Chapter 23: Do
Her temper had been the stuff of legend at St. Mungos for the brief time that she had been hospitalized there.
The Healers there had had half a mind to not treat her owing to the racket she was making, but then they reminded themselves of the medical equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath.
But she had made that decision a really difficult one for the Healers.
She had insisted that only purebloods treat her and any one who was found to not be from a pureblood line was yelled at repeatedly by her as being "Half-breeds" and "Mudbloods".
In the end they had to resort to sedating her and just out of spite they had given her a shot of the muggle drug cannabis which they hadn't yet decided whether to tell her or not.
Physically for most part there was nothing wrong with her. Normal abrasions and other minor scratches as a result of trekking through the forests were the only ones.
The issue had been largely mental.
She seemed to have been scared out of her mind by something or someone.
When Albus Dumbledore had brought her to St. Mungos, he had told them nothing, just that she had needed to be rescued from a rather tight spot that she had brought on herself by her words.
All those who had heard of the Senior Undersecretary and later Hogwarts High Inquistor knew that she was very likely to do such a thing.
It had taken them a long time to get through to her and to make her realize that she was safe.
In between though she would have episodes where she would insult the bloodlines of all, even if they happened to be purebloods like she had wanted.
When she had come back to, it was a big relief for most of the St. Mungos staff.
Dolores Umbridge had really been a real pain in the neck for so many of them especially during their duty hour at St. Mungos.
And now, with some luck, she could be released and sent back home.
And even for staff who weren't involved with her care, they found out just how much of a nuisance she could be when she had seen The Daily Prophet detailing the measure put forward by the Minister Rufus Scrimgreur.
At first, she had laughed when she had read the name of the Minister, assuming that the idiots at The Daily Prophet couldn't even be counted on to not mixup the names of the Head of the Auror Office and the Minister for Magic.
When the nurse had brought her medications for the morning, Dolores had shown her the name and designation and had started laughing. The nurse had looked on at Dolores, confused as she hadn't found anything funny.
When Dolores had mentioned that the Minister for Magic was Cornelius Fudge, it was time for the two occupants of the room to switch roles of the one who was laughing at a joke and the one who was confused.
Once the nurse's laughter had died down, she informed Dolores how Cornelius Fudge had been sacked as Minister a long time ago and how Rufus had been promoted to his place.
Dolores' response was to shriek and then point her wand at the nurse and very nearly curse her. Thankfully for the nurse, the former Undersecretary's (for that was what she was now - former) scream had alerted other nursing staff on the level and they had rushed in to the ward to examine the issue. Seeing that she was about to curse the nurse, five nurses, whos had burst into the room near simultaneously, all shot off Stunners.
The impact was immediate and Dolores slumped back into her bed. The nurse who had come to give the former Hogwarts High Inquisitor her potions was still shaking from the course of events that had taken place.
One of the other nurses had relieved her of the potions while another gave her a Calming Draught and guided her out of the ward and into the office of the Head Nurse for counselling.
Back in the ward, the most senior of the nurses stepped up and undid the Stunners on Dolores while the remaining four pointed their wands right at Dolores again.
With the Stunning spell at their wandtips again.
Once brought back to consciousness, Dolores was told in no uncertain terms to behave failing which she would be lodged in a different ward. The details were not specified but the threat and the implications were clear.
That threat had helped to keep Dolores calm for a couple of days, which thankfully led to the day she was to be discharged.
Dolores tried to be as pleasant as she possibly could manage for the duration she had to check herself out. She had no family member and no real friends to help her out.
Grimacing at the body stiffness she still had, mainly as a result of limited activity over the past few weeks and months, she took the Floo to the Ministry.
It would do her good to check on what was the latest in the Ministry and what she had missed.
Everywhere she went she could see that most people tended to avoid her. The only ones to acknowledge her, and even that was through a cursory nod, were some of the more traditional pureblood families, the ones who held the same set of beliefs as her.
Dolores Umbridge knew that she had backers. She had always had backers. They might not come out of the woodwork, but they were always there, supporting her and her cause.
It was only that fool Cornelius Fudge who did not have the guts to get things done, the way she had decided to get things done.
And she would have very nearly succeeded as well.
Didn't she nearly manage to prove via continual articles in The Daily Prophet and through a careful line of questioning that the boy they all pandered to, Harry Potter, was delusional?
Didn't she very nearly manage to get him to reveal the location of the notorious mass murderer and Azkaban escapee Sirius Black? She didn't care about the rumours that he was actually innocent. No, he was definitely guilty and he would be brought to justice one way or the other!
And she had very nearly gotten the answer from the damn boy as well.
But it had all been for naught.
Thanks to that half-blood and that mudblood friend of his.
Oh the two of them would pay for that.
Dolores was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realized where her feet were taking her. Pulling back into the present, she realized that she had reached her old office, from the time when she was the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic.
And right now on the door in stencilled letter read another name that she loathed completely.
Weasley
Mr. Percy Weasley.
Those blood traitors!
But while she could go after the half-blood and the mudblood, she would be very careful in her vendetta against the Longbottoms, the Lovegoods and the Weasleys. They were rather prominent pureblood families that had been on the side of the light for a very long time.
But those were names that would stay on her list.
To be struck down by her personally.
In person and on the list.
In fact she realized that she could return the favour to the half-blood and the mudblood pretty soon.
It was evening time at the Ministry and there were still a lot of people moving up and down and across trying to accomplish their tasks - both Ministry workers as well as ordinary wizarding public.
