Chapter 13
To be Whole Again
Last Time
He moved through each door instinctively, knowing all the traps and alarms in place, and taking special care not to trigger any of them. How did he know of the alarms? Well, he was from the future, was an Unspeakable field commander, and had a research Unspeakable as his wife.
Harry moved ahead and towards the Hall of Prophecies, where he knew the orbs were kept. As he entered the Hall, he noticed shelves and shelves of Prophecies in the room. The hall filled to the brim with those glass orbs. Making his way to the 1980-1981 year section, he searched for the right Prophecy. Quickly, he swapped the real glass orb with a fake one with a surprise for dear old Tommy, just in case Voldemort got his hands on the prophecy. Harry had every intention of revealing him to the world at the end of the fifth year like it had taken place in the original timeline.
Ministry of Magic, London, 2nd August 1995
"Come in." said Fudge in an absent-minded voice and the door opened to reveal the smug face of Lucius Malfoy. "Ah Lucius, what a pleasant surprise. I did not expect you to come to the Ministry until later this evening."
"I felt it was necessary for me to drop by a bit sooner, given all the rumors that have reached me about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named being alive. I am not sure what Dumbledor is playing at, trying to spread fear and unrest. Through children no less." Lucius said calmly.
"Yes, those rumors need to be silenced and put to rest, we do not want to cause panic among the general public, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named perished that night on Halloween so many years ago. There is absolutely no reason to believe that He is back. Certainly not due to some crazy ramblings of a psychopath like Barty Crouch Jr." Fudge said.
Hearing this Lucius had to try hard to fight off a smile. He had been sent here by the Dark Lord to convince the Minister that Barty Crouch Jr's word could not be reliable and make sure that the Minister was set against the idea of his return. As it turns out the Minister had already set his mind to the fact that a crazy lunatic's confession could not be trusted and was adamant about putting the rumors to rest.
Now the only thing remaining for him to do was to set the Minister against Dumbledore, and considering Fudge's paranoia about Dumbledore aiming for his seat, it would not be so hard to achieve.
"I am not sure what Dumbledore is playing at. It's like he is deliberately trying to cause mass unrest, and fear in the public, and not even thinking about the political or economical ramifications of it. If the public starts believing his words and stops coming out of their house, or worse, starts to relocate to different countries, there would be an economic breakdown, a recession on a scale never seen before, and all this on your watch too Minister. You might even be labeled as the worst Minister of Magic in history despite all you have given to Wizarding Britain over the years." Lucius said while knowing that this would certainly have Fudge worried and looking for guidance, which is exactly where he could brainwash the idiot and have him adamantly oppose Dumbledore.
"Yes, yes. It would be a nightmare! The poor would die of hunger, people would lose their jobs, and companies would start having mass layoffs on a scale never done before! We must stop this! We must stop this at once! And the only way I see is that we have to put those false rumors to rest. But the problem is that Dumbledore is admired and respected by many. Many would still believe in those rumors just because it was Dumbledore saying it. I am not sure how to tackle this." Fudge said, looking all the more worried.
Already his image had taken a hit. First, was the incident during the Quidditch World Cup, which was a PR nightmare, next was the fact that the Boy Who Lived's name came out of the Goblet, which made the Ministry look like complete incompetent buffons. And it did not even stop there, then the judges had the brilliant idea of using that Half-breed champion's sister as a hostage, it would not have made much difference if she was not who she was. The Delacours were pretty powerful and had many connections in the French Ministry of Magic. The changes that had to be done to the existing trade agreements and treaties were not beneficial for Britain but had to be done if they did not want an international-level scandal on their hands.
This is not even taking into account what happened at the end of the tournament. The Boy Who Lived had won the tournament but was portkeyed off to who knows where by a lunatic Death Eater that was impersonating the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. It's only by sheer luck that he was able to keep that under wraps if that got out… Fudge shuddered at the implications. Not liking it one bit, and hence, here he was, desperate for any solution and it just so happened that one of his biggest supporters in terms of political power and money was seated in front of him.
"Unless…" Lucius said before he acted a bit hesitant. He wanted Fudge to be the one that asked him for help.
"Unless what Lu-Lord Malfoy? Please, if you have an idea, let's hear it. Coming from such a prominent and upstanding member of the society such as yourself, I have no doubt that it would be greatly beneficial to m.. to the general public." Fudge practically begged for help, switching from Lucius to Lord Malfoy in a second.
"It's a simple rule in politics. If you want to discredit someone's words, then discredit the man speaking them. The Ministry does have influence, considerable influence at that, and were it to just leak some facts about someone and was able to make the public see the truth…" Lucius answered a bit vaguely, making sure that he was not part of any conspiracy that the Minister might think up, so nothing could be linked to him.
Fudge hearing this sat up straight faster than ever before and one could clearly see the gears in his head turning and plans forming.
' I can have the media run a slander campaign on that old coot, and it's not like Rita would need any particular incentive to write up the articles, I could instead help her by letting some information slip, who said it had to be the truth, it just had to be believable enough. Yes, yes, that would work greatly. I could even have him stripped of all his political positions once enough damage has been done to his credibility just to make sure no riots ensue.' Fudge thought.
"I see you have come up with a plan to save the country yet again Minister. One could not expect anything less from you. But with that issue solved, we still have another, much bigger issue at our hands now." Lucius said, which caused Fudge to look at him with a confused expression on his face.
"Dumbledore still is the Headmaster of Hogwarts. You won't be able to remove him from that position, and Hogwarts is a place where children from many prominent families go, along with the next generation that would lead our society, do you really think it's safe to have a man like Dumbledore in charge of what the world's future inheritors learn? I certainly fear for what my son, Draco is learning there. Narcissa is worried sick that she would lose her son to the ramblings of an old man, far past his age." Lucius said. "For all, we know he could be trying to train the students at Hogwarts in combat so he could overthrow the Ministry or something like that."
