black and white ✰ g.w.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Practice on Saturday evening didn't reveal what Professor Umbridge was doing to Harry during his detentions with her, but it did reveal that Ron needed lots of training before the first match of the season. This slightly put out Olivia and the other team members, but it was nothing they couldn't handle.

The next morning at breakfast, Olivia was going through all of this in her head when the familiar sound of the mail arriving brought her back to reality. She looked up and saw the Wood family owl, Aegis, flying in her direction, and she already knew what was coming before the owl landed in front of her. Olivia removed not one, but two letters from the owl's leg and then sent her on her way.

She opened the first, and unsurprisingly, it was from her grandfather. It didn't say, but she recognized the handwriting and knew only he would sent her a letter like this.

Remember the words from the platform and heed them.

"Love you too, Grandpa," Olivia muttered under her breath.

The next letter, to her surprise, was from Oliver. She was only surprised because he hadn't sent her one letter since he graduated Hogwarts.

Who's the new Keeper?

Olivia snorted and shook her head. Of course the first letter she would receive from him would be about Quidditch.

"Erm, guys..." Alicia began, her face hidden behind her copy of the Daily Prophet, "do any of you happen to know what a High Inquisitor is?"

"Sounds like someone whose job is to question people," Olivia said. "Why?"

Alicia laid the newspaper down on the table and looked at her friends with a nervous expression. "Because that's what Umbridge is now. On top of her teaching position."

"What?" they all asked both in shock and in rising anger. Olivia snatched the newspaper and read over the front page containing the bit about Umbridge with the others reading over her shoulder. She felt the twins tense up as they came across the part that mentioned their older brother Percy. Olivia herself was disgusted by the fact that someone she used to be somewhat friends with had turned their back on their family just to keep their good standing with the corrupt Ministry of Magic. She swore to herself never to put anything before her family ever, no matter how bad things got.

"What does this mean?" Angelina asked as Olivia set the newspaper down once they all had finished reading. "For Hogwarts?"

"It means," Olivia said, "the Ministry will stop at nothing until they have control of this school." She looked up at the staff table. "I think we should enjoy our current staffing, especially Dumbledore being headmaster, while we can."

"Well, we can't just sit back and let this all happen," Fred said.

"Yeah, we need to do something," George said.

"I agree," Olivia said. "But we need to be careful about how we go about it. We're no good if we're expelled."

Later that day, after classes, Olivia found out that Harry had once again earned himself another week's worth of detention. Frustrated that he had let his temper get the better of him again instead of keeping her words and Moody's words in mind, she found him in the Great Hall during dinner.

"Harry," she said when she finally found him. "Care to explain to me how Gryffindor is going to win the Quidditch Cup if you keep landing yourself in detention, unable to attend practice?"

"It's not like I mean to," Harry defended.

"I know you don't mean to, Harry, yet you keep giving her reasons to punish you! From now on, keep your head down and your mouth shut around her, okay? I don't want to have to replace you on the team." With that, she walked away before she let her own temper get the better of her.

"So you really weren't lying when you said she's just like Oliver when it comes to Quidditch, then," Ron said to Harry once Olivia had left them. Harry gave him a look.

[word count: 693]
[written: 6/29/20]
[published: 7/12/20]
short chapter im sorry