Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter universe, nor do I claim to own the lyric bits that I use to enhance the story.

A/N: Yay! I fixed my computer! My power supply went tits-up, and I ordered a new one online, but didn't expect it until next week! This chapter still doesn't have the confrontation with Ginny, but you'll see at the very end that they're on their way to see her. This is an important chapter to the rest of the story, so pay attention! You learn exactly what Harry's school of magic is, and you get to see a bit more of Hermione doing her 'Evil Necromantic Magic' thing! I know many of you were screaming for Umbridge's blood… do you think I should keep her where I leave her in this chapter? (insert evil laugh here.) Anyway, please Read, Review, but mostly… Enjoy!

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Chapter 33: The Two Prisoners

I know it
It's a shame,
A shame I can't show it,
And I see it.
I can see it now,
but I'm so far below it…

You're trying to find a reason for the way you feel tonight
Your mind is lined with layers of lead
Have you heard one thing that I've said?

Excerpt from the song 'Little Black Backpack' by the band Stroke 9.

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"Take that animal directly to the interrogation room in our department and inform Yvonne Yaxley of her arrival… and make sure it isn't spotted by anyone in the auror division… disillusion it or something." said Umbridge with a gleeful expression, "You can leave Potter to me."

"But Ma'am," said the taller of the two Hit Wizards, "The Minister's orders said that Potter should…"

"I am well aware of the Minister's orders," interrupted Umbridge sharply, "The Minister will get him once I am through with him, now, do as I say and get that dirty beast out of my sight… and remember, it's more dangerous than it looks, that thing was responsible for the capture of LeStrange."

The two Hit Wizards looked at each other, shrugged, and then levitated Kotone from the floor and began guiding her down the corridor towards the moving staircases that led to the lower levels of the castle. As soon as the Hit Wizards were out of earshot, Umbridge bent down, bringing her face to within inches of Harry's. She smiled sweetly at him when she saw the hate radiating from his eyes.

"I hope your rendezvous with that gargoyle you call a girlfriend was a memorable one, of course, I would expect as much from you, seeing how your 'whores of choice' seem to be animals such as mudbloods and half-breeds."

Harry was trying with all his might to break the body-bind, but he could move nothing but his eyes.

Umbridge glowered over Harry with a sickening leer, "Yes, well don't expect any offspring from that beast, because by nightfall we'll have a very good picture of its' internal anatomy. Yvonne has been very anxious to get his hands on that thing. She seems bent on finding out what makes it… 'tick.' You see, she was Macnair's understudy, and now has his job of doing away with unwanted vermin. They both worked for the same… 'master,' don't you know. I'm happy to say that you're never going to see that little beast again… not in one piece, anyway."

Of course, Harry knew that she was goading him… trying her best to make him angry, but that knowledge did nothing to quell the rage that he was feeling.

Umbridge brought her face even closer to Harry's. He could see the absolute delight in her beady eyes.

"Ah, but what are we going to do with you, you might ask?" She lowered her voice into a whisper as she said practically into his mouth, "There seems to be someone else who is very anxious to get his hands on you…"

Harry's bowels clenched as Umbridge moved her face so that her pudgy cheek brushed against his. He could feel her breath as she whispered into his ear with sickening, unbridled glee, "Yes, the Dark Lord has been waiting a long, long time to see you."

Harry felt the air leave his lungs, 'She's a Death Eater! I knew it'

Suddenly, the door to the cage that was holding all of the previously stunned rodents opened, causing a wave of small, furry woodland creatures to scurry out of the cage. As if compelled to do so, the assortment of hamsters, gerbils and mice began jumping and scurrying all over Umbridge… they found their way under her robes, in her hair and other places that are best left unmentioned.

Umbridge squealed in fright as she straightened and begun slapping and brushing at the rodents. A moment later, she found herself surrounded by an unkindness of ravens, cawing loudly while pecking the foul woman all over her head and face.

At the same time, Harry felt the effects of the full body bind loosen, then vanish entirely. In one, swift movement, Harry sprang to his feet and punched Dolores Umbridge squarely in the nose. Instantly, a spray of blood washed over her wide, thin-lipped mouth while dark red circles immediately began rimming her watering eyes.

