Chapter 43 – Ministers and Mayhem
With the All-Isles Tournament safely behind him – along with a pair of wins and entry to the Junior level Summer Tournament – Harry was able to focus on what still had to be done. Which in fairness wasn't all that much, given that it was the end of the year.
But what he did have left to do was somewhat complicated. He needed to figure out a way of getting the faked letters from Umbridge. They'd come up with several plans, each one more ridiculous than the last, and decided that the best time to try was just after the Inquisition's closing ceremony.
To that end, Harry and all his friends were sat within the Chamber of Secrets discussing their plan. Tracey, Ernie, Harry, and Susan sat on the large bed, while Daphne, Millie, and Justin had taken up spots on the divan.
"We've got to be back at the castle before she is," Harry said. "Otherwise, it's useless."
"Agreed," Ernie said. "But I don't think that's going to be a problem—event like this, she'll want to stick around talking to all the bigwigs."
"The Minister's coming up," Blaise added, "and I bet he's bringing all his hangers-on too. So she'll talk with them all and I bet it'll take her ages to get back to the castle."
"Right," Harry said. "But we've still got to be fast because we've got to figure out how to get into her office. Since I think that's where she's keeping the letters." And he'd thought on it, too, and it was likely that the students wouldn't be able to rush back to the castle either – there were rather a lot of them, after all, and no doubt there would be assigned seating and all that bother. "And some of us are prefects, so we'll probably have to do stuff on the way back…"
"But some of us aren't," Justin said from the divan, "so at least they can get on with it. And maybe we can use our prefect duties to help, anyway. Never know what she'll have us be doing."
"That's true," Harry said. "Problem is we won't know what we're doing until the day—we'll have to come up with a plan before then."
"We don't even know where the letters are," Daphne pointed out, momentarily stopping brushing Millie's thick tangle of hair. "So what if we rush to her office and then we're at the wrong place anyway?"
"What if they're in her quarters?" asked Susan. "Do we know where she sleeps? It's not the Headmaster's Tower, because that won't let her in still…"
"I could ask the Weasley twins for some help," Harry said carefully. He wanted to avoid telling everyone about the Map, at least until the twins agreed he could say. "They might know something about that. But it's going to be tight even if we know exactly where we've got to go—Daph was right. I was thinking if we can split into two teams, one for Umbridge's office and another for her quarters. What do you think?"
"Makes sense," Millie said. "Can't all go to the same place anyway—there's too many of us."
"And we've got to make sure we get the letters," Tracey said, "otherwise I don't think she's ever going to let it go. Not unless Dumbledore is cleared."
"And even if Dumbledore is cleared of treason it looks bad for Harry to have been part of a conspiracy," Daphne said. "So we can't let her get away with any letters at all."
"But what if she's carrying them with her?" Justin asked. "Or what if she's made copies, or… sent them somewhere else? She must have a house, too. What if she's sent them there?"
Harry thought on that. That wasn't a nice thought at all, but he supposed it was possible. If Umbridge didn't trust her lieutenants it would be reasonable for her to carry around certain documents, assuming her personal quarters or office weren't properly secured. They certainly wouldn't have had anything close to the enchantments on the Headmaster's office or quarters in the Tower. But Harry didn't think Umbridge would have sent the letters – or indeed anything else she wanted kept safe – to her home.
That was too far away, too difficult to get at on short notice. Especially with the floos being watched. And as far as Harry knew Umbridge had only left the castle since her installation a handful of times, mostly for in-person meetings with the Minister. Her house, wherever it was, had stood empty for months. And Umbridge's home was an easy target while she was up at the castle. Harry wasn't sure how well defended it was, but it wasn't nearly as safe a place as Hogwarts itself.
"I don't think she'll have taken them home," Harry said. He outlined his reasoning to his friends, who seemed to agree. "But she could have them in her pockets, I suppose. If that happens we'll just have to deal with it. I mean, it's not like we could do anything about that."
"We could always jump her and take them," suggested Millie. She paused. "Don't look at me like that, Daph. I know that's assault and I know it's against the law and I know it's not nice to do—but if we've got to do it…"
Daphne made a face. Susan didn't look too pleased at the suggestion either. Which Harry thought fair enough, since an open assault of Umbridge – acting Headmistress, a Ministry official, and Hogwarts High Inquisitor – would come with all sorts of strict punishments if found out.
