"Ah, another Malfoy," the hat sounded amused. "You are not what you seem, or what your family and peers see, are you? Your heart is double. A Malfoy in name, but your true lineage is hazy, which makes you quite tricky to place. You would do well in...
After McGonagall challenged Umbridge in the corridor about her teaching methods, and Umbridge's warning soon after. Hogwarts was surely taking its toll downhill.
By the doors into the Great Hall, Filch was up on a ladder hammering something into the surrounding stone. Fred and George came up and stood either side of me.
Proclamation 23:
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The news of this new proclamation even made it to print in the Daily Prophet. Umbridge had been given authority to address the standards at Hogwarts which wasn't a good thing.
She went around with her clipboard, wand in her hand to fix all the details she wasn't happy with around Hogwarts. The twins had all their items confiscated too.
Umbridge made a habit of doing surprise classroom drop-ins where she quizzed our professors. And during a painful session of Divination, Umbridge put poor Trelawney on the spot by asking her to predict something.
She then came to our Potions class and I actually felt bad for Snape, the way she went at him about going to the Defence Against The Dark Arts position like she did, it was humiliating.
More and more decrees were hammered into the stone around the Great Hall.
One day, all the students were gathered out in the courtyard watching as Umbridge stood facing Trelawney who was pleading with her; with her trunk at her feet.
"S-sixteen years I've lived and taught here," she stuttered, trying her best not to cry. "Hogwarts is my home! You can't do this!"
Gleefully, Umbridge replied, "actually, I can!"
McGonagall pushed her way through the crowd and went straight up to Trelawney to comfort her.
"Something you would like to say, dear?" Umbridge asked smiling.
"Oh, there are several things I would like to say," McGonagall looked at her. She turned to Trelawney. "There, there, shhh, shhh."
Without warning, but with great relief, Dumbledore came out into the courtyard. "Professor McGonagall, might I ask you to escort Sybil back inside?" He asked.
McGonagall quickly took her back inside, and there's brief conversation between Dumbledore and Umbridge which none of us could pick up on. But whatever had been said, Dumbledore was not happy, and he shouted for everyone to get back to studying.
I joined the trio in Gryffindors common room. Hermione shot up from her seat. "That foul, evil, old gargoyle! We're not learning how to defend ourselves. We're not learning how to pass our OWLs. She's taking over the entire school!"
"We've noticed, Hermione! Rather than pointing out what we already know, we need to figure out what we're going to do about it," I say, frustrated.
That's when we all hear a cough from the fireplace, and hurry over. Sirius's face forms within the fire which was very unusual to see. He asks us what's going on and Harry tells him about us not being allowed to use magic at all.
"Well, I'm not surprised. The latest intelligence is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat," Sirius tells us.
"Combat? What does he think, we're forming some sort of wizard army?" I ask.
"That's exactly what he thinks. That Dumbledore is assembling his own forces to take on the Ministry. He's becoming more paranoid by the minute."
The more Sirius tells us, about Fudge trying to block the truth at every corner. The disappearances being just how it started before; that Voldemort was on the move.
The thunderstorm worsened after Sirius left, the lightening flashing across the sky.
"He really is out there, isn't he?" Hermione asked, looking out the window.
I nodded. "We've got to be able to defend ourselves, and if Umbridge refuses to teach us how, we need someone who will."
Hermione and I stared at each other before we both turned to Harry. Harry was going to teach us how to defend ourselves.
***
When the trip to Hogsmeade came, I didn't know whether to be excited or just relieved that we didn't have to be on the castle near Umbridge. Hermione told us she's managed to convince a few students to join us, and that we were meeting in the Hog's Head. Off the beaten track, as it were.
"This is mad. Who'd wanna be taught by me? I'm a nutter, remember!" Harry said.
"Who's supposed to be meeting us?" I ask Hermione.
But as we went inside, I could already see there was a modest group of students waiting for us, Ginny and the twins were amongst them.
"Er, hi - so, you all know why we're here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. One who's had experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts," Hermione said to the room.
"Why?" One of the students I didn't recognise, asked.
"Because you-know-who's back, you tosspot!" Ron snapped at him.
Eventually, we were able to get some students to sign up, and as we walked back from Hogsmeade we were discussing where would be best to practice so Umbridge wouldn't find out.
The next few days another decree was put up outside the Great Hall.
Proclamation 68:
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Neville came running into the Great Hall one morning at breakfast and told us he had found somewhere: The Room of Requirement. Ron had no idea what it was, so I explained that it was also known as the Come and Go Room, which only appears when a person has real need of it, and it's always equipped for the seekers needs.
