- BY ORDER OF -
THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
DOLORES JANE UMBRIDGE (HIGH INQUISITOR) HAS REPLACED ALBUS DUMBLEDORE AS HEAD OF HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY.

It all happened so fast.

One second, the members of Dumbledore's Army were enjoying their last meeting before Easter, watching Neville produce his first-ever Patronus. The next, Dobby came running into the Room of Requirement, screaming that they had to get out. Marina had quickly found a place to hide, but a pink-faced Umbridge had grabbed Harry by the neck before he could even get out of the room.

He had been taken to Dumbledore's office where he had been confronted by none other than the Minister of Magic himself. For a second, it seemed as if he was about to get expelled for organizing a student club, but Dumbledore had shot in and taken the blame for everything, before disappearing without a trace.

Now, Marina, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the twins were anxiously waiting for Sirius' face to appear in the flames of the Gryffindor Common Room's fireplace. Harry had written to his Godfather at once after Dumbledore's disappearance, asking him for advice.

Marina clutched Harry's Invisibility Cloak in her hands, ready to hide under it if any of the Gryffindor students were to wake up.

"He's here," Ron spoke in a dull voice which only indicated that he wanted to go to sleep and forget about the day. Sirius' face appeared in the flames, his jaw dropped.

"Harry!" His eyes flickered around the room, and Harry crawled forward, looking down at his Godfather. "Where is it?"

"Your beauty?" Marina smiled from the couch. "I reckon you left it in Azkaban."

"Marina." Sirius closed his eyes for a moment before continuing, "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you with your mouth shut."

"It's here," Harry snapped before Marina could answer, a vein popping out of his neck. He reached into the pocket of his jeans, bringing out the list of the members of Dumbledore's Army. "They haven't seen it yet."

"Who's 'they'?" Hermione gulped.

"The people that were in Dumbledore's office... Minister of Magic... Umbridge... Kingsley.... Percy..."

Ron's eyes met Fred's; George shifted uncomfortably in the couch; Marina watched the scene with a confused look. It was clear that the mention of their brother was no good.

"Keep it hidden, Harry," Sirius answered with a steady voice. "Or burn it. If they're really making her the Headmistress of Hogwarts, you need to keep it as far away from her as possible, or else she will expel every single student on that list."

"You don't think..." Hermione began, running a hand trough her bushy hair, "that she's - you know - a Death Eater?"

"Why don't we ask the Death Eater herself?" Sirius faked a smile, turning back to Marina.

Marina tilted her head slightly to the side, looking the man right in his dark eyes. "She's not a Death Eater, 'Mione. She's not been to any meetings, and do certainly not have the Dark Mark. She's horrible, yes, but not on that level... yet."

"Well, what should we do? We can't continue the meetings," Ron put out, making several people turn their heads his way.

"Lay low," Sirius advised, "it's the best thing to do now."

"We have to pass our O.W.L.s," Hermione reminded everyone, her lips pursed. "We should focus on that."

Fred and George smiled at each other, both moving to sit on the edge of the couch.

"About that..." Fred began.

"We have a plan," George finished. "You see, with Dumbledore gone, we have decided that we don't really care about getting into trouble anymore..."

"You mustn't!" Hermione tried to stop them, jumping in her seat.

"You don't get it, Hermione, do you?" Fred plumped himself down on the floor beside her. "We don't care about staying anymore! We'd walk out of here right now if we weren't determined to do our bit for Dumbledore first."

Marina jerked upward from her comfortable spot on the couch, excitement in her eyes. She grabbed George's arm, making him turn so that they were inches from each other. A smile was forming on her face as she looked into his eyes.

"You're planning to run the store full-time?" she blurted out, and George nodded. "Fantastic! Then I know exactly what to do with my Triwizard winnings..."

George glanced down at his twin brother, lifting an eyebrow. "We have no choice now, do we, Freddie?"

By the next day, every student at Hogwarts had heard the news of Umbridge's promotion. Potions that morning was extremely challenging, with her sitting in the corner, observing Snape and throwing in side-comments every-so-often.

Easter Break was the only thing that Marina could think about as she threw a handful of Powdered Unicorn horn into her Draught of Peace. She shared her cauldron with Hermione, who was trying to cut their Valerian root without much luck.

"What is she even doing here?" the bushy-haired girl asked as she dug her knife deeper into the root, drops of sweat forming on her forehead. "I would guess that the Headmistress would have better things to do than to sit on her butt all day."

