Struggle 02

I waited with Luna as the school nurse looked over her hand. The twins were sitting in their own chairs nearby. Both had eyed me as I strode into the hospital wing, Daphne and Hermione hot on my heels. The others had split off as we got back to the haunted bathroom, trying to look at least a bit less conspicuous.

We had all seen Umbridge apparated away by a frantic team of wizards in white robes, her breathing labored and her skin green and covered in small round puncture wounds, each of which were swollen and festering already.

I didn't feel guilty at all. I should. I really, probably, should. I had wanted to be a hero. I had started working with the Undersiders intending to turn them in. When had my morals turned more…flexible? Had there been a point that I had stopped believing in black and white?

Grunting, I shook my head at my silent musing. I knew when I had flipped sides. It was when Lisa and Alec had proven they were my friends. Alec cared more about the abuse I had gone through than anyone else ever had - including my father. Lisa had…Lisa had gotten through my shell. They were supposed to be villains. No, they were villains. They were supposed to be the bad guys. None of that changed the fact that they were still my friends, and they had cared about me. They had cared when no one else had.

Black and white didn't exist. If villains could be heroes, then heroes could be villains. No, I didn't care if Umbridge lived or died. Let them try to save her at their hospital. While I hadn't really tried to kill her, not hard at least, I wouldn't shed a single tear if my blind rage brought about her last breath. I had pulled my swarm back when Flitwick came in and I hadn't let them eat her. That was as much of a chance as I was willing to give the bitch. She had abused children. She deserved whatever happened to her.

"You are very broody. Did you know that?"

I smirked at Luna, leaning back in my charge and crossing my arms. "That's pretty much my normal state."

"Hmm," she frowned, then shook her head. "I prefer it when you are hyperactive and chatty. Like when you were telling me the story about the flickering fireflies."

"I used to be a lot more talkative," I said, my face falling flat. "Things changed a few years back."

"And then they changed again when you came here," Luna replied. Daphne nodded silently behind me and Hermione's eyes narrowed to slits as she stared between the back of my head and Daphne. "Do not let one bad incident sour the wonders of magic. I didn't. I can still find Heliopaths and Plimpies wherever I search."

I smiled and patted her hand. "I thought they were Gulping Plimpies?"

"Ah, yes, that's right, I must have momentarily confused them with their South American variant."

"I'm sure."

Pomfrey stepped back from Luna's bed, and thrust a potion towards the younger girl. "Well, I've done everything I can for the moment. Make sure to drink one of these each hour for the next three hours and keep that hand soaking in the bowl. The murtlap essence will ensure there's no scarring, the potion is for any lingering pain. Excuse me while I deal with the Weasleys." Luna saluted her as she hurried over to the redheads.

As soon as the woman was out of earshot, Luna leaned forward, her voice pitched low, "Thank you, Taylor."

"You shouldn't have had to see that," I murmured.

"I watched my mother die. I did not mind seeing an evil woman get her comeuppance. If you are melancholy because of that, please believe I have a stronger stomach, and it would be worth it regardless."

I just grunted.

"I must say, I wasn't entirely certain it would work. I'm glad my guess was right!" I arched an eyebrow and she chuckled. "It's been a very long time since I had anyone willing to watch out for me. Daddy was not the same after Mummy passed and Hogwarts has not always lived up to the dreams I had of it as a girl. So I'll say again, Taylor: Thank you."

"Anytime, Luna," I said, forcing the words out through a suddenly clenched throat. "You need me again, just call."

As she laid back down, smiling, I stood and waved for Daphne and Hermione to follow me. One of the twins gave me a small salute behind Madam Pomfrey's back just before we reached the door which I returned with just enough of a head tilt to show acknowledgement, and then we were gone. My tagalongs were silent until I led them into an empty classroom a few doors down. Once we were inside, Daphne and Hermione both started to shoot a multitude of spells around the room, enough that my eyebrows were arched high as they finished.

"I haven't heard of those last few," Hermione said, looking at Daphne. "Family spells?"

