Someone Easier
Over the next few days, after her argument with Selene, Umbridge seemed to quickly return to her usual attitude, although in reality she had become even more obsessed with fulfilling her role as the Ministry's inspector.
Several new decrees had been approved, and one of them even gave her the authority to dismiss professors. Apparently, after confronting Selene, Dolores had gone straight to the Ministry looking for proof that she wasn't simply the "perfect excuse" Selene had described. Fudge responded by granting her even more authority, which Umbridge seemed to take as exactly the confirmation she needed.
Since then, she had been roaming the corridors, making sure students wore their robes properly, behaved appropriately, and followed every new regulation, all while continuing her inspections of the teaching staff. All of it with that unchanging smile, as though Selene's words had never affected her at all.
"Many people would probably like to erase certain traumatic memories or even, perhaps, completely forget an old lover," Wanda said as she taught her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, continuing the previous topic about mind-affecting spells.
The students laughed at that last part.
"But really, would we still be completely ourselves if part of our lives were missing?" Wanda asked softly.
"But Professor, if you had the chance to erase something from your life, something that maybe caused you a lot of pain, wouldn't you do it?" asked Padma Patil, the Ravenclaw student.
At that question, Wanda remained silent for a moment, as though some memory had briefly crossed her mind.
"I wouldn't," Wanda replied almost immediately.
"But haven't you ever made a terrible mistake? One you might not want to remember so you wouldn't have to feel guilty about it?" Padma continued.
Her questions seemed rather specific.
While Harry continued watching his mother, Terry quietly explained.
"I think she's talking about her boyfriend. They broke up because of a misunderstanding Padma caused. I heard she still regrets it, but he doesn't want to talk to her anymore," he explained, as always being rather well informed.
But Harry didn't care much about Padma's story. He was more worried that those questions might bring back some painful memories for his mother.
Still, Wanda seemed quite calm.
"In life, we make many mistakes. Some are so terrible that they can change everything, and when they return to our memory, they can make us feel exactly the same way we felt that day," Wanda said softly. "But forgetting them doesn't solve anything. Those mistakes will still be part of what happened, and keeping them also means remembering why we shouldn't repeat them."
"Thanks to our mistakes, we learn what to do differently the next time and, sometimes, even to better appreciate what we still have," Wanda said with a sweet smile, her eyes resting on Harry for a moment before moving across the rest of the students.
"Forgetting something doesn't mean what you did in the past has been erased. It only means you no longer remember it yourself. But what about the people involved?" Wanda continued. "Even if you no longer have those memories, that doesn't mean everyone else has forgotten them too. The consequences don't disappear just because you forgot."
Harry kept watching her for a few seconds, but Wanda had already returned to her usual calm expression.
"Now then, I hope all of you completed your assignment on counter-charms and how to help people whose memories have been altered or erased. How about we take a look at some of those spells now?" Wanda said, continuing the lesson as usual.
But the class was interrupted when Umbridge appeared at the entrance with her parchment and quill, clearing her throat to announce her presence.
"Ahem."
Everyone immediately looked toward the entrance, and several students began putting away their wands.
Wanda barely glanced at her.
"Good morning, Professor Maximoff. I hope you're ready for your evaluation," Umbridge said sweetly with her sickening smile.
"Of course," Wanda replied simply, gesturing for the students to continue. The wands that had begun disappearing beneath the tables came back into view.
"Oh, but..." Umbridge raised her eyebrows when she saw the wands back on the tables, as though she'd finally found something she could criticize. "What's going on, Professor Maximoff? Why aren't the students studying the Ministry-approved books? Why are they taking out their wands instead? Didn't you read the books I provided?" she asked with feigned surprise.
"I'm afraid those books deal with philosophy that's far too advanced for the students, so I took the liberty of returning to the curriculum normally used for fifth year at Hogwarts," Wanda said calmly before turning back toward the students.
"As I was saying, today we're going to practice a few simple counter-charms, starting with the counter-charm for the Confundus Charm," Wanda continued easily.
"Ahem," Umbridge interrupted immediately. "Excuse me, but since the Ministry has..."
Before she could continue speaking, Wanda turned toward her and brought a finger to her lips, making a simple gesture.
"Shhh."
Umbridge's mouth immediately closed.
But not because of magic.
For a moment, Umbridge seemed to remember exactly what had happened the last time Wanda decided to silence her... and Selene's words were still far too fresh in her mind.
So, at least in front of Wanda, Umbridge decided to keep her mouth shut and limit herself to writing on her parchment, while some of the students glanced at her from time to time, surprised that she wasn't asking the same questions she'd asked the other professors and instead looked like just another student listening to the lesson.
…
Narcissa's inspection didn't go much better for Umbridge.
The former Mrs. Malfoy, now once again a Black, simply ignored her presence. When Umbridge cleared her throat for the first time, Narcissa continued explaining one of the goblin rebellions. When she did it again, Narcissa merely raised her voice slightly to make sure all her students could hear her.
By the third time, Umbridge seemed to understand the message.
Narcissa finished the entire explanation without saying a single word to her.
That finally pushed Umbridge's patience to its limit. Selene had directly threatened her, Wanda could silence her with a simple gesture, Narcissa refused to even acknowledge her presence, and confronting Susan didn't seem like a particularly intelligent option either.
Not because Susan was as dangerous as the other three, but because she was genuinely loved by the students. Many of them seemed willing to face punishment from Umbridge if it meant defending her and, to make matters worse, Selene, Wanda, and Narcissa also seemed to protect her.
All while Umbridge continued searching for some proof that would confirm what she already suspected: that Susan was actually a Muggle.
She needed someone her new authority would actually work on.
Someone who couldn't simply ignore her.
Someone she could actually fire.
And then she found Professor Trelawney.