Harry reared back again and sent a second blow sharply across her chin. He felt her jaw shift under his knuckles, then jerk as the bone broke during his follow-through. Unfortunately, a sharp pain cascaded up his arm, indicating that he also broke a few bones in his hand from the impact. This did nothing to deter his rage, however. He reared back his left fist, ready to have it assaulted by Umbridge's cheek when he felt a hand stay his arm.

Harry's head jerked around to see who had grabbed him, fully expecting to find a Death Eater holding his arm. Instead, he was greeted by a pair of frenzied, brown eyes that were framed by a mass of bushy brown hair."

Harry saw Hermione give him a nervous smile as she just nodded her eyes towards the older witch. He quickly looked back to Umbridge, just in time to see her gracelessly arc to the floor. The dull, thudding sound of the back of her head hitting the solid stone floor echoed around the hallway, causing both Harry and Hermione to wince. Umbridge was out cold, and looked as if she would remain that way for quite some time.

"They've got Kotone," said Harry desperately as he cradled his broken hand to his chest, "they're bringing her to a Death Eater in the Ministry! Umbridge said that she's going to dissect her or something!"

"You, get back in that room and take her with you," commanded Hermione while casting an Incarcerous at Umbridge. She saw that Harry was about to argue, but quickly cut him off, saying, "Look, I know the secret passages as well as you do, but I have a wand! Don't worry, they won't be expecting anything on their way out, and I have an idea."

Harry watched as Hermione rushed down to the other end of the hallway, closely followed by her squadron of ravens. He briefly wondered why they weren't her usual canaries, but didn't give it another thought as she ducked behind a suit of armor where he knew a passage lay that led to a second floor hallway near to his office.

Harry paced in front of the wall three times, thinking to himself, 'I need a place to securely hold this woman… I need a place to securely hold this woman…'

After the third pass, the familiar door reappeared. With considerable effort, given that he only had the use of one hand, he managed to drag the unconscious Umbridge, still covered with the scratching, gnawing rodents, into the Room of Requirement.

Harry was quite surprised as he looked at his surroundings in the room. Instead of the rice-paper walls and the comfortable cushions that were in the room he had just left, he saw a row of cells, each with heavy, iron-barred doors, almost all of them left ajar and waiting for an occupant. It took him a few minutes to drag the self-admitted Death Eater roughly into the nearest cell. When he slammed the door shut, a loud grinding of rusty metal on metal came from the jamb and a key appeared in the keyhole on the door. He pulled on the handle to ensure that the door was securely locked before he pulled the key out and quickly pocketed it.

Harry began to nervously pace along the line of cell doors, waiting for Hermione's return. As he neared the end of the row of cells, he noticed that the last two doors were closed. As he passed by the second to last door, he was surprised to find a figure sitting in the dark corner of the cell. In the dim light, he could just barely tell that the figure was wearing tattered, filthy student robes, trimmed in the colors of the house of Ravenclaw. Its' pale, emaciated face looked nearly skeletal. Obviously, the student had been dead for a very, very long time.

He moved on to the last cell and found another figure sprawled out on the stone outcropping that almost passed for a bed. This figure was similarly dressed in decayed student robes, except that these robes had faded yellow trim that denoted the house of Hufflepuff. He could tell that this body was that of a girl, and just as badly decomposed as the other one. He briefly wondered what these students had done to deserve being locked up and forgotten in a place such as this, but he had other things to worry about. He would later tell McGonagall about the bodies, hoping that she could find out from the school's records who they were.

Harry turned around to walk back to the entrance, but froze in place at the sight that met his eyes. A startled gasp escaped his throat when he saw the first skeletal figure standing just inside of the barred door, looking at him with dark, empty sockets where its' eyes had once been. He was even more shocked when the figure spoke to him.

"If you've come here to feed us, I'm afraid that you're about a century too late," said the figure in a low, rasping wheeze.

"You… you're alive?" asked Harry incredulously.

The figure let out a hacking laugh, then answered, "Well, yes and no. I'm afraid it's a long story. I'll tell you, if you have the time… I'm pretty sure I could free up a bit of my own time from my busy schedule."

