"Morning dear Aurora" Fred says as I walk down from the girls dorm,
"Morning Freddie" We walk over to one of the sofa's whilst George places a advertisement on the common room notice board before coming back over to us. "Hey Georgie"
"Morning Ror" We look up as Harry and Ron come down from the boys dorm, I send Harry a quick smile which he returns before walking over to Hermione.
"Should we head down for breakfast"
"Yeah" Both twins say in unison as we get up and head the the portrait hole. We find Lee as soon as we enter the great hall.
"Morning you 3" He says as we sit down.
"Morning Lee" I saw Harry walking in behind a group of Ravenclaws with Ron and Hermione. Harry sat down beside me with Hermione beside him and Ron opposite beside Fred. I notice Angelina walking towards us with a look of purpose.
"Hi, Angelina." Harry greets her.
"Hi," she said briskly "Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."
"Nice one," Harry said, grinning at her
"Yeah, well, we need a new Keeper now Oliver's left. Tryouts are on Friday at five o'clock and I want the whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the new person'll fit in." She looks at Harry and the twins.
"Okay," Harry said, and she smiled at him and departed.
"I'd forgotten Wood had left," Hermione said vaguely, pulling a plate of toast toward her.
"I hadn't forgotten" I mutter to the twins.
"What actually happened between you two. You looked so happy and cute together. Not that you don't look cute with Charlie" Hermione asks looking at me.
"We just didn't work out in the end" I say quickly as she goes back to talking about Quidditch.
"I suppose that will make quite a difference to the team?"
"I s'pose," Harry said. "He was a good Keeper."
"Still, it won't hurt to have some new blood, will it?" Ron said. With a whoosh and a clatter, hundreds of owls came soaring in through the upper windows. They descended all over the Hall, bringing letters and packages to their owners and showering the breakfasters with droplets of water; it was clearly raining hard outside. I notice Bill's owl as it drops a letter in front of me.
"Is that Bill's owl" Fred questions as I take the letter.
"Yeah" I shrug as I open the letter.
Dear Rory,
Hope school isn't too boring already. Headquarters is definitely more boring without you and the twins to talk to. And on the note of you and the twins, mum says to tell you all to be good or else and Sirius said don't do anything he wouldn't of done whilst Remus sat there shaking his head. I'm guessing there isn't a lot that Sirius wouldn't of done.
Tell all the others I said hi
From Pillock (I can't believe I actually wrote that)
I laugh slightly before handing the letter to Fred.
"See George I told you our family loves hers more than they love us" Fred says as Ginny looks over to us.
"Yes we do" She calls over as I smile at her.
"What about you Ron who's your favourite us or Rory" George asks him.
"Rory" Ron says without hesitation making the twins pout.
"Sorry boys I'm just too awesome" I smirk at them. Professor McGonagall was now moving along the table handing out schedules.
"Look at today!" groaned Ron. "History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defence Against the Dark Arts . . . Binns, Snape, Trelawney, and that Umbridge woman all in one day! I wish you two would hurry up and get those Skiving Snackboxes sorted"
"Do mine ears deceive me?" Fred said "Hogwarts prefects surely don't wish to skive off lessons?"
"Look what we've got today," Ron said grumpily, shoving his schedule under Fred's nose. "That's the worst Monday I've ever seen."
"Fair point, little bro," Fred said, scanning the column. "You can have a bit of Nosebleed Nougat cheap if you like."
"Why's it cheap?" Ron said suspiciously.
"Because you'll keep bleeding till you shrivel up, we haven't got an antidote yet," George said, helping himself to a kipper.
"Cheers," Ron said moodily, pocketing his schedule, "but I think I'll take the lessons."
"And speaking of your Skiving Snackboxes," Hermione said, eyeing me, Fred and George beadily, "you can't advertise for testers on the Gryffindor notice board."
"Says who?" George said, looking astonished.
"Says me," Hermione said. "And Ron."
"Leave me out of it," Ron said hastily. Hermione glared at him. Fred and George sniggered.
"You'll be singing a different tune soon enough, Hermione," Fred said, thickly buttering a crumpet. "You're starting your fifth year, you'll be begging us for a Snackbox before long."
