Where we find out about the compromise.
And where Snape does something quite unexpected.
HERMIONE XVI
When Hermione arrived in the Great Hall that Monday morning, she couldn't find Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table. So she sat down with Ginny instead.
"You had a good night?" Ronald's sister asked her.
"Yes. I managed to bring a few last minute changes to my homework in History of Magic and Potions right before I went to bed," Hermione replied.
"You're lucky that Ron wasn't here to hear you. Is he still in bed?"
"Maybe. I hope not."
"Or else he will not have enough time to take his essential breakfast before lessons begin."
"Don't be too harsh on him, Ginny," Hermione asked.
"What? It's been about a week now. He should get over it. He will have another chance. And Angelina told him she would refuse any request he would make to leave the team. He should feel encouraged."
Hermione nodded. She agreed with Ginny, Ronald should recover after all the days that went since the Quidditch game. The only problem was that people like Malfoy reminded him anytime they crossed paths how poor he had been. The song Weasley is our King was still heard from time to time. They even came across ghosts, including Nick, who hummed it. Nick looked very ashamed when he realized he did that right as he walked through Ron, and the ghost of Gryffindor apologized profusely, but that didn't make Ron feel any better. Still, he was in a much better state than right after the game. Hermione supposed that in the four months separating them from the next match, Ron had more than enough time to fully put all this behind, but she thought it was better to avoid making him more miserable on purpose.
"Not if Slytherins keep singing Weasley is our King everywhere," Hermione voiced.
"Oh. Yeah, you're right," Ginny acknowledged.
"And the first thing to do is to avoid talking about the song in his presence," Fred said right behind Hermione as he walked by.
"That speaks," Ginny said as her brother walked away. "Even he and George didn't dare to make fun of Ron since the match."
"And they do well," Hermione said. "Though I wish Ron didn't give so much importance to this sport."
"Sorry, Hermione, but on that, I cannot agree with you."
Hermione refrained from raising her eyes to the ceiling. Even Ginny didn't escape the obsession over Quidditch. Hermione had encouraged Ron to become Keeper, but now a part of her regretted it, given how his first game went.
It was at this moment that Harry and Ron walked into the Great Hall. As they approached, she looked at Ron's face, hoping he didn't see any student mocking him today. But his face didn't show depression. It showed concern.
"Hey, you'll never believe it? We have another one of those decrees," he said as he let himself drop on the bench.
"What, the educational decrees?" Hermione had already received today's edition of the Daily Prophet. She hadn't seen anything about it. She looked again at the paper in front of her. No, there was no mention of a twenty-fifth educational decree. "The Daily Prophet does not mention it."
"Maybe they don't want to bring attention on it," Harry suggested. "This way, Umbridge could give us detentions without us even knowing she could."
"What?" Hermione shouted, surprised and horrified. "Umbridge can give detentions now?"
"That's what my mother told me yesterday," Harry informed them. "She told me the Ministry had adopted a new decree that allows Umbridge to cancel or modify any sanction a teacher will give to a student. So we better not talk during lessons. Or else, a professor might remove five points, and we could end up with an entire week of detention. My mother was very adamant that we must avoid breaking any rule."
Hermione was stunned. Ron didn't look any more pleased, and Ginny was grimacing as well. So not only would Umbridge be able to evaluate teachers and to conduct interrogations on students, now she would also be able to give them detentions? Or would she be?
"Wait, Harry," Hermione said. "You said Umbridge could modify sanctions?"
"Yes," he replied gloomily.
"But… Can she give sanctions? I mean, may she give sanctions freely?"
"No," Harry confirmed. "She can alter a disciplinary sanction that a teacher gives, but she cannot give a detention or anything else if a teacher has not given one first. Not that it changes much. My mother told me I should avoid getting any sanction from now on. Even if it is for a homework given too late."
"Talk for yourself," Ron said complained. "You and Hermione always give your homework on time. I seldom manage to end them sooner than five minutes before a lesson."
"Not to mention the times when you could arrive late in class, spill your food on the floor of the Great Hall, or even soil the floor with mud to get Filch angry," Ginny enumerated on her fingers.
"Thank you, Ginny," Ron retorted, discouraged.
"I can't believe they've gone so far," Hermione said. "Maybe for now she can only change the disciplinary sanctions that teachers give us, but what's telling us that Fudge will not eventually grant her the right to give all the punishments she wants. He already forced us to be interrogated by her."
"Yeah," Ginny said. "I had one meeting with her, and it was painful, from the beginning to the end."