Again, Harry started as a hoarse, cackling voice came from behind him, "Please, spare the boy your humor, Geoffrey, it's as dry as your bones."

Harry turned around to find the former Hufflepuff girl standing at the door to her own cell. Her ratty blonde hair hung limply down from her head, and he could see patches of skull where clumps of her dried scalp had fallen away. Her eye sockets were empty, just like the male figure's were, but he had the strange sensation that she still was looking directly at him.

"Kindly tell us your name, good sir," asked the 'girl' from behind the bars. He dumbly stared at the cadaverous girl and said, "Potter… Harry Potter."

"Well met," wheezed the male, "You look to be a Gryffindor, you didn't soil yourself when you saw us… or perhaps a Ravenclaw, maybe?"

Shaking himself out of his shock, "Yes, I'm in Gryffindor," He looked back and forth between the two talking corpses and asked, "What happened to you? Why were you two locked up in here?"

The male figure spoke, "My name is Geoffrey Sasseville, and that lovely creature in the cell next to mine is my girlfriend, Chloe Meriwether, and why are we here, you ask? Simply put, it is because Chloe is my girlfriend."

'Seeing' the puzzled look on Harry's face, he continued the explanation, "We were in our sixth year here at Hogwarts, and very much in love with each other. Unfortunately, there was another at the school who wanted my Chloe here for his own. A seventh year Slytherin by the name of Tatwine Gaunt thought that if he could arrange for me to disappear, the way would be clear for him to comfort Chloe, who was sure to be broken-hearted over my abandonment of her. He kept me here for months, all the while trying to court Chloe, but she would have none of it."

Harry's eyes narrowed at the mention of the name 'Gaunt.' He assumed it was some ancestor of Tom Riddle.

Chloe took over at this point, "Tatwine became increasingly incensed as I rebuffed each of his advances. Truthfully, even if I were not in love with Geoffrey, I could never fancy a churl such as he. When it finally became clear to him that he would never have my heart, he stole me away during one of my evening patrols and locked me in here with Geoffrey. He said that if we wanted to be together so badly, we could remain here, forever together, but forever separate… Able to hear, but never to see… never to touch…"

Although her voice was harsh and grating, he could hear the emotion in her words as she spoke. 'Seeing' how Chloe couldn't continue, Geoffrey resumed the story.

"He could have just left us here to starve to death, but that wasn't good enough to sate his wounded pride. It was long suspected by the students of the time that Gaunt dabbled in the Necromantic arts, but what he did to us proved it. He cursed us. He bound our souls to our bodies, kept alive by magic alone. Bewitched us to never die, but to remain here, not truly dead, nor truly alive… tortured by the knowledge that only a few yards separate us, yet never to be together. He left us here and took the keys with him. You are the first person we have seen since he left us here. We have no idea how long we have been imprisoned here, nor do we care, but if you are curious, the date he left here, never to return, was the Twenty-Seventh of January, in the year 1799."

"That's almost two hundred years!" stated Harry in shock. He heard a muffled sob come from Chloe.

"Two hundred years?" she whispered to herself, "Two hundred years of Hell!"

Just then, Harry heard a quiet, but insistent knocking coming from the exit door. He hurried along the line of cells and cautiously cracked the door open. Standing in the corridor was Hermione, looking anxiously up and down the hallway. Standing next to her was a terrified little half-demon. He let out a breath of relief as he swung the door open and swiftly ushered the two girls into the room.

As soon as the door was closed, Harry scooped up the little half-demon into his arms, being careful not to jostle his broken hand, and hugged her tightly, saying, "Are you all right? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Kotone just shook her head against Harry's shoulder as she held onto him a bit tighter. Harry looked to Hermione, only to find her facing away from him and looking down at her shoes.

"Are you all right, Hermione?"

