The Beginning of the Revenge - Part 1
"I can't believe Hagrid would make his life this difficult. Didn't he learn anything from Norbert in our first year? He could've been sent to Azkaban," Hermione complained after the group left the Forbidden Forest and parted ways with Hagrid, who went back to his duties. "If Umbridge ended up firing him over this, she'd actually have a reason," she couldn't help adding.
The others couldn't really argue with her words, even if they sounded a little harsh.
"Well, we already promised him. Besides, you saw him, he was tied up, so as long as we stay a few meters away while teaching him a few words, we should be fine. And besides, as long as Draco and I are there, nothing will happen," Harry added calmly.
Draco nodded confidently.
"Why only you two? I'm really strong too," Daphne complained, looking like she wanted to test her magic against a giant right now just to prove it.
"Yeah? If you're so strong, then why do you always run away like a scared rabbit whenever we pass near the Quidditch pitch?" Harry asked mockingly.
"Cowardly," Draco added.
Daphne gave both of them a hard look.
"I'm not a coward, and I don't run away."
"Yeah, sure," they both said in unison, full of sarcasm and mockery.
Daphne frowned in annoyance, but before she could do anything, Harry spoke.
"Well, let's put Daphne's cowardice aside for now. We have things to do, right?" he said with an evil smile.
"Looks like the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Quidditch match starts in an hour," Draco said, looking toward the Quidditch pitch, which already seemed to be filling with students heading that way.
"Whatever," Daphne muttered in annoyance as she crossed her arms.
Hermione looked like she wanted to say something against all of this, but she simply closed her mouth and followed the others.
…
"Is everything ready?" Harry asked Tommy and the Weasley twins, who seemed to be carrying a few boxes.
"Of course. We've had everything prepared for days, we just wanted to add a few final touches of our own," Fred said with a confident smile that was, at the same time, full of pride.
"But you're seriously a monster. Why did we never know about this side of you? You could've joined us in our pranks and we could've accomplished legendary things," George said with a macabre smile.
"You already corrupted my little brother, and because of you he ends up getting punished by our mother at least once a week, so I'll pass," Harry said, giving the two of them a look before finally turning toward his brother Tommy, who had a shameless grin on his face.
"Come on, I'm excited to finally get started," Tommy said, urging them on.
"All right, everyone get into position," Harry ordered as a dangerous smile appeared on his face.
…
The sound of hundreds of students shouting and cheering filled the entire Quidditch pitch.
The stands were completely packed. Red and blue flags waved everywhere while the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw players flew around the field, waiting for the match to begin.
Dolores Umbridge, however, seemed to be one of the few people who wasn't paying much attention.
Sitting in an area specially prepared for the professors, she watched the stands, her small eyes slowly moving across the students.
She had learned some time ago that whenever so many students gathered in one place, sooner or later one of them always ended up doing something they shouldn't.
And considering the students at this school...
It was practically guaranteed.
"Inspector Umbridge."
A voice made her turn her head.
A student was standing a few meters behind her.
Umbridge narrowed her eyes slightly, since she couldn't remember seeing this student before.
"Yes?" she asked, still keeping her sweet smile.
The boy nervously looked around, especially toward the area where the professors and Headmaster were sitting, before approaching her.
"I need to tell you something," he murmured. "It's about Potter and his friends."
Hearing that, Umbridge's expression immediately changed.
"What about Potter and his friends?" she asked with a small smile.
"I found some kind of hideout inside the castle," he whispered. "You'd better see it for yourself. Just now, I saw some students going inside, like they were holding some kind of secret meeting for something," he said.
Umbridge slowly straightened herself, and her gaze immediately swept across the Ravenclaw stands as if searching for someone there. And sure enough, Harry and his friends weren't there. Likewise, several students who seemed close to them were also missing.
Her gaze even moved toward the Gryffindor stands, and several students were missing from there as well. For example, those Weasley twins whom she had punished by banning them from being part of the Quidditch team and who, according to what she'd heard from Filch, were truly vindictive and wicked.