"Talk for yourself," Ron complained again. "I had two meetings with her. Fred and George too, both of them. And the way she talked about our father…" A wave of anger flashed through Ron's face. "No wonder Fred and George wanted to give Malfoy a lesson, after what Umbridge told them about Dad. We were fed up with people telling he was nothing. I would have hit Malfoy me too if I had remained on the pitch. I'm of a mind to make an attempt myself."
"Ron, don't say that!" Hermione berated him. "And don't do that either. Umbridge would jump on the occasion, and your father would have problems. He's not really in Fudge's good graces right now."
"I know. I was just talking."
"Well, only talking might get you into trouble. Harry got over an entire day of detention for trying to start a fight. What do you think you will get if you punch Malfoy in the face? And Umbridge will probably be overjoyed to increase your punishment."
"It's funny you're saying that," Harry said. "Apparently, Umbridge wanted me and George to have a bigger punishment after the Quidditch game. McGonagall and the others were against. It could be for that reason that Umbridge got this."
"We're lucky then that the decree only comes now," Ginny said. "Who knows what she could have done to you? Fudge literally drinks Lucius Malfoy's words. She would probably not have hesitated to give you a month of detention or worse."
"And to George as well," Hermione added. "She would certainly not have increased Malfoy's punishment."
"She would have removed it, you mean," Ron corrected.
"Well, at least, we will no longer have to suffer her interrogations," Harry said in a sigh while drinking some pumpkin juice.
"Why is that?" Hermione asked.
"Oh. Apparently, they removed the decree… I don't remember which one, but short story, students will no longer be interrogated by Umbridge. That is over."
"Oh. That's a relief," Ginny said, and everyone at the table shared that feeling.
"Maybe," Hermione said, looking at her watch all of a sudden. "But unless we want to give Umbridge a first chance to punish us, we should head for History of Magic right now. Or else we will be late."
Hermione didn't remember Ron and Harry rushing with so much enthusiasm towards a lesson of History of Magic. Even Ginny rushed to her own classroom faster than if she was flying. And they had cause to rush, for Umbridge was indeed inside the classroom when they arrived. At the same time, Professor Binns barely noticed the students whenever he gave lessons. So it was unlikely he would give any sanction, even not removing a single point, to any student who would arrive late. This meant that Umbridge would have no opportunity to exercise her new authority. And indeed, Binns didn't give a single sanction of the whole lesson, which took place in the exact same manner as all those he ever gave since they arrived at Hogwarts. That woman remained behind, taking notes for an entire hour. Hermione tried to make sure that both Ron and Harry remained awake this time. Binns might not notice them, but they couldn't take any risk. Umbridge could still try to encourage Binns to give a sanction, though she didn't do it. But Hermione felt her gaze on her group of friends more than once during the lesson.
The Potions class that followed proved to be more problematic. In fact, Hermione expected the worst. Snape showed clearly from the very beginning that he still disliked Harry as much as before. If there was someone who could sanction Harry and give an opportunity to Umbridge, that was him. Against Hermione's desperate hope that Umbridge would not show up in Potions, the woman did.
Snape's lessons proved to be as arduous as always. The elixir they had to prepare today was a very demanding task, as with all previous lessons of the year. Hermione tried to focus entirely on the preparation, which was necessary in Potions. But Umbridge kept wandering through the classroom, distracting her. Hermione couldn't stop herself, despite her best efforts, to cast gazes at Umbridge from time to time. She seemed to be smelling a few mixtures. But she specifically stopped in front of Harry's cauldron, which was right next to hers. This time, Hermione could simply not ignore it as Umbridge taunted her best friend.
"Mr Potter, I hope you don't find the lessons with Professor Snape too hard," she said sweetly.
She often said the same thing when she was looking for students complaining about their teachers. For a moment, Hermione doubted about how Harry would react. When he replied, his nose still on his potion, some people who knew him could have been surprised.
"I have nothing to say about Professor Snape," he said dryly.
"Really?" Umbridge squeaked, faking surprise. "Yet I heard he was particularly demanding. Especially with you. Even unfair, according to some."
"I have nothing to tell you," Harry repeated.
Hermione guessed that however Harry despised Snape, it wasn't enough for him to play Umbridge's game and complain about the Potions teacher.
"Are you really sure about that, my poor kid?" Umbridge insisted, in a way that Hermione doubted would get anything from Harry.
"Potter, focus on your potion," Snape snapped from nearby, noticing the exchange between Harry and Umbridge. "You already are my worst student with the worst potions. I don't wish to see even worse results because you discuss with people during my class." This earned a few snickers from the Slytherin side. "As for you, Mrs Umbridge, I would ask you to not disturb the students who need all their concentration to get better grades than a D."
