The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 18: The Black Lake

November 20th, 1995 - 3:30pm

I was one of the last students in the class to finish their D.A.D.A. exam. Umbridge snatched the piece of paper from my hands as I went to turn it in. But unlike the other exams, she graded mine immediately. Umbridge conjured a quill, and ran it down the side of the paper, looking for mistakes. A frown appeared on her face once she reached the bottom of the page.

"Well, I'm quite surprised, Ms. Malfoy," Umbridge seethed, "Good work."

I nodded slowly, turning on my heel and returning to my desk. I rested my head in my arms as I thought about Umbridge's comment. By doing this I was reminded of the stupid witch's hat upon my head; one of Umbridge's decrees brought them back.

Decree Number Forty-Five: proper dress and decorum was now required.

I didn't mind the robes, but the hats were atrocious. Only the first-years wore them, but even after a while, they took them off. And of course, the professors never enforced it, considering almost nobody wore them. But now we had to, and it was very much an inconvenience.

I lifted my hat slightly and allowed my thoughts to return to Umbridge. The exam wasn't difficult, it was just a review from the books she gave us. But because of my outbreak on the second day of school, it was like she expected me to fail all of her exams. I may have had some anger issues, but I wasn't a blithering idiot.

Then Daphne Greengrass walked by my desk to turn her exam in. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Umbridge glaring at me. I didn't know why, or how long she had been looking at me. Maybe it was because I was competent enough to answer fifteen stupid questions about hex-breakers. But unlike my exam, Umbridge placed Daphne's exam in a pile among the others.

Harry was the last person to turn his exam in, despite being one of the first to finish. Likewise, Umbridge graded Harry's exam the moment he turned it in. I watched carefully as she did this. Umbridge's quill had made it to the middle of his paper when she looked up at Harry and smiled. It was almost too quick, she placed a big, fat, red X on the question. Harry received a couple more X's before Umbridge reached the bottom of the page.

Harry glared at her, digging his nails into his palms, as he stomped away from her desk.

"Do we have a problem, Mr. Potter?" Umbridge asked calmly, disrupting the silence in the class.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows at the woman, "No."

"Good," Umbridge announced, "Alright class, you are all free to go, see you next week."

Everyone left their seats while Umbridge returned to her office at the back of the classroom. I shot Hermione an annoyed look as I grabbed my things. Not only did Umbridge put me into a mood, but Harry was going to be insufferable the rest of the day.

Harry's vendetta towards me had only worsened, and for a reason I did not know. I've asked Hermione, and she told me that he was just going through a difficult time. But Harry never snapped at Ron or Hermione... or any other student... it was just me. And I understood that he might've been going through a rough time, but weren't we all? For Merlin's sake, my ex-boyfriend dropped dead only a couple months ago.

"Are you coming, Dawn?" Hermione asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I shook my head as I grabbed my rucksack, "No... Harry seems upset, and I don't want him to take his anger out on me."

Hermione nodded slowly before stepping back, "Oh... well, we don't have to hang out with Harry!"

"It's fine, 'Mione..." I sighed, passing by her, "I need to get some things done anyways."