Chapter Three
Harry sent Dobby to find out what they were doing at the Ministry with the Muggleborns. Harry had a general idea but he wanted specifics. He wanted to know what, when, and where and who was involved.
Dobby made himself invisible and travelled to the Ministry to see what was going on. It didn't take long for him to find out that Umbridge was behind all of it. She was made Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. Dobby decided to spend his time following her around to see what he could learn.
He found out that she spent three hours a day sitting as judge, jury, and executioner over all the captured Muggleborns. She claimed they were not true witches or wizards and accused them of impossible things, such as stealing a pureblood's wand and their magic. Accomplishing this when they were only children or babies.
She pretended to be a pureblood when she was actually a half-blood.
All the captured Muggleborns were locked up in cages while they waited for their rigged trial in front of Umbridge. Dementors were used to keep the prisoners afraid and properly cowed. When they appeared before the "judge" they had to suffer with the dementors nearby while Umbridge and her helpers used a patronus to ward off the effect of the dementors presence.
Other than the dozen dementors, she only had around five people helping her to guard the prisoners. The snatchers were basically working for her too. They portkeyed the newly captured prisoners straight to the cell area where the guards at the Ministry lent a hand getting them locked up in the cages.
She barely kept ahead of the influx of new prisoners. The ones tried were sent to the prison camps if they were lucky. Others, especially young pretty girls, were sold into slavery to rich purebloods. The three sixteen year old girls Harry had recently saved would have had that as their destination.
Umbridge started her "trials" at eight o'clock in the morning.
She enjoyed immensely her role and the authority she held over the Muggleborns. She basked in it. She could barely keep from smiling or making that little girlish, giggling sound she was known for. The enormous thrill she derived from being so evil and mean was sickening.
Dobby wanted to forget everything he witnessed her do and say to those poor witches and wizards, but he made sure Harry heard his full report.
Harry had plenty of portkeys he took off of many snatchers, so he was planning on using one to get him into the cell area. The courtroom was close by so he would not have to go far to get to Umbridge and her team.
He had taken out several snatcher groups so there should be fewer showing up at the Ministry these days. Plus, if he goes early then it would be less likely a snatcher group would show up while he's there.
Harry prepared for three weeks before he was finally ready.
oOo
Using one of the portkeys, Harry appeared in the caged area for the captured Muggleborns. It was around 8:15 in the morning. The three guards looked up when they heard the portkey arrive. Several of the prisoners in the cages also turned to look.
Everyone was a little shocked to see a man standing there with no prisoners and his hood pulled up. They were quite accustomed to seeing mostly poorly dressed snatchers bringing in more prisoners where they were checked in and shoved into the cages.
"What are you doing here?" yelled one of the guards as he stood and was drawing his wand. The other two guards were drawing their wands too.
Suddenly, the man was like a blur moving and the three guards were stunned and out cold on the floor. Many of the prisoner's eyes were wide open in surprise at what they saw him do.
They watched as he calmly walked over and pulled up the sleeve on each guard. They were all Death Eaters. Harry took their wands and then removed the keys to the cages from off one of the guards and started opening the cages. There were six cages with close to twelve people in each cage. All total, there were nearly seventy Muggleborns locked up in the place. Some were kids.
He told them all to keep quiet as they exited the cages. He then quickly told them he had a portkey that would take them to safety so he had them form an oblong circle in the space as best they could. Once that was done, he started pulling a rope out of his robe that seemed to have no end to it.
They were all instructed to take a hold of the rope and pass it down until all had a hand gripping it. Younger ones were given an explanation about portkeys and that they had to hang on to the rope until told to let go.
Once it made the full round, Harry pulled the last of it out of his robe and fused the ends together with magic. He then waved his hand and cast a privacy spell over the whole room.
"Listen carefully. There will be house elves meeting you where you are going. Please be patient as they help you to get settled and take care of your needs. I will come check on you as soon as it's possible. Now hang on to that portkey. You're leaving now."
Harry heard a lot of them thanking him as he activated the portkey and they were all whisked away.
He then turned to the hallway that lead to the courtroom. Dobby was very thorough in his description of the place. He gathered the three guards and moved them into the hallway before making his way to the courtroom. He could already feel the dementors.