A few more snickers followed, and Hermione noticed how Harry grew red in the face, and not only because of the fire he verified under his cauldron at the moment. Still, the bright side of this was that they got rid of Umbridge who went to another section of the classroom, taking notes again. Perhaps Harry would never admit it, but Snape may just have saved him from Umbridge.
Still, because of that interruption, Hermione's potion at the end was not what it could have been. The dark green colour that her elixir was supposed to take was too pale. She wasn't alone though. Harry's potion was khaki, and instead of lying still like it should have, bubbles still burst on its surface from time to time. As for Ron, his own potion was grey and way too sticky. At the end of the lesson, Snape verified the mixture in each cauldron. As always when he approached them, he ignored Hermione's elixir, stayed away from Ron's while visibly finding it disgusting, and then he approached Harry.
"Potter, as always, your potion is useless." With another wave of wand, for maybe the tenth or twelfth time this year, the Head of Slytherin made Harry's potion vanish. "Give me a copy at the next class about how you managed again to fail."
"Yes," Harry said, sounding more bored than anything else. He was almost used to Snape's treatment now.
"I didn't hear well," he warned.
"Yes, Professor," Harry said as normally as he could.
Hermione noticed how Umbridge seemed to be watching the situation with great interest. When Snape finally moved on to check on other cauldrons, Hermione pushed a sigh of relief.
"You did well, Harry," she whispered to him.
"I thought he would never leave," he replied in the same whisper.
"Just stay calm. It is almost over. As soon as we are outside the…"
"Silence," Ron ordered them in a murmur as well. "One of them could hear us," he added, pointing with his chin towards both Snape and Umbridge. Hermione was almost confused, but also a little impressed that it was Ronald who told them to follow rules.
Something else though was to surprise Hermione before the end of the lesson. Snape continued verifying mixtures, limiting his comments to a few negative words, including for Neville whose potion again turned rock solid, or looking at a mixture with disapproval, such as with Lavender, who was keeping her hand on a strand of her hair, probably to hide the fact it was burned. Then Snape reached the Slytherins. As usual, he was way more permissive with them. He stopped at one cauldron, which was Malfoy's. He looked at it for a moment.
"Mr Malfoy, what is this mixture supposed to be?"
The classroom turned unusually chaotic for an instant. The scaling of chairs against the floor literally echoed as all students turned in surprise to look at Snape and Malfoy. Draco, who seemed as surprised as the rest of the classroom, looked at his professor, stunned.
"Mr Malfoy, are you deaf?" Snape asked, his voice even harsher than before.
"Eh… No, sir."
"Then answer my question. Do I need to repeat it?"
"No, sir," Malfoy assured, trying to regain his composure. "This is what you asked us to prepare."
"So you don't even remember the name of the elixir. You disappoint me, Mr Malfoy." Snape's target opened the mouth to speak, but his professor didn't let a chance for any sound to leave his throat. "From the result, I would say you forgot two ingredients completely, failed in mixing adequately in at least two stages, and didn't set your fire at the right temperature. You were sloppy, Mr Malfoy. And your potion is useless."
To everyone's surprise, Snape once again drew his wand, and in no time, under Malfoy's unbelieving expression, the potion on which he worked for an eternity disappeared instantaneously. He looked, mouth wide open, like a fish out of water, as his cauldron was now clean, and stared at Snape with the same expression.
"Two rolls of parchment, due tomorrow, to explain how you failed so miserably at preparing a potion that should be a ballad in the park for you," Snape stated with severity. He leaned close to Malfoy. "I expect higher standards and respect from my Prefects. I hope your behaviour will improve by the next class."
On that, with everyone in the class stunned by the turn of events, Snape turned his back on his favourite student.
"For the rest of you whose potion was not a complete loss of time, bring…" he began, but he was interrupted by a cough coming from none other than Dolores Umbridge.
"Excuse me, Professor Snape," she said, "but I wonder if your behaviour with Mr Malfoy is quite… appropriate."
"I have an appropriate behaviour with all my students," Snape stated briskly.
"Maybe you do, but I don't." She smiled at the entire classroom, and especially towards Malfoy. "I don't see how two rolls of parchment could make Mr Malfoy's potion much better than the decent result he already got. So I'm afraid I have to annul it."
The two adults stared at each other, Umbridge with a satisfied smile, Snape with dark eyes.
"You cannot do this," Snape said.
