This was my third attempt at this chapter. I just can't seem to be satisfied with it. It's rubbish, but this is as good as this section is going to get I'm afraid, I really just want to get to the end of the fifth book so I can really start having some fun. So there is going to be some time jumping here, hold on to your TARDIS.
Chapter 23 Fifth Year: Inevitability
A soft musical coo woke Merlin. He thrashed about and finally sat up rubbing sleep from his eyes. Fawkes was perched on the end of his bed with a roll of parchment held in his claws. "Fawkes, what's going on?" Merlin asked the bird.
The phoenix gave another soft coo and held out his leg. Merlin shuffled to the other end of his bed and took the letter.
Emrys, I'm writing this in rather a hurry so you will excuse me. Delores has finally had her way and evicted me from the castle. She and some of the Auror's attempted to take me in, but I was not persuaded. Ask Harry for more details. I will not tell you where I am going, suffice to say that I will not be available should you need aid within Hogwarts walls. I would remind you of your promise to take care of Harry. Remember who you can trust. Albus.
Merlin folded the parchment and set it alight. Fawkes clicked his beak and tilted his head at Merlin. "Thank you." Merlin told the bird before it sailed out the open window. "Great, Dumbledore gone and now it's just me and a few teachers standing between Harry and Umbridge and what did he mean ask Harry for more details?"
Muttering irritably to himself Merlin got dressed and headed down to the Great Hall. He would have to find Harry and hear what had happened last night. It was a little annoying that he kept missing big things like this and reminded him that for all his complaining it was much easier to keep an eye on someone when you were personally responsible for all of their day to day activities.
As it turned out, he didn't have to ask Harry for most of the details from the night before. When Merlin arrived in the Entrance Hall the students were slowly filtering into the Great Hall. Many looked confused, but Merlin could see some he knew through the DA looking worried and catching each other's eyes. Merlin joined the queue and tried to spot Harry, Ron or Hermione.
Making his way up to the staff stable Merlin caught sight of his three friends sitting at the Gryffindor table. They had their heads together, but none of them looked happy. Most of the staff were already gathered as Merlin took his place beside Hagrid. He looked up at the half giant, who only winced down at him.
As though sensing the mood of the morning the students spoke only in whispers, though with several hundred of them the Great Hall was filled with the hushed sound of their concerns.
Finally, when all the students were seated and the teachers table was full, Umbridge straightened from where she had been standing to the side of Dumbledore's lectern. "Welcome, all of you to a new age at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Albus Dumbledore has been removed as Headmaster of this school and by the decree of the Ministry of Magic I shall be taking his place." She beamed around at the school in a way that made every instinct Merlin had scream at him to run.
There was a smattering of applause from the Inquisitorial Squad, but the rest of the student body remained firmly and coldly still. Merlin smiled smugly; apparently the relative peace which had existed between Umbridge and the students was now at an end. He could imagine that things were going to be very difficult for Umbridge from now on, in fact Merlin was pretty determined to make sure things were difficult for her.
Umbridge didn't seem at all worried about the growing disgust for her in fact it seemed to lift her spirits all the more.
The rest of breakfast was held in whispers from the students and complete silence from the staff. When they were finally dismissed by Umbridge Hagrid sighed in relief. "'Orrible woman."
"You can say that again." Merlin muttered, catching sight of Harry, Ron and Hermione ploughing through the crowds ahead of them. "Can you get me over there?" He asked his half-giant employer. Hagrid grinned through his beard and began to wade through the students milling around the halls waiting for class to start. Ambling along in Hagrid's wake it only took a moment to clear the Entrance Hall and catch their three young friends.
None of them looked happy. Harry looked about ready to kill someone. "What happened last night?" Merlin asked quietly.
Harry's eyes narrowed and Merlin recognised the look to mean he was about to get a full dressing down. "Umbridge happened. I thought you were supposed to be there you could have stopped her. Now Dumbledore is gone, Umbridge is Headmistress and everyone on our list of DA members has detention for a month. I thought you were supposed to be helping us?" Harry's voice rose to nearly a yell earning him some confused looks from several of the passing students.
"Harry I'm sorry, you were doing Patronus charms last night and I'm rubbish at those. If I'd known Umbridge was going to make a move on you I would have helped, you know I would." Merlin tried to placate his friend.
Harry opened his mouth to continue, but fortunately Ron jumped in. "Come on mate we can't rely on him for everything. The detentions can't be too bad." Harry sent a death glare at his two friends and stormed off down the corridor. Hermione grimaced and looked over at Merlin and Hagrid, who both looked worried. "Sorry, I think he's just worried."
"It's alright Hermione." Merlin said grimly, an idea was forming in his head and he had to sit and let is stew for a while before he acted on it.
They went their separate ways and it wasn't until they were outside and gathering the barrels of Flobberworms for the third year classes that Hagrid said anything. "Something' needs ta be done about her."
Merlin looked over at Hagrid while he prised the lids off the barrels. He gave the other man a wide grin. "Oh don't you worry. I've got plenty planned for her now." Merlin scooped out a double handful of Flobberworms onto a tray and tried not to vomit. "Speaking of which do you need me during this lesson?"
"Not much ta do really." Hagrid admitted moodily. Merlin gave him a sympathetic smile, he knew that Hagrid much preferred to teach the students about more interesting animals than Flobberworms, but Merlin and Hermione had worn him down to at least only showing the younger classes the gentler animals.
"Thank you Hagrid, I'll be back soon." Merlin wiped his hands on a rag and then hurried up the hill towards the castle. It was about time for Umbridge to start experiencing a little trouble of her own.
