[Prof. Umbridge] Chapter 30

Snape had also managed to dress, and in his high-collared robe, he looked, as usual, rather sinister.

"Quite the mirror you’ve got there," Marina Nikolaevna remarked casually.

"Like it?" he sneered. "It’s fantastic for a morning pick-me-up. It’s always saying something like... ‘Well, Master, you’re still as scary as sin, but at least your face isn’t green. Did you actually get some sleep?’"

"Where on earth did you find such a thing?"

"A gift," he replied vaguely, "I think they hoped I’d smash it on the second day. But it’s grown on me... Well, shall we go? Though, at the rate you're hobbling, we'll crawl till morning!"

Marina Nikolaevna opened her mouth to call for Letty, but the house-elf appeared on her own.

"Madam, the intruders have been brought to your office; Trinky is watching them! They had this!"

The house-elf handed her a silvery-gray cloak, and Marina Nikolaevna, touching it, recognized the material – it was just like what she’d felt slip through her fingers.

"There, didn’t I say?"

"Yes... Severus, by the way, what are we going to do with the map?"

"Misplace it?" he suggested quickly.

"With you or with me?"

"I can only keep it open," he replied regretfully, "and the headmaster might drop by... He’ll see it, and he always notices what’s not meant for his eyes, and then I’d have to explain."

"I also get plenty of visitors."

"But you can erase it... And you’re the one catching rule-breakers this term, so it’s yours," Snape handed her the map, though clearly with reluctance. "To make the image disappear, you need to say, ‘Mischief managed.’"

"I should try to figure out the charms on this and make a copy," said Marina Nikolaevna, performing the command and tucking the map carefully into her inner pocket. "It’s a valuable thing!"

"No doubt."

"Letty," she extended her hand to the house-elf, "please take us to the door of my office. Ah... thank you. Now go to the Gryffindor common room; there should be three immobilized students there. Bring them around and tell them to come to my office."

"Yes, Madam!" squeaked Letty, vanishing, while Marina Nikolaevna opened the door to her own office.

Four Gryffindors stood at attention near the wall, with Trinky and another unfamiliar house-elf keeping watch.

"Madam," Trinky bowed, "this is Dixie. I had to call for help because that crazy Dobby was trying to free Harry Potter, and we barely managed to stop him..."

"Well done," Marina Nikolaevna said seriously, hobbling slightly as her leg still hurt, and moved to her desk. "Severus, come in, admire these lovely specimens!"

"I warned you, Dolores," Snape’s voice dripped with venom, enough to make a dozen king cobras jealous, "nothing good ever comes from Potter."

He threw the folded Invisibility Cloak onto the desk, and Potter stared at it, speechless.

"Take a seat, Severus. Tea?"

"Tea, at this hour?" he muttered, pulling up a chair and sitting down with his leg crossed and fingers intertwined on his knee. "A lovely sight, isn't it?"

"I rather like it too," she nodded. "Now, the rest of this tragicomedy cast will arrive soon, and then we’ll start questioning..."

There was a shuffle outside, followed by a knock, and then a disheveled Granger, a Seamus with a split lip, and a Thomas with a good shiner under his eye appeared at the doorway.

"Madam Umbridge!" Granger exclaimed. "Harry’s trying to break into the Ministry! And with him are..."

"I know, Miss Granger," Marina Nikolaevna replied calmly, "and no one will be breaking in anywhere. They’re standing right there, pretending to be part of the decor."

"Thank goodness!" Seamus crossed himself broadly. "I imagined all sorts of things lying there..."

"I thought those idiots would have been sacrificed by Death Eaters a hundred times over by now!" added Thomas with a nervous laugh.

"Sit down and calm yourselves," Marina Nikolaevna nodded at the narrow couch by the wall. "Letty, serve the young people some tea. Thank you... Now, let’s go in order. Miss Granger, let’s start with you. Explain."

"You see, Madam Umbridge, when the headmaster told Harry to study with..." the girl glanced warily at Snape.

"I’m aware, in case you’ve forgotten. And I know he’s stopped attending."

"Yes..." Granger exhaled with relief. "And the visions seemed to have stopped, or so he said. But today he suddenly had one about You-Know-Who torturing Sirius Black in the Department of Mysteries... oh..."

"I know who Black is," sighed Marina Nikolaevna. "And his death sentence was revoked at my request. Go on, Miss Granger."

