Part II: Regency
Chapter IV: In Which Teachers get Sacked
They woke to a cold dawn and Corinna had double-checked to make sure that everything was packed. She didn't notice how many of her belongings had become scattered throughout the house as she usually kept things contained to her own room. She would have forgotten the book she was currently reading if Uncle Ted hadn't found it on the end table by Corinna's favorite reading spot.
Corinna and Dora braved the cold and apparated back outside Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Mrs. Weasley was fussing over her children, and Harry and Hermione might as well be lumped in there at this point. "Right, you lot," Dora called out. She was escorting them along with Remus on the short walk to King's Cross. It was an oddly quiet stroll to the station. They hung around the platform until it was safe for all of them to cross the barrier. "Have a good term," Dora called to them.
"Harry," said Lupin, "please do try during your lessons."
"What lessons?" Corinna asked when they got onto the train and found a compartment. They surprisingly managed to find one that wasn't occupied, but the twins broke off to find their friend, Lee, and Ginny broke off to find her friends. Terry had gotten back to the castle a couple days prior when he got back from France, so Corinna stayed with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as she had no where else really to go.
Harry looked conflicted a moment before he said, "Remedial potions."
Corinna's brows raised in surprise. "Snape is volunteering to give you extra lessons? If you were doing that bad, why not ask me or Hermione for help."
"If I had a choice, I wouldn't be doing this," Harry said with gritted teeth. Hermione looked like she wanted to say something else, but Ron nudged her with his elbow, and she remained silent.
In fact, the four of them remained silent for the entire trip back to Hogwarts. They didn't even talk about what they saw over Christmas, which Corinna was glad for. Maybe things wouldn't be completely different. At least, it would be easier to pretend that things haven't changed.
But, it wouldn't be that easy. Once they had gotten back to Hogsmeade and trudged up the drive back to the castle, unease settled in her gut. She took her trunk back up to the dormitory and immediately left without unpacking. She checked in the library, but Terry wasn't there. She thought he might be in the Ravenclaw dormitory where she can't reach him, but she found him in the Great Hall, red face from being outside with some of the others who had either come back early or hadn't left in the first place. "Hey, Corinna," he greeted. "How was your Christmas?"
Corinna was not in the mood for small talk, but she talked about spending time with her family, and he relaxed quite a bit when she admitted that she would be spending the summer holidays with them. "Is Corinna going straight? Are you not going to lie anymore?"
"Well," she looked conflicted. Although no one was really paying attention to them, it doesn't mean they wouldn't be overheard. "Can we…um…" She motioned with her head towards the grand doors leading to the hall.
"Yeah," said Terry. They climbed off the bench and walked out of the Great Hall. The castle was alive with students as they took the chance to hang out and relax as the new term started the next day. As it was too cold and windy to enjoy a walk outside, they opted to walk in a circle around one of the upstairs corridors.
"What happened?" said Terry once they were semi-alone. At least, as alone as you could get unless you were looking for a place to snog. And, as Luna pointed out, even then you aren't guaranteed privacy. "Was your family not what they expected."
"They were better than I expected," said Corinna. She spent a little time gushing about her aunt, uncle, and cousin, which put Terry even more at ease. Maybe she hadn't realized how much he was worried about her home life. "However, there is something I need to tell you. I should have told you sooner, but I only recently came to terms with it."
Corinna told Terry the truth about her, and she felt like a weight was lifted off her chest. She didn't even care what he thought, she just needed to tell the one near-constant she has had throughout all this. He only interrupted once, but that was to tell a group of second years to quit running in the corridor. The only thing she didn't tell him was that Neville's parents were her mother's victims. It wasn't her place to pass that information around, even to Terry.
"Shite, Corinna," said Terry after she told her tale. He ran a hand through his curly hair, looking at a loss as to what to say. "Yeah, I can see why you had to come to terms with that."
They walked a few paces in silence before Corinna spoke up. "I wouldn't blame you if you hate me for who my real parents are."
"Don't underestimate me, Crouch," said Boot without any sort of malice. "It will change things, only because that's how it works. But as long as you don't start hating my parents, we'll be good."
"Why would I hate your parents?" asked Corinna.
"They're both muggleborn, remember?" Corinna vaguely remembered Terry being concerned during their second year when muggleborns were being petrified. She pointed out that he technically wasn't muggleborn since his parents had magic, but he didn't know what else to consider himself since his magical lineage only goes back one generation on both sides of his family.
"Again, why would I hate your parents?"
"You are such a pain in the arse, Crouch," said Terry as they continued down the hall. "Hey, where the hell did you get that broom?" A group of first years had managed to get ahold of a broom and were taking turns flying it over the staircases. Corinna left Terry to deal with his prefect duties.