"And why would starting fifth year mean I want a Skiving Snackbox?" She asked.
"Fifth year's O.W.L. year," George said.
"So?"
"So you've got your exams coming up, haven't you? They'll be keeping your noses so hard to that grindstone they'll be rubbed raw," I told her with satisfaction.
"Half our year had minor breakdowns coming up to O.W.L.s, even our dear Aurora" George said happily. "Tears and tantrums. Patricia Stimpson kept coming over faint."
"Kenneth Towler came out in boils, d'you remember?" Fred said reminiscently.
"That's 'cause you put Bulbadox Powder in his pajamas," I informed him.
"Oh yeah," He said, grinning. "I'd forgotten. Hard to keep track sometimes, isn't it?"
"Anyway, it's a nightmare of a year, the fifth," George said. "If you care about exam results anyway. Fred and I managed to keep our spirits up somehow sometimes with Rory."
"Yeah . . . you got, what was it, three O.W.L.s each?" Ron said.
"Yep," Fred said unconcernedly. "But we feel our futures lie outside the world of academic achievement."
"We seriously debated whether we were going to bother coming back for our seventh year," George said brightly, "now that we've got —" He broke off at a warning look from Harry, who knew George had been about to mention the Triwizard winnings he had given them. "now that we've got our O.W.L.s," George said hastily. "I mean, do we really need N.E.W.T.s? But we didn't think Mum could take us leaving school early, not on top of Percy turning out to be the world's biggest prat and we couldn't leave our dear Rory alone."
"We're not going to waste our last year here, though," Fred said, looking affectionately around at the Great Hall. "We're going to use it to do a bit of market research, find out exactly what the average Hogwarts student requires from his joke shop, carefully evaluate the results of our research, and then produce the products to fit the demand."
"But where are you going to get the gold to start a joke shop?" asked Hermione skeptically. "You're going to need all the ingredients and materials and premises too, I suppose" Harry did not look at the twins. His face felt hot; he deliberately dropped his fork and dived down to retrieve it. He heard Fred say overhead,
"Ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies, Hermione. C'mon, George, Rory, if we get there early we might be able to sell a few Extendable Ears before Herbology." Fred said standing up. We headed to Herbology and before long it was time for Defence against the dark arts.
When we entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom we found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head. The class was quiet as it entered the room except for me, Fred and George.
"Well, good Morning!" she said when finally the whole class had sat down. A few people mumbled a Good morning in reply. "Tut, tut," Professor Umbridge said. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good Morning, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good Morning, class!"
"Good Morning, Professor Umbridge," most of the class chanted back at her.
"Does she think we're 5 or something" I whispered to the twins.
"What was that dear" She said looking at me.
"Nothing Professor" She gave me a fake smile before turning back to the class.
"Wands away and quills out, please." Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks, the order "wands away" had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting. I left my wand where it was currently sat in my robe's and reached for my bag to pull out a quill, ink, and parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once: Defence Against the Dark Arts A Return to Basic Principles. "Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your N.E.W.T. year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please." She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by: Course aims: 1.Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic. 2.Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used. 3.Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use. For a couple of minutes the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment as I looked at the twins who were doing as she said as I did the same. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's three course aims she said, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class. "I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"
"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room.
"Good," said Professor Umbridge. "I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk." Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher's desk, observing us all with those pouchy toad's eyes. I opened my book and laid it on the desk not actually bothering to read it. Several silent minutes passed. I continued to just stare at Umbridge wondering when she was going to do some actual teaching. After several more minutes had passed Professor Umbridge looked at me.
"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked in her awful fake voice.
"Not about the chapter, no,"
"Well, we're reading just now," Professor Umbridge said, showing her small, pointed teeth. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."
"Well I'd rather not read it to be quite honest. I mean I thought it was your job to teach us not for us to just read a book" Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows.
"And your name is?"
"Rory"
"I don't have a Rory on my register so what is your real name"
"Aurora Potter" I said not taking my eyes off hers.
"Well, Miss Potter I think the course aims will be perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness.
