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Chapter 7 – The Escape
Minerva McGonagall was furious. She had merely been angry when she entered Umbridge's lair (she refused to call it an office when she thought of Umbitch, the nickname everyone was calling her) but now she was absolutely, totally furious!
It was all over the school about the "tail incident" with many, many people laughing when they heard about it not only in Slytherin but also in Gryffindor. The poor girl (who was one of McGonagall's very favorite students of all times right up there with Lily Evans) was in a catatonic state lying in a bed in the Infirmary under Poppy Pomfrey's tender care. The medi-witch was more than furious as this was one of many "incidents" involving Muggleborns which she had treated and it was only September.
At the moment, Minerva didn't know who had done the deed, but she had her suspicions – and it wasn't a Slytherin – and she would find out then punished the culprits accordingly no matter who they were. She tried to see the new Headmistress but was told by her private secretary, a Ministry lackey who sat at a desk in front of the gargoyle outside the Headmistress' office deciding who would have the honor of seeing Headmistress Umbridge.
"I'll try to sneak you in, if possible, say…on Friday" the snippy woman stated.
"I need to see her immediately as it is a school problem."
"Could you give a more specific reason for the appointment?"
Trying (and failing) to control herself, Minerva shouted "I NEED THE APPOINTMENT NOW DUE TO AN INJURY TO A STUDENT!"
"Which student and what type of injury?"
Gritting her teeth Minerva explained the situation. The reply made her want to hex the bitch to the nether parts of the earth. The woman actually had the nerve to giggle.
"Oh yes" she snickered "We all had a good laugh over that so-called incident. The Headmistress wants to congratulate whoever played the prank. Do you know who it was so points can be given for creativity and school spirit? You don't need an appointment for that, simply leave a message with me and I'll see the Headmistress gets it."
Minerva was now shaking with anger. She wanted to slap that smirk off of the woman's face but she knew she would probably end up in Azkaban for killing her. Instead she stormed off and went to the Infirmary for a much needed calming potion and rant with Poppy.
The medi-witch was almost as livid as Minnie and started her rant before Minnie could say a thing.
"Do you know what that #$*#$#& toad has done now?" the usually calm and gentle medi-witch screamed. However she didn't give her friend an opportunity to guess before continuing "She demanded that I get Hermione Granger out of her 'fake state' as she is merely malingering. I have until tomorrow morning to set her straight or she will be expelled. Umbitch will personally break her wand and confiscate all her magical possessions and put her out of the front gates. She won't even send her home or to London through the floo."
Now Minnie was too horrified to speak, but Poppy had more to say.
"I have been ordered not to treat any Mudbloods – a direct quote from our new Head..Headm – Headmistreat! To quote that sleaze 'Being a filthy, magic-stealing, abhorrent excuse for a wizard/witch, they deserve all the hexes, curses and spells cast on them by REAL MAGICALS. If they don't like it they can leave – once their wands are snapped and their magical possessions are confiscated."
Minnie was still too appalled to speak so Poppy continued venting her spleen.
"I have also found out who played the 'prank' on poor Miss Granger. Seamus Finnegan came to me for treatment for severe scratches on his arms and face, which were now infected. I made him tell me how he received these injuries and at first he lied. I gave him the old no-nonsense-as-I-know-you-are-lying medi-witch glare. He was probably guilty and only came in because of the infection."
Minnie snapped to attention and said "Let me guess, he held the poor cat while Ronald Weasley did the dirty deed. Before Poppy could reply Minnie continued saying "I knew he had something to do with this outrage as he has never liked the cat because the cat hated him because, being a cat, he is a great judge of character."
"Also" she sighed "He has shown his true colors to Miss Granger with Harry being gone and Dumbledore dead. Apparently, the Weasleys suffered financially from the fleeing and the death and Ronald is taking out his frustration on the only person he could without getting into trouble."
"That's it in a nutshell" Poppy replied.
"Doesn't he care that Miss Granger has been ordered home by her parents who are no longer funding her education?"
"Apparently not" Poppy responded. "Right now I am worried about the few Muggleborns that remain here but especially Miss Granger as 'I have received my orders which I must obey or get the sack' and I can't get her out of the state she is in by tomorrow and wouldn't if I could. She'll still be in a lot of emotional pain regarding her cat and 'Rotten Ronnie' or 'RR' - as I will now refer to him - will only increase his cruelty in the hopes of getting her expelled."
"Was Mr. Finnegan at least sorry for his actions? Did he say what happened to the cat?" Minnie asked.
"He only went along with Rotten Ronnie because he has been bullied by RR since he is the only other 5th year male Gryffindor left. Poor Seamus thought it was only going to be another prank such as turning the cat green, so he helped catch the poor beast and held him down for RR to cast the curse on the cat. He was horrified when RR pulled out a large knife and cut off the animal's tail. In shock he let go of the cat which raced off faster than RR could react."
"But surely the animal was bleeding profusely and would die without immediate care" Minnie stated.
"RR ordered Seamus to catch it as he wasn't finished 'pranking it' but Seamus went after it to save it. He followed the trail of blood but it disappeared. He doesn't know what happened to it but RR didn't care – and this is a direct quote what Seamus said he told him "At least the bloody thing will probably die and I'll be rid of it, the bitch will be all upset that it's dead and I'll tell her the tail is a souvenir, something to remember the beast by….' Seamus said RR stopped because he realized he had called the cat the bloody thing and he started laughing at his own so-called joke."
"Seamus left, feeling disgusted and ashamed so he only came to me for treatment when the infection started. He felt sorrier when Hermione slipped into the coma – which is what he is calling it – whereas RR is 'pissed because he can't taunt Hermione' but he is thinking up some good zingers to use when she recovers."
