Harry potter and the breeding darkness

Chapter 28

Sitting up in the normal place he met Draco just before Prefect rounds, Harry was chain smoking, after casting the normal privacy wards around him in case someone took it upon themselves to follow him. For once, he had actually beaten the blonde there. That was only because he was completely and totally fed up with sitting in the Gryffindor common room listening to everyone's bitching. Though bitching seemed to be what everyone did best anymore, tonight it was worse than ever. The issue? Umbridge.

She had, over the last few days, sat in on History of Magic and Divination. As anyone could expect from the way both of those classes were instructed, the hammer had fallen, with both Binns and Trelawney being ousted as teachers. Binns, he wasn't sure what had gone on with the ghost but, as anyone who had attended Divination would expect, the bint Trelawney hadn't gone quietly, causing a huge ruckus in the courtyard. In the end, though ousted as a teacher, she was still living at Hogwarts as Dumbledore had stepped in. With the meaningful looks that passed between McGonagall and Dumbledore, Harry assumed it had to do with that stupid prophecy he was trying to pass off as real. Really, he had wanted to sneer at that though he made sure he kept a poker face so that no one suspected anything. Worse yet? Dumbledore had made a huge production about the stupid woman staying, having McGonagall escort her back to her rooms. He had, frankly, wanted to throw up at that. Though he couldn't prove it, he was certain the huge production was done for his benefit since he was sure the old goat had glanced around to ensure that he was there to see it. It was his opinion that he wanted him to see how important that dumb prophecy was. That fed into his thinking that the old coot was cooking up something big for that prophecy and he was going to be drawn into it as a way to force a confrontation with Tom.

After all that, it was total chaos in most of the houses, especially the den of the lions. They seemed to take both firings, though they were among the first to bitch about how bad the professors were, as a personal affront. It was as though the ministry wasn't doing this for the betterment of the school, but as a way to sabotage things. That had, honestly, made him want to scream then hex people. Dinner time had been bad, with all the houses, but the snakes, in an uproar over it. For Gryffindor, and he was sure the others, the displeasure over ministry interference had continued on into the common room long after the evening meal ended. Though he couldn't prove it, he was sure that someone was behind this whole atmosphere of almost mutiny. Dumbledore, of course, came to mind. Had he implanted the suggestion into someones head, or more than one person to cause havoc? Harry wouldn't put it past the coot do that, making him look like a put-upon being that the ministry was forcing to do something that he didn't want to. Giving a snort at that thought, he pulled another cigarette out of his pack, lit it with the one he already had then tossed the finished one aside.

Though he had stayed out of the whole mess as much as he could, he had, very quickly, becoming fed up with it when so many seemed to look to him to do, or say, something about it. They had been less than pleased when he had said, as far as he was concerned, that though Umbridge was a horrid woman, what she was doing was for the best. He then went on to point out just how bad the two teachers were and how they had learned nothing from either of them. Of course, Trelawney's fan club had argued that bit up, down and sideways but the others seemed to not want to meet his eyes when Binns was mentioned. After all, it was a well known tradition that the only thing Binns class was good for was taking a nap in! Then he had pointed out that history was an important topic that they all should know and not just about the goblin wars, but the real history behind so much. However, they weren't getting that with the ghost. Though there were some looks, it seems that the whole house was more interested in bitching about Umbridge, and what she was doing, rather than the good they all were going to get out of the changes. He had gotten so fed up that he had left, telling Hermione, as he did, he would meet her on rounds then went to find a cigarette and get some time away from the stupidity.