"Well, I don't," I said bluntly. "There's nothing written up there about using any defensive spells." There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the blackboard.
"Using defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Potter. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"
"We're not going to use magic?" Fred said loudly from beside me.
"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr.?"
"Weasley,"
"Surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells isn't it?" I said not bothering with her stupid hand up rule
"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Potter?" asked Professor Umbridge in her falsely sweet voice.
"Well if you're one then I recon I definitely could be"
"I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way" She says trying to keep calm
"What use is that? If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a risk free way will it"
"Hand, Miss. Potter!" sang Professor Umbridge. Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from me again, but now several other people had their hands up too. "And your name is?" Professor Umbridge said to Lee.
"Lee Jordan Professor."
"Well, Mr. Jordan?"
"Well, it's like Rory said, If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free"
"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Lee, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"
"No, but" Professor Umbridge talked over him.
"I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," she said, an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed not to mention," she gave a nasty little laugh, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."
"Who the hell do you think you are" I stand up at the mention of Moony.
"Sit down Miss Potter" She raises her voice slightly. I sit down glaring at her.
"If you mean Professor Lupin," George said angrily, "he was the best we ever"
"Hand, Mr. Weasley! As I was saying you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day"
"No we haven't," Lee said, "we just"
"Your hand is not up, Mr Jordan" Lee put up his hand; Professor Umbridge turned away from her. "It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you"
"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" I snap
"Your hand is not up, Miss Potter!" trilled Professor Umbridge. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?" she added, staring at Angelina, whose hand had just shot up.
"Angelina Johnson, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defence Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T.s? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter curses and things?"
"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions," said Professor Umbridge dismissively.
"Without ever practicing them before?" I said incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"
"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough"
"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" I say louder than before. Professor Umbridge looked up.
"This is school, Miss Potter, not the real world," she said softly.
"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there literally in less than a year?"
"There is nothing waiting out there, Miss. Potter."
"Oh yeah?"
"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" inquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice.
"Hmm, let's think" I say a mock thoughtful voice, "maybe Lord Voldemort?" most of the class either gasps or lets out a little scream. Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She was staring at me with a grimly satisfied expression on her face.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss. Potter." The classroom was silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Umbridge or me. "Now, let me make a few things quite plain." Professor Umbridge stood up and leaned toward us, her stubby fingered hands splayed on her desk. "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead "
"I mean he wasn't actually dead," I said angrily, "but yeah, he's returned!"
"Miss Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," said Professor Umbridge in one breath without looking at him. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."
"It is NOT a lie!" I shout "I saw him, I was attacked by him!"
"Detention, Miss. Potter!" said Professor Umbridge triumphantly. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners." Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk again.
"You're definitely not my friend and making us read a book isn't even slightly helpful now is it" Then she said, in her softest, most sweetly girlish voice,
"Come here, dear." I stand kicking my chair aside and up to the teacher's desk. Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink, and started scribbling, hunched over so that I could not see what she was writing. Nobody spoke. After a minute or so she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that he could not open it. "Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to me. I took it from her without saying a word and left the room, not even looking back at the twins as I slammed the classroom door shut behind me. I walked along the corridor, the note to McGonagall shoved in my pocket. As I get to McGonagall's office she opened the door.
"Why aren't you in class?"
"I've been sent to see you,"
"Sent? What do you mean, sent?" I grabbed the note from my pocket and handed it to her. Professor McGonagall took it from me, frowning, slit it open with a tap of her wand, stretched it out, and began to read. Her eyes zoomed from side to side behind their square spectacles as she read what Umbridge had written, and with each line they became narrower. "Rory in here now." I followed her inside her study. The door closed automatically behind me. "Well?" Professor McGonagall said. "Is this true?"
"Is what true?"
"Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?"
"Yep,"
"You called her a liar?"
"Not quite in those exact word but yep"
"You told her He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back?"
"That I definitely did do." Professor McGonagall sat down behind her desk, frowning at me. Then she said,
"Have a biscuit, Rory."
