Dedicated to Plurbit for the amazingly AWESOME cover she made, she make me two, so I'll feature the other one later. I just love them both so much!

Multimedia For This Chapter: AVPS - Act 1, Part 6

Song For This Chapter (Though, not featured) : Remember The Name - Fort Minor [dude, this song just reminds me of Dumbledore's Army, it played while I wrote this and I just had to add it]

Ch. 11: The Umbridge Way!

    "The Devil." I blurted out in the middle of Defense Against the Dark Arts class. "You're the devil!" There was an erie silence as the room, that was once filled with the sound of groans and scribbling quills, stopped and a few Hufflepuffs caught their breath.

    Eye twitching, Umbridge turned exceedingly slow on her heel, cocking her head to the side as her pitch black eyes bore into mine with a satanic light. "Excuse me," She chuckled a little as her eyes darted around the room. "What did you just say, Miss Granger? I must have misheard you." Her voice squeaked to a higher octave.

    Biting my lip, I swallowed a lump in my throat, and glanced towards Hermione who was just watching me with her eyes wide. Stuttering out a response, I glared down at the pages she was making us rewrite four times for 'maximum retention'. "Uh-m Dilerik Dawes - he was the devil, all those poor house-elves!" 

    Ron let out a small snort, but as soon as he caught the deep glare I snapped towards him, he quickly paled and shut his mouth. 

    Umbridge's eyes flickered dangerously. "Yes, house-elf matters are a daunting task. But, I will not tolerate that language in my classroom, Miss Granger. Be sure to remember this next time. Or, there will be consequences." Her voice tightened threateningly as she turned on her heel once more and waltzed towards her powder pink desk.

    As soon as we were free for Lunch, Ron chuckled and shook his head at me, face looking awe-struck. "Are you completely mental?" 

    Scratching the back of my neck, I smirked up towards him. "It's not my fault, I'm running on barely any sleep - it was an accident." 

    Hermione sighed, giving me a worried glance. She had already told me that I needed to focus more on prioritizing my time, but with the added on work that I was doing for the Twins, it was already too much to handle, luckily I had finished the last of my hours today. I no longer needed the Time-Turner. 

    The four of us stalked through the stone halls as the sound of someone hammering a nail into the wall echoed towards us, making Ron and I both groan at the same time. Umbridge had implemented a new rule. "Should we check it out?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at the sound.

    Shrugging, we made our way over to the area where multiple other students had begun to gather to gaze upon the new school rule. "Educational decree number 82," Seamus read out loud as we walked up. "All students must report for questioning about illicit activities?" 

    "She can't do that." I shook my head, quickly turning to glance back to Hermione. "She can't do that. Can she?" 

    Sighing, she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and frowned. "I think she can, Elle. She was appointed by the Ministry - so, they give her the reigns to do whatever she'd like, I assume." 

        "That's bloody brilliant." Ron hissed sarcastically while I rolled my eyes and slung my pack over my shoulder. This school was really going down hill. What was the Ministry thinking? 

    Manoeuvring myself through the crowd, I managed to get inside the Great Hall and take the vacant seat beside Fred and George. "Hear the new rule?" I chirped, grabbing a cup of tea and casting both of them a solemn look.

    "Hear when the questioning starts?" Fred egged on, breaking a lump of bread up between his fingers as the Great Hall began to fill up with gossiping students. George only shook his head, having no answer for that. 

    There was a moment of discomforting silence, we all knew the penalty if Umbridge were to find out about the DA - it would mean detention for the rest of the school year. And, judging by the way Harry's hand looked from his detention, I knew it was going to be horrific. 

    Fred seemed to sense my uneasiness and reached over, grasping my hand into his and giving me a small smile. "It's fine. No one will risk it. They won't tell." He reassured me while Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat down beside us.

    Smirking, Hermione leaned close. "Yeah, besides, even if someone does betray us, the page we all signed was jinxed. We'd all know right away who did it." The way her eyes glinted evilly made me suddenly realize how manipulative and just plain scary Hermione could be with her knowledge. 

    "That's..." I searched for the right word, chuckling a little. "Reassuring, 'Mione." 

    There was the sound of someone clearing their throat at the teacher's table, and it wasn't hard to guess who it was as she stood up in front of the whole student body. "Eh-hem. I am aware that you are all curious as to discover when the questioning will begin, so, to minimize interruptions with classes, every first year shall meet in my classroom directly after lunch." Her beady eyes darted around the room, landing on no one in particular. "I will be seeing you all one-on-one for a short questioning, then you will be dismissed. Tomorrow I shall talk with the second years, then so forth." 

    "Awesome." I bit out, grabbing a lunch roll and muttering obscenities under my breath. She was so mental. Was this even ethically right? To interrogate children? "How can Dumbledore just let this happen?" I raised a brow, glancing at Harry.

    Blinking slowly, Harry lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes, tiredly. "Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm sure he has some bigger issues to deal with at the moment. With the Ministry breathing down his neck and all." His voice was rough, as if he hadn't slept in a while.

    Hermione seemed to pick up on this and leant forward, peering at him curiously. "Are you quite alright, Harry? When was the last time you had a proper night's sleep?" 