"I'm afraid I can." Umbridge turned to all students with her sweet, false smile. "My dear children, I have the pleasure to announce that, following the adoption of Education Decree Number Twenty-five, the High Inquisitor, in this case myself, or the Ministry of Magic can modify or cancel…"
"Any disciplinary sanction given by a member of Hogwarts' staff," Snape concluded. "Indeed, you can. But you cannot modify the grades or homework we give to our students. And this is what I just did. I gave Mr Malfoy additional homework due to his poor results."
Slowly, Umbridge turned towards Snape. Hermione felt that her smile was way more tense than previously.
"I'm afraid we do not have the same definition of homework or disciplinary sanction, Professor Snape," the High Inquisitor said. "And in this case, the Ministry's view prevails."
"The Ministry does not decide the homework I give to my students," Snape stated very calmly, though on a very warning tone. He then turned to his favourite student. "And if you were to ask Mr Malfoy, as a Prefect, I am sure he will be eager to give the right example and complete his homework. This is what I expect from my Prefects."
For a moment, Malfoy said nothing. But under Snape's unrelenting stare, he finally crumbled.
"Yes, Professor Snape."
"Then the matter is settled. As you can see, Mrs Umbridge, Mr Malfoy takes his responsibilities. Unlike Mr Potter, his father has cause to be proud of his son."
On instinct, Hermione seized Harry's fist and clasped it very hard. So hard that Harry ended up wincing, and Hermione realized that in her attempt to make sure Harry would not make another mistake similar to what happened at the last Quidditch match, her nails had scarred the back of his hand. Still, that little inconvenience aside, the Potions class ended relatively well, with everyone giving Snape a sample of the elixir they prepared, except Harry and Malfoy.
"Did you really need to stab me in the hand?" Harry said once they were coming out of the dungeons for lunch.
"Oh, come on, Harry. These were only nails," Hermione reminded him.
"Well, they dug deep," Ron commented, looking at Harry's hand. "I think it's deeper than what she did to her face the day you faced the Hungarian Horntail. That may leave you another scar."
"Anyway," Hermione brushed aside, "what matters is that you didn't jump on Snape."
"I wasn't going to jump on him," Harry protested.
"You tried to jump on Malfoy because he insulted your mother. Don't tell you didn't want to do the same with Snape after what he said on your father."
"Well… Maybe a little… But I wouldn't have jumped on him."
"Even if you only snarled at him, this would have been enough for him to give you a detention. And what do you think Umbridge would have done then?"
"Double or triple the detention time," Ron guessed.
"Or worse. You saw how she tried to protect Malfoy? She's not going to handle sanctions impartially. If she's ready to remove any sanction Malfoy would get because his father is Fudge's great friend, imagine what she would be ready to do to you because Fudge hates you. She will not hesitate. Your mother is right. We must not break any rule."
"Good luck with that," Ron commented as they entered the Great Hall. "Because in our case, most of the time, we're not chasing after breaking rules. It is rule-breaking that chases us."
They sat down at the Gryffindor table, the three of them seizing sandwiches. "Hey, don't you find it weird? How Snape behaved towards Malfoy?" Ron asked.
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "It's as if he confused Malfoy with me. Not that I know how he did, but I don't complain. For once, I wasn't his only guinea pig."
"I agree that it is odd," Hermione confessed.
Why had Snape behaved in such a way with Malfoy? He always favored Slytherins, especially Draco Malfoy. Perhaps Malfoy did something he highly disapproved or despised. But even then, Hermione never saw him punish Malfoy. Snape might pretend that this was no punishment he gave, but it was. It was the same Harry received. And even Umbridge could not stop him.
Maybe that was the reason Snape did it. He wanted to test Umbridge's authority, so he gave a punishment to Malfoy under the cover of a homework for work badly done in class, knowing she would try to intervene. If true, then it meant that Snape at least tested it on Malfoy rather than Harry, not giving Umbridge a chance to use her new authority on him.
That relief was short-lived, for it made no sense. Snape handled the same punishment to Harry a few seconds prior to Malfoy. If he had wanted to protect Harry, he wouldn't have done this. And if he did it to Harry, then he had no need to inflict the same punishment on Malfoy if it was for the mere purpose of testing Umbridge. Unless he received orders from Dumbledore to test Umbridge's inclinations early in the application of the new decree, to identify her biases and how she would apply the decree. But the truth remained the same. At no time did Snape try to protect Harry. Hermione may have thought early in the year that things could be easier with Snape, because he was in the Order now, but any hope she held was quashed pretty quickly. She held none now. Worse, by giving additional homework for a supposedly ill-made potion, Snape handed Umbridge an opportunity to further punish Harry. Hermione even wondered now why Umbridge didn't jump on the occasion. Maybe she was waiting for the right time to do it. The decree certainly gave her time to review any disciplinary sanction before modifying it. In this case, Hermione hoped that Snape was right and that Umbridge could not act on cases of additional homework given due to results during lessons. Or else not only would the sanction given by Snape to Malfoy be annulled, but Umbridge might increase Harry's sanction further.
