Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. If I did I would be a far richer man. And I'd be a woman. I also don't own Star Trek or Stephen King.
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AN: Well this chapter took forever to write. Sorry for the wait folks, my job really saps the energy for writing at times. Also for those curious, 'Potters Against the World' is not dead. It's on hiatus while I finish up this story. It's just not really realistic for me to write more than one thing at once right now. Enjoy the latest chapter!
Chapter 8: The Toad
The days following the disastrous 'lesson' with Snape were…surreal. Dora had worried over the repercussions of the event for several hours and come to the inescapable conclusion that no matter whether Snape had ever really been an ally or simply a reluctant collaborator in the first go-around, now he would be firmly set against Harry. She'd worked with the man enough to know that he likely wouldn't take any direct action…but he'd delayed reporting the students' rescue attempt when he'd had little reason to be antagonistic. Now? Now he'd likely actively try to suppress knowledge of anything untoward happening in relation to Harry James Potter – if only in the hope that her boyfriend's luck would finally run out and Snape could be rid of the boy.
She figured that if she could keep the two separated as much as possible there was a chance that the anger would cool enough that when the end of the year came around Dumbledore would have been able to get a handle on Snape and suppress the more base inclinations of the despicable potions master. It was a vague hope that was unlikely to bloom, but it was the best she could do. Who would have thought that getting Harry decent lessons on Occlumency would lead to this?
Unfortunately, her plan to convince Harry to skip Potions entirely for the rest of the year was immediately shot down both by him and Hermione.
"You can't seriously expect him to get a decent grade on the Potions O.W.L. if he skips class for the last few months! He can barely do the work as it stands!" Hermione paused and her eyes widened as her hand flew to her mouth. She turned towards Harry with her eyes downcastand murmured,"No offense, Harry."
"None taken,"he replied snorting in amusement. "Though I would like to say that I'll probably do better if I can just study it on my own or with you guys. Snape hasn't exactly been a stellar teacher."
"He hasn't been a teacher at all," Dora muttered. She sighed and shook her head before casting a critical glance at each of them. "Hermione, you didn't see what we did; that man is going to be on the warpath. Harry's not going to get anything out of class. I can get in contact with Slughorn or something and get him some tutoring."
"Slughorn?" Hermione asked.
"Hmm?" Dora mentally kicked herself before outwardly shrugging. "He was a bigshot Potions Master a few years back. One of my tutors raved about him. Bit of an arse and he trades in favors like Lavender spreads gossip, but he's a good teacher and he doesn't dismiss you if you're decent at the work."
Ron looked up from his chess game with Neville and shook his head. "I think we all know how that would turn out, Dora. Can you really see Dumbledore authorizing that when his pet Death Eater is the one who's going to scream bloody murder?"
Dora scowled and desperately tried to think of a rebuttal. There had to be another option…Harry leaned over and grabbed her hand brushing his lips against her cheek. She looked up and couldn't stop the lightening of her heart at his small smile. "I got this, Dora. It's really nothing new. Just now neither of us has to pretend with how much we hate each other. I'll talk to McGonagall about getting this Slughorn or someone else as a tutor for next year in case I need to take the course for N.E.W.T.s." Dora just sighed and nodded her reluctant agreement.
Against all odds Harry ended up being proven right during the next Potions lesson. While all previous classes with Snape had always involved some form of derisive comment or blatant bias, this class was…strange. For the entire two hours that the lesson was in session Snape had completely ignored Harry's existence. The ingredients for Harry's place setting weren't laid out like the rest. Snape didn't make a single comment on the way the materials were prepared or Harry's brewing methods. He didn't taunt Harry or berate him or antagonize him in any fashion. When Malfoy tried to launch a shell into Harry's potion and Harry had idly batted it back into Malfoy's own…Snape didn't even comment.
As they all filed out of class Harry was blinking and looking rather wonderstruck. "I think that was the single best Potions class I've ever been in…"
"Yes, and it only took our professed 'teacher' deciding you dropped off the face of the planet," Hermione huffed. "Honestly, one wonders who is supposed to be the adult in this situation."
"Don't look the gift manticore in the mouth, Hermione," Ron said chuckling. "You'll just get a face full of fire. Harry, mate, how'd you piss him off so much?"
Harry grimaced. "I watched him destroy any friendship he might have had with my mother. Also I watched him basically admit to setting up a fellow student to be assaulted."
"I really wish we could've done something about that…" Dora muttered as they trooped into the Great Hall for dinner and sat in their regular seats.
"McGonagall said they were all cleared during Bagnold's administration so there wasn't any recourse," Harry said sighing. "Death Eaters getting off Scot-free; what else is new?"
He'd barely even reached for the nearest tray of food before Dumbledore came up behind them. The Headmaster had a frown ghosting his lips that was thin enough only those truly familiar with the man would notice it. Dora's shoulders tensed and she started tapping her knee. If the old goat tried to force Harry into more 'lessons'…
"Harry? If I may have a short word prior to dinner?" he asked.
Dora reached over and squeezed Harry's leg just barely managing to keep her hair from shifting colors. Her boyfriend casually took her hand and squeezed back before nodding to the Headmaster. "Of course, Sir. Are we going to your office or speaking here?"
"There is a classroom just outside that I believe would work perfectly well. Come with me." Dumbledore turned and started walking away. Dora rose as Harry did and together they followed behind.
"Hey, Dora? How come you're – ow!" Ron uttered rubbing his foot. He glared at Hermione leaving Dora to chuckle slightly as she left the Great Hall hand in hand with Harry. If Dumbledore had cared enough to actually pay attention than he would have been able to tell her off or protest her inclusion in the 'meeting'. That he hadn't was his own problem. She smirked at the minor win over the Headmaster.
The door to the classroom swung shut and Dumbledore had his wand out to cast an anti-eavesdropping charm before he cocked his head at her and frowned. "Miss Kirk…I do believe my request was to speak with Harry."
"It was," she agreed. "That you didn't see me coming with until just now either shows you are far too distracted, you tacitly approve of it, or you are continuing to ignore Harry to such a degree that my presence here is practically required."
Harry snorted. "What's she's trying to say, Professor, is that we would prefer not to be alone with you at this time considering how the year has been going."
Dumbledore heaved a heavy put-upon sigh and seemed to crumple in on himself as he turned his gaze to the floor. "You still do not trust me, Harry?"
