This fic is dedicated to the treasured memory of my dad who fell asleep on 21/11/2012 after losing his fight with leukaemia.
Rest in peace, dad. Thanks for everything!
This fic is also dedicated to all the other brave souls out there fighting cancer!
PROLOGUE
Neither Harry Potter nor any of the characters associated with him belong to me. They are JK Rowlings. I'm not in this for the money, just for fun!
A lot of what's in my fic will be based on what's seen in the movies, with some references from the books, hence Firenze will not be blonde, but dark and more beastial like, as will the rest of the Centaurs.
This is a direct sequel to my fic 'The Muggle and The Centaur', and set about 5 years after, which is about a year after the war with Voldemort ended.
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1996; Forbidden Forest;
Centaur Herd:
Dumbledore then added, turning back to the Centaur leader. "Forgive me for asking, but I understand you and your herd have been moving out of your territories lately. May I ask why?"
Magorian snarled. "Ask your precious Ministry! They're the ones who have been robbing us of our lands!"
Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "I won't deny the Ministry has been restricting your lands as of late, Magorian, but…from what I understand, I believe you and your herd were seen out of your territory long before the Ministry even began making the restrictions."
Magorian snorted. "We were not moving out of our borders, Dumbledore! We were searching for someone."
"Oh, may I ask who?"
Magorian's face darkened a little more. "Someone who is ours by right, and will be again. Even if we have to gallop all across the globe to find her!"
Dumbledore paused slightly at the Centaur leader's last words, but made no sign of acknowledging them. Umbridge, on the other hand, seemed momentarily distracted from her fear and rage, and looked thoughtful.
"I see," he said simply. "Then I wish you luck in your search, Magorian. Farewell, till we meet again." Without another word, he helped Umbridge by half-carrying her out of the herding ground, and started trekking through the forest on their way back to Hogwarts.
He suspected the identity of the person they referred to, but knew that, for the moment, he could do nothing about it, as the war with Voldermort took precedence over everything. Plus, it was doubtful the Centaurs would ever find her, considering how far she was from the forest.
'Doubtful,' he thought, 'but not impossible.'
He could only hope and pray that the Centaur's search would forever remain a fruitless one.
'My prayers are with you, Miss Rebecca Leicester.'
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Bane watched, as the elderly human led the stumpy female of his kind away, a sense of indignity burning within him. It wasn't fair! That woman had insulted and belittled his kind, threatened the life of his leader, and they had just handed her back to the humans.
He clenched his fists until he thought they'd rupture. This was the third time that a human had been denied him…
He mentally shook himself, refusing to let the memory resurface. He had spent nearly five decades trying to bury the memory, and wouldn't let it come back to him now.
But, try as he might, although he managed to push most of it into the deepest parts of his mind, where he had kept it hidden for years, he could still see the silhouette of his one most painful memory…the image of him.
He stormed away, pushing past several of his brothers, heading toward the forest.
"Brother, where do you go?" Ronan asked him, as he past.
"HUNTING!" Bane all but screamed. "IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU?!"
With that, he belted his brother on the chest, pushing him away, and galloped across the Herding Ground, into the welcoming darkness of the forest.
Ronan merely watched him leave, a sorrowful look in his eyes.
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Three Years Later;
Azkaban Prison:
She sat in her cell, lightly tapping the stone-wall with her finger, as she waited.
It had been over several months now since the final battle with Voldermort and his Death Eaters. Voldermort had taken his army to Hogwarts, where Harry Potter and his army had engaged them. In the end, Potter had emerged victorious, Voldermort was finally defeated once and for all, and any surviving Death Eaters had fled or were arrested and imprisoned, along with any witches or wizards who had used his rise to power to commit what many considered shameful acts against the people.
That was the reason why she was there in Azkaban.
A few moments later, her cell-door was unlocked and opened. She didn't even bother to look up to know who had entered.
"Hello, Mr. Pierce," she greeted the warden of Azkaban.
He stood before her, looking visibly uncomfortable. Despite having taken every precaution that none of his guards would see him here, he knew better than anyone that where magic was concerned, nothing was impossible.
"What do you want?" he said in a low voice.
She gazed up sharply at him, her eyes flashing in anger. "That's what do you want, Miss…!"
"It doesn't matter what you call yourself anymore," said Pierce, looking down at her with something like amusement on his face. "In case you hadn't heard, you are no longer part of the Ministry."
She gave him an icy glare that made him lose whatever bemusement he once had.
"Take care with how you speak to me, Pierce. I may have lost my position, but I'll ensure that you will lose a whole lot more."