"Aha! I knew there was a reason why he wanted to hire Moody!" Fudge exclaimed, looking pleased at the theory that Lucius presented to him. It did explain a lot of Dumbledore's actions over the previous years.
"Of course, I'm just speculating Minister, I could be wrong about it after all." Lucius said, but left Fudge enough room to allow him to believe that Dumbledore was against him, fueling the idiotic notion in Fudge's mind that Dumbledore was aiming for his seat as Minister.
"Yes, but you could be onto something Lord Malfoy, I mean Dumbledore's always wanted this job. Yes, he needs to be controlled, for all we know he could be brainwashing those poor children at Hogwarts." Fudge said.
"Perhaps it would be prudent to pass a couple of education decrees that would allow us more power in choosing who will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Perhaps a more theoretical approach would be necessary for the future classes, to restrict their ability to rise up and become a threat to the Ministry, and we would have an inside person on the Hogwarts staff that could make sure that our children are in no way being harmed or brainwashed."
"Excellent idea, Lucius." Fudge said with a brightened look.
' Dolores might like this opportunity. She was always good with kids.' Fudge thought.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 15th August 1995
"And as of yet, he is still remaining silent." Dumbledore said partway through a meeting of the order of the Phoenix. "It is my belief that Voldemort plans to stay in the shadows." He said while ignoring the shivers and flinches from others as he said the Dark Lord's name. "Without any proof of his return, people will not believe us. It will make it easier for him to catch them off guard in the future." He added, frowning deeply.
"That will be made all the more easier by the idiotic baboon we call a Minister." Sirius said, also frowning. Ever since this last week and a half the daily prophet had been releasing a large number of articles that were painting Dumbledore out to be a mad fool who was losing his touch and hold on reality. Just as Harry had predicted, the media was only focusing on discrediting Dumbledore and not him, Sirius did not know why, but that was the case.
' I still can't figure out how Harry was able to predict this. Sometimes I think he has gotten more from Lily than James. Until he starts using muggle prank items to embarrass me. Then he is all James.' Sirius thought while instinctively looking down between his legs on the seat he was sitting on, distinctively remembering the day when he sat on his chair for dinner while he had a wonderful woman sitting in front of him and all of a sudden a loud farting sound rang through the room which sounded like it came from him. It's safe to say that he saw no action that day.
"Indeed" Dumbledore sighed bringing Sirius's attention back to the matter at hand than the revenge he was planning. "Severus, what do you have to report?" Dumbledore asked.
"The Dark Lord has instructed Lucius to stop or at the very least reduce any and all negative press that Potter would receive, and has instructed Lucius to focus on discrediting you, Headmaster." Snape said.
"Why?" One of the Order members asked with a frown.
"Because he does not feel the need to discredit Potter." Snape drawled, glaring at the member for interrupting him. "He believes that trying to discredit both the Headmaster and Potter might cause some of the readers to question the media as both are famous around the world. And since Potter cannot remember anything about the Dark Lord's resurrection, he sees no need to run a similar campaign against Potter like he has Lucius run one for the Headmaster."
"It is as I expected, but it's not all bad news, at least Young Harry would be saved from the trouble and the slander that the media would surely run on him." Dumbledore sighed. "Now, it is late, unless there is anything else to discuss, we should end the meeting here."
"One more thing." Remus quickly spoke before anyone else could agree. "Do we have any idea what the Ministry is planning?" He was not employed by the Ministry, nor was he a prominent figure in the Wizarding World, and hence news about the happenings in the Ministry reaching his ears was a rare occurrence, and he wanted to make the most of this meeting to learn what the Ministry was planning to do in the near future.
"As far as I can tell, Cornelius is hoping to remove me from my positions." Dumbledore responded.
"And you're going to let him?" Molly questioned, scandalized at the thought that anyone could remove the Headmaster from any position in the Wizarding World.
"Fewer jobs for me means more time I have to focus on Voldemort." Dumbledore said with a small smile. "Besides, I have no doubt that I will be offered these positions once again after it has been proven that Voldemort has returned. My focus will primarily be on Hogwarts and tracking Voldemort's movements."
"Headmaster," Kingsley spoke in his deep voice. "You are aware that Fudge will be trying to remove you from Hogwarts as well right?"
"Oh, undoubtedly." Dumbledore nodded. "Though it will take him a very long time to accomplish that. Though a very pressing concern that I have is about their plans for this year, I have received word that Cornelius plans to shove one of his workers into the school."
"The Defense Against the Dark Arts position." Minerva added, already knowing about this particular detail, she was the deputy Headmistress after all.
"Yes. Well, there is nothing we can do about it for now. As reluctant as I am to agree to this, the Ministry does have some hold on Hogwarts." Dumbledore said before standing up, others following him to their feet. "Well, I believe that the meeting is over now."
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 15th August 1995
After listening in on the Order meeting that just took place, Harry made his way towards the room he knew the girls and all their friends were sitting in. He had invited them over for the day just to hang out, they got very little time during the summer with Harry's dueling championship tour and all going on that they were not able to keep in contact, and hence Harry thought it would be a great idea to have a get together before the start of the next school year at Hogwarts.
While on his way he saw an odd sight. Quickly backing up to the corner he had just rounded he peeked around. There was Hannah Abbot, one of his friends who was currently looking towards a dumbfounded-looking Neville Longbottom. Harry was curious as to what was going on, but it would seem he came right at the end as Hannah sauntered off. Poor Neville looked like he did not know what to do, his mouth opening and closing while looking back multiple times at Hannah as she left him alone.