"We're not going to attack Umbridge," Harry said. "I mean, even if we did, we'd have to do it sneakily because none of us knows how to do a Memory Charm. And I'm not even saying I want to do it, just… you know, on a practical basis it's not really…" He sighed. "And obviously I don't think it's fair to just attack her because she's—well—you know. We've got to be better than her."
Even though the idea of taking what he wanted by force was very appealing to Harry. Especially as it pertained to getting something out of Umbridge.
Blaise and Millie shared a look from across the room.
"We can circle back to that one," Blaise suggested. "If there's no other option. So… let's figure out how this is all going to work, then."
"Alright," Harry said. They spent the next few hours discussing the specifics of their plan to find the letters, from exactly who would go on each team and how they proposed to gain entry to Umbridge's things. Harry was most concerned about being caught, since he knew most of his friends would have significant family problems if that happened. When they finished, he felt reasonably happy with the progress they'd made. With some luck Harry's Umbridge problem would be sorted before the end of term, and even if she suspected it was him who'd stolen the letters, she'd have no proof.
The perfect plan.
"I'll speak with the Weasley twins about this after dinner," Harry said as they trudged up the winding stone stairs from the Chamber of Secrets. "This is exactly the sort of thing they're good at, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping. They hate Umbridge as much as anyone does."
The Slytherins and the Hufflepuffs parted ways at the dungeons and returned to their own Common Rooms ahead of dinner.
After dinner itself Harry made his way to the Gryffindor Table to grab hold of the Weasley twins. As he approached he felt eyes on him, near enough the full complement of Gryffindors. He supposed it wasn't every day that Slytherins approached the Gryffindor Table, but even so…
Harry ignored them.
It wasn't as if Harry had no reason to interact with Fred, anyway.
"Fred, George," Harry said, tapping each of the twins before they'd left the table. "Can I have a word?" He paused. "Privately."
"Yeah," Fred said. He didn't ask what it was about.
He and George got up, and the three of them moved further away from the other students. It wasn't too difficult as everyone was getting up and leaving the Hall anyway. Harry, Fred, and George followed them, then lingered in the Entrance Hall close to the grand doors out of the castle. Nobody had to pass by the doors to get out, so Harry thought it was the best place they could have a chat without going anywhere silly.
"Umbridge has blackmail over me," Harry said without preamble. "That's why I had to say all that bollocks for the protests—Umbridge asked me to. Which is shit, obviously. So I'm working on a plan to get it back from her."
"Saucy," said George. "Need some help, then?"
"Who better to ask than us, dear brother mine?" Fred said. "Of course he needs help."
"Not with the actual, er, pilfering," Harry clarified. He felt like he and his friends had that part handled well enough, and adding in the twins would upset their equilibrium. "We reckon we can get into her office easy enough. The problem we were having is that we need to get into her quarters, and we don't know where they are. Or how we might get in. Got any ideas?"
"'Got any ideas?'" echoed Fred.
"As if we wouldn't have any ideas!" said George. "Yeah, we know where she sleeps. We wanted to charm her mattress forever damp."
"Thought the better of it though—if we'd got in her rooms that'd be a big escalation and nobody wanted that…" Fred added. "Well, we wanted it, but after all the trouble from Arlecchino…"
"Fair enough," Harry said. He didn't disagree. Ordinarily he wouldn't have wanted to get anywhere near to anyone's private rooms. That seemed like a step too far, even for Umbridge. But she had letters implicating Harry in conspiracy to treason. The overthrow of the duly elected government of the isles. With something like that hanging over his head, there was quite a lot Harry was prepared to do to avoid the consequences.
And despite her words to suggest otherwise, Harry didn't think Umbridge would let that go easily. It was too much power to let go.
He watched the stream of students leave the Great Hall to head for their Common Rooms, along with some of the teachers. Umbridge had already gone, so Harry wasn't worried about her seeing Harry and thinking he was up to something. But he kept out an eye for the other Inquisitors just in case.
"I'd usually say the same thing," Harry finished, "but I really need what she's got on me."
"What's she got, anyway?" George asked.
"Letters that make me sound like I'm trying to overthrow the Ministry," Harry said. He shrugged. "They're not real. They just look bad."
"You don't do things by halves, do you?" Fred said. "Fair play. I mean, if you're going to do something, do it properly, I suppose…"
"But we can help you with Umbridge's rooms," George said. "Do you want us there with you?"
"No, thanks," Harry said. "It's going to be tight—we've got to get it done just after the Inquisition ceremony thing. But if you could tell us where we need to go and maybe how to get in…?"
"Got it," Fred said.
"And if you wouldn't mind running some kind of distraction on the day of," Harry added after having thought of it, "that would be grand."
"We'd love to run a bit of distraction," said George with a grin.
"Got anything in particular you'd like us to do?" Fred asked.
"I trust you to choose something good," Harry said. Which was only partially true, since there were a great many things Harry wouldn't like to be involved in that the twins would think nothing of… but he needed something big for the end of the year, and given the circumstances didn't much care whether or not the twins crossed any lines.
"Nice one," Harry said. The twins went over the likely ways to get into Umbridge's quarters, their location, and a few other tips, and then they parted ways. Harry headed back to the Slytherin Common Room feeling happier about his chances than he had in a while.
The next morning at breakfast Harry was collected from the Slytherin Table by Inquisitor Weekes to report to Umbridge. She hadn't attended breakfast herself so Harry had to schlep all the way out to her office to see her.
"Did she say what she wanted?" Harry asked Weekes as they walked to Umbridge's office. Harry didn't expect the man to tell him, not if Umbridge had said otherwise, but… well… he felt quite uncomfortable at being asked to her office. Even if she hadn't caught wind of his plans to break into her office and steal back the letters, nothing she wanted would have been good for Harry.
Especially not with the Inquisition's stupid ceremony later on that day.
"That's the High Inquisitor's business," Weekes said brusquely. "You'll find out soon enough." Harry assumed she simply hadn't told him. Weekes wasn't especially high on the totem pole as far as Harry knew.
Weekes led Harry to Umbridge's office. The Weasley twins' magical swamp had been thoroughly removed by Professor Flitwick and the rest of the Charms department, which Harry thought was a shame. The swamp had been a good bit of magic, although he supposed Flitwick had dragged out the removal as long as possible.
Weekes knocked on the office door.
"Enter!" said Umbridge.
She looked up as Weekes closed the door behind him and Harry.
"Ah!" Umbridge said with a smile. "Mr Potter. Harry. Such a punctual young man!" She glanced at Weekes. "Thank you, Inquisitor. You may go—there is a lot to prepare for this afternoon and I wouldn't like you to fall behind!"
Weekes did a little bow.
"Of course, High Inquisitor." He backed out of the office leaving Harry and Umbridge alone.
Harry took a quick look around the office but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Umbridge hadn't yet packed away her things, but he supposed she would have to stay at the castle a little longer than the students would. She had time for that. Otherwise, he couldn't spot anything that would give him cause for worry.
No Dark detectors or Sneakoscopes; nothing which looked like a trap. Of course, he couldn't see spells, but his burgeoning sense of magic couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary. All of which felt like a good omen for he and his friends' little infiltration after the ceremony.
"As you are aware, being a generally studious and attentive young man," Umbridge began, "today is the day of the Inquisition's formal closure. We have achieved great things here! But I need not explain that to you—you have, after all, understood very well what we came here to achieve and played your part in this admirably. The Inquisition is—and indeed, I personally am—happy to have had your cooperation."
If only you knew, Harry thought. Keeping his activities secret over the year was quite possibly one of his proudest achievements. He'd sat across from Umbridge and lied to her face. Even when she'd 'caught' him at something, it hadn't been Harry's fault. Umbridge even felt like she had something to gain from praising him publicly, given her words at the end of the All-Isles Tournament.
Harry just needed to walk the fine line between milking the situation to his own ends and looking like a stooge in the eyes of the public.
"I shall of course be mentioning to the Minister how helpful you've been," Umbridge continued. "You are a very clever young man, Harry. I should say—there aren't many young wizards who would have had the nous to comport themselves in such a way as you have done. And so of course I think you will understand when I ask you to participate in today's little ceremony. It shan't be too grand a role—nothing that you can't handle—but it would be very helpful if you agreed to this."
Harry couldn't very well disagree. This was the unspecified favour Umbridge wanted in exchange for not going to the Ministry with the treason charges. That and no doubt a litany of other requests to be made at some future time.
I'll get the letters back, Harry thought to himself. This will be the very last thing she can ask me to do.
"Of course, High Inquisitor," Harry said, injecting as much warmth and sincerity into his voice as he could muster. "What is it you'd like me to do?"
"Say a few encouraging words, be present on the stage—nothing too arduous, I promise!" said Umbridge, again with that little smile. "And you'll be very pleased to learn that you won't have to do any thinking at all! I've prepared a little statement for you to give, so all you must do is memorise it and say it during the ceremony."
Harry's stomach sank. Saying 'a few encouraging words' would have been bad enough even if he'd had to come up with them himself. Umbridge's prepared statement was sure to be full of gushing praise for the Inquisition and its Inquisitors, and God only knew what else. Harry wouldn't be surprised to see that it included denouncements of Dumbledore and praise for the Ministry's nonsense.
Maybe even a statement about the goblins.
Ugh, Harry thought. Was there any way at all he could get out of it? The formal closing of the Inquisition was a proper event. There had been press invited, Ministry officials, various functionaries and bigwigs from all sectors of the wizarding world. If he had to give such a statement…
"I'd be happy to help, High Inquisitor," Harry said instead. No other answer was acceptable, anyway, and he didn't want to give her any reasons to think he wasn't totally cooperative.
"That is just the thing I wanted to hear!" Umbridge said. "As I told you before, we will do great things together." Umbridge smiled widely. "I have been looking into the matter of the letters as well," Umbridge continued. That perked Harry up somewhat. Umbridge hadn't mentioned the letters directly since they'd been found, even when she asked him to quell the Easter riots.
Harry said nothing. Instead, he inclined his head slightly and waited.
"I find it difficult to believe that the person or persons who could have planted said letters would have done so," Umbridge said carefully.
Harry took a moment to calm himself. That sounded as if, even though Umbridge didn't believe the letters were real, that she was unable – probably more unwilling – to consider other avenues. Certainly Harry didn't think she was going to give the letters back or have them destroyed. Not even after he gave his little speech.
She wanted 'great things' from him, after all.
"I don't know who would have done it," Harry said. "Nobody knew there were going to be any searches, so it can't have been anyone with access to my dorm."
"Yes…" Umbridge said. "The searches," she said, as if it had just occurred to her. "Your friend Blaise is on my Inquisitorial Squad, is he not? This may surprise you, but the Inquisitorial Squad had forewarning that there would be searches. I tell you this because of our… amicable working relationship. It is not for the rest of the school to know, you understand. But is it … is it possible that your friend Blaise is perhaps not as friendly as he seems?"
Harry blinked. That was an interesting avenue for Umbridge to go down. It wasn't a road Harry thought useful to travel. He trusted Blaise. Blaise wasn't likely to have betrayed Harry in such a way. Harry couldn't really think of a motive, although Blaise did have the means.
But Blaise simply hadn't done anything to warrant Harry's suspicion. Nothing he had done, not even continuing to talk with Theodore after his and Harry's falling out, added up to such a betrayal. Other than Yaxley, Harry thought it could really only have been Blaise who would have planted letters. And he simply wouldn't have done such a thing.
Still, Harry made sure to make the right noises at Umbridge's suggestion. He needed to sound surprised that Blaise had known about the searches.
Harry waited a few moments and then spoke.
"No! Really? He never said anything!"
"Of course he didn't," Umbridge said. "My Inquisitorial Squad was hand-picked for their loyal qualities and adherence to strict guidelines," Umbridge said. "I did not choose all of them myself, but Inquisitor Arlecchino…." She trailed off. "Inquisitor Arlecchino was quite thorough," she finished.
There. That hesitation. Harry wondered if he could use it to sow some more seeds of doubt in Umbridge's mind. The school year was essentially over, but if Harry could ruin Yaxley's Arlecchino persona, that was a little win.
And Harry deserved a little win.
"I trust Blaise," Harry said. "I really don't think he would have done something like that to get me into trouble. Unless he really did…" Harry paused as if considering something. "High Inquisitor, did Blaise—the Inquisitorial Squad, I mean—know there would be searches on that day? Because I know the letters weren't in my trunk before that morning. I like to keep my trunk organised, see, so I throw things away quite often and I'm always checking through it…"
A bare-faced lie. But one Umbridge had no real way of checking.
"He did not," admitted Umbridge. "As I recall it was only decided that there would be searches of the student rooms on that morning itself…" She seemed unhappy with the recollection. No doubt she was considering just what that meant.
"Then it couldn't have been Blaise, could it?" Harry said. He sighed loudly. "I'm glad it couldn't have been Blaise," Harry continued, injecting as much disappointment into his voice as possible, "but now I haven't got a clue who it could have been…"
He sighed again.
"If only the Inquisitors knew about the searches, then it couldn't have been Blaise who did it. And if only the Inquisitors knew it was going to happen, then… then… I just don't know who it could have been! I mean, it couldn't have been Inquisitor Arlecchino… could it?" Harry took a breath. "No, he's an Inquisitor! I bet he'd never do something like that."
"Inquisitor Arlecchino has been indispensable to the operating of the Inquisition," Umbridge said. "He has made himself very reliable and I…" Umbridge said, faltering as she realised belatedly the implications of her own words. "While he would of course have the means," Umbridge continued after a few moments, "I cannot think of a motive. That is an extraordinary accusation, of course, and so should not be aired outside of this room—while I strive to create a space where you are happy to air your thoughts and feelings, not all people are quite so forward thinking. Some might even take idle speculation as more than it is, you see, Harry dear."
"I understand, High Inquisitor. It was just a thought," Harry said. "I won't say anything to anyone else. Is there anything else? Only, I'd like to get away and prepare for later. The ceremony's after lunch, isn't it? And I'll have to wear my best robes as well—wouldn't want to look scruffy for such an important thing." He paused. "Do you want me in my uniform or in my dress robes?"
Harry wouldn't have ordinarily cared about looking good for the ceremony. He wasn't vain, and if it made Umbridge and the Inquisition look bad, it was probably worth the minor humiliation. But then again… essentially everyone in the wizarding world would see at the very least photographs from the ceremony. It would be all over the papers. Harry had even heard someone say it was going to be broadcast on the Wireless.
And no doubt there would be intense focus on Harry himself. That was sort of the point of Umbridge getting Harry to speak, after all.
"Of course, Harry," Umbridge said. "What an excellent idea! I will send someone to collect you before the ceremony so that everything goes exactly as it should! Thank you. And your best set of school robes, please—you are representing the school today."
Harry hesitated before leaving. He was obviously dismissed, but he wondered if he could push things and say more about Yaxley but decided against it. Umbridge wasn't ready to hear that again. The seeds had been planted anyway, and if Harry knew Umbridge at all, she'd be off to the Ministry to do some research int Arlecchino and his past. Hopefully there would be some discrepancies in his history.
"I'll do my best, High Inquisitor," Harry said before leaving her office. He headed back to the dungeons right away, since breakfast was over and he doubted his friends would have gone anywhere until he got back. Despite the weather having turned and lessons being over, with the Inquisition's ceremony later that day no one was allowed to roam the grounds.
Once back, Harry informed his Slytherin friends of Umbridge's request, and they went to hang out in the Transfiguration Courtyard with the Hufflepuffs. At least until lunch, anyway, and after that it was just a dash to get ready for the Inquisition's stupid ceremony.
Umbridge had set up a stage out on the grounds amidst the gardens. The gardens had been rearranged to fit the stage, seating for more than two thousand students and other guests, and a space for invited press, in what Harry could only assume had been a frantic burst of activity since breakfast.
Harry looked out at the sea of faces with more than a little trepidation. He'd been sat on the stage with the Inquisitors and Ministry officials. Next to Umbridge, who was next to Fudge, so at least he didn't look part of the Inquisition's contingent specifically… but being on the stage was bad enough.
Next to Fudge were an array of different Ministry officials from a variety of Ministry departments, although fortunately Lucius Malfoy was nowhere to be found. Some of the officials Harry recognised: Griselda Marchbanks was in attendance, as was Percy Weasley. But many were people Harry had never seen before, and since his successful Elixir of Evocation, Harry remembered a lot more faces than he had before.
There were even a few other students up on the stage. A selection, it seemed from across the Hogwarts population – former home schoolers, students from the other national schools, and some from Wandwright's or WADA. Which did at least make Harry feel a little better that he wasn't the only student to be speaking…
Although not much.
Students and staff had been sent out to fill the seats long before anything was ready to begin – not even the press had arrived, let alone the Minister and his entourage – and so by the time the press arrived, Harry was well beyond his capacity for patience. But he couldn't do anything as he was expected to sit there, silently, until he gave his little speech praising Umbridge and selling his soul to the Ministry.
Utterly destroying any credibility he had with the vast majority of the students at the school – and more than a handful of the teachers besides. Although Harry hoped the cannier among them would see his actions for what they were – an act of self-preservation – rather than anything else.
A necessary evil, perhaps, but one that curdled his stomach all the same.
And there was an awful lot of stuff to sit through while Harry had to wait. The seemingly endless series of introductions and mentions and acknowledgements had eventually ended, but it had been followed by the start of the ceremony proper.
And Harry wasn't entirely sure which was worse.
"…it is of course a great honour to have served the great institution of Hogwarts in the way that I have," Umbridge was saying. "As a young girl I could not have imagined that one day I would serve as the Headmistress—the High Inquisitor—at Hogwarts School; and I certainly did not imagine that I would ever preside over the greatest enlargement of the student body in centuries!"
She paused.
"Yet serve I have. And it has been a wonderful experience, although not without its challenges, as the High Inquisition was convened to solve problems with Hogwarts School. For, great though this hallowed institution was, it was clear to us all that there was room for improvement. That the School had been led astray by its leadership. Leadership which has, regrettably, since been found in conspiracy against the integrity of the realm."
"Let me be clear," Umbridge said, "we in this great country find ourselves in a trying time. A difficult time. But there is much to be hopeful for as I have discovered in my tenure as your High Inquisitor. The next generation of witches and wizards—gathered here among us today—shall be a gift to us all. Diligent and courteous, talented and loyal, you all will lead our great country to heights we have never before seen! And it has been my privilege—and indeed my pleasure—to oversee affairs at Hogwarts School this year."
"And so I am quite happy to say that we have left Hogwarts School in a much better place than when we found it!" Umbridge continued. "The curriculum has been overhauled, dragged into the modern era; long-standing staffing inadequacies were solved, returning Hogwarts School to the forefront of teaching in Europe and the world; under the auspices of the High Inquisition Hogwarts School has even expanded its selection of sports and recreational activities! I am proud to have served as the High Inquisitor this year, and I am proud of all my Inquisitors. So too am I proud of you students, you who have worked so hard in a time of great change."
Umbridge sighed.
"My pride in all that we have achieved together—and indeed, that we have achieved anything at all, let alone something so momentous—is why I am happy to step down as High Inquisitor and Headmistress of Hogwarts School. The time has come for the day to day running of this school to be passed to a worthy successor who will, I am quite sure, be happy to receive such a well-run school! And so I say to you all: thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that we have achieved this year."
Umbridge sat down.
Unfortunately, that only meant that Fudge was set to give his own speech, and everyone said Fudge's speeches went on and on, especially if it was a chance to grandstand. As much as it pained Harry to admit it, the Inquisition had been more or less successful in achieving all of its goals, at least as far as Harry understood them. Dumbledore gone from the castle; the teachers' spirits thoroughly crushed and bent to the Ministry's will; and every single school-aged wizard in Great Britain or Ireland under the watchful eye of the Ministry.
So Harry thought Fudge would go on about it for hours.
"Thank you, Dolores," Fudge said, standing at the podium. "I would like to extend my personal thanks to Dolores and to all the Inquisitors who have served under her this year. Without all of your hard work we would not have been able to achieve even a fraction of what we have managed. The Ministry is more than satisfied with the outcome of the High Inquisition—as Dolores mentioned our goal was to improve the running of Hogwarts School to transform it back into the world-beating institution which it has always been. From what I have been told, and from what I have personally seen, this and more has been achieved!"
"It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our Inquisitors, our teaching staff, and of course the students themselves," continued Fudge. "We have been through trying times in this country, and yet never have we been more united than we are today! Despite the forces from within and without which are trying to destroy what we have built, we endure. You all at Hogwarts School are to be commended for your loyalty and hard work over this past year—you are the future of this great nation. And that is why I am pleased to announce that, from this year forward, Hogwarts School shall be the only school in these Isles."
"For too long we have been disunited. For too long we have had students working to vastly different curricula, with vastly different educational outcomes. I am here to say that we shall do this no longer. The experiment we have undertaken this year has been a remarkable success, proving for once and for all that we are stronger together. And so we shall formalise the arrangement that we have seen work so well this past year," Fudge said. "Our students will achieve more, whether in sporting or academic affairs; we shall implement proper courses for TITs and CATs to make them available to all students; and we shall ensure that our teaching staff is truly the best of the best."
That was more or less what Harry had expected to hear, and yet it was still disappointing. He supposed it was even something of an escalation, since the other schools hadn't been formally shut down – the law had merely been amended so that they couldn't have any students. There had always been a hope that they could be opened again.
"Together we will build something great," Fudge continued. "This is my promise to you all, and to the people of this good country. Working together we can achieve great things! But I have spoken enough for now. Indeed, were I to spend more time speaking this afternoon we would miss some very important and interesting contributions! This is a celebration of the High Inquisition and its work at Hogwarts School, and no celebration such as this one would be complete without speakers from the school community and the High Inquisition. To that end I am pleased to announce that Harry Potter has some words to offer to you all this afternoon. Harry, if you would?"
Although he knew it was coming, Harry hadn't expected Fudge to phrase things in quite that way – nor for Harry's own speech to happen quite so soon. But he could feel all the eyes upon him, and even hear some of what people were saying.
But he tuned that out.
There was really nothing he could do but stand and speak, so Harry got up and made his way to the podium. Already, Harry could hear the whispers, some of it in great detail, as he gathered his wits and looked out at the crowd. He already knew what he needed to say – Umbridge had provided him with a statement to memorise – but he simply didn't want to say it.
He looked out at the crowd. Students and staff, mostly, but dignitaries and officials and press too, all arranged within a portion of the gardens. But the gardens had been rearranged to make room for the seating, so Harry had a clear enough view of the Hogsmeade road in the distance, with the Forest outskirts adjacent and partially in view.
He fixed his view on that, mostly so he didn't have to look at the people he was about to lie to.
"I wanted to say something today," Harry began, "because this year has been unlike any other we've had at Hogwarts. Although sometimes it's been difficult, I really do think that we've…"
He trailed off.
There were figures moving along the Hogsmeade road. Unusual at normal times, since visitors to Hogwarts ordinarily used the Floos or travelled in a thestral carriage, Harry didn't think anyone was supposed to be using the road during the ceremony. But then it was probably just latecomers, press or Ministry officials who hadn't managed to get in on time.
"We've… we've made real progress this year and I'm proud because…"
Harry ignored the confused whispers and comments from the crowd as he'd stopped talking and focused his vision on the Hogsmeade road. People in dark hooded robes… and something else.
Large, many-legged figures.
"Acromantulas!" Harry blurted out, his voice carrying to the back of the crowd. "There are acromantulas on the Hogsmeade road!" He pointed.
"Preposterous!" Harry heard Fudge say. "Are you quite sure the boy's alright, Dolores? I can't see a thing!"
Harry glanced back.
"Minister, there really are acromantulas on the Hosgmeade road. I can see them." Harry looked back at the road. They were about a mile away, perhaps a little less, and yet the acromantulas especially were closing in fast. And there were wizards in hooded robes. "Wizards in hooded robes as well."
People in the crowd were talking. No more whispers – some were even standing on chairs to look back at the Hogsmeade road, though Harry doubted many could see anything at all. Still, some of the teachers looked concerned. If Harry could get them to listen…
"There's not a lot of time," Harry pointed out. He grabbed his wand from his robe pocket.
"The boy's right!" said one of the Ministry officials, a squat wizard with a long beard. He'd got to hit feet and stood, peering into the distance.. "Minister, we've got to get you to safety!"
"…are you quite sure, Jenkins? I still can't see a bloody thing…" Fudge was saying.
"Ugh," Harry groaned. "This is pointless. Everyone—get back to the castle! We're under attack!"