Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter.
~*~*~Chapter Thirty-Six: Blackmailing the Inquisitor~*~*~
"Go." Harry said, and all around Larisa there were shouts and shimmering bursts of white mist. Larisa dove into her mind, trying to find a happy thought. When she found one, she rose her wand.
"Expecto Patronum!" She cried, and a bright white panther sprang forward. It walked around the room before fading. An otter was swiming through the air around Hermione, and she was looking at it fondly. Lavender Brown was struggling a little, as was Neville, and Harry wove between everyone, helping the one who were struggling. Larisa made her way over to Hermione. "Hi Hermione."
"Oh, hi Larisa." Hermione said. "Were you able to make a patronus?"
"Yes, watch." Larisa said happily, raising her wand again. "Expecto Patronum!" Again, the bright white panther jumped out of Larisa's wand tip.
"Your patronus is a panther?"
"It used to be a piranha." Larisa said with a shrug. "I've gone down in viciousness."
"I always thought that your patronus would be a snake or something." Hermione said, watching as Larisa's patronus faded.
"I do seem like the type of person to have a patronus like that. I wonder if it will ever change into a snake...Horrible emotional upheavals follow me around." Larisa laughed, when the door opened, and a house elf wearing eight hats came walking in. It walked right over to Harry, and the whole room fell silent as if hit by a Silencing Charm. Harry was holding onto the elf, restraining it from hitting itself.
"Who is 'she', Dobby?" Harry asked the elf frantically, and Larisa felt as though she had just been hit over the head.
"Umbridge..." She said loudly. Harry looked up at Larisa, and she felt all of the color drain out of her face.
"What about her Dobby? She hasn't found out, has she?" Harry asked the elf, who's face was twisted into a horrified look. "Is she coming?"
"Yes, Harry Potter, yes!" The elf squeaked. Harry stood up and turned to face everyone.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RUN!" He shouted. Larisa jumped out of the way, letting everyone pass.
"Come on!" Hermione said loudly. Harry picked up the elf, running over to the back of the group that was fighting to get out the door. Larisa managed to shove her way through, and she hurried down the corridor. Suddenly, something caught around her ankles and she fell, sprawling forward. Harry was also running, and he too fell forwards, but he slid about six feet before stopping.
"Hey, Professor, I got o-" Draco's voice began to say, when he stopped. Larisa rolled over onto her back, forcing herself to sit up. "Larisa?"
"Yes, it's me. You can stop looking at me like I have Blast-Ended Skrewts crawling out my ears." She snapped. Draco walked over to her and held his hand out, and Larisa grabbed it. Draco pulled her to her feet, then brushed some dust off of her shoulder.
"Did you get caught in the Trip Jinx?"
"Yeah, I think so." Larisa lied, looking at her feet.
"Are you alright?" Draco asked, brushing some more dust off of her arm.
"Yes, I'm fine." She mumbled, when Umbridge came bustling around the corner, a very wide smile on her face.
"Oh, very good, Draco, you caught t-"
"No, I only caught one." Draco said defensively, turning around and folding his arms, glaring at Umbridge.
"No no, Draco. You caught two." Umbridge said, glaring at Larisa, her smile slowly growing wider. Larisa's pupils contracted, and she hunched her shoulders.
"No. I only got one. She accidentally got caught in the Trip Jinx." He said in an acidic tone.
"She's still coming with me-"
"Why?" Larisa spat, her pupils in danger of vanishing. Umbridge merely shrugged, then bent over and grabbed Harry's arm.
"Fifty points to Slytherin, Draco." Umbridge said sweetly before turning and grabbing Larisa's arm as well. "Ten points from Slytherin, Larisa."
"Let go of my arm..." Larisa hissed, but Umbridge only smiled wider.
"Draco, you hop along and see if you can catch any more." Umbridge commanded. "You're both coming with me." With that, Larisa was dragged towards Dumbledore's office, leaving Draco standing in the middle of the hallway looking quite uneasy. Larisa began to try and yank her arm out of Umbridge's grasp, but it was hopeless.
"Let...Me...Go..." Larisa snarled. Umbridge only tightened her grip on Larisa's arm, and Larisa gave a loud yelp of pain, but didn't say anything else. As they walked, her pupils returned to normal size, but Larisa could have sworn there was smoke coming out of her ears.
