Chapter 36 -
Fudge sat in his hospital bed, in a private room at St Mungo's hospital. His fear, while still very present, was overshadowed by all the extreme amounts of anger he felt. Dumbledore actually tried to kill him! Thank god for Lucius Malfoy or he might not have been here. He could not believe that Dumbledore had sent that 'Apophis' wizard after him, but if that was the case then that meant that Dumbledore knows Apophis, if Dumbledore knew Apophis then what about the attack on Harry Potter?
Harry Potter refused to help Dumbledore in saying that you-know-who was not back, was that why Dumbledore sent Apophis to attack him? Fudge couldn't believe it but he supposed it made sense, after all it had been widely known that man known to be senile and crazy, and if the man was willing to publicly claim that a dead man is alive then he was probably crazier than anyone had expected. Fudge could not let him get away with it!
The very second after Fudge had finished his breakfast (it was the most important meal of the day after all) then he was going to send the aurors to arrest him. Fudge was not going to allow Dumbledore to take his position as Minister of Magic, nor was he going to allow Dumbledore to do whatever he wanted. Fudge was the Minister of Magic, it was about time to remind Dumbledore of that.
"Nearly there," Harry said to Astoria as the walked down the hill towards Hagrid's hut. "It's right over there, see." Harry said as he pointed to Hagrid's hut. "You have not met Hagrid before have you?"
"Not really." Astoria shook his head.
"Well Hagrid is the games keeper and the care of magical creatures professor." Harry explained. "Fair warning he is really massive and his dog will more than likely lick your whole face but they are both very gentle and nice." Harry said, they arrived at his hut to see Hagrid looking at his fields. Astoria was trying not to drop her mouth at the size of Hagrid. "Hagrid!" Harry called.
"Harry?" Hagrid turned around and smiled at Harry. "Oh it's good to see you!" He said as he pulled Harry into a hug.
"Nice to see you again Hagrid," Harry grinned before he pulled away and gestured to Astoria. "oh and this is Astoria Greengrass, a friend of mine."
"Nice to meet ya." Hagrid extended one of his giant hands to Astoria who politely but hesitantly shook it, fearing that Hagrid may use a little more strength than needed but was gladly proven wrong when he didn't.
"It's nice to meet you." Astoria said.
"Astoria over here heard that you are the one to talk to about a magical creatures and I wanted to see you again so I have brought her here to 'kill two birds with one stone' as they say." Harry explained.
"Oh well you both are welcome over here anytime," Hagrid smiled at Harry before he turned to Astoria. "and feel free to ask any questions about creatures you want. I don't meant to toot my own horn or anything but I know quite a lot about them." Hagrid said.
"Thank you." Astoria replied, looking pleased.
"Oh Hagrid, I don't know if you have heard yet but I am an animagus now!" Harry smiled brightly. "Do you want to see my animagus form?"
"Do I? Of course I do, show us, come on." Hagrid said excitedly, a second later Harry stood in front of Harry in his animagus form. Astoria looked at Hagrid to see his reaction and could not help but compare him to a kid in a toy store.
Bellatrix Lestrange sat in her cell in Azkaban, a smile on her pale and gaunt face, she could feel it, she could feel him.
She had messy and curly black hair that as of the moment looked more like a nest due to the lack of care, her skin was incredibly pale thanks to a lack of sunlight and she was incredibly thin thanks to barely having enough to eat. Her violet eyes held a life that the rest of her body did not possess. She caressed the dark mark on her arm.
Her mark was getting stronger, it was getting darker. She knew what this meant, her lord was getting stronger. He would come for her, she knew he would come for her. She was his best! His most loyal! He would free her soon so she can take her place by his side. Bellatrix had these same thoughts every day and showed no sign of them slowing down or stopping.
She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps, this surprised her seeing as it was night time and guards never came around this time. She looked up to see someone standing outside of her cell, he was hidden by the shadows so she could not make out who he was.
"That's her." She heard somebody else whisper to the figure.
"Go and do your jobs." The shadowed figure said, a few foot steps were heard before he spoke again "Bellatrix Lestrange." The shadowed figure spoke.
"Who's asking?!" She demanded.
"Do you still serve the dark lord?" The figure asked.
"Yes!" Bellatrix said without hesitation.
"If I were to free you then would you return to him?"
"Yes!" She said once more, and once again with no hesitation. The figure did not immediately reply, instead he began hissing. Bellatrix was confused and was about to tell him to start speaking when she felt a tingling on her arm, she looked down to see the snake on her dark mark move for a moment before it settled down and became still. "Who are you?!" She gasped, realising that he was a parsletounge but knew that he was not the dark lord who as far as she knew was the only parsletounge in Britain.
"Get back." The figure said as he raised his wand, his wand glowed and Bellatrix quickly jumped back and barely avoided her cell door landing on her. The figure walked into her cell, moon light from her small window revealing him to her. "I am Apophis, Voldemort calls."
