Ink and Parchment ~ blood and bone

42

Monday morning every student in Hogwarts received a free copy of The Quibbler. Most would have tossed it aside if they hadn’t seen the rather hard to ignore images splashed across the front of it. Raw bleeding hands, scratched and marked in a way that would be familiar to many.

I must not tell lies, I will not misbehave, I will obey my betters.

Eliza picked up her own copy curiously.

HORROR AT HOGWARTS

What the ministry doesn’t want you to know

By Rita Skeeter

Hogwarts; a second home for some, a well known illustrious school to others and for many home to many fond memories.

What I have found out today, from students who put themselves in peril to deliver this news, should horrify you all. Instead of telling you the news dear readers I have instead chosen to let these anonymous testimonies speak for themselves. The students deserve to be heard after all they’ve been through to get published.

It started immediately in September when Dolores Umbridge was appointed as our defence teacher. At first we didn’t think it was a cause for concern but then she banned all defence practice in class time. We weren’t allowed to cast a single spell.

Dolores Umbridge in case you didn’t know readers, is undersecretary to the minister. The very same minister who has promised us only the finest for our children’s education. A different student writes;

At first we figured we’d just practice by ourselves but then she banned all clubs and organisations of more than three people who met regularly unless it got her seal of approval. Not many student organised clubs did.

You might be assuming at this point it’s a new ministry mandated health and safety campaign. We all know how dangerous some of the clubs at Hogwarts could get. What comes next will prove you wrong.

So she started inspecting our classes but we all noticed she only ever turned up in classes that had ‘troublesome students’ Whenever we spoke out of turn or questioned her ideals we were punished. I don’t know how many of us have been subjected to her detentions but what proof we could get we sent in today.

Every testimony I have read agrees, Dolores Umbridge has been using blood quills on our children. Not only is this corporeal punishment illegal but it also defies the minister’s own laws on blood magic. You may be questioning how this has been allowed to continue for so long dear readers and I’m afraid to say this academic year only becomes worse...

Eliza read through the rest of the article with a smug grin. Rita truly had done a wonderful job, she had even mentioned she had ‘suspicions’ about the trial being blocked when a student tried to contest Umbridge. By now everyone had read through The Quibbler and the great hall had filled with loud clamouring chatter of the students. Eliza took one long sip of her coffee as she took in the chaos around her. Umbridge was sat at the teachers table, lips pursed and a look of fury in her eyes. A copy of The Quibbler was scrunched up in front of her.

Theo was the best in their group at chess, that was undeniable. But when it came to real life political manoeuvring Eliza had them all beat, hands down.

Eliza drained the last of her coffee not taking her eyes off the toad.

Her move.

By mid-morning enormous signs had been pinned on seemingly every spare bit of wall in the castle. Educational decree number twenty-seven, any student found with a copy of The Quibbler would be expelled. By the end of the day she had been approached by Luna. Apparently no other copy of the Quibbler had ever sold out faster.