Harry walked out of the Hospital Wing, then continued on to Care of Magical Creatures, still a look of no emotion on his face. He saw a few Slytherin girls giggling, as they exited the Entrance Hall to go to Care of Magical Creatures anyway. Harry wondered what they were giggling for, and started walking faster so he could hear parts of their conversation. He was unsuccessful since they got to class a few minutes before he could hear them. He walked over to Daphne and Ron, and instantly Daphne could tell something was wrong, since he didn't hug her or kiss her. "Harry, what is it?" Daphne asked him. Harry replied through gritted teeth "I'll tell you later." She nodded her head at him, but that didn't stop her look of worry.
"Is it really true Potter?" Harry could hear Malfoy's drawling voice ask him. He turned around and saw Malfoy leaning on a tree. "Is what true Malfoy?" he asked him, trying to keep his temper down. "Is it true that that mudblood Granger got attacked and is now in the Hospital Wing?" he asked with a smile on his face. Harry didn't know what happened, but he did know he was no longer in control of his body. He snapped when he heard Malfoy call Hermione a mudblood, and before Ron or Daphne could hold him back, he was already by Malfoy. He pulled his fist back, and punched Malfoy in the head hard. The only sound you could hear was his fist hitting Malfoy's face, and Malfoy's head hitting the tree trunk in return.
By the time Harry realized what he did, all of the Slytherin girls were screaming, and a crimson liquid was escaping from Malfoy's head. "Out of the way. Out the WAY!" Hagrid told the students, who had formed into a circle. When he reached the center of the circle, all he could see was Malfoy unconscious and bleeding badly, and Harry huffing hardly. "Harry, you get on up to Professor McGonagall's Office, NOW!" Hagrid roared, as he picked up Malfoy's limp body and started heading to the Hospital Wing. Since it was apparent class was now over, Daphne and Ron went with Harry as he headed to McGonagall's Office. "What was that all about Harry?" Daphne asked. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you Harry? You could've killed Malfoy." Ron told him.
Harry turned around and told them about how he found Hermione, and exactly why he punched the mess out of Malfoy's head. Daphne brought her hands up to her mouth, and Ron looked murderous when Harry finished explaining what happened. "I'm going to the Hospital Wing." Daphne told them both, and ran off in the direction of the Hospital Wing. "Sorry mate, but I'm going to the Hospital Wing too." Ron told him, as he ran to the Hospital Wing with Daphne. Harry wanted to be alone, and continued heading to Professor McGonagall's Office. He arrived there in five minutes time, and knocked on the door. "Come in." McGonagall's voice replied. She looked up to see who was entering, and was shocked to see Harry. "What are you doing here Mr. Potter? Shouldn't you be in Care of Magical Creatures?" she asked him.
He sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk, then told her bluntly "I punched Malfoy in the face, and now he's in the Hospital Wing." McGonagall looked at Harry with shock and anger in her eyes, then she asked him "What drove you to do such an act?" Harry explained about how he found Hermione who was attacked, and what happened when he went to class. McGonagall's look of shock and anger turned into a look of sadness, when he explained about Hermione. She raised from her chair, and walked to her fireplace, and Floo-called Sirius. "Sirius, can you come to my office for a moment? I have your godson in here with me." she asked him. She withdrew her head from the fireplace, and a moment later Sirius came out of the fireplace. "Harry, what did you do?" Sirius asked. Harry bit his tongue, since he felt his temper rising again. He then calmly told Sirius about everything that happened since their parting, after taking several relaxing breaths. "Harry, you didn't?" Sirius asked in exasperation. "I did, but then again I didn't." Harry told him. "How didn't you do it?" Sirius asked. "After I heard Malfoy call Hermione a mudblood, I blacked out. The next thing I know, he's on the ground bleeding heavily." Harry told him.
