Harry and Hermione were on their first late night patrol as Prefects for the year. They were fortunate enough to be the last nightly patrol for the week, which meant that they were patrolling on the weekend and didn't have to worry about classes the next day.

All and all, they had a very successful run, they managed to help one Hufflepuff first year find his way back to his common room, collect some lost school books before taking them to Professor McGonagall, and finally had managed to find a potential prank that the Twins had planted. Harry had wanted to leave the prank there, seeing as he was the Twins' secret endorser, but a glare from Hermione hade shut him right up.

They continued their patrol down into the dungeons, Marauder's Map in hand, and noticed noises coming from a nearby broom closet. They double-checked the map first, before Hermione opened the door on the two Slytherins inside.

"Come on Davis, Zabini," with a flourish of her arm, the two quickly exited the cupboard with reddened faces, "This is the second time we caught you two this week, we're going to have to deduct points for this." The both Blaise and Tracey's faces quickly dropped into glares at both Harry and Hermione, but by this point, the two of them were used to it. "25 points from Slytherin. Now go back to your dorms." Harry watched the map to make sure that they went back to the Slytherin common room, before continuing their patrol.

After deducting points from the couple, they were making their way out of the Dungeons when Hermione noticed a grin on Harry's face.

"And what may I ask is so funny?" she asked with a faked haughtiness, but her amusement was clear in her voice. Harry turned towards her, mirth dancing in his eyes.

"You like doing this don't you?"

"Of course," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I appreciate the fact that I've been given this responsibility and feel as though I have to use it. Why do you ask?"

The grin on his face didn't diminish one bit. "It's just that, you take yourself so seriously that I think you need to loosen up every once in a while. You're going to drive yourself spare once O.W.L.S. start."

Hermione considered his words carefully. She initial wanted to rebuke his claim, but when she thought about it, she had to admit that he may be right. She remembered how she had nearly ran out of gas in Third year when she had the time-turner and realized that she didn't want a repeat of it.

"I guess you may have a point Harry. I'll try my best." She looked Harry in the eye as se said this and could see the pride and affection that were behind his emerald irises. His gaze was so penetrating that she had to look away for a few seconds as a flush spread through her cheeks. Once she had regained her natural color, she turned to continue their patrol, soft footsteps behind her indicating that Harry was not far behind.

They ventured on in a companionable silence, allowing Harry to reflect on how different this year was, even after one week.

Flashback

Dumbledore rose to his feet to deliver his welcome back speech as he did every year. He went through the list of banned items as he did every year and told the new students that the Forbidden Forest is off limits. It seemed as though the speech was going as it always had, but Harry couldn't help but notice two details. Hagrid wasn't at the Professor's table and there were two new faces sitting there. He swore that the one witch that vaguely resembled a toad looked oddly familiar.

"This year we have two changes in staff. Firstly," Dumbledore motioned to his left towards a very official looking man, "I ask you to welcome Professor Isaac Warren, whom the Ministry has kindly appointed to help fill in as our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." The applause for the man was subdued at best, it was obvious that he felt affronted by his response if the scowl on his face was anything to go by.

"Next it is my pleasure to announce that Madam Dolores Umbridge, will be taking the position of Care For Magical Creatures Professor." Harry's eyes couldn't help but widen at this news. A quick scan of his friend indicated that they felt the dame, but their thoughts were interrupted by a "hem hem," coming from the front of the room.

Harry's mind quickly put the pieces together, as he finally realized where he'd seen this women before.

"Oh no!"

"What is it Harry?"

"Umbridge, she was at my trial. She's one of Fudge's people." Everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the implications. A feeling of dread settled upon them as they turned their attention back to the new Professor as she began to speak about the changes that were coming to Hogwarts."

Flashback End

"Has Dumbledore mentioned what happened to Hagrid?"

"Sort of. He said that Hagrid was away on an Order mission. When the Ministry caught wind of it, they demanded that he be replaced due to his 'spotty track record' so they appointed two Professors instead of one."

Hermione gasped, "I can't believe they forced Dumbledore to sack Hagrid"

"He's not completely sacked. Dumbledore told Fudge that he refused to dismiss Hagrid as Game's Keeper, so he'll still be around once he comes back. I just hope that we can survive this year with two Ministry puppets as teachers."

