Chapter 18:
"Ah Mafalda!" said Umbridge, looking at Hermione. "Travers sent you, did he?"
"Y-yes," squeaked Hermione.
"Good, you'll do perfectly well. And Caris, yes I think you can help." Umbridge spoke to the wizard in black and gold. "That's that problem solved, Minister, if Mafalda can be spared for record-keeping and Caris from her work with the Witch Watchers we shall be able to start straightaway." She consulted her clipboard. "Ten people today and one of them the wife of a Ministry employee! Tut, tut… even here, in the heart of the Ministry!" She stepped into the lift beside Hermione and Alicia, as did the two wizards who had been listening to Umbridge's conversation with the Minister. "We'll go straight down, Mafalda, you'll find everything you need in the courtroom. Good morning, Albert, aren't you getting out?"
"Yes, of course," said Harry in Runcorn's deep voice. Harry stepped out of the lift. The golden grilles clanged shut behind him. The lift began to move and Harry slid out of sight before the two girls were forced downwards in the lift. Hermione and Alicia shared a look as the lift descended all the way down to the courtrooms at the bottom level with the Department of Mysteries.
The passageway the lifts opened up to was much different to that of the carpet and wood panels above. It was torch lit and stone made, making it seem rather colder than necessary. Beside them was a distant black door that marked the entrance to the Department of Mysteries.
Umbridge didn't dwell on this but set off for the left hand side that opened to a flight of stairs. Alicia remembered this from Harry's hearing and steamed off after Umbridge with an air of dignity around her, Caris, the women she was impersonating. Hermione hurried after her saying nothing and so did the two men who were accompanying them.
Alicia was quick to notice the unnatural coldness that deepened as they left the lifts far behind them and the small group descended into fog. The cold increased and Alicia instantly understood. They had dementors down here. The cold reached right down into her throat and tore at her lungs. She felt the stealing sense of despair, of hopelessness, filling her, expanding inside as it did when the dementors were present. She looked at Hermione who looked worried and Hermione looked back. Alicia rose a simple eyebrow that would match the stern look on her face that she hoped would reassure her.
They turned a corner and before them was not something happy. Umbridge flicked her wand and immediately a patronus of a cat sped forwards and the entire cold vanished, a protective barrier having been placed before them. The passage before them was that to the courtrooms and was packed with tall, black-hooded figures, their faces completely hidden, their ragged breathing the only sound in the place. The petrified Muggle-borns brought in for questioning sat huddled and shivering on hard wooden benches. Most of them were hiding their faces in their hands, perhaps in an instinctive attempt to shield themselves from the dementors' greedy mouths. Some were accompanied by families, others sat alone. The dementors were gliding up and down in front of them.
Umbridge said nothing as they passed the victims of her wrath and moved straight into the courtroom. This room was not the one Harry had been taken to, it was much smaller, though the ceiling was quite as high; it gave the claustrophobic sense of being stuck at the bottom of a deep well. Even in here there were dementors, though stuck to the corners farthest from the high raised platform in which Umbridge led them.
Yaxley was there waiting for them and looking as grim faced as he had above in the Atrium.
"Ah, Dolores." he greeted
"Yaxley, ready to begin?" she said as she moved up to balustrade and took her place quite comfortable. Yaxley nodded simply as Hermione and Alicia sat beside one another on Umbridge's other side. Umbridge's patronus cat had moved with them and it began to prowl up and down at the foot of the platform. Instantly warmness begun to fill Alicia after the dementors and it was much more comfortable.
"What do we do?" Hermione whispered
"Well we do as we're asked not to draw suspicion." Alicia responded "Just before our hour is up I say we excuse ourselves one at a time to leave."
"What about the Horcrux?" Hermione said under her breath.
"If we get out undetected, we'll be able to come back again and we'll have a much better idea of what we're doing as well. We don't have time to deal with anything more." Alicia decided as she pulled before her what had been left for the two to do for Umbridge.
