Ninja Wizard V 07

By David

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and his friends. JK Rowling has that pleasure.

Author Notes: These marks [] indicate Japanese spoken. These () indicate bird speak. I do hope that 2018 will be kind to all of you, and my resolution is to get back on track with Ninja Wizard.

Ninja Wizard V 07

"Loyalties"

Harry settled down in a seat in the Ravenclaw stands to watch their tryouts. A part of him longed to be down there among the applicants to try out for the Seeker's position, but due to his current situation, that wasn't possible. Being without a house hurt, but if that's how they wanted to play it, fine. Harry no longer felt any loyalty to the Ravenclaw House even though he continued to wear the Ravenclaw patch on his cloak and school robes. He decided it was time to rethink that. He turned his attention to the group down there and watched as they conducted their tryouts. Nearly all of last year's players came back and there were two new people who joined, a new second year taking over at seeker. Harry continued to sit there until the Ravenclaws began leaving. He stood up and started back to the castle. As he entered the tunnel to leave the stadium, a number of people stepped out of the shadows and blocked his path out. Harry relaxed and felt himself go calm.

"Hi," Harry spoke up first. "You guys put together a good team for the year. The seeker you chose had some very good moves."

Kyle Henderson, the current prefect for Ravenclaw House stepped forward. "We want the patch back as you aren't one of us anymore."

Harry nodded. So they finally decided to kick him out. Harry knew that this would happen sooner or later. Harry brought his wand up and tapped the Ravenclaw patch on the left side of his heavy winter cloak and it came loose. Harry looked up as the rest of the other Ravenclaw patches arrived. They joined the one in his hand and Harry handed them over.

"There you go," Harry said.

Henderson took them from Harry and turned his back on him as well as the other Ravenclaws. Harry shrugged his shoulders and went around them and continued on to the castle. He wasn't surprised that they would do this as he had expected them to do it for some time. If that's how they wanted to play this, it was fine by him. He would continue to show his loyalty to Hogwarts as he always did.

"Where do your loyalties lie?" Hermione asked him that evening.

Harry set down his teacup. "The Potter Family and associates, The Yamada Clan, Hogwarts and certain personnel, The Granger Family, you, and my friends. I don't give out my loyalty freely or easy."

Hermione wasn't surprised by that list. "And you shouldn't. Loyalty is not something to be given away like it was a cheap toy."

"And yet some people do," Harry said. "I truly wonder what kind of game they are playing or are they hoping to be well rewarded like Malfoy Senior is doing with the Idiot-Who-Must-Be-Named."

Hermione sighed. "It would be like him to gain the big prize from him and then wait for the right moment to take him down and then take his spot and try to declare himself the supreme ruler of all."

"Just like Malfoy Junior," Harry said.

Hermione groaned. "Oh please. He's trying to curry favor with his daddy to get the right to play with himself, if he's capable of it."

Harry roared out in laughter as Hermione smiled. Even Miyamoto had to smile at that one.

"Is he the little boy who struts around like a Peacock?" Miyamoto asked.

Hermione and Harry laughed at that one. Harry refilled Hermione's teacup before refilling his. He leaned back against the couch.

"He is," Harry replied.

Miyamoto sniffed. "Arrogant little pup, isn't he? I'd love to knock him down a peg or two."

"You and about half of Hogwarts," Hermione said. "I hope I'm the one who knocks him down."

Miyamoto shook his head. "No, he'll do that to himself all by himself. No need for you to get whatever dirt he's got on him onto you, and besides, you're much better than that."

"I agree with that," Harry said. "So leave him be, Hermione. Best thing you can do is to ignore the little sod. He's got too many people holding his hand."

Hermione grinned at that one. "That he does."

Silence descended on the room as they gazed into the fire in front of them. Hermione snuggled up closer to Harry and he put his right arm around her. He felt relaxed with her there. This felt so right to him and he knew now without a doubt in his mind that they belonged to each other. He smiled and sighed contentedly. This was how life should be, two people together and the world firmly locked outside. Miyamoto nodded as he watched the two of them together.

"I hate to ruin the moment, but Hermione has fifteen minutes left. There's two members of Slytherin poking around in the hall outside, so Hogwarts is going to let Hermione out of here in another direction," Miyamoto said as a section of the wall opened up.

