Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 13 part 1 (Patreon)

As the students made their way back to the great hall, there was chatter amongst them, well there had been chatter amongst them for the last 24hrs.

"What do you think we will discover today," or "I wonder what else will come out," could be heard all around the hall,

Hermione, Ron, Astoria and their friends entered the hall looking around,

"He's still not here," sighed Hermione

"Hopefully they will be found soon," said Astoria doing her best to disguise her worry,

"I'm sure they will," said Hermione hugging her as they made their way to their seats, although Hermione scanned the teacher's table, and was able to detect a frisson of nervous energy amongst them, she could also see Madam Bones,

Once all of the students had taken their seats, Dumbledore stood up ushering in an immediate silence,

"I shall read the next chapter," the headmaster, opening the book

Detention with Delores

Umbridge tensed, eyeing Black, Lupin and McGonagall, those were the three she was most worried about

At the Gryffindor table, Hermione narrowed her eyes in anticipation,

Dinner in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant experience for Harry. The news about his shouting match with Umbridge had travelled exceptionally fast even by Hogwarts' standards.

Hermione shook her head, "It was quite ridiculous,"

This caused several people to stare at the table

He heard whispers all around 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,

More than a few students felt their guilt return full force,

so that they could hear his story first-hand.
'He says he saw Cedric Diggory murdered . . .'
'He reckons he duelled with You-Know-Who . . .'

"Which he did," said Ron loudly, angry on behalf of his friend,

'Come off it . . .'
'Who does he think he's kidding?'
'Pur-lease . . .'

"I hope you all feel like idiots now," said George also angry on Harry's behalf,

'What I don't get,' said Harry through clenched teeth, laying down his knife and fork (his hands were shaking too much to hold them steady), 'is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them . . .'

Hermione sighed

The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did,' said Hermione grimly. 'Oh, let's get out of here.'
She slammed down her own knife and fork; Ron looked longingly at his half-finished apple pie but followed suit.

The Weasley siblings sniggered,

People stared s t them all the way out of the Hall.
'What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?' Harry asked Hermione when they reached the first-floor landing.

More than a few students shifted, with hindsight they should have believed Dumbledore there and then,

'Look, you don't understand what it was like after it happened,' said Hermione quietly. 'You arrived back in the middle of the lawn clutching Cedric's dead body . . . none of us saw what what happened in the maze . . . we just had Dumbledore's word for it that You-Know-Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought you.'

"Which should have been enough," said Lupin, "When has the headmaster been wrong before,"

Quite a few more students shifted,

'Which is the truth!' said Harry loudly.
'I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my head off?' said Hermione wearily. 'It's just that before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile!'

Many people glared a Fudge, who sank into his seat,

Rain pounded on the windowpanes as they strode along the empty corridors back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry felt as though his first day had lasted a week, but he still had a mountain of homework to do before bed. A dull pounding pain was developing over his right eye.

Dumbledore frowned at the last sentence,

He glanced out of a rain-washed window at the dark grounds as they turned into the Fat Lady's corridor. There was still no light in Hagrid's cabin.
'Mimbulus mimbletonia,' said Hermione, before the Fat Lady could ask. The portrait swung open to reveal the hole behind it and the three of them scrambled through it.

"Everyone was tired," said Lavender,

The common room was almost empty; nearly everyone was still down at dinner. Crookshanks uncoiled himself from an armchair and trotted to meet them, purring loudly, and when Harry, Ron and Hermione took their three favourite chairs

Neville grinned, "Everyone knows they are your chairs,"

Several other Gryffindors grinned slightly at that,

at the fireside he leapt lightly onto Hermione's lap and curled up there like a furry ginger cushion. Harry gazed into the flames, feeling drained and exhausted.
'How can Dumbledore have let this happen?' Hermione cried suddenly, making Harry and Ron jump; Crookshanks leapt off her, looking affronted. She pounded the arms of her chair in fury, so that bits of stuffing leaked out of the holes. 'How can he let that terrible woman teach us? And in our OWL year, too!'

