A Perfect Excuse
As Harry and his group headed to lunch, talking about which professors would be inspected next, before they could even enter the Great Hall, the sound of an argument caught their attention.
Several students had already stopped to watch, and one of the voices sounded very familiar, making Harry and the others quicken their pace.
"What exactly are you implying?" Umbridge demanded, reproach and displeasure clear in her tone.
"I'm talking about your methods of punishment and your use of dark magic against students. Methods that seem like they came straight out of the Middle Ages," Selene said, staring directly at Umbridge with a completely cold expression.
Both of them were standing on the steps of the main staircase. Umbridge had been forced to climb two steps higher just to stand at Selene's height and face her properly.
"I know this may sound silly, but it almost seems as though you're questioning my authority in this institution, Selene," Umbridge said, climbing another step to place herself above her, even calling her by her first name as if it were nothing.
"That's exactly what I'm doing. And no one gave you the right to address the matriarch of the Greengrass family that way," Selene replied without changing her expression.
Even the air around them seemed to slowly turn icy.
Selene climbed another step, putting herself level with Umbridge once again, and the moment her foot came down, the floor beneath her began to freeze softly.
Umbridge nearly stepped back when Selene's presence hit her head-on.
But she quickly gathered her courage.
"Questioning my practices means questioning the Ministry and, by extension, the Minister himself. I am a tolerant woman, but if there is one thing I will never tolerate, it is disloyalty," Umbridge said with a threatening edge to her voice.
But it seemed those had been the worst possible words to use at that moment.
Because suddenly, a faint smile appeared on Selene's cold face.
At the same time, a kind of freezing magical pulse spread from her body and swept through the entire entrance hall. The glass windows began freezing over rapidly, the portraits started trembling as they searched for coats, and tiny specks of snow appeared in the air.
Even small snowflakes began settling in Selene's hair, making tiny frozen crystals glitter between her locks.
"Are you threatening me, Dolores Umbridge?" Selene asked with that smile still on her face, though it never reached her eyes and, more importantly, never reached her voice.
Dolores, as if she'd been struck by a Freezing Charm, went completely stiff at the sight of Selene's expression. A chill ran through her entire body.
"Tell me, Dolores... are you really stupid enough to believe the Ministry sent you here because they trust you?"
Umbridge's expression changed immediately.
"You think you're their spearhead?" Selene let out a small laugh filled with contempt. "How adorable."
"I was personally sent by Minister Fudge to..."
"So someone would do something to you," Selene interrupted, not even giving her the chance to finish. "That's all."
Umbridge fell silent.
"They sent you here because they know perfectly well how unbearable you are. Sooner or later, you'll provoke the wrong person, and when someone finally loses their patience with you, the Ministry will have exactly what it wants."
Selene stepped a little closer.
"An excuse."
The smile slowly disappeared from her face.
"You're not an infiltrator. You're not a strategist. You're not even an important piece."
Her eyes locked onto Umbridge's.
"You're bait, Dolores."
Umbridge went pale.
"And what's truly pathetic is that you've spent all this time strutting around the castle, believing you're helping the Ministry, when in reality they're just waiting for someone to be kind enough to take the bait."
"And you know what? You're doing an exemplary job. It's just that to Wanda, you're a cockroach that's interesting to watch, to Narcissa, a waste of time, and to Sirius, a cockroach that'll only cause him more trouble if he crushes it. But to me..."
Selene took another step toward Umbridge, making her step back once again with a hint of fear.
"...don't you dare hurt any of the students again. Because then, at last, you'll serve the purpose the Ministry actually sent you here for." Selene tilted her head slightly. "And even then, they won't accomplish anything," Selene finished as she calmly put away her wand, without anyone having noticed when she'd even drawn it.
As she did, everything around her that had been rapidly freezing slowly returned to its natural temperature.
Selene turned around, giving Umbridge her back without even sparing her one last glance, and walked toward the Great Hall with a completely calm expression.
Meanwhile, the students moved aside to let her pass, looking at her with obvious excitement and admiration.
Even Daphne, seeing her mother like that, had her mouth hanging wide open.
"I think your mother is awesome. Now I understand why they called her the Ice Queen," Hermione couldn't help saying as she watched Selene walk past.
Draco and Harry nodded as well, while Daphne still had her mouth open and a small smile slowly began forming on her face, filled with pride.
The students gave Umbridge one last look. She was still standing frozen in the exact same spot, too humiliated to come up with any response.
She swept her gaze over all the students before turning around and quickly walking away, trying to hold on to whatever little pride she had left.
But really, it only looked like she was running away with her tail between her legs.
As she walked away, she clenched her fists and teeth, letting all the hatred that had been building inside her since arriving at that school continue to grow.
Every new humiliation seemed to push her a little closer to doing exactly what everyone expected her to do.
"She feels like someone who's about to do something really stupid," Draco said as he watched Umbridge's retreating back.
"Yeah. Do you believe Professor Trelawney's prediction now?" Harry asked with a small amused smile.