CHAPTER 11

Neither Harry Potter nor any of the characters associated with him belong to me. They are JK Rowlings. I'm not in this for the money, just for fun!

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Forbidden Forest:

Despite being out in the woods, filled with Heaven knows what creatures, the silence around them was almost tangible. Rebecca could only stare in shock at the young witch, wondering for the fourth time if she was truly insane.

"Dolores Umbridge is dead," she finally managed to say. "Harry and Ron were with her when she died. Harry heard her speak."

"Not quite, my dear," said the girl who looked like Imogen Griffin, as she walked around her, tapping her wand slightly against her hand. As she did that, Rebecca couldn't help noticing the little flash of light that reflected off the middle of it.

The wand was rather short, much shorter than any of the other wands she had seen around the Magical Community. It was made out of a crimson-red coloured wood, and had a tiny pink gem set in the middle of it, which was where the light was coming from, as Imogen or Dolores (or whoever she was) turned it over in her hand.

It was stupidly late of her, she thought, but she now remembered where she had seen that light before.

"You were posing as Vanessa Darnell at the Ministry, weren't you?" she said. "You were the one who tried to kidnap me that day." The wand she held was the same one that the woman disguised as Vanessa had had.

Dolores nodded. "Vanessa Darnell and I go way back. She was a typical witch in the Typing Pool, who I often passed by at work. I sometimes hired her, off the books of course, to do some work for me, so that she could earn a little extra money."

"What sort of work?"

She shrugged. "Oh, nothing much. A little magic to straighten up my house, as I could never could stand the sight of House Elves, a few spells to file my old documents…and occasionally be witness to whenever I made an Unbreakable Vow with someone whom I made a bargain with. Trouble with those vows, you see, is that they need a third person to work the magic."

"She did all your Unbreakable Vows for you, including the one you made with that Warden at Azkaban Prison!"

"Very good, Miss Leicester. Yes, Vanessa was very efficient in those sorts of things. She knew when not to ask questions, and when to keep her mouth shut. I paid her for her trouble and help, and she'd go back to work the next day, a few extra Sickles in her pocket."

"But…why pose as her then? Why didn't you just get her to come get me by herself?"

Dolores gave a little snort. "Because, apparently, there are some jobs that not even she would do. Those jobs included working with an escaped prisoner." Rebecca thought she could see a glint of anger in her eyes. "I was the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, and she dared to call me an escapee, and threatened to call the Aurors on me!"

That glint of anger seemed to be flaring up, as Rebecca watched in fear, but after a moment Dolores seemed to calm down.

"But…why are you after me?" asked Rebecca in desperation. "We've never met before, and I've done nothing to you!"

"Oh, I know that, Miss Leicester. Normally, I would never bother with anything so lowly as a mere muggle. However, you are a key component in my plan."

"What plan?"

She gave a wide grin. "Justice, of course. Justice for myself, for a terrible wrong that was done onto me."

"What wrong?!"

Dolores brandished her wand at her a little, almost tapping Rebecca's nose. "You don't seriously think I was going to leave Britain without giving the people something back in return for my incarceration, do you, Miss Leicester?"

She spoke as if she was talking to a baby, and Rebecca held her breath as Dolores' wand came dangerously close to her throat.

"I have always been a woman for order. I have dedicated myself to it ever since I was a child. That was the main reason why I joined the Ministry right after I left school, and devoted my life to it ever since. Everything I did, I did in the pursuit of order. If it weren't for me, the whole Ministry would have fallen into chaos. And how do they repay me…by throwing me in prison!"

'Gee, I wonder why.'

Dolores' wand shook in her hand. "I only did what I had to do, to prevent the community from falling into ruin. Someone had to take charge, to keep the innocent wizards from falling in with common mud-bloods, diluting their magic and losing our great heritage!" She was raving now. "And to stop the Death Eaters from taking out their full wrath on everyone, I knew some allowances had to be made. I only played along a little, so as to stop them from destroying everything!"

'Yeah, you're a regular hero,' thought Rebecca sarcastically. "But what does that have to do with me?" she asked. "I never had anything to do with the war or Voldemort. I'm not even a witch."

Delores didn't say anything, and just started looking around the forest, as though waiting for something.

When it didn't look as though she was going to say anything more, Rebecca decided to speak. "How did you manage to escape Azkaban in the first place?" she asked. Although she already knew the answer, she hoped to keep Dolores talking, if only to keep her calm, and to give her time to find a way out of there.

The woman shrugged. "You said it so yourself, my dear; through the Unbreakable Vow. The Warden at Azkaban, Mr. Donald Pierce, and I had had some previous dealings in the past. He required some money and a job, and I was able to help him with both through my connections at the Ministry. The money I gave him was a loan, which he repaid me in time, but also in return for my help, he was to assist me in any task I set him. An eye for an eye, as they say."

