Professor Sprout looked at Flitwick on her left, then at McGonagall on her right, before returning her gaze to the hot cocoa in front of her and lifting it for a sip.
Snape sat at the far end of the long table, motionless.
His gaze passed over Sirius's face, then Umbridge, before settling on Douglas.
It lingered for less than half a second.
Then he turned his gaze back to the opposite wall.
From beginning to end, he had not said a word.
Sirius's chest heaved.
He saw Flitwick's stance, McGonagall's silence, and Snape's indifference.
He abruptly stepped forward, rounded the corner of the long table, and walked straight toward Umbridge.
The distance between them shrank to less than three feet.
"Changes to the syllabus must undergo assessment by both the Board of Governors and the Academic Affairs Office!"
Sirius lowered his voice, making it even more oppressive than his earlier roar.
Every word squeezed out between his teeth.
"As long as I'm still director of the Academic Affairs Office, this armchair theorizing divorced from actual combat-"
His index finger pointed at the stack of pink booklets.
"Isn't setting foot in a classroom!"
Umbridge's dry cough sounded through the meeting room.
"Ahem."
She rose unhurriedly from her chair.
The buttons on her pink cardigan glinted in the candlelight, and the jeweled eyes of her Cat-Faced Brooch stared straight ahead at the man whose veins bulged.
Sirius Black.
Director of the Academic Affairs Office.
The last obstacle before her.
Umbridge did not retreat.
Sirius's fury almost struck her in the face, yet Umbridge felt no burning heat, only warmth, an excitement that opened her pores.
The angrier he became, the more certain she was that these textbooks in her hands had struck a vital spot.
Only when someone feared losing something