Going back to classes the next day was surprisingly difficult for Corinna. All their professors were doubling down now that they were entering the new year and O.W.L.s were just a handful of months away. The D.A. members were all itching to get back to possibly the only lessons that everyone looked forward to. Corinna even noticed a couple of people clutching their coins as if that would bring about the date and time for the next meeting that much sooner. Even with how much work was getting piled on already, at least she felt a bit better than she had last term. Terry knew her secret, she had a family she wasn't embarrassed about, and she had the D.A. to look forward to, whenever that would occur. Even when Umbridge asked her to stay after the first Defense class of the term to give an update on anything she could report, it didn't bring her mood down.
The next day, however, brought her down to an all new low. Terry had met her in the Great Hall and clutched her arm. He dragged him to a secluded corner beside the stairs. "I figured you wanted to find out here instead of where everyone else was."
"What are you talking about, Boot?" asked Corinna. He thrusted his copy of the Daily Prophet in front of her and she grabbed it. On the front in large letters "Mass Breakout From Azkaban: Ministry Fears Black is 'Rallying Point' for Old Death Eaters."
But Corinna could not read any further. Her eyes were glued to one of the many pictures shown of those who broke out. She looked like Aunt Andromeda, but Azkaban had taken most of her beauty and left only a shadow of her former good looks. The only thing Corinna had received from her mother was her thin lips and heavy-lidded eyes. According to her father, she looked more like her grandmother did when she was younger, except Corinna's hair was darkening as she got older. Right now, it could pass as brunette more than blonde.
Corinna's mouth was dry as she looked over the article without taking anything else in. Her eyes kept straying back to Bellatrix and her arrogant smile. It was hard to look at this photo and think that this was the woman who gave birth to her. All she saw was a monster who broke apart one of her classmate's families.
She shoved the paper back at Terry, who was waiting for Corinna to say something first. But she had been quiet for a little too long, because he finally spoke up. "Corinna?"
"I forgot a quill up in my dorm," she said automatically. She woodenly took the stairs as she could feel Terry's eyes still on her. He might have been calling after her, but she didn't hear anything.
She went to the nearest girl's washroom and rushed to the sink. She felt like she was going to puke, but nothing seemed to come up. She splashed her face with cold water. She shook violently and gripped the edge of the porcelain to try to release some of the tension.
After a moment, she looked up at the mirror and saw how pale she was. "You can't change who your family is," she said, paraphrasing the words Aunt Andromeda used to soothe her. "So why are you letting that bitch make you this way?" She grabbed a towel and dried off her face. She let herself have that moment of weakness, but no more. She was still pale, but her jaw was clenched in determination. "I can forge my own path. I am not defined by what she has done."
"Good luck with that," a voice had said from above Corinna. She looked up, but there wasn't anything there. Remembering that this was the bathroom that Moaning Myrtle haunted, she quickly grabbed her bag and made her way to class.
She took her aunt's words to heart. She poured everything she could into the D.A. meetings. She never looked over at Neville, but even she could feel the shift within him, determined to learn how to defend himself against the person who left him without parents.
"Tomorrow, we're going to have a friend date," Terry insisted from their usual library table. Corinna paused to think about what tomorrow was, and she couldn't believe it was already going to be a Hogsmeade visit. "Neither one of us have dates since you are too chicken to ask Harry Potter—" Corinna gave his arm a friendly whap, "—and I am not interested in anyone who is currently out of the closet, we should just go on a friend date."
"Well, people still think we are dating despite what you announced in your common room." According to other credible sources that aren't Terry as he likes to exaggerate when recounting a story: the night before the end of term, a Ravenclaw seventh year had snuck a few bottles of mead and proceeded to play a drinking game which either involved telling a secret or chugging your drink, and if you didn't know that secret you had to drink. Apparently, he decided to tell everyone he was gay instead of drink a fifth glass of mead.
"I don't regret it," Terry reminded. "You know I am not someone who is going to have a teary coming out. Probably should have a little more tact than 'I'm queer as shite!' but here we are."
"Maybe," said Corinna as she looked over her transfigurations essay, wondering where she could add another couple of inches.
"I still need to tell my parents," he admitted as he stared at the same passage in his transfiguration book. "I was planning on doing it over Christmas, but there never seemed to be the right time."
Corinna frowned slightly. "I doubt there is going to be the right time," she reminded. "You just need to sit them down one day and talk about it."
"Well, it's going to have to wait for summer because like hell am I going home when all I'll be doing anyway is studying," said Terry as he absently nibbled on the top of his quill. "Do you think Pince will let us just camp out here when that happens?"
"Doubtful," said Corinna. "So, what did you have in mind for our friend date?"
