JUST A MUDBLOOD, draco malfoy

Chapter Sixty-Nine

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Y/N MAXWELL

"Believe it or not, she isn't lying." Hermione's words came as a complete shock to our gingered friend. "Oh yeah, sure. You expect me to believe that Muggles have walked on the moon? Last time I checked they don't have magic."

Ron chews on a sausage stuck to the end of his fork, eyeing Hermione and I rather suspiciously. "Once upon a time I believed that magic was just a tool made up in fairytales."

"Sometimes I forget we were brought up in two completely different worlds." Ron lets out a simple sigh, though his interest in our resent conversation stays piqued. "You weren't lying when you said someone has actually stood foot on the moon."

My head shakes from side to side as I take a large bite out of the toast on my plate. Ron's eyes immediately gleam with curiosity, the look he gave me reminding me only of his Dad.

Just as the gingered boy opens his mouth to ask more questions, Harry stops by the table and stands there awkwardly with his hands firmly by his sides.

"Harry." Hermione flashes the boy a small smile.

"Can I join you?" Harry's question immediately makes my eyebrows furrow. Judging by the look on everyone's faces, I could tell something went down while I was out studying in the Great Hall with Lilia during the early hours of last night.

Though, just before Harry could place his butt on the seat, distant voices from out in the hallway immediately snatches all of our attentions.

"Pardon me, professor, but what exactly are you insinuating?" Umbridge's voice didn't go unrecognised.

Curiosity got the best of me, and before I knew it my legs were carrying me out of the Great Hall, my friends and a few other curious students following closely behind.

"I am merely requesting that when it comes to my students you conform to the prescribed disciplinary practices." McGonagall is clearly frustrated.

"So silly of me but it sounds as if you're questioning my authority in my own classroom, Minerva." The woman decked out in pink attire, shows her disinterest in anything and everything McGonagall has previously argued.

I was rather interested in seeing how this interaction pans out. At this point I was praying to Merlin that McGonagall would blast her off the side of the Grand Staircase.

"Not at all, Dolores, merely your medieval methods." McGonagall does her best to keep the conversation civil, taking into account all of the students who have gathered around to witness the whole ordeal.

As I'm listening to everything play out, the smell of expensive cologne wafts up my nose, forcing all the hairs on te back of my neck to stand up. Suppose the argument peeked Draco's interest too.

It's been days since I last spoke to him, in fact, I was doing my absolute best to ignore him after watching Greengrass cozy up to him during a study session we all had in the Great Hall a couple of days ago.

I knew I was being a little petty about the whole situation, even going as far as spending a little more time with George Weasley, but at the same time, as far as I'm concerned Draco didn't pay any attention to me whatsoever.

"To question my practices is to question the Ministry and by extension, the minister himself. I am a tolerant woman but one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty."

McGonagall goes quiet for a moment, staring deeply into Umbridge's soul. "Disloyalty."

Umbridge takes this as an opportunity to face the sea of students who were gathered around. "Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared. Cornelius will want to take immediate action."

—

   Circumstances over the next few days became worse and worse. The amount of times I'd been stopped in the hallways for the tidiness of my tie was really beginning to get on my nerves. It was becoming a daily routine.

One incident which really made me realise how severe the situation was Umbridge's dismissal of the Divination professor, Trelawney. With such little time she already had the power to remove professors from their posts, it's makes me fearful for what's to come next.

"That foul, evil, old gargoyle." Hermione enunciates her frustration as she paces back and forth. "We're not learning how to defend ourselves. We're not learning how to pass our OWLs. She's taking over the entire school."

I press my chin in to my palm, a sigh falling from my mouth as I look in the enraged females direction. "What do you suppose we do? Can't exactly waltz into her office and demand she leaves."

Just as Hermione opens her lips to speak, the quiet radio beside Harry gains all of our attention. "Security has been and will remain the Ministry's top priority."

Harry turns the radios volume up, the four of us listening intensely to the nonsense Cornelius Fudge was spurring. "Furthermore, we have convincing evidence that these disappearances are the work of notorious mass murder Sirius Black."

Harry rolls his eyes as he peers in my direction. I was the only one who has yet to meet Sirius Black, but from what I've heard, he is far from how the Ministry explains him.

"Harry." A unusual voice speaks.

I peer around the room, confused as to who was speaking considering we were the only four occupying the Common Room at this hour.

"Sirius." Harry leaps out of his chair, rushing over to the fireplace. I take to opportunity to slither into the free seat beside Ron, peering down at the face forming in the fire. "What are you doing here?"

"Answering your letter. You said you were worried about Umbridge. What's she doing? Training you to kill half-breeds?" The man of the hour speaks.

"She's not letting us use magic at all." I chime in, taking the words right out of Harry's mouth.

Sirius peers in my direction. "I don't believe we've met, but judging by your appearance you must be the (Y/n) Maxwell, I've heard about. It's a pleasure, though, going back to Umbridge, I'm not surprised. The latest intelligence is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat."

"Combat?" Ron questions. "What does he think, we're forming some sort of wizard army?"

"That's exactly what he thinks." Sirius' answer brought a scowl to my face. "That Dumbledore is assembling his own forces to take on the Ministry. He's becoming more paranoid by the minute."

"The others wouldn't want me telling you this, Harry... but things aren't going at all well with the Order. Fudge is blocking the truth at every turn and these disappearances are just how it started before. Voldemort is on the move."

Sirius' words send a shiver down my spine. The Dark Lord's name was enough to make me feel uncomfortable and by the way things are turning out, it seems as though danger is lurking close by.

"Well, what can we do?" Harry questions, however before Sirius could answer a door opening could be heard a few meters away. "Someone's coming. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. But for not, at least, it looks like you're on your own."

A sigh falls from my lips as I lay my head back onto the head of the couch - Ronald mirroring my actions. The rain and thunder from outside makes the whole moment much more ominous, it was enough to give a child nightmares for weeks.

"He really is out there, isn't he?" Hermione lifts herself up off the floor, her voice cracking as she peers out the window. "We've got to defend ourselves. And if Umbridge refuses to teach us how, we need someone who will."