The first day of Asteria's fifth year had been unsurprisingly bad. On the Hogwarts Express, she had made her mind firm on visiting the Slytherin common room as rarely as possible. But since she was the Captain, she had to visit her dear old underwater dorm to distribute a word.

And obviously, that had gone just as bad as she had envisioned it to go.

The now-sixth-year friend group of Amelia, who had been somewhat nice to Ria since her third-year, were now ignoring her with all their might. And to top that, someone had leaked the news of Ria's magic-blast in the hospital wing. As a result, more people feared her.

Couldn't get any worse, could it?

Well, it could. And it did.

Harry had gotten into a fight with Seamus the night before and had left a bruise, because Seamus had used some.. 'some disgusting terms' in Amelia's words.. while referring to Asteria.

"I was there with the twins and Lee, and I swear that punch was so satisfying to see because that clown deserved it," were the Slytherin's words. And Ria had the dying urge to go and sort things out with Seamus Finnigan. But she knew it wouldn't end well.

So she did the thing she was always supposed to do.. Hold it in.

The only things that kept her sane during the day were her best friends, her boyfriend, her cat Cassie, and Cassandra Trelawney.

Ria had explained the entire situation to them; from her going into that maze.. to the possibility of there being a mind manipulator involved. Well, everything except the things related to Sirius, Grimmauld Place and the Order. Even to Sophie, because those were crucial details that couldn't be risked.

Although stressed about the Quidditch tryouts, Asteria's anxiety had cooled down a bit when Adrian Pucey had confronted her. And she would be lying if she said his normal, friendly behaviour hadn't relieved her. He had talked to her like nothing big and scary had happened the year before, and Ria couldn't thank him enough for that.

Another bad thing was that Ria had just now realised that since the mind controller's first enchanting, any visions or suspicious dreams hadn't occurred to her. And it scared her even more, since she could be the reason for someone else's death if she didn't catch the Carrow child soon.

She had two clear suspects; Louis Bonheur and Celine Haynes. But it could be someone else too; someone she didn't know, and the thought drove her crazy.

Oh, how she wished she was back in the pandemic.. isolated from her problems and the world, enjoying the new Marvel content and new awaited sequel books that she now had to wait for another twenty-five years.

Did Leigh write a third 'Six of Crows' book?

Did One Direction come back?

What happened to Roma and Juliette in the second book?

Did Wanda finally get her happy ending?

She left a deep sigh, wondering. I don't need sleep, I need answers.

A part of the bad day had started with the first class of the term; Herbology.. Yes, the very subject she was bad at.

And her brain's slow and almost unresponsive actions at the subject ended up with Professor Sprout deducting ten points from Slytherin, twice. Though Sprout would never admit it out loud, the lost girl often reminded her of her dear student, Cedric Diggory.

The next part of bad was about to begin with Potions. No, the subject wasn't bad at all.. Ria loved Potions. But now that she and Harry were dating, her dear Godfather hated him even more.

Theodore, Blaise and Ria walked alongside each other through the dungeon, making their way to the Dungeon bat's cave.

Knowing Blaise and Theodore were going to be each other's lab partners, Ria's eyes roamed around for her boyfriend. And as soon as they found him talking to Ron, they lit up with delight. She walked up to Harry with a small smile on her face. Placing her books on the table, she leaned a bit towards him.

"Hey, love." She mumbled, and hearing her voice for the first time that day made him smile softly.

His hand reached for hers under the table, and like always, he subconsciously, lovingly, skimmed his thumb over her knuckles. Asteria felt her heart flutter at that. She'd never give in that quick, normally, but Harry drawing patterns on her skin did things to her.

Although Ria was playing around with some apparatus and Harry was still facing Ron, the two had that similar love-struck look on their faces.

The redhead was still going on and on to Harry about something concerning Quidditch; Ria could make some words out. But Ron didn't stop till Neville from beside him interrupted his talk. "Er— Ron—" he spoke up a little nervously. "I don't think Harry's listening.. anymore."

Ron gave him an accused look. "Why would he not listen—" then turned towards Harry. "Mate, are you listening?"

Harry's content look dropped, and his eyes snapped towards him. "What?"

"Were you listening to what I was saying?" asked Ron, his expression hopeful.