Hermione nervously glanced back at him and nodded, then began to worry her fingers together while speaking very quickly, "I made it to the second floor just after they came off the stairs. One of them made the mistake of looking into Kotone's eyes, and the other one was so distracted by his partner's sudden stillness that I had the chance to send a stunner at him, but he must have been wearing one of the twins' shield cloaks. The spell I sent did nothing, but luckily, I sent my ravens beforehand to the far end of the corridor to create a distraction. He didn't see where the spell had come from, so I had the chance to throw an Incarcerous at him. The shield cloak did nothing to stop the ropes from binding him, but he did get a good look at me as I stunned the other one and took Kotone. Before I left them, I tried to modify their memories so that they believed that Kotone needed to use the loo, so they let her and waited outside. They're going to get a surprise when all they find is Myrtle in there… They'll realize something was up, eventually… I don't have much experience with memory charms."

Hermione was out of breath by the time she finished.

"Great," said Harry, "Now they'll be looking for all three of us."

"Who is there?" interrupted Kotone, while lifting her face from Harry's chest. Her ears were perked and pointed towards the end of the line of cells.

Harry glanced down the row, saying, "There's a couple of students that were locked in here two hundred years ago. I don't know if there's anything I can do for them."

"You mean there are bodies in here?" asked Hermione worriedly.

Harry briefly thought about trying to explain, but then figured that showing her would be quicker. He motioned her to follow him as he carried Kotone past the cell that was currently housing the unconscious Umbridge towards the closed cells at the end. Both Geoffrey and Chloe were still standing at the doors, 'watching' motionlessly from inside of their cells. This was the first activity they had the pleasure to witness since their imprisonment.

As the three reached the end of the row of cells, both Geoffrey and Chloe gasped when they 'saw' the half-demon in Harry's arms.

"Merlin's beard, that's ugly!" exclaimed Geoffrey tactlessly before he could stop himself, which earned him a reproving 'Shhh!" from Chloe.

In turn, the sight of two talking corpses caused Hermione to gasp and instinctively step back in fear. From her perch on Harry's side, Kotone's eyes went unfocused for a brief moment as she looked at the pair in the cells, and she joined in the current fad and let out her own gasp.

"Geoffrey, I can't imagine that we're a very pleasing sight to behold, so please stop embarrassing us!" scolded Chloe.

Hermione's eyes were locked onto Geoffrey's empty sockets as she whispered to Harry, "Are they inferi?"

Chloe answered for him, saying, "No, we're not reanimated corpses… we just never died."

"Just never…" repeated Hermione in a trailing whisper, "How can you just 'not die?'

Geoffrey again related the tale of the two ill-fated lovers and the conniving, covetous Slytherin, obviously delighted that there was someone new to speak to. Hermione shot Harry a questioning glance when Geoffrey got to the part about Tatwine Gaunt, to which Harry simply nodded in acknowledgement.

By the time Geoffrey finished retelling the tale, Hermione was wearing a thousand-mile-stare. Her brows were furrowed in thought and her lips were pursed. After a few long moments, she turned to Chloe with a hesitant look, clearly fighting with herself over her thoughts. With a resigned sigh, Hermione came to a decision.

"Do you want to die?"

Chloe let out a dry, cackling laugh, which was echoed by Geoffrey's own coarse chuckle.

"If only it were so simple," said Chloe once her laughter subsided, "We've tried more times than we'd care to count." She indicated the bare spots on her scalp where the cracked skull showed through, "I tried beating my head against the wall, but didn't even get a headache. Geoffrey tried to hang himself with his robes… he hung there for weeks, telling me all the while how he'd be dead in 'just a few more minutes.' We eventually gave up trying. Our hearts stopped beating long ago, but our souls are still bound to these bodies… we can't die."

"I… I can remove the bind. I can free your souls, if you like."

"Did you hear that, Clo?" said Geoffrey with clearly defined mirth, "She says that she can free us. Thinks she's the heir of Slytherin, she does… say, you're not a Slytherin, are you? You don't look like one."

Hermione had a strange, neutral expression as she said emotionlessly, "No, I'm not a Slytherin, but I… I am a Necromancer."

The silence that ensued could be cut with a knife. Geoffrey 'stared' unmoving at Hermione, while the taut, leathery skin on Chloe's cadaverous face looked oddly pensive. After a long, tense pause, Chloe broke the silence.

"You… you could really do that for us?" Chloe asked hopefully.

Hermione nodded, "I can do it now if you like. I've already read about how to do it."

