To say Harry's patience were tried would be like saying Hermione was smart. Umbridge was doing everything in her power to provoke him and the Ministry was spending every effort to try to discredit him and slander his character in the Daily Prophet. On top of that, he still had to deal with the standard annoyances in Snape and Draco, the banes of his existence since he started Hogwarts four years ago. Of course, Malfoy now being on Umbridge's inquisitor squad was making the normal nuisance of a boy into a downright menace. However, lately, what has really gotten to Harry hadn't been the Pureblood's actions towards him, but those towards his friends, one muggleborn friend to be specific. Whenever one of them would catch the looks the Malfoy scion would send her, it visibly made them shudder. Harry had taken to making sure his friend was never alone in the corridors. He knew Hermione was more than capable of dealing the git on her own, but that was not accounting for ambushes or dirty tricks, which were well within the Ferret's wheelhouse.
Unfortunately, while she might appreciate the concern for her wellbeing, Hermione was becoming a little exasperated with Harry's over protectiveness. The trio of friends were on their way back to the common room after lunch in the Great Hall when Hermione remembered she wanted to grab a book on defensive spells for the DA meetings from the library. "I promise, I'll be right back."
"It's okay, Hermione. We can come with you. It's not that far out of the way." Harry's statement was met with a groan from Ron and glare from Hermione. "I appreciate you looking out for me Harry, but the library is definitely not on the way and I can do this myself. I'm a little tired of you following me everywhere I go." Harry looked a little nonplussed, but didn't relax any, causing the witch to sigh. "Harry, what is the point of all those DA meetings if I can't handle one measly Slytherin?" He didn't look happy, but the hard line of his shoulders dropped a bit and he agreed to meet up back in the common room. But not before warning that he would be watching on the Marauder's Map as soon as he got back to the dorm to make sure she was alright. Taking what she could get, Hermione only nodded in response before heading off towards the library.
Harry urged a reluctant Ron to pick up the pace on their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. "Mate, she is right you know. She's the smartest witch of the year, maybe the school. Plus, with all of this extra practice, there is no way Malfoy will be able to touch her." Harry just shook his head as he power walked up the stairs. "I don't care, Ron. He is up to something and there is always the chance something will go wrong. The faster we get back the sooner you can sit on the couch and say you told me so as I watch on the map."
The two reached the dorms shortly after and Harry bolted up the stairs to his trunk to get the map. He came back down to join Ron on the sofa, making sure no one could see what the map was exactly before opening it up and activating it. They quickly scanned near the library and found Hermione just as she entered, which would fit with the timeline it would have taken her to get to the library from where they had been. Ron turned to Harry. "See, she made it just fine." Harry didn't even bother to look up, preferring to continue scanning the map for anything out of place as he responded. "Doesn't mean something won't happen on the way back." Just as Ron was about to retort about his friend's paranoia, Harry tensed and shoved his finger at one of the dots moving towards the library. "There!" Ron looked closer and saw the name under the moving ink, 'Draco Malfoy'. Before he even realized it, Harry was already climbing back out of the portrait hole and Ron stumbled to try to catch up, only grabbing the map as an afterthought. It wouldn't do to have it laying around the common room for anyone to find, afterall.
The two sprinted as fast as they could towards where they knew she would be. Ron occasionally checking the map to double check. He was already falling a bit behind Harry who had always been very quick. What he saw did not raise his spirits but he didn't bother telling Harry. They were both going as fast as they could. Just as they rounded he next corner, they saw Malfoy pinning a clearly distraught Hermione up against the wall, moving his hands towards her body. Ron felt Harry tense, before all hell broke loose.
Hermione had found the texts she was looking for after a short search, the benefits of spending so much time here studying granted her the knowledge of the general location of a great deal of topics. She had checked the books out with the ever strict Madam Pince and was on her way back to meet up with the boys when she heard it. The quick steps of an approaching someone. Before she could even draw her wand and turn around, it lurched out of her grasp and a hand grabbed her arm, to shove her into a wall, pinning her beneath their body. That's when the voice spoke, raising the horror of what was occurring. "Looks like you don't have your little protector around this time, do you Mudblood." Her revulsion started to raise bile and send cold shivers down her spine. "You know, maybe after the Dark Lord has finished with old Scarhead, he might let me keep you as a plaything. You're not worthy of a wand, but I'm sure I could find some use for you." She was utterly helpless. Her wand was gone and he was positioned with all of the leverage pinning her to the wall. His foul breath on the back of her neck was making it hard to hold back the tears. She knew not many people would come near this area of the castle with Umbridge's new inquisitor squad harassing anyone who wasn't in classes or their common rooms. It was too much to hope a Professor would happen by and save her. The anguish of what the blond ponce might try was threatening to crush her resolve. Just as she felt the git's hands start to trace up the side of her skirt, the hands and the weight that were holding her were gone. She whipped around and her heart jumped at the sight. Harry stood at the end of the hallway.
