For What I Believe

I stood up for what I believed in...that's all I did, wasn't it?

But what I believed was wrong...I became a Slytherin when I was once a Gryffindor...pride and ambition made me believe things that were not true.

I can't face my family now, can I? Dad and Mum wouldn't accept me, after all, I left them because they believed in Dumbledore, and Dumbledore was right. I idolized Bill and Charlie for so long, but would they take me back either? They believed in Dumbledore, and I in Fudge, and so I left them as well. Fred and George would laugh at me...they've always found something to laugh at. I remember hearing from Dolores about their escape, and I thought they were foolish and I was disgusted. Now I see that they had the right of it after all. And Ron...Ron was the one I wronged the most. I wrote him that letter, I told him to leave his friends and his beliefs to increase his chances of becoming Head Boy. Like being a Head Boy brought me so much. Poor Ginny...she idolized Harry Potter, and I told her how stupid he was, when it was really him who had the right of it.

Junior Assistant to the Minister! I remember coming home, proud of my promotion. I should have expected something then...why would Fudge pick me of all people? Then Dad accused me of being a spy for Fudge...I was so ANGRY with him. The bastard was accusing me of being nothing but a spy, placed in the Weasley household by Fudge. So I packed up and left the Burrow. I missed Mum, a bit, but I realized that if I went home, they would never see the foolishness of their support for Dumbledore. Meanwhile, Harry was at 4 Privet Drive going insane! And then Dolores set those dementors on him and he was almost expelled from Hogwarts...

I was working that day, when Harry came in for his trial. He was tried by the full Wizard's court, poor boy. I took notes; I listened to whatever the Minister told me. I ignored Figg's perfect description of the feeling of a dementor attack in favor of the fact that she couldn't see them. I considered Bones to be a traitor when I once held her in high regard, all because she believed Potter's story. And when Dumbledore started arguing with the Minister, it only convinced me more that he was spewing rubbish, instead of convincing me that he was trying to make others believe in the truth.

I had hoped that having Dolores as his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher would make things better. I guess not, huh? She did what she thought was right too, but she was DEAD WRONG! She punished Harry with detention for speaking out the truth, fine. But she made him write in BLOOD? That's just sickening. And she didn't even teach them to defend themselves! I didn't know that that's what was happening there until now.

I used to idolize Dolores Umbridge; now I despise her. She set two dementors on Harry and then almost had him expelled. She forced the students she disliked to write lines in their own blood. She forbade organized meetings, which lead to Dumbledore's exiting of the school. I doubt even Fred and George would have left if not for her. Then she almost used the Crutacius Curse on Hermione Granger...it's thanks to Hermione I know all this, anyway. She's the only one who will still talk to me. I can only hope that others might feel the same way.

I remember when she owled me. Percy, she said, I know that you might be feeling kind of upset around now since the Minister declared Harry was right. I want you to know that you can say anything to me. If you want to know what happened, well, I don't know how your family feels towards you, but I'm here. I know how it feels. You just wanted to have a better-quality life, and get a better job. I understand. It' ambition, pure and simple, and it happens to the best of us. Love always, Hermione Granger.

She told me everything. She told me of the Sorcerer's Stone, about her part in the mystery of the basilisk, about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. She told me about the Triwizard Tournament, my family's summer, and the past year. I'm disappointed in the quality of our Ministry. Maybe a new Ministry wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Maybe it's time to stand up for what I believe in.