"Geoff, did you hear that?" asked Chloe, her harsh voice brimming with emotion, "She can free us from this torture! We can finally be together!"

"If you could really do it, we would be eternally grateful," said Geoffrey with a small smile that revealed his sparse, rotted teeth.

Hermione resignedly nodded and walked in front of Chloe's cell door, where she sat herself down on the stone floor and drew her wand. At the same time, Kotone unwrapped her hair and tail from around Harry's neck and arm, indicating to him that she wanted to be set down. Kotone walked next to the older witch and watched her prepare for the ritual.

The ritual that she had to perform was similar to the one she used to banish the soul fragment from the horcrux, but instead of banishing the soul, she would only be freeing it. Hermione lifted the tip of her wand towards her forehead, and closed her eyes. Almost instantly, she saw the rotating dark portions of the yin-yang. She realized that it was getting much easier for her to enter her 'state.' She opened her eyes and the ghostly image of the complete symbol drifted before her eyes. She could feel the sensation of time slowing around her as a mass of white, transparent fog permeated the room.

Hermione briefly looked around, seeing the majestic image of the lion around Harry, already looking much stronger than when she had last seen it. The smoky snake was still present, but seemed sluggish and subdued. She could also just see the image of a large, shaggy sheepdog standing within Geoffrey's cell. She could see what appeared to be black and red tendrils wrapped around the large dog's form, presumably the binding that was used to anchor the soul to the body. Her eyes rested on Kotone standing next to where she was seated. It was then that she realized that she couldn't see the little half-witch's soul, and briefly wondered why she hadn't noticed that fact before.

Her vision then focused on the being in the cell before her. She saw the blackened, decayed body being surrounded by an ethereal yellow soul in the form of a proud Afghan Hound, which had similar black and red tendrils wrapped securely around it.

Hermione drew the tip away from her forehead, drawing out the filament of her own blood, which drifted around her wand like a thread of fine cotton. She deftly manipulated the wand, tracing out a rune that hung suspended in the air before her.

Hermione began chanting, "Spirit of Misery, you are bound to the flesh by unholy means… means born of jealousy and covetous desire. Bound to the flesh, but yearning release."

Just as before, the rune burst into flame that dripped as if it were liquid fire. Instead of a deep peal of a bell, a clear, low-pitched note that sounded like a horn of some kind echoed through the chamber. Seen by only herself and Kotone, the tendrils that were wrapped around Chloe seemed to loosen and sag. Hermione drew another strand of blood and began etching another rune.

"Hear me, Spirit of Anguish, cast off your bonds… cast away the earthly coils that bind you to your eternal suffering. Shed the shackles that tie you to your torment."

Again, the rune burst into dripping flames and the note once again sounded as Chloe's soul suddenly expanded, stretching the tendrils into thin, strained threads. Hermione withdrew a third strand of blood and began etching the final rune into the air.

"Be free, O Spirit of Woe… break the chains and claim the reward that was promised upon your birth. Find the comfort of death and life anew! Spirit of Torment no longer, leave behind this, the plane of mortals, and claim your rightful place among your ancestors!"

The final rune ignited, causing a wave of golden light to pulse out towards Chloe. Her soul seemed to swell once again, causing the strained tendrils to shatter into a fine, glowing dust that drifted to the floor. Before the dust disappeared entirely, Chloe's soul instantly expanded out, as if it had exploded, until the ghostly remnants dissipated into nothingness.

Hermione felt her consciousness return to her body just in time to see Chloe's lifeless corpse fall to the floor. She noticed that the corpse was wearing a thankful smile.

"Is… is it over for her?" came a shaky voice from Geoffrey's cell.

"Yes, she's free," said Hermione tiredly as she stood from the floor and walked to Geoffrey's cell, "and she's waiting for you… are you ready?"

"Geoffrey gave her a sad smile and said, "I've been ready for a very, very long time."

Hermione sat down on the stone floor and placed the tip of her wand upon her forehead.

