Chapter 37: Triumvirate Rising
September 27th, 1995
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"This was done with a Blood Quill," said Daphne, her voice disgusted at what she was saying as she held out her hand, "Their sole use in magical law is the signing of certain contracts. Very, very few magical contracts call for them, and they are highly regulated. It is blatantly illegal for Dolores Umbridge to have one in her personal possession. The penalty for forcing someone to use one is a minimum of a year in Azkaban."
"Why would she risk using it on you?" asked Tracey.
"I told her I didn't know what it was when she showed it to me," said Daphne innocently.
"Wait, and she believed you?" said Harry.
Daphne nodded, a wry smile appearing on her face. "I think she didn't care if she got caught. I have a theory on that."
"It's still really dark magic, Daphne," said Ron.
"I know babe," said Daphne, "But now we have her."
"Has she used this on anyone else?" asked Harry.
Daphne's eyes widened. "Oh bloody hell, I should have thought of that."
Harry began to stroke his chin as he thought. "You know, we could turn her in for this…"
"Ooooh, Harry has a plan," said Tracey.
"If she's using this as a standard punishment, we could kill two birds with one stone," mused Harry, "Deal with the other problem we've been having here at school as well."
"Oh, Harry... you think we can use this to get rid of Dumbledore?" asked Hermione.
Everyone in the room stared at Harry as if he was crazy.
"I do," said Harry, "The moment he surrendered to Umbridge on the IUC, he made it clear that he wouldn't stand up for the school, or for the students who needed his protection."
"I don't know," said Ron, "Fred and George have been keeping an eye on him. They seem to think he was happy you were standing up to Umbridge. I know Snape says that the headmaster is doing this to pressure you, but what if he's lying? What if instead Dumbledore's trying to get you to mobilize the school against Umbridge so her position here becomes untenable?"
"If that is the case, then simply turning this in would be the best course of action," said Tracey, "I know that Dumbledore hasn't done much to engender trust in you lately Harry, but I can't believe that he's this far gone."
"We need to summon the war council," said Harry, "get everyone's opinion."
Everyone nodded.
"Are you sure you're alright Daphne?" asked Harry.
Daphne grinned. "Ron just spent the night making me feel better. Right now, I'm fine."
Harry and Hermione laughed at that, while Tracey smiled tolerantly. Ron just blushed and grumbled quietly.
XXXXX
October 2nd, 1995
The war council met the next week. It was the same group as before, but with Blaise and Seamus added. Apparently Ginny had convinced them that they needed to be here for this one, though Harry wasn't sure how. Still they were all sitting comfortably in the Room of Requirement, which had summoned them a giant conference table with comfortable armchairs. Everyone had already been briefed on both of the two plans before this meeting.
"We've managed to confirm that at least six students have had Blood Quills used on them by Dolores Umbridge," Hermione explained to the assembled group, "This constitutes all of the detentions she had given that were not given to people part of Malfoy's anti-IUC group.
"Malfoy is clearly working with Umbridge then?" asked Sue.
"There's no doubt," said Justin, "Zacharias Smith saw him relaying information to her."
"I thought Zacharias was part of Malfoy's group," said Ginny.
"He got cold feet when Voldemort came back," said Hannah scornfully, "He's scared half to death that he's going to be forced to become a Death Eater."
"This is perfect then!" said Cedric, "We turn her in, Umbridge is gone, problem solved."
"There is still a problem," said Harry, "The fact that she is using the Blood Quill on multiple people is trouble."
"It means that she knows it is possible that someone would identify the Blood Quill for what it is, but she doesn't care," said Hermione, "Hell, if Daphne had recognized it, she had to know she'd also know how illegal it is."
"So what's her angle in using it then?" asked Alicia.
"I think she's trying to revive corporal punishment at Hogwarts," speculated Daphne, "she had to pivot away from discrediting Harry, so she's pushing that old darling of the purebloods."
Everyone looked at Daphne expectantly.
"It used to be common practice for corporal punishment to be used here," she explained, "I know everyone thinks that Argus Filch is full of nonsense when he goes around saying that the school used to torture people, and he mostly is, but they did once use corporal punishment. Headmaster Dippet phased it out though. But Hogwarts is still allowed to use it under the law, it just doesn't. A lot of crusty old purebloods think we should bring it back though."
"There is also a waiver for Hogwarts in the use of certain Dark objects for legitimate academic purposes," realised Padma, "Ever since Dumbledore took over the school hasn't taught any of those things, but the waiver still exists. Blood Quills are probably on that list. Umbridge could say she possessed the Blood Quill in her capacity as a teacher at Hogwarts. That wouldn't address how she got it of course…"
"I mean the Board of Governors would still fire her if we brought this to their attention," insisted Rebecca, "and Umbridge would get in legal trouble for acquiring one."
