While Ron was wandering in the snow after the game, an " small accident" happened with Malfoy. Here it is.
LILY XL
WHAM!
Lily gasped in shock just like the rest of the crowd when Harry received a Bludger straight in the back.
She was sitting in one of the towers with the other professors watching the game. She had watched Gryffindor struggling against Slytherin. Harry's friend, Ron, couldn't manage to stop a single shot. Even Lily, who wasn't a great fan of Quidditch, felt very disappointed when Ron missed a pass and sent the Quaffle directly into his own goalposts. She was relieved when Harry caught the Golden Snitch, ending the suffering of many Gryffindors. Lily had done everything she could to keep her calm during the match. McGonagall had advised to not overtly show her support for any team. For once, Lily had to refrain laughing at one of Minerva's good advice. She witnessed the Head of the Gryffindor House showing her support to the Gryffindor team enthusiastically, and even furiously, on several occasions in the past. And Harry told her a few stories about how McGonagall behaved not quite like a professor when attending a game. She even went so far as to exempt her students from homework to let them train for today's match. During the said match, although she contained herself, Lily noticed her lips pursing and her eyes throwing daggers each time Slytherin scored. Lily had managed to not show her emotions too much over the game, but this time, as she saw her son brushing to the ground, she forgot that she was a professor.
Lily stood up and rushed down from the tower, shoving away many of her colleagues on her way. She jumped more than she ran down the stairs. In no time, she was on the pitch… and she stopped running. Harry was standing, surrounded by his teammates who patted his back and raised their fists in triumph. Harry's fist, holding the Snitch he just caught, was held high as well.
Lily sighed in relief. Her son was fine. The mother within her wanted to rush and embrace him in her arms, but she reminded herself that not only this would be inappropriate as a teacher, but also that Harry would probably not appreciate. He was fifteen-years-old now, no longer the little kid she hugged after each football game, and he could feel quite embarrassed if Lily behaved this way in front of all his friends. Though she still ruffled his hair sometimes.
Madam Hooch was not far away, yelling at one of the players of Slytherin.
"What you did is unacceptable, Mr Crabbe! You do not send Bludgers at people once the match is over!"
So it was this boy who tried to hurt Harry. No wonder that his father was a Death Eater. A part of Lily wanted to lash at him, but Madam Hooch already had the situation in hand, and Lily didn't think she could do anything further as a teacher. Still, Harry could be hurt. She decided to calmly head his way to suggest him to go the infirmary.
As she approached the place where the players of Gryffindor had gathered, Lily noticed something odd. They stopped celebrating. There were no fists in the air anymore. And Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy's son, was there. Although she couldn't hear what he was saying from this far, Lily didn't think it was anything good. She quickened her pace to reach their zone. As she neared their location, she thought that she heard the word father from the young Malfoy. And she noticed that Fred and George Weasley, the twins of Molly and Arthur, were being grabbed and held back by their teammates, Harry and the three girls he played with.
"Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've grown up among dirty Muggles, even the Weasleys' hovel smells okay," Draco Malfoy was snarling on a tone Lily didn't like at all.
Lily quickened her pace further. She was approaching from the side of Draco Malfoy, out of his field of view. All of a sudden, she met Harry's eyes as he looked all around.
"Or perhaps," Malfoy resumed, "the smell reminds you of the stench coming from your Mudblood of a mother."
It all happened in a flash.
Harry stopped holding one of the twins, and they rushed on Draco while the other twin was still being held by their comrades.
CRACK!
The instant after, Harry, George and Draco were all on the ground, all grumbling, far away from each other. Lily was still standing, her wand drawn, pointing at the space between them where she threw a spell that was a mix of expulsion and impediment, which had resulted in the three boys being pushed away from each other before they made physical contact. Her hand was shaking, and everything seemed silent around her. She felt hundreds of pairs of eyes on her.
"Lily."
Minerva's voice brought her back to the real world and broke the charm that seemed to have been cast on the whole stadium. Lily turned to her.
"They were about… to fight. I had to stop them," she stammered.
McGonagall looked at her, then at the three boys on the ground who were slowly standing while groaning. After an instant of confusion, the professor of Transfiguration reasserted herself.
"The three of you, back to the castle! Now! You're going to give us some explanations." She looked around. "Professor Snape. We are going to need you."
The Master of Potions silently agreed. Lily knew that Snape didn't like receiving even what may look like an order. But he followed them all the same, escorting Harry, George Weasley and Draco Malfoy back to Hogwarts under whispers in the crowd.
McGonagall led the group of six people to one of the floors near her office. All the way, Harry avoided Lily's gaze. He kept looking down at his feet. Lily knew her son. He behaved that way when he was ashamed of something he did, when he knew that he disappointed her. He had no idea how this was true right now.
Minerva McGonagall ordered each of the boys to go into different rooms individually, then closed their doors before turning back to Severus and Lily.
"We need to let them explain themselves. I suggest we each interrogate one of them, then we will gather to discuss the appropriate punishment for all of them. Severus, Mr Malfoy is your student. I suppose you will want to interrogate him yourself."
"Indeed, I will," he replied.
"Very well," Minerva said. "Lily, I'm going to interrogate Mr Potter. You take care of Mr Weasley."
A little part of Lily wanted to object. That part of her needed to talk with her son. She wanted to berate him, to tell him how disappointed she was, and especially to hear why he did this. But she was now a professor at Hogwarts, and she promised both her colleagues and Dumbledore that she would remain impartial when it came to Harry. She couldn't interrogate him as his mother. And she knew that she wouldn't be able to interrogate him only as a teacher right now, given the circumstances. So she silently agreed by nodding.
McGonagall and Severus both went to see their student, and Lily opened the door giving on the classroom where George Weasley was waiting. Right after she closed the door, he almost jumped on her with words.
"Hey, Mrs Evans. This is Malfoy's fault, all of this. He provoked us. He insulted my parents and…"
Lily raised a hand. In this moment, she was a member of Hogwarts' staff again. "Mr Weasley, please sit down, first." George did as he was told.
"Look, I…" he resumed, but Lily interrupted him once again.
"Mr Weasley, you're going to talk when I give you the opportunity."
George shut up. Lily stared at him for quite a moment, testing his willingness to remain silent. After a few seconds, she began talking herself.
"Consider yourself lucky that I stopped you. Because if you did what I think you were about to do, you would be in big trouble right now," she said harshly. She then remained silent for a moment, to let the info sink into George. "Now, you're going to tell me how you went from winning a Quidditch game to almost starting a boxing match on the pitch."
George looked confused. "What is a boxing match?"
Lily closed her eyes and sighed internally. She should abandon her Muggle references. "I think you can guess. Now, tell me what happened."
