Strangers Meet

21

O.W.L'S will be the death of me.
I thought as I dragged my feat to the hall to write my test.
I can't even remember what we learned last week.
Slumping down in one of the desks that was set up in the great hall, I placed my pencil neatly on the corner of the desk. Students started to pile in and take their seats.

"First are the rules." I hadn't noticed little Umbridge who was standing at the front of the room. "There will be no talking, no looking around the room, no music, no cheating, and no moving from your seats. If you fail to obey any of those rules you will be punished. Any questions?- Perfect! You may begin."

Everyone shuffled in their seats and started their tests.
Give the incantation and wand movement required to make things fly.
This is an easy one. Wingardium leviosa; swish and flick.
What does the spell with the incantation "Diffindo" do, if used correctly?
Oh my god... Tears apart the target?

The questions continued, getting harder and harder in until the point where I thought I would be lucky if I got 5 of them right.

As I scratched out one of my answers, there was a loud bang and creak behind the big steel doors. I looked up at Umbridge who wore a face of unease. She toddled her way down to the doors and swung them open. I squinted my eyes to see a small ball of light dancing around her face. It zipped over her head and exploded into several colors and sprinkled over us. We watched in awe just as Fred and George flew in on their brooms.
Blasts of colour boomed all over the great hall, causing our papers to go flying in the air. Out large red firework was tossed in the air, it took shape of a giant red dragon and began to chase Umbridge down the aisle of desks. Students laughed and cheered when the dragon chomped down on her then vanished away in a puff of smoke. I jumped up and followed everyone out the door to watch the rest of the firework display.
No one could contain their excitement, then there was me. Standing expressionless as I watched the happy colours fill the sky.

My attention was taken by a sudden bump on my leg. I looked down and saw Harry who had fallen from who knows what. My heart took over and told me to help him, causing me to lean down and hold his shoulders. "Harry, are you OK?"
I couldn't say anything more before Hermione jumped over to help him herself. She picked him up onto his feet, and they rushed out of the crowd.
Of course not without me following them.

Pushing through the crowd, and occasionally getting my foot stepped on, I kept my eye on them as they ran through the school.
Staying back so that I wouldn't be heard as I ran behind, Ron slid in front of me to run with them. The trio hopped on a staircase just before it moved, I leaned hidden against a wall and listened to them talk. Their voices were muffled until I got on a staircase and continued tracing their tracks.

"Hermione, he's the only family I've got left." I heard Harry say, out of breath. His words went straight into my heart and I felt awful. This poor boy who's done nothing wrong, who I was practically trying to get him killed, is just trying to save a part of his family.

"What do we do?" Ron asked quietly.

"We'll have to use the floo network" Harry told them.
I followed up the stairs and through a hallway.

"Umbridge has the chimneys under surveillance"

"Not all of them."
Soon, the three had stood in front of her office and cast a spell to unlock her door. I would have been able to see more if Ron hadn't shut the door. I tiptoed up and pressed my ear to the door.

A hard force jerked me back by my shoulders. "Well, well, helping Potter again are we?"

"Leave me alone!" I shook and kicked to no avail in trying to get this disgusting grease haired boy off me.