Chapter 21: A Cave by the Sea
The ground beneath Harry was hard and sprinkled with a few small rocks. It was dark, leading him to question what time it was. Clearly it was still nighttime, so it can't have been more than a handful of hours since he entered Umbridge's office back at Hogwarts. He thought about how he wasn't supposed to be there, that he should be back in his dormitory, laying in his bed and listening to Neville's snoring. Had his roommates noticed that Harry was late getting back? Ron certainly would by morning. Somehow it was comforting to know that, if Harry failed, his friends would figure out what had happened to him. Once Umbridge got what she wanted and showed her hand, they would realize what he now knew; that she had been Voldemort all along. And they would then know that he'd been taken in his weakened state, his life traded for the Elder Wand. They could tell his story, tell Tom's story, and Harry wouldn't fade away, his fate a mystery in the wake of Umbridge's devastation. The knowledge helped him feel less alone.
There was a strong breeze, and the sounds of water crashing up against a rock face far below. Harry knew that he and Umbridge were now on the cliffside by the sea that Uncle Morfin had told Tom about years ago, the cliffside with the cave where the Elder Wand now laid waiting for the day that one of Salazar Slytherin's descendents would give up their life to retrieve it. And unless Harry could stop it, that day would be today. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, aided by the glow of the moon and stars overhead, Harry saw that he'd landed relatively close to the edge of the cliff. It was then that a rather dark thought occurred to him. If he could gather the strength to roll a relatively short distance, he could escape into the water below. He wouldn't survive the ordeal, of course, but it would save everyone else. Umbridge would be no closer to the Elder Wand than she'd been the day she killed his parents, or even the day she killed Uncle Morfin. Hadn't that been the choice that Uncle Morfin had made? To die rather than be taken to the cave by the sea?
Harry's heart pounded in his chest as he pondered his moral obligations. He glanced toward the edge of the cliff, judging the distance. Life had been too short, but if Tom didn't get his message, if he didn't come, it was likely about to come to an end anyway. But as he thought about it, he realized what Uncle Severus might say. That it wasn't his responsibility to save everyone all the time, that none of this was his fault. That it was others' job to protect him. And so, he decided to face his fate head on, no matter what was about to happen.
"Well, what is this now?" Umbridge said impatiently. She'd wandered off, presumably to inspect the cave, but didn't seem pleased about what she was seeing. "How do I get past this door?" Harry was pleased to hear that she was hitting a snag in her plans, as any delay gave time for Tom to arrive and put an end to everything. "Well, maybe… Of course, the snakes. I should have known." She was muttering to herself, but she raised her voice as she called over to Harry saying, "Come here, Potter, I've got a job for you."
Harry sighed. "I can't exactly walk, thanks to you," he snapped. "And even if I could, I'm not helping you with anything."
"Insolent little brat," Umbridge said. "Carpe rectractum." Harry suddenly felt as though he'd been grabbed by an invisible force, which then pulled him across the cliff, his back scraping against the rock and little stones digging into his skin. He finally came to a stop by Umbridge's feet.
"Ow," Harry said simply, mostly to express his annoyance at being dragged around, though it admittedly did hurt. He likely had a few scratches along his back.
"Oh good, you made it," Umbridge said sarcastically. "Look what I found." Harry took a look at the door Umbridge had been muttering about, and realized why she wanted his help. It was a large, round metal door that was blocking the cave entrance. There didn't seem to be any kind of knob or handle, but it was covered in carvings of snakes. "You're one of those creepy little snake talking freaks, aren't you? Why don't you see if any of those carvings are up for a chat?"
Harry grinned. It seemed that, without someone speaking in Parseltongue, they wouldn't be able to get near the wand at all. Maybe he had more power to stop Umbridge than he thought. "That's not going to happen," he said defiantly, taking care not to look at the snake carvings so he didn't accidentally start speaking Parseltongue without meaning to.
"Wrong answer," Umbridge said, her voice stiff and angry. She took out her wand and pointed it at Harry, who flinched but held firm in his decision. "I've come too far to give up now. Do you have any idea what I've gone through to get to this point? I will not allow you to ruin this for me, not again." Harry thought that perhaps this was a good opportunity to get Umbridge talking again.
"What you've been through?" Harry repeated incredulously. "More like what you've put me through to get you this far. Taking my parents from me was just the beginning, but you've been sending people after me for years, haven't you?"
"Yes I have!" Umbridge agreed angrily. "Idiots, all of them. I set Quirrell up with his job and wanted one thing; the Philosopher's Stone. And he was bested by a group of first years, the embarrassment. I should have known better than to think a spider could do a wizard's job, I'll give you that, but then my spineless little spy Pettigrew went and got himself caught, and then you, the pathetic thing that you are, you couldn't even win that tournament even with my associates secretly cheating for you behind the scenes! Idiots all around. It just goes to show that if you want something done right, you do it yourself. None of the others managed to get you anywhere near this far, but look where we are now. If you think I'm going to let one door stand in my way, you're in for a rude awakening."
