

That caused the class to start talking, like they had forgotten this was OWL year. That made them realize just how important this class was.

"If you study the book…" was a far as she got when she was interrupted.

"Bullshit," Michael Corner said, standing next to Padma, "I read that book, and it doesn't teach you anything. Potter was right, it's twattle and so is what you're saying. I'm going to write to my mother and tell her you're a fraud." He gathered up his book, slammed in into his satchel and turned to leave, half the Ravenclaws doing the same.

"I agree with my sister," Parvati said, standing and doing the same.

Lavander did as her friend was doing. Soon most of Gryffindor was gathering their books and moving to leave.

"Sit down and read your books," Umbridge was saying, waving her wand around like she didn't know who to point it at. She didn't expect this, children were supposed to be seen, not heard. That was what she was told. They were supposed to be obedient, not rebellious. Sure, that Potter boy was the exception to the rule, but the rest were supposed to fall in line.

"No," Padma said, looking at her as if she were the toad she looked like. "If you are not going to teach us, we don't need to be here," she said and then flounced out of the room. The rest of the class went after her. "I'll be in the library where there are books that will teach me what I need to know."

There were murmurs of consent, and many nodded their heads that that was where they were headed as well. The sound of scraping chairs and books being put away were all that was heard for a few minutes.

It only took around five minutes, but soon enough, Umbridge was left all alone in her classroom wondering what had gone wrong. She was sure it was somehow Harry Potter's fault. She fumed and stormed out heading to the headmaster's office. He was going to hear about this and fix it.

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Harry got the notice that he needed to report to the headmaster's office during dinner. He was to go there after breakfast the next day. He was excused from his first class and his guardian would be present.

He preened.

He had gone to all his classes, bar DADA, and was the model student all day. He had heard what happened and was proud of the other students for standing up to the bitch.

Right now, they were sitting at dinner, and Neville was telling him all about the DADA class and how it was Padma who had started it. That had shocked him. He thought for sure that it would have been Hermione, or even Ron. Hell, he'd have thought Neville before one of the Ravenclaws. Shows what he knows.

"Really, I would have never pegged her as a rebel," Harry said, looking at the Ravenclaw Patil twin. She was quite cute, with her long black hair and exotic eyes. He looked at her twin and thought the same. Though there was an air around Padma that screamed cultured that Parvati didn't have.

"Yeah, she's quite the spitfire if you interfere with her education," Parvati said, jumping into their conversation. She was so proud of her sister. She was always the more forceful one of the two of them. Parvati didn't care much about her grades. As long as she passed, she was happy. Padma though, she cared very much.

"So, she's your Hermione," Harry said, with a laugh, dodging the playful fist that Hermione aimed at his head.

"Not quite that bad, but she doesn't want another Lockhart year," the Gryffindor twin said, giggling at the two friend's byplay.

"I don't think any of us want that," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose at the remembrance. She knew that they were going to have to do something if they wanted to pass their OWLs.

"I don't think Umbridge is happy with us. I hear all her classes walked out on her, except her first-year class," Neville said, looking at the woman in question.

Everyone looked at the pink clad woman and saw that she was glaring at the student body like they had done her harm. She looked like a toad that ate a poisonous fly, if there were such a thing.

Dumbledore stood and addressed them, "I hear that most of you walked out of your Defense Against the Dark Arts class this day. I do not condone such behavior, as you well know. Since so many of you took such a course of action, I will not punish you with detention or point loss. However, there will be no dessert tonight." His eyes were twinkling like he was getting one over on someone.

There were clamors of protest from those who had not cut class, but they were feeble at best. Many others planned on not going to the DADA class at all or walking out of it just like the rest of the school. Especially the NEWT students.

"If you have reason to think that Professor Umbridge is not up to standards then please approach your Head of House," Dumbledore continued, ignoring the grumbles of the students. Many thought that that was a waste of time. "Thank you, you may return to your dorms," he finished.

"How are we going to pass our OWLs?" Harry asked, standing and addressing the old man.

