Keogh

~***~

“She rather looks like a giant, pink toad, doesn’t she.” It was not a question. Ron was leaning over so he could see around Hermione and Harry and catch a better view of the woman standing on the raised platform where the head table was placed. She did look like a toad, and the tiny fly-like bow on the top of her head was not helping matters. “I can see what Sirius meant about doubting she was shagging Fudge. Ugly thing, ain’t she? I doubt even a troll could get it up for that.”



“Ronald!” Hermione glared at him for his use of language, but he only smirked at her. Her glares were not anywhere close to as effective now that they had clearly heard her curse. They thought her new vocabulary was highly amusing, even.



She looked over at the Hufflepuff table where a few of the prefects from his house and Ravenclaw had gone over to his side, bending down somewhat to speak with him, eyes darting occasionally towards Umbridge. The head boy was hearing all their concerns with the serious, firmly jaw-set expression he had taken to wearing more and more often these days. The duties that came with his badge were heavy and quite the bother when you were supposed to be preparing for NEWTs. Hermione knew that their now bi-weekly training sessions were more and more important to him as they let him work off the tension and the stress. And if they developed into a bit of a snogging session, so be it.



She pulled her mind away from thoughts of Cedric, as difficult as that was for her, and recalled that it was Thursday. “We need to get going. We’re supposed to meet with Sirius for our extra class.”



‘Extra Class’ was what she had taken to calling their secret tutoring sessions while they studied for the animagus transformation. If Harry and Ron had thought they were going to be able to goof off during their meetings and just get Hermione to help them catch up afterwards, Sirius had disabused them of the notion quickly. He might joke and laugh with them, but he was serious about teaching them. The animagus transformation could go horribly wrong and he wanted to be certain that there were not any unfortunate mishaps. The more time they spent with him, the more Hermione came to respect Sirius’ skills as a teacher. He was very good at it, though he admitted that he got frequent pointers from Lupin.



They found him in his office atop the short, spiral staircase at the front of the DADA classroom. As always he had biscuits and pudding there, knowing that they skipped the desert portion of dinner to be on time. He sprawled nonchalantly in his chair as they piled in, dropping their satchels by the door. “I understand Fudge’s little snitch has made her way here safely. Pity that. I had a wager with Moony that she would meet with some unfortunate end while en route.”



“Sirius! That’s a horrible thing to say!”



“But not a horrible thing to hope. I assure you, Hermione, she is not to be trusted.” He waved them over to take their seats that were set up to complete a rough circle around the small table holding the sweets. “Now, I’m certain you finished the reading. What about you two?” His eyes peered at Harry and Ron who grinned back smugly. They had done the reading this time. They had blown it off the previous week and did not desire having a repeat of the lecture he had given them.



They were progressing much further faster than when the Marauders had tried to do this back in their day. Sirius believed it was because they had a teacher helping them rather than trying to figure it out on their own. He was able to cut through the many books he and James had found to direct them only to the ones that were actually useful, brining them to the point they had come to this evening. It was his hope that one of them might actually manage the transformation this evening.



Hermione wondered what animal she would turn into. She would dearly love to become a cat like Professor McGonagall. Or perhaps an Owl, though she doubted that since she was not comfortable with flying. If she was going to be something larger, then she thought she might like to be a Rhodesian Ridgeback, the breed of dog used to hunt lions in South Africa. She had a cousin who had one and it was a beautiful animal and surprisingly gentle given the breed’s reputation as hunters.



Harry was hoping to be a stag like his father. Ron was just hoping to get it right. Tonight they were supposed to relax and let their minds ‘wander’ over the magic, trying to get in touch with the animal they would become and hopefully manage to actually become said animal.



Hermione ignored the sweets, feeling perfectly full from dinner, and relaxed into her chair. She could hear Ron and Harry helping themselves and shut out the sound of their smacking. Sirius gave a chuckle and she knew he was amused at the differences between her and her two best friends. She shut him out as well as she recalled what he had told them about tonight.



She pushed the din of their voices away, much like she would push away the thoughts of the Great Majority when she wanted to concentrate. Drawing herself inwards, she imagined herself letting the magic overtake her. She could almost feel it bubbling up from inside of her and cascading over her skin, almost as though she was not wearing clothes at all.