"Are we going to talk about further Occlumency lessons with Snape?" Harry asked in challenge.
"No," the reply was so soft that Dora had to strain to hear it. "No, we are not. I…do not know exactly what occurred between the two of you, Harry, but Severus was quite adamant that he would not be speaking to – or of – you ever again. I fear I may have vastly underestimated his grudge against you."
"And the Understatement of the Year Award goes to Albus Dumbledore," Dora muttered too quietly for the elderly headmaster to hear.
"Severus explained you had…other tutoring. Is this true?" Dumbledore asked tacitly ignoring her.
Harry sighed and let go of Dora's hand. He crossed his arms and nodded. "Yes, Sir. Dora was already instructing me in Occlumency before you even talked to me about starting to learn. That's why I was so dismissive."
The old man's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened to the point that Dora started to seriously consider he had a bit ofmetamorph blood in him somewhere up the line. "And you never thought to mention this?!"
"You never bothered to ask," Harry's reply was a cutting as it was simple.
"Professor Dumbledore," Dora said stepping forward. "I learned it while training with my family and my Coven. I'm pretty decent at it and both of us have been improving a lot since we started working together."
"This is not right. You are a child and you – " Dumbledore's mouth snapped shut though between his guilty expression and the way his hand had twitched towards his wand the damage had already been done. Dora fought to keep her hair from switching to red and just barely managed to grab Harry's elbow to hold him back with her instead of letting him cross in front of the Headmaster.
"Sir, if you are trying to imply that Dora is not trustworthy stop right now!" he growled. "She has been nothing, but helpful to me! You sent me to Snape! Snape! His 'lesson' consisted of insulting me from the moment I stepped in the room and dismissing all of the effort I have put into this. I learn well from Dora because she helps. She teaches. I trust her! If you are just going to sit there and berate me on my choice of friends and allies while you stay best mates with an admitted rapist and Death Eater perhaps it's you who should be given what for!"
Dumbledore closed his eyes and grimaced. "Everyone makes mistakes, Harry. Professor Snape…he made many difficult choices and many of those choices turned out poorly. He has done what he can to make up for that." Dumbledore held up a hand when both teens made a move to speak. "No, I am not making excuses for him, merely attempting to explain why I still trust and employ him. I understand that we will never agree on this matter and that we must agree to disagree. I fully admit to having expected more from him than he has given. Professor Snape is the adult and he should have been able to move past his grudge in order to teach you. That he cannot…I deeply apologize, Harry."
Harry ground his teeth. After several seconds he scowled and gave a curt nod. "Apology for that accepted. What about the other things?"
"Forgive an old man his oddities. I am slow to trust those I do not know," Dumbledore said with a heavy sigh. "It is a consequence of living through so many difficult times."
"You don't have to trust me, Headmaster," Dora said with a soft sigh. "You just have to be willing to acknowledge that Harry does."
Dumbledore grimaced and gave a curt nod. "As I said, I have made many mistakes and as an old man set in my ways my mistakes can be quite large indeed. I will endeavor to do better by you both in the future." Dumbledore turned to stare at the window to the room for nearly a minute with the two teens fidgeting behind him before he finally asked, "Is there any assistance I can offer you both while pursuing this discipline?"
Dora blinked in surprise. He was actually giving them the okay? That was…unexpected. Harry shook his head and grabbed her hand before he replied. "No, Professor, we're okay for now. Thank you for offering. I'll let you know if that changes."
"I would appreciate that, Harry. Thank your acceptance. Harry, Miss Kirk, have a good day, and once again, I deeply apologize for your treatment at Professor Snape's hands."
The relative peace lasted for nearly another week before things started to come apart at the seams yet again. The morning things unraveled began innocently enough – breakfast, naps in History, having fun watching Umbridge's new Rapunzel hair wrap around every desk she walked past…That calm lasted all the way until the mid-afternoon when the Gryffindors and the Slytherins both showed up for Quidditch practice at the same time. That by itself wasn't so unusual. Every few weeks the Slytherins had been able to con the Toad with some pitiful excuse for extra practice time. That such practice times always seemed to infringe on the other three teams' reservations certainly wasn't an issue for Umbridge.
No, what caused Dora grief was that this time Malfoy decided he needed to get a few jibes in prior to starting their session. The low-strength amplifying charm on the team brooms intended for the players to hear team strategies picked up every word Malfoy uttered.
"I don't know why you're even fighting us on this Scarhead," her cousin asked with a grin wide enough Dora could see it from her spot across the field. Her stomach flipped and she reached for her wand as she directed her broom to the ground. Draco was up to something and they were getting close enough to the end of the year that she couldn't risk letting anything happen.
"Well maybe if you ever bothered to actually have a good reason for sabotaging everyone else we'd stop complaining," Harry fired back.
Malfoy laughed and raised his eyebrows glancing briefly in her direction before he turned back to Harry. "Honestly, Potter don't you have better things to be doing? Like that girlfriend of yours?" Dora's eyes narrowed. He wouldn't. And Harry wouldn't…Shite! She started moving towards the two at a pace just short of a run. Flying would only make it worse and probably push Malfoy to escalate faster. "I'm sure she could be showing you a far better time right now than sitting here arguing with me about how to ride your broom. Or maybe she argues about the best broom riding techniques?"
"Considering you're the one who only ever goes around with two brutes, Malfoy I'd say you'd have more knowledge on riding 'brooms' in that respect," Harry said. His flippant response was betrayed with the vein that stood out on his neck and the way his white knuckles were wrapped around his Firebolt's handle. Dora reached midfield and she saw the rest of the Gryffindor team start to head over as well, but they were all too slow by this point.
"You probably ask her to come to each of these practices just to keep an eye on her, eh? I would in your place. You can't trust metasluts. They're all known to have…loose morals after all."
"Careful, Malfoy," Harry growled in a whisper that somehow carried across the field. Dora broke into a full run as did Katie and the twins.
"Has she switched to your dear old mum yet? Considering how much your vaunted love for the Mudblood keeps coming up, I figured it's just a hop, skip and a jump to bringing it into the bedroom and – " Malfoy cut off abruptly as Harry's fist knocked his front teeth out and sent a fountain of blood pouring from his nose. The blonde ponce dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes leaving his bodyguards Crabbe and Goyle gaping in shock.
