Chapter 59:
"You think," she whispered, bending Harry's neck back even farther. "that after two nifflers I was going to let one more foul, scavenging little creature enter my office without my knowledge? I had Stealth Sensoring Spells placed all around my doorway after the last one got in, you foolish boy. Take his wand," she barked at Malfoy, who put a hand inside the chest pocket of his robes and remove the wand. "Theirs too…" Malfoy took Alicia's, smirking as he did and she eyed him. As if that was going to be enough to let him keep a hold of her.
Alicia wanted to curse herself for not thinking of Sensory spells. Hermione was right, of course she'd add extra protection.
"I want to know why you are in my office," said Umbridge, shaking the fist clutching his hair so that Harry staggered.
"I was — trying to get my Firebolt!" Harry croaked. Alicia rolled her eyes, what a terrible lie.
"Liar." She shook his head again. "Your Firebolt is under strict guard in the dungeons, as you very well know, Potter. You had your head in my fire. With whom have you been communicating?"
"No one —" said Harry, trying to pull away from her. Alicia felt the pain in her own scalp as some of his hairs were clearly removed.
"Liar!" shouted Umbridge. She threw him from her, and he slammed into the desk. He could now see Hermione pinned, Alicia with her arms behind her back and Malfoy holding her, both Potter's wands sticking from his pocket.
There was a commotion outside and several large Slytherins entered, each gripping Ron, Ginny, Luna, and — surprisingly enough — Neville, who was trapped in a stranglehold by Crabbe and looked in imminent danger of suffocation. All four of them had been gagged.
"Got 'em all," said Warrington, shoving Ron roughly forward into the room. "That one." he poked a thick finger at Neville, "tried to stop me taking her," he pointed at Ginny, who was trying to kick the shins of the large Slytherin girl holding her, "so I brought him along too."
"Good, good," said Umbridge, watching Ginny's struggles. "Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn't it?"
Malfoy laughed loudly and sycophantically. Umbridge gave her wide, complacent smile and settled herself into a chintz-covered armchair, blinking up at her captives like a toad in a flowerbed.
"So, Potter," she said. "You stationed lookouts around my office and you sent this buffoon," she nodded at Ron, and Malfoy laughed even louder, "to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school telescopes, Mr. Filch having just informed me so."
Alicia wanted to grumble at Peeves making a nuisance, something she hadn't done since Fred and George had left but kept silent as she stared at the women.
"Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone…"
Malfoy and a few of the other members of the Inquisitorial Squad laughed some more at that. Harry was so full of rage and hatred he was shaking and Alicia had to take several breaths to keep it from infecting her as well, despite how she herself wanted to hex them all.
"It's none of your business who I talk to," he snarled.
Umbridge's slack face seemed to tighten.
"Very well," she said in her most dangerous and falsely sweet voice. "Miss Evans, you'll clearly know." she turned to Alicia. The girl however looked around as though trying to find who she was talking too.
"Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me? I didn't know seeing as you addressed me incorrectly." Alicia said smiling sweetly. Umbridge stared at her, still smiling.
"Whom was Mr Potter talking to?" she demanded
"Well I don't know if you noticed, but my head wasn't the one in the fireplace, so I wouldn't really know now would I?" Alicia responded, talking to Umbridge as though she was a four year old who needed explaining to. It was the same tone Umbridge used on them in their first few lessons. Umbridge was likely to punish them as far as even expel them so Alicia lost all care for holding back or mocking her.
"You will show some respect and answer the question." Umbridge responded
"I'll show some respect when you earn it." Alicia snapped back. Umbridge was still smiling, clearly enjoying the fact that Alicia was going to let her give the toad women a reason to punish her.
"Very well, Mr. Potter… Miss Evans… I offered you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Draco — fetch Professor Snape."
Alicia blinked before she groaned and dropped her head. She ignored as Malfoy let her go and moved from the room smirking.
How stupid of them! They snuck into Umbridge's office because they'd had no way of contacting Sirius or the order and yet Snape was still here! He was a member of the order! McGonagall wasn't the only one!
All this trouble when there was another way.
And thinking of another way! Alicia had totally forgotten about Harry's mirror! They could have even used that but no, they did it the hard way, and even after Alicia knew better the last time Harry did this!
There was silence in the office except for the fidgetings and scufflings resultant from the Slytherins' efforts to keep Ron and the others under control. Ron's lip was bleeding onto Umbridge's carpet as he struggled against Warrington's half nelson. Ginny was still trying to stamp on the feet of the sixth-year girl who had both her upper arms in a tight grip. Neville was turning steadily more purple in the face while tugging at Crabbe's arms, and Hermione was attempting vainly to throw Millicent Bulstrode off her. Luna, however, stood limply by the side of her captor, gazing vaguely out of the window as though rather bored by the proceedings.
Alicia moved to stand beside Harry and he glanced at her.
Why did we forget Snape? she questioned
Cause he's a git. Alicia rolled her eyes before turning back to Umbridge who was watching them closely.
You know you should've held her tongue before. Harry thought
If she's going to kick us out of the school anyway, I'm not giving her anymore pleasantries. Alicia admitted as footsteps were heard in the corridor outside and Draco Malfoy came back into the room, holding open the door for Snape.
