On a Monday in March, an issue of The Quibbler arrives for those who have subscriptions. By mid-morning, however, enormous signs have been put up all over the school. Not just on house noticeboards, but in the corridors and classrooms too.
BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
Any student found in the possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled.
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight.
Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor
This sign, of course, intrigues those students who don't have a subscription to The Quibbler, including myself.
By the end of the day, I've read the article without Umbridge finding out about it, and the rest of the school has as well. Padma and I were able to figure out how to bewitch the pages of our own issues so that we could read the article. If anyone else looked at it, it would appear like regular textbook pages.
The teachers, banned from talking about anything other than the subjects they teach, resort to other methods of showing their approval of Harry Potter's article. In Charms, we all clearly see Flitwick press the box of squeaking sugar mice in his hands.
***
Screams come from the Entrance Hall, and all of us, still eating dinner, follow the sounds out The Great Hall to see where they're coming from. What we find is Professor Trelawney standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall with her wand in one hand and an empty sherry bottle in the other. She looks like a mess, her shawls wrapped around her haphazardly and her glasses placed on her face are lopsided. Two trunks are toppled around at her feet and she stares terrified at Umbridge, who stands at the foot of the stairs.
"No!" she shrieks. "NO! This cannot be happening...it cannot...I refuse to accept it!"
"You didn't realise this was coming?" asks Professor Umbridge in her deceivingly sweet, girlish voice. "Incapable though you are of predicting even tomorrow's weather, you must surely have realised that your pitiful performance during my inspections, and lack of any improvement, would make it inevitable that you would be sacked?"
"You c-can't!" howls Professor Trelawney. Tears are now noticeably streaming down her face, magnified in size by her glasses. "You c-can't sack me! I've b-been here sixteen years! H-Hogwarts is m-my home!"
"It was your home," corrects Professor Umbridge, "until an hour ago, when the Minister for Magic countersigned your Order of Dismissal. Now, kindly remove yourself from this Hall. You are embarrassing us." Trelawney rocks back and forth for a while, while Umbridge watches, clearly enjoying this rush of power.
Professor McGonagall breaks away from the spectators, marches straight up to Professor Trelawney and pats her firmly on the back while withdrawing a large handkerchief from within her robes. "There, there, Sybill...calm down...blow your nose on this...it's not as bad as you think, now...you are not going to have to leave Hogwarts..."
"Oh really, Professor McGonagall?" asks Umbridge, finally taking a few steps forward. "And your authority for that statement is..."
"That would be mine," says a deep voice. The oaken front doors have opened and students move out of the way as Dumbledore appears in the entrance. The crowd of students part as he walks, striding towards Professor Trelawney, who is now sitting on one of her trunks.
"Yours, Professor Dumbledore?" asks Umbridge. "I'm afraid you do not understand the position. I have here -" she pulls a parchment scroll from within her robes " - an Order of Dismissal signed by myself and the Minister for Magic. Under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts has the power to inspect, place upon probation and sack any teacher she - that is to say, I - feel is not performing to the standards required by the Ministry of Magic. I have decided that Professor Trelawney is not up to scratch. I have dismissed her."
"You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge," Dumbledore smiles. "As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to send them away from the castle. I am afraid that the power to do that still resides with the Headmaster, and it is my wish that Professor Trelawney continue to live at Hogwarts."
Professor Trelawney gives a wild little laugh. "No - no, I'll g-go, Dumbledore! I sh-shall - leave Hogwarts and s-seek my fortune elsewhere -"
"No," says Dumbledore sharply. "It is my wish that you remain, Sybill." He turns to Professor McGonagall. "Might I ask you to escort Sybill back upstairs, Professor McGonagall?" Professor Sprout hurries forwards and grabs Trelawney's other arm and helps McGonagall guide her up the marble staircase. Flitiwick is right behind them, levitating her trunks up the stairs.
"And what are you going to do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs her lodgings?" Professor Umbridge asks. "Oh, that won't be a problem," says Dumbledore. "You see, I have already found us a new Divination teacher, and he will prefer lodgings on the ground floor."
"You've found -?" says Umbridge shrilly. "You've found? Might I remind you, Dumbledore, that under Educational Decree Number Twenty-two -"
"The Ministry has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if - and only if - the Headmaster is unable to find one," says Dumbledore. "And I am happy to say that on this occasion I have succeeded. May I introduce you?"