Harry left his hiding spot as he approached the flabbergasted Neville who had failed to notice his approach.
"Hey Neville!" he greeted, and Neville jumped as if someone had just cast the explosion curse right next to his feet.
"H-Harry!" He said, calming down after recognizing Harry who just smiled at him.
"What's going on mate? Someone giving you trouble?" Harry asked. Already knowing what it might have been about. After all, Hannah and Neville had married in the future and given him a goddaughter to spoil.
"N-No! I m-mean, Y-yeah, you know I'm just going to g-go." Neville stammered out as he quickly scurried off. Leaving an amused Harry in his wake.
He then made his way towards his original destination while shaking his head and chuckling. As he arrived at the room he had left his friends in he quickly scanned the room and could only see Susan and Daphne sitting there, while no one else was in sight.
' Maybe they had to leave. The Order meeting did take a long time to get over, but it was important for me to listen in, in case anything had changed and deviated from the future.' Harry thought.
Harry quietly made his way towards the girls. "Hey girls" Harry greeted and for the second time that evening, he made people jump with his greeting. While Susan tried to calm herself down, Daphne just looked at him as a sudden glint appeared in her eye. It was not a particularly evil glint, but he did know that it meant trouble for him and he was not going to like what was coming.
"Hey, Harry." Daphne greeted him back after a quick peck on his lips as he took his seat opposite Susan and besides her.
Looking closely, he could see both the girls were a bit nervous. Daphne not so much so, but it looked like Susan was running a high fever with how red her face was.
"W-We wanted to ask you something." Susan said stuttering a bit at the beginning, mentally kicking herself for doing so. Their eyes met and that was a mistake as his curious emerald eyes seemed to glow and suddenly Susan's nerves turned to jelly.
She quickly gave Daphne a pointed look in an effort to gain some sort of support, this was her bloody idea in the first place. At the prodding, Daphne just rolled her eyes and looked towards Harry.
"We were wondering if you would like to go on a date with us. It is close to the start of the next year and we might not get enough time with ourselves with it being our OWL year and all." She said.
"Oh, sure I'd love to."
And that is how he found himself facing Susan and Daphne, his mouth agape as it opened and closed in his hopeless effort to form words.
Susan wore a rather nice-looking pink crop top with a white jacket over it zipped up just up to her bust with slightly ripped jeans at the bottom. While Daphne had decided to wear something similar, she wore a black crop top with jeans at the bottom. Both girls had applied just enough makeup to enhance their already beautiful looks while making sure they did not apply so much as to be mistaken for a clown.
The two girls just looked at Harry while he imitated a fish out of water. Seeing the effect they had over him with something as simple as these casual outfits and a touch of makeup filled them with some sort of prideful confidence. Susan especially since she was the most nervous between the two of them and insecure about her looks.
"I take it that you think we look good?" Daphne asked Harry huskily as she reached up to Harry's ear and whispered. Making sure to blow some air while hugging her boyfriend. Harry just nodded dumbly eliciting a light giggle from the girls.
"You both look gorgeous." He finally breathed out and the girls couldn't help the blush that came to their cheeks. While Harry was married to both of them in the future and seen them when they were a bit older and much more beautiful, he could not help but be struck by their beauty once more, he after all had spent decades alone, without them.
"We should get going." Harry said, extending his arms for the girls to take before they started to walk out of the house, all the while Sirius did a terrible job of keeping the grin off of his face and subtly giving his godson a thumbs up.
As it turns out Harry needed all the luck that he could get. For you see during their little lunch break Harry had let it slip that he needed a few new shirts and the girls all gained a predatory glint in their eyes. Susan in particular had always been insisting Harry go clothes shopping ever since after the Yule ball when she learned all he had were hand-me-downs.
Daphne didn't know that bit yet. Not that Harry did not want to tell it to her, but the topic just never came up and was never discussed. But she still had the same smile that Susan wore. So now Harry was being all but dragged by the girls towards the clothing shop and some men that they passed seemed to recognize his predicament. The looks of pity they gave Harry and their solemn nods made him feel as if he was going to a funeral. Which considering his past experiences, he would have preferred to go to an actual funeral than clothes shopping.
After their first date, Daphne had really come to appreciate muggle clothing and fashion and over the summer had explored all the shops in London with her mother and sister. Both taking a liking to the fashion. And so, Daphne was able to point them towards the stores that kept the best clothes in stock.
As they entered the shop Daphne asked. "So, what are we looking for?" and before Harry could respond Susan interrupted him.
"Anything and everything. He needs a whole wardrobe." She stated, and that seemed to make Daphne even giddier as they led him towards the men's side of the store.
Harry knowing that he had no say in this, just sighed and kept quiet while he had a small smile on his face. If someone asked him if he enjoyed this, he would say no, but deep down he knew, he would choose to be here with the present company, doing what the girls loved most than anywhere else in the world.
Platform 9 and 3/4, Kings Cross Station, 30th June 1995
"Harry!" A voice called out. Harry had just managed to turn around when he saw Daphne wrap her arms around his neck and pull him into a passionate kiss, one he gladly returned.
"I missed you too." Harry chuckled once they had let go. "How was France?" Daphne and her family had decided to visit a few of their cousins in France before the sisters had to go back to Hogwarts, and while Harry and Susan were invited to come along, Harry had some other commitments he had to tend to.
"It was great! Would have been better if you had come along." Daphne commented before lightly kissing him once more.
"Come on, let's go find ourselves a compartment." Daphne said as she took a hold of Harry's hand and pulled him towards the Hogwarts express.
