Harry had a list of regrets.

And at the moment, two of his biggest regrets were fighting for first place on that list, the first one being not giving that feeling of overwhelming dread that had loomed over him a bit more attention and the second one wondering why instead of how a few DA Slytherin members knew Edgecombe was a sneak. If he had focused on the dread instead of brushing it off, he might have paid Umbridge's toady smile a bit more attention.

If he had wondered why the Slytherins knew Edgecombe was a sneak he might have realized she had did something to alert them and noticed that she was missing from the Great Hall during lunch and dinner, not appearing until the Deterrence Aegis's sudden discovery and assault lead by the Toad herself.

But he didn't. He only got the heads up that Umbridge knew when Ginny grabbed him the moment he had stepped into the Room of Requirements hissing, "Edgecombe is snitching about the Deterrence Aegis!" and when no Slytherins showed up for tonight's lesson.

Now he, Ron, Hermione and oddly, Ginny were standing in Dumbledore's office at wand point as Umbridge shot her fellow professors a smug look.

"So…you were right, Potter and his friends were indeed teaching fellow students unregulated Defense Against the Dark Arts." Professor Sliver murmured, looking very annoyed as Professor Mackerson simply stared at them then at Dumbledore who was calmly regarding them, then at a wizard wearing a turban on his head before finally looking at Fudge who seemed torn between being gleefully that they finally had one over Dumbledore or upset that Umbridge had been the once to discover it.

"Indeed, when Miss Edgecombe informed me of this I was surprised. But then I remembered that Potter and his friends would gladly pull every underhanded trick in the book to create chaos." Umbridge explained, her smile growing wide as Fudge nodded in agreement.

"We only created the Deterrence Aegis to learn how to defend ourselves! Not our fault you're a horrible teacher!" Ginny spat, her hand inching for her wand but freezing when Malfoy jabbed her in the back with the point of his wand. Warning her not to try anything. Ginny's outburst elected a small snort from Professor Sliver who quickly looked away when Umbridge and oddly Fudge glared at her. "Something funny? Miss Sliver?" Fudge asked.

"Nothing, Minister." Professor Sliver replied, "Merely a frog stuck in my throat."

Fudge clearly didn't believe her but didn't press the matter. Instead he turned to Harry who was struggling not to keel over from the room's constant swaying. Whoever had used that sea-legs hex on him was going to get a kick in the shins the next time he saw them.

"Now Potter, are you the one behind the Deterrence Aegis?" Fudge asked.

He was about to answer yes when Ginny and Hermione shot him a hard glare that promised death if he tried to take the blame.

"It was a group effort." He said instead as the room made a hard right and his knees buckled, forcing Crabb to grab him by the back of his robe to keep him upright. "Hermione, Ron and I made up the idea but Ginny and some of her friends helped before they pulled back."

"So Earthbound was involved in this?" Fudge questioned, looking a little surprised and…uneasy? Was he nervous about Ne—Earthbound? If so…then why? He hadn't seen Earthbound use any of his powers and outside of helping uncover the Ministry's hidden secrets he hadn't done much to land on Fudge's radar.

"Not…exactly, he was moral support but since he's absolute rubbish with magic he left after we ironed out some ideas." He answered glancing at Hermione who gave a slight nod, encouraging him to keep spinning his web of lies as Ron stared at the floor his eyes wide, but unseeing.

A small part felt sorry for his friend, but another part was eagerly crowing 'I told you so' before he forced himself to face Fudge.

"Why did you create the Deterrence Aegis?" Fudge asked, "Was it to help Dumbledore?"

What? He glanced at Hermione and Ginny who seemed surprised but didn't have a lie for him to use. Forcing him to look at Dumbledore who gave a small nod.

His stomach twisted in knots as he realized with horror that Dumbledore was fully prepared to take on the blame and be the scapegoat if Harry let him. He wanted to argue, insist that he was more than willing to face the actions of his consequence and face the Ministry head on but instead he looked back at Fudge and croaked, "We created the Deterrence Aegis to learn how to defend ourselves, from Voldemort."

The Professors—minus Dumbledore—reeled back as if they had been slapped and the Slytherins behind them stiffened. "Yea, you're in just as much hot water as we are." Harry thought feeling a little smug as he recalled seeing Malfoy and his cronies' faces in the fog when Voldemort had attacked at the graveyard.