"And you used the Unbreakable Vow as a way to ensure he'd pay you back," she deduced.

"Of course. Despite what a lot of people say, the Unbreakable Vow is the perfect way of securing business deals, and ensuring people stay true to their word. They are also ideal for making sure that the people in question keep their mouths shut."

"And that's what happened to him then," she said, looking at her. "Harry told me that Pierce looked as though he were about to say something to him, but the moment he started to talk, he dropped down dead."

Dolores shrugged again. "Sad but true. The first thing I get every new business associate to vow is their silence."

Rebecca looked at her aghast. "That man had a wife and family! And you talk about him as if he were nothing but canon fodder!"

"He brought it on himself," she replied, looking untroubled. "If he had kept true to his part of the bargain, nothing would have happened to him."

Rebecca couldn't believe someone would be so heartless and carefree about the loss of another person's life. Perhaps what Harry and Ron had told her about this Umbridge woman was not an exaggeration after all.

"But…" Rebecca started again. "How did he get you out of that prison anyway? Even if he were the Warden, it can't have been easy."

Dolores smiled. "I'm afraid that since the Dementors were driven out of Azkaban and the Ministry, their security has just not been what it used to be. But then again, not to boast, but I may still have outwitted them all."

"How?"

"A little something left over from my father, during some business he conducted with a wizard by the name of Paster Louis some years ago. I don't suppose you've heard of the name, have you? No, of course you wouldn't, being a muggle and all."

Rebecca frowned at her words, regarding her muggle-hood, but at the same time she wondered a little about the mentioned wizard's name, as Paster Louis did sound somewhat familiar to her.

"Paster Louis was an English wizard who died some seventy years ago," Dolores explained. "He was, what you muggles might call, an inventor. Spent a lot of his time working on new potions and inventions for wizarding kind. Didn't make a lot of contributions, sadly, but he did do something that benefited me in the long run."

She reached into her pocket with her free hand, and pulled something out. Rebecca had to squint her eyes to see clearly in the dark, but eventually saw that it was some kind of large amber-coloured jewel.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It has no name, as, officially speaking, it doesn't even exist, since its existence was never registered at the Ministry. Personally, I call it the Transmutation Stone. Not very imaginative I know, but it works."

"What does it do?"

"Exactly what the name says," Dolores explained slowly, as though talking to a slow, dim-witted child, making Rebecca frown at her all the more. "Transmutation is the term used to describe something changing into something else entirely."

"Like Polyjuice Potion?" she said, suddenly remembering.

"Yes and no. This stone was actually created based on Polyjuice, but it is something else entirely." She smiled again. "Polyjuice Potion, in case you don't know, is a potion used to change someone's appearance into someone else's. Its effects are adequate, however, there are some drawbacks. For starters, some people tend to keep their original voice even after they are changed. The potion is also meant only for humans, and doesn't work on other creatures, and doesn't change humans into other creatures. Plus, unless taken regularly the potion doesn't last long, and frankly…" she visibly shuddered, "…the stuff tastes absolutely horrid!"

"And this stone is something like an alternative then?"

"Oh, exactly! Mr. Louis wanted to create a new way of disguising one's self; one without the use of Polyjuice, which would last longer, and could change you into anyone or anything you desired. He had the idea, but lacked the funding for magical supplies. That's where my father came in." She talked in a proud and arrogant manner. "You see, Miss Leicester, my family has always kept one finger in business. Mr. Louis came to my father seventy years ago, to ask for money to help fund his experiments. My father could see the profit to be made, so he agreed. Alas, though, Mr. Louis barely got halfway with his research, before his last experiment blew up in his face…literally."

She gasped. "He died?"

"Oh yes. He was working on creating this stone, when he must have made a small error with one of his ingredients or such. The end result was an explosion that took out his entire potions' lab, and him with it. The only thing to survive was this here stone, which was created as a result of the explosion."

"So he succeeded."

"Not quite." She seemed to lose some of her pride then, and looked uncomfortable and disheartened. "My father had the stone tested, but found its effects to be…less than satisfactory, which was why it was never made public or distributed."

"What was wrong with it?" she asked, genuinely confused. So far, to her it looked like the stone had been a success, as she never would have guessed the seemingly young girl before her was in fact the middle-aged Dolores Umbridge.

The woman glared at her for a moment. "Tell me something, Miss Leicester. You and I have been together now for the most part of this day, since I smuggled you out of that muggle accommodation. Why, do you think, in all that time I have not returned to my original form instead of remaining in this one?"

Rebecca paused. "I…I don't know. I just assumed you hadn't had time yet."

"Wrong!" she snapped, making her jump. "The real reason simply is…I can't!"

