Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Original A/N: Thanks to MaeSilverpaws1, who is beta-ing this story.

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Eight

Staying or Leaving

What was the matter with this stupid school? Everything I had done so far has been challenged and I was laughed at, at every turn, Umbridge thought as she sat down, ripping her shoes off as they were soaked and muddy. She had just tried to leave her office to go to Trelawney's lesson … since she had been prohibit from going to Black's classes until the Governors came to their senses … and had walked straight into a swamp. The whole corridor where her office was located was now surrounded by this swamp and she had walked straight into it before she noticed. Then she heard laughing so she had tried to find out who was there but after a few more steps in the mud she had fallen down … That's when the laughter had really started …

She wiped her face of mud and gritted her teeth. She was going to make whoever did this pay and she already had a good idea who it was. Those brats obviously hadn't learned from her banning them from Quidditch. Last time it was clear it had been those twin red headed devils that had perpetuated the curse, and it was likely true this time as well, but punishing Potter was nice too. Brats like this hate seeing their friends punished and after a few detentions with her, they will stop their foolishness.

Oh how she had been longing to give someone, especially that Potter brat, a detention. Most children hadn't done anything in front of her that she could punish. Finally she would have her chance.

There was a tapping at her window and she got up to let in the owl. She saw the seal and knew that it was from the Governors, which made sense since anyone else that would contact her would have used the floo. She opened the letter and read, her teeth gritting harder than they had after the mud incident. Those stupid spineless Governors had called a hearing where she and that oaf Black would be required to argue against each other in two days. It made no sense, she and Fudge had easily been able to get them to pass many Educational Decrees, hardly batting an eye, and now they were going to let that playacting bastard get to them.

Oh well, it will all be settled in two days, and after Black was out of the school her reign would become much easier. He was the one that was rebelling against her, and she had a feeling those brats will lose a lot of their swagger after he was gone. Not to mention after he was gone she could crush their spirits and there would be no one for them to run to.

Dolores knew she had a lot of work to do to get everything she need and the best place for her to go would be her office. She rushed to the fireplace; grabbing a fist full of floo powder and was swept away from Hogwarts in a flash of green light. Moments later she found herself in her Ministry office and she hurried towards the door, she had to talk to Fudge first and make sure that he would bring the full power of the Ministry with him to her trail to make sure those Governors remembered their place.

She noticed that the workers outside her office all stiffened as they always did whenever she was around. Now that was the respect that she deserved, and that's what she will get at Hogwarts by the time she's done there. As she walked quickly towards the Minister's office, she couldn't help but notice more people than usual were looking at her, but she brush that thought off. They probably hadn't expected her to be here as she was supposed to be at the school, still she couldn't help but notice that they stiffened too and she couldn't help but feel pleased.

"Minister Fudge …" she said as she walked into his office.

"Good lord, Dolores, what happened to you?" Fudge gasped from his desk gaping at her.

"Wh-what happened …?" she questioned back, caught off guard by his question, until she remembered only then what had happened before she had left Hogwarts. She had forgotten to change … and she had walked through the top floor of the Ministry … her personal workers … covered in mud!

O

"Now the first, and perhaps only, order of business we will discuss is the claims of one Sirius Black against Dolores Umbridge for unjustly putting him on probation," said Trimble in a booming voice. "I see that you have both brought your respective bosses to join us as characters witnesses or for moral support." he added nodding his head toward Dumbledore and Fudge. Dumbledore smiled cheerfully at him and Fudge scowled.

Trimble kept his face as calm as ever though he almost wanted to smile. Fudge had thought him a coward, thinking he had signed all of those previous decrees after a few threats. The truth was in the last decade or so, he had growing concerns over the way Hogwarts was being run and he had wanted there to be more control over the situation. He had been interested in education most of his life, writing books on a few subjects, the most common happened to be Defense Against the Dark Arts. He had even taken his turn at teaching at Hogwarts, but he had always been better at the research over the practical side so after his year there he had taken the job of a Governor instead. It was after that time that he understood that he had gotten off lucky, as other Defense professors had ended their term at Hogwarts in some tragic way.

It had seem reasonable to allow the Ministry to appoint a Professor if Dumbledore was not able to, as he was running thin in his choices of late, and the Ministry had many qualified people to take the post for a year. Now, Trimble fully believed in the curse on the Defense post, he would not subject anyone to the misconception that the job would or could last even a day longer than a year. However, he had heard that Fudge was planning on putting Umbridge in that post and if what he had seen in the sensory orbs was any evidence, she was not one of those qualified people. The idea of a High Inquisitor had been interesting to him as well, as he had wondered about the level of the professors inside of Hogwarts for several years. The scores in Divination have gone down dramatically as of late and there had been a mix results in Potions, as there have been fewer students to take Newts after Slughorn retired, but the quality of those that did take the test had been raised slightly. There were a few other classes that were questionable as well and he had wanted to get a better view of what they were like. And truth be told, he wouldn't have minded if the Governors had more authority over Headmaster Dumbledore position, but that authority didn't seem to come.

"So let the hearing begin," Trimble said after he finished his musing.

The hearing seemed to go on forever; first Sirius had stated his case reiterating how Umbridge had a personal vendetta against him. Then Umbridge had reversed the claims that Sirius was just using that as an excuse; that he deserved to have been on probation and ultimately, if the Governors agreed, removed as a professor. Fudge had stood up and informed the Governors that he put his full weight of the Ministry behind the High Inquisitor, all but saying his threat out loud. Then Dumbledore stood up and said that he had full confidence in Sirius's teaching ability. He then further stated that he agreed that the High Inquisitor position was something that could be helpful to the professor to keep up to date; his only problem was that he had hoped for someone that was more objective.

