𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗬

ACT ONE, CHAPTER EIGHT
more educational decrees.

VENUS BLACK WAS the type of girl to gain crushes fast. It was just the way she was. Just like she thought on the first day of term, she was stupid, emotional, and obsessive — not in a bad way, that was just her scolding herself for falling for people. But she had never felt the same way around anyone else than she did with Harry Potter and his dumb British accent and pretty green eyes.

The rest of the weekend, her face would get hot, her heart would race, and her stomach would erupt in butterflies whenever she was around him. Well, she means, it had been that way since day one, but it had gotten a lot worse ever since Charlotte and Elijah pointed out that Harry kept staring at her at Hogsmeade.

Maybe it was true, and maybe it wasn't, but . . . Venus was probably just getting her hopes up. Harry had too much on his plate already. He didn't need her just suddenly spilling her gut feelings to him. Plus, Venus really wasn't in the mood to get rejected. Especially not by Harry, because she knew nobody could break her heart quite like he could. Come on, he was Harry — charming, handsome, sarcastic . . . okay, now Venus is just getting ahead of herself, but she thinks she made it pretty clear.

On Monday morning, Venus woke up since Hermione was telling her that they needed to get to breakfast. She got up and got ready for the day — she had cast a spell to braid her hair, way easier — before grabbing her bag. However, when her and Hermione reached the steps to go down behind two fourth-year girls, they noticed that the stairs had turned into a stone slide.

Venus sighed as the fourth-years slid down. "It's too early for this."

"Oooh, who tried to get upstairs?" Venus heard the the fourth years ask when they reached the bottom.

"Me," Ron's voice answered, and Venus looked over to see him very disheveled as she sat down. "I didn't realize that would happen. It's not fair!"

Venus then slid down in front of them and got to her feet, smiling at them in greeting. "I find it quite funny. Wish I would've been there to see the whole thing unfold."

Harry grinned back at her, his green eyes sparkling. "Good morning, Star."

"Morning."

Ron apparently wasn't over this situation. "Hermione and V are allowed in our dormitory, how come we're not allowed—?"

Hermione then slid down and got to her feet next to them. "Well, it's an old-fashioned rule, but it says in Hogwarts, A History that the founders thought boys were less trustworthy than girls."

Venus shrugged. "Understandable."

"Anyway, why were you trying to get in there?"

"To see you — look at this!" Ron exclaimed, taking her arm in his hand and dragging her over to the notice board in the common room.

Venus blinked in surprise. She turned to look at Harry, who had his hand extended out to hers. Her face getting very hot again, she took it and allowed him to bring her over there — and couldn't help but notice how natural his hand felt in hers.

She looked up to see a large sign covering everything else on there — a list of second-hand spellbooks for sale, regular reminders of school rules by Filch, the Quidditch team training schedule, Chocolate Frog card trading notices, advertisements for testers for the Weasley twins, Hogsmeade weekend dates, and lost-and-found notices. This new sign was printed in large black letters and had a Ministry of Magic seal at the bottom beside a neat and curly signature. A sense of dread filled Venus. Nothing with the Ministry was ever good.

━━ BY ORDER OF ━━
𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕳𝖎𝖌𝖍 𝕴𝖓𝖖𝖚𝖎𝖘𝖎𝖙𝖔𝖗 𝖔𝖋 𝕳𝖔𝖌𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖘

All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded.
An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.
Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).
No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High
Inquisitor.
Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

The above is in accordance with
Educational Decree Number Twenty-four.

Signed:
𝓓𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓼 𝓙𝓪𝓷𝓮 𝓤𝓶𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓭𝓰𝓮
HIGH INQUISITOR

"There's no way . . ." Venus trailed off, vaguely aware of the way Harry's thumb was brushing against her knuckles. "The day after we had that meeting . . . how did she—?"

"Someone must have blabbed to her!" Ron said angrily.

"They can't have done," Hermione replied, her expression stony.

"You're so naive, you think just because you're all honorable and trustworthy—"

"No, they can't have done because I put a jinx on that piece of parchment we all signed. Believe me, if anyone's run off and told Umbridge, we'll know exactly who they are and they will really regret it."

"What'll happen to them?" Ron questioned eagerly.

"Well, put it this way, it'll make Eloise Midgen's acne look like a couple of cute freckles," Hermione responded. "Come on, let's get down to breakfast and see what the others think . . . I wonder whether this has been put up in all the Houses?"

It was obvious when they entered the Great Hall that Umbridge's decree had indeed appeared in other Houses. The normal chatter became peculiarly intense as people scurried up and down their House tables conferencing about it. Venus looked to see Penelope Lestrange talking in whispers with Charlotte at the Slytherin table and Elijah attempting to talk to Luna at the Ravenclaw table.