"Well, we had just won the match, we were all happy. And then this idiot of a Crabbe sent a Bludger on Harry when he saw he had caught the Golden Snitch. We went to see if Harry was alright, and he was well. He didn't fall from his broomstick from a high enough altitude to get injured. Everything was well, but then Malfoy landed next to us, and he started insulting my parents. My mother, my father. Fred and I we wanted to shut him up, but the others held us back. And then he started insulting you as well, so Harry and I we went to shut him up and… Well, you know what happened next. We couldn't."
"Because I stopped you. How did you intend to shut up Mr Malfoy, like you say?"
"Well… By whatever means necessary. He was looking for it. He was provoking us."
"And you found nothing better to do than attack him."
"He was insulting my parents and you."
"That doesn't give you the right to beat him down."
"Well, we didn't have the chance to do it, anyway," George ended, sheepish.
It was obvious that Arthur's and Molly's son had no regret over what he did. The worst part was that Arthur may have behaved in a similar way in his son's place. And Lily knew that her own husband might have done the same as Harry if their places were exchanged. She shook her head, and dropped the argument she knew would hit the mark.
"What do you think would be your mother's opinion on this?"
Right away, George's expression changed. "You're not going to tell her, won't you?"
"Oh yes, I will tell her. She deserves to know what her son was about to do, and how I managed to stop him before he found himself in huge trouble. Next time, I might not be there to stop you. So I hope you will not try anything like this again. Fighting is not tolerated here."
"Mrs Evans… It's the son of Lucius Malfoy. Come on, we know that his father…"
"Mr Weasley! We don't talk about that here." She wouldn't discuss the Order's affairs here, and especially not with Molly's child who was not part of the organization. "And no matter whose son Draco Malfoy is, that doesn't give you a reason to beat him like you were some thug. You're only stooping at his level by doing this."
"So we're supposed to let him insult us?"
"Yes. These are only words. They cannot hurt us." She realized how wrong her affirmation was, given the smearing campaign of words that discredited both Dumbledore and Harry, a success only achieved by words, but she didn't mention that to George. "I don't want to see any other attempt to harm Draco Malfoy or any other student by you. The next time, I will not be as forgiving as I might be right now. When I will inform your parents of this, they will be disappointed, George. Just like you disappoint me. Now stay here. I will come back to find you when we decide what punishment you deserve."
Lily made it to the door, but before she reached it, George called her from behind.
"Mrs Evans. About Harry… He tried to stop me, you know."
Lily frowned and looked back at the twin. "What do you mean?"
"He tried to stop me. He held us back, Fred and I, at the beginning, like all the others. He didn't want us to hurt Malfoy."
Lily's puzzlement evaporated in an instant. George was trying to defend Harry. She found it admirable, but she knew the truth. She saw it. "Maybe at the beginning. But he also tried to rush on Malfoy in the end."
"Well, Malfoy just insulted you. And he called you… Well, you know." She knew only too well. She heard it. George didn't need to say the word. "And… How do you know that I didn't break through his hold and rushed to Malfoy, and he ran after me, still trying to stop me?"
Lily understood what George kept trying to do. Again, it was admirable, but she knew deep within herself that this wasn't true. "I'll wait for Harry to explain us himself."
"Can I talk to him?"
"No."
Lily ended the discussion there, left the empty classroom with George inside and closed the door once she was in the corridor. Minerva and Severus were not there yet. They were probably still discussing with Harry and Draco. She sighed. A part of her wished that George told the truth and Harry tried to stop him. But she knew very well what she saw, and she couldn't ignore it.
Another door opened. McGonagall came out. Lily realized that her former teacher was shaken. She seldom saw her in this state.
"What did Harry say?" she asked.
"We're going to wait for Severus before we discuss it," Minerva replied. She looked straight at Lily with a sorry expression on her face. "I'm sorry you had to witness this."
Lily nodded, looking down. "Me too."
"For what it's worth, I think that your son is really ashamed of what he did. I think he knows you're disappointed by his actions."
Lily didn't reply to this information. A part of her was relieved that Harry was at least conscious that what he did was wrong, but… "I never saw him like that," she confessed. "The look of hatred in his face when he rushed on Malfoy… I never saw him like that before."
She couldn't forget how one moment he had been looking at her pleading for help, and the instant after he was staring at Malfoy with all the hatred in the world and rushing on him to… Lily hoped to never know what Harry could have done if she hadn't helped him like he pleaded the instant before he attempted the unforgivable.
"We all feared he might break at some point or another," Minerva confessed in return. "With everything that happened in June, then during summer, and how the year has gone for him so far… Albus was right. We did the right thing by not making him a Prefect. The pressure would have been too high. I only wish he wouldn't break in such a violent way."
Before they could continue their thoughts further, Severus came out of his own classroom where he had been discussing with Draco Malfoy.
"It seems pretty straightforward to me," he declared. "Mr Malfoy discussed with Mr Weasley, Mr Potter and other Gryffindors at the end of the match. He said something that Potter and Weasley didn't like, and they made to assault him. The only reason they failed is because someone stopped them."
He made the slightest hint towards Lily, one that was barely noticeable, but Lily spotted it. She knew Severus too well for this to escape her.
"Although they failed, their intent remains clear. I suggest they are both punished for trying to harm another student," he concluded.
Lily and Minerva, both displeased with Severus' statement, reported what George and Harry told them. According to Minerva, Harry recognized that he tried to harm Malfoy, reducing to ashes George's attempt to protect him, though he did try to stop him until Malfoy insulted Lily, calling her a Mudblood, like Lily heard.
"Draco Malfoy should be punished as well," Lily said once they all reported their versions. "I didn't see or hear the whole altercation, but I heard enough to know that Mr Malfoy was not merely discussing with the Gryffindors. He was insulting them, using foul, unacceptable and racist language. Including the word Mudblood when mentioning me. A word you were supposed to make him understand he was not to use again."
Severus remained silent and calm for a moment before he replied. "Although, if this is true, the language might be unacceptable, this does not give the right to Potter and Weasley to assault him."
"I agree. But losing a Quidditch game doesn't allow Malfoy to verbally attack students and professors. Verbal aggression is as unacceptable as violent aggression." Lily sighed, realizing something all of a sudden. "I'm fed up with these Quidditch rivalries pushing students to fight each other. The behaviours of these three boys on the pitch right after the game was unacceptable. I propose the same exemplary punishment for the three of them."
Minerva looked surprised when looking at Lily. Severus only let a shadow of surprise cross his face. "This is rather harsh to say that," he commented. "Especially when considering that one of these students is your son."
"Right now," she replied carefully, "he's not my son. He is a student who had an unacceptable, unsportsmanlike conduct, and I intend to punish him the same way I would punish any student who does the same, including the two other boys involved in this."
For a moment, she thought she saw something in Severus' eyes, but it was gone again instantly. He didn't say a word though, and they kept looking at each other for a long time.
