BROKEN PIECES & GOLDEN SEAMS

XV

29. the arrival of pink and the most undeserving individual

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Horror invites itself into the castle in pink. The illusion of things going well disappears in a puff of pink. There's a lot of mention of pink because there was a lot of pink in the school.

Pink pamphlets declaring Ministry orders were everywhere and the worst sort of the colour paraded around with a chained cat trailing after.

Some Ravenclaw students had donned black since the first week after the arrival of the ministry official. They were in mourning, mourning that the lovely shade of pink was draped around the most undeserving individual. It's blasphemy apparently.

Dolores Umbridge—the most undeserving individual—arrived at the castle two months before Christmas. She had called herself the miracle of the occasion but there were some that would disagree, like the entirety of the Hogwarts population with the exception of Filch.

The till then empty Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom that other teachers had exploited to finish their own syllabus, was to now belong to the pink woman. One could not hold oneself back from referring to her as 'pink' since she was drenched in the colour from the feather in her hat to her pink smile and the soles of her shoes.

Its a huge disservice to the colour.

'Aphrodite would hate this', Percy had said as much in the first week. 'I think this would probably kill her.'

Others had agreed wholeheartedly although they had no idea what it meant. Only that the barrage of rules forced upon them and the sickly sweet attitude of their new Professor would kill the Goddess of Love.

It was supposed to be a grand occasion. However, the huge feast nor the frighteningly loud introduction made her arrival memorable. It was how she conducted herself on the dias.

The mellow tones of the Headmaster had been rudely disrupted with the shrill squeak of the newly appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. It had been amusing at first but did present itself to be annoying when it became a reoccurring thing.

A harumph for the couple conjoined at—er, everything. A shrill 'well' when Sinistra proposed for combined classes to provide a much more holistic approach on the study of magic. Squeaks constantly echoing through the Hall at dinners. The Slytherins reckon it to be a spell.

These additions to the general clatter and bustle of the castle grated on Percy's nerves. There was a general air of distrust and utter bullshit around the new professor that put her on edge.

She tries to ignore it, she does. She dozes in the classes with her eyes open—an art form she excelled in—and ensures the pink colour stays out of her vision. Enormous faith was placed in her housemates for her to pass her exams and she did. Their help in the lessons got her commendable grades in the test that,

"—is essential for me to know where you're currently—although I'm aware that you're nowhere near the standards—"

She didn't listen to the rest. It's a wonder she remembers till that. And that's only because Milicent had to clamp a hand over a Ravenclaw's throat from pointing out that, "—which is because we didn't have a competent teacher till now. The Ministry didn't give a shit till now."

Shame it wasn't allowed. Blaise grieved.

Draco was quick to mutter, "And even when we do have a teacher, Potter doesn't fail to fuck things up."

Theo had agreed without a moment'a hesitation, adding on unsavoury comments about the rest of the Trio-That-Fucks-Shit-Up. His spiel did die out with lack of contribution from the blond.