He swallowed in unease. He hadn't wanted to come here, but had no real choice in the matter. He would have come earlier, but the guards were on duty all hours. This was the first chance he had got to see her. "What is it you want?"
"What do you think…? Get me out of here!"
He stared at her in surprise. "You can't seriously expect me to…"
"I can and I know you will!" she interrupted. "Because if you don't, then that will mean you going back on our deal. Remember?!"
Donald Pierce had been made Warden of Azkaban after all the Dementors they had once used here had betrayed them, preferring to go fight for Voldemort instead. He had worked here even before then, but only as one of the guards who brought the prisoners' food. His record with dealing with the prisoners had been exemplary, so they had offered him the job.
They probably hadn't known that the woman before him had been the one who had got him the job in the first place.
He had first met her nine years ago…before Harry Potter had returned to the wizarding world, before Voldermort had returned, before the last war, and before she had been arrested and sent to Azkaban.
Although he had first met her then, their families did have some connection to each other. Pierce's father had been a simple gardener who had worked in her family's estate, though Donald had never been there. Her father had sometimes loaned them some money while he had been growing up.
Unfortunately, Pierce had inherited his father's bad sense at business, resulting in him being stony broke more than a few times. The last time had been the worst. He and his wife and kids were practically in rags, they owned the Goblins at Gringotts bundles of money, facing them with losing the mortgage on their house.
He had gone to her in the hope that maybe their families' past together might sympathise her with him, and get her to help him with his financial situation. Unbelievable as it sounded, it had actually seemed to work. But Pierce had soon learned one very important lesson, and that was she did absolutely nothing for free.
She had agreed to help him by giving him the money he needed, but only as a loan, and if he couldn't pay the money back, he would have to work for her. When he had asked her what kind of work that would be, she had simply replied, "Just the odd favour now and then". And to ensure he would keep his promise, she had made him take The Unbreakable Vow with her!
Just the word of The Unbreakable Vow had been enough to make him want to run out of there, but…he had just been so desperate. But he told her straight up that if any of her favours involved him harming anyone, then, vow or not, he wouldn't do it.
She had just laughed, claiming that killing wasn't in her nature…something he still had trouble believing. Though it was true she had never killed anyone before, her treatment of people was legendary cruel. But he had accepted her proposal, made the Vow, which she had done with the assistance of an unnamed witch who was also in debt to her, and taken the money. Although he hadn't been able to pay the money back, she had ended up getting him a job working at Azkaban. The work was not the greatest yearned for, especially with the Dementors always close by, and the pay even less, but it had been better than nothing, and it had all turned out for the best, thanks to his promotion as the Warden.
She had written him a fine letter of recommendation, which had gotten him the job both as the guard and later the Warden. He thought that working at Azkaban had been the kind of job she had been talking about, but it seems he had been wrong, though it was hardly a surprise. Even when they were doing their business, or even just idle chatter, Donald had wanted nothing more than to keep his distance from her. Her voice had always been overly sweet, but he had forever been on edge, frightened that any moment she would strike him down. Apparently that time had now come.
"How…" he stuttered. "How am I supposed to get…?"
"I will tell you," she interrupted. "You need only go to my house. Inside you'll find a number of items my family has gathered over the years. I need you only to fetch me a few of them."
He chewed on his lower lip, and finally sighed. "I'll…do my best."
"Of course you will," she said with a smile. "Just be quick about it!"
He didn't doubt she was finding life here at Azkaban harder than the rest. After living a life knowing nothing but luxury, this had to be a real crash to reality.
"As you wish…" He swallowed. "…Miss Umbridge."
After she told him where to go and what to get, he quickly left, and Dolores went back to tapping her fingernails on the stonewall, never missing a beat. Despite her calm and cool appearance, her thoughts were ablaze with a raging anger that would have even Voldermort quivering in fear.
'Harry Potter…Dumbledore…that filthy mud-blood girl…' What was her name? Green, Graydon, Grangehill…Granger! That was it. She, Potter and that ginger-headed freckle-face with the whiny voice had done this to her!
She was Dolores Umbridge, once the Senior Undersecretary to the Ministry of Magic, once the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, once the Headmistress of Hogwarts, once the Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, and now…now she was nothing! Stripped of all her positions, her reputation, and her freedom. Even her beloved possessions, like her kitten plates, were taken from her, and she was forced to wear these dreadful striped prison uniforms instead of her favourite pink cardigan.
Well, she would show them! She would get her freedom back at least, and then…she would get them all!
And she knew how to do it, too. She remembered something from a point in her life that she preferred to forget. But being locked in this Merlin forsaken prison all day every day left her nothing but her memories to dwell on. However, that was a good thing, as now she remembered something she could use.
Now, she had a plan!
To Be Continued…