Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and I don't intend to earn any monetary profit out of it.

Author's Note: This story starts from Harry's 5th year at Hogwarts, when Harry refused to do the first detention with Umbridge.

Warnings: 1) Rebellious, Dark, Shrewd, Manipulative and may be, eventually Powerful Harry

2) Likely scenes of Violence and Gore. Not suitable for small children and those with faint, innocent hearts.

3) Single Harry and no pairings for him, as of now. This could change in the future.

4) I am not sure whether I will be able to continue with this story for long. In the midst of project work for post graduation, upcoming presentations, programs to attend, books to be read, and preparations for job, I will strive to write this story as long as I have a clear idea of where I am going and don't face any blocks.

"No, I will not write lines using my blood" said Harry simply.

Umbridge gave a sickly sweet smile at Harry as she responded.

"I am afraid you have no choice Mr Potter. You either write lines using my quill or else, I would double the number of detentions that you have to serve. By the way, 20 points from Gryffindor for your disobedience" said Umbridge, smiling nastily at Harry.

Harry smiled back at Umbridge before replying.

"I am sorry, but I refuse to do your detention just because I spoke the truth about Cedric's death and Voldemort's return. Why should I write these lines? I spoke nothing but the truth in the classroom. I don't understand why the ministry is so adamant that Voldemort has not returned. They should at the least try to investigate my claims to determine its veracity. I am willing to take even Veritaserum to prove that I am not lying" remarked Harry casually as he leaned back against his chair.

Harry's flippant attitude made Umbride furious. How dare this insolent, attention seeking boy dare to defy the ministry's stance?

"50 more points from Gryffindor. See Mr Potter, I don't care about your delusional claims that 'You Know Who' is back. You will do the detentions exactly as I say without any complaints" snarled Umbridge who was no longer smiling sweetly at him.

Harry just smiled calmly at her before replying.

"Ma'am, I don't care even if you take 1000 points from Gryffindor or give me detention for every day till the end of this year. I don't have time for attending your unfair detentions. So, please excuse me. I have some homework to do" said Harry smiling at Umbridge as he started to get up.

Umbridge's pallid face turned red with anger on hearing Harry's response.

"HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT ME, YOU INSOLENT BOY. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I AM NOT JUST YOUR PROFESSOR. I AM THE SENIOR UNDERSECRETARY TO THE MINISTER OF MAGIC. I CAN DEFINITELY ENSURE YOUR EXPULSION FROM HOGWARTS UNLESS YOU OBEDIENTLY DO YOUR DETENTION" screamed Umbridge.

"Oh I see. So basically, you are our dear minister's toad-like assistant with delusions of grandeur" said Harry thoughtfully, mockingly placing his fingers over his chin.

"SILENCE . THAT'S IT. I AM GOING TO HEADMASTER DUMBLEDORE AT ONCE AND REPORT YOUR MISBEHAVIOUR AND ARROGANCE TO HIM. HE WON'T BE ABLE TO SAVE YOU FROM EXPULSION THIS TIME POTTER. AFTER THAT, USING ALL MY CONTACTS FROM THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC, I WILL ENSURE THAT YOU ARE BLACKLISTED FROM EVER GETTING A JOB IN GREAT BRITAIN" screamed Umbridge like a banshee, at the top of her voice.

"You will be able to do these things only if you have your free will" said Harry calmly.

"What do you mean Potter?" snarled Umbridge as she fingered her wand.

"You will understand now" said Harry smiling mysteriously.

Then, without warning, he quickly raised his wand and pointing it at Umbridge, shouted "Imperio".

Umbridge was too slow to dodge Harry's spell and she was immediately struck it. Her eyes became vacant and her face turned expressionless.

Harry felt an exhiliarating sensation as he felt the flow of control through his wand. Harry was confident that Umbridge could not fight his imperius. In the battle of wills, Harry had even defeated Voldemort at the Graveyard last year. So, an incompetent ministry official stood no chance in front of him.

"Dolores Umbridge, I order you to answer my questions truthfully and obey all my commands" commanded Harry sternly and Umbridge simply nodded with a vacant expression.

"Okay good, now please tell me why did Minister Fudge place you at Hogwarts?" asked Harry.