"Boy, you mean You-know-who." Professor Mackerson sternly corrected, his eyes cold as Harry retorted, "I mean Voldemort. Who is back and taking advantage of all of this chaos between the Ministry and the people!"

"And who's fault is that?" Fudge coldly remarked, "Who's the group of people who keep insisting that You-Know-Who is back and undermining our power?"

"You!" Hermione snapped, "You could have started making precautions! Rounded up the Death Eaters and warned people to be on guard! If people were on guard then maybe Barty Crouch would be alive! Maybe Harry and Ness wouldn't have played a part in reviving the Dark Lord! Maybe-,"

She didn't get to finish as a Sixth year Slytherin pointed his wand at her and hissed, "Silencio!" silencing her immediately.

"Thank you, Smith." Umbridge said as Fudge cleared his throat, "Moving on. Umbridge, did you find any records of who joined the Deterrence Aegis?"

"Not yet, but Edgecombe stated that a good chunk of the school joined before she needed to lie down."

"Lie down?" Ron interrupted looking up as Fudge frowned, "Oh dear, how is the poor girl? While it was brave of her to come forward, I must imagine this is a bit much to take in."

"Madam Pomfrey is watching over her." Umbridge answered, "She'll be fine."

"No, she won't. Not without Earthbound's help." Harry thought the knots tightening as Ron turned three shades whiter and rambled, "Dumbl—Headmaster! Edgecombe was bitten by some snake a week or two ago! S-she needs more than Madam Pomfrey!"

"A snake?" Fudge repeated as Professor Sliver and Mackerson exchanged surprised looks.

"She was spying on Earthbound and H-Harry!—Umbridge forced to her too!—"

"I did no such thing!" Umbridge interrupted her wand hand turning white as Ron ignored her, "Earthbound sort of freaked when he accidentally found her and summoned a snake and it poisoned her!"

"Why didn't she go to Madam Pomfrey?" Dumbledore calmly asked although there was a dark glint in his eyes as he eyed Umbridge, "Surely she could write it off as a spell gone wrong."

"Didn't want to alert anyone. Especially not after Earthbound and Harry posted that article. We—I think Umbridge is threatening her family's jobs at the Ministry."

"What?" Professor Mackerson flatly exclaimed his gaze hardening as he looked at Umbridge with disgust and anger.

"She is at a high enough ranking to hurt those beneath her." Professor Sliver murmured, her gaze landing on Fudge who didn't seem surprised but sickened at the possible lengths Umbridge would go.

"Umbridge, is this true-," Fudge started when the door opened. Harry tried to look to see who had walked in but Crabb's hulking form and the swaying of the room made it impossible to see much more than black fabric.

"Professor, we found a list of everyone who joined the Deterrence Aegis," a girl coolly stated—wait, he knew that voice…

"Excellent! Who was on it?" Umbridge asked her voice unnaturally high as Professor Sliver and Macklemore kept their gaze on her.

"We don't know, someone charmed it so we couldn't read it and then it burst into flames. The only proof of us even finding the list is the symbol they drew on the paper." The girl—Corrinway! The self-proclaimed leader of all the Slytherin members of the Deterrence Aegis—stated.

"So, we have no proof of who joined the Deterrence Aegis." Fudge clarified, "None except for the students Umbridge's group grabbed from the pandemonium?"

"That is correct Minister." Corrinway replied, "And the few we captured aren't talking. And when they do, they get shut up by the word 'Sneak' appearing on their face and silencing them."

"So, Umbridge's little plight to reveal Dumbledore's secret club has blown up in her face." Professor Sliver stated.

"That seems to be the case Professor."

"Well then." Professor Mackerson breathed as the wizard with a turban spoke up. "Without any evidence we can't say for sure that Dumbledore was plotting to overthrow the Ministry. Hell, we can't even say this was his doing."

What? Why did they think that Dumbledore wanted to overthrow the Ministry? He glanced around but his friends—and even Malfoy and Smith seemed baffled by the idea.

"Minister, if I might interject." Malfoy interrupted, "This whole affair has been set up by Potter and his friends. Just like every other ordeal that has happened this year."