"Fizzing Whizbee." Umbridge sang when they reached the entrance to Dumbledore's office. The walked up the stairs and strode right into the office, which was full of people. There was Professor Dumbledore sitting at his desk with Professor McGonagall behind him. There were two Aurors in the room, one was Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the other was a very tough looking person. There was also Fudge, the Minster of Magic, and a boy with glasses and freckles. Larisa figured he was probably one of Ron's brothers. Larisa managed to yank herself free from Umbridge's grasp, and she jumped away.
"Well well well..." Fudge said in an excited tone. Larisa shot him a filthy look, her pupils beginning to contract again.
"Potter was heading back towards the Gryffindor Tower. Rei was possibly on her way to the Slytherin common room. The Malfoy boy cornered them both, but he tried to get Rei out of trouble. Heaven knows why." Umbridge said with excitement in her voice. Larisa bit back a smart remark, willing herself to not lose control this time.
"I must remember to tell Lucius...Do you have any idea why Draco tried to get you out of trouble, Rei?" Fudge asked, his eyes narrowing. Larisa responded with a low growl, her eyes narrowing and her pupils contracting. "Do you know why you're here?" Fudge asked, turning to Harry.
"No." Harry said, and Fudge turned to Larisa.
"Do you know why you're here, Rei?" He asked.
"No." Larisa spat, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"You are both not aware of breaking any rules?" Fudge asked.
"Nope." Larisa and Harry said in unison.
"What about Ministry decrees?"
"Nope." Harry said flatly.
"Nope, but if I may speak, the 'decrees' are a whole load of waffle." Larisa snapped. "You really have no right to force such useless rules on us...Believe me, it goes against human rights. That's just mean and can be classified as cruel and unusual punishment, which can land you in Azkaban, sir." She added, putting on a falsely sweet voice. Fudge blinked, and seemed to be at a loss for words. Larisa smirked and folded her arms.
"So it is news to you both that an illegal student organization has been discovered?"
"Yes." Harry and Larisa said.
"I shall go fetch our informant, Minister." Umbridge said sweetly, leaving the room.
"Nothing like a good witness, is there, Dumbledore?" Fudge asked, and Larisa couldn't stop the horrible sputter that came out of her mouth. Luckily, she was able to clap both hands over her mouth before she went into a rant about what Fudge had said. "Is there something you want to say, Miss Rei?" Larisa shook her head, keeping both hands clamped firmly over her mouth. It was silent for several more minutes, when the door opened, and Umbridge came in with a girl who was hiding her face in her hands.
"Don't be scared, dear. You did the right thing, coming to me. The Minister is very happy with you." Umbridge said softly. "Marietta's mother is Madam Edgecombe, from the Department of Magical Transportation, the Floo Network Office. She's been helping police the fires of Hogwarts."
"Very good! Well, lets hear what you have to say- Good Lord!" Fudge cried as Marietta raised her head. Fudge jumped backwards as the girl wailed and pulled the neck of her robes up to her eyes, but the whole room had seen she had a horrible disfiguration of her face. There wear purple pustules that were on her face, forming together to make the word 'sneak'. Larisa felt a pang of sorrow, and she pulled her wand out and walked over to the girl.
"It's alright, it's alright!" Larisa said quickly. "I'll work out a countercurse...Just calm down." The girl gave a muffled wail and shook her head, backing away from Larisa while Umbridge began to tell Fudge what had happened. "Really, it's alright."
"Have you got a counterjinx for this?" Fudge asked Umbridge, nodding at Marietta's face.
"I have yet to find o-"
"Why don't you two stop talking about her face?" Larisa snarled in a dangerous voice, stowing her wand in her pocket. Umbridge turned to Fudge and began to explain something else, but Larisa didn't pay attention until Umbridge said something that caught Larisa's attention.
"Evidence?" Umbridge asked in a horribly sweet voice. "Why else would Mi-"
"Oh, of course, the Ministry of Morons ignores plain evidence." Larisa spat.
"Miss Rei, hold your tounge!" Umbridge said loudly.
"Nah, I don't think I will." Larisa said defiantly, folding her arms and tilting her head.
