Thanks to those who've reviewed the previous chapters, and apologies for the tardiness of this one, no class and it messed with my entire schedule. still, R&R and enjoy the next chapter! ~F
Chapter Fifteen
Headmistress Umbridge
BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced
Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight.
Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic
The notices had gone up all around the school overnight, but they did not explain how every single person within the castle seemed to know that Dumbledore had overcome two Aurors, the High Inquisitor, the Minister for Magic and his junior assistant to escape. Harry suspected that Faykan, Professor McGonagall, or both were to blame.
No matter where Harry went within the castle, the sole topic of conversation was Dumbledore's flight, and though some of the details may have gone awry in the retellings, (Harry overheard one second-year girl assuring another that Fudge was now lying in St. Mungo's with a pumpkin for a head) it was surprising how accurate the rest of their information was.
Everybody knew for instance that Harry, Faykan, and Marietta were the only students to have witnessed the scene in Dumbledore's office. As Marietta was now in the hospital wing, Harry found himself and Faykan besieged with requests to give a first-hand accounts. They chose to conceal certain facts, such as Faykan's forced dose of Veritaserum, or the fact that he lied anyway; purposely blaming Dumbledore to get him out of the castle.
When Harry himself questioned Faykan as to why he did that, Faykan only grinned, "We need to be out of Dumbledore's influence for a while, for the last stages of our preparations for Voldemort. And besides, I wanted a small bit of vengeance early…" Harry never got to ask what he meant by 'getting vengeance,' as they had to run to get to breakfast.
Most students were confident that Dumbledore would return soon. "They couldn't keep him away in our second year," Ernie Macmillan said after Herbology, "and they won't be able to this time. The Fat Friar told me…" he dropped his voice conspiratorially, so that Harry, Faykan, Ron and Hermione had to lean closer to him to hear "…that Umbridge tried to get back into his office last night after they'd searched the castle and grounds for him - couldn't get past the gargoyle. The Head's office has sealed itself against her." Ernie smirked. "Apparently, she had a right little tantrum."
Faykan grinned wickedly, "Oh I bet she really fancied sitting up there in the Headmaster's office," he said, still smiling.
Hermione huffed angrily, "Lording it over all the other teachers, the stupid puffed-up, power-crazy old…"
"Now, do you really want to finish that sentence, Granger?" Theodore Nott said, sliding from behind the door, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
"Afraid I'm going to have to dock a few points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff," he drawled.
The obnoxious boy then proceeded to remove over fifty points from Gryffindor, and five from Hufflepuff, tapping the small badge of a silver eye on his robes, underneath his prefect's badge before strutting away.
"Noticed, have you?" said Fred's voice.
"Yeah, Montague tried to do us during break," added George.
"What do you mean, 'tried'?" said Ron quickly.
"He never managed to get all the words out," said Fred, "due to the fact that we forced him head-first into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor."
Faykan laughed but Hermione looked very shocked. "But you'll get into terrible trouble!" she said concernedly.
"Not until Montague reappears, and that could take weeks, I dunno where we sent him," said Fred coolly. "Anyway… we've decided we don't care about getting into trouble any more."
"Have you ever?" asked Hermione.
"Course we have," said George. "Never been expelled, have we?"
"We've always known where to draw the line," said Fred.
"We might have put a toe across it occasionally," said George.
"But we've always stopped short of causing real mayhem," said Fred.
"But now?" said Ron tentatively.
"Well, now…" said George.
"…what with Dumbledore gone…" said Fred.
"…we reckon a bit of mayhem…" said George.
"…is exactly what our dear new Head deserves," said Fred.
"You mustn't!" whispered Hermione. "You really mustn't! She'd love a reason to expel you!"
"You don't get it, Hermione, do you?" said Fred, smiling at her. "We don't care about staying any more. We'd walk out right now if we weren't determined to do our bit for Dumbledore first. So, anyway," he checked his watch, "phase one is about to begin. I'd get in the Great Hall for lunch, if I were you, that way the teachers will see you can't have had anything to do with it."
"Oh no you two don't," Faykan piped up, and Hermione brightened; probably thinking he was helping her stop the twins. Her face fell when he grinned and continued, "Not without taking me with you, I want a piece of the old toad for myself."
"Looks like someone was bitten by the pranking bug Fred," George said happily.