"Well, maybe Malfoy will be less insufferable in Potions next time," Harry wished aloud.
"You can still dream," Ron commented. "As for me, I'm wondering how much time Fred and George will resist to the temptation of testing the new stupid decree."
"They shouldn't. For once in their life, your brothers better keep quiet for real," Hermione warned.
"You realize who we are talking about? My two brothers who even you couldn't stop from doing their experiments, despite your threats of informing my mother."
"Perhaps if you supported me, they would have stopped by now," Hermione shot back.
"It's obvious now you don't know Fred and George. You should, considering how much time you spent home."
"No matter how much you claim to know them, Ron, you are Prefect. It is your duty to make sure the students follow the rules and are safe."
"No one has ever been able to rein in my brothers," Ron protested. "Not even Percy or our mother. If you think I have a chance, then…"
Hermione interrupted him before Ron went further and said something both of them could regret. "If you never try, you'll never know."
"Then I prefer to live in the certainty that I will not make a fool of myself in trying the foolish and useless mission of disciplining my older brothers.I refuse to end up like Percy."
"No one's asking you to be like him."
"That's what you're doing by telling me to be the little perfect Prefect," he snapped with finality. But to Hermione, this was one more insult.
"Do you think because I try to uphold and apply rules, you think that I am like Percy. Is that what you're saying?" she asked between her teeth, outraged.
Ron hesitated before answering. Later, Hermione would thank him for that hesitation, for it gave time for Harry to intervene and to redirect the conversation.
"We had Umbridge at both lessons this morning. Do you think we'll have her the whole afternoon as well?" he asked.
"Not all of us, at the very least," Ron finally said. "I mean, you both have Study of Ancient Runes, while I'm in Divination. Let's hope Umbridge didn't gain the ability to double herself."
"Please no," Harry replied. "One Umbridge is already too much."
"Don't worry, Harry. People cannot clone themselves, not even with magic. It is impossible to double something as complex as a person. Even the most powerful wizards would struggle to double something as basic as a piece of paper, so imagine an entire human being? It is simply too complicated and…" Hermione explained to reassure Harry.
"Thank you, Hermione. We were not asking for a dissertation," Ron cut her. "And just in case you doubted it, a moment ago, I was about to tell you that you are nothing like Percy."
Hermione wasn't sure how to take it. Ron reopened his mouth, as if he was about to add something. But one of his brothers arrived, robbing him of the chance to speak further.
"What a compliment coming from you, little brother," Fred declared.
"But if that is how you practice seducing girls, let me tell you still have a long way to go."
Ron's face turned redder than a tomato. Hermione was glad that his whole attention was on his brothers who sat with them, for he couldn't see the burning in her own cheeks.
"Hey, you knew that this Umbridge could cancel a detention if a teacher gave us one?" George asked.
"Yes, she just tried that for Malfoy in Potions," Ron informed laconically.
"Again?" the twins said in chorus.
"What do you mean, again?" Hermione asked.
"Well, this Malfoy is not losing time today," George commented, looking at his twin brother.
"Yeah." Fred looked at Harry as he spoke. "Your mom gave him a detention this very morning, Harry. Right as he was on his way for his first class."
Harry looked surprised. "Why?"
"For using a word he shouldn't use in her presence. He was discussing with a few other Slytherins and said it while he was turning his back on her. By now, he should have learned. Maybe not that he shouldn't use the word, it's in his nature. But he should have learned to make sure Lily Evans Potter is not around when he uses it. It's not that difficult. Fred and I have become masters at causing mischief in our professors' back. Not that we're about to give Malfoy any of our secrets," George explained.
Hermione noticed how Harry's grip on his fork tightened. "And Umbridge removed his detention to Malfoy?" he asked, looking furious.
"Yes, just like that," George confirmed.
"She said he didn't deserve a detention only for words. And your mom did nothing Harry. She just accepted it. I don't understand why," Fred said.
"Because a new decree allows Umbridge to modify as she wish any disciplinary sanction we receive. Even if a teacher only removes points to our house for arriving two minutes late in class. So in your place, I would be careful," Hermione told the twins. "I may only have threatened to write to your mother, but if a professor catches you doing your little experiments and you get sanctioned in any way, prepare for Umbridge to double or triple whatever you will receive."
The twins looked at each other, uncertain for a moment. Then a grin appeared on their faces.
