Author's Note: First, thank you for reading and reviewing. Second, I hope I did this scene justice while keeping more or less in line with the characters that I have developed so far.

Standard disclaimer about not owning anything; I am so thankful for JKR and all that she did for us. She gave us one of the greatest gifts, and so many people have taken to this site and played brilliantly with her creation. We should have a JKR day and it should be a global holiday!

'Focus Harry,' he told himself over and over again as he sat, frozen to his chair in the Defense Against the Dark Art's classroom.

Harry swallowed and kept staring straight ahead, for he knew that he didn't have much time to prepare himself after Umbridge's announcement that they would be facing Boggarts today.

Immediately he willed himself to focus on clearing his mind and setting up his mindscape so that he could hopefully handle what was to come. The last time a Boggart had revealed his deepest fear it had been a Dementor, and though Harry had subsequently learned how to fight many of them off at a time, the fact that he had lost Cedric to one would always weigh heavily on his mind. But he didn't have the time to sit there and wonder and let the doubt fill him.

One thing that he was actively trying to avoid as he fortified his mental barriers was catching the glance of his friends, who were both looking his way with various degrees of uncomfortable worry on their faces.

Hermione was furiously trying to think of a way out of this because she didn't think for one minute that O.W.L. preparation had anything to do with the Boggart rumbling around in the locket cabinet at the front of the room.

Quickly, she put together a reasonable plan given the amount of time that she had and spoke instead of trying to get Umbridge's permission by raising her hand.

"I thought you said that we would not be using our wands in this class, preferring to instead wait until we were in a carefully controlled and Ministry-approved setting?"

But Dolores's smile only widened and she stood up from her desk and walked to the front of the room.

"Nothing is ever good enough for you," her sickeningly sweet voice reprimanded.

"And here I thought that you guys wanted to learn magic. Tsk tsk. I really tried to listened to my students," she lied as she sauntered over to the door.

"You just can't seem to please some people," she smirked at Hermione and opened the door to reveal a tall man.

He was wearing what looked to be an expensive traveling cloak and appeared to be in his late twenties as he walked into the room.

"Class, this is Auror Jenkins. He will be here to ensure a Ministry-approved setting that is carefully controlled."

Hermione's eyes twitched ever so slightly in response, and couldn't think of a way out of this now. After all, she had practically gone on record to say how much she had enjoyed Lupin's class and a Boggart had also been used in that class.

Meanwhile, Ron did not like the condescending way in which Dolores had talked to Hermione, nor did he appreciate her attempt to use the Boggart to mess with Harry.

His anger on behalf of his friends was able to momentarily push his own fears aside, until they were able to fight back and consume him. Soon, Ron had no ability left for rational thought at the moment and started shaking his left leg as panic gripped his heart.

But Harry noticed very little of this. He was determined to make it through this class and for the inevitable hell that was no doubt about to take place. The last remaining emotions were quickly separated from his thoughts as he knew his time to prepare was growing short.

The panic that was evident in many of the student's eyes brought much satisfaction to Dolores, but it was the reaction of Harry and his friends that tipped her over the edge with glee.

She was so proud of herself for coming up with this little plan and couldn't wait to humiliate the boy who had spoiled her plans.

"Now class," she spoke in her most sugary voice to date.

"As I said, we will be beginning our review for your upcoming exams. Auror Jenkins will be on hand to make sure that nothing gets out of hand. After all, I would be remiss in my duties to not provide for your safety. Hehe," she chuckled and her predatory smile was directed once more at Hermione.

It was eerie. Some of the students became even more beholden to their fears and the prospect of facing an Umbridge-supplied Boggart.

In fact, Umbridge herself was feeding off the terror that she was causing. However, even though Harry Potter was the sole reason for this particular lesson plan, she didn't want to be obvious and have him go first. Besides, there were other students that she couldn't stand and so she would make this last as long as she possibly could.

However, she also couldn't let this go on for too long since she couldn't afford to embarrass some of the Slytherins, whose parents were very influential within the Ministry. She knew she didn't have the clout, yet, to make all of the students face the Boggart.

So her eyes scanned the seated students and her gaze immediately fell on Hermione.

"Ms. Granger, since you are always so prepared and think that you know everything, why don't you go first."

All eyes turned to the fifth-year Gryffindor Prefect as she blinked her eyes. She had expected as much and then the class watched as she determinedly rose from her seat and walked to the front of the room.

Her wand was held ready at her side.