From inside the doorway he could see a woman crying in the chair she had to sit in. She was insisting she was a witch and that she had received her wand from Ollivander's when she was eleven. It chose her, she said.
Harry heard Umbridge tell her she was lying and that she had stolen it from a pureblood. The woman pleaded with Umbridge to believe her.
That's when Harry had heard enough. He removed the glamour from his face since he wanted Dolores to recognize him. He then strode in and went right up to the chair the woman was sitting in. She turned and looked up into his face, recognizing who he was. That's when she saw him wink at her. Her eyes opened bigger at that.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Dolores demanded.
Harry turned toward her with his head down so she couldn't see his face yet. He could see from under his hood that she had Travers attending the trial for added protection, along with Mafalda Hopkirk serving as court scribe. She looked nervous and not pleased to be there.
Umbridge had a tiny patronus cat protecting her and Hopkirk from the feeling of the dementors that were mostly near the high ceiling. Some were circling closer to the back wall behind the woman in the chair. Travers didn't seem to be bothered by their presence and he wasn't close enough to the patronus to receive much benefit from it.
Harry removed his hood and raised his head up to look right at Umbridge.
Her face told the complete story from the shock of seeing Harry Potter in her courtroom. Travers went for his wand but Harry hit him with a blasting curse to the face before he could get it level. His whole head exploded.
Mafalda Hopkirk screamed and nearly feinted.
Umbridge lost her concentration and her patronus disappeared. She didn't go for her wand, instead she just yelled at the dementors.
"GET HIM!" she bellowed.
They weren't waiting anyway and had already started closing in as soon as her patronus was gone. Harry simply said Expecto Patronum and a five meter tall stag patronus came out of his hand and stood before him and the lady in the chair.
He heard her give a sigh of relief as his enormous patronus protected them. The dementors could not flee fast enough from the massive patronus. They moved as far away from it as they could.
"You've been very bad Dolores," he said as he stunned Mafalda Hopkirk who slumped over in her chair. He didn't know her beliefs so would check her arm later.
Dolores went for her wand but Harry relieved her of it quickly, catching it in his left hand and crushing it.
"NO!" Dolores yelled, right before Harry petrified her so she couldn't move.
Harry freed the woman from the chair and had her wait for him. He next found out Mafalda Hopkirk was not a Death Eater so he moved her and the freed Muggleborn into the caged area where he changed Mafalda's memory of seeing Harry Potter. Instead, she never saw his face, only the dark hood. He then tied her up. No one was in the area so he had the Muggleborn lady wait for him there while he finished up.
Harry went back to the courtroom, taking the three Death Eater guards with him. He laid them down on the floor once he was back in the room. His patronus was still standing there keeping the dementors at bay, daring them to come closer.
Harry made sure all the doors to the courtroom were sealed tight so the dementors could not escape. He left the door behind him alone so he could exit that way. He then turned to Dolores.
"You brought this on yourself, Dolores. You are a despicable half-blood pretending to be a pureblood. You give us half-bloods a bad name."
Her eyes got big.
"Oh yes, I know the truth. Had you only been a decent person things could have been different, but no. No, you had to be the worst person you could possibly be. You worked very hard at it. Now, you must pay for your crimes."
Harry walked toward the door. Dolores was getting more and more panicked as her eyes grew bigger. When Harry reached the door, he turned around and looked up at Dolores in her high judge's chair.
"Bye, Dolores. I'm afraid this will be the last time we ever see each other."
With that Harry exited the door then turned around and sealed it like the others.
Inside the courtroom, Dolores had her eyes fixed on the massive and very bright stag patronus keeping the dementors at bay. Her eyes were the only thing she could move. She also noticed the three guards were just stunned. She could see their stomachs and chests moving as they breathed in and out.
She was hoping the patronus would stay long enough for someone to come and rescue her. Harry Potter would not let her die like this. Never like this. Sure, she had sent two dementors after him a few years ago but he would never do that. Would he?
As she watched and hoped, suddenly that beautifully bright patronus faded and disappeared before her eyes and the dementors moved in fast.
Dolores had no girlish giggle to let out and no sly smile at her enjoying herself while she was cruel to someone.
All she had was a teardrop running down her fat cheek as one of the dementors took her face in its nasty, scaly hands and turned her head to its gaping, black maw.