"The minister believes that Dumbledore and Harry Potter are simply trying to stir up panic by claiming Dark Lord's return. He further suspects that Dumbledore may have secret plans to usurp the ministry. That is why, he has sent me to Hogwarts to spy on Dumbledore, Hogwarts staff and Harry Potter. He has asked me to set a purely theoretical based curriculum to ensure that the Hogwarts students are not trained in combat" said Umbridge monotonously.

'Wow, the minister is too paranoid and unreasonable. It is quite incredible to see the ridiculous extent to which he can go to ignore the reality and pretend that all is well' thought Harry before asking the next question.

"What are your long term plans for Hogwarts?"

"To gain complete control over every aspect of Hogwarts. The minister will soon assign me the position of the Hogwarts High Inquisitioner. This will allow me to inspect every teacher at Hogwarts and remove those who are deemed as unworthy. It will also give me the power to make educational decrees to curtail the freedom of students. I intend to expose Dumbledore's plans and have him removed as the headmaster. I also intend to make that attention seeking Potter's life as miserable as possible" said Umbridge, smiling maliciously even through the influence of the imperius curse.

'Wow, she really hates me so much' thought Harry before proceeding with the next question.

"So, have you done any crimes during your career at the ministry?" asked Harry curiously.

"Yes" replied Umbridge blandly.

"Can you list them out, one by one?" asked Harry.

"I sent the dementors after you last Summer to silence you completely" said Umbridge.

Harry's eyes narrowed for a moment. But other than that, he showed no expression on his face as he continued listening to Umbridge.

"I bribed at least 15 wizengamot members to pass the anti-werewolf legislation which places restrictions on Werewolves in Britain for getting jobs. That serves those disgusting half bloods right" said Umbridge smiling nastily. Harry gritted his teeth. 'Poor Remus' thought Harry.

In this way, Harry continued hearing Umbridge's various exploits at the ministry. He almost vomited when she mentioned that she slept with Fudge often. It was enlightening to hear about the various illegal dark items and properties that she had acquired through bribes. Finally, Harry thought he had heard enough, as he didn't think he could tolerate it any further.

"So my dear Umbitch, here is what you are going to do from now on. You will meet me in the office everyday where I will relay instructions to you about what you are going to do each day. I declare all your concoted plans to be null and void. You will consult me before doing any activity. You will not reveal the fact that I have placed you under imperius to anyone. You will not intimate or even hint to anyone in anyway that you are being controlled by me. Finally, I forbid you from using the blood quill on students. You will be strictly fair in giving or deducting points. You will pretend that you are normal in front of everyone else and you will not give an impression of suffering from imperius curse. Is that understood ma'am?" asked Harry pointedly.

Umbridge seemed to be trying to fight the curse as she struggled to formulate a response. Finally her struggles ceased and she nodded at him.

"Good" said Harry smiling at her.

"Now, when you are offered the position of High Inquisitioner, you will accept it without hesitation. But I will dictate the terms regarding which teachers to be inspected and questioned, what educational decrees to be formulated, which students to be given detentions, how they should be given detention and things like that. Now, I am going to do you one last favour and write some lines as a part of your detention. After all, if I leave too quickly, others might get suspicious" said Harry smirking at her.

Then, he spend the next half an hour, writing some nonsense lines on the parchment before cheerily waving bye to Umbridge and walked back to the Gryffindor Tower.

As soon as he reached the Gryffindor tower, he saw that Ron was absent but Hermione immediately came to him and asked him "Harry, what did she made you do?"

"Oh, it's nothing Hermione. I just had to write some lines for half an hour, that's all. And, I don't have to do detention for the next 4 days" said Harry to a shocked Hermione.

"That's all! This is unbelievable. Even Flitwick assigns a tougher detention than this. Something seems fishy here. This sudden U-turn in that Umbridge woman's behavior seems off to me" said Hermione thinking deeply.

"Yeah, it is indeed suspicious. But look at the bright side. I get more time to do my homework. Infact I am going to start it now" said Harry grinning at her.

At the mention of Homework, Hermione's face brightened.

"That's a great idea Harry. Come on, I will also sit with you and help you in case you have any difficulties" said Hermione beaming at him.

As Harry went to his dormitory to fetch his notes and parchment, he passed a scowling Angelina who was upset that he had landed himself in detention and would be missing Keeper's tryouts on Friday.

"Hey Angelina, don't be upset. I will be attending Keeper's tryouts on Friday. No more detentions for me" said Harry smiling. Angelina's expression instantly changed and she grinned at him.

