THE MOST FAITHFUL

DECISION

Inside Dumbledore's circular office the paintings chattered animatedly as they carefully observed the headmaster seated on the desk. The little woman in front of him spoke in a shrill voice than usual."He does not have the authority to oppose my decisions Dumbledore. According to the article ..."

"You have the power to fire my teachers." Dumbledore calmly agreed "But Mr. White is not, he has been hired as assistant to Professor Snape""He hired Him without the Ministry's permission," she replied with a frown."It is not necessary according to the regulation"

"White does not appear in the official records, the last thing we know is that he worked as an agent in the detective section and then disappeared for years." Umbridge climbed a step to the raised desk in anger."I am aware of this" nodded Dumbledore "Mr. White as you know was the victim of a Death Eaters attack during the war. His wife and daughter were killed, after escaping he was sent to America under a false identity for his safety. " the headmaster explained, intertwining his long fingers. "If you need information or testimony I will be happy to provide Dolores, but as you can see there is no reason to fire Mr. White." a small smile made his long beard tremble. "According to Professor Snape Byron is a very good assistant." Umbridge's face twisted as if she was holding back a scream.

***

The Gryffindor common room was almost deserted that evening, there were only a couple of girls sitting at the table near the left corner and Ron, Harry and Hermione snuggled in the armchairs by the fireplace.

"She's a terrible woman," said Hermione in a weak voice. "We must do something."

"My poison proposal is still valid." Ron muttered darkly.

"No ... I mean, something about the fact that she's a bad teacher, and that we won't learn anything about Defense from her." Hermione said.

"And what can we do?" Ron asked yawning. "It's too late, isn't it? The job has it, and nobody takes it away from them."

"Well ..." Hermione ventured. "I was thinking about it today ..." she gave Harry a nervous look and continued on. "I thought ... maybe it's time that ... we start doing it ourselves."

"Do it yourself what?" Harry asked suspiciously, rubbing the hand on which the scars had grown lighter."Learn Defense Against the Dark Arts for yourself." Hermione answered.

"Forget it!" Ron groaned. "Do you want to give us more work? Do you realize that Harry and I are behind with homework again?"

"But this is much more important than homework!" Hermione exclaimed.Harry and Ron widened their eyes.

"I didn't think there was anything more important in the universe than homework." Ron said.

"Don't be silly," Hermione retorted, and Harry noticed, with a grim foreboding, that his face was lit with the same fervor as his when he talked about the CRACK. "The question is to prepare ourselves, as Harry saidin Umbridge's first lesson, for what lies ahead out there. Be sure we know how to defend ourselves. If we don't learn anything for a whole year ... "

"We can't do much alone," said Ron, disheartened. "I mean, yes, we can go to the library to find the anathemas and practice, I guess."

"I agree, we have passed the stage where we can only learn from books." Hermione agreed. "We need a teacher, a real one, to show us how to use spells and correct us if we get it wrong."

"If you're talking about Lupin ..." Harry began.

"No, I'm not talking about Lupine. He's too busy with the Order and we can see him at most on weekends in Hogsmeade anyway, and that's not enough."