kbinnz - Harry's New Home

"Erm, no. But I'll talk to Professor McGonagall about it," Percy said feelingly.

Jones looked at him with even more admiration. "Really? I assumed you'd called her before you attacked Umbridge, but you didn't even know that help was on the way? You just jumped in to save us?"

"Typical Gryffindor!" Snape snapped, but the glint in Jones' eye was anything but disapproving.

Poppy was initially surprised by how meekly all three children submitted to her examination, but that surprise was overtaken by shock and outrage when she saw Harry's hand. "Who is using a Blood Quill?" she demanded furiously.

"Umbridge," Snape spat. "McGonagall is taking her to Dumbledore's office. Do you have this under control? I want to be there when he hears what she's been doing."

Poppy snorted. "You'd better hurry. I don't imagine there'll be much left of her once Albus learns of this!" she lifted Harry's hand meaningfully.

Snape hesitated. "You can heal him?" he asked, suddenly apprehensive. "Without scarring, I mean?" The boy had too many scars as it was, both on his skin and on his soul.

Poppy looked insulted. "Of course I can! Off with you, Severus. I'll fix this up in no time, and Mr Weasley and Miss Jones can escort Harry back to his dorm."

Snape nodded once and swept out. Oh, when he told the Marauders what that Pink Toad Bitch Witch From Hell had done to HarryтАж He suspected that the Dursleys' suffering would pale by comparison to what Sirius Black would do to the woman who had dared to use a Dark artifact on his godson.

He arrived at Albus' office and the look on his face scared the gargoyle so much that it fled before he could offer the password. Dumbledore looked up in surprise as the Potion Master marched in.

"Why, what an unexpected pleasure, my boy! Lemon drop? Or will you join me in a cup of tea?"

Snape frowned. "Minerva isn't here yet?" he asked, surprised. Surely the witch should have arrived before him.

"No," Albus was beginning to look concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"You could say that." At Dumbledore's questioning look, Snape continued, "Dolores Umbridge used a Blood Quill on Harry Potter tonight."

"WHAT!" Fawkes let out a screech from his perch as the portraits on the walls rattled in response to Albus Dumbledore's fury.

Even knowing that the wizard's rage was тАУ this time тАУ not directed at him, Snape still cowered back.

"She would dare to use that medieval instrument of torture at my school? On one of my students?" Dumbledore raged, the shelves vibrating as he stormed past them. "On Harry?" He spun to where Snape was trying to hide behind Fawkes. "Where is she?"

Snape had to swallow before he could speak. Even Voldemort in a full-out frenzy had never generated as much magical power as Dumbledore currently was. The air in the office crackled like ozone, and that was just from the spill-over energy that had escaped Albus' control.

"Minerva is bringing her," he managed to squeak. "Calming draught?" he offered, fumbling in his pocket.

Dumbledore gazed at him, eyes narrowed behind his half-moon spectacles, and for a heart-stopping moment Snape wondered if the older wizard's temper would be unleashed upon him. But then Albus took a deep breath and the shelves stopped rattling, Fawkes stopped squawking, and Snape thought it was safe to breathe again.

"You know, that might be rather a good idea," the headmaster said quietly, accepting the vial.

The two men sat in silence for several minutes. Snape because he was still a bit too intimidated to speak, and Albus because he was planning how to handle the situation.

Finally, at long last, McGonagall arrived, alone. "Where is she?" both wizards cried.

"Dolores Umbridge has vanished," Minerva informed the men calmly, much to their shock.

"What! How could she have escaped?" Snape demanded.

"She obviously decided it was safer to disappear rather than face the Headmaster's wrath, not to mention Aurors, inquiries, and Azkaban." She regarded the men's angry and frustrated faces, then said matter-of-factly, "Let's have some tea."

"I shall still have to make a full report to the Ministry," Dumbledore frowned, although he automatically summoned a tea set. "I hope Poppy thought to take pictures of Harry's injuries."

"There are always Pensieved memories," McGonagall pointed out. "And the instrument itself," she added, laying the evil quill down on the Headmaster's desk as she took a cup of tea and passed another to Snape.

Dumbledore's face was like thunder. "That unspeakable object!" he swore, his tone making the words into an epithet.

"What is more, Umbridge's own words make it clear that Fudge colluded in the Blood Quill's use. She was specifically sent here to discredit Harry, lest he pose any threat to Fudge's authority."

"Hmmmm." Albus' brow creased. "I shall have to take steps to point out the error of his ways to Cornelius."

Snape rolled his eyes. How like Albus to try to rehabilitate the man. Snape had no such goals. He was now determined to get rid of Fudge once and for all. He had been willing to tolerate an incompetent Minister, even one who listened to the likes of Lucius Malfoy, but now Fudge had gone too far. By deliberately targeting Harry, he had just signed his own death warrant. Or at least ensured that he would need to be removed from office, Snape didn't really care which.

While Dumbledore was lost in thought about how to deal with Fudge, Snape leaned over to McGonagall. "How did that idiot get away? I thought you had her under control?"

McGonagall shrugged. "She was a slippery little thing."

Snape gave her a sharp look. The deputy headmistress was alarmingly blas├й about having let Umbridge slip through her fingers. He would have expected her to be livid at the Pink Toad's escape from justice.

Abruptly Minerva let out a loud belch. "Oh my, excuse me!" she exclaimed, patting her chest. Then she locked eyes with Severus who was just lifting his teacup to his lips. "It must have been something I ate," she said, very deliberately.

Snape promptly spit his mouthful of tea all over Fawkes, who screeched in protest and huffily vanished in a burst of flame.

Snape stared at Minerva, who gazed placidly back. Surely she hadn't meantтАж!

His mind worked busily, considering Minerva's absolute devotion to her students, her well-hidden Slytherin tendencies, and her uncharacteristic lack of concern over Umbridge's potential for future harm.

Snape gulped as he realized that one seriously enraged Transfiguration expert who is also a cat animagus plus one minimally powerful toadlike witch who has done the enraging equaledтАж one partially digested threat to Hogwarts' children.

"I тАУ er тАУ have a potion for indigestion," he offered, trying not to sound as terrified as he felt. Suddenly Albus was no longer the scariest person in the room.

"That would be very kind," she said, giving him an approving smile.

Snape decided then and there that enlisting Minerva's support might well have been one of his smartest moves. That and never mortally offending the carnivorous animagus.

TBCтАж

*Chapter 48*: Chapter 48

The next morning, the Headmaster announced that Professor Umbridge had left Hogwarts, prompting the student body to direct looks of awe at Hermione. Her "Splat the Toad!" campaign had spread like wildfire through the school, and now тАУ presto! тАУ the toad was gone. Students shivered at the thought of what else she might do, if sufficiently provoked, but at the same time it was a little comforting to know that they had someone on their side who could even dispose of faculty members.

Even after details of the Blood Quill incident came out, the students still retained their conviction that Hermione's "STT!" movement had been the inciting factor behind Umbridge's disappearance. After all, most didn't know what a Blood Quill was, and no one but Snape had seen Dumbledore's fury тАУ let alone McGonagall's тАУ but everyone knew how unfairly Umbridge had treated Hermione and the other Muggleborns.