Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [5]

⚡️ Chapter 26 ⚡️

To nobody's surprise, Professor Sprout started their lesson by lecturing them about the importance of O.W.L.s. Vega didn't mind the constant reminders because each teacher detailed what they were going to focus on but she was quite concerned when Professor Sprout gave them yet another essay at the end of her class – only because she was going to be too busy with the detention to finish it.

Tired and smelling strongly of dragon dung, Professor Sprout's preferred brand of fertiliser, the Gryffindors trooped back up to the castle an hour and a half later, none of them talking very much – it had been a very long day and Vega still had Muggle Studies to attend.

After cleaning herself up, Vega quickly rushed off to attend her class where she was greeted with another lecture about O.W.L.s by Charity Burbage and was given even more homework to finish.

Since they had their first detention with Umbridge at five o'clock, Vega met up with Harry and they decided that they would have dinner early. So, without dropping off their bags in Gryffindor Tower so that they could bolt something down before facing whatever she had in store for them.

"I'm going to the library after dinner," Vega told Harry. "You can join me there or we can meet up at Umbridge's office at five, okay?" Harry just nodded in reply.

However, Vega and Harry had barely reached the entrance of the Great Hall, when a loud and angry voice said, "Oy, Vega and Potter!"

"What now?" Harry muttered wearily, turning to face Angelina Johnson, who looked as though she was in a towering temper. Vega was the first to realise what was going on.

"I'll tell you what now," Angelina said, marching straight up to them and poking Harry hard in the chest with her finger. "How come you have landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"

"What?" Harry asked. "Why..."

"We've got Keeper try-outs," Vega whispered to her knuckleheaded friend quickly.

"Now they remember!" Angelina snarled. "Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a try-out with the whole team, and find someone who fitted in with everyone? Didn't I tell you I'd booked the Quidditch pitch specially? And now you've decided you're not going to be there!"

"We didn't decide not to be there!" Harry said, stung by the injustice of these words. "We got detention from that Umbridge woman, just because we told her the truth about You-Know-Who –"

"Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off on Friday," Angelina said fiercely. "And I don't care how you do it, tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like, just make sure you're there!" She stormed away from them.

"You know what?" Harry said to Ron and Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I think we'd better check with Puddlemore United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because she seems to be channelling his spirit,"

"Don't say things like that," Vega mumbled.

"What do you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?" Ron said sceptically, as the four of them sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Quite about the same odds as the Ministry believing that Harry, Dumbledore and I are telling the truth," Vega muttered as she placed two lamb chops onto her plate. "Ah, I'm not hungry..."

"Better try, though, shouldn't we?" Harry asked. "We can offer to do two more detentions or something, I dunno... I hope she doesn't keep us too long this evening. You realise we've got to write three essays, practice Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, work out a countercharm for Flitwick, finish the Bowtruckle drawing, and start that stupid dream diary for Trelawney?"