Venus sighed. Great. Her, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had barely sat down when Neville, Dean, Fred, George, and Ginny descended upon them.

"Did you see it?"

"D'you reckon she knows?"

"What are we going to do?"

All of them were looking at Harry. Venus' eyebrows suddenly knit in thought. They were staring at something other than his face as well. She looked down and her eyes instantly widened at the fact that her and Harry were still holding hands. Venus quickly let go and averted her gaze — missing how a flash of hurt shadowed across Harry's face.

"We're going to do it anyway, of course," Harry told them quietly.

"Knew you'd say that," George stated with a beam as he thumped Harry on the arm.

Fred looked quizzically at Ron and Hermione. "The Prefects as well?"

"Of course," Hermione replied coolly.

"Here comes Ernie and Hannah Abbott," Ron announced as he looked over his shoulder. "And those Ravenclaw blokes and Smith . . . and no one looks very spotty."

Hermione looked positively alarmed. "Never mind spots, the idiots can't come over here now, it'll look really suspicious — sit down!" She gestured frantically at Ernie and Hannah to rejoin the Hufflepuff table. ""Later! We'll — talk — to — you — later!"

"I'll tell Michael," Ginny voiced impatiently as she swung herself off the bench. "The fool, honestly . . . might as well tell Eli while I'm over there, too . . ."

She hurried off to the Ravenclaw table. Venus shook her head and looked back to her empty breakfast plate. She had a feeling that today was going to be a long day.

However, the full repercussions of the sign were not felt until they were leaving the Great Hall to head to History of Magic.

"Harry!" Angelina's voice called from down the hall, and all of them looked to see her hurrying towards them with a desperate expression on her face. "Ron!"

"It's okay," Harry reassured her when she got closer. "We're still going to—"

"You realize she's including Quidditch in this?" Angelina inquired over him. "We have to go and ask permission to re-form the Gryffindor team!"

"What?"

"No way," Ron uttered, obviously apalled.

"You read the sign, it mentions teams too!" Angelina exclaimed. "So listen, Harry . . . I am saying this for the last time . . . please, please don't lose your temper with Umbridge again or she might not let us play anymore!"

"Okay, okay," Harry responded, as Angelina looked like she was about to cry. "Don't worry, I'll behave myself . . ."

"Bet Umbridge is in History of Magic," Ron proposed as they walked towards History of Magic. "She hasn't inspected Binns yet . . . bet you anything she's there . . ."

He was wrong. The only teacher in the classroom was Professor Binns, floating about an inch above his chair as usual and preparing to drone on and on about Giant wars. Once again, Venus tried to pay attention, but he was just so boring. She let out a deep breath as she finished drawing a star on her parchment and looked up. However, the sight of a familiar snowy owl perched on the narrow window ledge with a letter tied to its leg made her tilt her head in confusion.

"Uh, Harry?" Venus began.

He looked up at her. "Yeah, Star?"

She pointed to the window. "I think that's your owl."

Harry looked over. It definitely was Hedwig, but it didn't make sense why she was here. They had just had breakfast, so why she was delivering the letter now? Many of their classmates were now pointing out Hedwig to each other too.

Lavender sighed from her place next to Parvati. "Oh, I've always loved that owl, she's so beautiful."

Harry glanced over to Professor Binns, who was continuing to read his notes and was not aware that the class' attention was even less focused upon him than usual. He slipped quietly off his chair, crouched down, and hurried along the row to the window. Harry slid the catch and opened the window very slowly. Once the window was open wide enough, Hedwig hopped inside and hooted dolefully.

Venus frowned at the interaction. Harry closed the window with another anxious glance at Professor Binns, crouched low again, and sped back to his seat with Hedwig on his shoulder. Once he sat back down next to Venus, he transferred Hedwig to his lap and went to remove the letter tied to her leg. However, Venus noticed that Hedwig's feathers were oddly ruffled. Some were bent the wrong way and she was holding one of her wings at an odd angle.

"Wait," Venus interrupted. "Harry, I think she's hurt. Something's wrong with her wing."

Harry looked to where she was pointing. Hewig was quivering, and when Harry made to touch the hurt wing, she gave a little jump and gazed at him reproachfully.

"Say you're sick or something," Venus whispered.

"Professor Binns," Harry stated loudly, and everyone in the class turned to look at him. "I'm not feeling well."

"Not feeling well?" Binns repeated hazily.

"Not at all well." Harry got to his feet and concealed Hedwig behind his back. "So I think I'll need to go to the hospital wing."

"Yes. Yes . . . yes, hospital wing . . . well, off you go, then, Perkins . . ."

Harry quickly left the classroom. Venus watched after him for a moment before looking over to Ron and Hermione. Hermione looked very deep in thought.

"What are you thinking?" Venus asked Hermione.