Harry stared at him blankly for some seconds, before quickly glancing at Ria and Neville for help. When they didn't react the way he had hoped they would, his eyes searched for Hermione.

Where is the good listener when I need her?

"Yeah.." he finally nodded, with an awkward smile. And he doubted Ron had bought into it.

He just blinked slowly at him before shaking his head in defeat. "Of course you didn't.."

After some moments of contemplating his defeat, he turned to Asteria. "Out of everyone else that you could think of, you decided to steal my best friend.. why?" He asked, his expression hurt but his tone playful.

Harry rolled his eyes, and so did Ria, but with a smile. "Yes.. that's a payback for being so bitchy to me back in second year." She teased, making Ron shake his head again, chuckling.

"And.. and.. if you really think about it, you were the one that stole my best friend, okay? I just took him back." Ria justified, making him raise a questioning eyebrow. And she was pretty sure he was a tad bit offended.

"Bullshit.." he scoffed.

"Hey, honestly. I've known Harry since the day he was born—"

"We've discussed this, Ria.." Harry sighed in defeat. "It's— It's just a difference of four or five months—"

"—and it doesn't change the fact that I'm older than you, so shut up, love." Ria defended herself, making her boyfriend give out a laugh of disbelief. "Anyway.. We've known each other since we were kids and would've grown up with each other if we weren't separated by an unfortunate turn of events."

"Yeah?" questioned Ron. "Oh.. well.. Things could've turned out differently. Like.. maybe you two would've grown up hating each other."

"Oh— please.." Ria scoffed, wanting to defend their elite relationship further, but an icy voice had interrupted them.

"Settle down," Snape ordered, walking in front of the students with his black cloak swooshing behind like batman's cape.

His eyes locked on his favourite student, with imaginary acid brewing out of his gaze. "Potter, Edwards.." He called out. "Find other partners."

Ron let out a snort, but soon held his laugh back, watching Asteria's expression. The girl was throwing the most ridiculed 'are you serious?' look at Severus, while Harry just rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Oh, how sweet.. It hadn't even been a good five minutes since his girlfriend had entered and her 'protective' and 'Potter-hating' godfather was here already.

"Five points from Gryffindor." Some students from the House groaned. "Roll your eyes again and it will be ten points, Potter." Snape snarled.

Asteria dropped her books on the desk with a thud and stared dead at Severus, waiting to catch his attention. And when he finally looked at her, she rolled her eyes at him, making Ron snigger.

"Silence, Weasley." He snapped, glaring at his goddaughter, who had now decided to be Neville's partner. "Parkinson. Switch seats with Edwards."

"Ah, great.." Ria mumbled under her breath, aggressively collecting her books, "I wonder who she sat with." she mocked, knowing all too well who she would've been partners with.

Neville gave her an apologetic, helpless look, which she replied with a small, reassuring shrug before turning to join no one other than Draco Malfoy.

"Before we begin today's lesson," said Snape, sweeping over to his desk and staring around at them all, "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting on an important examination..."

"Aw.. sad that you and your boyfriend got separated?" Draco cooed.

"Shush." Ria warned silently.

"What? I thought you liked hi—"

"Shut the fuck up!" She whisper-yelled, giving him a look before turning her attention back to Snape.

"I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your O.W.L., or suffer my... displeasure." His gaze lingered this time upon Neville, who gulped.

"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," Snape went on. "I take only the very best into my N.E.W.T. Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying goodbye." His eyes rested on Harry and his lip curled. And Ria was quite sure Harry was gladly glaring back at him.

"But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell," said Snape softly, "so whether you are intending to attempt N.E.W.T. or not, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high-pass level I have come to expect from my O.W.L. students."

"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation." Ria's lips curled up at the mention.

Oh, that would be an easy O for her, then.

An entire period later, Asteria was leaning comfortably against her Potions' counter behind her cauldron full of Draught of Peace. She looked around for entertainment, also cringing when other students mistook the easiest parts of brewing.

"Don't chop it off that rough, jeez." Ria spoke up, making Draco halt in fright at the suddenness of her voice. "There's a reason you have to cut the stem into a cube of an inch. A bit extra and you'll blow that shit up!"

Just as she said those words, a 'BOOM' echoed through the dungeon.