Harry was more aware now of what was going on. He had just about separated his emotions from his thoughts and he was able to watch as Hermione readied herself to face the Boggart with little to no outward or internal emotion.

However, he wasn't able to completely separate the two, as emotions were integral part of the human psyche. Thus, some scant bits always remained.

His almost normal pulse rose again as the seconds ticked by and Hermione got a determined expression on her face as she readied herself for facing her greatest fear.

The room was silent and Dolores' wand swished through the air, and the latch that had been holding the Boggart in the cupboard was opened.

In Hermione's mind, she had a few guesses at what she would be facing; however, she was quite certain that it wasn't going to be something as simple as failing an exam or a class.

Hell, she could fail out of Hogwarts for all she cared with the way the world was. There were far more important things at stake.

The class held its breath as a human hand grabbed at the door and pushed it outward.

And that was when the panic started.

The seemingly normal hand turned out to be attached to a bloodied and bruised Hermione, who was seemingly just standing in place.

The haunting image caused a series of gasps to break the silence, before the class slowly inched backwards in their desks and away from the mangled Hermione that had stumbled out of the closet.

The real Hermione's eyes widened and she looked on in horror as her counterpart, so defeated and near death, opened her mouth and began to speak.

"We failed them," she lamented with an inhuman sound.

"They are dead now. Our mind wasn't good enough to keep them safe. We weren't as clever as we needed to be and it cost us everything in the end."

Tears started to form in Hermione's eyes in response to the words and the gut-wrenching pain that was displayed on the Boggart's face.

Her breath then caught in her throat and her wand remained limp at her side.

Many in the room were in the same place, and even those that really didn't like Hermione could feel for her. Mostly.

Some of Harry's emotions that he had successfully separated trickled back, but the majority of his feelings were still able to be kept at bay.

His thoughts though, they were almost solely focused on his friend, leaving only what was necessary to keep his Occlumency shields running.

And in that moment, Harry hated Umbridge for making his friend go through this and his anger at her focused his mind.

While she stood there with a look of amusement on her face at taking little-miss-know-it-all down a peg, Harry vowed that he would find a way to get Umbridge back.

But the internal dialogue going through Dolores Umbridge at that instant was a little different. True, she was thoroughly enjoying the sight before her. Although, she was somewhat aware of what the girl's Boggart represented to know that she couldn't let this display go on for too much longer either.

Because she refused to believe that Voldemort was in fact back and the last thing that she wanted was to put that idea out in the open again. Some things ought not to be encouraged.

It was then that Umbridge full realized that perhaps she had gotten herself in a bit too deep, for she technically had no experience in battling a Boggart and couldn't exactly interfere at the moment.

Luckily for her, Hermione had had enough of the sight before her and took matters into her own hand. With her wand instantly in front of her, she flicked her wrist at the Boggart version of herself.

She wouldn't let that future take hold if she could help it and she knew just what to change the Boggart into.

"Riddikulus!" she cast.

The spell hit the Boggart-Hermione square in the chest and it morphed, quite literally into a fully-realized version of the woman that Hermione was on her way to becoming.

The formerly on-edge students stared in wonder and amazement at this vision of the bushy-haired girl that most of them had been so quick to make fun of during their first year. Gone were the tangled and bloodied locks and meek appearance, for in their place stood a beautiful and confident woman who had never tasted Voldemort's triumph.

With the potentially embarrassing situation now over, Umbridge forgot about just how close things had come to her losing control. Therefore, she moved to select her next victim.

But not before she quietly mumbled, 'trust the little know-it-all to turn the tables around,' under her breath.

"Ronald Weasley, your turn!" she then commanded as Hermione sat back down somewhat shakily in her seat.

However, Ron was quite slow to get up. His preoccupation with his fear had been replaced with an enchanting vision of Hermione, and for as long as he lived he would never be able to get that image out of his head.

When he made it to the front, Umbridge had an impatient look on her face and hoped that the youngest male Weasley would be able to improve her mood before she got to Potter.

The stunning image of Hermione was soon replaced in Ron's mind with the realization of what he was doing and what he was facing.

Which made the image that the Boggart had turned into all the more alarming. For the beautiful woman had morphed into an obviously wounded and dying Harry, who was writhing on the ground and looking at Ron as if he had been the one that had done this to him.

The Boggart began to inch towards Ron and blood began to dribble out of its mouth as it tried to articulate the horrible disappointment on its face.

