HP: The Duelist of Hogwarts - 419

Chapter 419: Harry’s Detention

Umbridge’s lesson was mind-numbingly dull. The moment class ended, the Slytherin and Ravenclaw students bolted from the classroom as if fleeing a torture chamber, wanting nothing more to do with her.

Watching them scatter, Umbridge kept a fixed, stiff smile on her face. She hummed a grating little tune under her breath, but the anger roiling in her was obvious enough that Sean could see it at a glance.

Umbridge was the sort of person who craved attention. Everything she did was a performance aimed at being noticed. In the Ministry, she had wanted to be a high-ranking official admired by those beneath her. Now that she was a professor at Hogwarts, she wanted students’ full attention and fear.

The moment others ignored her or showed her disrespect was when she suffered most. Just as now. Class had ended and not a single student spared her a word. Umbridge found that intolerable. If Sean was judging her right, both professionally and personally, she would start making trouble very soon.

At dinner, Sean sat at the Slytherin table with his meal.

Blaise and Rowena entered the Great Hall, then split off to their respective House tables, both of them arriving later than most.

Blaise took the seat opposite Sean and hacked off a generous slice of beef. As he ate, he said in a tone of gleeful misfortune, “Sean, have you heard? Potter’s been put in detention by that toad Umbridge.”

Sean swallowed, took a sip of pumpkin juice, wiped his mouth, and asked, “What happened?”

“Umbridge called you and Dumbledore liars in class, said all that talk about You-Know-Who returning was nonsense. Gryffindor had Care with Hufflepuff, and Potter could not hold his tongue. He argued with her, and she slapped him with detention.” Blaise paused, then added, grudgingly, “All right. Sometimes Potter is not that unbearable.”

Sean gave him a look but did not call him on it. Since the holidays, when Blaise had trained with Harry, his way of referring to Harry had shifted from “the saviour” to “Potter,” and his attitude had lost a lot of its former bite.

Naturally, Blaise would never admit that.

Detention…

Sean frowned slightly.

He had thought that because the Triwizard Tournament had involved him rather than Harry, and because Harry had not personally witnessed Voldemort’s return this time, he and Umbridge would not clash as sharply. But now, to defend him, Harry had still wound up sentenced to detention.

Sean dimly remembered that when Umbridge put Harry in detention, she used a Dark magical object that left him injured. School rules meant Sean could not stop her from assigning detention, but he could now shield Harry from the effects of such a Dark artefact.

On Friday, after another Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Sean acted.

This time, the Care of Magical Creatures lesson was shared between Slytherin and Gryffindor, so when class ended, he went straight to Harry.

“Harry, I heard what you did in class for my sake. Thank you.”

“What are you talking about, Sean?” Harry slung an arm around his shoulders and grinned. “We are friends, aren’t we? Sticking up for you is just what you do.”

“That is true. But do not do it again. Umbridge is just Fudge’s hand in Hogwarts. She is not here to teach; she is here to cause trouble and make life hard for Dumbledore. She will not mind using you to get at him.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully. “I get it.”

“I heard she gave you detention. I suspect she will use something on you to make it more than just copying lines. I have prepared something for you. When you go, make sure you keep it on you. It will protect you from her nasty little tricks.”

Sean pressed a small amulet into Harry’s hand.

Harry turned it over, then nodded at once. “All right, I will keep it on me. I have to dash. There is still something to sort out with the Quidditch team. Angelina has just taken over as captain, and she is being really strict. If I am late, it will be a nightmare.”

“Go on then.”

Sean watched Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurry off. Thanks to the heightened hearing from Wolf’s Keenness, he caught snippets about try-outs for the Gryffindor Keeper position, Harry and Hermione encouraging Ron to go for it, and reassuring him he could make the team.

Those words stirred a faint memory. There was something about Ron and Quidditch, and a song, perhaps. The details were foggy now, beyond what Sean could recall.

After dinner, Sean headed straight for the library and buried himself in research for his current projects.

Time trickled by. While he pored over books and notes, Harry reported to Umbridge’s office to begin his detention.

Umbridge had scheduled his detentions for Fridays at eight in the evening.

Just as in the original history, she handed Harry a long, fine black quill and instructed him to write “I must not tell lies” over and over on parchment. It was a very dull sort of cruelty.

Professor McGonagall had spoken to Harry in advance, telling him to control his temper during detention and obey Umbridge’s instructions. Umbridge could not order anything that clearly exceeded the bounds of a teacher’s authority. If she did, Dumbledore would have grounds to remove her.

So long as Harry did as he was told, she would have no clear excuse to push things further.

“Professor, you have not given me any ink.”

Harry forced down his anger and kept his voice polite.

Umbridge gave him a smile that looked like a toad spotting a fat fly. “This quill does not need ink. Just write.”

Harry knew at once that something was wrong with the quill. Remembering Sean’s warning and the amulet he had given him, Harry could not help but feel that Sean’s timing was once again uncanny. As for whether the amulet would block whatever Dark magic was on Umbridge’s quill, Harry had no doubts at all.

I must not tell lies.

The fine black quill scratched scarlet letters across the parchment. At the same time, the amulet Sean had given Harry flared with light. The words that should have been carving themselves into the back of his hand were stopped cold. Harry felt no pain and no interruption, and went on writing the line with deceptive ease.