Rebecca blinked. "Can't?"

"Yes, can't!" Dolores snapped again. "The Stone has some remarkable properties. It can change anyone or anything into any form, whether they are alive and human, dead and animal, or otherwise. It can change anything! And not just their outward appearance, oh no. It can change someone right down to the cellular level!" She seemed to be boasting again, yet her tone held none of its previous arrogance. "That's another problem with Polyjuice, as it merely changes a person's appearance, whereas this Stone can make someone actually become that person. Not just in appearance, but also in any conditions, sickness or even broken limbs that the person they wish to emulate may possess."

She tapped her wand again. "Say, for example, you wish to take on the form of someone who was colour-blind, had a limp from an old injury, and who unknown to you had a fatal illness. If you use the Stone, then you would take on that person's form and body, with all those ailments to boot. There would virtually be no difference between you and the original, with the only exception being your memories and personality. It is the perfect way to camouflage ones' self."

Rebecca nodded. "Okay, I got it. I doubt I would ever want to take on the form of someone like that, but I get it. Does it hurt to change?"

"Oh, not at all," Dolores said, waving her wand. "It can be a bit disorientating, having your flesh shift and change and all, but it usually doesn't last long, depending on which form you take on, of course. If you change into someone who shares some of your physical attributes, like someone of the same gender, height and build, then the change would be almost instant. If, however, you change into someone who's completely different to you, it lasts a little longer."

Rebecca nodded again. "Okay, but…again, where's the problem? It still sounds like the Stone was an absolute success."

Dolores then snorted. "Hardly. Recall that I said Louis wanted to make the Stone's powers longer than that of the Polyjuice Potion? Well, he succeeded too well. He made the effects of the Stone permanent! Whichever form you take on through the Stone, you can only use once. And once you've used up each form, including your own original one, you can never get it back!"

"You mean…?"

"Yes! Say you use the Stone to take on my form. You can do so, but once you do that you can never return to your original form ever again. And if you were to then use the Stone again to change your form into, say, Harry Potter, you can still do so. But once you do that, you can never change back into my form again!" She paced back and forth a few times, fuming. "Needless to say, losing one's appearance permanently would not make anyone want to buy such a product, so my father had the Stone hidden away in our private vault, where it has remained ever since, until Donald Pierce retrieved it."

"You used the Stone to escape?"

"What choice had I?!" said Dolores, glaring at her, making her freeze like a deer in headlights. "Even with the Dementors gone, security was still tight! And my face is widely known in my world, so there was no way I could just stroll out and be on my way!" She paused, breathing deeply for a moment or two. "My family has always had two vaults. One, which is at Gringotts, where we keep most of our fortune, and the other is a smaller one that we have at our family home. It holds mostly old antiques of sentimental value, as well as the odd magical item, like this Stone. It's hidden behind a number of Protective Charms, and no one outside of my family knew of its existence." She tapped her wand continuously as she spoke.

"I told Pierce about it, and had him go to my house, which was still vacant, and retrieve the Stone. I knew it was my only possible means of escape. I also told him to bring me a change of clothing, my spare wand, which I also had hidden there, and a small animal, like a cat or a mouse. In the end, he brought me a rat." She shuddered. "I used the Stone to change my appearance into that of some woman I had once spotted in Witch Weekly, and I turned the rat into myself. After which, I changed my clothes, put the rat-me into my prison robes, and then Pierce simply led me out of the prison as though I were just another visitor." She giggled. "No one even suspected."

"The other you…I mean, the rat that was disguised as you. It died shortly after you escaped. Why?" asked Rebecca.

Dolores shrugged. "Who knows? I didn't see any reason to keep track of a simple, stupid rodent. Maybe Pierce had it killed, or perhaps it couldn't physically cope with its change into a human body, or maybe it simply died of natural causes. Either way, no matter."

"And what about your spare wand?" she asked then. "You said you had another one in your vault?"

She nodded. "Yes, would you believe this is my third wand now?" She held the wand up higher for her to see. "Three wands, all with the same appearance. My first one was trod upon by one of those disgusting Centaurs in this very forest! After that, I obviously had to acquire a new one, which I insisted had to be the same as my original. I had always been very partial to it, you see. At the same time, I also acquired this wand as a spare, in case anything should happen to the second. All three are the same, except this one has a slightly different core. My first and second wands were both made of cherry wood, with cores of Unicorn hair and Belladonna. This one, however, although still made of cherry wood, has Belladonna and Abraxan hair. Apparently, they had run out of Unicorn hair at the time, but this works just as well, and because of its difference, and the fact that I never registered it to the Ministry, no one knows I'm even using it."

