As Monday evening approached so did Harry’s detention with Umbridge. Remus had come to him the day before and told him to be careful because Umbridge might try to use the detentions to goad Harry and try to pry information from him that could get one of them in trouble. Though Harry knew the seriousness of the situation, it was the fact that Remus appeared in the secluded area of Greenhouse 5 where Harry and Susan had been snogging quite happily that made Harry’s heart jump into his throat at the time. He had looked warily at Remus who had smiled back and beckoned Harry to come out with him for a talk. Remus had told him to be careful and told him about Umbridge being too interested in Harry’s whereabouts. Harry told Remus to relax that he had all plans covered. Ron told him later that Remus and Sirius acted quite unsurprised when they saw him instead of Harry and had quickly acted as if that was their plan all along.

Now Harry was walking to Umbridge’s office and his unease at Remus’ warning was starting to build up again. Harry knew that Umbridge was very against half-breeds, and had tried to pass some laws that would have made it impossible for Remus to get a job. Harry may not like politics much but he always read anything that concerned his Uncle’s well being. At the time Umbridge hadn’t received enough support, but that had happened at the end of his third year, and Harry knew that if word that an untamed werewolf had been on Hogwarts’ grounds the night he was kidnapped by Bellatrix and Pettigrew had gotten out, a lot of people would have supported her law. Harry wasn’t stupid; Umbridge and Fudge may have been attacking only Sirius and Severus, but if either one had something on Remus too they would be delighted.

He vowed to control his temper, just like he had done in class. He knew the stakes. He inhaled deeply and knocked on the door of her office. He heard the “come in” and entered and was almost blinded by the amount of pink and the abundance of cats in that office. Umbridge looked at him with that fake smile of hers and gestured to a desk in front of her desk.

“As you can see Mr. Potter, you will be doing lines.”

Harry sat at the desk and noticed that parchment and a quill were already out. That was weird, normally teachers had the student use their own supplies, to drive that they were to be accountable for their actions even further.

“I have supplies Professor,” he tried to say politely. Maybe he’d score some points, who knew? “You don’t have to waste yours.”

“Oh, no Mr. Potter,” she smiled, “Mine are special.”

Harry nodded and shrugged internally; suit yourself. He picked up the black quill on the desk and positioned himself. “What should I write?”

“I must not tell lies.”

“But I didn’t lie!” Harry protested. “I’m here for being outside my House tower after curfew.”

“Oh, but Mr. Potter, I must correct all your misbehaviors. Not only regarding your spoiled attitude, thinking you have more rights than other students, but your tendency to lie to authority figures too. That all comes from the same notion that you are not as accountable as other people are.”

Harry narrowed his eyes, “tendency to lie to authority figures!” She was talking about the trial! Harry swallowed a retort and said through gritted teeth.

“Of course ma’am. How many times?”

“As many as we need to let the lesson sink.”

Harry nodded jerkily and turned to dip the quill in ink. He stopped and cleared his throat, “There is no ink. Should I fetch mine?”

“Oh no, Mr. Potter. There is no need for ink.”

Harry had a bad feeling about the situation but started writing anyway. As he wrote the first letter he felt a sharp pain in his right hand and when he looked at it he saw the letter “I” had been carved in the back of his hand and was healed instantly. He looked at the parchment and saw he had written in his own blood. This was a blood quill! Harry could have kicked himself. He should have recognized it. He saw one at Grimmauld place once when he was little and his father was gathering the dark objects he was going to turn in. Harry knew this was illegal and he decided to show his outrage.

“You can’t do this! I’ll tell my dad-“

“Oh, please do Mr. Potter.  Please do tell your father and your Uncles,” she smiled sweetly and dangerously and Harry understood and fumed inside: that was what Umbridge wanted! She wanted for his dad and Uncles to come after her so she had an excuse to act. And either she got that or she got to break Harry, she won no matter what he did. At least from her point of view, because Harry vowed not to break and not to let her touch his family. He gritted his teeth and kept writing as the words were carved in his flesh and healed.

Umbridge just continued smiling falsely and sat at her desk surveying Harry as he wrote. After a while a knock came at the door and Harry inwardly smiled. He hoped it would be one of the teachers that would recognize his quill. His hope was taken away when, with a swift movement of Umbridge’s wand, the quill was replaced by a normal quill and a pot of red ink appeared on the desk. Harry looked at the pot in shock as Umbridge got up. He examined his hand and saw nothing there. Umbridge opened her door and said sweetly, “Yes, Professor Lupin, how may I help you?”

“Hello Professor,” Remus said in his most cordial voice as his eyes scanned the room stopping on Harry. “I heard a commotion and thought it came from here,”  he finished looking back at Umbridge smiling.

“Commotion?” Umbridge asked poking her head outside the door and scanning the hall. “I didn’t hear anything.”

