Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling


"You are a real killjoy, you know that? Can you stop talking about Death Eaters for one day. Just one day!" Daphne rolled her eyes.

"And how do you expect me to act? Yes, Aunt Bella is gone, but they certainly aren't! You've heard Potter. Umbridge is just hiding the mess!" Draco snapped. "What do you know anyway, what with your family always keeping by the sidelines."

Daphne was about to retort when the two were interrupted by an incoming letter from Oliver.

"Letters shouldn't be arriving in the hallways. What's going on?" Draco asked.

"This can't be good. Where is Astoria?" Daphne replied.

"She's with Blaise and Pansy. She's not going to come here until later. What do you think this could be?"

"Father only sends letters when it's necessary. I don't like the place it came to us either."

"Dear daughter..."

"Dear daughter?!" Draco jeered.

"Shut up! Don't look!"

"Dear daughter,

I come to you in a time of great distress.

I need you to borrow something for me. It's located in what they call a "Room of Requirement" — a secret room in the Hogwarts School where you're at! You may not recognize it, but you will feel it. How, you ask? I have called for it and it shall answer to my blood. What you need is to locate this room, and locate it quickly! You shall come to know what the object is by intuition. Move now!"

Daphne placed the letter down, her face growing more worried by the moment.

"Not good news, I take?" Draco started.

"I don't know. But I know I've got to hurry."

...

...

Running through the maze-like hallways of Hogwarts, Daphne's was more and more troubled once she gave the problem some thought.

Why would he keep an important item here, of all places? What's this Room of Requirement supposed to mean?

She felt like she knew where the place is, despite having no idea what her father was talking about.

Coming to the seventh-floor corridor, she touched the side wall almost by reflex. A small, seemingly normal door revealed itself from the wall.

"That's quite cool," she uttered.

She knew she had to go in. The door creaked as it opened, revealing a massive chamber with innumerable objects scattered about. The piles of them were reaching the chamber's ceiling. It was a gigantic mass of abandoned things. Daphne stared at it in awe for a moment, but her task soon pulled her out of admiration.

"How am I going to find anything here?" she asked herself. "Right, the blood thing."

She let something akin to a sixth sense guide her through the mountains and piles of various items, magical or otherwise.

"There's something to this room. There's something in here that's bad, I can feel it," Daphne's voice was strangely quivering, surprising even her. It was like her senses were primed not only for the object she had to retrieve but for every threatening thing in the room.

Her sight was dragged away from the path she was walking through by a strange energy that emanated from one particular pile. That moment of distraction led her to bump into Ron.

"Woah, watch it!" Ron yelled.

"What? Why are you here?!" Daphne sounded exasperated.

"I could ask the same of you. How do you know about this place?"

"Don't answer a question with a question!"

"We're going to overthrow Umbridge. Want in?"

"I don't have time for this!" Daphne yelled, going past Ron before he could reply. He could hear faint chuckling in the distance.

"Well, that was unexpected. Where is she going?"

Past a few more piles, Daphne came across a strange clearing close to the walls of the chamber. Entering the freed space, she felt strange, like she already knew the curious little space didn't belong to this room.

Suddenly, she understood just what kind of item she was looking for — she was standing on it. A large, circular plate that depicted an unusual symbol shrunk under her, flying into her hand. What remained under her feet was the usual floor of the chamber, the space now feeling like it was a belonging part of the room.

"What would he use this for?" she asked faintly. Putting the object inside her robes, she found herself face to face with Harry.

"Hello there."

"Ron couldn't keep his mouth shut for a second, of course. I think this is a new record."

"Can you blame him? You don't often see people here, exactly."

"So I take it the rest of the company is here?"

"Why do you care?"

Daphne shrugged. "Nothing in particular, just curious."

"As Arthur would say, an equivalent exchange is in order," Harry said. "If you tell me why you are here, I'll tell you why we are here."

"I'm afraid I can't exactly do that. Not yet."

"Not yet?"

"Oh, whatever," Daphne sighed. "You're probably up to no good anyway."

"You weren't spying on us, were you? I would have felt that," Harry frowned.

"No, don't worry. You're not that interesting," Daphne replied, grinning. "I was here on an errand. Pretty understandable, considering what this place is, I'm sure you can wrap your head around it."