"Very well," Minerva interrupted, breaking the spell. "I agree with the three boys getting the same punishment. Given how the situation could have degraded without Lily's intervention, I suggest we remove twenty points from each one of them. That will make forty points lost for Gryffindor, and twenty for Slytherin. As for the detention…"
"What about Mr Fred Weasley?" Severus asked. "He may not have rushed on Mr Malfoy, but he did try to assault him as well."
"Maybe not," Minerva said. "He never got to approach Malfoy. We cannot be certain if he wanted to punch him or yell at him. It would be wasteful to punish a student for something he thought of doing, rather than something we can actually be certain he tried to do."
"I propose that they get their detentions right away," Lily suggested. "A detention this evening, and then the entire day of tomorrow in detention as well. I think we should make the whole school understand that violence is not tolerated in the context of Quidditch. This has lasted long enough."
The two seemed to think about it. Then Minerva spoke up. "I agree with the suggestion."
Severus waited a little further. "Potter and Weasley should apologize to Mr Malfoy for trying to harm him."
"In this case, Mr Malfoy will have to apologize as well for his provocation," McGonagall pointed out.
"And you should make him understand that insulting a professor is unacceptable," Lily added.
"I'll make sure of it," he retorted. As much she found his tone angry at obeying, she also felt he was deadly serious right now.
"Maybe we should have them apologize to each other right now," Minerva proposed.
"Hem, hem."
A timid cough that got on Lily's nerves came from the corner. Lily, Severus and Minerva turned to face the intruder, who was none other than Dolores Umbridge herself.
"Forgive me, but I heard what you were discussing, and I thought you would benefit a little help," she said in her high-pitched voice.
"Help?" McGonagall said, on an unbelieving. "What kind of help could you give us?"
"The kind of help that will allow you to take a more appropriate decision."
"Thank you very much, but we have already taken a decision. Your help is not needed. Thank you for offering. Now, we should gather those boys here and…"
"With all your respect, Minerva, I doubt that simply removing points, apologies and detentions are sufficient to make these boys realize how condemnable their behavior is. If Mr Potter and Mr Weasley were not stopped, Mr Malfoy would have been badly injured."
"And how do you know that?" Lily countered. "How can you assert how seriously Draco Malfoy might have been injured, if he would have been injured at all? He was not injured. In fact, the only one who was injured in the whole thing was my son, who received a Bludger when the match was already over."
"And Madam Hooch is already taking care of that," Minerva added. "So we do not need your help, Dolores."
"I was merely trying to help you better decide in this case," Umbridge insisted. "After all, I must examine and evaluate all members of the castle's staff, and it would be my pleasure to indicate them how to improve."
Now Lily saw where this woman was going. And Lily had enough of this, after what took place today. She walked towards Umbridge only a few inches from her, making sure to look down on her, which was not difficult. Lily might not be exceptionally tall, but Umbridge was exceptionally small, and Lily had no scruples towering over Fudge's dog.
"I believe it is time to make something clear, Dolores Jane Umbridge," Lily said very clearly, barely containing her hatred. "You have the right to examine us, to evaluate us, our work, our decisions. You can force the students to be interrogated on our practices. You can also present reports to the committee responsible for deciding whether we are fit to teach or not."
Lily's eyes grew harder on purpose, and she made another step towards Umbridge, towering her further.
"But you cannot fire us. You cannot force us to change our teaching techniques. You cannot impose the way we apply discipline or what sanctions we give to students. Especially not when we are outside the classrooms where you are supposed to evaluate us. You have absolutely no power here. You are an official with a pen and a notebook, nothing more. That's what you are to everybody here, and also who you are in Fudge's eyes as well. A bureaucrat with a pen and a notebook. That's all you are. In addition to being laughed at, mocked by and despised by all the students of this school, who find you boring, useless, and who, at best, believe you make them lose their time with your interrogations when they could use it to study. You have absolutely no idea what students are saying in your absence. And how parents find you futile."
She imagined Umbridge as a little mouse she could crush. And indeed, expressions on this woman's face went from anger to fear as Lily looked down on her as if she was a waste of the wizarding world, which she wasn't far of being in Lily's opinion.
"Now, please leave us with important matters, and go write a report about how I answered to the useless offer of help from someone who has no experience in education. In the meantime, we will take care of the students. They are our responsibility, not yours. And there's nothing you can do about it. You can also tell the committee that may destitute me that I send them my regards, and that I hold in high value the Governors and public servants who work with intelligence, competence and integrity. And that you have none of these three. You can write it as well."
Dolores Umbridge was fuming by the time Lily was over. The two women stared at each other, each sure that they hated the other more than the other hated her. How long they remained like this, transmitting their mutual hatred, Lily didn't know. But eventually, Umbridge smiled sweetly and evilly.
"I wish you a good day."
And she walked away without another word.
Lily turned towards her two colleagues who were staring in shock at her.
"So, do we force them to apologize today or tomorrow?" Lily abruptly asked.
The professors gathered Harry, George and Draco. The apologies were uncomfortable, and it was obvious that none of the boys was sincere in doing them, but that would have to do. They all protested when they were told of their detention tonight and tomorrow, but there was nothing they could do about it. In the end, they were brought back to their common rooms, except Harry who Lily escorted to her office.
Her son was silent the whole way and avoided her gaze. It was only after they entered her office and Lily closed the door behind them that he tried to say something.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I was only…"
But she stopped him with a raised hand before he went farther. "Sit," she ordered, and he obeyed. Lily walked around her desk and settled behind her chair, remaining standing while leaning with her arms against the chair back. She stared straight into her son's eyes. He maintained her gaze only for a moment before he looked down at his feet. Lily was in no mood to be forgiving right now. Finally, she talked.
"Can you explain why you tried to hurt Malfoy?"
"He was insulting you," he replied shortly, still not looking up.
"And you thought this was sufficient reason to attack him?"
Harry looked up. "I'm tired of being forced to say and do nothing! He kept insulting everyone. Not only you. Also the parents of Ron. He did it on purpose."
"Probably. And yes, he was wrong. But this is no reason to behave like a thug as your father did!"
The moment Lily said the words, she regretted them, for Harry's face turned entirely confused. "What do you mean, like Dad?"
She should never have said that. She had spoken without thinking, and now she found herself in a situation she never wanted to be in. "Never mind," she said dismissively. "Don't try to change the subject. What you did on that pitch, Harry, is unacceptable. This is not the way I raised you."
He looked down again after a moment. "I'm sorry. I was just… When he insulted you, I just couldn't take it. I just thought about hurting him the most I could."
Lily closed her eyes. At least, McGonagall was right, Harry regretted what he did. But that wasn't enough. She had to make him understand the extent of what he did.
"By behaving that way, Harry, you're just showing that you are no better than that boy." She kept staring at him while he continued to look down. She noticed for the first time his clasped fist, where the Golden Snitch's wings were waving. She sighed, both in exasperation and tiredness. "I understand that times are difficult, and that this year is not proving to be easy. But that doesn't give you the right to be violent. You should have let me handle Draco Malfoy. You can consider yourself lucky that I stopped you all before it went too far. Or else, you might have ended up with more than a detention."
