The Devil You Know | Wizarding World

chapter sixteen | a glimmer of hope

Final exams were on the horizon, which was the perfect distraction for Rosie. She quite enjoyed staying busy during that time, not having to worry about anyone else but herself. But did the faces of her Slytherin friends or members of Dumbledore's Army pass her way every now and then, altering the thoughts in her mind for a moment? Of course they did. However, Rosie was determined to continue on studying no matter what. She couldn't lose her focus now, even while Headmistress Umbridge found whatever way that would cause the school to lose its comforting atmosphere.

However, on the day of O.W.L. exams, something felt different.

Rosie first felt the weird feeling while on her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Really, she didn't have much time to think about it as she ate with professors trying to hurry all of the students out so that desks could be set up for the fifth year students who had to take their O.W.L. exams shortly. Once she was out of the Great Hall and heading for her first class of the day, the feeling at the pit of her stomach remained, and it was all she could think about in her lectures as the day dragged out. What the hell could it mean? Was something about to happen? An omen, perhaps? As if any of those needed to come around with everything that was going on in the Wizarding world, whether anyone believed the things that were being said or not.

As the afternoon was slowly passing by, Rosie decided to use her time to study some more, as she had a lot to go over with her History of Magic exam coming up that she was nowhere near ready for. She was making her way to the library, strolling down the quiet corridor (something that didn't happen very often during the day), almost making it to the steps before she heard a rumbling noise. Rosie looked around, unable to figure out which direction it was coming from. The noise only got louder, to which she got nervous as to what the hell was going on. Instead of continuing up the stairs to the first floor, she slowly made her way back down the corridor, heading for the Great Hall this time. Once the Great Hall was within her sight, she stopped when Headmaster Umbridge opened the doors and stepped out, a spark flying around her before heading inside, to which Rosie could hear it go off, along with a flash of blue that left her more puzzled. She watched Headmaster Umbridge take a few more steps, her heels echoing in the being the only sound anyone could hear.

Then, all of a sudden, there was yelling coming down the corridor, followed by the Weasley twins on brooms as they soared into the Great Hall.

Rosie's eyes went wide as she made a dash for the Great Hall, moving past the headmaster while watching the chaos unfold in front of her. Filled with colorful explosions and cheering from all around, she couldn't help but join with the other students, seeing smiles on their faces for the first time in months. She felt her cheeks starting to hurt from the grin she had been holding, though she didn't mind.

And the best part? For once, Umbridge had no bloody idea what to do except stand in complete distress and watch.

However, just when Rosie didn't think it could get better, one of the Weasley twins threw a firework in the air, to which she witnessed it explode into the form of a dragon, seeing its eyes darting right at the headmaster, then letting out a growl. Umbridge's eyes went wide, frantically turning around and running as fast as she could in her pink heels, trying to make it to the doors in time. By the time she made it out of the Great Hall, the dragon engulfed her, with sparks sizzling and smoke clouding the corridor, followed by every decree she ever enforced in the school shattering and falling to the ground.

Through the papers flying around, the Weasley twins shot out of the Great Hall on their brooms and to the open sky, with the other students following suit and watching as more fireworks went off. Rosie was among the crowd, cheering and applauding at the twins, seeing the giant W sparkling in the sky. She hadn't felt such a rush of excitement ever since Dumbledore's Army was caught and disbanded by Umbridge, and she didn't realize how much she had missed that feeling until now.