Harry stood, but it was no longer the Harry anyone would recognize. His face and entire posture held nothing but unrestrained fury and the air was thick with magic that just poured out of the boy. He hadn't even cast a spell to get Malfoy off of her, his rage merely directed his magic and slammed into the Pureblood with enough force to send him skidding several feet down the hall. It continued to roll off of him in waves. The portraits nearby began fleeing their frames as the walls and air seemed to vibrate with the intensity of the power. Ron and Hermione could only stand and watch as their friend turned into an almost force of nature. Draco, after recovering from the shock, paled in fear and disbelief. His expression would have been amusing if not for the veritable tsunami of anger and magic washing through the area. He would have been hard pressed to move in the oppressive atmosphere if not for the sheer panic of Potter approaching him. The steps were smooth but slow like that of a funeral procession as they brought him nearer to the squirming blond. "You've been nothing but a thorn in my side since we met. Now you try to attack those I love and think you can get away with it just because of your daddy. Not. Any. More." Harry raised his hand and seemed to push it down towards the still floored Malfoy. What was once an oppressive atmosphere seemed to become a physical weight that ground the boy's body even further into the stone it lay on. He could not move or call out. He could barely even draw breath, his mouth gasping for air like a fish out of water. It was an almost unprecedented amount of magical power, but it was also beyond terrifying. The only thoughts in Harry's mind were to extract every ounce of suffering that people had experienced at the hands of Malfoy and those like him. So caught up in his ruminations that he forgot about all of those around him until Hermione threw her arms around Harry from behind, gathering him a crushing hug as much as stopping him from killing Draco. The rage he felt did not abate, but it was as if her arms acted as a cage to keep it from pouring out onto the helpless boy at his feet. Her face, tears freely flowing, was buried into his back as she held herself to him for all she was worth, the emotions of the ambush and subsequent rescue overwhelming her.
His attention now entirely diverted from the blue lipped Pureblood, Harry turned around in Hermione's embrace to make sure his friend was truly safe and alright. His fury still raging in his mind like a storm, but behind the barrier of concern for his friend that he found Hermione's presence. Just as he wrapped his arms around her to return the comforting embrace, Umbridge stalked around the corner. Her face morphed into the sickeningly sweet countenance she bore whenever she succeeded in catching anyone in an even slightly compromising situation. Her vindictive glee only heightened that it should be Potter that she could punish. With a quick flick of her wand, she was able to fling the disgusting Mudblood away and approached to reprimand Potter, relishing in the high that alwasy accompanied getting what she wanted. However, the moment Hermione was wrenched from his arms, the barely suppressed fury lashed out in all its glory. Without even thinking, Harry had turned towards whomever had dare attack his friend and slammed his arm out towards the perceived threat. The full impetus of magic called forth rushed forth and slammed into the Toad-like woman, lifting her off of her feet and with even greater momentum than Malfoy's flight, sent her careening into the far wall of the hallway, where she buckled and collapsed unconscious to the floor. The rush of so much energy leaving his body finally managed to bring Harry's mind back to rational thought. After gathering his scrambled wits and glancing around. His friends stood gaping at him, Ron never having moved from his initial position and Hermione on the floor a ways away where Umbridge's spell had deposited her, Draco was almost catatonic with shock, and the newest arrival, who had felt the massive amounts of magic output in her office several corridors away, was struggling to grasp how things had gotten so out of hand while readjusting her square spectacles with a shaking hand. Finally gaining her composure, "You'd better have a good explanation for this, Mr. Potter." The boy's shoulders sagged in exhaustion as he tiredly sighed. "Can I just show you the memory? I don't think I could explain it to you, Professor McGonnagle."