As they made their way towards the end of the train where they knew Susan would have saved a compartment for them, they were suddenly interrupted by an obnoxious voice that they both hated dearly.
"Well, if it isn't Potter and his blood traitor whore." Drawled a voice and Harry knew it had gotten slightly more foul in here, as he was face to face with Draco Malfoy, who was more smug than usual, perhaps owing to the new shiny prefect badge on his chest. Or the fact that his father's dominator was alive once more. He particularly looked like a pompous pigeon as he puffed his chest out. "You better watch yourself this year around Potter, your titles won't help you going forward."
"Why? Did your mother finally decide to leave your cock sucking father?" Harry said with a smile. "I look forward to the money being transferred back to my bank accounts in that case."
"Mind yourself, filthy half-blood, you won't have that smug attitude for much longer, not even Dumbledore will be able to protect you all for long." Draco bragged. "Soon, all the Mudbloods, blood traitors, and half-bloods will kneel down at the feet of the Dark Lord where they belong. This time you won't get lucky, you will pay for disrespecting the Dark Lord, you will fall, and your Mummy won't be able to save you this time."
"Are you done yet?" Harry asked in a bored voice and Draco seemed very annoyed that he had not gotten under Harry's skin.
"Just a little advice, man to ferret, if you are trying to gain Voldemort's favor, I wouldn't broadcast his return out in the open while he is trying to keep his return quiet. It might spell trouble for your father if Voldemort heard you announce his return to the world. I hear a minute under the Curcio can snap a weak mind, and considering who your father is, I would bet he would last less under the curse than he lasts in bed." Harry taunted.
Draco was not too happy. How dare that filthy half-blood insult his father? His father would certainly hear about this, Potter had to be put into his place and soon. He was made the prefect after considerable pressure put on Snape by his father, and he was going to make the most of it, if he could not get under Potter's skin by insulting him, maybe he could make him do something by insulting one of his whores.
Turning towards Daphne, he noticed she had definitely started growing and was more beautiful now, and no doubt that Bones girl would too have grown. It was a shame they had no standards and were hanging off a filthy Half-blood's arm, but he could always change that once the Dark Lord defeated Potter, maybe he would be allowed to keep Potter's girls as his whores for entertainment.
Leering at Daphne he said. "This is your last chance slut. Leave him and come to me, I will show you what a real man can do. Or would you rather I show it to your sister first before taking you in front of the beaten body of your pathetic boyfriend."
Hearing that Harry could not control his anger anymore. Waves of magic were pouring out of him, suffocating everyone in their vicinity. Seeing this Daphne quickly turned to Harry, but did not try to stop him, she knew she would not be able to calm him down once the ferret insulted her and made his intentions toward herself and her sister clear. Harry if nothing else was protective of people he was close to, and the ferret just made the biggest mistake of threatening her and her sister. In her mind, the ferret deserved all that he was about to get, so all she did was take a step back and watch the drama unfold with a smirk on her face.
With a flick of his finger and the two overgrown gorillas were on the floor in a heap of bodies. While his eyes started to glow with emerald fire. The ferret was petrified with fear evident in his eyes.
Before Draco could even so much as blink Harry was in front of him. Harry pulled him close by his collar, the height difference clearly visible as Draco had to look up to meet the most terrifying eyes he had ever seen, not even the Dark Lord's evil red eyes were able to put such fear in him.
"Listen up, and listen up good you waste of a human. You so much as look in her direction, you so much as leer at her, let alone touch her in any inappropriate way, I will hound you till the gates of hell, and not even Satan would be able to save you from what I would do to you. I will eradicate your entire family. I am not the noble Gryffindor Golden boy that you seem to perceive me as. I am your worst nightmare. I will not hesitate to burn your house down to the ground with your father still in it, while I make you watch your pathetic father scream like a little hussy. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?" Harry asked while making sure to push a bit more of his magic out and suffocate the ferret enough that the ferret lost the last of his control over his bladder and a pungent smell filled the corridor.
All Draco could do was nod, the fear of god set in him as he was not even able to breathe. But before he could so much as make a sound Harry had suddenly moved behind him and before he could spin around Harry had snapped his arm out of his shoulder socket.
All Draco could do was scream in pain before even his elbow was twisted the wrong way, breaking it entirely, and before long he was on the ground with his other arm getting the same treatment. The pain he felt at that moment was unimaginable, and unbearable. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he tried and failed to move out of Harry's grasp, but he still had a hold of his arm in a vice grip.
Harry then pulled him up by his collar while ignoring Malfoy's pained cry. He had made sure to act only after Daphne had put up silencing and notice me not wards around the area, making sure there were no witnesses.
"This was just a warning Malfoy. I can break all the bones in your body in 100 different ways, I can fix them in the most painful way possible before breaking them once more. Do not test my patience, I am not the man you want after your blood, and if you touch or harm anyone close to me, I will be after your blood and it would be splattered across the ground that you stand on. Learn your lessons before I am forced to teach them to you." Harry growled out before throwing Malfoy to the floor and fixing his arms with a wave of his hand, not really caring that he was showing off his wandless abilities, they were already out in the open for the world to see after the world dueling championship finals.
Turning around, he took a hold of Daphne's hand and walked down the corridor to where they were going before Malfoy oh so rudely interrupted them, while he did not fear any repercussions that might come his way IF Malfoy was able to prove what he did, he did fear Daphne's reaction. Turning to face Daphne with worry evident in his eyes all he saw was a smirking face of Daphne before she got up to her tiptoes and kissed him soundly putting all his worries to rest.
' How did I forget Daph could be crueler than even me when someone got on her bad side.'
AN
So, that was the chapter.
If you get 13 or 26 notifications thats only because I was updating the previous chapters.