"Not if Fudge says he authorised it," said Daphne, "That's the real key here. Umbridge thinks she is invulnerable. She isn't thinking about public opinion."
"If the news is public, it would give us no real leverage over Fudge. The damage would already be done and he would move on," said Harry, "But the threat of this information being released would force Fudge to come to the table. Along with our little trap of course."
"But that option has us getting rid of Dumbledore!" said Fred.
"I know he's been a royal pain in the arse, but isn't that going a bit far?" said George.
"I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on this one, I do admit," said Harry, "But this would also give us lots of leverage over Fudge. We'd neutralize most of the friendly fire against us in one move, and could concentrate on planning against Voldemort."
"I think this is a bit too risky," disagreed Neville.
"I'd agree, if not for the tournament," said Cedric, "Dumbledore has been making a lot of mistakes lately."
"I agree," said Ron. While Ron hadn't been certain of this before, Harry knew that he had changed his mind when he realised that Dumbledore's refusal to stand up for Daphne had led to her being tortured with a Blood Quill.
"I think that Dumbledore wants us to deal with Umbridge," said Angelina, "It makes sense."
"It doesn't matter what Dumbledore wants," snapped Blaise, his voice cutting through everything else, "What matters is, as Headmaster of Hogwarts, he has failed. And he needs to be gone."
Everyone looked at Blaise. "Please,' said Harry, "continue."
"His job as Headmaster is to create an environment conducive for learning. He has failed there with Umbridge, that's for sure. But that's his lesser offense," said Blaise carefully, "He hasn't protected us, his other job. In fact, due to making Fudge a political enemy, he's made every student in this school a pawn in Fudge's political games."
"But surely that is Fudge's fault?" asked Angelina.
"It doesn't matter whose fault it is!" shouted Blaise, "The fact that it has happened is enough! When he realized that his presence put the children at risk, he should have resigned! Instead we're now forced to play these games!"
"Everyone on this council has volunteered to be part of this," said Daphne.
"Did every student who is being forced to use a Blood Quill?" demanded Blaise, "Did Stacey Rutledge, the muggleborn second year who was forced to use a Blood Quill because she said the Ministry's policies seemed to hurt muggleborns, deserve to be forced to be a part of this? NO! Dumbledore has to go. He should have done it willingly, but he didn't, so we'll force him to do his duty."
Everyone hung their heads. Of course Blaise was right, they just hadn't wanted to admit it.
"Is everyone okay with the plan we've made up then?" asked Harry.
"I want to be a part of it," said Ginny.
"We can't risk Percy by letting any of the Weasleys get caught up in this," said Hermione.
"Speaking of which," said Harry, "One of Percy's last notes said Fudge intends to create a new position, Hogwarts Inquisitor, and intends to install Umbridge in the post."
"We need to do this before she takes that post," said Daphne, "that way we can ensure that she doesn't try to take the Headmaster's position from McGonagall."
"In fact, we need to make that one of our demands," said Luna, "Allowing Umbridge to take over would just be inviting an infestation of Nargles."
Everyone nodded their assent to the plan. A good number seemed quite reluctant to do so though.
"Thank you, everyone," said Harry, "especially those of you who are going to volunteer to help us."
"Oh, come now Harry," said Luna, "It's just like getting a tattoo."
"Say that when it's your hand," said Daphne.
"She will be," said Harry, "that's the whole point."
XXXXX
October 5th, 1995
They had to move fast, so Harry called the group that would be the center of this protest together as soon as he could. The choice had been made to use more than just the war council people, as that would give Umbridge too good an idea who was arrayed against her. So they had needed help from outside the war council, but there were lots of people dissatisfied with the disbanding of the IUC. Even those who hadn't taken the IUC's mission seriously missed the extra study sessions. Harry had made sure to explain what the likely consequences of this would be. Everyone stayed, they were all on board.
And now, they were all gathered outside the Dark Arts tower, about forty students total. Hermione was right next to Harry, and most of Harry's other friends were around. Ginny had stayed away as she'd been asked to, as had Ron, Fred, and George. Though, Fred and George were rather miffed about missing the whole thing.
Harry used the Sonorus charm on himself. "Bring back the IUC!" he shouted.
"DOWN WITH UMBRIDGE!" shouted the rest of the crowd.
"Bring back House Unity!" shouted Hermione through her own Sonorus.
"KICK UMBRIDGE OUT ON HER ARSE!" shouted the crowd.