Harry didn't let it end there though; he followed Malfoy down and managed to land several more punches on the whimpering boy's face and chest before Fred reached him and pulled him back while Dora jumped in front of him and pushed back on his chest. Harry was still struggling to get out of the bear's grip Fred had established and get around Dora by the time George and Katie caught up. George started to assist Fred in holding him while Katie joined Dora in front of Harry.
"Calm down!" Dora said putting her hands on his chest and pushing him back into the twins. She met his gaze and waited long enough to see the fire die down slightly before trying to speak again. "Harry, he's not worth it!"
"Yes, he is," Harry growled out through clenched teeth.
Katie shook her head. "You're giving him exactly what he wants for nothing beyond a momentary instant of revenge. We're better than them, Harry. Don't let him get to you!"
"Heh hem!" A truly obnoxious throat clearing behind her had a scowl planted firmly across Dora's features in an instant. Perfect. Just what they needed right now! "Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, if you would please assist the victim in making it to the hospital wing to ensure his grievous injuries are taken care of promptly it would most appreciated."
"Of course, Professor, we have it. Come on Draco," Goyle said with a grin. He reached down and none-too-gently pulled Malfoy up by the arm practically dragging the boy behind him. Dora couldn't help the feeling of pride that welled up inside as she saw the blonde idiot still whimpering through his missing teeth and broken nose.
"Grievous injuries?" George asked scowling. "We've all had worse than that practically every practice! Bloody hell we get worse going to Potions class! Pomfrey will have him fixed up in thirty seconds tops!"
"I don't believe you are qualified to make medical diagnoses, Mr. Weasley," Umbridge commented with a wide smirk.
Angelina snorted and crossed her arms. "And what exactly makes you qualified to make medical diagnoses then, Ma'am."
"Why I am the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and the High Inquisitor for Hogwarts of course."
"Neither of which have any sort of Healer training requirement," Katie said. Harry finally stopped fighting his friends though Dora could practically feel the waves of rage that were boiling off him.
Umbridge just gave her annoying little condescending giggle and shrugged at the group of Gryffindors. "Just because you are not intelligent enough to understand the responsibilities of my postings does not mean that they do not exist. Now, as I was saying, Mr. Potter, you have attacked a fellow student with no provocation and – "
"NO PROVOCATION!?" Dora snarled and twisting to level her full glare on the Toad. One more word, Umbridge. One more bloody word and I swear to Merlin, I will destroy you!
"Yes, no provocation," the bitch simpered with her customary giggle. "Seeing as how the Minister is still in the process of approving my ability to expel students…I think a…lifetime ban from Quidditch would be an appropriate punishment instead. After all, we cannot have such violent members of society representing our country now can we? I also feel it appropriate to permanently disband the Gryffindor Quidditch team. You all were rather vocally supportive of your teammate's actions and questioning my authority to institute corrective measures. Tut, tut. Maybe in a few years we can revisit this unfortunate instance." Umbridge smiled and walked away with Harry's Firebolt levitating behind her.
The entire field fell into an eerie silence almost as if the world itself was holding its breath. Finally after nearly a minute Angelina muttered quietly, "I feel like I'm going to kill that bitch one of these days…" Harry just scowled and nodded his agreement with a low growl rumbling through his chest under Dora's hand.
Dora herself stayed completely silent – the only outward expression of her rage was her narrowed eyes and her hair shifting to jet black. Idly she reached up to brush a strand out of her eyes. I haven't gone full Black Family black since Marcus tried to jump me in Sixth Year. Well…I guess it's time to finish this little game Umbridge. When I'm through with you you'll be lucky to end up like Lockhart.
Dora had been working on an initial plan to deal with the Toad problem the entire walk back to the Common Room. The list of options currently consisted of 'invite Grawp for a playdate' – how Hagrid had expected to return from meeting the giants with his kid half-brother in tow and not have the Order find out was beyond her – 'trick Umbridge into pissing off the goblins', and 'disappear into the belly of something that eats Toads'. She was still attempting to convince herself that long term spell damage would be preferable to actual death, but with each glance to Harry and the rest of the Quidditch team while they simmering in barely suppressed rage it became harder and harder.
By the time Dora dropped onto the cushion next to Harry her mental protests were degrading down into 'you have to be better than her just so that you can at least pretend she didn't win'. She glanced up and distractedly nodded to Ron and Hermione who had moved over to sit with the rest of the group. The Quidditch team clustered onto the surrounding seats in various states of anger and frustration.
"This is complete bullshite!" Alicia exclaimed with a snarl. "That bitch can't ban our entire team!"
"She can from the school," Angelina replied, her lips curled into a primal scowl. "But there's no possible way she can screw with Harry's future in the sport. 'A lifetime ban'. Sure. Good luck with that, Umbitch!"
Ron frowned and shifted uncomfortably. He looked from Angelina to Harry and back again several times. Finally he swallowed and nervously asked, "Err, Umbridge actually said she was giving him a lifetime ban?"
Harry let out an explosive breath and nodded. "Yeah. Right before she stole my broom. Padfoot gave me that broom. She's not keeping it!" Dora squeezed his knee while Ron just gulped again.
"Not to make things worse, but…well she…she actually can ban him for life," the redhead mumbled.
Hermione's head whipped around to goggle at Ron followed almost immediately by nearly everyone else in the room as well. "What?!"
Ron fidgeted and rubbed at the side of his nose before responding. "Well the Ministry had some issues with Quidditch players breaking the Statute of Secrecy back in the 1860s so they made a new law that lets the Minister and the Senior Undersecretary ban anyone from the League." He grimaced and cast his eyes down to the floor. "It did manage to stop the Statute issues…"
"And no one ever removed the law because it gives them more power and why would they ever want to give up power," Hermione said crossing her arms and scowling. "This is so unfair!"
"Well it only applies to Britain!" Ron said perking up. "So, Harry, if you want you can always move to the mainland and play there or you can hop over to Ireland and join their League. We've got options."
Harry's lip twitched though whether it was from humor or anger was hard to tell. "I'm not moving to another country just to play Quidditch. Not because of that woman. I will not let her win."
