XXXXXX

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.

By Oriondruid

xxxxxxx

Summary: A short AU story based off the movie scene where the DA members having been caught by the vile Dolores Umbridge and are all sat in rows in the hall, being forced to write lines using her cursed 'blood quills'. This is what I would have arranged to happen if I were in the DA. :o)

Disclaimer: With regard to the following story, the characters and settings in this story belong entirely to the works and 'world' created by Ms. J.K. Rowling. This pastiche is respectfully dedicated to Ms. Rowling and is not intended in any way for commercial distribution, being written by myself as a fan entirely for fun. It is a genuine pleasure and privilege to be able to 'play' for a while in Ms. Rowling's world and I thank her for the opportunity and for her generosity to her fans in permitting such fan fiction.

The Pen Is Mightier than the Sword.

All the members of the DA had been captured and identified, due to Dolores Umbridge's illegal use of Veritaserum whilst interrogating pupils. They were now sat in chairs behind rows of desks in The Great Hall and were being made to undergo punishment for their defiance. All the pupils involved were being forced to write lines using Umbridge's cursed 'blood quills', the metal tipped implements which were her 'special pens' and which she used to inflict pain and injury upon children she deemed to require 'correction'.

The madwoman herself was sat on a large throne-like chair, on a plinth in front of the suffering pupils and was revelling in their torture. She had a small table set up next to her, which held a pot of tea and some biscuits and she was feeling smugly self satisfied, believing herself completely in control of what she though of as the defeated rebels in front of her. She was there to indulge her sadistic pleasure in causing suffering and wanted to be sure she would be as comfortable as possible whilst doing so, in order that she might enjoy it as much as possible.

However she might not have felt so comfortable had she known one of the vital secrets the DA members still managed to hold on to, that of their enchanted 'message Galleons' and what they had been used to arrange...

After some while spent listening happily to the grunts and gasps of pain being made by the children in front of her Dolores began to feel a little thirsty and so she bent down to pour herself a cup of tea. As she did so she placed her wand, (which she had been holding 'just in case'), onto the small table alongside the tray which held the refreshments. She poured herself a cup of tea and began to add the three teaspoonfuls of the special pink coloured sugar she usually added to the drink, which meant that momentarily her eyes were off of the pupils, she was disarmed and her concentration was distracted.

At that precise moment the combined voices of both George and Fred Weasley rang out, shouting "NOW!"

As one all the members of the DA hurled their quills at the vile woman in front of them and they flew through the air, exactly like muggle darts, with their sharp metal tips kept perfectly on course by the trimmed feather quill shafts.

Even had she been paying full attention Umbridge would have had no time to react, against so many targets, and in any case her wand hand held a teaspoon and the other steadied her teacup. She simply sat there, staring in horror as she saw all her vile and illegal torture implements hurtling towards her.

They struck en-mass, piercing her flesh in multiple places from head to toe. As soon as they did so their dark magic unexpectedly took awful effect, amplified by the numbers of quills involved and the fact that they were actually stuck into her body and not simply being used by people being forced to write with them. The points of contact where the quills had struck began to bleed incredibly heavily, far more than the apparently superficial wounds should have caused and all of Umbridge's lifeblood pumped from dozens of minor wounds in an incredibly short time, leaving her slumped dead in her seat.

She died in front of the shocked DA members within less than a minute. They had never expected such a major outcome from their act of rebellion and many quickly became scared that they might be accused of murder.

xxxx

The Auror Office of course had to be called in by The reinstated Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall to investigate the incident. Minister Fudge of course tried to distort the outcome of their investigation and the influence their subsequent report, since Dolores Umbridge had been his personal appointee and minion at Hogwarts. Minerva's testimony was most helpful to the Aurors, as unlike Dumbledore she had been present throughout the later days of Umbridge's 'reign' and was able to testify as to how brutal her regime had been.

As a result and despite Fudge's obstruction the Aurors learned from Minerva that Umbridge had illegally been using Dark Magic against the pupils of Hogwarts, had used Veritaserum without proper Ministry authorisation and had even tortured children as young as eleven. They also learned about the reasons behind the formation of the DA and that it had become secret Ministerial policy to strip all Hogwarts pupils of the necessary means to defend themselves against Dark Magic. This did not go down at all well with the Aurors, as they relied on a steady stream of new recruits who had, at least, a basic familiarity with practising magical self-defence.

Minister Fudge tried to weasel out of his part in the débâcle, claiming that the main excesses of Umbridge's 'reign' at the school had all been carried out without his knowledge and behind his back. However, whilst he was partially successful with this tactic and the media scandal did not immediately cause his resignation, the ongoing taint of what had happened at the school seriously weakened his authority and the trust of the wizarding public in both himself and the Ministry in general. With the eventual revelation of the truth regarding the return of Lord Voldermort, following the major battle in the Ministry itself, Fudge was forced to resign in shame and he was replaced by Minister Scrimgeour.

As to the death of Dolores Umbridge herself, both the Ministry and the Auror Office saw fit to downplay it. Her inquest's verdict simply stated that hers was a 'death by misadventure' case due to her misuse of Dark Magic and none of the pupils were prosecuted for what had happened.

All the DA members had given completely honest statements to the Aurors, stating that they had fully intended to mount a rebellion against Umbridge and her evil methods, but that none of them at the time had any idea of the seriousness of what their actions would bring about. Certainly, they admitted, they had intended to injure the madwoman, in self defence, but never could they have imagined what the cursed 'blood quills' were capable of when used as weapons. They had simply hoped that such a mass attack against Umbridge would result in some minor injuries to her person and an official Auror investigation into the reasons behind them. An investigation which would reveal the truth to the wider wizarding public about Umbridge's vile regime, despite Fudges bluster and lies.

It was decide by the Auror Department that no useful purpose would be served by prosecuting the DA members, that their actions had, in fact, been quite justified self-defence and the fatal outcome of their rebellion had been both unintentional and unpredictable. Alastor Moody, the retired Senior Auror was requested to independently investigate the incident and write an Auror Office internal confidential report on the matter. In it, in his inimitable style, he wrote his final conclusion, stating...

"The bloody woman got exactly what she deserved!"