"Advanced privacy wards. Most of the bigger families make certain their children can do them as early as possible. It's never too young to start learning how to safeguard a conversation."

"Yes, I can see the appeal. I'll have to get your notes on that later if you don't mind."

"Certainly."

"Ahem," I cleared my throat and both girls turned to me. Spreading my arms wide I asked, "I didn't bring you both here to talk shop. I brought you here because you two looked ready to jump me."

"Yes, well," Daphne said, pulling at her collar. She sighed and her arm dropped to her side. "Before I say anything, why exactly is Hermione here?"

"Because I promised her an explanation…and I had a minor meltdown before I could get around to it."

"Ah." A strange expression flitted across her face that I couldn't remotely begin to place before she schooled herself back to a mask of neutrality. "Anything I should avoid?"

I shrugged. "My mind says yes. My gut says no. I think she'd be a strong ally and it'll be good to have people we can rely on, and who are fully aware of things, to run ideas past. Your parents are pretty far away, and while I love your sister, she's…"

"Not exactly a tactical genius, yes. Very well. Granger, I want to give you the shovel speech that my father has threatened to give my significant others…however I think we are all aware that Taylor is the one more likely to be able to take care of herself in this power dynamic."

Hermione crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure whether to be amused or embarrassed for you. I have several questions, Taylor. First and foremost: did you attack Umbridge?"

"Yes."

She blinked, her arms dropping and her head cocking to the side. "Well that was blunt. I'm not used to that at all. Dumbledore tends to give confusing, rambling answers that never answer any of the questions asked; most of the other staff will give a full lecture that may somewhat tangentially relate to the topic; and if I'm doing my own research, it takes me days to find the right book, the library here is in a horrific state. So this is refreshing. I'm not sure what to do with myself now, I didn't actually have a followup prepared for an admission…"

"Well I do," Daphne scoffed. "Are you alright? What did she do? What was Pomfrey treating those three for?"

"She was torturing them," I stated. They gasped and I dropped into a chair shaking my head. "She had these quills that were making them write in their own blood and carve the lines into the back of their hands. When I heard Luna asking for help…I just, you know, snapped."

"My word," Hermione whispered. "Even the actual Death Eater didn't resort to corporal punishment, although studies show that verbal abuse can be worse. The Ministry must be willing to do whatever it takes to silence Harry and Dumbledore…This is very bad."

"Taylor," Daphne said, kneeling beside me and cupping my hand. "You didn't answer my question."

"I'm fine."

"Answer my question with some word besides 'fine,' please."

I bit my tongue thinking for a second, finally scowling. "I'm not going to let anyone else go through what I did. If I have to make this school into my personal territory and chase out every corrupt 'teacher', or government official they try to send in, then so be it. No one else gets hurt while I'm here."

"You can't watch us all, you'd run yourself ragged."

"I can and I will. My range covers the entire castle now as long as we're not down in the Chamber."

"Excuse me," Hermione cut in, "range of what? Are you using a spell or is this a natural ability your kind possesses?"

"Natural ability. Each parahuman has a different ability," I stated. "Mine is - was - bug control. Since I've gotten here that has expanded somewhat. I can also communicate and somewhat control smaller familiars as well."

She gasped. "Trevor! That's why he's been so well behaved!"

"Nah, only for a bit the first day. Now I just use his eyes. He sees in color and his vision doesn't hurt like a lot of my bugs do."

"How extensive is your multitasking?"

"Yes," I answered, my expression carefully neutral.

"That's not an answer."

Daphne snorted. "It is. The question was: Multitasking? The answer was: Multitasking, yes. There's no upper limit, Hermione. None that she's bothered to share with my family at least."

"None that I know of," I shrugged.

Hermione shook herself. "Yes, well, setting that aside, I must ask as I grew distracted, did you mean to kill Umbridge."

I frowned, squeezing Daphne's incredibly soft hands. "Honestly, I don't know. I sent the doxies after her, but I didn't quite realize they were venomous until after they first started to poison her. I didn't really stop them after that though. I also didn't let them eat her like they wanted to do so…She might survive. I honestly don't care. I…I hope she doesn't. A woman like that shouldn't be walking around free, not when she has the blessing of the people in charge."

