𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | l. lovegood

xxxvii

𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆, they were ready to invade the Ministry of Magic to steal the Horcrux from Dolores Umbridge. They'd all agreed that it would be best for Luna and Dorothea to remain hidden under Harry's invisibility cloak instead of taking Polyjuice Potion.

After the trio had knocked out three Ministry workers and added their hairs to the Polyjuice Potion for the transformation, they headed inside by flushing themselves down the toilet. Under the cloak, Luna and Dorothea stuck close to Hermione, who had instructed them to stay with her.

Dorothea frowned when she saw that the Fountain of Magical Brethren had been replaced by a statue crushing what appeared to be Muggles, the words Magic is Might carved in gold on the stone.

"Are those...?" Harry asked, his sentence trailing off.

"Muggles," Hermione confirmed. "In their...rightful place."

"Got to tell you, I'm starting to freak out a bit," Ron admitted.

Harry glanced around the packed atrium. "How long did you say this batch of Polyjuice would last, Hermione?"

Hermione looked at him with worry. "I didn't."

"Worst case scenario, we try to fit the five of us under here," Dorothea whispered to Luna.

"Four if you transform," Luna replied quietly.

They followed the trio to the elevator. Just as they were getting ready to go down, a Death Eater that Dorothea remembered as Yaxley pushed open the grate on the lift. "Cattermole," he said, staring at Ron. "It's still raining inside my office. That's two days now."

Isn't he a wizard? Dorothea thought, her brows furrowing. Why can't he fix it himself?

"Have you tried an umbrella?" Ron frowned. Luna and Dorothea both had to cover their mouths as they stifled a laugh.

Yaxley scowled. "You do realize I'm going downstairs, don't you, Cattermole?"

"Downstairs?"

"To interrogate your wife. Now...if my wife's blood status were in doubt and the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement needed a job doing, I think I might just make that a priority. You have one hour."

The grate to the lift slammed shut. Dorothea muttered something under her breath about purebloods as the elevator began to move.

"Oh, my God. What am I gonna do?" Ron asked, worry in his voice. "My wife's all alone downstairs."

"Ron..." Harry said as Dorothea giggled softly, "you don't have a wife."

"Oh, right...But how do I stop it raining?"

"Try Finite incantatem," Hermione instructed as the elevator door opened. "This is you, Ron."

"Finite incantatem," Ron repeated as he stepped out of the elevator. "Okay. And if that doesn't work?"

"Try an umbrella!" Luna called to him as the elevator began to go down again. The elevator came to a jolting stop on the Minister of Magic and support staff level.

"I'd say if we don't locate Umbridge within the hour, we go find Ron and come back another day," Harry said.

On cue, Umbridge appeared as the grate opened. Two years had past, and Luna still felt as if the woman needed a high-five in the face with a chair. "Ah, Mafelda," Umbridge greeted Hermione. "Travers sent you, did he? Good. We'll go straight down." She entered the lift. Luna and Dorothea took a step back towards the wall. "Albert, aren't you getting out?"

Harry stepped out. He glanced over his shoulder, Hermione giving him a worried look as they went down to the courtrooms with Umbridge. The moment they entered, Dorothea could feel a change in the atmosphere. It was foreboding. She looked up, and that's when she spotted the dementors.

A glowing cat patronus came out of the tip of Umbridge's wand, trapping the dementors against the ceiling. She took her place at the judge's podium, Hermione sitting on her left with Luna and Dorothea hidden behind her under the cloak.

"Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?" Umbridge began. "Of 27 Chislehurst Gardens, Great Trolling Evesham. Mother to Maisie, Ellie, and Alfred? Wife to Reginald?"

Luna shook Dorothea's arm. She pointed to something that Umbridge was wearing around her neck. It was the locket. Dorothea knew that she'd be able to manipulate it with her mind, but she'd need a distraction in order to do that.

As Umbridge continued to interrogate Mary Cattermole, Ron and Harry entered the room. Ron took his place beside his "wife", Harry standing next to him. He had also spotted the locket around Umbridge's neck.

Dorothea glanced at the empty seats surrounding them. If she could knock Umbridge out with one...Would that be too extreme?

She narrowed her eyes at one of the chairs; it began to shake until it slowly rose into the air. Umbridge was too distracted that "Albert" had taken his wand out to notice. At the same time that Harry shot a stunning spell at the woman, Dorothea sent the chair flying at her face. With both Umbridge and Yaxley now knocked out, Hermione was able to snatch the locket from around her neck, and they made a run for it.

They reached the atrium. Ron told Mary that they needed to flee the country, and she kissed him on the mouth. Dorothea and Luna exchanged a look from under the cloak as the Polyjuice Potion wore off and the real Reginald Cattermole appeared.

"Long story," Ron said as she stared at him in shock. "Nice meeting you."

"It's Harry! Harry Potter!" someone shouted.

Security began to chase after them, and Yaxley had reappeared. The cloak fell off of the two younger teens when Dorothea tripped, and Yaxley's eyes narrowed at her. Luna scooped the cloak up in her arms and grabbed Dorothea's hand. They sprinted through the atrium with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They leapt into one of the chimneys and grabbed onto each other as Hermione Apparated them away.

Dorothea felt something sharp slice into her left arm. When they emerged from the darkness, she collapsed onto the grass, crying out in pain and fear.

She could hear Hermione shouting at Harry for something in her bag. She felt someone take her hand and recognized by the gentle touch that it was Luna. Something dripped onto her arm, making it sting, and she tightened her hold on Luna's hand, pained cries falling from her lips until her arm went numb.

She gasped for air, leaning her head into Luna's hand when she stroked her hair. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she allowed them to close.