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"Where have you been?"
"I need to talk to both of you later," Reyna murmurs her eyes flicking to Fred who was listening to the conversation. "Privately. Right now act interested in the new-"
Reyna's gaze fixates on Dolores Umbridge, who donned a gaudy pink ensemble. The woman was seated beside Professor Snape, whose face suggested a preference for incarceration in Azkaban over sitting next to her.
"Dolores Umbridge," Reyna hisses lowly. "That is not a good sign"
"And that is?"
"The Minister's lapdog," Reyna murmurs as she begins to pick at the desserts on George's plate. "Horrible woman. She's the one who drafted that anti-werewolf legislation two years ago and she's the one causing tensions to rise with the centaurs. Campaigned for all merfolk to be tagged and tracked last year but the idea was too impractical so it was scrapped"
"A bit prejudiced?" George asks.
"Comes from self-loathing," Reyna mutters. "She claims she's related to the Selwyn family and she's pureblooded but her mum was a muggle, and her brother was a squib. Her father put in for early retirement at the Ministry from being a janitor when she started to rise in the ranks. Let's just say it's an unspoken rule to not ask about her father, nasty things tend to happen to those who do"
"How do you know all of this?"
"Mad-Eye and Tonks," Reyna shrugs. "There have been rumours in the Ministry all summer that a Ministry Official may be a staff member this year. They just had to pick the biggest bitch"
Reyna observes with curiosity as the pink-laden woman lets out a high-pitched cough, interrupting the Headmaster's annual welcome-back address. The Headmaster casts a brief glance towards the woman before resuming his speech, but the woman coughs again, drawing the attention of the entire room.
As the attention of the room falls squarely on her, Umbridge slowly stands up from her seat, making her way towards the podium with measured steps.
Reyna watches the woman's every move, her face emotionless as the witch begins to speak, her high-pitched voice piercing the otherwise still air.
"Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome" The woman simpers. "And how lovely to see all your bright happy faces smiling up at me"
Reyna involuntarily snorts at the woman's words, her hand instinctively flying to her mouth in an attempt to stifle the sound. The hall is a sea of disapproving glances, all eyes fixed on the Ministry Official. Reyna's gaze shifts to Umbridge, who stares back with an indiscernible expression lurking behind her eyes.
"I'm sure we're all going to be great friends,"
"That's likely,"
"That's likely,"
With a menacing glare, Umbridge directed her attention towards the mischievous Weasley twins. Meanwhile, Reyna attempted to conceal her amusement by raising her robe to cover her face. However, her trembling shoulders betrayed her uncontrollable laughter.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards of vital importance," The woman continues. "Although each Headmaster has brought something new to this historic school, progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be prohibited"
"What the bloody hell does that mean?" George murmurs.
"This is going to be a Ministry-approved curriculum," Reyna replies. "That's why we have Slinkhard's book on theory"
"So we're not going to learn magic?"
"Dumbledore created child soldiers before to fight Voldemort, but I bet this time Fudge reckons he's going to use them to overthrow the Ministry"
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵
As they stood in the abandoned classroom, the only sound that could be heard was the soft whispers of the wind. Fred and George were completely still, their eyes fixed on Reyna as she spoke.
The news she had just delivered had hit them like a ton of bricks, leaving them with a jumble of conflicting emotions. Their faces were a canvas of expressions, ranging from shock and confusion to genuine sympathy for the Malfoy boy's situation.
"You're going to take him in?" George asks and Reyna nods. "His family will be hunting for him"
"We can put up wards around the house," Reyna replies. "It's far into the countryside and we can put wards up over Christmas meaning no one can find the house"
"Why has he told you all of this?"
"He's a scared boy," Reyna replies. "He hates what his family believes in, what they stand for and he finds me to be a kindred soul I guess. He has Lucius Malfoy as a father, I have Marianne Ravenswood as a mother"
"We'll help you," Fred nods. "He's proven himself to be a good person and he's given us insight that we've managed to get a step ahead of Marianne because she doesn't know that you can rescue Caleb"
"If we can help him, we will. We don't leave anyone behind, even if he has been a dick since he came here"
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