Sirius muttered "You must have one heck of a right hook, just like your dad." Harry snickered when Sirius said this. "The reason I called you here Sirius, is to discuss Mr. Potter's punishment, as this is a serious matter." Professor McGonagall told Sirius. "That it is Minerva. Let's see, ten points from Gryffindor, and a weeks worth of detention of your choice." Sirius told McGonagall. "That is feasible. Thank you, Professor Black." McGonagall told him. "Harry, you're detentions will start tonight at six o'clock." McGonagall told him. "Sorry Professor, but I can't do it tonight. I already have a detention with Umbridge." he told her. McGonagall rubbed the bridge on her nose, then told Harry "A little word of advice, don't mess with Umbridge. She works for the Ministry, and I'm pretty sure you know what that means. Meanwhile, please stop getting into pointless altercations with Mr. Malfoy."
Harry muttered "I will if he will stop messing with me and my friends, and stop acting like he owns the school." Sirius laughed at his godson, while McGonagall gave Harry a look of disapproval. "I'll escort him to the Gryffindor Common Room to make sure he doesn't get into anymore fights." Sirius told Professor McGonagall. She nodded at him, then went back to her paperwork. Harry and Sirius walked out of the office, and headed off towards the Gryffindor Common Room. "Harry, you really are like your father. Except, he would have cursed his opponent or enemy instead of punched them in a fit of rage. Then we all would've pranked them the day after. Oh the life of the Marauders." Sirius told him. Harry just chose to stay quiet for the remainder of the walk to the Common Room.
Sirius stopped him, then grabbed both of his shoulders, causing Harry to look up from the ground. "Harry is there anything you want to tell me?" Harry looked into his godfather's eyes and saw true genuine concern. "It's just… I feel so angry all of the time. I don't know what to do, Sirius. Hermione wouldn't have gotten attacked if I hadn't yelled at her. Now she's in the Hospital Wing." Sirius told Harry "It's not your fault that Hermione is in the Hospital Wing. It's whoever attacked her for whatever reason they attacked her. We'll find out when Madam Pomfrey fixes her right up. Remember Harry, never doubt yourself for any reason." Sirius patted Harry's shoulder, and Harry actually smiled. It was an enjoyable walk back to the Common Room, with Sirius telling Harry more stories about his dad.
"Your father was a legend when it came to four things: Quidditch, Pranking, Defense Against The Dark Arts, and being quite the Ladies Man. Of course, I was quite the Ladies Man in my day. I still am, I just didn't like the idea of being tied down to one woman, until I saw Courtney again. She was the only one I actually considered settling down with. Then I got chucked into Azkaban." Sirius told Harry as they arrived to the Fat Lady's portrait. "Mimbulus Mimbletonia." Harry told the Fat Lady, and she swung her portrait open. Harry gave Sirius a much needed hug, and walked into the Common Room. Sirius waved bye to Harry, and started walking back to his office, as he was behind on his paperwork. Harry saw Daphne and Ron sitting by the fire, waiting for him. Both were silent when he approached, and Harry asked them "Who died?" Daphne walked over to Harry, and whispered in his ear "I'm so sorry." Harry looked at her, then looked at Ron. By the look on his face, he could guess who. "No, it's not possible. Madam Pomfrey can heal almost anything. There's no way Hermione's dead." H
He got up off of the couch he was on, then started running toward the Hospital Wing. He could hear the Fat Lady yell behind him "IF YOU WERE GOING TO COME BACK OUT, WHY COME IN?!" He ignored her and kept running towards the Hospital Wing. He got there in five minutes, and bursted through the doors, where he saw Hermione's parents by her bed. He walked over to the bed and saw Hermione's motionless body, devoid of any color. "No, no, NO! Hermione, wake up. Please, Hermione WAKE UP!" he yelled shaking her body. Hermione's dad pulled Harry away into a hug, and said "She's gone, Harry. She's gone." Harry pulled away from the hug, and ran out of the Hospital Wing towards the Entrance Hall. He didn't care that it was almost dark, but he needed to go outside and fly around to clear his head.
