Just A Bet ● Fred Weasley × Reader ●

33 - I Am Going To Slingshot A Toad

First Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year.

Lee, George, Fred, and I had claimed the back corner of the room, turning it into our usual little pod of four. Fred took the seat with Lee behind me and George. It felt familiar, which is just what I liked.

George had twisted around in his chair, spine bent awkwardly just to talk to Fred and Lee. It looked uncomfortable, but of course he was tall enough not to care. The three of them were deep in a whispering conversation about their ton-tongue toffees. Apparently, they still hadn't fixed the spellwork after almost a year. I had no idea why it was taking them so long. Honestly, if they just held back on the engorgio charm a little, they'd have it sorted. 

I wasn't really paying attention. I was doodling lazily with my quill, dragged it over a torn piece of parchment in front of me. I wasn't drawing anything specific, just letting the ink flow while I zoned out. Art had never been my thing. Still isn't. But doodling gave me something to do while the other three talked business.

The room fell quiet when we heard the sharp sound of heels making their way between the rows of desks. The clicking was fast and sharp. Then came a high-pitched "Ahem" from the front of the room.

Right. Umbridge.

Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor stood there in head to toe pink, smiling like we were all five years old and she was about to read us a silly story. She raised her wand and pointed it at the board. Chalk started writing on its own.

"N.E.W.T. Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test. N, E, W, T. NEWTs," she said it slowly like we couldn't read. Her hands clapped together like she had just said something very exciting. "Study hard, and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be... severe."

With another wave of her wand, stacks of books flew from the shelves and landed on our desks.

Dark Arts Defense: Basics for Beginners.

Seriously? I almost laughed out loud. That was a textbook for literal first years.

"You think she grabbed the wrong books?" Fred asked George quietly, leaning forward.

Before George could reply, Umbridge cleared her throat again. Not as mockingly sweet as before.

"There will be no gossiping in this classroom," she spat.

I raised my hand.

She pointed to me. "Yes?"

I turned the book toward her. "There's nothing in here about actually using defensive spells."

"Using spells?" She let out this weird little giggle that made my arm hair stand up. "Well, I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom."

George didn't wait for her to call on him. He half raised his hand but spoke anyway. "Wait, so... we're not doing any actual magic?"

"You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way," she explained.

I speak, not caring about my hand. "If we're under attack, that's not going to be risk-free. That's when you actually need to know how to use them."

She stopped walking and turned to face me completely, her eyes hard.

"You will raise your hand to speak in this class! Miss l/n, I am sure you know that by now," She shuffled forward a bit. "And besides, who out there would possibly want to harm innocent young students like yourselves?"

I didn't answer. I leaned back in my chair and huffed. Everyone at Grimmauld knew the answer to that. We all knew who was really out there. But there was no point in arguing with someone like her. If she went against Harry during his trial, there was no point in trying.

-

By the time we got out of that classroom, I didn't even know what I was feeling anymore. Angry, definitely. Confused, absolutely. A mix of everything, really.

"'Risk-free?'" Fred said as he caught up with me. "What kind of lie was that?"

I just shrugged.

"Not even a good one," George said. He was walking backwards in front of us, somehow not tripping over anything. "So, how bad do you think we'd get it if we pranked her?"

"Bad," I said. "Very bad. Did you hear her? Everything's 'Ministry this' and 'Ministry that.' It's all rules, rules, rules. Honestly, I thought last year was bad enough."

Lee chimed in. "You mean fake Moody?"

"Yeah. Last year we had a one-eyed psycho teaching us. Now we've got a pink-loving toad who thinks reading a book is going to protect us."

That got them.

Fred cracked up first. George followed right after, nearly doubling over. Lee leaned against the wall, laughing so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes.

"A toad," George wheezed. "y/n, that's brilliant! That's exactly what she is."

Fred nodded. "We should turn her into one. For real. Just - bam! Toad in a pink cardigan."

I reached over and smacked George on the shoulder. "No! No pranking her! She's already strict. Do you have some sort of death wish, Georgie?"

"Ugh. Fine," George grumbled, rubbing the spot where I hit him. "Still a good idea, though."

Fred nudged me with his elbow. "You have to admit, if it wasn't her, it'd be a freaking amazing prank."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure. On anyone else? Brilliant. But on her? She'd probably cut our heads off, dye them pink, and mount them over her fireplace."

That set them off all over again. Fred had to lean against the wall. Lee practically slid to the floor. George was bent over, laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. I couldn't help it this time, I laughed too.

But deep down, the uneasiness was still there. Because under all the giggles, we all knew that she was weird in a 'don't mess with authority' way. She may wear pink and smile like an old grandma. But she was a toad and I didn't trust her. Not one bit.

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A/N - Ew. Umbridge. Anyway! 

Until next time, Darlings! Xxx