It all began with selfishness. In their defense, they were but children, and children had the right to be selfish.
"We're in hot waters," Wayne said, much to Megan and Amanda's agreement. "We're not going to make it if we keep going like this."
"Well, if you listened rather than waste time eating chocolate," Megan huffed, rolling her eyes. "We wouldn't have to do Professor Snape's homework this late."
"We can ask the odd kid," Amanda piped in. "He'll help."
"The odd kid? You mean Umbrus?" Wayne muttered. "He's strange."
"And top of the class," Megan said, sounding intrigued.
In Amanda's mind, the odd kid was, indeed, odd. For one thing he hadn't really made any friends. He just hanged around the library, walked from point A to point B with purpose, and didn't really care about getting to know the other students. He wasn't snobbish, or snotty, but he just...he just didn't seem to care about them at all.
He helped them, and didn't push them away when they decided to hang out with the odd kid in hope of improving their grades, but he was indeed quite odd.
Still, he had given her a hair clip for Christmas with the colors of Ravenclaw house, and that had to mean something, no? Maybe he was just really stupid in showing his friendship to others, or extremely shy. It happened.
-
Clearly, Shade Umbrus was a thoughtful and intelligent boy just like her. He read a lot of books, he was cultured, polite and kind. Hermione cursed herself repeatedly over her stupidity of ending into Gryffindor. If she had been a Ravenclaw, she could already imagine the long hours spent doing homework, reading books, discussing the finer points of Hogwarts a History and so forth.
He'd be her friend, and they'd do everything together. It wouldn't be like with the other students, the silly ones that did silly stuff and didn't bother with the homework until it was nearly too late. Yes, he was perhaps a bit too kind for his own good, and helped anyone that asked him without as much as caring if they actually needed his help or just wanted to copy off him, but not everyone was perfect.
Also, she couldn't help but feel at ease in his presence. It was like staying near an adult teacher who knew things, and explained them gently without worries. He might be a bit forgetful on History of Magic, but he never complained about her being a bookworm, or a know-it-all.
The hair clip with the colors of Gryffindor was a touching gift. It made her feel really happy to have a friend, but after the Philosopher Stone's dilemma came to the front of her mind, she had more pressing things to worry about.
To her shame, to her everlasting shame, she didn't manage to bridge the gap by the end of the first year. By the second, though, she'd definitely manage something.
-
In second year, she came to know more about the odd kid than she had ever wanted to know, and it made her feel bad about herself, and her thoughts. "He lost his dad, and watched someone die," Wayne blurted out. The Hufflepuff boy had kept it to himself until he could no longer withstand it, and had finally emptied the secret one day when Shade wasn't present.
"That's...oh," Megan mumbled. Amanda grimaced instead. It was bad, wasn't it? Not having a parent, having already lost someone. Well, she had been told that her grandmother had died during You-Know-Who's time, but that had been all. Maybe he had been lucky enough to see his grandparent die in a hospital bed? Well, perhaps not lucky, but at least...
Why was she sticking her metaphorical foot in her metaphorical mind?
She decided that she'd keep an eye on him. She was a Ravenclaw; it made sense that she'd look after a fellow House student. It was only fair.
What she found out was that rather than she looking out for him, he was looking out for everyone else. He'd keep the strictest eye on Longbottom during Potions, remain alert and twitchy with the passing of days, and seemed to be growing ever so nervous as October came and went through.
It became obvious to her. Shade was a worrywart of the highest order. He'd jump, grab hold of, and pull away from danger anyone and anything even remotely near a fire. If it were up to him, the corners of Hogwarts would have those silly cushioning charms that prevented people from fully enjoying running around the houses filled with sharp edges.
He was, in one word, a scruffy huffy old man who didn't let children enjoy their lives.
-
Clearly, Shade Umbrus was a dark lord.
"Hermione, are you sure about it?" Harry asked, but she was sure. First off, he had taken prohibited, dark books out of the Forbidden section of the library. She knew because she had taken out one book, and Madam Pince had made her sign the registry. He had taken out half a dozen of books, and none had happy names on them. So, clearly, he was an evil dark lord in the making.
"I'm sure, Harry," she said.
After Mrs Norris' petrification, and the words written on the wall, it was clear that something was wrong at Hogwarts this year too.
Everything was further compounded when Harry admitted to having seen, during the Quidditch practice, Shade emerge from the Forbidden Forest followed by his new friends and a petrified student in the midst of them. The petrification in question hadn't lasted much, but perhaps he had just gotten better at his Dark Cursing.
How could she have been so blind in believing the boy someone like her? He was intelligent, he was smart, and clearly, he was also incredibly evil.
The final nail in the coffin was brought by none other than Ron. "My sister told me that she met the bloodiest git of them all," he huffed, "A Ravenclaw second year blood purist-said the worst things-" he growled under his breath, "Scared her something fierce too."
Hermione had a feeling, but when that feeling was confirmed with the cold hard facts of the disappearance for the day of Shade from the lessons, it became clear it was him.
So he was also a Blood Purist? An intelligent, evil, blood purist?
"We need to tell the teachers," she said, flatly.
And then they were stumped.
"That is a preposterous accusation," McGonagall said. There was actual, real, outright consternation in the old witch's eyes. "I cannot believe such wild accusing fantasies-Mister Umbrus is one of the sweetest, kindest-"
"Mister Umbrus would rather lose an arm than hurt a student!" Professor Flitwick huffed angrily, "I won't have you say such things after what he's-well, I have it on very sure grounds that he would do even the most foolish of things to protect the students of Hogwarts!"
The trio gathered once more, chagrined and hit by enough detentions and extra homework to make them regret it. "He's got them under some spell," Ron said. "The Imperius gets people to do what you want-"
"Dumbledore then," Harry said. "He might be the only one we can count on-"
But they couldn't count on Dumbledore. And they couldn't count on Ginny either. "The Git knew she was the one who told us," Ron whispered, "She's been defending him now! He's crossed the line! I've got a mind to near him and give him one of the nastiest hexes I've got!"
"We need to be smart about this," Hermione whispered. "Polyjuice can work. We get close to him, and if he's got the other students to work for him by threatening them or using the Imperius on them, we'll know. Then we can take him down."
He had Gilderoy Lockhart removed, because clearly the professor was too great and famous a wizard to be controlled, or so Hermione thought.
She'd be proven wrong, when he'd reveal just what kind of fraud the man had been.
She'd be proven further wrong, and rendered ashamed, when he'd defeat them, and then hand them over to Professor Snape. She had been wrong, completely wrong. She had underestimated him, but now she wouldn't.
He was dangerous. He was extremely dangerous.
And nobody was listening to them. Nobody was believing them. Nobody was seeing the boy for what he truly was.
So, they had no choice but to confront him by themselves.
Only, as the end of the school year arrived, and the points were fixed once more, it became clear that he had done it all only for the glory and the fame.
So they confronted him. They confronted him, and they walked away ashamed of what they had thought, and what they had believed.
She was ashamed of herself.
If she wanted to fix this...
-
She didn't know he was an orphan. Amanda bit her lower lip when she overheard him. How many other things didn't she know about him? He'd never speak about himself now, did he? He was always willing to help them, always ready to give them a hand with their homework, and he had never told them about his past, or what he liked, or didn't like.
She was ashamed of herself.
If she was really friends with him, then...
-
...She'd have to get to know him far better than she'd previously had.