"No," Dora murmured. "No we won't." Her eyes narrowed and her hair stayed jet black. Overreaching was one thing, but now knowing that Umbridge could actually follow through on her threat? No more. I'm done playing the slow game and I'm done playing fair. She wants to play with fire? The Toad better be ready to get burned.
It was nearly 1 a.m. before Dora finally felt comfortably secure that all of her fellow roommates were asleep. Palming her wand she cast a disillusionment and silencing charm on herself before slowly getting up from the bed. The most dangerous part of this plan was right here. Once she was out of the dorms things would be easy. Well…easier. She was careful to transfigure a pillow into a passable duplicate of her sleeping form so that any casual observer would see exactly what she wanted them to see.
Padding over to the door to the stairs, Dora cast another silencing charm on the door and frame before she quickly slipped through the tiny gap. She waited to breathe a sigh of relief until she'd set foot into the Common Room. This room was deserted as well. She twisted to go towards the portrait hole when a soft grunt of pain cut through the air freezing her with one foot extended.
Apparently the room wasn't deserted. Scowling Dora twisted her head back to the couch and lengthened her legs enough to be able to see over the edge. Her scowl instantly dropped off and was replaced by a sad, commiserating smile. Her boyfriend had apparently never made it up to his bed and was lying stretched out asleep on the sofa. Any concerns she might have had about the legality – or more specifically the lack of legality – in what she was about to do evaporated as she saw the way his expression twisted in pain and sorrow through his nightmare.
Letting out a soft sigh of sadness that she couldn't stay to comfort him, Dora instead drew a blanket from the side of the couch and draped it over his prone form. Content that at least Harry wouldn't catch a cold, she again turned to the exit and let her feet swiftly carry her away. She had work to do.
Getting out of the castle unnoticed was almost laughably easy. The security of Hogwarts was rather subpar all things considered. Dora frowned as she pushed open the 'secret' hatch into the Hogsmeade pub. She sincerely hoped that the wards around the castle distinguished between friend and foe because otherwise they had a massive issue should Death Eaters try to infiltrate instead of openly attack. Granted Voldemort generally wasn't that subtle, but there was nothing to say that he couldn't be subtle…
Dora shook her head and refocused. She didn't have time to deal with what-ifs at the moment. With a quick check to make sure the coast was clear, Dora apparated to the Ministry lobby. Still disillusioned, she swiftly made her way through the empty corridors and stole into the receiving room for the Minister. The complete lack of security was…mildly disturbing. Granted there wasn't too much worth protecting outside of the DOM but there were enough records lying around the place that it should warrant two or three guards. Damn Fudge and his 'budget cuts'!
Scowling Dora cast the code to unlock the door to said bowler hat's main office. At there was some security here; this particular room she was only able to access because she still remembered the charm from the first time around. Guarding against time-lost individuals was probably one of the first casualties of Fudge's slashed funding.
If they actually did have a time-lost individual line item though…well old Bonesy has always been badass like that so I guess it wouldn't really surprise me as much as it probably should, Dora thought with a snort of laughter as she stepped inside and sealed the door behind her. She took a breath to steady herself and firmly fixed her target in mind. Within a moment her form had shortened and her waist had expanded. Her hair shortened and her bits grewdangly. In barely a few seconds Minister Cornelius Fudge cast a critical eye over himself in the mirror and nodded in approval. Dora left a shiver run through her for a moment; it always felt so…strange taking a male form – and the concentration required to maintain it was annoying. It was a sacrifice that needed to be made right now though, desperate times and all.
Rule 14: When breaking the law, don't get caught and have a scapegoat ready. Dora suppressed a snort of amusement. Moody had taught her that one while snagging a bottle of truly ancient scotch from Malfoy on a raid. She'd have paid a lot of galleons to see the look on the Death Eater's face when he had found that little treasure missing.
Refocusing, Fudge picked up a pinch of Floo powder and tossed it into the fireplace before stepping in and shouting out, "Hogwarts, Senior Undersecretary's Quarters!" A brief spin through the grates saw the image of the Minister stepping out of the fireplace and looked over towards a very surprised Dolores Umbridge. Umbridge was sitting at her desk with a pink fluffy nightcap hanging off her head and her bulging form wrapped in a pink dressing robe. Somehow Dora managed to hold in her disgust and turn her initial choking noise into a grunt from Fudge's lips.
"Cornelius! What a surprise! You should have mentioned you were coming. I kept the grate open for you just like always, but I could have gotten dressed had you sent ahead," Umbridge simpered as she smiled. Inwardly, Dora started smirking. She'd known there would be some level of detection she'd bypass by going straight from Fudge's office, but it looked like this was even better. Umbridge wouldn't even bother questioning her at this rate!
"There wasn't time, Dolores," Fudge said with a wave of his hand. "I must be quick. Talk reached me about what you did with the Potter brat earlier. Excellent move there!"
"Thank you, Cornelius, I was just – "
"But we need more," Fudge said beginning to pace and stare at the floor as his hands made the motion of reaching to remove and fiddle with his bowler hat. He only seemed to remember halfway through that he didn't have it as he kept pacing and clasped his hands behind his back. "We need to do the thing properly. We need him gone. He hasn't risen to any of your bait this year and we can no longer afford the boy to remain a player on the board. If he was smart enough to begin leveraging the support he's been slowly regaining…we need him removed from the situation Dolores. Do you understand? Something big. Something public. Make certain that it's blatantly obvious that Potter is no longer an issue." He glanced over and saw Dolores nodding along with a spreading smile. A shiver ran up Dora's spine and she bit back a gulp. She had to toe the line yet not to push Umbridge too far. "We have to be careful though. Nothing too permanent, just a decent blasting charm should be sufficient." Harry could dodge or shield against a blasting spell with his eyes closed and Dora would be there anyway in case he was caught by surprise."I should be able to sway anyone asking questions with a sufficient defense in place…Yes, yes that's it! Imperius. After all if someone of Lucius' caliber could be brought to heel by the curse you could certainly fall victim as well."
