Chapter 3: The First Step
It took Kreacher three days before he returned with Dung, but the moment he was back he appeared in the library before Harry and Fleur, startling them out of their careful study of soul magic.
"Master. Sneak-thief Fletcher is tied up in the basement, shall I retrieve the torturing instruments?"
Harry tried his best to not be disturbed by the sheer hopefulness on Kreacher's face at the thought of torture implements but he nodded his affirmation. "Please do, Kreacher. Meet us in the basement." The elf apparated away as pure bliss overtook his face.
Fleur merely raised an eyebrow. "You are not intending to use those, I hope."
Harry managed a wry grin, though it came out as more of a grimace. "You know that and I know that. Kreacher, however, doesn't know that, and most importantly, Fletcher doesn't know that."
She laughed a little at that. "Oh, I wonder how Dumbledore would feel about your methods."
He managed a genuine smile at that. "If he wanted different methods, perhaps he should've given me an actual plan. The task is in our hands Fleur, and there's too much to lose. I'll do whatever it takes."
That, it would seem, earned him a measure of respect in her eyes as she nodded her agreement. "I approve. Let us see what this Dung has to offer us, non?"
Mundungus sat in a chair, tied up and eyeing - with no small amount of trepidation - the eager elf polishing various hooks, cleavers, and contraptions when Harry and Fleur entered the room. He immediately relaxed and looked relieved. "Harry, Fleur, thank Merlin you're here. I've been kidnapped by that insane elf, you've got to help me, I think he means torture." Harry smiled back at him and Mundungus felt his heart drop out of his chest when that smile didn't reach his eyes.
"I think you misunderstand, Dung. See, Kreacher here was talking to us and we've learned some rather interesting things. Seems you decided it was a good idea to steal some things from the House of Black, things that are vital to us here. You wouldn't happen to know anything about those, would you?"
Mundungus's heart rate skyrocketed as his eyes flicked between Harry and Fleur. The predatory looks in both of their eyes driving home the feeling of the walls closing in. He let out a shaky laugh "Harry, this has to be a misunderstanding I wouldn't steal anything from you."
Harry outright grinned at that, "Oh but you did, Dung. You stole something immeasurably valuable to us, something that Dumbledore himself died for."
Mundungus opened his mouth for a moment before Harry reached forward and shoved his jaw up for him, making him bite his tongue in the most literal sense.
"How about you shut up for once, eh Dung? We know you stole some silverware and other rubbish from here and probably pawned it off to god knows who. If I'm being honest, I couldn't care less about that. With all that, though you actually managed one important thing. There's a locket you took and we need it, it should have a snake insignia on the front. You're going to tell us where it is. Now I'm going to let you speak in a second here, but before you try and give either of us any measure of your usual bullshit do remember that Kreacher was the elf of the Black family. This is the family that created Bellatrix Lestrange and her love of torture. This elf has been waiting years to finally use those tools he's got there. If you're anything less than truthful with me..."
Harry could feel Mundungus's breathing coming fast and heavy on his hand as he finally released the man's chin.
"Merlin... fuck, Harry… okay, look, I took the locket and all that shit, okay? I had the locket but that Umbridge bitch busted me trying to pawn some of the stuff off without a license. I bribed her with it to get her off my back. Honest, last I saw it she had it."
Harry closed his eyes and suppressed his urge to strangle Fletcher right then and there. "Alright Dung. You're gonna stay right here and Kreacher's gonna take good care of you while we verify that story. If I find out you lied…" Harry let the threat trail off, letting Mundungus fill in the blanks with whatever he found to be most terrifying.
Mundungus quickly nodded, desperate to prove his usefulness. "It's the truth, I swear it. I don't know if she still has it but she did last I saw it."
"Kreacher, don't torture him yet," Harry said, and without another word, he and Fleur left the room.
As soon as they were out, Harry slumped against a wall. "Shit, was that too much in there?"
She turned to look at him and tilted her head. "Why would that have been too much, Harry? You were never going to torture him. It was, how do you say, perhaps Heavy-handed, but something tells me he would not have gotten the message any other way. Besides, you did not once state you intended to torture him, he merely assumed that."
Harry nodded tentatively at that.
"Harry, look at me."
He looked up at that and met her eyes, admiring the deep blue for just a moment.
"You are a strong man, a hero by every meaning of the word. What is good and what is bad are not so clear-cut. What is clear, though, is what is necessary. That bâtard pawned off a piece of the Dark Lord's soul. Remember what you said, Harry, whatever it takes."