Stepping into an empty corridor, Dolores cast a Disillusionment charm on herself. She felt the telltale sign of it working as she had the feeling that someone had cracked an egg on her head and the contents were now flowing down the back of her neck.
Re-entering the main pathway, she moved quietly, taking care not to bump into someone and giving her disguise away.
It was a tiring task as she had to correct her course every few steps to ensure her own safety.
She finally managed to make her way to the lifts, which thankfully had remained open long enough for her to slip through.
She was wondering how to navigate the lift to the floor that she needed to go to when another gentleman, one she recognised, walk into the lift and press the exact floor that she needed.
She had to cast her mind around for a short bit to remember the name of the man. Ah yes!
Yaxley!
That was his name.
And he had always been rather helpful to her.
Which basically meant that he would be particularly useful ally in her quest for revenge.
As the doors opened and Yaxley walked out, Dolores waited for a couple of seconds to allow him to get a headstart before following out herself. She didn't move very far ahead, not wanting the sounds of her shoes to give her away (in the main hallway it had been fine as there were so many others walking about, but here in the depths of the Ministry), that was just asking for trouble.
She waited until the lift doors had closed and the lift had moved on to its next destination before cancelling her Disillustionment spell, but applying the spell to quieten her footsteps and speed walking to reach close to Yaxley.
Drawing out her wand, she held it firmly in her hand as she tapped Yaxley on his shoulder. As she had anticipated, Yaxley was thoroughly startled and had his wand in his hand and a spell on his lips before he caught sight of Dolores.
He didn't bring his wand down, but simply cocked an eyebrow at her in a questioning manner.
"Ah Lord Yaxley. I hope you have been doing splendidly. I wonder if you would be interested in a task that will be of mutual benefit"
"Thank you Ms. Umbridge. May I offer my deepest sympathies for the fact that a fine woman like yourself has been removed from your deserved position of Senior Undersecretary. Now what is this undertaking that you propose and which you claim is of mutual benefit?"
"Thank you for your kind words Lord Yaxley. Unfortunately, it is not something that is within my control is it? The best are often put to the test to ascertain that they are truly worthy of the position they aspire to hold. I shall take this setback as yet another trial that I need to conquer. Now, I am aware that you share some of my views regarding half-bloods and the muggle borns, don't you Lord Yaxley?"
At this, Yaxley frowned in confusion. This was seldom the type of question one got asked whatever one's opinions on the topic maybe. He decided to play it neutral.
"Well, Ms. Umbridge, I am afraid I do not know what you are talking about. There are of course varied pedigrees of wizards and to classify one as being less worthy than another makes no sense. In the same way, stating something to be more worthy than another makes no sense as well."
Dolores had anticipated this. She knew that none of those who supported her would do so in public. Only in private. And although they seemed to be the only ones at the current level, it was essentially a public setting.
"Right you are Lord Yaxley. One is neither less worthy nor more worthy than another. But if one does think that way, then one must be reminded of their place, musn't they?"
Yaxley was amused. Was she really trying to bait him into giving an answer that would condemn him? He understood what she was getting at but was sorely disappointed with her efforts. Personally he was glad that she had been take off from the post of the Undersecretary as he was sure that a little while longer and she would have brought ruin to the position by her lack of tact.
"Well, Ms. Umbridge, it is not in the hands of any individual to remind someone of their place now is it? There is the Wizengamot that can take of these issues for you. You have my personal guarantee that I will look into this matter if, as a concerned citizen of the wizarding world of Britain, you were to send me a memo on the same"
Yaxley hoped that it was enough of a hint to Umbridge to get her to divulge the details of what she was planning via a private memo instead of corridor-side conversations.
Nodding her head, Dolores replies, "Yes of course Lord Yaxley. I shall do the necessary research and drop you a memo detailing the transgressions that the party in question has committed. Now, I do not wish to hold you up any further. Thank you for your time my Lord. Have a pleasant evening!"
"Have a pleasant evening as well, Ms. Umbridge. I look forward to receiving the memo from you"
With that Yaxley walked in the direction he had been heading before Dolores had interrupted him.
Dolores waited for a couple of minutes, silently counting down in her head backwards from hundred to one before she started in a similar direction for the purpose of her visit to this floor.
She reached an unmarked door, which if she hadn't known of its existence and purpose before, she wouldn't have even known where it was, let alone what it housed.
There was a guard immediately after opening the door. But the guard seemed to be thoroughly absorbed in his reading of Quidditch Weekly that he did not even notice when the door creaked open slightly to allow Dolores to enter the room.
Walking quietly past the guard and thanking her stars that the Silencing charm that she had placed on her footwear was still active, she moved deeper into the room where a second door was present.
This door was usually kept under lock and key, much like the muggle version of the locks, as an added measure of safety. However, because the guard was just outside, the padlock had been removed.
Placing an area silencing spell around the door (and surprising herself at her ingenuity), Dolores, cast an Alohamora to open the magical lock on the door, causing it to swing slowly inwards when it was successful.
Walking inside and closing the door behind her but no casting the locking charm on the door, Dolores used the Lumos spell to navigate through the many cabinets that housed the many folders in this room.
Folders that contained the details of the address of the muggle born and muggle raised children.
Rummaging through her handbag and finding a spare piece of parchment, Dolores also pulled out a quill that was always inked, even as she continued moving towards her target cabinets.
Digging through the varied folders in that cabinet took a while, but she had finally struck gold.
Bringing up the parchment and the quill she began to write the two addresses that she had found.
She had a memo to send after all.
With the addresses of one Harry Potter and one Hermione Granger