Yes, you heard right. Alchemy.
Since McGonagall became head mistress in 1998, she added a new subject into the course: alchemy. Now alchemy was nothing new to wizards and witches, but as a course in Hogwarts it was a surprise to the students.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Elen's younger sister, Eleanor came back from her postions make-up class to find her elder sister laying on the floor like a dead pig.
"Oh yes I am," Elen yawned out the answer, "just can't think of where to fit rose petals into the formula."
"Rose petals?" Eleanor was surprised by what Elen mentioned, "we never use those in alche-"
"Of course you third years don't use it." Elen stopped her sister halfway, "fourth years have to learn the formula for love extract and you use a hell lot of rose petals."
"Don't you just chuck them into the cauldron like in potions?"
"Nope." Elen got up and showed Eleanor the fourth year alchemy textbook, to the page where it shows the formula and steps for making the love extract. Shown on the book is a visual guide step by step of making love extract, and in one diagram it shows that the rose petals have to be placed into the cauldron by someone whose truly in love with the colour pink.
"Now that doesn't make any sense, doesn't it?" Eleanor frowned.
"Oh of course it does not, but this is also the only formula that works." Elen whammed the book shut and shoved it back into her bag, "people have been trying to find a less ridiculous formula but all ended up with silly mixtures coming in all sorts of funny colours that only tastes disgusting and has no effect at all except driving you to the toilet to vomit."
Eleanor tilted her head slideways. She just can't make any sense out of that piece of writing. "So who are you gonna use?"
"Well." Elen paused for a bit, "I guess we'll have to try Umbridge."
Eleanor nearly thought she has to go check her ears.
"UMBRIDGE!? DID YOY SAY UMBRIDGE!?" Eleanor raised her voice to a volume Elen has to cover up her ears in order to avoid sleeping in the hospital wing.
"Oh, there's one thing I missed." Elen double checked the page and found a crucial tip that was covered by Eleanor's thumb when the sisters are reading it. "You don't need that person to be here in person, you only need a piece of their hair."
"Now that's like polyjuice potion isn't it?"
"Yes it is. First step is we need to get to her office."
So on the next day, Eleanor and her elder sister lied to Slughorn that they both have revision and therefore have to skip lunch (in which the latter let off the sisters with a smile on his face). Eleanor has already prepared some banana peel to slip Umbridge off her steps. The sisters then put on the cloak of invisibility and sneaked up to the corridor where Umbridge's all-pink office is. And there's one problem.
Apparently Umbridge has secretly hired the former Slytherin quidditch player, Marcus Flint, to be a BOUNCER in front of her office.
"I heard from McGonagall that he's a solid block of trouble." Elen whispered to her younger sister.
"More like an ugly block of those," Eleanor frowned, "and look! He's drinking!"
Flint sipped the last few drops of alcohol from the Vodka bottle before chucking it into the bin in Umbridge's office.
"I know what to do." Elen's brain came a cross a sudden spark of genius and told Eleanor to keep herself under the cloak, where the former started to move silently towards the fully drunk and sleeping Flint. Nicking the key from his pocket and popped a few drops of sleeping potion into his mouth, she quickly hurled Eleanor over. Although Umbridge herself wasn't in the office, Elen knew that she would succeed her plan.
Flitwick has been complaining about Umbridge, who was told to go back into Hogwarts by the ministry and sitting beside the half-goblin during dinner, kept in combing her hair through out everyday, and her supposedly-pink comb had turned into a very intense brown. He also added that she would leave her comb in the office during lunch. By sneaking up to Umbridge's office during that time, it is a 100% guarantee that Elen can obtain her hair.
After opening the door, what the sisters saw is a lump of brown hair sitting quietly on the table. Elen quickly took it, made some scratches to blame it on a random bird, and left as quick as she can.
Two weeks later, Elen came back with a big fat O on her alchemy homework.
"Ooo." Eleanor expressed her surprise when she saw the piece of parchment.
"The hair did work. In fact, Slughorn was quite surprised to hear that I dared to go take Umbridge's hair."
"I guess taking that pink toad's hair was always a surprise?"
"Yeah, but not to make potions. No one want to be Umbridge." Elen added.
What more surprised the sisters was Umbridge's stupidity, as she did blame her hair being taken away:
On a bird.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