"Come along little Will, and we'll teach you all we know," Fred said, and together they lead Faykan away, chatting conspiratorially as they disappeared into the swelling crowd descending to lunch in the Great Hall.
"You know," Ron said, "I'd feel bad for Umbridge if I didn't hate her just as much as everyone else. Fred, George, and Faykan pranking her, she won't last two months…"
"I think we should get out of here, you know," said Hermione nervously. "Just in case"
"Yeah, all right," said Harry, and the three of them moved towards the doors to the Great Hall, but Harry had barely glimpsed the day's ceiling of scudding white clouds when somebody tapped him on the shoulder and, turning, he found himself almost nose-to-nose with Filch the caretaker. He took several hasty steps backwards; Filch was best viewed at a distance.
"The Headmistress would like to see you, Potter," he leered, "follow me."
~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~
Draco was sitting in the Great Hall, glaring at Ginny and Michael Corner across at the Ravenclaw table when it happened.
BOOM!
The entire castle seemed to shake, and dust showered down from the rafters. Everyone looked around in confusion. Draco and several other students quickly dashed out the doors and up the stairs in the Entrance Hall to find the source of the commotion. It was not difficult to find.
Three floors up, pandemonium reigned. Somebody (Draco had a very keen idea who) had set off what seemed to be an enormous crate of enchanted fireworks.
Dragons comprised entirely of green and gold sparks were soaring up and down the corridors, emitting loud fiery blasts and bangs as they went; shocking-pink Catherine wheels five feet in diameter were whizzing lethally through the air like so many flying saucers; rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls; sparklers were writing swear words in midair of their own accord; firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere Draco looked, and instead of burning themselves out, fading from sight or fizzling to a halt, these pyrotechnical miracles seemed to be gaining in energy and momentum the longer he watched.
And standing in the center of the chaos, glowing menacingly at Umbridge and Filch, was the black Kitsune that Draco recognized as Faykan's animagus form. The six tails were flared out menacingly, displaying that five out of the six had the quartered circle marked on them now.
"Hurry, Filch, hurry!" shrieked Umbridge, from the opposite side of the hall, "They'll be all over the school unless we do something, Stupefy"
A jet of red light flew at Faykan, who howled, all six trails flailing around his vulpine body, and a large blue shield reflected the stunner into a rocket.
Instead of freezing the device in midair, it exploded with such force that it blasted a hole in a painting of a soppy-looking witch in the middle of a meadow; she ran for it just in time, reappearing seconds later squashed into the next painting, where a couple of wizards playing cards stood up hastily to make room for her.
"Don't stun it, Filch!" Umbridge shouted angrily.
Draco had seen enough; laughing, he ducked into a secret door behind a tapestry, and almost fell over Harry, Fred and George, who were listening to Faykan's howls and Umbridge and Filch's yells, quaking with suppressed mirth.
"Impressive," Draco said quietly, grinning at them. "Can't wait to see what you'll do next."
"Oh, Faykan has the next part of the plan covered," whispered George, wiping tears of laughter from his face.
"He told us when he insisted on tagging along," Fred explained to their surprised faces. "Actually came as a kind of shock at first to tell you the truth…"
The fireworks continued to burn and to spread all over the school that afternoon. Though they caused plenty of disruption, particularly the firecrackers, the other teachers didn't seem to mind them very much. Draco heard from Ron and Harry that they heard that Professor McGonagall had awarded the twins fifteen points apiece for no reason when they arrived in her class later that day.
The upshot of it all was that Professor Umbridge spent her first afternoon as Headmistress running all over the school answering the summons of the other teachers, none of whom seemed able to rid their rooms of the fireworks without her.
As for Faykan, he seemed to have let loose the limits of how vicious he was going to be to Umbridge. When the last bell rang, it was immediately followed by the howling of what sounded like wolves, and one long blast of a hunting horn.
Umbridge was later seen running for her life, perused by Faykan's 'specter,' riding a giant fiery horse, and about a dozen Kitsune conjured of fire. They sped down corridors through the air, igniting tapestries and walls, screeching oaths of death at Umbridge as they chased her all around the castle, until she finally barricaded herself in her office.
~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~
Harry was slightly worried of coming back to the Room of Requirement, but Faykan assured him, saying he had warded it better and all of them were trustworthy. There was no reason not to continue meeting there for their personal training, or even the A.D.A. meetings.