"Or our NEWTs?" Fred asked, standing next to Harry.

"I beg your pardon?" the headmaster asked, not sure why he was being asked that question.

"They left that class because that woman is a fraud. Didn't you bother to find out the student's side of the story? The book she assigned is useless and she's not teaching any magic. And she assigned the same book for all seven classes. How are we to pass our OWLs?" he asked again. He loved putting the old man on the spot like this.

"Or our NEWTs?" repeated Fred, this time like a drone.

Many of the students raised their voices to agree and ask the same questions. They didn't realize that even the first years were studying the same book they were. That was just ridiculous.

Dumbledore stood there blinking for a few seconds and then turned to Dolores. "Professor, what say you?" he asked her.

Umbridge stood up and said, "Do you really think this is the time, Albus?" She smiled an evil smile, like she had some blackmail over the old man.

To everyone's surprise, Dumbledore backed down. "Of course, Dolores. We can discuss this in more detail tomorrow. Mr. Potter, I will answer your questions in the meeting in my office tomorrow." With that he sat down.

"Until that question is answer to my satisfaction, I will not be attending that woman's class. My time would be better served in the library," Harry said, retaking his own seat. Only to get back up when the rest of the table did to go to the dorms. The meal was over.

"It's all your fault we didn't get afters," Ron said, bitterly as he passed Harry and his friends.

"Poor baby didn't get his puddings," Harry said in a mocking tone. "You'll live. This is far more important than your tummy," he stated, pushing past his former friend and going to the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione confronted the youngest Weasley boy. "You just don't get it, do you? If you don't pass your OWLs, you can't even get on a Quidditch team," she informed him. She was sure that he didn't know that. She was sure that he thought he didn't need an education to fly on a team.

Ron stared at her; he had known that but thought that he only needed the bare minimum. He was sure that was still true. "Zip it, Granger. I know that," he said, moving to shove her aside.

"The higher your scores, the better off you are," she reiterated, trying to stress her point. "They look for studious people."

"That doesn't make sense. You don't need a good education to fly," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"You have to have another career, unless you are an international star like Viktor," she informed him. "Most players are only players half the year. They must have a second job to pay the bills," she added, making sure to drill that home.

"You're lying," he said, though he knew she probably wasn't.

"Look it up," she said with a shrug and then rushed to catch up with Harry.

Ron stood there for a moment and then realized that he was screwed. Without Hermione and Harry by his side, he was going to have to get by on his own wits and those were in short supply.

"Harry, wait up," Hermione called, coming up to him and Neville. "Why didn't you wait for me?" she asked, panting a bit from the exertion.

"You were talking to Ron," Harry said, like it was obvious. "I don't talk to Ron unless I have to." He shrugged his shoulders and moved on.

"He was our friend for four years, I was just giving him a few home truths," she said, not at all apologetic. She might not like the redheaded boy that much, but she wasn't going to hate him.

"Do what you will, I am not your keeper," Harry said, just because he thought of her as a sister, didn't mean that gave him the right to dictate her life. Sirius was still friends with Remus, and he couldn't stand the man.

"What happened between you two?" Neville asked, looking back to where Ron was still having his internal crisis.

"He was friends with the Boy-Who-Lived. I'm not that boy," Harry explained in short sentences. "I'm Harry Potter."

"I see," Neville said, trying to work that out in his head. He didn't' get the difference at first, then he realized that there was a difference between the hero and the teenager. One was larger than life, and the other was just a bit of an arsehole who was trying to get through life. He liked the arsehole better.

"I know you like me for me, not the fame that I would bring you by hanging around you," Harry said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "That's why I like you, Nev," he said, removing his hand and nodding his head.

"Thanks, Harry," Neville said, not sure about the nickname. He'd never been called Nev before. He might like that.

"Play your cards right, and you might become part of my family," Harry said, grinning at the boy. He could see Nev as a cousin or brother.

"That would be nice, Harry," Neville said, beaming at the other boy. He already thought of Harry as a distant cousin. Becoming something closer would be great. He could use more family. Especially one that was nice to him.