"He had no choice," said Remus, "He couldn't find anyone else,"

"So then the ministry can appoint anyone they like in that situation," said Sirius,

Once again glares were turned on the minister who grimaced,

Fudge was not looking forward to reading about Dolores's time as a teacher,

'Well, we've never had great Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, have we?' said Harry. 'You know what it's like, Hagrid told us, nobody wants the job; they say it's jinxed.'
'Yes, but to employ someone who's actually refusing to let us do magic! What's Dumbledore playing at?'
'And she's trying to get people to spy for her,' said Ron darkly.

"Did she really say that," asked Lupin horrified,

The students all nodded,

Umbitch flinched slightly when the minister glared at her,

'Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying You-Know-Who's back?'
'Of course she's here to spy on us all, that's obvious, why else would Fudge have wanted her to come?' snapped Hermione.

It was Fudge's turn to flinch,

'Don't start arguing again,' said Harry wearily, as Ron opened his mouth to retaliate. 'Can't we just. . . let's just do that homework, get it out of the way. . .'
They collected their schoolbags from a corner and returned to the chairs by the fire. People were coming back from dinner now. Harry kept his face averted from the portrait hole, but could still sense the stares he was attracting.

"People need to learn to mind their business," snapped Lily Moon,

The Gryffindors flinch,

'Shall we do Snape's stuff first?' said Ron, dipping his quill into his ink. "The properties. . . of moonstone. . . and its uses . . . in potion-making. . ." ' he muttered, writing the words across the top of his parchment as he spoke them. There.' He underlined the title, then looked up expectantly at Hermione.
'So, what are the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making?'

Hermione scowled,

Ron ignored the looks he was getting from McGonagall and his mother,

But Hermione was not listening; she was squinting over into the far corner of the room, where Fred, George and Lee Jordan were now sitting at the centre of a knot of innocent-looking first-years, all of whom were chewing something that seemed to have come out of a large paper bag that Fred was holding.

"What are you two up to," said Molly sharply

"Nothing," said both twins in a voice the fooled no one,

'No, I'm sorry, they've gone too far,' she said, standing up and looking positively furious. 'Come on, Ron.'
'I - what?' said Ron, 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 - '

"Or.." said Molly

'Fainting Fancies?' Harry suggested quietly.

Molly sighed,

One by one, as though hit over the head with an invisible mallet, the first-years were slumping unconscious in their seats; some slid right on to the floor, others merely hung over the arms of their chairs, their tongues lolling out.

"That is quite impressive," admitted Filius, chuckling slightly,

"Filius," hissed McGonagall,

"What," asked the tiny professor, "It is,"

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,

"Coward," muttered Ginny,

'She's got it under control,' before sinking as low in his chair as his lanky frame permitted.

"Ronald," said Molly "You are a perfect,"

That's enough!' Hermione said forcefully to Fred and George, both of whom looked up in mild surprise.
'Yeah, you're right,' said George, nodding, 'this dosage looks strong enough, doesn't it?'
'I told you this morning, you can't test your rubbish on students!'

"And you thought they would listen," laughed Fred,

'We're paying them!' said Fred indignantly.
'I don't care, it could be dangerous!'
'Rubbish,' said Fred.
'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,' said George.

McGonagall scowled, "That is not the point,"

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 Harry was sure Fred and George had not warned them what the sweets were going to do.

"We hadn't," said George breezily,

'Feel all right?' said George kindly to a small dark-haired girl lying at his feet.
'I - I think so,' she said shakily.
'Excellent,' said Fred 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!'

"Uh oh," said Charlie grinning,

'Course it is, they're alive, aren't they?' said Fred angrily.
'You can't do this, what if you made one of them really ill?'

"Exactly," said Poppy

'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 - '

Molly and McGonagall wore identical expressions,

'If you don't stop doing it, I'm going to - '
'Put us in detention?' said Fred, in an I'd-like-to-see-you-try-it voice.

"Foolish," snorted Charlie

'Make us write lines?' said George, 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.'

"Ooh," said Bill, "Low blow, but effective,"

'You wouldn't,' said George, horrified, taking a step back from her.
'Oh, yes, I would,' said Hermione grimly.

"She would," confirmed Dean,

'I can't stop you eating the stupid things yourselves, but you're not to give them to the first-years,'

"But second-years and up is fine," asked Lee,

"No," said Minerva and Poppy at once,

Fred and George looked thunderstruck. It was clear that as far as they were concerned, Hermione's threat was way below the belt.

