As Umbridge was no one's favorite professor, and all anyone ever did in her classes was either read her propaganda or sleep with their eyes open, no one went to her office again until late that afternoon.
A second year Hufflepuff had missed her DADA class on Friday because she was sick in the hospital wing and had only got out that very morning, and wanted to know if she had missed anything besides simply reading the chapter, which she had done while laid up in bed. But her knocks on the door went unanswered, as the occupant inside was impersonating barbecue, and not the edible kind.
But right as she was about to leave and try again after supper, Professor McGonagall happened to walk by and the girl asked the Gryffindor Head of House, "Do you know where Professor Umbridge is?"
"Is she not in her office?" Professor McGonagall replied. "Last I saw her, she was leaving breakfast this morning, heading in this direction."
Walking up to the door she knocked on it herself, listening for any sound of motion inside. When she heard none, she touched the doorknob to see if it was unlocked, and instantly felt the very faint tingle of advanced magic on it. More than a little concerned now, she began casting unlocking charms on the door, until finally after what felt like the entire book on magical lock picking, the handle turned and she pushed the door open.
Just to get blasted in the nostrils by the stench of ashes and burnt human remains.
Knowing that it could be nothing good, coughing she waved the young girl away from the door so that she couldn't look in, saying, "Go. That's an order. You can talk to Delores later."
Giving professor and open door frame alike an odd look, as she could smell the stench herself even standing several feet away from the door, the girl turned and walked off, leaving Professor McGonagall alone to see what the hell had happened. She looked back inside the room, and for the first time really took in what had occurred inside. Even then she still thought that it was merely a fire, until she actually walked inside and saw the charred remains of Umbridge, at which point she immediately patronused Dumbledore.
Once he quickly arrived, the headmaster set Professor McGonagall to blocking off the hallway outside so that no student would have to see what had occurred, while he subtly did a little investigating to make sure that there were no clues lying around as to who had ridded the world of the Ministry plant, especially clues leading to anyone whom Fudge could even pretend to link to Dumbledore, and say that they had assassinated her on Dumbledore's orders. But the only thing he found was the quill that Professor McGonagall had informed him that Umbridge had, after Harry, his girl, and one of the other Gryffindors had informed her of its existence the afternoon before. Pocketing it to use as leverage against the Minister if he needed to, and confident that he and the rest of the staff couldn't be linked by any evidence to what had happened, he returned to his office to Floo Fudge and break the joyous — horrifically tragic — news, knowing that the person to report a crime was generally the least suspected person in the ensuing investigation. True, Fudge would blame him anyway, but it could be important if it somehow made it to the Wizengamot, and if the Aurors investigated.
Fudge immediately followed Dumbledore back through the Floo, bringing his new number two since Umbridge had taken the undercover post at Hogwarts, one Percy Weasley with him to record everything and become Delores's immediate replacement at least for the time being. The Minister ranted and raved upon seeing for himself that his most trusted agent really was dead, and burned (presumably) alive at that, before taking just long enough of a breath to declare that Percy was Umbridge's replacement as both DADA professor and High Inquisitor so that Dumbledore didn't get any bright ideas about appointing his own professors, or thinking that the Ministry wouldn't still be investigating every tiny detail that they could about Dumbledore's people, and Hogwarts as run by Dumbledore. After this, he would be investigating it even closer.
Unwilling to even consider the possibility that it had been an accident and not cold-blooded murder (or capital punishment, as was the actual truth), he immediately blamed Dumbledore, and began threatening arresting him for everything from doing it himself, to having one of his 'You-Know-Who Is Back' nutjob follows (probably from his subversive Order of the Phoenix group) do it for him, to being guilty of having an unsafe workplace where things like this happened all the time and around every other corner of the castle (despite this being the first death in the castle since Moaning Myrtle some fifty years before).
At which point Dumbledore brought out Umbridge's quill, explaining that he knew everything about it and what it did, actually surprising Fudge, though he hid it well behind a veil of, "She clearly had her justified reasons for owning it, and for using it if in fact she actually ever did, which your student may have lied about just to make Delores look bad" — never mind how said student could know what the quill did unless they had seen it in use.