The students slowly broke out into laughter at Seamus's ash-covered face. Ria snorted too, but tried holding her amusement in as the boy was right in front of her.

"Couldn't have said that a bit earlier.." he mumbled in his heavy Irish accent. And as Ria realised that the words were directed towards her, the smallest bit of smile disappeared from her face.

"Oh.. I don't know." She shrugged in mock cluelessness. "Word's out that Seamus Finnigan would never believe the words of an.." she trailed off, then bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from frowning, "let me quote, 'an attention-seeking whore'." She said, emotionless.

Seamus glared at her for a few seconds before grabbing his cauldron to leave, and her gaze didn't falter even a bit till he was out of sight.

Malfoy exchanged glances between them. He chuckled slowly. "Wow.. that was—"

"Complete that sentence and you'll be six-feet under the sea level." She warned, not even looking at him.

"Okay." He nodded, but that small smirk on his face was bothering Asteria way too much.

And it hadn't even been two minutes when she had decided that she had had enough of him. She didn't know why it was irritating her so much.

She slammed her Potions' book shut. "I'm done with my Potion, Professor." She called out eagerly.

"You're free to go." He replied in a monotone, not even checking her Draught since he knew it would be perfect as always. The girl didn't hesitate to grab her belongings and rush out of the classroom.

As soon as Severus's eyes had fallen on her face, he knew that she had the urge to get out of the class for some reason. The reason was a complex of this huge amount of rage filled inside her and many other things that made her snap badly at the smallest of things. The girl tried hard, but not everything was supposed to work.

Ria climbed up the stairs of the dungeon, just to collide with someone else, which made her leave an exasperated, helpless sigh. "I just asked for a goddamn fucking brea—"

"Woah. Cool down, fiendfyre." Amelia chuckled, trying to calm her. But after looking at her innocent face, Ria instantly regretted her words.

"I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that... I shouldn't have.." Ria let out another long sigh, looking up at the ceiling, as if asking the heavens to help her.

"Is everything okay? You seem frustrated." Amelia voiced her concern. When Asteria looked down, she saw the tears pooling in her eyes.

Since the day the two girls had known each other, Amelia had always been there for Ria. Not only Amelia, literally everyone else that cared for her had somehow been there for her since day one, heck, even Malfoy at times had tried to act like a friend. And all she did was take out her frustration on them.

Am I really that terrible?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.." She sniffled, tearing up even more and pushing Amelia into even more concern. "Lord, you've always wanted the best for me.. you're so supportive of me, just like Ced was—"

"Whuh— What?" Henry asked in confusion.

"And all I do is continue being a bitch to all of you.." She said, her voice cracking in the middle of explaining. "It's not your fault, but it's not mine either and I don't know why people hate me for something I've never—"

"Ria! Ria! Ria!" Amelia ushered, holding her face still and making her look at her. "It's okay.. It's okay. Breathe.." She continued demonstrating deep breaths and Asteria followed.

"Yeah.. It's okay to be upset. Everything's fine." She nodded, taking deep breaths as Amelia smiled comfortingly at her. "Didn't you have Double Potions?" She asked.

Ria nodded. "Yeah, but I completed my Potion early." The girl nodded in understanding.

"Alright, just as expected.." She trailed off, thinking of ways to cheer her up. "I'm craving sweet right now.. Wanna get ice-cream?" Amelia asked. Ria didn't hesitate before nodding.

Grinning, Amelia linked her arm with Ria's and the two skipped down to the kitchens.

The two devoured their ice-creams, looking out of the window at the clear field with clouds of gloom floating over, with their feet resting on the table in front of them. Dobby had been kind enough to set up a table and two chairs for the young ladies. Ria had explained to Amelia what had happened in the Potions class.

"I swear.. I've never had a breakdown like that.. I don't know how that happened." Ria justified, a little embarrassed, and also quite relieved that it was Amelia out of all the possibilities there could've been.

The girl shrugged it off, putting an arm around Ria's shoulder. "Oh, shut up.. You've been there at my worst. It's almost like it's fair now." The two chuckled lightly.

