A/N: Welcome to a new year, and more chapters. I am finishing this story this year.
(y/n) sat in between Fred and George as they waited for the first years to be sorted in the Great Hall. It was a joyful feeling to be back in the place she saw as her home. Wren and Lee sat in front of her, clutching their hands together to make up for the lost time.
Once (y/n) and Wren were able to explain what the order was, and what they had truly been doing for the last three months, their was no denying the relief Lee felt. She knew he was still mad for not receiving a single letter, especially when they had found out that she had slipped out to meet Harry- but once it was talked about, all was forgiven.
"Whose that lady up there?" Angelina asked, looking up towards where the professors sat.
"Looks like a unicorn threw up on her," George said with a laugh.
"Definitely seems like a delight," Ron mumbled as he rested his chin under her arm.
"It's that Umbridge woman!" Harry yelled from two seats down, causing (y/n) to slightly jump in her seat as she looked over to him.
"Who?" She asked, meeting his eye, and looking up at the women that was covered head to toe in pink.
"She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!"
"Nice cardigan," said Ron, smirking as he shook his head. "Maybe you can ask her for some fashion advice, right Fred?"
Fred just sent his little brother a glare as he shook his head.
"What on earth is she doing here, then?" Hermione asked as she placed a gentle hand on Harry's arm." Surely they would have a reason for making her our new professor right?"
"They're scared," Ginny said, reaching over and taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "It's the only logical explanation."
(Y/n) shook her head, agreeing with the young Weasley, making eye contact with the pink lady, known as 'Umbridge.' She was about to whisper to Fred when the sea of young heads entered the Great Hall.
A long line of scared-looking first-years entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizards hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim.
The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The first-years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students, and Professor McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back.
"How many little ones do you think we'll get this time around?" Wren asked as he looked around at the timid kids.
"Wren, you do realize that you're not a Gryffindor right?" (y/n) laughed, shaking her head.
"I think the blue is fading on his cloak," George joked as he pointed his wand to Wren. "I mean it was only a matter of time before you joined us permanently."
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," Dumbledore said, looking out towards each table. "First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students—and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too."
(y/n) only rolled her eyes as both Fred and George snickered next to her.
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door."
"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause, during which Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged slightly panicked looks; Dumbledore had not said for how long Grubbly-Plank would be teaching, and it made (y/n) realize that Hagrid was no where to be seen.
"Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the—' He broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, 'Hem, hem,' and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.
Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was in a thin line.
No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." (y/n) cringe at the sound of her voice as it was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish and, she felt a powerful rush of dislike.
She gave another little throat-clearing cough ('hem, hem') and continued. "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!" (Y/n) glanced around quickly- none of the faces she could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.
Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ('hem, hem'), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them for ever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."
(Y/n) shook her head looking around to see a look of disgust on almost everyone's face but those from the Slytherin table.
"She's joking right?"
"Who is this women?"
"Every task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation."
"She's putting me to sleep," Wren whispered leaning slightly forward. "She's worse then Binn's class."
(Y/n) stiffed a laugh as she looked back at professor Umbridge who was still giving a rather long a tedious speech.
"Because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited," she finished, not once taking a breath as she sat back down.
Dumbledore clapped, the staff following his lead, though (y/n) noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.
"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held ..."
"Yes, it certainly was illuminating," Hermione said in a low voice.
"You're not telling me you enjoyed it?" Ron said quietly, turning a glazed face towards Hermione. "That was about the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy."
"I said illuminating, not enjoyable," Hermione huffed, shaking her head. "It explained a lot."
"Did it?" (Y/n) asked in surprise. "Sounded like a load of waffle to me."
"There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle," Hermione said grimly.
"Was there?" Ron asked blankly as he looked over to Harry for help, who was currently looking at a loss for words.
"How about: "progress for progress's sake must be discouraged"? How about: "pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited"?'
"Well, what does that mean?" Ron asked impatiently.
"I'll tell you what it means," Hermione said through gritted teeth. "It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."
There was a great clattering and banging all around them; Dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the Hall. Hermione jumped up, looking flustered. "Ron, we're supposed to show the first-years where to go!"
"Oh yeah," Ron said, looking over to (y/n) to see if he actually had to do it since he had obviously forgotten.
"Hey—hey, you lot! Midgets!"
"Ron!" (y/n) said, whacking him upside the head from where she got up.
"Well, they are, they're so small..."
"I know, but you can't call them midgets!" (Y/n) said shaking her head as she tightened her grip in Fred's hand. "I have to go, and make sure he actually follows through with showing them around. You know, Head Girl stuff."
"Promise you'll come back soon?" Fred asked, not liking the idea of being apart from her any longer. "We got to discuss our back to school pranks."
"I promise," she said with a tight smile as she got up from her seat. She looked over to Ron and Hermione who were quickly showing the first years where to go. She shook her head at the scene in front of her, and headed out towards the Forbidden Forest.
It was times like this when she wished she had Harry's invisible cloak or at least the marauder's map to help navigate. Head Girl only gave her so many perks, and though sneaking out was one of them, she also didn't want to get caught by a teacher.
The air froze her robe to her skin as she walked across the pavement to where the outskirts of the forest was. She wondered in times like this if her mum also made choices that defied, and broke the rules for everything that she knew.
I'm doing it for them, she thought as she walked closer to the trees. The shadows dancing off of one another as she drew in closer.
"I didn't think you were going to show up," a voice called out, pulling her attention away.
The hair on her arm stood up as she looked into the eyes of dark grey. The smirk he wore made her want to wipe it off completely, but she had better things to do then fight with someone that was two years younger then her.
His green robe shinning in the moonlight. "Are we doing this or not?"
"Wipe that smirk off your face Malfoy before I do it for you."
A/N: See you on Sunday