As Umbridge was busy looking for misbehaving children, Remus met Harry’s eyes and silently asked if everything was fine. All Harry wanted was to yell no, but Umbridge made it clear that she was after an excuse to get his family. And if she found out what Remus was, she could make his life hell a lot easier than she could touch Sirius or Severus. He wasn’t even sure she couldn’t take Harry away from Sirius since he had lived with Remus all his life. So, strengthening his resolve to protect his family Harry gave Remus a smile and cleared his throat,

“Should I go back to my lines Professor?”

Umbridge was taken by surprise as she looked back in and  said, “Oh, yes,” she turned to Remus, “As you see, Mr. Potter here is in the middle of a detention and he should go back to it or else the message won’t sink in.”

“Sure,” Remus smiled tightly. “I merely thought you were in need of assistance.”

“Well, thank you for your concern Professor Lupin,” she said as she closed her door. Another flick of her wand and the blood quill was back in Harry’s hand and the back of said hand was once again looking irritated.

XXX

After hours of writing in his own blood Umbridge decided the message hadn’t sank yet and he should come back for detention the rest of the week. Harry didn’t falter; he nodded and grabbed his things. As he was leaving Umbridge flicked her wand and with her fake smile she said:

“You were very smart earlier. Let’s keep it that way.”

Harry looked down and saw his skin looked perfect and unharmed. He felt the back of his hand and could feel the cuts and the pain of his irritated skin; a glamour. Umbridge put a glamour on his hand so no one would see. Harry was conflicted, at the same time that he wanted someone to find out what happened he was glad for the perfect way to keep this from his family. He walked purposely out of her office and down the hall. He jumped in fright when he turned a corner and almost bumped into someone.

“She kept you late,” Remus asked worried. “What was she doing?”

Harry looked at his Uncle. He had never outright lied to him about important things; denied the truth when he did something wrong, yes, fibbed that he hadn’t gone out in the snow when he wasn’t allowed while he tracked it in, sure, but lied when he knew they would believe him, no. So he said the truth.

“Just lines Uncle Moony.”

“I felt the bond Harry. She was harming you, you had to be in danger.”

“Well, maybe the bond perceived Umbridge as a danger because she is. I mean, she’s here to try and sack Grandpa and everyone who agrees with him, that includes you and dad, and get Uncle Sev back in jail. I mean, you said yourself earlier that she would be using these detentions to get something. So maybe that’s why the bond activated, because I felt threatened.”

Remus eyed him skeptically, “The bond never activated for less than danger of bodily harm.”

“How did it feel?” Harry asked curious. “Did it feel like when I was taken by the cup or even Pettigrew?”

Remus shook his head frowning, “No, more like in your Quidditch matches when you can get hurt by a Bludger or something. Usually I just ignore it when it’s like this because it’s normal kid stuff. But there was no reason for it to be activated on a detention, that’s why I came.”

“Maybe that’s like I said. When I’m playing Quidditch I may get hurt and you feel it. Here it was similar, and I was afraid she may do something and you felt it so, I think it’s safe just to ignore it.”

Remus didn’t look convinced, “You’d tell me if she did anything wouldn’t you Harry?”

Great, he had managed not to lie until now just omit the truth. After all he was scared she might do something, “Of course. I’d tell you if I needed your help.” There, not exactly a lie. He could handle this.

Remus nodded but didn’t look happy at all with ignoring his instincts. He put a hand on Harry’s shoulder and ushered him to the Gryffindor Tower.

Xxx

The week did not improve for anyone. Harry kept going to detention and taking his punishments stoically. Umbridge kept staring at him the whole time as if she was just waiting for him to explode. Harry made sure not to let her win.

Severus was having more and more trouble with his Slytherins. Malfoy had barely made the cut for the team and had let his displeasure be known by disrespecting Severus every chance he got. Severus was issuing detentions to him and taking points on a daily basis but it did not stop him. Malfoy had spent almost every night with a different teacher but it seemed to be doing him no good. It culminated in one Potions class when Severus had to break his golden rule of disciplining his Slytherins in private when Malfoy purposely, and not even a little bit covertly, threw something in Seamus Finnegan’s potion making it explode and hit the boy, causing his skin to burst out in boils.

“Thomas, take Finnegan to the Hospital Wing,” Severus bellowed. “NOW!” he added, as Dean hadn’t moved from fear of his fuming teacher. Dean quickly helped Seamus out as Harry signaled for him that he would take care of their bags.

Severus strode towards a smirking Malfoy, “Fifty points from Slytherin Mr. Malfoy and two weeks detention in the Hospital Wing so you can have first hand experience with the results of such careless behavior. I will be speaking to the Headmaster. You are lucky that Finnegan was hit only on the arms or you could have caused him permanent damage. Consider yourself under probation.”

Both Gryffindors and Slytherins were shocked; Professor Snape had never taken so much as one point or reprimanded a Slytherin in public and here he was warning Malfoy that he better start behaving or he’d be kicked out in front of not only other Slytherins but Gryffindors as well.

