Arrests
As the seventh and eighth years continued to laugh and joke after the fight, a small cat limped into the room. She slipped under a table and crept closer, her eyes locked on the bushy haired girl. The girl was nice to her master and had petted her without being rough with her. Maybe the girl could help her master now.
As Hermione continued to hug Mikey tightly, she heard a small, "Meow." She looked around and saw Mrs Norris. The cat was limping and looking up at her. "Mrs. Norris, what happened? Why are you limping?" she took out her wand and cast a diagnostic on the cat. From where she'd been kicked into the wall, her front leg was broken as well as a couple of her little ribs. Hermione cast a healing spell on her, then lifted her gently into her arms.
"Mrs. Norris, where is Mr. Filch? Is he hurt?" she didn't think twice about the fact that she was talking to a cat. Crookshanks had his way of communicating with her, why not Mrs. Norris?
The cat mowed once more and looked back the way she'd came in. "Mikey, there's something going on. You never see Mrs. Norris without Mr. Filch. I'm worried about him. He's been trying to help me out with that woman. Mrs. Norris just had a broken leg and ribs. Mr. Filch wouldn't hurt her for anything in the world!" she looked at him worriedly.
Mikey turned his attention to the five tied up men. "You have answers. I want them, now." He said in a deadly tone of voice. He crouched down in front of the leader. Just before he could begin questioning him, Fenrir walked in with the rest of their small group. He looked around and grinned a wicked grin. Hermione shivered, thankful that grin wasn't aimed at her.
"Greyback, just in time." Fen's attention was instantly centered on Mikey. The last time the boy had called him by his last name had been when he lost his memories. This time, though, he was fully aware of him. Then he saw the bound men behind him and became even more alert. He wandered over, his nails unconsciously growing into claws. The rest of the pups followed, right on his heels.
"See that werewolf? He's my Alpha, pretty much my werewolf father, you could say. He's been yearning for grandchildren for a very, very long time. Do you realize," Mikey snarled menacingly, "you almost killed the very grandchildren he's been waiting so very long for? That girl," he pointed at Hermione, "that one," this time, Vicky, "and that one." The last girl he pointed at was Lavender. "Those three girls, who YOU and your men were just firing curses at, those three girls are his daughters in law. They are all THREE pregnant with his grandbabies. You almost killed THREE of FENRIR GREYBACK'S grandchildren. Do you realize the penalty for what you have done? He is fully within his rights to demand your life! You used the Crucio curse on me! I am fully within MY rights to end your sorry arse, right here, right now!" By now, Mikey was right in the man's face, growling angrily at him. The man was too terrified to even squeak out an answer. Fenrir, crouching behind him, was also growling angrily, his eyes glowing amber and burning for vengeance.
"It was her, she sent for us, she told us it would be a pie job, just come in, get the girl and leave! Please, you have to believe me!" he yelled fearfully. Alex walked over. "Who was it? Tell us her name, we want to know everything!" he let the man see his elongated incisors. The man started blubbering. "Umbridge, Dolores Umbridge, she's downstairs right now, waiting for us to bring the girl to her. She didn't say why she needed her, just for us to grab her and bring her down there!"
Mikey backed away from the man. His plan had worked. Fen and Alex had both played their parts brilliantly. Fen stood and came over to check the condition of his daughters, to assure himself that they were unscathed. He pulled the three of them into a gentle embrace. They, in turn, hugged him tightly as they assured him they were fine.
"I think we need to pay Umbridge a little visit, yeah, Fen?" Mikey asked. Fenrir nodded solemnly. He pulled Hermione a short distance away. "Hey, beautiful, you still got that little beaded bag you like to carry around?" Hermione nodded, puzzled. "You still keep Polyjuice Potion in there?" her eyes widened and she smiled. She pulled the bag out and stuck her arm down in it. She came back up with a large bottle filled to the rim with Polyjuice Potion. "Is there enough there for five doses?" Hermione checked the levels, calculated the amount for five doses and nodded again. He confiscated five goblets on the table and told her to prepare five doses for him. Then he faced the other boys.
"This was the last straw! Umbridge is going down! Me and Alex are going down there. We need three more people." He looked at the other boys. Harry and Seamus immediately jumped forward. "Potter, Finnegan. One more." To everyone's surprise, Marcus Flint stepped forward.
"Marcus? What are you doing?" Angelina asked, looking confused. Marcus walked back to her and held her tightly against him. "Angel, I know you too well. You were likely right behind Granger and Samms, fighting like hell. They could have caused you to lose the baby. I would have hated it but it wouldn't have been that bad. We can always have another kid. But if they'd caused you to lose this one, it would have broken your heart and THAT would have killed me. I got to do this, sweetie, for you and the baby." He whispered into her ear. Angelina looked at him, teary eyed. "Be careful, Marcus Flint. Come back to me safely or I'll never forgive you." He smiled and kissed her.
The five boys walked over to the bound men. They all plucked one hair, then went to the table where Hermione had the Polyjuice Potion ready to go. They added the hair, then all five downed the Potion. "All right, its time. You ready, Granger?" Hermione nodded. The 'leader' crouched down and spoke to the cat. "Ok, Mrs. Norris. Lead us to Mr. Filch."