Fudge's POV and the campaign is under way
Some Order things
A joke of a date because I am still bad at writing them XD
And the train ride
I know this aint upto the mark but I have a lot of ring rust to shake off
Next up
Umbridge I think
Her first class maybe
I am still thinking if I should have harry do the whole blood quill routine again or no
Maybe I should, maybe not, tell me what you guys think
Chapter 14
To be Whole Again
Last Time
"This was just a warning Malfoy. I can break all the bones in your body in 100 different ways, I can fix them in the most painful way possible before breaking them once more. Do not test my patience, I am not the man you want after your blood, and if you touch or harm anyone close to me, I will be after your blood and it would be splattered across the ground that you stand on. Learn your lessons before I am forced to teach them to you." Harry growled out before throwing Malfoy to the floor and fixing his arms with a wave of his hand, not really caring that he was showing off his wandless abilities, they were already out in the open for the world to see after the world dueling championship finals.
Turning around, he took a hold of Daphne's hand and walked down the corridor to where they were going, while he did not fear of any repercussions that might come his way IF Malfoy was able to prove what he did, he did fear Daphne's reaction. Turning to face Daphne with worry evident in his eyes all he saw was a smirking face of Daphne before she got up to her tiptoes and kissed him soundly putting all his worries to rest.
'How did I forget Daph could be crueler than even me when someone got on her bad side.'
The Great Hall, Hogwarts, 1st September 1995
It was hard not to notice all the eyes that were on Harry as soon as he entered Hogwarts, it appeared that the whole of Hogwarts was in-between fear and awe of Harry. After all, it was not every day that one learns that one of your fellow students could do wandless magic, a fifth-year student that has not even sat for his OWLs to that. It appeared that the stories from the world dueling championship had made rounds on the British Isles and everyone was well aware of what Harry had done during the finals other than just winning it of course.
"Greetings" Dumbledore began his opening speech "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I would like to start by welcoming Professor Grubby-Plank, who will replace Professor Hagrid for the start of the year. As always there is no magic in the corridors, a list of banned products will be available in Mr. Filch's office. Also…"
Dumbledore had begun to give his usual speech after the students were sorted, which Harry only paid half attention to. It was the usual run-of-the-mill speech, about tryouts for Quidditch, about not going near the Forbidden Forest and the list of items that were banned from the hallways of Hogwarts. Also, a woman named Professor Grubbly-Plank would be replacing Hagrid, because he was unavailable but Harry knew it was because he was sent on that suicidal mission to attempt to sway the giants over to their side. Given what he knew about giants, Harry doubted very much that they would listen to Hagrid and might even treat him worse for being a half-giant than the vast majority of humans in the Wizarding World might. The only reason Harry was not following Hagrid from afar and trying to save him was because he knew Hagrid would be all right and hence, he had nothing to worry about.
"And now, it seems to be a routine at this point, but I have to announce that we have a new Defense Against the Dart Arts teacher." Dumbledor said, but it was clear for all to see that his announcement lacked the dramatic touch to it that he always had and the smile on his face was looking a bit forced. "Students and faculty, I welcome Dolores Umbridge as the new Defense Against the Dart Arts professor."
A toad faced woman, dressed in the most vomit inducing pink robes, stood on her feet and gave a bow as few of the students gave a few courtesy claps, but if Umbridge had noticed, she acted like she did not.
' I yet again fail to understand the number of species that had to be combined to produce someone as her. I know the muggle technology got way better in the future, but even their ridiculous attempts to bring back Dinosaurs produced better results than what is standing in front of me.' Harry thought
"Now I believe…" Dumbledore started before soon stopping for some reason, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.
Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk.
Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Harry had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before.
Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things weredone at Hogwarts.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."
Her voice was high-pitched, breathy, and little-girlish and, again, Harry felt a powerful rush of dislike yet again, but much more prominent than the last time he had experienced this, maybe it was because he knew what this bitch used to do to muggleborns and children when he was on the run from the ministryafter his 6th year, he knew that he loathed everything about her, from her stupid voice to her fluffy pink cardigan.
She gave another little throat clearing cough "Hem, hem" and continued.
"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"
Harry glanced around. None of the faces he could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"
Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.
"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan," A girl whispered down the table, which caused most of the girls around her to lapse into silent giggles.
Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again "Hem, hem," but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching.'
Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her. Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and Harry distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little 'hem, hem' and went on with her speech.
"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation . . ."
Professor Umbridge's speech may be all passive-aggressive and flowery, but her meaning is pretty clear. The Ministry wants control of Hogwarts and now they have sent their henchwoman to do the job.
". . . because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."
She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unaware by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.
"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, I believe it is time for us to go up to bed, Prefects, lead the first years up to their dormitories if you will. Good night, everyone."
"I can tell I'm going to hate her" Daphne whispered to Harry as they walked out of the Great Hall.
"I'd think less of you if you didn't" Susan whispered back as she joined them.
"Well?" Daphne turned to Harry.
"I'm going to ruin that woman's damn life." Harry vowed as they walked towards the Chamber of Secrets, Harry had some planning to do, and some steam to blow off after having had to go through that excruciatingly painful speech once again.
"You sure?"
"Even an idiot could tell that Fudge had sent her here, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and wait until our first class but by that time you'll pretty much be asking me how you could help."
"Oh, but I am asking right now! How can I help? I have heard enough from my aunt to know that the walking piece of overinflated cotton candy is bad news and has been causing trouble for my aunt since the last few years whenever auntie wanted to bring about some changes in the auror department." Susan said, and one could literally see the evil in her eyes when talking about the so called " overinflated cotton candy"
The Defense Against the Dark Art Classroom, Hogwarts, 1st September 1995
Dolores Umbridge sat in her office enjoying a nice cup of tea, having finished changing the design of it a few days ago. The walls were now fully colored in pink and covered in decorative plates that held pictures of her favorite animal in the world, cats. On her desk she had all of her equipment and paperwork neatly arranged, she also made sure to have a lovely little picture of Minister Fudge there.
