Calm before the storm
"Uh oh!" Harry said, looking at the paper, for once genuinely frowning in concern. "That's not good. Not good at all."
"What?" Hermione snatched it from him and skimmed the article. "Mass breakout? This is really, really bad." She pursed her lips and went very pale. Ron choked on his cereal.
"Bellatrix Lestrange is the one who tortured my parents." Neville said quietly, and Harry nudged his shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't worry Nev, we won't let her get away with this." Neville gave him a small smile for his efforts and then sneezed. "So much for the ministry being awesome though, eh? Seems like all they've managed so far is to help Voldy. No offence Susan." Harry patted Susan on the head and she threw his arm off with a half-hearted scowl.
"None taken, Auntie is furious." Susan shook her head and sighed at the paper. "If only adults actually listened."
Ron shook his head just as Umbridge walked past. "The Ministry don't have a clue." He said, stabbing his bacon with his fork. "Macnair killed my mum's brothers."
"I bet they've blamed Sirius." Harry grumbled. Daphne appeared behind them, turning the page over Harry's shoulder and pointing.
"Yep, right there. Apparently he's trying to rally the death eaters or something." She said, sitting down as Harry shuffled up to make room.
"They would kill him on the spot." Neville added, frowning. "Sirius, that is. His cousin Bellatrix would consider him a traitor."
The group all looked at each other darkly, Draco joining them with a glum look on his face.
"It's a good job you got me out for the summer." He said quietly. "I expect they are all at Malfoy manor now, and will be for the foreseeable future."
"You won't be going back there." Harry promised.
"Did you hear?" Fred leaned across the table towards them. "Umbridge is starting to inspect the other professors this week."
"As if this day couldn't get any worse!" Ginny groaned, letting her head drop onto the table with a loud thud. "If she sacks McGonagall I swear-"
"She won't." Harry said confidently. "She has other people she wants out more, and McGonagall is too good at what she does. The most she can do is force her to abide by certain rules. Dumbledore, however? He's a target."
That week, Umbridge was present in Harry's Potions and Divination classes, as well as his careers meeting with McGonagall.
Divination had been highly entertaining. Umbridge seemed content to prowl around like a cat (sorry Minnie), scribbling on a clipboard and talking to Parvati and Lavender quietly. Both girls looked worried.
It all went wrong when Umbridge asked Trelawney for a prediction.
"You can't force the inner eye, Professor." Harry said, looking dead serious. "It isn't something that can be commanded." He heard Dean snicker and resolutely ignored him, fighting back a grin.
"Oh?" Umbridge said, sickly sweet. "How about you predict something for me then, Mr Potter, since you are so... knowledgeable... on the subject?"
"I predict that you'll fire McGonagall." Harry said, folding his arms and leaning backwards. There. Now Minnie would definitely never be fired, because Umbridge would never let Harry be right.
Umbridge didn't respond, and instead turned back to Trelawney.
"You are in grave danger!" Trelawney exclaimed. Umbridge hummed, wrote something down, and left.
The next class they had Umbridge in attendance for was Potions. Harry, not in the mood for baking, decided to just take part in the lesson. His main reason was so he could focus on the Umbridge and Snape showdown rather than ensuring he didn't overcook his pastry. Choux pastry is extremely delicate after all.
"So you applied first for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, is that correct?" Umbridge simpered, as the class worked on their potions in silence. No one dared speak, content to eavesdrop on the interaction between the Dungeon Bat and the Pink Toad.
"Yes."
"But you were unsuccessful?"
"Obviously."
Ron snickered, and the icy glare he received promised retribution.
Harry stiffened when Umbridge made her way over to his cauldron, peering at the contents with distaste.
"Mr Potter, what have we here?" Harry locked eyes with Snape, who raised a brow. Not today, Potter, or you will pay.
"Dreamless sleep potion, Ma'am." Harry said politely. "I'm on the final step." He added three drops of cobra venom and stirred once clockwise, and the potion changed from flamingo pink to a deep midnight blue.
"Hmph." Umbridge stalked out in a huff.
"Potter!" Snape snarled.
"Yes?" Harry looked up innocently. Snape didn't say anything, instead studying the perfect potion with disbelief.
"Why?" He croaked eventually, giving Harry a look that the teen really couldn't figure out.
"Turns out being really good at baking and cooking teaches some great potions skills!" Harry said brightly. "Speaking of, I'm getting a bit bored of baking now, I'm thinking of moving on to proper cooking soon, once I've mastered choux pastry. I've had practice cooking for the Dursley's, but I'd like to get better with spices and flavours. The Dursleys eat very bland food, you see." Harry wittered on, carefully pouring his potion into a vial and gently placing it on the desk. Snape looked as if he was barely restraining himself from throttling him. Ron snorted and earnt himself a whack on the head with a roll of parchment.
Harry had been looking forward to his careers meeting for weeks. He was expecting Umbridge to be in attendance due to her incessant obsession with his life, but he didn't really care either way.
"Evening Professor McGonagall!" Harry chirped, sitting down in the chair opposite her desk. McGonagall smiled at him, not even sparing Umbridge a glance.
"Good evening, Mr Potter. I trust you know why you are here?"
"Of course!"
"So, tell me, what careers are you thinking of for your future?" McGonagall leaned forwards slightly, interested. Harry frowned.
