"Charlie!" shrieked Hermione, panicked as he was ripped from her grasp and, soon enough, lost within the rambunctious crowd.
It all happened so quickly; something caught Charlie around the ankles and he fell spectacularly, skidding along on his front for six feet before coming to a halt. Someone behind him was laughing. He rolled over onto his back and saw Malfoy concealed in a niche beneath an ugly dragon-shaped vase.
"Trip Jinx, Hawthorne!" he said before whipping around to find Umbridge amongst the crowd. "Hey, Professor — PROFESSOR! I've got one!"
Charlie panicked, scrambling to his feet, but as soon as he moved, Draco tried to restrain him by holding him down.
"Piss off, Malfoy!" growled Charlie, trying to break free. "What the bloody hell are you doing?!"
"Read the badge, Hawthorne!" laughed Draco, pointing towards a tiny silver 'I' on his robes just beneath his Prefect's badge. "I'm part of the Inquisitorial Squad now. A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic, hand-picked by Professor Umbridge to ensure order."
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His eyes widening in shock, Charlie tried to make a break for it, but Draco had shoved his wand under Charlie's chin, taunting him with the idea of repercussion. With every intent of engaging in a fight, Charlie clenched his fists, but he quickly faltered when Umbridge came bustling round the far corner, breathless but wearing a delighted smile; Harry Potter was being dragged behind her, her fist clenched tightly on the hood of his robes.
"Ah yes, Mr. Hawthorne!" she said jubilantly at the sight of Charlie at Draco's mercy; Harry and Charlie shared a scared look. "Excellent, Draco, excellent, oh, very good — fifty points to Slytherin! I'll take him from here... come here, Hawthorne!"
With a hard push from Malfoy, Charlie was urged in Umbridge's direction, despite his intense glares that shifted between the two of them. He had never seen Umbridge looking so happy. She seized his arm in a vice-like grip and turned, beaming broadly, to Malfoy.
"You hop along and see if you can round up any more of them, Draco," she said happily. "Tell the others to look in the library — check everywhere, okay? Off you go — and you two," she added in her softest, most dangerous voice, as Malfoy walked away, "you will come with me to the Headmaster's office."
Charlie and Harry groaned simultaneously as they were dragged from the Room of Requirement. They were at the stone gargoyle within minutes. Charlie wondered how many of the others had been caught. He thought about Ron, George, Fred, and Ginny — Mrs. Weasley would kill them — and of how Elaina would feel if she was expelled during her first year at Hogwarts... and Neville had been getting so good... and it had been Seamus'a first meeting...
