"Excuse me, Madam Umbridge, may I borrow Mr. Potter for a few minutes?"
The woman gave an unhappy nod as she turned and continued leading the remainder of Slytherin towards the dungeon. Meanwhile Dumbledore silently gestured for the teen to accompany him back to his office. Moments later Dumbledore practically fell into his chair, a sigh escaping his lips from the stress already building up. The boy-who-lived, on the other hand, simply began examining the various knick-knacks on the shelves lining the room.
"Quite a pleasant woman, isn't she?"
A soft chuckle emanated from the older man as he nodded in agreement, "She certainly was not my first choice, but you did force my hand on this Harry."
"You give me far too much credit Headmaster, I am only a schoolboy after all." He easily replied as gaze shifted from one item to another.
"We both know that isn't true."
Harry gave a noncommitted shrug as he turned his attention back to the elder, "I suppose opinions do vary, but regardless it was you who decided to remove professor Snape from his position, not me."
"Because he sided with you Harry."
The teen laughed, "Ah yes I forgot the old adult mentality, 'if it isn't exactly the way I want it then it is evil'."
"You will not succeed Harry. There are other paths, ways that will lead you to happiness rather than the darkened one you now walk. I am trying to save lives Harry, yours included and… and I will stop you myself if need be."
Emerald-green eyes lit up in excitement, "Oh I do so hope you try."
...
"Ah hem, your attention. Now then as your new Head of House we will be going over the rule changes. As those under my direct care I insist that you follow far closer than the others, we want to present unity do we not? Now then I want each and every one of you to keep an eye on your housemates and classmates. If you see anyone being inappropriate, or breaking any rules, I want you to tell me immediately. Remember the Minister is counting on you to do the right thing."
That had been their second 'introduction' to the woman that the students would eventually come to despise. Not only had she practically shut down any sort of inter-house socialization outside of class but had also managed to make one of the more interesting subjects, Defense Against the Dark Arts, into one of the most boring .
Her insistence that 'practical' defense training was irrelevant, and that instead the course would focus solely on memorizing information about the Ministry and their safety procedures.
It was bad enough that even Hermione found herself hating the class, and the book that went along with it.
...
"Mr. Weasley, a moment."
The redhead halted, a bit clumsily, and turned to face her with a scowl evident on his face. "What do you want?"
"Tut tut, is that any way to speak to the one who helped make you Prefect?"
It appeared as though the situation finally hit home with the youngest Weasley son, and he promptly snapped his jaw shut before shaking his head slowly. "Uh no… sorry…"
She gave one of her disgustingly fake smiles before motioned for the boy to walk with her, continuing the conversation as she did, "I… we need your help Mr. Weasley, it is why the Headmaster and I pushed for your status."
"And uhm… what do you need my help with?" Ron's back had straightened with pride the moment he heard the word 'Headmaster'. That meant Dumbledore himself had faith in his abilities and needed his aid!
The woman's smile widened, showing a shark-like grin, "We are going to get rid of a certain individual in the school. A student by the name of Potter."
"What can I do?" the youngest Weasley son replied immediately, never once taking a moment to consider exactly who he was helping.
....
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