The rest of the boys stood guard over the prisoners. Fen and the other pups followed the five hooded figures and Hermione. The cat ran nimbly down the stairs and came to a halt outside Umbridge's classroom. She crouched down and hissed angrily toward the door. "You stay out here, Mrs. Norris. We'll get him back." The man knocked on the door and entered, pushing Hermione ahead of him. Umbridge was sitting at her desk. She smiled smugly as she saw Hermione brought before her. "Well, this is better than I hoped. Now, we can proceed, Miss Granger. Have you her wand?" the wand was handed over. "Now then, Miss Granger. You are a Muggleborn. You failed to register with the Ministry of Magic. Therefore, we will have your trial here and now. This is the wand you have been using, yes?"
"Yes, that is my wand." Hermione answered.
"Oh, no, my dear, this is NOT your wand. Whose wand is this? Which witch or wizard did you steal this wand from?" Umbridge snapped.
"The wand chose ME. I've had the wand since I was eleven! It chose me!" Hermione snapped back.
"Wrong, Miss Granger! Wands only choose a witch or a wizard, not muggles." Umbridge's eyes narrowed.
"IT. CHOSE. ME!" Hermione hotly insisted. The hooded figures stood around the desk in a semi-circle. "You all may take a seat. This will take a while. We have to wait for him to be back in the castle." Now she looked back at Hermione. "Miss Granger, muggleborns are an abomination of the Wizarding world. Why do you insist on torturing yourself? Nobody will ever listen to anything you have to say. They could care less if you simply,,,, left." Umbridge shrugged. "Muggleborns like you are only good for one thing." Her eyes dropped to Hermione's stomach. "And THAT is not it! Should I allow my men to SHOW you the only thing Muggleborns are good for?" she arched an eyebrow at Hermione. Willing herself to calm down, Hermione stood calmly in front of Umbridge's desk. She met the woman's eyes without flinching. "Mikey will not be pleased with this. He'll come for me, you'll see."
"Why, my dear, I'm counting on it. I have important business I need to discuss with him. You are nothing but leverage." She smiled tightly at Hermione. Hermione tipped her head. "Exactly what business are you hoping to discuss with him?"
"He is a very important young man. About to be even more important. We mustn't let a filthy little mudblood get in his way, right? You and that little abomination have to go, my dear. We can't have you distracting the new Dark Lord from his duties, now, can we? My dear, don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't make you suffer,,,too much."
"New Dark Lord? Are you barmy? He's not the new Dark Lord! He's just Mikey!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Oh, no! The Dark Lord appointed him as his heir. The heir of Slytherin. The new Dark Lord. All we have to do is find the proof. If we can't find anything, then we'll simply have to take the memory from him. That's where you come in. If he knows you're safe, he'll give us the memory without a fight." Hermione looked at her incredulously. 'The stupid woman actually believed what she was spouting!' she shook her head. "You are completely barmy! You know that, right?!"
"You! Be Quiet! You have no right to speak to me like that, you little MUDBLOOD!" Dolores screeched. Hermione noticed the veins popping up in her forehead with satisfaction.
"Where is Mr. Filch? Why was Mrs. Norris hurt earlier? What did you DO?" she kept talking, just to brass the woman completely off.
"I don't know what you're talking about! I haven't even seen Mr. Filch today." Dolores lied. 'Damn, how did the little chit know about that damn cat!' As if hearing her name, said cat came running into the classroom and ran straight to the door of Umbridge's private quarters. She looked back at Hermione and mowed as she scratched the door. Dolores turned red as Hermione arched a brow at her mockingly.
"Oh dear, Mrs. Norris doesn't seem to agree with you." Hermione almost burst out laughing at the enraged expression on her toad shaped face.
While Dolores and Hermione were arguing, the five men were moving into position, around Dolores. She didn't pay them any attention as she was too busy and riled up, arguing with Hermione. By the time she realized, it was too late. They had her surrounded. About that time, the door popped open and Fenrir came in, all five pups still trailing after him.
"What is this? What are you doing here?" she looked at Fen, contemptuously. Fen walked right up to her desk, leaned over it and snarled angrily at her. She hurriedly pushed away, gasping in fear. Fen smiled in cold satisfaction. Hermione laughed softly as she leaned against Fen, to calm him down.
"I'll ask you again, where is Mr. Filch? You'll have to bring him out eventually. Mrs. Norris has already given us a basic location. Also why was Mrs. Norris injured earlier? What did you DO to her?" Hermione demanded. Umbridge looked at her and sneered. "Like I even need to answer you. I don't answer to STUDENTS!"
"You might not answer to students but you can answer me! Where is the old man? What have you done with him?" Fen snapped at her.
"I don't answer to you, either, Fenrir Greyback! You should still be in Azkaban!" she yelled, then back up further as he growled again. The door opened once more. This time, the people who walked in truly shocked her. It was Minister Shacklebolt, Amelia Thompson, Albert Runcorn, and four Aurors.