"Potter, who is Dumbledore's favorite student." Umbridge interjected, "The Boy Who Lived who somehow evades trouble that would expel normal students from this school without a second thought."

A hush fell over the room as the adults exchanged a look, then looked at Dumbledore who was sipping a cup of tea. "Potter," Professor Sliver gently began, "How often do you and Dumbledore often chat with one another?"

"Um? Not…a lot." Harry replied thrown for a loop as he glanced around, his friends still confused by the Slytherins' eyes widening as they realized something and looked away to hide their expressions.

"According to Edgecombe who was indeed helping me out to ensure a better position for her mother in the Ministry. She reported he and Earthbound taking special lessons with Professor Snape and Kale to protect themselves from the Dark Lord." Umbridge added, already twisting the truth to fit her evil plans as Fudge slowly nodded.

"They were!" Harry exclaimed wondering where they were going with this as Dumbledore stayed quiet.

"Secret special lessons."

"Because you would have used it to your own advantage you stupid old toad!" Ron yelled, "Just like how your turning Edgecombe's unwillingness into a different story to suit your needs!"

"Dumbledore, what were those lessons?" Fudge asked turning to face the man himself who was still calm. It was an admirable trait Harry admitted, but he desperately wanted Dumbledore to look anything but calm.

Maybe surprised by the sudden change of events, or better yet! Angry at whatever they were accusing him of doing! Anything!

"I'm sorry Minister, but I cannot say." Dumbledore calmly replied, "It was a private matter between the five of us."

"And with Kale willingly leaving, we only have Snape to question." Mackerson noted, "Perhaps that muggle-born was doing more than staying away from danger and adding suspicion to himself. Perhaps he was trying to lessen his obvious involvement with you."

Dumbledore blinked but Harry felt as if that simple blink was more than a blink. It seemed more like a surprised reaction to Mackerson's words.

"So now we'll have to question Kale on his involvement with Miss Sybil and this." Professor Sliver noted, sounding sullen as she looked at Harry.

"Harry, who gave you the idea to er, write that eye-opening article to the Mystic Informer and the Quibbler?" Fudge asked.

"Hermione and Ginny did. They wanted to truth out and those were two of the most willingly publishers they could find. It also helped that Luna Lovegood's father was running the Quibbler." Harry answered frowning as Fudge asked, "And who sent in the picture of Peter Pettigrew?"

"That was Selvis Karma, he was hoping to get some favors from some higher ups for exposing the man." Ginny answered, "Dumbledore wasn't involved in it."

"Just like how he wasn't involved in the Goblet of Fire." Professor Mackerson grumbled.

"Um, Fu—Minister. What are you getting at?" Harry asked, "Dumbledore didn't help me with any of this."

"Outside of those 'secret' lessons…and supporting Sirius Black on his plight of being an innocent man." Fudge reminded him, not even fazed when Harry, Ron and Ginny all exclaimed, "He is innocent!" in their own way and Hermione furiously nodded in agreement.

Fudge simply nodded at this and turned to Dumbledore, "Well, with all of this new information. While we won't be able to arrest you for plotting a coup against the Ministry. We can certainly question you for possibly planting ideas in the mind of the young to carry it out for you."

"What?!" Harry exclaimed as Ron exploded, "You're joking! Dumbledore wouldn't do that!"

"We won't know for sure, but we have to ask." Fudge stated his expression hardening as he pulled his wand out and pointed it at Dumbledore, "Come peacefully and we'll sort this out as quickly as we can."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Cornelius." Dumbledore solemnly stated getting to his feet as Ron exclaimed, "What?! Dumbledore have you lost it?!"

"So, we were right! There is a coup!" Professor Mackerson exclaimed, although he looked shocked instead of gleeful.

"Dumbledore, think reasonably about this." Professor Sliver chided, "If you flee then we'll have no choice but to inform the public about your possible ruse and create another outrage!"

"Dumbledore…" Harry whispered, the room now upside down as the urge to hurl became even more notable than before, "It's just a few questions! Why are you…?"

He thought Dumbledore gave him a sad look, but he wasn't sure, everything was swirling together, and the voices churned into white noise.