Hermione was supposed to be recording the interview Umbridge was to conduct while Alicia had a stack of files before her to sort through on each of the victims who were lined up outside, the first being called in by Umbridge, a frightened man who looked at the dementors in the room. There was a seat in the middle of the courtroom as there had been for Harry, but these, unlike the ones that had been with Harry, clanged into life and strapped him to the chair, like they had Karkaroff in Dumbledore's memory so many years ago.
Umbridge first checked the identity of her victim and then addressed where he'd gotten his wand from. The man excused and argued about being half blood, his father being a wizard who'd worked here but Umbridge continued her questioning as if he hadn't spoken. It caused quite the disturbance and Yaxley got impatient quickly, spitting harsh words at him. Hermione continued to record while Alicia wrote down some words of importance to hand Umbridge about the next victim. She recognised the name instantly. It was the wife of the man Ron was impersonating. She felt so sorry for her, as he would likely never come to her aid.
Umbridge continued on the man looking gleefully as she was being able to punish him, asking for proof and using a questionnaire apparently done by the man against him. When she was done, the man was being escorted from the room, convicted of felony.
"No, no, I'm half-blood, I'm half-blood, I tell you! My father was a wizard, he was, look him up, Arkie Alderton, he's a well-known broomstick designer, look him up, I tell you — get your hands off me, get your hands off —"
"This is your final warning," said Umbridge's soft voice, magically magnified so that it sounded clearly over the man's desperate screams. "If you struggle, you will be subjected to the Dementor's Kiss."
The man's screams subsided, but dry sobs echoed through the corridor.
"Take him away," said Umbridge.
Two dementors appeared in the doorway of the courtroom, their rotting, scabbed hands clutching the upper arms of a wizard who appeared to be fainting. They glided away down the corridor with him, and the darkness they trailed behind them swallowed him from sight.
"Next — Mary Cattermole," called Umbridge.
Next came in a small women, trailing from head to toe with her hard hair smoothed back into a bun and wearing long plain robes. Her face was completely bloodless and she shuddered as she passed the dementors.
"Sit down," said Umbridge in her soft, silky voice.
Mrs. Cattermole stumbled to the single seat in the middle of the floor beneath the raised platform. The moment she had sat down, chains clinked out of the arms of the chair and bound her there.
"You are Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?" asked Umbridge.
Mrs. Cattermole gave a single, shaky nod.
"Married to Reginald Cattermole of the Magical Maintenance Department?"
Mrs. Cattermole burst into tears.
"I don't know where he is, he was supposed to meet me here!" Umbridge ignored her.
"Mother to Maisie, Ellie, and Alfred Cattermole?"
Mrs. Cattermole sobbed harder than ever.
"They're frightened, they think I might not come home —"
"Spare us," spat Yaxley. "The brats of Mudbloods do not stir our sympathies."
Alicia however felt something else and she looked around the room searching for it. Nothing had changed beside the women who'd entered but that didn't mean there wasn't something there. She felt a slight buzz within her and decided it could only come from one place.
Harry? She thought confused
I'm here. I have the cloak. Alicia simply nodded curtly and slightly and looked at Hermione beside her. She leaned ever so slightly before her as Mrs Cattermole sobbed loudly.
"Harry's here." she whispered and Hermione looked at her surprised but Alicia turned back to the women before them.
Umbridge rose her voice to address the women before them again and Alicia couldn't help but jump ever so slightly as a voice sounded from behind them.
"I'm behind you," Harry whispered between the two.
Unlike Alicia who might as well have only flinched Hermione jumped so violently that she nearly overturned her in bottle. Glancing at Umbridge and Yaxley though Alicia found them too concentrated on Mrs Cattermole and Hermione's actions went unnoticed.
"Little warning next time, maybe a tap on the shoulder." Alicia said silently and lightly.
She didn't receive a response but Umbridge was speaking again.
