Chapter 6
Ron, Hermione, and Harry slipped out of the common room a few minutes later. Their friends were still up in the boys' dorm room, starting a gobstones game. They strode through the corridors with no resistance, the Marauder's Map spread in front of them under the cloak. Each time another prefect or teacher stepped onto their current route, they'd find another way over. After their winding path, they reached the one-eyed witch. Ron reached his wand out from under the cloak to tap the hump and hissed the password. The statue creaked open and all three climbed in and shut it behind them. Hermione then cast her blue fire charm so they could see the passageway.
"Hullo Sirius" Harry greeted the man neutrally as he put away the cloak.
"Hey pup, Hermione, Ron. How's school?" Sirius strode forward from where he had been leaning against the wall.
"School's good. Other than, y'know. New kids" Ron answered for the trio.
"Yeah? Are they causing any trouble?" Sirius gave a cocky half smile, ignoring the tension surrounding them.
"Only with their lack of knowledge. Otherwise they've been fine" Hermione shrugged. Sirius slumped at that. Harry glared as he realized that his godfather wanted them to get into mischief.
"We prefer they keep in line with Umbridge around. We aren't trying to get her to come after any of us" Harry told him waspishly. He was struggling enough with just his own protective instincts. He didn't need the newcomers to stir things up more. Sirius was taken aback at the tone.
"We were never caught, it'll be fine. You all need to loosen up" his declaration earned three glares.
"Would you be saying that if Remus was here? In our position?" Ron shot.
"Wha- I- You! Why are you bringing him into this?!" Sirius spluttered.
"Because she's not much better to us than she is to those she deems non-human. She's already taken a dig at Remus' credentials without him even there. When we leapt to his defense, she assigned detentions" Hermione picked up where he was going. Harry caught her eye and raised his right hand slightly. She nodded and he raised it to a more obvious position.
"You coming could get us put on probation if not outright expelled. At the moment the best she can do is ignite my temper and get me in detention. She wants to break me" Harry informed coldly, flipping the hand with the lines on it. "After all. Without my actions in June, Voldemort could have returned without anyone having proof beyond the Dark Marks. Which is easy for the Ministry to write off. Even my death would be. Oh no, the cheater got killed. Guess he wasn't prepared. The only ones who would know for sure are my friends who know that I trained hard for the trials".
"And Dumbledore!" Sirius started, not noticing the scarring.
"Sure, sure. He'd know based on Snape's arm. But no one would believe him and the same things would be occurring, just without my presence" Harry shrugged, acting like he didn't care. His best friends both squeezed his hands when they caught them. He squeezed back. All three watched impassively as Sirius struggled to respond.
"McGonagall said it wasn't too bad though? Just that she's irritating" Sirius tried.
"With all due respect, McGonagall told me to keep my head down. Then Umbridge stays irritating only. But McGonagall couldn't protect me from what happened in the week-long detentions I earned prior to that."
"What, the forest?" Sirius chuckled at what he thought was a joke. All three raised an eyebrow.
"No. That was first year. For being out passed curfew and maybe lying to a classmate, such a crime" Hermione deadpanned.
"Don't forget the 50 points each" Ron added. She hummed in acknowledgement.
"Then what...?" Sirius asked faintly.
"Lines" Harry held up his fist, showing the white lines against his dark skin. Sirius' face drained of blood.
"She made you use a Blood Quill?"
"For five hours, five days straight, yes" Ron half snarled. Harry snapped his fingers, giving his best friend a soft smile when they met eyes. The red-head calmed slightly, applying his shields to get through this conversation before sorting through the various emotions he was feeling so strongly. He needed to have his friend's back and right now that meant being the calm in the storm that was Hermione. Sirius just stared straight ahead.
"Now you see what we can't 'loosen up'. Any misstep could lead to problems" Storm Hermione was rolling into town, as her cold eyes pierced the man's heart. Ron could only feel amusement at her fierce anger. Here was an adult that she could go after.
"Dumbledore wouldn't-" Sirius started.
"Dumbledore doesn't care" Harry snarled.
"Of course he does! He's just busy, and..."
"Busy with what? He lost his positions as Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump. The only thing left is being Headmaster" Ron pointed out.
"He's fighting You-Know-Who!"
"Glad to see he values 'fighting' an enemy in the shadows over the hundreds of school children he's responsible for, for nine months straight" Hermione hissed.
"No one else is going to, so Albus needs to protect everyone" Sirius protests.
"In the process, he leaves a majority of the magical children to deal with things on their own. What happens when Voldemort uses his current tactics to lure Dumbledore away from the school to attack us. I know most of our professors would be able to hold him off for a time, but not forever. And if he succeeds in killing those professors, he'll have a free shot to the children. A lot of parents would comply with anything to keep their kids safe. Not to mention, he could easily kill me and anyone who comes to my defense. Everyone seems awful keen to send me back to my relatives over the summer 'for my protection', but now that I'm at school, it suddenly isn't that important? That sends a message, Sirius" Harry ranted.
"Plus, isn't that why he has the Order? To do what he can't due to his other obligations?" Ron asked innocently.
"Most of us have those tasks already. And it's not like that Harry. You can use magic here so you have a degree of freedom and Dumbledore can't interact with you as much with Umbridge around. It'll send the wrong message".
"Ah yes, the wrong message. The message that even with so many people against Harry, Dumbledore can't even bother to look in his direction for even a headmaster's smile at seeing his students reaching the castle safely. Not even an acknowledgement after a trial deciding Harry's future before his OWL year, that Dumbledore so kindly decided to show up last second to guide the sole non-muggle witness outside of Harry himself to the courtroom" Hermione was on a roll. "A woman he placed near the Dursley residence so he would have reports on Harry. Yes, I can see the messages being sent since what was it? '82? Or did she move in within a month of Harry's arrival? Oh right, I forgot that the only reason he was sent there was because you went after Wormtail, so you wouldn't know, would you?"
"Hermione, enough" Harry barked. The girl fell silent, glare still firmly on the older man. "Sirius. I don't know what you wanted out of this trip. However, we need to leave. Ron and I have Quidditch practice tomorrow, so we need to get homework done. Be careful leaving, and good night" with that said, he pulled out the cloak and opened the map before opening the hump. His friends climbed after him in silence, sealing the entrance quickly to prevent Sirius following.