"Truth be told Professor, I don't really know. I thought I wanted to be an Auror-"
Umbridge coughed. She was ignored.
"- but I'm not sure all the paperwork and fighting is for me."
"That is perfectly adequate reasoning, Mr Potter. Have you looked into any other opportunities?"
"Well, I was going to go to Romania with Charlie during the summer, to get an idea of what working with dragons is like, but obviously with Voldy's return I couldn't really leave the house." Umbridge coughed louder. McGonagall's eyebrow twitched.
"I see. Well if you want work with dragons, or other reptiles, assuming you will be using your skills at parseltongue?" Harry nodded. "Yes, in that case then, It would be wise to study hard for your Care of Magical creatures OWL and NEWT. Potions and Charms are also important for such a career due to protective equipment, healing spells and potions, and development of new anti-venoms or potions that can be discovered through working and researching in this field."
"Okay" Harry didn't write it down, as he had an excellent memory. "So once Voldy is dead, dragons is an option."
Umbridge coughed.
"Cough drop, Dolores?" McGonagall asked with a voice of steel.
"No, thank you Minerva, I just wanted to say that I do not appreciate you continually allowing Mr Potter to speak about you-know-who as if he is alive. You are encouraging the child to lie."
"On the contrary, ignoring negative behaviour is often far more effective than punishment, as lies are often for attention. If anything, my lack of reaction and Mr Potter's continual persistency on the matter could suggest he is telling the truth." Umbridge turned a rather ugly shade of red, and McGonagall turned back to Harry.
"Any other career options you like the idea of, Mr Potter?"
"Yes." Harry said eagerly. "I don't think I would want to work with dragons all the time, you see, maybe just in the summer or something. Curse breaking sounds cool, but I'm not as good at wards as Daphne-"
"You would require an OWL and NEWT in Ancient Runes, which you would have to either sit late or start studying for now."
"Oh okay that's fine, I think I'll give that a miss. I can always study and sit them when I'm older if need be. The other thing I'm really interested in is teaching." Harry said conspiratorially, eyes shining. Umbridge went a very pleasant shade of red.
McGonagall raised a brow. "Teaching, Mr Potter?"
"Yes." Harry said, smiling brightly. "I feel like it could be fun."
"Do you have an idea what subject?"
"Well, either something culinary related, I'm quite a good cook/baker you know, or maybe Defence against the Dark Arts."
"With the abysmal grades you have for my subject, Mr Potter, you are most unlikely to get the required grades in your OWLS, NEWTS and Mastery." Umbridge simpered, more pink than red after processing what Harry had proposed.
"Potter, if you really want to teach and excel, I will be more than happy to assist you in whatever way possible." McGonagall retorted firmly. Harry grinned.
"Thanks Professor. I think I'd like to play quidditch professionally for a few years after I leave school, and maybe study a Mastery alongside."
"A good goal and first step towards building a solid career. I have no doubt, Mr Potter, that you will be most successful in whatever you set your mind towards."
"Thank you Professor, I really do appreciate it." Harry got to his feet. "Have a lovely afternoon, Professors." He nodded at both McGonagall and Umbridge, only letting his smile drop from his face once he was sure they couldn't see him.
He was ambushed as soon as he reached the common room.
"HARRY LOOK!" Ginny grabbed his hand and yanked him towards the window. Harry peered out.
"What am I looking at, it's pitch black! The only visible thing is the fire from Hagrid's - HAGRID'S BACK!" Ron sprinted down from the dorm, Neville in tow, and Hermione stood up from the couch.
"Let's go." Ron tossed Harry his invisibility cloak.
"We can't all fit under that." Hermione pointed out. "We aren't eleven anymore."
Harry grinned. "Hey, Kreacher!"
"Yes, Master?"
"Kreacher, please, Harry is just fine. Can you teleport us all to Hagrid's hut?"
"Yes, Master Harry. What about the snakes, the badger and the eagle?" Kreacher asked, rubbing his hands together.
" You can find them once we are down there and see if they want to come. Luna may be there already, she loves Hagrid."
Kreacher popped the five of them to Hagrid's doorstep and Harry knocked excitedly.
"Not even been back for five minutes, 'Arry, how'd you know I was 'ere?" Hagrid asked after opening the door with a wide smile and a plate of treacle tarts.
"Ginny saw you from the common room window! Hagrid, where have you been?"
The half-giant ushered them inside, barely even noticing when Kreacher came back with four more students. Luna, as Harry had predicted, was already there, curled up on the floor with Fang.
Hagrid told them everything. About Madame Maxime, the giants, the deatheaters. The teenagers all listened in silence, enthralled at the adventure Hagrid had been on.
Once he'd finished telling his story, the students all tried to recount the part of the school year Hagrid had missed, interrupting each other and bickering about the finer points.
"Umbridge sounds like a righ' nightmare." Hagrid said, shaking his head. "You should know, 'arry, my contract 'as changed. I'm only teachin' Care of Magical Creatures to first to fourth years. Professor Grubbly-plank will be handling OWL and NEWT students, since she's more qualified than I am, with me bein' expelled an' all." Hagrid said sagely, looking at Harry through his thick eyebrows.
Ron sighed in disappointment.
They stayed for another hour or so, catching up and joking around before Hagrid had to kick them out.
"You 'ave lessons tomorrow, yeh need yer rest." He said gruffly.
It was the day after that everything began to go wrong.