"A wand was taken from you upon your arrival at the Ministry today, Mrs. Cattermole," Umbridge was saying. "Eight-and-three-quarter inches, cherry, unicorn-hair core. Do you recognise that description?"
Mrs. Cattermole nodded, mopping her eyes on her sleeve.
"Could you please tell us from which witch or wizard you took that wand?"
"T-took?" sobbed Mrs. Cattermole. "I didn't t-take it from anybody. I b-bought it when I was eleven years old. It — it — it — chose me."
She cried harder than ever.
Umbridge laughed a soft girlish laugh that Alicia had heard similarly when the women ad been punishing students two years ago at Hogwarts. She leaned forward over the barrier, the better to observe her victim, and something gold swung forward too, and dangled over the void: the locket.
Alicia saw it and her eyes widened ever so slightly before she grinned feeling smug and excited.
Hermione had seen it too, though she let out a little squeak, but Umbridge and Yaxley, still intent upon their prey, were deaf to everything else.
"No," said Umbridge, "no, I don't think so, Mrs. Cattermole. Wands only choose witches or wizards. You are not a witch. I have your responses to the questionnaire that was sent to you here — Mafalda, pass them to me."
Umbridge held out a small hand and Hermione's hands were shaking with shock. She fumbled in a pile of documents balanced on the chair beside her that Alicia had picked up her in bottle to stop herself from tipping it. Finally Hermione withdrew a sheaf of parchment with Mrs. Cattermole's name on it.
"That's — that's pretty, Dolores," she said, pointing at the pendant gleaming in the ruffled folds of Umbridge's blouse.
"What?" snapped Umbridge, glancing down. "Oh yes — an old family heirloom," she said, patting the locket lying on her large bosom. "The S stands for Selwyn… I am related to the Selwyns… Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related… A pity," she continued in a louder voice, flicking through Mrs. Cattermole's questionnaire, "that the same cannot be said for you. 'Parents' professions: greengrocers.' "
Yaxley laughed jeeringly. Below, the fluffy silver cat patrolled up and down, and the dementors stood waiting in the corners.
Alicia felt hot but it wasn't with her anger. All she'd simply done was pursed her lips and think of which hex she'd like to use to steal the locket Umbridge used to bolster her own pure-blood credentials. Alicia wondered what would happen if everyone knew she stole it from a petty criminal.
Harry however was angered by the lie so much it flooded into Alicia and she saw his wand appear out of no where from the corner of her eye. He seemed so angry he didn't bother conceal it. "Stupefy!"
There was a flash of red light; Umbridge crumpled and her forehead hit the edge of the balustrade: Mrs. Cattermole's papers slid off her lap onto the floor and, down below, the prowling silver cat vanished. Ice-cold air hit them like an oncoming wind: Yaxley, confused, looked around for the source of the trouble and saw Harry's disembodied hand and wand pointing at him. He tried to draw his own wand, but too late: "Stupefy!"
Yaxley slid to the ground to lie curled on the floor.
"Harry!"
"Hermione, if you think I was going to sit here and let her pretend —"
"Harry, Mrs. Cattermole!"
With the Patronus gone, the dementors were sliding towards the women in which was still chained to a chair. Their masters were gone and there was nothing stopping them from a meal, allowing them to abandon restraint.
Mrs. Cattermole let out a terrible scream of fear as a slimy, scabbed hand grasped her chin and forced her face back.
Alicia moved fast and with a wave of her hand a white silver owl sprung forth from her wand and whooshed straight at the dementors who fell straight back to the shadows again.
Harry had thrown off the invisibility cloak as the light from the owl was more warming than the cat's had been. Alicia had happier memories than Umbridge in which was not at all surprised.
"Get the Horcrux," Harry told Hermione.
He ran back down the steps, stuffing the Invisibility Cloak back into his bag, and approached Mrs. Cattermole.
"You?" she whispered, gazing into his face. "But — but Reg said you were the one who submitted my name for questioning!"