Harry listened to her without saying a single word. He looked up after a long time. "How do you do? To support all of this?"
She thought about it for some time. "I do my best with what I can do, and I try to ignore the insults others throw at me." She realized how odd it was that she said that, when about half an hour earlier, she lashed at Dolores Umbridge in quite some way. "Now, leave. Go to the Gryffindor Tower and spend some time relaxing. You'll need to be in good shape for your detention."
And just like that, their discussion was over. Harry left. But right before he walked through the door, she stopped him and hugged him. Then she ruffled his hair before sending him away for good.
Lily kept thinking about the events of this morning after her son left. She didn't expect to see that happening. To see the son she raised literally jumping at someone else's throat. This wasn't how she raised him. But at the same time, he didn't harm Malfoy. She managed to stop him before he had the chance to. After some time, Lily preferred not to think about what could have happened if she hadn't been there. Harry didn't use violence on another student, and he would likely remember the lesson. At least, she could see him learning the lesson. Malfoy was another matter. She didn't see how this boy could be corrected. He looked like he was every inch like his parents. Lily wondered how they could even try to make him realize how wrong he was to follow his father's path.
Someone knocked at the door of her office.
"Come in," she said.
Minerva McGonagall walked in. "Severus and I have organized the detentions. They will start after dinner this evening. I thought you should know."
"Good," Lily commented.
"You did well today, Lily."
"You think so?"
"Yes. You prevented a fight between students, and you managed to remain neutral, impartial, level-headed and fair through the whole thing. Sincerely, you impressed me."
"Thank you, Minerva. I appreciate. But I think I would rather never have seen my son attempting to hurt somebody else."
"You stopped him from doing it. Listen, Harry is not violent. We both know it. Professor Dumbledore knows it as well. It was a one-time mistake, and I don't think he will do it again. You were there in the right place at the right moment to remind him of that."
"I hope I will not need to be in the right place and time again."
"I understand. Try to think about the positive, Lily. After all, that day has not gone so badly. Gryffindor won the game, and we avoided a violent confrontation between players of both teams. And… I have some more good news for you."
"Really?"
"Yes." Minerva was truly smiling now. "Professor Hagrid is back."
Lily stood up so abruptly that her chair toppled. "Truly?"
They hadn't been sure where Hagrid was. He should have come back much earlier to resume his duties at Hogwarts. Maxime was back in Beauxbatons a while ago. Some in the Order were beginning to worry that something grave might have happened to him, but Dumbledore reassured them that Hagrid was alright and would eventually come back when his mission was over.
"Truly," Minerva confirmed. She was obviously delighted as well at the news. "I suggest you go and see him. I would do it myself, but I have a lot of work, especially with the detentions we just gave. You would do well to warn him about Umbridge before she gets to see him first."
"Yes, you're right," Lily agreed. They couldn't let Hagrid face Umbridge without talking to him first. That woman would be ready to tear him to pieces. "I'm heading there immediately."
"Lily… You should try to be careful. After the way you treated Dolores Umbridge…"
"Don't tell me you think what I said was wrong."
"I would say that it was an accurate depiction of Umbridge. I agreed with mostly everything you said. But with people like Fudge and Umbridge right now, telling the truth is rarely the best policy."
On that, both women agreed. And Lily could only acknowledge that Umbridge would certainly seek revenge sooner or later. The two women bid each other farewell, and Lily headed at a quick pace towards the exit of the castle. As she reached the gates opening on the park, Severus Snape intercepted her. She stopped when she saw him.
"I was hoping we could talk," he said shortly.
"What is it about? I suppose you know that Hagrid is back," she replied.
"Yes, I know."
Severus didn't show any sign of happiness or even the slightest relief at the news that Hagrid was alive and well. He had never appreciated Hagrid much, even back when they were students. Lily had marvelled at Hagrid the first time they met in her first year. She quickly befriended him, like many other students. She tried to encourage Severus to get to know him better, but he always remained distant with Hagrid, trying to hide his disgust of him. Lily had not understood back then. Hagrid was a half-giant. It wasn't that different in her eyes from Severus being a half-Muggle himself. At the time, she put it on the bad influence of his Slytherin friends who influenced and put pressure on him to stay away from someone like Hagrid. Today, she knew that Severus had always considered people like Hagrid to be inferior. He may no longer serve Voldemort and may have done some things to redeem himself, but that wouldn't ever change him completely. He continued to adhere to too many convictions shared by Voldemort and his followers.
"But this is not what I wanted to talk to you about," he resumed.
"What is it then?"
For a moment, Lily had the impression that he was embarrassed. Like always, it was an impression that only lasted an instant. "You are a good teacher, Lily. Dumbledore was right to give you the position."
She was surprised. She knew how Severus wanted the position of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts for himself. Admitting that someone else was fit for the job was already a huge concession coming from him.
"Thank you. I know it means a lot coming from you."
A smile crept on his lips, which disappeared instantly. "And I must admit I was wrong about something else. You managed to remain impartial today, despite your son being involved. You do not see him as a golden boy like I always thought you did."
Despite the choice of the words, Lily didn't miss the scorn behind the voice. Maybe in his distorted mind, it was a compliment, but for Lily it was not. So she shot back on a voice as mastered and levelled as the one Severus just used.
"I regret that you fail to see that Draco Malfoy is no golden boy either. Especially after he once again treated me as a Mudblood, like you both call us."
Severus' face turned blanker than it already was. He only replied after a moment of hesitation. "I made sure this would never happen again. This time, he understood."
"Too bad the boy didn't understand before using the word at all."
On that, she walked away, not sure whether she had been talking about Severus or Draco.
A small snow had begun falling. Lily crossed the park and reached Hagrid's cabin, where she knocked heavily on the door. There was no other way to attract Hagrid's attention. The moment she knocked, she heard a dog barking excitedly on the other side. Fang was there, no doubt about it.
"Hagrid, it's me, Lily. Open the door. I know you're there," she called.
"I should have known." Finally, some really good news today. Hearing the confirmation from Hagrid's voice on the other side of the door was a great relief. Then the door opened.
"I've been home only for three seconds…"
The joy and relief Lily felt at seeing Hagrid again after months were immediately replaced by horror and stupor when she saw his face. Cuts and bruises, from all colors, some still bleeding, populated his face. Blood was visible in his beard and hair. And judging from the way he stood, he was limping.
"Well, I expected people to be surprised by my return, but not in this way," he commented, sounding tired. Still, he was smiling and hugged Lily. She made the questionable experience of realizing that limping or not, Hagrid still had the force of breaking someone's bones without wanting to do it. "Come in. I'm going to prepare some tea."
Lily accepted his invitation. Fang rushed on her, drooling at her feet. The dog was the spitting image of his master. And now that Hagrid walked around his cabin, Lily got her confirmation that he was limping. She suspected he had other injuries as well as he began boiling tea.
