Year Five - Chapter Six

I admit. I hadn't expected this. I had thought that Draco possessed some smudge of survival instinct, but he apparently belonged to the category that needs its nose thoroughly bloodied before they could understand the wisdom of not picking up fights one couldn't win.

Unfortunately, the boy believed that without my Draghuls I would be easy to cower into submission or something like that.

"You think you can treat me like some kind of stupid little boy?" Draco sneered. "Come off your high horse, Umbrus! You may have won the Triwizard cup, but so what? Anyone could have!"

I smiled. "Of course, you are right," I nodded, "Clearly, you could have too." I glanced at the two bodyguards. "You heading for your lessons with an escort now?"

Draco huffed, "You won't be that funny once we're done with you," he smiled and made to pull out his wand, both of his goons already having theirs out and about.

I cracked my neck to both sides, and both Goyle and Crabbe flew. They flew through the air, their clothes literally hurling them quite quickly against the cold, unforgiving ground of Hogwarts' hallway, past a few surprised students, and then crashing them into the wall on the opposite side.

"Draco," I said nonchalantly, "Walk with me."

Draco's face turned pale. He tried to move away, but his very clothes refused him that possibility. "One, and two," I said smoothly, and his shoes moved forward. "Don't make me animate your trousers," I continued, "You wouldn't want me to actually become serious, Draco," I snaked an arm around his shoulder as he drew near enough.

"Y-You..." his face was a mixture of red and white, "When my father-"

"Your father will not hear of this," I said, trying to sound genuinely surprised. "If he did, he'd be quite ashamed of you." I locked eyes with his stare, and the sudden bluster in his face left the place to fear. "You failed, and failed, and kept on failing him again and again," I hissed. "And you don't really want to hear it from him, do you? When will Draco Malfoy ever grow wings and fly on his own, I wonder?" I hummed.

"My father won't let this go, he'll write to Dumbledore, he'll-I'm a Malfoy," Draco said, hotly.

"That may be so, but tell me," I hummed, "Does that actually mean anything?" I smiled. "Malfoy here, Malfoy there, it doesn't mean anything. You aren't anything special. You have two goons, who'd be better off as monkeys in a circus performing tricks. You have an annoying girl that shrills and shrieks by your side, but you know she's not really into you, as much as what you represent," I continued, "You are a smart boy, no? You know they don't really care about it. They care about the name, about being 'Malfoy', but deep in the night, you have wondered at least once, haven't you?" my voice became a hush, "What if I weren't a Malfoy? Would I still have friends?" I sighed, and shook my head.

I patted the back of his shoulders. "You are still in time, Draco. It may be painful, it may be hurtful, but the only ones who can decide our destiny are ourselves, and no one else. It is not the name that makes the wizard, it is not the purity of blood, the wits or the courage. It is our actions," I walked away from him, turned, and gave one last long look.

I extended my right hand. "My name is Shade Umbrus, Draco. I could have been a Slytherin, but I picked Ravenclaw because I prefer reading books to conquering the world. However," I adjusted his tie, much to my amusement and his ever-growing fear since he couldn't move a single muscle of his body, "You should never tickle the sleeping dragon, because then, bad things may just happen." I dusted his shoulders off. "There we go," I said with a charming smile.

He could move. He sensed it as the tension in his body came less. "Now, Draco, you stand at a crossroad. Become what I know you can be, a better person, a better man, or remain just a shadow of your potential. It...it matters not to me," I continued, "But I would rather speak with Draco, and not just a spoiled copy of his father. We could even be friends if you did that."

Draco remained quiet briefly. "Is..." he began, "Is it true you could have been in Slytherin?" he asked in the end, with but a whisper.

"I could have," I said. "Had to threaten the hat to get me somewhere else."

Draco looked at me, eyes shining ever so briefly. And then, he flung his wand towards me while starting to pronounce a spell. The wand finished its movement while the robes' wrist pinned its tip against Draco's stomach, much to the boy's surprise at committing ritualistic self-jinxing. His legs wobbled, and he fell down.

"You should know better, Draco," I chided him. "Come back once you've suffered enough to realize everything you believe in is wrong, maybe then you'll be willing to listen."

With a dreadful sigh, I walked away.

With an equally even greater sigh, I regretted not using an Obliviate.

