Chapter 331: The Opening Move

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I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.

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20th October 1995, Hogwarts (Earth 2)

The room was dimly lit, the flickering candlelight casting long shadows that danced eerily across the walls. Harry found himself standing in the centre of a grand, yet cold, drawing room. The air was thick with a sense of power and malevolence, making every breath feel heavy and deliberate. He loved it. He revelled in it, even if he didn't know why it was so. Harry's eyes darted around, his senses on high alert. He recognized the room from somewhere, a distant memory tugging at his mind, yet he couldn't place it. It felt familiar, yet not his own.

A figure stepped into the light—a man with long, pale blond hair and a haughty demeanour. Lucius Malfoy. He bowed deeply, his movements precise and practised, oozing with the kind of servile respect that bordered on fear. Lucius Malfoy was practically kneeling before him and there was no mistaking the sadistic pleasure, he felt at the Head of such a distinguished family acting to subservient to him.

"My Lord," Lucius said, his voice smooth and deferential. "You summoned me."

Harry could feel his thin lips curling into a smile that was devoid of warmth, "Lucius," he hissed, "I have entrusted you with the recruitment of my forces. It's time for you to show me why I allowed you to have this privilege."

The blond man's scared expression slowly morphed into a confident one, "Greyback has succeeded in bringing a large majority of Britain's werewolves to your cause, my lord. Crabbe and Goyle have been training them into a relatively competent fighting force."

"A large majority," Harry asked, with his irritation slowly growing, "not all?"

"A small number of them did not wish to fight. Dumbledore's pet werewolf has been trying to convince them to fight for him, but they seem reluctant in general. I'm getting Fudge to push some more anti-werewolf bills to slowly bring them to our side, but changing legislation is a slow process."

The fury slowly abated, "Keep me informed on that front. What of the Vampires and the Giants?"

"A complete success in that regard, my lord. Macnair has successfully enlisted the giants to your cause but transporting them here will also take some time without arousing too much suspicion. The Carrows were able to recruit some vampires from the continent. They should arrive in a few weeks, my lord."

"Good," Harry replied, feeling pleased, "What of the Goblins?"

He relished as Lucius got more uncomfortable as he broached the matter, "As neutral as ever, my lord. They do not wish to involve themselves in the matters of wizards. They will only fight if they see a threat to their monopoly. Although, there have been some whispers of discontent lately, especially with the recent break-in."

That got Harry to freeze, with fear slowly creeping in before being swallowed back into his endless rage, "Someone broke into Gringotts? And you did not think to tell me?"

"My lord, I have only learned of it this morning. The goblins have tried to keep this as quiet as they could and already have a suspect, although I do not know who that is. I thought you would not care about this matter, especially since it has almost concluded."

The irritation swelled even more in Harry's mind, and he needed to let it out, "Crucio!"

Lucius collapsed to the floor, his body convulsing in agony as the curse took hold. His mouth opened in a silent scream, eyes bulging with pain. Harry watched with a twisted sense of satisfaction, relishing the sight of Lucius writhing at his feet. The power coursed through him, electrifying, intoxicating, making him feel invincible.

"Do not presume to decide what I will or will not care about!" Harry hissed, his voice low and dangerous. He held the curse for a few moments longer, savouring the control, the absolute dominance he had over Lucius. Then, with a flick of his wand, he released the spell. Lucius crumpled, panting, sweat pouring down his face, his eyes filled with fear and pain.

"My lord," Lucius gasped, struggling to his knees, his voice hoarse. "Forgive me. I did not mean—"

"Silence!" Harry snapped, cutting him off. "You will keep me informed of everything; do you understand?"

"Yes, my lord," Lucius whispered, his head bowed, his body trembling. "I swear it."

Harry stepped closer, his eyes burning with intensity, "Now, tell me everything you know about this break-in. Leave nothing out. I want to know every detail, every whisper, every suspicion."

The man visibly stifled a yelp of pain and got up, shakingly, "Of course, my lord. Only the goblins know which vault was broken into. I only know that it was one of their highest security vaults and that it was emptied bar a small pile of gold. The goblins think that it was an inside job, as only a goblin could open the door, but there were traces of a wizard or a witch being involved, hence the desire to arrest them."

Harry's thoughts wandered slightly. Could it be that someone figured out his secret? No, his Bella was still in Azkaban, and she wouldn't have betrayed him to anyone. But what if it was someone seeking to hurt him? He couldn't exactly break into Gringotts without revealing himself, and that would ruin the anonymity that the ministry had so graciously given him until he was ready. No, it was foolish to make enemies out of the goblins and reveal himself for a possibility, especially without knowing the contents of the prophecy that had caused his fall the first time.

He needed Bella to know for sure. It would seem he would have to accelerate this part of his plans. At least, he'd have some competent help. Maybe Lucius would stop failing him with a little competition.

Still, there was still something on his mind, "Lucius, years ago I entrusted you with a diary. I wish to see it."

The man's hesitance in answering irritated him enough to delve into his mind. He got past those pesky little protections easily enough and a few flashes of memory revealed themselves. It was of Lucius slipping the diary into a little girl's cauldron and of Harry Potter showing him the destroyed book. It was easy to realize what had happened.

White-hot rage coursed through him, and he exclaimed, "Crucio!"

