When we align; a Neville Longbottom fanfiction

19. Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London

Umbridge stood a few feet away from the students, wearing her same combination of pink and purple, a cloak hugging her round figure. When she spoke, she seemed to be addressing both a child and someone foreign: her voice was loud, her words slow, and she mimicked what she was saying.

"We're doing Thestrals today!" Hagrid motioned towards one of the creatures.

Umbridge didn't seem to be able to see them, though. "What did you say?" She gave him one of her signature strained, forced smiles.

Hagrid looked confused around the forest and repeated what he had said, louder, flapping his gigantic arms. Umbridge raised her eyebrows and scribbled on her clipboard, muttering: "Has... to... resort... to... crude... sign... language..."

Draco, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle had tears in their eyes from trying to suppress their laughter. Cass exchanged a worried glance with Daphne. Neither of them particularly liked Hagrid, but they loathed Umbridge. She was going to make her inspection as uncomfortable as she could. Her disdain for half-breeds was plastered all over her face when she launched into a game of mimes with the teacher, acting as if he wouldn't understand if she didn't mimic her words.

"Do you find that you are able to understand Professor Hagrid when he talks?" Umbridge approached Pansy.

Her answer was almost incoherent, as she was trying her best to suppress her giggles. "No, well, it sounds like grunting a lot of the time." She let out a small laugh after that, wiping a tear away with her sleeve.

Cass clenched her fists. "I could understand Professor Hagrid better than I understood you, Pansy." The words left her mouth before she could think.

Umbridge narrowed her eyes at her but chose to ignore what she had said. She scribbled something on her clipboard and made her way to Neville. "You can see the Thestrals, Longbottom, can you?" Neville nodded. "Whom did you see die?" She asked in a cold tone, almost indifferent.

Neville looked at his shoes. "My- my grandad."

Cass was almost in pain from the secondhand embarrassment she was feeling for Hagrid and Neville's discomfort. She hoped that, if she could manage to tune the lesson out, it would be over before she knew it.

"Students... are... too... intimidated... to... admit... they... are... frightened..." Umbridge was scribbling yet again on her clipboard.

"No!" Neville tried to protest. "No, I'm not scared of them...!"

"It's quite all right." Umbridge patted Neville on the shoulder in what she thought was a comforting action, although with a bit too much force.

With the lesson over, Cass stormed back to the castle, taking long strides in the snow, her teeth gritted. She hoped the next DA meeting would be soon, she couldn't wait to fire Reductor Curses at Umbridge-shaped cushions.

She didn't think it possible to hate someone more than she did her father. Even after everything he'd done, Arnas was still the person who took Cass and her mother in, the one who decided to care for them, the one who provided Cass with an education, clothes, and food. Cass remembered when she felt indifferent to Hogwarts. It was a new experience, she could learn new things, make new friends who had a different view of life, but her house felt her home. She loved going back and showing her parents what she had learnt, having their praise. When Sylvia died, everything went south. Arnas was simply unfit to care for his children. Maybe it was the grief, maybe it was his wife who kept him grounded. Or maybe, feeling Voldemort becoming stronger brought back the feeling of power he'd always craved, leaving him unafraid to show his true nature. Hogwarts had become Cass' safe haven, the one place where she could be herself and speak her mind freely. Now, Umbridge and the Ministry had taken that away from her. She couldn't fight her father, not yet. But she could resist Umbridge.