As a note, I have no idea how the sewer system is actually mapped out, so write it off as creative license.
A word of warning: There is some gore in this chapter, so if that bothers you, then I suggest that you either skip over it, or wait until the next chapter, whenever that will be.
I don't own Harry Potter.
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Chapter 7 - Revolution
A rush of wind echoed in the outskirts of London at the two infiltration teams portkeyed into an abandoned alley.
"Okay, I'm confused here," one of the members of Hermione's team said. "Why would the Ministry be hooked up to the Muggle sewer system anyway?" Harry and Hermione bent down and together, lifted the heavy manhole cover.
"Because," Hermione groaned, straining against the heavy weight of the lid before setting it down on the ground, "before, a person would have to go down every week and clean the sewers by himself. But when the sewer system was implemented, the Ministry linked itself to it to eliminate that problem." Hermione stepped onto the small rungs on the side of the sewer wall and climbed down, followed by Harry and their two teams. "This way," Hermione beckoned after everyone was protected from the noxious fumes by a bubblehead charm.
They walked through the sewers for over ten minutes, dodging rats and unidentifiable piles of matter ("it's probably rat shit," one of the men grumbled darkly). Eventually, they stopped below a particular opening.
"Here," Hermione said simply. Conjuring a rope and a metal weight, she tied the rope around the weight and, placing a delayed sticking charm on it, swung it around several times before throwing it towards the hole, the weight sticking to the ceiling. After giving it several experimental tugs, she turned to the assembled agents. "Okay, people, put on your climbing gloves," she said, donning a pair of gloves with sticking charms on the fingertips. When the others had repeated her action, she grabbed the rope and began pulling herself up towards the sewer opening. When she reached the top, she grabbed onto the side of the opening, the sticking charms holding her fast to the smooth side, and slowly began scaling up the sewer drain, her subordinates following her.
"Just out of curiosity, boss," one of her teammates said as they scaled the narrow tube, "what happens if hundreds of gallons of raw sewage suddenly decides to dump itself on our heads?"
"The purge was this morning," Hermione countered, "so that shouldn't be a problem." Soon enough, Hermione reached a block in the path, a different material than the walls of the pipes that she was climbing in. She carefully positioned herself so that she could safely release one of her hands and grab her wand. Aiming upwards, she unleashed a Banishing hex, blasting the barrier away and clearing the way for her to climb out.
Being careful not to stick her hands or feet in any waste product, she climbed into the main waste disposal chamber of the Ministry of Magic, and began helping those behind her climb out. After the last one had been pulled out, she nodded towards Harry, who drew his wand and waved it around the room.
"Scourgify," he chanted, and a wave of magic spread throughout the room, clearing away the piles and puddles of human waste, so that the walls and floors were spotlessly clean, and any unwelcome smells were washed away, leaving the whole room and its inhabitants with a clean, sterile scent.
"Damn, I should hire you to clean my flat," one of the agents said, impressed. Hermione rolled her eyes and unlocked the door, leading the others out into the hallway. When they neared the end, Hermione stopped, and wordlessly pointed upwards. Nodding in understanding, Harry drew his pistol and carefully peered around the corner. On the top of the adjacent wall, pointing where the agents would be exposed to turn the corner was a surveillance crystal. Harry took careful aim and pulled the trigger, the bullet obliterating the crystal in a shower of sparks and shrapnel. Picking up the spent casing and dropping it into his pocket, Harry motioned that it was safe to advance.
This pattern continued as they slowly infiltrated the Ministry of Magic: Hermione taking point, with Harry periodically jumping ahead to eliminate any surveillance crystals. They had occasionally happened across the odd security guard or low-level worker taking a late night, but they were quickly stunned and shoved somewhere where they would not be noticed before continuing. Their first destination was the security office, where the remaining crystals were disable, ensuring their invisibility.
Eventually, they reached their designated crossroads, where Harry ejected his magazine and pulled back the slide, releasing the chambered round, catching it and pushing it back into the magazine.
"Well, this is where we split up," Hermione said, turning to face Harry. "Don't try to get yourself killed on the way."
"I won't," Harry said seriously. Hermione smiled grimly.
"I'll see you on the other side, then," she said.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, sliding the magazine back into his pistol. "Viva la revolution," he said dramatically, pulling the slide back and chambering a new round. With a final meaningful look, the two friends parted ways to clear out the rest of the Ministry.
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Hermione strode meaningfully through the many hallways, her entourage trailing behind her, as she searched for one particular office. When she reached the one that she was looking for, she paused as memories of what had happened that last time that she was there drifted forward.
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Hermione and her crew carefully rifled through the papers, making sure to not make anything seem out of place. They were there looking for something valuable to the cause, and being caught burglarizing the Ministry of Magic would lead to a life sentence in Azkaban, or worse.