"I was a bit of a low blow," said Neville,

With a last threatening look at them, she thrust Fred's clipboard and the bag of Fancies back into his arms, and stalked back to her chair by the fire.
Ron was now so low in his seat that his nose was roughly level with his knees.
Thank you for your support, Ron,' Hermione said acidly.

Ron shrugged

'You handled it fine by yourself,' Ron mumbled.

"Yep," said Ron "she handled it perfectly,"

Hermione stared down at her blank piece of parchment for a few seconds, then said edgily, 'Oh, it's no good, I can't concentrate now. I'm going to bed.'

"Now that is new," said Ron,

She wrenched her bag open; Harry thought she was about to put her books away, but instead she pulled out two misshapen woolly objects, placed them carefully on a table by the fireplace, covered them with a few screwed-up bits of parchment and a broken quill and stood back to admire the effect.

"What," asked Astoria,

'What in the name of Merlin are you doing?' said Ron, watching her as though fearful for her sanity.

"Still am," muttered Ron to quietly for anyone else to hear,

They're hats for house-elves,' she said briskly now stuffing her books back into her bag. 'I did them over the summer. I'm a really slow knitter without magic but now I'm back at school I should be able to make lots more.'
'You're leaving out hats for the house-elves?' said Ron slowly. 'And you're covering them up with rubbish first?'

"The fact you know you need to disguise the hats for the elves to pick them up," said Astoria, "Should tell you what you need to know,"

Hermione blushed,

'Yes,' said Hermione defiantly, swinging her bag on to her back.
That's not on,' said Ron angrily. 'You're trying to trick them into picking up the hats. You're setting them free when they might not want to be free.'
'Of course they want to be free!' said Hermione at once, though

"I would also like to add Miss Granger," said Dumbledore gently, "That only the headmaster can dismiss a house elf from this school, so it would not have worked anyway,"

Hermione nodded blushing again,

her face was turning pink. 'Don't you dare touch those hats, Ron!'
She turned on her heel and left. Ron waited until she had disappeared through the door to the girls' dormitories, then cleared the rubbish off the woolly hats.
They should at least see what they're picking up,' he said firmly.

Hermione couldn't muster the energy to snap at him

'Anyway . . .' he rolled up the parchment on which he had written the title of Snape's essay, 'there's no point trying to finish this now, I can't do it without Hermione, I haven't got a clue what you're supposed to do with moonstones, have you?'
Harry shook his head, noticing as he did so that the ache in his right temple was getting worse.

Sirius grimaced,

He thought of the long essay on giant wars and the pain stabbed at him sharply.

"Us to," said the other fifth years,

Knowing perfectly well that when the morning came, he would regret not finishing his homework that night, he piled his books back into his bag.
'I'm going to bed too.'
He passed Seamus on the way to the door leading to the dormitories, but did not look at him. Harry had a fleeting impression that Seamus had opened his mouth to speak, but he sped up and reached the soothing peace of the stone spiral staircase without having to endure any more provocation.

"I was still angry," admitted Seamus, "But I wanted to know,"

The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as the previous one. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table at breakfast.
'But on the plus side, no Snape today,' said Ron bracingly.

"That is always an improvement," yawned Sirius, and Snape glared at him,

Hermione yawned widely and poured herself some coffee. She looked mildly pleased about something, and when Ron asked her what she had to be so happy about, she simply said, The hats have gone. Seems the house-elves do want freedom after all.'
'I wouldn't bet on it,' Ron told her cuttingly. They might not count as clothes. They didn't look anything like hats to me, more like woolly bladders.'
Hermione did not speak to him all morning.

"Ronald," said Molly,

Ron shrugged,

Double Charms was succeeded by double Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of OWLs.
'What you must remember,' said little Professor Flitwick squeakily, perched as ever on a pile of books so that he could see over the top of his desk, 'is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come!

"As we are constantly reminded," muttered Neville,

If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in :he meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!'

"No joke," grimaced Neville,

They then spent over an hour revising Summoning Charms, which according to Professor Flitwick were bound to come up in their OWL, and he rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest ever amount of Charms homework.