"You betrayed me, Ron. How could you do that to me, your brother?"

Harry was watching the scene unfold with wide eyes, but he knew what Ron's fear was. But to see it in person was something else altogether.

They had talked about it late at night in Gryffindor, when everyone else had fallen asleep. Ron had been thoroughly ashamed of his behavior during the Triwizard Tournament and hated the fact that he had abandoned Harry in his time of need. It was always in the back of his mind that he would let Harry down again with Voldemort back, no matter how much Harry tried to tell him that he knew Ron was with him to the end.

The rest of the class was looking on in morbid curiosity when Ron swallowed and stood tall; he too would not let this image come to pass if he could help it.

He raised his wand and flung his Riddikulus towards the Boggart.

Some may have found the form of Ron's Boggart surprising, considering his newfound relationship with Hermione. However, the thought of letting his first and best friend down again was something that he couldn't live with. Death would have been preferable.

But no one questioned his devotion to her anymore when his Boggart also morphed into the same, stunning version of Hermione. She was laughing this time and her joy was infectious and it spread throughout the classroom, removing the horrible visions of a dying Harry Potter from most of their minds. Some remained disappointed that it hadn't lasted longer and that the image had been a Boggart instead of the real one.

Ron and Hermione both blushed at the scene in front of them, however.

Which enraged Dolores even further as her plan was unraveling before her eyes. She made a move to summon Harry to the front, intent on reeling the festivities in a direction more towards her liking when her plans were interrupted as Harry stepped in front of Ron.

The new prey began the Boggart's change again, but Harry already had his wand out, the events of the class so far had compelled him into action. Which incidentally calmed his remaining nerves as Harry was born to think on his feet.

The Boggart had barely been able to turn into a version of a dead Charlie Weasley when Harry hit it with the counter-curse. In fact, It happened so quickly that no one was able to recognize who the Boggart had turned into, save for Ron.

Which was exactly what Harry had meant to do. What Dolores had put Hermione and Ron through were unforgivable in his mind. Remus had done this lesson while their fears were more childish, but this was torture now that they were older.

It hadn't taken Harry long to think of a solution, for he couldn't allow this to continue. With a plan in place, he had bravely faced the Boggart – not even caring what it turned it – with the intent of directing it back at Umbridge. If she was going to have them face their fears, then Harry had decided that it was time for her to face what terrified her.

Taking inspiration from Remus' dismissal of his Boggart during third year, Harry imagined a popped balloon that flew around the room, using the air that was rushing out of it to fuel its flight.

Of course, Harry had also used his wand to make sure that the deflating Boggart smacked Dolores Umbridge squarely in the face.

Everyone's eyes instantly widened as the horrible woman was knocked backwards and stumbled into the wall, where she was finally able to use it as leverage to prevent herself from falling over.

The Boggart bounced off of her and landed on the floor a few feet away.

What happened next was so unexpected that everyone rose from their seats and took a few steps back. For now there were two Dolores Umbridges that existed side-by-side. One of them looked perfectly comfortable as she silently judged her counterpart, just like the class had come to expect her to act.

However, that was the Boggart, leaving the real Umbridge looking on in horror as everyone else did when they looked at her. She began to walk backwards as the Boggart engaged its prey until she was forced into the corner.

The Boggart also stopped moving, it was feeding off of its victim's fear so much that it was hesitant to take another step until it was prepared to ingest that much energy. Boggarts fed off of the fear of their victims, and it was underappreciated just how little harm they could physically do to you. A Boggart had no intention of doing anything more than making that person squirm until it was sated; however, the longer the interrogation went the longer the Boggart would be able to go between meals.

After a good scare, a Boggart could exist comfortable in solitude for many years, which coincidently was why they preferred dark and out-of-the-way locations to pass their time.

Therefore, the Boggart was just standing there, eerily mimicking Dolores' usual stance. It had also quickly perfected her upturned nose and judgmental eyes.

Normally, seeing someone cower in fear would have elicited sympathy from most people. But alas, no one cared that much for Dolores. In fact many were even looking forward to seeing the most hated teacher at Hogwarts get what had been coming to her.

The Slytherins may have acted amenable to her presence in class and around the castle if it could help them, but as a whole they were always game to see someone get knocked down a peg or two. Especially if it was because of their own lack of foresight since planning was so integral to how they operated.

"Poor, Dolores. Things haven't been going well for you lately, have they?" her own sickly voice echoed off the walls in a fake sympathy.

