Three

                                    

                                          
"I hate school," Daphne grumbled as she made her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Pansy and Magnolia on either side of her.
"Don't ever say that to Maven," Magnolia snorted.
"I wouldn't say anything to Maven," Pansy huffed. "I would receive at least twenty-seven corrections for one sentence."
Daphne giggled. "I don't think she's that bad. If she got rid of the glasses-"
"-and learned to shut her mouth, yeah," Pansy finished. "We've heard that before."
"She's not wrong," Magnolia shrugged. "Those glasses are really ugly."
They strolled into the classroom, which, as usual, was populated by chattering Gryffindors. Why do we always have classes with them? Magnolia wondered. And more importantly, why are they so loud?
To be fair, the class had a mixture of every House - but the Gryffindors were the noisiest.
One of the Patil twins - Magnolia couldn't tell who - had charmed a paper bird to fly around the room. People were calling to her to fly it to them.
Seamus Finnegan jumped for it and missed, causing his friends to burst out laughing. Draco swatted it out of his face as he talked to Blaise. Blaise found the bird amusing. Draco did not.
Crabbe tried to slingshot the bird - why did he have a slingshot? - and when he missed, he laughed with Goyle.
Overall, it seemed like a fun class. At least, the students. Daphne and Magnolia sat together while Pansy sat in front of them next to a random Gryffindor girl. She had blonde hair and seemed quiet.
Pansy was sitting backwards in her seat to talk to Daphne and Magnolia when a sickly sweet "Good morning, children" rang through the room, silencing everyone's chatter.
Everyone turned around to see the source of the voice, except for Pansy, who had already been facing that way. Her nose was wrinkled in poorly disguised disgust.
"Umbitch," Daphne mumbled under her breath, and Magnolia forced myself to hold back a laugh.
"Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations," Umbridge began, walking up a row of desks while using her wand to write the words onto the chalkboard at the front of the room. "O-W-Ls," she continued, separating each letter. "More commonly known as OWLs."
Magnolia supressed a groan as she turned back around in her seat. She had completely forgotten it was an exam year. Every year was a final exam year, of course, but the fifth and seventh years had to take extra exams. For fifth years, OWLs were used to determine which classes you would take in your last two years of schooling. For seventh years, NEWTs were used to determine which careers a student could pursue after graduation. Maven had droned on and on about exams the entire summer. She had already read several textbooks cover to cover. She aspired to be the Minister for Magic - as such, she needed high scores to attain a job that was able to be promoted to Minister.
Magnolia didn't care for exams as much as she did.
She zoned back in to hear Umbridge say, "Study hard, and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be severe." Who was she, Maven in pink? Maven had suggested countless times that Magnolia also get ahead on her exam studying. 
She ignored her.
Umbridge flicked her wand and neat stacks of books began distributing themselves to the students.
"Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven," Umbridge said as the books continued to pass themselves out. "But you'll be pleased to know, from now on, you will be following a carefully structured, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic."
Hermione Granger's hand went up, and Umbridge said, "Yes?"
"There's nothing in here about using defensive spells," said Hermione, whose book was already opened. Magnolia glanced at her cover. Beginners? Weren't we far past that level?
"Using spells?" Umbridge repeated, almost incredulously. "Well, I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom."
"We're not gonna use magic?" Ron Weasley spoke up, shaking his head and waving his book in disbelief.
"You'll be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way," Umbridge replied plainly.
"What use is that?" Harry Potter interrupted. "If we're attacked, it won't be risk-free."
"Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class," huffed Umbridge, appalled at the amount of backlash her curriculum was receiving.
Honestly, the entire class thought this was bullshit, Magnolia included. Were they going to say anything? No.
"It is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations, which, after all, is what school is all about," Umbridge said, answering Harry despite not addressing him directly.
"And how's theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?" Harry challenged. 
"There is nothing out there, dear," Umbridge said, her already low patience beginning to wear thin. "Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourself?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe Lord Voldemort?" Harry said as if this were obvious. It was, just apparently not to Umbridge.
Magnolia winced slightly at the mention of the name. Her parents were somewhat involved with him, and she preferred to avoid talking about him at all.
"Now, let me make this quite plain," Umbridge said, trying desperately to restore order in the classroom. "You have been told that a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."
"It's not a lie. I saw him, I fought him!" Harry exclaimed.
Magnolia really wasn't sure what to believe - on the one hand, her parents had grown more reserved and "busy", but it could mean nothing. On the other hand, Harry had absolutely no proof of this encounter, and most of the school didn't believe him anyway.
"Detention, Mr. Potter," Umbridge snapped.
"So Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord?" Harry asked pointedly.
Magnolia's stomach dropped at the memory of last year. It was another thing she didn't like to talk about. She hadn't known Cedric very well, but when someone turns up dead in front of you, it's not a very happy moment.
"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," Umbridge insisted.
"It was murder! Voldemort killed him!" Harry pressed.
Merlin, Harry, just let it go.
"Enough!" Umbridge cried, making everyone freeze. "Enough. See me later, Mr. Potter. My office."
Harry slumped in his seat as Umbridge took out a roll of parchment and took attendance.
"Hannah Abbott. Susan Bones. Terry Boot. Mandy Brocklehurst. Lavender Brown."
Each student raised their hand in turn as Umbridge continued rattling off the names, barely stopping for breath.
When she was done, Umbridge rolled up the parchment and smiled, although it wasn't genuine. "How about we begin our lesson?"