Suddenly, the room began to fade, the shadows stretching and distorting, the walls melting away. Harry's heart pounded in his chest as the darkness closed in around him, suffocating and cold. He tried to move, to scream, but his body was frozen, trapped in the grip of the dream.

And then, with a gasp, Harry sat bolt upright in bed, his heart racing, his breath coming in ragged gulps. He was back in his dormitory at Hogwarts. He relaxed slightly. What the fuck was that? It all just felt so real.

He still had a headache, and his scar was burning more than usual. He grabbed his wand and whispered, "Tempus!"

He had almost missed breakfast. He quickly changed and ran to the Great Hall, where he sat next to Hermione, Harrold and Neville. The muggleborn quickly ran to him and asked, "Where's Ron?"

"Still asleep. I tried to wake him up," Harry lied, "He just wouldn't get up and I got hungry."

Neville rolled his eyes, "I can understand that. You woke up half the dormitory when you kept screaming last night. Most of us barely got any sleep."

Harry suppressed his guilt slightly at that, "Sorry."

Thankfully, Harrold waved him off, "It's fine. Are you alright, though? This must have been one hell of a nightmare."

"Yes, just a nightmare," he whispered while motioning to rub his burning scar. He stopped himself but he noticed that Hermione gave him a meaningful look.

Whatever was being said was interrupted by loud yelling from outside the Great Hall. The entire study body was frozen into silence as Dolores Umbridge ran through the doorway while yelling, "You can't do this to me, Cornelius. Not after all I sacrificed for you."

The minister of magic looked awkward as he tried to calm the woman down, "Just come with us, Dolores. I'm sure that this is all a simple misunderstanding. There's no need to make a scene and make things difficult. If you're innocent, then nothing is going to happen. I have faith, after all."

"Are you listening to yourself, Cornelius?" the professor yelled, "I did not rob Gringotts. It's impossible to even do that!"

Wait, what? Someone had robbed Gringotts. Honestly, the only person he heard of ever achieving this was Quirrell. But that man was possessed by Lord Voldemort and the vault itself was empty. As much as he hated Umbridge, he couldn't really see her being able to break into Gringotts. She would probably lose to Harry in a duel, and Harry didn't think he could ever break into the bank. Ever. The mere thought of it was insane.

Another voice spoke up and Harry realized that it was a goblin that he couldn't see before, "Madam Umbridge, our investigators found dozens of the stolen artefacts in your office and a small pile of gold in your home. Your hair was found inside the vault that was broken into and you were present at the bank on the day of the theft, and the goblin that showed you to your vault was also the one who opened the one that was robbed. That is evidence enough to make you a suspect."

Cornelius continued, "And even if you're guilty of this heinous crime, we can decrease your sentence if you give up any fellow conspirators."

Another voice spoke up from behind them, "That's not likely. My Aurors found a fortune worth of banned items that were cursed. We can use her wand to see if she is responsible or not. Either way, the possession of these items alone, especially in a place with children, would get you a few years in Azkaban."

The woman who just spoke walked into the room. She had red hair, wore a monocle, and the expression on her face reminded him of McGonagall slightly but more hardened. He remembered her from his trial. She was one who was impressed that he could cast a corporeal patronus. She was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Cornelius, it was Dumbledore. He framed me. He did all of this. You said it yourself that you think he's trying to take your place as Minister and rule Britain. What better way to hurt you than taking me out of the game? Honestly, do you think I'll even be capable of breaking into Gringotts of all places?"

Harry had to agree with her, even if he didn't think Dumbledore was responsible. It just wasn't something the headmaster would do. But Umbridge was definitely framed when it came to breaking into Gringotts. What could she really have done to bypass the probable countless enchantments that protect the vaults? Make them read the books in silence while she sneakily got past them?

He stifled the urge to chuckle at his inside joke. It wasn't even a good joke, really? But the sheer absurdity of the situation just made it funny. He didn't think Umbridge could break into a trunk, let alone a high-security vault.

However, Amelia Bones wasn't deterred, "The Gringotts robbery is a Goblin matter. We were just assisting them while collecting their evidence, but they will be the ones to say whether you are guilty or not."

"A crime against Gringotts is punished by Gringotts," the goblin retorted.

"Please Cornelius, you can't let the little beasts take me!"

"Do not worry, Dolores, you will remain in the ministry's custody until the goblins come up with a verdict. If you truly are innocent, then you have nothing to fear."

The woman with the monocle wasn't to be deterred and spoke up, "Yes, afterwards, we'll have all the time in the world to talk about the artefacts we found in your room."

When she heard this, Umbridge took out her wand and pointed it at Amelia Bones, only to be hit with a stunning charm and fall unconscious. Damn, Harry hadn't even seen the woman take out her wand and he couldn't help but be impressed.

With a flick of her wand, she levitated the former professor and walked out of the Great Hall with Fudge and the goblin following her behind. The entire room was silent, as if it was still processing what happened, or just assumed that it was some kind of mass hallucination that they all experienced.

Harrold was the first to speak up, "That was fun while it lasted, but I guess we'll be having a new defence professor now, huh?"

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AN: So that's the first step of Harry's plan, and getting rid of Umbridge. If you hadn't noticed, Harry just returned every single artefact he stole from Umbridge in her office for the Aurors to find. I'm not sure if it came out like I wanted it to, but I hope you like it. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.