Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 359: The Erratic Professor
"Miss Umbridge?..." Lyra stared at the back of her teacher. The woman had been acting strange all morning, and now she was just staring at the board without saying a word.
Ginny nudged her and made a gesture for her to shut up.
"Right..." Lyra realized her mistake and kept quiet.
Professor Umbridge really hated them for some reason and gave them detentions far too often.
According to her brother, Umbridge had something against their family and was just taking it out on her and her friends because she was a bitter woman who didn't know what else to do.
"Did you... say something to me?" Madam Umbridge turned around and glared at Lyra. Her expression was almost vacant, like she was half-asleep.
"No, Professor Umbridge!" Lyra quickly replied. They had already gotten two detentions last week, and she really didn't want another one so soon.
It had only been two days since the champions' first task ended, and she hadn't even spoken to her brother yet.
"Did you just yell at me?!" Umbridge slammed both hands on Lyra's desk.
"Um... no?" Lyra wasn't sure which answer would avoid detention.
"Are you calling me a liar?!" Umbridge shouted, her voice shaking the classroom.
The Slytherins usually enjoyed it when Umbridge went after someone from Gryffindor, but lately, her behavior had been so erratic that even some of them had been on the receiving end of her punishments.
In the end, they all decided it wasn't worth the trouble and just stayed quiet.
"Well, which is it?! Meow!" Umbridge's face contorted with rage.
Lyra stared in shock. "Did you... did you just meow?"
"Lyra... shut up..." Ginny tugged at her robes, eyes wide.
"I did not meow! Meow! That's it... detention for a month!" Umbridge shouted.
"Oh no..." Lyra groaned internally. Now she'd have to call her brother again.
"Miss Umbridge, please... be reasonable," Ginny pleaded, knowing why Lyra didn't want detention now and trying to help.
"Two months!" Umbridge barked. "For both of you! And now get out of my class! I have to meow— I mean teach!"
The students exchanged confused glances, unsure of what was happening. The professor looked even more deranged than usual.
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After classes were over for the day, the two girls had no choice but to go look for Harry.
At this point, they were well aware of what was going on during Umbridge's detentions by the recounts of other students who had been there.
"You got detention again?" Harry raised an eyebrow, clearly not amused by the news.
"It's not our fault! Miss Umbridge is unusually crazy today," Lyra told him, avoiding direct eye contact.
"She's not lying. The professor has been acting really strange lately, and today..." Ginny didn't know how to put it.
"Strange how?" Harry asked, hoping it wasn't connected to anything he had done.
"Well...keeps forgetting things, and today, she just stared at an empty board for almost ten minutes. When Lyra asked if she was okay... she freaked out and started yelling," Ginny explained.
"I see..." Harry looked thoughtful.
"She also started meowing... like a cat," Lyra added.
"She... meowed?" Harry stared at his sister in disbelief. "You don't have to make stuff up, Lyra."
"It's true! I swear. Right, Ginny?" Lyra looked to her for backup.
"She did meow... or at least it sounded like it. Maybe we misheard her," Ginny replied, still skeptical. The whole interaction had been too weird.
"Fine... I'll deal with this. Stay in your dorms this afternoon," Harry instructed.
"Thank you, Harry!" Ginny smiled brightly.
Harry then noticed Lyra tugging at his robes.
"Is there something else?"
Lyra nodded, then shook her head.
Harry sighed. "If this is about what happened in the tent with... 'Neville'..."
He saw Lyra flinch and knew he had hit the mark.
"You knew that... we..."
"That you all knew about our switch? Yes... let's just say Neville is almost as bad as you at keeping secrets," Harry said.
"Harry, I..." Lyra stammered, unsure of what to say.
"It's fine. You thought it was Neville, and... actually, it's not fine," Harry corrected himself. "You're too young to be going around kissing boys."
"Wait, I am not!" Lyra huffed in protest.
"Yes, you are. But let's make an agreement... we're never talking about what happened that day. Clear?" Harry suggested.
"I agree." Lyra glanced at Ginny.
"I think it was funny, but I won't tell anyone. You know I can keep a secret," Ginny promised.
Harry gave her a nod. "That's true. Then, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
"Um..." Ginny hesitated.
"Yes?" Harry asked, remembering they hadn't cleared things up between them yet. She was probably waiting for him to make a move after that kiss.
"Nothing. It's nothing," Ginny shook her head.
Harry sighed. 'A problem for tomorrow.'
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He left Umbridge's office in a bad mood. He had gone there to fix the detention issue and also to try to get some information about Voldemort's future plans. But he left with nothing.
The woman's mind was clean. She knew nothing about...well, anything at all.
"Wait a moment... of course, why didn't I think of this sooner?" Harry suddenly realized something. Umbridge might have been Obliviated. That would explain why her mind was so empty.
'Did Voldemort do this? Did he lose trust in her? Or maybe she learned something she shouldn't have...' Several possibilities crossed his mind, but one thing was clear:
He could no longer rely on her as a source of information. Even if he found something eventually, it might be a trap planted there on purpose.
'Now what?...' Harry wondered, deep in thought.
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