Ria pouted‌, looking at the bowl of mint green ice-cream. "But honestly though, how do you bear with this flavour—" 

Amelia took her hand off her shoulder, shaking her head in denial and offence. "Come on! People who don't like mint chocolate are just weak as fuck—"

"No, we're not." Ria chuckled, amused at how she had got all defensive over an ice-cream flavour.

"You are! How do you not find this shit refreshing?"

"It's just my opinion, okay? Listen." Ria interrupted her. "I just feel like chocolate's purity shouldn't be meddled with.."

Amelia squinted her eyes at her before slowly nodding. "Alright.. Fair enough.. but what about hot chocolate?"

"Yea.. that's the exception—"

"Strawberries covered in chocolate?"

"Well, that's really delicio—"

"Marshmallows with chocolate?"

"Ooh.. tempting—"

Amelia banged her hand on the table, as if her point had been proved. "See, you like every other combination but hate mint chocolate.. like dude, that's messed up—"

"Wow! Wow! What?" Ria laughed ridiculously. "No, it's— you literally stated the most famous and most loved combinations!"

"Oh, just because I exposed you.."

And by the time their banter over mint chocolate had concluded, Ziggy had reminded them that the school lunch had probably begun. But then, being the kind house-elf Ziggy was, he suggested they have their lunch in the kitchen. And the girls were more than pleased.

"Damn.. now I miss our house-elf back at the Manor." Amelia sighed as the food appeared in front of them. "Her name's Lacey. And oh how I wished I had freed her before running away.." she said in regret.

Ria stayed in silence for a while before speaking up, "I know I shouldn't ask this.. But do you miss it.. back there?" She asked.

Amelia patiently thought for a few moments before shrugging. "I don't know.." she answered honestly. "I mean.. yeah, I miss the person my mother was before she met Pansy's father. But I don't know about anything else."

Asteria nodded in understanding, but then a small smile crept on her face. "Surely, you must miss Pansy—" Amelia started choking on her meal, and Ria passed her some water, laughing.

"Oh lord, don't mention.. she was the worst." She admitted after a huge gulp of water. "Honestly, if I could, I would've replaced her with you."

Ria placed her hand on her chest. "Ah.. such a pleasure." She said thankfully. "But I would've hated you though.. You know, the sister bond?"

Amelia shrugged obviously, but then her smile slightly faded away. "I wouldn't have minded.. not at long as my sister had known the difference between what's right and what's wrong."

The impact of her words lasted longer than the two had thought it would. Ria could think of all the things that had happened to Amelia and her. And she couldn't think of a anything bad they had done to deserve such a life.

"I'm sorry, you had to go through all of that.." Sensing Ria's gaze upon her, she looked at her and gave her a small, comforting smile.

"Thank you for saving my life." The two exchanged content smiles before going back to their lunch.

After almost an hour of bonding with Amelia, Ria had returned to her school schedule. The next class had unfortunately been Divination.

If she had to be brutally honest, she would've never, ever taken Divination as a subject if she hadn't been born a Seer. She had kept it because literally everyone that knew her had asked her not to drop it. She didn't know why she needed it. Cassandra and Sophie (because of Lagarde's journal) were the only people beside herself that were helpful to this Seering cause of Asteria.

And Asteria.. really..? Her grandmother had really managed to name her after the Greek goddess of Divination? Hell, the name was even related to stars and shit.

I mean, who is the real Seer of the story? Asteria Edwards? Katherine Lagarde? Or surprise, surprise! Jemima Diggory?!

Now one would ask why Ria was suddenly so annoyed with Divination. 

The reason was simple.. Trelawney had started to treat Ria just the way she treated Harry.

You're right, predicting their death every damn moment.

Yes, I know Harry and I are going to die! She thought irritably as they left her classroom. Everyone dies at some point in their life! Death is inevitable unless you're blessed to be immortal!

"Damn.. stop screaming in your head.." taunted Theodore with a small chuckle. "I can literally hear you."

Blaise chuckled, making Ria roll her eyes. "Please, don't annoy me even more." She requested.

Being horrendously annoyed with Professor Trelawney, Ria had left yet another first-day lecture with a bad mood. And all she hoped was just to have a good time during her next class; Defence against the Dark Arts.