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Minerva McGonagall wore an angry expression as she watched the two Ministry's Hit Wizards depart her office. Once the door had closed, she leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and rubbed them tiredly under her glasses. She had spent the last hour listening to the two men prattle on about losing their fugitive on their way out of the school. They seemed especially fearful of what their immediate supervisor's, namely Dolores Umbridge, reaction would be. They bemoaned the fact that a missing ward of the Ministry was so easily misplaced, possibly to result in a demotion for both of them, if not an outright sacking. McGonagall was also informed of the apparent disappearance of the same Dolores Umbridge and her captive, the fugitive Harry Potter.

Of course, McGonagall assured them that a thorough search of the castle and grounds would be conducted, but they insisted on calling for a team of aurors to perform the search themselves. Minerva was confident that she could safely conceal Kotone within the many secret chambers of the castle, once she discovered where she was herself. She wondered how the little girl freed herself, figuring that it was just another latent talent that the odd young witch possessed.

Her main concern was the apparent disappearance of Harry Potter and the fact that the human transfiguration that she had performed on him had obviously failed yet again. The Hit Wizards said that he was found on the seventh floor of the castle, but all that was there were the Arithmancy and Muggle Studies classrooms, and the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. What the boy was doing up there with Kotone, she had no idea. If Umbridge still had Harry as a captive, they were probably on their way to the Ministry.

McGonagall stood from her desk and began walking towards the fireplace to check the castle's Floo log when a small 'pop' announced the arrival of one of her house-elves. She turned in time to see Dobby, who was already mid-bow and nervously fidgeting a small knit hat in his hands.

"Headmistress, Dobby has been asked to bring the Headmistress to the 'Come and Go' room by Master Harry Potter, Sir, Ma'am."

McGonagall sighed in relief, which was something that she'd been doing a lot of that day. She had no idea what room the house-elf was speaking of, but she did understand whom it was that tasked the elf to summon her. Without pausing a moment, she motioned for the elf to lead the way and followed the excitable creature from her office. She didn't bother asking about the room as they trekked through the castle, she would find out soon enough.

Several minutes later, McGonagall found herself walking along one of the seventh floor corridors towards the hanging tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. She was surprised to see a squirrel scampering away along one of the walls, as those creatures didn't normally like to inhabit the inside of the castle. As she walked, she noticed other small animals darting underfoot, adding to her curiousity.

She paused for a moment when she noticed a door in the left-hand wall halfway down the hallway. She looked out through the window that was directly to the left of her and saw the towering expanse of the mountains that circled behind the castle. Again, she looked at the door, realizing that it would have to lead to the outside of the building, and a perilous drop if it were opened by the unaware.

She stepped up to the door where Dobby was waiting and looking at her expectantly. She was about to reach for the handle, but something on the floor caught her eye. There rested a large metal cage whose door was lying open. She guessed that the cage is where the animals had come from. She reached down and picked up two halves of a snapped holly wood wand that was lying beside the cage, which she instantly recognized as Harry's.

Her eyes hardened and her complexion had taken on an ashen quality as she realized what must have taken place in this corridor. The Hit Wizards never mentioned the snapping of Potter's wand, something that could only be officially done after someone was convicted of a capital crime, not just accused.

McGonagall turned and briskly knocked on the door. A few moments passed before the door tentatively cracked ajar, and then swung fully open, revealing a distressed looking Hermione Granger who was looking back at her carefully with her wand in hand.

McGonagall only barely noticed that fact, as she was too busy scanning the dungeon-like room that shouldn't have been there at all. She also saw Kotone and Harry, sitting on the floor inside of the room facing each other. Kotone had a strange, blank look in her eyes, which was all McGonagall could see of her face as the rest was covered by a small, porcelain half-mask. Harry was sitting with his eyes closed while pointing a strange looking wand at his own forehead.

"Miss Granger, what are you doing here?" asked McGonagall as Hermione hurriedly ushered her into the room before she closed and bolted the door.

Hermione looked down at Harry and said in a calming voice, "That's good, Harry. Just concentrate on what you see… don't 'try' to see something, just let it happen."