During the first week of classes, Professors Warren and Umbridge's classes left much to be desired. DADA under Warren was a dreadfully dull class, which paled in comparison to their Third and even Forth year class. Its shortcomings made the class feel even worse than Binns' class.

Care for Magical Creatures was stressful for completely different reasons. Professor Umbridge's class took place on a first floor classroom, instead of out on the grounds and she instructed the class through textbooks and class discussions. It was plainly obvious that the information she was providing was biased, but the extent of her bias went beyond the class itself. She never outright denied giving someone points for answering a question correctly, but Harry and Hermione noticed that she always gave Purebloods slightly more points.

Both Fleur and Hermione had advises Harry to keep his head down in her class and thankfully he had succeeded in doing so this week. It wasn't due to Umbridge's lack of trying, her veiled snipes at Harry, Dumbledore, and anything that went against the Ministries narrative were incredibly frequent. Though Harry knew that all of her comments were directed at him, he managed to keep a relatively level head, and escape each class unscathed.

Harry broke from his thoughts and gestured towards Hermione. "Come one, let's head in for the night." A quick nod of her head later, and the pair began their way back towards Gryffindor Tower.

-HP-

Dumbledore sat in his office as he contemplate his current situation. He was beginning to feel frustration over one of the most trying weeks he had ever had since taking over the mantel of Headmaster of Hogwarts. The name of his frustration, one Dolores Jane Umbridge.

Ever since her appointment as Care for Magical Creatures Professor, the woman had been doing her best to assert her authority over Hogwarts. During every staff meeting that the Professors had, which for various reasons had been multiple over the course of the past week, Umbridge had questioned every decision that he had made.

In the classroom, her teaching methods left much to be desired. She barely taught students enough for them to pass their O.W.L. exams under the guise of providing a safe learning environment. Many parents may believe that farce but Dumbledore understood that this was a political move. An uninformed public is a malleable, easily swayable public, a perfect means for a government to get its way.

Even worse was that when she didn't get her way, she would use her trump card of bringing the Minister in on various issues, which in the current political state would force Dumbledore to concede to her point. Many students and Professors alike had voiced concerns over her teaching methods but the women was untouchable.

Umbridge was merely a symptom of an even bigger problem. She represented a second front of which the current conflict was being contested, the political conflict. As long as the current administration denied Voldemort's return, the fight against the forces of darkness would be a difficult one.

The Order had been recruiting discreetly, yet surprisingly heavily for many months now, creating a force that stood a chance to not only face the Dark Lord, but also to possibly alter the political environment. Their number weren't enough to engage the Ministry directly, but they were slowly gaining a politically and hopefully they could convince the Ministry of Voldemort's return, or if need be oust the current administration for a new one.
Even as he thought about the war of public opinion with Minster Fudge, he had to force himself to remember that Voldemort was more important. He had to hope that the convincing Cornelius would be easy, because a strong government would be needed to stop Tom Riddle. This fight would not be an easy one, the evidence of which sat in front of him on his desk.

An ornate locket with an 'S' on its lid sat within arm's reach. It seemed strange that such an inconspicuous object could be the key to the fate of the wizarding world.

Dumbledore had his suspicions on what this object was, just as he had a suspicion that the same kind of evil resided within Harry. He needed to find out the truth to this puzzle, but he didn't have any solid answers. Though Harry's reaction to the locket pointed towards the possibility that the locket housed Voldemort's soul, it wasn't foolproof evidence.

Ever since the cursed item came into his possession, he'd been weighing his options on how to continue further. One method to finding the truth lied in the mind of Horace Slughorn. He had extracted a memory from the former Professor before but the memory was altered, rendering it useless. Dumbledore needed to bring him back to Hogwarts, but that meant that Severus would need to be appointed as the Defense Professor and by extension, the current Professor would have to be dismissed. Since Warren was appointed by the Ministry, his dismissal was easier said than done.

His other option was to bring Harry in to help destroy it. Bring Slytherin's locket, he suspected that it could only be opened using Parseltongue, which would force Harry's involvement. Dumbledore knew he would have to include Harry eventually, but he had hoped to have more time to train Harry. Time was of the essence however, so Dumbledore resigned himself to involving Harry as soon as possible.