It then sucked her soul out while its friends did the same to the three guards on the floor. Too bad Travers was already dead, they thought. They could have had another meal.
oOo
Harry appeared with the lady he saved from Umbridge at the same location he sent the other prisoners. It was a large manor he discovered he owned near the city of Rimini, located in Italy. It was on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
The house and lands were protected from being seen or found by Muggles and any magicals not invited in. Harry's current guests arrived via a portkey that the owner personally made so they were all invited.
Harry found out as soon as they arrived that the lady he brought with him was named Margaret. He insisted on knowing her name once they were safe. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties.
The elves he had hired via Dobby and Winky had already got most of the guests settled into their rooms. It was a big manor but some had to share for now. Once they started leaving when they were ready, then it would be less crowded.
Harry already had the Ministry of Magic in the city of Rimini providing all the services everyone would need. This included healers and plenty of medical potions. Harry was putting up his own money but the Italian Ministry was helping him.
Lots of food and clothes were provided and the premier wand maker was on hand to get with all of them and see what woods and cores they would need. He was then going to find matching wands or custom make them himself. He was doing it all at a discount but he would be supplemented by the Ministry for his services.
Margaret was in the know already but the other guests were shocked that they were rescued by Harry Potter when they found out. Dobby showed up about the same time Harry did and started helping too.
The manor had ten elves Harry bonded to the Potter family so the house and guests were properly covered. With all the guests being Muggleborn they would not be accustomed to calling on house elves anyway.
Once this was over the ten elves would be spread out to take care of several properties he owned. Harry could actually use one or two more elves at Potter Place to keep Dobby and Winky from killing themselves with all the work. An extra elf would be in charge of the outside lands to make sure all of that stayed looking nice.
Winky cooked all the meals and Dobby spent the majority of his time doing personal things for Harry. No question, another elf or two would come in handy.
After two days, everyone was asked to come downstairs so their host could speak to them. They were directed to go out the back door and find him there. Once they were all gathered outside where they could see the water back behind Harry and smell the breeze off the sea, they stopped and enjoyed the fresh air.
Harry made sure the area was spelled so everyone could be heard if they spoke.
"I trust everyone is a little happier now?" Harry asked as he started talking. "If not, then don't hesitate to let me know."
They were all just smiling at him and nodding their heads in agreement.
"The Italian Ministry is doing what they can, which is quite a lot, and I'm sure many of them will be back with more. They sent their best wand maker and I know that he has already got with all of you so you can have a wand as soon as possible. He will come and go as needed to get that done.
"There is no hurry for you to leave here. I would prefer you get back on your feet better before attempting that. I only discovered fairly recently that I owned this lovely property. I'm not currently using it so feel free to make yourselves comfortable while you recover."
"Why are you doing all this for us?" asked one of the men.
"Because I can. Please don't forget that my mother was a Muggleborn. This is what she would do if she were still alive. I can't stand by and do any less."
As Harry was continuing to converse with his guests so everyone understood what was going on, suddenly a little girl, no more than four years old, started yelling "Harry Potter, Harry Potter" over and over as she raised her hands in the air and ran toward Harry.
The young mother was trying to hold her but she kept wiggling and wanted down. She put her down next to her and held her hand so she wouldn't lose track of her in the crowd of people or the big house. The little girl was having none of that though.
She sat down on the ground which forced her mummy to let go of her hand. As soon as she was free she jumped up and took off running toward Harry, yelling his name the whole while. She didn't notice that everyone, including Harry, had stopped talking and just watched her with a smile on their faces. Most of these people had not had a good reason to smile in a very long time.
The young mother was horrified at what her daughter was doing. After how they had been treated and everything they had suffered through, she was afraid they were about to be kicked out of this beautiful house where they would likely starve without a wand or money to live on.
Harry saw the little girl running toward him screaming his name so he knelt down to her level when she got close. She came right up to him and stopped yelling his name once she was right in front of Harry. It suddenly became very quiet, except for a few late snickers from the crowd.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" she asked in her childlike voice.
"Yes, I am," he answered her promptly. "What's your name?"
"Abigail."
"That's a pretty name!"
"I like it," she said with a quick shrug of her shoulders.