For a brief moment the smile on Umbridge's face drooped and Dora nearly beat her borrowed forehead against the wall. Insulting the Toad whenshe was supposed to be Fudge's right hand woman…smart. "Yes, well it is insidious like that…" Umbridge murmured. Dora let go of the breath she'd been holding. Merlin, how full of herself could the Toad be? "I should likely do something widely out of character first then? Perhaps if I restore the little liar's Quidditch status in the middle of the Great Hall? Yes, I think that would do nicely. Then afterwards any questions that come my way…"
"I should be able to direct them to being obviously caused from the curse," Fudge replied with a nod, his gaze fixed firmly on the wall. Inside Dora felt dirty. While the conversation was going largely how she'd expected it felt all sorts of wrong. It would so much easier to just kill the Toad and feed the transfigured remains to a thestral…
"I shall do it first thing! The brat will be gone before the first class!"
The tone of that response sent another shiver up Dora's spine and she turned to have Fudge fix Umbridge with a hard stare. "Remember, Dolores, nothing permanent. I will not be able to shield you should the entire country call for you head."
Umbridge nodded and the grin remained wide enough for flies to buzz through. "Yes, yes, don't you worry, Cornelius; I'll take care of everything. The Prophet has done quite well in assisting with Potter's downfall and I shall complete our work."
Fudge gave a curt nod and strode to the fireplace. One brief Floo ride later saw Dora shuddering in disgust as she shed the Minister's form and dropped back to her own. "I swear to magic itself if she tries to Crucio him in the middle of the Hall I am going to slaughter her…" Dora muttered as she recast the disillusionment and silencing charms and left the office.
Before leaving the building completely she made a brief pit-stop at the DMLE. This whole thing would be utterly pointless without witnesses. Important witnesses. Trustworthy witnesses. As she slipped through the door to the Auror offices she rolled her eyes at seeing Dawlish sleeping in the duty chair near the Floo corner. Of course he was sleeping. It wasn't like being the first responder was important or anything! Well it made her job easier at least. One note each left on top of Shack's, Amelia's and Tonks' desks and she was done.
Dora had to fight to urge to whistle as she walked back to the apparition hallway. The setup was done. Now she just had to stick close enough to her boyfriend to knock him away from whatever the Umbitch came up with. After all, the Toad was beyond stupid – how bad could it possibly be?
Dora barely slept at all that night. Even if her mind hadn't been racing alternatively with rage, anticipation and worry she'd have only had a few hours before breakfast started. She finished her shower in record time and barely even noticed Lavender asking a question as she levered open the dorm's door. She was striding back across the Common Room floor almost before she even realized that she was awake.
It would not do to be late today.
"Morning, Dora," a gentle voice sounded out from the stairs near the boy's side. Dora let out the breath she'd been holding and turned to Harry with a smile.
"Morning. I saw you down here last night. Get any actual sleep?"
Harry shrugged and ran his hand through his hair. "Some. I've had worse that's for sure." He moved forward and gave her a short, but hard hug. Leaning forward he whispered in her ear, "Thanks for the blanket."
"That's what I'm here for," she replied.
They pulled apart as Hermione, Ron and Neville walked into the room. A quick round of good mornings all around soon saw the group heading down towards the Great Hall for breakfast. Dora lasted until the second floor before having to take Harry's hand. The glance he cast her was bemused though Dora felt her stomach flip. Like it or not, things were rolling and they were about to pick up speed. The main event was out of her hands now. She'd just have to roll with the punches and 'remain vigilant'.
They were sitting down in their usual seats and had just plated some food when the tenuous plan for the morning started to nosedive. "Dora, are you alright?" Hermione asked a slight frown on her face.
"I'm fine. Why?" Dora asked quickly fighting to keep her hair under control.
"Well your knuckles are white and your hair is somewhere between red and black…" Hermione said. Her voice was quiet enough that the only one who would've been able to hear beyond Dora herself was Ron. And the Weasley boy was far too interested in his waffles and pancakes to be paying any attention.
Dora shook her head and consciously loosened her grip on Harry's fingers. The slight flexing of his hand and the ghost of a smirk that crossed his face gave clear evidence to her rather…extreme grip. "Should've said something, jerk," Dora murmured to him and playfully nudging his leg. She turned to Hermione and forced a smile. "Just worried that Umbridge would try to push her luck today. After all, if she could ban him and the entire team who knows what she might do."
"Right…" Hermione said. Her frown deepened and her eyes narrowed slightly. "Now what's really going on?"
"Really, Hermione, it's – " Dora cut off as Umbridge stood up from her seat at the Head table.
As the Toad moved around to stand in front of the assembled breakfast group and cleared her throat all eyes turned to her. This was one of the rare few days that she wasn't sporting some combination of embarrassing prank haircut or skin coloring so she managed to command attention by that fact alone. It was actually part of the reason why Dora had asked Fred and George to not do anything to her after the incident the day prior – the more attention on the Umbitch during her meltdown the better. "Good morning students of Hogwarts!" Umbridge said starting off with a wide grin. Dora scowled and let her hair change to the black it was fighting for. "As some of you may know, yesterday there was an incident on the Quidditch pitch. It involved Mr. Potter and a large portion of the Gryffindor Quidditch team."
The Great Hall broke out into murmurs. Quite a few heads turned towards the Slytherin table with glares fixed upon their faces. For Draco's part he looked positively radiant and seemed fully oblivious to the near murderous looks most of the school was directing his way. He'd find out soon enough if he wasn't careful to walk with a pack from now on…
"As it stands, I believe I was quite harsh with, Mr. Potter," Umbridge continued. Any side conversations immediately halted and everyone froze. Even the professors seemed to go unnaturally quiet at that proclamation. If a pin had fallen it would likely have started a war through the unleashed cannon blast as it struck the floor. "In fact in order to fully ensure that there are no hard feelings I am officially rescinding Mr. Potter's Quidditch ban, reinstating the Gryffindor Quidditch team and apologizing. Mr. Potter will serve a single detention with Professor McGonagall for fighting and a loss of 20 House points."
If a cricket has sounded in the Great Hall people probably would have run screaming. Dora's fists balled up and she had to shorten her nails to avoid drawing blood. This was it. This was the moment of truth. How far would Umbridge take this? Would it be enough? Please let it be enough.
"Mr. Potter, if you would please come up here so that I can return your broom?"
Dora froze solid and forgot to breathe. Harry slowly stood up beside her and began to walk up towards Umbridge, his face set in stone and his hand clenched near his wand. No. No he can't go up there. Not alone. He doesn't know it's a trap and he doesn't know she's going to try to hurt him! He-I can't-we have to-I have to-S-stop! I have to- "HARRY! GET DOWN!" Dora roared as she finally broke her panic and surged to her feet. Harry half-twisted back towards Dora just as Umbridge's grin turned into a scowl and her hand came up with wand leveled.
