In the subsequent days, after the small argument between the Gryffindors. Aine has never gone through a day without people muttering behind her back, shouting foul words to her across corridors when they see her, or even straight-up being trashed in the face by students after they heard the rumours. Everyone had assumed that whatever was written in the Daily Prophet was the truth and had gone on turning their backs on her and Harry. Especially the Hufflepuffs, who now had the impression that it was due to the two Gryffindors, that their precious friend had been killed.
The impression of Aine has definitely plummeted with just a couple of articles written and she was feeling even more upset when her friends got dragged into it. However, she still held her chin high, for she was not the person who had murdered Cedric Diggory. She had learnt to let go of the fact that she couldn't save him and that the person who had sinned was someone else: Peter Pettigrew and Lord Voldemort. There was just nothing she could have done and the situation was just unfortunate and tragic. Hermione had even reminded her that Cedric wouldn't have wanted Aine to suffer from clinging onto that past guilt. This was why she chose to ignore those accusations and insults, she had done nothing wrong and she knew that above anyone else, she knew she was innocent.
Nonetheless, there were a handful of her friends who had wholeheartedly supported her in the midst of this conflict. The Weasleys, Hermione, Harry and even Draco, who had surprised her the most since he was usually quick to be throwing shade at others before, Harry in particular. Yet, there was another problem that seemingly needed more attention to tend to and that was the class Aine was having currently.
With a toad-like appearance, the lady stood at the front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Her hair, as usual, was perfectly moussed and curled and the students all grimaced at the overpowering scent of the hair styling foam. Professor Umbridge had worn a full set of pink again today, she wore a dark pink dress with a knitted light pink cardigan over it. With a high-pitched giggle, she started the class. "Good morning, children," she greeted with a sugary voice and everyone immediately cringed.
"Good morning, Professor Umbridge," the class greeted back, forcing the words out of their trembling lips. What another year of crappy Defense Against the Dark Arts indeed.
The professor simpers, her eyes curling into crescents and it made her look creepily menacing. She glanced at every student who stared back at her, wondering how she would conduct the class. Would she be self-obsessed like Gilderoy Lockhart? Or will she be like Remus Lupin who incorporates 'fun' into his classes? Or will it be like Alastor Moody who believed that they should be taught practically how to defend dark arts and learn about the uses of dark arts? The class was quiet, contemplating it in their heads.
They watched as Umbridge faces the board, and with her rather short wand, she swirled in the air and the words: Ordinary, Wizarding, Levels, formed in cursive.
Approaching the board, the professor's heels clicked on the wooden floorboards. "O-W-Ls. Or commonly known as OWLs!" she titters and students shifted uncomfortably in their seats at her pitch. She turns back to them and smiles again, "You will be taking your OWLs next year, which is why you are to be prepared from— Now."
"Study hard and you will be rewarded," she tells them. "Fail to do so— And the consequences may be severe." Her eyes widened with a glint of warning behind them. A couple of students smirk at one another while Aine simply gave a blank look to the professor who looked in her direction. With another wave of the wand, the thick stacks of books displayed on the table in front began to levitate, floating to each lane and passing out a copy to a student.
When it was Aine's turn to get her copy, the book falls onto the table with a thump and she blinks at the title, 'DARK ART DEFENSE, Basics for Beginners' was written on the cover along with an illustration of a witch and wizard holding the exact same book. At first glance, it had looked like a children's book and after Aine had opened it and flipped through the pages, it was safe to assume that it literally was a children's book. Her eyes scan through the text and an inaudible scoff escaped her lips. We're going to study the topic with this book? she thought to herself. There wasn't anything written about defensive spells nor practical information regarding it.
"Is this a joke?" she heard her classmate whisper from behind, having the exact same opinion as to her.
"Definitely a joke, right?" the other student replied with a quizzical look on his face.
Umbridge struts down the aisle, she went on, "Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you'll be pleased to know, from now on, you will be following a carefully structured, Ministry-approved— course of defensive magic." Her steps halted when she spotted a hand raised. "Yes? Mister...?" she trails off, narrowing an eye as she didn't get his name.