"Harry started convincing us that we had to rush to rescue Sirius," she said. "I told him we should check if he’s at home first! But we had no way to contact him; the fireplaces are only open for the teachers, and while an owl would fly... So, I persuaded Lavender and Parvati to distract Trelawney – even though she doesn’t teach anymore, her fireplace still works... And Harry tried to call Sirius, but Kreacher – that’s his house-elf – said he wasn’t there. No one was, not Lupin, nor anyone else... So..."

"Potter went off on his rescue mission?" Snape raised an eyebrow. "Why not to the headmaster?"

"The headmaster isn’t at school!" Granger exclaimed. "I suggested going to him first, but he was gone somewhere..."

"And your head of house?"

"She said Harry just had a bad dream and sent us to bed. I..." Granger sniffed. "I wanted to go to you, Madam Umbridge, or Professor Snape, he’s also... oh..."

"I’m aware," Marina Nikolaevna said for the third time. "But clearly, you weren’t listened to?"

She shook her head, almost spilling her tea.

"They both initially agreed to send an owl and wait till morning," Seamus interjected. "Harry said he’d quietly sneak up to the owlery, and Ron would keep watch. Well, he left, and then Ron came back a couple of minutes later..."

"And then, bam! Next thing I know, Hermione’s dropping," added Thomas, "Seamus too... and Ron’s pointing his wand at me. I didn’t even have time to gasp before I hit the floor, face-first – see, right into the chair’s armrest... I don’t even know how they managed it!"

"It’s the Invisibility Cloak," said Granger, staring at the floor. "Harry wore it outside, then followed Ron back in, and..."

"And what did you learn all year?" Marina Nikolaevna sighed heavily. "Knowing your potential enemy has such an advantage and underestimating it – that takes some talent!"

"Seamus and Dean didn’t know," Granger defended them. "Only Ron, Neville, and I did."

"Yeah, Neville came crawling out when he heard the commotion, overheard about Death Eaters, and decided to join the rescue party," Seamus snickered. "Then Ginny came in. Ron tried to stop her, but there was no stopping her! Well, that’s all we know. We’d still be lying there till morning if someone hadn’t come across us."

"Well, then, that’s all clear..." Marina Nikolaevna drew out. "We’ll hear from the others involved. Letty, bring me their wands first."

"Dolores, house-elves are forbidden from touching wands," Snape reminded her quietly.

"Oh yes, you’re right... Finnegan, would you mind disarming them?"

"Right away, Madam!" he jumped up. "Here..."

"Thank you. Well, let’s begin... Letty, release them, but keep an eye on them so they don’t do anything foolish."

The “prisoners” stirred, casting wary glances around.

“Well then,” Marina Nikolaevna began, toying with her wand, “let's start with the easiest question. Which one of you pushed me down the stairs?”

A dead silence fell over the room, with only Granger gasping in horror, “H-how...?”

“Just as I said. Professor Snape can confirm… how many fractures did I have? Not to mention the concussion and other delightful injuries.”

“I’m amazed at your resilience, Dolores,” Snape complimented her, clearly savoring the audience’s reaction. “Are you even human? Most people don’t survive falls like that…”

“Yes, yes, I’m a reptiloid from planet Nibiru,” she chuckled. “So, will I get an answer?”

“It... it was me!” Longbottom suddenly blurted out. Tears streamed down his round cheeks, his lips trembled, but he tried not to look away.

“And what was your intention in doing that?”

“I... it was an accident,” he replied, starting to sob. “It was cramped under the cloak... Harry said we needed to hurry, and that we’d pass you by easily... but I… I stumbled and…”

“As usual, Longbottom's rhino-like grace in full display,” Snape nodded. “You’re lucky, Dolores, that he didn’t fall on top of you.”

“I didn’t mean to!” he cried, suddenly covering his face with his hands. The tall boy, towering over Marina Nikolaevna, was sobbing openly, barely able to explain: “I wanted to go down and call for help! But... but they said there was no time, that we’d go another way…”

“I can only assume you were restrained by force, otherwise I can’t explain your behavior,” she said icily. “Alright… your turn, Mr. Potter.”

“What’s there to say?” he shouted. “Sirius is being tortured right now, I can feel it! Voldemort needs a weapon, the one hidden in the Department of Mysteries—he wants Sirius to take it for him! This is real!”

“These are induced hallucinations,” Marina Nikolaevna said grimly. “There is no weapon in the Department of Mysteries. But there are twenty Aurors on duty there, and if someone tries to break in, they’ll be sorry.”

“But it’s Voldemort himself! He could…”

“And you were planning to take him on with four people?”

