Dolores

Want to see extended chapters or just support the author?

pat reon.com/FanFictionPremium

Enjoy reading.

------------------------------------------

In reality, I couldn't come up with a single valuable idea, Veselur had long since stopped being involved and was asleep, and Dobby had said I shouldn't get involved and had gone to Fleur with another short message from me.

I was sitting at the table alone, and instead of blueprints and diagrams, there was only a glass of wine on it. We'd spent all day trying to figure out a way to protect Amelia, but in the end we'd only agreed that the goblin shouldn't be involved in this personally, because his interference could make things much worse.

But on the bright side, I fully appreciated how useful an ally I had. Veselur had so much information that I learnt more about the magical world in one day with him than I had in the previous four years. He told me again how the Ministry monitored magic, explained why, despite her high position, Amelia Bones didn't have a tenth of Fudge's authority among the magical population, and made it clear that Flamel, whom I'd told him I'd met, wasn't to be discounted, because he'd meddled in Britain's magical community more than once in recent years, albeit secretly.

Having installed Gabby's gift, which Dobby had brought from Delacourt Manor, in one of the bedrooms, we were able to turn it into a full hall, where we had a friendly sparring session with the goblin. Veselur was so happy to be able to conjure without supervision from his superiors that he was happy to show off what he could do. And he could do a lot of things, from simple household charms, with the help of which he painted the walls of the room blue with a single wave of his hand, to frankly dangerous spells, from which I managed to dodge at the last moment. At the same time, half of the goblins' combat arsenal completely ignored my shields, flying through them.

Fortunately, he had a good grasp of healing magic, as I'd seen when the goblin had fixed my eyesight, so all my injuries were quickly repaired. Even though I couldn't learn the spells he used, this training was better than the ones with Bernard in many ways. Firstly, I was up against a completely new style, where any swing of my arm could send something nasty flying at me, and secondly, the goblin was a small and very skittish target, which made me concentrate on aiming as much as possible.

After spending several hours on this improvised range, and at some point involving Dobby, who was trying to hit me simultaneously with the goblin with various objects materialised from the air, I was completely exhausted, realising that I urgently needed a rest.

The goblin, on the other hand, was not the least bit tired. He showed me a few more spells he knew, including something similar to Incendio, and flames burst from his hands, destroying the stone Dobby had prepared in a minute. Once again I regretted that I couldn't use it in combat. As the most experienced of us, Veselur was the perfect chief strategist, and I had a couple of his ideas in my head. But sometimes I thought of bringing him to fight the Eaters and watching him scatter them with his unknown spells. Maybe I was overestimating his strength or underestimating the Lord's supporters.

The next day passed in the same rhythm: we trained, prepared a plan, and argued constantly. The presence of the goblin seemed to loosen up Dobby, who was no longer shy to openly enter the conversation and offer his ideas. He was still of the opinion that I shouldn't go there, though. I knew in my heart that he was right, that no matter how good the plan was, I'd have to improvise in the end, but I couldn't help it. If you continue to be cautious and stay on the sidelines, you'll spend your life running away from problems. And I want to get back to Fleur as soon as possible and just enjoy my teenage life.

The Frenchwoman kept reminding me of how mean I was being to her, which didn't put me in a good mood. I could feel the sadness that pervaded her messages, and I was tempted to either rush over to the estate or bring her here, but at the last moment I stopped myself, realising it was a bad idea. If I went to Fleur, I risked bringing uninvited guests back to their house, and if I brought her here, I wouldn't be able to dissuade her from getting into fights, which I couldn't allow. I'm glad she's still training and able to defend herself against an experienced wizard, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to let her test her abilities in the field.

Meanwhile, Wednesday came, the very day Luna risked a lifelong scar on her wrist. I decided not to reinvent the wheel and go with the tried-and-true method, albeit with forced adjustments. For example, I had to spend a few minutes in front of the mirror to cast a series of cosmetic charms I'd learnt in a book in my fourth year.

Telling Dobby to be on standby in case I needed help, I habitually threw on my invisibility cloak over my regular clothes and apparated to the outskirts of Hogsmeade, to a deserted spot I'd spotted beforehand.

A look around the village confirmed my previous assumptions - without the crowds of schoolchildren, it was just as bleak as Slanting Alley. The streets were practically empty, and the shops, which were popular on Sundays, could not boast a tenth of those customers.

As I approached the familiar owl post office and looked around habitually, I threw off my robe and stepped inside, greeting the local employee. He didn't see anything suspicious about the brown-eyed blond man, who looked to be in his twenties, and went back to reading the paper, while I went to a small table and began writing a message:

Professor Umbridge!