"Kingsley, Albert, what are you doing here?" she asked, fearfully.
"Dolores Umbridge, you are under arrest. You conspired to bring anarchy back to our world. You orchestrated an attack against students, planned to turn one of my Aurors into a new dark lord and generally made everyone miserable. Both you and Albert will be detained at Azkaban for your actions against the Wizarding community. Oh, by the way, your ridiculous law will soon be on the way to being repealed."
Dolores looked at Albert, shocked. "What did you DO? You let them find out what we were doing?! How could you? I was going to be the first female Minister of Magic! He would have given me the position for putting him into power! You moron! You ruined everything!" she screamed at him, thereby incriminating herself.
They opened the door to her private quarters and freed Mr. Filch. Mrs. Norris meowed, purred and wound around his ankles, lovingly. He was crying tears of joy and relief at being free and having his beloved cat back.
Kingsley Shacklebolt personally took his statement against Umbridge. Filch repeated everything he'd heard her tell Runcorn, then he told him everything she'd said to him afterwards.
He also told him what she'd done to Mrs. Norris. The more he heard, the angrier he looked, especially her behavior towards the cat. "Seriously, Dolores, an innocent cat? Really?!" he looked around at all the kitten plates, not a kitten was in sight. "They all ran and hid when she kicked Mrs. Norris, Minister Shacklebolt. They haven't come back out yet. She scared them!" Mr. Filch said. "Well, I think we need to relocate them to a good home, then, don't we? To someone who will treat them right and NOT scare them!" Shacklebolt replied. Umbridge gasped, "Not my babies! You can't take my babies from me!" "Dolores, you'll be leaving them behind when you're taken to Azkaban anyway. Once you receive your sentence, there will be no kitten plates!" Umbridge looked absolutely horrified as he told her that.
Right on time, the Polyjuice Potion wore off. She gaped as Mikey, Alex, Marcus, Harry and Seamus were revealed. "But, but,, how? How did they find out? How did they get here so fast?" she yelled. They all sneered at her.
"What's the matter, Dolores? Angry that you didn't get your way?" Mikey mocked her.
"Why do you not want to fulfill your destiny? You were intended as the next Dark Lord! Weall heard him tell you!" she screamed.
"First, I do NOT want to be the next Dark Lord! Second, he didn't appoint me the next Dark Lord! He had no heirs to inherit his MONEY, you blubbering idiot, so he left it to me! If you wanted to find ANY kind of documentation of him naming me ANYTHING, you should have GONE to Gringotts. They have all the paperwork you need!" he laughed. "Third, I may have been Imperioed to hell and back those last days but I fucking know who was and was NOT in my camp! You weren't there and neither was he, which begs the question? How did you come to the conclusion that he named me a Dark Lord?!" he was seriously interested to hear this!
Umbridge glared as she attempted to figure out how to protect her source of information. Before she knew it, she was levitated into the air by her heel. Then she found herself surou died by Fen and the younger pups, all growling and looking hungry.
"There was a girl. One of the boys, who worked for you, had a girl there with him! She was the one who told me about the Dark Lord naming you!" she squealed as one of the pups got too close and brushed against her.
"There was NOBODY near us, except Lucius Malfoy!" he snarled at her. "You fell for a trick! Is that why you dropped the Muggleborn Registration Committee? Is that when you dragged up this ridiculous law?"
'You wouldn't have your bride if not for that ridiculous law, Mr. Scabior!" she simpered.
"Oh, make no mistake, Dolores, I marked Hermione Granger as MINE long before you came up with that stupid law. Even if Potter hadn't won, she would still be mine. She'll be mine until the day one of us dies! Your stupid law just helped me claim her faster! For THAT, I sincerely thank you, Dolores." Mikey smirked at her. Dolores looked like she'd bitten into a lemon. She had nothing else to say.
Shortly afterwards, Kingsley, Amelia and the Aurors left, taking Umbridge and Runcorn with them. Harry, Alex, Seamus and Marcus left to go back to their brides. After thanking them yet again for saving him and Mrs. Norris, Mr. Filch shambled off to his own quarters. Fen and the pups headed back to the Great Hall to have a quick dinner before Ron ate all the food.
Hermione suddenly found herself alone with Mikey, who had a very predatory look in his eye. She noticed he had his Snatcher clothes on. She wasn't sure why she hadn't realized before exactly what he was wearing.
"When did you get your clothes back?" she attempted to distract him. He backed her up to one of the tables and lifted her on top of it. She gasped and leaned back on her hands.
"They were at the foot of my bed, the first night. The headmistress told me and Alex we could wear them during the weekends." He ducked his face into her hair, breathing deeply.
"You know, its bad luck to see the bride the day before the wedding." She tried again.
"The wedding is Sunday. I have the rest of the night and all day tomorrow to enjoy you, darling, and don't believe I won't." he chuckled at her attempts to distract him. He laid her down on the table and climbed up beside her. She put her arms around him and pulled him close. Right before they lost themselves in each other's arms, he waved his wand and locked the door.