Percy Jackson and the Department of Mysteries [Book 5]

48) I Do Lines - You All Know What That Means

At half past eleven I snuck out of the common room, and waited for a while outside of Umbridge's door. A minute before Midnight, I knocked.

"Come in," a honeyed voice called, and I cautiously entered the room.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't for there to be plates of cats in booties covering the walls. Some of them looked at me with interest — most of them were sleeping in their china. Just about everything had horrendous cloth drapes on it, and her desk had half-dead flowers in vases.

"Good evening, Mr. Jackson," Umbridge said. I noticed that she had a potion on her desk to help her stay awake. I guessed that I'd be here for a while.

"Good morning," I said, tapping my watch to point out it was midnight — morning of the next day.

"Please take a seat, Mr. Jackson," Umbridge said sourly.

I was tempted to just grab the seat and walk out with it, but I sat down instead.

"Do you know why you're here, Mr. Jackson?" Umbridge asked.

"To continue our earlier discussion," I said dryly.

"Yes," Umbridge said. "As you are certainly aware, this is punishment for your blatant lack of respect earlier this evening. I'd like to keep it off the books though, so for all intents and purposes, this detention won't be considered a detention."

"Why would you like to keep it off the books?" I asked.

"There are some people in the Ministry who, although they do no agree with your actions, believe you have a good heart. They like you," Umbridge said. "I do not."

"The feeling is mutual," I said.

"Why do you think I'm here, Mr. Jackson?" Umbridge asked.

"The Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts, in spite of it being a separate organization," I said. "Right now, the rules don't allow you to change anything. But I'm pretty sure you plan on changing things for the worse."

"No, Mr. Jackson, I want to help this school," Umbridge said, though her eyes told me a different story. "Things have gone on long enough — they need to change. First, I want you to learn some respect. So, as the night goes on, I want you to write lines."

I hadn't been expecting that.

"They probably won't turn out very well, my spelling is horrendous," I started reaching for a pen, noting that she placed some parchment in front of me.

"I have a special quill to help with that," Umbridge placed a thin black quill on the parchment, its tip curiously pointed.

"I haven't got any ink," I said, picking up the quill, a cold feeling fluttering in my chest at its touch.

"Ink won't be necessary," Umbridge said. "Now, I want you to write I will always respect my superiors."

"How many times?"

"Until it starts to sink in."

I shrugged, then wrote down the first letter. I. A sharp pain centered on my right hand, and I glanced down at it. It was red, but smooth, and quickly faded back to its regular color.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Jackson?" Umbridge asked.

"Yes," I said. "The quill is using my blood as ink, isn't it?"

"That is correct," Umbridge said.

"You claim to be changing the school for the better, but your first act of reformation is physically harming a student," I said.

"I get the impression that reformation for you will require drastic actions," Umbridge smiled sweetly at me. "Now, continue your lines."

I did. I finished writing the first line, ignoring the pain in my hand. Shiny red letters filled the page, and I noticed that my spelling was perfect. It hurt worse for the second line, and worse still for the third.

It was four hours later when Umbridge finally spoke, "What happened in the maze, Mr. Jackson?"

"A lot of things," I said, not stopping with the lines. The back of my hand felt like it was on fire.

"Tell me what happened, Mr. Jackson," Umbridge repeated.

"The three of us — Harry, Cedric, and I — all arrived at the cup at the same time, so we decided to touch it at the same time. It was a Portkey. We ended up in a graveyard, and Voldemort ordered Peter Pettigrew to kill Cedric, and he did." I swallowed, but continued. I wanted her to hear the story. "I wasn't really... aware, at that point. I'd seen Cedric die. I wasn't prepared, and was hit with a spell that caused ropes to bind me. We were carried to Voldemort's father's grave, and Pettigrew started the process of reviving Voldemort. He used a bone from Daddymort, his own hand, my finger, and Harry's blood, I think. Then he came back, and called his Death Eaters. Then he let Harry out and they fought, and some weird ghost sh — stuff happened. I used my sword — it had just appeared back in my pocket — to get out of the ropes, and we touched the Portkey, getting out of there with Cedric's body."

"You know what, Mr. Jackson?" Umbridge was staring at me. "I think you genuinely believe for that to be the truth."

"Why wouldn't I? I saw it happen."

"I think your brain was so shocked at the death of Cedric — indirectly caused by Barty Crouch Jr. — that it explained away what you saw as Voldemort coming back."

I looked up from my parchment and up at Umbridge. After a moment, I spoke, "I wish you were right. I so deeply wish you were right. I'd give my other pinky for you to be telling the truth, that it really was just some horrific nightmare. But I've had nightmares before, and that wasn't one of them. That night causes nightmares. But you're not right. Because I'm not the only one who remembers that night."

Umbridge stared at me, her lips tightly pressed together, "Voldemort was killed fourteen years ago."

"Voldemort never died, broski."

"I am not your broski," Umbridge looked offended. "Now, it's getting late. As homework, I expect a parchment with, say, twenty more lines on it?"

"So I can leave now?" I asked, and she nodded. I stood up, the quill tightly clenching in my left hand, turned to leave, then paused. I leaned over Umbridge's desk and gently poked the half-dead flower. The water in the vase took action, and as we watched, the flower bloomed into a deep blue. It stood out starkly from the rest of the room, and Umbridge sucked in a breath at the sight of it.

Before she could say anything, I left the room.

I had a day. I woke up in the middle of the night, realizing I hadn't plugged my phone in. No problem, it happens. I plugged it in and... it didn't charge. I tried it a few different ways, flipping it around, using different outlets, even using my chromebook, but it wasn't working. Then the metal bit of my charger popped out. No worries, it sucks but I can always borrow Kadee's (which I did this morning). This morning as I was opening my deodorant, the deodorant part popped out, and when missing. Not cool, but not a big deal. Then, while going to the bathroom before sixth hour, I realized I'd put my pants on backwards. Not an issue, you couldn't really tell, but this is now the fourth(?) time I've accidentally worn something weird in a picture that would be published on paper. Then, the most horrible thing happened. On my way back from my sister's house tonight, her cup fell and hit my ankle. Her metal cup French kissed my freaking ankle bone and ouchie that did not feel good. Anyway, nothing really bad happened, but it was weird that it all happened to me today.

Anyway, I hope you guys have had a fantastic Wednesday, and I'll see you on Friday CT. Love ya!