He apparently wanted to take Corinna to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, but as soon as they spotted Harry with Cho, he rightly changed his plans and took her to the Hog's Head. It was a complete one-eighty from what he had in mind, but it had a bit of a nostalgic factor for them as this was where they had their first D.A. meeting. Corinna forced herself not to think about it as they managed to get a bottle of wine for their table despite the fact that they were just students. They almost made a drinking game out of it, but neither of them had very many secrets the other didn't know. Once Corinna admitted that she almost drank her father's entire bottle of fire whiskey the night before going to Hogwarts and the fact that she was deathly afraid of bees, wasps, and every other flying, stinging insect, she was out of things to say. It seemed Terry didn't have many more secrets, only that he had drank an entire bottle of wine by himself over Christmas ("And how you didn't manage to barge out of the closet, I will never understand," Corinna teased.) and how the sorting hat wanted to put him in Hufflepuff.
"Oh, I guess that's another secret," said Corinna. "The sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin."
"Well, now that makes sense," said Terry. He didn't have many inhibitions while sober. He was somehow worse when he was drunk.
"Both of my grandparents and my father were also in Slytherin," said Corinna as Terry poured them both more glasses, nearly spilling the wine in the process. "In fact, I imagine I am the first Gryffindor on both sides of my family ever."
"What about your aunt Andromeda?"
"She was Slytherin, Uncle Ted was in Ravenclaw, and Dora was in Hufflepuff."
"So, with you being a bloody lion, you lot represent all the houses."
"Huh." Corinna hadn't noticed the correlation before. "Guess you're right. And that's why you're a bloody eagle."
When Terry had gone up to get a second bottle of wine, they were told to pay and get out or else they would tell the school what they were doing. They smartly counted out the sickles and handed them over with apologies.
Since they wanted to sober up a bit before going to the castle, they walked towards the shrieking shack. Although it has lost some of its allure now that they now know that their old professor had to go there to transform into a werewolf every full moon, it was at least away from the crowds who might suspect that they had more than just a butterbeer or two.
"Does it bother you?" Terry asked. Corinna thought that he might be talking about the shrieking shack, but he elaborated. "To see Harry with Cho?"
Corinna made a face as her stomach churned uneasily. She wanted to chalk it up to the wine, but she knew that wasn't it. She had enough to feel good, not enough to actually be sick. "Please," she said dismissively, "as if he would go for someone like me. He knows my demons. He witnessed them firsthand."
"Don't sell yourself short," said Terry as he slung his arm over Corinna's shoulders. "You are a catch. I'm calling it now: this date is going to be a disaster and all you have to do is wait for him in the common room with a rose in your mouth."
"Shut up, you arsehole," said Corinna as she shoved Terry away. He just laughed and slung his arm back around her shoulders. "No wonder everyone still thinks we're dating."
"I'll stop if you think it will ruin your chances with Potter."
"Piss off!" Corinna shifted away from Terry and the two of them headed back to the castle, laughing. As Corinna climbed into the portrait hole, still flushed from their adventure, she couldn't help but think that she hadn't been this happy in a long time.
Although one exciting thing to happen nearly a fortnight after the Hogsmeade trip. Unbeknownst to a majority of the Hogwarts occupants, Harry had spent the Hogsmeade trip he wasn't snogging with Cho Chang giving an interview to Rita Skeeter about the events of last year. It was an exposé on how You-Know-Who was back and gave the unadulterated story of how it occurred. Corinna was glad to read—as she had immediately sent her grandfather's owl out to get her a copy and he came back that very day—that he only kept the events that her father mentioned to those relevant to You-Know-Who's resurrection.
"Do you think people will still think he's barmy?" asked Terry as he looked over the article. She had to charm it to be blank as Umbridge had banned anyone from having a copy of the Quibbler, but right now it looked as it usually did as she knew for a fact Umbridge wasn't going to barge through the library without dealing with the wrath that was Madame Pince without just cause.
"Probably," said Corinna, but she didn't care. Her heart was swollen with pride that she felt that Harry did something like this. She didn't think she could sit with a perfect stranger and recount the events that happened that night. But it may also be from overhearing Cho recounting how horrid her date was with Harry. Either way, she was happy.
And this was going to be the happiest she would be in a long, long time.
Although she thought that the impromptu party in the common room that night was a bit much, she did find herself staring at the enlarge front cover of the Quibbler that the Weasley twins had put up more times than naught.
One night a while later, as Corinna and Terry were about to head into the library, a group of younger Slytherins stopped them. "It's Trelawney," one of the girls piped up. "She's getting sacked!"
Abandoning their studies, Corinna and Terry followed the group and were immediately halted by a large group crowding around the entrance hall. "Help me up," Corinna said as Terry helped her stand on the ledge and held onto the wall for support. She supposed that, under any other circumstances, he probably would have a problem with this, but he seemed to have his wand in hand in case he needed to help Corinna.
From her nearly-bird's eye view, she saw Trelawney standing in the middle of the hall, clutching her wand and an empty sherry bottle. Corinna remembered sneaking a bottle of sherry that Winky used once for cooking and the memories came back with a bad taste in her mouth.
