Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix

Chapter 59:- The Final Straw

It had been just under a week since Kinana had disappeared into Edolas and Porlyusica stepped outside her hut once again, ready to open the portal for a short duration as she'd promised she would do every day.

To her immense annoyance, the small boy Romeo Conbolt was still there where she'd left him. Most of the Fairy Tail mages had returned back to their ramshackle guildhall, knowing that they needed to take what limited jobs were being offered in order to keep up payment demands to Twilight Ogre, but Romeo had obstinately refused to leave, meaning Porlyusica had to grudgingly feed him even though she refused to let him into her house.

"You know, waiting here is not going to make the girl come back any quicker," she said brusquely to the boy, who was hunched over beneath one of the bigger trees. "You're not doing anyone any favours by staying out here. Least of all me."

"Yeah, I know," Romeo murmured quietly. "But… I want to be here when she comes back."

"Why?" Porlyusica raised a brow. "It's not like they're going to bring back the entire guild from whatever universe they've landed in at the exact same time."

"I know… but I've spent over six years going to Hargeon… watching the horizon and waiting for Natsu-nii everyone to come home, hoping that they would one day answer our hopes. Now we find out that they really are still alive, and I want to be there for as much of it as possible. I can't go to Edolas, so I'll settle for this."

"Well if you catch a cold or something that's on you."

"But couldn't you treat it really quickly if I did?"

"YES BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Porlyusica cried, before shaking her head and striding over to the spot where the five poles were still lodged firmly into the ground. "Well, I guess it's time to open this up again for a bit."

She plucked the middle staff out of the ground and made the rapid gestures, muttered the incantations under her breath as she had done every day for the last week, finishing up by stabbing it straight back into the hole in the turf she'd plucked it from. Stepping back, she watched in quiet contemplation as the portal opening itself wide once more, swirling and crackling in mid-air like the eye of a miniature storm.

And it only took thirty seconds for Kinana to step through it.

"Right on schedule," the purple haired girl smiled. "I knew I could count on you, Porlyusica-san."

"Huh," Porlyusica blinked as Romeo immediately shot to his feet. "You were faster than I expected. I didn't expect you back for at least a fortnight."

"Neither did I. But riding Legions really is an amazing way to travel - they got me about extremely quickly."

"Ah, that would explain it."

"Did you succeed?" Romeo asked quickly, running up to her so fast that he almost crashed into her. "Did you find Mystogan? Did he agree to help you?"

"Technically I don't go by that name anymore," a voice wafted through the portal and the voice's owner very quickly followed it. He had once again donned his dark travelling cloak and was carrying upon his back five staffs, identical to the ones pinned into the ground all around him. "My name's Jellal, but since there's already a Jellal in this world with my exact same face, perhaps I will take up the name again."

"Whoa…" Romeo breathed. He'd heard very few stories about Mystogan - after all there weren't really many to tell other given how much Mystogan had tried to keep to himself during his time with the guild. But he'd heard enough for him to be awestruck at the sight of him, especially since his face was uncovered. That was a face that very few in all of Fairy Tail had ever laid eyes on. "You're here. You're really here."

"Of course. Was there ever any doubt I would come?"

"Hm," Porlyusica offered Mystogan the very faintest of smiles. "It's extraordinarily rare for me to say this, but I'm glad to see you again, young man."

"Thank you," Mystogan smiled. "It's good to be back."

"Woooow, is this Earthland!?" said another voice and suddenly Coco came haring out of the portal, dashing all around the clearing and even rushing straight up to the door of Porlyusica's house to peer in through the gap. "This is so cool! How many people from Edolas have ever been into this world!? And this world has magic too!? I think I can feel it in the air! Or maybe that's just the wind… I don't know, but this is awesome!"

"Stand still, child!" Porlyusica yelled, running over and waving a broom at the excited young woman. "Who gave you permission to look into my home!?"

"Are you sure it was a good idea to bring her?" Kinana asked, half-smiling and half-genuinely concerned.

"Coco's been one of my most faithful supporters since even before I took the crown of Edolas," Mystogan nodded resolutely. "She may be quite impulsive but she follows her heart. And I'd rather she were by my side where I can keep my eye on her anyway."

"So… Mystogan-nii," Romeo quickly piped up. "What did you tell Kinana? Do you think you can do it? Build an Anima to get everyone else back home where they belong?"

"…It's possible," Mystogan nodded. "But there are things I'd like to go over with everyone first. It will be… shall we say, logistically difficult. I'll explain more later, but for now all you need to know is that I'll do my very best."

"Well then, I suppose I should close the portal," Porlyusica muttered as she moved over to the staffs but before she could do so Mystogan laid a hand on her arm.

"Hold on," he said. "There's still one more coming through. I'm not sure what's taking her so long, but she's being uncharacteristically nervous. Give her a minute or so."

Sure enough, about half a minute later, and someone else stepped through the portal. Someone that made Romeo's jaw drop, for her long, flowing red hair was practically unmistakeable even without seeing her face.

"Erza," he whispered.

"Yep," Kinana nodded. "I know exactly how you feel, Romeo. Allow me to introduce, the Edolas Erza… Erza Knightwalker."

"You really do look exactly like her," Macao whispered for about the fifth time.

"Yes, thank you. I am well aware of that," Knightwalker rolled her eyes. "I did meet Erza Scarlet you know - I know exactly how similar we look. And I've met many of your own Edolas counterparts in turn… though admittedly not all of you look quite as alike."

The Fairy Tail guild members had been absolutely floored when Knightwalker strode into their guild, perhaps even more so at seeing her than they had when they finally got a good look at Mystogan. It had taken a while for them to calm down, bombarding them with question after question about themselves, about Edolas and about what things were like for them all over there without any magical power.

"Well I'm very glad you look so similar," Wakaba Mine chuckled with a mouthful of cigar. "How I missed the sight of Erza's beautiful body. I don't think I can get enough of it."

"Keep your eyes to yourself, old man!" Knightwalker whipped around to fix Wakaba with a glare that practically reduced him to ashes. Everyone in the guild hall stepped backwards in alarm, and many of them whispered the exact same words at the exact same time:-

"Yep… she's just as scary as our Erza."

But Macao eventually cleared his throat. "Yes, well… anyway… Kinana, I don't think any of us can thank you enough for what you've done in bringing Mystogan back to the guild. You've done amazingly, and none of us could have possibly ask you for more."

