𝐏𝐘𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀 | Remus Lupin (2)

(𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝟏𝟗) fireworks

"I'm doomed" Athena groaned.

Aurora looked as though all her nightmares had come true, she gripped so hard on her quill that it snapped in her hand. Hogwarts had never been the safest place in the world, any genius could see that but it had been home. Most things about it gave a feeling of warmth, family and protection and now that was ripped from them. Hogwarts was no longer the school they all knew it to be.

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Umbridge took over as soon as she could. By the morning things were already changing. Many of the portraits were being taken down to make room for more rules. The stone walls looked bare and lonely without them.

Usually the castle was warm however now the temperature felt as though they were constantly walking in the dungeons. Athena wrapped an extra cloak around her when walking around that morning, wondering where the little pink hag was hiding.

She was pleased to know that Dumbledore's office had locked itself after his escape from the castle the previous night. Athena was content with the knowledge that Umbridge had thrown a tantrum outside when she couldn't get in. This seemed only fair, her position as headmistress was nothing more than a forgery.

Umbridge had also created an inquisitorial squad completely composed of Slytherins (and not the nice ones). Athena saw them walking around taking away points from anyone they could manage. Athena tried her best to replace the points as fast as she could for any house she saw losing them unfairly however it was a losing battle. There were more of them and Athena had other things to be doing.

She wasn't sure what she had expected of Umbridge's first day in charge of the school. Athena had accepted the fact that she was probably going to be fired but as this hadn't happened by lunch, she was staring to think that Umbridge now had bigger plans in front of her.

However Athena could never have predicted what did happen on this day.

It started right after lunch when Athena was heading back up to her office from the great hall. She began to climb the stone steps when she heard a tremendous BANG.

The chandelier above her shook with the enormity of the sound. Everyone had gone quiet, looking around as though expecting a dragon to rip through one of the stone walls. Athena's first thought was to panic, maybe the school was collapsing in protest of its terrible headmistress.

However a second later all was explained. A large firecracker came flying into the hall, exploding in a shimmering orange and casting sparkles all around the dull walls. Students laughed and cheered as more started to join. It was a firework display happening all around them, everywhere Athena turned she saw another.

As a teacher, Athena should have tried to stop this but she was never one for ruining fun. Another thought was of Umbridge having to deal with this on her first day. Athena couldn't be happier.

She followed the vast variety of fireworks up the stairs until she turned the corner and saw a parade of them happening everywhere with students leaning over staircases to get a better look, not even realising that the staircases in question were taking them to the completely wrong floor.

Dragons comprised entirely of green and gold sparks were soaring up and down the corridors, emitting loud fiery blasts and bangs as they went; shocking-pink Catherine wheels five feet in diameter were whizzing lethally through the air like so many flying saucers; rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls; sparklers were writing swear words in midair of their own accord; firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere Athena looked, and instead of burning themselves out, fading from sight or fizzling to a halt, these pyrotechnical miracles seemed to be gaining in energy and momentum the longer he watched.

As Athena looked up to the next floor she noticed Filch and Umbridge standing, apparently transfixed in horror, halfway down the stairs. As Athena watched, one of the larger Catherine wheels seemed to decide that what it needed was more room to manoeuvre; it whirled towards Umbridge and Filch with a sinister 'wheeeeeeeeee'.

They both yelled with fright and ducked, and it soared straight out of the window behind them and off across the grounds. Meanwhile, several of the dragons and a large purple bat that was smoking ominously took advantage of the open door at the end of the corridor to escape towards the next floor.

"Hurry, Filch, hurry!" shrieked Umbridge, "they'll be all over the school unless we do something--Stupefy!"

A jet of red light shot out of the end of her wand and hit one of the rockets. Instead of freezing in midair, it exploded with such force that it blasted a hole in a painting of a soppy-looking witch in the middle of a meadow; she ran for it just in time, reappearing seconds later squashed into the next painting, where a couple of wizards playing cards stood up hastily to make room for her.

"Don't Stun them, Filch!" shouted Umbridge angrily, for all the world as though it had been his incantation.

"Right you are, Headmistress!" wheezed Filch, who as a Squib could no more have Stunned the fireworks than swallowed them. He dashed to a nearby cupboard, pulled out a broom and began swatting at the fireworks in midair; within seconds the head of the broom was ablaze.

Athena decided it was best not to linger even if this was the best thing she'd seen in years. Pacing off towards her lesson, she had to duck and dive to avoid hundreds of bright exploding lights all over the place. They seemed to be multiplying with every step in an abundance of colours. Athena's eyes flashed with light even when she wasn't looking at them as their blinding nature had imprinted itself on the backs of her eyelids.

The fireworks continued to burn and to spread all over the school that afternoon. Though they caused plenty of disruption, particularly the firecrackers. From what Athena could notice, the teachers didn't seem to mind them very much. In fact, they seemed rather pleased that Umbridge was spending her first day of headmistress having to run around trying to remove fireworks from the school.

Athena was under the same mindset. She thought this was revenge from the school for her kicking out Dumbledore, even though she was more than aware that the Weasley twins were probably behind this. Every time a firework interrupted her lesson, she wouldn't do the charm to remove it herself but instead send a student to find Umbridge.

Soon teachers caught on to this which was sending Umbridge running around the school in a frenzy, it was hilarious to see. Athena didn't even hide her laughter when Umbridge came running into the astronomy tower evidently having just battled a flurry of fireworks.

The upshot of it all was that Professor Umbridge spent her first afternoon as Headmistress running all over the school answering the summonses of the other teachers, none of whom seemed able to rid their rooms of the fireworks without her. When the final bell rang and Athena was heading back to her office with her work she saw, with immense satisfaction, a dishevelled and soot-blackened Umbridge tottering sweaty-faced from Professor Flitwick's classroom.

"Thank you so much, Professor!" said Professor Flitwick in his squeaky little voice. "I could have got rid of the sparklers myself, of course, but I wasn't sure whether or not I had the authority."

Beaming, he closed his classroom door in her snarling face as Athena burst into laughter. Umbridge turned and Athena caught the glare of almost red eyes. Her smile faltered at the pure evil in her new smirk and suddenly she didn't feel very secure standing in the hallway.

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A/n
Words - 2271
Published - 5th August 2021

I got two jumpers today
for £3 each
absolute bargains