Storming the Castle

Dolores sat in her office, waiting for her next appointment. The feeling of a pair of eyes watching her lingered in the back of her mind, as it had every day since she'd learned about her partner.

She didn't care for the disparity in information, but Slytherin insisted all it wanted was Hermione Granger. Until such a time their arrangement fell apart, that was enough for her. She also wanted Granger dead.

Her appointment was levitated into her office by a member of her staff. He levitated the prisoner inside, then left.

Dolores stood up from her desk, then dispelled the full-body bind on her prisoner.

"Mr. Crouch. How nice to see you again."

He looked up with fear in his eyes. Good. That meant he knew who was in charge.

"You are charged with multiple accounts of treason," Dolores said. "Now, at first, I thought this must've been a mistake. After all, how could such an upstanding man be capable of treason?"

"Minister, I—"

She whipped out her wand and silenced him with the Cruciatus Curse.

"Do not interrupt me, Mr. Crouch," she said, careful to keep her voice level.

His lower lip trembled, but he didn't speak another word.

"Then I remembered that you threw your own son over for the chance at a promotion. At least, that's what I'd thought at the time. You broke the law, Mr. Crouch, by allowing your son to go free. And then he joined the Death Eaters, even attempted to overthrow the Ministry itself."

She waited for him to try talking again. People like him enjoyed arguing with her. To think that someone like him had ever had the ridiculous dream of being Minister of Magic. Only a select few got such a privilege.

Although, Dolores had to admit that locking up an embarrassing relative was nice. She had a monster lurking inside Hogwarts that she'd need to deal with someday. For now, it was easier to keep it locked in the basement.

"Do you deny this?"

"You've got to understand that—"

Dolores leveled her wand at him. He immediately stopped talking.

"Yes or no: Do you deny this?"

Crouch began to shake as he shook his head.

"Pity."

"Minister—"

"Avada Kedavra!"

A green bolt arced out of her wand and struck him. Crouch fell to the ground, a piteous expression frozen on his face.

There was no need to signal the cleanup crew; it was always watching.

Red ooze rose up from the floor and ripped apart the body. Dolores sat back down at her desk and began to file paperwork while Slytherin consumed the body.

"We're ready."

Slytherin stood in front of her, a blank expression on its face.

Dolores knew little of Slytherin's plan. She knew it needed to kill people for it, that an enchantment on Hogwarts captured their souls. Any soul that left its body within Hogwarts, so it said. It bound the souls, then used them to create an army of creatures similar to Dementors. Up until then, she'd been assuming the point was to turn the army on anyone with a drop of Muggle blood in their body.

"Granger and Perks are still out there," Dolores said. "And their friends. What are you going to do about them?"

"Nothing. They're going to come to us. Be ready to dismiss the students."

As usual, Slytherin melted before Dolores had a chance to ask any questions. It had provided her with loads of useful information on Granger and her friends, not to mention it knew word for word the contents of a mysterious letter she'd received suggesting the idea of the "New Death Eaters". She'd shown it to no one, so it stood to reason that she had it to thank for a sliver of her success.

Most of her success was due to who she was. She'd always been meant for greatness, and she was about to usher in a brand new world.

Losha awoke to a noticeable chill in the air. She rolled over and touched her fingers to the ground, asking what time it was. She got an image of the moon in the sky, then remembered that the ground had little concept of time. Nonetheless, she sat up and stretched.

Through the cold air, she caught a brief scent of pine. She smelled the air again, but it'd vanished.

She sank back to the ground, weighed down by memories of Toad. A pain formed in her stomach. The same pain she felt when she smelled how happy her friends were together. That joy had touched her life for a moment, then vanished. She wanted it back, but Toad was gone.

Maybe if I'd been stronger.

Losha put her head down. From far off, she heard the sound of someone else in her camp waking up.

"When did it get so cold?" Cohort asked.

"Moon?"

A soft hand touched her shoulder, and she smelled books. She liked that Brain still smelled like books, even after all this time. Like wood and dust, like a library. Like how Toad had always smelled like the Forbidden Forest, like her home. What was Umbridge doing to it now? Without anyone to stop her, she must've been sending people in to kill the centaurs. They needed her help, and she was wasting months on the run.

"Moon, can you hear me?"