"I just don't get it.. Why didn't she predict my death before this? Was I not eligible enough— Oh, let me guess! All these two years before, I hadn't confronted death yet! But now, she has a reas—"

"Hey, hey.. wait." Blaise suddenly stopped them. He tilted her chin just a bit to take a clear look at her neck. "Why— Why's your neck turning black?"

Ria quickly covered it with her hand as Theo tried taking a look too. "Nothing.." she muttered, continuing to walk. "My neck veins turn black when I get too angry.. New, I know. Found out about it this summer." she answered, unfazed.

The two exchanged concerned looks. "Are you sure that's okay? Like, it's not harming you in any way?" asked Theodore.

Ria shrugged. "I don't think so.. If it was, Mum would've told me. She was the first to notice." She moved her hand a bit and turned to Blaise. "Did it go away?"

He nodded, and then she removed her hand in relief. "Good.. I don't need another story about me flying around Hogwarts."

When they finally entered the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom, Theo nudged her elbow. Ria raised an eyebrow. He gestured her to look across the classroom, where Harry was sitting with an empty seat next to him.

"Looks like someone's already saved you a seat." At this, Theo had expected her to blush, but her two best friends were more than confused after watching her just walk away, with no response.

He looked at Blaise. "That wasn't supposed to happen.. was it? She's supposed to turn all red.. and tell us to shut up.. or fuck off.. or die.. or something like that."

Asteria walked towards her boyfriend in all her glory and took a seat beside him. And Harry noticed her pretty quickly. "Why the long face, Ria?" He asked with a hint of a smirk dancing on his lips.

The girl rolled her eyes. "You know why?"

"Oh.. is it the Divination class from before?" He asked innocently, making her smack his arm with her book. Harry just chuckled.

"Shut up, Potter!" She snapped.

"So, now you know how I've felt all these years.." he said in a dramatic tone. "Hearing of my death more than once a day." Ria just mocked along his lines, and then gave out a tired sigh.

Harry put his arm around her shoulder, not even knowing it had sent Ria's best friends into a frenzy of confusion.

"Hey.. do you need anything?" He asked silently. Ria genuinely shook her head.

"I'm fine." She replied. "Just tired. And my tummy hurts. But it's fine, I go through it every month."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Every month?!" He asked, a little too loudly. And the girls around him, along with some boys, glanced back at them. "Are— Are you sure it's fine— I mean, it sounds awful! Does Ray know? Wait, we should—" His sentence was cut off by her hand gently resting on his cheek.

And this caused Theodore and Blaise to go into another frenzy of shock.

"I know you didn't really have anyone to tell you about this. But don't worry... I'll educate you later." She said with a lazy smile on her face and softly tapped his cheek.

"Charm it— Let's charm it!" Their attention was taken by Parvati and Lavender, sitting two seats ahead of them. Soon, a paper swan took off in the air, bringing smiles to many faces.

The swan glided gracefully through the classroom, and many students tried to take a hit or catch it.. before it turned charcoal black with a small sizzling burn. It fell down gloomily in front of its creators.

The class looked at the source and went quiet as the new Professor entered the class. She was in her usual pink cardigan, with what seemed like black velvet bow on her head. "Well, good afternoon!" she said when the entire class had finally settled down.

A few people mumbled, "Good afternoon," in reply.

"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I would like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

Ria scrunched her nose up in disgust. They weren't toddlers, and this wasn't a kindergarten class. "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her.

"There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."

Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order 'wands away' had never yet been followed by a lesson in a subject like DADA. Like a magician hiding cards up their sleeves, Ria tucked her wand up the sleeve of her sweater. Nothing suspicious, just an instinct that said she needed it for protection.

Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once:

Defence Against the Dark Arts; A Return to Basic Principles.

"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her.

"The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year."

"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified." Oh, are they now? "We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

"I feel like a preschooler." Harry muttered, making Ria snort because she thought the same.

Umbridge rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by:

Course aims:
1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.
2. Learning to recognise situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.
3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.

Upon reading those words, Ria looked at Hermione, who had already been looking at her too. Perhaps their doubts about the Ministry interfering with Hogwarts were true.

For a couple of minutes, the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's three course aims, she said, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

There was a dull murmur of a response throughout the class. "I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I would like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room.

"Good," said Professor Umbridge. "I would like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk." Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher's desk, observing them all with those pouchy toad's eyes.

