A/N: Major thanks to my beta, Xirb, for checking this chapter in 20 minutes so I could upload it before bed. You rock! And thanks also to Darak, who left me exactly the kind of review I love, filled with constructive criticism and questions. You have no idea how much I wished I had time to write this chapter so I could tell you exactly why I pardoned Umbridge.
CH13: Icons of Self Indulgence
"Perfect by nature
Icons of self indulgence
Just what we all need
More lies about a world that
Never was and never will be
You don't know how you've betrayed me
And somehow you've got everybody fooled."
'Everybody's Fool' Evanescence
Harry stood outside the Minister's office, worn parchment clutched tightly in his fist. Distantly, he heard the Minister's secretary yelling at him, warning that she would call security if he did not vacate the area immediately. But his entire attention was focused upon the door in front of him.
He had imagined this day for the past few weeks, planning exactly what he was going to say. The trial the day before and its aftermath, however, had changed everything. No, now he didn't want to give his little speech. Now, Harry wanted answers.
He put his hand on the door and pushed his way through.
That morning …
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Harry's arm flung out and whacked the screeching alarm clock, perhaps with a bit more force than healthy for the clock's continued life; it already had several wires sticking out of its cracked plastic face from years of beatings from Dudders himself. Really, after the bullying he suffered his whole childhood at Dudley Dursley's fists, Harry should have been more sympathetic to the clock's plight. After the training session he endured the night before, however, he did not have time to coddle a dilapidated electronic.
Grimacing at the pain in his legs (hours of dodging hexes shot his way by Snape had taken a toll on his muscles), Harry slowly slid out of bed and walked over to the desk. His stomach growled angrily and he glared at it. To get a somewhat fulfilling breakfast would involve facing his relatives and their badgering, and that was something Harry could deal without.
He shuffled through the pile of mail left on the desktop, sorting out the letters from people he had never met and laying them off to the side for later perusal. He reluctantly pulled the Daily Prophet out from the bottom of the leaning tower of reading material. It was sure to be filled with lurid accounts of Umbridge's trial, speculations on–
Harry did a double take.
FUDGE TAKES JUSTICE INTO HIS OWN HANDS! the title screamed. MINISTER UNSATISFIED WITH WIZENGAMOT RULING!
Below the headline was a picture of triumphant Fudge, looking more regal and imposing than Harry had ever seen the portly man.
"Following the shocking pardon of former Hogwarts High Inquisitor and Defense Against the Dark Arts Instructor, Dolores Jane Umbridge, British Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, called a meeting of his personal advisors to discuss what would be done with his ex-Undersecretary. A decision was reached quickly and decisively. Using an obscure Ministerial power, Fudge banished Miss Umbridge from the United Kingdom…"
Harry stopped reading in shock and dropped the paper.
"Merlin …" Harry breathed, staring at the discarded newspaper in blatant disbelief. Maybe it was time to deliver Fudge that letter after all.
The door slammed shut with a deafening bang behind him, and the gathered crowd glanced up at him with interest and slight irritation. Harry scrutinized the group, noticing it was made up of the Minister's most important cabinet members. The Minister himself was seated at the end of a long table, looking as weary as Harry felt.
Harry was suddenly very glad that he had thought to disguise himself before he entered the Ministry.
"May we help you?" a snotty voice inquired from the right. Looking over, Harry found himself face to face with Percy Weasley.
Harry smiled with fake cheerfulness and waved the letter in front of his face. "Special Delivery for Minister Fudge!" Percy shot Fudge a questioning look and got a nod in return. He reluctantly took the letter from Harry's hands and appeared to be examining it for any visible tampering, before passing it down to the Minister.
"You may go now," Percy intoned, chin raised slightly in the air.
Harry shook his head apologetically. "I've been told to wait for a reply."
Percy snorted with annoyance. "Fine. Take a seat." Harry plopped down into a seat on the end of the table, the only one unoccupied. As Fudge read through the contents of the letter, Harry observed the others assembled. He recognized several Wizengamot members (not including the frizzy haired witch from the day before), Madame Bones, and …
Mad-Eye Moody was seated on left, a few seats up, and was studding him intently. Harry shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.
