Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

What the World Doesn't See (Theodore Nott)

"Drink," she commanded again, growing tired of my back talk. Umbridge settled back again, waiting for my compliance to check whether she needed to apply more force.

Not that she needed to worry. I raised the tea to my lips and drank it without a single flicker of doubt. I wasn't scared of her finding out the truth because she wouldn't. The potion wouldn't work on me and there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it. Drinking a good portion of the tea, I looked pointedly towards me and set the cup back onto the saucer.

Clasping my hands and holding them in my lap, I spoke slowly, "I became resistant to Veritaserum a long time ago."

Umbridge's eyes narrowed, her composure slipping as she asked, "Let's put that to the test, shall we?"

"You're welcome to give it a try," I offered and this time, I was the one to smile a smile similar to hers; all poison and no sugar. It was satisfying; being able to throw it back in her face. "Haven't you read my student file before thinking of using it against me? Surely you know why I had to build up resistance? Maybe you don't because otherwise, you wouldn't doubt me."

"Your name," she demanded firmly and I knew then that she hadn't read my file. "What is your name?"

There was no pause; I had to lie to prove my point. "Albus Dumbledore."

She breathed out sharply, teeth clenched harshly before she once again, regained her calm. Leaning forward, she picked up my teacup and moved it to the side. I watched as she withdrew some parchment and a horrifyingly familiar quill.

"Why don't we try something else?" she suggested, and I accepted the quill and parchment. Whilst the potion hadn't instilled any fear into me, this quill was a very different thing.

Clenching my left hand into a fist on my lap, I put the quill to the parchment. Watching Umbridge from beneath my lashes, I asked, "What do I write?"

"I must not talk back," she commanded and I complained, teeth clenched as I felt the first scrape of the quill against my skin, opening the previous scars and etching them even deeper this time around.

**********

Once Umbridge was satisfied that I had written an entire 50 lines to compensate for the grave sin of talking back to her, she was prompt to send me out of the office. But not before reminding me that I needed to tell the next student that they needed to come in. Clenching my hand into a fist at my side, I didn't so much as wince as the motion forced the slowly healing wounds to reopen once more, and instead nodded stiffly. On my way out of the Toad's office, I sent one of our allies – a sixth year Hufflepuff a soft, reassuring smile before gesturing for him to head in. We didn't even exchange a single word.

Now that I had no other plans for the rest of the evening, I had some hours to kill until I needed to join the rest of my housemates for supper. Instead of heading straight for the common room, I decided to take a detour through one of the lesser used parts of the castle.

No doubt everyone would be comparing their battle scars to see what the toad had made us write or what she had forced from our mouths, but it would take some time for me to get myself to the point of being able to say everything. Sometimes it was just too much to be the person that always smiled. Perhaps in some way it was a good thing that Umbridge had called me in to see her, at least it would give me a chance to deal with everything that had piled itself up in my heart.

Gathering my hands, I studied the scarred words that were slowly healing in the most painful way possible. Releasing a shuddered breath, I did my very best not to focus on the memories that brought themselves to the forefront of my mind with absolutely none of my permission. And yet, it was always the bad things that sought to make themselves known, to remind you that they were always there, lingering and able to pull you back into that situation at a moment's notice.