The Devil You Know | Wizarding World

chapter nine | power and fear

The thought of You-Know-Who's return and Death Eaters never came back to Rosie's mind. She let schoolwork take over her brain, trying to fill it up with all the knowledge she could. It was the distraction she needed from what happened between her, Adam, and Greer. While things were resolved weeks ago, it still seemed like the tension never went away. When she mentioned it to Gavin, all he did was deflect her questions regarding the situation. Maybe to her, that was a sign to let it go and move on from it, so she did just that, and with only school to worry about, she didn't feel a huge weight on her shoulders.

One morning, during breakfast, Rosie was ready to take on the day, expecting it to be another normal one. So far, everything had been going as usual, with students walking in and out of the Great Hall, along with groups of friends talking to one another. Rosie was working on some eggs and toast when she spotted Harry strolling in the Great Hall and down the Gryffindor table towards Ron and Hermione, who were only sitting a few seats away from her.

When they saw Harry approaching them, it took the two by surprise.

"Harry," was all that came out of Hermione's mouth.

"Can I join you?" he asked, as if it was an embarrassment for anyone to be seen with him.

But Hermione, being the kind and loyal friend she was, gave him a sympathetic look, about to offer him the seat next to her, when the sound of bickering came from the corridor. The Great Hall went silent as students headed out to see who was arguing. To everyone's surprise, it was Professor McGonagall and Professor Umbridge who were having a row.

"Pardon me, Professor, but what exactly are you insinuating?" Umbridge asked.

"I am merely requesting that when it comes to my students, you conform to the prescribed disciplinary practices," McGonagall responded.

She let out a scoff. "So silly of me, but it sounds as if you're questioning my authority in my own classroom, Minerva."

"Not at all, Dolores," McGonagall retorted. "Merely your medieval methods,"

Umbridge held a firm look, clenching her fists. "I am sorry, dear, but to question my practices is to question the Ministry, and by extension, the Minister himself. I am a tolerant woman, but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty."

McGonagall took a step down, a shocked look falling upon her face. "Disloyalty?" she repeated.

The woman in pink inhaled, glancing at the students watching them from behind. "Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared. Cornelius will want to take immediate action."

Students began to murmur around Rosie, curious as to what Umbridge was going on about in terms of Hogwarts and the Ministry. She wasn't sure what was to happen next within the castle walls, but she had a feeling that things were going to change around here, and they would be nothing short of drastic.

*******

As the next couple of weeks went by, Rosie and her friends noticed how it felt when someone was watching them as Umbridge attended their classes for observation. It only got worse when the eyes of the professor also scanned the corridors in between classes. There were times where a spell was cast towards Adam and Greer for them to stay apart whenever they were caught holding hands or giving each other a short kiss.

Greer seemed to be the most annoyed about it. "That woman is really getting way out of control with these rules," she said as the four friends sat along the shore of the Black Lake one day.

"Imagine how the other professors feel, always having her looking over their shoulder," Gavin added. "It's like she's waiting for them to mess up."

"Do you think they're scared of her?" Rosie asked.