"Neliel," the boy introduces and she nodded to him to go on. "I've noticed that there's nothing in here about using spells that defend us?"
There was a gasp followed by a sneer from Umbridge, "Using spells?" she questioned like it was the most absurd thing she has heard all day. "Well, I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom!"
"We're not gonna use magic? But this is Defense Against the Dark Arts! Aren't we supposed to use magic to defend ourselves?" Neliel exclaims, furrowing with confusion.
"You'll be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way!" Umbridge announces and the class exchanges look with one another, baffled by their professor's words. They couldn't understand why they needed to learn in an inoffensive way especially if they were to be in a battle, it would not be risk-free.
Aine raises her hand and her teacher gestures for her to speak, "And if we are to be attacked? Do we just bring out this book and we'll be safe? We need to be taught how to protect ourselves through defensive magic, that's why this class is important because it teaches us to use them," she said calmly.
A handful of students snickered at Aine's remark and upon her words, Aine could see Umbridge's lips twitching at the comment. She knew that the professor didn't agree with her views by the forced smile she was plastering on. "It is the view of the Ministry, that theoretical knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations. Which, after all— Is what school is all about!" she told them, her voice strong and assertive as if planting her principles into their minds. Though, certainly, it did not get through Aine's.
"Forgive me if I am out of line, Professor Umbridge but besides theory, we need to be taught about the spells to defend ourselves from what's out there," Aine replies. A year ago, she would partially agree that theory was all that's needed, but now that the Dark Lord is back. They needed to learn all kinds of defensive knowledge and skills in case the situation calls for it.
Umbridge gave a pitiful smile at Aine as if she was looking at a child talking about something utterly impossible and foolish, "There is nothing out there, dear! Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourself?" she asks daringly.
Aine chuckles to herself, unable to believe the obliviousness of this woman. "Well, I could think of one," she stated and the professor raises a brow. "Voldemort," she casually answered back and the class started muttering amongst themselves again much to Umbridge's displeasure.
The smile on Professor Umbridge's face faltered, as she studies the other student's face. They were shaking their heads at Aine's answer, whispering the words 'crazy', 'she's possessed' and 'weird'. These words were familiar to Aine since she has practically been hearing them all day so she didn't mind it one bit. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, however, was trembling as she tries to contain her composure but the colour of her face was matching her pink outfit. She was getting redder by the second. "Now, let me make this quite... Quite plain," she stammers, lumbering towards Aine. "You have been told... That a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This... Is... A LIE!" she concluded.
"Is it though?" Aine questions. She tilted her head, staring straight at Umbridge's icy blue eyes.
"Pardon me?" Umbridge scoffs.
"Harry fought him last year in the Triwizard Maze," Ginny added, backing her friend up.
"That is also a lie, Miss Estoileon. Mr Potter did not do that!" Umbridge exclaimed.
"It's not a lie, the Triwizard Cup that was placed in the maze was a Portkey. It transported him and Cedric to the graveyard where Voldemort was reborn," Aine said. Umbridge was already shaking her head, frowning at her claims.
"You and Potter..." she gritted through her curled pink lips. "Children... Should— Not— Tell... LIES—" she seethes with a low voice, glaring at the fearless girl.
"I'm not telling any lies, Professor Umbridge. Just truth and nothing but the truth," Aine replies blatantly.
Umbridge twirls around, ignoring Aine's sentence and therefore ending the conversation before her facade crumbles. She shot Aine one last glance before taking a deep breath and starting the class. Sitting down on the wooden chair by the teacher's table, she uses her wand to flip to the first chapter before looking up. "Today, we will be learning about..."
The class went on for almost two and a half hours, students barely keeping their eyes open as Umbridge read out the paragraphs of the chapter. Throughout the class, no one exchanged a single word nor asked any questions. They were told to keep their eyes glued to the text and the figures depicting the steps to take when facing the dark arts and to make sure they had memorized the defensive step sequence in their minds before the class ended.
Ginny for one wasn't particularly fond of it since she felt it was useless if they didn't practice it first-hand, much like their other classmates. Nevertheless, they swallowed their opinions and huffed through their noses, keeping their heads down on the thick book.