Without waiting for a response from Harry, Hermione led McGonagall towards the first cell while quietly explaining, "We were able to capture Umbridge before she was able to take Harry to Voldemort, and… Oh, come on! It's just a name! We had to silence her, she just wouldn't stop threatening…"

McGonagall gasped and shivered when Hermione mentioned the dreaded name, but quickly recovered when she saw the red-faced witch in the first cell, silently screaming and frothing at the mouth. She tried and spectacularly failed to stifle a smile upon seeing the foul witch behind bars. She turned back to Hermione and asked, "What do you mean? Umbridge was going to take Potter to 'You-Know-Who?"

Hermione sent a glare at the imprisoned witch as she said, "She admitted to Harry that she's a Death Eater, but I didn't want to get close enough to the wench to check for the mark… but I think I have proof enough right here."

Hermione pulled a short, fat maple wand from her pocket and handed it to McGonagall, saying, "This is Umbridge's wand. If you would, please inspect the last twenty spells that were cast by that wand."

McGonagall looked warily at the young witch as she took the wand. She drew her own and incanted, "Priorus Incantato Viginti."

Immediately a stream of ghostly, iridescent figures rose from Umbridge's wand. As the figures scrolled upwards and dissipated, McGonagall's eyes became ever wider until she gasped and reflexively tossed the wand away from her to send it clattering to the floor.

Hermione wore a grim expression as she asked, "Did you find the same thing I did?"

McGonagall said nothing, she just wore a horrified expression as she slowly turned her head towards the silenced Death Eater in the cell.

"Well?" asked Hermione knowingly.

In a hollow tone, McGonagall finally replied, "If you're saying that you found that, out of the last twenty spells, fourteen of them were the Imperius curse and two of them were the Avada Kedavra, then yes, I discovered the same thing that you had…" McGonagall looked ill as she continued in a hoarse whisper, "Merlin, she works in the Ministry building! For the Department of Magical Law Enforcement! She's the director of the Hit Wizard Squad!"

McGonagall bent down and carefully picked Umbridge's wand back up, saying, "This is a disaster! Who knows how many people in the ministry have been cursed by her, and by the people she's already cursed! You three stay here, I have to inform the Order! Oh, dear!"

Hermione stopped the Headmistress as she tried to rush from the room, "Before you go, there's something here you should see."

Hermione led McGonagall to the last two cells where the former students' bodies lay on the floor. McGonagall gasped when she noticed the corpses and turned questioningly to Hermione.

"The Hufflepuff's name was Chloe Meriwether, a sixth year Prefect," explained Hermione, "and the Ravenclaw was Geoffrey Sasseville, a sixth year student. They were left here to die by a seventh year Slytherin named Tatwine Gaunt back in the year 1799."

McGonagall's head snapped towards Hermione when she heard the Gaunt name.

"Yes, we suspect the same thing, that Tom Riddle is one of his descendents. We thought you ought to know about them… and…"

Hermione couldn't help but recall the sad tale of these two students, how they were kept from each other by someone who coveted one of the lovers… and how their story and her own were so closely paralleled.

"We need to speak with Ginny, as soon as the situation permits." Said Hermione uneasily, "We know the castle will probably be swarming with Ministry officials soon because of what I had to do to save Kotone… but if it's possible…"

It suddenly dawned on McGonagall that Kotone didn't escape the Hit Wizards on her own. She also knew of what was going on between Harry, Hermione and Ginny. In a rare display of emotion, she patted Hermione kindly on the shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile, saying, "I'll make arrangements as soon as I can. You do know that Madam Pomfrey will need to examine you to determine what effects, if any, the elixir that Miss Weasley used had on you, but for now, I need to go warn the Order and what people we deem trustworthy at the ministry."

As McGonagall walked towards the exit, Hermione heard her mumble to herself, 'Oh, my… this is a disaster!'

After securing the door, Hermione walked over to where Harry and Kotone were seated. Harry still had his eyes closed with Kotone's wand tip resting on his forehead. She knelt down beside Harry and softly asked, "Anything yet?"

"Yeah, it's faint, but… it looks something like a pinwheel… it's spinning and revolving, I think. It's hard to say."

"A pinwheel? That's odd…" said Hermione, "Can you tell how many points on the pinwheel?"

Harry's forehead wrinkled in concentration, "It's spinning too fast… I can't really say. It sort of looks like a galaxy more than a pinwheel… it seems to keep changing slightly."