He just hoped that he would have enough time to the save the young man's life before it was too late.

-HP-

Lucius Malfoy stood among his fellow Death Eaters, all ready for the first major attack since their master's return. Their target- Azkaban Prison.

Voldemort had stated that it was unacceptable that their brothers and sisters were being held captive by a false government. Once the seed was planted, the raid was organized was quick work, faster than any other attack during their first rise to power.

Since his resurrection, Lucius noticed the Dark Lord was more…erratic. He was quicker to anger, and thus quicker to deal out punishment, and he also seemed to be generally more aggressive. Most of the newer Death Eaters were ecstatic that they were moving forward with the salvation of their world but Lucius was more hesitant.

He would be lying if he didn't feel as though their cautiousness during the first war had been a part of their defeat, he felt as though this attack might be a little too obvious. The Dark Lord wished to remain in the shadows for as long as possible, but these ambitious moves were sure to cause stirrings in the Wizarding world. Lucius could only hope that he could use his relationship with the Minister to help defuse the situation before their movements became public knowledge.

"It is time for us to free those who have wrongfully imprisoned!"

A cheer rang out at the Dark Lord's instructions. The group of about 20 or so Death Eaters were chomping at the bit to begin, now just waiting for the final order. His master stepped forward, and began to fly off the Cliffside they were positioned on and began to soar towards the prison, his followers all in his wake.

Once they arrived at the prison they met a minimal resistance of a dozen wizards who were charged with guarding the prison. Lucius's effort to keep the number of Aurors low was a blessing to the attacking force, who with Voldemort at the front, were able to make short work of the defenders as the Dementors stood idly by.

Once all the Aurors were taken care of, Voldemort instructed Lucius to accompany him in releasing the prisoners. All the prisoners were released, Death Eaters and non-sympathizers alike, as their release would help disguise the true motivation behind the attack.

What startled Lucius the most was how many captive werewolves were eager to join their cause. Though he understood that they allied themselves with the 'mongrels' as he liked to think of them, due to the fear that they would provide, they never aligned with the Death Eater's agenda. Nearly a dozen captive werewolves were quick to join their cause, and many of the others were easily convinced after some provocation from Greyback. Lucius suspected that the use of Potter's blood in the ritual may have had something to do with this but he didn't wish to see the end of the Dark Lord's wand.

With fellow Death Eater's such as Dolohov and the Lestranges amongst them, Voldemort and his followers made to exit the prison but Lucius quickly noticed the absence of the Dementors.

"Aren't the Dementors on our side My Lord?" A cackle rang out of his master's mouth and Lucius feared that he may be on the receiving end of a torture curse, though it never came.

"Of course they are Lucius. The Dementor's true allegiance has always been with me, but until I move out into the open, they'll be more useful here in case more of our brothers and sister are imprisoned."

They continued to the edge of the prison where many of the escapees apparated out of there, either back to their home, or to the current Death Eater headquarters at Malfoy Manor. All that remained was the Dark Lord, Lucius, the Lestranges, and surprisingly, Viktor Krum.

"There are many pieces that need to be moved into place," he directed his gaze towards Rodulphus Lestarnge first, "Rodulphus, I need you to venture into Russia with Dolohov and convince the Giants of our cause. I've heard word that Dumbledore has already sent his people to try and reason with them; this cannot be allowed."

"Yes M'lord," he answered before disapparating.

He moved onto to his wife Bellatrix and his brother Rabastan. "As for you two, it seems we are lacking in our number of Inferi. I'm sure the two of you can improve this." The two simply grinned before they too disapparated.

Hi gaze finally landed on Lucius and Krum. Though he knew better than to question his master, Lucius couldn't help but wonder what his master wanted Krum for.

"As for you two, both Dumbledore and his Protégé Potter have been a liability to our cause. I want you two to find a way to get rid of them as soon as possible,"

"Yes Milord." Voldemort tuned and disappeared followed shortly by Krum leaving Lucius alone with his thoughts. He understood that he had been given an important task by his master but he was at a loss as to how he would accomplish this. An idea entered his mind, one that he had previously wanted to put off for some time, but now was the perfect opportunity.

It was time for Draco to follow in his father's footsteps.