"Miss Edgecombe," Umbridge said, ignoring Larisa. "You can just nod or shake your head, that won't make the spots worse. Have these meetings been going on for six months?" Marietta shook her head, and Larisa saw that her eyes were oddly blank. Umbridge looked over at Fudge, then back at Marietta. "I don't think you understood, dear...Have these meetings been going on for the past six months?" Again, Marietta shook her head. "What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?"
"She obviously means 'no'. There. A solid block of evidence that proves you wrong. Sorry your bubble has been burst." Larisa said calmly, fingering the handle of her wand in her pocket.
"So there haven't been any meetings for six months?" McGonagall asked. Marietta nodded.
"Yet there was a meeting tonight, you told me about it! Potter was the leader, was he not, and- why are you shaking your head, girl?"
"Well, she means no." Larisa stated, grasping the handle of her wand firmly. Umbridge turned to Marietta, grabbed her shoulders, and began to shake her very hard. Larisa whipped her wand out.
"Relashio!" She shouted, pointing her wand at Umbridge. Umbridge was thrown backwards off her feet, away from Marietta. "Idiot. You don't want to manhandle the students. It will end badly." Larisa spat before putting her wand back into her pocket.
"You'll want to control that temper of yours, Miss Rei. You just-" Umbridge said as she got up.
"Hexed a teacher? Oh, yes. I did. I am fully aware of that. I did not lose control, however. I purposely did that, for you were breaking a rule." Larisa said loftily, a horrible sneer crossing her face. She had Umbridge cornered, the blackmail was working. Larisa twitched her left hand, turning it so that the words carved into the back of her skin, which were still red, shone in the firelight. Larisa winked at Umbridge, who looked livid at the idea of a fifteen year old making her lose her job. Umbridge turned to Fudge, and Larisa tuned her out as she turned to Harry, twitched her left hand again, jerked her head towards Umbridge, and winked.
&%$&%$&%$
Larisa was pinned onto the floor, shoved out of harms way. Dumbledore had just knocked out two Aurors, Umbridge, and Fudge in a single blow. McGonagall dragged Larisa up off the floor, and Larisa shielded her eyes from the dust that was starting to settle.
"Are you alright?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes!" McGonagall said, and Larisa shook her hair out.
"You must act as though no time has passed. Thank Kingsley for modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory for me, please." Dumbledore said. "Larisa, thank you for that excellent spell work in stopping Dolores from shaking Miss Edgecombe."
"Y-you're welcome, sir..." Larisa murmured. Dumbledore said some things to Harry, then reached up and grabbed his phoenix's tail, and with that, Disaparated in a flash of fire. Everyone else awoke, looking livid.
"Where is he?!" Fudge cried.
"The door!" The tough looking wizard screeched, throwing himself at the door. Kingsley followed, and Umbridge turned to glare at Larisa.
"Your compassion for others astounds me. Being that you're Slytherin, I would have-"
"I don't have to live up to my stereotype." Larisa spat.
"-figured that you would care less, even be happy to see someone in pain." Umbridge continued, completely ignoring Larisa. Larisa yearned to give Umbridge a good, sharp kick in the shins.
"I can be a sweet person, Professor, but get on my bad side, and you will regret it." Larisa said smugly, twitching her left hand again. "As for my compassion for others, I just believe that every one person is the same, no matter what their blood status is. One of my good friends is muggleborn, and I'm pureblood. I don't think she's below me, though."
"Your compassion for mudbloods, blood traitors, and muggles will get you hurt someday, Miss Rei..." Umbridge said very softly. "Minerva, I think you should get these three off to bed."
"Yes..." McGonagall said, and she ushered Marietta, Harry, and Larisa out of the office. As soon as they were out of the office, McGonagall addressed Larisa. "Miss Rei, it looked like you were blackmailing Professor Umbridge..."
"I was." Larisa said with a smirk, twitching her left hand again. "She knows what she did, and she knows it's only a matter of time before I tell what she did...But for now..."
"Well, in that aspect, you live up to your stereotype..." Harry said. "I will tell you, though, that I've never met a Slytherin quite like you..."
Larisa just laughed.
In May, 1980, the Last will be born.
Different than the rest, but many traits the same as the one before.
Skilled she will be, like the one before.
She will survive the attack when she is five,
but at a horrible price ten years later,
yet bringing her special abilities, not at all like the one before.
With bravery like that, I'm surprised Larisa isn't in Gryffindor...
Just remember...
Han shot first.
-Star Wars
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