Both witches were silent for a moment, still angry but also helpless to do anything about it - until Minnie decided to act.
"We're leaving Poppy - you, me and definitely Miss Granger. I don't know where we will go at this moment, but we'll figure it out. I will not tolerate Umbitch's reign of terror a moment longer nor will I allow an innocent girl to lose her magic because of a $*#&^^ bigot."
Poppy pulled Minnie into one of the private rooms used for quarantines, cast as many charms for privacy she knew and then said "Minnie, you know we are forbidden to leave the castle or its grounds without permission or face immediate discharge and won't get our pension. Knowing Umbitch we will probably get arrested for even attempting to save Miss Granger. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that was her plan."
"And you will be amenable to the girl losing her magic? Will you allow the other Muggleborns to be hexed and cursed and not treat them so that they too will be expelled and lose their magic?"
The medi-witch signed and then replied "Minnie, of course I don't want any of that happening. I don't know if you know about this, but all the house elves are under that fiend's total control. My assigned elf Mitzy severely hurt herself to warn me of the Headmistreat's plans."
"My DoDo hasn't said a thing to me and she is a very faithful elf."
"As I said, Mitzy hurt herself but knew I would cure her and she suffered greatly in doing it. That Harridan is slowly going to discharge us all and replace us with choices of her own. None of us will be getting our pensions and she plans on framing and sending certain people to Azkaban – just because she can."
"Mitzy also said that that she will be getting rid of all Half-blood teachers, such as you, Severus, me and possibly Pomona, simply because she doesn't like her despite Pomona being a Pureblood. Then all Half-breeds like Hagrid and Filius will shortly be following once she gets a few laws passed and then the Centaurs will be gone – one way or another."
"Then we must leave as soon as possible if she is planning that and warn the others so that they can…."
"Our assigned house elves are to turn us in if we dare to order them to pack our things and try to leave. Apparently, there are warning spells to that effect so even if we packed ourselves and tried to leave, we would be immediately found out. Apparently even our wands are being tracked."
"How would that happen? We always carry our wands and they never leave our person…"
"Do you shower with your wand?" Poppy asked. "That was when the trackers were placed – by our own elves – the first time one of us had a bath or shower after the Bitch took control of the elves. We can't leave without a wand or get out of the castle without the bitch knowing. Then the three of us will probably be in Azkaban by breakfast tomorrow."
Minnie didn't want to admit it, but Poppy was probably right. "Let me think" she told her friend as she paced back and forth in the room. Then she remembered something long forgotten until Albus died and some of his spells had dissipated. Some of her memory had returned and she hoped it was the same with Poppy.
"Poppy, do you remember when we were in fourth year and my…boyfriend…talked us into the wisdom of acquiring an extra wand so we could 'get into mischief' and not have it traced back to our wands?"
A spark of memory came back to Poppy as yes, now she did remember those happy (and sometimes naughty but fun) times when she and others were students. Then she remembered what happened to those illegal wands.
"Didn't Albus do a purge in our sixth year and your boyfriend hid those wands where no one could find them?"
"Yes, he did BUT he gave me a hint as to where he hid them and it is not the place you are thinking."
"Then he didn't hide them in the…."
"No, but the hint he gave me could mean three places. I will go and investigate all three and if I find them, we can escape with Miss Granger – and the clothes on our backs only."
It was their only chance. They would have to leave everything behind especially their most precious possessions and there was no guarantee Minnie would find the wands but it was either take this risk or have Hermione Granger tossed out probably only in her knickers and them ending up in Azkaban for something if Mitzy's information was truly correct.
Twenty minutes later, the secret door to the Infirmary opened and a very dusty but grinning Minnie McGonagall entered Poppy's office. She had found all four wands (Poppy's boyfriend also had one) and had found one of the secret passageways their boyfriends found in their midnight wanderings.
"I found an old, unused guest quarters and also found some clothes since ours' probably have trackers on them. No undies, but at least clothes for the three of us."
After checking and rechecking for trackers, etc. the two older witches changed clothes and transfigured them to their and Hermione's size. After cleaning up the dust from the opening of the secret passageway, they levitated a still sleeping Hermione out and down the passageway and hopefully to freedom.
The next day Umbridge threw a temper tantrum of epic proportions when told of the successful escapes. She never did find out how it was done and never would.
As to the fate of poor Crookshanks, Doodles, the Hufflepuff elf had disappeared and thus was not under Umbridge's control. None of the other Puff elves ratted him out and even the Head Elf thought he had escaped like Dobby and Winky had and kept his very existence a secret.
He had been sneaking around Hogwarts gathering information and trying to help the students and teachers and he had found Crookshanks the same time as Ron and Seamus had. Naturally he was disillusioned so they never knew he was there and when Crookshanks took off, Doodles popped off in front of the cat, caught him and popped away to get help for the poor creature.
He summoned Dobby, who popped in, saw the wounded cat and Doodles told him to take it to safety and come back for explanations and the weekly report he was sending to Harry. Thus Crookshanks' life was saved and since Ron had used a regular knife instead of magic, his glorious tail could be grown back.
After the disappearance of the three escapees, Doodles again summoned Dobby and gave another report. Now the hunt was on for the three and hopefully Harry's people would find them before the Ministry or Umbridge did. The only problem was where they could have gone without a wand or the clothes they had been wearing.
Harry and Dobby tried not to think about a naked McGonagall or Pomfrey on the loose as it was too traumatizing. Had he known, no doubt Draco Malfoy, who was still recovering from his shock, could commiserate with them.