Any doubts Harry had about Hogwarts vanished. "Thank you."

They stood up and kissed goodnight. Hermione stepped into the hall Hogwarts created and the wall slid shut. Harry turned back to the couch.

Harry showed up for breakfast the next morning as he usually did. Anyone who cared about such things about house loyalties was looking at his school robe to see if he still had the Ravenclaw patch were surprised to see it missing. Instead of the house patch, Harry was wearing the Potter Family patch on his robe where the Ravenclaw patch should have been. Harry chose to sit at the very back end of the Gryffindor House table and asked for coffee as he usually did. The owl from the Daily Prophet found him and delivered the morning paper. Harry gave it a bit of bacon and a bit of water as he usually did to any owl that delivered to him. The owl nodded to him after accepting his hospitality and flew off. Hermione joined him a moment later. "Good morning, Harry. Anything interesting in the paper this morning? I did some research this morning in the library. You are not the only student here that had been kicked out of a house. Hogwarts: A History records at least a dozen students that got kicked out of a house for various reasons. But they stayed on and out of that dozen eight of them went on to make names for themselves."

"I should have a look at that," Harry said. "I wonder how Professor Flitwick will handle the news of Ravenclaw taking my patch."

Hermione sighed. "Oh I'm sure he'll take them to task over it. He does respect you a lot."

Harry nodded. "I do like him a lot myself. He's earned my respect."

Harry glanced up as more owls arrived, carrying mail to various people. He decided to dash off a couple of quick letters later in the day to advise people.

"Where's that ministry owl going?" Hermione asked suddenly.

Harry looked up to see the owl swoop down low over the Gryffindor table and drop a letter in front of Ron. Hermione turned to Harry.

"A letter for Ron from the ministry?" she asked. "Wonder what they want with him?"

Harry sipped his coffee. "I'm willing to bet that it's from Percy. You know he's working for them now."

"I thought they would have kicked him out after the tournament fiasco," Hermione said.

Harry nodded. "I agree with you there. Seems like someone spoke up for him and he was able to keep his job there. But you can bet they will be watching him very carefully."

Hermione and Harry looked over at Ron and saw the look of distress on his face. Harry wondered what Percy had said in the letter to make Ron react like that.

"Must be something bad," Hermione observed as Ron passed the letter to Fred.

Fred read it and then passed it on down to George, who read it and then passed it down to Ginny. All three looked pissed off.

"Uh oh," Harry shivered, "it looks like they are about to go to war on somebody."

Hermione turned back to Harry. "I'm sure it's nothing."

Harry hoped Hermione was right.

Ron, George, Fred, and Ginny cornered Harry just before lunch, and from the expressions on their faces, they were clearly upset about something. They slid into a side room hoping nobody noticed them and the door closed behind them. Dobby popped up and served them lunch and then popped out again. Ron handed Harry the letter he'd gotten that morning. Harry began reading it between bites of his lunch. By the time he was done reading it, he knew which way the wind was blowing in regards to him. He put down the letter and picked up the large mug in front of him.

"I always knew that Percy thought so highly of himself but he's really done it this time. I'm sorry guys, but Percy has gone over to the enemy," Harry said.

"All of us already have dressed him down for walking out on us, from Bill to me," Ginny said. "You should have heard what he said to Mum and Dad."

"Not very nice words, I can imagine. You wouldn't mind if I hex his arse to hell and through it, would you?" Hermione asked.

Ginny laughed. "Oh please do. I'll help."

Ron looked at Harry and shivered. "You should see her Booger Bat Hex. Scary."

Harry smiled. "Always knew Ginny was capable of something good like that."

That got a laugh. Harry leaned back as his mind worked on the letter.

"However, dear Percy was most useful. He gave away information a bit too freely. A big announcement tomorrow. Umbridge stepping up? McGonagall stepping down? I find that a little hard to believe. Umbridge having trouble with us? She needs to look at herself in the mirror as she's the one causing the trouble. Dumbledork leading a crime family? I find that very hard to believe, especially since my parents were involved with them in the first war with jerk off. I'll grant you the fact that there are two or three questionable people in his order, but that doesn't make them a crime family. When a government fears the people, there's something very wrong. Dumbledork got taken out by me for the simple fact that he was stealing from me. I'm starting to wonder if someone planted the evidence for the goblins to find and hoped I'd act on it. If Dumbledork had dirty hands, he should have other people handling things for him. The problem with that is he would have to share the wealth with others. Guys, it's your decision to keep up the friendship with me or not. I won't blame you guys if you decide to walk away from me. If all of this is going the way I think it will, I think it's time we started laying some serious plans. Somehow I get the feeling that Hogwarts is gonna be under siege before long, and not necessarily from the ministry," Harry said.