"Yuck," said Dean,

It was the same, if not worse, in Transfiguration.
'You cannot pass an OWL,' said Professor McGonagall grimly, 'without serious application, practice and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an OWL in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work.' Neville made a sad little disbelieving noise.

Augusta sighed,

'Yes, you too, Longbottom,' said Professor McGonagall. There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence.

Augusta looked up at that,

So . . . today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until NEWT level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your OWL.'

"They are hard," admitted Bill, his brothers nodded,

She was quite right; Harry found the Vanishing Spells horribly difficult. By the end of a double period, neither he nor Ron had managed to vanish the snails on which they were practising, though Ron said hopefully he thought his looked a bit paler. Hermione, on the other hand, successfully vanished her snail on the third attempt, earning her a ten-point bonus for Gryffindor from Professor McGonagall.

Pansy sneered at Hermione's back

She was the only person not given homework; everybody else was told to practise the spell overnight, ready for a fresh attempt on their snails the following afternoon.
Now panicking slightly about the amount of homework they had to do, Harry and Ron spent their lunch hour in the library looking up the uses of moonstones in potion-making.

"Wow you two in the library voluntarily," said George,

"I know the horror," said Fred pretending to weep,

Ron glared at his brothers,

Still angry about Ron's slur on her woolly hats, Hermione did not join them. By the time they reached Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon, Harry's head was aching again.

Dumbledore sighed,

The day had become cool and breezy, and as they walked down the sloping lawn towards Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they felt the occasional drop of rain on their faces. Professor Grubbly-Plank stood waiting for the class some ten yards from Hagrid's front door, a long trestle table in front of her laden with twigs.

Hagrid grimaced, he would rather have been back teaching,

As Harry and Ron reached her, a loud shout of laughter sounded behind them; turning, they saw Draco Malfoy striding towards them, surrounded by his usual gang of Slytherin cronies. He had clearly just said something highly amusing, because Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and the rest continued to snigger heartily as they gathered around the trestle table and, judging by the way they all kept looking over at Harry, he was able to guess the subject of the joke without too much difficulty.

Astoria shook her head, there was nothing Slytherin about any of them,

'Everyone here?' barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, once all the Slytherins and Gryffindors had arrived. 'Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called?'
She indicated the heap of twigs in front of her. Hermione's hand shot into the air. Behind her back, Malfoy did a buck-toothed imitation of her jumping up and down in eagerness to answer a question. Pansy Parkinson gave a shriek of laughter that turned almost at once into a scream,

"There is nothing wrong with being eager," snapped Astoria, "Maybe you both should try it,"

Pansy glared whilst Draco blushed,

as the twigs on the table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be what looked like tiny pixie-ish creatures made of wood, each with knobbly brown arms and legs, two twiglike fingers at the end of each hand and a funny flat, barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.
'Oooooh!' said Parvati and Lavender, thoroughly irritating Harry.

"Don't worry everyone was irritating him," said Hermione

Both girls nodded,

Anyone would have thought Hagrid had never shown them impressive creatures; admittedly, the Flobberworms had been a bit dull, but the Salamanders and Hippogriffs had been interesting enough, and the Blast-Ended Skrewts perhaps too much so.

"Definitely to much," said Parvarti

'Kindly keep your voices down, girls!' said Professor Grubbly-Plank sharply, scattering a handful of what looked like brown rice among the stick-creatures, who immediately fell upon the food. 'So - anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?'

Pansy snarled silently,

'Bowtruckles,' said Hermione. They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees.'
'Five points for Gryffindor,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank. 'Yes, these are Bowtruckles, and as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?'
'Woodlice,' said Hermione promptly, which explained why what Harry had taken to be grains of brown rice were moving. 'But fairy eggs if they can get them.'

"Fairies lay eggs," said a young muggle-born astonished,

"Fairies are real," asked another,

'Good girl, take another five points.. So, whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a Bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of woodlice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will try to gouge at human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs.

"Not in the slightest," grimaced Charlie,

So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few woodlice and a Bowtruckle - I have enough here for one between three - you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body-parts labelled by the end of the lesson.'
The class surged forwards around the trestle table. Harry deliberately circled around the back so that he ended up right next to Professor Grubbly-Plank.
'Where's Hagrid?' he asked her, while everyone else was choosing Bowtruckles.
'Never you mind,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank repressively, which had been her attitude last time Hagrid had failed to turn up for a class, too.