He took a shaky breath at that and nodded his affirmation. "You're right. We don't have time for second-guessing. This is a race against the clock, and as long as Tom is immortal he's got infinitely more time than we do."
She smiled grimly back at him. "We had best get to work then. Tell me everything you know about this Umbridge woman."
Ultimately it was decided that Fleur would do the reconnaissance on Umbridge. It would be bad if she was caught, but it would be infinitely worse if Harry, or Undesirable No. 1 as the ministry called him, was caught.
"If I am not back five minutes past noon then you can reasonably assume that I have been captured, Harry. I'd appreciate a rescue operation." She winked a little at that and drew an unwilling chuckle from him.
"You know I hate you going alone in there. Too many people have put their lives on the line for my sake."
"Oh do not be so dramatic, Harry. This is not just for you. The war hinges on getting that locket. This is for everyone."
"You know, that actually helps a surprising amount." He openly laughed at that.
She smiled in response "Just four hours, Harry, not a minute more. Besides, I just need to wait for Umbridge outside the ministry to get the jump on her, not actually go in."
Harry nodded his confirmation. They had planned this for hours the night before, ultimately deciding it would be best to nab her before she ever got into the safety of the ministry.
"Should I avoid killing her?"
Harry paused for a moment, "you know it sorta concerns me that I don't immediately have an answer for that." He let out a helpless chuckle. Probably best to just stun her and take her, though. We can decide later."
She agreed and with that, she was off, as she pulled on the invisibility cloak and apparated a couple of blocks away from the Ministry.
It was three hours later that Fleur apparated back, carrying a marble statuette in the shape of a toad and the locket itself. She immediately threw the locket down on a table with disgust.
"I hope to never touch that monstruosité ever again, Harry. I could feel its very taint seeping into my magic."
He sighed and stared uncomfortably at the locket on the table. "I'm glad to see you're back safe, Fleur. I probably should have warned you just how horrid those things feel to be around. They are an abomination."
"Let us hope we do not have to touch any others. I have a gift here as well." She said smiling a little as she held up the marble frog.
The edges of his mouth quirked up at that "a witch turning someone into a frog? Somehow I think that's no Prince Charming."
She laughed. "As far from Prince Charming as is possible, I believe. Let us see what she knows, shall we? First, though, it seems that we must release our other prisoner."
"I'll hate to disappoint Kreacher, he was so eager. Maybe we'll let him test his tools out on Umbridge. Seems I've earned a bit of torture out of her after my fifth year, eh?"
She shook her head in amusement, "might I suggest 'I must not wear so much pink'?"
He laughed in response as they started to make their way downstairs. "Somehow I think that's a message that'd never sink in. Did you see how gaudy that locket is? She's got poor taste built-in I'm afraid. Seems part of the package."
They continued their banter until they made it down to where Mundungus was still tied up. He looked up hopefully as they approached.
"Well, Dung, it seems I'll have to disappoint Kreacher. You were telling the truth. You should try it more often."
"I am less certain that the truth suits a man like him, Harry."
He nodded at that, "too true, Fleur. Well, Dung, as much fun as we've had it's probably best if you don't remember any of this. Loose ends and all that. Keep your eyes on my wand and lower your occlumency barriers if you want it to hurt less. Obliviate."
With Mundungus safely snoozing in a muggle park across London and a bottle of cheap vodka in his hand, they untransfigured Umbridge in the basement, tied her up, and woke her again with a simple reviving spell.
She opened her eyes, groggy at first before her eyes sharpened to take in her surroundings.
"WHO…" She trailed off as she processed who was in front of her. "POTTER. I should have known it would be you, ever the brat with no respect."
Harry furrowed his brow at that. "Why on earth would anyone have any measure of respect for a vile cunt like you? You're not worth the air you breathe, Dolores. Oh, was that too harsh? Sorry, couldn't help it, I just don't really lie these days. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" He let the question hang for a moment. "So, to business then. Tell me, what exactly do you know, Dolores?"
"If either of you jumped up half-breeds thinks I'm going to tell you anything, your heritage has made you stupider than even I thought."
Fleur cut in quickly before Harry could work up a temper and harm her before she actually gave any information. "Here is how this is going to go, Dolores. You are going to tell us everything you know about what the ministry and the dark lord have been up to and in return I will prevent Harry here from carving your arm up so you can have scars to match. A fair trade, non?"
Her eyes widened as she was stunned into silence at the casual mention of torture.