She smelled something else in the camp, the bitter smell of misery. It was coming from the boys' tent at first, but then she picked it up from the girls' tent.

<What's going on?> came Brain's voice again. <You're all scaring me. Hold on…>

Brain walked over and crouched down next to Losha. Placing both her hands on Losha's head, she muttered a spell that cleared Losha's mind.

"Brain?" She smelled the air again. "Something's wrong."

"I know. No one's getting up. I'm going to use mind blank on them too. See if you can figure out what happened."

Losha called Tutela to her, who returned to camp from scouting. She pushed her head under Losha's hand and nuzzled against her.

<Moon, the others smell upset.>

<I smell it too. Brain's taking care of them. Have you seen anything?>

<It's getting colder, and I saw frost on the ground.>

They both froze, then Losha leapt to her feet.

<Dementors!>

Brain ran out of the girls' tent as Cohort and Skyeyes ran out of theirs.

<This is something more,> Brain said. <We've been near Dementors before, but they aren't this strong.>

<If they were here while we were asleep,> Skyeyes said, <they would've attacked us already.>

<And Tutela would've sounded the alarm,> Losha added.

They packed up their campsite, gathered their belongings, then Brain teleported them to a new location. Losha noticed the same chill in the air.

<It's cold here too,> she said.

<Look up,> Skyeyes said.

Losha turned her head upward.

<I don't see anything.>

<Sorry, Moon.>

<What was that?> Firecracker asked. <There! That thing that just flew overhead. Was that a Dementor?>

<It looked like one,> Cohort said. <But why stay up there?>

<That's not a Dementor,> Brain said.

Her fear made Losha want to be sick. She couldn't remember the last time she'd smelled something that strong from Brain.

<It's a Spektre, isn't it?> Losha asked.

<They're trying to find us,> Cohort said. <Slytherin must be spreading them out everywhere.>

<It's hidden where it is,> Skyeyes said. <No one's going to see it.>

Brain teleported them again. Once again, Losha felt a chill.

<Still?>

<Where are we?> Cohort asked.

<Southern England, about as far from Hogwarts as I've ever been.>

Losha sniffed the air, then realized she knew where they were.

<We're in Dartmoor.>

<Like I said: about as far from Hogwarts as I've ever been, while staying in the country. Teleport works better when I've got a clear idea where I'm going.>

<How many Spektres has Slytherin got?> Cohort asked.

<Rose guessed about 30. It shouldn't have nearly enough to cover everywhere.>

<Like you said,> Skyeyes said, <teleport works best if you've been there. Maybe Slytherin is covering everywhere you've been.>

<Moon and I went all over England. We couldn't teleport safely then, so we walked all the time.>

<It was fun. Like a bunch of sleepovers with your best friend.>

The smell of fear was watered down by the sweet smell of joy. Brain put her arm around Moon for a moment.

<Slytherin can't cover all of that with only 30 Spektres,> Sally-Anne said. <Is that what you're saying?>

<What if it made more?> Firecracker asked.

It his them all at about the same time. While Slytherin had told Rose that Spektres could make more, Hermione reasoned that Slytherin wouldn't trust anything it couldn't control. Therefore, it would've limited their ability to make more, giving itself complete control over them. However they were made, it involved extracting a soul, which meant…

<The people that oppose Umbridge,> Skyeyes said, <they all disappear.>

<They aren't disappearing,> Brain said. <They're being taken to Hogwarts. I'll bet Slytherin put an enchantment to capture the soul of anyone inside Hogwarts that dies.>

"Who made sure there was a big battle last year?" Mars asked.

Thoughts of the fight, of Lestrange and Toad, forced their way into her head. Losha forced them out after a moment. She needed to stay focused.

<What about last year?> she asked.

<The Death Eaters,> Cohort said. <They were all dead. None of us killed anyone, so someone must've come back and done it when no one was around.>

<It's been building forces this whole time,> Brain said. <What for? Why send them all the way out here? It can't only be to look for us, otherwise they would've started swarming by now. It's not like we're moving. We've been stationary for at least five minutes. That's plenty of time to summon the troops and kill us.>

<How would they communicate?> Princess asked.

