It's from Percy,' they announced. 'Does anyone have a copy of the Daily Prophet.'
Several papers appeared immediately from all angles.
They scanned, moving in tandem, then tossed it across the table between Katie and Harry. 'Percy decided to offer us some advice,' Fred sniggered.
'It's time to let trouble-making and running riot come to an end. Things are changing, and we must change with them,' George quoted in a childish, high-pitched voice.
Dolores Jane Umbridge, formerly Undersecretary to the Minister and appointed Defence Against the Dark
Senior newly Arts Professor at Hogwarts has, in a surprise move by the Wizengamot, become the first ever official to hold the position of High Inquisitor.
Harry didn't like where this was going one bit. Umbridge had been doing him plenty of good as she was. The woman had made herself thoroughly unpopular, stealing the spotlight, and providing a useful buffer between the attention of the Ministry and Dumbledore.
This will change everything.
'Have you read this?' Katie shoved the paper further under his nose. 'The High Inquisitor has power over all sanctions and punishments within the school.'
The position of High Inquisitor, Harry read, created by Educational Decree Number Twenty Three also enjoys the ability to determine the sanctions scheme of Britain's education establishments courtesy of the seceding decree.
'She must have written to Fudge over the weekend about McGonagall overpowering her and rescinding her detentions,' Harry surmised. 'Now we've got this to deal with.'
Stupid Ron and Dean, if they'd not been caught this wouldn't have happened.
'This is ridiculous,' the twins echoed Katie's sentiments. 'With that foul woman in charge of punishments who knows what will happen next.'
Harry knew. Anyone who spoke out against the Ministry's version of events would find themselves on the receiving end of increasingly harsh punishments and eventually nobody would dare to speak out. It would stop being worth the risk. The other side of the coin was that Umbridge might just take things too far, and earn herself such a reputation that speaking out against her was seen as the right thing to do.
If she is clever, she will reserve the use of her power for situations in which it seems appropriate and never let the school unify against her.
Harry hoped she wasn't too clever, or he'd find himself trapped at Hogwarts, unable to find out about the Prophecy and away from Fleur.
'Well,' Fred was saying to Katie and George, 'you know what this means, of course.'
'I do indeed, brother mine. It means we will have to listen to Percy and… not get caught!' They grinned splitting the remaining half of the toast rack between them.
'You're incorrigible,' Harry remarked. 'You really don't want to get caught, though,' he added more seriously. 'We never get caught,' they reminded him, wagging fingers in a manner eerily reminiscent of their mother, 'we just get suspected.'
'I don't Umbridge is going to distinguish between suspects and culprits,' Katie warned, buttering two pieces of toast to make herself a bacon sandwich. 'She tried to get your younger brother Ron and his friend put in detention for practicing spells that are in the Defence OWL. So be extra careful.'
'Yes, Dark Mistress,' they acquiesced. Katie beamed, raising her chin in the air and looking down her nose at the two Weasley twins. 'You're a bad influence, Harry,' they remonstrated. 'Look what you've turned our innocent Katie into.'
'I did nothing,' Harry denied, raising his hands, 'she was like this underneath the whole time.' 'Surely not,' Fred gasped. 'Not our Katie.'
'All those quidditch practice sessions in the rain, the times when she would lovingly hurl the quaffle at us until she got her way.'
'The threats to tell Angelina and Alicia if she didn't get what we wanted.'
'No, Harry,' George shook his head, 'I just can't believe it. I won't.'
'And then there was the time she drank fire whiskey after winning the quidditch cup and hid all our essential pranking supplies in Snape's office,' Fred continued tearfully.
'No that was us, Fred,' George reminded him. 'Katie hid all our essays in McGonagall's office.'
'Ah,' Fred sighed, 'sometimes its hard to remember. She definitely warned the girls we'd switched on our date with them, though.'
'You have a point, Fred,' George conceded. 'Harry, you might be right.'
'We think Katie has been evil all along after all.'
'Don't you three have some classes to go to?' Katie cut in, before her defamation continued any further.
'No,' the twins grinned evilly, 'we're free all morning.'
'Umbridge,' Harry admitted, some sympathetic glances.
earning
himself
'You'd probably best get going,' Katie smirked, 'don't want to be expelled for being late, do you?'
Harry shot her a half-hearted glare, then helped himself to half her bacon sandwich in revenge. Bacon thieving is becoming a habit.
Neville was lingering outside the classroom, acting as lookout for the four others within who were trying to cast the shield charm with about as little success as before. Only Hermione was anywhere close to a fully functioning defense.
'Did they leave you outside to guard?'
'I can already do the shield charm,' Neville told him proudly.
'Care to share?' Harry hadn't seen anything since his first attempts at the end of last year.
'Protego,' Neville commanded, and he was instantly surrounded by a glowing demi-sphere of translucent, silver light.
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