She looked at the records of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers, what they taught and scoffed. First year appeared to be the only one where the teacher appeared to teach material that would be appropriate for children. The second year was just a yearlong love letter from Gilderoy Lockhart to himself. The half breed and the imposter had taught subjects far too advanced for the Ministry's liking, adding fodder to the belief that Dumbledore was training students for combat to overthrow the Ministry.
The Minister about had a coronary when he learned that the faux Moody had used the Imperius Curse on students. It was among the first things that opened the Minister's eyes to what Dumbledore was doing.
Her mind went to Harry Potter. His marks were the highest in Defense Against the Dark Arts of the past two years for his year. There was a gap, with Harry Potter and then everyone else below. The fact that the boy showed such a natural affinity for the subject bothered Dolores greatly.
When she tried to bring this to the Minister's attention, he just brushed her off. In fact, she could not even figure out what Potter was. From many accounts, he was a troublemaker who benefitted from a magical fluke when he was a year old but the articles she read, the pictures she saw, the talks about Potter's performance in the International Dueling Competition, the Triwizard Tournament, all painted a picture that she just could not believe.
' No half-blood can be as powerful as Potter appears to be.'
Dolores did wonder if Potter was just a naïve child that she could manipulate for her own gains to gain more influence within the Ministry or a worthy potential political rival that she needed to eliminate at all costs. This is why she jumped on the chance to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, she wanted solid proof to bring back to the Minister that he was mistaken that the boy could do no wrong.
' Unless…'
The Defense Against the Dark Art Classroom, Hogwarts, 3rd September 1995
In the defense classroom the students were all waiting for the defense teacher to arrive, some were playing and others were chatting.
Daphne had her head resting on Harry's shoulder while he rested his own on her head.
"She probably won't be that bad" Daphne said optimistically.
"Daph, if she does not give you the desire to smash your head against the desk by the end of the classroom then I will walk around the school and say that 'Draco Malfoy is better than me' to every person I pass"
"Pretty confident huh Potter?" Daphne asked as she raised her head to look at him. "You better not back down now." Daphne said with mirth in her eyes.
"Well, seeing as all of our previous defense teachers expect one were either evil, insane, a danger to children or all three, I think I am being generous with my beliefs. I mean Remus was classifies as a 'Dark Creature' yet he was the only one who never actually tried to hurt us."
"Intentionally" Daphne added, while taking a hold of Harry's hand. Being reminded of all the life-threatening situations her boyfriend had been in.
"I think Susan has been a bad influence on you. Look at you, Miss Ice Queen holding her boyfriend's hand when talking about the adventurous adventures of her God's gift to humankind boyfriend." Harry teased with a smirk on his face. But below the desk held her hand all the more tighter while rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand.
"What about Mad-Eye? The real one?" Daphne asked while rolling her eyes and snatching her hand away from Harry's grasp.
"The same man that might just scream 'CONSTANT VIGILENCE' into an unsuspecting first year student's ear while he is taking a shit?" Harry countered with a raised eyebrow.
"Must you be so crass?" Daphne asked while frowning in disgust. "Carry yourself like the lord you are." She continued while looking at Harry. "But point taken. Insane, definitely insane."
"By the way, cotton candy incoming." Tracey interrupted from behind them.
At that moment, Umbridge walked in with a bright sugary sweet smile, dressed in bright pink robes with a bow on her head. Harry felt the urge to vomit.
"Good morning class!" called Umbridge happily and Harry briefly considered if there was something in the water at the Ministry of Magic. It did explain a lot after all. The members of the class gave some halfhearted "good mornings" where several others were taken aback by Umbridge's overly cheerful attitude. Umbridge looked around with a frown. "Now that won't do at all, not at all."
Umbridge looked around as Basile and Harry exchanged a brief look of amusement when her attention was diverted elsewhere.
"Now when I say good morning class, I want to you to all say good morning, Professor Umbridge in unison," said Umbridge with a sugary sweet smile. "Now all together once again. Good morning class."
"Good Morning Professor Umbridge!" chanted the class in unison. If Umbridge noticed it was a bit forced, she did not let on at all.
"Right, now this class has been one that's been a bit fragmented over the years, I'm afraid, you have had four separate teachers, each of them with their own unique styles and none of them that completely taught up to the Ministry of Magic standard, with one possible exception," said Umbridge as she looked around, as the class sat in front of her. It was obvious who they thought the exception was and it did conflict with who Umbridge thought of. "This year, I hope to right the wrongs that caused your education to be so fragmented and messed up. By the end of the year, I hope that not only will I be a proactive influence on your futures, but we will be good friends."
Harry thought Umbridge could not have done a better job of turning off people to her if he had written her speech for her.
"Now I trust you have all purchased a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Silkhard," commented Umbridge and some of the class members murmured by Umbridge shook her head. "Now that won't do at all, no it won't. A simple 'yes, Professor Umbridge' or 'no, Professor Umbridge' is all you need to do to answer my question. Now once again, did you purchase a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Silkhard?"
"Yes, Professor Umbridge," droned the class.
"Very good now, now please place your wands away as there would be no need for them in my class," said Umbridge and Harry as well as the others put their wands away with some amount of grumbling. Umbridge quickly moved over and wrote down a list of course aims on the black board.
Behind her back, Harry grinned at Daphne with a 'told you so' look as Daphne looked at Umbridge with a pure "What the fuck" look.