He exited the huge double doors to lead to the grounds, and as soon as they closed he transformed into an eagle. He took to the skies and flew around the Astronomy Tower and the Gryffindor Tower. The wind through his feathers really helped him calm down, and he landed on the ground, and transformed into a wolf. He howled to the moon in mourning of his friend. He howled at the moon for at least half an hour, before he turned into a snowy owl and flew up to the Gryffindor Tower window. He looked through the window and saw Ron and Daphne still sitting where he left them. He pecked on the window a few times, and waited for one of them to come open the window. Daphne thought it was Hedwig so she went and opened the window, and waited for Harry to fly in.
He flew in and landed on the ground of the Common Room, and transformed back into a human. Daphne was surprised that it was Harry instead of Hedwig, but her shock was quickly replaced with sorrow, and she hugged him in condolence. Harry hugged her back, but couldn't stop the tears from falling from what happened that day. "I never got a chance to apologize to her." Harry told them. "I never got to tell her sorry for yelling at her. Now somebody attacked and killed her." he continued. He wiped the tears off of his face, and his voice which was filled with sadness and regret, was replaced with anger and rage. "I'm going to find out who did this, and repay them the favor." he told them. He walked towards the Fat Lady's portrait, but Ron stopped him. "You're not going to do anything Harry. Dumbledore will find out who did it, and he will make sure they get sent to Azkaban for this. Besides, you have a detention to be heading to." he told Harry.
Harry looked at his watch and noticed that he had exactly ten minutes to get to his detention with Umbridge. "CRAP!" he yelled loudly. He ran out of the Gryffindor Common Room quickly, and headed to Umbridge's Office on the Fifth Floor. He arrived with a minute to spare, but he was horribly out of breath upon entering her office. The first thing he noticed that got his attention, was that the office walls were bright pink and that she had collector's plates of cats on the wall. He then looked dead at Umbridge. "Good evening Mr. Potter. You're going to be doing some lines for me tonight. Please take a seat." she told him. He sat at the one desk in her office with a piece of parchment and a quill on it. "I want you to write 'I will not disrespect teachers' on that parchment." she told him. "You haven't given me any ink." Harry told her.
"You won't be needing any ink, dear." Umbridge responded. "How many times will I be writing that line?" Harry asked her. "As many times as it takes for the message to sink in." she replied rather bluntly. Harry started writing 'I will not disrespect teachers' on his parchment. After writing the same line five times he started feeling an itch on the back of his left hand. Another five lines later, the itch turned into pure pain as Harry looked at the back of his left hand. What he saw almost made him throw up right there, and it was the same line he was writing on the parchment. He looked at the quill, then looked up at Umbridge. "Is something wrong dear?" Umbridge asked him with that annoyingly sweet tone. "Nothing." Harry replied rather defiantly. "That's right, because deep down you know you deserve to be punished. You may go now." she told him bluntly and rudely.
Harry dropped the quill as if he were holding fire, and grabbed his bag then left. He was turning the door handle, when Umbridge told him "It's a pity about your friend Ms. Granger. She was such a bright witch, and had a very bright future ahead of her." Harry looked back at her in shock, since the only people who knew about Hermione were: himself, Daphne, Ron, Hermione's parents, Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Dumbledore. He pushed this thought aside, as he opened the door and continued walking out of it. Instead of heading back to the Gryffindor Common Room, he headed to Dumbledore's Office. "She did something to Hermione, I just know it." Harry thought to himself. It was another ten minutes before he arrived at the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's Office. "I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore about Hermione Granger." he told the gargoyle. The gargoyle leapt aside and let Harry pass without a word.
Harry walked up the stairs to Dumbledore's Office, and knocked on the door. "Come in, Harry." Dumbledore answered. Harry walked into the office and noticed Dumbledore and Hermione's parents were in there, along with Professor McGonagall. "What is it Harry?" Dumbledore asked him. "I just finished my detention with Professor Umbridge, and when I left she apologized to me about Hermione's death. The only ones who should know about it is everyone in this office, my friend Ron Weasley, my girlfriend Daphne Greengrass, and Madam Pomfrey. I suspect she had something to do with Hermione's death." he explained to everyone in the office. Everyone except Dumbledore was in a shocked state. Dumbledore turned around in his chair and told Fawkes to go fetch Professor Snape, then to go fetch Professor Umbridge. Fawkes flashed out of the office in a second, then reappeared with Professor Snape.