With many of the Slytherins in Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, Faykan had removed the Slytherin dormitory exit, suggesting that it would be safer for Blaise and Draco to leave through Professor Snape's office instead, to which they all agreed as wise.
He, Faykan, Draco, Hermione and Ron were currently in the room, attempting to work on some homework as Fred and George's fireworks raged outside. Finally, Hermione slammed her book shut, "Oh, why don't we have a night off?" she said brightly, "after all, the Easter holidays start on Friday; we'll have plenty of time then."
"Who are you and what did you do with Hermione Granger?" Ron said seriously, and everyone laughed.
"D'you know… I think I'm feeling a bit… rebellious," Hermione said delightedly. Everyone took that as their sign to separate before they were missed by their houses.
There were still many people milling about in the common room, but Harry went with Faykan and Ron straight up to the dormitory, exhausted from the training and homework of the day.
The whizzes and bangs of escaped fireworks in the grounds seemed to be growing more distant as he relaxed in his four-poster… or perhaps he was simply speeding away from them…
He had fallen right into the corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries. He was speeding towards the plain black door… let it open… let it open…
It did. He was inside the circular room lined with doors… he crossed it, placed his hand on an identical door and it swung inwards…
Now he was in a long, rectangular room full of an odd mechanical clicking. There were dancing flecks of light on the walls but he did not pause to investigate… he had to go on…
There was a door at the far end… it, too, opened at his touch…
And now he was in a dimly lit room as high and wide as a church, full of nothing but rows and rows of towering shelves, each laden with small, dusty, spun-glass spheres… now Harry's heart was beating fast with excitement… he knew where to go… he ran forwards, but his footsteps made no noise in the enormous, deserted room…
There was something in this room he wanted very, very much…
Something he wanted… or somebody else wanted…
His scar was hurting…
BANG!
Harry awoke instantly, confused and angry. He lay quite still and silent while the pain in his scar subsided and disappointment washed over him. He felt as though a wonderful treat had been snatched from him at the very last moment… he had got so close that time…
~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~
Severus watched for several moments as the students practiced their various advanced defensive training. Faykan was dueling with Mr. Weasley in the center platform, staff and spear flashing and twirling in time as they lunged and parried each other, with the two of the three Ravenclaw boys, Boot and Goldstein, watching with rapt attention.
Off to one side, Granger was showing Miss Lovegood and Miss Weasley the finer points of archery, and Draco was drilling Mr. Zabini and Mr. Corner on their blade skills. Finally Harry had the Weasley twins and Mr. Longbottom on the opposite side, working on moderate hexes, jinxes and charms. The two red-heads were sending their silvery-white hyenas to run circles around Longbottom's massive bear Patronus.
It was rather surprising how Harry, with his and Faykan's encouragement and assistance, had managed to whip these students into a functional force, albeit not nearly ready for full scale combat, but well able to hold their own in emergencies.
If Faykan was completely serious about bringing them to the Ministry when the Dark Lord baited his trap, they would have the 'play their cards wisely' as the muggles said it. The lower ranked Death Eaters would definitely be caught unawares at their skill to begin with, but if they resorted to the stronger curses or Unforgivables, it would quickly become a slaughter.
Most likely, Faykan was playing on the fact that the Death Eaters would be focused on capturing Harry to get the prophecy, then delivering him to their Lord, and therefore be unwilling to attempt to kill anyone, to avoid the danger of hitting the boy.
It was risky, but then again, this was war. Everything had its risk, bringing more people increased their chanced of injury, but also increased their chances of success.
Then there was the core group of five themselves. They would be a force to rival even Bellatrix and Lucius' power in a few years time. Draco and the Weasley boy were quickly becoming a dynamic duo, combining their different strengths and covering each other's weaknesses in a perfect team. Severus wouldn't be surprised if they could hold their own against four or more Death Eaters simultaneously.
Miss Granger, ever the quick study and avid reader, easily had the widest range of spells at her disposal, and her minor abilities in what Faykan had called 'Formless Magic' were used rather astoundingly. She had manipulated her talent to be able to conjure her own ammunition for her elven bow, firing off bolts of lightning or crystal shards on a whim.