"Thank you Minnie" I sank into a chair opposite her and grabbed a Ginger Newt. Professor McGonagall set down Professor Umbridge's note and looked very seriously at me.
"Aurora, you need to be careful." Her tone of voice was not at all what I was used to; it was not brisk, crisp, and stern; it was low and anxious and somehow much more human than usual. "Misbehaviour in Dolores Umbridge's class could cost you much more than House points and a detention."
"What do you mean?"
"Use your common sense," snapped Professor McGonagall, with an abrupt return to her usual manner. "You know where she comes from, you must know to whom she is reporting." The bell rang for the end of the lesson. Overhead and all around came the elephantine sounds of hundreds of students on the move. "It says here she's given you detention every evening this week, starting tomorrow," Professor McGonagall said, looking down at Umbridge's note again.
"Every evening this week, she only said tomorrow!" I repeated, horrified.
"She is your teacher and has every right to give you detention. You will go to her room at five o'clock tomorrow for the first one. Just remember: Tread carefully around Dolores Umbridge."
"But I was just telling the truth!" I said, outraged.
"Do you really think this is about truth or lies? It's about keeping your head down and your temper under control!" She stood up, nostrils wide and mouth very thin, and I stood too. "Have another biscuit," she said irritably
"Thanks,"
"Didn't you listen to Dolores Umbridge's speech at the start-of term feast?"
"Yeah, she said progress will be prohibited or well, it obviously meant that that the Ministry of Magic is trying to interfere at Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall eyed me for a moment, then sniffed, walked around her desk, and held open the door for me.
"Well, you need to try and remain calm around her and show less of your fathers attitude" she said, pointing me out of her office.
Dinner in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant experience for me or Harry. Apparently I wasn't the only one to have a argument with Umbridge and word about it seemed to have travelled exceptionally fast even by Hogwarts standards. The whispers all around seemed to be more aimed at Harry than me. I looked at him as he sat eating between Ron and Hermione. The funny thing was that none of the whisperers seemed to mind him overhearing what they were saying about him on the contrary, it was as though they were hoping he would get angry and start shouting again, so that they could hear his story first hand. "He says he saw Cedric Diggory murdered. . . ." "He reckons he dueled with You-Know-Who. . . ." "Come off it. . . ." "Who does he think he's kidding?" "Pur-lease . . ."
"What I don't get," Harry said in a shaking voice, laying down his knife and fork "is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them."
"The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did," Hermione said grimly. "Oh, let's get out of here." She slammed down her own knife and fork, Ron looked sadly at his half-finished apple pie but followed suit. People stared at them all the way out of the Hall. I turned to look at the twins.
"You alright Rory" George asked looking at me with slight concern.
"Fine its a week of detentions not like I haven't had that before is it" I say pushing the food around my plate.
"I meant with what people are saying"
"I mean it's more aimed at Harry really so I'm more concerned about him" Both twins look at me with concern. "What"
"Don't do that Rory" Fred says looking at me.
"Do what Fred"
"Shut down. It's not just about Harry and you know it"
"For goodness sake. I was unconscious for most of what happened that night I don't remember half of it so people don't care what I say but Harry was there for all of it and he knows what he saw and people don't want to believe what he's saying so yeah it is just about Harry" I say getting up and leaving the hall ignoring the stares.
"Mimbulus mimbletonia," I said as I reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. The portrait swung open to reveal the hole behind and I scrambled back through it. The common room was almost empty nearly everyone was still down at dinner except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione who had taken their three favourite chairs at the fireside. Harry was gazing into the flames as I walked past them.
"Rory" Hermione called as I reached the stairs to the girls dorm. I turned to face her "You okay?"
"I'm fine I'll see you guys later" I walked up to the dorm and grabbed the mirror to talk to Pad's or Moony. "Pad's, Moony" I called out slightly taking a seat on my bed as they both popped up.
"Hey everything okay" Pad's asked.
"Fine just missed you guys that's all"
"How was your first day back" Moony asks.
"Fine, boring really"
"You sure you're okay wolf"
"Moony I'm fine don't worry" He looks at Pad's before looking back at me.