"Why didn't Dumbledore bring me this letter himself?" Fudge asked, still sifting through the pages of the document.
Harry shrugged. "No idea."
Suddenly, Mad-Eye burst into laughter. The rest of the room's occupants stared at him with wide-eyes, some of them scooting further away in their chairs. Harry smirked and winked at him, momentarily reverting his eyes back to their usual green. Mad-Eye just laughed harder.
"Something amuses you, Alastor?" Madame Bones asked dryly, stifling a smile at the ex-Auror's hilarity.
Mad-Eye ignored her and addressed Harry directly. "We were just discussing you actually," he chuckled. "I like the red hair. Looks good."
Harry sniggered as well. "Alas, and here I was thinking I should have gone blond." He changed back into his normal self, startling the group once more. He gave a jaunty salute. "Good morning, Minister."
Fudge nodded in greeting. "Mr. Potter. I was wondering why Dumbledore would send such important documents to me through an average delivery boy." He frowned. "Then again, why would he send you, unprotected, to the Ministry?"
"Who says he sent me?" Harry deadpanned.
"Harry, here," Mad-Eye explained, both eyes fixed on Harry's smirking face, "has a habit of sneaking out of his relatives without Albus' knowledge or permission."
Harry shrugged innocently. "He said to pass the letter on to the Minister as soon as I was done. He never said how it had to get to the Minister."
"Semantics." Moody said, his face twisting into a gruesome smirk.
Harry shrugged, smiling. "True. But I'm not the only one who likes to find loopholes in the laws." He sent a pointed look towards Fudge, who leaned back into his chair.
"Albus didn't tell you." It wasn't a question.
"You would be surprised, Minister, how little he tells me."
"If he doesn't believe that you should know," Fudge began, "then I do not know if I should tell you."
"Since when does the Minister of Magic take orders from the Headmaster of Hogwarts?" Harry shot back quickly. The rest of the room looked between the two, following each reply like a tennis match.
That one hit him. "Well, I-I don't."
"Besides," Harry continued succinctly, "if you don't tell me now, I'll just find out half-truths from others and form my own conclusion. As it stands, you have more respect from me on this matter than you have had in the past two years." Harry kept his smile and jolly tone firmly in place, only his eyes steeling. "You don't want me as your enemy, Minister."
Fudge sighed in defeat. "Very well. This information does not leave the room." He rested his hands on the table in front of him, fingers woven together. "Mr. Potter, are you aware that Dolores Umbridge disappeared after she left the Hogwarts infirmary in June?"
"I had heard rumors to that effect. I had assumed that she had high tailed it back here."
"She did. However, this was not her first stop." Harry's brow wrinkled in confusion. "She was intercepted just outside of London and given an offer. For the next three weeks, Dolores was passing information to the Dark Lord."
Harry's eyes widened. "She was a spy?"
Fudge nodded somberly. "In early July, she was discovered sneaking illegal documents out of my office. Under the influence of Veritaserum, she admitted to sending the Dark Lord several other classified papers."
"How important was the information within these documents?"
"Thankfully, she was caught before revealing anything too damaging."
Harry considered this knowledge, head tilted to the side, before he spoke. "If you had definite proof of this, why wasn't she on trial for espionage? And why was she pardoned for the other crimes?"
"We didn't want You-Know-Who to know that we were aware of her being a spy. If he still thought that we didn't know he was in possession of those documents, then he would not know they were no longer valid."
"And she went free because..?"
"She was pardoned simply because I asked for her to be pardoned."
"What!" Harry exclaimed.
Fudge rubbed his temples, looking completely worn down. "One month ago, Azkaban was overtaken by You-Know-Who's forces," he stated bluntly. He cut off Harry's reply with a wave of his hand. "We haven't released the information to the public yet because we didn't want to cause a panic."
"If you sent her to Azkaban, you would be sending her right back into Voldemort's hands," Harry breathed in realization. Fudge flinched and then nodded.
"By banishing her from the country, we can lock her away in a safe house somewhere, far out of You-Know-Who's reach."
"And you get points with the public because you finally locked away the woman who was terrorizing their children," he said knowingly. "But what happens to the frizzy-haired witch who officially let Umbridge go?"