Then her gaze shifted toward the professors' stands, where she had been prevented from entering since, technically, she wasn't a professor. There, Sirius turned toward her and gave her an amused, provocative smile before returning his attention to the match.
"Where is this place? Lead me there," she immediately ordered.
The student nodded.
Umbridge grabbed her bag and began following him.
In the professors' stands, Billy, who was sitting with his mother, simply gave Umbridge a quick glance, watching her leave, before slipping a hand into his pocket and touching a Galleon that grew warmer at his touch.
Other students in different stands seemed to be holding identical Galleons and, feeling the heat from them, suddenly stood up and began moving.
Wanda, sitting right beside Billy, simply gave her youngest son a look and let out a sigh, knowing what her eldest son was planning, who had even dragged his brothers into his plans.
But she simply let him be and continued watching the match with interest, while Luna and Astoria made Selene and the others laugh with their antics. Even Professor McGonagall couldn't help smiling as she watched the girls.
Without noticing that several students were surrounding the professors' box, preventing any student from suddenly reaching them to warn them, while Astoria, Luna, and Billy kept the professors distracted.
…
Umbridge followed the student as he led her toward the castle, and they passed through several corridors she knew perfectly well.
As they walked, Umbridge continued questioning him.
"How many students did you see go inside?"
"I think at least ten," he replied directly without slowing his steps.
"Which Houses?" she asked again.
"Several, I think."
"Slytherin?"
"I think so."
Umbridge frowned.
"You think?" she asked in annoyance.
"I couldn't recognize all of them, Inspector."
Umbridge didn't seem particularly pleased with that answer, but she continued following the student anyway, since she would find out once they reached the place and, more importantly, she would catch those students red-handed.
The two continued walking for several minutes, crossing different corridors, going through staircases, and even using a few passageways Umbridge didn't seem to recognize, but which made her feel that this boy really was telling the truth if he knew those routes leading toward some secret place.
Umbridge began paying more attention to the path.
She didn't recognize this part of the castle.
That by itself wasn't particularly strange. Hogwarts was enormous and had been rebuilt relatively recently. There were still areas she simply hadn't had any reason to visit.
But after several minutes, other things began bothering her.
Mainly, the fact that they were still walking.
"How much farther?" she asked as a slight sense of distrust began creeping into her chest.
"We're close," the student replied, sounding more direct and dry, and without even turning around, he simply continued walking ahead.
Umbridge stared at the young man's back and simply continued following him, but after another couple of minutes of walking, she realized they'd gone much farther than she'd expected. She even seemed somewhat winded from walking so much, as if those corridors were endless.
"Are we still not there?" she asked, half exhausted.
"We're close," the student repeated again, this time even more dryly than before.
Umbridge's right eye twitched slightly in annoyance.
But after taking a few more steps, as if she'd suddenly realized something, she slowed to a stop.
The sound of the match, which could be heard even from inside the castle, had completely disappeared some time ago.
There weren't any students around either.
Not even a single ghost.
That made her suspicion grow even more.
Umbridge looked at the portraits hanging on the walls, but they seemed completely ordinary.
None of them moved.
"Where exactly did you find this place?" she asked suspiciously while, at the same time, slipping her hand into her bag and gripping her wand tightly.
The student didn't answer and simply continued walking. But now that she looked more closely, his steps seemed strange.
Almost robotic.
Umbridge frowned. To her, he was simply a strange student.
"I asked you a question," she said angrily.
But the student still didn't answer.
"Young man!"
Nothing.
Umbridge's expression hardened.
"Stop."
The student kept walking.
Umbridge gritted her teeth and quickened her pace.
"I told you to stop!"
She caught up with him.
She reached out and firmly grabbed his shoulder.
"When a professor speaks to you, you must..."
But just as she was finally about to turn him around and look at him face-to-face, the moment the student turned, his robes and hat suddenly dropped to the floor out of nowhere.
As if the person wearing them had vanished at her touch.
Umbridge froze completely, confused.
She hadn't even seen a single sign of magic, and a student had just vanished right in front of her.
She slowly looked down at her own hand.
"What...?"