"Hagrid… What happened to you?"
"Nothing. It's nothing," he replied dismissively.
"Nothing? It doesn't look like nothing. What would you say if I had showed up in such a state? You should go and see Madam Pomfrey."
"No need. I'm dealing with it."
He pointed the table at the center of his cabin. A huge towel laid there, but it was obvious that it hid something.
"You can look at it," he said. "If you remember your lessons in Care of Magical Creatures, you should know what it is, and how I'll use it."
Lily removed the towel. Under it, there was a large piece of steak, raw, in a state suggesting it was only recently cut.
"Dragon's skin?" And then it dawned on Lily, but she wasn't that reassured. "Hagrid, are you sure? Madam Pomfrey could take care of your wounds in minutes if not seconds."
"No need to bother her," he put aside, while placing the cups of tea on the table. "Tea is ready. Now, time to rest."
He seized the gigantic piece of dragon meat. Lily barely avoided the steak as Hagrid grabbed it and placed it around a side of his face. He pushed a huge sigh of relief.
"Better. It helps with the stinging, you know?"
Lily wasn't sure about it. Though she had to admit that, again, Hagrid proved with his actions that he was more knowledgeable and intelligent than many people might think. Dragon's meat, especially from certain kinds of dragon, was indeed excellent to cure bruises and cuts. The problem was that the skin's surface would stink for hours if not days after applying the meat on the injury, and there was a risk, although it was minimum, of infection. But she suspected that this risk was nonexistent for Hagrid, who was partly giant. Still, the stink would be there, although Hagrid wouldn't care, and it wouldn't heal his broken ribs or any other injuries. But Hagrid never let Madam Pomfrey heal any of his injuries. He was too proud, and never wanted to ask anything from anyone. That was who Hagrid was. Always willing to help, but unwilling to let others help him. Which may not be a bad thing considering Hagrid was sometimes doing very risky things and refusing to put someone else into danger.
Lily decided it was useless to further attempt to convince Hagrid to go to the infirmary. So she moved to the reason that brought her here. But before, she locked the door and the window.
"Hagrid, where have you been all this time? We were worried about you. Madame Maxime was back in Beauxbatons many weeks ago, and we got no news of you. Some of us were beginning to fear you might be dead."
"Me? Dead?" He laughed. "Never. Life is too interesting and joyful to die. No. I took my time to come back, that's all. I was delayed."
"By what?"
"That's nothing, Lily. Nothing to worry about." As always, Hagrid was not good at lying.
"So, is it true, what I heard?" she finally asked, abandoning the secondary matter.
"What?"
Lily checked again the door and windows. "The giants. They… They will not help us?"
Hagrid closed his eyes. At least, he seemed to be doing so, since one eye was hidden by the meat. "I'm supposed to give my report to Dumbledore."
"He knows that you're back?"
"Of course, he knows. He's Dumbledore. But he allowed me to rest a little. I'll talk to him tomorrow, first thing in the morning. Anyway, he already had Olympe's report, so he could wait a little for mine."
"But what happened?"
Hagrid seemed very tired, but he sighed very loudly. "After all, whether you learn it now or at the next meeting of the Order, it doesn't make much of a difference. You're right, Lily. The giants are not going to help us."
Hagrid went on to tell about his journey, summarizing his trip with Madame Maxime through France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, and finally into Russia, where they progressed until they reached desolated mountainous lands where the giants were hiding. There, they tried to cement an alliance with the giants. Their first attempts were encouraging, the Gurg of the giants being very interested in what they had to say and the friendship Dumbledore offered them. But then the Gurg was killed and replaced by another one. The new Gurg didn't prove as friendly, and he instead began receiving visits from Voldemort's men, including Macnair. Hagrid and Maxime then tried to convince other giants who didn't obey the Gurg, and they managed to convince a few of them, but the Gurg had them all slaughtered or beaten down so badly that they wanted nothing more to do with Hagrid and Maxime. And so, Hagrid concluded, they had failed. No giant would fight for them in this war.
"So, we lost the giants," Lily concluded, despairing.
"I'm afraid so." Hagrid coughed. "Fudge should have listened to Dumbledore. He told him it would happen. If we hadn't lost time avoiding the Ministry's agents, we could have arrived there in time to make them our allies. But no, those idiots had to tail us while the real criminals went on free. But there's hope. Some of the giants may choose to not follow Golgomath and move out of the mountains. And maybe they will remember the friendship Dumbledore offered."
"Let's hope they will remember it. We are already losing the Dementors, and now we've lost the giants. If Remus is right and the werewolves began to side with Voldemort as well…"
"Remus? It's been so long since I last saw him. How is he doing?"
"He's on a secret mission, much like you were. Among his brothers, if you see what I mean."
"Yes, I see. I hope he will have more success than I had."
"And fewer bruises. Honestly, how did you get them?"
"It's nothing, really, Lily. Stop worrying. Why don't you tell me about your experience as a teacher? I may not have been in contact much with the outside world, but I can still read newspapers. The news that you were the new Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts got around the world. I couldn't believe it when I read about it. Dumbledore couldn't have chosen someone better."
Lily's cheeks slightly reddened. Coming from Hagrid, this meant a lot. "This is not as thrilling as some might think. But it is interesting. And it allows me to keep an eye on Harry. While preventing the Ministry from getting too deep into Hogwarts."
"Harry. How is he? And what about the others? Ron? Hermione?"
"They are all fine and well." Not that well, but she didn't want to burden Hagrid with bad news. Not yet. He just came back. She would tell him more tomorrow, when he had time to rest a little. For the time being, something else was important. "Hagrid, since you say that you read newspapers, you must have heard about what was going in Hogwarts and what the Ministry is doing."
"Not really. I mean, yeah, I read newspapers, but not all of them. and the further away we went, the fewer news we got and the later they arrived. And once into the country of giants, we got no news at all for quite a while. Not to mention that I don't read Polish or Russian or Ukrainian. Olympe helped me with French… I learned a few words thanks to her, by the way. And she also speaks German very fluently. But once we reached Eastern Europe, there wasn't much we could understand to what people were saying…"
"Hagrid," Lily interrupted, "sorry. But there is something very important you must know. The Ministry of Magic named a High Inquisitor for Hogwarts."
Hagrid frowned at this, a frown visible despite all the cuts, injuries, and the dragon's steak covering part of his face. "High Inquisitor? What's that?"
"A new way Fudge found to make Dumbledore's life impossible. She's examining and evaluating teachers, supposedly to make sure we do our job well. But all she wants is to remove us one after the other and replace us by the Ministry's pupils, until Dumbledore is surrounded by professors who are against him."
"They cannot do that. It is Dumbledore who chooses teachers, with the approval of the Board of Governors."
