A Young Wizard's Journey - Order of The Phoenix

Showing Off

'She's got it in for you, mate,' said Ron as the four of them arrived in the Common Room, Y/N revealing himself as Harry removed the invisibility cloak.

'Let her try,' said Y/N idly. 'I've faced exams worse than her, I'm not particularly concerned.'

'She does have the Minister for Magic behind her though,' said Hermione, 'You need to be careful.'

'Ah yes, because he's not against me already,' said Y/N. 'All they're waiting for is an excuse, same as Dumbledore. They want to discredit Harry, but I guarantee the first chance they get, they'll try to arrest me and Dumbledore.'

'We'd best be heading to bed,' said Harry. 'Don't want her head showing up in the fire or something trying to catch you.'

The quartet split, Harry and Ron ascending to the boy's dormitory, whilst Y/N and Hermione ascended to their shared dorm. The two of them got changed and then clambered into bed, Hermione letting out a soft sigh as she wrapped herself around him.

'How dangerous are Thestrals?'

'Depends,' said Y/N. 'In the wild, varying, normally depends on whether they feel threatened, with how tough they are to see they're normally fairly confident in their ability to hide, but if they know they've been caught they'll fight. A domesticated herd like the ones pulling the carriages will be no different to tamed Abraxans though, but that doesn't mean the stories won't have travelled.'

'Do you think we should try and convince him to change the lessons?'

'We tried to do that last year with the Skrewts,' said Y/N, heaving a sigh and looking up at the ceiling of their four-poster bed, 'and he didn't listen then. And besides, if it was anyone other than Umbridge I wouldn't be worried. Thestrals are honestly really good for Hagrid. But I still think she'll find a way to twist it. Did you hear how she was talking to him?'

He felt Hermione nod against his chest.

'It's like she thought he was stupid or couldn't understand her. And how did she know about where he'd been? She said mountains.'

'It'll be the Ministry official who was tailing them. They must have been following for a little bit longer than Hagrid thought. Either that or it was just a rough guess. Dumbledore told Fudge basically what his plan was at the end of the last year. He told Fudge to said envoys to the giants.'

'It feels like she's got eyes everywhere,' said Hermione, but it did hold her usual worried tone, there was anger there. A frustration.

'All we can do is wait,' said Y/N. 'Voldemort won't want to stay hidden for long, he'll want to re-establish his hold as soon as he can, and I dare say that'll be after whatever happens with this weapon is decided. We just need to wait till then. Besides, if the curse holds up, she'll only be here 'til the end of the year. Get some sleep babe, we've got Professor Sinistra's essay to do tomorrow.'

'Love you,' said Hermione, stifling a yawn.

'Love you too.'

The next morning had brought more snow, coating the already pure white grounds in another layer. The quartet spent the morning inside, trying to work through some of the homework they had, then Y/N and Hermione went outside for the afternoon. Hermione sat on a rock and watched as Y/N went head-to-head with the twins in a snowball fight.

It was far too early for the weekend to end. But once it did, all Y/N could think about was Hagrid's upcoming lesson on Tuesday.

He did notice, with a rather vindictive pleasure however, that Umbridge seemed to have bandaged up part of her hand, and underneath looked to be some slightly burnt skin.