Ron leaned forward. "You think he… is going to attack here?"

Harry's eyebrows furrowed as he got a serious look on his face. "I do. Think about this. The ministry falls. Where is the Magical world going to look to for help?"

"Hogwarts," Hermione breathed.

Fred nodded. "Naturally. Didn't Dumbledore once tell people that Hogwarts stands to help those who ask her for it? If they take the castle the Magical world falls. Then they will come out of the shadows and expose us all to the muggles. That would really disrupt the world as we know it. Hogwarts must absolutely prevail. We cannot let it fall."

Harry looked up at them. "Then we need to start preparing for the war that is sure to come. We can't wait for the last second to do anything. We need to find a place to base from, and it has to be here on the grounds. It needs to be large enough for people to move around in. Large enough to make and store potions. Kitchens, bathrooms, an infirminary, and so on. I need you guys to step up on your current assignments. What I really need right now is someone to step up and plan a defense of Hogwarts. Any suggestions?"

Fred, George, and Ginny immediately looked at Ron. Ron blinked at the sudden attention.

"I don't know anything about planning defense!" Ron protested.

Harry smiled. "Yes you do. What is the purpose of chess?"

"To out think your opponent," Ron replied.

Hermione nodded. "You're constantly planning and plotting moves around the opponent."

"Watching him carefully to see what he's doing," Ginny followed up.

Fred leaned back. "Moving pawns to block."

"All the while using your big guns to trap and take the prize," George nodded. "You can do this, Ronnikins. You can do this."

Ron slowly nodded. "Okay. I accept the challenge."

Harry leaned back. "Good. I need all of you to work together. I will be doing other things and trying to track down Him-Who-Must-Be-Named. It's going to come down to us in a final confrontation, and it's not going to be a gentleman's duel either. He's gonna play dirty any way he can."

"I don't like hearing that," Hermione said. "I don't want to lose you."

Hermione had finally dragged her darkest and deepest fears out into the open. Harry turned to her and took her hand into his.

"Baby, you're not going to lose me," he said. "I'll be just fine. I have to do this. I have to stop him. If it's not me, then who?"

He wrapped his arms around her and spent the rest of lunch holding her close.

Harry sat down and wrote letters to people in the know that night. He leaned back in his chair as his mind worked on the current problem being Umbridge. She was definitely shooting for McGonagall's job and attempting to turn Hogwarts into something it shouldn't be. He sipped a bit of tea and sighed as he put the problem away for the night. Harry sat there for a time until he started nodding off. A moment later he was asleep.

Harry found himself at the front doors of the castle. He pushed on the doors and they creaked open. Stepping inside the first thing he noticed was the silence. It was way too quiet. Hogwarts was normally a very noisy place, but at the moment it was deathly quiet. He moved forward and when he cleared the doors they closed behind him. He turned around just in time to see them close. He turned back towards the stairs and wondered just where to go. He decided to go into the Great Hall and see if there was anyone in there. He pushed open the doors and to his relief saw people in the hall. Nobody reacted to his coming into the great hall. All of them stared down at the tables in front of them. Every one's faces were ash grey with black rings around their eyes. Harry blinked at the sight of the banners that hung in the great hall. All of them had a skull on them with a snake coming out of the left eye socket. He knew instantly it was Voldemort's banner. He reached for his wand as he traversed the hall up to the head table. All of the teachers and staff were sitting there with the same expressions on their faces. Harry approached the head table and leaned on it.

"Lady McGonagall?" he whispered to her.

Her head snapped up and in a feral snarl on her face lashed out at Harry. "You failed," she hissed, causing Harry to stumble backwards.

Harry misstepped and fell backwards, landing on the cold stone floor. Voices from everybody filled the hall, snarling at Harry.

"You failed," they snarled, slowly closing in on him.