"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" said Snape, looking around at all the pairs of struggling students with an expression of complete indifference.
"Ah, Professor Snape," said Umbridge, smiling widely and standing up again. "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."
"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter and Evans," he said, observing her coolly through his greasy curtains of black hair.
"Of which she failed miserably." Alicia mumbled, a few heads turning in her direction, Umbridge and Snape being two of them.
"Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient." Snape continued
Umbridge flushed.
"You can make some more, can't you?" she said, her voice becoming more sweetly girlish as it always did when she was furious.
"Certainly," said Snape, his lip curling. "It takes a full moon cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in around a month."
"A month?" squawked Umbridge, swelling toadishly. "A month? But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!"
"Really?" said Snape, showing his first, faint sign of interest as he looked around at Harry. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules."
His cold, dark eyes were boring into Harry's, who met his gaze unflinchingly. Alicia hoped Snape would read his memory in that fleeting moment or feel what he felt, Snape had had enough practice getting into their heads that it would seem easy now.
"I wish to interrogate him!" shouted Umbridge angrily, and Snape looked away from Harry back into her furiously quivering face. "I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!"
"I have already told you," said Snape smoothly, "that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter — and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy with you if you did — I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling…"
Snape looked back at Harry, and then to Alicia both of them making eye contact and Alicia making sure not to accidentally move into Snape's mind. She'd done it with Harry on a few occasions and knew Snape would just get angry at it.
She heard Harry doing the same as he opened his mind like a photo album.
Voldemort's got Sirius in the Department of Mysteries, he thought desperately. Voldemort's got Sirius —
"You are on probation!" shrieked Professor Umbridge, and Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised. "You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!"
Snape gave her an ironic bow and turned to leave. And the Harry spoke.
"He's got Padfoot!" he shouted. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!" Alicia sighed. Seriously?
Snape had stopped with his hand on Umbridge's door handle.
"Padfoot?" cried Professor Umbridge, looking eagerly from Harry to Snape. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?"
Snape looked around at Harry. His face was inscrutable. Alicia was not surprised, he could not show recognition or Umbridge would see it.
"I have no idea," said Snape coldly. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if ever you apply for a job."
He closed the door behind him with a snap. Alicia turned back to Umbridge before she felt the utter despair and disappointment from Harry.
He was our last hope… Harry mumbled and he looked at Alicia. To tell the Order.
What are you talking about, you just did? she rose an eyebrow confused
And he didn't get it!
Course he did, didn't you see the way he paused.
But he said—
Course he did, you want him to say he understood in front of Umbridge!? she demanded. Harry didn't look convinced but turned back to Umbridge who had begun muttering to herself.
"Very well," she said, and she pulled out her wand. "Very well… I am left with no alternative… This is more than a matter of school discipline… This is an issue of Ministry security… Yes… yes…"
Alicia was surprised at how right she was, only she was looking at the wrong culprits. Alicia, though knowing it would in no way help, wondered for an instant what could happen if they told Umbridge Voldemort had broken into the Ministry.
The women in question seemed to be talking herself into something. She was shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot, staring at Harry and Alicia, beating her wand against her empty palm and breathing heavily.
"You are forcing me, Potter… I do not want to," said Umbridge, still moving restlessly on the spot, "but sometimes circumstances justify the use… I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice…"
Malfoy was watching her with a hungry expression on his face.
"The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue," said Umbridge quietly.
"No!" shrieked Hermione. "Professor Umbridge — it's illegal" — but Umbridge took no notice. There was a nasty, eager, excited look on her face that Harry had never seen before. She raised her wand.
"Nothing we haven't felt before, but that, unfortunately, didn't beat anything out of us." Alicia replied. But she immediately felt worried and guarded, watching Umbridge's wand. She couldn't blow off the pain of the unforgivable curse even if she hadn't felt it, it's whole purpose was pain.
"You haven't felt this." Umbridge believed
"Wow, clearly you haven't read our article in the Quibbler Professor because Voldemort tortured us with that so, yeah actually, we have." Umbridge looked even more furious as Alicia brought what the women called lies into the mix. Hermione however was beside herself unlike Alicia.
"The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, Professor Umbridge!" cried Hermione.
"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him," said Umbridge, who was now panting slightly as she pointed her wand at different parts of Harry's body in turn, apparently trying to decide what would hurt the most. "He never knew I ordered dementors after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same…"
Alicia stared shocked, her mouth falling open. She'd been absolutely sure Voldemort had done that!
"It was you?" gasped Harry. "You sent the dementors after me?"
"Somebody had to act," breathed Umbridge, as her wand came to rest pointing directly at Harry's forehead. "They were all bleating about silencing you somehow — discrediting you — but I was the one who actually did something about it… Only you wriggled out of that one, didn't you, Potter? Not today, though, not now…"
Alicia had to think fast, something, anything she could give Umbridge that might catch her off guard or catch her attention.
The women took a deep breath, she cried, "Cruc —"
"NO!" shouted Hermione in a cracked voice from behind Millicent Bulstrode. "No — Harry — Harry, we'll have to tell her!"