"That's great to hear Harry. See you on Friday. We will ensure that we win the Quidditch cup once again" said Angelina as she happily skipped all the way to her dorms.

'I hope she doesn't catch Wood's mania' mused Harry before proceeding with his work.

Harry and Hermione continued to do their homework for the next one and half hours and finally, Harry heaved a sigh of relief as he finished his homework. 'Thank God, I didn't do the complete detention' thought Harry.

"Harry, do you have any idea of where Ron is? Because, I haven't seen him since today evening" said Hermione.

Harry shrugged in response, as he too was wondering the same thing.

"But he has a lot of homework to finish. When will he do all that?" asked Hermione frantically.

"No idea Hermione" said Harry nonchalantly.

At that moment, Ron burst into the common room, with mud all over his feet and a broom in his hand. When he saw Harry and Hermione looking at him, he tried to hide the broom behind him, which was noticed by Harry and Hermione.

"Where were you Ron?" asked Hermione, with her eyes narrowed at him.

"I just went for a walk" said Ron lamely, but not meeting her eyes.

"With a broom in your hand? Tell the truth Ron" commanded Hermione.

"Hermione, Please" said Harry firmly, holding out his hand and stopping Hermione's upcoming rant.

Then, he looked at Ron and said to him gently, "Ron, we were worried about you because we did not see you since today evening after classes. I will not force you to tell me if you don't want to do so, but as a friend, I will tell you that I won't laugh or mock you like your twin brothers no matter whatever embarrassing thing you might or might not have done"

"You promise mate? That you won't laugh at me?" asked Ron quivering with uncertainty.

"Of course I promise Ron" said Harry warmly.

"Okay then Harry, I am going to try for the Keeper's slot, now that Wood is gone. So, I have been jinxing Quaffles and trying to make them fly towards me so that I could try blocking them. Please don't tell Fred and George. They will take the mickey out of me" said Ron.

"Wow, that's great Ron. I would be happy to play with you on our team. Why would I laugh at you about this?" said Harry smiling warmly at his friend, as Ron gave a sigh of relief.

"Yeah Ron, we are not like your brothers. We won't simply make fun of you. I am sure you will do well as a Keeper. Now, you have so much homework remaining. No more excuses now. This is your OWL year. Start doing it immediately" said Hermione bossily.

Ron instantly complied and started doing his homework. Harry and Hermione, even though they had finished the homework, gave him companionship.

"Hey mate, what happened in your detention?" asked Ron curiously.

"I just had to write some lines. That's all. And, I don't have to do any more detentions" said Harry.

"What? She let you off just like that? This is just unbelievable" said Ron gaping at him.

"That's what I also think Ron. There is obviously something fishy going on here. Why would Umbridge give Harry week's worth of detentions and suddenly cancel it?" speculated Hermione.

"Well who knows how that Umbridge woman thinks. Anyway, I should count myself lucky. For once, fate is nice with me" said Harry smiling casually.

"Yeah mate" said Ron grinning at him.

Then, Harry noticed Hermione knitting some hats.

"Mione, what is that for?" asked Ron

"It is for the houseelves. I will hide these hats in our common room. When the houseelves accidentally pick it up, they will be freed" said Hermione triumphantly grinning maniacally.

"Mione, are you mad? If the houseelves start noticing these hats, they might stop cleaning our common room and dormitories" exclaimed Ron

"So what?" rebutted Hermione aggressively. "We should stop relying on slave labour to have our work done. These house-elves have been brainwashed into believing that freedom is something to be abhorred. I am going to change that" said Hermione with determination.

While Hermione and Ron were arguing, they did not notice Harry slipping out of the common room. After 15 minutes, he came with Professor McGonagall in tow.

Professor McGonagall's arrival took both Hermione and Ron by surprise.

"Miss Granger, what is this I am hearing? That you are planning to knit hats and hide them in the common room to free unsuspecting houseelves? I am sorry, but you are forbidden from doing any such thing. I assure you that our Hogwarts house-elves are treated very nicely by Professor Dumbledore and the staff. There is no need to free them" scolded Professor McGonagall.

Hermione looked at Harry furiously with betrayal in her eyes and Ron too was unhappy that he had unnecessarily involved a professor in this matter.

"But…" started Hermione wanting to justify her action.