Dora had crossed half the distance to her boyfriend when the Toad snapped, "Avada Kedavra!" Dora's eyes widened as the tip of Umbridge's wand lit up green.
…no…
Harry shifted backwards in response to the shout and the green flash of light shot forth just narrowly missing his torso. It almost clipped Dora herself as she leaped to the side. There was an explosion from somewhere behind her, but she ignored it and pushed off the student she had nearly fallen into desperate to reach Harry before – "Avada Kedavra!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Confrigo!"
"Move!" A flying blur jumped across her field of vision and slammed into Harry at the same time as Dora. All three of them crashed to the ground just as a red beam issued forth from Harry's wand and an orange one flew from the Ravenclaw table. The Toad's green Killing Curse flew wild over their heads; but Harry's disarming and Luna's blasting spells both struck true hitting Umbridge in the center of her chest. The woman was thrown violently backwards into the head table while her wand soared into the air.
The Great Hall erupted into chaos. Screams and shouts echoed everywhere as a mad dash was made for the exits. Seven different spells from the professors each wrapped around Umbridge at almost the same moment. The cries and thundering feet surrounded them, but Dora didn't care. She pushed up enough to be able to see Harry and nearly sobbed in relief as he sat up and rested his hand on her cheek. She leaned into his palm for a brief moment with her eyes closed and tears running down her cheeks before she ruthlessly pushed that emotion back down. Now was not the time to lose it.
She'd started this shite show and she still had to finish it.
"Close one," Harry said barely loud enough to hear over the racket. "Thanks for the warning, Dora. And thanks for bowling me over, Neville. I forgot for a moment that this was Umbridge and not Voldemort…Priori Incantatem wasn't going to happen here. Not that I could've cast much else with this many people in the way. I owe you guys."
Dora's eyes snapped back open and her jaw dropped slightly as she finally realized that the blur who'd gotten to Harry with her had been Neville Bloody Longbottom. "Neville?!"
"I was talking with Susan and Hannah when she cast that curse and…well nobody else seemed to be moving besides you, Dora, so…I didn't hurt either of you did I?"
"HARRY!" The three teens' heads turned and they only just managed to brace themselves as another brunette blur parted the crowd and slammed into them driving all four students back to the ground. "Harry! I knew she was evil and I knew that this was suspect, but I never once thought that she would ever try to kill you – I can't believe she did that in the middle of the Great Hall with students everywhere and that the professors didn't react sooner, or that I didn't react sooner – I was just in shock because I never expected something like this to happen here – especially when it's not even Halloween or the end of the year – thank god and Merlin and Magic that Neville was there and that Dora is quick on her feet – I just, I just, I'm – "
"Hermione! I'm okay! Breathe! Stop babbling and breathe," Harry said. One arm was wrapped around Dora and the other was firmly around Hermione as she sobbed into his chest. His eyes met Dora and she nodded. Pulling back she let him move his second arm to Hermione's back to try and comfort the girl.
Dora slowly picked herself up and held out a hand to pull Neville up as well. The two of them stood watch over Harry and Hermione as McGonagall hurried towards them from the head table. Much of the Great Hall was emptied though several clusters of students had hung back near the walls and the doors. Luna strode towards them with a dark expression of her normally dreamy face and Ron quickly jogged up with her. Both pulled up beside Dora and Neville just as McGonagall came to a halt. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Kirk, Mr. Longbottom, are any of you injured?"
"We're fine, Professor," Harry said nodding up at her from his position on the floor.
"Professor," Neville asked raising a slightly trembling hand, "Merlin's balls what the just happened?"
McGonagall sighed and shut her eyes. The weariness in the droop of her shoulders would be evident even to those without Auror training. "We don't know yet. While normally I would berate you for your language, Mr. Longbottom…at this juncture I honestly feel rather like cursing myself so please just keep it to a minimum. Rest assured we will get to the bottom of this. Professor Flitwick is contacting the Aurors as we – " She cut off as doors to the Great Hall were thrown open and Amelia, Tonks and Shacklebolt all came in with their wands up.
Amelia cast a quick glance about the room before lowering her wand and striding forward straight to McGonagall. "Minerva, what the bloody hell just happened? We were on our way here when my niece sent a message saying there'd been an attempted murder. Judging by the goggling crowds and the bound…Undersecretary, I'm inclined to belief Susan was not exaggerating."
"She was not," McGonagall said grimacing. She gestured behind her towards the prone, unconscious form of the toad. "Madame Umbridge just cast two Killing Curses at Mr. Potter. In the middle of the Great Hall. I…I am highly considering offering a sacrifice to the gods that none of the students were killed."
"Her aim was right awful," Ron commented. "The first shot nearly took out Dora when Harry barely twisted and then almost winged a Hufflepuff who was standing in the wrong place. The second shot looked like she thought Harry was an owl or something."
Amelia's puckered expression left no doubt that she was torn between acknowledging Ron's comments and completely ignoring the information. After a moment she seemed to accept a compromise by nodding at the redhead and turning back to McGonagall. "Preliminary opinion?"
"I am highly suspect in my opinion of Madame Umbridge and what I have to say should not be said in front of children. However…this seems extreme even for her."
"Could she have been spelled?" Shacklebolt asked. Dora felt her lips rise in a snarl and her hair shift to red at those words. Shack was supposed to be on their side! "A strong confundus or Imperi– "
"That bitch was not being controlled by anything other than hatred and insanity!" Dora growled. The adults turned to her rearing back slightly at the vehemence in her voice. Neville, Ron and Harry all nodded in agreement. Only Hermione and Luna had markedly different reactions. Hermione's head finally lifted from Harry's chest and she turned her gaze on Dora with her eyes narrowing to thin slits. Luna's gaze wasn't nearly as focused, but for anyone who knew her it was clear that the blonde was not remotely happy. "You weren't here. You didn't see her eyes. She didn't have any of the glassy, groggy expressions that Imperius victims display and she was practically giddy before she tried to curse him! She was completely in control!"
"That isn't necessarily the only indications of being under the thrall of a curse. Merely the most obvious," Shacklebolt explained with a sigh. "There are dozens of little nuances that we are trained to recognize as Aurors."