"That doesn't give us the right to be executioners. We have laws, we have to follow those laws."

Daphne stood up, glaring at Hermione. "And if those laws are wrong? Are we still expected to follow them then?"

Hermione scowled. "How am I supposed to know?! I follow the laws, and the rules, and the stupid social contract!" Under her breath she added, "Until they are in conflict with my friends, then I protect my friends…"

I nodded. "I do the same. Luna is my friend. I was protecting Luna."

Hermione looked up in surprise that I'd heard the last bit of her rant. "Oh. Well…I suppose that's okay then," she murmured and dropped her gaze rubbing her arm. "You said you can manipulate insects? Does that include any insects?"

"So far as I've ever experienced. Why?"

Hermione looked up, meeting my gaze, her smile widening to a frightening degree. "Because, in that case, I believe that we should all take a bit of a field trip into the Forbidden Forest over the weekend. There are some…unique arachnids out there that you would simply adore."

As Daphne and I made our way back to the Slytherin dorm, I checked in on Dumbledore and his people above us, shifting a few more bugs to better listen into his current conversation. It looked like most of the Heads of House were already there, including Hagrid. Only Sprout was missing and she was on her way up. It was disturbingly hard to actually keep track of Dumbledore's office, almost like the whole room kept moving whenever I turned my focus away from it.

"Will she live, Filius?" Dumbledore asked.

"Albus that was, quite a few doxies," Flitwick replied, not shifting from his seat on the chair in front of the headmaster's desk.

Snape snorted. "If the swarm that passed your office was anything like the one that flew outside mine, I can only imagine."

"You didn't make it up there fast enough, Severus," the little man said. "I haven't seen doxy venom poisoning that bad since my dueling tours."

Well, if Umbridge hadn't wanted to be bitten by venomous magical pests, she shouldn't have taken pleasure torturing children.

"Someone was stung by doxies during a duel?" McGonagall asked, her eyes widening. "Who would use that avenue of attack?"

"A rather ingenious Bulgarian who specialized in charms. He claimed relation to Newt Scamander; frankly, I believe him."

Hagrid scratched at his beard. "A swarm big enough ter risk attacking a large predator would stay ter eat. But swarms like tha' don' gather. Not in Hogwarts they don'."

"This wasn't a natural swarm, Hagrid. There were clusters of doxies coming from all over the castle converging on that room." McGonagall shook her head. "In addition to the three that myself, Filius, and Severus saw, there were an additional four swarm groups. I confirmed it with the portraits before this meeting."

Confirmed with the portraits? Was that what Daphne meant when she said that the walls had eyes and ears? That would be incredibly, stupidly, literal. I would have to ask.

"Yes, it's almost as if Hogwarts itself was opposed to the beleaguered Undersecretary." Dumbledore said, his fingers steepled. "Filius?"

"I'd believe it. Even that accursed Bulgarian didn't have the sort of control required for such a swift attack." He paused as Dumbledore still stared at him. "Oh! You meant Umbridge. She was moved to St. Mungo's. I did what I could as the swarm dispersed. I'm not trained for field medicine and that level of toxin was far outside of Poppy's abilities with the tools she had on hand."

"And the physical damage?"

"Nothing a short healing stint wouldn't deal with. It's the poison that's the problem," Snape said, scowling. "Doxies are dangerous in large numbers, Albus."

"I am aware."

Hagrid looked up. "Albus, why are yeh on'y asking abou' Dolores? Sounds ter me like she got wha' the castle felt she deserved. Why aren' yeh asking 'bout the students she was hurting?"

Dumbledore leaned back, sighing. "Messrs. Weasleys and Miss Lovegood are perfectly fine. I was delayed as I was by stopping to ensure that personally. I am more concerned that the Ministry is going to use this opportunity to enforce more rules and regulations onto this school, let alone who they would find for a replacement teacher."