"No ifs and buts Miss Granger. If I hear about or see you doing anything of this sort again, I will be deducting house points and giving you detentions. Such mis-demeanours can result in the loss of your prefect position. You will report to my room tomorrow after classes. I am going to explain to you more about house-elves and why it is a bad idea to forcibly try to free them against their will" said Professor McGonagall primly before walking away.

As soon as Professor McGonagall walked away, Hermione rounded on Harry and screamed "How could you do this Harry?" as she raised her wand threateningly.

Harry too raised his wand as he replied "I am sorry Hermione. I did this for your own good. Just as in our third year, you took away the firebolt and gave it to Professor McGonagall for inspection, without consulting me once. In all conscience, I can't allow you to simply free all the house-elves against their free will. Fighting for the welfare of house- elves is definitely a good thing, but forcibly freeing them without asking their input on this matter is not good. Didn't you notice how upset Winky was last year after Mr Crouch gave him clothes. Dobby told me that she hasn't yet recovered from the ordeal. Now Winky has taken to drinking too much butterbeer and Dobby has an additional burden of taking care of her" stated Harry emphatically.

Hearing Harry's words, Hermione temporarily lowered her wand, but her anger did not abate.

"Harry, How can you just stand by and do nothing when House-elves are treated as second class citizens in our magical world? This is pure slavery and we should never condone it. By the way, Dobby was quite happy to be freed, wasn't he?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, Dobby was quite happy to be freed because he felt that it is better to be disgraced rather than serve Malfoys. Malfoys were extremely cruel to him. But do you think all masters are as cruel as Malfoy or Mr Crouch? Do you think Professor Dumbledore is mean to the Hogwarts house-elves who report to him? Don't you think the Hogwarts house-elves would be happy to work under such a great man as Professor Dumbledore? And by the way, if a big hearted man such as Hagrid who loves all magical creatures refuses to free house-elves, don't you think there is a reason behind that? Or is it that, Hagrid hates only house-elves but loves all other magical creatures? " asked Harry rheoterically.

'That did the trick' thought Harry triumphantly, as Hermione got a thoughtful expression on her face. Her loyalty to Professor Dumbledore would be very helpful in convincing her of Harry's viewpoint.

"That's all fine Harry. But I feel really bad when house-elves are not rewarded for all the work that they do" whined Hermione.

Harry patted Hermione on the shoulder before replying "That's understandable Hermione. It is not fair to the house-elves. But I learnt something in my childhood from my muggle history teacher. That if we want to change something which has been prevalent for centuries, it has to be done slowly and gradually, with a lot of patience. But if we try to change something all of a sudden, people won't like it and they will start rebelling. That's why the house-elves are rebelling against freedom. By the way, we do not know the exact reason why House-elves are reluctant to accept wages? Are they brainwashed as you say, or is there some deeper reason behind it, we don't know. After all, the magic of the house-elves is different from wizards and witches. It could be similar to the case of a fish not being able to survive if it is out of water for long, or a human being not being able to survive and breathe deep inside water for longer duration. It is better not to make any assumptions about house-elves before consulting someone knowledgeable like Professors Dumbledore or McGonagall, don't you agree?" asked Harry.

Hermione nodded tearfully. Ron was speechless and enraptured by the debate that just happened between Harry and Hermione.

"Hermione, there is one thing that can be done for the welfare of houseelves. The three of us can start visiting Kitchens occasionally and appreciate the house-elves for the wonderful work that they are doing. And, any soul whether they be a muggle, wizard, witch, house-elf, hippogriff or even a half-giant, would like to be appreciated and loved. We should set an example by thanking the house-elves profusely for the wonderful work that they are doing. I don't like my fame as the boy-who-lived. But I will use it to encourage my fans and supporters to appreciate the work of the house-elves and treat them kindly. When we meet Sirius next time, we can again start convincing him to treat Kreacher kindly" explained Harry and Hermione beamed at him, finally letting go of her anger.

Then turning to Ron, Harry said "Ron, it is a good idea to treat house-elves well. A Happier house-elf means better food service and may be, a greater variety of food menu in the great hall" said Harry.

Ron's eyes gleamed on hearing Harry's words. He would definitely appreciate the house-elves if that meant better food. Hermione, who was back to her normal self, rolled her eyes on seeing Ron's expression.

Then, they continued with their homework before going back to their dorms for a peaceful sleep.