*The pure and the mud* (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

Part 3

The train ride to school, as peaceful and unproblematic as it was, was somehow unbearable. I don't know why, but something about it felt wrong. Maybe the little remark that Malfoy made had caused the ride to feel like this, but the term 'mudblood' stopped meaning anything to me a couple of years ago, so why does it now? Possibly, it was the fact that I hadn't heard it all summer. 

"It doesn't matter, just push it aside. It means nothing. He means nothing" is what told myself once I had stepped off the Hogwarts Express and began walking up to the castle.

The journey to the castle was relatively long, which gave me a lot of time to think. Whether this was a good or bad thing I didn't know.

"At least when we get to school, the school that I love so much, I'll feel satisfied, to a certain extent. As soon as I walk through those doors, my worries will all leave my brain for a while, just like they have every other year. I'll see Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall and all my friends and most of all, Hagrid. Everything that is familiar is just a carriage ride away"

And just as I had expected, as soon as I walked through those doors into the castle, whatever was bothering me on the train had fallen right out of my mind, and I was completely content again.

Sitting down at the benches in the great hall, next to my friends, filled me with a certain sense of tranquillity, and a feeling of euphoria washed over me. It seemed as though all of my problems were solved.

But then, as I looked over at the large table at the front of the hall housing all of the teachers, I realised that Hagrid wasn't there. Usually, I would just guess that he was late, as he has a tendency to do that. However, his chair was filled by a woman who more resembled candy floss than a human. It seemed that the others had realised this too, and were now sharing equally puzzled looks.

Dumbledore's speech contained a lot that I had already heard many times in the past five years, however there were some rules that I had never heard of before, and apparently, judging by the looks on everyone's faces, neither had they. 

Not long after these new laws were stated, Dumbledore welcomed the newest member of staff, the candy floss lady, Professor Umbridge from the Ministry of Magic. According to Dumbledore, she was sent by the Minister, Cornelius Fudge himself.

"Hem hem" coughed a small voice from behind the staff table.

Dumbledore turned to look behind him, and Umbridge stood slowly and threw a slight smirk at the Headmaster, before walking around the edge of the table and continuing towards Dumbledore's podium and stood slightly in front of it. 

She was a short, stubby looking woman and mirrored some sort of large pale toad. She seemed to have a permanent testing expression and a passive aggressive tone of voice. Something about her was very irritating. 

After her long, tiresome lecture about what she will and will not accept from the students while we are under her supervision, we all headed up to our dorms. The feast had tired most of us out, and everyone went to bed not long after returning to the Gryffindor common room. 

I lay in bed, rerunning tonight in my head. This Umbridge woman, despite being our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, hasn't much power compared to Dumbledore. How much trouble can she be really?