Kinana flushed, and received a two-armed hug from a beaming Laki as everyone else broke out into cheers and wild applause. "It… it really was nothing," she whispered.

"But is it really okay for you to be here?" Max asked Mystogan with some trepidation, not sure whether to be intimidated or not by the man standing before them. "I mean… you're the King of an an entire country… maybe an entire world for all I know… won't you be skipping out on your duties while you're here?"

"A little perhaps," Mystogan shrugged calmly. "But I know that Sugarboy, Hughes and Byro can hold the fort down for a considerable time without me. And not just them," his lip quirked slightly. "Your own Edolas counterparts are doing a wonderful job at helping me keep the peace. Magic or no magic, they've been amazing at getting the Kingdom back on its feet. With them on the scene, I'm sure I'll only need to jump back sometimes to make sure things are running smoothly. And that's part of the reason I brought Coco." He patted the shoulder of the beaming girl beside him. "She's a wonderful messenger, so she'll be running updates between here and Edolas for me constantly."

"Yeah and with two sets of staffs to power the portal we might actually make it big enough for my Legi-pyon to come through and give us a hand as well," Coco grinned.

"You know, I think I heard from Lucy that you were instrumental in saving all our asses from the Edolas King's plan," Bisca said. "Lucy told me that since you stole the key to the cannon that would destroy the big lacrima we were all turned into, you bought the others enough time to do something about it."

"That's right," Alzack agreed. "And she also said you helped get them all up to the big lacrima on your Legion thing and help stop it from being destroyed. Which means, without you… we'd probably all be toast right now."

"Puppy girl's cute!" Asuka cheered, which made Coco blush even harder than Kinana under the grateful gazes and smiles of all the guild members.

"I… I just wanted to protect my own friends really," she whispered. "I'm sorry… that I went along with the King's plan for as long as I did."

"That's not important," Jet smirked. "What is important is that you didn't follow it through to the end."

"You saved our butts. Which means you've always got a place here as and when you need it," Droy agreed.

"…Thanks," Coco squeaked, burying her face in her hands in a paradoxically happy embarrassment. Mystogan chuckled, but then turned to face Macao once again to redirect the conversation.

"So, you're the leader of this guild now then?"

"Er… yes," Macao coughed. "I am. I mean… somebody had to take on the role after Master Makarov disappeared."

"Quite right," Mystogan nodded. "I spent so much time while in Edolas wondering what everyone back home would be doing right now. I did not get to know any of you here during my time with the guild, but I still knew all your names. I knew all your faces. And I always imagined you all happy, grinning, uproarious as ever, during that time. I never would have thought all this could have happened."

"We were extremely jubilant after the whole Edolas incident for a few weeks," Warren said. "Especially because Lisanna came back to us from your world with the others."

"Ah yes. I heard about that when I met with the Edolas Mirajane and Elfman," Mystogan pursed his lips, a smattering of guilt crossing his face. "Had I been faster in sealing the Anima that sucked her away then none of that would have happened. I shall have to apologise to the Strauss family personally at my earliest opportunity."

"You can't be blamed for that," Max cut in. "But… speaking of them… do you think it's possible then?"

"Do you think you can build another Anima for us to get them back?" Nab asked, and everyone's gut clenched with nerves - every second that Mystogan didn't reply seeming to last an absolute eternity. But the blue haired mage wrinkled his nose slightly, clearly choosing his next words carefully which did not seem like the best of signs.

"I can certainly rebuild another Anima, in theory," Mystogan said as he pulled a thick wad of documents from out within his cloak. "I had my advisors scrape together every piece of information they could about the Anima project, most especially how it was designed. I already had knowledge of it, but its one thing to implant the technology into a staff and quite another to build something that will open a portal large enough to bring something as big as Tenroujima through it. But I do believe it can be done as long as we can find the resources to construct it somewhere. But it will require a lot of resources."

"Hmmm…" Macao murmured, sucking on his teeth unhappily. "We're not exactly in a good position to provide resources. We're barely holding on with our debts to Twilight Ogre as it is."

"We can provide a good deal of the resources ourselves," Erza Knightwalker stated. "But not all of it. The money of Edolas needs to be prioritised towards the people of Edolas rather than the people of this world after all."

"Of course… but if we can find the money then… we can do it? We can bring them home?" Jet asked excitedly.

"…Not… really…" Mystogan grimaced. "I'm afraid to say that if I was to simply rebuild the Anima in the exact same way as it was constructed in our world, it would not be able to bring the others back."

"What!?" Laki gasped, a sentiment shared with everyone else. "Why not! It creates a space hole to travel between macrocosms doesn't it!?"

"Yeah, the Anima got everyone here into Edolas, even if they were mostly made into a giant lacrima on the other side!" Romeo protested. "Why wouldn't it work to bring the others back home?"

"Magic is a miraculous ability," Mystogan smiled. "One which I have missed in the last six years. But even it is often subject to the laws of physics. Does anyone have a light pen I can borrow?"

"Oui," Reedus said immediately. "I have one right here." He pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it to Mystogan, who caught it deftly and uncapped it, proceeding to draw a large circle of light in mid-air.

"Say, for a moment, that this circle is Earthland," he said. "And this circle is Edolas," he drew a second circle of equal size next to the first. "As you know, they are two very separate realities… but they have quite a few similarities between them. Most notably it's people. Everyone on Earthland has a person on Edolas that looks more or less exactly like them and most usually has the same first name. Their personalities may be drastically different but they are parallel versions… because Edolas and Earthland are parallel realities."

"Yes, we know all that," Romeo said with just a little impatience. "But what does that have to do with the Anima not working?"

"Everything," Mystogan said sadly. "You see… Earthland and Edolas are parallel because they occupy the exact same space." He pushed the two circles of light together until they became one circle. "They are two separate realities, but they still exist together."

"What?" Warren blinked. "But… how does that work? That's impossible surely."

"No, it isn't. Let me explain - everything in Earthland is constantly vibrating. Even the things that look like they're standing still are all vibrating at a select frequency. The same holds true for Edolas… but everything in Edolas vibrates at a different frequency to Earthland. And that's why Earthland and Edolas can exist in the same space but never interact with each other, because the exist on different frequencies. And there are most likely other parallel universes of this one running on other frequencies - there could be hundreds for all we know. And the Anima works by tapping into the frequency of another parallel universe and thus opening a portal to it, allowing us to cross over from one world to another.