"Another authority figure to deal with…" Fred began.
"… Even more trouble to cause then," George finished.
"Be careful," Hermione said, frustrated. "You're going to get yourselves in very big trouble."
"Only if we get caught," George countered.
"And avoiding getting caught is half the fun in causing mischief," Fred declared, as if it was an evidence.
Hermione was glad when lunch was over. She was exceeded by Fred and George's provocative behaviour. This time, they could really get themselves into truly real trouble. She was also somewhat relieved, after their clash, that Ron made his way towards Divination while she and Harry headed for Study of Ancient Runes. They were joined by Susan who caught on them after they left the Great Hall, which meant that their conversation on their way to the classroom was way more civilized.
"Please reassure me, Harry," Susan asked him almost right away. "You didn't get into trouble with Umbridge this morning." Hermione had the impression to hear herself speaking, or at least a version of herself who wasn't aware of this morning's events.
"Why? Do you think I get into trouble on purpose?" he asked, a little too harsh to Hermione's taste. Susan didn't deserve to be talked to like that.
"Of course not," Susan protested lightly. Harry should count himself lucky that Susan was very patient. "I was just wondering if Umbridge already tried to use her new powers. My aunt wrote me about this, and she warned me to be even more careful around that woman."
"No, she couldn't use them on me. But she used them for Malfoy."
Harry went on to explain what Fred and George told him at lunch, and how Snape gave additional homework to Malfoy as well in class, contesting Umbridge's new authority by the same occasion. Susan seemed very surprised, but also troubled.
"Why would Snape decide to punish Malfoy all of a sudden?" she asked.
"Very good question," Hermione voiced up.
"Maybe he was so irritated today that even Malfoy was not safe from him," Harry supposed.
"Why? Only because Umbridge got the right to change whatever punishment he might give to students? You think he could so far as to throw his rage at his favourite student?" Susan asked.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. She knew that Harry thought the same thing as she did. Yes, Snape could go so far. He might have saved them from Pettigrew and now be a member of the Order, he remained deeply unfair when it came to students.
"At least, it did some good to see Malfoy pay for once," Harry commented.
"But if Umbridge begins to let Malfoy do as he wishes…" Susan began but dared not to finish her sentence. "You should really be careful, Harry. If Umbridge was in both your lessons this morning, she may be looking for an opportunity to go after you."
"You think I don't know? How do you think I stopped myself from sending Snape to hell during the Potions lesson?" Harry told her.
"Oh, Harry! Don't tell me you would really have done this?" Hermione said, exceeded.
"How would you feel if he vanished your potion at every lesson, for any little mistake he would spot?"
Quite frustrated, Hermione had to admit it. But it wasn't that matter. "I get it, Harry, but you will not get anything from snapping at Snape." Harry looked at her strangely with a somewhat amused expression. Hermione had not intended to say the words in a funny way, and anyway there was something more important to discuss about. "You cannot give Umbridge any reason to go after you."
"I know," he replied gloomily.
"Even if Snape is insufferable and horrible with you, it will only be worse if…"
"Okay, Hermione," Susan interrupted her. "I think he got the message. And he's not the only one. We must all be cautious around Umbridge. Harry is not the only one who's got to beware. Umbridge doesn't like me either, and by now she certainly noticed you spent a lot of time with Harry as well. She won't miss an opportunity to cause us trouble either."
"I know that very well," Hermione retorted. She didn't need to be reminded the importance of respecting rules. She was Prefect. She memorized almost all rules of Hogwarts in preparation for her role.
"Well, I have to admit," Harry then said, looking a little less gloomy all of a sudden, "it was entertaining to watch Snape and Umbridge going at each other. Who knows? Maybe Snape will get distracted and forget a little about us." He didn't sound like he believed much in what he just said.
"From the looks of it, I highly doubt it will happen," Hermione commented. "He didn't forget about you this morning, Harry. I would even say he is likely to be even worse than before and harsher with us if he confronts Umbridge. I don't think Snape will care that we are collateral damage of a little war between him and Umbridge."
"At least, for now, from what you told me," Susan said, "it is Malfoy who became a collateral damage."
The group of three smiled and laughed a little at Susan's remark, though not much for they arrived in the classroom at this moment. And once again, Umbridge was there.
Hermione found Umbridge's presence very unnerving. Hermione prided herself with her ability to support and suffer any professor and any source of distraction both in class and while completing her homework, but Umbridge had a nagging habit of making Hermione lose her focus like nothing else. Her silly little coughs, the sound of her quill grating against her clipboard. Hermione began to suspect that this woman purposefully chose material to make those sounds irritating and impossible to ignore, despite the dozen or so other quills taking notes while Professor Babbling discussed runes. And she distracted Hermione even more now that she knew this woman could punish them.
