Emma Potter; Going to War

18: I must not talk back

Dinner  in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant experience for me. Or Harry, incidently he had also called Umbridge out. The news about our shouting matches withUmbridge seemed to have traveled exceptionally fast even by Hogwarts standards. I heard whispers all around me as he sat eatingbetween my friends. The funny thing was that none of thewhisperers seemed to mind us overhearing what they were sayingabout us — on the contrary, it was as though they were hoping wewould get angry and go off on us, so that they could hear our story firsthand. 

"They say they saw Cedric Diggory murdered. . . ." 

"They reckon they dueled with You-Know-Who. . . ."

 "Come off it. . . ." 

"Who do they think their kidding?"

 "Pur-lease . . ." 

"What I don't get,"I said in a shaking voice, laying down my knife and fork (my hands were trembling too much to hold themsteady), "is why they all believed the story two months ago whenDumbledore told them. . . ."

"The thing is, princess, I'm not sure they did," said Draco grimly. "Oh, let's get out of here." 

We left. People stared at us all theway out of the Hall."What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?" Zoe asked Draco when we reached the foot of the marble staircase. 

"Look, you don't understand what it was like after it happened,"said Nicholas quietly. "You arrived back in the middle of the lawnclutching Diggory's dead body. . . . None of us saw what happened inthe maze. . . . We just had Dumbledore's word for it that You-Know-Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought you." 

"Which is the truth!" 

 "I know it is."said Nicholas wearily. "It's just that before the truth could sink in,everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two monthsreading about how you and your brother are nutcases and Dumbledore's going senile!"

The lake looked angry.

The common was mostly empty; nearly everyone was still up at dinner. Astoria's cat uncoiled himself from an armchair andtrotted to meet them, purring loudly, and when we took our four favorite chairs at the fireside he leaptlightly into Zoe's lap and curled up there like a furry white cushion. I gazed into the flames, feeling drained and exhausted. 

Pulling out our homework, we began to do it in silence. I was finished with my essay on Giant wars and was starting on Potions when Zoe erupted.

"How can Dumbledore have let this happen?" she cried suddenly, making us jump; the cat leapt off her, looking affronted. She pounded the arms of her chair in fury, so that bitsof stuffing leaked out of the holes. "How can he let that terriblewoman teach us? And in our O.W.L. year too!" 

"Well, we've never had great Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, have we?"I said. "You know what it's like, Hagrid told us,nobody wants the job, they say it's jinxed." 

"Yes, but to employ someone who's actually refusing to let us domagic! What's Dumbledore playing at?" 

"And she's trying to get people to spy for her," said Nicholas darkly. "Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hearanyone saying You-Know-Who's back?"

 "Of course she's here to spy on us all, that's obvious, why else wouldFudge have wanted her to come?" I said.

I sighed. 

"Let's get this over with."

Zoe and Nicholas bid me and Draco goodnight. We wanted to finish our homework as it comes, it makes it easier. With a yawn, I finished the Athrimancy calculations and rested my head on Draco's shoulder.