Asteria turned to page five of her copy of Defensive Magical Theory and started to read. And oh, she would prefer a History of Magic class over this any day. Even Lockhart's class was more entertaining than this.

She spared a look at Harry, who had his eyes transfixed on one sentence in the textbook. On the bench beside Ria were her best friends, who were in a conversation of their own and looked like they did not give two shits about the class.

On the bench beside Harry were his best friends; Ron was turning his quill in his hand, while Hermione was glaring at Umbridge with her hand up in the air.

Some minutes went by, and Hermione was desperately trying to take the Professor's attention who looked anywhere but towards the students. Ria turned her eyes back to the book, 'Basics of Beginners'. And as she began realising, her face held a scowl.

No.. no, no no.. they absolutely weren't going to deal with Voldemort and his goons with this shitty beginners' guide.

Ria reluctantly tapped her knuckles on her desk, wanting to take the Professor's attention. When Umbridge looked at the source of the noise, her eyes travelled to the raised hand instead.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked Hermione, and Ria rolled her eyes, thankful that she had finally noticed the girl.

"Not about the chapter, no," said Hermione.

"Well, we're reading just now," said Professor Umbridge, showing her small, pointed teeth. "If you have other queries, we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims," said Hermione.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. "And your name is—?"

"Hermione Granger," said Hermione.

"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness.

"Well, I don't," said Hermione bluntly. "There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."

There was a brief silence, in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the blackboard.

"Using defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh.

"Well, that's what the class is about, isn't it?" Ria mused in with a bitter chuckle.

"I want you to raise your hand if you wish to speak while in my class.. Miss—?

"Edwards. Asteria Edwards." She answered. "I thought the entire purpose of Defence against the Dark Arts was to learn how to defend ourselves in situations—"

"Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Edwards. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?" At Umbridge's question, Ria bit the inside of her cheek in irritation.

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron ejaculated loudly.

"As I said earlier, students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr—?"

"Weasley," said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air.

Professor Umbridge, smiling still more widely, turned her back on him. Harry and Hermione immediately raised their hands too. Professor Umbridge's pouchy eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before she addressed Hermione.

"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "As Asteria said, surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practise defensive spells?"

"Is Miss. Edwards a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" asked Professor Umbridge in her falsely sweet voice, exchanging glances between the two.

Ria spoke up in defence. "No, but—"

"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way—"

"What use is that?" said Harry loudly. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a—"

"Hand, Mr. Potter!" sang Professor Umbridge. Harry thrust his fist in the air. Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from him again, but now several other people had their hands up too.

"And your name is?" Professor Umbridge said to Dean.

"Dean Thomas."

"Well, Mr. Thomas?"

"Well, it is like Harry said, isn't it?" said Dean. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free—"

"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Dean, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No, but—"

"Maybe, yes—" Professor Umbridge's eyes threw a glower at Ria, but her sickly sweet smile was still there.

"I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school," she said, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed— not to mention," she gave a nasty little laugh, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."

"Excuse me." Ria interjected, her insides boiling with anger. "Do you happen to mean Professor Lupin? For your information, he was doing perfectly fine, taking his potions on time, without hurting anyone until someone outed him on his condition—"

"You seem to know much more about the matter, Miss. Edwards?" Professor chimed, and Ria silenced herself, not wanting to accidentally expose Moony or Padfoot in front of a maniacal Ministry worker.

"As I was saying— you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day—"

"No, we haven't," Hermione said, "we just—"

"Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!" Hermione put up her hand; Professor Umbridge turned away from her.

"It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you—"

"Well, he turned out to be a maniacal death-eater, didn't he?" said Dean Thomas hotly. "Mind you, we still learned loads—"

"Your hand is not up, Mr. Thomas!" trilled Professor Umbridge. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?" she added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot up.

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and things?"

"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions," said Professor Umbridge dismissively.

"Without ever practising them before?" said Parvati incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"

"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough—"

"And what good theory's going to be in the real world?" said Harry loudly, his fist in the air again.

Professor Umbridge looked up. "This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world," she mumbled.

"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?"

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter."

"Oh, yeah?" said Harry. His temper, which seemed to have been bubbling just beneath the surface all day, was reaching boiling point.

"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" inquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice.