"No," she shrieked to the point that, despite the crowd and height, Corinna could hear her loud and clear. "No! This cannot be happening. It cannot. I refuse to accept it."
"You didn't realize this was coming?" said the unmistakable voice of Umbridge. "Incapable though you are of predicting tomorrow's weather, you must surely have realized that your pitiful performance during my inspections, and lack of any improvement, would make it inevitable that you would be sacked."
"What's going on?" Terry stage-whispered to Corinna and she quickly surmised what was going on while keeping a close eye on the transgressions below. It hurt Corinna's heart to hear Trelawney call Hogwarts her home. At one point, she had agreed with that sentiment.
"It was your home," said Umbridge and Corinna had half a mind to send a jinx her way. She had the perfect vantage point. And her aim was fairly good now. There was very little chance of the spell going astray. "Until an hour ago when the Minister of Magic countersigned your Order of Dismissal. Now, kindly remove yourself form this Hall. You are embarrassing us."
Corinna could vaguely hear Trelawney's sobs and moans, but she immediately noticed McGonagall breaking away from the crowd and going to comfort Trelawney. If McGonagall had said any words of comfort, they were lost on Corinna. But Umbridge's rebuttal was loud and clear, as if she wanted to make sure that all the students and staff in the crowd could hear what she had to say. "Oh really, Professor McGonagall?" said Umbridge as she stepped forward. "And your authority for that statement is?"
"That would be mine."
The front doors swung open and students who were standing in front of them scurried to get out of the way. Dumbledore strode into the hall, and even from her vantage point, Corinna could see his blue eyes sparkle behind his half-moon spectacles.
"Yours, Professor Dumbledore?" said Umbridge with a laugh. "I'm afraid you do not understand the position. I have here—" She pulled out a scroll from her robes "—an Order of Dismissal signed by myself and the Minister of Magic. Under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts has the power to inspect, place upon probation, and sack any teacher she—that is to say, I—feel is not performing up to the standards required by the Ministry of Magic. I have decided that Professor Trelawney is not up to scratch. I have dismissed her."
The smile never faded from Dumbledore's lips, and Corinna had a hard time retelling what was going on without calling Umbridge names that the group of first years they had followed shouldn't hear.
"You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge. As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to send them away from the castle. I am afraid that the power to do that still resides with the Headmaster, and it is my wish that Professor Trelawney continue to live at Hogwarts."
There was an exchange that Corinna couldn't hear as it seemed that Trelawney could no longer speak up louder than a whisper. She couldn't blame the woman. She may not be her teacher, but Corinna didn't think it was right for something like this to happen. Eventually, McGonagall had escorted Trelawney back upstairs, which the students on the stairs immediately moved out of the way as to not face the wrath of McGonagall when she is angry.
"And what," said Umbridge in a dark voice, "are you going to do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs her lodgings?"
"Oh, that won't a problem. You see, I have already found us a new Divination, and he will prefer lodgings on the ground floor."
Umbridge sputtered in surprise. "Might I remind you, Dumbledore, that under Educational Decree Number Twenty-two—"
"The Ministry has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if—and only if—the Headmaster is unable to find out. And I am happy to say that on this occasion I have succeeded. May I introduce you?"
Corinna's jaw slackened as the sound of hooves echoed through the hall. It was a centaur. Corinna knew that the forest held such creatures, but she never met one as they did not take kindly to wizardkind. "What's going on?" Terry whispered. "Is that a horse?"
"Not quite," Corinna said as the centaur joined Dumbledore by the entrance.
"This is Firenze," said Dumbledore. "I think you'll find him suitable."
Dumbledore forced the crowd to disperse after that as Umbridge went into a fit about contacting Cornelius—"sorry, the Minister"—right away about this, as she put it, "cruel misuse of authority."
"She's just pissed because he's supposedly a half-breed," Corinna said as she hopped down from the ledge. ("What were you even doing up there, Miss Crouch!" asked Sprout when she joined in with the other teachers to get everyone where they were supposed to go.) "She basically ranted about them during our first Defense lesson as she complained about Professor Lupin being a werewolf."
"Either way, I have a feeling I'm actually going to have an interesting Divination lesson," Terry said as the dawdled on the seventh floor where they were supposed to split up.
Apparently, it was, as Terry admitted he had fallen asleep trying to clear his mind and focus on what the stars were telling him. "I think they were telling me that I need to start drinking coffee," he said, which Corinna made a face, but didn't say anything. Thanks to the abundance of tea that Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted like to drink, that's all she could drink during mealtime or else she suffered from a headache. She was not in a position to scold someone for their caffeine intake when hers was off the charts.
"Or maybe you should start going to bed earlier," Corinna countered, but that was not going to happen. As a bleak March turned to a milder April and the Easter holidays edged closer, everyone was feeling the pressure from the upcoming exams. Corinna and Terry spent every waking moment that wasn't in class or in meals studying. Even when they were sent out at curfew, Corinna found herself sitting in her bed with her study materials late into the night where she would usually find herself reading for pleasure.