Hagrid smiled, he knew Harry would be concerned

Smirking all over his pointed face, Draco Malfoy leaned across Harry and seized the largest Bowtruckle.
'Maybe,' said Malfoy in an undertone, so that only Harry could hear him, 'the stupid great oaf's got himself badly injured.'

"Draco," said Narcissa sharply causing her son to look up, "I did not raise you to behave like this,"

'Maybe you will if you don't shut up,' said Harry out of the side of his mouth.
'Maybe he's been messing with stuff that's too big for him, if you get my drift.'

Narcissa glared at her son,

Malfoy walked away, smirking over his shoulder at Harry, who felt suddenly sick. Did Malfoy know something? His father was a Death Eater after all;

Fudge shuddered, still horrified by that information,

what if he had information about Hagrid's fate that had not yet reached the ears of the Order? He hurried back around the table to Ron and Hermione who were squatting on the grass some distance away and attempting to persuade a Bowtruckle to remain still long enough for them to draw it. Harry pulled out parchment and quill, crouched down beside the others and related in a whisper what Malfoy had just said.

"It was worrying," admitted Hermione

'Dumbledore would know if something had happened to Hagrid,' said Hermione at once. 'It's just playing into Malfoy's hands to look worried; it tells him we don't know exactly what's going on. We've got to ignore him, Harry. Here, hold the Bowtruckle for a moment, just so I can draw its face . . .'

"I did not want to panic," explained Hermione,

'Yes,' came Malfoy's clear drawl from the group nearest them, 'Father was talking to the Minister just a couple of days ago, you know, and it sounds as though the Ministry's really determined to crack down on sub-standard teaching in this place.

Narcissa grimaced, her son needed some serious reeducation,

So even if that overgrown moron does show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straightaway.'
'OUCH!'
Harry had gripped the Bowtruckle so hard that it had almost snapped, and it had just taken a great retaliatory swipe at his hand with its sharp fingers, leaving two long deep cuts there. Harry dropped it.

Hermione sighed,

Crabbe and Goyle, who had already been guffawing at the idea of Hagrid being sacked, laughed still harder as the Bowtruckle set off at full tilt towards the Forest, a little moving stick-man soon swallowed up among the tree roots. When the bell echoed distantly over the grounds, Harry rolled up his blood-stained Bowtruckle picture and marched off to Herbology with his hand wrapped in Hermione's handkerchief, and Malfoy's derisive laughter still ringing in his ears.

Draco grimaced he really was an arse at times, he didn't dare look in his mother's direction,

'If he calls Hagrid a moron one more time . . .' said Harry through gritted teeth.
'Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy, don't forget, he's a prefect now, he could make life difficult for you . . .'

"I had forgotten that," muttered Colin

'Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?' said Harry sarcastically. Ron laughed, but Hermione frowned. Together, they traipsed across the vegetable patch. The sky still appeared unable to make up its mind whether it wanted to rain or not.

"Usual at that time of year," said Ginny,

'I just wish Hagrid would hurry up and get back, that's all,' said Harry in a low voice, as they reached the greenhouses. 'And don't say that Grubbly-Plank woman's a better teacher!' he added threateningly.
'I wasn't going to,' said Hermione calmly.
'Because she'll never be as good as Hagrid,' said Harry firmly, fully aware that he had just experienced an exemplary Care of Magical Creatures lesson and was thoroughly annoyed about it.

Hagrid smiled,

The door of the nearest greenhouse opened and some fourth-years spilled out of it, including Ginny.
'Hi,' she said brightly as she passed. A few seconds later, Luna Lovegood emerged, trailing behind the rest of the class, a smudge of earth on her nose, and her hair tied in a knot on the top of her head. When she saw Harry, her prominent eyes seemed to bulge excitedly and she made a beeline straight for him. Many of his classmates turned curiously to watch. Luna took a great breath and then said, without so much as a preliminary hello, 'I believe He Who Must Not Be Named is back and I believe you fought him and escaped from him.'