They kept up the chants. Finally, they saw a rather furious Umbridge standing at the window.
"NOW!" shouted Tracey to a group in the crowd, which Harry noted also had Luna, Seamus and Blaise, as well as several other students. They began to walk forward. In formation.
"Oh, bollocks, what have they got planned?" wondered Harry. This had not been part of the plan he'd approved.
Suddenly, the entire group led by Tracey spun around and lifted their robes, pointing their (bare) backsides squarely at Umbridge. There were letters on each cheek, spelling DOWN WITH UMBRIDGE.
"Oh dear," said Hermione, though her eyes were lit mischievously, "Well, now we know why Fred and George were so upset to miss this."
"Not everyday you get to show your arse to a teacher," agreed Harry, as the student
"I'd almost have been willing to join in," said Hermione, "Almost, mind you. For the cause of course."
"I'd give a lot to see that," said Harry with a grin.
"Well, I'll see if I can arrange that for you," said Hermione archly, "In private."
Harry grinned. "What has Slytherin house done to you Miss Granger?"
"What is the meaning of this!" screamed Umbridge who had managed to get down here so fast Harry wasn't sure how she had done it without apparating.
"We're protesting your incompetent teaching!" shouted Daphne. Tracey and her group all cheered at that as they spun around and mooned Umbridge again. Unfortunately, they were now out of order so their message read WION HTDW RIDGEBUM.
"Detention for all of you!" screamed Umbridge.
The crowd just cheered.
As they walked back to the Slytherin common room, Harry and Hermione walked up to Tracey.
"Nice little addition you had there," said Hermione.
"Oh, that was fun!" said Tracey.
"I'll say," said Harry, "Though I do say that as someone who just saw your bum."
Tracey giggled. "I know, right? Was it all you thought it would be?"
"Seamus's was better," said Harry with a straight face.
Tracey grinned, "Well of course it was, I'm not pretending to be perfect!"
"Don't listen to this philistine!" said Blaise, who was running to catch up to them. "Your backside stole the show!"
"This conversation is getting really weird," said Hermione.
"Ginny's going to be mad she didn't get to participate," said Luna.
Somehow, Harry wasn't so sure about that.
XXXXX
October 11th, 1995
As expected, Umbridge didn't waste time assigning Harry's group a single mass detention.
"She's really doing this," said Hermione to Harry as they got ready to go to the detention. They were both in their room, putting their books away.
"Yeah," said Harry, "She got away with it before, why won't she now?"
Hermione suddenly hugged Harry. "I'm really not looking forward to this."
"Neither am I," agreed Harry, "but when it's over, Umbridge will have given us everything we want. And I'll be here to kiss it and make it better, after all."
"I have a plan to help you get better too," said Hermione.
"Oh?" said Harry.
"Like our friends the other day, I have a message written on my bum," Hermione replied, "But this one is private."
Harry grinned.
XXXXX
As expected Umbridge assigned them lines. With Blood Quills. Each of them had a Blood Quill. Harry guessed she must have duplicated it, because he couldn't believe she had forty Blood Quills lying around. So they went at it for a bit, writing "I will not disrespect my professors," over and over again. And it hurt. It hurt a lot. But it would be worth it.
Daphne raised an eyebrow about 15 minutes in. Harry nodded at her. She quietly pulled out her wand and pointed it at Umbridge. Unfortunately, Umbridge chose that moment to look up.
"Miss Greengrass, what are you…?" started Umbridge.
And Daphne stunned her.
"Her seeing us is a problem," seethed Hermione.
"No it isn't," said Luna, "I've been playing around with obliviation and other mind magics, remember?"
Harry looked at Luna skeptically.
"I mean the worst that happens is I erase Dolores Umbridge's mind," said Luna, "no big loss."
Harry grinned viciously.
"Okay, everyone," ordered Hermione, "We have to finish our lines. And then sign them. We want the toad to know who the good boys and girls were now, don't we?"
Everyone laughed, as they got to work.
XXXXX
Dolores Umbridge awoke with a start. Had she fallen asleep during detention? That really did look rather bad, but she supposed the mood she'd been in had been rather exhausting. Everyone was gone, which was annoying, but all the students who'd been in detention had left signed sheets with their lines written on them in brilliant crimson. A brief inspection said they were complete. Umbridge gathered them up and filed them away in a drawer, giving no more thought to them.
XXXXX
October 12th, 1995
Draco Malfoy was sitting in the common room when Potter came in with Lovegood and Greengrass. They were always lording it over him these days because Potter was a prefect. Umbridge had put him in his place a few times, but that was only a minor balm to Malfoy. He needed to do something to Potter. And soon.
