Never Is Our Always

It's Killing Us

(Third Person)

The fact that Hagrid was now on probation became common knowledge within the school over the next few days, but to Alice's indignation, hardly anybody appeared to be upset about it... As for the freakish death of an obscure Department of Mysteries employee in St. Mungo's, only a fair few seemed to care.

There was only one topic of conversation in the corridors now: the ten escaped Death Eaters, (which made Alice petrified to be around anyone who spoke of them) whose story had finally filtered through the school from those few people who read the newspapers.

Rumours were flying that some of the convicts had been spotted in Hogsmeade, that they were supposed to be hiding out in the Shrieking Shack and that they were going to break into Hogwarts, just as Sirius Black had once done.

Those who came from wizarding families had grown up hearing the names of these Death Eaters spoken with almost as much fear as Voldemorts; the crimes they had committed during the days of Voldemort's reign of terror were legendary.

There were relatives of their victims among the Hogwarts students, who now found themselves the unwilling objects of a gruesome sort of reflected fame as they walked the corridors.

-

The speakers were not satisfied with the Prophet's version of how and why ten Death Eaters had managed to break out of the Azkaban fortress. In their confusion and fear, these doubters now seemed to be turning to the only other explanation available to them: the one that Harry and Dumbledore had been expounding since the previous year.

It was not only the students' mood that had changed. It was now quite common to come across two or three teachers conversing in low, urgent whispers in the corridors, breaking off their conversations the moment they saw students approaching.

(Minnie pov)

"Reckon they know anything new?" I said, gazing back over my shoulder at the three teachers.

"If they do, we're not going to hear about it, are we?" George said angrily. "Not after Decree... what number are we on now?" For new notices had appeared on the house noticeboards the morning after news of the Azkaban breakout:

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS

Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information

that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree

Number Twenty-six.

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor

This latest Decree had been the subject of a great number of jokes among the students. Lee had pointed out to Umbridge that by the terms of the new rule she was not allowed to tell Fred and George off for playing Exploding Snap in the back of the class.

"Exploding Snap's got nothing to do with Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor! That's not information relating to your subject!"

The back of his hand was bleeding rather badly. "Lee, my man, try essence of Murtlap." I said, looking at his hand with a frown.

"Thanks, Min," he smiles, ruffling my hair.

-

I had fallen back into my thoughts as the thought the breakout from Azkaban might have humbled Umbridge a little, that she might have been abashed at the catastrophe that had occurred right under the nose of her beloved Fudge.