The cut on Megan's hand had barely healed and by that evening it was bleeding. She said nothing, determined not to give Umbridge the satisfaction. The cut grew deeper with each letter, but Megan didn't make a sound. The worst part was telling Angelina, the next day. She shouted so loudly that McGonagall came striding down.

"What on earth is this commotion?"

"Sorry, professor but Megan got herself put in detention again..."

"What? From whom?" McGonagall demanded.

Megan fought hard not to look at her feet.

"U-Professor Umbridge."

"After the warning I gave you last Monday? Potter, you must get a grip on that temper of yours! Or you are heading for deep trouble! Five points from Gryffindor!"

"But, professor!" Megan protested.

"Detention seems to have no effect on you, so I'm pressing on your altruist fibre." McGonagall said briskly. "Believe me, I don't enjoy it any more than you. And as for you, Miss Johnson, restrain your shouting to Quidditch or I shall remove you of captaincy."

And she marched off. Angelina looked furiously at Megan and stormed off. Megan went glumly back to her seat and sat down with a cry of frustration.

"How is it fair to take points off Gryffindor because I get my hand sliced open every night?!" she asked angrily.

"I know," Harry said, squeezing her shoulder.

"I wish she hadn't taken points, Megan, but she's right about you needing to pipe down with Umbridge..." Hermione said from behind her edition of the Prophet.

"I know that," Megan said hotly. "But she's basically saying everything I went through with Cedric that night is a lie, and I can't stand that."

Megan knew they were right, but they were making it sound like it was easy... Like she had told Hermione, saying Voldemort wasn't back was throwing dirt on everything she'd been through the night of the third Triwizard Tournament last June, and that was unacceptable. Fortunately, she was able to witness something that cheered her up somewhat. As they reached Transfiguration after Charms, they spotted Umbridge in a corner.

"Great," Ron whispered excitedly. "Now we'll see her get what she deserves."

McGonagall clearly wasn't impressed at all by her presence.

"Miss Patil, would you please hand out these mice, and Mr Finnigan, I need you to hand back the essays for me."

Megan had managed to get an "E" for hers.

"Mr Thomas, leave your mouse in peace," McGonagall said sharply. "Now, today, we shall be continuing Vanishing spells, this time, as you will have guessed, with mice."

"Hem hem."

"Yes?" McGonagall asked tensely.

"I was just verifying if you had received my note."

"Obviously, I have, or I would have demanded that you explain your presence in my classroom and asked you to leave if the motive was not pertinent."

The class exchanged gleeful looks as she turned her back to Umbridge.

"Now, as I was saying, we shall be taking Vanishing spells to a new level. This particular one –"

"Hem hem!"

"Might I ask, professor Umbridge," McGonagall said icily, "how you expect me to give you an idea of my teaching methods if you are constantly interrupting me? I don't usually allow people to talk when I am."

Umbridge looked like someone had slapped her hard in the face. She said nothing, but bent over and began scribbling furiously on her clipboard. Unconcerned, McGonagall turned to the class again.

"You see, the more complex the animal, the more difficult the spell becomes," she explained. "And the more concentration it requires, naturally. You know the incantation, let us see what you can do."

"And she lectured me about loosing my temper with Umbridge!" Megan whispered to Harry, but her anger with her teacher had gone.

Unlike with professor Trelawney, Umbridge didn't follow McGonagall around, probably aware that she wouldn't permit it. She took lots of notes, of course.

"Well, it's a start..." Ron said as he dropped his mouse tail in the box.

As the class made to leave, Harry, Megan, Hermione and Ron stayed to listen.

"How long have you been teaching?"

"Thirty-nine years this December," McGonagall said shortly.

"Very well," Umbridge said, making a note. "You shall receive the results of your inspection in a few weeks' time."

"Fair enough," she said briskly and strode to the door. "Hurry along, you four."

Megan and the others quickly went out the door.

Umbridge was also there to inspect Professor Grubbly-Plank as they marched to Care of Magical Creatures, after lunch. Unlike the other teachers, she didn't seem all that bothered to have someone watch her every move or pester her with questions.

"You don't usually teach this class, do you?" Umbridge was asking her.

"No, I'm only replacing Rubeus Hagrid for a while," she replied.

"And could you possibly tell me where he is? The Headmaster didn't seem keen to share any information on the subject."

"If he didn't want to tell you, I wouldn't, even if I did know something," Professor Grubbly-Plank said. "All I can say is I got an owl offering me a few weeks teaching work and I accepted. Can I begin, now?"

"Oh, yes, certainly."

She went around questioning the students. Megan was pleased to see that most of them answered in a way that didn't let Hagrid down.

"As a temporary, and, in a way, objective outsider, how do you consider Hogwarts? Do you feel enough support from the school management?"

"Yes, I do. Dumbledore's a great asset and I'm happy with how things are run here."

"Really? And, if, hypothetically, of course, Hagrid were not to return, what would you have these students study?"

"Oh, I'd have them cover what mostly comes up in OWLs. There's not a lot left, they've studied Unicorns and Nifflers, Hippogriffs... I thought I'd cover Porlocks and Kneazles, and teach them to distinguish a Crup from a Knarl..."

"I see you know what you're doing."

Megan bit her lip irritably. Hagrid knew just as much about Magical Creatures as she did, he just had a different viewpoint!

"I hear there were injuries in this class?"

"Oh, yes," Malfoy said. "I was slashed by a Hippogriff."

"Because he didn't listen to what Hagrid told him." Megan snapped.

Umbridge eyed Megan silently a moment.

"Another night of detention, I think. Thank you, professor Grubbly-Plank, You shall receive the results within a few weeks."