"How did it go? Orli and I watched your training today..." Hermione approached them as Harry and Ron climbed through the portrait hole into the common room an hour and a half later. "But then you all disappeared for that meeting."
"Training—" Harry began, then faltered.
"As you witnessed firsthand, absolutely catastrophic," Ron said with the hollow tone of a man attending his own funeral.
"Well, it was only your first proper practice," Hermione offered gently, her voice warm with encouragement. "You simply need time to adjust to—"
"So you're saying today's disaster was entirely my fault?" Ron cut her off, his voice sharp as broken glass.
"No, that's not what I—" Hermione stammered, genuine confusion flickering across her features. "I was merely trying to—"
"Or perhaps you think I'm dragging the entire team down with my spectacular incompetence?"
"No! Absolutely not!" Hermione protested, her hands fluttering helplessly. "You said it was dreadful yourself, so I was simply—"
"I'm going to tackle my homework," Ron announced with finality, his footsteps thundering toward the boys' dormitory stairs like an approaching storm. He vanished from sight, leaving only the echo of wounded pride in his wake.
Harry offered an apologetic shrug and hurried after his friend, clearly recognizing the signs of Ron's legendary sulks.
"Did I say something terribly wrong?" Hermione asked Orli, bewilderment and hurt warring in her expression like competing spells.
"Childish boys," Orli observed with weary amusement, "have evolved into childish boys with catastrophically fragile egos."
She settled into the chair beside Hermione, choosing her words with the precision of a Potions master measuring ingredients. "He can accept performing abysmally. What he cannot accept is performing abysmally in front of you—and he absolutely cannot bear the thought of disappointing you or diminishing himself in your estimation."
"So rather than directing his fury at you, he's savaging himself for his failures."
"I am completely and utterly sick of him, that insufferable prat!" Hermione hissed under her breath, throwing herself into an armchair with enough force to make it groan. Her cheeks blazed crimson with frustration.
Monday morning arrived with its usual reluctant gray light. Orli collected the Daily Prophet from Dryncorpse's talons as always, intending to monitor the "Pink Lady" situation's progression. Instead, her eyes immediately locked onto the enormous photograph dominating the front page.
Dolores Umbridge beamed up at her, winking with nauseating coquettishness beneath a headline that made Orli's blood run cold:
"MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM—Dolores Umbridge Appointed First-Ever High Inquisitor"
Orli's frown deepened into something approaching dread. The situation was deteriorating with terrifying velocity—far faster than even her pessimistic projections had anticipated.
"Umbridge? High Inquisitor?" Harry's face transformed into a thundercloud, his half-eaten toast tumbling forgotten from nerveless fingers. "What in Merlin's name does that mean?"
Hermione cleared her throat and began reading with the grave solemnity of someone delivering a death sentence:
"In an emergency session last night, the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation granting it unprecedented control over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"'The Minister has grown increasingly concerned about developments at Hogwarts,' stated Percy Weasley, Junior Assistant to the Minister. 'He is responding to mounting anxiety from parents who fear the school is pursuing directions they find deeply troubling.'
"This marks the latest in a series of Ministry interventions at the wizarding school. Educational Decree Number Twenty-Two, passed August 30th, established that should the current headmaster fail to provide suitable candidates for teaching positions, the Ministry reserves the right to install appropriate personnel.
"'Professor Umbridge's appointment exemplifies this policy,' Weasley explained yesterday evening. 'Dumbledore proved unable to secure a Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, prompting the Minister to place Professor Umbridge in the position. Her immediate success in revolutionizing the curriculum and providing the Ministry with crucial intelligence about Hogwarts' true conditions has exceeded all expectations...'"
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