Once inside the castle Merlin hurried up to his room. He hadn't brought many of his things from his cottage to the castle, however the long simple robe and sturdy walking stick that were a part of his Dragoon disguise were stored in the back of the large wardrobe in his bedroom. Merlin hadn't been sure that he would ever use them, but now he was very glad he had brought them.
Changing took only a minute and while he was knotting the ties on the robe he called for Dobby. The House Elf appeared with a loud crack on the rug. "Yes Mr. Emrys sir?"
Merlin's eyebrows rose, he hadn't met Dobby before and had only heard about him in passing from Harry. His friend hadn't been kidding. The House Elf was wearing several tea cosies on his head and several socks on each foot as well as a pair of shorts which reached his ankles. "Er. Dobby right? Harry said I could rely on you if I needed help."
Dobby's thin chest swelled with pride. "Harry Potter is a most noble wizard. Dobby will help any way he can."
Merlin smiled warmly. "Alright, can you find out where Professor Umbridge is for me?"
"Immediately Mr. Emrys sir." Another loud crack sent the House Elf off on his mission. Merlin closed his eyes and concentrated.
By the time Dobby returned Merlin was rubbing his back and wishing he could look old without feeling old. "Mr. Emrys sir Professor Umbridge is in Professor Firenze's classroom sir."
"Thank you Dobby." Merlin grinned through his beards. "Excellent work." The House Elf beamed and disappeared.
Merlin chuckled as he set off through the castle corridors towards Umbridge's office. With her safely inside another class he had free reign to get those awful quills off her. Merlin could just about justify using the quills as a punishment. He had personally had things thrown at him, been put in the stocks and mucked out stables as punishment for far less than speaking out against someone higher on the food chain, but he put his foot down at torture for tortures sake.
Umbridge had to be stopped, and if Merlin could make her life a little more difficult while he was at it then all points to him.
As it was the middle of class and approaching the end of year exams Merlin had no trouble getting to Umbridge's office unhindered. She had locked her door, but it was only the work of a moment and a little magic to unlock it and then he was inside.
Merlin hadn't ever been inside Umbridge's office, but he had heard from Harry what it was like and it certainly lived down to his expectations. The kitten plates mewled cutely as Merlin started opening the desk drawers.
He had no idea if the quills were kept in the office or in Umbridge's room, but he knew he only had a little bit of time. The class would be over soon and Merlin couldn't be sure that she wouldn't head directly back to her office afterwards.
Merlin flicked aside a few rolls of parchment and uncovered a black rectangular box. Throwing a glance up at the door Merlin pulled it out of the drawer and set it on the top of the desk. There was no lock, just a small golden latch that opened with a flick of his fingernail. Inside were a dozen black quills. Merlin picked one up and turned it over in his fingers. They matched Harry's description.
Merlin chewed his lip and quickly drew a scribble on one of the parchments. A sharp pain lanced through the back of his hand and the quill left a single line of blood on the parchment. The scratch on the back of his hand healed almost before Merlin saw it. Gritting his teeth Merlin tossed the quill back it its box and tucked the box under his arm. He finished fossicking around in the draws until he was sure that this was the only box of quills and then he hurried over to the door.
In his rush Merlin hefted the door open and came face to face with a very startled Umbridge. The woman had one hand extended ready to grab the door handle and a pile of books in the other.
The two of them stared at each other for a long moment in utter shock.
Then Umbridge grabbed for her wand. Merlin reacted more on instinct than anything else, shoving his hand palm out and throwing Umbridge back down the corridor to slump against the feet of a suit of armour unconscious.
Merlin clapped a hand over his thundering heart and hurried away from Umbridge. There was a lot of noise coming from the corridor around him, class was out and Merlin was about to run into a whole lot of students. "Damn it." He muttered to himself and ducked into an unused classroom.
Given what his luck had been like so far it didn't exactly surprise Merlin to find the classroom wasn't as unoccupied as he thought. Snape stood behind the dust covered teachers desk. For the second time in almost as many minutes Merlin froze in surprise. Snape recovered first, "what are you doing?" He demanded eyeing the box still tucked under Merlin's arm.
Merlin huffed and set the box on one of the rickety desks. "Helping, for all the thanks I get." He glared at the box and it burst into flame.
Snape's eyebrows rose, but he made no comment as Merlin returned to his younger self and removed the long robe. The two of them watched the box and quills burn away to nothing.
"That will not stop her." Snape commented, stowing something in the pocket of his robe.
Merlin glanced up. "It should slow her down a little though." He pointed out. "Have you heard from Dumbledore?"
"No and I don't expect to. He has left the care of the students to us." Snape's dark eyes didn't shift from the dimming embers.
Merlin studied the dark haired wizard. "I'm more worried about Harry than any of the others. Umbridge has this personal vendetta against him. I think most of the other students could fly under her radar easily, but anything Harry does is going to get him in trouble."
"Potter is very much like his father, he can't keep himself out of trouble." Snape muttered and moved to leave.
"If it comes down to it, will you side with him?" Merlin asked.
Snape paused with his hand on the door knob. "If it comes down to it." Then he was gone in a flurry of black robes.
Merlin leant against one of the desks and considered that. After a moment he shook himself and straightened. Harry still had detention, but at least the quills were out of the picture, now he just had to think of a way to get rid of Umbridge without drawing attention to himself or Harry.
Alrighty, so there should be a few updates in a row here. I just have to finish editing the next couple of chapters and then they will be updated. My aim is to give you three chapters including this one in the next three weeks. A chapter a week. After that we shall see.