"However, if I understand this correctly, our fellow Fairy Tail mages are not stranded in a parallel universe. The world they're in right now has no alternate versions of themselves, no similarities whatsoever with this one really other than the presence of magic - they're in an alternate reality that is completely cut off from our own." He drew another circle a distance away from the two merged ones. "There is a large gap, a void, between Earthland and this other universe which would need to be crossed in order to get there, or to bring anyone back. And right now… the Anima is not designed to do that. Which means, we'll have to modify it for this new task."

"…O…kay…" Macao murmured as everyone tried to digest that massive influx of information. "And… do you know how to do that?"

"…Not at the moment, no," Mystogan shook his head.

Everyone's faces fell at the exact same time, and Romeo ended up sitting down heavily in a chair and burying his face in his hands. Where once there had been great hope there was now a gut-gnawing worry. A worry that even though they knew their friends were out there waiting for them, that they might never have the tools to bring them home.

"It's definitely not impossible though," Mystogan said quickly, drawing a third circle in the air above the other two. "Think about Celestial Spirit Magic. The Spirit World is not a parallel of this one either. It too exists in a completely separate space to this one, albeit right next to it, and Celestial Spirit Mages open portals to that world all the time. We just need to do some brainstorming and I'm certain that we can come up with a way to redesign the Anima that will allow it to do what we need it to do. There is a way to do this. We just have to find it, and when we do, I believe the necessary modifications will be quite minimal, as everything else is already there."

"Yes… yes, you're right," nodded Macao, clenching his fist. "It's too early to just give up. We have a way to open a portal - now we just need to find a way to aim it in the right direction. I'm sure we can pull this off, no problem!"

"It may be tricky, but we'll find a way," Wakaba agreed. "We may not look like it any more… but we're still Fairy Tail, damn it! And we will find a way!"

"Absolutely!" Jet cried.

"We're coming for you, Levy!" Droy agreed. "Nothing's going to stop us!"

"We won't rest until everyone we know and miss is gushing over how cute our daughter is!" Alzack grinned.

One by one determined grins started appearing on faces again, followed quickly by cheers and roars of enthusiasm. Mystogan smiled - this was more like the Fairy Tail he remembered, even if it was an extremely diminished version. Right now, they were like the Edolas Fairy Tail had once been while on the run from his father, but now the Edolas Fairy Tail were some of the most famous and popular people in the world. It really was bizarre how opposite things could be between his world and this one - one version ascended while the other version fell.

But now, he was going to make sure that both versions returned to their former strength.

"This better be important, Granger," Daphne Greengrass said as she stepped into the same quiet zone in the library where she'd held her last two conversations with Hermione. Only this time she'd been invited, as Hermione had managed to send her a message during their lunch break. At first the Slytherin girl had shrugged it off and decided not to go, but after mulling it over for a bit she'd ended up changing her mind. Hermione wouldn't ask to meet a Slytherin unless she had something important to talk about after all.

But when she arrived she faltered. She'd expected Hermione to be alone, like before, but instead she found herself confronted with all three of the so-called Golden Trio, as well as Ginny. There followed an immediate and very awkward silence, hanging over the group like a ton of lead, before Daphne finally said, "Okay… you're all here… fine. What's this all about then? I've got quite a bit of homework that needs doing so make it quick."

"That's the thing, Daphne," Hermione said. "This really isn't going to be quick but it is important."

"Oh, we're on first name terms now, are we?" Daphne raised a brow. "I was not aware of that. You know, I wouldn't exactly be the most popular Slytherin if I was found talking to you lot by someone else in my house."

"We know," Harry said. "And that's the point really."

"Excuse me?"

"Okay, we'll try and make this quick as we can," Harry said, though he was extremely hesitant. If Hermione was wrong about this girl, then they could be potentially revealing a lot of sensitive information to a Slytherin who could very easily pass it along to the wrong people… Umbridge herself for instance. But Ron was right. With Umbridge's paranoia running extremely high, they would need someone that she definitely thought she could still trust and Daphne was about the closest option they had. That they knew of anyway.

"Hermione says that you're worried about your parents," Harry said. "Worried that they'll be forced to join up with Voldemort in the near future."

"Did she? Did she say that really?" Daphne glared at Hermione. "And here was me thinking that that was told in confidence."

"There is a reason I told him that," Hermione said defensively. "Just like I also told him that you're not exactly a fan of Umbridge right now."

"Ugh, don't get me started on her," Daphne groaned. "Most of my house think she's amazing, despite her occasional fits, but it's not like she's teaching the Slytherins defensive spells any more than the other houses."

"So you'd like to see her gone, right?" Ron asked.

"Damn right I would."

"Well, what if we were to tell you that you could help us get rid of her, once and for all!?" Ron asked. "In fact, you'd be an instrumental part of that plan."

Daphne had no sharp retort for that one. She frowned in complete bewilderment, wondering if she'd even heard that right. A Gryffindor… four Gryffindors… were asking a Slytherin for help? When was the last time that happened? Probably not for at least a decade or so! But her surprise was matched by her intrigue.

"Go on…" she said slowly.

"The sooner we can get Umbridge out of the school the better," Hermione said. "And we've been working on doing that for a while. You remember that time during a Care of Magical Creatures lesson when Umbridge freaked out over an invisible werewolf and tried to throw you in front of it?"

"How could I forget?" Daphne muttered sourly. "I wasn't exactly rooting for her before that, but afterwards… please," she rolled her eyes.

"Well, that was kind of our doing," Harry said with some degree of satisfaction, looking around to make sure that nobody was listening in, not even Madame Pince who was at the other end of the library breathing down the back of an unfortunate first year's neck. "We've been working with some friends of ours to send fake or illusionary monsters after Umbridge almost everywhere she goes, but making sure that she's the only one who can see them."

"Most specifically half-breed creatures," Ginny supplied. "You know, cos she hates them."

"…So you're telling me you're the ones who've been slowly driving her round the twist?" Daphne asked, a slight smirk appearing on her face. "I've got to say, Potter - that's a sly plan. Worthy of a Slytherin actually."

"…Er… thanks…" Harry coughed. "But anyway, we just need to go for one final big push to get her out of here. Something big. Something that will leave Fudge with no choice but to remove her. And we'd like your help to do it. Your part, if you want to do it, would be a small one but a very important one."

