Change the Future

OOTP 8

Lesson's dragged the following day as Umbridges detention got closer. As Rory sat down for dinner between the twins she hears Angelina's voice.

"Oy, Potter!" She turned to see it's aimed at Harry.

"What now?" He mutters wearily as he turns to face Angelina, who looked as though she was in a towering temper.

"I'll tell you what now," she said, marching straight up to him and poking him hard in the chest with her finger. "How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"

"What?" said Harry. "Why . . . oh yeah, Keeper tryouts!"

"Now he remembers!" snarled Angelina. "Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team, and find someone who fitted in with everyone? Didn't I tell you I'd booked the Quidditch pitch especially? And now you've decided you're not going to be there!"

"Wouldn't want to be you Harry" Sirius laughs.

"I didn't decide not to be there!" Harry said "I got detention from that Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth about You-Know-Who"

"Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off on Friday," Angelina said fiercely, "and I don't care how you do it, tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like, just make sure you're there!" She stormed away.

"You know what?" Harry said to Ron and Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because she seems to be channeling his spirit."

"What d'you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?" Ron said skeptically, as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Less than zero," Harry said glumly, tipping lamb chops onto his plate and starting to eat.

"I'd say even less than that" Rory tells him.

"Better try, though, hadn't I? I'll offer to do two more detentions or something, I dunno" He swallowed a mouthful of potato and added, "I hope she doesn't keep me too long this evening. You realize we've got to write three essays, practice Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, work out a countercharm for Flitwick, finish the bowtruckle drawing, and start that stupid dream diary for Trelawney?"

"I'm sure it won't be that long, I pretty much live in detention it's never that bad" He looks at Rory.

"Not something to be proud of" Lily tells her daughter as George and Rory just smirk at each other.

At five to five Harry and Rory tell all the others good-bye before setting off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door they hear her say

"Come in," in a sugary voice. They send each other a look before entering cautiously, looking around. The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolor kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. "Good evening, Miss Potter and Mr. Potter." She was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her.

"Evening," Harry said stiffly whilst Rory just glares at her slightly.

"Well, sit down," she said, pointing toward two small tables draped in lace beside which she had drawn up two straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay on each table, apparently waiting for them.