Finally, Dumbledore said sternly to Fudge, "If you remove me as headmaster, and even if you attempt and indubitably fail to arrest me to stop me from doing this, I will take this quill to Kingsley and Amelia Bones, both of whom are still not yet completely under your thumb and will be very interested to hear what tortures your appointee was using on my students, and I will out that your second in command and appointee was using a highly illegal quill as punishment on my students. But if I remain, this never sees the light of day, and her memory — whatever that may be for most people, obfuscated by your glowing In Memoriam that I know will be in the Daily Prophet in the next day or two — will remain intact, instead of the Minister of Magic being charged with being complicit to this sickening barbarity and brutality. Think that would do well for your public image, Cornelius?" he ended coldly, and more than a bit threatening. "I still have enough friends to make sure that people learn, if you force my hand and try to kick me out of this school."
Fudge looked like he really wanted to see if Dumbledore was just bluffing, and even simply stood there glaring at the headmaster for a long minute, before finally growling out, "You can remain for the time being. But if I find a single shred of evidence that you had anything to do with this or knowledge that it was going to occur, or if you step a single toe out of line again, I will be arresting you with the full force of my Auror department, including Mr Kingsley who you say is on your side. And Weasley here will be reporting your every move to me, and he has exactly the same authority that Delores did, and will continue inspecting this school for every wrongdoing of yours and attempt to replace me as Minister. Good day!"
And with that he stormed out through the fireplace of Dumbledore's office where they had returned to after visiting Umbridge's office, back to his own office at the Ministry to brainstorm new ways of getting rid of Dumbledore and having the school entirely under his control. Dumbledore, meanwhile, told Percy Weasley that he could have the DADA office just as soon as it had been magically cleaned of Umbridge's remains.
Word quickly spread through the castle that witch was dead and had been replaced by one of the redheaded Weasleys who had graduated just two years earlier.
Rumors flew far and wide over what had actually happened and how she had died, but only FitzSimmons knew the truth. But they obviously weren't about to tell everyone, and were quite happy to hear all of the wild theories floating around and the fact that none of the teachers approached them, as it meant that no one had any clue what had really happened, or that they had been a part of it — the only part of it, to be specific.
And despite the death of an adult in the castle, school still resumed the following morning like normal, starting with a breakfast that Hagrid's large presence was instantly noticeable at. His reappearance at long last was greeted with enthusiasm by much of the Gryffindor table, especially the twins and Lee, but as FitzSimmons could understand very well, it was greeted less so by the two impartial Houses and the part of Gryffindor who thought a good teacher for Care of Magical Creatures to be more important than a good friend leading the class. Slytherin of course had been brainwashed into believing that he was the worst half-person ever, since he was friendly with more of Gryffindor than any other House.
As for FitzSimmons themselves, they were glad to see that Hagrid was back and alive, but disappointed that Professor Grubbly-Plank wasn't still the teacher even though Hagrid was now back, knowing that Professor Grubbly-Plank was a much better teacher than the half-giant. But it really didn't matter, they could still teach themselves everything that they needed to know out of all of the books that they owned and were available in the library, and class was just an opportunity for hands-on experience and actually being able to see the magical creatures in person.
Anyway, they were far more interested in how the redheads' oldest brother whom they had ever really met (threatening Bill's life the year before at lunch before the third task not exactly counting) was going to be as the new DADA professor. Which as it turned out, was going to just be continuing on with what Umbridge had been doing before him, which is to say making them read one chapter a week out of the Ministry propaganda, no wands or talking necessary, and no practice occurring anywhere near his classroom. So despite cutting one head off of the beast, another just grew to take its place, very Hydra-like. Only Percy didn't seem likely to have a quill that carved up the back of students' hands, and he didn't seem as likely to be giving out detentions and overruling punishments quite as much as Umbridge, as while he'd been a very heavy-handed prefect and Head Boy, he was still only a year and a half removed from being a student of the school himself and only indoctrinated in the Ministry for a year and a half after seven years in the school, and a little too fresh to be making the kind of power plays that Umbridge was a veteran at long before she had ever been appointed to take over Hogwarts from the inside.