"And why exactly do you need me for that?"

"Because you're a Slytherin," said Ron. "And Umbridge thinks you lot are very firmly on her side as far as we can tell."

"Care to tell me exactly what this role is?"

"Only once you confirm you're in," said Hermione. "It's not like it's a dangerous role though so you don't need to worry about that. But before that… we'd also like to talk to you about your parents. And your sister."

Daphne stiffened again, her previous smirk vanishing in the blink of an eye. "What about them?" she asked a little frigidly.

"We have… friends… outside the school," Harry explained. "Friends who could maybe offer your parents protection just in case Voldemort comes knocking on their door."

"And not only that, but we could help you and your sister learn how to defend yourselves from attack," Ginny agreed. "We've got this little underground group going on that's learning defensive magic that she refuses to teach us. We don't have any Slytherin members, but we've got Zacharias Smith and that git would probably fit in well among some of your worst members."

"Basically we'd like to… you know… offer you what you and your family would need in order to increase your chances of surviving the war that's coming," said Harry.

"…I see…" Daphne murmured, no small amount of scepticism in her voice. "And are you offering all this because of the goodness of your oh-so-golden hearts? Or is this all some attempt to sweeten the deal to make me help you against Umbridge?"

"As a matter of fact, it is the former," Hermione said quickly. "I was suggest to Ron just under a week ago, after our last talk, that we should invite you and Astoria to be a part of our Defence Group. After all, the whole purpose of it is to prepare anyone who might be in danger from Voldemort. Doesn't matter what house they're in, as long as they're on your side. And you made it clear that you don't want your family getting mixed up with Voldemort, so yes… it is out of the goodness of my heart."

"Just so we have all cards on the table," Ron said with a grunt, "I'm not that keen on the idea myself. After all the crap people in your house have tried to pull on us, my brain is telling me to keep as far away from you guys as possible. But… as Hermione said… it's not fair to judge you just because of what house your in. And you've never done anything to us yourself. So yeah. As long as you don't rat us out, I reckon I can give you the benefit of the doubt. Hard as it may be."

Daphne glanced over each of them in turn, shrewdly trying to penetrate their expressions as if attempting to discern whether they were being entirely honest with her or not. But she couldn't find any deception, and if anything it was Ron's complete honesty that sold her. It wasn't as if Gryffindors and Slytherins were going to be buddy-buddy with each other, at least not straight away. And if Ron had pretended otherwise, she would have definitely said no.

"So… let me clarify… how exactly would your friends outside the school be able to keep my parents safe?"

"Well, that's really up to them," Harry said. "Your parents that is. But they could either set up barriers around your parents house that make it hard for Voldemort and his forces to get in or they could maybe take them to a safe house where Voldemort definitely won't be able to get in."

"I see… and you really think it will work? You think you can get Umbridge out of the school?"

"So long as everything goes according to plan… yes."

Daphne took a deep breath. "Very well… I suppose what my parents do isn't really in my control but if you think you can help me and my sister… if you think you can get that bullfrog out of the school and get us learning proper ways to defend ourselves again… then I suppose I can help you out."

"Really?" Hermione beamed. "You'll do it?"

"…Yes. I'll do it. But let's get one thing straight before you do something gross like try and hug me," Daphne held up her hand. "We're not friends. Okay? There's too much animosity between our houses and if the other Slytherins found out about any of this then me and Astoria would probably find our lives here at Hogwarts very difficult very quickly! Nobody in Slytherin can find out this ever happened. Understand?"

"Of course," Harry said quickly. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with us."

"It better be."

"But only if our secrets are safe with you of course," Ron added pointedly.

Daphne raised a brow. "And exactly what secrets would those be, Weasley? The ones you've already told me? Or ones that you've been waiting to hear me agree before telling me?"

The four Gryffindors looked at each other slowly. They'd gone over this with each other many times and while Harry, Ron and Ginny had all been reluctant to be completely truthful with Daphne, Hermione had been adamant that they couldn't accept her into the DA unless she knew the same things everyone else did. Now would be the moment of truth of sorts.

Which was why Ginny got to her feet and knocked on the wall next to them. Moments later and it suddenly swung open to reveal Fred and George on the other side. Daphne blinked as the twins stared her way for a moment before George said, "Things go to plan?"

"As well as can be hoped," Harry nodded.

"You sure about this Harry?" Fred asked, just a little dubiously.

"Sure as I'm ever going to be. Let's get going."

The group bundled into the corridor beyond, Daphne bringing up the rear. The door closed just in time for Madam Pince to round the corner and look confusedly at the empty space where she had been certain there were students a moment ago. But Daphne was just as bemused as Pince as she was lead up a flight of stairs.

"I didn't know there was a hidden passageway here."

"There's probably a lot of passageways in the school you don't know about," Fred said. "But this one wasn't here until today."

"Excuse me?"

"You'll see."

Daphne said nothing else until the reached their destination, which was of course the Room of Requirement. But Harry was more surprised than she was at the end, because he was expecting the room to be mostly empty. Instead, he found all of Dumbledore's Army waiting for them to arrive, and all of them locked their eyes on his own the moment he stepped into the room.

"What's… going on here?" Harry asked.

"You quit being the leader of the DA before, remember?" Ginny pointed out. "We haven't had any defence lessons all week without you and now that you're… yourself again… we thought now would be the best time for you to reassume your mantle, if you see what we mean."

"We're not the only ones behind you, mate," said Ron. "Everyone here wants to be as well. Pretty much anyway," he sent a scathing look Zacharias Smith's way.

"They're waiting for their leader back," Hermione agreed. "And… we even have another new member." She pointed into the group and sure enough, Seamus Finnigan was sitting there next to Dean and Neville. He looked a bit nonplussed at what was going on, but he got to his feet as Harry looked at him.

"Seamus…" Harry murmured. "What are you doing here?"

"What the rest of this lot are here for I assume," Seamus shrugged, a little awkwardly. "Look, Harry… I wanted to apologise. I still don't know what to think about all this You-Know-Who stuff, but, well, I've noticed how you've been this past week. All sad and… you know… empty. I couldn't help but wonder if it was partly my fault for not talking to you and calling you insane at all. I mean, I know it was probably a lot more than that, but I still felt kinda guilty about it."