"Are there any colors?"

"No… it's all gray on gray… I can barely see it"

Hermione thought for a moment, and then said, "Try to concentrate on the center, ignore the points."

Harry sat in silence for another few minutes, just concentrating on what he was seeing. Kotone was also silent, staring unblinkingly at Harry's face.

Hermione looked at Kotone and asked, "Can you tell if he's doing it correctly?"

Not taking her eyes from Harry's face, Kotone gave a slight nod and whispered, "He is almost there. Just relax, Brother Lion, you will see soon."

Another minute passed in silence before Harry spoke, "Wait… it's not really spinning, it just looks like it is… the center, there's a hole in the center… it's… I see it!"

"What?" asked Hermione excitedly, "What do you see!"

It's shaped like a star… the points are all interconnected, that's why it looked like it was spinning, and it's…"

"Now, Brother Lion," said Kotone urgently, "Open your eyes now!"

Harry opened his eyes and drew a sharp intake of breath, "It's a septagram!"

Hermione's eyes widened as she breathily asked, "Harry! Are you sure?"

"Yes… and the colors! The areas under each point are different colors! This is amazing!"

"The Oni Star…" breathed Kotone, "I see it, too."

Harry removed Kotone's wand from his forehead and tiredly rubbed his eyes for a moment, then turned to Hermione, "So what does it mean?"

Hermione was staring at Harry open-mouthed until she realized he asked her a question, "Harry! The Faery Star! You actually saw a Faery Star?"

"If you mean a multi-coloured, seven-pointed star, then yes… that's what I saw. What does it mean?"

"It means that you're a very powerful wizard, Harry. There hasn't been a true Warlock in hundreds of years!"

"I'm a Warlock?" asked Harry, "So what's a Warlock?"

"Since I learned about these different schools of magic, I've studied up on the various specialties of famous wizards, trying to figure out what each of them was. Dumbledore was obviously a Mage, while Voldemort, even though we know he dabbled in Necromancy, is actually a Sorcerer. As far as Warlocks go, I believe that Amun-Ra might have been the first, and I believe that Merlin, and probably Gryffindor were Warlocks, too… the last really powerful wizard that could have been one was Gifford Ollerton… he was a Giant-Slayer, who lived back in the 1400's. He used to hunt Giants single-handed, taking them down with nothing but magic! Oh, Harry! Do you know what this means?"

Harry had to stifle a laugh at her excitement, "I believe I just asked you that!"

Although Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, he could tell she was embarrassed about her rambling.

"Harry, a Warlock is a Warrior Mage, which means that you can theoretically practice all of the schools of magic! Your potential is unlimited!"

Harry was looking skeptically at Hermione, not quite sure if he believed what she was saying or not… he wasn't even entirely sure what she exactly meant be being able to 'theoretically' practice all of the schools. He turned to Kotone, but the young half-witch was staring at him wide-eyed.

"What's wrong, Kotone?"

"The Oni Star…" she whispered… "You can use Oni magic!"

"Yes!" exclaimed Hermione, "That would make sense! The Oni are actually Dark Hunters… it wouldn't be hard to believe that they have the abilities of Warlocks! If they can actively hunt dark wizards and creatures, then…"

Hermione's rambling was cut short by the appearance of Dobby. The little house elf bowed politely, more so to Kotone than to Harry, Hermione thought.

"Master Harry Potter, Sir! The Headmistress tells Dobby to tells Master Harry Potter Sir and his Miss'es to goes to the infirmary now, but only one hour. The Headmistress tells Dobby that Master Harry Potter Sir must be gone before the hour to avoid the Ministry."

Harry and Hermione stood from the floor and looked at each other apprehensively. They knew that what they had to do would probably be unpleasant. Kotone stood from the floor, still with the look of wonder in her eyes as she lifted her arms for Harry to pick her up. Once Kotone was nestled against his side, the three of them followed Dobby out of the Room of Requirement, leaving the infuriated Death Eater silently wailing in the cell.

A/N: Fun Fact!: The actual collective noun for a group of ravens really is 'an unkindness of ravens,' just as 'a murder of crows,' 'a gaggle of geese' and 'a parliament of owls' are all correct!