"What can I do for you, Abigail?" Harry asked with a smile.
"I just wanted to thank you," she said all timid like, shuffling her feet a little.
"What for?"
"For taking us from that bad, bad place and bringing us to this …to this beautiful place," she told him looking around.
"Well, you are more than welcome, Abigail. Do you want to know a secret?" he asked leaning in some.
She nodded her head vigorously. Her whole body shook when she did.
"If you need a toy to play with, all you have to do is tell one of the house elves what you want and they will get it for you."
"Really?" she asked incredulously with her eyes very big.
"Really," he assured her, "and you can feel free to share that secret with all the other children."
Of course, they all heard everything that was said.
Abigail threw herself onto Harry's neck and just hugged him as hard as she could and kept on hugging him. Harry figured out that she didn't want to let go so he just stood up with her and hugged her back. She stayed where she was so Harry just smiled at his guests and was going to continue.
That's when the girl's mother had managed to make her way to the front, stepped out of the crowd, and headed toward Harry.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter," she said apologizing. "She was just too quick for me. I'll take her off your hands so you can finish."
Harry was holding Abigail up in his left arm while she maintained a grip around his neck. Harry raised his right hand and waved her off.
"No, that's fine. She seems to be comfortable and I don't mind at all."
"I think she just feels safe when around you, Mr. Potter, and she's been very scared for a long time."
Harry nodded understanding. "Call me Harry, please," he told her then looked up at the others. "All of you, feel free to call me Harry. I'm eighteen and too young to be Mr. Potter to friends," he said with a smile.
"My name is Michelle and you've already met my daughter Abigail."
"I'll give her back when she's ready, Michelle," he assured her.
Michelle nodded and went back to stand in front of the crowd this time.
Harry continued talking about everything he thought they needed to know and let them ask questions if they had any. He made them understand that they were not prisoners here so they could come and go as they please. They could visit the city, find jobs, whatever, as long as they are happy and safe. His home here would keep them safe until they could live on their own again.
He also told them they could use any of the snatcher and Death Eater wands he collected. The elves could show them where they are located. There were around forty of them. He doubted they would be a great match but should help until their replacement wands were ready. They could give them back to one of the house elves once they received their new wand.
"I won't be around here all that much," he told them. "I have to return home to continue the fight. There are many Death Eaters and snatchers left to deal with and a dark lord at the end of it. It's going to be a very busy year. That's all I have for now," he concluded.
They all started mingling and talking. Michelle confirmed that Abigail had fallen asleep on his shoulder. She started to take her but Harry insisted she show him to their room where he laid her gently on her bed and covered her up. He wanted to make sure she didn't wake yet.
"You would make a good dad," she whispered as they watched her daughter sleep.
"That's strange since I never had a proper one or a childhood for that matter."
"You're just a very good man, Harry."
"I try to be, but if you had seen me killing all those Death Eaters and snatchers, you would likely think of me in a different light."
"Oh, I don't know about that. Even good men have to take out the garbage once in a while."
Harry smiled at her then thought of a question. "Speaking of good men, where is Abigail's father?" he asked.
"My husband was killed by Snatchers while trying to protect us," she said with tears in her eyes.
"Then rest assured that I will kill every one of them evil people, snatchers and Death Eaters alike. After that, I'll kill their leader or die trying. Maybe, just maybe, we can have peace after that and no more killing will be necessary."
"Thank you, Harry," she said then hugged him.
"You're welcome, Michelle," he said patting her on the back.
Harry left the room after that. He had things that needed doing and, unfortunately, people that needed to die.
oOo
Harry went back to Potter Place to find the Ministry via the Daily Prophet was threatening the citizens again. Evidently a group of people had attacked two of the Muggleborn holding facilities, killed all the guards, and freed all the Muggleborns.
The Ministry was not very happy about that.
Another front page story appeared in the paper the next day and it had a picture that showed a ghastly scene with Madam Umbridge, head of the Muggleborn Registration Committee, along with Travers, head of the DMLE, and three guards, all dead. Around a dozen dementors could also be seen in the background floating around with a couple of patronuses keeping them back.
The bodies of the deceased were in a courtroom at the Ministry. Travers head was practically missing and the splatter from his head exploding was spread all over the area and the walls close to where his body was laying. Umbridge and the three guards were obviously kissed by the dementors.