Harry managed to get to his feet and tried to push past them, but they blocked his path. Harry moved, his arms going up and over his head in an effort to protect himself.

"NO!" he shouted.

Harry snapped to, jumping upright in his chair. Miyamoto looked at Harry from the small picture on his desk as Harry hyperventilated.

[Harry-san! Calm down! You're safe here!] Miyamoto shouted.

Harry turned to the picture on his desk, and Miyamoto could see the wild look in Harry's eyes.

[Harry. Take a breath. Calm down. Relax,] Miyamoto said, trying to get Harry to calm.

Harry closed his eyes and took a breath. A moment later he was on the grounds of his castle. He immediately assumed the meditation position and relaxed. He felt a peaceful feeling come over him and he welcomed it. He relaxed as the calm peaceful feeling washed over him. Harry brought up the nightmare in front of him and studied it from every angle until he was satisfied that it had been a nightmare, nothing more. He stood up and walked to the gate on the edge of the property, where the head of his guard bowed to him as Harry left.

[Journey well, my lord,] the man bowed.

Harry nodded. [Thank you my friend.]

Harry opened his eyes to find Dobby there. Dobby handed Harry a cup of tea and Harry took it. He drank a bit of it, feeling the heat moving through his hands. He finished it off and then set the cup on the desk and leaned back. Harry turned to Miyamoto and told him about the nightmare he had. Miyamoto listened for a time.

[This will never happen, Harry. You will never let this come to pass,] Miyamoto said.

Harry nodded. [I won't. Too many lives are at stake. Voldemort must be stopped, or people will suffer.]

[Then you must let your friends organize things as you need to devote all of your time in stopping him. Our brothers and sisters have encountered him last night,] Miyamoto said.

Harry looked up at the larger painting. [Did they stop them?]

[They did, and in the process gained more information. It seems he is after something in the place called the Department of Mysteries,] Miyamoto said.

[The Dogfather must know of this,] Harry said.

Miyamoto grinned. [Ah, but he does. A full report will be on your desk in the morning.]

Harry sighed. [Thank you. I wonder if that's why that Sturgis Podmore fellow was trying to go before he got arrested. That's the second time that place has popped up.]

Harry frowned at that. [Just what is that place?]

Miyamoto sighed. [I don't know. Never been in that place. Don't have a picture to go to there. I'll chat up the other pictures for information.]

Harry immediately turned to his desk and dashed off a quick note to Sirius. [If anyone knows about that place, it would be Sirius. Being an Auror he's able to go places inside the ministry that other people can't. I have a bad feeling about that place.]

[I wonder what's in there that he's willing to get other people to go in there for,] Miyamoto said.

Harry leaned back and sighed. [I'm sure we will find out before long. I'm gonna go to bed.]

[Rest well,] the old Samurai stated.

Harry stood up and went into his bedroom.

Harry woke up three hours later and noted the time. Six in the morning. Harry stood up and stretched, feeling things popping in his body. He took care of morning business first before heading into his gym down inside of his trunk. He spent the next two hours putting in a hard workout. He hit the shower and dressed. He decided to go down for breakfast. He met Hermione, Ginny, and Ron in front of the doors leading into the great hall. Harry glanced up at the high table to see Umbridge smirking.

"Something's wrong with that picture," Harry said to his friends.

Hermione glanced up at the high table. "I have a really bad feeling about all of this, Harry."

Ginny nodded. "We'll find out before long."

They sat at the foot of the Gryffindor table and ordered breakfast. The mail owls flew in just as Harry finished his breakfast. He looked for the Daily Prophet owl and gave it leftover bacon and water before it flew off. Harry opened the paper and blinked at the oversized headline.

"Ministry Seeks Educational Reform," he read out loud. "Delores Umbridge Appointed First Ever 'High Inquisitor'."

Jaws dropped. Harry read the rest of the article and then handed it over to Hermione. His mind went to work on what he had read. He looked up as Hermione passed the paper to Ginny. He remained silent until Ron had finished reading the article.

"So that's what our deal loving ass kissing 'brother' was referring to in the letter to Ron!" Ginny exclaimed. "What do we do now?"

Fred and George joined them. "Good question, fearless leader."

Harry frowned at that and then related the nightmare from last night. Hermione reached out for his hand and took it into hers.

