07; ANTI-UMBITCH LEAGUE

-------- BY ORDER OF --------

THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS

All Student Organisations, Societies, Teams, Groups and Clubs are henceforth disbanded.

An Organisation, Society, Team, Group or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three of more students.

Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).

No Student Organisation, Society, Team, Group or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.

Any student found to have formed, or belong to, an Organisation, Society, Team, Group or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Twenty-Four

Signed:

Dolores Jane Umbridge

HIGH INQUISITOR

"What the actual fuck?" Elara gasped when she saw the notice hanging in the Slytherin common room. She sighed and rubbed her hands down her face, exhausted. This had to include Quidditch. And she would have to go speak with the Professor about re-forming the team.

"Hey, you alright, darling?" A hand dropped on her shoulder and she almost smiled at the sound of the familiar voice. Turning around, she just hugged her boyfriend and placed her chin on his shoulder.

"No." Her voice came out muffled as she closed her eyes. "I'm sick of the Ministry. I'm sick of Umbridge."

He pulled away and placed his hands on her shoulder. "What's she done now?" Elara moved to show him the notice posted on the board. He read it over and raised his eyebrows.

"I know this means we have to do the Defense thing secretly. But, this also means I have to ask her permission to re-form our Quidditch team."

"Oh, shit. Quidditch." The boy realised.

"Yeah." Elara nodded. "Listen, I'll come find you later. I've got to go speak with her now. Hopefully she allows it." She pressed a kiss to his cheek and left the common room, making sure her uniform looked proper, her tie perfect and not crooked or loose.

She walked down the corridors, stopping briefly in the Great Hall to see if the others had seen the notices in their common rooms. She walked straight to the Gryffindor table and sat down beside Harry, who was surrounded by a few of their other Gryffindor friends.

"Morning everyone." She sighed, her usual smile not present.

"Hey, El. I'm assuming you've heard the news." Harry greeted.

"Yeah. And now I have to ask permission to re-form the Slytherin team as well. To Umbridge. Who I am sure hates me with everything in her." Elara ran a hand through her hair, clenching her fists.

"Quidditch?" Fred asked, looking alarmed.

"What do you mean?" George continued.

"Well, Quidditch is a student group. More than 3 people. We've got to get permission to re-form all Quidditch teams. You lot best see Angelina about yours. I'll see you all later, have to go speak with the pink devil." She ruffled Harry's already messy hair and left the Great Hall, heading for Umbridge's office.

She knocked on the door sharply, waiting for a response. "Come in!" Came a shrill voice from inside. Elara pushed the door open and almost winced at the sight of the office. She turned her attention to Umbridge, who was sat at her desk, a small pink teacup in her hand.

"Good morning, Professor."

"Good morning, Miss Black. Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, Professor." Elara walked closer to her desk and joined her fingers behind her back. "I saw your notice in our common room this morning. About needing permission to re-form groups and clubs."

"Ah yes. The new rule, in accordance to Educational Decree Twenty-Four." The Professor nodded, her little pink bow bouncing atop her mousy brown hair.

"Yes. So, I've come to ask you permission to re-form the Slytherin Quidditch team."

"Quidditch team?"

Elara nodded. "Yes, Professor. We have a match coming up, and we were hoping to still participate. Our Seeker, Draco Malfoy was especially upset at this news when I saw him this morning." Elara, of course, hadn't seen Draco, but considering who his father was, she knew that using his name would garner sympathy from Umbridge and make re-forming the team easier.

"Yes, I can imagine he would be. Of course, permission granted." Was the hasty reply. Umbridge did not want to upset Lucius Malfoy.

"Thank you, Professor. Have a good day." Elara headed for the door.

"And to you too." As soon as Elara was out the door, she jumped up, fist bumping the air, a massive grin on her face.

"Someone's happy." Came a voice from behind her and Elara whipped around, grinning sheepishly when she saw Angelina Johnson stood there, arms crossed over her chest.

"Hey, Angelina."

"Hi, El. What's got you so happy?"

"I just got permission to re-form the Quidditch team!" Elara grinned.

"Lucky you. Well, I'm about to ask her about Gryffindor."

"Good luck! We need someone to win against." Elara winked at the other girl before waving and heading back to the Great Hall to have some breakfast. She walked in and headed for the Slytherin table, sitting down beside Theodore and Bianca.

"I got permission!" She squealed happily before calling down the table. "Quidditch team has been re-formed! Practice continues as normal!"

Murmurs of happiness and quiet cheers rang throughout the table. "How did you do it so quickly?" Theodore asked.

"Just mentioned Draco was on the team. The Malfoy name works wonders." Elara winked, scooping some eggs onto her plate and digging in.

"You are such a Slytherin." Bianca rolled her eyes amusedly.

"Thank you." Came the black haired girls happy response as she continued to eat her breakfast. Classes continued on as normal for the next few days, but something interesting made its way to her.