The Ministry promised that whomever was responsible for this travesty of justice would pay for their crimes.
Harry smiled to himself and decided it was time to take care of the rest of the Death Eaters and snatchers.
As he went back out on the hunt he decided to change up how he was doing things. The snatchers still had portkeys that took them and their captives to the holding room in the Ministry. Death Eater aurors had portkeys that sent prisoners to the holding cells in the Auror offices. Harry decided he could use this.
Harry also gave Dobby the keys to the cells he took off the guard. He had Dobby go check every day to see if there were any more Muggleborns placed in the cells. If the place was free of guards then he could free them and use one of the portkeys Harry made to send them to safety in Italy. If guards were always there, then Dobby was to tell Harry so he could free them.
As it turned out, no one was interested in carrying on with the fake trials of the Muggleborns. They were afraid of what may happen to them if they did and no one was as rabid in their zeal to deal with the Muggleborns like Umbridge was.
The dementors were sent back to Azkaban where they belong.
They continued with having the snatchers capture and bring in the Muggleborns though. They figured eventually they would get someone to take over Umbridge's job and deal with them. However, it was getting more difficult to find Muggleborns and the snatchers were not as numerous either.
A single guard was posted with the cages during daytime working hours to make sure the prisoners were given their meager rations with the help of Ministry elves and to deal with any issues that came up.
When Dobby saw that no guard was posted at night, he started checking late to see if any new prisoners had arrived. Once he found some in the cages he went to work and appeared before the captured Muggleborns.
"I is Dobby, the great Harry Potter's personal house elf. Harry Potter sir has sent Dobby to free you. I have wands you can use if you wish to stay and fight and a portkey for the children and those who wish to go to the safe house."
Dobby unlocked all the cages and freed them. Only five of the men decided to stay with the wands Dobby provided. The rest of the captives took the portkey to Harry's home in Italy.
The guard was found dead the next day, his wand stolen, and all the prisoners missing.
The Ministry decided to hold off on doing anything more with the Muggleborns for now. The aurors were busy trying to chase down the ones who freed the prisoners at the holding facilities and also the ones who killed Umbridge and Travers so they just let it slide. They were too busy to deal with it. They found that running a ministry was a lot of hard work.
Umbridge was not around anymore so no one bothered to inform the snatchers that they were no longer needed. That's why they kept working, even though it was quite difficult to find any Muggleborns these days.
While they were bullying their way around, questioning the magical citizens, and looking for Muggleborns, they were not aware of their numbers dwindling. Many of the snatchers were running into citizenry who were not willing to be bullied and they were not alone either. Sometimes they ran into lethal traps they never expected or enough wands would surround them and take them all out.
Everyone involved also made sure word did not get back to the other snatchers and Death Eaters.
Harry was surprised at how so many had joined the fight. It was no longer just him doing all the work. However, Harry implemented his different idea that he used when he killed snatchers and Death Eaters.
Harry started using their portkeys to send the dead snatchers back to the area in front of the Muggleborn holding cells. He sent all the dead Death Eaters to the Auror office holding cells. The ones going to the auror offices were found immediately, however since no more Muggleborns were being captured and locked up, plus no guards were sent to that area of the Ministry anymore, nobody knew.
That is until the smell became so bad someone had to check it out. They found a large pile of dead snatchers stacked in the room. They obviously arrived via portkey and just all landed in the same place on top of each other.
The Ministry was starting to panic and Voldemort was not happy that his followers could not keep the people properly frightened and submissive. He ordered them to double down on the cruelty to bring the citizens back in line.
However, they were met with strong resistance. Harry helped by visiting busy areas and killing the Death Eaters when he found them. The poor Ministry elves were kept busy disposing of all the dead bodies arriving. The auror offices were now practically empty since they were sent out to quell the problem.
This just made it easier for Harry and the resistance to kill them off. There were spell fights going on all over the country but the Death Eaters were outnumbered, and very out gunned when it came to Harry participating.
Once it was too difficult to find snatchers and Death Eaters to kill, Harry turned his attention to the Ministry. He was counting on only a little resistance.
oOo
He arrived in the atrium in one of the Ministry fireplaces. When he came out of the floo with his hood in place, hiding his face, the guard on duty jumped up and stood ready with his wand held in front of him.