    Harry's hand twitched angrily, but he breathed out a short huff. "I'm fine, Hermione. I've just been having some night terrors lately. Nothing to worry about." He brushed it off, but as soon as those words had left his mouth, the look on Hermione's face told me that she was, indeed, worried about it.

    "Night terrors? But, you know what happened the last time y-"

    "Yes!" He interrupted her, lifting his hands irritatedly. "Yes, I know - it doesn't matter. These aren't the same. Umbridge is just getting to me is all."

    A furrow appeared between Hermione's brows, but she just dropped the subject, getting the hint that Harry refused to talk about it any more. "Alright." 

    That night, we were extra careful when walking up to the Room of Requirement, double-checking every corner to make sure that Filch was not hiding in the background to catch us. "You sure we should even be doing this? She seems to be tightening her grasp." I prodded as the last of our attendees made it to the room. 

    Harry spared me a small smile. "Well, no. I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not, but they want to learn. So, I guess I should teach them." It was those words that actually seemed to fulfil my faith in The Boy Who Lived. It was then that he no longer seemed like survivor but like a true hero.

    Fred snuck up behind me, wrapping an arm around my torso as George and Blake popped up as well. "So, Harry, what are we learning today?" Blake prodded, beaming happily as she twisted her wand in her hands.

    "Well, I was thinking we would review about Levioso." He grinned at the thought, "Like wingardium, but not with objects - with people."

    "Like the trust-fall test, but a lot more trusting." Luna smiled in a dream-like manner. "How exciting!"

    Pressing my lips together tightly, I took a step back as if to hide from Harry's line of sight while he picked out a few victims to throw into the air. I wasn't one for heights. "She volunteers!" Fred cheered, shoving me playfully forward and into Harry. "I want to lift her up into the air." Fred and George grinned in unison, getting the familiar, evil glimmer in their eyes.

    "Don't. You. Dare!" I hissed, taking a jump away from them while the other DA members began to watch in amusement. "I will murder you!" 

    Fred chuckled and took a long stride forward to fill up the distance I had placed between us. "Oh, come on, Elle. You don't trust me?"

    "No!"

    "Yes." He prodded while Harry separated the others into groups of threes.

    "No, Fred." I shook my head harshly, feeling my heart pick up speed at the thought of me floating in the air. No way in hell.

    "Alright, alright." He rolled his eyes and turned around towards Harry. "It'll be me, Blake, and Georgie in this group." Fred called, circling his hand around to include everyone but me, making me feel slightly confused.

    Harry nodded. "Alright and who will you be practicing on?" He rose a brow, cocking his head at me as if waiting for me to accept. 

    Fred snickered and turned quickly on his heel, pointing his wand at me. "No!" I yelped, running away, but I was still in his line of fire. "Levioso." Suddenly, the floor disappeared from under my feet and I was beginning to rise into the air, but not on my own accord. 

    "Put me DOWN!" Hissing, I placed a firm hand over my queasy stomach as Fred motioned his wand towards them so they could keep me afloat.

    Blake giggled, despite the glare I was throwing her. "That's a poor choice of words, Elle."

    "Awe, come now - you trust us." Fred chuckled, keeping his wand high so I was steady. "I haven't dropped you yet, have I?" 

    Rolling my eyes, I sighed and gave in, knowing that no matter what I did they weren't going to give up. So, perhaps if I pretended it didn't bother me, they would lose interest. 

    "Very nice guys, very nice." Harry nodded, sending me a smile as he made his rounds, helping people with their posture and the way they were holding their wands and such. Curiously, I watched as Harry made is path over to Cho who was concentrating on keeping Nigel afloat. 

    Taking a step forward, Harry gently corrected her arm and softly told her how to position herself while Ron just tried not to act like an idiot towards Harry in front of Cho as he made his move. It was a good effort too, on Harry's part, since Cho was so distracted by Harry, she lost all attention for Nigel and sent him sprawling to the floor.

    "I'm so sorry!" Cho jumped away from Harry and rushed towards the boy as he bounced right back up, murmuring that he was fine. "Want to try again?" She cringed at him, thinking he would turn her down, but surprisingly, Nigel wanted to be tossed back into the air. 

    Mean while, here I was, floating like a balloon on a string. "Can you put me down now? This is making me lose my mind." I forced out, keeping my breathing steady as the ground seemed to jump farther and farther away from me.

    Blake cast out her wand and began to levitate me instead of Fred, but unfortunately she was more nervous than him and I began to falter, shaking slightly. "Blake," I called out, sparing her a scared look as she tried to concentrate. "Concentrate." I prodded as her face scrunched up tight. 

    The more she tried, the more my body began to wobble unsteadily. Suddenly, gravity was beginning to fight with magic and I was being dropped inch by inch. "Woah!" I squeaked out, flailing around as if to grab something, but there was nothing.

    George rested a hand on Blake's shoulder as if to calm her down, but that was the last thing that could have helped the situation. Blake jumped in surprise from the contact and lost her concentration, making the magic holding me up snap and gravity took it's toll.