"Madame Dapper? She is suspected of helping Umbridge in her unlawful acts," explained Fudge. "We just don't have the proof yet."
"By overruling her, you make her look incompetent, killing two birds with one stone." At Fudge's puzzled look, Harry clarified. "Muggle expression, sorry. It means you are accomplishing two things with one action."
"Exactly."
"So where is Umbridge going to be held?" asked Harry.
"That I do not know. The Order of the Phoenix is taking care of that matter." He glanced up at the clock. "If you wish to know more, Dumbledore should be here any minute now. He can explain-" He was interrupted by Harry jumping out of his seat.
"He's coming here? Now?" He peered warily around the room, as if Dumbledore might pop out of thin air at any moment.
Which, in the Wizarding world, is highly plausible.
"I've got to go then," he said, walking vigorously towards to door.
"Don't want to get caught?" Mad-Eye asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I just don't feel like dealing with the unavoidable ensuing lecture is all. We're overdue one from yesterday as well, for going to the Trial when I was not allowed." He pulled the open the door, noting the secretary was glaring steadily at him from her desk. "Nice to see you all," he added, nodding to the others. "Hope we can do this again soon." Harry added a brisk salute of goodbye to the room, all but sprinting out the door.
Well that went well, Harry thought as he stepped off the elevator. He glanced around the Atrium, noting the vast assembly of reporters. What th –
The source of the disruption was soon noticed. Albus Dumbledore was stalking up the stairs, coming right towards him. Backing into the elevator again, Harry closed the doors and hit another button, hoping he got the right floor. Maybe I'll just wait a bit before I leave. He knew his disguise would hold (he now had chin length brown hair and deep blue eyes) long enough for him to sneak through the throng, but he didn't want to chance someone recognizing him as Mad-Eye had. After all, you never know how many enchanted eyes are trained on you around here.
"Level two," announced the voice, "Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services."
Harry smiled as he approached a small lady seated at the front desk.
"Hello," he greet politely. "Could you tell me where Nymph's office is? Or cubicle …"
The woman looked puzzled. "Nymph?"
"Oh! Right. Sorry." He looked sheepish. "Tonks' cubicle."
"Er... it is the second one on the left."
"Thanks." He wandered down the aisle and glanced over the divider wall. "Wow, and I thought my desk was a mess," he commented and Tonks jumped, wheeling around and drawing her wand. Harry held up his hands in surrender. "Calm down, it's just me."
She studied him. "Brat?" she asked thoughtfully.
"Hey Nymph."
"What are you doing here?" She finally lowered her wand.
"Long story." Tonks shot him a look and he sighed. "I paid the Minister a visit today and had to get out of there before Dumbledore showed up. But I couldn't go back through the Atrium; it's swarming with reporters. Must have seen Dumbledore come in."
She raised an unimpressed purple eyebrow. "So you came to harass me?"
"But of course." Harry exclaimed with a flourish. "So, can I stay here? Well, just until the press leaves, of course." He gave her an imploring look and she nodded.
"Sure, just don't touch anything."
"Don't you trust me?"
"No."
"Never mind, shouldn't have asked." He paused. "What are you working on?"
"Reports," she answered shortly.
"What kind of reports?"
"Are you going to bug me with questions the whole time you are here?"
He pondered this for a second. "Yes."
"Just be quiet and read … this!" She pulled a random book off a small shelf beside her desk and thrust it towards him.
"A History of Potions Containing Newts' Eyes?" he read off the cover.
"It's required reading for Aurors."
"Fascinating," he remarked wryly.
"That seems to be the general consensus," said a voice from the doorway. Tonks spun around again.
"Commander Randal? I thought you were out on assignment, sir."
"I just got back." He gave Harry a quick once-over. "Who's your inquisitive young friend here? And why doesn't he have a visitors' badge?"
"You know," Harry said hurriedly, "there's a good explanation for that."
"Which is?"
"I … didn't exactly go through the visitors' entrance."
"Harry!" admonished Tonks.
"Are you telling me, the Head of the Auror Department, that you illegally broke into the Ministry of Magic?" asked Randal.
"Er… yes?"
He laughed. "Have you ever thought of being an Auror, kid?"
"Maybe."
"We could use some more like you."