In fact, if it weren't for the D.A. meetings to punctuate some of the endless days of studying, Corinna might have gone insane. It was a relief to finally work on Patronuses. It had taken a couple of lessons, but some had even started making corporeal ones. Much to Corinna's chagrin, Cho managed before her and produced a swan. She, of course, had to brag about how pretty it was, but Corinna couldn't help but smirk when Harry put her in her place about it being used for defense and it isn't a beauty contest.
"Ah, look, Corinna!" Terry said excitedly as he looked at the shining creature swirling around. It was surprising as he kept glancing over at the newcomer. "I think yours is a dolphin!"
Sure enough, as Corinna focused her concentration, the form solidified and she saw the telltale sign of a thin snout and a fin, swimming through the air as if it were underwater. Her mouth was a small 'o' in surprise as she watched it. Grudgingly, she had to admit that it was pretty.
"Hey, look at mine!" Corinna lost her concentration, so her dolphin disappeared. A magpie had danced around instead, and Corinna couldn't help but laugh. But their excitement died down when the door opened again and had immediately closed. Harry was on the other side of the room by then, and Corinna couldn't see who had come in. But everyone was silent and the various Patronuses had evaporated into the air. It seemed to take an uncomfortably long time for Harry to get any information out of the newcomer which, according to Dean who was practicing with the newcomer, Seamus, was a house elf. Corinna immediately thought of Winky, but she wasn't sure what had happened to her.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" bellowed Harry all of a sudden. "RUN!"
Corinna did the opposite of what Harry had instructed and made her way to the house elf who was trying to inflict self-punishment as he probably couldn't say what was going on.
"Corinna, what are you doing?" Terry asked as he managed to catch up to her. Her heart sank when she saw it was a different elf from Winky. She didn't know why it would be her. "Come on, we have to go. Umbridge is coming."
They ran in the opposite direction that Harry had gone, opting for the library as it was close and they could pretend to have been there the whole night, but when Corinna saw Umbridge coming, she knew she had to do something.
"Stun me," she told Terry as she pushed him behind a statue so he would not be in line of sight.
"Have you gone mad?" he demanded.
"Probably," Corinna admitted. "Just stun me, Boot, and make a break for it."
It was a quick "Stupefy," and Corinna found herself unmoving on the ground. She was just coming to when Umbridge loomed above her with a shocked expression.
"What's this? Miss Crouch, what's the meaning of this?" It took a jab from Umbridge's short wand to bring Corinna fully back to her senses.
"I'm sorry Professor," Corinna said, wincing slightly as she sat up. "I should have reported to you straight away, but I needed to make sure that this was the real thing before I reported to you my findings. I-I couldn't disappoint you again."
Corinna thought she had been laying it on a bit thick, but Umbridge seemed to be eating it up. "Oh, this is too perfect," she said. She gave a shriek of laughter. "Between you and Miss Edgecomb's testimony, and the fact that we have Potter…" She looked as giddy as a kid who was promised extra sweets, but Corinna's heart pounding heavily in her chest.
Umbridge still kept a firm grip on Corinna as she dragged her and Harry to Dumbledore's office. Corinna had only been there one other time, which was the night her grandfather was caught trying to speak to Dumbledore and her father had killed him. It still looked the same, but there were a greater number of people than she anticipated, including her grandfather's old assistant, Percy Weasley. Oh, Merlin, she was going to regret doing this. It sounded so good at first. If she was caught, she could have talked her way out of it and no one else would have been in trouble. But as she laid her eyes on Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, she felt her laid-out lies leaving her tongue.
This was more than just a group of kids getting caught practicing some spells together, and the look that Fudge gave Harry confirmed her suspicions.
After some mindless chit-chat between Fudge and Umbridge, Fudge turned to Harry. "I expect you know why you are here?"
Harry looked between Fudge and Dumbledore, and Corinna thought that she would suddenly need to get very good at chess. She was going to need to change her plans depending on whatever Harry said next.
"Ye—no." At Fudge's question, he said a much firmer, "No." No matter how Fudge worded the question, Harry kept saying no.
"So you have no idea why Professor Umbridge has brought you to this office. You are not aware that you have broken any school rules?"
"School rules?" said Harry. "No."
"Or Ministry Decrees?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"What about you, Crouch?" Fudge turned sharply to Corinna and her heart thudded loudly. "You told Umbridge that you needed to confirm something before you told her about it."
Corinna wasn't completely certain what Harry was playing at, and she could not get a read on anyone else what she should be saying. "I remember saying that," she said carefully.
Fudge looked like he wanted her to elaborate. "Well?" he demanded.
"You didn't ask me a question."
A vein throbbed on Fudge's neck at Corinna's cheek and she realized what was happening. They needed proof. They were the type to immediately send Harry packing as he was the obvious leader. So that means, they knew something was happening tonight, but not precisely what occurred.