<Hive mind, probably. If there's a central control point, then it makes sense that it would provide communication. If Slytherin didn't think of it before, it would've after watching Rose for four years.>

<That one's just floating there,> Skyeyes said. <It's not doing anything, not moving at all.>

"They're not scouting, they're holding position like good little soldiers," Mars said.

"Better at following commands than some of my crew."

"They don't need to do anything else," Pluto said. "Why move when you can kill people with sadness?"

Losha heard her friends talking in her head, but the answer struck her so hard that she lost track of what they were saying.

<They're killing us all with sadness.>

Everyone stopped talking, and smells she associated with Brain and Cohort solving a problem entered the air.

<That's horrific,> Princess said. <Muggles can't even see them. It'll be cold, and dark, and they'll all lay down and die.>

Cohort put his arm around Princess.

<That's not going to happen. We've got to stop it now.>

<We can't,> Brain said. <We storm the castle, the students become hostages. Remember? You lot made a big deal about it?>

<It is a big deal,> Skyeyes said in his Alavel voice. <They're innocent in all this.>

"So?" Mars asked, as she had every other time they'd discussed it.

"Skyeyes is right," Saturn said. Losha could hear her admiration for Skyeyes. "You should get the students out first."

They began setting up camp. Tutela, Crookshanks, and Losha kept watch while they did. All the while, Brain and Cohort argued about what to do next. The smell of them arguing had become familiar to Losha. That was what home smelled like; concern from Skyeyes, hesitation from Firecracker, love from Princess, and bickering from Cohort and Brain. Everything blended together to make a new smell: home.

Losha wondered what Toad would do. She hadn't heard his voice since she'd fought the clockwork horror. She was happy to have a piece of him left, no matter how small, even if it was only a memory. It was the best she was going to get.

<We haven't got time to lose,> Brain said. <If Slytherin's spreading out the Spektres, this must be it's final plan. It's going to kill the entire country if it's been turning everyone into Spektres this entire time.>

<How do we get the students out?> Cohort shot back.

Another idea entered Losha's head. As was often the case, she didn't know which of her other selves had had the idea, but she figured they could make good use of it.

<What if we asked her?> Losha asked.

<Not now,> Cohort said.

<Don't talk to her like that.>

<Stop it!>

Princess's voice rang out in their heads. She softened it before continuing.

<Moon, what did you mean?>

<I don't know. I thought it might be a helpful suggestion.>

<Thank you,> Brain said. <Some of us appreciate your contribution.>

While Losha couldn't see Brain glaring at Cohort, she had a good feeling that Brain was glaring at Cohort.

<We all do,> Cohort said. <Because you, Luna Lovegood, are a genius.>

Losha beamed with pride.

<I'm lost,> Firecracker said. <How are we going to ask her to let the students go?>

Once again, she couldn't see what was going on, but she knew Cohort was grinning.

<Don't worry. I've got a plan.>

Dolores was having a pleasant day. Sure, people were generally miserable around her dominion, but she'd handpicked people to survive. Those people were sheltered safely inside the Ministry, reassured that what their feeble minds might perceive as "being held against their will" was protection. Once they cleansed Britain, they would move onto other countries, clearing the world of filth.

Her day vastly improved when she received a letter. A snowy owl tapped on her window, dropped the letter on the windowsill, then flew away. Puzzled, she got up and retrieved the letter. It was short and simple.

Meet us outside.

At first, the cryptic nature reminded her of her partner, but it never left Hogwarts. That meant the letter likely had another sender.

"Fetch the Disciplinary Team," she ordered one of her portraits as she walked out of her office.

Down through the clean corridors she went. No matter how many times she walked through it, she found it delightful how orderly she'd made Hogwarts. No more cobwebs, no more dust, only a spotless castle. She had to rename it. Hogwarts was such a dreadful name for her new castle. Perhaps she could name it after herself. "The Umbridge School for Orderly Young Witches and Wizards" had a certain ring to it.

She put her musings aside when she met up with Shawx and his team. Speaking of things she'd cleaned up, he looked presentable for once. He wore proper robes, but the same smirk on his face.

"They're here," he said. "Like they were neatly delivered to our doorstep."

She had no need to ask who he meant. There was only one person in the world that made Shawx that excited.

Two of the Disciplinary Team members pushed open the doors for her. Sure enough, her six favorite people in the world stood on the front lawn.

