26

The trip to the castle was boring. The apartment was also boring. It took from the morning until right before the feast to remove all the spying charms. Dumblefuck was getting on each of their nerves. Despite elves delivering lunch; they were still hungry. So, they decided to go down to the welcoming feast.

The entrance hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.

The four long House tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly to one another, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other Houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes.

Well, first things first: He was looking over the students' heads to the staff table that ran along the top wall of the Hall. Where the new DADA teacher was.

Harry frowned, Narcissa was correct. He had hoped she was wrong. Dumbledore's head was inclined toward a woman sitting next to him, who was talking into his ear. She looked squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Then she turned her face slightly to take a sip from her goblet. All of his hope was lost. Cissa was correct. They would have to deal with Dolores Umbridge. If only something would happen that would let him challenge the bitch to a duel. That would solve the issue.

Soon, the Sorting Hat opened the ceremony with its song. It seemed heavily influenced by Dumbledore's words during the end-of-the-year feast from the last term. Many people noticed the hidden warning towards the end. Nothing spectacular happened during the sorting itself and soon, Dumbledore allowed them to tuck in.

Harry and the ladies felt famished and were more than happy to finally help themselves to some of the delicious food after they checked it for potions. A few items were either potioned or poisoned.

Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the headmaster:

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore.

"First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students - and a few of our older students ought to know by now too."

"Mister Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the six hundred and sixty-six time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mister Filch's office door."

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause. Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the -"

He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair, and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Harry had ever seen it.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome.

Her voice was high-pitched, breathy, and a little girlish. Harry would love nothing more than to strangle her. She gave another little throat-clearing cough "Hem, hem" and continued:

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

Umbridge cleared her throat again "Hem, hem", but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever."

"The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching." Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back.

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation"

Professor Umbridge did not seem to notice the restlessness of her audience: "Because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment."

"Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. Barely any students joined in. Harry was sure that the majority had no idea what she actually talked about.

Umbridge had an interesting choice of words though. Her list included openness, effectiveness, and accountability. Harry hope to shove those words down her throat so she would choke to death on them. If not; maybe a .45 ACP would do the job. One way or another, the toad would not see the leaving feast. He was sure something in the forest would eat her corpse. With the spiders gone, other predators were gaining dominance in the forest. He was sure one of them could devour a large human body.

Dumbledore had stood up again. "Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held…"

"Oh, she will be a problem," Hermione said to Harry.

{N}

MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST-EVER "HIGH INQUISITOR"

{S}

Albus was pleased. Dolores now had the power to act. The wards alerted him that Dolores had brought five blood quills with her. She would be able to bring Harry and his sluts to heel.

{S}

When Luna returned from a mission that weekend, she was dancing on her feet. "My master!"

"What are you in such a good mood for, Luna?" Daphne asked.

"I was able to say goodbye to my mommy. I finished the research after our planning meeting." Luna said if that explained everything. The girls all looked at her with confusion on their faces.

"What do you mean, Luna?" Hermione asked now she was interested.

"The stone Croaker gave Harry was the fabled resurrection stone. And yes, you can summon shades of the dead with it. Also, Harry's cloak has the Deathly Hallows symbol hidden in the lining. It is "Death's Cloak." Luna said with a smile.

"Deathly Hallows? Hermione asked. Luna ran to her room and came back with a book. She handed it to Hermione. Hermione looked. In the book.

"Tales of Beedle the Bard"

"Read the Tale of the Three Brothers from it," Luna said.

"So, I can talk with my parents, using the stone, Luna?" Harry said haltingly.

"Yes, it is not good for you or them, if you do it too frequently. Also, the wards of the castle would alert Dumbs if any powerful artifact outside your cloak comes into this castle." Luna said. "Or worse; being used. I put it in your vault."

"Why am I not surprised? He has also adjusted the wards so that mirror calls do not work." Susan said. "He also ordered the castle house elves to stop any other elf from entering or leaving the castle."

"Luna, tonightafter dinner, take the cloak and the map. Go to the owlery, get our owls, and take the secret passage to Hogsmeade. Send the owls to my aunt with a note to keep them there. Also, take Crookshanks in a carrier. Our pets will be too vulnerable this year." Harry said as he scribbled a note.

"Now, Luna what did you learn from the dead?" Hermione asked a little miffed at Harry for his interruption.

