Lady Black (Sirius Black's Daughter)

Quibbling the truth

The weekend passed as monday began with a herd of owls searing towards the Gryffindor table. By now I already know that if anything happens at this school it has got to have something to do with Harry and sure enough the owls all crowded him. Not too long after, Umbridge stood up and strode towards the commotion. I sighed but didn't make any attempt to follow. What would it matter anyway? Umbridge would still take away whatever Harry's got and probably land him in detention as well. By interfering I would only make Harry out to be my favourite which would not do well for his current image or mine for that matter.

The Daily Prophet still portrays him and Dumbledore as nutters, only facilitating Voldemort's game. 'Cause really, Voldy is the only one recieving benefits from this arrangement. The Ministry is crumbling apart as it's being taken over by Death Eaters without Fudge making any attempt to put a stop to it, at this rate Voldemort will be ruling Great Britain by next year. It's also demotivating anyone from joining the order. Who would want to join an organisation founded by an 'instable old crackhat' and with intell from 'the boy who lies'. Yeah, that isn't really attractive, is it?

Umbridge returned to the table looking as though no one had ever done anything more horrifying than whatever it is Harry's done. She was clutching some magazine in her hands. I couldn't quite make out which one.

"Oi Charlie, d'you recognize that magazine?" I spoke softly, only barely loud enough for Charlie to hear. He stopped playing with the twins and subtly turned his head to wear the old Hag was seated. He squinted his eyes a little before shaking his head.
"Sorry, love. Don't know it."
"Doesn't matter, I'll ask the Trio later." He nodded before bidding me goodbye to set off for work.

Turns out I didn't have to ask the name of the magazine anymore. Umbridge had pushed through another educational degree stating that copies of the Quibbler are, as of now, banned from the schoolgrounds. Naturally this caused the entire school to read the bloody thing. Not wanting to miss out, I got myself a copy as well.

The Quibbler's main article was an interview with Harry Potter by Rita Skeeter. That explains why they were at The Three Broomsticks together... It's content was Harry's side of the story. What happened at the graveyard where Cedric died, who was there (mentioned by name), and much more. It's terrific! If enough people know the truth, the Ministry will be bound to investigate it further and recognize that Voldemort isn't an empty threat, he's back.

Obviously the article was all anyone could talk about the during the next couple of days. It even infiltrated the classes. As it did with my seventh year Gryffindor/Ravenclaw group.

"So Jane, you were there that day, right? Did it really go like that? Is You-know-Who really back?" One of my students asked in the middle of my lecture. This immediatly caused a hush to fall over the room as everyone stopped doodling on their parchment or whispering with their neighbours. I leaned against my desk as I gave him his answer.

"Well yes, it did. Voldemort is back", most of the class winced as I said his name, others just looked petrified at the affirmation. "The Ministry, or should I say Fudge, have been keeping the Daily Prophet on a short leesh. They don't want the people to know what's happenig, to keep us from panicking. Though by doing that they are leaving us inthe dark, which isn't much better. We need to be prepared if there's another war coming and the Ministry will not help us, but lets keep that between us, huh? I don't fancy being thrown out of here because someone *cough* Umbridge *cough* doesn't want you to know all of this."

"Of course, Jayjay. No one in this room will say anything, right?" George said jokingly but with an edge to his voice. It wasn't hard to catch up on the unspoken threat. My friends will stand up for me if anyone decides to be an idiot. The class immediatly started nodding and affirming that they would hold their tongues.

"Uhm could I- could I?" A shy ravenclaw girl spoke up. I feel horrible for not remembering her name but she never participates in class or does anything that would make her stand out from the crowd. I motioned for her to go ahead and she cleared her throat before doing so.

"Do you - do you think there'll be a - a war?" The attention immediatly shifted back to me and I mentally groaned.

"I do. Can't you all see the signs? Wizards and witches are going missing, Death Eaters 'suddenly' escaping Azkaban, the Dementors making no effort whatsoever to recover them ... it's happening right now. The only thing I hope is that we'll win it before too many people get hurt or worse..." I fell silent after that. The atmosphere in the class changed as if everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Most of them know aunts or uncles, grandparents, family friends, someone who died or got injured during the first wizarding war. It's only a matter of time before the black Ministry envelopes will be a regular appearance again. No one wants to get such a letter, you already know before opening it that one of your loved-ones has passed. My family has already been trimmed enough, I don't need another loss.

Slowly but surely conversation started up again until eventually they asked for more details about the First Wizarding War. Seeing as I wasn't planning on continuing my normal lesson anymore anyway, I began.

I know it's not very long and I know I haven't been updating as much lately but I'm packed with homework and tests and I really can't afford to slack right now.
Therefore I sincerely apologize to all of you but I'll make up for it during the weekend with a nice XL chapter.
If you want a kind of bonus chapter you can pm me. :)

As an awesome comment said "keep being awesome" I hope you all know I really appreciate you guys!

As always, lots of love, misschiefmanaged