The Beginning of the Revenge - Part 5
Umbridge remained hidden behind the suit of armor for several minutes.
She didn't know exactly how many.
Maybe it had been two.
Maybe ten.
She didn't dare move.
Even after the footsteps of that thing had completely disappeared, she stayed there, clutching her bag against her chest and breathing as slowly as possible.
"What... what is that thing?" she murmured without receiving an answer.
Finally, after a while longer, Umbridge swallowed to gather her courage and looked both ways into the darkness. Obviously, she couldn't see anything, but she couldn't stay there either.
After thinking for a moment, she knew she had to get out of that place, so she slowly pulled out her wand.
"Lumos," she whispered.
A small light appeared at the tip, and Umbridge immediately partially covered it with one hand.
She didn't want that thing to see her.
She looked around.
The suits of armor remained on both sides, motionless.
Now she noticed something strange. There were at least a hundred of them, although many were incomplete. Barely a dozen were still intact.
Umbridge began walking very slowly, trying not to make any noise and carefully watching the suits of armor, afraid that something might suddenly come out from between them.
The light coming from her wand didn't reach very far, but even so, it cast the shadows of the armor against the walls, making them look like dozens of enormous beings, which only increased her fear.
While looking at this, one of her shoes struck a piece of metal.
Clink.
Umbridge jumped and fearfully rushed toward a nearby suit of armor, ready to hide.
But after waiting for a while, she didn't hear the sound of that creature, so she came back out and continued on her way, knowing she had to get out of that horrible place as quickly as possible.
As she walked, she watched the suits of armor on both sides suspiciously.
She passed another suit of armor.
Then another.
Another.
Until something caught her attention.
Umbridge stopped.
She felt like she'd passed that suit of armor before.
It was missing its right arm and had an enormous dent in its chest.
Umbridge looked back.
"No..."
She couldn't have come back.
She had walked completely straight.
She looked at the armor again.
Then she saw something else.
On the metal part of its shoulder was a small stain running downward, trailing along part of its side until it reached the legs and the floor.
Its color was red.
Umbridge slowly brought the light closer and noticed that the stain on the floor was actually a pool of liquid, and the metallic smell didn't seem to be coming from the armor, but from this pool.
Umbridge swallowed.
She seemed to want to look toward the ceiling, but her fear wouldn't let her dare. Instead, she knew that now more than ever she had to get out of that place.
Plop.
Something fell onto her shoulder.
Umbridge froze.
Very slowly, she brought a hand up to it.
She touched something wet.
She pulled her fingers away.
Red.
Sticky.
Obviously, she knew what it was.
She didn't stop to think and began quickening her pace, moving to get away from that place.
"This isn't real..." she kept saying without daring to stop.
"This isn't real."
She began walking faster.
"It's a charm. Just a charm."
Another suit of armor.
"A bunch of brats trying to scare me."
Another.
"That's all."
Another.
"When I get out of here..."
Umbridge stopped when she felt something watching her, so she raised her wand, illuminating the area around her.
Then she realized that, for some reason, all the suits of armor had turned to face her.
Even the ones lying on the floor had their helmets pointed in her direction.
Her breath caught.
Before, they had been facing forward.
She was sure.
Umbridge took a step to check, but the helmets didn't move.
"Ridiculous," she let out with a somewhat calmer sigh before continuing to walk, trying not to waste time with it.
Then she heard something behind her again.
Clink.
Umbridge turned.
They were all still motionless.
But one of them had its head tilted slightly.
Umbridge stared at it.
"Who's there?"
But no one answered. Instead, a small gust of wind seemed to pass through the area.
"Revelio!" she immediately shouted, and the spell swept over the suits of armor.
But nothing happened.
Umbridge breathed.
"I knew it," she said, although her body started trembling again and her steps were becoming so fast that she almost seemed to be running on her short legs.
Clink.
This time, she didn't look.
Clink.
Another noise.
Clink.
Umbridge was already running with all her strength.
Clink.
"Enough!" she shouted, completely fed up as she turned around, pointing the light from her wand toward the suits of armor.
And just like before, all the suits of armor were still in their places, but this time they weren't looking at her. Instead, they were standing completely straight.
Umbridge breathed heavily before turning around and continuing to run with all her strength, even if doing so alerted that creature following her.
Then she noticed something ahead.
At last, she saw something at the end of the corridor.
A door.
She approached without hesitation, hopeful that she'd finally found the way out of that place. There was even light coming from beneath the door.
She grabbed the doorknob.
She stopped.
The last time she'd gone through a door, she'd ended up following two things wearing the faces of Luna Lovegood and Astoria Greengrass.
Umbridge slowly pulled her hand away.
Clink.
Hearing the sound, she turned to look behind her.
One suit of armor was a little closer and out of place, staring toward her.
Umbridge's eyes widened.
Clink.
Umbridge followed the next sound and turned.
This time, it was a suit of armor that had been standing beside the door, but now it was almost so close to her that there was no way she wouldn't have noticed it before.
Clink.
This time, the sound seemed to come from right behind her, and she could even feel the cold of the steel getting closer to her back.
"No!" she screamed and, without hesitating, grabbed the doorknob, opened the door, and rushed inside.
She immediately closed it.
"Colloportus!"
She even cast a charm on it so it couldn't be opened.
Umbridge remained silent, leaning against the door while her hands trembled.
She waited a few seconds before finally turning around, her eyes closed and fearing the worst.
Umbridge slowly opened her eyes.
Then she saw that the room looked like a small library.
There were several bookshelves filled with books, a fire burning in a fireplace, and two sofas in front of a table.
There was even a teapot giving off a faint steam and a few desserts.
Umbridge let out her breath, slowly calming down.
The place was clean.
There was no mold.
No blood.
No suits of armor.
And no creature.
Then came the sound of a page being turned.
Fshhh.
Umbridge spun around violently, raising her wand on full alert.
"Who's there?!" she shouted, ready to cast a spell instantly.
Then she saw the person sitting there calmly on one of the sofas.
Umbridge couldn't understand how she hadn't noticed him before.
He had an enormous book open across his legs.
The young man slowly raised his head before his eyes settled on her with a somewhat confused expression.
"Inspector Umbridge?"
Umbridge recognized him immediately.
He was one of the people she could least afford to touch, even if she had the full support of the Ministry.
One of the sons of that woman known as the Scarlet Witch, the most dangerous person in all of Hogwarts Castle.
Billy Maximoff.
Her wand lowered almost immediately out of caution. She knew the power of that witch, whom not even Dumbledore himself wanted to face and whom the Ministry didn't want to go against either.
Billy partially closed the book.
He looked genuinely confused.
"What are you doing here?"