"Were you aware that an illegal student organization has been discovered within this school?"
"No," said Corinna and she tried to look confused, but she had a feeling it was as convincing as Harry's innocent plea.
"No, what do you mean, no?"
"I was unaware that an illegal student organization has been discovered within this school."
"What is the meaning of this?" Fudge demanded. "You said she was spying for you!"
"I think, Minister," said Umbridge, trying to save face, "we might make better progress if we fetch our informant."
Fudge agreed as he glared at Corinna and Harry.
It was an agonizing few minutes while Umbridge was gone to fetch whoever broke their silence. Corinna did not dare look at Harry. Soon, they were dragged back into reality when the door opened behind them. She glanced over to see Marietta Edgecombe being dragged into the room. She was desperately hiding her face and refused to look over at anyone.
Umbridge was giving her soft reassurances, in between telling Fudge who Marietta's mother is within the Ministry. Everyone was shocked into silence when Marietta finally lifted her head to reveal her face being marred by a series of purple pimples that rivaled even the mountain ranges that Corinna had to tackle each day as she washed her face. It was undeniable that the pimples had spelt out the word 'SNEAK.'
"Never mind the spots now, dear," Umbridge encouraged, which never helped an adolescent deal with normal acne in their life, let alone something as cursed and as unavoidable as what was on Marietta's face. "Just take your robes away from your mouth and tell the Minister—" But Marietta shook her head violently and refused to say anything. "Oh, very well, you silly girl. I'll tell him. Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement, I would find out something to my advantage. I questioned her a little further and she admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting there. Unfortunately, at that point this hex came into operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror the girl became too distressed to tell me any more."
"Well, now, it is very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor Umbridge. You did exactly the right thing. Now, will you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was its purpose? Who was there?" When Marietta still refused to answer, he demanded if there was a counter-jinx, but Umbridge admitted that they were still looking for one. Corinna considered that Dumbledore or McGonagall might know something, but they remained still.
"No matter," Umbridge said dismissively. "I can pick up the story from there. You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report back in October that Potter had met a number of fellow students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade—" When McGonagall demanded evidence, Umbridge continued. "I have testimony from Willy Widdershins, Minerva, who happened to be in the bar at the time. He was heavily bandaged, but his hearing was quite unimpaired. He heard every word Potter said and hastened straight to the school to report to me." Umbridge was interrupted by McGonagall calling out how, in not so many words, that the Ministry of Magic was corrupted. "The purpose of Potter's meeting with these students was to persuade them to join an illegal society, whose aim was to learn spells and curses the Ministry has decided are inappropriate for school-age—"
"I think you'll find you're wrong there, Dolores," said Dumbledore quiet.
Corinna wondered how Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted were going to react to her coming home much, much before summer holiday. This plan of Corinna's was only going to work if she was the only one caught, not Harry, and the fact that they have a witness from the Hog's Head…
Now she understood what Dumbledore was getting at.
After Fudge had a bit of fun making fun of whatever harebrained scheme he thought the headmaster might say, Dumbledore explained plainly. "Cornelius, I do not deny—and nore, I am sure, does Harry—that he was in the Hog's Head that day, nor that he was trying to recruit students to a Defense Against the Dark Arts group I am merely pointing out that Dolores is quite wrong to suggest that such a group was, at the time, illegal. If you remember, the Ministry Decree banning all student societies was not put into effect until two days after Harry's Hogsmeade meeting, so he was not breaking any rules at all in the Hog's Head."
"That's all very fine, Headmaster," said Umbridge, forcing her voice to be sweet enough to cause cavities, "but we are now nearly six months on from the introduction of Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. If the first meeting was not illegal, all those that have happened since most certainly are."
"Well," said Dumbledore, "they certainly would be, if they had continued after the Decree came into effect. Do you have any evidence that any such meetings continued?"
"Evidence? Have you not been listening, Dumbledore? Why do you think Miss Edgecombe and Miss Crouch are here?"
Corinna bit her tongue from saying something she might regret. She finally understood a look that Dumbledore gave her to keep quiet. She was more than happy to do so as she was still trying to figure her way out of this, and to get Harry also out of here unscathed.
"Can either of them tell us about six months' worth of meetings? I was under the impression that Marietta was merely reporting a meeting tonight and Corinna here had something she wanted to confirm with you before she stepped forward."
"Yes, yes, Dumbledore," said Umbridge with glee. She turned to Corinna and the large smile made her dinner want to come back up. "Go on, Miss Crouch. Tell me what you wanted to report."
Corinna darted her eyes from Umbridge to Dumbledore to Marietta and back to Umbridge. "I'm not going to say anything," she said plainly. "I have enough acne to deal with, thanks."