"Not anymore. Fudge implemented a series of educational decrees. He's giving himself more and more power every day. First, he gave himself the power to choose a teacher if Dumbledore could not find one. He almost managed to make Dolores Umbridge the new professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts with that."
"Umbridge?" Lily could see from the reaction that Hagrid had no more love for that woman than Remus had, for obvious reasons. That woman hated werewolves as much as she hated giants and half-giants. "Isn't she working at the Ministry?"
"Yes, and Fudge wanted her to teach at Hogwarts. Dumbledore prevented that by choosing me for the position. But then Fudge made Umbridge High Inquisitor, and he gave her the power to remove teachers who they consider unfit to teach. Sybill Trelawney is already on probation, and so I am. They even went so far as to force students to be interrogated by Umbridge and to collaborate with her."
"But… they cannot do that."
"You really think this is going to stop someone like Fudge. He almost got Harry expelled this summer."
"WHAT!?" Hagrid almost let the steak slip from his face. "Harry got expelled!?"
"Almost. He and Susan were attacked by Dementors, and Fudge tried…"
"Dementors? Wait, you're serious? Dementors attacked Harry?"
"Two of them. In the middle of London."
"Blast! Things have gotten way worse than I thought."
"Fudge didn't succeed. Dumbledore managed to convince the Wizengamot to clear Harry of all charges. But Fudge is not done with Dumbledore, or Harry, or with any of us."
"That's sure. He's after everyone who is even remotely associated with Dumbledore. I can't believe he doesn't believe a man like Dumbledore. Dumbledore, come on! How could someone not believe what he says?"
"Someone who prefers to keep his job rather than admitting the truth."
"Well, things have really gotten out of control." Hagrid sighed. "I may have been too naive. While I was gone, I convinced myself that Dumbledore would arrange things, and that by the time I was back…"
Hagrid couldn't finish his sentence. Someone knocked on the door.
"Who could it be?" Hagrid asked as he stood up. "Dumbledore said he didn't need to talk with me until tomorrow."
"Perhaps someone else wishing to welcome you back," Lily suggested.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the case at all. When Hagrid unlocked and opened the door, it was the hypocrite smile of Dolores Umbridge who welcomed him to Hogwarts.
"So, you're Hagrid, are you?" she said loudly.
She didn't even wait for an answer and barged into the cabin. Her eyes set immediately on Lily who had stood up in the meantime.
"Oh. So here's the reason why I was hearing voices. I didn't know you were on such good terms with Hagrid, Professor Evans."
"I am," Lily replied, not forgetting the exchange she had with Umbridge previously today. "Rubeus Hagrid is a member of Hogwarts's staff, appreciated and respected by all his colleagues."
"Of course." Umbridge didn't seem to believe it a single moment. Fang tried to lick her face at this moment. "Get away!"
It was comical to see this woman trying to avoid the dog trying to drool over her pink clothes.
"Hagrid," Lily explained in the meantime, "as you must have guessed already, this is Dolores Jane Umbridge, Hogwarts High Inquisitor."
"I am also Senior Undersecretary to the Minister," Umbridge completed.
She looked all around the cabin. Hagrid seemed quite uncomfortable. After a while, he didn't seem like he could support it anymore. "I don't want to be rude, but what are you doing here?"
His voice was indeed rude. And despite the fact Lily was way worse earlier today, she worried for Hagrid, wishing he chose his words and tone better. This woman would make no gift. She was known for her racism and prejudices, and even hate of people who were not pure wizards.
"Oh, please forgive me. I simply wanted to welcome you back to Hogwarts after the… journey you made. And to make sure you had everything you needed. Is that your office?" the woman asked.
"This is my home," Hagrid replied.
"Ah." Umbridge looked around again. "Charming." She focused on Hagrid again. She looked at him from head to toe, judging him. "Your journey seems to have been quite eventful. How did you get so injured?"
"I had… a bit of an accident."
"What sort of accident?"
"I tripped."
"On the top of a mountain?"
Lily's heart froze. That woman knew. It seemed like someone in the Ministry must have informed her. Maybe Macnair himself. After all, he was there. Surely the Gurg told him about Hagrid. He wasn't difficult to describe and to identify.
"No. No, I didn't trip from the top of a…"
"Where have you been all this time? None of your colleagues could tell me where you were since the beginning of the year while Professor Grubbly-Plank replaced you."
"I've been away… for my health."
"Your health?" Umbridge didn't believe him a single second. Even if she had wanted to believe him, Lily doubted she would have. Hagrid was terrible at lying. And his injuries didn't speak for health vacation.
"Yeah. I needed some fresh air."
"As gamekeeper, fresh air must be difficult to come by, I guess."
"No. I went in the South of France. I enjoyed the sea… and the beach."
Lily sighed internally. "You don't have much of a tan," Umbridge commented.
"Well, I have a sensitive skin."
"What do you want, Umbridge?" Lily asked in the end, exasperated by both Hagrid's clumsiness and Umbridge herself.
"Well, like I said, I simply wanted to welcome back this… professor to Hogwarts. I was very eager to meet you, Mr Hagrid. Mrs Grubbly-Plank proved to be very competent and fit for teaching Care of Magical Creatures, and she was merely replacing you. I expect nothing less from the titular professor. I shall inform the Ministry at once of your return. As High Inquisitor, I must evaluate staff members, so we should see each other in one of your classrooms very soon."
"Oh… Yeah… That's fine," Hagrid said, not sounding fine at all.
"I wish you a good evening, Mr Hagrid." Umbridge then turned to Lily. "Professor Evans, I must thank for the conversation we had earlier today. You helped me to understand a tremendous amount of things. I will be forever in your debt for that."
On those cryptic words, Dolores left Hagrid's cabin.
"She's really inspecting the professors?" he asked Lily once the other woman was gone.
"All of them," Lily confirmed. "Like I told you, Trelawney and I are already on probation, and it is only a matter of time before she puts more in probation or she sacks one of us."
"Dumbledore will never allow that," Hagrid said dismissively, going back to sit.
"Dumbledore is not as powerful and influential as he once was, Hagrid. Even here at Hogwarts. The Ministry is mingling into Hogwarts' matters more and more every day. And I'm afraid you're going to become Umbridge's next target. You'll need to be careful."
"Things cannot be as bad as they are."
"They are, Hagrid. And I'm afraid they will keep getting worse for a while before it actually gets better."
Hagrid sighed. "Well, let's stay hopeful. Dumbledore has dealt with the Ministry of Magic and Fudge for years, even decades now. It's not the first time the Ministry of Magic is displeased with him. He'll arrange things."
"Hagrid, this time, things are different. This is no mere disagreement between a Minister and Dumbledore. Fudge is actively trying to push Dumbledore towards the exit. And unfortunately, he's doing quite a good job at it. He now had the authority to sack the teachers loyal to Dumbledore, and believe me, he's going to use it."
"So far, no one was fired, I hope."