"To be honest, you really didn't have anything to do with all that," Harry muttered. "And… I guess I'm sorry too - for having a go at you and your mother on the first night. It was uncalled for. It's just… what happened in that graveyard was… is… a sensitive issue."

"You still haven't actually told us what happened that night really," Zacharias Smith grunted, but was quickly silenced by a round of glares from everyone else.

"Anyway," Seamus coughed. "Even though I don't believe You-Know-Who's back, I do know that that Umbridge woman is a joke. And the things she's doing to this school and to you are just plain wrong. So when Dean told me about this defence group… I decided what the heck. I'd come check it out."

"Sorry Harry," Dean said. "But after he took a stand against Umbridge with the rest of us at lunch yesterday I couldn't leave him out anymore."

"It's fine," Harry said quickly, with a deep sigh. "Seamus… I'm glad you're here. And you're free to believe what you want about Voldemort, but Zacharias is right… I haven't really given you the details about that night. Of course, most of you here saw for yourselves recently that I've been telling the truth…"

"Wait, what?" Seamus frowned. "When was this?"

"Later," Dean said quietly, and let Harry continue.

"But if you really want to know… I suppose I can show you guys at some point. If you really, really want to see what happened… I'll show you my memory of it. Exactly what happened in… all it's details. You don't have to see it if you don't want to, but if you do… I'll show you. As soon as Umbridge is out of this school! Is that okay with you?"

There was a ripple of husked awe throughout the group, but although nobody gave a verbal answer, many of them took on a grim, yet determined look and nodded at him, including Seamus. Then Neville asked, "Does this mean you're back, Harry? You're the leader of the DA again?"

"…If you guys still want me to be after what happened last week, then yeah. I guess I am."

"We all voted for you, Harry," said Lee Jordan, to a round of nodding. "Strops and all, you're still definitely the best candidate."

"Yeah, well I'll try and keep the strops to a minimum from now on," Harry chuckled dryly. "So yeah, I guess I'm back in action. And our first order of business, getting Umbridge the hell out of our school!"

Cheers and whoops erupted from several of the members. And throughout all of this, Daphne had been leaning by the wall with one eyebrow raised. She couldn't deny her interest was growing. She had no idea where in the castle they were, and this lot were all rebelling against Umbridge together. That definitely took guts, and she had to respect that.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Parvati asked.

"Well, we do have one," Harry said. "Ron came up with most of it, but Hermione and me chipped in a couple of times. You guys don't have to do anything if you don't want to, but it would help if you did. We have a better shot at success if we all chip in."

"So why exactly is there a Slytherin girl here?" Lavender piped up, sending Daphne a suspicious glare. One that many of the others echoed.

"I'm here by your precious leader's invitation actually," Daphne said brusquely. "I hate Umbridge just as much as you lot and I want her out of here too. And apparently, my role in this mystery plan is a crucial one."

"She's right," Hermione said. "We need a Slytherin on our side, someone Umbridge will trust. And we need you guys to trust us in turn. Daphne won't rat us out. From now on, she's a member of the DA too for as long as she wants to be… which means everyone please be nice to her."

"Oh right, like you're nice to me?" Zacharias snorted.

"Quit being an ass and I'm sure they would be," Daphne snickered. Which immediately raised several people's perception of her, though not enough to allay all their suspicions. It wasn't just Gryffindors that hated the Slytherins - the other two houses were far from fans. But for now, it seemed they were willing to give her a chance. At least for now.

"So, are you finally going to tell me the plan now?" Daphne sighed.

"One last thing before that," Harry said with a clear nervousness. "We can't really let you two be full members of the DA until you know the whole truth. And… Seamus… if you have trouble swallowing what I have to say about Voldemort… you're only scratching the surface of the things that are hard to believe."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Seamus frowned.

"Just go through that door and you'll understand," Harry pointed across the room. Seamus hesitated but Daphne, who clearly wanted to get this over with, marched across the room towards it. Seamus hurried after her, ushered by his friends… but neither of them were expecting what lay beyond when Daphne opened the door.

"GILDARTS! FIGHT ME DAMN BBLLLERRUGH!"

"YAAAAHH!" Daphne and Seamus both yelled as Natsu came flying in their direction, crashing straight into the wall above the door and falling in a heap right in front of them, with Gildarts sitting on the other end of the room, fist raised but not even looking in Natsu's direction, while the rest of the assembled Fairy Tail mages either belted out laughing or shook their heads in exasperation, leaving Daphne and Seamus' jaws practically hitting the floor.

"What. The. HELL!?" Daphne cried.

"Told you you wouldn't believe it," said Harry.

The next few days were extremely telling on Umbridge. She crawled into bed each night haggard and woke up each morning dreading the next day. It was a far cry indeed from her first night in the school under this new position, where she had been filled with greed and desire for power, and confident beyond measure that she would obtain it. Now, she herself was beginning to wish she could just leave the school behind. Every day was just wave after wave of stress… even without the persistent monster attacks.

Her grip on the school was loosening, and she could practically feel it slipping away. Particularly since a good deal of the students now seemed to be in open rebellion against her. Many of them were no longer turning up to her classes and spent their time instead duelling each other in the hallways. Sometimes she was able to catch them and place them in detention but they didn't show up for that either - blatantly ignoring any and all attempts for her to stamp down her authority. And Dumbledore's Army was at the fore of it all, leading the charge against her.

Not to mention she became the brunt of over a dozen practical jokes practically every day. They ranged greatly in their creativity, from a Dungbomb placed in one of her cupboards to a pretty complex spell that caused her feet to sink into the stone floor behind her desk and get stuck there for almost two hours as she screeched for help. And somehow Fred and George managed to slip a sweet from their new Skiving Snackboxes into her lunch, leading to spectacular explosion of vomit all over the teacher's table in the Great Hall, causing at least three quarters of the students to burst out laughing derisively at her.

Even threats of expulsion didn't seem enough to keep them in line. A couple of smarter students were quick to point out that Umbridge didn't yet have the authority to expel them for this. She haf the right to dismiss teachers, but only the Headmaster could expel any student in the school, while the Heads of Houses could expel anyone in their respective house. Umbridge was neither and she could only expel people if she discovered they were breaking the rules of any of any of the Ministry's Educational Decrees. Which, currently, they weren't.