"Remember Luna, don't just leave that lying around," said Daphne.
"If Umbridge gets her hands on that contract we're all fucked," said Harry.
"Don't worry, I just need to get a couple more signatures," agreed Luna.
Draco stopped paying attention. Harry and his friends never left him anything interesting. They were quite effective at information security. Though they'd never given Luna anything all that important that he could tell.
So when he saw that Luna had left something behind, Draco decided to investigate it. It was a piece of parchment, labeled, "Dumbledore's Army: Those who have signed agree to join in the overthrow of Cornelius Fudge and his Tyranny."
Draco couldn't believe his good fortune. He grabbed the sheet and ran out of the common room, heading straight for Umbridge's office. He didn't notice the eyes of Ginny Weasley on him the whole time.
XXXXX
October 24th, 1995
It was a week before Halloween when it happened. Percy had promised them as much warning as he could give. In this case, it wasn't much, but enough time for Harry, Hermione, and Daphne to run down to the Entrance Hall.
Professor McGonagall was there as well.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Greengrass, why do I suddenly feel as if you being here has something to do with why Umbridge summoned me here," said the Deputy Headmistress.
"Because you are a very intelligent woman," said Harry with a smile, "Oh, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry about what's about to happen. It's dreadfully unfair to you, I know."
"Wait, what?" asked McGonagall.
"The Board of Governors is voting on removing Dumbledore right now," said Harry, "And Fudge is on his way to gloat. His gloating will be rather… short lived."
"Potter, what have you done?" demanded McGonagall.
"Only what he had too," assured Daphne.
"If Dumbledore had stood up for Daphne and the IUC, it wouldn't have been necessary," said Hermione.
McGonagall was about to reply when Umbridge entered with Fudge and two aurors; Dawlish (whom Harry recognized from his time living in Diagon Alley) and Kingsley Shacklebolt. When Umbridge saw Harry and his two friends she laughed.
"We're about to take down your precious headmaster!" snarled Umbridge. Harry looked at Hermione and Daphne and shrugged.
"Come along boy and see what a real player of the game can do," said Fudge triumphantly.
"Let's go," said Harry as his grin turned savage. Hermione and Daphne followed him, along with a very confused Minerva McGonagall.
XXXXX
Fudge charged into Dumbledore's office, Umbridge and the aurors behind him. Harry, his friends, and McGonagall were all right behind.
"I have you now!" shouted Fudge as he threw down a sheet of parchment. It was the list Luna had left for Draco. Harry resisted the urge to laugh.
Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly as he saw the parchment. He had definitely not been expecting that.
"Even now, the board of Governors is moving to remove you!" shouted a triumphant Umbridge, "They just got done examining this list privately!"
It almost hurt Harry to keep silent. Much as he was enjoying seeing the Headmaster on the back foot, he really wanted to get to the part where he turned the tables on Fudge. Fudge must have been in a hurry if he hadn't even waited for the Board of Governors to comment on his 'evidence.'
"Well, it seems you've caught me," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes. Had he seen through what Harry did? Possibly, but it probably didn't matter. He had to know that Harry had arranged this at the least.
"How can I contend with such solid evidence as this?" asked Dumbledore, "I suppose that the board will remove me at this point regardless of what evidence I bring up. Isn't that right, Miss Greengrass."
"My father indicated that you should have resigned when it became clear that the Ministry intended to interfere at Hogwarts," said Daphne.
Dumbledore nodded, "He is probably correct. I had rather hoped that Cornelius here would see reason."
"Well, he's about to," said Harry, his smile vicious.
"I see," said Dumbledore, "Then I guess all I have left to do is one thing."
"What you will do is accompany these aurors to a Ministry holding cell, on charges of treason and attempted insurrection," said Fudge angrily.
Harry finally did start laughing. "That's a good one Fudge, say it again!" he said as he tried to stop his chortles.
"Harry has quite correctly deduced that I do not intend to, as they say, 'come along quietly.'" said Dumbledore. Suddenly his phoenix, Fawkes was flying in. And just like that, Dumbledore was gone.
Harry began to clap. "Well played, Professor, well played."
"Potter, you seem to be acting as if you aren't in trouble yourself," said Umbridge.
"Oh Professor Umbridge, how can you be this dense?" said Harry, "Don't you see what's going on here? Surely you have to suspect by now that things aren't what they appear to be. Now, one more thing has to happen before the other shoe drops."
The fire in Dumbledore's quarter suddenly flared to life, and the head of Percy Weasley emerged. "Minister, Minister."