"Something must have attacked her," Hermione revealed. "Harry's last letter was—" she lowered her voice even further "—to Sirius. What if somebody found out?"

That question was left in the air. Venus looked back to her parchment and didn't take any notes the rest of class. She was too worried about Hedwig and Harry.

Finally, the bell for break sounded. Venus, Ron, and Hermione shuffled out into the courtyard, where they knew Harry would find them eventually. They turned up the collars of their cloaks to shield them from the wind. After about two minutes, Venus looked over to see Harry approaching them with no Hedwig but a small scroll in his hand.

"Everything all right?" Venus questioned anxiously once he was within earshot.

"Where did you take her?" Ron added.

"To Grubbly-Plank," Harry replied. "And I met McGonagall . . . listen . . ."

He then told them that McGonagall had said that channels of communication in and out of Hogwarts were possibly going to be watched. That made Venus cross her arms across her chest in annoyance. This Umbridge woman and the Ministry, how stupid . . . Nevertheless, Venus, Ron, and Hermione shared significant looks.

Harry glanced between the three of them. "What?"

"Well, I was just saying to Ron and Venus . . . what if someone had tried to intercept Hedwig?" Hermione inquired. "I mean, she's never been hurt on a flight before, has she?"

"Who's the letter from anyway?" Ron asked, taking the note from Harry.

"Snuffles," Harry responded quietly.

Venus looked over Ron's shoulder at the note. All it read was:

Today, same time, same place.

"Same time, same place?" Ron read. "Does he mean the fire in the common room?"

"Obviously," Hermione voiced, looking very uneasy. "I just hope nobody else has read this . . ."

"But it was still sealed and everything," Harry said, but it sounded an awful lot like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince her. "And nobody would understand what it meant if they didn't know where we'd spoken to him before, would they?"

"I don't know." The bell rang again, and all of them gathered their bags and began to walk while Hermione continued her answer. "It wouldn't be exactly difficult to reseal the scroll by magic . . . and if anyone's watching the Floo Network . . . but I don't really see how we can warn him not to come without that being intercepted too!"

The four of them trudged down the stone steps to the dungeons for Potions. None of them said anything — they were all too lost in thought. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs they were called to attention by the voice of Draco Malfoy. He was standing outside Snape's classroom door while waving around an official-looking piece of parchment. His voice was much louder than necessary so they could hear every word.

Penelope stood next to Malfoy, her arms crossed and teeth gritted. Venus spared a look at Ron. His cheeks were red just from the sight of her. How cute. Charlotte then approached them, looking just as annoyed as Penelope seemed to be.

"Yeah, Umbridge gave the Slytherin Quidditch team permission to continue playing straightaway, I went to ask her first thing this morning," Malfoy announced. "Well, it was pretty much automatic, I mean, she knows my father really well, he's always popping in and out of the Ministry . . . it'll be interesting to see whether Gryffindor are allowed to keep playing, won't it?"

Venus glanced over to Ron and Harry, whose faces were both set and fists were both clenched. She couldn't deny it was kind of attractive on Harry, but she scolded herself that it was definitely not the time.

She placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, feeling him relax slightly under her touch. "Don't. It's making me angry too, but all he wants is a reaction."

Malfoy decided this was the perfect opportunity to raise his voice a little more, his gray eyes glittering malevolently in Harry and Ron's direction. "I mean, if it's a question of influence with the Ministry, I don't think they've got much chance . . . from what my father says, they've been looking for an excuse to sack Arthur Weasley for years . . . and as for Potter . . . my father says it's a matter of time before the Ministry has him carted off to St.Mungo's . . . apparently they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic . . ."

He made a grotesque face with his mouth sagging open and his eyes rolling. Crabbe and Goyle grunted in laughter and Pansy Parkinson shrieked with glee. Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass merely shared dark looks while Millicent Bulstrode looked like she wanted to laugh.

Penelope looked completely livid. "You're an awful person, you know that? My mother has put people in there and ruined their lives, and you're just making fun of them? Literally fuck you, Draco."

Venus suddenly got knocked sideways, since something collided into Harry. Harry caught her and stabilized them, but the two of them were barely aware of that, because right in front of them, Neville was charging straight for Malfoy.

"Neville, no!" Harry shouted.

He let go of Venus and seized the back of Neville's robes. Venus watched with wide eyes as Neville struggled frantically with his fists flailing, desperately trying to get Malfoy who looked extremely shocked for a moment. Neville was always so quiet and reserved . . . where was this coming from?

"Help me!" Harry urged to Ron.

Harry slung an arm around Neville's neck and dragged him backwards, away from the Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle were flexing their arms and closing in front of Malfoy, apparently ready for a fight. Ron hurried forwards and took Neville's arms. Together, the two of them dragged Neville back into the Gryffindor line. Neville's face was as red as the Gryffindor common room.

