The Eagle and The Snake: A Tragic Love Story

23. The Hag

When the girls got to Hogwarts, they immediately distanced themselves from each other. As they knew they couldn't be as close as they had been on the train.
To distract herself and take her mind off not being with Carly, Luna took out her Quibbler again and started reading it during the feast, since none of her roommates would talk to her anyway. And Carly watched her from the Slytherin table, not listening to a word that their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was saying to everyone.
To her, in that moment, Luna was the only thing in the world that mattered.

Since the Defence Against the Dark Arts job was always moving from person to person, the girls had a different teacher every year.
On the first day of lessons, they got to class early, to see what Dolores Umbridge was going to be like.
The teacher was short and very ugly, and she seemed to enjoy wearing outfits of various shades of pink.
The girls sniggered along with the rest of their class, as they took their seats, and stared at Umbridge's strange attire.
But they didn't like to judge a book by its cover, so they were going to wait and see what she was really like.

Umbridge told the class to put their wands away, and take out their books. Which caused the whole room to groan, as lessons like this usually ended up being very boring.
The textbook was so dull, that within a few minutes, most of the class had given up reading, and many were doodling on pieces of parchment or daydreaming.
Eventually Ginny Weasley had enough, and so she raised her hand in the air, drawing everyones attention to her.

"Yes, Miss Weasley" said Umbridge, who didn't need to ask Ginny's name, as her red hair gave her away.
"I had a question about the course aims on the board, and the topics that this book covers" replied Ginny.
"What is your question?" Asked Umbridge.
"Well, the book doesn't mention when we get to use magic"
"Use magic? I can't understand why you would need to use magic in my classroom"
"This is a Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and we are supposed to do magic in it"
"That was how things were done in the old days. But the Ministry has decided that a more risk free approach is the wisest thing to do, moving forward".

Luna and Carly shared a worried look.
They wouldn't be able to show Voldemort what they were capable of, or protect themselves in the war to come, if they didn't get to learn defensive magic.
Carly frowned, and stuck her hand in the air, "So, let me get this straight, we aren't going to perform any spells this entire year?".
"That is correct" answered Umbridge.

"And how exactly is that going to help us in the future? We do have to know how to do these spells to pass our exams, and survive in the real world" reminded Carly.
"But this is not the real world. You are 4th year students, who don't face any threats. So, you do not need to know how to perform dangerous spells yet. A theoretical knowledge of the enchantments, will be enough to get you through your exams, I can assure you" replied Umbridge.
"I'd rather be able to try out the spells first, just to be on the safe side though"
"Well, I am sorry to inform you that you will be unable to perform any spells inside my classroom".

"So, you and the Ministry are fine with us all going home during the holidays and getting murdered, because we don't know how to defend ourselves" snapped Carly.
"There is nothing out there that poses a threat to students such as yourselves" insisted Umbridge.
"Well, that's the biggest lie I've ever heard. There's hundreds of things out there that want to kill us. And if you won't let us learn how to defend ourselves, then you're basically signing our death warrents!"
"10 points from Slytherin, for your continued interruptions".

Carly's jaw dropped, and Luna thrust her hand into the air, in order to stand up for her girlfriend.
"But professor, the world isn't as safe as you think, which is why we do need to know how to look after ourselves. For starters, during our first year at school, several students were petrified by the Basilisk that lived in the Chamber of Secrets" reminded Luna.
"She's right, I nearly died in there" added Ginny.
"Well, that whole situation has been dealt with, so you have no need to worry about being petrified" reassured Umbridge.

"But that's not the only threats we have faced. Sirius Black broke into the castle several times in our second year, and he still remains at large. We need to learn how to defend ourselves from escaped murderers like him" insisted Luna.
"The Ministry can handle anything like that-" began Umbridge.
"Oh yeah, like they did during the Quidditch world cup final, when a bunch of death eaters ran amock and attacked some Muggles" interupted Carly.
"Or when Viktor Krum was placed under the Imperius Curse in the third task, only a few months ago. And the Ministry also couldn't stop Cedric Diggory from being killed" added Luna.
"They couldn't stop Voldemort coming back either. But that's a whole other issue" admitted Carly.

Several people in the room gasped and screamed at Voldemort's name. And Carly bit her lip awkwardly, as she had forgotten that most people didn't like hearing Voldemort's name.
"Let me get one thing, very clear. You have been told that a dark wizard has returned from the dead. I am here to inform you that this is a lie" informed Umbridge.
"No, it's not. Voldemort returned and killed Cedric last term. Anyone who says otherwise is delusional" admitted Carly.
"As Harry Potter's sister, I assumed that you would believe in his lies. But since your brother is the only person to have supposedly seen You-Know-Who return, we have no reason to believe him. There is absolutely no evidence to support his wild claim. He made the whole thing up because he is an attention seeker" replied Umbridge.

"Just because your haven't seen something, it doesn't mean that it isn't real" announced Luna.
"The daughter of the editor for the Quibbler might believe that. But here in the real world, we believe in facts and evidence" mocked Umbridge.
Carly balled up her fists angrily, "Stop badmouthing my brother and my best friend, just because you and the Ministry are too cowardly to admit that Voldemort is back!".
"Detention Miss Potter!" Shouted Umbridge.

"You can't just dish out detentions to people who don't believe in the same things as you. Carly has broken no rules, so you have no right to give her a detention" said Luna.
"It is not up to a student to tell me what I can and can't do. I am your teacher, and you will do as I say. In fact, you can join your friend in detention tonight" informed Umbridge.
"Oh, this is just bullsh-" started Carly.
"Language Miss Potter!" Interupted Umbridge.
"Oh I'll show you language" spat Carly.
"I will not have misbehaving students in my lessons. Both of you will stand outside the classroom until the lesson has finished!".

Carly stood up and grabbed her bag, before kicking over her chair and storming out of the room, with Luna at her heels.
"Well, that went well" commented Luna, once they were both alone in the corridor.
"What a bitch" said Carly grumpily.
"It's going to be a long year with that pink hag as our teacher" sighed Luna.
"Yes, it is... Thanks for sticking up for me though, I wasn't sure if you would be brave enough to stand up to a teacher like that"
"I wasn't going to let my best friend face down that monster alone. I will always have your back"
"And I'll always have yours".