"Yes, Percy," said Fudge impatiently.
"The Board has voted to remove Dumbledore," said Percy, "Though they rejected your evidence. They say it was an obvious forgery! They removed Dumbledore based on Bryant Greengrasses' insistence that Dumbledore had put the students at risk."
"What?" said Fudge, his eyes shocked, "It is real! It was even signed with a Blood Quill!"
"And it is entirely non-binding," said Daphne, casting a spell at the parchment. Every name on it started glowing red.
"What? But a document signed with a Blood Quill like this is binding!" insisted Umbridge.
"Unless it is signed by means of a duplication charm of some sort," said Harry.
"This looks more like a combination of duplication and the Protean charm," said Hermione as if she hadn't been the one to cast the spells.
"Notice the names of the people on that list," said Harry, "They are exactly the people who were in detention with you Professor Umbridge. You made us write lines with Blood Quills."
"She did WHAT?!" screamed McGonagall, her wand now out.
Fudge was staring at Umbridge like she was insane. "Merlin! How could you be so stupid! That alone is enough to sink your career down the toilet!"
"Funny thing, all of us signed those sheets," continued Harry, "It's almost as if someone enchanted them to duplicate the names on another sheet. Auror Shacklebolt, I think you need to be in possession of that sheet, NOW."
Kingsley grabbed the parchment. "Sorry Minister, but if this evidence has been forged, that is a serious crime and we can't ignore it."
"As Minister…" started Fudge.
"Interfering in an official Auror investigation is a crime, even for the Minister for Magic," said Hermione.
"If the sheets we used for our lines have the duplication and protean charm necessary to automatically transfer a signature from one document to another, it will show up on those sheets," said Harry.
"Excuse me, while I go get them," cried out Umbridge before she ran out of the room..
"And excuse us while we make sure she isn't destroying evidence," said Dawlish, before following her with Kingsley.
"Oh good, both Aurors left," said Harry, "We can speak openly Minister."
"They aren't going to find those parchment sheets, are they?" asked Fudge.
"We placed them under a Fidelius charm when Umbridge wasn't looking, so probably not," admitted Harry, "They won't find them until we tell them to."
"Umbridge is going to go crazy trying to figure out why she can't remember the location of one of her desk drawers though," said Hermione.
"So…" started Fudge.
"What this means is that this incident will become public, along with everything else that has happened, if, and only if, we don't come to some sort of arrangement," said Harry.
"If I could prove that it was you that rigged this whole thing…"
"You won't," said Harry, "And the fact is, Umbridge used a Blood Quill on us. You could, of course, just fire her. I mean Greengrass would basically be able to take over the Wizengamot at that point and would probably unseat you as Minister before long, but you could do that."
"Or I can come to an agreement with you?" asked Fudge.
"First things first," said Harry, "Legilimens!"
And suddenly Harry was pouring all his memories of Voldemort's return directly into Fudge's mind.
"Harry! What are you doing!" shouted McGonagall.
Fudge held up his hand to stop McGonagall from interfering. Moments later, Harry cut the contact.
"That is not the preferred way to share a memory Potter, but it did the trick I guess," said Fudge, "Bloody fucking hell, he's back! All this effort to deny it, and he's actually back! My career is over."
"Maybe not," said Harry, his eyes flashing, "If you start taking action in secret, you can say you were trying to lull the Death Eaters into a false sense of security."
"Perhaps," said Fudge, "Yes, that could work. But how do I explain Dumbledore?"
"Don't," said Daphne, "The Board of Governors didn't boot him out because of your evidence, it was because he was putting our education in danger by feuding with you."
"A feud that will continue in public for a while," said Harry.
"So I'd be covered there as well," mused Fudge.
"I only have one demand," said Harry.
"Oh?" asked Fudge.
"Umbridge must obey the school rules from now on and under no circumstances can Umbridge become Headmistress of Hogwarts. EVER," said Hermione.
Fudge smiled grimly. "That I can understand. How did Dolores make such a huge mistake?"
"For the second time," said Daphne.
"This was a rather deliberate trap on our part this time though," said Hermione.
"I suppose this makes Minerva here acting Headmistress," said Fudge.
"So this was why you were apologizing earlier Potter," realised McGonagall.
"Can you say Dumbledore was doing the right thing in regards to the safety of the school recently?" asked Harry.
"No I cannot," said Acting Headmistress McGonagall, "Very well, I suppose I will need to be keeping Dolores on a short leash."
"Actually, she's going to be a pain in your arse," said Harry.
