Giving the Demon King an Army
The students' discontent with every new rule that appeared on the notice board kept growing more and more. Not only did they now have to ask Umbridge for permission for every club in the school, including the Quidditch teams, but gatherings of more than four students were even forbidden, as was talking with the professors and castle staff about anything that wasn't related to their studies.
Although that last rule seemed to be bothering some people considerably more than others.
Especially a certain Boy Who Lived, who had returned quite cheerful from his latest outing to Hogsmeade with a certain librarian and was now walking through the corridors with the coldest expression he'd worn in a very long time.
Daphne, Hermione, and Draco walked behind him, exchanging glances with each other and looking toward Harry, who walked ahead without saying a single word.
But the dangerous air surrounding him was very similar to that boggart transformation back in third year.
Every student who had been present in that class seemed to remember it perfectly, because the moment they saw Harry coming, they quickly moved out of his way, afraid he might turn back into that demonic Harry who had given them nightmares for months.
"A few days ago it was Daphne and now it's Harry. What are we supposed to do if he loses control of his chaos magic...?" Hermione said quietly without finishing the sentence, since there was no need to say what might happen.
"What are you talking about?" Daphne asked, still keeping up her act of pretending that day had never happened.
Hermione rolled her eyes for a moment.
"Well, the most serious concern right now would be him ending up turning Umbridge into an actual toad," Draco added in a rather calm tone. Honestly, judging by his tone, he almost seemed to be hoping Harry would do it.
"And we'd be giving her exactly what she wants, although I think that rule was aimed more at Sirius and the others. She probably didn't expect it to affect Harry this much," Daphne added with some amusement. "Besides..." she said, pointing toward Harry, who looked like he was about to transform from the Evil Villain into the Demon King at any moment. "I don't think he'll last much longer."
Draco and Hermione couldn't help feeling that Daphne was right.
"Psst."
Suddenly, a nearby sound caught the group's attention, even Harry's, who had been pretending he wasn't listening to his friends' conversation.
All four of them turned toward the sound.
There, peeking out with two red-haired heads and wide mischievous smiles, were the Weasley twins, gesturing for them to come closer, although in such a suspicious way that it was obvious they were up to no good.
The group approached them when they saw them.
"We've been looking for you," they both said.
"Looking for us?"
"Yeah. Seems like we're not the only ones getting a little sick of Umbridge's rules, right?" Fred said with a smile.
"How about joining our newly formed anti-Umbridge army?" George asked quietly while quickly checking that no one was paying too much attention to them.
"Anti-Umbridge army?" Hermione asked, looking at him strangely.
"Well, the name's still a work in progress, though I voted for The Revolutionaries," Fred immediately said.
"Come on, we'd better take you to our base," George said with an amused look as he gestured for all of them to follow.
Harry and the others looked at each other for a moment, but they couldn't deny they were interested, so they had no other choice but to follow them.
With Sirius's renovation of the new castle, some things from the old Hogwarts had been kept so it wouldn't lose the old tradition, like certain passageways that helped you get around faster or some secret rooms left there for students to discover.
And the Weasley twins, who had a reputation for knowing the old castle from top to bottom, weren't about to lose that reputation with the new one.
The twins led them through several passages that even Harry and his group hadn't seen yet, all carefully chosen to avoid everyone else's eyes.
"We're here," George said as he and his brother stopped in front of a door so small it looked like it had been made for house-elves.
"Allow us to present our base of operations," they both said as they opened the small door with wide smiles.
Harry, Draco, Hermione, and Daphne had to crouch down to look inside. Then all four of them opened their eyes in mild surprise when they saw that the space behind the tiny door seemed enormous, almost as large as the Great Hall.
There were students from all four houses talking among themselves, tables covered in food, magical and non-magical games, and in one corner, two small golems were beating each other up while a crowd shouted bets.
It looked like the perfect representation of everything Umbridge had just forbidden.
And quite a lot more too.
At another table, several students seemed to be modifying small fireworks, while two Hufflepuffs seriously argued over which corridor in the castle had the best acoustics for setting one off.
Near them, a huge sign read:
"IDEAS TO MAKE UMBRIDGE QUIT."
Underneath, someone had added in different ink:
"LEGALLY."
And even farther down:
"Preferably."
It was as if students from all four houses had gathered there because of a common enemy.
Harry could make out several familiar faces among them, even his own siblings looking quite relaxed in one corner.
Harry narrowed his eyes.
Even they hadn't told him.
"Why all the secrecy if half of Hogwarts is here?"
"Well, because no one can know where our base is."
"No one?" Draco couldn't help asking as he looked at the hundred or so students around them.
"No one important," Fred added with complete seriousness. "Actually, we wanted to invite you from the start, but you all seemed a little busy these past few days going on dates and walking around romantically," he added with a mischievous smile.
"What are you talking about? We weren't going on dates!" Hermione quickly said as her cheeks turned red.
"Sure."
"How long have you been doing this?" Harry asked before Hermione could start an argument.
Fred and George smiled.
"Since today. We were only missing you lot. Now you can join our crusade," they both added with amusement as they pointed toward one of the nearby walls, where a large blackboard stood.
When the four of them focused their attention on it, they could see drawings, plans, and ideas, all prepared to make Umbridge suffer in thousands of different ways. It was as if every student who had entered that room had added their own little contribution, leaving behind some idea born from their resentment toward that horrible pink toad.
The ideas ranged from somewhat ridiculous to some that could probably send someone to Azkaban.
"With you on our team and your magnificent talent for causing chaos, nothing is impossible," the Weasley twins added confidently.
Although Harry and his group couldn't tell whether they were making fun of them or genuinely appreciating them.
Harry turned his attention back to the blackboard.
He had spent the last few days trying to ignore Umbridge. He had tried not to react to her provocations, not to give her exactly what she wanted and, above all, not to do anything that could end up causing trouble for Sirius.
But technically...
He hadn't organized any of this.
It had already been completely organized by the time he arrived.
Harry stared at all those plans for a few seconds.
Slowly, a smile began to appear on his face.
A smile dangerously similar to that of a Demon King.
"Oh. How curious. There's already a rebellion, and by pure coincidence, I'm being invited to join," Harry said as he looked over the blackboard again.
His smile widened a little more.
"Although it looks like you're missing a leader."
Hermione went pale.
Draco took a step back.
Daphne simply smiled.
"Well," she said. "At least he's not angry anymore."
Draco looked at her.
"I don't know if this is better."
Fred and George, who had heard Harry's words, looked at each other for a few seconds, surprised.
But their expressions quickly changed.
They both smiled.
Apparently, neither of them had much of a problem with Harry having just proclaimed himself the leader of their little rebellion.
In fact...
This would probably make everything a lot more fun.