It was all Dora could do to avoid throttling the man. This was her own fault. She should've crafted a backstory with someone in law enforcement having raised her instead being closer to a passed around orphan. Now would be the perfect time for her backup plan to start working…
"Boss," Tonks said frowning. The metamorph's hair had stayed a deep purple which Dora knew was a mark of frustration and mild confusion. "I don't think we can afford to take chances here. We should wake Umbit-bridge up and give her veritaserum. Imperious victims can't answer questions about their time under the curse's instructions and confundus victims wouldn't make any sense."
Shacklebolt shook his head. "She's a personal friend of the Minister. We're never going to get approval for that, Tonks. Professor, I'm afraid it's likely the best that we can do is remove her from the school and ensure that we impress upon the Minister that someone else needs to take her place until the investigation has been completed – sometime over the summer of course."
Amelia scowled with her gaze fixed on the toad. "You may be right, Shacklebolt. At minimum I can lock her in a cell for the day, but as soon as Fudge hears of this he's going to get her out and – "
"Boss," Tonks said again. This time her eyes were narrowed and her hair had shifted to a shade of purple so dark it was nearly black – suspicion. "Article 52 of the Emergency Dispensations and Allowances Act gives the senior on-site officer permission to administer veritaserum with acknowledgement of their Department Head if there is determined to be a legitimate ongoing threat to at least 30 pureblood members of society in the area."
"Oh it does, does it?" Amelia said twisting to direct her full gaze on Tonks. "And you know this verbatim from a 200 year old text why?"
Because I told her to look it up now get the stupid potion! You want the Toad gone just as much as we do! Dora mentally shouted. She managed to restrict her outward expression to a simple grinding of the teeth, but it was enough to draw an even stronger narrow-eyed gaze from Hermione.
"I was looking over the older manual this morning, Boss," Tonks said. "I was…studying for the next round of promotions. Wanted to get a jump on things."
Amelia nodded and pulled a book out of her pocket flipping it open. "Well, it doesn't hurt to check." In less than a minute, a decidedly predatory smile split Amelia's face. "Excellent memory, Tonks, we'll make a Senior Auror of you yet. Shacklebolt see if Professor Snape has some veritaserum. Tonks, with me. Professor McGonagall we'll need you to keep the surroundings clear. Unfortunately I can't use an empty classroom as the regulation specifically states that the veritaserum must be used in public in the same vicinity as the initial attack with the attempted victims present."
McGonagall nodded. "Very well. I will have Professor Flitwick ensure the students remain at a reasonable distance. Professor Babbling is with Madam Umbridge. She should be an excellent final hazard for anyone attempting to venture too close for your comfort."
"I am sorry, but I feel I came into this conversation late. Why exactly is Filius to setup a perimeter?" Dumbledore's voice cut through as he walked up. The twinkle was definitively not present and the way his face was puckered one could be forgiven for thinking that he had eaten a particularly sour lemon drop.
"Umbridge is being questioned on recent events in accordance with DMLE procedural guidelines distributed via Wizengamot session 1160-2," Amelia responded. "This should not take long once Shacklebolt returns with veritaserum. Ah, here he is now. Excuse me, Headmaster."
Dumbledore frowned, but remained quiet. Dora was almost impressed. It seemed the man didn't actually try to save everyone.
The group of adults moved over towards the head table with the still bound Toad and proceeded to revive her. Umbridge was awake barely an instant before he breathed a huge sigh and smiled. "Ah! I am free! My mind is my own again. Thank you…Madam Bones for bringing me back to my senses."
Dora had to fight to avoid smacking her head on the floor. In what world did that qualify as shaking off the Imperius curse?!
Apparently Amelia agreed. "Auror Shacklebolt, administer the potion and let's get this over with."
"What potion? What are you doing? Is that veritaserum?" Umbridge asked. Shacklebolt picked up the eyedropper and quickly filled it leading to her eyes widening to almost comical proportions. "You can't give that to me! I am the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic not some common mu-mixed blood! I'll have all your jobs for this! You'll never work in the government again you pathetic, ignorant, fools!" Shacklebolt rolled his eyes and spelled her jaw open enough to calmly place three drops onto her tongue. Instantly Umbridge quieted down and fell mostly limp against her bonds.
"Madame Umbridge, what is your name and position?" Amelia asked.
"Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic," the Toad replied in a monotone.
"What is the thing you most regret?" Amelia said though this time a small grimace crossed her face. Dora couldn't blame her on that; the security questions for field veritaserum sessions had a tendency to be uncomfortably personal. It was the nature of the beast unfortunately.
"Not being able to kill Harry Potter when I had the chance." Everyone within hearing felt their eyes widening. It was one thing to see the Toad attempt to kill Harry; it was quite another to hear it calmly stated that this was her biggest regret. "I am unsure whether not inviting Cornelius to spend the night before our great victory is a smaller or greater regret."
Amelia recovered quickly and shook her head before refocusing on Umbridge. "What do you mean 'our great victory'? You and who else?"
"Myself and Cornelius. He explicitly told me last night to take care of the Potter problem and that the brat needed to leave the playing field. I read between the lines and took the appropriate steps," Umbridge stated. Her feelings on the matter were apparently strong enough to leak through the potion's effects and the devotion in her tone was disturbing. Dora's stomach plummeted. She had known that the bitch was dangerous and she'd still poked that dragon! She should've just damned the consequences and killed the woman herself instead of risked Harry!
"Did you work with anyone else?" Amelia asked.
"Only Cornelius. I only ever work with Cornelius. Whenever I use someone else as an intermediary I ensure they are obliviated afterwards. That Higgins courier for the Dementor reassignment to Potter's neighborhood over the summer is an excellent example."
Dora's mouth dropped open and Shacklebolt and Tonks reared back at that proclamation. Umbridge sent those Dementors after him? I…I can't believe…this is too good for her. Amelia straight up hissed as she twisted away from the small group clustered on Umbridge. "Administer the antidote and get her out of my sight. Higgins has a wife and child and he can barely even remember his own name after that obliviate. Tonks, clean up here. Shacklebolt, once Umbridge is in a cell get the Minister into interrogation. Even if we can't make this stick on him, I'll see him out of office before the sun sets."