"Well, I suppose I ought to be more careful with sudden intruders in the future."

"I probably won't venture in here again, so your poor heart can rest easy."

"I can't really take you at your word, seeing how the miss is so secretive about why she's here in the first place."

"That's fair, I guess. Well, I have to leave you, Potter. See you soon, I hope."

"See you then."

Finding her way out of the large room was as easy as it was finding her way into it. It seemed like her legs were guiding her naturally, like she visited the place many times.


"Now then, let's see just how bad Dumbledore's incrimination can get..." Umbridge whispered savagely, opening one of the tomes she retrieved. It glew an unexpected bright color in response.

Knowing what to chant, Umbridge excitedly rummaged through the book's pages, eagerly awaiting for the text to show.

"I just knew you had it. It's time to end you once and for all..."

The text began revealing itself in the books. Interestingly, the books started showing their contents surprisingly swiftly...

"That was a bit too quick," Umbridge noted, a tinge of worry showing on her face.

As she started reading the pages, that worry slowly warped into horror.

She wasn't exactly reading curses or dark magic at all. She was reading her thoughts, written precisely as they shot through her mind. They were etched on the paper as if someone wrote them with a pen, except with terrifying speed.

She swiped the pages in panic, noticing that nearly all her thoughts were written, starting from the time she gathered the books. Coming through a particular swathe of tomes, she arrived at the book where her current thoughts were being carved into the yellow paper. Thin strands seemed to connect the books to somewhere.

Umbridge stared in shock as her inner voice was laid bare on the old pages. Dumbledore must have gotten the content of these books somehow. They seemed impervious to magic.

"They've got all the evidence they need. They even claim so about you. You should get that McGonagall woman to replace you for the time being, if able. Come, so we can plan out how we deal with this, preferably with some results from your venture. Your work at Hogwarts might just save us from an impending catastrophe."

"Curse you, incompetent deadbeat!" Umbridge yelled, throwing the letter into the fireplace. "Now he openly admits everything, even in letters!"

She paced from side to side in her office, paying little attention to what was happening.

"How could I have gotten played? What on earth did that old bastard do?!"

Settling in her seat, she continued — "How do I deal with this? Does the minister even have a plan?"

She jerked and squealed at the sound of a door opening — it was Marietta Edgecombe, bringing with her a strange ring with a black gem. It had a Black family crest.

"I've brought what you wanted. This should be enough to bring Sirius Black to trial. Is my mother going to be fine now?" the girl asked fearfully.

"Sirius Black and his trial can both go to hell!" Umbridge snapped, ripping the ring from Marietta's hands and throwing it into the wall. "Why do I care that he killed a measly Death Eater when an entire ministry is going to collapse!"

"What do you mean?" Marietta asked. "But what will happen to my mother?!"

"Shut up, girl!" Umbridge drew her wand at her. "On second thought..." Umbridge broke a potion on the ground; the mist veiling around the books she just observed.

"What?"

"That should take care of it for a brief moment. You could still be useful to me," the Headmistress giggled, her face still red from anger.

"Why? But I already helped you!" Marietta retorted. "I-"

"Silencio. No, you haven't really helped me, girl. But you will. You will... sit."

She seemed to have cast a spell that compelled her to do so, as Marietta couldn't help but obey.

"I didn't think it would come to this. Very sad, but unavoidable, it seems. The old wizard possesses magic not even the ministry is aware of," Umbridge sighed, her voice still high.

The headmistress disarmed Marietta and bound her with an immobilizing spell, but freed her mouth.

"Speak and answer when I ask. What time do you meet with your family next?"

"Uh— uh, it was supposed to be tomorrow."

"What time precisely? The hour, and where?"

"Tomorrow at 2 pm, in the third guest room. Why do you want to know?"

"Because, my dear girl" — Umbridge cast a silencing charm once more — "I'm going to take your place and start anew. Only natural to take care of your parents first."

Marietta looked at her in confusion. Umbridge shook her head.

"You must be very bewildered. What do I mean? Well, it's not only Dumbledore who has secret magic. I do too," she said. "It's very powerful magic, it deals with the soul."

Rising from her seat, Umbridge came closer to the terrified student.