“I said from the beginning it was a stupid idea…” Weasley mumbled.

“And how did you plan to get to London?” Marina Nikolaevna recalled.

“Luna Lovegood suggested we could summon thestrals,” Ginny Weasley spoke up. “They never lose their way, and they fly fast. Harry and Neville can see them; we could have managed…”

“And how did you end up joining this company, Miss Weasley?”

“I thought that without me, they’d certainly get themselves killed, ma’am,” she replied darkly.

“Usually, the voice of reason in this group is Granger,” Snape remarked, “but this time she was deprived of the chance to speak.”

“I really thought my students had better sense,” Marina Nikolaevna said sincerely.

“But it’s Sirius!” Potter yelled again. He was trembling like he had a fever, his gaze drifting, and the scar on his forehead seemed inflamed.

“Sirius is most likely passed out drunk and sleeping,” Snape said, “and Kreacher, that scoundrel, will lie about anything. I can go check, of course, but I’m already worn out. It can wait until morning.”

“Yes, these adventurers need sleep too,” Marina Nikolaevna nodded. “Severus, do you have any Dreamless Sleep Potion? Potter could certainly use it. And I’ll give Longbottom a calming draught myself.”

“Poison would be more reliable for both of them,” Snape muttered, beckoning Trinky over and whispering something in the house-elf's ear. The elf nodded respectfully and vanished, soon returning with a vial. “Thank you. And by the way, Dolores, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to decide on their punishment…”

“Fifty points from each of the violators,” she said calmly. “A total of two hundred.”

The Gryffindors froze in horror but dared not protest.

“But I’ll give back twenty points to those who tried to stop them. No more than that, since they didn’t succeed,” Marina Nikolaevna added after a moment. “That’s a net loss of one hundred and forty.”

“I’ll deduct twenty points each from the violators myself,” Snape said, “for innate idiocy, for making me waste half the night dealing with this, and for abandoning an injured professor in a life-threatening situation, even if it was unintentional. And I’m being lenient… That’s a total of negative two hundred and twenty. If I’m not mistaken, the previous record was minus one hundred fifty? Well done; you’ve outdone yourselves!”

“Well, there’s a new generation rising,” Marina Nikolaevna nodded toward Ginny Weasley. “Now off to bed. Prefects, take them to the common room. I’ll keep their wands for now.”

“And the cloak…” Potter began.

“Confiscated, and it won’t be returned to you until you graduate, Mr. Potter,” she said seriously. “Children shouldn’t have such dangerous things in their hands. And drink the potion.”

“I’m not…”

“Shall I immobilize you and force-feed it to you? Letty…”

“I’ll do it myself!” Potter shouted, clearly wanting to avoid more humiliation, and downed the potion in one gulp.

“Can I have some too?” Longbottom whispered, still stammering from tears and fear.

“Of course,” Snape said gravely. “And don’t come to Potions class tomorrow morning, or you’ll likely injure someone else… I’ll assign you a makeup session later.”

“T-thank you, s-sir…” Longbottom stammered, nearly spilling the contents of the small cup he was handed.

“Now, out!” Marina Nikolaevna ordered, waiting until the door closed behind them. “Trinky, Dixie, escort them to the common room. Letty, make sure no one’s eavesdropping…”

“What’s there to eavesdrop on?” Snape stood up. “I’m going to try and get a few hours’ sleep, or else I’ll definitely kill someone in the morning… And please, refrain from any more running around!”

“I promised I’d turn myself in to Poppy,” Marina Nikolaevna said with a reluctant smile, flinching as a large Ministry owl tapped at the window. “Wait, Severus…”

“Dolores!” read Fudge’s slightly shaky handwriting. “You were right: Death Eaters attempted to storm the Department of Mysteries! If not for the precautions, they would have reached the Hall of Prophecies… Six were captured alive, two were killed. However, Lestrange and a few others escaped. Still, if not for Dumbledore, who showed up out of nowhere, things could have ended terribly... More details tomorrow; interrogations are underway. With gratitude, yours, Cornelius Fudge, Minister.”

“So it was indeed a trap for Potter,” Snape observed, reading the letter over her shoulder. “Sirius, being tortured by the Dark Lord right in the Ministry… Why, I wonder?”

“A bait,” Marina Nikolaevna smirked. “He wanted the prophecy and was trying to get Potter to retrieve it. Along with his Death Eaters, of course. Wouldn’t it have been simpler to sneak in himself and grab it?”

“Yes, this plan turned out to be overly convoluted,” he muttered. “Wait. How do you know such details?”