Harry pulled the book out to his desk, under the pretext that he was reading it. Obviously, he did not need it, even if he wanted to, he just could not bring himself to read it once more just to refresh his memory. It was almost like someone took the most closed-minded view of magic and amplified it a hundred-fold. It was the most backwards, least innovative book that Harry had ever seen in his life.
In other words, it was a perfect book. It was all theory, with no emphasis whatsoever on the practical. Umbridge had sat down behind her desk and Harry saw a few Ravenclaw students raise their hands out of the corner of his eye. A few had their arm stretched high to the ceiling and Harry just shook his head, as he pretended to read his book. Umbridge spent most of the next ten minutes doing her best to ignore them but eventually she looked up.
"Yes, what is it, Miss…" prompted Umbridge.
"Brocklehurst, Professor." The girl said.
"Miss Brocklehurst, do you have a question about the assigned chapter that needs addressing?" Umbridge asked through narrowed eyes. Afterall Mandy Brocklehurst was a half-blood and that was a crime in Umbridge's eyes.
"No, not about the assigned chapter, but the course aims did leave some questions in mind." Mandy said. And while the entire class apart from those that had raised their hand were pretending to read the book assigned to them, Harry knew that they were listening intently to the conversation going on.
"Exactly what questions Miss Brocklehurst, I thought they were perfectly clear." Umbridge said in her same irritating voice, and second by second Harry was getting irritated by it.
"Well, there is nothing in there about actually practicing defensive magic." Mandy replied, while some of the other Ravenclaws nodded their heads and by this point the entire class had forgone reading the book and were intently looking towards the toad to listen to what she would say.
"Practicing the use of defensive magic, what use will that have in this classroom?" Umbridge asked.
"Isn't there a practical portion on the O.W.L examination that we have at the end of our year?" Mandy replied.
"Indeed, but as long as you studied the theory sufficiently, there should be no reason why you should not do well enough to pass your exam." Umbridge replied
"And as far as using defensive magic goes. Why would you ever need to? You surely are not expecting to be attacked during class? And who could possibly want to harm children, such as yourselves?" Umbridge continued in the sweetest voice she could manage.
While she did ask that to Mandy, her eyes were towards the Boy-Who-Lived, just hoping that he would say the Dark Lord's name. Which would be reason enough in her eyes to show to the Minister that Dumbledor's Golden Boy was just as much a danger to the Ministry as Dumbledor.
' This would also surely warrant a detention, no? Oh, it's been such a long time since I have had children use those marvelous piece of magic. Too bad it is illegal and procuring them is a real pain in the ass.' Umbridge thought evilly, while a shudder went through her at the thought of punishing the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Fenrir Greyback, murderers, thieves, pedophiles, child molesters, rapists. Giant man-eating spiders." Harry interrupted while counting out on his fingers as he listed out the dangers, adding the last one and smirking when he remembered his and Ron's adventures into the Forbidden Forrest back in their second year.
"Not to forget the havoc and fear inducing Werewolves that are actually criminals. Afterall, are you not the same person who we have to thank for the laws you have passed against Werewolves in general. Making sure to generalize the restrictions on all the Werewolves, whether they were a criminal or not and ruining many a lives. But hey! Atleast Fenrir Greyback and his pack are causing less trouble. And we are in your debt for that Madam Umbridge" Harry said while keeping an innocent smile on his face. Though the sarcasm was something even Ron could have picked up on after reading of the latest raids conducted by the pack he just named.
Umbridge was seething with rage. 'How dare the filthy half-blood mock me! Does he know who I am?! Does he not know what I can do?! Its better if I show him what I can do. Maybe a few lines would be enough.'
"Harry! You forgot about those Death Eaters that the Ministry is yet to catch. They sure are a menace to the society. Did you not see what happened at the Quidditch World Cup last year?" a voice interrupted.
Looking in the direction of the voice, Umbridge found herself staring into the ice-cold eyes of the Greengrass Heiress, all this did was for the frown on Umbridge's face to deepen and her blood to start boil.
' Such pure blood and noble house associating itself with a half-blood! Disgusting!'
But looking at the Greengrass girl caused a maniac looking gleam to form in her eyes. Before she looked between Harry and Daphne.
' Maybe it's not the best idea to punish the boy who can defeat a dragon and perform so called wandless magic. But that does not mean he could not be… 'reprimanded' in a different way.' Umbridge thought, plans forming in her head at lightning-fast pace.
The Great Hall, Hogwarts, 21st September 1995
After a few weeks of Hogwarts students being honored to attend the toad's class, today was the day Harry was looking forward to the most. He wanted a few days to pass before paying Umbridge back so that everyone would have had atleast a few classes of DADA and by this point no one would sympathize with her.
That day Harry and his friends sat in the great hall for dinner on the Ravenclaw table, as they ate, they couldn't help but notice him glance towards the teacher's table every few minutes, his eyes trying to constantly find Umbridge. Not that it was hard finding a bright pink humanoid looking sphere on the stage even with Dumbledor wearing his eccentric and sometimes hideous robes, but today it seemed she was yet to arrive.
' Maybe she forgot to personally greet one of her kittens' Harry thought
"Why do you keep looking that way?" Blaise whispered to Harry.
"Not yet." Harry replied, taking a sip from his glass of juice.
"That's what you've said every time we have asked." Susan pointed out, aiming a mild glare at Harry.
"Yet you haven't learnt." Harry said. Earning him a intensified glare from Susan, choked chuckles from Neville, and slap on his arms from Hannah who did her duty as a best friend to the red head, but still could not stop smiling.
Just then Umbridge walked into the great hall, greeting the students in her obnoxious voice as had become routine every single damn morning, though with each morning few and fewer students deemed it necessary to reply, until since last week, no one replied.