"Fudge is simply not reliable. He is probably to be taken down. And I'm not going to be there when his ship sinks."

Placing a hand on Marietta, she went on — "There's a certain ritual that one of my secret forces discovered in Mesopotamia. It has to do with soul manipulation. Extremely difficult magic indeed, but very powerful as I said. Worth killing for. That would explain why all of them are dead now."

Marietta broke the silencing charm for a moment, but her mouth was quickly forced closed again.

"You've got nerve, girl! Let me at least finish telling you your end. A branch I mastered involves soul transfer, for purposes like these. You see, I can force my own soul into your body, having dominion over it after a while, in exchange for leaving my own body for good. The effects would merely look like a killing curse."

Horror washed over Marietta as she began realizing what was happening.

"Yes, yes," Umbridge looked at her with a face full of faux sympathy. "Quite terrible for the victim. I've got no choice really. If I knew, I would tell you what happens to your soul upon the takeover. All I know is that I will be fully in control of your body as if it were my own.

Marietta tried struggling in her agony, though Umbridge's bindings were much stronger this time.

"I'm not taking any chances in you escaping! Now, the spell takes some time to manage, but we shall do just fine. I will frame my supposed death fairly believably. I took my own life once I came to know Dumbledore has discovered my schemes. You witnessed that on accident, so you were very shocked, to say the least. It's a very normal reaction, don't you think?"

Umbridge's wand grew a red color as she hovered it over Marietta's head. The girl still struggled in a horrified frenzy.

"You better just resign to whatever comes to you. We certainly won't be interrupted by other professors. I've made sure of that."

Just as Umbridge finished talking, a faint pop was heard. She recognized the sound of a house elf apparating away.

"What?" Umbridge screamed. "What is a house elf doing here?!" she immediately produced a medallion to rally what forces she had left at her disposal.

...

Dobby apparated to Harry first, without giving the prospect much thought.

"Dobby! What are you doing-"

The elf quickly placed its hand on Harry's head, transferring what he had just seen in a very short moment.

Harry grew pale, his face staring at Dobby. Saying nothing else, he apparated to Umbridge's office.

...

Umbridge squealed once again at her surprise visit, however, she wasn't alone anymore. She was surrounded by a group of people that formed a circle around her and Marietta.

"Was that your elf, Potter? I assume you know what happened here."

There was no response.

"How did you apparate, even? You certainly continue to be a headache indeed..."

"What are you doing to her?" Harry yelled. "Where is she?"

"She's right here, with me. Fine for the moment, though not sure how long... You can't fight your way through all of these people, Potter. They are trained adults, no matter their dwindling numbers. Apparently, Fudge is preparing quite a show back in the ministry."

"Try me," Harry replied, eyeing the faces of unknown people.

"What are you doing, just standing there? Get him!" Umbridge snapped. Before she could see her order carried, however, Harry made quick work of all of the henchmen. He encrusted the room in a strange aura, moving at inhuman speeds — his wand was already poised on her back.

Umbridge gasped silently. Harry waved his free hand and all the enchantments were lifted off Marietta. The girl was crying, still shaking from panic.

Harry waved his hand again and Marietta fell asleep. As he tried lowering her gently, Umbridge attempted to fire a wandless curse at him. His wand launched a spell directly at her back, sending her crashing into the wall of the office. Another swing and her her own weapon was destroyed in an instant.

"This certainly brings back memories. Well, for some of us anyway."

Umbridge wanted to ask what he was babbling about, but her body wouldn't listen. It felt like she was separated from it. She was laying on the floor, looking at Harry in unbridled rage.

"No, you can't move. Not until I say so," Harry replied coldly. "Dobby! Come here, please!"

Dobby rushed to Harry's aid, perking his ears up in fearful anticipation.

"Please carry Marietta to the Hospital Ward and tell everyone what happened. Produce a memory if you must. I'll deal with this thing," Harry said, almost spitting as he finished.

"Good luck, Harry!" Dobby immediately started carrying the girl, surprising Harry by addressing him so informally. That was quickly placed at the back of his mind, however.

"So, finally realized the books were a ruse? Yes, you tried intimidating me into getting them once more before you were successful. It's just that you don't remember," Harry went on, hovering Umbridge back to her seat. "Figured you'd make a silent escape with Marietta?"

