Dolores had meet Cornelius a long time before that fateful day at the Ministry. She had been a young girl; a third year at Hogwarts, and was sitting quietly in the Hufflepuff Common Room when it all began.
Anyone looking at Dolores Umbridge would have assumed that she was working diligently on her Transfiguration essay, but that was what she wanted. She was hoping to mask her true intention, which was listening closely to the discussion of two sixth year boys sitting just within earshot.
“No, we can’t do that!” declared one.
“Than what do you purpose we do? Let Crouch’s insult stand?” cried the other.
“I’m thinking!”
“You’re the one who keeps saying that we have to do something.”
“I know, Dillion! There is just the small problem of him being Head Boy, and if I get caught, I could lose my Prefect status.”
“Not to mention, Merlin forbid, it could cost you Head Boy next year,” mumbled Dillion.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing,” Dillion said quickly. “Cornelius, I think we are approaching this problem from the wrong angle.”
Dolores sighed to herself; everyone in the school knew about the feud between Cornelius Fudge and Bartemius Crouch. Crouch was a Slytherin, Head Boy, and not afraid to use the power he received with his position. Fudge was a Hufflepuff, Prefect, and envied Crouch for his position. As a result, the two clashed constantly, only holding back in order to keep themselves out of trouble, but that had changed at a Prefect’s meeting yesterday.
At the meeting, Crouch had publicly berated Fudge for his lack of leadership. He called him incompetent and irresponsible, and threatened to talk to the Headmaster about taking away his badge. Crouch’s reasoning: Fudge had failed to control members of his own House when a Hufflepuff first year had accidentally managed to flood the dungeons, which include the Slytherin Common Room. By the next morning, the whole school had heard about Crouch’s comments and Fudge was furious.
Dolores knew that if there was one thing Fudge hated more than anything else, it was being made to look like a fool. So now, Fudge was plotting to find a way to get back at Crouch without losing his badge or his chance to be Head Boy.
That’s the problem with power, Dolores thought to herself.
People with power should be given the tools they need; they should not be forced to deal with rules that don’t really mean anything and just get in the way. Why is Fudge a Prefect if he can’t do anything about Crouch?
Dolores tried to turn her attention to her Transfiguration homework, but she couldn’t keep her mind from the overheard conversation. It just didn’t seem right that Fudge couldn’t do what needed be done.
But she could.
Dolores gasped aloud when that thought crossed her mind. She didn’t really think that a third year could teach the Head Boy a lesson about messing with Hufflepuff’s Prefects? However, no seventh year ever paid any mind to anyone under fifth year, but her magical abilities were definitely lacking when going up against Crouch’s skill.
Then find someone who can.
That was it, but whom? Then looking at perfectly cleaned fireplace, Dolores had an idea.
The next day, sitting in the Great Hall, Dolores waited impatiently to see if her plotting had paid off.
Dolores’ heart was pumping madly as she watched for Crouch’s entrance. Then the big doors began to open, and a group of older Slytherin boys entered. Yes! Dolores silently cheered, for Crouch was among them, and Fudge was sitting nearby with his friend.
Dolores eyes tracked Crouch’s movements. Just as he was about to sit down, Dolores tapped out a specific rhythm on the underside of Hufflepuff’s table.
After the sound of the last tap had faded, the food from the Slytherin Table disappeared, and on each of their plates was a dead snake. Screams and cries of outrage filled the air, which was quickly followed by laughter from the other Houses.
Crouch, his face twisted into anger, reached a hand out and grabbed a piece of parchment next to his plate.
Dolores smiled as she watched Crouch face grow redder and redder as he read the note. It appeared the Crouch didn’t like the note she had written, which read:
“Head Boy,
A gift for you;
So the whole school can see
That all the respect you deserve
Is none.
Crouch crushed the parchment in his hand and walked over to a laughing Fudge and declared, “Fudge, I will get you for this.”
“What? I didn’t do this.”
As the school turned to watch the confrontation, Dolores noticed the Transfiguration teacher, Professor Dumbledore, making his way down to the two boys. She quickly tapped the Hufflepuff table again, and a moment later the snakes had been replaced with the proper food.
