The Untold Story of Marietta Edgecombe

Chapter 6

when i say that setting a reminder will help me update and then i update two weeks late. *sighs* i'm sorry, and you will get an update on wednesday, when i'm actually due to update! anyways, this part of the story, actually most of the rest is based on occurrences from the book and has a lot of direct quotations, so again: JKR is the rightful owner of all of the dialogue below from the office onward, and i am in no way trying to take credit for her work

(i'm just lowkey paranoid i'll be accused of stealing material okay)

anyways onto the story!!

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Umbridge returned after about a half an hour. "Come with me, dear," she said, and when I wouldn't move she sighed, then gripped my shoulder and pulled me out of her office and down the corridor. Her fingers around my shoulder were vice-like, I couldn't have escaped if I tried. My face was in my hands and I never moved once, so I had no idea where we were going. We came to a stop, and she guided me onto a moving staircase. I realized that we were on our way to Dumbledore's office. Oh god am I in trouble what have I done oh god- We stepped off of the staircase and into a room, which I assumed to be Dumbledore's office. "Don't be scared, dear, don't be frightened," Umbridge said in an attempt at a soothing tone. I felt something repeatedly hit me in the back, and I realized it was her hand in a way of consoling me, "it's quite alright, now. You've done the right thing." Have I really? "The minister is very pleased with you. He'll be telling your mother what a good girl you've been. Marietta's mother, Minister, is Madam Edgecombe from the Department of Magical Transportation. Floo Network office - she's been helping us police the Hogwart's fires, you know." "Jolly good, jolly good!" the Minister said heartily. "Like mother, like daughter, eh?" Would she have done the same thing in my place? "Well, come on, now, dear, look up, don't be shy, let's hear what you've got to - galloping gargoyles!" I started to raise my head out of my hands, and when he saw my face, he leapt backwards, in what I assumed was repulsion, into the fire. WHY DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF???? I wailed and desperately pulled the neck of my robes to just underneath my eyes. I could now clearly see many figures in the room, Harry, Dumbledore, McGonagall and a couple other people I didn't know opposite Umbridge, the Minister and I. "Never mind the spots now, dear," Umbridge said impatiently, "just take your robes away from your mouth and tell the Minister -" I cut her off with a muffled wail, and frantically shook my head, as I couldn't tell him anything. "Oh, very well, you silly girl, I'll tell him," Umbridge snapped. And so she told the Minister what I told her, and when she finished the Minister looked over at me in what seemed like a cross between a smile and a grimace, in what I assumed was an attempt at kindness. "Well, now, it is very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor Umbridge, you did exactly the right thing. Now, will you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was its purpose? Who was there?" I shook my head again, my eyes wide. I couldn't think straight, all I could think about was what I had done, and I couldn't risk more of the curse activating. Oh god what will people say now everyone everyone ever will know you're a sneak you're a traitor what will they say what will they do- "Haven't we got a counterjinx for this?" the Minister asked Umbridge, gesturing in my direction. "I have not yet managed to find one," she responded, and I felt like wailing once again. "But it doesn't matter if she won't speak, I can take up the story from here." Umbridge talked about how Willy Widdershins, who was in the Hog's Head, while he was very bandaged, could hear Harry discussing the plans for an illegal society, and how he reported straight to Umbridge. Suddenly, a new voice appeared. "I think you'll find you're wrong there, Dolores," Dumbledore said quietly. "Oho!" the Minister exclaimed. "Yes, do let's hear the latest cock-and-bull story designed to pull Potter out of trouble! Go on, then, Dumbledore, go on - Willy Widdershins was lying, was he? Or was it Potter's identical twin in the Hog's Head that day? Or the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of time, a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible dementors?" He let out a hearty guffaw, and his assistant-scribe person chuckled and said, "Oh very good, Minister, very good!" Dumbledore spoke up again. "Cornelius, I do not deny - and nor, I am sure, does Harry - that he was in the Hog's Head that day, nor that he was trying to recruit students to a Defense Against the Dark Arts group. I am merely pointing out that Dolores is quite wrong to suggest that such a group was, at that time, illegal. If you remember, the Ministry decree banning all student societies was not put into effect until two days after Harry's Hogsmeade meeting, so he was not breaking any rules in the Hog's Head at all." He smiled softly, and the room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The scribe was agape, and the Minister and Umbridge looked very flustered. Umbridge took a deep breath and then collected herself. "That's all very fine, Headmaster, but we are now nearly six months on from the introduction of Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. If the first meeting was not illegal, all those that have happened since most certainly are." She smiled sweetly. "Well, they certainly would be, if they had continued after the decree came into effect. Do you have any evidence that these meeting continued?" Dumbledore also, had a trace of a grin on his face. Suddenly, I felt something soft rush to me, up my body, and I felt it go through me, into my mind, and then everything felt, odd.

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lovely cliffhanger for y'all there, and i'll see you wednesday!

-paige