"Okay, so you escaped from Azkaban, using the Stone. What did you do next?" Rebecca noticed that Dolores tended to drift in conversation, speaking of one thing, sometimes forgetting, and then sliding into another topic altogether. But that was fine with her, as long as she kept talking, giving her more time to figure out a plan.

Dolores simply shrugged again. "I wanted to go home, but obviously that was not possible. Despite my new form, I couldn't risk going to any of my old haunts, for fear of being discovered." Her eyes started to glint madly again. "I was acting like no more than a common crook! On the run from the law, stripped of my possessions, my treasures and money, my…everything!"

"So what did you do?" Rebecca asked hurriedly, for fear of the woman's rage peaking again.

"I went round old muggle buildings. Some of them were houses where the owners had left for a time, but I feared being discovered, so mostly I stayed in old abandoned buildings, where I stayed until I could figure out what my next move would be." She shuddered in rage. "I spent months living in squalor, stealing food from clueless muggles, like a common rat! Me! A daughter of the noble house of Umbridge, related to the Selwyns, reduced to living as a destitute!" She then smiled. "But at least I spent those months productively."

"How do you mean?"

"You may have heard from some people that I am not the most learned of witches when it comes to magic. While it certainly is true that I was not the most skilled in certain spells, I am quite famous for my ability to learn. And learn I did. For all those months, I dedicated myself to practising a number of spells that I knew would prove useful in the coming months. However, I knew I couldn't do what I needed to do alone."

Dolores had neglected to say what it was she had been planning or why, but Rebecca chose not to interrupt, and just continued to listen.

"I needed help," she continued, "so I turned to the only person I thought I could trust. Vanessa Darnell." She scoffed. "After everything I had done for her in the past, she dared to call me a criminal, and then attempted to call in the Aurors on me! The ungrateful, whiny little…! She actually accused me of being a supporter of You-Know-Who! Never once did I give any indication I approved of his war or his dark magic, and yet she went and called me a Death Eater right to my face!"

'No, you didn't say you supported him,' thought Rebecca. 'You showed it by doing stuff that he would have loved, like taking innocent people from their homes and imprisoning them just because of their lineage.' Another thought suddenly occurred to her. "Wait, if Miss Darnell was against you then how did you convince her to help?"

Dolores smile came back, making her uneasy. "When it became clear that Miss Darnell wouldn't help me, and just as she was about to call the Aurors…I used the Imperius Curse on her."

"The what?"

Dolores gave a loud tut-tuting sound. "Muggles," she said under her breath. "The Imperius is one of the three Unforgivable Curses, deemed illegal by our world. Though, frankly, I always thought the Imperius would prove quite handy in a dire situation, as it did in mine."

"What does it do?"

"The Imperius Curse places someone in a dream-like state, in which they are utterly subject to the will of the caster. However, those who are strong willed may learn to resist it." Dolores spoke as if she were reading from an encyclopedia. "Fortunately, Miss Darnell was never a strong person, in body or spirit, so she was easy to control."

"You took over her mind!" Rebecca found this to be even more fearful than the exploding spell. The thought of one being able to take over someone else, to strip them of their freewill, like a puppet, filled her with dread.

"Yes, if you like. Once I did, I stayed with her in her house, since no one would presume I would be there with her." Her smile grew larger.

Rebecca swallowed the lump in her throat. "Why…why didn't you send her to kidnap me instead of going yourself?"

Dolores waved her off. "The Imperius Curse is indeed handy, but it doesn't last forever. I couldn't risk sending her to catch you when the curse could wear off any minute after all. Plus, I've worked in the Ministry most of my life, so I know the place like the back of my hand. Vanessa had rarely left the floor she worked on in all her career."

"Okay, but still…why go after me at all? And what do the Centaurs have to do with anything?"

"Everything, Miss Leicester. They have everything to do with it."

"Huh?"

"I did not escape all at once, Miss Leicester. Mr. Pierce had to wait several months before he could find some free time to spend with me, without the other guards finding out or getting suspicious. And during those months I spent in Azkaban, I had no one but myself for company, so I spent endless hours searching my memories, going close to madness. I thought again and again about how to escape, which is how I came up with the idea of using the Transmutation Stone. But I also thought endlessly about how I would get my reven…I mean, how I would get justice for myself."

"How?" Rebecca asked uneasily.

"I was with the Ministry for many years, Miss Leicester. I heard every report that came in, particularly about any muggle that came close to finding out about our world," she said, peering at her closely. "I had heard about the muggle machine that had crashed in the Forbidden Forest, and about the young girl that was presumed dead. And then, a couple of weeks later, she turned up with no memory." She shrugged. "I didn't think anything of it at the time. Everyone assumed the girl, namely you, had lost your memory, which suited everyone's best interests just fine. After that, I just didn't think about it…until my little mishap with the Centaurs."

"Your mishap?"

