The Chaos Within (A Bellatrix Fanfiction)

Senior Year

3 Years Later  (Order of the Phoenix)

I eventually found my friends in one compartment down the other end of the train, all sat together, laughing. Our group had reduced in numbers over the past 3 years. It was just me, Becka, Rosanna, Tyler and Tristan now. Casey and Suzanne had gone off and drifted into other friend groups. I quickly joined them. 

'Ezza!' Becka hugged me. 

I laughed. 'How is everyone?' 

'Oh brilliant!' Tyler grinned. 'We're seniors! Just think, next year we're going to be able to legally use magic outside of school!' 

'Erin, you look gorgeous, have you had a makeover during the summer?' Rose asked. 

I grinned. 'Yeah, guess you could say that.' I'd lost some weight, making my face thinner, my jawline sharper and my cheekbones more pronounced. My hair had become a darker auburn with a handy little spell I'd learned from my mum. I'd taken advantage of eyeliner, using it to bring out my green eyes.

'So, what fresh hell do you think we'll have cooked up this year?' Tristan asked. 

'Probably Potter spouting more rubbish to gain attention.' Rose shook her head. 'He's a nutter, that one.' 

'I had a bad feeling about him from the start.' I piped up. 'But enough about Potter, who's taking which classes this year?' 

'Well I've definitely dropped defence against the dark arts.' Becka said. 'What rubbish.' 

We all agreed with her. 

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We were soon arriving at Hogwarts so we got off the train and headed for the carriages which would take us up to the school. 

'Erin, sit with me.' Becka gestured. I climbed in and got comfortable next to her. The others all got in and the carriage magically pulled itself in the direction of the school. 

I thought back to the summer. The whole six weeks I'd been home, mum had been acting strange. It was like she wasn't telling me something. I didn't know whether it had to do with Potter spouting off that the dark lord had returned or something else. Maybe it was to do with my dad. He'd been in Azkaban most of my life, so I didn't really know him well, and I obviously never heard from him. 

'You okay, Erin?' Tyler asked. 'You look troubled.' 

'Yeah, I'm fine.' I gave an unconvincing smile. I don't think they believed me, but luckily they dropped it. 

We soon arrived at the school, and headed straight for the Great Hall before the first-years got here. 

'I'm starving, hopefully the sorting won't take long.' Rose commented, as we sat down in our usual spot on the Slytherin table. 

'Wait, who is that?' Tyler pointed up at the staff table. We all followed his gaze to a woman wearing all pink and a bow on her head. 

'Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister.' Rose answered immediately. 

'How do you know that?' I asked. 

'My mum works at the ministry.' She reminded me. 'My mum took me sometimes over the summer when she had to pop into work.' 

'So what's a ministry goon doing at Hogwarts?' Tristan said thoughtfully. 'Especially one so high up?' 

Tristan's question was answered when Umbridge interrupted the headmaster to give a long speech. 

'...intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited.' She finished, smiling. 

'So basically, the Ministry are getting involved at Hogwarts?' Rose raised an eyebrow. 

'About time. Maybe they'll get rid of all the mudbloods.' Tristan snorted. 

'Who knows? Maybe it'll get worse, maybe it'll get better...'