“And who do you think placed the alarm charms in the Hall of Prophecies? And don’t glare at me, Severus. There’s no prophecy there.”

“What do you mean, ‘no prophecy’?”

“I mean it’s been removed. I don’t know where it’s hidden; I requested not to be told,” she lied. “So the only one who knows the full text of the prophecy now is Dumbledore. Let the Dark Lord go after him, then.”

“Clever move…” Snape mused. “I’d never have thought of that.”

“Women’s logic,” she said seriously, glancing at the clock. “Oh… let’s get some sleep, really, or it’ll be morning soon!”

"Yes. And tomorrow we still have a showdown with the Headmaster."

"Exactly. And..." Marina Nikolaevna held him by the sleeve, "thank you, Severus."

He waved it off and left, while she turned to Letty.

"Listen... I'm not very good with these nuances, but Professor Snape said you might want to become my house-elf?"

Letty feebly nodded, barely moving her head and clasping her small hands on her chest.

"And why couldn't you just say so?"

"It's not proper, madam," she squeaked. "Letty is not Dobby, who goes around asking people to hire him; Letty is respectable! If Letty is needed... the master must call."

"And how would I do that?" Marina Nikolaevna looked the grimy little elf up and down. "Hmm... You’re wearing a towel with the Hogwarts crest, right? So, when they hired you here, they gave you clothing? But isn’t that only given when someone wants to free a house-elf?"

"Yes, madam. It's considered that if a house-elf earns clothing, they can be free..."

"I see... And if this clothing were thrown in your face and you were thrown out of the house, that’s freedom with added humiliation?"

"Yes, madam. It means the house-elf worked poorly, couldn't please the master. They are useless, and the others would look down on them, like they do on Dobby, who betrayed his master, and Winky, who failed to obey her master's order and got clothing, and Letty..." With each word, she spoke softer and softer until she fell silent.

"I'm completely confused," Marina Nikolaevna admitted. "So, you’re free but work at Hogwarts; that’s clear. What about the other house-elves here?"

"They belong to the school, madam," Letty explained. "That's why they wear the school crest. But free elves can dress however they like. Winky wears the clothes her master gave her, because it’s all she has left of him. Dobby wears whatever he wants. And Letty... Letty can't wear her master's thing; it’s a glove, and it’s too big..." She dropped her ears. "So Letty took a school towel to not stand out from the others. So they wouldn’t look down on her. And by now almost everyone has forgotten that Letty is also free..."

Marina Nikolaevna thought about this, though it was hard to focus with her head still buzzing. The house-elves she had seen usually wore towels or pillowcases with crests or monograms of their owners—basically not clothing, but kitchen or bedding items. She didn’t like it one bit.

‘Well, as if I haven’t broken enough traditions already,’ she thought, and, asking Letty to wait, she went to her bedroom and soon returned with a folded item in her hand.

"Letty," she said, "tell me, do you truly want to be my house-elf and mine alone?"

Letty nodded enthusiastically.

"Letty wants it!"

"Then I will gladly accept your service," Marina Nikolaevna said after a pause. "And since I’m freeing you from the freedom you don't need, take this and wear it instead of that silly towel. And clean yourself up!"

Letty timidly stretched out her hand for the offered item, and when she touched Marina Nikolaevna’s hand, there was a resounding thud, like an echo, that made her ears pop.

"What was that?"

"A magical contract, mistress; Letty is now yours," Letty explained, somehow already having shed the towel and dressed in what Marina Nikolaevna had given her: a fine black cashmere turtleneck with short sleeves. On Letty, it reached down to her knees and could easily pass for a dress.

Actually, she had bought it for herself, planning to slim down a bit for summer, but oh well... And removing her monogram wouldn’t be hard.

"And use a belt; I don’t like anything loose and messy," Marina Nikolaevna instructed. "Yes, I like you much better all cleaned up! Does a new master’s command override an old curse?"

Letty nodded eagerly, delighted with her new attire.

"Good. Now go to sleep. And please wake me up early—I need to visit the hospital wing before breakfast... and I’m afraid I won’t hear my alarm."

"Letty will wake you!" the house-elf promised.

"By the way, where do you sleep?"

"Where the other house-elves do, in the kitchen, mistress."

"That won’t do," Marina Nikolaevna frowned. "Settle on the sofa or an armchair, and take a blanket."

"Mistress is so kind!" Letty sniffled with emotion.

"And call me 'madam' as usual," she requested. "No need for everyone to know that you listen only to me now."

"As madam commands!"