"You dare speak his name?!" She hissed as she glared.
"I am the only one he gives permission to use his name." Apophis replied.
"You are lying!" She said, if the dark lord did not give her permission to use his name then why would this person have permission?
"You can ask him when we get back." Apophis said as he walked out of the cell and gestured her to follow, she growled but the thought of seeing her lord had stopped her from making things more difficult, she followed after him, a smile appearing on her face as she thought about how she would reunite with her lord.
"Bellatrix." She was brought out of her thoughts when she saw her husband Rodolphus Lestrange and her brother-in-law Rabastan Lestrange freed along with other death eaters from their cells by a group of men dressed fully in black.
"Why aren't you all wearing the proper death eater uniforms?!" She hissed to Apophis upon noticing that while the uniforms matched the death eater uniforms, none of them were wearing their death eater masks and were instead covering their faces with plain black masks.
"You haven't kept up with the news." One of them said. "The fools at the ministry do not believe that the dark lord has returned, he is biding his time and staying hidden until he is ready to strike. You of all people know how smart our lord is Mrs Lestrange." The man said as he removed his mask and revealed himself as Barty Crouch Junior.
"Ah Barty," Bellatrix smirked. "so grown up."
"Crouch." Apophis said in an impatient voice. "Catch up later, Voldemort's orders will not be delayed for you."
"Of course." Crouch nodded and gestured to Bellatrix and the others to follow him before he put his mask on and followed Apophis out.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Bellatrix whispered to Barty as she gestured to Apophis.
"I will tell you when we get out of here." Barty replied.
"Ah Mr Potter, I am glad you have brought Miss Greengrass and Miss Davis with you, please come in." Umbridge said as she gave Harry and the girls what she thought was a welcoming smile, but in reality it was quite creepy. Harry and his friends walked in to her office only to find the fifth year inquisitorial squad standing off to the side of the room, the trio were instantly on guard but took their seats across from Umbridge who had sat down at her desk.
As they sat down Harry looked at the members of the squad, Pansy Parkinson followed by Crabbe and Goyle plus non other than Draco Malfoy. Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson were glaring at Harry while Draco simply sneered, though his eyes gave him away, he was staring at Harry with pure hatred. Harry could have just left it but decided that it would be funnier to smirk and wink at him, and it was as Malfoy's face took on a look that made him look like he was constipated.
"You wanted to see us Professor Umbridge?" Daphne asked in a polite voice.
"Yes, I had wanted to talk to the three of you for a very important reason." Umbridge smiled as she looked at the three of them. "I am offering you three a great opportunity."
"I accept galleons and sickles." Harry replied.
"That's not what she meant Potter!" Malfoy spat before Umbridge could respond. He was doing his best to keep calm in front of Umbridge, even if it was really hard for him. Right now he could not think of anyone he hated more than Harry Potter, he could not wait for Apophis or the dark lord to kill him, to be honest Malfoy was hoping that he would be the one who was given the pleasure of doing so.
As far as Draco Malfoy was concerned it was all one hundred percent Potter's fault that he ended up in trouble not just with his father but also with the dark lord and his heir. As far as Draco was concerned it was Harry's Potter's fault that he was tortured by the dark lord's heir. Draco could not wait for the dark lord to finally take over and teach the half-blood a lesson that he would never forget.
"You can have the knuts, I think you might need them more than me." Harry said with a small but innocent smile.
"I am not offering you money Mr Potter," Umbridge said, either not noticing or not commenting on Harry's comment regarding Malfoy's need for knuts. "I am offering the three of you positions on my 'inquisitorial squad'." Umbridge said in a way that would lead you to believe that she expected them to jump up and down on their feet in excitement before bowing down and shouting how eternally grateful they were. Instead all she got was three eyebrow raises.
"What?!" Pany Parkinson screeched. "You can't be serious!"
"Watch your tone Miss Parkinson." Umbridge said in a warning tone. "You can still be taken off of the inquisitorial squad if needs be." She added, Pansy looked mutinous for a moment but nodded and muttered out an apology before she stepped back into line. "Now then," Umbridge smiled as she turned back to Harry and his friends. "are you three willing to join?" She said as she waited for their answer, unfortunately for her it was not the answer she wanted.
"Unfortunately Miss Umbridge I will have to refuse at this current time," Daphne said, her voice betraying nothing. "I would prefer to focus on my studies."
"Same." Tracy nodded. "It is our owl years after all."
"I will also have to refuse for the same reasons." Harry added.
"Mr Potter," Umbridge said, "surely you can see the benefits of joining the squad far outweigh the costs?"
"I am not quite sure I agree but even if I am wrong I have already made my decision." Harry replied. "Perhaps next year."
"Very well." Umbridge said, she seemed to be trying to copy Dumbledore's disappointed voice, however she was not nearly as effective with it as the old man.
"Well if that will be all Professor Umbridge?" Daphne asked.