"Did I?" muttered Harry, tugging at the chains binding her arms.
"Well, I've had a change of heart. Diffindo!" Nothing happened. "Hermione, how do I get rid of these chains?"
"Wait, I'm trying something up here —"
"Hermione, we're surrounded by dementors!"
"I know that, Harry, but if she wakes up and the locket's gone—"
"Hurry up with you gemini spell Hermione." Alicia said as she ran down to Harry. "Relashio!" the chains clicked and withdrew immediately. "You need to get going, our hours almost up." she believed "Hermione!"
" — I need to duplicate it — Geminio! There… That should fool her…"
Mrs. Cattermole looked just as frightened as ever before.
"I don't understand," she whispered.
"You're going to leave here with us," said Harry, pulling her to her feet. "Go home, grab your children, and get out, get out of the country if you've got to. Disguise yourselves and run. You've seen how it is, you won't get anything like a fair hearing here."
"Harry," said Hermione, "how are we going to get out of here with all those dementors outside the door?"
"Patronuses," said Harry, pointing his wand at his own. "Expecto Patronum!" Harry's stag leapt from his wand and joined Alicia's owl which had been making rounds of the room to keep the dementors in check. The stag slowed and walked, still gleaming brightly, toward the door. "As many as we can muster; do yours, Hermione."
"Expec — Expecto patronum," said Hermione. Nothing happened.
"It's the only spell she ever has trouble with," Harry told a completely bemused Mrs. Cattermole. "Bit unfortunate, really… Come on, Hermione…"
"Happiness Hermione." Alicia reminded her
"Expecto patronum!"
A silver otter burst from the end of Hermione's wand and swam gracefully through the air to join the stag and owl.
"C'mon," said Harry, and he led Hermione and Mrs. Cattermole to the door.
When the Patronuses glided out of the dungeon there were cries of shock from the people waiting outside. Harry looked around; the dementors were falling back on both sides of them, melding into the darkness, scattering before the silver creatures.
"It's been decided that you should all go home and go into hiding with your families," Harry told the waiting Muggle-borns, who were dazzled by the light of the Patronuses and still cowering slightly. "Go abroad if you can. Just get well away from the Ministry. That's the — er — new official position. Now, if you'll just follow the Patronuses, you'll be able to leave from the Atrium."
"No dawdling or you'll be left behind." Alicia said.
They managed to get up the stone steps without being intercepted, but as they approached the lifts Harry started to have misgivings.
"We can't get out of the atrium with the patronuses."
"We wont have to, the dementors will be left here, they won't follow." Alicia said "They can't really." she shrugged
"We'll still attract attention."
"We're likely to regardless." Alicia mumbled as she could feel her polyjuice potion wearing off slowly. As she said this the lift clanged to a halt before them and the grate doors opened.
"Reg!" screamed Mrs. Cattermole, and she threw herself into Ron's arms. "Runcorn let me out, he attacked Umbridge and Yaxley, and he's told all of us to leave the country, I think we'd better do it, Reg, I really do, let's hurry home and fetch the children and — why are you so wet?"
"Water," muttered Ron, disengaging himself. "Harry, they know there are intruders inside the Ministry, something about a hole in Umbridge's office door, I reckon we've got five minutes if that —"
Hermione's Patronus vanished with a pop as she turned a horror-struck face to Harry.
"Hole in a door? What—" Alicia cut off as something fluttered through her from Harry and he felt guilty. "What did you do?" she demanded of him.
"Harry, if we're trapped here — !"
"Imma blast my way out." Alicia said.
"We won't have to if we move fast," said Harry. He addressed the silent group behind them, who were all gawping at him.
"Who's got wands?"
About half of them raised their hands.
"Okay, all of you who haven't got wands need to attach yourself to somebody who has. We'll need to be fast before they stop us. Come on."
They managed to cram themselves into two lifts. Harry's Patronus stood sentinel before the golden grilles as they shut and the lifts began to rise, Alicia's owl upon it's antlers.
"Level eight," said the witch's cool voice, "Atrium."
It was clear at once that they were in trouble. The Atrium was full of people moving from fireplace to fireplace, sealing them off.
"Harry!" squeaked Hermione. "What are we going to — ?"
"STOP!" Harry thundered, and the powerful voice of Runcorn echoed through the Atrium: The wizards sealing the fireplaces froze. "Follow me," he whispered to the group of terrified Muggle- borns, who moved forward in a huddle, shepherded by Ron and Hermione,Alicia streaking forwards in the lead.
"What's up, Albert?" said the same balding wizard who had followed Harry out of the fireplace earlier. He looked nervous.
"This lot need to leave before you seal the exits," said Harry with all the authority he could muster.
The group of wizards in front of him looked at one another. "We've been told to seal all exits and not let anyone —"
"Are you contradicting me?" Harry blustered. "Would you like me to have your family tree examined, like I had Dirk Cresswell's?"
"Sorry!" gasped the balding wizard, backing away. "I didn't mean nothing, Albert, but I thought… I thought they were in for questioning and…"
"Their blood is pure," said Harry, and his deep voice echoed impressively through the hall. "Purer than many of yours, I daresay. Off you go," he boomed to the Muggle-borns, who scurried forward into the fireplaces and began to vanish in pairs. The Ministry wizards hung back, some looking confused, others scared and resentful. Then:
"Mary!"
Mrs. Cattermole looked over her shoulder. The real Reg Cattermole, no longer vomiting but pale and wan, had just come running out of a lift.
"R-Reg?"
She looked from her husband to Ron, who swore loudly.
"We shoulda stunned him." Alicia mumbled to Ron.
The balding wizard gaped, his head turning ludicrously from one Reg Cattermole to the other.
"Hey — what's going on? What is this?"
"Seal the exit! SEAL IT!"
Yaxley had burst out of another lift and was running toward the group beside the fireplaces, into which all of the Muggle-borns but Mrs. Cattermole had now vanished. As the balding wizard lifted his wand, Harry raised an enormous fist and punched him, sending him flying through the air. Alicia looked surprised.
"He's been helping Muggle-borns escape, Yaxley!" Harry shouted.
The balding wizard's colleagues set up an uproar, under cover of which Ron grabbed Mrs. Cattermole, pulled her into the still-open fireplace, and disappeared. Confused, Yaxley looked from Harry to the punched wizard, while the real Reg Cattermole screamed, "My wife! Who was that with my wife? What's going on?"
Yaxley's head turned and an inkling of the truth dawn in that brutish face.
Alicia grabbed the real Reg Cattemole and yanked him into the fireplace after her as Harry turned to Hermione.
They came shooting out of toilet and into a cubical where Alicia threw open the door where Ron was standing with Mrs Cattermole.
"Reg, I don't understand —"
"Let go, I'm not your husband, you've got to go home!"
Harry and Hermione appeared behind.
"Look we impersonated your husband to get into the ministry." Alicia said as she moved with the real Reg's arm still in her grasp. "Be satisfied we saved your life, here's your real husband now I suggest you run, like us." she grinned as there was a noise in the cubical behind them.
"LET'S GO!" Harry yelled. Alicia and Harry moved in sync as Alicia grabbed Ron, Harry grabbed Hermione and the two twins grabbed one another. Harry turned on the spot and they were engulfed by darkness.
Alicia held tight to Ron while Harry seemed like he was being dragged away, something was wrong with either him and Hermione and instantly Alicia imagined Yaxley had something to do with it.
The door of number twelve Grimmauld Place came into sight with it's serpent knocker and Alicia went to breath. Only a slight amount of air entered her lungs before there was a scream and a flash of purple light; Harry's hand felt like it was slipping and Alicia grabbed it in a vicelike grip as she did the same to Ron as Grimmauld Place vanished from before her.