Their first Defense meeting would be happening soon. She was told by Harry when and where it was, and she happily passed the message onto her fellow trustworthy Slytherins. So, when 8 o'clock came that night, she got dressed in some simple clothes and walked with her friends to the seventh floor and stood in front of the wall opposite Barnabas the Barmy's tapestry.

"Right, well, Harry said walk past it three times and think of the thing you need, and something should happen." Elara explained, before walking back and forth in front of the wall, thinking of somewhere Harry was.

A door opened and she grinned, opening it to be greeted with a few other students already inside. Elara walked inside, her hand in Theodore's and looked around the room in awe. It was massive and there were flickering torches on the walls, just like the ones that illuminated the dungeons.

The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and instead of chairs, there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments that Elara recognised as those that helped in detecting Dark Magic.

Harry began explaining what the room was, having to start explaining once more when more people walked in. When every cushion was filled, Harry locked the door and moved to the front to speak in front of everyone.

"Well. This is the place we've found for practices, and you've obviously found it okay-"

Several people murmured their amazement at the place. "Hey, Harry. What's this stuff?" A dark skinned boy with a Gryffindor tie spoke up.

"Dark Detectors. Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much. They can be fooled. Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and-" He was cut off by Hermione raising her hand. "What, Hermione?"

"I think we ought to elect a leader."

"Harry's leader." A girl with a Ravenclaw tie said.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly. It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So, everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?" Hermione asked. Everyone put their hands up.

"Er, right. Thanks. And- what, Hermione?" Harry turned slightly red and Elara couldn't help but want to tease him about how embarrassed he was.

"I also think we ought to have a name. it would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelina asked.

"More like Anti-Umbitch League." Elara called out, snickering. She got a high five from Bianca and a playful glare from Harry.

"Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" Fred suggested.

Hermione frowned at that. "I was thinking more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."

"The Defense Association?" Astoria spoke up, tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "The D.A. for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"

"Yeah, the D.A.'s good." Ginny agreed with her new friend. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"

Elara leaned closer to Theodore as people murmured appreciatively and laughed. "Told you she was a proper Slytherin."

"Yeah, I can see that." He replied, eyebrows raised.

"All in favour of the D.A.?" Hermione kneeled on her knees to count the hands. "That's a majority! Motion passed!" She added 'Dumbledore's Army' to the top of the paper with their names on it and then stuck it on the wall.

"I didn't agree to this." Elara rolled her eyes at the naming of the group.

"Right." Harry spoke once more. "Shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus. You know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic, but I've found it really useful-"

"Oh please." Zachariah Smith spoke up. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"I've used it against him. It saved my life last June." Harry retorted quietly causing Elara to smirk at his coolness. Zachariah closed his mouth and the room grew quiet. "But, if you think it's beneath you, you can leave."

No one moved. "Okay. I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice." Astoria went off with Ginny, while Draco and Blaise paired up. Daphne joined Bianca and Elara and Theodore were left on their own.

"I won't go easy on you, if that's what you're hoping for." She informed him.

"I would never think that." He smirked back. Harry counted them down and as quick as a flash of lighting, Elara had her wand pointed at him, saying the spell nonverbally in her head, and watching his wand soar into the air and into her free hand.

"I win." She grinned, tossing his wand over. "Again?"

"Yeah." He nodded, and this time, he managed to catch her off guard and Disarm her, catching her wand with a smirk. "I win this time."

"Okay, gloat all you want." Elara rolled her eyes, amused. She held a hand out and made a yanking motion, causing him to stumble forward. "I was aiming for the wand, but that works too."

"Alright, how about I just hand you the wand, and we duel it out properly?" Theodore suggested. They both took duelling classes with Professor Flitwick and a few other students. Most of them were sixth and seventh years, and almost none of them were here right now. This gave the pair a chance to show off.

"You read my mind, Theodore Nott." She smirked, grabbing her wand and getting into a duelling stance. He did the same and they both bowed to each other before flicking their wands almost simultaneously and dodging the other persons spell.

People around the room stopped doing their spells to watch the two Slytherins throwing spells back and forth, splashed of colour bouncing off protective shields. The duel ended when Elara hit Theodore with a Leg-Locking Curse, causing him to fall.

She laughed and walked over, muttering the Counter-Curse and helping him up. Looking up, she saw everyone staring and smiled. "Enjoy the show?"

"Where'd you learn to duel like that?" Hermione asked in awe.

"Flitwick has a duelling club. We joined first year." Theodore shrugged. "Quite useful, to be honest."

"That was amazing." Harry praised.

"Oh, well, thank you. We aim to please." Elara mockingly bowed.

"Hey, Harry? Have you checked the time?" Hermione asked, causing Harry to glance down at his watch and adopt an alarmed look. "Well, that was pretty good, but we've overrun. We'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"

"Sooner!"

"The Quidditch season's about to start." Angelina denied.

"Yeah, we need to practice." Elara agreed.

"Let's say next Wednesday, then. And we can decide on additional meetings then. Come on, we'd better get going." Harry directed them to leave in small groups and Elara gave him a small hug as she left, congratulating him on a successful lesson before she and Theodore headed down to the dungeons.