Harry Potter 05 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr –?’
    ‘Weasley,’ said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air.
    Professor Umbridge, smiling still more widely, turned her back on him. Harry and Hermione immediately raised their hands too. Professor Umbridge’s pouchy eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before she addressed Hermione.
    ‘Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Hermione. ‘Surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practise defensive spells?’
    ‘Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?’ asked Professor Umbridge, in her falsely sweet voice.
    ‘No, but –’
    ‘Well then, I’m afraid you are not qualified to decide what the “whole point” of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new programme of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way –’
    ‘What use is that?’ said Harry loudly. ‘If we’re going to be attacked, it won’t be in a –’
    ‘ Hand , Mr Potter!’ sang Professor Umbridge.
    Harry thrust his fist in the air. Again, Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from him, but now several other people had their hands up, too.
    ‘And your name is?’ Professor Umbridge said to Dean.
    ‘Dean Thomas.’
    ‘Well, Mr Thomas?’
    ‘Well, it’s like Harry said, isn’t it?’ said Dean. ‘If we’re going to be attacked, it won’t be risk free.’
    ‘I repeat,’ said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Dean, ‘do you expect to be attacked during my classes?’
    ‘No, but –’
    Professor Umbridge talked over him. ‘I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school,’ she said, an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, ‘but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed – not to mention,’ she gave a nasty little laugh, ‘extremely dangerous half-breeds.’
    ‘If you mean Professor Lupin,’ piped up Dean angrily, ‘he was the best we ever –’
    ‘ Hand , Mr Thomas! As I was saying – you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day –’
    ‘No we haven’t,’ Hermione said, ‘we just –’
    ‘Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!’
    Hermione put up her hand. Professor Umbridge turned away from her.
    ‘It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you.’
    ‘Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn’t he?’ said Dean hotly. ‘Mind you, we still learned loads.’
    ‘Your hand is not up, Mr Thomas!’ trilled Professor Umbridge. ‘Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?’ she added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot up.
    ‘Parvati Patil, and isn’t there a practical bit in our Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren’t we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and things?’
    ‘As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions,’ said Professor Umbridge dismissively.
    ‘Without ever practising them beforehand?’ said Parvati incredulously. ‘Are you telling us that the first time we’ll get to do the spells will be during our exam?’
    ‘I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough –’
    ‘And what good’s theory going to be in the real world?’ said Harry loudly, his fist in the air again.
    Professor Umbridge looked up.
    ‘This is school, Mr Potter, not the real world,’ she said softly.
    ‘So we’re not supposed to be prepared for what’s waiting for us out there?’
    ‘There is nothing waiting out there, Mr Potter.’
    ‘Oh, yeah?’ said Harry. His temper, which seemed to have been bubbling just beneath the surface all day, was reaching boiling point.
    ‘Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?’ enquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice.
    ‘Hmm, let’s think …’ said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice. ‘Maybe … Lord Voldemort ?’
    Ron gasped; Lavender Brown uttered a