He turns to the open front doors, where through the mist a Centaur appears. He has white-blond hair and blue eyes with the head and torso of a man joined to the palomino body of a horse. "This is Firenze," says Dumbledore. "I think you'll find him suitable."
***
March blurs in to April and with it more Educational Decrees pop up on the common room notice board. They include Educational Decree Number Twenty-nine: Boys and girls are not permitted to be within eight inches of each other (which Pansy is greatly enjoying), Educational Decree Number Thirty: Any items deemed not of educational value are henceforth banned, Educational Decree Number Thirty-one: Boys must be seen to keep their hands on the outside of their school capes, and Educational Decree Number Thirty-two: Wands to be confiscated from students casting recreational spells.
All Educational Decrees are met with grumbles of distaste from the students, but number thirty-one receives a lot of attention. It's a clear breach of students' civil rights as Padma tells me because in 1602 the International Confederation of Wizards stated that it's a witch or wizard's right to carry a wand at all times.
Between studying for OWLs and DA lessons, the only time I get to spend with Draco outside of studying is our own defense lessons. As soon as we start working on Patronuses I'm excited. It takes my second lesson to get it, but it takes Draco even longer. My Patronus takes the form of a Basset Hound and it runs around my legs excitedly as I demonstrate to Draco during our third Patronus lesson.
"It'll stay as long as you focus and just remember you have to think about something happy. The happiest you've ever been," I say. I produced my Patronus when I thought of my happiest memories with my friends and how they accept me for who I am. "If only we had a Boggart. That's how Harry learned. The Boggart would turn into a Dementor."
"It wouldn't do that for me anyways," he says.
"Yeah, mine wouldn't either," I reply, remembering how my Boggart turned into a giant spider. "I never told you what my Boggart was," he murmurs.
"Well, it is a very personal thing. I don't expect you to tell me," I say. "I want to. I know yours and all of the Slytherins know mine and I don't even like most of them," he laughs, but it sounds fake.
"Okay," I say. "What is it?"
"My father," he whispers.
"Your father? Because he's a Death Eater?" I ask, already knowing that's not the answer because of what he showed me last year.
He shakes his head. "It's more than that. Yes, I'm afraid of him, because - well - as you know he's not the kindest man," he says, and I notice that he touches his wrist for the briefest of seconds before pulling away. Most likely a bruised souvenir from the Christmas holidays. "I'm also afraid of disappointing him, but also becoming him. The way he raised me, he wants me to be and expects me to be like him, but I don't want to be like that. I could've had the opportunity to be different my first year, but I chose not to. I was too scared to defy him."
"What happened your first year?" I ask him, curious now that he's finally opening up to me. "I was being sorted. You know how the hat talks in your head, right?" I nod my head, remembering the debate it had about putting me in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I wonder if things would have been different between us if I had been placed in Gryffindor. "Well, it wanted to put me in Hufflepuff," he whispers.
"Hufflepuff," I say, surprised. "You know people say that Hufflepuff is the weakest house, the laughing stock, pushovers, but they're not. Hufflepuffs are loyal, but they also have traits from the other houses. They're brave, ambitious and wise. But I knew my father would have disowned me if he found out. I would have nowhere else to go, so I asked the hat to put me in Slytherin and it did." He looks at me, probably trying to read my expression.
"I think you would've been a great addition to Hufflepuff, but I also think that the Sorting Hat did the right thing in putting you in Slytherin and not because you asked it to. You're the perfect definition of the traits Salazar Slytherin looked for in his pupils and I think you'll be able to help prove people wrong on their views of Slytherin house." He smiles at me. "I think I can do it this time," he says.
"Are you sure? We can stop for today if you want to," I ask. "No, one more try," he continues.
I nod my head. "Okay." He raises his wand and yells, "Expecto Patronum!"
A large shining silver eagle emerges from his wand and soars around the room. He laughs, a large smile spreading across his face.
"You did it," I exclaim, rushing over and giving him a hug. He lifts me up in the air and spins me around. "All thanks to you," he says.
"No, it was all you. I knew you could do it," I smile. "Thanks, Whitley," he whispers in my ear, and he puts me down.
