Chương 86: Chapter - 89 : Breach of Trust part - 3

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Before Fudge, or really anyone for that matter, could even think about drawing their wands, Dumbledore swept his own in a wide arc, casting a spell that caused the roof to collapse in on itself, McGonagall protected Harry, Marietta, and herself with a dome shaped shield charm, the others were not so lucky. Fudge, Umbridge, Dawlish, and Kingsley were knocked out by falling debris as Dumbledore's phoenix flashed him away. It was the closest Harry had ever gotten to liking the old man.

BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight.

Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic

Umbridge wasted absolutely no time in making several radical changes to the school. Several more educational decrees were formed; one all but banned anyone from so much as mentioning Dumbledore's name, any teacher with close ties to Dumbledore were put under investigation to find out more about his "anarchy", and a new group was formed, the Inquisitorial Squad. Umbridge's most loyal students were assigned to keep a close watch over the students and report any suspicious behavior to her, they were nothing more than glorified rats who had been given the authority to dock house points. Hermione had been docked fifty points just for "being a mudblood", Ron had been docked one hundred for breaking Pucey's nose for that. They were often seen lurking outside of the Room of Requirements hoping to catch another secret meeting, but there hadn't been a T.A. meeting since Dumbledore had been fired.

Harry and his friends were less than pleased by the new changes, but they suffered in silence, knowing that they had to choose their battles wisely. But then came a change Harry absolutely would not stand for.

Several weeks after Dumbledore's ousting, Filch could be seen prancing around the school even happier than usual, and that was saying something as ever since Dumbledore had fled the castle, the ghastly caretaker had seemed to be floating on clown nine. The cause of his elation, however, wasn't discovered until later in the evening.

Harry, Ron, and Draco were on their way out to the Quidditch pitch for a quick fly before dinner when the trio was accosted by several sobbing first years, all members of the T.A.

"Harry, you have to help her." one of the younger girls, Janice Ackerly if he recalled correctly, cried, latching onto his arm. "Oh, please help her, he took her, a-and he said he was going to do awful things to her."

Alarmed at the first year's pleading, Harry dropped down to one knee and gently took hold of her shaking shoulders. "I need you to calm down for me, Janice," he said soothingly, "and tell me who has who? What did he say he was going to do to her?"

"Filch," Janice gasped, "he took Eleanor, said he was going to hang her by her thumbs for dripping mud in the Entrance Hall."

"He can't actually hang her by her thumbs." Draco said. "It's illegal."

"H-h-he had papers, official papers that gave him permission to use cop…corpa…corporal punishment on us."

Harry felt his blood turn to ice. "Where did he take her?" he asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

"T-to his office."

Harry stood in one swift motion and turned to face his stricken friends. "Draco, alert the teachers to what's going on. Ron, take Janice and her friends to the infirmary and get some Calming Draughts in them, and tell Pomfrey to prepare a bed for another patient."

The two boys hesitated, before hurrying off to complete their allotted tasks, leaving Harry to deal with Filch.

There must have been something in his eyes or his demeanor that betrayed his raging anger, because as Harry marched briskly to Filch's office every student he passed quickly skirted out of his way, not even the few members of the Inquisitorial Squad he passed dared stop him, but they did hurry off to inform Umbridge of his suspicious behavior.

Because of the student's wariness of his foul mood, Harry reached the ground floor in record time, it didn't take much longer to arrive at Filch's office. Instead of bursting into the office, wand blazing like he wanted so badly to do, Harry paused and listened to make sure that he was in the right place and that the events that had been detailed were really happening. It only took the creak of oiled chains, the soft sobs of a young girl, and Filch's gloating voice informing someone that. "Next time, you'll think twice before befouling this castle," to ensure him that, yes, it was all true and that, yes, he was about to rain hell on Filch.

A simple flick of his wand had the locked door swinging open and Harry stepped into the room, the sight that met him immediately fueled his kindling anger. Tiny, first year Eleanor was hanging from the ceiling by chains wrapped around her wrists, tears were streaming from her puffy, red eyes, but upon his entrance they slowed, before stopping altogether.

"Potter!" Filch shrieked. "Who gave you permission to enter my office? I'll have you hanging by your wrists once I'm done with this little brat."

Before the caretaker could even blink, Harry had his hand wrapped around his throat and his wand pointed at his temple. "The key," Harry whispered dangerously. "Where is it?"

A gnarled hand, trembling in fear, reached up and pointed to where a key ring sat in a heap on the corner of his desk, Harry released Filch and immediately the man ran for the door, no doubt to summon Umbridge, but Harry paid him no mind, he reached for the key ring and moved to where Eleanor hung and began testing the keys in the lock. It took him several long minutes, minutes he couldn't afford, but eventually he found the correct key and unchained the dangling first year.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Eleanor wrapped her arms around Harry's waist and buried her face in his stomach, her little body shook from the force of her sobs.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked worriedly. "Stupid question, of course you're not all right, how badly are you hurt? How are you feeling standing on your own?"

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.

Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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