"Mister Umbrus," Professor Flitwick looked at me, and I looked back at the diminutive professor. "What is this I heard about attacking a fellow student?"

"Nonsense and fabrications," I answered with a roll of the eyes. "I broke up a fight between Potter and Malfoy, sir, and after that happened Malfoy decided he'd do his damned best to try to abuse his powers on other students. Had no choice but to try to talk to him, but since he wouldn't listen, and tried to jinx me, I wandlessly had to push his wand away and-"

Filius' eyes shone, "You executed a Rocket-Charm Maneuver!" he gushed, clapping with both of his hands. "Ah, the act of a rival duelist getting hit with one's own jinx because they didn't think of protecting their clothes from the Wingardium's magical effects," he smiled. "Well, I'd normally trust your word on this, but because of that nasty article by the prophet, we actually have to give you all a fair punishment."

I rubbed my chin, "Professor," I said, "In the interest of fairness, I should serve my sentence with Professor Snape," my eyes ever so gently gleamed, "And the Slytherin involved should serve it with you."

Flitwick gave my suggestion some consideration, and finally decided to ask professor Snape about it. The man, surprisingly, didn't disagree about it.

While it was true I'd be scrubbing cauldrons rather than just help professor Flitwick set up some of his classrooms, it also gave me an opportunity to speak with Professor Snape.

It was all that I asked.

"Professor," I said as I scrubbed, "What would you say is the cure for foolish thuggery? A well placed jinx in the back, a prolonged period of humiliation, or the ability to forgive and let bygones be bygones?"

Professor Snape sneered, but he understood. He understood because he was a Slytherin, and it was kind-of his duty to doubt anything and anyone, because he was a good spy, and he'd refer everything to Dumbledore anyway. At the same time, Draco did seem to look up to him, from what little I saw during the school years.

"Mister Umbrus, I feel that if you have the time to speak, you have the time to repent by scrubbing more cauldrons," Snape said curtly, and I hummed in turn.

"I'll scrub a hundred of these if that is what you wish, Professor," I said offhandedly. "Though an answer would at least give you a modicum of peace and quiet while I ponder my next question."

Professor Snape quietly closed the potions' book he had been reading, and stared at me with a quiet look of contemplation. I looked back into his eyes, very calmly feeling like I was chipping away at a granite armor from which there would be no chink.

"Mister Umbrus," he said in the end. "Why are you seeking an answer from me?"

"Why shouldn't I, professor?" I answered. "Dumbledore trusts you. Since I know there would be words of unfair bias if I met with him, I necessarily need to speak with someone else about this."

Snape's lips remained thin. "You are an annoyance, Mister Umbrus."

"I hope I'm a pleasant one, like the alarm clock notifying you that the cake in the oven is ready," I answered back, smiling brightly.

There was silence on the other end.

"Professor," I said after a few seconds had ticked by, "Do you know why a sheep's on a pirate ship?"

"No, Mister Umbrus, I do not know that," professor Snape said in the end, sounding strangely tired, and yet also utterly willing to commit murder.

"Because in her guts she Beee-zooo-Yar-Arrrh!" I kept my smile up.

Professor Snape looked willing to use a Unforgivable on me, but he didn't.

He didn't because, whether he liked it or not, I reckoned in some deeply hidden part of his heart, he actually did like teaching some students.

He did make me leave after scrubbing the twelfth cauldron, rather than the one hundredth. He truly was a kind professor.

The one professor that was a good man, but definitely not kind, on the other hand, was Hagrid.

"No!" I blurted out, crossing my arms in front of me. "No expedition in the Forbidden Forest!"

"Aw, come off ye worrywart ass," Hagrid said, much to the cheers of the other students. "I got Dumbledore's permission!"

I lifted an index finger in his direction. "If we come across the Nundu, you're the one who has to deal with it!"

"Aw, Mister Purry just needs a good old tickling under the chin to become the sweetest cat ye ever saw!" Hagrid retorted, much to my incredulous expression. Though the mention of the Nundu did indeed pacify some of the cheering, it didn't stop those fools from heading forth.

I swear Hagrid, you're making me regret not allowing for Voldemort's resurrection. We would have had kind, gentle Grubbly-Plank and her unicorns, and not be in the process of battling Trolls while looking for a wild colony of Fire Crabs.

What do you mean you want us to seek out a pet Fire Crab to grow?

Hagrid, that kills people!