It couldn't be someone worse. And if it was, well, I would deal with them too. If I did it right, I could actually play it off as the castle defending itself.

"There is also…" Dumbledore trailed off as he looked at Snape, then sighed again, seeming to sag into himself. My watching bugs stayed perfectly still as my focus intensified. "This may not have been Hogwarts acting in defense of her students."

"What are you saying, Albus?" McGonagall asked, her eyes narrowed.

"There may be another possibility."

"That - woman - was torturing my lions!" McGonagall snapped. "And one of Filius' ravens! I may find Fred and George infuriating, but never in all my years have I ever considered raising a hand or wand against my students. Corporal punishment was deemed unacceptable forty years ago, Albus! Forty years! If Hogwarts had not seen fit to depose her, then I would have run her out myself."

"As would I," Flitwick stated. "Luna is an odd soul, but she is a gentle one. Ministry appointed or not, Umbridge had no right to do what she did."

"Except, you are both forgetting," Snape interjected, "she did. She had legal power over Hogwarts that we could not fight. We may not like it, but Fudge gave her far-reaching authority. She could do whatever she wanted here and none of us could raise a hand against her. It would only have been a matter of days before we saw laws put in place that would have closed any loopholes we found. Umbridge did nothing illegal in that detention, it was merely disgraceful."

"Severus!" McGonagall gasped.

"No, you need to hear and you need to listen. The Dark Lord worked by similar means: start little, with legal methods, in small degrees and then quickly escalate until you have reached a level that others find too hard to believe or are incapable of responding to in force. Fudge chose his stooge well and he set her path. His next may act more subtle, but their road will be the same. Be prepared and warn your students not to draw their ire." He glanced towards the ceiling and, for just a moment, his eyes centered on my cluster of spiders and flies. "We cannot protect them."

My bugs shifted, getting a better view of him. He obviously wasn't just talking to the staff…

"Thank you for that insight, Severus," Dumbledore said. "Now, if there are no more interjections?"

The door to the office opened and the final Head of House trotted in. Sprout dropped into the open chair.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Excellent timing, Pomona. I was just about to explain to the others how important it is to be wary moving forward."

Sprout frowned, leaning forward. "About the doxy infestation? I assumed we would be sweeping the castle for the pests. Really, a swarm killing a member of staff? That hasn't happened in…well I honestly can't remember such an incident. Lockhart was the closest we came and even he just received a few bites from the cornish pixies. It really says something about how awful a witch Umbridge was that couldn't even defend herself against a few doxies. But yes, I was just coming up from the greenhouses to check on the stock of hemlock, tormentil, and cowbane. I'm pleased to report that there should be enough on hand to brew a sizable stock of doxycide."

"Oh I assure you, Pomona, it was not 'just a few'. I watched the swarm disperse. Many accomplished witches and wizards would have had trouble against those numbers. That she didn't even try, however, well that is what is disappointing," Flitwick said.

"As I was saying." Dumbledore cleared his throat, the others looking back at him. "As much as I would like to believe this was our beloved castle taking an interest - an interest she has not shown in centuries - you must all be aware that there is another party with a potential investment in this matter who may have been able to act as well."

Snape scowled. "Headmaster…"

"No, they need to be aware. If she can rouse attacks from a distance and in such numbers…they must warn their Houses. I will not have another repeat of prior years. Too often our students have suffered because we have not adequately protected them. Now three could have been permanently scarred - and we still would not have been able to protect them. No. No more."

It was hard to see through the bugs I had in the room, but he didn't look quite as old as before. He was sitting up, his back perfectly straight, his fist clenched on the desk, his lips thin. It was an impressive figure even through my critters, I could only imagine what it was like in person.

"My friends, you have, I trust, all seen Miss Taylor Hebert on the premises by now?"

The staff nodded as one.

"The girl is far more than she appears and she has the potential to be either a dangerous foe or a potent ally. I am uncertain of what abilities she truly possesses, though I am aware that at a minimum she is a conduit for something far greater and far older. She can be in many places, see through many eyes, act through many bodies."