Finally reaching the staff table, she sat down in her seat between the Potions Master and the Deputy Headmistress, and –
"PPPPPRRRRRBBBBBTTTTT!"
Umbridge, that moment turned pink to crimson as every eye in the hall turned to her, and she could even see some of the students holding their noses and waving their hands in front of their faces while the Weasley twins acted as if they were gaging.
"Professor, perhaps you should lay off the beans today? Just a suggestion" a voice said.
That broke the dam so to speak. There was uncontrollable laughter all around the great hall. Even the prim and proper Purebloods of Slytherin house could not stop laughing at the toad. And while the teachers 'attempted' to silence the students one could definitely see them smiling, even Snape had a smirk on his face.
Looking in the direction of the voice she saw Potter with an innocent face looking straight at her though she could definitely see the damn freaking twinkle in his eyes.
Ooh, she had never been so humiliated in all her life! And she knew, just knew, that the bloody Potter brat was responsible somehow. Still, she had the plan she was cooking up for quite some days. It just looked like she would have to execute it sooner than planned. Pulling the whoopee cushion out she tried her best to pull the offending object from under her seat just so all could see that it was not her that farted, but try as she might, she just could not pull it off.
Just as she was going to give up and conjure a new chair to sit on, the fart bag came lose, crashing into her face with a loud smack, causing her to stumble and fall on her ass while that caused the teacher's table to fall off the stage.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"You planned ALL of this?" Susan asked with certain amount of shock.
"Don't ask me something I cannot tell you the answer to." Harry replied, and one could definitely see the smirk on his face.
"I am so very attracted to you right now." Daphne said before she grabbed him and pulled him into a passionate kiss.
"Ah, young love." A sage voice whispered fondly.
The Defense Against the Dark Art Classroom, Hogwarts, 23rd September 1995
"Miss Lovegood" Umbridge called Luna in her sickly-sweet voice.
"Yes, Ma'am?" Luna questioned. But one could see something was different.
Was it the soft voice she spoke with? Was it the eyes that were downcast? Was it the emotionless voice that she used? Was it the pain in her voice? Or was it the tears in her eyes slowing dropping on the piece of parchment she was writing on… with her own blood.
"I hope you have learned your lesson about what happens to little girls who lie." Umbridge replied.
"Yes Ma'am" Luna replied in that same voice, a voice that was sure to break any sane adult's heart and cause them to hug the girl until everything was alright.
"Good, but I think a few more days in detention would make sure that the lesson got across don't you think?" Umbridge asked, but continued before Luna could reply. "Well then, today's detention was a success I would say. You are free to pack up and go to your common room."
As Luna quietly started packing up all someone would see on her face was pain. Pain caused due to being true to yourself. Pain caused due to believing what you believe in. Pain caused due to being special. Pain caused due to living.
As she was leaving the classroom, she heard a voice call out.
"Oh, and don't forget, this stays between us, or I'll have to sadly increase the number of lines you have to write and pull your so called brother in to help you write some lines too."
Hanging her head down in shame, she exited the classroom.
"Hey Luna! How was the detention, I can't imagine what it would be like sitting in front of that woman for 2 hours straight." A voice called out from down the corridor.
Luna looked up to see a smiling Astoria Greengrass walking down the corridor towards her. Hastily she tried to rub all the tears from her eyes using her sleeves and positioned her damaged left hand behind her back while doing her best to not let her tears fall while also trying to put a smile on her face.
"Not at all. The Nargels' infestation in the office was more than anywhere I have seen, it was quite fascinating watching them roam around Professor's head." Luna replied, which just caused Astoria to chuckle.
"Anyways, lets go! I am craving for some delicious brownies and I happen to know just where to find them!" Astoria said excitedly as she grabbed Luna's left hand and made to pull the girl towards the kitchen.
"Ouch!"
The Ravenclaw Common Room, Hogwarts, 23rd September 1995
"HARRY!"
This caused each and everyone present to look in the direction of the voice, which was coming from the entrance of the common room, where one could see a furious and worried Slytherin girl pull a scared Ravenclaw girl behind her.
Seeing this caused quite a few students to start whispering, while Harry looked towards Astoria questioningly and with some shock on his face.
As Astoria pulled Luna towards where Harry was sitting chatting with Su Li she saw a male prefect make his way towards her.
"Miss. This is the Raven…" That's as far as the prefect could say before being cut off by an angry Astoria.
"Shut your trap before I do it for you and show exactly why my sister is called the Ice Queen of Slytherin, afterall she is not the only one who was taught some family magic." came the reply from the furious girl which caused every male in the common room to wince in pain and the prefect to cover his bits and hurry back to his seat.
"What is it Astoria?" Harry asked as the girl reached him. Something bad must have happened to cause the usually fun-loving girl to get this angry.
"Did you know Luna is attending detentions with Umbitch." Astoria asked.
"Yes." Harry replied cautiously.
He had only not interfered with the detention before because he knew that Umbridge had only used the blood quills on him in the previous timeline. Because afterall they were illegal and using them on many students would surely increase the chance of the authorities finding out.
"Show it to him Luna." Astoria said in a soft but firm voice, leaving no room for argument.
As Luna lifted her left hand reluctantly and put in front of Harry the atmosphere changed.
The air was thick.
Nonexistent wind started blowing.
Breathing became difficult.
And a pair of bright emerald circles started glowing.
AN
So, that was the chapter.
Umbridge Entry
The terribly long speech that I had to write because I just wanted the readers to suffer as the students in the story had
The first class
Umbridge's Plan
The prank
Detention
Next up
The aftermath
The consequences