It didn't take long for Professor McGonagall's hurried footsteps to be heard from outside the classroom, along with her disbelieving question.
"What do you mean Professor Umbridge has mutated into a shark and is biting people in the classroom?"
Professor McGonagall's lips were pursed as she squeezed her way through the throng of students blocking the doorway, wanting to see for herself what ludicrous thing was happening. As soon as she got inside, she saw the ugly, four-limbed shark in the back corner.
"Good heavens—where did that come from—" McGonagall's eyes widened as she strode quickly toward the group of reporters surrounding Umbridge.
"Ms. Umbridge suddenly transformed into this, and then tried to attack the students," a reporter said. "This is definitely going to be tomorrow's headline—no, this evening's—Professor McGonagall, as Dolores Umbridge's colleague, do you know that she's actually a... uhhhh..."
The reporter thought for a moment, trying to recall the name he'd heard from a student, then looked down at his hastily scribbled notes. "Ah, right, a Dakuwaqa?" he said, looking at McGonagall with an eager, knowing gaze.
"I most certainly do not!" McGonagall snapped. "Are you saying... that's Dolores?"
"That's what we saw, yes," a curly-haired reporter said. "Unbelievable, but she does have a certain resemblance to the shark... I'd guess she's been hiding in the Ministry for quite some time now..."
"In the... Ministry... hiding for a long time..." another reporter said, scribbling furiously.
"You can't steal my story!" the curly-haired reporter yelled, grabbing the other's notepad. "I thought of that first!"
"Whoever publishes it first gets the credit," the other reporter snarled, yanking his pad back.
McGonagall ignored their bickering. She had the reporter who had cast the Iron-Arm Charm remove it. Umbridge immediately lunged forward, but with a flick of her wand, McGonagall conjured a thick rope that bound her tightly.
---
The class was over less than five minutes after it began. Due to the sudden incident, Cohen and his friends got a brief "holiday," and Umbridge was taken to the hospital wing by Professor McGonagall, who then went to contact Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic.
"Cohen, was this you, too?" Harry asked on the way back to the common room.
"What? Umbridge was clearly a shapeshifter all along," Cohen said with an exaggerated frown. "I can't turn people into monsters, can I?"
"It's not possible, no," Hermione agreed, "but... how did you know—I mean..."
"I'm a Seer," Cohen said, coming up with an excuse on the spot. "I saw it in a crystal ball."
"So when you were in Umbridge's office..." Harry said, "You used this to threaten her?"
"It wasn't that much work; she wasn't worth the effort," Cohen said. "I just stunned her."
Hermione looked at Cohen in horror.
"You lot stunned Snape too, remember?" Cohen pointed out.
"But what if she tells the Ministry—oh... we absolutely can't let this get out..." Hermione said, wringing her hands in worry.
"Don't worry," Cohen said. "I used a Memory Charm."
"So she's like this now, does that mean she can't teach at Hogwarts anymore?" Ron said hopefully. "I thought Cohen was just trying to make us feel better when he said we'd have a new teacher soon."
"I still think it's very unlikely..." Hermione said, her brow still furrowed. "But there's no way a creature that's attacked students can be a professor. Lupin never attacked anyone, and he had to leave because of the parents, didn't he?"
"I'd love to go to the hospital wing and see what happens to her next," Harry said, looking eager.
"You heard what Professor McGonagall said before she left," Hermione said, her lips a thin line. "No one is allowed to go to the hospital wing just to stare, not unless they're actually sick."
"I could pretend to break my leg," Ron said.
"I could really break your legs," Cohen said. "You're welcome. I've been wanting to do it since first year."
"I remember that," Harry said with a dry laugh. "I think it was before that Quidditch match where Snape was the referee."
"It's different now. I'm not charging a fee anymore," Cohen said, rubbing his hands together. "I'm just itching for a fight."
"You can't use your Dementor powers, though," Ron said. "We'll have a practice duel."
"And no wands," Harry added.
"Do you two always have to fight?" Hermione said, burying her face in her hands.
"You don't get it, Hermione," Harry said. "I've always had a slight suspicion about Cohen's fighting skills. He used to just bully kids on Privet Drive—even Dudley wouldn't mess with him—but he looks just as scrawny as I do."
---
When Umbridge woke up, she was lying in a bed in the hospital wing, surrounded by a ring of reporters and Cornelius Fudge, who was talking to Barty Crouch with a stern look on his face.
"Minister, she's awake!" a reporter announced.
"I know," Fudge said, his gaze fixed on a spot next to Umbridge, as if he couldn't bear to look at her. "What are you? Why are you pretending to be Dolores Umbridge?"
The reporters started snapping pictures again.
Umbridge's heart trembled. She remembered everything that happened before she was stunned.
"I am Dolores Umbridge!" she shrieked. "Minister! I need a physical examination! That—"
Every time she tried to mention Cohen Norton, her mouth refused to work.
"The results of the examination are that you're a half-breed Dakuwaqa," Fudge said with disgust. "As Minister of Magic, I command you to tell me your true identity!"
"I am Dolores Umbridge!" Umbridge screamed hysterically at Fudge. Her skin started to turn a grayish color, like the monster she was. "Minister! I know everything I'm supposed to know! About..."
Umbridge started to use everything she knew to prove her identity, from being assigned to Hogwarts as the High Inquisitor to the conversation she'd had with Fudge just the other day. "And what you said about Dumbledore—"
"Enough!" Fudge snapped. "You stole—"
"Minister, if she knows everything the real Umbridge knows, can you really deny that she's the official?" a reporter interjected, stirring up trouble.
"I've said it before, the Ministry has a very strict vetting process for its officials. It's impossible for a filthy hybrid like you to get in," Fudge said impatiently.
"I'm not a filthy hybrid!" Umbridge shrieked, her voice grating. "I'm not!"
But no one cared. Fudge refused to look at her again.
"But Minister, the facts have already shown many loopholes. Does this mean the escape of the Dementors from Azkaban was also a result of these loopholes?"
"I'm sorry, I have no comment on that part of the information. The Ministry will be issuing a series of new regulations shortly, and Dolores Umbridge will be charged with fraud, assault..."
Fudge concluded the interview by expelling Dolores Umbridge and sentencing her to life in Azkaban.
"Barty, I'll leave this monster for you to deal with. Just get it over with quickly—I have to get back and deal with all the trouble..." Fudge said to Barty, muttering to himself as he hurried away, "Why does it have to be some hidden freak... all the trouble I went to..."
The reporters followed Fudge out. Now, only Umbridge and Barty Crouch were left in the ward.
"Barty—you saw it! That thing!" Umbridge grabbed Barty's wrist as if it were a lifeline. "You know—that—monster—it wasn't—"
Crouch pulled his hand away and disgustedly wiped it on a bedsheet from the next bed over. "I warned you," Crouch said coldly.
"Go and tell Cornelius—go and tell Cornelius—"
"Why did you have to go and provoke him now?" Crouch said, shaking his head.
Umbridge was about to say something else—
"Avada Kedavra!"
A flash of green light instantly lit up the entire room and then vanished just as quickly.