Ravenclaw Spirit

Quidditch season always brought with it anxious and enthusiastic spirits. The houses to play the first match would be Slytherin and, much to Milo's delight, Ravenclaw. She had taken some time out of revisions to watch her house practice and was very confident in their chances to beat the most hated, if not evil, house in Hogwarts. Ravenclaw was having a beginning of Quidditch season party in their common room and Milo was on the food committee. After classes she would meet up with four of her house-mates by the Great Hall to ask the kitchen House Elves for cakes and drinks.

Much to her chagrin, many of the Ravenclaws had repeatedly asked Milo to stay out of trouble with Umbridge ("You're becoming as bad as Potter") in case she penalised the whole house. However, this neither dampened her spirits nor discouraged her as she walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts. The professor was already seated at her desk with the same little black bow in her hair and insincere smile on her face. Milo sat in her usual seat with folded hands awaiting the lesson.

Professor Umbridge stood in the front of the class. "Good morning, class."
"Good morning, Professor."
"Please open your textbooks to Chapter 5. Read the chapter silently. If you finish early, you may begin the review questions which are due next class." A student raised their hand somewhere behind Milo. "Yes, Mr. Delany, you may work in pairs. Silently." The sound of texts opening was like a whisper that filled the room.

By the end of class, it looked as if Milo might make it out without any problems. Professor Umbridge warned the class when it was five minutes to the bell so that the students could pack their bags. Milo thanked her partner for working with her whilst rolling up her parchment and tucking it into her bag. *Dong! Dong! Dong* Milo stood up with the rest of the class, pulling her bag's strap onto her shoulder.
"Miss Porter," the professor's dreaded sonorous voice said. The entire class seemed to stop and stare anxiously. "What is that on your robes?"
Milo looked down at her robes mildly confused. "Pardon, Professor?"
"The blue and bronze, Miss Porter. That is not dress code."
Milo smiled. To show her Ravenclaw spirit, she had charmed the hems of her robes to match the blue and bronze stripes on her tie. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick had admired her wand work and let the violation slide. Milo told Professor Umbridge this.
"Your other professors may encourage your delinquency, but I certainly won't, no matter how small the violation. Five points from Ravenclaw and detention with Professor Snape," Umbridge said with obvious glee. "I hear the two of you are old friends."

Later, Milo received a note from Professor Snape reporting that her detention would be served this evening after dinner. Milo dropped her school things off in Ravenclaw tower and changed into a pair of old robes (Professor Snape's detentions normally involved hard, wand-less, labor) before heading to the dungeons. To her surprise, Professor Snape met her in the entrance hall.
"You will be serving your detention outside tonight," he said as the front doors opened letting in a draft. When Hagrid came through, Milo thought for a moment that she would be spending the evening doing work for him, but when she looked into his face she saw that he was surprised to see her.
"What're yeh doin' down 'ere with Professor Snape, Milo? Not in trouble again are we?" Hagrid said.
A grin spread across Professor Snape's face so wide she thought his face might split. "Oh, yes. Detention, Hagrid, for making trouble in Professor Umbridge's class."
"You got ter be careful around Dolores, Milo. She's with the ministry, yeh know. It'll get worse then jus' detention if yeh keep it up."
Milo nodded.
Professor Snape nudged Milo forward as spoke. "We better get on if we want to finish before it's too late." Hagrid moved out the door way and said goodbye.

Milo and Professor Snape walked to the edge of the lake and the professor shined his wand along the edge of the water. Salamanders scurried into the grass to escape the light, some fled into the lake. "You will be catching salamanders for my seventh years to use in their potions next term. They need to be pickled for at least three months before use, so the sooner the better." He conjured a large bucket next to Milo and cast a spell over it. "Fill the bucket. They won't escape with that spell."
"Yes, Professor," Milo said as she sat down amidst the sleek, colorful creatures. She placed her hands onto the ground palms up and waited.

It took all of Snape's will power not to yell at her for wasting his time as five minutes passed and not a single salamander was in the pail. His fists clenched and unclenched, waiting, and then a salamander slowly approached Milo's hand. With ninja reflexes, she closed her fist over the salamander and tossed it expertly into the bucket. Though he was careful not to show it, Snape was impressed. However, the potion required three salamanders, but, at the rate she was going, he'd be lucky to have one for each student.
"Miss Porter, if you cannot come up with a more efficient way to collect the salamanders, you may use your wand. I do not wish to be here all night."

On the third floor, coming back from detention with Snape, Milo ran into Fred and George Weasley.
"What are you doing out this late? It's past curfew," Milo said in a whisper as she looked around for faculty.
Fred crossed his arms on his chest. "We could ask you the same thing," he said.
"Looks like you were rolling around in Hagrid's garden," George said with a chuckle.
"Detention with Snape. Hang on, I've got something for you." Milo reached into her robe pocket and pulled out a pair of salamanders. "I figured you could use them as test subjects or something," she said as the twins took one each with identical mischievous grins.
"We'll think of something to do with them," they said in unison.
"What about you then?" she said.
"Us?" George said looking from Milo to Fred, who shrugged.
Fred smirked. "Apparently looking for you."
Milo laughed and they said their goodbyes. She still didn't know what they were up to, but she realized she wasn't much bothered as long as she didn't become a victim of whatever it was.