"It's just a bad dream, Harry. Never gonna happen. Just a reaction from all of the stress you've been going through of late. Go and do something fun this afternoon. Go fly," Hermione suggested.

Harry thought about that for a moment. "Okay, I can do that. I need to do something fun. The rest of you go do something fun too. We'll meet later and discuss things."

With that, they started the day.

Harry stood on top of the Astronomy tower and reached out with his senses to make sure nobody was around to see him change. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he stepped up on the edge of the tower and did a perfect swan dive off the top. Halfway down he relaxed and pictured the Peregrine Falcon in his mind. A moment later he had completed the change and spread his wings wide to catch the air rushing past him. He did a gentle swoop back up into the sky and turned in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. Oh yeah, he really needed this! Harry glided on the updrafts enjoying the thrill of flying. He felt his spirit and soul react to the pleasure of flying. If it was possible for a bird to smile Harry was doing it. Harry relaxed for a bit before starting some flying stunts and enjoying it. Eventually he tired out and came to rest in the branch of one of the many trees surrounding Hogwarts.

(Very nice, Harry. Your flying skills are improving nicely,) a familiar voice said.

Harry turned to see Fawkes sitting to the right of him. (Hi Fawkes! Haven't seen you of late.)

The phoenix shrugged his shoulders. (Oh I've been around. I've traveling around seeing different places ever since I left Dumbledore. I understand that there's somebody new here.)

(There is, and she's causing major trouble,) Harry said, and filled Fawkes in on everything.

Fawkes frowned at the mention of Harry's nightmare. (Harry, you will never fail because you have a lot of people behind you, and they will help you in everything. You're not alone. As for the Umbridge woman, she'll fall flat on her face sooner or later. She'll tick off someone and she'll be gone.)

(Be fun to give her that last little nudge before she falls off the bridge,) Harry grinned.

Fawkes sighed. (She can do that all by herself, Harry. No need to add fuel to the fire.)

Harry preened his feathers for a moment as he watched people walking around the grounds. (Getting cold already, and it's only the end of September.)

(Why I've been getting around before winter,) Fawkes said. (I really don't like flying in winter.)

Harry nodded. (Shouldn't be a problem for me as I do have enough cover to keep me warm.)

Fawkes turned to Harry, a smile on his face. (Let's race.)

Harry perked up. (Oh you're so on!)

Both of them launched out into space at the same time, opening their wings to start the race. They headed for the North Tower, rounding that and headed for Black Lake. Reaching the lake they turned right to head back into the forest. They weaved through the trees and came out of the other side of the forest back out over the lake. They turned left, heading back towards Hogwarts. They twisted and turned their way through the now quiet halls of Hogwarts and then headed back up towards the open sky. The Astronomy Tower was the finish line. Both of them hit the stone right at the same time. Both of them turned to the other, laughing.

(That was fun!) Fawkes said as Hermione approached them.

(We gotta do that again sometime,) Harry said as Hermione gently petted the both of them.

Fawkes cooed as Hermione scratched him under his chin. (I love this girl, she knows just how to scratch just right.)

(Sorry to disappoint you, but she's mine,) Harry informed him.

Fawkes nodded. (I know. Both of you are right for each other. Don't let her get away.)

(Never!) Harry stated.

Fawkes hopped to the edge of the tower. (Be well, Harry.)

(And you,) Harry said.

He watched as Fawkes took off. He turned back to Hermione and hopped down to the floor of the tower. He relaxed and pictured him returning to his human form. A moment later he was grinning at Hermione. She leaned forward and kissed him.

"Feeling better, love?" she asked him.

Harry nodded. "I do, thanks for asking. Did I miss anything?"

"I haven't seen the others yet. From what I've been able to figure out Umbridge is now able to inspect all of the classes to see how things go," Hermione informed him.

Harry groaned. "Like that will go over well with the other teachers. I can see a revolt brewing."

They stood up and headed down into the castle. Hermione reached into her bag and handed Harry his robe. He pulled it on as they descended the stairs towards the great hall for dinner. Ginny, Ron, Luna, and Neville walked up to them before they walked into the great hall.

"Rumor has it that Flitwick is the first to be inspected tomorrow," Neville said. "I heard that from a friend close to him."