"Boss, I found it," one of her subordinates said, raising a folder. Hermione took it from his hands and rifled through it, a grin growing on her face. It had everything anyone could ever want to know about Azkaban prison: blueprints, prisoner rosters, guard rotation schedules, everything.
"Good work," Hermione said, passing it back to the agent who had found it. "Now let's get out of here before we get cau-" she continued, but was interrupted by the door opening, revealing a shocked Ginny Weasley. "Get out!" Hermione ordered, and reached up to activate her emergency portkey. However, before she vanished, she felt a blinding pain shooting from her left arm. When she arrived at her destination at Hogwarts, she immediately collapsed, clutching her arm, screaming in anguish.
Hermione spared a glance downwards, and immediately regretted it. Whatever Ginny had struck her with had left deep gashes all along her lower arm, blood flowing everywhere. Some pieces of her flesh had been completely shorn off, revealing the pale bone underneath. The pain ate away at her so much that she barely heard Madam Pomfrey request permission to amputate. Too stressed to speak, Hermione only gave a short nod in affirmation. Satisfied, the school Healer pointed her wand at Hermione's arm and casting a cutting charm on it just below the elbow joint. Feeling the pain of the spell slicing through flesh and bone with ease, Hermione eagerly welcomed the darkness that enveloped her.
"Boss?" a distant voice from the darkness asked, concerned. "Boss?" it asked again, more urgently this time.
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"Boss?" one of Hermione's subordinates asked, poking her in the shoulder. "You still with us?" Hermione snapped out of her trance and shook her head.
"I'm fine, just spaced out," she said quickly. Drawing her wand, Hermione removed the locking charms on the door and kicked it open, shocking the room's inhabitant. "Hello, Ginny, we're here to overthrow you," Hermione said simply before tossing a stunning hex towards the redheaded woman, who blocked it and retaliated with a spell of her own. "Make sure that she can't escape, but I want her alive," Hermione ordered her underlings as she walked closer towards her target, alternately blocking and throwing spells at her.
Eventually, Hermione boxed Ginny into a corner of the room, and the traitorous Weasley tossed a random hex at her aggressor, who blocked it with her prosthetic arm, although it destroyed her gauntlet. Destroying Ginny's wand with a well placed cutting charm, Hermione punched her foe in the jaw, sending the white mask that she wore flying and revealing her disfigured face, before grabbing her by the throat with her left hand and pulled the younger woman to her feet.
"Listen to me, you little bitch," Hermione hissed, her cold eyes boring into Ginny's fearful eyes, "for what you did to me, to Harry and to this country, you deserve to rot in Hell. The only reason why I won't kill you right now is because Harry would be so disappointed that you died without him letting you know just how upset he is about your betrayal." Satisfied with her threats, Hermione increased the choke hold on Ginny until she passed out from lack of oxygen, then tossed her limp body aside, stunning and binding her. "You two," she barked, pointing at two of her subordinates, "stay here and guard her. If she wakes up, stun her again. If anyone else comes into here, stun them and determine if they're friendly or not. The rest of you, with me." The lesser men quickly and obediently went to their assigned positions, not daring to even consider questioning the orders of their leader.
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Harry stalked down the hallways of his section of the Ministry of Magic, his pistol drawn and ready to fire. He was looking for one particular office, even though he had no idea where it was.
Finally, Harry found the door that he was looking for, emblazoned with the words Head of the Department of Games and Sports. Figures, Harry thought dryly as he turned to his assembled team.
"You," Harry said as he pointed to the first person he saw, "I want you to stun the first person you see, no hesitations, you got it?" The man nodded confidently, drawing his wand. Cocking the hammer back on his pistol, Harry blasted the doorknob off and kicked it open, the selected agent then shooting a stunner at the sole occupant of the office, rendering him unconscious. Harry walked up to the limp body and stooped down, pulling the other man's wand out of his robes before snapping it in half. "Wake him up, and put up a silencing ward," Harry ordered. His underlings complied, and the redheaded man had barely stirred before he found himself being forcefully pulled up and shoved into a wall.
"You son of a bitch!" Harry roared, throwing his prisoner across the room, smashing a chair in the process. "You ruined my life!"
Ronald Weasley felt a trickle of warm liquid run down his pants leg as he was pulled up by his assailant: his former best friend, and the man that he had sentenced to Azkaban for thirteen years. Harry's face was twisted with rage, and his eyes were glowing ominously.
"You sent me to hell for thirteen years!" Harry raged, throwing Ron onto his desk, destroying several objects. "Why?!" Ron whimpered in terror at the powerful man looming above him, his fear compelling him to speak truthfully.
"I…I was angry at you," Ron simpered. "Once again you were the conquering hero, and I was just the sidekick who tagged along. I got sick of being in your shadow, so I figured, with you gone, I could finally get the recognition I wanted. But things didn't exactly work out as I had hoped, but by then it was too late." Weasley gulped nervously as Harry fingered his pistol. "Please don't kill me," he added pathetically. Harry laughed at his plead, a cold laugh that sent chills down everyone's spines.