Feeling her body partly under her control again, Umbridge nearly shivered from rage. "Release me this instant, boy, or you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

Harry nearly contemplated a Cruciatus curse at her sight. "Don't worry, I'll release you. But only when the aurors arrive. Real, honest-to-God aurors, of course."

"What nonsense do you spout? When have I tried getting the books from you?"

"Should I get your memories back?" Harry asked, slightly gleefully. "I've figured out how to restore those strings, but only a small amount. Enough to show you just how wrong you are."

Her modified memories unfurled and the originals started flooding back. Umbridge was nearly paralyzed with an influx of emotions.

"It was all a sham! How could I be so gullible?!" Umbridge looked at the lying group, muttering something to herself afterward.

"The Order and the ministry will be well-prepared for whatever Fudge's got. But you... you are... so despicable," Harry snorted. "It's almost funny."

The Headmistress fell strangely silent, forming what appeared to be a pouting expression. Things seemed to be finally over for her.

"First, you make Remus' life a living hell, doing so for every werewolf, mind you. Then you make our life a living hell. What you did to Marietta... What else would you have done? How far would you go?"

Umbridge's silence warped into a quiet titter. Despite being bound and utterly defeated, she felt pride at what Harry said.

"What's so funny about that? What's so funny about what you did?" Harry's voice rose.

The faint giggle grew stronger ever so slowly. With it, the memory of Marietta's wails came to Harry.

The softness of the laughter seemed to scrape against his ears. It reminded him of what Sirius told in his fight against Bellatrix.

"What's so funny?" Harry yelled again. "Are you enjoying yourself?!"

Nothing but more of the same came from Umbridge.

"Cruci-"

"That's enough, Harry," Hermione said behind him. She and Ron caught his arms.

"You don't want to waste your heart on her, mate," Ron added.

"She's... She's just... I can't..." Harry huffed, avoiding looking at the pair. "Just let me go," he sighed. "I'm — I'm fine. I can't stand to look at her anymore. Please, just let me go."

"It's okay, we will."

"You really wanted to do it, didn't you?"

"Ron!"


"Listen carefully, all of you," Fudge was addressing a fairly large crowd. "Once the aurors loyal from the ministry get to us, we will break through the main entrance and set everything up. They have more than enough knowledge to get around the starting protections."

"Won't other troops get called immediately? There are barriers that can't be disabled!"

"They'll take care of that! Don't you worry. Now, Dumbledore's got a grip on Wizengamot as well, but I still have a part that answers me. We'll arrange it so we make the attack in the Atrium, while not many have gathered. They'll come, but it will be a surprise."

"Why haven't you told us all of this before?"

"Because there is a chance there's a snitch among us! I can't risk that if you couldn't tell! You'll have to make do with what you came to know just now."

"Are you sure we can take on the entire ministry? This will be hard to cover up! Even if we succeed, how are you going to patch it up?"

"It will just be a scuffle in Wizengamot. It shouldn't be a big deal, I don't think anyone will die if this goes right. One spell fired in the heat of the moment, and another fired in response. Things escalate," Fudge shrugged. "After the bickering we had ended, we continued with the proceedings. Our proceedings, once we take care of things."

"You can't just put the entire ministry under the Imperius Curse! What are you planning on doing?"

Fudge chuckled. "Boy, you do overestimate the benevolence of the ministry. We won't even have to — most of them will flip back once they see the odds are against them. The ones that don't... we'll take care of."

"But Dumbledore —"

"Don't speak about that wretched old fool anymore! Umbridge will take care of that, as far as we are concerned. She's certainly focused enough not to reply to my letters. The people aren't on his side anymore, remember? Why are you all shaking in your boots at the mere mention of that bastard?!"

"And you aren't? He's beaten you into a corner. You think you've got enough reason to talk so big?"

"Listen. Dumbledore can't take the ministry with the numbers he's got. He doesn't have the justification. Even if Umbridge fails for whatever reason, it gives us more time to work."

"We know that, we just think Dumbledore might have a response to all of this."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, shall we?"

...