I think I found something strange in the Forbidden Forest. I saw that dim-witted Hagrid carrying a whole lamb up there and decided to track down exactly who he was feeding. Unfortunately, he spotted the tracking and I couldn't get to the end, but from the sounds of it, it's the same Dumbledore's secret weapon you mentioned. Professor Umbridge, you were right! The old man is up to something to destroy the Ministry's power, and now we have a chance to stop him!

I'll be waiting for you at the far edge of the Forbidden Forest. I don't want you to be seen with me on the street, for the old man's admirers might then guess that we know everything, and we can't let that happen! Come as soon as possible, for the sooner we thwart Dumbledore's plans, the sooner the Ministry can rid itself of this source of slander!

I hope I've done a good enough job of portraying a servile Slytherin and Dolores will buy it. I didn't sign the letter, as I wasn't entirely sure of the name of the man whose hair I was able to steal on Sunday. I hope he is among the admirers of this lover of pink, or it won't work.

After sending the owl away, I went to scout the area beforehand, trying to enter the forest so as not to disturb the enchantments surrounding Hogwarts. I didn't know how far away they were, or if Dumbledore could see everyone, but from what I remembered from Granger's tedious lectures, the far edge of the forest wasn't part of the castle grounds, which allowed me to remain invisible to the charms.

I'd been in the forest a few times before, both when I'd been running from spiders and when I'd been looking for the unicorn killer, so I had a pretty good sense of where Hagrid kept his brother. However, in addition to the giant, I wanted to involve the centaurs in the case as well, albeit without their knowledge.

After looking around and spotting a path, I sat down on a rock and took out one of the two vials of Polyjuice potion I'd bought the last time I'd been to Slanting Alley. Throwing in the hair I'd obtained at the Three Broomsticks on Sunday, I waited a moment and sharply tipped the contents of the vial into myself, shuddering at the horrible taste. Almost immediately, I felt a change in my body. The Slytherin was noticeably broader in the shoulders than I was, and I mentally thanked myself for thinking of that beforehand and wearing the loosest clothes possible.

What I'd forgotten was that I had some trouble with transfiguration. No matter how many times I tried to turn my jacket into the same robe I'd seen on the Slytherins in Hogsmeade, I couldn't do it. I couldn't get the colour, or the size, or once it didn't work at all, as if the Elder Wand was so disappointed in its new owner that it stopped working. When I was beginning to seriously fear that I wouldn't be ready in time for Umbridge, magic took pity on me and gave me a satisfactory result. I immediately put the resulting robe on myself and realised that it was rather short - I could see my usual trainers from underneath, which couldn't possibly be part of a blood purity guardian's wardrobe. But when I saw glimpses of pink in the distance, I realised I couldn't do anything about it, and hoped Umbridge wouldn't notice, excited by my fictitious discovery.

- Montague? - She came close enough for me to get a good look at her in detail. Fortunately, she was alone. - I thought you were reluctant to become one of the vigilantes serving for the good of the school and the Ministry? - Umbridge looked at me intently, and I faltered a little, realising that I had no idea of this Montague's relationship with Dolores.

- You're right, Professor Umbridge," I added the maximum amount of contrition to my voice. - I had doubted that Dumbledore was capable of such a lie. But now that I'd seen it for myself, I realised how wrong I'd been. Forgive me.

- Well," she said patronisingly, ignoring the fact that I hadn't seen anything in the letter, but now I supposedly had seen everything. - As a representative of the Ministry of Magic, I believe that everyone is entitled to a second chance. Show me what you saw, and I'll consider rewarding you.

Bowing low, I was the first to move down the path, heading deeper into the Forbidden Forest. Umbridge followed, grumbling at every step. Lovely woman. Her pink shoes were clearly not designed for this kind of snowdrifting, but she persevered, hoping to expose Dumbledore and serve herself to Fudge.

When I got far enough away without seeing any sign of the giant, I was beginning to worry that I'd taken the wrong route, but there was a loud cracking sound in the distance, like someone snapping a tree in half, and I relaxed. Besides, we'd been accompanied by a few centaurs for some time now, trying to remain inconspicuous. Umbridge didn't see them, looking more at her feet, but I noticed their scowling faces among the trees, and also noted that some of them were holding bows with arrows already drawn.

- How much longer, Montague? - I pulled away from Dolores a little so that she had to shout. - Are you sure there's something up ahead? If I find out you're wrong, you'll be in trouble.

- It's all right, Professor, just a bit more. Be careful, I've heard there are Centaurs here and they don't like strangers. - She said something, but I couldn't hear her and hurried to ask again. The second time I heard the answer, but I decided to fix the result: "I'm sorry, Professor Umbridge, I still can't hear you.