If this was a different audience, her joke might have hit different. But no one seemed amused by Corinna's comment. As it was, Umbridge now looked like she wanted to strangle Corinna within an inch of her life. "Fine," said Umbridge as she turned sharply to Marietta. "Tell us how long these meetings have been going on, dear. You can simply nod or shake your head. I'm sure that won't make the spots worse. Have they been happening regularly over the last six months?"
Corinna had to admit that she did not see that coming. At least she could still brew most potions without a wand if she were expelled and had her wand snapped. She had that going for her. She knew she wouldn't fully disappoint the family she just met but grew to love. Dora even admitted she would have gone along with something like this if she had been in this position. And Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted didn't seem to be the types to stand back over something like this either…
Everyone waited with baited breath to see Marietta's reaction. Corinna wanted to scream from the anticipation, knowing it was just going to seal their fate, when Marietta's head gave a firm shake.
"I don't think you understood the question, did you, dear? I'm asking whether you've been going to these meetings for the past six months? You have, haven't you?" Umbridge almost sounded panicked as she finished her questions. Their whole case against Harry and the other members of the D.A. hinged on Marietta. And again, she shook her head. "What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?"
"I would have thought her meaning was quite clear," said McGonagall, "there have been no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?" She nodded and Corinna tried not to look confused. If anything, she should be surprised by these events. She was supposed to be a spy, after all.
"But there was a meeting tonight!" said Umbridge, her sweet veneer getting chipped away as things were quickly going against her favor. "There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, you told me about it, in the Room of Requirement! And Potter was the leader, was he not. Potter organized it, Potter—why are you shaking your head, girl?"
"Well, usually when a person shakes their head," said McGonagall, "they mean 'no.' So unless Miss Edgecombe is using a form of sign-language as yet unknown to humans."
Corinna almost couldn't believe how stupid Umbridge was in the next second as she seized Marietta by the shoulders and was shaking her violently. Dumbledore was immediately on his feet and had his wand trained on Umbridge and she jumped back as if she was burned. Knowing Dumbledore, she was.
"I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, Dolores." Corinna could count on one hand how many times she had seen Dumbledore angry, and that was still too many times. She never, ever wanted to be on the receiving end of his anger.
"You want to calm yourself, Madam Umbridge." Corinna barely registered that yet another person was in the room. He was a sturdy black man dressed in Auror robes. She would have to ask Dora about him.
Umbridge reassured the Auror (by the name of Shacklebolt) that he was right and that she had forgotten herself. Marietta seemed completely out of it. As if she were in a trance. She couldn't have been shook that hard.
Fudge called back their attention. "The meeting tonight. The one we know definitely happened."
"Miss Edgecombe tipped me off and I proceeded at once to the seventh floor," Umbridge explained after she recovered. "I was accompanied by certain trustworthy students, so as to catch those in the meeting red-handed. It appears that they were forewarned of my arrival, however, because when we reached the seventh floor they were running in every direction. It does not matter, however. I have all their names here. Miss Parkinson ran into the Room of Requirement for me to see if they had left anything behind. We needed evidence and the room provided."
Umbridge handed the list that Hermione had everyone sign in the Hog's Head. Corinna had completely forgotten they did that. And her name was on the list. If she wasn't already doomed before, she was now.
"Excellent," said Fudge as he looked like he was picking out a roast for dinner. He scanned the document and looked up sharply at Corinna when he got to the bottom of the page. But it seemed that something more interesting than the supposed spy's name being on it. "By thunder, what's this?" He held the paper up for everyone to see. "See what they've named themselves? Dumbledore's Army."
Corinna balled her fists to her side to keep them from shaking. Ginny's words came back to her as Dumbledore calmly took the page and looked it over. "Well, the game is up. Would you like a written confession from me, or will a statement before these witnesses suffice?"
"Statement?" Fudge demanded. "What—I don't—"
"Dumbledore's Army, Cornelius. Not Potter's Army."
It took a comical amount of time for Fudge to catch on. "You? You organized this?" After Dumbledore's affirmation, he continued. "You recruited these students for your army?"
"Tonight, was supposed to be the first meeting. Merely to see whether they would be interested in joining me. I see now that it was a mistake to invite Miss Edgecombe and Miss Crouch, of course. As you can see, this was the first meeting Corinna has been to as her name is on the very bottom."
Marietta nodded and Corinna followed suit. She resisted the urge to feel her face for any new acne.
"Then you have been plotting against me!"
"That's right."
"NO!" Corinna resisted the urge to elbow Harry to shut up, but there were too many eyes on them. As much as she didn't want Dumbledore taking the fall for them, he had a much, much higher chance of getting out of here than a couple of fifteen-year-olds did. "No—Professor Dumbledore!"
"Be quiet, Harry," said Dumbledore, which was met with Fudge's, "Yes, shut up, Potter!"