"Albus, are you saying…"

"I don't know for certain, Minerva," he said, shaking his head. "As I stated, I don't know her full capabilities. I have the barest idea and mere extrapolated guesses from a brief instant of contact, compounded by her body language and how she has acted over the past week. I believe it is possible that she could have been responsible for the attack against the Undersecretary. At a minimum, I am certain she was aware of it occurring."

"Well now," Sprout whistled. "That's certainly 'impressive'. We could have used more parahumans in the last war, if all of her race had similar powers. Any idea why she specifically had it out for Umbridge?"

"The portraits reported she was a friend to Miss Lovegood. If she was aware of the events in that room, and if she was indeed able to control the doxies, it would be child's play to have them mass and then disperse with only the single casualty."

McGonagall looked like she was going to be sick. "Umbridge could still die, Albus. If Hebert is responsible…"

"Then we should give her a medal for services to the school," Flitwick snapped. "No one hurts my students! As to Miss Hebert, she displayed similar control of small living creatures while sitting in on my class. Whatever magic she has, the beings under her sway are utterly within her grasp. I'm certain I was the only one to catch her tricks, and she was getting better at hiding them even after just an hour. If she doesn't want us to see her hand in things, we won't. This was a statement, and I for one hear it loud and clear."

Snape scoffed. "That's the goblin in you."

"Yes. It does not make me wrong. The enemy of my enemy is not my enemy."

It took me a second to parse that, but I found myself agreeing with his sentiment. People didn't always need to be allies to work together. The Wards had been helping the Undersiders to find and capture Bakuda after all.

"Be that as it may," Dumbledore said. "I am not telling you all this in order to frighten you. I want you to be informed and I want you to caution your charges. Warn them that Taylor Hebert obtained her position for a reason and that she is to be treated with the respect such an appointment deserves."

"We would be as much as pointing the finger at her that this was her fault, Albus," McGonagall said.

"Not necessarily. So long as no one can confirm any such rumors they would simply remain as such. Besides, I am certain that alternative explanations have already begun, such as those about the Defense position curse being exceptionally active against Miss Umbridge. She ruffled many feathers in her short tenure and those sorry to her exit will be few and far between. Even if we do inadvertently direct some suspicion towards Miss Hebert, all the better. We must avoid her feeling the need to direct her full attention against a student who has wronged her."

"Or her charges. Or friends," Sprout commented. "I passed her and the elder Greengrass on the second floor as I went to the greenhouses. That's half the castle away from Umbridge's office. If I could see half the castle and control little itty bitty critters, in the current political environment, I'd be keeping a close eye on my companions all the time. Severus, you should watch your little Death Eaters or they'll wind up dead."

"How dare you -" Snape started to snarl before Dumbledore cut him off.

"Severus. Pomona is correct. I wish to provide the children of Voldemort's followers another chance, to show them another path. But I recognize I am not in the majority. No matter who was at fault, whether Miss Hebert or Hogwarts, should those children make overt threatening moves, I have little hope they would be found breathing."

"A statement is only good if the message is received," Flitwick said. "I'll bet you ten galleons that if she moves against a student, we will never find the body."

Hagrid stared at the little man. "When did yeh get so bloodthirsty, Filius?"

"When one of my students received corporal punishment and I would have had to smile and nod. Taylor Hebert took retribution in my place. She has my backing and she will continue to have it. Umbridge was a stain on this school that should never have been allowed through the door. Albus, you fix this before Fudge gets a new toad in."

Dumbledore frowned as he met Flitwick's gaze. "I intend to. Just for curiosity's sake, what happens if I don't?"

"Then I will be teaching that girl everything I know about how to hide her activities."

I pulled back from the meeting as they started to move onto other topics and refocused on Daphne. Why she had suddenly decided I needed to learn how to play Exploding Snap of all things was a mystery for the ages.

I smiled and nodded and listened to rules even as I was digesting the implications of that meeting.

It was good to know that I had at least one friend amongst the staff.