"I believe that everyone here has made their case," Trimble said hours later, after speeches and arguments were made and remade. When no one made any objection, he ordered those that weren't Governors to leave the room for the deliberations.

"I don't know why you even bothered listening to all this or even that you listened to Black's case," one of the Governors complained. "You know we're not going to rule with him."

"Why … because you're afraid of Fudge?" another said, crossing his arms. "I'm getting sick and tired that he keeps pushing us around all the time."

"I am too," Trimble said out loud as a few others murmured their agreements.

"Well, I can't see how you being sick is going to help us any," the first Governor stuffily. "That doesn't change anything."

"No, it doesn't change anything and yet if you're smart about a few things, you can get around a threat or two," Trimble said, getting the attention of the other Governors.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I agreed to listen to Sirius Black case because honestly he had every right to protest," Trimble said, "the more we looked into it, the harder I find it to see any redeemable aspect in the way Umbridge handled her inspections when it came to Black."

"That may be true as well, but again, I don't see how that changes anything."

"Maybe that doesn't, but I feel that if we find Umbridge to be to bias we could remove her from the post but at the same time we can hold onto the integrity of the post that has been set up as the High Inquisitor, which would appease Fudge," Trimble stated and noticed that most of the others looked at him oddly. "Look, I understand that none of us really want to deal with the fallout from going against the Minister but I don't see how we can just ignore the evidence we have just seen. The Minister wants a High Inquisitor, and there can be one, but it doesn't have to be Umbridge."

Trimble looked at his fellow Governors and saw that he had a long way to convince his colleges to vote with him, but he was willing to put up the fight.

O

Sirius sat in a chair looking straight ahead with Dumbledore on his right. He would have preferred it if he could have paced the room, or at least tap his foot, but he wasn't about to give Umbridge, or Fudge for that matter, the satisfaction to see him sweat. In all honesty, he felt like he came off well in all of this, but it was the yawning and bored look of most of the Governors that really annoyed him. He got a feeling that this was already decided before they even got here. At least he was able to make Umbridge sweat a little and annoy her in all those classes before now, but he really wanted to get the better of her this time. Maybe it was a little too naïve of him to rely on others so much.

"It's been a while," Dumbledore said calmly and Sirius looked at him oddly. Of course it's been a while; he's been sitting here worrying for the last hour. "I would think the longer they deliberate, the better it is for us."

Sirius continued to just look at him before a smile almost brushed his face. "It still doesn't mean that we'll actually win."

"No, I suppose not," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling with its normal mirth. Sirius felt himself relaxed a little more at that. He hoped that Dumbledore was in such a good mood because he really believed that Sirius might win. "It's nice to see you clam down a little, I was beginning to fear that you had been petrified."

"Hmph, it was better that than showing signs of weakness," Sirius grumbled.

"Yes, well I believe if you talk, perhaps even laugh, you might just show them that you're not worried in the least," Dumbledore supplied and this time Sirius did smile.

"I suppose that is a good point," he said. "So have you heard the joke about the Minister, the Priest and the Bishop …?"

O

Umbridge gritted her teeth as she heard that horrible man's barking laugh on the other side of the room. He was smiling and joking around even when he had to know that he was about to be fired. He was taking all of the joy out of her job by acting like he cared not about his punishments. Trying to go around her power the way he was … he made the whole plan of hers a process and she felt like she had made no progress in the months she had been at Hogwarts.

"Don't worry, Dolores, we have this in the bag," Fudge said trying to reassure her, but all she could think is that if it was such a foregone conclusion, why haven't the Governors called them back in yet? What could they possibly be talking about for so long?

It was then that the door opened and the room became completely quiet as they got up and went back into the main room. Sirius felt as if his heart was about to beat out of his chest as his nerves rose tenfold in that moment. All of the Governors looked grim face and annoyed, which he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or bad for him.

"After much deliberations and discussion," Trimble said getting straight to the point once everyone was seated. "We have decided that Sirius Black shall remain at his post of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts …"

Sirius now felt numb, he could hardly hear the protest being made by Fudge, as he realized that he had actually done it. He had gotten these people to agree with him. He turned his head to look at Umbridge and feeling started to return to him as he took in her shocked and horrified look.

"Minister Fudge, you are here as our guest, so I will ask you to remain in your seat," Trimble said as he waited until Fudge to stop before he continued. "Furthermore, we feel that it is not proper for the High Inquisitor to have such an obvious bias against one professor and uses that power to help their own goals and not uphold the integrity of their positions. Therefore we are going to remove Dolores Umbridge for the post as High Inquisitor …"

"You have no right!" Fudge exclaimed as Umbridge just gaped at the Governors in disbelief. This was her forum, how could she be removed like this!

"Actually we have every right," Trimble argued. "You are the one that is to pick the person you feel should uphold the post, but we are the ones that decided if they are competent or not. And we have viewed Dolores Umbridge as unacceptable."

"Unacceptable," Umbridge muttered, the word seemed to cut through her like a knife. She had never been found unacceptable in a job before … how could they do this to her?

"We do hope that your next choice will be better, Minister Fudge," Trimble said. "Either way, we will be waiting for your choice, until then there will be no High Inquisitor at Hogwarts."