Naturally Umbridge had gone storming straight to Dumbledore about this, demanding he expel the students she had caught immediately. But Dumbledore had simply smiled and given them a detention of his own. And it was a considerably nicer one that what Umbridge herself would have put them through.

She didn't want to just go crying to Fudge for help either. She wanted him to believe she had everything under control and that the Educational Decrees were just to help her along rather than be a lifeline.

Not to mention the half-breeds had not lessened their pursuit of her in the slightest. The werewolf was continuously the most common of her attackers, but every so often she would stumble across the others as well. Like the Harpies on the stairs to the Divination Tower when she was running late to inspect one of Trelawney's classes, or the Lizardman next to the Quidditch Pitch when she went out to watch the Slytherin Team practice. And both times, she'd again had a narrow escape.

And of course she'd return to her office every night, where she would fall powerfully under the effect of Freed's runes that were still very much in place and an overwhelming surge of paranoia and fear would descend upon her all over again.

It was safe to say that Umbridge was falling apart.

It seemed that only the Slytherins were still on her side if you didn't count Filch. They were the only ones still showing up to her classes and a couple of them tried to bully the rebelling students back under her control, but the efforts were not enough. But Umbridge was in serious need of some back up, which was why she was thinking heavily about making a special squad of loyal students who could carry out punishments and discipline for her since she couldn't be everywhere at once.

But after one particular Defence Against the Dark Arts class for the Fifth Year Slytherins, Umbridge was surprised to see one of her students staying behind.

"Miss Greengrass," she said quickly, already looking around nervously just in case the werewolf sprang out of nowhere again. "You… you should be getting to your next class."

"I know, Miss," Daphne said. "But first, there's something that I really think you need to know. And… it's about Harry Potter."

Umbridge looked up sharply. Naturally Harry hadn't been coming to his detentions either and ever since the uprising in the Great Hall he'd spent all his mealtimes surrounded by his friends, or his loyal followers as Umbridge liked to view them, and she hadn't dared to approach him again.

"What about him?" she asked sharply.

"Well, he's been sneaking out of the school at about seven in the evening for the past two nights and heading into the Forbidden Forest," Daphne said bemusedly. "I've been out by the lake those past two nights gathering some fresh bog myrtle for Professor Snape to use in his Potions Classes when I saw him hurrying across the grounds. I thought it was going to visit that idiot groundskeeper friend of his, but I saw him walk right past his hut and enter the Forest. Both times."

"You're certain?" Umbridge asked, her mind going a million miles a minute and her hands gripping her desk tightly. "You're sure it was Potter?"

"Definitely," Daphne nodded. "I don't know what he was doing out there, but I thought you should know, because he's clearly breaking the school rules just by going in that Forest. And he definitely looked shifty, though thankfully I don't think he saw me either time."

"I see," Umbridge whispered. "I see… well, thank you Miss Greengrass. I'll be sure to do something about this."

"No problem, Professor," Daphne smiled. "Just glad I could help." And with that she turned and strode out of the room, a little smirk appearing across her face as she exited. Harry had been right. Her part in the plan really had been a small one, but crucial all the same. Considering the amount of mutiny Umbridge was receiving from the other students if anyone from the other Houses, even Zacharias Smith, had told her that she would have considered it a trap. But hopefully, since Daphne was a Slytherin, the possibility wouldn't even cross her mind.

And indeed it didn't. Umbridge's entire focus for the rest of the day was wondering what Harry could possibly be up to. What motive could he have for going out into the forest so late in the evening? She never once considered that Daphne could be lying to her, and it only took her an hour to become obsessed with finding out the answer for herself.

Because whatever it was, she was absolutely certain that he was either plotting against the Ministry out there, if not just against her.

That evening, Umbridge hurried out into the courtyard, used a Disillusionment Charm on herself to hide in a shadowy corner and waited. There was no way she'd be able to sleep that night until she found out the truth. She had to know. She had to know what Harry was doing out there, and she had to know now!

Sure enough, Harry came sloping out of the front door at about five to seven in the evening, looking around carefully to make sure he wasn't being followed. But he failed to spot Umbridge in the corner, and the toad-faced woman watched him beadily as he crept through the courtyard and began to hurry his way across the grounds, making a beeline straight for the forest just like Daphne had said. And Umbridge scuttled along in his wake, trying to match her footsteps with his so he wouldn't hear his pursuer. A couple of times he looked over his shoulder, but in the dimming light of evening it looked like he didn't notice her either time.

Umbridge wasn't even sure whether to feel excited or scared about what she might discover.

Though when she actually reached the edge of the forest, for a moment she became mostly scared. Those trees would be the perfect place for one of those half-breed monsters to attack her. But her thirst for dirt on Potter proved too much for her to resist, and she pushed on into the trees regardless.

For a couple of minutes she fretted that she might have lost track of him, but it wasn't long before she heard voices up ahead. Crouching low, she slunk from tree-trunk to tree-trunk until she could discern what was being said. There were two people speaking. One was definitely Harry and the other was unfamiliar to her.

"…look promising, do they?" she heard the unknown voice saying.

"Very much so, yes," Harry replied. "She's definitely close to the breaking point, I can feel it. I reckon we've got less than a week before she finally snaps and tries to flee. That is if our monsters don't actually kill her first."

Umbridge felt her blood try to turn into ice and fire at the same time. She had absolutely no doubt that Potter was talking about her! So, he was aware of the monsters attacking her!

"Nevertheless I feel uncomfortable about one part of this whole enterprise," the unfamiliar voice said and as Umbridge peered around the tree she saw Harry striding into view alongside a centaur. Her gut curdled at the sight of the 'disgusting half-breed' but she suppressed the bile and diverted all her energy to her ears. She didn't want to miss a word of this conversation and she had faith her Disillusionment Charm would conceal her even from a centaur.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Implicating Hagrid in all of this, of course," Firenze, for that was who it was, shook his head. "Is it really okay to let Umbridge run believing that he was the mastermind for all those monster attacks when it was, in fact, you? You know she'll seek vengeance against him."

"What can she do though? She doesn't have any proof that any monsters are attacking her at all - we've been very careful to make sure of that. She can't tell anyone without sounding like a complete idiot. And if she does come up with some way to convince people… well… Hagrid's as good a fall guy as any. I just want that ugly… flappy-faced… bitch out of the school."

"As do I," Firenze sighed. "If she were to take over the school, it would only be a matter of time before she made things drastically worse for my kind."

