The Order of The Phoenix
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When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the Hall was starting to creep upwards again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the Headmaster. Sadie was feeling pleasantly drowsy now. Her four-poster bed was waiting somewhere above, wonderfully warm and soft.
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too."
Harry, Ron, Sadie and Hermione exchanged smirks.
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door. We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."
There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause, during which Harry, Ron, Sadie and Hermione exchanged slightly panicked looks. Dumbledore had not said for how long Grubbly-Plank would be teaching.
Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the. . . ."
He broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.
Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Sadie had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking, this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."
Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish and, again, Sadie felt a powerful rush of dislike that she could not explain to herself. All she knew was that she loathed everything about her, from her stupid voice to her fluffy pink cardigan. She gave another little throat-clearing cough ("hem, hem") and continued.
"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"
Sadie glanced around. None of the faces she could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"
Students exchanged looks at this, some of them were barely concealing grins. Sadie looked behind her and saw Fred was staring at the woman in disgust. Fred looked at his girlfriend and winked, causing her to go pink.
"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan," Parvati whispered to Lavender, and both of them lapsed into silent giggles.
Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("hem, hem"), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.
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Ethereal
Fanfiction"She looks beautiful." "She's always looked beautiful." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In which the eldest Weasley twin falls in love with the confident yet lovable muggle-born witch two years below him.