I'm so so incredibly sorry this chapter did not come out sooner, my daily schedule was thrown around which made it harder to write and in top of that I was sick, so finding motivation to write and then making comprehensible sentences was nearly impossible, but I'm okay now and things have settled down.

I mainly wrote this as a way to get back into the mood for this story, to help me write the next chapter which will hopefully be more eventful and also probably won't take as long to come out. Anyway, on to this chapter!

The Impact of Professor Umbridge and Dumbledore's army.

Gilbert was definitely not behaving himself.

Yeah, yeah, he told Arthur that he was. Yeah, this means he lied. But hey, Arthur didn't need another headache, right?

Gilbert just felt like Professor Umbridge needed a bit of 'fun' in her daily life. Gilbert still did all his homework assignments and he did the reading, he still wanted to pass the O.L.D exams or whatever they were called. It's just... somedays Umbridge found a dung bomb in her office and other days she didn't.

Of course, no one would ever be able to tell it was him.

After centuries of pranking other nations, Gilbert knew how to not be caught.

-Linebreak-

Dolores Umbridge was perplexed.

She simply didn't know what to make of one Gilbert Beilschmidt. The boy was obviously a trouble maker, that much was evident from the first class she had him in, but he still did his work. He passed the practice exams she gave him with flying colours, and for the most part he payed attention.

But she was sure he was a delinquent. He had to be, the boy talked to Harry Potter. He believed Harry's lies!

Yes, Dolores didn't know what to make of Gilbert Beilschmidt.

-Linebreak-

Luna would not stop asking Roderich questions.

Most times they were silly questions like "what does it mean when you sneeze" or "why do you wear glasses". This was a nice change compared to the things most people asked when they found out nations existed.

Sometimes she asked deeper things, like of they knew where they came from or how they came to exist, none of which Roderich felt like answering. Some of which he didn't even know the answer to! It was one of the big mysteries surrounding the nations, how they came to be.

He was just glad Luna had enough sense not to ask anything around any one else.

-Linebreak-

Professor Umbridge did not get any better.

At least in Lilli's opinion she didn't. Umbridge was just as dull and boring as she was when the school year began, and she was even more boring as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher now that Harry was teaching them on the side.

Lilli liked Harry, even though she never really saw him. From what Elizabeta had said about him, he was nice enough, and Lilli thought he was brave, especially if what Hermione said was true.

Anyway, back onto Umbridge.

Lilli hadn't seen or heard her talk about Harry or Voldemort, but what Eliza told her was terrible to hear. How could on woman be so blind? Especially a woman who worked for the wizarding government.

Though, she supposed sometimes governments didn't tell their people what they really ought to tell them. Lilli had seen that happen many times throughout her lifetime.

If anything, Umbridge only got worse. She used the power she had given herself to her advantage and belittled other teachers. The professor was also extra focused on finding any reason to expel someone, meaning that at the slightest wrong movement she would interrogate any poor student. And her interrogations often caused younger students to break down and cry.

Lilli liked to stay after class and help cheer those students up. They just needed some reassurance and support, even just someone to talk to. Lilli liked being that person, who made everyone happy. She was used to it too, her brother often came home angry or upset and she would talk him through his day and calm him down. Sometimes she just listened to him while he ranted.

Her time helping her brother calm down had made her better at dealing with people's emotions and how to help with them.

She made lots of friends this way.

Hannah said she was just a people person, which was true enough. Lilli wanted to help, and she liked helping.

At some point, Ludwig started staying behind with her. He wasn't as good as she was when it came to comforting others, he offered tips and tricks that she couldn't.

That's where they were now, standing outside the doors to Umbridge's room waiting for the poor boy inside to come out

He came out crying, and Lilli reached out and rubbed his back gently.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

The boy looked at her through his tears and nodded.

"We are not going to judge you for crying," Ludwig said, awkwardly patting the boys arm.

