B.Q. Book Two: Black Princess Ascendant

Chapter 37: Lines in the Sand

Disclaimer: Was a section of Divination ever dedicated to training and strengthening the Inner Eye, even though that there was an OWL for the class (and, in fact, that Bill and Percy both passed it) shows that it was a skill that could be at least marginally taught?

If not, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whomever else she sold the rights to.

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A few embers and stubborn tongues of flame were still present on the staff table when Umbridge stormed out of the Great Hall, her impromptu entourage right behind her, and Marchbanks hung back for only a few seconds before she followed as well, presumably to tell the students that they could come to her with any concerns they had or some such nonsense. Jen was not exactly paying much attention.

She was a little too busy keeping her head from splitting in half.

That Baron-damned phoenix. One of these days, that overgrown vulture is going to get in trouble, and then I will take great joy in squeezing its bloody life right out of it. She had a bad experience with Dumbledore's pet the year before, but that was just it chirping and singing. This time, with that angry scream? She was forced to bite down on her bottom lip to keep from crying out in agony and alerting the whole world to her darkened nature.

"Jen, you're bleeding."

She reached up to feel below her nose, but it was the finger that fell on her chin that found the wet. Correction: she had bitten through her lip. Thankfully Luna had whispered that warning into her ear instead of saying it where the other Ravens nearby could hear, so no one else noticed when her hand pulled away to reveal her chin to be once more intact and bloodless. "Thanks."

"Do you think she was serious?" Padma asked, turning away from her neighbor. "About Dumbledore using Memory Charms? I mean, that's a huge accusation, and surely she wouldn't make it without proof of some kind, but still…"

A scoff came from behind them, and Tracey slid into the small gap next to Luna. "Wouldn't surprise me in the least," she said, faint snarl painted on her face. "Everyone in the Wizengamot knows he's not as lily-white as he likes to paint himself. Well, everyone except the idiots who look up to him like Merlin reborn; he could say he was really Grindelwald and never gave up on his goals of ruling the world, and they would still do whatever he asked of them."

Before Padma or Morag, neither of whom had ever had reason to distrust the man, could respond to that, Jen cut in, "She must have some evidence to back up her claims, something convincing enough to get the head of the DMLE on her side. If she didn't, Scrimgeour likely would have sent her with a couple of MLEP Patrolmen rather than two pairs of Aurors for an otherwise normal arrest. And then there's the fact that his name was right after Susan's aunt's on the order…"

We knew she was up to something when she first came here, but when she revealed that she was after Dumbledore, I didn't think she'd actually manage to pull it off. Though it did explain Cissy's command to stay out of Umbridge and Dumbledore's fight after Jen informed her of their own confrontation. They as a House could utterly crush Umbridge personally, even if House Selwyn jumped in as well, but her aunt had made it clear that such a battle would be expensive and offer them no real benefit. Umbridge was crafty and ruthless, the type of person Slytherin house was glad to count as an alumna, and while her outspoken support of blood purity when she was younger had hurt her professional ambitions and seen her married off to a wizard of no real station, she had studied the game of office politics and now played it quite well.