The only thing he could make out for sure was a sharp bang, a loud outcry and footsteps as someone dragged him away. Judging by the bobbing flashes of red it was Ginny and Ron, their voices sharp and angry as the colors faded to black and the room stopped spinning. When he came too, he was in the Hospital Wing, lying on a bed as people moved around him. Their voices in hushed whispers as they moved farther away from his bed.

He looked to his right, surprised to see the morning sun and paled when he realized it was the next day.

The day after Dumbledore had done…something. He wasn't sure.

He jumped when Madam Pomfrey bustled over and studied him. she looked tired, her hair sticking out from her cap and her apron wrinkled. "Good, you're awake." She said handing him a glass of water as Harry slowly sat up to accept it.

"What…what happened?"

Madam Pomfrey sighed, grumbling, "Men being insufferable happened." Before she answered. "Dumbledore is on the run and wanted by the Ministry for questioning."

"What?! Why?! Dumbledore didn't do anything wrong!" Harry exclaimed flinching when he heard his voice echo around the room for a moment.

"Well, we don't know for sure but…the news is saying…" she trailed off before sighing and handing him the Daily Prophet which had pictures of Dumbledore calmly staring up in the camera from older pictures.

His throat becoming as dry as the Sahara Desert as he read the headlines. Dumbledore! Possible Puppet Master Behind Potter's Bold Actions?

"He isn't the-!" Harry started to argue when he looked up to find Madam Pomfrey gone, busying herself with another sick student.

"He isn't the puppet master." Harry quietly finished before he forced himself to read.

"Last night, we at the Prophet received the startling news of a possible attempt to overthrow Cornelius Fudge as acting Minister created by Albus Dumbledore himself, the headmaster of Hogwarts and renowned wizard.

However, what's most shocking is that the Minister reports that this coup was seemingly to be done by a group of children lead by Harry Potter and his closest friends.

It appears that Potter and his friends were leading a group known as the Deterrence Aegis to combat the Ministry's original decree that forced them to study the concepts, they would need but not allowed to practice them in class.

The Minister admits that he is unsure how long the group has been meeting in secret, how many members there were originally or if they were even meant to be used in Dumbledore's plan given the students measures to protect themselves from Dolores Umbridge's reign of terror.

The only thing he knows for sure is that Potter and his friends—who shall not be name for their own protection—were in charge of teaching those who joined and arranging meetings.

Umbridge discovered the club and immediately summoned Minister Fudge and an Aurora who was in Dumbledore's pocket to interrogate the students but stumbled onto a more disturbing plot.

The possible grooming of Harry Potter to have done what Dumbledore could not do, take over the Ministry. Given the sudden news we do not have much proof to know how true this is but witnesses Amelia Sliver—the new Defensive Against the Dark Arts teacher handpicked by the school-board—states that they discovered Potter and Earthbound taking secret lessons with Severus Snape well after dinner to defend themselves against the Dark Lord.

Potter refused to answer thanks to Umbridge's presence while Dumbledore himself stated that he couldn't—or perhaps wouldn't—inform the Minister when asked.

She also adds that Astra Kale, muggle-born squib who was originally the astronomy teacher at Hogwarts before he became a suspect in willingly allowing fellow teacher Sybil Trelawney to use his predictions as her own, was also at these secret lessons and despite not being forced to leave Hogwarts after being replaced and a suspect. He chose to leave with the claim of 'making it easier for the Ministry to do their job'.

Sliver admits that she now wonders if he did this to put distance between himself and Dumbledore and his possible underhanded deeds.

Allen Mackerson states that despite the Minister coming with the original intent of arresting Dumbledore for plotting a coup he left with the means of merely questioning Dumbledore in private given the charged atmosphere that went from being busting a secret club to possible charges of purposeful neglect of a student.

Dumbledore instead choose to flee after stunning the Minister and using a spell to banish everyone from the Headmaster's office much to the dismay of his Gryffindor students who were pleading for Dumbledore to go with the questioning and simply get it over.

There was no promise of arrest and at the time it seemed like the easiest way to resolve the mess without prying eyes—Note, Umbridge who is now suspected of blackmailing a student into spying on her fellow classmates and encouraging her to endanger herself to get the job done, more on pg 2.

