Chapter One Hundred and Thirty One

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"Poppy!"
The woman glared, yet made no attempt to correct me, "Miss Granger, how did you find St Mungos?"
"Chaotic but rewarding"
She nodded, seemingly satisfied, "As is the way of most healers. I heard back from them actually, Healer Fitz had nothing but nice words." At my raised eyebrows, she cracked a smile, "Yes, very rare praise coming from him."

"I - wow

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"I - wow."
"You did me proud, well done."
I placed a hand over my heart, grinning, "Oh Poppy -"
"Enough of that, Granger. Now, I assume you have a reason to be here?"
"About more experience -"
"Not in your NEWT year," she interrupted, "You need to focus on passing your exams, and with the work load you're about to start getting, I'm afraid this would only put you behind. Don't worry though, I will still be happy to write your recommendation."
I smiled, slightly sadly, and stole a hug, "I'll miss our lessons."
"Yes, yes." she said, patting my back a few times before gently pushing me out of the hug, "Now I'm sure you have something to be doing right now, off you pop."
"Bye, love you!" I called, grinning as I heard her snort a laugh behind me.

My happy mood was quickly dashed by my DADA lesson.
"For the last time, Mr Bones, wands will not be necessary for this lesson. If I catch you with it out once more, I'm afraid I'll have to give you detention."
Her voice was so sickly sweet that everything she said just sounded like a threat - and it probably was.
"Honestly, hitting someone with this text book would be a more effective self defence than the shit inside it" I whispered, clenching my fists as I felt annoyance surge through me.
"Don't tempt me" Beth replied, "Chucking this shit at her head is starting to look more and more appealing."
As we were let out of lesson with yet another essay on the proper use of wand etiquette, anger levels were running higher than ever. 

"She looks like a toad fucked a pink troll"
Lee's blunt statement sent a ripple of laughter throughout the group, Connor nodding enthusiastically.
"That's exactly what she looks like!"
Beth made a noise of agreement, "I mean I know she's a bitch but does she have to wear that much pink all at once? I swear it's burning my eyeballs"
McGonagall snickered as she walked by, pausing slightly under the pretence of checking Fred's shirt collar, "She does it to distract you from all the ministry crap coming out of her mouth"
She walked off, leaving us staring after her in shock.
"We have the coolest head of house." Fred breathed, a grin creeping up his face.
"You tell yourself that - Sprout grows and smokes her own weed" Connor said, continuing at our odd looks, "Medicinally. Of course."
George laughed, "Respect."
"Any way that I could get some of that?" Lee asked, fluttering his eyelashes innocently.
Beth looked him dead in the eye, "Sprout may seem calm, but steal her weed and I assure you, she'll turn you into fertiliser"
Fred winced, "Damn."

"High Inquisitor? Are you having a laugh?"
I peered over Angelina's shoulder at the Daily Prophet, huffing in disbelief at the bullshit article that highlighted Unbridge as some sort of saint.
"This can't be real - surely" I asked, looking between Angelina and Katie for any indication it might be a joke.
"Miserable cow," Katie frowned, "As if she wasn't enough of a tyrant."
"This can only go badly" Angelina agreed, crumpling the paper up with an angry sigh, "I mean honestly, why is Dumbledore letting this happen?"
"The ministry is interfering at Hogwarts" I said, echoing my realisation from the beginning of term, "This is just the beginning."
"Well shit."

"I swear, I could strangle her" I grumbled, the four of us leaving the Charms classroom and making our way to the Great Hall.
The boys just agreed with me, our thoughts turning to the golden trio's conversation as we sat down.
"I got a P," said Ron, ladling soup into his bowl. "Happy?"
"Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of," said Fred, sitting down on Harry's right. "Nothing wrong with a good healthy P."
"But," said Hermione, "doesn't P stand for . . ."
"'Poor,' yeah," said Lee. "Still, better than D, isn't it? 'Dreadful'?"
Harry fell into a coughing fit, and I reached over to thud him on the back a few times.
"So top grade's O for 'Outstanding,'" Hermione continued, "and then there's A —"
"No, E," George corrected her, "E for 'Exceeds Expectations.' And I've always thought Fred and I should've got E in everything, because we exceeded expectations just by turning up for the exams."
I snorted, everyone laughing except Hermione, who plowed on, "So after E, it's A for 'Acceptable,' and that's the last pass grade, isn't it?"
"Yep," said Fred, dunking an entire roll in his soup, transferring it to his mouth, and swallowing it whole.
"Wow. So attractive." I deadpanned, smiling as he pulled a face at me.
"Then you get P for 'Poor' " — Ron raised both his arms in mock celebration — "and D for 'Dreadful.' "
"And then T," I reminded him.
"T?" asked Hermione, looking appalled. "Even lower than a D? What on earth does that stand for?"
" 'Troll,' " said George promptly.
Harry laughed again, though there was a twinge of panic behind his eyes.
"You lot had an inspected lesson yet?" Fred asked them.
"No," said Hermione at once, "have you?"
"Just now, before lunch," said George. "Charms."
"What was it like?" Harry and Hermione asked together. Fred shrugged.
"Not that bad. Umbridge just lurked in the corner making notes on a clipboard. You know what Flitwick's like, he treated her like a guest, didn't seem to bother him at all. She didn't say much. Asked Alicia a couple of questions about what the classes are normally like, Alicia told her they were really good, that was it."
"You could tell she was digging for something" I frowned, "We didn't give her any ammunition."
"I can't see old Flitwick getting marked down," said Lee, "he usually gets everyone through their exams all right."
"Who've you got this afternoon?" Fred asked Harry.
"Trelawney —"
"A T if ever I saw one —"
"— and Umbridge herself."
"Well, be a good boy and keep your temper with Umbridge today," said George, "Angelina'll do her nut if you miss any more Quidditch practices."
"He's not kidding," I added, "I swear, I hear her doing quidditch drills in her sleep. She's all in."
"You know," Lee said, shrugging, "No pressure."
"Wow, thanks guys." Harry grimaced, hand worrying through his hair, "That really helps."
"Glad to be of service"

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