"Before you leave, please copy the approved text of chapters one to three and hand it to me during the next lesson," Umbridge reminds and the students groaned, they started to pack their stuff before they moved on to the next class but the professor stops them with a cleared throat. Everyone turned to Umbridge who blinks innocently with a grin.
"You are supposed to greet me farewell before you leave, children," she told them and Aine pursed her lips.
Ginny softly throws her books back onto the table before giving an eye roll and bidding Umbridge 'Thank you and goodbye' along with her classmates.
As the girls turned around to leave the classroom, their tracks were stopped when Umbridge had called behind Aine. The raven-haired girl closes her eyes and whips around with a smile, "Yes, Professor Umbridge?" she asks politely.
Umbridge narrows her blue eyes to Aine and giggles, "Please see me in the evening later at exactly six o'clock," she said and Aine raises a brow.
"May I know what is it for?"
"Detention, dear," Umbridge sweetly replies and Ginny scoffed before shutting her sneer when Aine shot her a look.
Aine cocked her head to one side, expressing her confusion. "I don't believe I have said anything that asks for a detention, ma'am," she responded.
However, Umbridge burst into a fit of giggles. She covers her mouth before taking a step forward, "You have spoken rudely to me earlier, Miss Estoileon. Speaking of lies and false claims openly. And for that, you ought to be... Punished," she mutters sweetly and Aine hitches her breath, hiding in her irritation. She could smell the pungent fragranced perfume even at a distance and it was making her dizzy.
She returned with an apologetic look and a forced smile before nodding her head, "Of course, professor." She wanted to get out of this classroom before she was any more disgusted with the woman standing in front of her. "Goodbye, professor," she bids, self-banishing herself from the room with Ginny.
Once they were out, within a few steps. Ginny had finally exploded, fuming with rage as she stomps away from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "What the hell is her problem!" she ranted to her friend, yanking away her hair tie and letting her hair fall freely. She runs her fingers through her hair to detangle the crease and to let out some of her anger. "I can't believe she's actually giving you detention, for what? Speaking of lies and false claims openly?" she mimics the high-pitched tone of Umbridge.
"She'll hear you, Gin," Aine sighs. She was already done with her Defense Against the Dark Arts class from her first lesson today. To think that she had to go through another twenty to thirty more classes with Umbridge. To sum up, it was a pain in the arse.
"Who cares!" Ginny jeers. "Aren't you annoyed, Ai? I mean— Wow!" she let out an exasperated laugh, bewildered by the reasoning of their professor. "What part of your words were wrong? They were all right! Why won't she believe you? Isn't she part of the ministry? Shouldn't they know what's right and wrong easily? I mean— They're professionals in this area, right?" the red-head questions, snapping to Aine who dragged her feet.
"I think that's precisely the problem, Gin. She works for Fudge and therefore she shares the same opinion as him. He refused to believe Voldemort is back and his mind is warped with fear, just like what Remus and the rest had said," Aine mutters back glumly.
Ginny squeezes her books, gripping onto the spines tightly with her nails. "It's her attitude too! Why does she even talk to us as if we're like babies! I can't believe I sat through two and a half hours listening to her babble. Even mom doesn't speak to us in such a manner! Oh, my ears..." she massages her earlobes, cringing as Umbridge's voice plays in her head.
Aine chuckles at her best friend who was basically screaming in the hallway, mirroring her internal thoughts of their new professor. She was feeling slightly crappy earlier but seeing how her friend had shared her frustrations, she was glad she wasn't the only one feeling so. "Let's go have a good venting session during dinner with the rest later," Aine winks to Ginny. "I'm sure they have plenty to rave about later too."
"Damn right, they have because I certainly do," Ginny huffs.
Aine snickers before tugging onto Ginny's sleeves, "Come on, we're going to be late for Potions if we continue to mope around like this!" she said, picking up her pace as she began jogging to their next class. Ginny groans loudly, throwing her head backwards before catching up with Aine.
"Great! Another annoying class!" she replies with sarcasm.
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