Severus cleaned the mess from the cauldron with his wand and ordered everyone back to their work. Malfoy had finally gotten rid of his shock and was starting to glare at him. When he was about to open his mouth Severus added, “Do you think you need another detention Mr. Malfoy?”

Malfoy fumed but grit his teeth and said, “No sir.”

“Then finish your work before I hand you a failing grade.”

At the end of the class Severus called Hermione up to him and asked her to tell Dean and Seamus that they could come later to finish their potions.  Harry gave him a sympathetic nod as he left; he knew Severus was getting strained. Malfoy may be the most outspoken but he was definitely not the only Slytherin giving Severus trouble. Crabbe and Goyle did everything Malfoy ordered and Theodore Nott, who until now had been quite a quiet student, had started skiving Potions and when confronted by Severus he refused to answer.

When Harry came back from his last detention of the week, his hand was throbbing but at least Harry  was satisfied that he had won. All he had to do was be careful not to be given detention again. He entered the common room and found that his friends were the only ones there and looked as if they were waiting for him by the fire. He took a seat and asked.

“What’s up?”

Neville looked at the others and said, “Well, Hermione had an idea.”

“What?”

“Cedric was right,” she said. “The OWL and NEWT testing committee won’t care that we did not have a decent teacher. We can’t rely on our DADA classes for our OWLS.”

“And what do you suggest?” Harry asked tiredly. Like that was news?

“That we do it without Umbridge knowing. Like when you were getting extra training last year.”

Harry gaped at her, “But if any of the teachers get caught helping us they will get sacked!”

“We weren’t thinking of a teacher. You have had all that extra training Harry. You can teach us. It will be like a study group and that’s totally legal.” Neville said.

Harry stared at them and pondered. They were right. Defense had always been a class where he was top of the class easily because he had extra training since he was young. He did know more than any other fifth year. He could easily help them prepare for the OWLs. But he thought that if Umbridge knew he was doing that she would whip up some new Educational Decree forbidding study groups.

“Who would be part of this group?” he asked.

“Anyone that wants to,” Hermione said. “And not just fifth years Harry.”

“I can help fifth years but seventh? There is no way I know more than them!”

“That’s because you don’t bother to read the curriculum,” Hermione said annoyed. “Many hexes and jinxes that I saw you use in the maze are seventh year curriculum. The Patronus Charm is seventh year extra curriculum, for those who want extra points. Anything you can help them with will be more than what Umbridge does. We can ask each group to research what they want to learn and if you don’t know it you can always ask your father to show it to you. She may control what a teacher shows the students but she can’t have a say on what your father shows you during his spare time. As long as it is before curfew you can go to their quarters and ask. Then you can show the upper years how to do it.”

“Where would we do this and when?” Harry asked cautiously.

“I don’t think Umbridge should know,” Ron said and Harry was happy to know he wasn’t the only one to think that. “We should meet in secret which makes us only be able to tell people we know we can trust.”

“We should have a meeting with people we think would be interested and then decide from there what to do. We could do it next Hogsmeade weekend at the Three Broomsticks,” Neville said.

“No, better at the Hogs Head. It’s less frequented. Less chance of being overheard,” Hermione answered.

“If we do it in the Room of Requirement we have even less of a chance and we don’t have to wait until the next Hogsmeade weekend,” Harry offered and explained about the room.

“How do we go about calling people? It would look strange if we start talking to people from other Houses and years,” Ron asked.

“We could ask someone from each house to approach people they think would want in. Like we can ask Hannah, Susan and Cedric to talk to the Hufflepuffs. And doesn’t Ginny have friends in Ravenclaw? And I could talk to Blaise Zabini the Slytherin Prefect. I knew his older brother and he was okay. They’re a neutral family. There’s also a seventh year Adrian Pucey. He is okay.”

“Slytherins?” Ron asked disgusted.

“Yes, Slytherins. They’re not all bad. We just have to be more careful with them because we don’t want word getting to Malfoy and his gang. I wouldn’t ask Pansy Parkinson for instance,” Harry said annoyed.

“Harry is right. They have as much right as we do to study for their exams. Besides, if we show we want them to join maybe they’ll start appreciating Professor Snape’s efforts to clear the Slytherin name and will stop giving him a hard time” Hermione said wisely. “I overheard two first years saying that most Slytherins are confused. They don’t know if they should go against Malfoy or Snape. They are not happy with Malfoy putting them on the bottom of the Houses in points but they have a lot of self preservation instincts, and until now when Malfoy bullied others Snape didn’t do anything, so they just went along with Malfoy so they wouldn’t incur Malfoy Sr.’s wrath. But now they have to choose between one of the two and since no one knows if Malfoy Sr. will walk free yet they are in the middle. Maybe this is the push they need to choose Snape.”

Ron looked skeptical but Harry was pleased with Hermione. She was right and Harry personally thought that excluding the Slytherins would be reinforcing prejudice against them. Besides, it would hurt Severus if Harry acted that way, and OWLs or no OWLS Harry would never chance that.