“What seems to be the problem, Mr. Crouch?” asked Dumbledore calmly.
Crouch paused to regain his composure then stated, “Snakes, Sir. We were served dead snakes for breakfast.”
“Snakes?”
“Yes, sir,” Crouch answered gesturing toward the Slytherin table. His eyes then widened as he saw the table laid out with the usual breakfast foods. “They were there, just a minute ago! See this note.”
“Very curious,” Dumbledore replied after reading the piece of now-crumpled paper. Then, looking sternly at Fudge he asked, “Did you have anything to do with this?”
“No, sir,” Fudge whispered.
“Do you of know of any plans about this event?”
“No, I was as surprised as you are now.”
Dumbledore studied Fudge for several seconds before stating, “Fudge is not the culprit; the Heads of House and myself will continue to look into this matter. Good day.”
Dolores had a large grin on her face as she watched Crouch stalk off in disgust. Her little plan had worked marvelously. After Crouch had left, she noticed Fudge and his friend watching her. She gave Fudge a wink, picked up her bag, and walked out of the Great Hall, knowing that Fudge would follow.
When she was in a deserted corridor, she heard Fudge cry out, “Excuse me?”
Dolores turned and replied sweetly, “Yes?”
Fudge lowered his voice. “I noticed you were in the Common Room last night. Did you have anything to do with… with that?”
“Yes.”
Fudge looked taken aback. “But, why?”
“Why?” Dolores calmly stated. “It was because of your position as a Prefect you were unable to anything. So, I felt it was my duty to do so.”
Dillion was shaking his head. “But you’re just a second year…”
“Third year, actually, but that would have had no bearing on my ability to perform this task.”
“No bearing…” Fudge said amazed. “Tell me, how did you do it?”
“I found someone to do it for me.” Then smiling at the boys’ confused faces, Dolores continued, “Hogwarts is home to hundreds of house elves whose duty is nothing more than to serve this school and the people in it. They consider it an honor to be asked to perform a task. So, it was simply a matter of making the elves believe that were doing this for the benefit of the school.
“Professor Sprout has been complaining for weeks about an infestation of snakes near Greenhouse Three. So I told the house elves that Sprout would be eternally grateful if they removed them for her. Then I told them about all the good work our Head Boy has been doing lately, and how I was wishing that there were some way that I could honor him.
“The elves were practically begging me for a way they could honor Crouch. So I lied and told them that there is no greater honor for a Slytherin than to be given a dead snake, saying it was an acknowledgement of their greatness.”
“They believed you?” Fudge gasped.
“Every word,” Dolores agreed. “They insisted on doing it to all the Slytherins. I just reminded them that the Slytherins still needed to eat so they agreed to make the snakes appear and disappear at my signal.”
Fudge was shaking his head in disbelief. “Well…um…I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“Dolores Umbridge.”
“Well, Dolores, you can call me Cornelius, and this is Dillion Riane. I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there.”
Dolores felt her cheeks blush as she said, “It was no problem.”
Cornelius debated privately within himself before asking, “If such actions ever became necessary, would you be willing to do this again?”
Dolores pursued her lips as she thought about Cornelius’ question. Would she be willing to do the things that Cornelius could not because of his position? Was she willing to risk her own reputation for another man?
Then she thought about Cornelius; he was a good man. He believed in hard work, and encouraged the members of Hufflepuff to do the same. He had dreams; all of Hufflepuff knew he was hoping to go into Ministry and work his way up the ranks. It really wasn’t fair that his dreams could be denied because he had to play by a certain set of rules.
“Yes,” she answered.
“Great!” Fudge smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “We are going to make a great team: you, me, and Dillion.”
“There he goes again,” Dillion laughed.
Cornelius gave Dillion an exasperated look before declaring, “I do believe that this is going to be the start of a profitable relationship.”
He couldn’t have been more right.
Essence of Loyalty by Gonz
Chapter Notes: Much thanks to Ron x Hermione for being patient with me.