Our faces are so close together now that I can smell spearmint toothpaste and green apple on his breath. His hand is still pressed to my back and as I look up into his beautiful grey eyes, he leans down and kisses me. I dissolve in the warmth of his embrace, deepening the kiss as I lean up on my toes and wrap my arms around my neck. This is happening. I'm kissing Draco Malfoy.
When we pull apart, I say, "For the record, I don't think you're anything like your father and I don't think you ever will be. I have faith in you." He smiles and I know that this will be the memory I use if I ever need to produce a Patronus Charm.
***
At our next DA meeting, we continue practicing Patronuses. Michael's Patronus is a Squirrel, something that receives many laughs from Mandy. "How is a Squirrel supposed to protect you from Dementors?" she asks, breaking down into fits of giggles.
Mandy's Patronus presents as a Hedgehog, leaving Michael laughing. "How is a Hedgehog going to protect you? By being cute?" he teases. "Well, hedgehogs may be cute, you clearly don't know that they've got a hard edge when it comes to defending themselves," she explains.
Padma's Patronus gets the most attention. It appears from her wand just as the door to the Room of Requirement opens and anyone near gasps as they see the shining silver unicorn standing in front of her. "It's beautiful," Lavender whispers.
We turn to see who entered the room and the Patronuses disappear. There's a house elf standing in front of Harry and he greets him like an old friend. "Hi, Dobby!" he says. "What are you - what's wrong?"
"Harry Potter, sir...," squeaks the elf, trembling from head to foot, "Harry Potter, sir...Dobby has come to warn you...but the house elves have been warned not to tell." He runs head first at the wall, but bounces off the stone, cushioned by his eight hats. Mandy and a few of the other girls let out squeaks of fear and sympathy.
"What's happened, Dobby?" Harry asks. "Harry Potter...she...she..." Dobby hits himself hard on the nose with his fist.
"Who's 'she', Dobby? Umbridge?" Harry asks. The elf nods, then tries to bang his head on Harry's knees.
"What about her? Dobby - she hasn't found out about this - about us - about the DA?" Dobby tries to kick himself and sinks to his knees when he's unsuccessful.
"Is she coming?" he asks. "Yes, Harry Potter, yes!" Dobby howls.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellows. "RUN!" We all pelt towards the exit at once.
As soon as we burst through the door, we take off in a direction we're all familiar with. The library. It's not past curfew yet, so it won't be suspicious if we're in the library until the coast is clear. Except we realize that we won't be able to make it to the library and Michael darts into the boy's bathroom, while Padma, Mandy, and I rush into the girl's one.
We come to a halt, each out of breath, not used to running this much. As we're catching our breath, however, someone else enters the bathroom and it's not another member of the DA. As we crouch over our knees panting, I look up to see Pansy standing there and smirking down at us.
"Well, well, well, looks like I get to take more points from Ravenclaw," she says. I make myself stand up and stare her straight in the eye, trying my best to even out my breathing. "Last time I checked, Pansy, it wasn't a crime to be in the girl's bathroom. We're not breaking any rules," I say.
"Oh, but you were. Let's see, it'll be thirty points from Ravenclaw then," she smirks. Padma steps forward, raising herself to her full height, making us both slightly taller than Pansy. "Prefects can't take points from each other," she says, and knowing how shy Padma is, I'm proud of her for standing up for herself.
"Oh, I know that. That's why the thirty points are being taken from the two Mudbloods," she explains. Mandy moves her hand to pull her wand from her robes, but Pansy stops her. "Do what you're about to do and I'll make it more."
She turns to look at Padma. "If you jinx me, I'll tell Umbridge and she'll take points from you."
"Now, what was I saying? Oh, yes, thirty points from Ravenclaw. Ten each for breaking Educational Decree Number Twenty-four and five each for running in the hallways," she says. "You can't prove we did anything," I protest.
"Oh, yes, I can. Because I went into the Room of Requirement and saw all your names on the piece of paper. Not much of an army now, are you?" She turns around and leaves the bathroom.
"Do you think Draco told?" Padma asks. I shake my head. "He promised me he wouldn't. Besides, she would want to know how he knew and why he didn't tell anyone," I reply. My friends all know about the lessons I've been giving Draco, but they don't know about our kiss during our last meeting. I don't think I'm ready to tell them yet.
"If you trust him, we trust him," Mandy says, which leaves me wondering, if Draco didn't tell, then who did?