"Tsk, tsk. All of your hard work and planning is ruined, and for what? This?"

The Boggart's eyes shown with unholy glee as she gestured with her arm to highlight the gravity of the situation and her surroundings.

Umbridge began to whimper now, desperately trying to find some fight within her to combat her fear of knowing that she would never amount to anything.

"Now…. Now see hear," she offered meekly. "I w-will have or-orderrr."

It was unconvincing and the Boggart giggled.

"Hehe!"

"You didn't seriously think that any of this would make up for what you lack inside? Did you? Why, you hardly have more magic than a squib!"

As the class watched their DADA Professor open and close her mouth several times in an attempt to say something in response, her cheeks grew crimson as she was more embarrassed than she had ever been in her entire life.

Her wand shakily was raised and held in front of her.

"R-Riddikulus," she stuttered out, causing the Boggart's outfit to change from a pink to a crimson red.

If anything it made the Boggart more terrifying.

"Pathetic," the Boggart said as a wand appeared in its hand and was aimed expertly at its prey.

But Boggarts couldn't perform magic, although it had the same effect and Umbridge shrieked and dropped her wand.

Which brought a smile to many of the students' faces, Harry's especially.

"Now, now Dolores, look at what you've done!"

"I told you that you would never be good enough to be a witch!"

The Boggart moved closer.

"But you didn't listen, you didn't learn back when we were children. You wanted to be better because you thought that you deserved it because of your sad life. How many friends - the few that you did have - did you push aside to make yourself stand out? How many lives did you ruin so that you could get ahead?"

Hermione was the only one who really felt any sympathy at this point, and it was more of a testament to how empathetic she was. But what she heard next made her feel like Umbridge was getting exactly what she deserved. It was detestable.

"You poisoned your own father because you were ashamed that he was a janitor. Though, that was after you begged him to leave the Ministry because you didn't want his lack of ambition to be associated with you. Not after sleeping with all of the people that you had to in order to finally land a respectable job at the Ministry."

Harry's good mood was also somewhat soured with the thought that she was more evil than he had given her credit for. However, he found it very hard to not feel some satisfaction at what was happening to her, even after she started sobbing and snot became to pour out of her nose.

She had lost the will to fight back, and that was a very sad thing.

He really would have had more sympathy for her, considering what he had been through himself, if she hadn't been such a horrible person

The Auror however had no problem watching this scene unfold. He had seen and heard about much worse throughout the course of his career. Plus, he personally had never really liked the woman and was only here because she had blackmailed him into supporting this inane endeavor. Therefore he was quite content to sit back and allow her humiliation to continue. He would only interfere if it were absolutely necessary.

"And then Dolores, you thought that you had it all figured out. You resurrected the Triwizard Tournament and thought that it was going to be your ticket to bigger and better things. However, it didn't end well. Did it?"

The Boggart shook its head from side to side.

'That is an understatement,' Harry thought as he felt his pulse rise with thinking back to the events of last year.

The Boggart Dolores was now feet from her counterpart and knelt down as an adult would to reach a child on their level.

"You never liked the rumors that swirled around the Ministry that the Dark Lord was back."

The room became deathly quiet with the mention of His return since it was something that not a lot of the people present were aware of.

"Because, you know Dolores," the Boggart continued in a quieter voice, unaffected by others as it was feeding off the increasing fear of its target.

"Deep down in your soul that you are worried that the little liar is right about Voldemort."

The real Umbridge's face had gone white with the reveal of her deepest fear.

"You worry that Him being back will ruin all of the hard work that you have put in, and that it will show just how incapable you truly are."

Harry and his friends were watching the scene with great interest and noticed how the other students were beginning to stare at him out of the corner of their eyes. The majority in the room had gone from gleefully watching Umbridge get her comeuppance to being downright terrified at the mere notion that the Dark Lord was back.

Though they had never lived through the dark times, the reality of it had left a mark on certain members of their family. Of course, that was if they had survived the war.

Meanwhile, the Boggart kept attacking Dolores with its words and was becoming quite full after the prolonged exposure to her fear.

"So you tried to take out the boy, thinking that with him gone there wouldn't be a problem anymore. You tried to silence him, but you're getting soft Dolores. You always were."

It was as if time slowed at this moment and Harry could only stand there among Hermione and Ron as certain truths were finally being brought to light.

"Because you know, deep down, that scheming and plotting is the only way that you could get anywhere with how pathetic you are at magic."

