The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 16: Gryffindor v. Slytherin

November 17th, 1995 - 2:00pm

"Is that really what you're wearing to the Quidditch game?" I asked Hermione: she wore trackie bottoms with her hair in a messy bun.

"Yes!" Hermione exclaimed, "I've got to come directly back to the dorm after the game to study for the O.W.L.s! Thanks to you lot, Snape's been on my arse since Halloween!"

"'Mione, Snape has always been on your arse," I scoffed, "Serving two weeks of detention with him probably didn't change his opinion of you!"

After Fred dropped a loud smoke bomb in the common room on Halloween, everyone had to serve two weeks of detention with a multitude of teachers. Our house also lost five-hundred points, putting us in last place for the House Cup. I served detention with Professor Grubby-Plank, the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. I spent every afternoon picking up creature lumps and cleaning the grounds with a couple of other students.

Hermione and Neville were put with Snape. Hermione cried about it every night; not about serving detention with Snape, but just because she got in trouble. Ron had detention with Professor McGonagall, and the twins took over Filch's job. Harry was the only one in our house who didn't get detention as he left the party early. 

Thankfully, Professor McGonagall has a heart - she didn't put anyone in Gryffindor with Umbridge, nor did she tell her the truth of what happened that night. Harry must've told her about the enchanted quills and scars. So, everyone in Gryffindor got left with cleaning jobs. 

Speaking of Umbridge, these past two weeks have been a total nightmare. With Dumbledore's absence, Minister Fudge has given Umbridge permission to implement "educational decrees"; twenty-two existed. They were nothing short of horrible.

Decree Number One punished students in possession of spell-check quills - Hermione was a fan of this one, surprisingly. Decree Number Nine punished students in possession of "unauthorized sweets". Decree Number Fifteen allowed Hogwarts to be subjected to informal scrutiny by an "approved" staff member.

And this wasn't even the worst of it.

On Monday at breakfast, Hermione's owl delivered her a copy of The Daily Prophet - she received one every week. And of course, on the front page, there was a picture of Dolores Umbridge and Minister Fudge shaking hands.

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"She's been an immediate success, totally revolutionizing the teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts," Hermione read aloud, "It is the last function that the Ministry has now formalized the passing of Educational Decree Twenty-Three, which creates the new position of Hogwarts High Inquisitor. This is an exciting new phase in the Minister's plan to get to grips with what some are calling the "falling standards" at Hogwarts. This Inquisitor will have powers to inspect her fellow educators, and make sure that they are coming up to scratch. Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in addition to her own teaching post, and we are delighted to say she has accepted..."

Ron snatched the paper from her, "Written by... Percival Ignatius Weasley...  OF COURSE, THE FOUL GIT WROTE THIS!"

"What happened with Percy?" I asked hesitantly.

"Dad and he got into a fight over the summer," Fred explained before shoving eggs in his mouth, "Perce doesn't believe that You-Know-Who came back, and thinks Dumbledore and Harry's gone mad."

"He left home and hasn't returned since..." George shrugged.

"Mum cried for weeks and refuses to let anyone sleep in his room in case he returns," Ginny added in, "I doubt he will though. Perce currently makes more money than dad."