"She won't be able to touch you when she's out of there. I still wish you centaurs could help us out in scaring her. You'd love the looks on her faces, believe me."

"Sadly we would be quite a bit harder to hide than the other monsters we rounded up for you."

"Harder to hide than the lizardman? He's difficult but we seem to manage."

"Fair point, but I'd still rather make sure we at least couldn't be implicated if this goes south."

"I understand. But it won't go south. We've got her right where we want her now. A couple more werewolf attacks and she'll go crying back to Fudge with her tail between her legs."

"And then maybe more people will believe your stories about The Dark Lord's return."

"Exactly. She's been completely disrupting all the control I could have over the other students if they believed only I could save them from an evil that doesn't even exist! Half the school would be looking to me as their saviour already if it wasn't for her!"

Umbridge's eyeballs were practically trying to jump out of her skull. The ice in her blood had now turned into lava and she could feel her entire body trembling with near uncontrollable rage! So this was it, huh? All this time she'd wondered if she might be going crazy, been completely unable to think of how Hagrid could be organising the attacks on her when he never seemed to be anywhere nearby… but no! It was Potter! All along the one right underneath her nose had been undermining her with his collection of monsters. It all made so much sense now! A collaboration between Potter and the centaurs to oust the Ministry presence from the school. Nobody had more cause than Potter to want her gone after all… and now… she was hearing the proof! Straight from the horse's mouth, almost literally!

There were, of course, other unanswered questions. Questions like how Harry was actually controlling all these half-breed beasts and why nobody but her could see the werewolf! But in the heat of her anger, those questions didn't even enter Umbridge's head. Her already frayed and paranoid mind, after weeks of living in fear at Harry's hand, was boiling too much for them to even occur to her!

"And should the Ministry send a replacement to fill in her spot?" Firenze asked.

"Whoever they send, I highly doubt they'll be as repulsive as Umbridge. But don't worry, we'll take care of them too somehow. Probably not in the same way - we don't want to give further credence to what Umbridge might say. But we'll find a way."

"Very well," Firenze nodded. "Then I wish you luck in the final push to get her out of here."

"I'll be sure to come and tell you as soon as she's gone."

"Farewell, Harry Potter."

"See you soon."

Umbridge could feel her hand trembling as the centaur made its way off into the trees, gripping her wand so tightly that it was a wonder it hadn't snapped yet. She'd never liked Harry of course, but the one piece of comfort she'd been able to find in the misery and fear of the last few weeks had been believing that she had at least been making his life hell. To hear now that he'd been orchestrating everything that was making her own life hell instead… it was more than she could bear!

The High Inquisitor was seeing red!

But her common sense was clinging on by a thread! She knew that the best way to sort all of this out was to go back, compile what evidence she could and then give it to Fudge to make sure Harry was questioning, given Veritaserum if necessary to make him confirm it all before the Wizengamot. It was a massive struggle to keep herself from launching out into the open and firing off every spell she could think of in his direction in blind rage!

Then something dropped out of the tree next to Harry, landing in a crouch beside him and pushing up onto its hind legs to tower over him. Umbridge's heart leapt straight into her throat! There it was - the werewolf! She was fairly certain she'd recognise this one by now even from amongst an entire pack of werewolves. And Harry was looking right at it! He could see it!

"Go," he said to it. "Watch Umbridge closely tomorrow and be ready. I want you to strike at her this time when she's in the middle of using the toilet. Let's see how undignified she can look if she ends up running through the corridors with her skirt down. Not that that's an image I ever want to think about ever… but let's go with it anyway."

The werewolf snarled, but dipped its head to Harry as if actually bowing to him, before turning and bolting off in the direction of the castle at breakneck speed!

And with it, went the last thread of Umbridge's self-restraint! Hearing Harry planning out a future attack on her was the final straw!

With an enraged snarl she broke cover and launched a silent Stunning Spell right for Harry's back. But Harry seemed to hear her and whirled around as soon as she was out in the open, spotting her just in time to make a frenzied leap out of the way, rolling awkwardly back onto his feet just as Umbridge fired another spell. "PROTEGO!" Harry cried, blocking the attack with a swiftly raised Shield Charm, but now both he and Umbridge were facing off against each other.

"You!?" Harry gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Umbridge ignored the question. "You've gone too far this time Potter," she growled. "I heard everything. "Detention's not good enough this time. Neither is expulsion! I'm going to see to it you're given a life sentence for this! Maybe even the Dementor's Kiss!"

Apparently there was no need for other words because Umbridge charged forwards, a hail of spells unleashing from the end of her wand like bullets - many of which Harry didn't recognise. But he quickly dived behind a tree, using it for cover to spin around and fire back, a couple of Stunners and a Petrificus Totalus spell zinging their way straight towards Umbridge's face. But she proved herself to be at least a capable duellist by turning them aside and firing an Incarcerous spell right back. Harry dove forwards just as the ropes snapped around the tree trunk - had he stayed there a second longer he would have been pinned to the tree. But he whirled himself around and cried, "FOLICTUS!"

Instantly the leaves littering the forest floor flew upwards and started plastering themselves in against Umbridge's face and body, splatting across her clothes and pasting their way over her eyes. Umbridge's arms flailed in a bid to get them off, but she had the presence of mind to blindly cast a Shield Charm that blocked the two Stunning Spells Harry sent flying her way next.

With an almost rabid cry, she heaved the leaves off her face and cried, "CRUCIO!"

Harry gasped and dodged his way out of the path of the spell. "Hey!" he cried. "That's illegal! You can't use the Unforgivable Curses like that!"

"I DON'T CARE!" Umbridge screeched. "YOU TRIED TO MAKE MY LIFE HELL! AND I WILL RETURN THE FAVOUR TENFOLD! CRUCIO!"

Harry ducked behind a tree again and yelled, "Well, what did you expect? You think I was just going to sit back and let you discredit me and ruin the school!? Guess again! Whatever it takes, Umbridge, I'm getting you out of here!"

And quite abruptly he fired a Blasting Hex up into the tree canopy, shattering several branches above Umbridge's head before leaping from his hiding place and pelting towards the edge of the school. Umbridge swiftly dispersed the falling branches and even caught some of them with her magic and fired them in Harry's direction like spinning batons, but a quick Impediment Jinx over the shoulder froze them in place. The Defence Against the Dark Arts professor immediately dashed forwards in pursuit of the fleeing student, incensed at his attempt to escape from her and firing hex after hex at him.

