! chapter five !
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HAVEN SAT NEXT TO Hermione in their shared class the next morning. More specifically, the class they were in was Defense Against the Dark Arts. The two girls giggled amongst themselves, both doodling random things in Haven's notebook. Neither of them were artists, to say the least. Haven couldn't even begin to understand what her friend had drawn, which only made her laugh harder.
One of the boys had made a paper dove, and it flew around the room. Haven watched as students attempted to catch it, a grin planted on her face.
Their fun was cut short when the piece of paper suddenly caught fire in the air, and landed on one of the desks. The excitement dialed down once Umbridge came into view, that stupid fake smile still plastered across her lips.
"Good morning, children," she greeted in a calm, high-pitched voice. She slowly began to make her way towards the front of the classroom. Umbridge waved her wand, and words appeared on the chalkboard as she did so. "Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations. O-W-L's. More commonly known as OWL's."
"Would've never guessed," Haven mumbled, and she heard a snicker from behind her. She glanced back, meeting Draco's gaze. Haven resisted to raise her eyebrows in surprise—she didn't even notice that he and Pansy were sitting behind them. Hermione elbowed her, making Haven face forward once more.
"Study hard, and you will be rewarded," Umbridge went on. "Fail to do so, and the consequences will be severe." The professor suddenly waved her wand, and the pile of books began to fly into the air, landing in front of each student. "Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you'll be pleased to know, that from now on, you will be following a carefully structured Ministry-approved course of defensive magic. Yes?"
Hermione placed her arm back down onto the table once she'd been called on, her brows furrowing with confusion. "There's nothing in this book about using defensive spells?"
"Using spells?" Umbridge repeated, before she let out an obnoxiously fake laugh. "Well, I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom."
"But we're literally wizards," Haven said, making Umbridge's head snap over in her direction. "Using spells is what we do. Why is the Ministry cutting that off? I mean, what good is a wizard if we can't even perform a simple spell?"
"You ask too many questions," Umbridge told her, and Haven shrank back into her seat, ignoring her pounding heart. She was almost positive her face had to be beat red, and she clenched her hands into fists to stop them from shaking.
"We're not gonna be using magic?" Ron asked, and the attention was quickly taken off of her. Her shoulders sagged in relief.
"You'll be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way."
"What use is that?" Harry questioned. "If we're attacked, it won't be in a risk-free way."
"Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class!" Umbridge ordered, walking back up to the front of the room. "It is the view of the Ministry, that a theoretical knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations, which after all, is what school is all about."
"And how's theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?" Harry demanded, raising his voice that way the entire classroom could hear him.
"There is nothing out there, dear. Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourself?"
"Oh, I don't know," Harry replied sarcastically, ignoring his sister's warning glare. "Maybe... Lord Voldemort."
Haven felt hot breath on her neck, and she turned her head to see Draco leaning forward. "Your brother belongs in the nut-house."
"You belong in the nut-house," Haven snapped. "Piss off, Malfoy."
The room broke out into murmurs, before it fell quiet as Umbridge began to speak. "Now let me make this quite plain. You have been told that a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This... is a lie."
"It's not a lie!" Harry bursted out. "I saw him, I fought him!"
"Detention, Mr Potter!" Umbridge yelled.
"You can't do that!" Haven cut in. "He's done nothing wrong!"
"I can, and I have," Umbridge told her sternly.
"So what?" Harry questioned. "Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord?"
Once again, the name felt like a punch in the gut, and Haven's eyes darted to where Cho was sitting. Her face had fallen, and she suddenly turned to stare at the floor.
"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," Umbridge stated.
"It was murder. Voldemort killed him, you must know this!"
"Enough!" Umbridge shrieked, the sound so loud it echoed off the bare walls. They all instantly fell silent again, and Haven turned to glare at Draco when she heard his chair scrap against the floor as he leaned forward to talk to her once more. He raised his hands in mock surrender, and fell back into his seat. "Enough," she repeated. "See me later in my office, Mr Potter. Now, let's begin the lesson."
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Haven was studying in the Ravenclaw common room when Luna appeared from the corner of her eye. She glanced up, watching the blonde who seemed to be searching for something. Luna crouched down, looking under one of the tables.
"Need any help?" Haven offered, knowing it was about the time of day that the other girl ventured off into the woods.
"I can't seem to find my shoes. I suppose I'll have to go without them."
"Rubbish," Haven said with the shake of her head. She quickly put her book and quill down onto the coffee table in front of her. "You can borrow a pair of mine. Your feet will freeze outside without anything on."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Haven responded with a small smile. "I'll go get them." She rushed up the stairs, hurriedly grabbing a pair of sneakers from out of her trunk. Haven handed them to Luna, "they're a bit out-dated, I know."
"They're lovely," Luna told her. "Thank you."
"Of course. Have fun feeding the..."
"Thestrals."
"Right," Haven replied, plopping herself back down onto the couch. "See you later."
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Haven subtly slid into the seat next to Ginny the next day in the dining hall, and the redhead jumped, clearly not expecting to see her there. Haven choked on a laugh at her expression. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"Nobody I know is at the Ravenclaw table right now," she answered with a shrug. Haven watched as Ron took rapid bites of his corn on the cob, chewing loudly. She scrunched her face up in disgust. "Figured I'd sit over here."
"You're not supposed to, I thought," Ron said with a mouthful of food.
"Do you ever stop eating?" Hermione demanded.
"What? I'm hungry."
Haven glanced up from her plate, and met her brother's eyes. He nervously glanced throughout the group, but she was surprised when he didn't mention how odd it was that she was sitting there. "Can I join you?"
"What kind of question is—"
Haven was cut off by shouting from the main hallway, and she shared a look with her friends, before pushing herself up to go see what the fuss was about. Apparently, she wasn't the only one with that idea, because a crowd formed around the two arguing teachers.
"I am merely requesting that when it comes to my students, you conform to the prescribed discipline practices," McGonagall demanded, staring down Umbridge.
Haven shot a confused look to Hermione, who didn't seem to have the same feelings as her for once. Actually, it looked like she knew exactly what was going on. "What's happening?" She questioned in a whisper.
Hermione glanced over to Harry, who seemed to be paying no attention to either of them, his eyes trained on the two professors. "Umbridge used the quill with the skin burning spell on it to torture Harry as punishment for speaking out in class yesterday."
Haven's mouth fell open in shock, and she narrowed her eyes at the evil woman they were forced to call professor.
"So silly of me, but it sounds like you're questioning my authority in my own classroom."
"Not at all, Delores," McGonagoll protested. "Merely your medieval methods."
Umbridge scoffed. "I am sorry, dear. But to question my practices is to question the Ministry, and by extension, the minister himself. I am a tolerant woman, but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty."
McGonagoll took a step down the staircase, which surprised Haven. From as many encounters she'd seen the professor in, that woman did not give up, but it seemed like she was at the moment. "Disloyalty," she repeated, sounding awestruck.
Umbridge turned to face the crowd. "Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared. Cornelius will want to take immediate action."
Haven glanced over to Draco, who was standing a few feet away from her. He immediately caught her gaze, and offered her a confused stare. "You were right about one thing," she told him.
This statement seemed to take him aback. "What's that?"
"Someone at this school does belong in a nut-house, but it's not my brother." Haven turned her hard gaze onto Umbridge. "It's her."
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— AUTHORS NOTE
i just finished watching the half blood prince and all i'm gonna say is that i wanted to jump through the screen and give draco a fat hug ok