"Thank you," said Hermione,

Luna smiled serenely,

'Er - right,' said Harry awkwardly. Luna was wearing what looked like a pair of orange radishes for earrings, a fact that Parvati and Lavender seemed to have noticed, as they were both giggling and pointing at her earlobes.

Luna continued to smile

'You can laugh,' Luna said, her voice rising, apparently under the impression that Parvati and Lavender were laughing at what she had said rather than what she was wearing,

Both girls blushed,

'but people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!'
'Well, they were right, weren't they?' said Hermione impatiently. There weren't any such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.'

"You never know," said Charlie "The world is a big place,"

"Well said Mr Weasley," said Dumbledore, "I had an old friend Newt Scamander who delighted in discovering new creatures,"

Luna gave her a withering look and flounced away, radishes swinging madly. Parvati and Lavender were not the only ones hooting with laughter now.
'D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?' Harry asked Hermione as they made their way into class.
'Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than her,' said Hermione. 'Ginny's told me all about her; apparently, she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler.'

Hermione grimaced, she probably did need to be more open-minded,

Harry thought of the sinister winged horses he had seen on the night he had arrived and how Luna had said she could see them too. His spirits sank slightly. Had she been lying? But before he could devote much more thought to the matter, Ernie Macmillan had stepped up to him.

Hermione winced

'I want you to know, Potter,' he said in a loud, carrying voice, 'that it's not only weirdos who support you. I personally believe you one hundred per cent. My family have always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I.'

"Without question," said Ernie "We all knew he would be back one day,"

'Er - thanks very much, Ernie,' said Harry, taken aback but pleased. Ernie might be pompous on occasions like this, but Harry was in a mood to deeply appreciate a vote of confidence from somebody who did not have radishes dangling from their ears.

Ernie smiled,

Ernie's words had certainly wiped the smile from Lavender Browns face and as he turned to talk to Ron and Hermione, Harry caught Seamus's expression, which looked both confused and defiant.

"Suprised not everyone though he was mad," said Ron,

Seamus grimaced, as did Lavender,

To nobody's surprise, Professor Sprout started their lesson by lecturing them about the importance of OWLs. Harry wished all the teachers would stop doing this; he was starting to get an anxious, twisted feeling in his stomach every time he remembered how much homework he had to do, a feeling that worsened dramatically when Professor Sprout gave them yet another essay at the end of class.

The teachers glanced at each other, maybe they did go overboard a bit,

Tired and smelling strongly of dragon dung, Professor Sprout's preferred type of fertiliser, the Gryffindors trooped back up to the castle an hour and a half later, none of them talking very much; it had been another long day.
As Harry was starving, and he had his first detention with Umbridge at five o'clock,

Umbridge stiffened, hopefully that wouldn't be in the book.

he headed straight for dinner without dropping off his bag in Gryffindor Tower so that he could bolt something down before facing whatever she had in store for him. He had barely reached the entrance of the Great Hall, however, when a loud and angry voice yelled, 'Oi, Potter!'
'What now?' he muttered wearily, turning to face Angelina Johnson, who looked as though she was in a towering temper.
'I'll tell you what now,' she said, marching straight up to him and poking him hard in the chest with her finger. 'How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?'

Angelina winced,

'What?' said Harry. 'Why . . . oh yeah, Keeper tryouts!'

"It wasn't his fault," Colin hotly

"I know," sighed Angelina,

'Now he remembers!' snarled Angelina. 'Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team, and find someone who fitted in with everyone? Didn't I tell you I'd booked the Quidditch pitch especially? And now you've decided you're not going to be there!'
'I didn't decide not to be there!' said Harry, stung by the injustice of these words. 'I got detention from that Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth about You-Know-Who.'

"Good," said Oliver

Angelina looked at him,

"You-know-who is more important," said Oliver relucantly,

The Gryffindor team looked ready to faint,

'Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off en Friday,' said Angelina fiercely, 'and I don't care how you do it. Tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like, just make sure you're there!'
She turned on her heel and stormed away.

Angelina shook her head

'You know what.?' Harry said to Ron and Hermione as they entered the Great Hall . 'I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because Angelina seems to be channelling his spirit.'