Once they'd had a DADA class with Percy and seen how he was going to continue the government's mission, then they could think about Care of Magical Creatures class, and whether Hagrid was actually still teaching it like they had assumed with Professor Grubbly-Plank no longer sitting at the staff table at meals. Which it turned out that he was in fact, as when FitzSimmons, the rest of the fifth year Gryffindors, and the fifth year Slytherins showed up at his hut Tuesday afternoon after lunch, the half-giant was waiting for them on the edge of the forest.
As they got close, Fitz physically grabbed his wife's arm to make sure that she didn't try to run up to the gamekeeper. She didn't try to, but she did look over at her husband and whisper into his ear, "What the hell happened to him? Looks like he lost a fight with an Avenger."
For he was covered with purple bruises tinged with yellow and green, and had cuts all over every visible inch of skin that looked like they were still oozing out blood. But what was wrong with Hagrid and why he looked like he had come out on the wrong end of a fight was Madam Pomfrey and the rest of the staff and professors' responsibility, not two fifth-year students', so FitzSimmons didn't try to ask him about it, or even plan to tell Professor McGonagall about it when they got back up to the castle. If none of the professors could see the shape that Hagrid was in from their own seats at the staff table just feet to meters away from the half-giant, or more importantly if they saw and didn't do anything about it, then shame on them — Hagrid's health or lack thereof was on their hands.
Once all of the Gryffindors and Slytherins were there, Hagrid led them all into the Forbidden Forest, terrifying a Malfoy who like normal hadn't been listening when Hagrid had said that 'they' prefer the dark, causing Malfoy to panickedly ask, "What prefers the dark? What did he say prefers the dark — did you hear?", despite Hagrid specifically not having said what the magical creatures that he was going to be showing them that day were, something that Malfoy would have already known had he been paying attention like he was supposed to be.
They eventually made it to small clearing in the forest where Hagrid set down the cow carcass that he had been carrying over his shoulder the entire time, the trees woven overhead so tight that there was no snow on the ground here. Then he gave several shrieking cries like some monstrous bird. After the third call, FitzSimmons noticed a pair of blank white eyes that were the antithesis of the void black eyes demons in Supernatural had, appear in the black space between two gnarled yew trees, soon followed by the dragonish head that said eyes belonged to. The rest of the creature soon followed as bodies normally do with heads, horse-like in its general shape, though more reptilian/dragonish than unicorns or the lower bodies of centaurs, both of which were actually just anatomically horse. And if zombie reptile dragon horses were a thing, this creature was exactly what they probably would have looked like. Its black coat clung to its skeleton that showed off every single bone, and out of its withers sprouted vast, leathery black wings, reminiscent of a bat's even more so than a dragon's.
But looking at the class around them, FitzSimmons noticed that only Neville and a Slytherin who wasn't one of Malfoy's gang seemed to also be able to see these fascinating creatures (or shocking, disgusting, and horrifying based on the looks on their two faces), and the rest of the class was staring around aimlessly, like they couldn't see a thing.
In fact, Ron even leaned over to Dean and Seamus and whispered, "Why doesn't Hagrid call again?"
As a second of the creatures walked out from the shadows and up to the carcass where it joined the first in eating, Hagrid said, "Now...put yer hands up, who can see 'em?"
As expected by FitzSimmons, besides themselves only Neville and the Slytherin boy did.
"Really, Harry, Hermione? Yeh can both see 'em?" Hagrid asked in slight surprise as he took in the four raised hands.
FitzSimmons shrugged — why wouldn't they be able to see them? Then again, why couldn't most of the class see them? Perhaps they needed the answer to that question before they could understand why Hagrid hadn't expected them to be able to see the hauntingly unique creatures.
But at that moment Malfoy sneered mockingly, like there wasn't actually anything there and Hagrid, Potter, Potter's girl, Neville, and the Slytherin who didn't march to his every whim and command were all seeing things or lying in sync, "Excuse me, but what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?"
