Diggory Is Still A Loser (book 2)

29- Rise To Power

After the Weasley twins left, the whole school was buzzing, and many students felt like doing the same.
The twins had sold so many sweets, that students were vomiting and fainting all over the place.
But Umbridge couldn't find out what was wrong with them.
She put 3 consecutive classes in detention, but learned nothing. For no one wanted to reveal the truth and end up like Marietta, who still had sneak, written across her face.
Peeves was also causing more chaos than usual, and the teachers were doing nothing to stop him.

Dungbombs and stink pellets were dropped all over the place, and Umbridge had been unable to remove the swamp that the twins had left behind.
To try and regain control over her school, Umbridge had tightened security and come down hard on all the students, particularly those who had been in the DA.
She had replaced her office door, that had been damaged by the twins broomsticks. And she had also locked Harry's broom in the basement, to stop him from doing the same.

Celia felt rather low after Fred and George left, because she couldn't laugh with them anymore.
Harry and the rest of his year were busy revising for their OWLs, so Celia didn't get to spend much time with them either, as they rarely left Gryffindor tower.
Since Umbridge wanted the 5th years to pass their OWLs, as that would reflect well on her and the Ministry, she had started easing up on them a bit.
This meant that she put all her energy into punishing other students, like Celia.

To do her bit to undermine Umbridge, Celia would sneak around at night, pinning copies of Harry's article in the Quibbler to the wall.
She wanted everyone to be reminded of how her brother had died, so that he could never be forgotten.
Umbridge however, seemed to know it was her doing this, for she retaliated by making Celia write twice the amount of lines during Defense Against the Dark Arts.
This caused Celia's hand to bleed even more frequently.

Celia was sitting in her dormitory one evening, soaking her hand in a bowl of Murtlap essence to ease the pain.
The words, I will support the Ministry, were now etched into her skin, directly below, I must not tell lies.
So she now had two lines of scars on the back of her hand.
"You should see Madam Pomfrey".
Celia looked up from her hand and saw Cho standing in the doorway.
"What good would it do? She wouldn't be able to heal me, so I might as well ease the pain on my own... It's a shame that I got rid of all my drugs, to please Dumbledore, because I could really do with some of them right now" admitted Celia.

"I'm serious, you need some help" insisted Cho, as she made her way closer to Celia.
"How good of you to notice" mocked Celia.
"If you won't go to Madam Pomfrey, then talk to Flitwick or McGonagall" replied Cho.
"I don't think talking to anyone is going to help. Besides, the teachers can't complain about Umbridge without being fired and maybe even ending up in Azkaban"
"If you won't talk to a teacher, then maybe you should talk to Harry"
"I didn't think that the two of you got on"
"We don't talk anymore. But that doesn't mean I can't see that he is good for you".

"Harry is busy revising for his OWLs. The last thing he needs right now, is me falling apart in front of him. I don't want to be the reason he fails his exams" admitted Celia.
"I'm sure he won't fail his OWLs just because you had a chat with him, and told him that you weren't coping" informed Cho.
"Who says that I'm not coping?" Frowned Celia.
Cho raised an eyebrow, "Have you looked in the mirror lately?".
"No. You know that I don't spent hours looking at my reflection, like you do. I'm not as vain as you" snapped Celia.

"I know that you are only being mean to me, because you're in a lot of physical and mental pain" Cho said softly.
"Well, look who became a psychologist over night" mocked Celia.
"I'm just trying to help you" replied Cho.
"There's nothing you or anyone else can do to help me. Umbridge hates my guts, and that's never going to change. She is going to continue forcing me to use that awful pen for the rest of the year. And who knows, maybe she'll even make me write with it when we come back for our 7th year".

"You could try apologising to her" suggested Cho.
"I have nothing to apologise for. I haven't stood up to her in months, yet she continues to punish me. There is nothing I could do to make her like me. And even if I did apologise, she would know it was fake" sighed Celia.
"Maybe I could talk to her on your behalf, since I am a Prefect" offered Cho.
"There's no point in you getting punished as well. Just leave me be, I'll be alright"
"That's just the thing, I don't think you will be alright... I've seen the scars on your wrists. And I know about the drugs you took last year"
"How can you possibly know that?"
"Because I paid attention to you, because like the teachers, I was very worried about you when you returned after the summer".

"It seems that everybody is very worried about me. It's a shame that this worry can't be turned into action" admitted Celia.
"Maybe it could be?" Replied Cho.
Celia laughed and stood to her feet, letting the bowl smash to the floor.
"Oh really? So you think that if we all stood together we could over throw Umbridge and the Ministry and then also take on Voldemort?" Questioned Celia.
"Well no-" started Cho.
"There is nothing we can do. Umbridge is here, and she has the support of the Ministry behind her. She could order an army of aurors and Dementors to protect her, if she wanted to. We cannot stop her. All we can do is keep our mouths shut and not stand up to her. It's the only way we will survive this mess" interrupted Celia.

Now that her hand was out of the soothing essence, it began to sting quite badly.
Celia winced and clutched hold of her hand.
"Reparo" said Cho, as she pointed her wand at the bowl, fixing it.
Celia picked up the bowl and placed it back onto the chair.
"Thanks" she mumbled.
"Do you want me to get you some more Murtlap essence?" Asked Cho.
"No, it's fine. I'm just going to go straight to bed, and try to forget about this shit day" answered Celia.

"Things will get better, you know" reassured Cho.
"So everyone keeps telling me. Yet things are yet to improve. Everything just keeps getting worse... Anyway, goodnight Cho" replied Celia.
"Goodnight Celia, I hope you sleep well"
"That's unlikely, but thanks, you too".