"Well, I'm done complying with your plans," said Harry. "So, do whatever you want, but I'm not opening the door. This ends here."
Umbridge angrily exhaled through her nose. "I could stand here and torture you, you know. You may think that you could withstand it, that you won't give in, but you have no idea how much pain I could inflict on you if I wished. You have no idea how it feels. Stronger people than you have cracked under the agony. But we could skip all of that. Just open the door, and this will be all over soon."
Harry shuddered, but refused to give in. "Do what you have to do. But I think we both know that you couldn't keep it up for long, anyway. The Unforgivable Curses are intense spells, and you already told me that you don't have the same spell strength you used to."
Umbridge smirked. "I try to get you to listen to me all term, and this is when you start?" she said. "I haven't tested it, to tell you the truth. But I'm willing to find out right now how far I can go. We'll make it a little experiment." She rolled the wrist on her wand arm as if warming up. "But to be honest with you, I'm eager to get to the main event. I'll skip the torture for now. There's another Unforgivable Curse that should come in handy to speed up the process. Imperio."
Harry didn't even have time to react before he suddenly had a sensation of being shoved into the back of his mind. He could watch what was happening, but he no longer had control of his body. His heart was pounding and his breathing became more labored, but he was unable to even attempt to take a deep breath to steady himself. And he knew that the shallow breaths his body was currently taking were only occurring because Umbridge allowed them to.
"Not so tough are you now, Potter?" Umbridge said, her grin wide. "Now, then. Be a good little boy and open the door."
Harry's gaze turned toward the door, his face moving of its own accord. He couldn't do anything but watch through eyes that he could no longer control, not even to decide when to blink, and listen as his mouth said, "Open." It sounded like English to him but, based on Umbridge's delight, he knew it must have come out in Parseltongue. The snake carvings began to move, being pulled toward the center of the door one by one. And finally, the door swung open to reveal the dark cave within.
"Not so hard, was it?" Umbridge sneered. She broke the connection of the curse and continued onward, leaving Harry behind for the time being.
Having regained control of his body, Harry began gulping down air. His body was still in panic mode, and he worked to calm himself down, slowing his heart rate. Seeing the curse being performed on a spider in a classroom had been bad enough, but experiencing it first hand had been another matter entirely. There were few things in existence that were scarier than someone else having complete control over your body, especially when that someone is one of the evilest someones imaginable. Harry found himself flexing his fingers and wiggling his toes, purely to assure himself that he still could.
As he calmed down, Harry noticed the portkey on the ground just a few feet away. It seemed that Umbridge had abandoned it there while she was investigating the door. If he could get to it, Harry knew it would take him back to Umbridge's Ministry office. Of course, he wouldn't be able to get anywhere else from there, at least not until the Weakness Potion's effects wore off a bit. And Umbridge would undoubtedly apparate back there to retrieve him before simply bringing them both back to the cave, ultimately nothing gained. Still, it would buy him some extra time, at least. So, Harry rolled over onto his side, struggling a bit with the effort, and tried to inch his way closer to the little cat figurine.
"Oh no you don't," Umbridge's voice suddenly called out. "Carpe rectractum." Once again, Harry found himself being painfully pulled along an uneven rocky surface by an invisible force. He groaned as he came to a stop by Umbridge's feet. So much for the portkey plan. "You weren't trying to run off on me, were you?"
Harry didn't answer, instead taking a moment to glance around the cave. There was much better lighting than there had been when the door first opened, with torches mounted to the walls that had now been lit. It wasn't a very big space, but it didn't really need to be. It only needed to hold one thing, and that thing was rather small, despite being the most powerful wand ever created. Harry had been hoping that there would be more obstacles in their way, similar to the door that had to be opened with Parseltongue, but this was not to be. Besides the torches, the only other thing in the cave was a small, silver chest on a stone pedestal, that Umbridge was now inspecting with a greedy grin on her face.
"After all these years, I can't believe it's right in front of me," Umbridge said. "The search led me to hell and back, but it was all worth it. No one will be able to stop me now."
The shiver that went up Harry's spine had nothing to do with the cold, though it was chilly out. This was it, this was what they'd come for. In mere moments, Umbridge would offer Harry up to the silver chest as a sacrifice, he would die, and she would walk away with the Elder Wand. Harry would be gone, and the world would never be the same. Where was Tom? It seemed that he wasn't coming after all. Harry's heart sank as he came to terms with the fact that this was likely the end.