- Those filthy horse brats won't be able to interfere with my plans! - She shouted loudly to the entire forest. Now I was sure the centaurs had heard everything. I saw one of them aiming a bow at Dolores, and I gestured discreetly for him to wait a moment. I don't know if he understood me, or if he saw my attempts at all, but no shot was fired.

Suddenly the forest parted before me, and I came to a small clearing, in the middle of which Grochh was sitting. He was about fifteen feet tall at first glance. He wore fur shorts and a waistcoat that left most of his body bare, but he didn't seem to mind the cold. He was busily hacking a small tree to pieces, paying no attention to his guest.

I made way for Umbridge, who, as soon as she saw what she was seeing, froze with her mouth hanging open.

- Now, Professor, it looks like this is exactly what you were talking about. Dumbledore really is up to something terrible.

Coffin, hearing my voice, regarded us for a few seconds, then decided to come closer. He was chained to the tree and couldn't get far away from it, but Umbridge and I were able to get a good look at Hagrid's brother towering over us.

- You did well, Mr Montague," Dolores said. - Unfortunately for you, this must be my triumph alone.

She pointed her wand at me, about to cast a spell, but a sharp noise behind her made her turn round. Several centaurs had entered the clearing, holding us at gunpoint.

- Get out, you animals, I am the First Deputy Minister of Magic! - Umbridge's voice gave away her uncertainty, but she pointed her wand at the centaur closest to us.

- We don't care who you are. But you have invaded our land and insulted our people, and for that you will have to answer.

Umbridge moved her wand from one centaur to another, but she didn't risk attacking, and I just stood there with my hands slightly raised, showing that I wasn't going to fight.

- Montague, why aren't you attacking? - She shouted, turning to me.

- I'm not allowed to use magic outside of class, Professor. Have you forgotten? Besides, you just wanted to attack me. Is this what the Ministry's gratitude looks like?

Stunned by my words, she hesitated for a second, but quickly pulled herself together.

- Attack, I am your professor and I command you! - She didn't seem to have a good idea of how far the power of a school professor extends. Nevertheless, I obeyed and, to her satisfaction, slowly pulled my wand out of my pocket. The centaurs visibly tensed, but I pointed the wand at Dolores and said loudly:

- Expelliarmus! - The wand flew out of her hands and fell right under the hooves of one of the centaurs, who immediately stepped on it, breaking it in half.

- Filthy animals! - Umbridge shrieked, seeing what had become of her weapon. - You're going to regret this! And you, Montague, are going to regret what you did. You should have attacked those beasts, not me!

- They're not beasts, Professor, they're centaurs," I said in a calm voice, infuriating her even more. - And they have done me no harm. Moreover, they are in their right, because we did invade their lands. And I wouldn't have done it if you hadn't made me.

Dolores took a couple of steps backwards as if I had struck her, and then flew up into the air, for now she was within reach of Groszyk, who was watching the events unfolding in his clearing with obvious interest. Grabbing Umbridge by the torso, he lifted her up sharply, bringing her up to his face and scrutinising her closely. Umbridge's shriek echoed throughout the forest, but neither I, nor the centaurs, made any attempt to help her free.

I felt my body begin to change, taking on a familiar shape. That meant it had been exactly an hour since I'd taken the Polyjuice potion. Dolores, who saw the metamorphosis of my body, was silent for a moment, and then began to scream even louder.

- Potter! I knew you were alive! You set this whole thing up, you're with Dumbledore! Help me get free now! - Apparently, cosmetic charms don't last after you've used a reversal spell.

- That's right, Dolores. I set this whole thing up. And no, I'm not going to help you. I'd rather help the schoolchildren you torture every day in your office.

- Po-o-o-ttee-er! - Umbridge kicked desperately at the giant's fist, which brought her too close to his face, and inadvertently hit his hand right in his eye with a full swing.

Groszyk howled resentfully and reflexively squeezed his hand harder, causing a sickening crunch to resound through the clearing.

I hurriedly turned away, but I didn't look in the direction of the former Hogwarts professor, whose screams had gone silent. The centaurs, on the other hand, kept their eyes on the spectacle, and I didn't see a single face that showed disapproval. They picked up the body that had fallen from Grochh's hands and moved on into the forest, paying no attention to me. Only the last centaur, who looked older than the others, stopped in front of me.

- We won't hurt you today, Harry Potter. But be careful, not even the stars can predict your fate.

He followed his kin, leaving me alone with the giant. He watched with a sad face as all his toys left, and let out a strange howl. I took one last look around the clearing and burned the remains of Umbridge's wand, eliminating all traces of our presence here, and apparated home, still not feeling an ounce of sympathy for the woman.