Luckily enough, the lesson went without problems. Umbridge interrupted Babbling a few times, which irritated the professor like always, but again she had no opportunity to apply her newfound powers. Hermione was relieved when the lesson was over and they could leave, but Harry didn't seem to share the feeling.
"I bet ten Galleons that we will have Umbridge in Defence Against the Dark Arts as well," he said on a gloomy tone.
Hermione didn't admit it aloud, but she was pretty sure Umbridge would be there. And indeed, when they walked into the classroom, it wasn't only the reassuring expression of Mrs Evans who welcomed them, but also the particular grating of Umbridge's feather against paper.
Hermione had sit down with Ron, while Harry was not far away with Susan.
"Is she following us?" Ronald asked Hermione in a whisper, staring at Umbridge.
"It's not the time to talk about it," Hermione returned on the same whisper.
The lesson began. Today was a theoretical class, but right away, it became obvious that something was different. Harry's mother barely said a few words that Umbridge interrupted her, questioning today's subject. It went on like this for the whole duration of the lesson, Umbridge interrupting Mrs Evans again and again. Their professor made a point of ignoring Umbridge and her coughing as much as possible, but at some point it became almost impossible to avoid that woman. She implicitly questioned everything the former Auror did, but Mrs Evans always replied in the same, advising Umbridge to make a report. The most tense moment happened when two students were caught quite… distracted from the lesson.
As they were reviewing ways to defend against werewolves, an explosion occurred all of a sudden in the back of the classroom. Lavender cried like she was hysterical, Neville stumbled and fell to the floor, while all others stood up from their chairs and looked at the origin of the explosion. Even Umbridge stood up so fast that Hermione thought she was about to stumble just like Neville. Mrs Evans walked straight to the origin of the smoke.
"Everyone, stay away," she ordered. The smoke dissipated to reveal Seamus and Dean, their faces covered in dust and their hair with a quite comical appearance. Dean's now pink hair contrasted with his dark skin, while Seamus now had a huge afro divided in green and yellow.
The whole classroom burst into laughter at seeing this, and even Hermione had trouble containing her laughs.
"I guess Fred and George found new clients for their products," Ron commented, barely understandable between the loud laughter in the room and his own hysterical laughs.
"Can you explain to me what happened?" Mrs Evans asked the two boys.
Both Dean and Seamus looked ashamed, while also refraining from laughing by looking at each other's hair.
"Very well," Lily Evans Potter declared after some time, when the two boys both refused to answer. "You will remain like this for the remainder of the lesson. You'll go and see Madam Pomfrey once the class is over. Now sit down, and stop laughing at yourself. You don't look very brilliant like you are."
The rest of the classroom laughed at the jab.
"This also counts for the rest of you," she added.
People stopped laughing immediately.
"Now, everyone back to your place. Where were we? So, concerning the…"
Umbridge coughed again, and very loudly this time. She didn't allow Mrs Evans to ignore her, for she spoke. "Excuse me, dear Professor Evans, but… Is that all?"
Lily Evans turned towards the High Inquisitor. "Unless you want to be more specific, I have little time to lose," she shot back at Umbridge.
"Your students cause chaos in your classroom, and you let it go? Is that how discipline is enforced at Hogwarts? Is that how you reward misbehaviour among your students?"
It was obvious to the whole class that the two women despised each other. When Harry's mother replied, her voice was very hard.
"My priority is to teach those students, Mrs Umbridge. Not to discipline them whenever an accident happens. And I believe that spending about another hour wearing those stupid wigs in front of their comrades is punishment enough."
The entire classroom laughed at this. Even Umbridge smiled.
"So, this is a punishment. Very well. However, I don't deem this to be enough of a punishment. So, in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-Five…" Umbridge began.
"Ah, yes," Lily interrupted her with exasperation before turning to them. "My dear students, I should probably have informed you, since the Ministry has not seen fit to announce it publicly, that a new decree from yesterday allows the Ministry of Magic and the High Inquisitor to modify any disciplinary sanction a member of the school's staff might give you. As such, you might expect a sanction you receive to be increased by Mrs Umbridge." She then turned back to Umbridge. "However, ordering a student to attend his lesson from the beginning to the end does not look like a sanction to me. Wouldn't you agree? Maybe the Ministry has a different view on the matter? I would understand why an adolescent would view attending class like a punishment, but I'm sure the Ministry is more mature than fifteen-years-olds."
Umbridge's eyes were throwing daggers at Lily Evans. Hermione noticed Harry who looked very interested by what was going on.
