The Riddle Twins

Chapter 8

Chaos broke out and everyone began yelling and talking loudly. Ares and Athena smirked at Draco, who tried to cover his laughter, but his face turned red.

"SILENCE." Dumbledore roared and the hall fell silent. "We cannot do anything to bring them back, but we must honor their memory. A moment of silence for them please."

Ares could see that Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eyes, which meant that he didn't mean anything he said. Athena smirked, over the vacations, Sirius and Remus had taught them many pranks. They decided that they would prank Dumbledore and everyone in school, except the teachers. The only teacher they would prank would be Dumbledore, and since they were the heirs of Hogwarts, they couldn't be expelled.

"First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students" Dumbledore continued. "Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door."

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause because no one seemed to be in the mood.

Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the —"

He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair, and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Athena had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."

Her voice was high-pitched, breathy, and little-girlish. She gave another little throat clearing cough ("Hem, hem") and continued: "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

Ares glanced around. None of the faces he could see looked happy; on the contrary, they all looked rather taken aback at being addressed as though they were five years old. "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("Hem, hem"), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching." Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back. Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and Ares distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little "Hem, hem" and went on with her speech.

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation . . ."

Ares found his attentiveness ebbing, as though his brain was slipping in and out of tune. The quiet that always filled the Hall when Dumbledore was speaking was breaking up as students put their heads together, whispering and giggling. Over at the Ravenclaw table, Cho Chang was chatting animatedly with her friends. A few seats along from Cho, Luna Lovegood had got out The Quibbler again. Meanwhile at the Hufflepuff table, Ernie Macmillan was one of the few still staring at Professor Umbridge, but he was glassy-eyed and Harry was sure he was only pretending to listen in an attempt to live up to the new prefect's badge gleaming on his chest. At the Gryffindor Table, Fred and George where talking and they had this gleam in their eyes, and Ares knew they were discussing new pranks. A few seats along from them Ron had a crazy gleam in his eyes. Ares knew he must be thinking about getting all the riches in the Potter Vault, but oh boy, they didn't know he and Athena were alive.

Professor Umbridge did not seem to notice the restlessness of her audience. Ares had the impression that a full-scale riot could have broken out under her nose and she would have plowed on with her speech. The teachers, however, were still listening very attentively, and Athena was listening to every word Umbridge spoke.

". . . because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now — as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held..."

Athena turned to look at Ares and Draco.

"The Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."

"Yes, I remember father telling me that Umbridge worked at the Ministry, she still does in fact." Draco said.

"Tuck in." Dumbledore said and food appeared on the table. No on seemed to be in a mood to eat. Everyone was picking at their food and not eating.

After everyone finished, Dumbledore rose and said, "Prefects lead the first years to the common rooms."

Draco and Pansy, the Slytherin prefects stood up and led the first years to the common room, the other years following them. They headed to the dungeons and Draco stopped in front of a door and said to the first years, "The password is basiliscus which means basilisk. The door slid open and led to the common room. The common room was a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. This dungeon extended partway under the lake giving the light in the room a green tinge. The common room had lots of low backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas; skulls; and dark wood cupboards. It was decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins.

Ares, Blaise, Theo and Draco headed to the boy's dormitory while Athena, Pansy, Daphne and Tracey headed to the girl's dormitory. The boys went to their room. There were 4 beds. Ares' trunk was on one of them. He sat down as the others sat down. Theo was to his right, Draco to his left and Blaise was to Draco's left.

"You really think Harry Potter's dead?" Draco looked at Ares and he nodded.

"He might be."

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens." Ares said. They all talked for a while and then changed into their night wear and drifted off to sleep.

Words: 1487. 
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Boredlife07 Signing off.