Harry sighed. "Great. We have his class first thing tomorrow."

"Flitwick has always been consistent on his lessons, teaching the things we really need to know. He's going to cover the common household spells tomorrow," Neville stated.

Luna smiled as she leaned against Neville. "She cannot win, there are too many nargles in her brain."

Harry, Hermione, and Neville smiled at that.

"That she does," Hermione agreed.

Harry sighed. "The best thing I think we can do is to document everything she says and does and when the time is right we act. File some kind of grievance against her with the ministry."

"I like the part about documenting her actions, but as to filing some kind of complaint against her, well, that might not work if she has something on Fudge," Hermione said.

Harry rubbed his face. "That's the chance we have to take. For now we watch her."

The bell went, signaling the start to the day.

First class of the day was DADA. Harry briefly considered skipping the class and then decided not to. Umbridge would use that against her. Once everybody settled down into the classroom, Umbridge made her appearance. She beamed at the class and Harry suddenly felt sick.

"Good morning children!" she said brightly. "Now that we have finished chapter one, we shall continue with chapter two. Put your wands away and commence with chapter two, it talks about common defensive theories. There will be no need to talk."

She went to her desk and sat down, ignoring Hermione as she was waving her hand in the air. Harry slid down in his seat and groaned. He had hoped that Hermione wouldn't start something this morning. The room was silent for all of ten minutes before Hermione got up in a huff and walked up to Umbridge and stared at her. Umbridge continued to ignore her for another ten minutes before breaking down and looking at Hermione.

"Yes Miss Granger?" she said coldly.

Harry couldn't see Hermione's face but knew what she was doing.

"I've read chapter two already," she said.

Umbridge smiled sweetly. "Good for you. Read the next chapter then."

"I have. In fact, I've read the entire book," Hermione announced.

Umbridge reacted to that, a look of surprise crossing her face. "Really? Then perhaps you can tell me what Mr. Slinkhard say in chapter fifteen."

If Umbridge was trying to upstage Hermione, she was wrong.

"Counter jinxes. He was discussing counter jinxes and how people misname them when they want to make them sound more acceptable, and I disagree," Hermione started.

Despite herself, Umbridge looked impressed. Harry sat up at that one. Trust Hermione to make a bold statement like that.

"You do?" Umbridge asked slowly, giving Hermione an opening.

Hermione shifter her position. "Yes I do. Mr. Slinkhard doesn't like them, does he? They can be quite useful when the situation calls for them to be used."

"I see," Umbridge said as she stood up, her face taking on a hard appearance. "However, it is Mr. Slinkhard's opinion that matters here, not yours. So therefore I am deducting five points from Gryffindor for your disruption of my class, Miss Granger. You are to return to your seat."

"But," Hermione began.

Umbridge crossed her arms in front of her. "The ministry has instructed me to teach you what it is they approve and not invite students who know very little of what is to be taught here. Now sit down or you will be given a detention!"

Hermione growled and retreated. She sat down with her arms crossed as she glared at Umbridge.

"Thank you Miss Granger," Umbridge smiled sweetly and resumed her seat.

Harry sighed. He had the feeling that it was going to be a long year.

The news was running rampant round the hall during lunch about Umbridge inspecting Trelawney's class and Grubbly-Plank's class. Trelawney had bombed out rather spectacularly while Grubbly-Plank had passed. Malfoy and his buddies had been very helpful where Hagrid was concerned. Umbridge did ask where Hagrid was but the only answer she had gotten was that he was away at the moment. Malfoy and his buddies took opportunity of the situation to bad mouth Hagrid any way they could. Harry knew nothing good would come out of that knowing Hagrid as he did.

"Hagrid might as well just stay away as she will be all over him if and when he does return," Ron stated. "What he thinks is cute and cuddly is actually damn dangerous."

Ginny sighed. "Malfoy did make a big deal out of the Hippogriff attack on him last year."

"He provoked it," Harry said darkly. "Then went crying to his dear daddy and Malfoy senior nearly had it killed if it hadn't escaped."

Hermione leaned towards Harry. "We all know it was you that helped it."

"Sirius said it was the best ride he's ever had in his life," Harry grinned. "He made sure Charlie in Romania got it. Charlie changed it's looks a bit and gave it a new name."