And finally there was Harry and Faykan themselves. Severus could think of no Death Eater that would be able to match either of them alone, including himself, either in standard spells or with raw magical force. Faykan might even be a match for the Dark Lord, but Severus wasn't sure as the boy was very controlled about his power, never releasing too much of it at one time, like the accidental burst of power than Harry had released during their second Occlumency lesson.
Harry's skills with Occlumency had improved since they changed tactics to the point where he could actively intercept and divert Severus' attempts to penetrate his mind with little difficulty. He would be able to hold off even the Dark Lord or Dumbledore for a time, if it became necessary.
And this was still not factoring in their animagus forms. Miss Granger had finally accomplished the transformation herself, changing into a rather beautiful red kite. Weasley and Draco weren't fall behind her, having found their animal forms, and were now studying to prepare for their first transformations. Draco had been rather disappointed to hear that Mr. Weasley was going to be a bull, as his own form was a pure white ferret. He had almost succumbed to the teasing from Mr. Weasley, when Faykan reminded him the advantages of being a small creature over a larger one, stealth and ambush over brute strength and power. This had greatly improved Draco's mood over his form.
Harry had begun to introduce the animagus form to the rest of the advanced students, showing his own form of a black panther, must to the astonishment of everyone. They had practically begged Severus to begin brewing the potions to allow them to begin their own work on the transformation, and he had, reluctantly, agreed.
The thought of over a dozen unregistered Animagi running loose in Hogwarts didn't sit right in his stomach, but Faykan had insisted that it would be beneficial for the war. Severus finally relented, and was currently brewing the potion during their meetings, the fumes wafting around the ceiling as he stirred.
Severus had never bothered to attempt learning the transformation himself, not being overly talented in transfiguration, but, since he was making a large batch of the potion already, he figured it wouldn't hurt to drink a portion of it himself. He admitting to himself that he was rather curious what animal he would be. Faykan had wagered a dozen Galleons against the Weasley Twins that it would be a massive bat. The red headed twins disagreed; stating confidently that Severus would become a vulture. Needless to say Severus was not amused.
Severus was startled out of his thoughts by a small alarm sounding, warning him that a student was approaching his office. He cast a stasis charm on the cauldron before him and quickly swept to the secret door, entering his office well before Theodore Nott barged right in.
"Professor Snape Sir, Professor Umbridge needs your help," the boy said, "They've found Montague, sir, he's turned up jammed inside a toilet on the fourth floor."
"How did he get in there?" Severus demanded, thinking fast. If only that stupid woman hadn't given out the privilege of robbing points from the other houses to the foolish children in Slytherin, then the boy wouldn't be in this situation.
"I don't know, sir, he's a bit confused."
"Very well, very well." he said, waving the boy off and sweeping out into the dungeon corridor, cursing Dolores Umbridge's stupidity as he went.
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The Easter Holidays passed as a blur of studying, as all the fifth and seventh years had to prepare for their O. and N.E. . As though to underline the importance of these upcoming examinations, a batch of pamphlets, leaflets and notices concerning various wizarding careers appeared on the tables in Gryffindor Tower shortly before the end of the holidays, along with yet another notice on the board, which read:
'All fifth-years are required to attend a short meeting with their Head of House during the first week of the summer term to discuss their future careers. Times of individual appointments are listed below.'
Hermione, Ron and Harry had looked over quite a few of these, but Faykan hadn't bothered, which Hermione figured that since he was disguised as a potions apprentice, that it didn't matter for him to select a different career to discuss anyway.
Fred and George came over a short while later, eager to discuss their next wave of pranks against Umbridge, stating that they hadn't wanted to interfere with the student's free time over the holidays, but now that they were over, it was free game once again. Hermione felt that that was rather considerate of them to think of their fellow students like that.
The next day started rather blearily, with History of Magic, followed by Potions. Ever since Professor Snape started assisting with their defensive training, he had started to act perfectly neutral and fair to everyone in the class, even those Gryffindors that had not been in the D.A. It made for a rather nice change, and several people actually managed to earn Gryffindor a handful of points, to the shock of the Nott's gang of Slytherin students.
Harry came back that afternoon from his meeting with Professor McGonagall rather irritated, and Hermione could only guess that the old toad purposely sat in on his career advice meeting. If not for Faykan whispering soothing words to him throughout Defense Against the Dark Arts, probably laced with hints at the destruction he and Fred and George were about to reek on the school, Hermione was almost certain that Harry would have lost his tempter with Umbridge all over again.