"No, but it will not last. For now, the Board of Governors are protecting us. Fudge needs their approval to remove a teacher. But sooner or later, they will have to give in. Do you really think, Hagrid, that Fudge will never be able to convince the governors that professors like Trelawney or Binns have no place in Hogwarts?"
"Right," Hagrid finally acknowledged. Even he had to admit that the presence of some professors was more than questionable.
"You should be very careful, Hagrid. You just saw how Umbridge is. She's even worse in our classrooms. So make sure that you are faultless, especially while giving your lessons."
"No need to worry about that. I may have taken my time to return, but I didn't do nothing while coming back. I've got loads of lessons in stock. The kids are not going to believe what they will see. Or not," he added with an accomplice smile. But Lily ignored it.
"You must organize lessons in a way that Umbridge will never be able to question your methods, Hagrid." She sighed again. "Sorry to say that, Hagrid, but you must avoid at all costs creatures like the Blast-Ended Skrewts along with situations like what happened with Hippogriffs."
The sadness that showed up on Hagrid's face made Lily regret her words, as she knew it would resurface painful memories of Buckbeak, whose grave was still in the garden, but she had to make Hagrid realize that he had no choice.
"Okay. I'll be careful. But don't worry about my first lessons. The Ministry will find nothing to say about them. Enough talking about me now. Tell me about your experience as professor. And about Harry, too. I've thought about him a lot during my journey. How is he doing?"
Lily spent the next two hours discussing with Hagrid about everything that happened in Hogwarts and also during summer while he was absent. He was horrified by the Dementors's attack on Harry and Susan, but was relieved and back to entirely positive thinking again when Lily described how Dumbledore got Harry out of trouble. Lily's explanations as to how she was fired from the Ministry saddened him a little, but it was compensated by the fact Dumbledore made her Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Lily's attempts to make him understand how dangerous Umbridge was failed, as Hagrid didn't get what kind of a threat she was. He pushed those worries aside right away, and was instead overjoyed by news such as Ron and Hermione becoming Prefects. And also by the fact that Harry's relationship with his girlfriend remained intact.
News of how Lily was doing relatively well as a teacher were soured by news of the Order, as Sturgis Podmore was arrested and the Death Eaters kept gaining influence within the Ministry. Even news about Harry were soured by her retelling of the events that took place after the Quidditch game, as Lily was kind of forced to tell Hagrid about that.
"Horrible. I didn't expect that," Hagrid said about it. But he sounded more sorry and sad than angry like Lily initially was. "But you shouldn't worry too much, Lily. That was a mistake from Harry. He still remains a good boy. It is not because he was violent in one very specific circumstance that it makes him a bad person. News didn't get to me much, but I could still read the smearing campaign against him and Dumbledore for a long little while. Even if he doesn't read the Daily Prophet, it would be taxing on him. I'm sure he got his lesson. He's not going to do that again."
Lily hoped so. But there was a very little part of her who doubted, even after she left Hagrid to go back to Hogwarts in the evening.
The next morning, Lily quickly took her breakfast in the Great Hall before heading to her office to spend the whole day working. She may have managed to organize her time schedule better after a few weeks of teaching, but her responsibilities were still significant, and the previous day, between the Quidditch match, the drama that followed and Hagrid's return, robbed her of most of the time she could have dedicated to work this weekend. She was relieved to think that it was Minerva and Severus who had to take care of the detentions. On the other side, she couldn't help but think about how it would put Harry in trouble for his homework in a year of O.W.L.s.
Lily spent a large part of the morning undisturbed to correct homework done by student from the first to fourth year. It was only as lunch time approached that people knocked at her door.
"Come in," she said, finishing her corrections on the copy from a Slytherin.
The two who came inside were no students. Nor were they staff of Hogwarts. The insignia on their robes stated clearly who they were working for, and Lily even recognized one of them. She shortly worked with him on a file when she was an Auror.
"Albert Schwartz?" she asked, surprised.
"Lily Evans," he replied, acknowledging who he was. "This is my colleague, Winston Anderson. We apologize for bothering you, but we have a few questions."
Lily frowned. These men were investigators at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Why did they want to talk to her?
"What is it about?"
Albert pursed his lips. "Evans, you worked for the Ministry. You know how this works."
Yes, she knew how things worked. If these two men were here, it was likely for a criminal offence. What could the Ministry have invented again to cause trouble to her or Dumbledore? She couldn't trust people from the Ministry, even former colleagues, since June.
"This also means that I am free to say nothing," she replied. "I don't have to answer your questions if I don't want to."
Albert sighed. "That wouldn't be to your advantage. Because we are here about your son."
At this mention, things changed all of a sudden for Lily. It was stupor that she felt first, then anger. "What have you found this time? Don't you think you already put enough false accusations against him?" she roared.
Albert didn't flinch, but his colleague Winston made a small backward movement.
"Evans, we received a complaint against your son. Under the law, we have to investigate this complaint."
"What kind of complaint? And who made it?"
"I cannot provide you with the name. Plaintiffs are kept anonymous. But your son was accused of assault."
"Assault?" she asked, scoffing since the mere idea was ridiculous.
"According to what we were told," Albert went on, unperturbed, "yesterday, Harry James Potter assaulted another student, right after a Quidditch match."
Lily remained unmoving for a time. So, this was all about yesterday's accident? The one for which Harry was currently in detention? Lily looked at both investigators as if they were idiots. Did they really make the whole journey to discuss this?
She burst into laugh.
"Evans, this is very serious," Albert said, looking slightly offended by her behaviour.
"Look, Albert, you made all the way here for nothing. We already handled it. All the students who were involved in yesterday's altercation have already received disciplinary sanctions."
"Oh. So… Something did happen then." He leaned forward. "Listen, Evans, we have a job to do. A complaint was filed, we have to investigate. The sooner you answer our questions, the faster we will be gone."
"This is ridiculous," Lily said. "This is a disciplinary matter, not a criminal one. No crime has been committed."
"It's our job to decide whether or not actions took place that warrant criminal charges. Now, are you ready to answer our questions, yes or no? Because by all accounts, you were present when the events took place, and if you refuse to answer, we will have to rely on other testimonies. And we will have no choice but to consider the fact that the mother of the boy who is accused refused to help us."
Lily stared at them. Did the Ministry really stoop so low? Accusing Harry of assault as part of an accident that happened right after a Quidditch game?
"Okay," Lily replied between her teeth. "What do you want to know?" It was better to not give new reasons to the Ministry to go after her or Harry. Though if Fudge had anything to do with that, and he most likely was behind this masquerade, Lily bet that these men would jump on any occasion to bring Harry to a criminal court.
"Could you tell us what happened yesterday morning after the Quidditch match between the teams of Gryffindor and Slytherin ended?" Albert asked, while his companion was taking notes on a piece of parchment.