"Oh damnation, I forgot about that!" said Fudge, "They're voting on giving her that stupid Inquisitor position in a few days! I can't stop that vote, it cost me too much political capital to arrange it!"
"Don't worry," said Harry, "So long as you don't try to apply pressure to the Board of Governors, Headmistress McGonagall here is more than a match for Umbridge. Let her keep her empty title."
"Speaking of which, I think my first action as acting Headmistress will be to restore the IUC," said McGonagall.
"Good," agreed Daphne, "But they'll need a new president. I'm stepping down from the role. Umbridge's hate for me made the IUC a target. That can't be allowed to happen again."
"That is very responsible Daphne," said McGonagall.
"Make sure Umbridge doesn't step out of line again Fudge," said Harry menacingly, "I won't be so gentle with her next time."
Fudge nodded, but Harry saw a little flash of defiance in his eyes. He was cowed, but only for now.
XXXXX
November 1st, 1995
The announcement of McGonagall as Headmistress the next morning sent shockwaves through the school. The announcement on Halloween that Umbridge had been appointed Hogwarts Inquisitor also sent shockwaves through the school. Everyone knew that this was going to be a harbinger of things to come, but no one knew where the first blow was going to fall.
It fell over the IUC. Umbridge's first act was to Issue an Educational Decree that disbanded all student organizations. McGonagall immediately ordered this placed on hold and appealed the decree to the Board of Governors. The Board officially revoked the decree, and chided Umbridge in a public statement that indicated she had the right to review educational standards and student discipline standards, but had no right to interfere in school living standards or extra-curricular activities, and certainly had no right to interfere with the right of free association. Umbridge responded by asking Fudge for the authority to control all aspects of Hogwarts, but Fudge was true to his word and declined to do so.
"Next she'll try to get the authority to mandate what is an appropriate subject for study at Hogwarts," said Hermione, as she was talking to Ginny and Daphne in her room the day after, "It makes sense, and I think even the Board of Governors will have to cave a little there. But she won't do it right away."
"Why not? You'd think she'd want to recover some face after a stinging rebuke like that," said Daphne.
"This is bureaucracy, not politics," said Hermione, "Slow and steady wins the race here. She will need to build her case, and to do that she will need to provide examples to convince her superiors that a new rule is needed."
"My father…" said Daphne.
"Won't matter, he's just one vote," said Hermione, "Umbridge still has Fudge at her back as far as everyone else on the Board of Governors knows. If Umbridge comes at them with a full report, they'll figure he will pass a law if they don't act."
"He won't though," said Daphne.
"And all they will have on that is your father's word, since we can't exactly tell them we've blackmailed the Minister for Magic, can we?" said Ginny.
"That will open the door for Umbridge to regulate a lot of student conduct," said Hermione, "Though enforcement will be another matter. If the other teachers refuse to enforce it, she'll be powerless. So she'll be interviewing each professor, and any professors that refuse to play ball with her will find themselves on probation."
"Why didn't we force Fudge to withdraw her name?" asked Ginny.
"He'd never have agreed to that," said Daphne, "He spent too much political capital to get that vote. Withdrawing that measure would have alienated everyone who agreed to push it through. He'd have gone down fighting. And who knows how that would have ended up?"
"Umbridge is a masterful bureaucrat," said Hermione, "But she's impatient when she gets close to her goal. There's a reason she was moved out of the Improper Use of Magic office. She'll mess up again, count on it."
"What happened?" asked Daphne.
"Susan says that her aunt told her to be careful of Umbridge as soon as she was made inquisitor," explained Hermione, "Apparently, she was up for heading the Improper Use of Magic office, but got caught using blood quills on the clerks. Fudge had just been elected the first time though, and moved her to a Junior Undersecretary position right away. Apparently she'd been advising him on his campaign all along."
"Wonderful," said Daphne, "so she's completely psychotic."
XXXXX
November 11th, 1995
The Gryffindor/Slytherin Quidditch match was, frankly, insane.
Ron Weasley was the new Gryffindor Keeper, and by all accounts, the Slytherins thought he was going to be tough. Harry had to admit that Ron had come a long way in the years he'd known him. He was a lot more confident than he used to be, and less stubborn as well. Being the de-facto leader of the Gryffindor boys in his year had helped with that. He wasn't as good as Wood, but he was probably a bit better than Millie, who admitted herself that she was only above average.
On the Slytherin side, Astoria had caught up very well. Harry had to admit, Tracey was an amazing captain. Astoria's confidence with the quaffle had improved tremendously largely due to the rather innovative drills Tracey had put her through which forced her to handle the Quaffle expertly. She wasn't going to outfly Angelina Johnson, but she couldn't be isolated and ignored either.