A few people snorted,

'What d'you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?' said Ron sceptically, as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.
'Less than zero,' said Harry glumly, tipping lamb chops on to his plate and starting to eat. 'Better try, though, hadn't I? I'll offer to do two more detentions or something, I dunno . . .' He swallowed a mouthful of potato and added, 'I hope she doesn't keep me too long this evening. You realise we've got to write three essays, practise Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, work out a counter-charm for Flitwick, finish the Bowtruckle drawing and start that stupid dream diary for Trelawney?'

All of the fifth years groaned, it had only got worse from there,

Ron moaned and for some reason glanced up at the ceiling.
'And it looks like it's going to rain.'
'What's that got to do with our homework?' said Hermione, her eyebrows raised.
'Nothing,' said Ron at once, his ears reddening.

Ron blushed,

At five to five Harry bade the other two goodbye and set off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door she called, 'Come in,' in a sugary voice. He entered cautiously, looking around.
He had known this office under three of its previous occupants.

"I wonder what Quirrell's office would have been like," wondered Lavender,

"Not nice given You-know-who was there," said Dean,

Everyone blanched at the reminder,

In the days when Gilderoy Lockhart had lived here it had been plastered in beaming portraits of himself.

Most of the boys looked disgusted,

When Lupin had occupied it, it was likely you would meet some fascinating Dark creature in a cage or tank if you came to call.

"That was cool," said Dean,

In the impostor Moody's days it had been packed with various instruments and artefacts for the detection of wrongdoing and concealment.

Everyone grimaced at that as well

Now, however, it looked totally unrecognisable. The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each one residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolour kitten wearing a different bow around its neck.

Those who hadn't been to Umbridge's office before stood out by the green tinge they had all acquired,

These were so foul that Harry stared at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke again.
'Good evening, Mr Potter.'
Harry started and looked around. He had not noticed her at first because she was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her.
'Evening, Professor Umbridge,' Harry said stiffly.

McGonagall sighed at least he tried to be polite,

'Well, sit down,' she said, pointing towards a small table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up a straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay on the table, apparently waiting for him.
'Er,' said Harry, without moving. 'Professor Umbridge. Er - before we start, I - I wanted to ask you a . . . a favour.'
Her bulging eyes narrowed.

The present-day toad woman was looking paler and paler,

Hermione was looking happier and happier

Sirius noticed and narrowed his eyes, Remus still hadn't returned his wand,

'Oh, yes?'
'Well, I'm . . . I'm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was - was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it - do it another night . . . instead . . .'
He knew long before he reached the end of his sentence that it was no good.

Angelina sighed,

'Oh, no,' said Umbridge, smiling so widely that she looked as though she had just swallowed a particularly juicy fly. 'Oh, no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience.

"This was your fault," said McGonagall to Fudge, who didn't argue,

No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you.'
Harry felt the blood surge to his head and heard a thumping noise in his ears. So he told 'evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories', did he?

Umbridge tensed, searching for a way out,

She was watching him with her head slightly to one side, still smiling widely, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking and was waiting to see whether he would start shouting again. With a massive effort, Harry looked away from her, dropped his schoolbag beside the straight-backed chair and sat down.
'There,' said Umbridge sweetly, 'we're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we?

Remus narrowed his eyes, he could see Umbridge shifting,

Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr Potter. No, not with your quill,' she added, as Harry bent down to open his bag. 'You're going to be using a rather special one of mine. Here you are.'

Fudge looked at her,

She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point.

Umbridge paled as all of the adults turned to her,

'I want you to write, I must not tell lies,' she told him softly.
'How many times?' Harry asked, with a creditable imitation of politeness.
'Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in,' said Umbridge sweetly. 'Off you go.'

"Tell me you didn't" said Fudge looking furious

Umbridge didn't respond,

She moved over to her desk, sat down and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Harry raised the sharp black quill, then realised what was missing.
'You haven't given me any ink,' he said.

"Because it doesn't use ink," hissed McGonagall sounding outright dangerous,

'Oh, you won't need ink,' said Professor Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice.
Harry placed the point of the quill on the paper and wrote: I must not tell lies.

Sirius growled like the dog he could become,

He let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry's right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth.

The explosion could be heard in Hogsmeade....