"Yes, Miss Leicester. You and I have some things greatly in common. We both come from well-privileged families, and we've both had unfortunate run-ins with the Centaurs. I was held captive by them for no more than a day, but it was one I will never forget." She started angrily. "They treated me like a dog, humiliated me, and…" She shuddered. "Well, anyway, while I was with them, I heard them mention something about searching for someone, a female, who was theirs by right. After thinking about it, it didn't take a genius to figure out that that someone had to be you. After all, besides me, what other female had had dealings with the Centaurs? The girl muggle had been the only one the Centaurs could have met with."

She paced back and forth. "But again, it had no significant importance at the time, and I thought nothing about it. Until years later, when I was locked in that dam cell at Azkaban!" She gave a snarl-like beneath her breath. "I remembered you, and what the Centaurs had said! They said they wouldn't give up until they found you, and they spoke true!" She gave a small giggle. "I knew the Ministry had lost much due to the war with You-Know-Who, and that they couldn't afford another one so soon after with whoever. So I had Vanessa find out everything she could about you." She smiled. "You can imagine my delight when I learned that although you had moved out of the country, you had come back again."

Rebecca groaned. 'Definitely should have had mom and dad visit me in Italy.'

"After that, it was merely a matter of disguising my form again, and going to the Centaurs to tempt them to come get you. I had learned from my sources of the identity of the pilot who had originally crashed with you, and decided to use him. I picked his form because I thought I could also use it to get in contact with you later, in case the Centaurs needed some help." She laughed then. "When I told the Centaurs about you, they were only too eager to find you again! And I knew the Ministry, with its new pro-muggle-born antics, would be only too quick to want to stop the Centaurs from harming you!"

Rebecca stared at her in shock. "You got the Centaurs to come after me…to start a war?!"

Dolores stared back at her. "To get justice!" she declared. "This whole country has now gone to ruin, thanks to its pro-muggle ways…!" She began spouting more of her self-righteous attitude, and Rebecca basically just tuned it out, as it was all more or less the same as what she had said before.

"So you told the Centaurs about where to find me," she said, interrupting Dolores, growing tired of listening to her woe is me campaign, "and then left them to do the rest?"

"Hardly!" Dolores scoffed. "The Centaurs set out to find you, that is true. But they proved too slow for my taste, so I offered them my assistance, by giving them Portkeys into London, and information on where best to find you."

"Portkeys?"

"Magical items, similar to the Floo Network, designed to transport many people instantly to a specified location."

"You can do such?" said Rebecca, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't spend all my years at the Ministry without learning something, my dear," she replied smugly.

Rebecca was about to ask her how she had made them, fascinated, when she mentally shook herself, reminding herself of the seriousness of the situation. "Miss Umbridge, you have to stop this! If a war breaks out between your people and the Centaurs, not only will it mean countless deaths on both sides, but also the Ministry might not be able to hide your kind from mine anymore. They're already having trouble enough as it is, trying to hide the Centaurs."

"He-he, I know," Dolores said with a smile. "What do you think I was planning for?"

Rebecca stared at her in disbelief. "You would start a war, which could cost thousands of lives?"

"I no longer have any care over what happens to the Wizarding Community, Miss Leicester!" she snapped. "Just as they no longer had any care over what happened to me! If they so wish to live completely amongst muggles, then let them!"

"But if they appear so abruptly to muggles like that, it'll cause a panic!" said Rebecca exasperatedly. "There's no telling what might happen."

"As I said… if they so wish to live completely amongst muggles, then let them!" Dolores said with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Rebecca looked at her sadly and fearfully. Apparently, even with those Dementors no longer there, Dolores's time at Azkaban had done havoc to her mental stability.

They stood there like that for several minutes, with Dolores continuing to look out through the trees, seemingly searching for something.

"How did you escape?" Rebecca finally asked.

Dolores looked at her. "I'm sorry?"

It became clear to Rebecca that she would never be able to get through to his woman, seeing how mental she was, so for now all she could do was continue to keep her talking, until she could find a way out for herself.

"When Vanessa…sorry, I mean you… When you tried to get me at the Ministry, when you were disguised as her, but failed, the Aurors chased after you into one of those Floo fireplaces. They said they ended up in some shop somewhere, but when they went out into the street, you were gone?"

Dolores giggled. "Oh yes, a marvellous little trick of mine, I have to admit. One I have to thank the traditional dress sense of wizards for." She giggled again at Rebecca's confused look. "I've never been one for wearing those long robes that we wizards and witches are famous for. A simple cardigan is more than enough for me. But they can prove most helpful, especially when one is on the run." She explained. "I had the Stone on me when I was at the Ministry, under my robe, along with another set of clothes that I was wearing underneath. I had them in case I needed to make a quick getaway. After I fled through the Floo, I simply pulled off my robe the first chance I got, and changed my form into someone else's. By the time the Aurors came, they were obviously looking for another person wearing a robe."