"It's the end of the line for you, Potter," said Umbridge. Harry's breath quickened, his heart pounding louder and louder. Umbridge grabbed for him, and though he wanted to resist, he had little ability to do so. He flailed his legs as much as he could, hoping that he could possibly kick her or knee her somewhere, but she was out of reach, and there was little power behind his kicking anyway. Umbridge only laughed before trying to yank Harry to his feet. This was no easy task, however, as Umbridge wasn't very strong, and Harry was doing everything he could to make things difficult for her. And besides, he didn't have the strength to be much help even if he wanted to. "How much do you weigh?" Umbridge grunted before letting go, causing Harry to freefall a couple of feet back to the ground, his head hitting the rocks below with alarming force.
"You didn't think any of this through, did you?" Harry demanded angrily.
"Aren't orphans supposed to be skin and bones?" Umbridge snapped.
"Well, I'm not homeless," Harry snapped back, though admittedly he had always been a skinny kid, likely from all the meals Aunt Petunia had made him skip due to what she considered to be disrespect. It certainly wasn't his fault that Umbridge couldn't lift him. And his housing situation had been a bit unstable in recent history, but that was beside the point.
Umbride sighed. "Magic it is, then," she said. Harry braced himself as she pointed her wand at him again. "Wingardium leviosa," she said with a swish and a flick of her wand.
Harry was floating, an odd sensation that was nothing like the feeling of riding his broom. He flailed around, with nothing to support him, but he stayed airborne, floating closer and closer to the chest.
"It seems you'll be going out with some theatrics," Umbridge said. "You always were quite dramatic. Goodbye, Harry Potter."
"You can't do this!" Harry exclaimed, but Umbridge just laughed. "Why can't you leave innocent people alone? Haven't you caused enough pain?"
A popping sound could be heard from out on the cliff, followed by a voice saying, "Expelliarmus!" Umbridge's wand went flying out of her hand, and Harry went crashing down to the floor once again as Tom stepped into the cave, wand in hand. Harry laughed out of sheer relief despite the new bruises that were no doubt forming beneath his skin.
"Sorry about that, Harry," Tom said with a wince, but Harry was grinning from ear to ear. Then Tom got a better look at Umbridge, and recognition flashed across his face. "You? It was you all along?"
"What is the meaning of this?" Umbridge asked, sounding very confident for someone who was now without her wand. "Who are you and what is your business here? I am Delores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary at the Ministry of Magic and headmistress of Hogwarts. I'll have you arrested for attacking me in this manner!"
Tom looked at her incredulously. "Do you seriously not know who I am? You took everything from me. My family, my hopes, dreams, even my identity. You turned the entire Wizarding World against me, and you don't even know who I am?"
Umbridge stared at Tom with a puzzled expression, then she seemed to put the pieces together, her eyes widening. "Oh my. What an unexpected reunion," she said before looking down at Harry. "Potter, do you know who this is? This is the man you've been afraid of your whole life. Your personal boogeyman, come to play."
"I know who he is," Harry said. "Who do you think called him? He's my father, and you're after the Elder Wand."
"You summoned him here, did you?" Umbridge said, her face setting in a deep scowl. "So, you know more than you let on, then. You just can't help trying to ruin all of my plans can you, Potter?" Her voice became louder as her anger grew inside her.
"Leave him out of this," Tom said angrily. "This is between you and me. I can't believe it was you all the time. You were one of the officers investigating my uncle's murder."
Umbridge laughed. "Did you ever wonder how the Department of Magical Law Enforcement knew to send officers out to investigate before you ever discovered the body? I killed your pathetic uncle. He was a talented duelist, and wasn't about to let me take him alive. It couldn't be helped, but it was no matter. His nephew was staying with him and would surely be along soon. All I had to do was accuse you of committing the crime yourself, make the arrest, and then, instead of taking you to jail, I could bring you here. I was pretty perturbed after you made your escape, but at least I had the perfect person to pin all of my murders on. So, thanks for the alias, Tom. Or should I call you Voldemort?"
"You're the one who ought to be called 'Voldemort,' Umbridge," said Tom. "And after all the murders that I've been framed for, I ought to commit one for real, Merlin knows you deserve it after everything you've done. But I'll settle for making an arrest of my own. The game is over, Umbridge. It's time you paid for your crimes."
"I have no intention of paying for anything," Umbridge said smugly. "You've won this round, perhaps, but the game is far from over. As long as that wand remains here for the taking, I'll be back."
"I don't think you understand your predicament, Umbridge," said Tom. "You're unarmed, you've got nowhere to go."
"That's where you're wrong," Umbridge said with an evil grin. "You see, I learned something rather important from my associate all those years ago in your uncle's house." She slowly reached into a pocket. "Always bring an extra wand."
As Umbridge's hand emerged, a second wand gripped in her fist, Tom immediately started firing off spells. She blocked them before ducking behind Harry, using him as a human shield. Tom ran toward them, but he wasn't fast enough. In the blink of an eye, Umbridge had recovered her discarded wand and disapparated with a loud pop.