Lovegood had her head tilted to the side, her dead eyes looking at nothing; Potter and Weasley both kept their focus on the guards, wands in hands; the girl Weasley's eyes darted around; Perks kept a neutral look that Dolores still had a little respect for; and Granger had the nerve to smirk at her.

"Minister," Perks said, stepping forward. She kept her back straight, head forward, eyes focused. "We'd like to surrender ourselves to your custody, with one condition."

Dolores ran her gaze over all of them, then settled it back on Perks. She took a step forward as her Disciplinary Team fanned out and surrounded them.

Most of her new prisoners moved around to keep someone in their sight at all times. Granger and Perks kept their focus on her, while Lovegood didn't move.

What a stupid little girl.

"You are in no position to bargain, Ms. Perks."

"The ward doesn't extend this far," Granger said. "We'll be gone long before any spells reach us." She winked at Shawx. "It'll be funny to watch you all kill yourselves from somewhere safe, though."

"You want us captured," Perks said. "And we want the students you're keeping here safe. We can make a deal, Minister."

"I'm not keeping anyone hostage, Ms. Perks. I'm giving these children the chance at a better education, an opportunity to become contributing members of society. Not insolent pests such as yourselves."

"What does your boss think?" Granger asked.

Dolores knew Granger knew about Slytherin; it'd said as much to her. While she didn't care about either of them, she might as well allow them inside. After all, the students would return to her soon. Perhaps a day of leave to Hogsmeade was in order. For the new holiday, Dolores Umbridge Day.

"Very well," she said. "I will send the students off to Hogsmeade for the day. By tomorrow, none of you will care whether the students are here or not."

"Thank you, Minister," Perks said.

Dolores found it laughable that Perks was still trying to kiss up to her. What was she hoping to accomplish? They were wanted terrorists, and Dolores had them in her captivity now.

She stayed with them while another subordinate announced that the students would have a day at Hogsmeade. She sent the staff on their way as well, to keep a close eye on the children. That left her, the Disciplinary Team, and her new prisoners.

Their wands were taken (apart from Perks, Granger, and Lovegood, who didn't have wands, the fools), and they were ushered inside by Shawx and his team.

"Shawx," Granger said in a pleasant voice, "so good to see you again. How's your mum?"

"Better than you're going to be in a moment," Shawx growled. His tone changed to his normal smooth drawl. "Look at the bright side, Granger. You're gonna get ta see your friend Peta-Lorrum."

"Now that is a miracle. I didn't know our glorious Minister of Magic could bring back the dead. What an exciting day this is turning out to be."

Dolores broadened her smile. That was something on which she and Granger could agree. All of her arrogance would make her death that much sweeter.

"I've got a question, High Queen Gau Halak. Have you ever noticed that every ICW representative is always more agreeable after they leave Hogwarts?"

"That's because—"

"No, it's not. It's because you're partner… boss… or do you prefer master? Let's go with that. Your master — which of course makes you its slave — gets inside their heads and crushes any doubt. You owe everything you've got to it."

"I see you're worse off than you were two years ago," Dolores said, not letting her irritation show. "Such a pity."

To her continued annoyance, Granger laughed.

"No, what's a pity is what's going to happen to you if you try to kill me."

Shawx's team opened the doors to the Great Hall. Dolores wanted a better setting than her office. This would be a day to remember. The end of the old world, the start of the new. To mark it, the deaths of Hermione Granger and her band of miscreants.

Dolores took her place at the front of the room, while the six prisoners were forced to bow before her. She drew her wand, then looked them each in the eye.

"It's clear to me that your education was wasted. You had the opportunity to be decent people, but the dirty blood that flows through some of your veins made you like this. I'm afraid there's no room for you in my perfect world. With this, I cleanse the world of your filth. From here on out, everything will be better."

She aimed her wand at Granger. Slytherin had mentioned that the girl was immune to the three Unforgivable Curses, but that was impossible. No one could do that.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The green bolt shot out of her wand and struck Granger.

Nothing happened. Apart from Granger laughing.

"They'll just let anyone be Minister of Magic these days. Even someone as insignificant as you."

Dolores gripped her wand tighter, thinking of anything to shut her up. Clearly Slytherin was right about it. Either that, or…

"Avada Kedavra!"