Harry smiled at that "We'll hold off on the torture, but only just for now, she seems so eager to get started, after all! What do you reckon, do we break into the stash of veritaserum here or should we just legillimens the bitch and be done with it?"
Her breathing stilled. "B-but you're Harry Potter!"
"Nice of you to notice! You're Dolores Umbridge!" He looked at Fleur dramatically "This game is fun!"
She laughed. "I think veritaserum would be best here. Nobody with any self-respect should ever look into the mind of this misérable chienne."
"Kreacher!"
"Yes master?"
"Get the veritaserum, if you don't mind."
"Kreacher does not mind at all, master." The elf looked like he might have a heart attack from the excitement of interrogating someone.
"His enthusiasm worries me if I'm being honest."
Fleur giggled a little at that "I cannot fault him for it though. If anyone deserves it, it is her just for what she did to you alone, Harry."
Dolores watched their back-and-and-forth with trepidation. Their ease in the situation was brutally telling of their seriousness about their threats.
Kreacher reappeared with a vial of veritaserum and a pipette. "Three drops should do her just fine, Master."
"Thanks Kreacher. I'll call you if you're needed further." Kreacher nodded at that and disapparated from the basement.
"Now they always say that four drops are needed to properly overpower someone with strong occlumency shields. The only issue is the potential for permanent damage. Now, I don't think a talentless sack of shit like you has the aptitude to master occlumency, Dolores, but the permanent damage part just sounds so appealing. We have to be sure you're being truthful with us of course." Harry grinned.
"Purely professional, Ms. Umbridge," Fleur quipped in return.
They had decided on only three drops in the end, but afterwards Harry was wishing they had actually erred towards the side of damage. He and Fleur left Umbridge staring blankly at the ceiling as they stepped out into the hallway.
"I always knew she was a horrid bitch but this is beyond pale."
Fleur nodded in horrified agreement. "A muggle-born registry… the idea is… abhorrent to a degree I cannot convey. Thank the gods they have not finished implementing it, at least."
"It's fucked."
She snorted humorlessly at that. "Fucked indeed. I want to let Kreacher have her way with her with some of the ideas she has mentioned having about how they can improve registration rates."
"Speaking of, what should we even do with her?"
Fleur looked thoughtful for a moment. "I do not think torture is truly the best solution, but I think both of us can agree she probably cannot be allowed to continue on as she has."
Harry nodded in agreement at that. "I admit, I don't particularly like killing, but the last few days and my actions at the… a few days ago, have forced me to face the fact that like it or not, there will be blood on my hands at the end of this. I'd like to at least make that blood count for something."
Fleur visibly flinched at his near-mention of the wedding before nodding. "If we take care of her now, she will not hurt people in the future. I have another idea, however, you may not like it."
"Out with it then. I'm pretty flexible these days if I'm being honest."
"It is simple, we obliviate her and then cast the Imperius on her and command her to subtly save as many muggle-borns as she can."
"I'm not sure which part of that I'm not supposed to like. Sounds like a decent plan to me."
Fleur looked at Harry, a little shocked at his disregard for the unforgivables. A moment later, he looked back and smiled hollowly.
"I tried to cast the cruciatus once, did you know that? It didn't work, of course, I didn't have the sadism in me for it, but willpower? I've got that in spades. I'm more than happy to put an imperius on that bitch in there and force her to put her neck on the line for those she considers to be undesirables."
She looked at him, that same glimmer of surprise and admiration back in her eyes. "I misjudged you, I think, Harry Potter."
"Do tell."
"I thought you were more…"
"Principled?"
"I believe naive was what I was going for, but take your pick."
Harry sighed, dragging a hand through his hair as he looked up at the ceiling. "I admit that I was naive, for a very long time, in fact, but I took a look at myself just after we got here. I'd already killed several men that day, and if I had done it earlier, maybe it wouldn't just be us two here." He dropped his gaze to meet her eyes. "If my naivete and principles held any water, your husband and my two best friends would still be here."
Fleur drew a shaky breath before drawing him into a tentative hug. "You are an inspiration Harry, do not forget it."
He chuckled dryly at that. "I'm not really sure how much inspiration you can take from, as McGonagall said, sheer dumb luck."
She shook her head, a slight smile playing on her lips. "It is not your history that inspires others, Harry, it is your strength. Let me reiterate. Do not forget it."
He looked at her a little strangely at that.
"You know, Fleur, somehow I don't think you'd let me forget it."
"See, Harry? Even you can manage wisdom occasionally."