"`Don't kill you?'" Harry echoed darkly, hoisting Ron to his feet before raising his pistol, leveling it with the redheaded man's forehead. "I have every reason in the world to kill you." Several tense moments passed without a word, Ron whimpering in terror at the black weapon pointing down at him, and the crazed man wielding it. "But I won't," Harry said finally, lowering his arm and letting his pistol hang by his side. "Even though you sold me out to Umbridge of all people, you were still my friend once, and that counts for something." Ron visibly sagged in relief that his life was spared. "I can still hurt you, though," Harry added casually as he raised his pistol back up and pulled the trigger. The spell-enhanced bullet penetrated Ron's leg and detonated, showering the walls with blood and gore as it ripped apart his leg just above the knee, and Ron toppled to the floor, clutching his obliterated stump of a leg and screaming in anguish. Several of the rebel agents paled at the sight, and one quickly spun around and vomited. "Heal his wound and bind him," Harry ordered as he stepped over the writhing man, holstering his pistol. One of the agents nodded weakly and healed the bloody wound before stunning and binding the traitor before following their leader.
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Harry had finally reached a large wooden door, the words Minister of Magic proudly stamped on its surface in gold lettering. Despite his eagerness to simply storm in and finish the job, Harry followed the plan, and patiently waited for Hermione's unit to catch up with them. As Harry and Hermione took their positions in front of the door, her wand drawn and his weapon pointing at the door knob, they shared a glance.
"Remember, return fire only," she reminded him.
"Don't worry about it," Harry assured her before he pulled the trigger, the bullet blasting off the door knob before Hermione kicked the door open, immediately stunning the surprised Umbridge. Hermione immediately summoned the toad-like woman's wand, as well as a crystal that would summon the aurors to her office. After lifting the unconscious witch into a chair and binding her to it, Hermione waved her wand, reviving Umbridge.
"Release me now, Mudblood!" she spat angrily, vainly struggling against her binds. Hermione grinned sardonically before stepping forward and swiftly backhanding Umbridge. However, as Hermione had used her left, artificial hand, blood mixed with spittle flew out of Umbridge's mouth as she recoiled from the impact.
"Oops," Hermione quipped, not apologetic in the slightest. "Now that that's out of our systems, allow me to present you a deal: Surrender now and I'll let you leave her alive and whole." In response, Umbridge defiantly spat a wad of blood and saliva at Hermione. The younger woman looked down at the thin red liquid in disgust and cleaned it with a flick of her wand. Hermione pushed Umbridge so that she was further away from her desk before pulling a small vial of a clear liquid from her pocket. "Recognize this?" Hermione asked, shaking the bottle slightly. "My friend Harry here," she continued while gesturing to Harry, who smiled sinisterly, "has a few questions for you. Now are you going to take this willingly, or am I going to have to…persuade you?" she asked, uncorking the bottle. Umbridge was glaring daggers at Hermione, which gave her all the answer she needed. The brunette witch roughly stomped down on her prisoner's foot, who screamed in pain, while Hermione quickly poured three drops down Umbridge's throat.
Umbridge's eyes glazed over and her body grew slack as the truth potion took effect on her. Hermione stepped aside, allowing Harry to approach the drugged woman.
"Why did you have me framed?" Harry asked. He was fairly certain of the reason behind it, but he wanted to be certain.
"I did it because you were an obstacle," Umbridge droned dully, the potion robbing her voice of all emotion. "I had aims to take over the Ministry of Magic and cleanse it of the Mudblood taint, but you and that fool Shacklebolt stood in my way. Many of the Wizengamot were still of the old ways, so it was easy to convince them to vote in my favor." Harry idly tapped the side of his pistol with his finger as he digested this information.
"Who did you hire to impersonate me?" Harry inquired.
"Theodore Nott Jr.," Umbridge answered obediently. "I do not know how he acquired a piece of you for
the Polyjuice, nor did I see it necessary to ask." Harry's expression grew unreadable as he processed her
statement, before flipping the safety on his pistol and holster it.
"Do what you want with her," Harry said as he turned to Hermione. "Kill her, imprison her, I don't care anymore. I have what I needed; now I just want it all to end." Without another word, Harry sidestepped the assembled witches and wizards and stared out the enchanted window, his arms crossed. With a weary sigh, Hermione turned to Umbridge, her wand raised.
"Dolores Umbridge," Hermione toned emotionlessly, "for your acts of atrocity towards the Wizarding world, and Muggleborns in particular, you have been overthrown as Minister of Magic. Once a cohesive government body has been reestablished, you will be tried in a court of law for your crimes." A flash of red erupted from the tip of her wand, and Umbridge's world went dark.
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Not how I originally planned for it to end, but I think that it's acceptable.
One more chapter before this story is finished.
Sorry, PJ, I didn't shoot Ron in the crotch like you asked. I hope that having a leg blown off will be an acceptable substitute.
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