Until we can gather more information, much of what happened last night is up in the air and the only thing we can say for sure is that Dumbledore is now wanted for fleeing a questioning and that if anyone knows where he is are to report this immediately to an Aurora.

Harry lowered the paper, feeling sick and angry that people were going to look at Dumbledore as if he were a common crock instead of a well-meaning headmaster.

"Why didn't you just go along with it? If that man was a member of the Order, he would have protected you!" Harry thought while a smaller part of him hissed, "If we had been more careful about the DA then this never would have happened!"

What did his friends think? Did they agree? Or disagree? Despite not wanting to leave the bed and simply drown himself under the scratchy blanket and sheets he forced himself to get up and walk around the curtain.

"P-potter?"

And found himself looking at Edgecombe, dressed in a bright purple nightgown that made her pale skin seem papery who looked at him in surprise.

"Edgecombe? You're…still ill?" Harry questioned.

He figured she would have left before he woke up, or that the poison wasn't as severe as they thought it was. "N-no, um…Earthbound came around…gave me some medicine…" she stammered, curling inward as Harry realized with a dull thought that he was supposed to be angry at her.

Or at least she thought he was supposed to be. "That's good. Ron was really worried about you." Harry stated before he asked, "Are you going to be okay? I mean…I think the entire school knows about what happened at this rate."

"T-they do. But um…it doesn't seem that bad." Edgecombe answered giving a mirthless laugh as she added, "Besides, I've already paid the price for turning against my house."

"You…have?" Harry questioned feeling sick as she nodded and pointed to her wand with another mirthless laugh, "Magic, I can't do it anymore. At best I can summon a few sparks. At worse? Nothing, absolutely nothing."

"Y-you're a squib?" Harry asked, but he already knew the answer. They already knew the answer.

"So, it seems. Madam Pomfrey's going to send me to St. Mundo's after informing my mum and dad about what happened. See if they can help."

"I…hope they can. You seemed like a wonderful student during DA meetings."

"I was. And then I threw it away."

"You were forced to, Umbridge forced you to. It isn't your fault."

"Maybe so, but she didn't tell me to poison your relationship with Ron. She didn't tell me to break his heart." Edgecombe shot back, shaking as she wrung her hands, "All she told me to do was get information, not how to do it. She didn't tell me to date Ron so I could get close to you, she didn't tell me to force Ron into being my alibi. That was all me."

Harry opened his mouth, but nothing came out. What could he say to that? It'll be alright? He'll forgive you just give him time?

Ron hadn't even listened to him or Hermione when they tried to warn him about his anger issues or about Edgecombe being a spy. And they were his closest friends.

"I'm…sorry," he finally settled on, but Edgecombe had already crawled back into her bed, the curtains drawn tight so all Harry could see was a sea of white.

Walking to Gryffindor Tower was absolute hell. Everyone who wasn't rushing to lessons or relaxing were whispering only to abruptly shut up when they spotted him. Giving him pitying looks or annoyed glares.

Why was everyone looking at him with pity? The glares he could understand, the Boy Who Lived had once again wormed out of trouble was probably on their minds but…pity? It got worse when Cedric spotted him and tried to talk to him only to be pulled back by another Hufflepuff who shook her head no, whispering, "Let him go, he needs time to think." As Harry walked by.

Walking into Gryffindor Tower was even worse than hell. There was shouting and arguing with Nes—Earthbound and Ginny in the center of it all, Earthbound looking heated and clutching his robe as if it was a lifeline as Ginny spat fire at anyone who approached them. The noise only stopped when Neville bumped into him and yelped, "Harry!"

Prompting everyone to turn and look at him. "Er…hello." He managed, jumping as Hermione and Ron burst from the crowd and dragged him away, Hermione mumbling "Not here," while Ron growled, "Why the hell is Earthbound so good at causing problems!?"

"W-what's going on?" Harry asked, allowing himself to be dragged as they stepped back into the hall.

"Some Gryffindors were exclaiming that Dumbledore were innocent and getting into a fight with someone who thought otherwise, so Earthbound tried to meditate the two and let it slip that from an outsider's view it does look like Dumbledore is doing something underhanded."

"But he's not!" Harry protested, "Voldemort could get into-,"

"Sh!" Hermione interrupted, "We know Harry, but it is awfully suspicious that he wouldn't cough up the truth to Fudge."

