Playing with Fire

Chapter thirty ~ The Second Wizarding War

The next day's papers were all filled with numerous articles stating the facts of which Harry had been trying to convince people to believe in all year; that the Dark Lord had returned. Hermione had read us the head article of the Daily Prophet already, the one stating Voldemort's return, Dumbledore's re-installation as the headmaster of Hogwarts, the fight taking place at the Ministry and so on... It also gave the names of a number of Death Eaters - including Lucius Malfoy who currently was being shipped off to Azkaban.

Harry had told us what had happened - how he had thought Sirius had been killed by Bellatrix as he had jumped down to save me and Draco - and how he then had rushed after her in rage where he then had met Voldemort. Dumbledore had saved Harry from going down the wrong path and the Ministry men had arrived right in time to see Voldemort themselves. It had been quite intense, from the sound of it.

We were in the Hospital Wing. Harry was sitting on the end of Ron's bed; Ginny, whose akle had been mended in a trice by Madam Pomfrey, was curled up at the foot of Hermione's bed; Neville, whose nose had likewise been returned to its normal size and shape, was in a chair between the two beds; and Luna, who had dropped in to visit, clutching the latest edition of the Quibbler, was reading the magazine upside-down and apparently not caring what Hermione had just read. As for me, I was sitting in between Harry and Ron, legs bent underneath me as I tried to figure out what to say.

"So, anyway," said Hermione, sitting up a little straighter and wincing again, "what's going on in school?"

"Well, Flitwick's got rid of Fred and George's swamp," said Ginny, "he did it in about three seconds. But he left a tiny patch under the window and he's roped it off-"

"Why?" said Hermione, looking startled.

"Oh, he just says it was a really good bit of magic," said Ginny, shrugging.

"I think he left it as a monument to Fred and George," said Ron, through a mouthful of chocolate. "They sent me all these, you know," he told Harry, pointing at the small mountain of Frogs beside him. "Must be doing all right out of that joke shop, eh?"

Hermione looked rather disapproving and asked, "So has all the trouble stopped now Dumbledore's back?"

"Yes," said Neville, "everything's settled right back to normal."

"I s'pose Filch is happy, is he?" asked Ron, propping a Chocolate Frog Card featuring Dumbledore against his water jug.

"Not at all," said Ginny. "He's really, really miserable, actually..." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "He keeps saying Umbridge was the best thing that ever happened to Hogwarts..."

All seven of us looked around. Professor Umbridge was lying in a bed opposite us, gazing up at the ceiling. Dumbledore had strode alone into the Forest to rescue her from the centaurs (who had abducted her after Harry and Hermione lured her into the forest); how he had done it - how he had emerged from the trees supporting Professor Umbridge without so much as a scratch on him - nobody knew, and Umbridge was certainly not telling. Since she had returned to the castle she had not, as far as any of us knew, uttered a single word. Nobody really knew what was wrong with her, either. Her usually neat mousy hair was very untidy and there were still bits of twigs and leaves in it, but otherwise she seemed to be quite unscathed.

"Madam Pomfrey says she's just in shock," whispered Hermione.

"Speaking of shock," said Ginny, suddenly turning to me, "how's Draco doing?"

The six pair of eyes suddenly turned to me and I pretended to be much interested in the heel of my shoes. I still needed new shoes. I had totally forgotten all about that, as the bottom of them now both had two big holes.