"Aren't you supposed to be at dinner" Moony says looking at me.
"I've already finished"
"Wolf" He says in a warning tone.
"Guys I'm fine honestly" I talk to them for a little bit longer before they need to go. When I decided to go back down to the common room I found the twins and lee surrounded by a group of first years, all of whom were chewing something that had come out of a large paper bag that Fred was holding. As I walk over to them I hear Hermione's voice.
"No, I'm sorry, they've gone too far," she said, standing up and looking positively furious. "Come on, Ron."
"I — what?" Ron said, plainly playing for time. "No, come on, Hermione we can't tell them off for giving out sweets."
"You know perfectly well that those are bits of Nosebleed Nougat or — or Puking Pastilles or —"
"Fainting Fancies?" Harry suggested quietly. I walk over to them.
"You can't tell them off for doing something if you're not even sure what they're doing" I tell her as Harry smiles.
"You know perfectly well what they are doing Rory" She glares at me as one by one the first years started slumping unconscious in their seats, some slid right onto the floor, others merely hung over the arms of their chairs, their tongues lolling out.
"Fine point taken I guess" I say as she gives me a pointed look. Most of the people watching were laughing, Hermione, however, squared her shoulders and marched directly over to where Fred and George now stood with clipboards, closely observing the unconscious first years. Ron rose halfway out of his chair, hovered uncertainly for a moment or two, then muttered to Harry,
"She's got it under control," before sinking as low in his chair as his lanky frame permitted as I smirk at him before walking over to the twins.
"That's enough!" Hermione said forcefully to Fred and George, both of whom looked up in mild surprise.
"Yeah, you're right," George said, nodding making me laugh slightly, "this dosage looks strong enough, doesn't it?"
"I told you this morning, you can't test your rubbish on students!"
"We're paying them!" Fred said indignantly.
"I don't care, it could be dangerous!"
"They're not dangerous Hermione, they've tested them all on themselves countless times" I tell her as she continues to glare at me.
"Calm down, Hermione, they're fine!" said Lee reassuringly as he walked from first year to first year, inserting purple sweets into their open mouths.
"Yeah, look, they're coming round now," George said. A few of the first years were indeed stirring. Several looked so shocked to find themselves lying on the floor, or dangling off their chairs, that I'm certain they weren't warned what the sweets were going to do. "Feel all right?" George said kindly to a small dark-haired girl lying at his feet.
"I-I think so," she said shakily.
"Excellent," Fred said happily, but the next second Hermione had snatched both his clipboard and the paper bag of Fainting Fancies from his hands.
"It is NOT excellent!"
"'Course it is, they're alive, aren't they?" Fred said angrily.
"You can't do this, what if you made one of them really ill?"
"Hermione calm down" I said standing beside George.
"We're not going to make them ill, we've already tested them all on ourselves, this is just to see if everyone reacts the same" Fred said
"If you don't stop doing it, I'm going to" Hermione continued.
"Put us in detention?" Fred said in an I'd-like-to-see-you-try-it voice.
"Make us write lines?" George said, smirking. Onlookers all over the room were laughing. Hermione drew herself up to her full height; her eyes were narrowed and her bushy hair seemed to crackle with electricity.
"No," she said, her voice quivering with anger, "but I will write to your mother."
"You wouldn't," George said, horrified, taking a step back from her.
"Oh, yes, I would," Hermione said grimly. "I can't stop you eating the stupid things yourselves, but you're not giving them to first years." Fred and George looked thunderstruck. It was clear that as far as they were concerned, Hermione's threat was way below the belt.
"You can't stop me doing it" I tell her pissed at the way she's treating my best friends.
"Oh yeah"
"Yeah"
"I'll tell Remus"
"I'm not scared of Moony"
"I'll tell Professor McGonagall"
"And I'll enjoy a lovely catch up with her during detention" I smirk at her as she thrusts Fred's clipboard and the bag of Fancies back into his arms and stalked back to her chair by the fire.
"I love you Rory did you know that" George says wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
"I did know that Georgie. I can't believe she thought I'd be scared of Moony" Both twins laugh making Hermione look over at us glaring.