Gellert had not attended a DA meeting since they began to learn Patronuses; a subject which he doubted he could ever learn. (Nor would he need to. His natural darkness made him immune to the effects of most dark creatures and for those that it didn't, fiendfyre would suffice.) He had however insisted that Albus include it in Hermione's private lessons. Hermione's otter was wonderful to be near as it gambolled around; it seemed very interested in him and played constantly, he basked in its glow. Albus' phoenix, to the contrary felt much more malevolent, as though it was considering whether he was dark enough to be driven away.

Their story telling had been surprisingly painless, although he suspected that was Hermione's engineering. Even Dumbledore had struggled to find too many horrific truths to reveal.

He was called to Umbridge's office by an urgent owl one evening. He knew as soon as he entered that it was about the DA. The ministry witch was almost bouncing on her toes, a black haired Ravenclaw girl sobbed into her hands. He could see the tops of words on her forehead, spelled out in pimples. That was almost certainly Hermione's handiwork, with her particular brand of non-malicious magic. The Slytherins were already waiting, huddled with excitement that almost rivalled Umbridge's. He had to warn them.

'The minister will be here with the aurors any minute to make sure Dumbledore can't get away. I want Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Abernathy on the way to the Gryffindor common room; we must catch Mr. Potter!' Umbridge continued to hand out orders to her "inquisitorial squad". Perhaps is he got a minute he could summon Winky, but that would be giving away one of his assets, but perhaps there was another option.

He used the oldest trick in the book, claiming he needed the toilet. Umbridge let him go, telling him to hurry to his position as soon as he was done. He nodded and left, only getting as far as the next corridor before calling for Dobby.

The elf only appeared when he said, to the empty corridor, that Harry Potter was in danger.

Dobby was skinny, even for an elf and as Harry had described him, he wore an odd assortment of clothing. His jacket looked like a fancy dress British soldier's with big gold epaulettes over a pair of Hawaiian swimming trunks that came down to his ankles.

'Harry Potter is in danger?' The elf asked, looking up at him with big eyes.

'Yes. He's in the room of requirement. Tell him she's coming.' He instructed the elf whose eyes immediately filled with tears.

'Dobby cannot sir, Dobby had been ordered by her not to say.' Its lip began to wobble and Gellert spun back from where he had already been striding away.

'Are you a free elf or not?' He snapped. For a moment Dobby seem shocked, then realisation glowed in its eyes.

'Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby will save Harry Potter!' The elf disappeared with a pop and Gellert rolled his eyes, hurrying up to the corridor where he had been told to wait.

He knew Dobby had achieved his mission when he heard a thunder of footsteps on the stairway, Umbridge's squealing from downstairs let him know that Dobby had reached the meeting in time. The ministry would struggle to catch anyone now. He reached the corridor first and slipped into an alcove as students poured past him. He searched frantically for Hermione but it looked like she was going to be one of the last to leave.

He saw her, in the middle of the bunch, rushing down to the library followed by a gaggle of Hufflepuffs. The Ravenclaws should be able to make their commonroom, the Gryffindors however – he heard Malfoy's triumphant whoop, followed by a shrill call that he had caught Potter.

It seemed Dobby had told the DA who had told him to warn them because Harry approached him in the Dormitory that night to thank him. He nodded, accepting the boy's thanks silently, then tapped the little silver badge pinned to his robes above the prefect badge.

'I'd been working to get into Umbridge's good graces for a while.' He said. The Boy-Who-Lived nodded in acceptance.

'Was it you who got the quiddich team playing again?'

'I believe she did it in an effort to cultivate me. I think she sees me as a victim of Dumbledore's neglect.' He almost laughed, but he couldn't complain. It was too useful to now be in a position of power within the school.

'Dumbledore's gone.' Harry finally said into the silence. Grindelwald nodded.

'He's in Wales, searching for something to help us defeat Voldemort.' Albus' patronus had been waiting for him when he got back to the dorm. Albus had begged him to keep his students safe and to continue researching horcruxes. He had actually forgotten about the horcrux issue entirely. No, not forgotten, just pushed to the bottom of his priority list. If worst came to worst a quick avada would do the trick. It would hurt Hermione but she would never have to know it was him. Perhaps with an imperius he could make it seem like a mercy killing.

Either way, he should probably try.

Gellert skipped his morning lessons, joining Ron and Hermione in the hall. Ron was moaning about the powers Malfoy had been lording over them, apparently Gryffindor had already lost over 100 points. Fortunately the hot headed boy didn't notice the silver badge now pinned to Gellert's robes. He handed them each a clear vial across the table.

'This is the antidote to Veritaserum. Umbridge ordered Snape to give her his entire stock, so if she pulls one of you aside privately take this as soon as you can.'

The two teenagers shared a solemn look.

'She's got Harry now.' Ron said.

'Well, hopefully he's not stupid enough to drink anything she gives him.'

Something exploded somewhere in the castle with a shuddering boom. The hall went silent, then murmuring broke out.

'Fred and George.' Ron whispered, 'Come on, let's go and have a look.'

They stood, following the flow of curious students now leaving the great hall. They only made it half way before something bright and fiery shot through the double doors with a screech like a banshee. It exploded above them and the students ducked as silvery pegasi swooped overhead. They were chased by a sparkler which wrote "Dumbledore Rules" in large letters before following it up with a string of swear words.

'Well, that will get Harry out of Umbridge's clutches.'

Then, speak of the devil, Umbridge herself was standing at the top of the stairs, flanked by Filch and just behind them, Harry. A red jet of light hit a Catherine wheel as it tried to escape up the grand staircase, it exploded, burning a hole into the portraits around it. Then, remembering something the twins had said about struggling to combine the duplication spell with the green fireworks, he pulled out his wand, the movement catching Ron's attention.

'What are you doing, you git?' He said furiously.

'Something I overheard from your brother.' He replied, then he bellowed at the top of his lungs. 'Inquisitorial squad, coming through!'

The students parted, allowing him through to the forefront of the crowd where he brandished his wand at one of the three green rockets. He bellowed the banishing spell and the jet of red light shot out of his wand, impacting solidly on the rocket, which obediently disappeared with an almost inaudible pop.

'There! Banish them!' Umbridge screeched, and the remainder of the inquisitorial squad obeyed, lifting their wands and casting banishing charms. Each firework fizzled down to an ember, inciting a disappointed groan from the students. A second wave of the charms had the corridor almost entirely back under control. Then, with a sound like a gunshot, one of the embers exploded back into life, ten dragons roaring through the room. Like popcorn in a hot pan, embers exploded back into ten times the number of fireworks. Umbridge squealed in dismay as they spilled over her head in huge numbers, escaping into the rest of the school.

'Brilliant, Mate.' Ron muttered admiringly, but Gellert was more interested in looking confused enough to throw Umbridge off his trail.