Percy Jackson and the Department of Mysteries [Book 5]

153) https://youtu.be/OGJAUnNzbhE

^^^ I swear it has relevance to the chapter. I swear.

Snape paused in the doorway, hair shrouding his eyes.

"Padfoot?" Umbridge called, glancing eagerly between Harry and Snape. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?"

Snape shifted, and his hair parted. He didn't so much as look at me, and I couldn't seem to get a read on his thoughts. He spoke coldly, "I have no idea. Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if you ever apply for a job."

The door clicked shut behind him, locking out my hope with him. Maybe he'd understood, maybe he hadn't. Maybe he'd understood, but he was a son of Nemesis — Padfoot in danger was not something he'd be keen to remedy.

"Very well," Umbridge's chest heaved with thinly masked fury as she gripped her wand. "Very well... I am left with no alternative.... This is more than a matter of school discipline.... This is an issue of Ministry security.... Yes... yes..."

"I'm not a doctor, but even I know the prescription for whatever's going on with her is a straitjacket," I muttered to Draco, and he hid his laugh behind a cough. I wasn't joking, though; she had definitely lost a few screws since finding us in her office. She was talking to herself, shifting side to side as her eyes grew impossibly wide, and she hit her wand against her open palm like some teacher who wanted to be menacing with a ruler. This was a rollercoaster I did not want to be on (not that I liked most rollercoasters — they were a little tall for my tastes). It was looking more and more like the track was ending, and we were about to fly off the ride and crash into some pink abyss.

"You are forcing me, Potter.... I do not want to," Umbridge said, voice just as messy as her mental state, "but sometimes circumstances justify the use... I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice..."

The humor had drained out of Draco completely, his face now pinched with concern like the rest of us.

"The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue," Umbridge's voice lowered, eyes looking strangely hungry as she steadied her wand arm.

"No!" Hermione shrieked. "Professor Umbridge — it's illegal!"

Umbridge just didn't care, "The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, I think!" I rocked on my feet, uncertain, as she raised her wand. "Working with someone who tortures children probably isn't good for his PR!"

"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him," Umbridge pointed her wand at different points on Harry's body, trying to gauge where it would hurt the most. "He never knew I ordered dementors after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same...."

"It was you?" Harry's jaw dropped. "You sent the dementors after me?"

"Damn," Draco muttered. "I really thought it'd been a Death Eater. Plot twist."

"Somebody had to act," Umbridge finally settled on pressing the tip of her wand against Harry's forehead. "They were all bleating about silencing you somehow — discrediting you — but I was the one who actually did something about it.... Only you wriggled out of that one, didn't you, Potter? Not today, though, not now..." She sucked in a deep breath. "Cruc —!"

"WAIT!" Draco cried, then blinked, mildly surprised with himself. Umbridge slowly turned toward him. "This is all a waste of time. No matter what you do, you're not going to get it out of Potter. He's too prideful to spill. There's someone else here that's a bit easier to break. Just look at Granger — she's sobbing her little Mudblood head off. I bet you could get it out of her." The word didn't spook me so much in the years that passed, but Draco squeezed my shoulder as he said it all the same. I was a bit too distracted to pay it much mind, anyway; he clearly had a plan. And whatever it was, Hermione seemed to be in on it, head planted firmly in her hands as cries rang out behind them.