"I *hic* I..."

"Shh, shh, it's okay. She was way too harsh."

"You don't even *hic* you don't even know what she said."

"I know that you don't deserve it." Lilli said quietly.

"All you did was cough a few times, she had no right..." Ludwig trailed off.

"I *sniff* I know you're right but I... she's just so intense..."

"I know she is, but that's why you can't let her get to you," Ludwig said. Lilli continued to rub circles on the boy's back. They had sat down on a hall bench.

"I... I know that, *sniff* but I'm not strong when it comes to confrontation..."

"You don't have to be, she needs to know that this isn't okay. I know people younger than her that are more mature than she is." Lilli said.

"Heh... *sniff*..."

"I also know people her age that are way less mature, but we don't talk about them," Lilli said. She could hear Ludwig snort beside her.

The boy was laughing now, small wet laughs, but it was laughter nonetheless.

Lilli and Ludwig continued talking to the boy, who the learned was a first year named Nicholas, as they walked to his next class.

Helping people always made Lilli feel warm inside.

-Linebreak-

Basch thought Draco got on his nerves on his first day at Hogwarts.

Draco did not get any less irritating. He was intent on finding a way to push all of Basch's buttons. So far, it wasn't working, or at least Draco 'thought' it wasn't working. In reality, Basch was very annoyed, bordering on peeved off. He was just good at hiding that.

Years of experience have allowed him to perfect his 'I don't care you and don't amuse me' face. Draco was kind enough to let him practice that expression more.

On another note, Basch didn't understand why Umbridge started making new rules or why no one called her out for it. She was only a High Inquisitor wasn't she, so what allowed her to create school rules?

Speaking of Umbridge, he had lost all hope that her class was meaningful, that her class had purpose, that there was a reason they sat down and stared at a book for an hour and a half twice a week.

Though, to be fair, he didn't have much hope to loose, not after Harry and Hermione started the D.A.

Harry was a good enough teacher, but Basch could tell Harry had no teaching experience. It was painfully obvious, but he got better as they had more meetings. Hermione seemed like a much better candidate for leader, but he supposed Harry was The Boy Who Lived.

Still, no matter how Basch felt about Harry, he knew that they were doing something good. And it was an excuse to get away from Draco and the Slytherins.

Unfortunately, Charlotte wasn't a part of their little club, so he couldn't confide in her no matter how friendly she was. Keeping to himself wasn't at all difficult for Basch; he had spent hundreds of years doing just that. Even though he felt guilty whenever he thought about it.

Basch didn't usually approve of rule breaking, but sometimes it was necessary.

-Linebreak-

Being a part of the D.A definitely improved the overall mood of the members, especially the mood in Umbridge's 'class'. They still dreaded the hour and some that they had to spend with her, but now they had something to look forward to.

Harry was impressed with how quickly some of the D.A members learned. Some of them caught on quickly and were using new spells against each other within the first month. Others, of course, weren't as fast to learn. But Harry tried his best to be patient. After all, he wasn't the best student himself.

Neville, for example, wasn't the best at any spell, but it was clear that he was trying. Elizabeta, who had long since passed Neville's level of skill, had started helping Neville and encouraging him. From what Harry overheard, she was much better at teaching, almost motherly in a way.

In fact, all of the transfer students picked up the spells faster than most others. After the second meeting, all of them had become almost proficient in the 'Expelliarmus' spell. Harry was impressed, though he assumed they had simply been taught similar things at their own school.

Harry enjoyed these meetings, no matter the risk that came with holding them. He especially enjoyed getting to see people he didn't see a lot, and getting to see them grow both in skill and in relationships. Like how Hannah Abbott could now use the 'Expelliarmus' spell without throwing everything around her away from her, or how Luna seemed closer to Roderich than to anyone else despite only meeting him this year.

The D.A was their little secret, and Harry found that he liked secrets more when you weren't the only one who knew them.