"Well, the match ended when my son, Harry, caught the Golden Snitch. I don't recall the final score, but Gryffindor won. You must understand that there is quite a rivalry between the Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin, and this rivalry is especially visible in Quidditch matches. In the days preceding the match, there were various accidents between people of both houses. Some students even ended up at the infirmary after they were jinxed…"
"I may have finished my time at Hogwarts a while ago, Evans, but I'm well conscious of this rivalry," Albert said. "It already existed back in my time, and I was in Slytherin." Lily sighed internally. This was no good news. "What interest us here are the events after the game, not before. So, what happened after your son caught the Snitch."
"He was hit. By a Bludger. One of the Beaters in the other team, when he saw that Harry had caught the Snitch, sent a Bludger in his direction, and then…"
"Wait. He sent the Bludger after your son caught the Snitch?"
"Yes," she confirmed.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, I am. The player, Vincent Crabbe, was sanctioned by Madam Hooch, the referee during the match, for this."
Albert looked strangely at her. He then nodded in Winston's direction who kept taking notes. Lily wondered if that meant he shouldn't include this detail.
"And what happened next?" he further asked.
"Harry fell from his broom as a result. Luckily, he was only a few feet away from the ground, so he wasn't injured. His teammates gathered around him and they started to celebrate. I left the stands from where I watched the match to see if Harry was alright. I don't know precisely what was said, but it seems that Draco Malfoy, the Seeker of the Slytherin team, who lost, landed and he began insulting the Gryffindor team. Especially three of their members. Fred, George and Ronald Weasley. He began insulting their parents in quite a harsh way. Their father, Arthur, works at…"
"Yes, I know who Arthur is," Albert cut her short. "So, Mr Malfoy insulted them. He started it?"
"According to what people told us afterwards, yes. He was probably angry because he lost. The other team members put themselves between Fred and George Weasley and Draco Malfoy, to stop them from rushing on him. My son was among them. He was restraining George Weasley."
"Wait. The young Weasleys who were on the team tried to hurt Mr Malfoy?"
Lily was careful in her next answer. "Well, they obviously didn't take it well that their parents were being insulted so freely. Mr Malfoy really told them horrible things from what I gathered. I had arrived near them by that time. Harry was looking in my direction, asking for help while he held back George Weasley. So I rushed to put an end to this."
"Your son asked you for help?"
"Yes. He looked at me and asked me to help. I think he may have thought he couldn't hold Fred and George long enough, and he was afraid of what they might do if he and his teammates let them go. That…" She hesitated before continuing. What she would say next would be very important. "That's when Mr Malfoy started insulting me. I don't think he ever saw me approaching. I was partially coming from his back, and he loudly declared that I was a Mudblood."
This caused quite a reaction. Among both investigators. Winston stopped writing notes. Albert gulped as he stared blankly at Lily. "He said what?"
"He said I was a Mudblood. This is not the first time it happens. He was already sent to detention earlier this year for using this same language. If you don't believe me, look at the reports Dolores Umbridge made. She disapproved of my decision to sanction Mr Malfoy. Although his own Head of House sanctioned him further for this."
Albert and Winston looked at each other. They didn't seem to know what to think. Albert eventually nodded again, and Winston hesitantly resumed taking notes.
"And… Then what?" Albert asked.
"Well…" Lily told carefully, "George Weasley broke free of my son's restraints. I'm not entirely sure what Harry intended, whether he tried to stop Mr Weasley after he broke free by following him, or if he snapped and also rushed on Malfoy… Both my son and George Weasley rushed towards Mr Malfoy at this moment. I feared this altercation might end up in violence, so I cast a spell to separate the three boys before they got close enough. They ended up on the ground, I called on Professor McGonagall and Snape, we brought the three of them in separate classrooms, questioned them, and gave them all detentions."
After she finished, Albert looked squarely at Lily. "That's all?"
"Yes. Unless you want to know exactly why we gave them detentions. Unsportsmanlike conduct, provocation, attempt to start a fight, verbal violence, use of offensive and racist language. The three got the same sanctions."
"So there was no physical contact between them?"
"No. I put an end to all this before it could come to that. I can't know what would have happened if I hadn't intervened, but I preferred to prevent than to feel sorry."
"Are you sure that there was no physical contact at all?"
"I'm sure."
Albert looked at his note taker, who kept writing down everything. He then returned his attention on Lily. "What do you think were the intents of Mr Potter and Mr Weasley when they… ran towards Mr Malfoy?"
"I suppose we will never know for sure. And that's all the better. I prefer to prevent potential violence rather than take the risk of seeing young boys at the infirmary."
"But… You said you questioned them after the events. Did they tell you what their intent was?"
Lily was careful before she answered. But she couldn't outright lie either. "Do you think I can know for a certainty what was in their mind at this moment?"
"This isn't what we asked. Did they tell what they tried to do when they ran on Mr Malfoy?"
"They wanted to shut him up. That's what I was told. As to how they would have done so… I guess we will never know. Even the Ministry of Magic cannot know what's inside people's mind."
Albert seemed to take that partially as an insult, for his eyes hardened. "Are you sure there was absolutely no physical contact at all during the incident?"
"I'm sure. If you doubt it, ask Madam Pomfrey about it. She's our Healer at Hogwarts. If none of the boys went to the hospital wing after the game, I believe this is enough proof that no one was injured."
He kept staring at Lily for a time. A time that lingered.
"Fine. We thank you for your assistance, Professor Evans," he told her dryly. She noticed that it was the first time he called her Professor. "Please remain available if we have further questions."
He stood up along with his partner.
"Professor Evans, you worked for the Ministry in the past. As an Auror. Before you resigned." Rather before she was sacked under the cover of a resignation. "So you know that lying or refusing to cooperate to a criminal investigation can expose someone to accusations of obstruction."
"I know," Lily retorted coolly. "That's why I never lie." She made sure to emphasize the last word. "I'm rather worried about whoever made the complaint. He or she could be charged with false testimony or public mischief."
If she hoped to get a reaction from Albert Schwartz, she was wrong. He remained as if he was made of stone. She hoped that a reaction could potentially reveal the gender of the person who made the complaint.
"I wish you a good day, Professor Evans."
The two men left. As they left, Lily wondered and worried who could have made this complaint, and what it would mean for Harry.
In this alternate universe, since the D.A. doesn't exist, the Ministry never implemented a decree banning groups and associations. It was because Fudge found out that Harry and others wanted to create the D.A. that such a decree was implemented. And without the decree, McGonagall and Dumbledore never put pressure on Umbridge to maintain the Gryffindor Quidditch team (which Umbridge was hesitating to authorize), and Umbridge never required an educational decree that allowed her to punish students. As a result, she was powerless to do anything against Harry here. So this is unlikely to be Harry's last Quidditch match this year.
Though, as you must suspect, with Harry not being banned from Quidditch, it seems that someone found another way to make his life difficult.
I told you this year would be very different.
Please review.
Next chapter: Amelia