Harry kept walking toward him. He could see the man was nervous so instead of attacking, he stopped about twenty feet away from him and asked questions.
"Are you a Death Eater? Are you marked?"
The man shook his head no.
"Do you believe that purebloods are better than other magicals?"
"No," he replied.
"Then why are you working for a ministry that does and is run by Death Eaters?"
"I'm a half-blood. My family and I need the money to live on. I kept quiet about my beliefs to keep my job."
"I'm here to take down the Ministry so it can be made into something that benefits society and not what some mad man wants it to be. Are you going to try to stop me?"
"No."
"Would you like to help?" Harry asked with a smile.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I would."
"Are there others here who would help?"
"Definitely."
"Stay here then and pretend you never saw me. I'll let you know when I need your help."
The guard nodded and sat back down at his chair. Harry started walking again. He found it strange that no one else was in the atrium with so many people that supposedly worked at the Ministry. He stepped on one of the lifts and went to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement where the aurors were located.
When he stepped off the lift, he could see that the receptionist did not look like a normal witch. The receptionists was female but she looked like a very hard, nasty person for that position. Harry stunned her before she could draw her wand. He then checked and she was a Death Eater.
He killed her with a knock on the head then continued on and opened the door to the Director's office. He was the Death Eater that replaced Travers. He stood when his door opened without a knock. He was going to give a dressing down to that person. He was the new head of the DMLE after all and he demanded respect.
However, when he saw the hooded man, he went for his wand as Harry's hand came up and sent a piercing hex through the man's left eye. The hex continued out the back of his head and partially through the books, bookcase, and wall behind him.
Harry then left the Director's office and came upon the head auror's office. He was a Death Eater too. Harry hit him with a strong bone-breaker curse to the head before he could respond to the threat, ending his life quickly.
Continuing on, he only found one other auror in the offices. Using his speed, he grabbed the man by the head and snapped his neck. He was still breathing so Harry hit him in the head to finish him off.
The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office was next door so Harry stepped in there to see if anyone was around. He was surprised to see only Arthur Weasley, who sat up stiffly when he walked in. Harry quickly removed his hood.
"Mr. Weasley! What are you doing here?"
"Harry! I thought you were dead, son," he said coming around his desk and hugging him.
Harry pulled back and looked into the man's eyes.
"You're not under the Imperius are you?"
"No, Harry," he said going back to his desk to sit. "Have a seat and I'll explain," he gestured to a chair in front of his desk. Harry sat and listened.
"They simply begged me to come back and help keep the Statute of Secrecy in place. My job helps directly with that. They promised to leave me and my family alone if I'll just do my job. They were losing too many purebloods so started changing slightly how they were doing things. I also think they found out the hard way just how much work it takes to run the Ministry.
"A lot of the other department heads were asked to do the same, although many of those already agreed with the Ministry's current direction. I believe the powers that be discovered in the Muggle Liaison office just how powerful and brilliant the Muggles are. There's information in there about their weapons and military forces, and approximately how many there are compared to us. The number is staggering.
"They had no clue how dangerous it was to think the Muggles were less than human. When they saw the technology the Muggles had created and the ability to demolish whole cities with just one bomb, they quickly decided to stop making themselves so noticeable to the other world and sought help to keep us hidden.
"Now, how are you doing, Harry? You seem a bit taller than I remember," he said congenially.
Harry explained what he had been doing in the beginning, how he got captured, what they did to him and how he recovered. Arthur had tears in his eyes before Harry finished.
"I'm so sorry you had to experience that, Harry. It's difficult at times to believe that my fellow magicals can actually be so cruel."
"They are not redeemable, Mr. Weasley, and that's why I've been killing them as I find them. It was just me at first, but now there are others helping. They just reached a point where they had suffered enough at the hands of these idiots. Now they're fighting back.
"I doubt there is a snatcher or Death Eater left outside the Ministry. I just took care of the DMLE Director, the head auror, another auror, and the receptionist in the Auror offices. I plan to go through the rest of the Ministry and clear them all out. After I'm done here, I'm going to Hogwarts to clean that place out too."