"Clever," Rebecca admitted grudgingly.

"Yes, wasn't it," agreed Dolores, not noticing the grudging tone. "I was standing right by them when they came out, and none of them even realised." She sniggered. "But where was I? Oh yes… When I failed to capture you at the Ministry, I knew they would never let just anyone get close to you anymore. I knew I had to take on the form of none other than an Auror, one who was chosen to protect you. It took some effort, but thanks to several different forms of various Ministry employees, I was able to learn whom they were going to pick for the job. After that, I simply chose whose personality best suited me."

"And Vanessa Darnell?"

"Oh, I kept her around, but obviously I couldn't let her walk about freely since she was now known as your attempted abductor. I changed her form, and kept her under lock and key somewhere until such time I had need of her again, while always keeping her under the Imperius."

"And you then changed yourself into Imogen?" Rebecca asked, a little confused, as Imogen's personality did not sound anything like the Umbridge she had heard about. "Why her?"

Dolores shrugged. "She was a dark and withdrawn little girl, I admit, but that was suitable for me. I simply kept my mouth most of the time, which didn't draw any attention to myself, and no one suspected anything because that was what Imogen Griffin was best known for."

Rebecca had to admit, Dolores seemed to have gotten the whole spy thing down to a T. But there was one thing she was dreading to ask.

"And…where is the real Imogen Griffin?"

Dolores then lost her smile, and took on a sad tone, which frankly, compared to her earlier performance of impersonating Imogen, was downright pathetic.

"Oh, it's so sad," said Dolores. "She was such a young thing, so full of life despite her gloomy appearance. But, alas, terrible things do happen from time to time, you know."

Rebecca felt her teeth starting to chatter, from fear to disgust, and finally rage. "You killed her."

Dolores sighed, and scratched behind her ear with her wand. "It was not my intention to do so," she said, explaining as though she had merely damaged a painting or something. "I had intended to use the Imperius Curse on her as well, until I had gotten you. But, unfortunately, she turned out to have a much stronger mind than I suspected. She was able to fight off the curse, and come at me before I could blink." She tapped her wand. "Luckily for me, though, but not for her, I've been getting better at my wand work, and was able to…counteract her attack."

"You butchered her!" she snapped, glaring at the woman in the form of the girl she had murdered. "How can you wear that poor girl's face, knowing you were the one who killed her?!"

"I do what I have to do to survive, Miss Leicester," said Dolores uncaringly. "I do regret what happened to Miss Griffin and her parents, but such things were necessary after all."

"Her parents?!" Rebecca felt her throat tighten. "What about her parents?!"

She shrugged. "I didn't know at the time, but apparently they had come down for a visit, and were there when I arrived. Poor Imogen had just passed away when her parents came running in. I had no choice but to Obliviate their memories. Unfortunately, I have little experience with Obliviation, and when I attempted to do so, I…well… Basically, I ended up Oblivating all their memories. Their entire lives I mean."

Rebecca was speechless for a minute. "Are they dead?" she finally asked.

"Oh no, but the spell wiped their memories clean. Poor things don't even remember how to crawl now. But in a way, I suppose it's a blessing. For now at least they don't remember having had and lost a daughter."

Rebecca didn't know what was the worse; listening to Dolores's exploits, or the tone she used, as if she had done nothing wrong.

"They're still at Imogen's place incidentally. Since everyone knew they had gone to visit her, no one was missing them. I kept them there in one of Imogen's rooms, and they've been there ever since."

"Who's looking after them?!" Rebecca half squealed.

Dolores's silence, and her slide into the next topic, was all the answer she needed…nobody.

"After I took on Imogen Griffin's identity, I simply reported to the Ministry, and they told me to expect to go to Arthur Weasley's house, where you were placed."

Rebecca fought the urge to whimper. "You told the Centaurs where to find me?"

"It's easy enough to find them," Dolores tittered, "when you're a witch anyway. I simply looked for the nearest Centaur I could find, told them where to go, and they spread the word to the others. I thought for sure then they would capture you, but you foiled them again. I must say you have the most charmed life, Miss Leicester. I doubt even Harry Potter had as much luck as you've had." She spoke Harry's name with a venomous tone.

Rebecca's thought went back to the day when the Centaurs had attacked the Burrow. "You stole the Floo Powder from Mrs. Weasley's house, while we were all seeing to Meredith."

She nodded. "I had intended to cast a spell to distract everyone, while I pinched it the first chance I got. Fortunately, Miss Pan's sudden scream took care of that for me, and while everyone was running to see what the commotion was, I just grabbed the pot and dumped the powder outside the window. I thought that would stop your escape. However, I forgot that Potter could now Apparate."

