All in the Family

Chapter 107: Professor Umbridge

To Stitches: Pink is a fine color in moderation, much like everything. James has yet to learn attention falls under this as well, but they're all getting there at their own pace. Thank you so very much!

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There was no chance for anyone to have a kind landing this time, what with the owl droppings all around and several more being deposited upon them at their abrupt arrival.

Lily found herself crashing against the window and had to scramble madly not to fall right through down to Hagrid's Hut below. James found himself face to face with Hedwig once more, who screeched at him all puffed up like a giant angry snowball.

Worst of all, rain was pouring down from above, rising the smell of hay and feces right to their faces even as they did get to their feet, water was slapping against their necks from the windowless eve even with the door closed, and Peter blanched in disgust to be spying more rat skeletons along the floor. He hadn't liked being in here even before he'd become an animagus, all the birds cooing and glaring down at him, now it just felt like a bad omen. He was more than happy to get out of here as soon as possible, and around cold shivers already creeping into him, he summoned the book which came zooming down from one of the top rafters just to add insult to injury. The soggy chapter title was somehow the worst bit of all though.

"A whole chapter dedicated to that toad-faced woman?" Sirius asked in disgust, leaning around Peter to double check for himself. Peter only wished he were making it up.

Seamus Finnigan only kept the mood in dreary levels by the reminder of how he, and likely the majority of the school, was going to be treating Harry this following year.

At least the twins were always a good distraction. Peter read almost fanatically about their poster and any form of fun and mayhem they could be sharing. Hermione of course had to go and kill that mood too.

"Oh don't," Lily snapped as she glared at the Marauders, particularly Potter as usual, though she was side-eyeing Lupin with particular disdain instead of Black this time. "It's her job to be doing this as well as Ron's."

"No one's paying them to do it," James scoffed.

She rolled her eyes and most definitely was not going to get into it with him, it would fall on deaf ears how those eleven-year-olds had no idea what they'd be getting into to volunteer for anything.

Frank shifted uncomfortably as talk of Hagrid not being there came and went again. He kept telling himself he was being ridiculous just like Alice did, he'd already spent six years in this castle with Hagrid and Lupin the werewolf and literally nothing had happened but some odd rumors, half of which the Marauders themselves apparently started going by their commentary, and there weren't even any mysterious deaths or disappearances.

Telling himself that and his heart still accelerating without permission were two very different things.

Instead he was more than happy to smile along with Alice when Keeper tryouts were mentioned, even having no particular liking for the sport himself, he would sit through a dozen games just to watch Alice react to it.

Then even that was spoiled by having to listen to Harry's schedule for that Monday!

"I thought torture was banned at Hogwarts!" James yelped at that madness.

"It's, almost a good thing," Frank couldn't keep all the patheticness out of his voice for how he felt of this. "Get them all out of the way at once."

"No!" James snapped back for anyone trying to make this a good thing.

"We don't know that Umbridge woman is going to be a bad teacher yet," Alice sighed and defended her boyfriend more out of obligation than anything, nobody believed otherwise after what little they'd heard of her so far.

Peter just ignored her.

Even talk of their OWLs coming up helped settle no one, as the fifth-years still had those to look forward to when they got back! Even Frank, Alice, and Regulus grimaced along with them at imagining taking exams the coming Monday after having lived through this nonsense.

At least Sirius got a laugh out of the twins putting bulbadox powder in someone's pants, he was mentally writing that one down, though not yet determined who he'd use it on, present company not exactly excluded.

"It's nice to be ahead of Hermione on something," Regulus muttered for himself as she and Ron began to wonder where the twins had gotten their money for all their joke shop talk.

Harry semi-managed to change the subject at least, and the book droned on a bit into one of Binns's always 'memorable' classes, and the following spat between Ron and Hermione. Peter found himself almost starting to relax at least with these familiar patterns, he'd been expecting Umbridge to do something much worse by now what with her name being front and center.

Instead Harry went through a whole embarrassing bit with Cho, a nasty but predictable bullying of Snape, and an entire sleep-worthy lecture by Trelawney about dreams.

The rain was still lasshing around them, Pig was now hooting and hopping along to his seventh spot, and they were all shivering miserably, but despite all of that and their continued mental assurances Umbridge wouldn't even bother to acknowledge Harry, they all felt a chill go up their spine when Harry first went into her room.

She certainly didn't impress anyone with her continuing to treat them like toddlers doing a morning greeting, but at least the worst she seemed to have them doing that first day was copying what they'd be doing for the semester, a standard enough approach.

Peter frowned however and Regulus glanced over his shoulder to read that for himself when it really sunk in what they were hearing.

Sirius had been pacing for warmth and James had been picking at his ears in boredom, but they looked up sharply as well.

Remus scrutinized the book in confusion and Frank opened and closed his mouth but decided to wait and hear this out first, surely they were jumping to the wrong conclusions here.

Lily and Alice exchanged a wordless look that spoke volumes, something was off there.

Things only got worse, as Hermione instigated a question they'd all like answered, why was there nothing about using spells on her chalkboard?

Only after Hermione refused to be deterred several times and even Harry jumped in did Umbridge finally say it in plain English, she didn't think there was a need!

Harry wasn't the only one who would have lost his temper at this notion. Never, in all their bad teachers, had they actually heard of someone coming into the school and refusing to teach!

They half expected the toad woman to slap shackles onto Harry rather than just writing out a note for McGonagall to read, this was just so out there.

Instead, Harry found himself with detention for a week, and McGonagall telling him to mind his temper.

"If that was her first class, what other levels of hell could the rest of this year be like?" Peter grimaced before promising the others at least this chapter was done while finishing the last line and at least getting them away from this dismal place.