And in truth, Harry was convinced that the teamwork Tracey was instilling in the Slytherin team was astounding. They really were close to reading each other's minds. Fred and George had close to that on the Gryffindor team, but the Slytherins would be just a bit behind.
The resulting match was, in a word, brilliant. Fred and George were still better than Blaise and Nott, but not enough so that they could dominate the match. Instead the bludger game was more or less even, and ultimately this meant that the battle between chasers was all the more important.
And that battle was brilliant. The Gryffindors had good teamwork, and they were generally better at flying. They were especially good at stealing the Quaffle. Tracey had countered this by staggering her chaser line sometimes and utilizing a highly effective chaser wedge at others. Simply put, no matter how hard they tried, the Gryffindors couldn't break the Slytherin formations. And the Slytherin defense was good at limiting passing.
The result was not a high scoring game, as both sides were playing excellent defense. But it was action packed. Even small mistakes were being punished severely. Astoria was proving the weak link in Slytherin's defense, but she was performing admirably when she had the Quaffle. The Gryffindors usually had a ten or twenty point lead, but they couldn't open it up.
As usual, it came down to the seekers. Colin had finally put on some weight, so he wasn't nearly as tiny as he had his first two years. This led to him having less maneuverability. But he was much more alert and skilled at spotting the snitch than he had been. Three times Harry barely stopped Colin from grabbing the snitch.
But in the end, it was Astoria who proved the decisive factor. The fourth time Harry and Colin were racing for the snitch, Astoria broke off from the Slytherin formation and flew right across Colin's path. He was forced to swerve wide, and Harry was able to pull ahead and snag the snitch.
Tracey had been about to pass to Astoria, only to see she wasn't there. Her puzzled face gave way to realization when she heard Lee Jordan's voice declare that Slytherin had caught the snitch.
"Good eye, Astoria!" shouted Tracey as she flew by.
Daphne had run down to the pitch of course. "Astoria!" she cried out, "When you flew in front of Colin my heart nearly stopped!"
"Oh please," said Astoria, "I was in no danger. Madam Pomfrey is right over there. And Colin wouldn't have hit me either."
Daphne looked rather annoyed at this, but wasn't really in a position to say anything more.
"Hey Harry!" shouted Hermione right outside the Slytherin locker room, "Nice catch!"
"Thanks," said Harry.
"I'm going to have to figure out some way to reward you for all the things you've been doing," said Hermione.
Harry grinned.
XXXXX
November 20th, 1995
"That was a mess," said Harry.
They had just had another meeting of the war council, and it hadn't gone well. About a third of the council was still a bit upset that Dumbledore was gone, another third thought things weren't moving fast enough and wanted to depose Umbridge immediately and the last third wanted to make sure everything remained completely secret, to the detriment of doing anything.
"We need more centralized leadership," said Daphne, "You need to take charge. They'll listen to you, Harry."
"I have no desire to take charge," said Harry, "And I won't unless the group asks me to do so."
Harry had stormed out shortly after that when everyone had insisted that he needed to take control. Daphne understood his hesitation, but felt it was misplaced.
So now Daphne found herself outside Blaise's room. She knocked politely. Blaise opened the door.
"Trouble?" asked Blaise.
"Yeah," said Daphne, "Harry is being stubborn. We need him to take charge of the war council. But he refuses to do it."
"Understandable," said Blaise, "The idea that he is turning Dark and is trying to create his own mini Death Eaters is something he tries hard to refute. It gets a lot harder if he actually puts himself in charge of his own faction. He still needs to do it, but I get why he doesn't want to."
"How do I get him to change his mind?" asked Daphne.
Blaise considered this for a moment. "Maybe we don't need to. I think the real problem is that Harry is worried that Dumbledore's criticism is right."
"What?" demanded Daphne, "What are you talking about?"
"Both Harry and Ginny have absorbed horcruxes," said Blaise.
"They haven't…" started Daphne
"Don't bother denying it, it is incredibly obvious," said Blaise smugly, "Harry is a bad liar, at least by my standards."
"Luna told you, didn't she?" asked Daphne with a smirk.
"That's a lie! A dirty lie!" said Blaise evasively, "But back on topic, before he absorbed the horcrux, Harry going Dark would have been ludicrous. But now, I think it worries him a bit. He needs to be sure that he isn't being influenced by Lord Dingus' memories. So, he has started to pull back from his leadership role. What we need is to design some way that his judgement can be checked, if necessary."
"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of all this?" asked Daphne.
"Not if we take a note from the original gangsters," said Blaise, "The Romans. Marcus Licinius Crassus, and his buddies Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar."