"You blew up the Centaurs!" Rebecca said accusingly. "You're supposed to be on their side, and you cast an exploding spell right at them, nearly killed them all!"

Dolores lost her smile, and glared daggers at her. "First of all, the Centaurs are not my friends or even my allies, Miss Leicester! They are just tools, which I am using to exact my justice on the Ministry! If a few of them die, it doesn't matter to me! Merlin, the whole lot of them could be blown apart and I wouldn't shed a tear for any of them, not after what they put me through!"

"But…" she gasped. "You did it deliberately, didn't you? You cast that spell, hurting them, so that it might cause this war to escalate."

"Indeed. I would have thought a blast from a Ministry Auror against most of the Centaurs, while trying to keep them from you, would do the trick, but it seems I underestimated Mr. Shacklebolt's diplomatic skills."

"Why didn't you just throw me out to them?"

"Why do you think, Miss Leicester? As much as I want the Ministry to suffer, I have no great desire to be caught and returned to Azkaban. And after that fiasco at that rundown shack they call a house, my chance of getting caught was increasing every second. Luckily, though, that turned out to be my biggest break since this whole thing started."

"Huh?"

"I knew they suspected someone among the ones protecting you, and that they'd keep a close eye on us all from then on. There was no way I'd be able to get close to you again, not while they still suspected a traitor. I also suspected that Mr. Potter was beginning to get suspicious that I was the real culprit in all this, and knew that if he found out for certain that I was alive and free, he wouldn't rest until he found me. My only option, simply, was to give them what they wanted…me!"

Rebecca looked at her blankly. "I don't understand?"

"I had to give them someone to lay all the blame on, and who better than the person they believe, in their narrow perspective, is the Wizarding World's number one criminal. All it took was my Stone, and someone to take my place, both of which I already possessed."

Rebecca closed her eyes, not wanting to hear anymore, but she knew Dolores would just keep on talking regardless. "The woman who everyone thought was you at the bookstore, which blew up…that was Vanessa Darnell again, wasn't it?"

"Yes indeed, a gold star for you, my dear!" Dolores said, with her smile wide open. "The senior Griffins were in no state to do anything so complicated, even if put under the Imperius Curse, so Vanessa was the logical choice. I gave her my original form, and then had her leave a trail of sightings to get the Auror's Office to notice her…or me, as it were. Not an easy trick, let me tell you. I had to have Vanessa go out and about all over the city for weeks before someone at the Ministry finally caught on. When they did, I simply led them to an abandoned shop, where Vanessa and I were waiting for them."

Dolores put her finger to her chin, scratching it gently. "Such a shame about poor Vanessa. She was such an efficient worker. But sadly she was the ideal way to get the Aurors off my trail."

"You had her kill herself," croaked Rebecca, her throat feeling as though someone was choking it.

Dolores acted as though she hadn't heard her. "After I put together the scene for my supposed suicide, with the room, a suicide note and everything, I simply waited until the Aurors came. The second I heard them enter, I had Vanessa speak the Blasting Curse, blowing herself and the entire room up." She shrugged, and smiled grimly. "Although I didn't know for certain which of the Aurors would come for me, I had a feeling it might be Mr. Potter. That's why I had Vanessa speak the curse, on the slight chance that at the same time it took her out, it might also take him along with her."

"She said a spell that would kill everyone including herself?"

"Like I said, Miss Darnell's will was so weak that she was ripe for the Imperius Curse. I could have her do anything, even kill herself."

"You tried to kill Harry, too, and everyone else that was with him that night." She didn't know why she was still shocked by this woman's actions anymore. She seemed totally without a conscience.

"I had with me a Portkey, so that the moment I had Vanessa speak the curse, I was able to get out of there at a second's notice. The worst I got was a singed robe."

"Lucky you," she grumbled.

"I was disappointed that Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley had both managed to escape unharmed, but then again I knew it would be a bit of a long shot. And in the end, it all worked out just as I had planned." She smiled broadly again, making Rebecca wish she could rip it off her face. "My apparent suicide letter revealed that I had been the one to blame for all the trouble lately, what with the attacks on you and your attempted kidnapping. But thanks to the Stone, with Vanessa in my form and no Polyjuice in her, the Ministry now has undeniable proof that I am well and truly dead. All suspicion on me, posing as Miss Griffin, and the others were lifted, and it was not long before I was once again being called on to act as your bodyguard. And best of all…" She stared hard into her face. "Since everyone, including Mr. Potter, now believes I am gone, I am completely off the hook, so they say, with no danger of being discovered."

Rebecca resisted the urge to spit in her face. "Yes, I guess you are," she muttered. "Unless…" She suddenly looked back at her. "Just out of curiosity, what's to stop me from blabbing the truth about you the first chance I get?"