"Want to take him now?" Tonks said snidely.
"You're trying to get rid of me already?" Harry put his hand on his heart in mock pain. "I've only been visiting you for ten minutes. I'm beginning to think you don't want me around, Nymphie."
"You got that right."
"And miss reading all about reptile parts? No way."
"Don't you have something better to do?"
"Sadly no. But it's only eleven o'clock."
Randal's lips quirked up. "Are you two related?"
"Cousins," they said in unison.
"I can see the resemblance."
Tonks ignored him. "There has to be someone else in the building that you could go 'visit'."
"Everyone's upstairs. And I really don't want to go back up there."
"Why are you avoiding him?"
"The usual reasons."
"I don't know what the 'usual' is."
"Drop it, Nymph."
"Fine, fine. But you know you can tell me right?"
"I know."
Pause. "Is there anything you want to tell me then, Brat?"
"Not really."
She blew out her cheeks in frustration. "Has anyone ever told you that you have an old soul?"
"I believe that's a first."
"Well, you do. It's an attractive quality and sometimes I forget you're just a teenager."
"You're point?"
"And then there are times like these, when you're annoying the hell out of me, that I remember that you're only sixteen."
Harry laughed. "Glad to know I'm doing my job."
"Maybe I should leave you two alone," Randal suggested, moving to leave the cubicle.
"Commander! I'm sorry, I forgot you were there." She looked abashed.
"Yeah, we kind of get caught up in our twisted family drama," added Harry sarcastically, avoiding the sharp elbowing Tonks sent his way.
"It's alright," Randal said, smiling. "Oh, and you can stay here as long as you want. Even if Tonks tries to kick you out."
"Thanks, sir."
"Hey!" Tonks exclaimed at the commander's retreating back.
"I like him," Harry stated.
"You would."
"Don't you have reports to be filling out?"
"Unfortunately," she grumbled.
"Are you going to tell me what they're about now?"
"If you must know, it's about someone called Dagger."
Harry gasped inwardly. "Dagger?"
"It's none of your concern. Now, enjoy the potion book and stay out of my way."
A few hours later found Tonks filing away the end of her report and Harry fast asleep on the couch.
"Did you finish those reports, Tonks?" Randal asked, once again entering her cubicle.
"Yes, sir. They're right here." She passed him the folder.
"I suppose your cousin didn't give you too much trouble."
She smiled. "Surprisingly no. He conked out on my couch after a bit." At her words, Harry rustled on the couch, turning over on his side.
"Brat?" Tonks whispered.
"Is he having a night-" Randal's question was cut off by Harry sitting straight up, gasping for air loudly. Several other Aurors nearby stuck their heads over the wall, looking at the scene curiously.
"St." Harry coughed roughly. "St. Halbert."
Tonks put a calming hand on his shoulder. "What about St. Halbert?"
"It's- it's gone."
Randal shook his head and said in a soothing voice, "It was just a bad dream, kid."
"Sir," Tonks began, eyes wide. "I think you'd better send someone to check – "
"Commander!" cried a young recruit, bursting onto the floor.
"What is it, Kenton?" Randal asked, a touch of impatience in his voice.
"An attack!" This news caught the attention of the few not already listening and there was complete silence in its wake. "They took the whole town! I'm sorry, sir, we were too late getting there…"
"Where?" he asked shortly.
"St. Halbert, sir."
All eyes in the room turned to look at Harry, who was sitting with his hands on his head, eyes unfocused.
Tonks knelt down in front of Harry. "Are you alright?"
"My head hurts," he said blearily.
"Hold on." She raised her wand and he flinched slightly. "Accio Calming Draught! Drink this."
"But, Nymph-"
"Drink." Tonks frowned, and Harry complied, taking a gulp from the bottle.
"Tonks, what is going on?" Randal asked, looking strangely at Harry.
"They– they've got-"Harry sputtered out, trembling.
"Who?" Tonks asked urgently. "Who's got what?"
"Voldemort." The room sucked in a collective breath. "He was looking for someone." He stared swaying slightly with dizziness. "He didn't find it, but…" He looked straight into the Commander's eyes, and Randal was shocked to find himself now looking into weathered emerald orbs. "He won't stop until he does."