"For now." Umbridge nodded.
"Excellent." Harry said as he and the girls stood up. "Goodbye." He said before they walked out. "Was there a particular reason why you two didn't want to join the squad?" Harry asked the girls once they were far enough away from Umbridge's office.
"Besides the reason we gave?" Tracy asked. "Yes, yes there is."
"It's rather simple, we don't want to spend anymore time with Malfoy and his gang or Umbridge than I have to." Daphne added.
"Same here," Harry nodded. "besides everyone knows that the squad is essentially just Umbridge's group of enforcers."
"That's probably why she wanted you on it," Tracy said to Harry. "the boy-who-lived and defeater of dark wizards would have certainly helped her a lot."
"I'm flattered you think so highly of me." Harry smirked. "I refused for the exact same reasons as you guys plus I just really don't have the time for it. Between studying, my extra studies where I practise spells, going on dates with Tonks, corrupting Astoria, going on dates with Fleur and practising for owl exams I have become incredibly busy." Harry said as if he was suffering beyond what they could imagine.
"What was that about my sister?" Daphne narrowed her eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Harry said as he ever so slightly increased his walking speed.
"Potter," Daphne increased her speed to match him. "what was that about my sister?"
"You mean the very sister that is walking up to us now?" Harry said as he looked in the direction they just came from.
"Huh?" Daphne looked back only to find an empty hallway. "But there is nobody there." She turned back only to find that Harry had dissepeared. "Damn." She said when she realised what just happened.
"I cannot believe you fell for that." Tracy chuckled as she shook her head with amusment.
"So Harry," Ginny said as she and Harry sat together at the Gryffindor table for dinner. "I noticed that you haven't asked for a snog in ages." She said while raising an eyebrow at hm.
"What? Are you missing it?" Harry grinned.
"I will admit that I did enjoy it," Ginny blushed slightly. "but I am afraid that there will be no repeat performances as I have got a boyfriend now." She said in a proud voice.
"Huh? Really?" Harry asked in a surprised voice. "Since when?" He asked.
"Yesterday," Ginny answered. "I am going out with Terry Boot from Ravenclaw." She added.
"Oh? Good for you," Harry said. "how is it going?"
"Well I know that we have only been together for all of a day so I can't really say for sure but it has been alright so far, but don't try and change the topic. You haven't asked for a snog, so are you snogging someone else? Hmm, Daphne Greengrass or Tracy Davis perhaps?" Ginny asked with a teasing smile. "
"Neither actually." Harry replied. "They are just friends. They are," He added when Ginny gave him a disbelieving look. "I am actually going out with Tonks."
"Really?"
"Yeah, and Fleur."
"Wait what?!" Ginny blurted out with surprise.
"Yeah," Harry grinned. "don't ask, it's complicated."
"Fine but I kind of have to know how you three..." Ginny was interrupted as the doors to the hall opened and a group of aurors stormed in to the hall.
"Gentlemen," Dumbledore stood up from his seat. "may I help you?" He asked.
"Dumbledore," The lead auror said as he and the other aurors pointed their wands at Dumbledore. "you are under arrest." Gasps of surprise echoed throughout the hall by many of the students.
"Whatever for?" Dumbledore asked in a surprised voice.
"For sending the dark wizard 'Apophis; to attack Minister Fudge and Harry Potter." The auror answered.
"You what?!" Harry blurted out loudly as Dumbledore ever so slightly gaped at the auror with disbelief.
"Evidence has been found that leads us to believe that the headmaster not only knows who Apophis is but also sent him to attack Minister Fudge and yourself." The auror said to Harry before turning back to Dumbledore. "Headmaster, you will come us."
"Gentlemen, I am afraid that you are making a grave mistake." Dumbledore said in a calm voice. He had expected Fudge to eventually try and arrest him for one reason or another but he did not expect to be accused of working with Apophis. He quickly realised that this was clearly some ploy of Voldemort's.
"Threatening aurors now Dumbledore?" Umbridge asked in a pleased voice as she smiled widely, disturbing a great many people, not that she noticed. "Your lies about you-know-who are simply that, lies. You will be showed as the fraud you are."
"Dumbledore, come with us." The lead auror said as the aurors moved forward. "You will be escorted to Azkaban to await trail."
"Ah, I believe you are labouring under the delusion that I am going to come quietly, well I have no intention of going to Azkaban. I could escape but I have a whole horde of things I could be doing instead."
"Enough of this! Take him!" Umbridge shouted to the aurors, the aurors moved forward to capture Dumbledore but stopped at the sound of a screech. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, flew into the hall. Dumbledore quickly reached up and grabbed one of his tail feathers, the two disappeared in a flash of flames. "No!" Umbridge shrieked.
"Well...I am not Dumbledore's biggest fan," Harry whispered to Ginny. "but the guy has style." Harry said as he looked at Umbridge who was fuming and looked like she wanted to rip her hair out.