"Well let's start. Gellert and Albus were lovers. Gellert lost the elder wand to Albus. Gellert is in Nurmengard Castle still. More importantly, my mommy loves me and the spell that went bad was sabotaged by the order of the phoenix."

Luna said." That last note enraged everyone there. Yet another reason Dumbledore must die.

"Undoubtedly, Albus himself. Using Fawkes, did the killing. Most places are not protected against phoenix flame travel." Harry said. He thought a few minutes then added another parchment to Luna. "You did well, Luna. In a month we will recover the wand from the bastard and I will need you to get it out of the castle and to the boat. Can you fly a thestral?" Luna nods.

Harry hissed "Serpensortia" several times in parseltongue, finally twenty snakes appeared in front of him. "Noble serpents, I need you to find a way into the headmaster's room, on the night of the next new moon, steal his wand and bring it to the statue of the one-eyed witch. Give it to my servant here." Pointing to Luna.

"Yes, speaker." They all hissed and then left the room.

"The night of the next new moon, we will steal the wand. Leave the cloak and this pouch hidden in the passageway on the way back from Honeydukes. We can expect to be searched. Do we have anything to create a distraction during the search?"

"How distracting?" Narcissa asked.

"Something that would cause a castle-wide ruckus and search by the umbitch."

"That depends, Luna, could you get your father to print an article in the "Quibbler" for us?" Narcissa asked with a gleam.

"Most likely, what would it say though?" Luna asked skeptically.

Narcissa went into her room and came back with two official documents. "These are the owl and newt results of one Dolores Jane Umbridge," Narcissa replied. "You need to write an article asking why a person who received failing grades on their owls and newts in DA-DA, should be teaching DA-DA at Hogwarts. That the person showed the documents to the quibbler."

"Brilliant," Harry said. "We would let both search us at the same time. We just need to make sure they do not find anything here that is compromising."

"Even better plan, give the article to teen witch weekly. That way there are no direct links to us. Just a lot of suspicion." Susan said.

"You have a contact there?" Harry asked.

"No, she doesn't, but I do," Daphne said. "My father can get documentation from the school board on Dumbs accepting or worse wanting her as a teacher. How will it sound, consider how having such a poor teacher will impact the owl and NEWT students. Plus, since parents are paying tuition, they are being cheated out of their money."

"How will that play out in Trafalgar Square?" Harry asked.

"Badly, very badly. You are right that we will be searched." Susan said amused. "We will make sure that they find nothing that will implicate us in any of our shenanigans."

"Now how was the meeting with Croaker?" Harry finally asked.

"The DoM has been taken care of. He said he will find a way to get us a target list. Other than that, expect the worst." Luna replied happily.

{S}

When the first class of students entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, they found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head.

The class was quiet as it entered the room. Well, good afternoon!" she said when finally, the whole class had sat down.

A few people mumbled "Good afternoon" in reply.

"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply, 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her.

"There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."

The students pulled out quills, ink, and parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once: Defense Against the Dark Arts

A Return to Basic Principles.

"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge.

"The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year."

"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by:

Course aims:

1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.

2. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.

3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.

The room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's three-course aims, she said, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class. "I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room.

"Good," said Professor Umbridge. "I should like you to turn to page three and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk."

Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher's desk, observing them all with those pouty toad's eyes. Everyone turned to page three of their copy of Defensive Magical Theory and started reading.

It was desperately dull, quite as bad as listening to their History of magic professor. Several silent minutes passed. Many of them already detested the book and wished the ground would swallow them up.

Hannah raised her hand in the air.

Professor Umbridge took notice of the girl when more than half of the class turned away from their books.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked Hannah.

"Not about the chapter, no," said Hannah.

"Well, we're reading just now; just reading, no spell casting," said Professor Umbridge. "If you have other queries, we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims," said Hannah.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. "And your name is…?"

"Hannah Abbot," said Hannah.

"Well, Miss Abbot, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness.

"Well, I don't," said Hannah pointedly. "There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."

There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three-course aims still written on the blackboard. There was nothing about practicing with spells.

"Using defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh.

"Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Abbott. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

"We're not going to use magic?" Neville said loudly.

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mister?"

"Longbottom," said Neville, thrusting his hand into the air.

This time Umbridge replaced her sugary smile with a simple look with her eyes saying you're not worth my time. She tore her attention away when Hannah raised her hand again.

"Yes, Miss Abbott? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes," said Hannah. "Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Abbott?" asked Professor Umbridge in her falsely sweet voice.