Daphne gasped. "A Triumvirate!"
"Three leaders. An issue comes up, the council discusses, the Triumvirate votes, and the council does whatever the majority of the Triumvirate says," said Blaise.
"Who should the leaders be?" wondered Daphne.
"Who do you think?" asked Blaise, "Who does Harry trust the most?"
Daphne gasped as she realized what had to be done.
XXXXX
November 23rd, 1995
The war council met again three days later, by general agreement. They had to try to work through these problems.
"I would like to say something before we all begin," said Daphne as soon as they all were gathered.
"Of course, Daphne," said Cedric, who had taken it upon himself to start moderating these discussions. Not that it had helped.
"Our last session was very unproductive," said Daphne, "And part of that is that while we all agree on our general goals, all of us have different ideas about how to achieve them. That's great, but we don't have the resources to do everything. We have to make some decisions, but nothing has majority support. So I say, we need a leader."
"Daphne, we talked about this," said Harry.
"And I have modified my ideas a bit," said Daphne, "Obviously Harry is the one who brought us all together, and he's the one we trust the most, he makes the most logical leader."
"There are reasons that I should not be leading," said Harry.
"Harry is worried because he and Ginny have, in the process of destroying Voldemort's horcruxes, accidently absorbed his memories," said Daphne intentionally using his name.
"WHAT?" yelled Ron, "Ginny, why didn't you tell us!" The twins looked similarly shocked.
"Daphne!" shouted Ginny.
"Sorry," said Daphne, "but they need to know. Now. Because that makes Harry perfect to lead the fight against Voldemort. Has anyone noticed Harry acting any different this school year? Because he didn't have those memories before then."
"He has been more knowledgeable," said Sue, "But his values and priorities seem to be the same."
"I agree," said Justin, "It's still Harry, and I'd trust him to lead us."
"But I don't trust myself to lead us!" said Harry.
"Well, maybe no one person should lead us," said Daphne, "maybe we should appoint more than one leader. So we can discuss things, give advice and then have three leaders vote on it and tell us what we are doing."
"A Triumvirate!" said Justin.
"Exactly!" said Daphne, "So Harry would be one leader, but we'd have two others to keep him in check. Not because of the bit of Voldemort in Harry's head, but because all power should be checked."
Everyone nodded.
"I nominate Ginny Weasley," said Justin, "If she has You-Know-Who's memories too, we need her there."
"I concur," said Luna, "Ginny has definitely dealt with all her wrackspurts from being possessed by Voldemort. She can be trusted."
"Should we make Cedric or Rebecca #3?" asked Angelina.
"No, we're leaving at the end of the year," said Cedric, "I want to stay involved, but I can't lead from outside the school, at least not yet."
"What about you Daphne?" asked Tracey.
"I might not be the worst choice," admitted Daphne, "but it hasn't been my compassion and outrage that were what drove Harry to form this group in the first place. That honor belongs to Hermione. I nominate Hermione Granger to be #2. Ginny will be #3."
"What is the importance of the numbers?" asked Dean.
"Who's in charge during a crisis," said Daphne, "but outside of that, they'd be equals."
"Sounds like a plan," said Ernie.
"Can you live with this?" Daphne asked Harry.
Harry stood silent for a long time. "I trust Hermione and Ginny with my life," he said finally, "Yes, if they are acting as a check on me I'll agree to do this."
"All in favour?" asked Daphne.
Every hand went up, except Harry, Hermione and Ginny.
"We're abstaining," explained Ginny.
"The motion carries," said Cedric.
"I think that the war council needs a new name," said Luna, "given that we have new leadership."
"What do you have in mind?" asked Ginny.
"Well Umbridge didn't like Dumbledore's Army," observed Luna, "So we can be the Army of the Triumvirate."
"I like it," said Fred.
"It is catchier than the war council," admitted Hermione.
"I'm for it," said Ginny.
Everyone voiced their agreement.
"Well, it's unanimous then," said Harry, "We are now the Army of the Triumvirate!"
Author's Note:I bet you didn't see that coming! The shift to the Army of the Triumvirate is something I've been slowly setting up for a while, and Harry forcing out Dumbledore and taming Fudge was one of the earliest story beats I came up with. Originally, of course, it was a lot more personal. as Harry would have blamed Fudge for killing Sirius.
A key point, look at the contrast between Dumbledore not being willing to resign as Headmaster and Daphne willingly surrendering the presidency of the IUC. The main takeaway is that Daphne is showing her aptitude for leadership. It will be important later on.
Next Time: Shit gets real.