Then she thought she felt her ears twitch.



“Don’t lose your focus, Hermione.” Salazar’s sibilant voice was a whisper in the back of her mind.“Maintain your concentration and let the magic guide you where it will.”



She gripped the mental reigns of her magic again and pressed on. Ron, Harry and Sirius barely even registered as a blip on her metaphysical radar any longer as she felt her skin tingle and warm. Just a bit more. Only a little bit more.



Then there was the feeling much like what you might get when riding a roller coaster as the train plummeted down the highest hill.



She opened her eyes and found herself looking upwards with strangely altered vision. Everything seemed to be a mixture light, but no true colors. The boys were brighter than the table, but the hearth behind them was brighter than all three wizards in the room. She could not actually hear their voices very well so much as feel the sounds they were making through every part of her with those sensations eventually making their way to her ‘ears’ and becoming something recognizable.



Once she got over the initial disorientation she realized that the now recognizable sound was Harry laughing. Through her now poor vision she saw that Ron’s chair was overturned, leaving him sprawled onto the floor. Salazar’s voice was dry inside her mind. “Well, this is unexpected.”



What was unexpected?



Hermione looked about, trying to get a glimpse of her new self. She swung her head around, which required swinging a portion of her body around, and saw what the fuss was about.



She lost her control and morphed back into Hermione Granger instantly. “Bloody fucking hell!”



“Do you kiss young Mr. Diggory with that mouth?” Had Sirius’ voice been toast not all the butter in the world would have combated the dryness. Her swearing sent Harry off into a fresh peal of laughter.



“It’s not funny, Harry!” She was aware that she was wailing, but she did not really care at the moment. “This is a disaster!”



“I don’t see what’s so disastrous about it.”



She ignored the offended tone of Salazar’s voice as she glared at her ‘best friend’. This could not be happening. “I want something else!”



Sirius shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way, Hermione. We don’t get to choose what we turn into. The magic seeks out inner characteristics of yourself.”



Ron pulled himself up off the floor. “She turned into a great, dirty snake!”



Harry snorted. “Yes, but she was a cute snake. Didn’t you see her tail? It was all twisty and curly.” He wriggled the pinky of his left hand to illustrate, his grin broad.



Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry. “I’m going to hurt you.” He started laughing again and she took a step in his direction. Sirius stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.



“Calm down, Hermione. If you’re looking for someone to blame, I’d say lay the fault at Snivellus’ feet. After all, he’s the Slytherin in your happy little family.”



“I don’t want to be a snake! What good is a snake in the British Isles anyway? It’s bloody cold here most of the time! “



Harry finally came up for air. “She’s got a point there, Sirius. And she looked like that python I set on Dudley my first year. They’re used to warmer climates. She’ll freeze.”



Sirius gave a sigh and patted her shoulder supportively. “I know it’s not ideal, but it’s what you’ve got to work with.” Harry was sniggering again, causing Sirius to arch a brow. “And, unlike this pair of wastrels, you actually managed to get it right.” That shut up the boys. Harry and Ron blinked at their teacher, then glowered before settling into their own chairs to begin working. They did not manage to change that night, and Sirius awarded Gryffindor twenty-five points for her excellent progress.

~***~

Cedric forced himself to keep his attention focused on Professor Black and what he was teaching. It was not an easy feat for him. Today was a practice day, which meant that he would be meeting Hermione up in the Room of Requirement. Just the two of them, alone for two hours or more. Two hours of watching Hermione’s lithe form twist and turn without the voluminous robes to hide her figure.



He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He really had to stop thinking about her like this. It was distracting him from everything else and he really did need to keep focused. NEWTs were nothing to take lightly.



“And so, the problem with inferi is that they are already dead and thus bloody hard to take down a second time. But it can be done.” Black was walking the aisles between their desks, the notes they were to take down appearing magically on the board at the front of the room. Cedric’s quill moved over his parchment dutifully as Black continued on.



Of course, the ideal situation is just have Hermione ask them to stop. There he went again. Letting his thoughts wander to his girlfriend.



“Can I help you?”



Cedric felt himself being pulled out of his musings by the question. He looked over at Professor Black who was standing about two meters in front of him but looking towards the back of the classroom. All of the students turned around to see who had arrived and found themselves looking at the fuzzy pink form of the school’s ‘High Inquisitor’.