"No, but…"

"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way."

Neville had enough and raised his hand. The professor pointed to him. "What use is that? Both my parents were Aurors, and even they knew you have to be able to protect yourself," Neville said in a clear voice. That got some of the other students to raise their hands. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free."

"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, smiling, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No, but…"

Professor Umbridge talked over him. "As I was saying. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day -"

"No, we haven't," Hannah said, "we just…"

"Your hand is not up, Miss Abbott!" Umbridge interrupted.

A few more people raised their hands and started asking questions which seemed to get on her nerves. Then finally, she looked at Parvati, who had her hand raised.

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter curses and things?"

"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under the carefully controlled examination conditions of owls and newts," said Professor Umbridge dismissively.

Without ever practicing them before?" said Parvati incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"

"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough; there is no need for you to practice spells."

"So, we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?" an agitated Neville asked.

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mister Longbottom."

"Do you want a bet?" said Neville. He was pissed.

"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" inquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice.

"Oh, I don't know…" said Neville in a mock thoughtful voice, "maybe the death eaters that didn't go to Azkaban or the ones that weren't caught?"

{S}

"Miss Potter, please follow me," Flitwick said.

At the same time; "Miss Greengrass, please come with me." Snape said.

"Miss Bones; please come with me," Sprout said.

"My lord, I will be back, your ladies are in trouble," Narcissa said with a smirk.

"Pomona, Severus, Filius; let's head to the Deputy Headmistress. Ladies, follow me."

Narcissa said intercepting the girls and the teachers. They were quiet until inside the Deputy Headmistress's Office.

"Narcissa, what is this?" Minerva asked.

"That is what I want to know. I noticed all three of these heads of houses took vassals out of the feast. I want to know why?" Narcissa asked.

"Pomona?" Minerva asked though she thought she knew why.

"Albus has decided that these three cannot refuse the status of Prefects," Pomona responded. "We came to notify our students that they must return to the dorms."

"That violates the school policy. Any student can decline to be prefect or head boy or girl. If the school wants to persist; we can always sue the school as well as take this to the school board." Narcissa said challengingly.

"You wouldn't?" Minerva said.

"Yes, we would. This is but another example of Albus violating the rule for his own ends." Narcissa said. "This would put pressure on the board to give Albus to the ministry. So, you have a choice. Considering, Greengrass wants Albus's head over the bullshit with his youngest daughter."

"Fine, we will assign other students," Minerva said.

"Ladies, shall we go?

{S}

After a prank destroyed his potions book; Harry was pissed. Then he saw what was in the old book that he borrowed from the potion's professor. He would owl order a brand-new book; switch covers and keep this book. He liked the spells in the book. Someone was a sadistic genius. The change in potion recipes was also brilliant.

{S}

"Mister Potter, my office, after this breakfast," McGonagall said. "Bring your vassals."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said. "Showtime"

{S}

Harry and his ladies entered the deputy headmistress's office. Unsurprised, it had the three other heads of house and the Umbitch. He was going to have to find some way to reward Daphne.

"What is this about?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Can you explain why you are not in your DA-DA class?" Minerva asked. "We also have to schedule your detentions for skipping the class."

"I do not think so, professor," Harry said as he handed a stack of ministry parchments to her. "And with the schedule, we have, we cannot take her grade six class."

"Then I will redo your schedules; you will take her newt course," Minerva said.

"As you will," Harry said.

"Hmm, Hmm," Dolores said.

"Yes, Dolores," Minerva said.

"Why, they are fifth-year students?" Umbridge asked.

"Mister Potter gave me these copies of their owl results. All of them have passed their DA-DA owls with outstanding plus. These students were tested at the international owl level." Minerva said as she handed over the papers.

"WHAT!" Dolores screeched. "How did this happen? The minister would never approve of this. Did you approve this, Minerva?"

"No, neither Albus nor I would approve of any student taking their owls early. Especially students like Harry and his ladies." Minerva said.

"Mister Potter, how did you do this?"

"I should tell you that it is none of your business, however, it is not much of a secret. Madam Marchbanks saw us practicing our patroni. She decided we were ready." Harry said with a smile. "Now, we will not be doing the detention, as we had no reason to attend the class. If not, I think Narcissa will have to bring this to the Wizengamot."

{S}

"Mister Potter, I need to see you again in my office," Minerva said. Rather than answer, Harry gave her some official documents. "Again, Mister Potter?"