Rather than answer verbally, Hagrid simply pointed at the carcass on the ground where the two creatures were feasting, ripping chunks of flesh from it in what must have been a very odd, freaky sight for everyone who could only see strips disappearing from the carcass. Then he went on to explain that the creatures were thestrals, which could only be seen by people who had seen death.
So that was why he hadn't expected either of them to be able to see the thestrals, as Harry and Hermione had never seen anyone die, though FitzSimmons wondered if their ability to see the thestrals came from their time in Shield, or killing Umbridge two days before. And despite what Trelawney had apparently told Lavender and Parvati at some point, thestrals weren't actually unlucky and brought horrible misfortune on anyone who saw them, that superstition just came from the fact that only people who had seen death could see the magical creatures.
But just as he was about to fully get into describing thestrals and what they were, they heard a familiar voice from behind them all politely say, "Excuse me, Professor Hagrid, but my name is Percy Weasley, Senior Undersecretary Delores Umbridge's replacement as DADA professor and High Inquisitor. Did you receive the note I sent to you this morning about inspecting this lesson?"
His lord and savior and so-much-smarter-than-his-own-idiot-redheaded-family Minister Cornelius Fudge had told him that Hagrid needed to be got rid of — that Umbridge had said before her untimely and tragic death that the half-giant had probably been doing something nefarious and dangerous for Dumbledore prior to his return to the school — and Percy was obviously going to fulfill the wishes of his perfect boss to the absolute best of his abilities. But while he himself had never had many interactions with the gamekeeper, he also had no personal negative opinion of the half-man, and so came into his inspection actually wondering how Hagrid was as a professor, as he hadn't ever taken Care of Magical Creatures while he was a student at Hogwarts, and certainly not his NEWT year when Hagrid had taken over for Professor Kettleburn. So he knew next to nothing about the half-giant as a teacher.
"Oh, yeah — glad yeh found the place all righ'! Well, as you can see — or, I dunno — can you? We're doin' thestrals today," Hagrid answered brightly.
"Thestrals?" Percy asked in confusion, clearly never having heard of the odd creatures before.
"You know, big winged horses, only people 'o've seen death can see 'em, faces look a little like dragons," Hagrid answered.
Percy simply nodded politely, still not knowing what they were, but then again, he supposed that that was kind of what the entire class was about — introducing students to magical creatures that they had never heard of before. Which meant that since he had never taken the class, he was in many ways exactly the same as a third year student starting their very first class, and this was a fifth year class several months in.
Hagrid meanwhile continued on, "Well, I was gonna tell yeh how come we got a herd. We started off with a male an' five females. This one, name o' Tenebrus, he's my special favorite — firs' one born here in the Forest. Now, as Miss Parvati here was sayin', thestrals got a bad reputation because o' the death thing. People used ter think they were bad omens, like Trelawney apparently still does. But they jus' didn' understand 'em. 'Cause there's loads o' good stuff abou' 'em. Fer instance, once they're tamed, like this lot is, yeh'll never be lost again. 'Mazin' sense o' direction, jus' tell 'em where yeh want ter go, and they'll get yeh there no problem."
As Hagrid continued expounding upon the unique creatures, Fitz leaned over and quietly whispered into his wife's ear, "They're the inverse of a demon, with white void eyes instead of black voids — but they certainly don't look like angels."
"Angels haven't fallen, and are still perfect, so they can blend in which means human-looking eyes when necessary," Simmons answered with a roll of her own completely human eyes. "Anyway, that's only Supernatural — real demons can blend in perfectly with humans when they want to — like Lucifer in, well, Lucifer. And Maze. And to be honest, demons in Supernatural when they're not trying to show that they're demons. Better to tempt us with — no one would fall for horned being in a red spandex bodysuit and a forked tail, but a well-tailored suit and nice Ferrari…that's a different story."
Looking back up at Hagrid, who had paused for a moment to admire the herd that he clearly held very dearly, she asked him eagerly, "Will they bite us if we go touch them?"
At a nudge in the side and glare from her husband, she rolled her eyes and amended, "If I go touch them?"
