The Beginning of the Revenge - Part 2
Umbridge snapped out of her surprise and immediately pulled out her wand.
"Show yourself!" she shouted, looking around seriously.
But the only answer she received was silence.
"I know you're here! Come out right now!" she shouted again, turning around in the corridor and trying to find that student while her expression showed nothing but fury at this stupid joke.
Even so, nothing answered.
Umbridge quickly turned, looking to both sides, until something in the distance caught her attention.
The torches in the corridor she'd come from began going out one after another.
And the darkness was getting closer to her.
Umbridge froze for a second and swallowed.
"Whatever you're trying to do, this isn't funny. Know that you'll be punished and even expelled!" she shouted, realizing this could only be the work of several students.
But the lights continued going out one after another despite her threats, making the darkness keep moving closer toward her.
Umbridge gripped her wand tightly as she took a few steps back.
"Stop this right now!"
No one listened to her.
The last torch in front of her went out.
Umbridge's eyes widened slightly when she saw that the darkness was already far too close and, without thinking any further, she turned around and began running as fast as her short, stubby legs could carry her in the direction that student had been leading her.
She ran for several meters without even looking back, until she suddenly realized something had changed.
Umbridge slowly began to slow down as she looked around.
The corridor was no longer the same.
The white stone walls of the new Hogwarts had completely disappeared, and now the stones looked like they belonged to ruins abandoned for centuries. The floor was worn and cracked, while a few old torches barely illuminated the path ahead of her.
Umbridge looked back.
The darkness had stopped a few meters away, but it was so deep that it looked like a doorway into the abyss itself.
She swallowed again.
"What kind of stupidity is this?" she muttered in annoyance.
Even with the torches lit, she raised her wand.
"Lumos."
The tip lit up, allowing her to see the place much better.
For a moment, Umbridge considered going back the way she'd come, but when she tried to shine her wand into that darkness, the light seemed to be swallowed by it without revealing absolutely anything.
So she ended up looking forward again.
Everything seemed to be forcing her to keep moving.
"Potter..."
Of course.
It had to be Potter.
Or his friends.
"When I find whoever is responsible for this, expulsion will be the least of their worries," she said as she began walking.
She wasn't afraid.
Of course she wasn't.
That was ridiculous.
These were just stupid, childish tricks meant to scare her, or perhaps some very well-made illusions.
She wasn't going to be afraid of a bunch of brats.
Umbridge continued down the corridor until she reached an intersection, where she stopped for a few seconds and looked both ways.
Both paths were exactly the same.
"A maze?" she muttered in annoyance.
She chose the path on the right and continued walking.
For the next several minutes, she kept moving through different corridors, coming across more and more intersections that looked exactly the same. Sometimes she went right, other times left, trying to remember the path she'd taken so she wouldn't end up walking in circles.
But as she continued, she began to feel that something was wrong.
A few minutes ago, she'd passed an old rusted suit of armor leaning against a wall.
And now that same suit of armor was in front of her again.
Umbridge stopped.
She looked at the armor.
Then behind her.
"Impossible."
She was certain she hadn't gone back the same way.
She gripped her wand a little tighter and started moving again, this time paying much more attention.
Right.
Left.
Right again.
Then two completely straight corridors.
Until she reached another intersection.
Umbridge chose the left again.
She walked a few meters.
And there it was.
The same suit of armor.
Umbridge stood completely still.
"This isn't funny," she said, although this time her voice no longer sounded as confident as before.
Then she heard something.
Tap.
Umbridge quickly turned around.
There was no one there.
She looked down the corridor she'd just come from, but the light from her wand only revealed a completely empty hallway.
"Who's there?"
Nothing answered.
Umbridge waited a few seconds before starting to walk again.
Tap.
Tap.
Her shoes struck against the floor.
Tap.
Tap.
Umbridge stopped.
She had heard one extra step.
One that wasn't hers.
She quickly turned around, raising her wand.
