HP • 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 ─ 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐱 𝐎𝐂

D.A.

Umbridge ordered the other students to leave the room. There was a waiting period of several minutes, during which no one looked at each other, then the door opened.

Umbridge returned and passed by them, holding the shoulder of the Ravenclaw girl, Cho, who was hiding her face in her hands.

"Don't be frightened, dear, don't be afraid," Umbridge said softly, patting her back. "You did the right thing. The Minister is very pleased with you. He will tell your mother what a good girl you've been."

When Cho raised her head, Fudge leaped back in shock, almost stumbling into the fireplace. He then cursed and stamped on the hem of his cloak, which had begun to smolder.

The girl let out a scream and pulled the neckline of her robes up to her eyes, but not before everyone saw that her face was terribly disfigured by a cluster of purple pustules that covered her nose and cheeks, forming the words "SNEAK."

This may or may not have been Cassiopeia's spell. She gave a mischievous smile to her masterpiece. The hex would reveal if someone was a traitor.

"Don't bother with the marks now, dear," Umbridge said impatiently. "Take the robes off your mouth and tell the minister."

But the girl let out another muffled shriek and shook her head frantically.

"Oh, very well, you silly girl, I'll tell him," Umbridge said harshly, re-forming the sickly smile on her face. "Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner tonight and told me she wanted to tell me something. She said that if I went to a secret room on the seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement, I would find something that would interest me. I asked her a few more questions, and she admitted that there would be a meeting there. Unfortunately, at that point, the jinx" - she impatiently waved at Cho's hidden face - "took effect, and upon seeing her face in my mirror, the girl became too upset to provide me with further details."

"Well now," said Fudge, fixing Cho with what he evidently imagined to be a paternal look. "It's very brave of you, dear, to come and tell Professor Umbridge. You did the right thing. Now, can you tell me what happened at the meeting? What was its purpose? Who else was present?" But Cho didn't want to talk; she merely shook her head, her eyes wide and fearful.

Good for her. Cassiopeia thought. If she keeps going, I'm going to rip that big tongue out of her gossiping mouth.

"Do you have a counter-jinx for that?" Fudge asked Umbridge impatiently, indicating the girl's face. "So she can speak freely?"

"I haven't found one yet," Umbridge admitted reluctantly.

Cassiopeia felt her chest swell with pride.

"But it doesn't matter if she doesn't want to talk; I can continue the story from this point. You must remember, Minister, that I sent you a report in October, informing you that Potter and Gaunt had met with several students at the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade..."

"And what's your proof of that?" Minerva interrupted. "Because I can assure you that Mrs. Gaunt spent numerous weekends in my company. So this accusation is baseless."

The toad-like woman swallowed hard.
But then, to everyone's horror,
"But it doesn't matter. I have all the names here. Miss Parkinson entered the Room of Requirement at my request to see if they had left anything behind. We needed evidence, and the room provided it."

She pulled out the list of names that Hermione had pinned on the Room of Requirement's wall and handed it to Fudge.

"The moment I saw Potter's name on the list, I realized what we had in our hands."
"Excellent!" said Fudge, a smile spreading across his face.