"You're playing with words, Lily," Umbridge declared, putting emphasis on her first name. Hermione suspected that she did this to undermine Mrs Evans' authority in front of the other students. "Your said yourself this was a punishment."
"Indeed. But the educational decree is very clear. You can modify disciplinary sanctions, not punishments. Mr Thomas. Mr Finnigan. Do you consider that staying in class is a disciplinary sanction?"
Dean and Seamus looked at each other, creating quite a comical scene by having heads with pink, yellow and green staring at each other.
"No," the two boys replied together in a quite Fred and George's fashion.
Umbridge laughed. "You believe that the opinion of two children matter. I don't care how you interpret the decrees. This is to the Ministry of Magic to interpret them. And I decide that those two boys will each spend one week in detention for troubling their lessons."
Immediately, the whole classroom protested. Mrs Evans shut them up with a gesture.
"Say what you want, Dolores." This time, it was Mrs Evans who emphasized the first name. "For now, they will follow this lesson that I will not allow you to disturb further. And they will not get a detention because I didn't give them any sanction. I will not let the Ministry give sanctions he doesn't have the right to give. If you want to dispute this, see it with the Headmaster and the Board of Governors. Write a report, like always. In the meantime, consider yourself lucky you are no student, for I would have given you a detention for disturbing this classroom."
This shut up Umbridge. The remainder of the lesson was spent in silence, though Umbridge furiously wrote in her notebook. The tension between the two women was still palpable when the class was over.
"Your mother is going to have trouble, Harry," Susan said as they walked towards the Great Hall. "She should be careful to not have Umbridge on her back."
"She's going to have Umbridge against her anyway. Umbridge was supposed to have her job. She'll do everything to remove my mother," Harry replied.
"Do you think Dean and Seamus will really get one week of detention?" Ron asked.
"I hope not," Hermione said. "But they could. Umbridge is not going to let it go."
"That was funny, still. Maybe I should ask Fred and George for the same thing they gave to Dean and Seamus. It would be funny to turn Malfoy's hair into purple."
Most laughed, but Hermione berated Ronald nonetheless by detaching very clearly the five following words. "You are a Prefect."
The evening proved eventless. They worked, mostly. She, Ron and Harry all went to the library after they left the Gryffindor table. Hermione didn't mind studying in the common room, and truth be told she preferred to study there, even more since she became a Prefect. It allowed her to keep an eye on many Gryffindors who could violate rules. But Ron didn't seem able to keep the same level of focus as she was when other people were not working around. And he was late in his homework again, despite the fact that Quidditch practices were over until at least February. Their first game took place last week, and only the match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw was left for the next weekend before there was a long pause of at least three months. So Hermione decided to both accompany him and force him to the library. Once there, however, Harry went separate ways, joining Susan at another table farther away.
"Why don't they just stay with us?" Ron asked as he sat down, letting his bag fall heavily on the floor.
"They have the right for a few moments alone," Hermione explained.
"In the library? Doing homework?" he asked, skeptical. "The day I get myself a girlfriend, it will not be to make my homework with her."
"You already had a girlfriend, Ron. Have you forgotten?" Hermione snapped back at him. This got him to quiet. "This isn't homework that caused you to break up, if I remember correctly. Anyway, right now, we don't have much free time."
"True. Every hour of the day is dedicated to homework. So, let's try to remove some of them."
And they went to work. Hermione had to help Ron a lot, especially on the Potions essay. He looked exhausted when they went back to their common rooms. Harry was not with them. He may have stayed a little more time, or he might have accompanied Susan back to the Hufflepuff common room. Hermione knew that he sometimes did that, leaving Susan before she entered her own common room.
When they reached the Gryffindor Tower and went through the portal behind the Fat Lady, they were welcomed by Fred and George who seemed to be celebrating.
"Hey, you heard the latest news?" George asked them.
"No," Hermione replied.
"Our products are permitted in Hogwarts," Fred proudly announced.
Hermione frowned, but before she could ask for details, George continued. "Umbridge just tried to give detentions to Seamus and Dean for using them during a lesson. And she failed! Dumbledore overturned her decision. Students can cause mischief without punishment now!"
Some cheered behind the twins. Hermione shook her head in despair. Although she was glad that Umbridge was humiliated, she was frustrated to see that some took it as a right to cause trouble. And she dreaded the consequences when Dolores Jane Umbridge would find a way to take her revenge on Mrs Evans for this. For Hermione had no doubt that this woman would hold Lily Evans responsible for this failure, and that she would want, and would find a way to make Harry's mother pay for this.
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