"Not. . . funny . . . don't . . . Mungo's . . . show . . . him . . ." Neville let out.

Charlotte then stepped calmly in front of him. "Nevs, listen to me. I know, he's awful, but you can't let him get to you." Neville stopped struggling and seemingly started to relax as he stared at her. "That's better. Come on, deep breaths. You're okay."

The dungeon door then opened. Snape appeared and his black eyes gravitated to where Harry and Ron were wrestling with Neville while Charlotte was trying to calm him down.

"Fighting, Potter, Weasley, Longbottom?" Snape sneered. "Ten points from Gryffindor. Release Longbottom, Potter, or it will be detention. Inside, all of you."

Harry let go of Neville. Neville was panting and glared harshly at Harry, despite Charlotte calming him down.

"I had to stop you," Harry admitted while picking up his bag. "Crabbe and Goyle would've torn you apart."

Neville didn't respond. He merely snatched up his own bag and stalked off into the classroom. Charlotte stared after him with a worried expression.

"What in the name of Merlin was that about?" Ron questioned slowly as they also walked in.

Nobody answered. Venus gravitated to her usual table with Charlotte and Ron at the back of the class. Both of them decided to leave Neville alone for now — it was probably better that way. They pulled out their parchment, quills, and copies of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Everyone around them were whispering about what Neville had just done but immediately fell silent when Snape closed the dungeon door with an echoing bang.

"You will notice that we have a guest with us today," Snape announced in his low voice.

He gestured towards the dim corner of the dungeon. Venus looked to see Umbridge sitting there with her clipboard on her knee. She raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Charlotte. Well, this was bound to be interesting.

"We are continuing with our Strengthening Solutions today, you will find your mixtures as you left them last lesson, if correctly made they should have matured well over the weekend — instructions—" he waved his wand "—on the board. Carry on."

Umbridge spent the first half an hour of the lesson making notes in the corner. Venus was very curious on hearing her question Snape, but she focused on her potion so she wouldn't mess anything up. That would not be good.

Finally, Umbridge got to her feet and strode between two lines of desks towards Snape, who was bending over Dean's cauldron. Venus looked up as she stirred her potion clockwise with her wand — counting exactly twice before taking it out.

"Well, the class seems fairly advanced for their level," Umbridge voiced briskly to Snape's back. "Though I would question whether it is advisable to teach them a potion like the Strengthening Solution. I think the Ministry would prefer it if that was removed from the syllabus."

Snape merely slowly straightened up and turned to look at her.

"Now . . . how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?" Umbridge questioned, her quill poised over her clipboard.

"Fourteen years," Snape answered.

"You applied first for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?"

"Yes."

"But you were unsuccessful?"

Snape's lip curled. "Obviously."

Umbridge quickly scribbled something on her clipboard. "And you have applied regularly for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?"

"I suggest you ask him."

Umbridge gave him a sweet smile. "Oh I shall."

"I suppose this is relevant?" Snape inquired.

"Oh yes. Yes, the Ministry wants athorough understanding of teachers' — er — backgrounds . . ."

She turned away and walked over to Pansy Parkinson to begin questioning her about lessons. Snape looked around and Venus saw his eyes lock with Harry's. Venus winced. This was not going to be good.

"No marks again, then, Potter," Snape said maliciously, emptying Harry's cauldron with a wave of his wand. "You will write me an essay on the correct composition of this potion, indicating how and why you went wrong, to be handed in next lesson, do you understand?"

"Yes," Harry responded furiously.

Venus felt terribly bad for Harry. He had to write that essay on top of homework Snape had already given, plus she knew Harry had Quidditch practice that evening. She could tell he was slightly annoyed, so she didn't push him as they plus Ron, Hermione, and Charlotte went to lunch, meeting up with Elijah as well.

"Maybe I'll skive off Divination," Harry suggested glumly as they stood in the courtyard after lunch, the wind whipping at the hems of their robes. "I'll pretend to be ill and do Snape's essay instead, then I won't have to stay up half the night . . ."

Charlotte pointed to him. "Solid plan, Harry."

"Thanks, Charlie."

"You can't skive off Divination," Hermione scolded.

"Hark who's talking, you walked out of Divination, you hate Trelawney!" Ron exclaimed.

"I don't hate her. I just think she's an absolutely appalling teacher and a real old fraud . . . but Harry's already missed History of Magic and I don't think he ought to miss anything else today!"

Venus shook her head and cast her gaze down to the ground. It had already been an eventful day — the new decree, Hedwig getting injured, Umbridge's inspection . . . and yet her mind still always gravitated back to Harry. She really had to get a grip on herself.

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I wrote this literally last night so I apologize if it sucks

anyways charlotte and neville <3333