Marina grabbed the knife out of Hermione's hand, taking her spot on the floor and putting all her strength to cutting the Valerian root into three gigantic pieces. She threw them into the cauldron, watching their potion turn blue.

Snape walked to their cauldron, glancing down at it and crinkling his nose. After Marina had threatened him in February, he had not spoken a word to her or Hermione.

He pulled out a small flask and leaned over their cauldron, scooping a scoop of their potion.

"Oh, no, Professor, we're not done yet!" Marina tried to cover the cauldron with her small hand. They were still missing syrup of hellebore - there was a reason why the potion was blue, and not turquoise.

"She says you are," Snape calmly said, pointing a finger at Umbridge. The pink toad had now gotten to her feet and was standing behind Snape, a gigantic grin on her face.

"No, we should finish this," Hermione nodded, reaching for a jar of hellebore. "Tell her to wait."

"You may continue, Granger. She wants to speak to Miss Black."

Both Draco and Harry turned their heads Marina's way; both trying to meet her eyes; one smiling wide, one frowning. She scrunched up her face, and threw the list of needed ingredients for the potion to the table.

"We may speak outside, Miss Black," the Headmistress said sweetly, folding her hands.

Though Marina was only fifteen, she was taller than the woman - that she could notice when standing beside her. She looked down at her with a look of disgust on her face, and the woman put her clipboard on a chair before skipping outside.

"Miss Black! How are we feeling today?" Umbridge smiled widely, walking to sit on a bench in the hallway. She brushed away some dust on it before plopping down, tapping the spot behind her. Marina tried her best not to scream in outrage and sat down beside the woman.

"I'm fine, thank you..."

"Good! Good!" she hummed and looked Marina up and down before opening her mouth again. "And classes? You're happy with your teachers?"

Marina grew more uncomfortable for every word Umbridge spoke. What did she want? Maybe, if she replied with short answers, she would let her go back to Hermione...

"I am."

"Excellent." Umbridge huffed, looking down at her hands - Marina tried looking at her with piercing eyes in hope that she would grow uncomfortable and end their conversation. It was in that moment she realized how many wrinkles the woman had. "You know, Miss Black, I think we got off to a rocky start. I think you truly misunderstood my intentions."

"Excuse me?"

"Let me put it simply for you: I want you to join the Inquisitorial Squad."

She jerked her left hand upward, using her right hand to draw her wand. She flickered it, and a silver I badge appeared in the palm of her hand.

"Headmistress, though I appreciate the offer, I am rather busy with my Prefect duties-"

"I have hand-picked the students for the Inquisitorial Squad, and you are extremely lucky to be one of them. I see talent in you, Miss Black, and we can't waste good talent, can we?" she giggled to herself before tucking her wand into her robe. "Being a member of the squad will naturally have its advantages, as you can understand... You will be able to dock house points from fellow Prefects, and you will always, always have support from both me and the Ministry of Magic."

"That does sound exciting..."

"And your main goal, being a part of the squad, will be to find out the names of those who were a part of Dumbledore's Army - I am sure you have heard of it, considering how close you are with Mr. Potter... The Ministry needs names, you see... Mr. Malfoy will help you with this, of course."

Marina froze at the mention of the Army. There was no way she was going to join Umbridge's horrible squad. "Is Draco a member?"

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy and a handful of other students from your house," Umbridge answered, smiling sweetly. "So, what do you say?"

Marina closed her eyes for a moment. Maybe a spy inside Umbridge's squad wouldn't be so bad, after all? But then again, she had just gained the trust of Seamus, Neville and the other Gryffindors, and she knew that if she joined Umbridge, they would certainly turn their backs at her.

"I am sorry, Headmistress, but as I said, I already have an incredibly tight schedule with the O.W.L.s coming up, and my Prefect duties on the side."

Dolores got to her feet at once (but she was short that it hardly made a difference), her face turning scarlet. She looked as though she was about to scream.

Marina looked at her with worry, and the woman's face softened. She took a deep breath before faking a smile again.

"But, darling, you must join us! You are a Slytherin - a Black! You have to live up to your reputation!"

Marina's face twisted. She instantly got to her feet, the blood in her veins boiling. Her eyes met her hand, and she looked down at the pink scar on her pale skin. Four words were carved into her.