He felt that familiar tug of annoyance. His father had mentioned Umbridge more than once. An unpleasant woman with a thirst for power. She thought the sun shone out of Fudge’s arse, apparently oblivious to his multitude of flaws. From everything he had heard of the woman she was a nasty piece of work. Her being in the school could not be good.



The toad like woman gave a smile that did not reach her eyes before speaking in that high, girlish voice that made Cedric’s skin crawl. “So sorry to interrupt, Professor Black, but I was needing to schedule a time to observe your class in its entirety.”



Sirius arched a brow, his thumbs hooking into the pockets of his waistcoat. “Observe?”



“Exactly, Professor Black. The Ministry of Magic is requesting an audit of all Hogwarts classes and their teachers.” She pulled out a clipboard from behind her back and perused it with pursed lips. “Would… Wednesday next be all right with you? During your fifth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class. Yes, I believe that would be for the best.”



Black gave a smile just as cold as hers, coupling it with a jaunty tilt of his head. “Of course, Madam. I look forward to seeing you there. Now, class, as I was saying…”



“Hem. Hem.”



Sirius arched a brow and looked back towards Umbridge. “Something more?”



“Pardon me once more, Professor Black, but I am curious as to why you think it appropriate to instruct these students on inferi.”



The students all looked back towards Black, who was looking at Umbridge with an expression of feigned surprise. “Because dark wizards have been known to raise them and set them against innocent people. Not to mention that they’re covered in the chapter of the text we’re currently studying.”



Cedric fought to keep from smirking.



“I see. Then, perhaps, the text you’ve chosen for this class is not appropriate for this school?”



“And why would you think that, Madam?”



Umbridge gave a girlish twittered. Someone should tell her that you really needed a few dimples and corkscrew curls to pull that voice off. “Why, because, Professor Black, it is hardly likely that any of these students are going to be attacked by inferi.”



Black gave her a look of polite inquiry; his feet moving lazily up the aisle. “And how do you know that, Madam?”



Delores blinked. “Surely, Professor Black, you don’t believe someone is going to attack children.”



“Oh, I will admit that the idea of someone using dark magic against an innocent youth is distasteful. It is our nature to protect the young, is it not? However, not every witch or wizard in this world has the same decent nature. Why, Mr. Diggory here can attest to that.” He had reached Cedric’s desk and gave him a firm clap on the shoulder. “There are monsters in this world, Delores.”



Umbridge squared her shoulders. “Surely you have not believed the lies stating that You Know Who has returned.”



Cedric felt Black’s fingers squeeze into his shoulder reflexively. The wizard was keeping his temper in check and somehow managing to keep his voice to its usual, winning tone. “I do not believe they are lies, Madam. However, if it turns out that they are the results of mistaken identity, it still stands that someone has used dark magic against young wizards not yet out of school. And even if Voldemort,” he ignored the flinches and gasps from around the room, “has not returned, then it is only a matter of time before the next power-hungry megalomaniac bent on world domination rears his annoying head.”



Umbridge seemed a bit confused. “I beg your pardon.”



Sirius released his shoulder to wave his hand about. “Voldemort was not a fluke, Madam. Before him was Grindewald, and before that was Higgenthrope. And there were others before that. If you remember your History of Magic you will recall that one of the bastards pops up at least once or twice a century, sometimes even more frequently.”



He turned away from the woman to address the class as a whole. “That is what you must remember, students, and why you must learn your defenses. We should not go through life paranoid and jumping at our own shadows, but we should be ready to stand and protect ourselves and those we love if need be. Greed and lust can make even a sane man turn to evil, and when evil settles into the heart of a wizard the results can be disastrous. And this is coming from a man raised in a family of such idiots. There is no clear limit as to what a trained wizard with a mind bent on destruction can do, such as bringing the dead out of their graves to do his dirty work for him.”



And, just like that, Delores Umbridge was forgotten. Cedric glanced back just in time to watch the annoying woman pull herself up straight, lift her chin haughtily and stalk from the room. This time he did allow himself to smirk. He had harbored his doubts about Sirius Black when the headmaster had introduced him at the beginning of term, but now he had to admit; the man was good.

~***~