"Hmm, let's think..." said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice, "maybe Lord Voldemort?"

Ron gasped; Lavender Brown uttered a little scream; Neville slipped sideways off his stool; Ria watched the pink dementor with a deadly glare. Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She was staring at Harry with a grimly satisfied expression on her face.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter." The classroom was silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Umbridge or Harry.

"Now, let me make a few things quite plain." Professor Umbridge stood up and leaned toward them, her stubby-fingered hands splayed on her desk. "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead—"

"He wasn't dead," said Harry angrily, "but yeah, he's returned!"

"Mr.-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," said Professor Umbridge in one breath without looking at him. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."

"It is NOT a lie!" bellowed Harry and Ria at once. "We saw him! We fought him!" Harry defended.

"Detention, Mr. Potter!" said Professor Umbridge triumphantly. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners.'" Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk again.

Having enough of her bullshit, Harry flung his book across the table. Everyone was staring at him, but he did not give two shits.

"Harry, no!" Hermione whispered in a warning voice, but he chose to ignore her.

"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" He asked, his voice shaking.

There was a collective intake of breath from the class, for no one had heard him talking about it. They also couldn't stop taking glances at Asteria, for her gaze was suddenly dropped onto her desk, glaring hard. The look she had on her face was the same look that the rumours around Hogwarts had described her to have.. deranged.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," said Umbridge coldly.

"It was a murder," said Harry and at the same time, Ria responded with, "My brother was murdered." The two had only talked about this to each other, and it was hard to reminisce that again when several eyes were judging them for something they didn't have control over.

"Voldemort killed him, and you know it." Harry added.

Umbridge's face went blank. For a moment, Harry thought she was going to scream at him. Then she said, in her softest, most sweetly girlish voice, "Come here, Mr. Potter, dear."

He kicked his chair aside and strode up to the teacher's desk. He could feel the rest of the class holding its breath. He felt so angry he did not care what happened next. Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink, and started scribbling, hunched over, so that Harry could not see what she was writing. Nobody spoke.

After a minute or so, she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that he could not open it. "Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to him.

He took it from her without saying a word and left the room, not looking back at anyone, and slamming the classroom door shut behind him.

Now all the eyes had turned to Asteria, who was still looking down at her desk, with tears threatening to pour down her eyes, but she was holding them back for the right moment.

Umbridge noticed this, and her face contorted into a sickly smile. Her face, her name, and Cedric Diggory being her 'brother' had made quite clear who Asteria was related to. And she couldn't wait to strip her identity down in front of the entire world to give her what people of her kind deserved.

"Anything you wish to say, dear?"

"It was not an accident." Ria whispered, her voice shaking and her veins turning black. Professor Umbridge seemed to be glancing between her face and her neck nervously.

This was.. not what she had expected.

"Cedric was murdered.." she croaked out, her eyes locked onto the Professor, "by Voldemort. And you can't change that, no matter how hard you try."

"Do— Do you have any proof.. Miss. Edwards?" Her question struck right to Ria's heart.

"Proof?" She faked a chuckle. "You want proof, you old hag?" The class let out a loud gasp at once.

"Mind your tongue in my class, Miss. Edwards." She warned, trying to keep her voice calm, but she was cut off by Asteria again.

"No, I'll not.. Not when you keep disrespecting Cedric like tha—"

"We're only stating the truth!"

"No, you're not, you goddamn liar!" Ria responded, and at the same time, her eyes glowed brightly. The window glasses all shattered at once, and shards of glass charged themselves towards the Professor.

The class screamed in fear, and Umbridge did too, ducking and taking cover to save herself. But Ria had stood up and flicked her wand in the air, making the sharp pieces of glass stop just before they had harmed Umbridge.

The class began muttering amongst themselves, while the Professor, who seemed scared for her life, looked up. Then, with a mixture of shock and relief, she leaned back in her chair, looking at the witch with glowing golden eyes.

With her eyes slowly dimming back to her normal blue, Ria twirled her wand in her hand, not even fazed by the incident. The shards fell down to the floor, shattering into smaller pieces.

"I hope this gives you a reason to teach defensive spells in our class, Professor.." she said innocently. When no response came from her, Asteria kicked her chair back and stormed out of the class.

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