"Get back here, Potter! There's nowhere for you to run this time! Even if you escape me you won't escape the Ministry's justice!"

"What justice!? The Ministry's been doing squat in that regard for months!" Harry yelled back over his shoulder.

By now he'd already cleared the treeline and was out on the school grounds, and as Umbridge rushed out of the trees as well she allowed a wide smirk to split her face. Out here Harry had no cover, and she intended to take full advantage of that!

"STUPEFY! STUPEFY! STUPEFY!" she screamed repeatedly, red jets of light sweeping across the grass like an angry swarm of fireflies. Harry twisted rapidly from left to right, dodging wildly with all the quick reflexes of a Seeker, but several of the spells came dangerously close to hitting him.

Umbridge closed in behind him, moving surprisingly quickly for a woman with such short legs. But she practically jumped out of her skin when a loud screech rent the air, and she spun around to see one of the Harpies sweeping in towards her with talons raised, already within mere metres of her. In a flash she dropped to the ground, the snatching claws of the half-bird closing right where her head had just been. But equally quickly she scrambled back to her feet and sprinted after Harry again even as the Harpy came around for another pass. It settled on the ground and charged at her with wings spread wide, forcing her to turn around and deal with it.

"GET BACK YOU FILTHY HALFBREED!" she cried. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A green jet of light spurted from her wand, and the Harpy seemed to recognise it because it kicked off from the ground just in time for the spell to slip beneath its tailfeathers. The avian twisted around in mid-air as Umbridge followed up with two more Killing Curses, but the Senior Undersecretary didn't try too hard to finish it off. She was much more concerned with chasing its master down, which was why she turned round and dashed off after Harry again.

But the Harpy had at least bought Harry some distance by this point, enough that it was much harder for Umbridge to get a good shot at him for the rest of the run back up towards the castle. And it was there that Harry met up with Ron and Hermione in the doors of the Entrance Hall, who had been waiting for him to return.

"Looks like things are going to plan," Ron whispered as he drew level with them.

"So far," Harry nodded. "But we need to keep her mad!"

"On it," Hermione agreed, before jumping in front of Harry to block a Stunning spell aimed for the back of his head. "Oh no, you don't! You've caused enough trouble for this school already! Get her, Lizardman!"

Umbridge became aware of a shadow across her and looked up with a gasp as the enormous reptilian man dropped down from the walls above her, with armoured fists raised. Two frenzied Stunning Spells just pinged off his armour, but an Impediment Jinx slowed him down just enough for Umbridge to sprint out of the way and duck through the front doors, charging after the trio of students who were now all fleeing together.

"Why am I not surprised you two were in on it!" she raged, almost forgetting the Lizardman was even there as she rushed up the first flight of steps.

"Cos you're a foul little asswipe and we hate you!? suggested Ron, as he and Harry turned around together and slashed their wands, causing a couple of tapestries to jump off the walls on either side of the corridor and trying to smother Umbridge completely. Furiously the short witch slashed and hacked them apart with her wand, all but foaming at the mouth in her rage and kept running!

But as they ran, Harry, Ron and Hermione all very quickly stopped fighting back against Umbridge. They just ran and used Shield Charms to cover each other and block her own attacks without throwing any in retaliation. It wasn't long before they stumbled across several Hufflepuff students on their way back to the dormitory after their Gobstones club, but they were quick to shoulder right past them and continue on their way. Umbridge was not so polite - she actively stunned a couple of them and propelled the others into the walls so she had a clear path in pursuit of her targets.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRATS!" Umbridge hollered, but obviously they ignored her and rounded the next corner, where they found Ginny waiting for them in the doorway of one of the classrooms, and in her hands was the Marauder's Map.

"Two floors up on the way to Dumbledore's office," Ginny whispered loudly, before withdrawing into the classroom and shutting the door before Umbridge could see her. Hermione quickly took the lead and together they bolted up yet another flight of steps, Umbridge hard on their heels.

"Get ready!" Harry hissed.

A mad helter-skelter through the corridors and up the stairs, and Umbridge was still right after them. But quite abruptly Harry rounded another corner and seemed to trip over his own feet, falling onto his front with a painful looking crash and his glasses going flying. Ron and Hermione's momentum kept them running several metres before they could pull themselves to a stop and by that time Umbridge was already upon Harry.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" she shouted before Ron or Hermione could raise their wands, each one slipping out of their fingers like a wet eel to be caught in Umbridge's stubby hand. Harry tried to scramble back onto his feet, but Umbridge actively kicked him onto his back and stabbed her wand right down at his chest.

"Crucio!" she sneered.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAH! AAAAHH! GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Harry bellowed as pain erupted across every inch of his skin - unimaginable pain that made even the searing flashes of agony he'd get in his scar every so often look timid. He writhed and thrashed on the stone floor, his limbs going every which way like a marionette puppet with tangled strings, and Umbridge leered down at him, heaving for breath but relishing in his pain. All that rage, all of that adrenaline, all the terror and embarrassment that she'd been feeling for weeks. She was going to make him feel all of that! EVERY SINGLE DROP!

"STOP IT!" Hermione screamed. "PLEASE! STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"HE DESERVES THIS!" Umbridge screamed. "HE DESERVES EVERY SINGLE IOTA OF…!"

"DOLORES!"

Even over the sound of Harry's screaming and her own yelling, Umbridge heard that one voice… and immediately her blood ran cold. Her own wand dropped nervelessly from her hand, leading to Harry sagging into an exhausted heap as Ron and Hermione quickly rushed to his side. Practically hearing her own body squeaking like a rusty door, Umbridge slowly looked up past the three gasping students to the other end of the corridor.

There stood Dumbledore, looking visibly furious! A burning presence of anger unlike anything that she'd ever witnessed before was radiating out from him. At his side stood McGonagall, who looked no different. She looked like she was having to physically fight down the urge to hurtle down the corridor and punch Umbridge straight in the mouth.

But they weren't why Umbridge's mouth and throat had suddenly become as dry as the Sahara. That happened because next to Dumbledore, with eyes as cold and hard as flint stood…

"A…A…Amelia…" Umbridge squeaked. "Why are you…?"

"What… in the wide world… do you think you're doing?" Madame Bones snarled.