Some were coming through the telephone booths, while others used the more secret passages. The rendezvous point was at the atrium which was ever so busy. However, the intruders were faced with an unexpected guest.

"Fancy seeing you here. On business, I presume?" Moody grinned at the incoming group.

Fudge stopped and looked at Moody in weary suspicion. "It's none of your business, Alastor. Step aside."

"Oh, I'll step aside, no worries," Moody shook his head. "Pardon my insolence, as they say. It's just that I wonder where you would go, exactly. Considering where you're at now."

"What?"

"Really? I'll give you time to figure it out, then."

Fudge turned back to his troops, most of them clueless about what is happening. A voice was heard further in the back, shouting something.

"What is it?! Speak louder!"

"This isn't supposed to be here! What is going on?!"

"What isn't? What can you see?"

"It sparkles in the air! It's a potion! We're breathing in a potion! We haven't even realized!"

"What on earth..."

The busy atrium slowly started shifting into a dimmer room. The visitors and employees slowly lost their shape, dissipating into the darkness.

"Cornelius! You are not in the ministry at all!" Moody shouted. "You've been duped, my friend! We're working with the Department of Mysteries. Took a long time to set this little trick properly, but it paid off!" he laughed.

The companions that entered with Fudge fell one by one, seemingly fast asleep in the middle of the chamber. They seemed blissfully unaware of what was going on, acting as if they were in their own beds.

"Snape!" Fudge exclaimed. Even he wanted to curl up on the floor and sleep for a long time. Maybe forever would do.

"Not exactly. Well, not just him," Moody corrected. "A potion like this is very nasty and hard to make. Almost as hard as the one you tried so desperately to prevent. But it cuts through shields like butter," he winked at Fudge.

The minister drew his wand, or at least he attempted to. He could find nothing.

"Still at it, Cornelius?" Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the area. "I thought you would be more prudent."

Feeling a slight lull, Fudge desperately tried to make sense of the problems happening around him.

"How did you know? How could you know?"

"It was nothing special, really. Minerva is an apt animagus, seeing how she fooled you and those around you."

"You're telling me a cat will be the thing that spells my end?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "In a way, that is very much true."

"An update for you, by the by. Your minion at Hogwarts was apprehended. I heard she was doing some very awful stuff," Moody cut in. "She won't be carrying anything out now, thankfully."

"Of course, I was wondering about that. Nothing she has done has served me well so far."

"Well..." Moody bound Fudge and the rest of the fallen conspirators — "She was very close to betraying you, I hear. Once she became aware of her failure, she wanted to abandon you."

"That's to be expected. It certainly is. Oh well... take me then! What are you waiting for!"

"With pleasure. May a creature like you never grace these walls again," Moody replied.

...

Sirius arrived at the atrium sometime later.

"Sorry for the delay. I suppose the main show's over?"

Moody nodded, scoffing. "It wasn't much of a show at all. All went even better than we hoped."

"Are you pouting? Seriously?"

"No, not at all. But maybe I hoped Fudge would struggle a bit. Maybe I hoped Dumbledore wouldn't take his wand away," Moody clicked his tongue.

"Well, I suppose that could have been fun. You think he could match up to you, though?"

"No. I just wanted to beat him again. Anyway, are the others coming?"

"Soon. They will want to see this."

...

Fudge, Umbridge and the ringleaders of the conspiracy came into view of Wizengamot, cuffed, and secured by the ministry forces. Murmurs began spreading across the room.

"We'll need a bigger prison," Moody sighed.

"That's what Albus counted on, actually," Sirius said.

Settling into his place, Dumbledore raised his hand, asking for silence. Waiting patiently, he began at last. "I know you have all gathered here greatly upset over the possibility of our own minister standing trial. Yet here we are, standing witness to an unprecedented event. A man who was supposed to lead and unite, having buried himself so deep into corruption, having his hands muddying every corner. He was destroying this very institution from within."

Nobody spoke. Dumbledore continued.

"A lot of you may still be in disbelief. That is to be expected. I assure you, after witnessing what will be shown today, you will be uncertain no more."

The large room was once again entered, this time by Saul Croaker, Percy Weasley, Marietta Edgecombe, and many others. All eyes were peered at them.

"All things shall become clear in due time. Be prepared for an arduous story. May the trial start!"