"Yes, ma'am," two voices echoed. Shacklebolt quickly dripped the antidote onto Umbridge's tongue and stunned her before leaving with the levitating toad drifting behind him.
As Amelia moved over to speak with the Professors alone, Tonks came to the small group clustered near Dora. "You lot alright?"
"We're fine," Harry said with a nod. "Generally these things happen closer to the end of the year. This is a bit unusual."
"Unusual…you are one weird kid, you know that, Harry?" Tonks said with a snort of amusement. "Dora, can I talk to you for a moment?" Dora nodded and followed Tonks as she walked off to the side. They quickly left the Great Hall and mounted the steps towards one of the unused classrooms on the second floor. The door had closed and silencing and warding spells were expanding around the room before Dora felt the first inkling that perhaps she should be slightly worried about the nature of this…'talk'.
"So uh," Dora said shifting her weight enough to try and appear nervous and shaken. It wasn't even much of an act at this point considering the events of the morning. "What's going on, Tonks?"
"Drop it," Tonks said all levity gone and her face set in stone. Her hand tapped her leg in a way that Dora knew meant she was trying to decide whether or not to redraw her wand. "Drop the morph. I want to see who you are really."
Dora gulped. This wasn't good. She couldn't tell her previous self what was going on. Not yet. She just needed another few weeks and the worst danger would be over. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Bullshite. Fudge is a complete idiot, but even he's not stupid enough to explicitly tell Umbitch to murder Harry. You're skilled enough to take on Minerva McGonagall to fool Dumbledore. I have no doubt that you could easily look like Fudge and convince Umbridge to go postal. Not to mention that mysterious note on my desk to brush up on a law written over two hundred years ago and last used in the 1920s! What the hell were you trying to do!? Was the revenge worth it, Dora? I warned you that if you were a danger to those teens I would step in and – "
"Alright!" Dora shouted. She turned and punched the wall. Cringing, she pulled back and flexed her fingers making sure that none had broken from the moment of passion. "Fine! I told the bitch to do something public and big and stupid. She was just supposed to cast a blasting or cutting curse or something. He can block those in his sleep and I was sticking to him like white on rice to knock him out of the way if she went for something worse. I didn't even think she knew worse spells let alone could cast them!"
Tonks balled her hands into fists in her hair and grunted. "How could you possibly think that was a good idea?! She's clearly insane!"
"No, I missed that little fact! Of course she's insane! That was the whole bloody point!" Dora kicked one of the chairs and scowled at the pain in her shin. She was hurting herself more than the castle and it was pissing her off even more. "She's protected by the bloody Minister and he's protected by Malfoy's pocketbook. If she just disappeared into the woods and never walked out, then Fudge would go on a rampage. Even if it wasn't me that ended up killing her, he'd have sought out Harry and his group and destroyed us all just because he's petty and vindictive and stupid. If she stayed here without consequence than Harry would've snapped. The only reason he didn't attack her yesterday was because he didn't realize she could follow through on her threat. Hell half the bloody Quidditch team would probably have attacked her before the week was up! This shite was only a matter of time so I tried to do it in a controlled way. One where only she would take the fall. If we knew it was coming we could be prepared and careful!"
Dora took a deep breath and met Tonks' stare with her own. "I did what I did to protect Harry. Your Order has proven it can't do that. You had a guard leave. Multiple times! You had people on him with strict orders not to speak to him. Not to speak to him! He'd just seen a friend killed in front of him and was living with relatives that neglect and emotionally abuse him! Ignoring him was the worst possible thing you people could do! You follow a man who tried to obliviate me for helping my best friend! You don't get to tell me that I'm a danger to him. I know that this shite went sideways and I fully own up to that. But you people have fucked up just as badly as I have if not worse. At least I tried to get to him when things went south. Would Mundungus do the same? Would Hestia leap into the path of a Killing Curse for a man she's said ten words to?"
Tonks was quiet for a long time. Finally she crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall, her morph subtly shifting back to the full default. That more than anything else saw Dora ceasing her rant and trying to calm herself only ever shifting to her default when she was completely serious. "I admit we've screwed the pooch on this too. But this was reckless and stupid, Dora."
"I agree. But I couldn't think of anything else. I honestly never thought she would go that far. If I had…I would've just – "
"I know," Tonks cut in. "I know. Look it's obvious you care about him. About all of these teens. Will you please let me see your normal form?"
Dora shut her eyes and slowly shook her head. "Not right now. At the end of the year if you still need to know…if you still can't fully trust me, ask me then. But not right now."
"I do trust you, Dora. That's part of the problem here, because from everything I've seen and heard I shouldn't. Yet my gut screams at me that I can," Tonks sighed. "Swear to me that nothing like this happens again. Swear to me that if things reach a head you will reach out to me before taking action like that."
"I swear."
"Okay. Okay," Tonks said stepping away from the wall and walking towards the door. "Remember, Dora, this shite doesn't just affect you and Harry. Everyone in that room was at risk from the Toad. You have tunnel vision and if you're not careful it's going to get someone killed."
Tonks was out the door before Dora nodded glumly and murmured a soft, "I know."
AN: Much thanks to RhysThornbery for his beta assistance on this.
Harry used Expelliarmus here because he was worried about collateral damage primarily and that's a relatively safe spell considering how many people were between him and Umbridge. Same with Luna. That Luna intentionally depowered her spell is the only reason that Umbridge survived being hit by it. Don't piss off Luna Lovegood in my stories.
The professors were so slow to react because the entire 'battle' from first AK to last trio of spells took between five-eight seconds and everyone was mostly still in system shock at Umbridge actually firing off a Killing Curse in the middle of the Great Hall. Fun fact, the seven teachers that actually tried to help: Flitwick, McGonagall, Babbling (Shiva from Rune Stone Path basically), Sprout, Hagrid, Vector and surprisingly enough, Trelawney.
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Mad-Eye's Rules For Successfully Reaching Retirement:
Rule 14: When breaking the law, don't get caught and have a scapegoat ready.
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Fic Recommendation: "Harry Potter and the Sword of Gryffindor" by cloneserpents. The primary pairings are Harry/Hermione, Ron/Luna and Tonks/Remus. It's mostly an erotic comedy, but has enough plot to keep things interesting and moving forward to completion. Many of the characters quickly become pretty much totally OOC but dear lord is it hilarious. It's a fun read and it's complete.