The terror coming off of Umbridge was too great and the Boggart couldn't resist getting even closer to its victim. Never before had it feasted for so long; it could live for decades now.

"You couldn't even kill him Dolores. Since your pitiful attempt with the Dementors took the wrong boy."

Everything stood still. Not a single sound escaped the lips of those present. They were too shocked to do anything other than widen their eyes as their brains tried to restart.

Harry just blinked and turned his head at an angle. It was so very difficult for him to process what had just been said.

Harry had always assumed that Voldemort had sent them, and the fact that a Boggart had now said something quite different was perplexing. Could the Boggart be believed? Had she been the one to send the Dementors?

It didn't take long for him to start to feel the rise of his emotions that heralded that he would most likely do something that he would come to regret.

Thankfully, Hermione and Ron were able to think faster and moved to secure Harry before he could have a violent outburst, even if it was deserved.

With Hermione grabbing onto his hands and Ron using his arms to encircle Harry's torso, it jilted Harry just long enough for his rational mind to realize that he would be in very deep trouble if he didn't employ every ounce of Occlumency that he could.

As quickly as possible.

Immediately, Harry began to draw himself into his mindscape. It was fortunate that he had just gone through securing his mind at the beginning of class. Many of the barriers were still in place and a good majority of his emotions were already separated from his thoughts.

The only emotion that he really had to deal with at the moment was anger, although that was also the hardest to deal with. However, it was far easier having to just deal with that one feeling than to have to deal with everything at the same time.

If that had been the case, the outcome may have been different since it still took all of his nerve to keep it together.

He couldn't afford to break down in class and react on his very real and tempting desire to cause her pain and avenge the atrocious act that had cost Cedric his life.

There was also a small part of him that had been proud of how far he had come and all of the progress that he had made in regaining his life in the past nine months and didn't want to throw it all away.

So much of his time had been spent moving on from that dark day that it felt like the words that he was hearing applied to someone else's life. The more he separated his anger and despair with her role in things, the easier it became to finish what he was doing.

Ultimately, Harry soon reached a point where he had done as much as he could do to block out the world around him. However, the act had left him numb and not even his eyes gave away the pain that he was feeling in the banished regions of his mind.

The whole thing felt wrong to him to be quite honest. In his mind, it just didn't make any sense that Dolores Umbridge was the reason that Cedric was no longer in his life. He didn't understand how someone could just do that to someone that they hadn't even met.

Even though he couldn't feel at the moment, it didn't mean that he necessarily wanted to remain in the same room with her either.

But then something happened that gave him the perfect cover to do something about it.

For the Auror, who had been taking pleasure in watching Umbridge squirm under the effects of the Boggart had also been shocked into submission. Though unlike Harry, he hadn't quite mastered the art of Occlumency. But even if he had, it was likely that he still would have reacted in the manner that he did.

Once the force of the revelation had subsided, his anger at this woman erupted at what she had done to his cousin. It wasn't widely known that his mother was Cedric's Aunt, in large part because wizarding society often placed great emphasize on family names that highly favored paternal lineages.

And the Auror had fond memories of his cousin, and had just missed out on getting to go to Hogwarts together.

Which meant that he was angry. Not as angry as Harry, but he didn't have the restraint nor desire to prevent him from acting.

And boy did he as Dolores Umbridge was rocked into the wall by an especially potent burst of magical energy from his wand.

He then made quick work of the Boggart by banishing it back inside the cabinet before returning his attention towards the woman who he had a serious desire of crucioing.

He stalked over to the unconscious woman and bound her with ropes, having just enough self-control to save himself a one-way ticket to Azkaban. But he was beyond irate and the students took another step back when they saw the anger in his eyes.

Just then, the door opened and Filius Flitwick appeared. It was obvious that the explosion that had taken out Umbridge had alerted the Charm's Professor since his classroom was just across the hall.

"Dolores Umbridge was the one to set the Dementors loose this summer," the Auror informed Filius angrily.

An understanding flashed through Filius' eyes and he nodded slightly towards the Auror, before glancing at Ron and Hermione and wondering just where on earth Harry had gone to.

I decided to end that there because the next section just didn't really fit. The next chapter will deal with the aftermath of this and take us up to the beginning of O.W.L.s. After that, we are done with the 5th year and will move onto the summer. Again, my plan for sixth year is to move things along more rapidly and I'll begin to work in more from Voldemort's point of view.