"Good for him," Ginny grinned. "My favorite brother."

Ron frowned at that. "Hey! I thought I was your favorite brother!"

Ginny turned to him. "Sometimes, when you do something great."

The group laughed at that as Rom pretended to act wounded. Harry sipped his coffee and wondered who was next on Umbridge's hit list. The bell went, signaling the end of lunch. Harry followed Hermione up to McGonagall's class and was surprised to see Umbridge sitting in a corner. Ron nudged Hermione and she glanced at Umbridge. She glanced at Harry and he gave her a slight nod. He hoped that McGonagall was ready for her.

"McGonagall vs. the Umbridge," Rom said to Harry once they were in their seats. "I got galleons on McGonagall taking a strip or two off her."

"Not even going to touch that bet cause it's a fact," Harry said as he sat down. "I heard a story that McGonagall is capable of breathing dragon fire."

Ron and Hermione cracked up at that one. They turned to the front when McGonagall made her appearance. She glared at everybody and got total silence.

"Thank you. Now…" she began.

Umbridge interrupted her. "Hem hem."

"Yes?" McGonagall glared at Umbridge, daring her.

Umbridge actually shrank back a bit, and then inflated once more. "I am curious if you got my little note about being here to observe."

"I have," McGonagall snapped, "otherwise I'd be asking you why you are here."

Umbridge immediately fell silent as McGonagall turned back to the class. "Now, we are to discuss a difficult form of the vanishing spell…"

"Hem hem," Umbridge began.

McGonagall turned on Umbridge, a cold fury on her face. I wonder just how you can understand my teaching methods when you keep interrupting me, Miss Umbridge. I usually do not allow any kind of talking in my class!"

It was obvious to everyone her Scottish temper was firing up to near dangerous levels. Harry began considering taking cover behind his desk. Umbridge smiled sweetly and shut up. McGonagall glared at her for a few minutes more and then turned her attention back to the class and launched into her lecture, complete with a demonstration and then calling on Harry and a few select students. Umbridge sat there quietly and continued to take notes until the end of the class. As everyone was leaving the room, Harry glanced back to see Umbridge approaching the desk and seeing the glare on McGonagall's face before the door closed.

"Oh my…" Hermione said.

Ron was laughing with joy as a few of the other students were celebrating.

"That was entertaining," Harry said. "But it's going to take a lot more than McGonagall to stop her."

Hermione nodded. "I agree. It will have to be something major to knock her down. But what?"

"Fate is a pissed off gorilla in his cage when you start throwing stuff at him, and Umbridge is doing that very well on her own. We just have to wait and watch until the time is right, and then we act," Harry said. "We just need to be patient."

"Dinner is in an hour. Meeting in the library?" Hermione asked.

Harry rolled his neck and got the neck muscles to pop a few times. "I do need some information for Snape's essay, so yeah, let's go there."

Ron's eyes lit up. "Umbridge vs. Snape?"

Harry snorted. "No contest there. He'll use her for potion ingredients."

"That I'd pay good money to see," Ron stated. "I'll even hand him the knives."

Harry smiled. "Yeah, I bet you would. Come on, I need to finish this essay."

Harry hoped a trip to the library would help.

Harry wasn't in the mood to go back to the library after dinner so he went up to the Room of Requirement as he wanted to relax a bit. He paced back and forth a few times in front of the wall where he knew the entrance was thinking about playing guitar in Potter's Bar. A moment later the door opened and Harry went inside. The others decided to join him so they scattered around the room, Fred and George going to the pool tables as Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Luna took seats at a table. Harry knocked back a shot of sake and went to the stage where the band of skeletons were waiting.

"Hey boss," the bass player nodded. "What you in the mood for?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Let's start off with some Clapton and see where that goes."

He picked up the black Gibson and tuned up. He did a bit of noodling, playing chords and noted without any definite direction and then started in with Clapton's "Badge" and went from there. He left the vocals to one of the other skeletons and just moved around the stage as the music moved him. The others got up and danced a time or two, Ron lost a few more galleons to Fred and George, Neville and Luna moved to a back corner and sat on the couch and snuggled up together, Ginny came up to the stage and did a song or two, Hermione and Harry joined in with her, and then did a duet together. The evening ended when Brud, the bartender slapped the bell a few times.

"Curfew in twenty," he called out.

Harry returned the Gibson to the stand. "Thanks Brud. See you later."

"You got it boss," he nodded. "Outside's clear."

They left the room and headed down. Harry walked Hermione to the front door of Gryffindor tower and kissed her goodnight. He watched at the Fat Lady closed the door behind her and headed off to his flat via a secret stair in an abandoned classroom. Miyamoto greeted Harry as he walked in.

"Mail in your box," he reported.

Harry headed to his desk and sat down, opening the mailbox and taking out his mail. There was the usual statements from the Goblins, the Potter investments were up, Paddington Farms profits up, and "Gerald Wilson" was doing very well. He read letters from Sirius, Lupin, and his family. Lots of action and plenty of new information, but nothing about the Department of Mysteries. Harry sighed and leaned back in his chair. He wondered briefly just how far Umbridge was going with this High Inquisitor thing. He was sure he'd find out.

He settled down in History of Magic the next morning in his usual spot in a back corner as other people walked in. Today he was without Hermione and his crew, something he didn't mind as the Dumbledork had been leaving him alone. He had been doing what he was supposed to be doing, teaching and leaving Harry alone. Even the Goblins had reported that Dumbledork hadn't been in contact with them over Harry and that made Harry wonder what the old man was up to. Dumbledork made his appearance as he normally did, looking relaxed. Just as he was about to call the class to order, the door opened once more and Umbridge walked in. Harry closed his eyes and groaned. He had been having a great morning up to now. What Dumbledork did made him sit up and blink.

"Miss Umbridge! How delightful to see you this morning!" Dumbledore smiled as he went to her. "I have reserved a desk for you over here."

He led her to a desk that was off to the side, giving her a great view of the room. Umbridge blinked at him, and she looked like she had been knocked off balance.

"Do have a seat," Dumbledore said.

Umbridge sat down still looking at Dumbledore in shock.

"Are you comfortable? Do you need anything?" Dumbledore asked her with a smile on his face.

Now Harry really wondered just what the old man was doing.

"We have been discussing some of the most interesting names in magical history, those who have made great contributions to Wizarding society," Dumbledore said as he moved back to his chair and sitting down and turning to face Umbridge. "Magical history is just full of great people."

From there he went on to talk about the great names in history and what they did. Umbridge's eyes took on a glassy look as Dumbledore droned on. It slowly dawned on Harry just what he was doing, and that was to bore her to death. A few of the other kids in the class caught on and they added to the discussion, helping Dumbledore with his lecture. Harry had to grin at the old man as Dumbledore glanced at Harry, getting a slight nod. Harry's attention was captured by the slight motion of the old man's hand underneath his desk. He was using magic to cast spells on Umbridge! Harry wondered just what the old man was casting on her and hoped it was good. Dumbledore was doing what three quarters of Hogwarts wanted to do, hex the woman good. Now Harry was keen to see what he had come up with.

Finally the bell rang signaling the end of class, snapping Umbridge out of her stupor. She stood up and gathered up her things.

"Thank you Professor Dumbledore, that was quite… interesting. I will let you know the results of your inspection," she called out as she rushed out of the classroom.

Dumbledore grinned as the class filed out of the room. Harry followed them out and caught up with Umbridge on the landing. He stopped at the sight of Umbridge. Her hair had turned into a huge puffball, green with pink spots. He pink cardigan had turned blue with red and purple spots. She turned to face Harry, and she looked like she had a ton of makeup on her face, like she had applied everything on with a hand trowel. She smiled brightly and headed down the stairs until she stopped at the laughter that had started. She opened her mouth to say something and then croaked like a toad. That was enough to crack up everybody. Even the paintings were rolling on the floor laughing. She got angry and stomped her feet, croaking loudly. McGonagall appeared out of nowhere.

"Really, Delores, you should dress better than that. We have to uphold to higher standards if we are to teach," she sniffed at Umbridge.

Umbridge croaked a few times more, and then McGonagall pointed to a nearby mirror. Umbridge stomped up to it, looked into it, and let out a scream that Pomphery later said she could hear clear into her office, and ran off much to the enjoyment of the students who witnessed the scene.

Harry had to give Dumbledore credit for that awesome prank.

Next Episode: Resistance Starts