"You sent for me Headmaster?" Snape asked Dumbledore in his cold voice. "Do you have any Veritaserum on you, Severus?" Dumbledore asked him. Snape pulled out a black vial with a clear liquid. "May I ask why you need it, Albus?" Snape asked Dumbledore. Once again, Fawkes flashed into the office, but with Umbridge this time. Dumbledore conjured a chair, then told Umbridge "Please sit down Dolores." Umbridge gladly did so, but when she did, chains wrapped themselves around her. "What's the meaning of this Headmaster?" she screeched to Dumbledore. "Severus, please give Umbridge the Veritaserum please." Umbridge looked at Snape in horror, then pressed her mouth shut. Snape pinched her nose to keep her from breathing, and when she went to take a breath from her mouth, Snape poured the entire vial of Veritaserum down Umbridge's throat. Dumbledore asked Umbridge "What is your name, and date of birth?" Umbridge answered "My name is Dolores Jane Umbridge, and I was born in 1976." The next question Dumbledore asked her had everyone on edge "Did you attack and inadvertently kill one Hermione Jean Granger on September 6th, 1995?" The answer that Umbridge gave confirmed Harry's suspicions. "I did attack her, but I didn't inadvertently kill her, I wanted to kill her. She had overheard my plans to get rid of the annoying Potter brat who stopped my plans of becoming Headmistress of Hogwarts school. I wouldn't have had to kill her if the silly girl hadn't been crying her eyes out in the girls lavatory." she told them.
Harry's rage once again flared, as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Umbridge. He casted "STUPEFY!" and Umbridge was hit with a bright red light. "SHE WAS MY FRIEND! IF YOU WANTED TO KILL ME, THEN COME FOR ME! SHE CAN'T COME BACK TO LIFE, OR COMPLETE HER DREAMS BECAUSE OF YOU!" Harry yelled at an unconscious Umbridge. By the time he finished yelling at Umbridge, he broke down in tears again. "Minerva can you please go fetch Madam Bones from the Ministry, and tell her that Umbridge has killed one of the students in Hogwarts school?" Dumbledore asked Professor McGonagall. She nodded her head close to tears herself, and used the Floo Network to head to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Hermione's dad picked up Harry off of the floor, and hugged him again. Harry didn't push away this time, and he just cried into Mr. Granger's shoulder.
A few moments later, Professor McGonagall came back with Madam Bones who was furious at Umbridge. She looked at a chained-up unconscious Umbridge, reawakened her, released her from the chains, then put handcuffs on her. "Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic Dolores Jane Umbridge, you are under arrest for murder in the first degree of a Miss Hermione Jean Granger. You will face justice, and I hope you get sent through the Veil for this most heinous crime. Either that or a Dementor's Kiss." Madam Bones told Umbridge. Umbridge stared at her in horror, as they used the Floo Network to go to Azkaban prison. "When we receive the date of her trial, I'll let you two know. I know it's not easy to face the death of your child, especially when their life was taken from them forcibly." Dumbledore told Hermione's parents. They nodded at him, and Hermione's dad let Harry go, and they used a Portkey Dumbledore made for them, to go back to their home.
All of a sudden, the silence of the office was interrupted by Fawkes' Phoenix Lament. The song touched Harry's soul, and it made him remember all of the good times he had with Ron and Hermione. Once again he started crying, but instead of just standing there, he started heading towards the door. "Harry, if you need to talk to someone you know where to find us." Dumbledore told him, when his hand touched the door handle. Harry nodded his head without turning around, and headed out of the office. "I cannot believe that Umbridge has done such a terrible thing." was the last thing Harry heard before closing the door behind him, and going back to Gryffindor Tower.