After class, Faykan gave them a conspiratorial wink and took off to meet with the twins, leaving them all to trek down to dinner without him. They had only made it halfway along the corridor when the unmistakable sounds of explosions were heard off in the distance. There were screams and yells reverberating from somewhere above them; people exiting the classrooms all around Harry were stopping in their tracks and looking up at the ceiling fearfully…
Umbridge came pelting out of her classroom as fast as her short legs would carry her. Pulling out her wand, she hurried off past them down the corridor.
"We probably want to get down to the Entrance Hall," Harry said, then lowering his voice he added, "Fay said that's where the grand finale is going to be held, Fred and George are luring her around the school as they deposit their parting gifts to Hogwarts as a warm-up."
Making their way down to the Entrance Hall was far easier than Hermione expected, most people were either standing still listening to the noise above or going upward to investigate. They found Faykan in the Entrance Hall, looking completely innocent as he sat near the entrance to the dungeons. The boy was absently flipping another little quartered circle sign in his hand, and even from how far they were, Harry could easily tell that this was a new one, bright blue and glistening in the sun streaming in from outside.
He sent a nod and another wink at them all before glancing upward after a particularly loud bang sounded from the top of the stairs. Hermione, along with Harry and Ron whipped around to see Fred and George swoop down on their brooms, whooping loudly and tossing fireworks into the air, lighting them with their wands before ducking into the Great Hall.
By the time the returned from inciting havoc there, Umbridge had arrived; soot blackened and eyes bulging, at top of the stairs. Fred and George hovered on their brooms, laughing hysterically at her while the students swarmed to make an enormous circle like they had during Trelawney's sacking. Hermione noticed Faykan across the circle, subtly pulling out his wand and muttering under his breath.
"So!" Umbridge said triumphantly, glaring down at her supposed prey. "So… you think it amusing to turn this school into a madhouse, do you? You think its fun to turn an entire corridor into a swamp? Or create a vindictive ghost to terrorize your Headmistress and burn her office, the corridors, and frighten your fellow students?"
"Pretty amusing, yeah," Fred retorted, grinning wickedly at her without the slightest sign of fear.
Filch elbowed his way through the crowd closer to Umbridge, almost crying in happiness.
"I've got the form, Headmistress," he said hoarsely, waving the piece of parchment, "I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting… oh, let me do it now…"
"Very good, Argus," she said. "You two," she went on, gazing down at Fred and George, "are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."
"You know what?" said Fred. "I don't think we are."
He turned to his twin. "George," said Fred, "I think we've outgrown full-time education."
"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," said George lightly.
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" asked Fred.
"Definitely," said George.
"We won't be seeing you," Fred told Professor Umbridge as they both turned their brooms toward the doors out to the grounds.
"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," said George.
Fred looked around at the assembled students, at the silent, watchful crowd.
"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley; Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes," he said in a loud voice, "our new premises!"
"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," added George, pointing at Professor Umbridge.
"STOP THEM!" shrieked Umbridge, but it was too late. As the Inquisitorial Squad closed in, Fred and George snapped their fingers, and the huge doors blew open, revealing the imposing shade of Faykan, looming ominously with a huge, bright orange fireball in each hand.
"You have defied my warnings for the last time Umbridge!" the shade bellowed, its voice ringing around the room and stopping the Inquisitorial Squad in their tracks. Fred and George flew outside, yelling behind them, "Give her hell from us Fay!"
"NO! SIEZE THEM!" Umbridge yelled again, but Faykan's 'ghost' wasn't going to allow it. Throwing one fireball downward, the entire entryway he had created ignited in bright fire, just as he hurled the other directly at Umbridge. She fled, screaming as the flaming sphere arced over the heads of student and pursued her up the stairs, slamming into the door she threw shut behind her and exploding with a deafening BOOM.
Potential Spoilers Ahead, You Have Been Warned!
Naturally Umbridge would act as canonically as possible. if Peeves would have not phased her from her reign of tyranny, then I doubt she would have stopped in the face of something much worse. the original version actually had Cedric still at Hogwarts and joining the ADA, which became a problem when I realized that he was a 7th year in GoF, so some character shuffling had to occur to make things more correct. Until Next time! ~F