"Of course, professor. We wanted a free period to keep ahead of our homework, and with the quality of the Hogwarts DADA professors, we felt two birds one stone." Harry smirked.

{N}

Last night the Ministry announced that by using an Educational Decree they were creating the post of School Inspector. The Inspector will be the Ministry's eyes and ears inside Hogwarts and will report back to the Ministry on anything that falls below the standards we expect from the premier magical school in Europe.

The appointed school inspector will be permitted to observe any classes, all areas of the school accessible to students and staff

The Ministry also announced that they were appointed to this position, one Dolores Umbridge. Dolores Umbridge has been the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic for a number of years. She will bring a gloss back to the school.

This post will be done in tandem with her post as High Inquisitor. The minister has approved this exception to the by-laws of the school. The board has not responded at this time.

{S}

Dolores Umbridge stormed towards the headmaster's office, her mood sour and her patience having been sorely tested.

"Stand aside, I wish to speak with him," she demanded of the gargoyle who remained unmoving. "Did you not hear me? You will move aside or face the consequences."

The guardian sprang aside, and Dolores returned the wand she had drawn to her handbag before stepping onto the staircase. Even before she knocked, Dumbledore's voice rang out.

"Come in, Dolores," he bid. After she entered.

"What can I do for you this evening?" Dumbledore asked.

"I would like to know if it is common practice for students to fail to attend compulsory lessons?" she asked sweetly.

"It is not," Dumbledore answered with a frown. "Do you have such students?"

"Yes, Mister Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Bones, Miss Lovegood, and Miss Greengrass did not come to class today, and try as I may, I am unable to locate them."

Dumbledore shook his head. "You have my apologies, Dolores. I have been busy, and it slipped my mind to mention it, but they have already obtained outstanding plus on their newts in defense, international level, so they will not be attending your lessons."

"Impossible, they are fifth years," she returned disbelievingly.

"Not impossible," Dumbledore corrected. "They were examined by Madame Marchbanks. She gave them both their OWLS and NEWTS. I have a parchment from Griselda verifying it," he added as he opened a drawer and removed a parchment. "Ah, here it is."

Dolores all but snatched the offered parchment and scanned the contents, her face reddening in fury.

"This was not sanctioned by Cornelius. How has this been allowed to happen?"

"Madame Marchbanks does not answer to the minister in matters of examinations and student achievement nor to me." Umbridge's jaw clenched.

"The boy needs to be in my class." Dolores all but screamed.

"That will not happen. The boy and his ladies went behind my back and passed out of our DA-DA program. I was not even notified of this. There is nothing I can do about this. They could skip potions. I would not be surprised if they do so soon."

{S}

After the death eater left him, the headmaster yelled expletives for a few minutes. He had just learned that day; that Harry and his girls had their NEWTS in DA-DA and potions. He would never be able to have Severus bully the boy and his girls. Nor the death eater. How dare the head of education allow students of Hogwarts to take exams early? His yelling continued since he couldn't revoke the test results. The boy was going down a dark path; with this, one more owl and the boy could leave the castle. He had to stop that for his plans and the greater good.

{S}

"Here is the box you wanted, Luna. Do you mind telling me why you had me ask Croaker for a box that can't be summoned or detected by magic" Harry asked.

"It is a surprise, now let's go to dinner, they are serving pudding for dessert." Luna replied.

{S}

This was bad. She had orders from the Dark Lord. She had to humiliate and hurt Harry and his ladies. If he was keeping things from Dumbledore, what else was he keeping secret? Regardless, Potter would learn his place, and that was beneath her heel. By the time she was finished with the boy when she demanded the brat jump, the boy would ask, how high.

{S}

"What news do you bring me?" The man took a knee and bowed before him before standing.

"My Lord. I bring you news on Potter." The Dark Lord frowned. The boy was an enigma and far different than he expected.

Harry Potter was a problem unto himself, one that needed to be dealt with. He had exposed the dark lord's blood status. It was causing issues with recruiting and finance.

Also, the boy was a better fighter than he expected. If he didn't know more spells and all the rituals he had completed, the boy would be better than he was. If the boy continued to increase his knowledge and power, at some point in the future, the boy would be better than himself.

He had believed Potter had been lucky when he had encountered the boy during the boy's first year. He had grown to learn that he was not without skill during the previous year and the boy had ultimately proven himself far beyond that the night he had risen.