"I'm sorry," she spat trough gritted teeth, meeting the older woman's gaze. "I don't understand why you tell me not to pride, but then want me to dwell on my family's name and status. Can you explain why?"

"Fine! Then give me your Prefect badge."

"What?"

"You heard me, Miss Black. Hand over your badge; you are, from this moment on, not a Prefect."

"You can't do that," Marina cried out, her voice echoing down the hallway. Several students had now walked out of Potions, and were staring at the two with their books in their hands, Harry with them. "You have no right to do that! I earned this badge!"

"I can, and I will," the Headmistress smiled, finding her wand again. She pointed it at Marina's green badge, and a short second after, it lay in her palm, next to the badge to the Inquisitorial Squad. "Have a good day, Miss Black."

The hideous woman was gone in a second. Marina lay a hand over the spot where the badge had been - there was now a hole in her robe, and she was left with an empty feeling.

"What are you looking at?" Harry stepped out of the crowd, looking at the pack of students who were staring at his girlfriend with wide eyes. The students ran in all different directions. He only ignored them, and walked to her with heavy steps, soon wrapping his arms around her. She stood completely still, only resting her head on his shoulder.

They stood there for what seemed like hours, in complete silence, Harry only kissing the top of her head whenever someone new entered the hallway. It was like the world stood still, as Marina let her sobs get silenced by Harry's shirt, and the empty feeling in her chest only increased.

One could say that the Prefect badge was only an item with no meaning, but to her, it was so much more. It was proof that she, despite everything else going on in her life, could be a good witch the students of her house could look up to. When she wore the badge, it didn't matter that her last name was Black, or that she had been raised by the Dark Lord himself. No, what mattered when she wore the badge was that she remained just and strong.

But now, Umbridge had ripped the pride away from her. It felt as if a part of her heart had been cut off.

"What's wrong, little one?"

George had entered the hallway and was now running to Marina and Harry, his twin brother right behind him. He was still carrying his books and quill, having just finished a Transfiguration class.

"Did someone hurt you?"

It took less than a minute to explain the situation to the twins, but Marina felt as if she was being torn apart every second of it.

"She can't do that," Fred stated, shaking his head.

"Excuse me," Marina let her hands fall to her side, and took a step backward. "I have to go."

She stormed to the Slytherin Common Room, said the password, and ran inside before anyone could stop her.

The new Headmistress of Hogwarts sat upon her chair as if it was a throne later that day, glancing around the Great Hall while the students of the school ate their dinner in silence.

The professor beside her kept their head down, not daring to speak up. Marina rested her head in the palm of her hand, looking down at her food in disgust. Draco sat next to her, shoving everything he could reach into his mouth, proudly showing off his new badge.

Pansy had a new badge, too. As did Millicent, and about every other Slytherin fifth-year, expect Marina and Blaise. She had asked him why he did not have one, to which he responded: "got so much else to focus on than a stupid squad".

The Inquisitorial Squad had abused their power, that Marina could tell, for Slytherin was now about a hundred house-points away from the other houses. She had been extremely happy for her house, had it not been the circumstances.

Draco leaned over the table, grabbing a second-years pumpkin juice and chugging it within ten seconds.

"We rule the school now, don't we?"

He looked around the table, expecting everyone to stand up and applaud. Instead, a loud crack was heard from the entrance to the hall.

Looking at his right, he ducked just in time - Fred and George flew around the hall on their broomsticks, screaming and howling as loud as they could.

Fred tossed a box of fireworks onto the Slytherin table, as George swooped down, grabbing Marina's arm and swinging her up on his broomstick. She let out a scream, thinking that she would fall to the floor, but the Weasley was quick to grab her by the waist and place her on his lap.

The box of fireworks exploded; most of the students sitting around the Slytherin table ducked to the ground; a flash of different colors shot through the room; George threw his fist up in the air.

"Stay safe, little one," he said to Marina, flying toward the Gryffindor table. "And show that old hag that she messed with the wrong Black."

He pressed his lips to her cheek for a split second, before letting her go and making a turn of his broomstick. She fell to her feet beside the Gryffindor table, nearly falling over.

"STOP THEM!" Umbridge demanded, flipping her own plate of dinner over while jumping up from her seat.

Peeves the Poltergeist entered the room, laughing loudly to himself. Fred looked around the Great Hall one last time before flying out the door, a grin on his face.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves."