AUTHOR'S NOTE: Did you know that I am actually a published author? I am Denis James, author of Tobias - book one of the Arcane Rebellion series! If you've read this far, and can't get enough of my writing, check out my book on Amazon! I'd love to get your support! It is on sale right now: $3 for the ebook, $10 for the paperback, or $20 for the hardcover edition! /d/enUHguk

A week after her meeting with Voldemort, Umbridge was to be seen doing a walkthrough of Azkaban. This was something she did regularly, to ensure all was calm and under control. She smiled her wide, toadlike smile at the guards as she passed them in the hallway. They gave her a curt, polite nod and kept on their duties.

Umbridge was no fool; she knew the guards and Aurors were less than pleased about having to work with her. But she didn't care; they were beneath her. She had power over them. She was in charge of this prison. What she said was what happened. Fudge backed her up on that, at least. She knew of at least one person who had complained directly to Fudge about her: Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was no longer on Azkaban duty and was instead sitting behind a desk at the office of the Muggle Prime Minister. She had laughed when Fudge had told her what he had accused her of. Really, she thought, how could anyone think I would be more of a Voldemort supporter than a Dumbledore and Fudge supporter? Of course, it was true; but she didn't reveal that to anyone but her master, of course.

Fudge had written off Shacklebolt's complaints as an attempt at retaliation, and that was good. For Umbridge knew she was probably being riskier around the Ministry lately than was perhaps wise. She was doing everything in her power to find out what Fudge was up to in the Department of Mysteries. But unfortunately she was hitting brick walls. It seemed Fudge had confided in no one but Bode, the Lead Unspeakable. And she hardly ever saw Bode. Making trips to the Department of Mysteries was not something she did on a regular basis, and if she were to start, she would undoubtedly draw unwanted attention to herself. She did peek down there a couple weeks ago, but found nothing. Whatever they were working on in there was being heavily guarded and protected, and it seemed like there were extra security guards around that department in particular.

Her master had given her strict instructions: find out what the Department of Mysteries was up to, and get the Aurors to alert the Ministry as often as possible with time wasting distractions. She had struck out on the first task so far, but the second task was going well. She had already tricked Dawlish, one of the Aurors assigned to Azkaban semi-regularly, to call the entire Ministry to Azkaban over a nosebleed. (He saw a trail of blood leading to Antonin Dolohov's cell and summoned reinforcements before asking questions.) Naturally, most of the Ministry workers found this to be rather amusing but Fudge did not. He berated Dawlish in front of her, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Amelia Bones. But Umbridge wasn't worried. She called Dawlish into her office the next day and congratulated him on a job well done.

"Uh, thank you, Madam Umbridge?" he had said, rather confusedly.

Umbridge smiled widely at him. "Yes, Dawlish. I think it was smart to call for backup. I'd rather you needlessly call for backup than have a situation requiring help and have no one come. I think Fudge was rather harsh on you, wasn't he?"

Dawlish said nothing. He just stared at Umbridge.

Umbridge, without being noticed by Dawlish, had successfully used a Confundus Charm on him. Umbridge smiled. "Now Dawlish," she purred. "You are going to help me summon the entire Ministry here. But you are not to do this yourself. You are to get your colleagues to do this. Scare them into it, trick them, convince them we need help. Whatever you need to do to summon the entire Ministry here, get them to do so. You will not remember I told you to do this."

Dawlish nodded, then walked out of the room, walking into the door on the way out.

Umbridge returned to her paperwork. She liked being in charge of the prison, and she enjoyed the power it brought. But she would have preferred to be able to stay at the Ministry. Fudge had told her off for spending too much time at the Ministry and not enough time at the prison, but it was hard to spy on Fudge and Ministry happenings from her office in Azkaban.

Over the next several weeks, Dawlish and some of the other Aurors managed to summon the Ministry to Azkaban over minor inconveniences. They ran out of toilet paper. Someone coughed loudly. One of the prisoners made a lunge at one of the members of the Dementor Control Unit. It got to the point where Fudge, angrier than ever, made a surprise announcement.

"Moving forward, only Dolores will have the ability to summon reinforcements from the Ministry."

Step one complete, thought Umbridge, smiling widely.

It was a cold and rainy day in Azkaban when she received a message from none other than Pius Thicknesse, Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office, requesting a meeting ASAP. She packed up her office and left for the Ministry at once.

"Yes, Pius?" she asked sweetly, entering his office without knocking.

"Ah, Dolores. Yes. I have a question for you."

Pius indicated a chair opposite his desk. She sat, smiling at him sweetly. She and Pius had something of an understanding; ever since she had used her Imperius Curse to control him, he had something of an affinity for her.

"I am wondering how you feel about Fudge at the moment."

Umbridge stared at him, rather surprised at this.

"He is the Minister, Pius. He is doing everything he can to protect us in this difficult time."

"You don't really believe that, do you, Dolores?"

Dolores looked around the room, pulled out her wand, walked up to the door of the office, and tapped the handle with her wand. Then she said quietly, "No, of course I don't, Pius. But why are you asking me this here, in the Ministry itself?"

Pius smiled at her. "I have a proposition for you," Pius whispered. "There is a group of us planning a revolt of sorts against Fudge–"

"No, Pius. I won't participate. And you shouldn't either. You know better."

Pius seemed surprised. "One of the participants will be Broderick Bode. I know you've been trying to get information out of him. Maybe it would be easier to do so if you joined us?"

Umbridge was dumbfounded at this. How did Pius know of her goal to figure out what Bode was up to?

"Bode told us you'd been asking funny questions," Pius explained quickly.

"I see. And if I participate in this 'revolt', he will tell me what Fudge has instructed his department to accomplish?"

"Yes. You have my word, Madam Umbridge."

"I see," said Umbridge, smiling sweetly. "Then tell me the details of this plan."