Hagrid seemed surprised by the request, but after a second he answered, "Uh, sure — jus' be careful. They can take care of themselves if yeh annoy 'em too much. But you two've always had a way with animals in this class. So sure. The rest of yeh, though, stay back, especially if yeh can't see 'em. Wouldn' want to startle 'em, and someone lose a finger."
Simmons immediately scampered over to the nearest thestral to study it up close, Fitz following slowly behind, just to stay by Jemma's side not to actually pet the creatures. Throughout the rest of the lesson Simmons studied the creatures herself as she listened to Hagrid talk, and Fitz watched her, happy that she was excited about getting to study the weird things.
Percy, meanwhile, mostly just watched from the side, making notes on his clipboard and listening to Hagrid talk about the creatures. About halfway through the lesson he did spend about fifteen minutes walking around all of the class asking them about Hagrid's previous lessons in the past two years that he had been teaching. And unlike Umbridge in all of the classes that FitzSimmons'd had inspected, he asked both Slytherin and Gryffindor students questions, and not leading questions either, but actual questions to find out how the lessons really were, now how he preconceived them to be, or wanted them to be. Slytherin of course insulted and belittled Hagrid as much as they possibly could, but having been a Gryffindor himself when he had attended not long before, Percy knew full well the enmity between the two Houses, and that Slytherin saw Hagrid as one of Gryffindor's, and therefore were required on principle to try to make him look as bad as possible, and therefore could never be taken at face value. Then at the end of the lesson Percy told Hagrid that he would receive the results of his inspection in five to ten days, before heading back up to the castle to file his report with Fudge.
Later that evening when FitzSimmons walked into the library after supper, Simmons, who had found the creatures endlessly fascinating, immediately headed to Madam Pince and asked her, "Excuse me, Madam Pince, but where can we find books on thestrals? They haven't been in any of the magical creatures books we've looked through over the years, and we'd like to read up on them some more after today's Care of Magical Creatures Class."
"They're normally only in dark creatures books," Madam Pince answered. "Look for creature books in the dark arts section — I believe there are a few in the non-restricted section."
"Thank you," Simmons replied, before dragging Fitz over to the appropriate section, and finding all three dark creature books available for anyone to check out. She was sure that if she pressed Madam Pince, with their studious reputation, that the woman would let them into the Restricted Section without a note like she had plenty of times before on topics that weren't well represented in the open section, but as thestrals seemed like they were probably a one class and done subject, what these three books could provide was probably enough, at least for now.
As they began looking through the books a few minutes later at a nearby table, Fitz ran across a drawing of a thestral and said, "Can we take a picture back to our world with us and show it to Daisy, and say, 'Look, we found a rare picture of you when you first wake up in the morning before you've had any coffee.'?"
"Fitz!" Simmons exclaimed in a whisper so as not to rise the ire of Madam Pince by talking loudly in the librarian's library, slapping her husband on the arm. "Be nice to Daisy."
"She'd laugh — right after possibly quaking me into a wall," Fitz muttered mostly to himself.
"True — she would lovingly quake you into the wall just so that she would have an excuse to hug you far too tightly than I as your wife should normally be okay with, to apologize for quaking you into the wall," Simmons nodded, having easily heard her husband's Scottish muttering, having been by his side for over two decades by that point and therefore being completely fluent in Fitz Scottish Mutter. "All while figuring out how she can blow up the picture into a giant poster to hang up on the wall of her bedroom, making Coulson wonder what on earth she's into this time, and if he's going to have to stop her from getting me to genetically create one for her to have as a pet around the base, same as he has to keep you from sneaking a monkey in."
"Ooh — think you could do that?" Fitz asked. "The thestral, not the monkey — I know you could get one of those for me if you really wanted to. You're head of Shield's lab for crying out loud."
Simmons rolled her eyes again. "I can inject chromatophores into other fish to change their colors or make them change colors — I can't create entire animals, especially mash-ups like thestrals seem to be. Speaking of which, what crossbred with what to create these creatures? Or have they been around in magical worlds for all of time?"
But that wasn't a question that any of the three books they had answered, and so they had to settle for just learning the more mundane facts about thestrals that the books did consider important enough to publish, which was still quite a lot.