𝑈𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ☾ 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑜𝑦

Inappropriate Behaviours ☾ 5-02

I watched and smiled as Padma artfully folded a piece of parchment in front of her. Turning around and revealing the beautiful bird to me, I flicked my wand and it came to life. Draco smiled from beside me as it flew gracefully around the Defence classroom, girls blowing it further up into the air. I frowned as Seamus swatted at it from his desk. It swooped down the center of the aisle, only faltering after Crabbe hit it with his slingshot. Rising back into the air, it peaked at the ceiling. Just before swooping back down, the bird sizzled into a ball of flame and fell to Padma and Parvati's desk in ashes. We all sat startled, watching as the parchment burned.

We all looked up to see Umbridge holding her wand in the air, standing patiently at the back of the classroom. The students hurriedly sat down as she silently waited. Her obnoxiously sweet voice echoed through the room.

"Good morning, children." She began to step slowly toward the front, waving her wand at the blackboard as she spoke. "Ordinary...Wizarding...Level...Examinations! O...W...L's! More commonly known as OWLs. Study hard, and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be...severe." She glanced to me as she said this, and I frowned. Ron and Harry snickered from their desk behind mine.

Umbridge flicked her short wand at a large pile of books on the table. They handed themselves out to each student and Hermione started flipping through it.

"Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you'll be pleased to know, from now on you'll be following a carefully structured, Ministry approved course of defensive Magic." Hermione raised her hand, and Umbridge nodded to her. "Yes?"

"Theres nothing in here about using defensive spells?" Umbridge frowned.

"Using spells? Ha! I can't imagine why you'd need to use spells in my classroom." She smiled sweetly at Hermione, and my hair turned Weasley orange in annoyance.

"We're not gonna use magic?" Ron asked, flipping through his book.

"You'll be learning about defensive spells, in a secure, risk-free way." Umbridge glanced at me, looking surprised by the sudden change in hair colour.

"What use is that?" Harry pointed out. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free."

"Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class." Umbridge snapped. She obviously held some sort of grudge on Harry after his hearing. She took a breath, and turned around with her sickening smile. "It is the view of the Ministry, that a theoretical knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations. Which, after all, is what school is all about."

"And how's theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?" Harry interrupted. I thought I saw Umbridge's eyelid twitch.

"She looks like she's about to pop..." Draco whispered to me. I stifled my laugh with my hand.

"There is nothing out there, dear. Who, do you imagine, would want to attack children like yourselves."

"Oh, I don't know, maybe Lord Voldemort." Harry shot back. The class broke out in whispers. Our classmates showed conflicted emotions as they took in Harry's claim. Loads of witches and wizards didn't believe Harry, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them happened to be Hogwarts students. Ron even told me Harry got into a row with Seamus last night. A pencil dropped, cutting through the whispers. Umbridge's face twisted.

"Now let me make this quite plain." She said quietly. "You have been told, that a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."

"It's not a lie, I saw him. I fought him!"

"Detention! Mr. Potter."

"So according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord." I winced at the mention of Cedric.