    Shrieking, I watched the stone flooring come up to greet me and I struggled to grab my wand to keep myself from falling too hard. I was a lot higher up than Nigel was, that's for sure. Clamping my eyes shut, I covered my face with my hands as if to protect it, and plummeted to my death. Or, at least to a very painful night.

    "I gotcha!" Fred called out and I stopped falling. Cracking an eye open, I looked around me to see that I was floating about three inches off the ground and Fred was holding out his hand for me to grab onto with a reassuring grin plastered lazily on his face. "I told you, Elle. You can trust me." 

    Scoffing, I stood up and brushed myself off, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him quickly. "Thank you for saving my face - but it's your fault I was in the air in the first place." I reminded him, sending a sharp glare in his direction.

    "Details, details." He brushed it off, laughing slightly.

    Harry had us all gather around and work some more over the spells we had been learning, the more I watched him, the more I could see him being a teacher one day, or possibly just someone of importance, he had that air about him. It was funny that I hadn't really picked up on it until this year.

    "Working hard is important," Harry explained to us, while tweaking the way Padma Patil was holding her wand during a Stupefy jinx. "But, there is something that matters even more. Believing in yourself."

    I grinned a little, pointing my wand at Fred who was smirking at me from across the hall. "Stupefy!" I yelled, sending a spark of light out of the tip and hitting Fred in the arm, knocking him to the side a little. Maybe I could use some more work.

    "Think of it this way," Harry called out as he jumped over to me, adjusting my wrist, then moving on. "All the greatest witches and wizards of this century started out as nothing more than what we are now. Students. If they can do it, why not us?"

    Every moment after that, Harry was our leader. In the purest sense of the word. He was charismatic in a way that only he could lead. And, with Umbridge, and half of the Slytherins who were on her side, breathing down our necks - it was nice to see a spark of hope every now and again.

    SWALLOWING A LUMP in my throat, I waited in line as Umbridge began calling students of fifth year up to her room, this was the third time in a month. She wasn't giving up.

    "Miss Elizabeth Granger." Umbridge stuck her toad-like head out of her door way as Hermione practically flew out of the room, sparing me a 'good-luck' sort of look. "I will see you now."

    Wringing my hands together, I slowly climbed up the stairs leading up her room. I hated this room. Not only for the smell of sugar and some mysterious and sickly sweet stench, but for the decor. It looked like a unicorn threw up all over the walls after drinking a gallon of pink paint. And there were these odd portraits and plates with painted cats? What. The. Literal. Hell.

    "Miss Granger, please shut the door behind you and take a seat." Umbridge snapped me out of my thoughts of loathing and I quickly did as she demanded. "Now, Miss Granger. How are you this week?"

    Pretending as if she really cared, I forced a smile on my lips. "Oh, perfectly fine. The holidays are coming soon, I'm excited to get back to my family and friends for Christmas." I spared her a fake look of curiosity. "Are you excited for the holidays, Professor?" 

    She blinked slowly at me, smiling a large, sickly grin. "Well, yes - but, this is not about me. This visit is about secret meetings taking place. You wouldn't know anything about this, would you?" She raised a brow while pouring herself and me a cup of tea. "Because, if you do, I suggest you tell me, Miss Granger." 

    Raising a brow, I folded my hands on top on each other and shook my head with a polite smile. "Of course not, Professor. I have no time for rule breaking any way. Lot's of studying to do."

    She hummed at these words and tapped a finger to her chin while stirring her tea. "Well, that may or may not be true, Miss Granger, but do keep in mind - I hold a very high position in the Ministry. If I found out you are any one else were involved in some... cult or other, the repercussions could be more than just scholastic, dear."

    My eye twitched a little as a small grunt left my throat, earning a shocked look from Umbridge. "Does that displease you?" 

    Before I could stop it, I let out a bark of a laugh - something that sounded more harsh than humorous. "Well, your threats don't scare me, Professor. So, it just seems rather rudimentary for you to be talking about your spot on the Ministry. As I have mentioned before," I paused, being sure to stare into her eyes as her face grew more and more irritated. "I'm not a citizen of the Ministry, I am a citizen of the Republic of Magic." 

    She dabbed at her lips with a handkerchief and slowly lifted her body out of her large chair, walking around me while trying to regain her composure. "Yes, well - about that." She grabbed an envelope off her desk and handed it to me. "This is a notice of citizenship. One has been sent to your parents as well. It is time that you make the move permanent, dear." 

    Strutting to the door, Umbridge yanked it open as I glared down at the official document she had thrown at me. "Welcome to being under the Ministry of Magic, Miss Granger. There is a lot of rules you need to learn."

    Swallowing the rushing bile that was growing in my throat of al the things I was just itching to say, I abruptly stood up and exited the room, not once glancing back at that demonic woman.

~~~~

So, it seems I worried a lot of you in my last author's note, so let me just clear it up: THIS STORY IS FAR FROM BEING OVER! 

This book will be from book 5 to book 6 in the Harry Potter series. I was just getting ahead of myself, (I received the cover for the last book and wanted you all to see it, but it can wait - ahah)

So - don't worry! 

ALSO: Some people requested another Q&A session, what do you think? If you'd like one, leave a question you'd like to ask a character below! xxJess