Dolores's grin widened. "Why do you think I have been telling you my life story, Miss Leicester? If I thought for one moment that there was any danger of you revealing me to anyone within the Ministry, do you really believe I would have told you everything?" She looked around again. "The reason why I have brought you here is because we are here to meet some people…and I use the term people very loosely."

Rebecca's face grew alarmed. "The Centaurs," she said, realising.

"Correct!" said Dolores, looking around but keeping her wand trained on her. "Long before my suicide, I had made some arrangements with the Centaur herd. I told them that if I could then I would bring you to them here in the Forest. I said I would notify them of when I would do so, and that when that time came, they was to go to certain locations around the city, where I had left various Portkeys leading back here. They would use them to return home, and collect you."

Rebecca felt her panic starting to return. The ropes around her were tight and constrictive, and so far nothing she did seemed to loosen them. In fact, they seemed to tighten all the more with every tug.

"You used a Portkey to get back here…you had it on you when we were at the house," she stuttered.

Dolores nodded. "It was something I had made at the very last minute, which as a result I'm afraid to say I was a little off with my calculations. The other Portkeys I made were set to transport people closer to Hogwarts, but thankfully, despite my error, we are not all that far from the rendezvous place. I sent the Centaurs a message via owl, before I joined you at the safehouse, letting them know that I was about to snatch you, and would write them again once I succeeded. But because of the attack on the safehouse, I was unable to send the second message from there. I had to send it from here instead, so it will take a long while before they eventually get the message. Once they do, though, it shouldn't take them long to arrive."

Rebecca pulled and pulled at the ropes, but to no avail. "What about those Centaurs that attacked the safehouse by the way? Why would they attack if they knew you were about to try and get me for them?"

"That I don't know. They had nothing to do with me, and I don't know why they were there."

"Why are you doing this anyway? Why come all this way to get me to the Centaurs if you hate them so much?"

"I told you," she replied, smoothing out her robes with her one hand. "I require you only as a means to help exact justice on the Ministry. I fully intend to make them, Harry Potter, his mud-blood friends, and the entire Wizarding Community pay for throwing me in Azkaban with all those filthy lowlives! I did not spend all those years dedicating my life to the Ministry only to have it turn its back on me!"

"But why go to all this trouble?! I mean, the war's going to happen one way or another. Even if the Centaurs don't get me, they're causing trouble for the Ministry, your people, and all of Britain every day. It's only a matter of time before they do something that gets the Ministry riled."

"Of that I am certain, but I have no desire to wait. Besides, as I said, Mr. Shacklebolt has proven already that he is a skilled diplomat. With his past with them, and Harry Potter's help, he obviously knows how to talk to those lowly half-breeds. For all I know, he might even be able to stall the war for a good fifty years. But by giving the Centaurs what they want, which is you, I am adding the catalyst, and bringing everything ahead." She laughed. "Shacklebolt is, alas, pitifully predictable, as is Mr. Potter. Once they discover that the Centaurs have you in their grasp, they will not rest until they have rescued you, and there'll be no way for them to do that without declaring full war against the half-breeds!"

"Please!" whimpered Rebecca. "Please, don't do this, Miss Umbridge. You can't possibly want to start a war that could hurt so many people, muggles and wizards alike?!"

"I never want to hurt anybody, Miss Leicester," said Dolores, her tone casual, her voice sweet but with an undertone of danger. "I never like to hurt anyone, but sometimes it is necessary in the grand scheme of things. Like when I was teaching at Hogwarts, I often had to hand out punishments. Like I once told Mr. Potter; naughty children deserve to be punished."

"And…" Rebecca hesitated. "It was the same when you were the Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission? You were just dealing out punishment to people who you felt deserved it?"

"Exactly!" declared Dolores, sounding happy that she had seemingly found someone who understood her views on the world. However, the only thing that Rebecca saw was a vile and contemptible woman who lived only for power, and who obviously loved to torture people weaker than her.

'Dear God, help me get out of here,' she prayed silently.

"Oh dear, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut this delightful conversation short, Miss Leicester," Dolores said suddenly. She raised her wand higher, and looked up as if she was listening to something.

When Rebecca eased her breathing, and paid more attention to her surroundings, she suddenly noticed the sound of rapid thunder approaching, or something that sounded like it. She had heard it once before, so she recognised it at once.

"Looks like our guests are arriving," said Dolores, although there was a definite hint of nervousness to her usually calm demeanour. "Forgive me while I change into something more appropriate."

With that, she reached into her robe and pulled out that amber-stone again, but Rebecca was not paying much attention to her. All she could take note of, was that the Centaurs were coming, she was caught bound somewhere in the Forbidden Forest…and there was no way for her to escape!

To Be Continued…