"Umbridge was there!"

"Yea, and Fudge gave him the option of being taken into questioning. Sure, there's the risk of being arrested on false charge but it's better than nothing." Ron replied, walking into an empty classroom as Hermione whispered a spell to muffle their conversation.

"Not to mention the fact that with everything happening it makes more sense for Dumbledore to behind everything instead of a group of students." Hermione reminded him.

"But we did do everything! Dumbledore shouldn't have to pay for that!" Harry argued, "He should have…I dunno!"

"I know mate, it sucks." Ron agreed, looking solemn as Hermione tapped her fingers against a book. "I spoke to Selvis—well, no he cornered me after breakfast."

"Why?" Harry asked, "Did…did the Slytherins do something?"

"Well, aside from ensuring that no one knew exactly who was in the club?" Ron said, "No, they've been talking about the news."

"What? Hermione charmed it to be unreadable and explode. All they did was deliver the news and be on Umbridge's side." Harry stated, frowning when Hermione shook her head no and said, "I just charmed it to be unreadable. Not burst into flames."

"So…You're saying."

"Corrinway was on Umbridge's team. She burned the paper and apparently blackmailed everyone to keep their mouths shut." Ron explained, "Makes sense though, if Umbridge is willing to work with them then they don't need to reveal that they were working with rebels."

"Right, so Selvis was um…giving me a different perspective about what happened last night." Hermione continued, "He thinks Dumbledore fled because of other secrets."

"Other…?" Harry started when he realized they were talking about Ness and possibly Kale, after all Sirius had mentioned that Trelawney and Kale were hired at the same time by Dumbledore and Dumbledore alone.

"He could have left that out…" Harry weakly stated, recoiling when Hermione tittered then whispered, "Well, no. He couldn't. Selvis explained that Dumbledore is looking like um…a less than moral person who is manipulating a child into doing his dirty work for him. If he explains that Earthbound was getting the same lessons to protect your minds from Voldemort then they might think that Earthbound was also in…your position."

"What position?! And Dumbledore wasn't manipulating me! We barely talk to one another!"

"Mate." Ron interrupted, looking a little sick. "They think Dumbledore was grooming you. It's like manipulation only…worse. He was teaching you his way of right and wrong and encouraging you to stand out to serve as a solider in his plans."

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed horrified that Ron agreed with the Ministry's crazy idea.

"I don't agree with them!" Ron quickly exclaimed, "It's just, that's what they think! And even though it's a load of rubbish after hearing Selvis's viewpoint it…sadly makes sense."

"How?!"

"Earthbound." Ron deadpanned, "He hates it here, probably wants to be expelled but Dumbledore keeps him around. Despite knowing and seeing the destruction Earthbound can bring when he's upset and not thinking."

He wanted to argue but…that was true, Earthbound hadn't been shy about telling anyone who would listen how much he hated Dumbledore and if Earthbound wasn't one to avoid trouble the entire school would know this fact by now.

"Alright. So…maybe he's manipulative but he has his reasons for it!" Harry protested, refusing to believe that Dumbledore was grooming him, the first adult that had ever looked at him and saw not a troubled child like everyone thought he was, but a child who needed help and gave him a place to call home.

"Maybe." Hermione agreed, "But for now, Dumbledore is going to look like a villain. Especially once someone from the Prophet comes to interview us."

"Interview?" Harry echoed feeling sick as she nodded, "No one knows what happened last night. The Ministry only have a basic idea, but they don't have any proof and can't spread lies without upsetting the public. And even if everyone agrees that Dumbledore isn't in the wrong the Slytherins are going to bring up everything you've done and how you and Earthbound avoided getting detention or getting expelled."

"So…what do we do?" Harry asked, "Are….are we just stuck waiting?"

"Until Dumbledore does something? Yea." Ron replied, "For now, our biggest problem is convincing Earthbound not to spill his guts about how much he hates Dumbledore."

"Easier said than done…" Harry grumbled, remembering how well their argument had gone on the train to Hogwarts at the start of the year.


6 out of 12!

*Hands Dumbledore a shovel*

Forgetful Authoress: Yeaaaa...Have fun in the hole your digging.

Dumbledore: I...I beg your pardon?