"Come out right now!"
Silence.
"This is your last chance! If you're a student, come out right now and maybe I'll consider not expelling you!"
No one answered.
Umbridge remained staring down the corridor for a few seconds before turning around.
THUMP.
She froze.
This time, it hadn't been a footstep.
Something had struck one of the walls in the distance.
Umbridge turned around again.
"Who's there?"
THUMP.
Another impact.
Umbridge raised her wand.
"Show yourself!"
Nothing appeared.
But then she heard something different.
Breathing.
Deep.
Heavy.
So low it barely sounded human.
Umbridge slowly backed away as she tried to figure out where it was coming from.
THUMP.
Another impact.
This time much closer.
Umbridge swallowed.
"Lumos Maxima!"
A powerful light shot from her wand and illuminated the corridor for a few seconds.
And Umbridge saw something.
Or at least she thought she did.
An enormous silhouette stood at the end of the corridor.
Far too large to be a person.
But the moment the light disappeared, that thing vanished back into the darkness.
Umbridge stared fixedly in that direction.
"This isn't funny," she repeated.
A growl answered from the darkness.
Umbridge's eyes widened slightly.
That definitely hadn't sounded like a student.
Then she heard something slowly scratching against the stone.
Scrrrrch.
Umbridge took another step back.
"What the hell...?"
Scrrrrch.
The breathing grew louder.
And then that thing started running toward her.
The heavy impacts against the floor began coming faster and faster as it approached.
"Stupefy!" Umbridge shouted, aiming into the darkness.
A red flash shot from her wand and disappeared into the corridor.
But she didn't hear any impact.
The footsteps kept getting closer.
Faster.
Much closer.
Umbridge's eyes widened completely, and this time she didn't try to convince herself that she wasn't afraid.
She turned around.
And ran.
Her shoes struck desperately against the floor as she held her bag in one hand and her wand in the other.
Turning right.
Then left.
Right again.
Umbridge didn't even know where she was running anymore. She just wanted to get away from whatever she could hear chasing her.
Until she found herself in front of the old rusted suit of armor again.
"No!"
She had returned to the same place.
Umbridge desperately looked around and saw a wooden door a few meters away.
She didn't remember seeing it before.
But she didn't care either.
"Alohomora!"
The door violently swung open, and Umbridge practically threw herself inside before slamming it shut behind her.
"Colloportus!"
The lock glowed.
Umbridge quickly backed away while keeping her wand pointed at the door.
The heavy footsteps continued approaching.
Closer and closer.
Until that thing reached the other side of the door.
And stopped.
Umbridge held her breath.
She waited.
Nothing.
Several seconds passed without another sound.
The woman slowly began catching her breath while keeping her wand raised.
"Stupid brats..." she muttered, trying to recover some of her earlier confidence. "When I find out who did this..."
KNOCK.
Umbridge closed her mouth.
Her small eyes locked onto the door.
KNOCK.
Something had gently knocked from the other side.
Umbridge raised her wand a little higher.
KNOCK.
Another knock.
But this time, it had sounded a little lower.
Umbridge frowned.
KNOCK.
Again.
Even lower.
Her gaze slowly began moving downward, following the sound.
KNOCK.
This time, it had come from almost floor level.
Umbridge felt a shiver run through her body.
That thing wasn't simply knocking on the door.
It was moving down it.
Then something began slowly scratching the wood from top to bottom.
Scrrrrch.
Umbridge took a step back.
The scratching continued slowly downward until it reached the floor.
And stopped.
Umbridge immediately pointed her wand toward the small gap beneath the door, expecting something to appear from there.
But nothing happened.
One second.
Two.
Three.
"Professor..."
Umbridge froze.
All the color drained from her face.
That voice hadn't come from behind the door.
It had come from behind her.
Very slowly, she began to turn around.
"Why did you close the door?"
Umbridge finished turning.
And what she saw there made her scream with all her strength.