"Well, well, well. I came here tonight expecting to expel Potter…"
"Instead you get to arrest me." Corinna did not understand how Dumbledore sounded thrilled at the prospect. "It's like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, isn't it?"
Now Fudge looked like the roast was cooked and he was ready to devour it. He made sure that Percy Weasley had copied everything down of Dumbledore's confession, especially the part where he was plotting against the Ministry. He then barked orders for it to be duplicated and sent to the Daily Prophet's office expecting it to make it for the morning edition. "You will now be escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be formally charged, and then sent to Azkaban to await trial!"
"Ah, yes. I thought we might hit that little snag." Fudge scoffed, but Dumbledore paid him now mind. "It's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to—what's the phrase?—come quietly. I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all. Cornelius, I have no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course—but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing." Umbridge looked as if she was about to explode. Fudge looked confused as if he had started reading a book halfway through. A forgotten man with gray hair stepped forward and reached for his wand. "Don't be silly, Dawlish. I'm sure you are an excellent Auror—I seem to remember that you achieved 'Outstanding' in all your N.E.W.T.s—but if you attempt to bring me in by force, I will have to hurt you."
"So," sneered Fudge, "you intend to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores, and myself single-handed, do you, Dumbledore?"
"Merlin's beard, no. Not unless you are foolish enough to force me to."
"He will not be single-handed!"
"Oh yes he will, Minerva! Hogwarts needs you."
"Enough of this rubbish!" said Fudge, arming himself. "Dawlish! Shacklebolt! Take him!"
An earth-shattering explosion shook the office, flashing before Corinna's eyes. She felt herself be pulled down to the ground and she wildly groped for whoever had done it out of fear she was being attacked. There was a second flash and something gave a bird-like screech from above. Corinna coughed loudly as she tried to sense where anything was within the dust. She could hear odd noises, but then everything fell silent.
As the dust cleared, Corinna saw McGonagall. She had managed to essentially tackle Corinna, Harry, and Marietta down to the ground before the explosion went off. As the dust settled more, she could see a figure looming over them. "Are you alright?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes!" McGonagall stood up and pulled Harry and Corinna up. Corinna managed to grab Marietta's arm and pull her up as McGonagall couldn't help everyone. Around them, the floor was littered with those that Dumbledore had to attack.
"Unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley, too, or it would have looked suspicious. He was remarkably quick on the uptake, modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory like that while everyone was looking the other way—thank him, for me, won't you, Minerva? Now, they will all awake very soon and it will be best if they do not know that we had time to communicate—you must act as though no time has passed, as though they were merely knocked to the ground, they will not remember." When McGonagall asked where Dumbledore will go, he shook his head. "I am not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you…" Harry looked over at Dumbledore and looked as if he had a million things he wanted to say and not nearly enough time to even say one of them. "Listen to me, Harry. You must study Occlumency as hard as you can, do you understand me? Do everything Professor Snape tells you and practice it particularly every night before sleeping so that you can close your mind to bad dreams—you will understand why soon enough, but you must promise me." Before Harry could even attempt to make such a promise, they began to stir. "Remember: close your mind."
As Dumbledore grabbed Harry's arm, his face screwed up in pain. He almost looked angry, but the feeling seemed to pass as soon as Dumbledore released his grip. As if this evening hadn't been confusing enough as it was.
A large red bird—a phoenix as Corinna would soon learn—swooped down from where he was circling the office. Dumbledore reached up and grabbed his tail. They both went up in a flash of fire.
It was a scramble as the others came to and argued to where Dumbledore could have gone. Dawlish suggested the stairs and they all scurried out of the office. Fudge, however, stuck around, as if to gloat in their supposed victory. "Well, Minerva. I'm afraid this is the end of your friend Dumbledore."
"You think so, do you?" McGonagall challenged.
"You'd better get them off to bed," said Fudge as if he hadn't heard McGonagall in the first place.
As she silently ushered the three of them out, one of the portraits around the office piped up. "You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts, but you cannot deny he's got style."
When McGonagall got to the Gryffindor dormitory after sending Marietta off to the hospital wing, she immediately forced everyone dawdling around to go to bed. She made sure every last student was in their dormitories before stalking off to deal with the aftermath.
Corinna should have expected the three girls she shared a dorm with to want to hear all the details. They were all there during the meeting, and Hermione was one of the founding members. As much as she did not want to, she recounted the events that transpired in Dumbledore's office, leaving out the last part just before Dumbledore disappeared. Corinna was certain Harry would tell Hermione what Dumbledore had told him and what had happened when he touched Harry, but she didn't want to say anything in front of Lavender and Parvati.
"Do you think McGonagall will be our new headmistress?" asked Parvati. "She took over when Dumbledore was forced to step down during our second year."
"I can already see the next Decree being pinned stating that she is the new headmistress," said Hermione darkly. "It's what they wanted all this time. The Ministry wanted an excuse to get rid of Dumbledore so they can fully take over the school."