Potter was dangerous, skilled, and ruthless. He saw much of his younger self in him. Was it possible that what happened on Halloween 1981 had shaped and influenced him in some way? The boy was also a parselmouth. The similarities between himself and the teen were too many to ignore. It was something he would have to ponder further.

He would be a fool to admit that it was not concerning. Twice he had survived an inevitable demise. One could be attributed to the old magic he had not considered, to his own detriment, but twice? If the boy succeeds a third time… There was more to it than that. He had to hear the bloody prophecy in full, now.

"What of Harry?"

"I have the memory of an ally; it is from his trial, in the Wizengamot, my Lord."

"And what was the outcome?" Tom said impatiently.

"You should see for yourself," his servant suggested, nodding towards the pensive on the desk.

The Dark Lord nodded. "Very well."

He emerged sometime later; his brow creased in thought. Although there were undeniable similarities between them, the differences were glaring. The boy held all the cards, and he knew it going in.

"What do you think of him?" Tom asked.

"He is a child. But he killed the Malfoys."

"Exactly. Someone has been grooming him. "He is evil; very evil. A new nascent dark lord," Voldemort whispered. "He may be a threat far beyond Dumbledore, my friend." Tom tried to think of a way to downplay his excitement toward the boy. He had to find a way to approach the boy. He would be a perfect number two.

"A threat, My Lord?"

"You saw for yourself; I expect more corpses in Hogwarts this year," Tom said. He didn't even care how many of his followers at the castle died from Harry's wand.

"Did Dumbledore train him?"

Voldemort shook his head. "The old fool would not allow him to wield such magic. Nor kill as easily and happily. Whoever trained him doesn't care about anything but victory. I wish for you to investigate Harry. I want to know all there is to know about Harry Potter. Also, find a way that I can send him a message without Dumbledore knowing what is in it. I may or may not want Dumbledore to know that Harry received a note from me."

"Of course, My Lord. I will begin immediately."

"Good, now leave me. I have other matters to attend to." Tom said; the paperwork of being a Dark lord never quit. It was too bad he couldn't trust all of his servants, to have them do it.

{S}

"What are we going to do, Hannah?" Neville asked as they made their way towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. "We will never pass our OWL with Umbridge teaching us."

Hannah had to agree. Umbridge had been in the school for less than a week and had taught them nothing they would need to know for their exams. They had even been forbidden from practicing the required spells. Instead, they were instructed to read from a book that was all but useless.

"I don't know," she sighed, a deep frown creasing her brow. She had a thought.

"Why are Harry, Hermione, and Susan not in our class?"

"Oh, they have already passed their DA-DA OWLs and NEWTs," the boy replied with a shrug. He was glad he had the information his girlfriend wanted. She had been spending too much time with Tracy.

"They what?" Hannah asked with surprise.

"Harry and his little group have already received their OWLs and NEWTs in DA-DA and potions, my gran told me," Neville explained as he too paused.

"How?"

Neville shrugged once more. "Are you really surprised though? From the first train ride here, Harry has had to defend himself. His ladies have been with him for most of it since."

"Think, we did take the one class with the Aurors the other year. You know what they taught us. Between that and the tournament; he and his vassals have been taught a lot of magic that is easily beyond OWL and NEWT level," he pointed out.

"How do you know these things?" Hannah asked.

"It was mentioned in a Wizengamot meeting by Fudge. He was apparently upset that Marchbanks approved it. My gran sent me a letter about this to keep me aware of what is going on in the politics."

"Why would Harry be mentioned in a Wizengamot meeting?"

"He was put on trial for underage magic during the summer. There are quite a few people that still blame him for all the deaths around here. Like that classroom where many students from different houses died in. The DMLE still has not found out how it was done. It would have just been another mystery around this place except for some of the children were heirs. So, the Wizengamot wants answers. There are some members that suspect Harry." Neville explained.

"Anyway, Harry was acquitted in his latest trial and there is still no proof of him being a mass murderer. Though now, Fudge has it out for him."

"Harry should be careful," Hannah replied. "If he is really a killer; why do Hermione and Susan stay with him?"

"Either they are involved, which due to Susan's aunt; seems unlikely. Or there is something else. There is no proof that Harry has gone dark, so they may be staying with him because he is actually grey. Unless he has something else. What that might be is not potion or spell though." Neville said after a few minutes of thought.

{N}

Educational Decree

Defense Against the Dark Arts classes is now compulsory for ALL students from the first through the seventh year.

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge

High Inquisitor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry