Disclaimer: I do not own anything dealing with Harry Potter or Phantom of the Opera. If I did… I'd be rich. Oh, and the lyrics from the stage play belong to Andrew Lloyd Webber and whoever else helped him write the lyrics. If you thought that I owned any of it… You are the weakest link, good bye!
A/N: (Falls upon a chaise, places hand upon forehead, and sighs). Oh, woe is me, woe is me! I fear I shall never fulfill my dream of being a Hollywood starlet… (Looks left, looks right). Anyone buying it? Hahaha! Okay, I guess not. I never thought that I would be a good actress. I suppose I never wanted to be one, anyway. I hope you like this next chapter. It's the chapter before my favorite chapter! Hehe. I heart the next chapter, which shall be "All I Ask Of You". I can't wait!
Chapter Six: Ill Muto…
It was around seven o' clock in the evening and all the ministry officials had found their way into the Room of Requirement. The teachers were there as well, and everyone was settling into their seats. On the walls, the portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses were all discussing quietly among themselves about the meeting which was about to commence. The main topic for their discussions was whether or not the phantom of the school would show up. Phineas Nigellus simply shook his head as he passed each and every one of these gossipmongers. There was no use discussing the situation because there was no phantom.
He looked around at all the people gathered around in the Room of Requirement. There seemed to be quite a few here today. Even the portraits had taken to showing up. Apparently, this was some big meeting. Phineas had only heard about it a few days earlier. This could be mainly attributed to the fact that he spent a great deal of his time in his portrait in his summer house. At least, it was his summer house before he died.
And now, as he looked around at the portraits which hung in the room, he saw that there was nowhere else that he could sit. Every available seat was taken, and even a few witches and wizards had resigned themselves to the floor. He sniffed arrogantly. There was no way he was going to sit on the floor like some common wizard. He looked around for some trace of a respectable seat. Then, he smiled. His eyes landed upon a portrait… completely empty. It stood right apart from the other portraits, right in the center of the wall. It faced the stage which had been created for the sole purpose of allowing the teachers and their apprentices to speak to the public. Perfect! That's where he would sit.
He made his way quickly to the portrait. He wanted to get there before anyone else did. One was for sure: he wasn't intent on sharing his portrait with anyone. So, he was happy when he had managed to get there before anyone else had. Albus noticed this and walked up to the portrait.
"Do you really think this wise, Phineas?" he asked as he gazed up at the portrait. Phineas looked at him as though he were daft.
"Well, Albus, it would appear as though there are no other seats available," he said. Albus looked around to see that Phineas was correct and smiled. He looked back up at the portrait.
"Alright, just be careful, my friend," he said. With that, he went to stand in front of the group which had assembled there. When silence fell, he addressed them. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am Albus Dumbledore, the new Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Everyone clapped. When the applause died down, Albus looked around the room. "Thank you. Hogwarts welcomes you. Now, it is my pleasure top present to you the wonderful staff of witches and wizards who teach here, many of whom are some of the most talented I've had the pleasure of meeting and I will be glad to work alongside each and every one of them.
"Tonight, some of the finest witches and wizards, along with their apprentices, shall be discussing what they plan on teaching this year and how they hope to improve this year over the previous years. With a lot of work, and perhaps with a little help from generous contributors such as yourselves, our school shall become the most powerful and most celebrated of all." Once again, everyone clapped and Albus walked off the stage to take his seat in the front row, next to Cornelius.
The first teacher up was Joshua Miller and his apprentice, Severus Snape. They started out their speech, as all presenters would be, by doing a little demonstration. Severus handed each of the required ingredients to Joshua as he needed them. It was clear that Severus longed to make the potion himself, but he knew that the only way he could get near the cauldron to do the mixing and stirring was if Joshua deemed ready. And by the way Joshua was teaching him, that day wouldn't come for a really long time.
Next came Rose Pomfrey. She was accompanied by her daughter, Poppy, who was as nervous as she could be. She was practically shaking as she helped her mother with the demonstration, which was to show how to correctly care for a child who had been hit by a stray spell. One of the first year students had offered to help, and he was having fun pretending to be ill. He made a few jokes, two of which resulted in Rose almost smacking him on the back of the head. The only reason why she did not was because she was in front of a room of people, some of whom were ready to make considerable donations. With the money, she could get the money the hospital wing needed.
Then, it was Jane Umbridge's turn. By now, it was nearing eight o' clock in the evening. Jane walked up in front of the others with Minerva close behind her. Jane looked around the room with a smug smile upon her face. She cast a disgusted glance at Minerva, who was setting up what they needed for the demonstration, and then looked back at those who were watching her.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," she said. "It is a pleasure to be in front of such a prestigious crowd as this. I would like to thank you all again for coming here tonight and cannot wait to show you all the sort of things I have planned for our Transfiguration course this term." They clapped as Minerva fought the urge to roll her eyes. What was she talking about? Jane didn't come up with any of these theories. She, Minerva McGonagall, had. Jane just enjoyed taking all the credit for the theories that Minerva spent hours upon hours testing, disregarding, and testing again. But Minerva never said a word. What could she do? She was only an apprentice.
"Tonight, I thought I would show you a few of the spells I feel should be taught to some of the more advanced Transfiguration students. Minerva, my wand." Minerva walked up and handed Jane her wand. She would have said something, but Jane had told her before the meeting that she was not to talk at all. Normally, Minerva would have fought back, but she thought better. Jane Umbridge was not someone you wanted to cross swords with.
Jane took her wand out of Minerva's hand, careful not to touch Minerva's hand. Minerva hated it when she did that. Jane Umbridge thought everyone at Hogwarts was beneath her… even Albus, the new headmaster. Turning back to the audience, Jane smiled.
"I shall now transform my assistant into an animal." She turned to Minerva, who was now sitting on a stool. She was not looking forward to being transformed into an animal; especially when she was perfectly capable of doing that herself. She was the youngest registered animagus in years. Surly she needed no help from this Neanderthal. Nevertheless, she sat there, waiting for Jane to transform. As Jane faced her and pulled back her wand, prepared to hit Minerva with a spell. However, she never had the chance to. The lights in the chandelier began to flicker dangerously and the voice of Tom could be heard throughout the room.
"Did I not instruct that the main portrait in this room was to remain empty?" Everyone looked around, panicked. They all looked at the main portrait where Phineas was now standing. He looked around the portrait, but could see no one.
"He's here: the phantom of the school," whispered Poppy to her mother as they sat in the back with the other apprentices. Rose looked at her daughter and placed a finger to her lips, silently telling her to keep quiet.
"It's him," whispered Minerva under her breath. She, too, was looking at the main portrait. Would he appear there now? No, he wouldn't. He may be in the room, but he would remain invisible to those in the room. Jane looked at Minerva and narrowed her eyes.
"Your part is silent, little toad," she whispered. But Tom heard her and sneered to himself.
"A toad, madam?" he asked to himself. "I think it is you who are the toad." With a wave of his wand, he cast a silent spell upon Jane and left the room. However, his exit had not gone unnoticed. The assistant caretaker, Argus Filch, had seen his shadow and decided to follow him. As he left the room, Argus saw the corner of the phantom's cloak disappear around a corner. Argus followed him. But when he turned the corner, he came face to face with the horrifying face of Tom Riddle.
"It's you," he gasped. "You are real." But before he could turn and run, Tom sneered and wrapped his magical lasso around the caretaker-in-training's neck.
Meanwhile, back in the room, Jane had regained her composure and was prepared to continue with her speech.
"Like I was saying," she said, "I have every intention of-." She never did finish her sentence. Instead of what she had intended to say, a loud croak escaped from her lips. Covering her lips, she looked around, wide-eyed. Low murmurs spread throughout those gathered in the room. What was going on? Jane cleared her throat and tried again.
"I have every inten-CROAK!" She covered her mouth once again. She tried again. Another croak. Again and again, she croaked whenever she tried to speak. Tears of anger and fright fell down her face as she quickly ran off the stage and ran out of the room of requirement. The entire time, the sound of the phantom's laughter cold be heard, ringing throughout the room.
"Behold, she is singing to bring down the chandelier!" he cried. As he said those words, the chandelier began to shake violently.
Cornelius and Rufus looked at each other. This was not good at all. As the room began to buzz with chatter, they stood and ran onto the stage, hoping to do some damage control.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please calm down," called Rufus, holding up his hands. They waited until the talking had died down before they continued. He looked up at the main portrait, which was now empty. "The meeting shall continue in ten minutes time when the Transfiguration portion shall be covered by Miss Minerva McGonagall." He grabbed Minerva by the hand and brought her center stage. Fear covered her face as she realized she would have to speak in front of all these people. Children she could handle. But possible investors? That scared her. Rufus released her and motioned with his head to go prepare herself. She nodded and left the room, hoping to gather her thoughts before she had to do what Jane had been scheduled to do.
"In the meantime, ladies and gentlemen," said Cornelius in an attempt to keep them busy, "we shall have our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Adam O'Malley, and his apprentice, Quirrel. Adam, your speech, NOW!"
As Adam and his apprentice scrambled to gather themselves up and present what they had, Minerva was speaking with Rose.
"Rose," she whispered, "I don't know if I can do this." They were standing right outside the door, which lead to the room of requirement. Rose rested a hand upon Minerva's cheek.
"You must, my dear," she said. "Everything that he does is for you. I know it might scare you now, but please believe me when I say that he is only trying to help you." This did not settle Minerva any, but she figured that Rose might know what she was talking about. After all, Rose had raised her since the death of her father. Rose would never do anything to harm her. Minerva bit her bottom lip and nodded.
"I know, Madam Pomfrey," she said. Rose held up a red rose with a black ribbon around it and Minerva's breath caught in her throat. She reached out and took the rose. With a deep sigh, she hugged Rose and went inside. That was when it happened.
"AAAAHHHH!" The moment Minerva and Rose entered the room, there was pandemonium. They looked towards the stage and both nearly fainted at the sight. Argus Filch, the apprentice caretaker, hung there, his foot mere inches above Quirrel's face, a noose around his throat. But it was no ordinary lasso. It was the phantom's lasso. How did they know? The rope was not tied to anything. No rail… no pole… It was just suspended in mid-air, with Argus Filch at the end of it.
People jumped from their seats as Argus was suddenly freed from the rope and fell onto the stage. The rope, no longer sporting any knots, disappeared into thin air. No one knew where it went, nor did they care. Men and women were practically climbing over each other to get out.
"Minerva! Minerva!" She snapped out of her state when she felt Albus' hand upon her arm. He pulled her out of the room and began to lead her up the stairs. "Come with me. We'll go to the Astronomy Tower."
"No," said Minerva, stopping him. He looked at her, confused. "To the Great Lake, we'll be safe there." With that, she pulled him by the hand and led him as quickly as she could to the Great Lake.
A/N2: Okay, I know in the play that they went to the roof, but I thought about it and couldn't think of how they could get onto the roof of the castle. I almost had them go to the Astronomy Tower, but then I have plans for that later. Please forgive me if you don't like that idea. But I promise, I'll do my best to make it up to you guys later, in the next chapter. Always Hopeful