Once again, the bolt did nothing. It must've been some sort of trick. It looked like it was hitting Granger, unless Perks was using that rune of hers.

Dolores approached them and grabbed Granger's hair, pressing her wand to the girl's neck.

"I am the Minister of Magic. You will respect me."

Despite the fact that her life was about to end, Granger still smirked.

"You know why your master isn't interfering? It's because he knows you're too incompetent to get the job done. Otherwise, he would've killed you. See, Rose could bring back the dead, and I can use her magic. Now your master wants that power, which it can get if it kills me. Imagine that. Power over life and death. Now that's power. Compared to Rose, you're nothing. And I killed Rose. So you, Dolores Umbridge, are tiny." Louder, she asked, "Isn't that right, Sally?"

Her words echoed through the Great Hall, but Slytherin didn't form out of the floor. Dolores had half expected it to have responded to her. Were they allies? That must've been it! It all made sense. Slytherin and Granger were working together to take her down. No matter. Once Slytherin had outlived its usefulness, Dolores would deal with it. No one was above her. She was the Minister of Magic.

"If you've got power over life and death, Granger," Dolores said, taking a step back.

"It's Brain."

"Then you can surely save your friends."

The smirk wasn't disappearing from Granger's face. No matter; Dolores would wipe it off herself. She walked down the line to Lovegood. The stupid girl rocked her head from side to side, oblivious to anything going on. Dolores was happy to put her out of her misery.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The bolt flew at Lovegood, but didn't strike her. It bounced back at Dolores, coming within centimeters of her face. She stood still as it flew past her, striking the wall behind her.

"We're not prisoners," Lovegood said. "We're here to save you."

"Slytherin will kill you, Minister."

"Be honest," the boy Weasley said. "Disposing of someone when they're no longer useful is what you'd do too."

"It shouldn't be hard to imagine Slytherin will do the same to you," Potter said.

"We don't want you to die," the girl Weasley said. "Not even you deserve that."

"We agreed to disagree on that," Granger said. "Honestly, it'd be far more convenient for us if you weren't alive."

"It's why Malfoy turned on you," Perks said. "Both Draco and Lucius. They knew you'd toss them aside once they weren't useful to you anymore. Just like Voldemort did to them. Just like Slytherin will do to you."

Dolores stood up straighter. She'd been right! She'd known Lucius had turned on her. Now she had proof. Her day kept getting better and better.

She trained her wand on Perks.

"Thank you for telling me that, Ms. Perks. You've done me a big favor. Unfortunately, that doesn't begin to make up for everything else you've—"

Something drove itself through her chest. Perks looked away and closed her eyes. Even Granger looked somber for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Minister," Perks said. "We tried."

Her body felt cold. As her life slipped away, Dolores felt anger and resentment. She'd been betrayed. She was Dolores Umbridge. How dare they?

Hermione watched Umbridge's body slump to the ground. Shawx and his team stepped back, giving them room to breathe. She didn't care about them; she cared about Slytherin.

"You're right, Brain," Slytherin said, its arm reforming from the blade it'd used to kill Umbridge. "Every time I absorb someone's blood, I can gain use of their magic.���

"Because why would an animated pool of blood have magic?" she asked. "It can't use magic. You control the castle and use occlumency, but you haven't got real magic apart from what you steal. It's why you wanted Rose in the Chamber of Secrets."

Slytherin looked from her to her friends.

"The rest of you may leave," it said. "Do whatever it is you humans do for the last hours of your life."

That was unexpected. She'd assumed it want to stop them all, after she'd put mind blank on everyone. Or it simply didn't care anymore. Where could they go? Mind blank wore off after 24 hours, and after that, they were at the mercy of the Spektres.

"Is this revenge for Rose?" Hermione asked. "Or because you simply don't like humans?"

"What I'm doing to them is because humans are flawed creatures whose time has passed. What I'm going to do to you is revenge for Rose."

Hermione's arrogance was gone; this was the real threat, not Umbridge.

<Brain?>

<You've all got your tasks. Get Sarah out and deal with the Spektres. Slytherin's mine.>

Her friends ran out of the Great Hall. It wasn't that different from the last time she'd been there. She didn't want to fight, and she wished more than anything that Rose would help her.

Rose was gone.

It was Slytherin's fault.

Hermione was the only person who could stop it.