"No way!" yelled Harry, staring at the little of Hermione he could see. Alicia looked at the girl, Hermione wasn't stupid and wouldn't give the real reason they were here…
She watched Hermione carefully.
"We'll have to, Harry, she'll force it out of you anyway, what's… what's the point…?"
And Hermione began to cry weakly into the back of Millicent Bulstrode's robes. Millicent stopped trying to squash her against the wall immediately and dodged out of her way looking disgusted.
"Well, well, well!" said Umbridge, looking triumphant. "Little Miss Question-All is going to give us some answers! Come on then, girl, come on!"
"Er — my — nee — no!" shouted Ron through his gag.
Ginny was staring at Hermione as though she had never seen her before; Neville, still choking for breath, was gazing at her too. Alicia looked at her carefully, she'd seen Hermione through all her emotions and right now, though Hermione was sobbing desperately into her hands, there was no trace of a tear…
Hermione's brain had worked quicker than Alicia's and outsmarted her. She couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly and looked at Harry who also looked expectant.
"I'm — I'm sorry everyone," said Hermione. "But — I can't stand it —"
"That's right, that's right, girl!" said Umbridge, seizing Hermione by the shoulders, thrusting her into the abandoned chintz chair and leaning over her. "Now then… with whom was Potter communicating just now?"
"Well," gulped Hermione into her hands, "well, he was trying to speak to Professor Dumbledore…"
Ron froze, his eyes wide; Ginny stopped trying to stamp on her Slytherin captor's toes; even Luna looked mildly surprised. Fortunately, the attention of Umbridge and her minions was focused too exclusively upon Hermione to notice these suspicious signs.
"Dumbledore?" said Umbridge eagerly. "You know where Dumbledore is, then?"
"Well… no!" sobbed Hermione. "We've tried the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley and the Three Broomsticks and even the Hog's Head —"
"Idiot girl, Dumbledore won't be sitting in a pub when the whole Ministry's looking for him!" shouted Umbridge, disappointment etched in every sagging line of her face.
"But — but we needed to tell him something important!" wailed Hermione, holding her hands more tightly over her face, not, Harry knew, out of anguish, but to disguise the continued absence of tears.
"Yes?" said Umbridge with a sudden resurgence of excitement. "What was it you wanted to tell him?"
"Hermione, you can't." Alicia said pushing a look of horror onto her face. "He told us in confidence!" Umbridge looked even more eagerly at Hermione now and Harry glanced at Alicia who gave him a very quick satisfied look before replacing it with betrayal.
"We… we wanted to tell him it's r-ready!" choked Hermione.
"What's ready?" demanded Umbridge, and now she grabbed Hermione's shoulders again and shook her slightly. "What's ready, girl?"
"The… the weapon," said Hermione.
"Weapon? Weapon?" said Umbridge, and her eyes seemed to pop with excitement. "You have been developing some method of resistance? A weapon you could use against the Ministry? On Professor Dumbledore's orders, of course?"
"Y-y-yes," gasped Hermione. "But he had to leave before it was finished and n-n-now we've finished it for him, and we c-c-can't find him t-t-to tell him!"
"What kind of weapon is it?" said Umbridge harshly, her stubby hands still tight on Hermione's shoulders.
"We don't r-r-really understand it," said Hermione, sniffing loudly. "We j-j-just did what P-P-Professor Dumbledore told us t-t-to do…"
Umbridge straightened up, looking exultant.
"Lead me to the weapon," she said.
"I'm not showing… them," said Hermione shrilly, looking around at the Slytherins through her fingers.
"It is not for you to set conditions," said Professor Umbridge harshly.
"Then I guess we just won't show it to you." Alicia snapped, Umbridge glanced at her to see her glaring at Hermione. She seemed happy with this fact.
"Fine," said Hermione, now sobbing into her hands again, "fine… let them see it, I hope they use it on you! In fact, I wish you'd invite loads and loads of people to come and see! Th-that would serve you right — oh, I'd love it if the wh-whole school knew where it was, and how to u-use it, and then if you annoy any of them they'll be able to s-sort you out!"
These words had a powerful impact on Umbridge. She glanced swiftly and suspiciously around at her Inquisitorial Squad, her bulging eyes resting for a moment on Malfoy, who was too slow to disguise the look of eagerness and greed that had appeared on his face.
Umbridge contemplated Hermione for another long moment and then spoke in what she clearly thought was a motherly voice. "All right, dear, let's make it just you and me… and we'll take Potter and Evans too, shall we? Get up, now —"
"Professor," said Malfoy eagerly, "Professor Umbridge, I think some of the squad should come with you to look after —"
"I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Malfoy, do you really think I cannot manage three wandless teenagers alone?" asked Umbridge sharply. "In any case, it does not sound as though this weapon is something that schoolchildren should see. You will remain here until I return and make sure none of these" — she gestured around at Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna — "escape."
"All right," said Malfoy, looking sulky and disappointed.
"And you three can go ahead of me and show me the way," said Umbridge, pointing at Harry, Alicia and Hermione with her wand. "Lead on…"