Disclaimer: Mmmm, Nothing do I own. Powerful in the force, this author is not.

A/N: I had a review asking about Hermione's life debt to Harry. The only possibility I can think of is in S.S. where they save her from the bathroom. Thing is though, even though it was Harry's idea to go find her and save her, Ron actually cast the spell. But no, she doesn't own anyone a life debt in my story. Thank you oh so very much for all of the many reviews. It is inspiring me to keep writing. Now, on with the next chapter.

A Dish Best Served Cold- 4

Back in the common room, completely unaware of what was playing out across the castle Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger were having a heated whisper fight in a darkened corner of the room about how they would get back the money they had lost. After hearing all of the different things Harry had been saying and the way he had been acting, they suspected that he had found out about their theft. They were right. The account had been drained. Even Ginny had come to them saying that some of her money had disappeared. She had gone into a rage when she had found out what had happened, but there wasn't really anything she could do without admitting to being a party to theft.

"Listen to me, Ronald! If you ever want to touch my body in any way ever again, you will find some way to get more money. I don't care if you have to sell dragon pills and whimsy whips to bring in gold. You'll do it! Is that clear?" Hermione was past caring if selling drugs was even moral or logical. She had grown used to the idea that if she needed something, the money was there for her to spend and would be there for when she finished school. She had never planned to keep Weasley around once school was done. He was going to have an unfortunate accident of some sort and she would be left will all of the money. Then, she would change her name and disappear to Europe where she would start a new life.

Of course, these plans had all been made in case Harry died during the final battle. If he didn't, well then she would transfer the gold to a Swiss Magic Bank where it would be out the reach of Goblins. Those greedy little creatures. If she was still friend's him and he was single, well then she would try to seduce him and get her hands on more money.

All of these thoughts had started after they had started taking money. She had never needed contingency plans and had never been a money grubbing whore before, but before didn't really matter, did it? It was now that was important.

Ron was getting tired of being bossed around. "You know what? Why don't you come up with an idea? I'm the one always finding ways to keep the money coming in; I mean it was me that got you the money in the first place. How about you contribute something for once, huh?"

The bushy-haired girl was angry that he would speak to her like that, but decided to give in just this once, especially since it gave her the opportunity to argue another option she had favored as a back-up plan. "Well if you insist! I think we should consider Percy's offer."

"Oh, not that shit again!" Ron was tired of hearing about this plan. It was not only very risky, considering the man they would help had been losing political power, but he also didn't like Percy and didn't want to work the uptight dickhead.

"Hey! You told me to come up with the idea, and right now, this is all we've got to work with. He promised to pay us handsomely for our services and help us get a foot in the door as far as jobs with the Ministry are concerned. They even offered for private tutors to visit Hogsmeade to help us for the OWL's" Ron looked defeated and Hermione was glad, because she wanted to start getting that money back soon. Had you asked her if she had become obsessed, she would deny it, but she would also deny that she was going slightly crazy as well.

"What about Umbridge? Did you forget that you would have to work with her? You didn't seem to like her today in class." Ron asked raising an eyebrow, wondering how she would respond. She surprised him by laughing.

"You mean that little performance I put on about He-who-must-not-be-named returning? That was all planned. She came to me after breakfast just after you had to run back up here to get your books." Ron looked shocked at what she was saying. He almost wanted to believe she was lying so she wouldn't look like a fool. But he was smart to keep that thought to himself. "She told me that she had noticed how Harry was treating a once friend who had done so much for him and that she sympathized. She then explained her plan for getting him into detention, where she would use a Blood Quill to make him see the error of his ways."

"A Blood Quill? Is she crazy! Those things are illegal!" Ron was really having trouble now. It just seemed too good to be true. Hermione shushed him before continuing.

"I know they are, and I told her so. Do you know what she said? She said that they weren't illegal if the Minister approved it. So you see, she is on our side, the Minister is on our side, and right now, Harry Potter will be getting the punishment he deserves, whether he was telling the truth or not. I, of course, spent my detention sipping tea and discussing other ways to get back at that green eyed devil we used to call a friend." Hermione's voice was full of venom as she spoke, proving to Ron that he should be careful not to double cross her in the future.

Ron leaned forward eager to hear what they had come up with. "So, what did the two of you come up with?"

She gave an evil grin. Or what she thought was an evil grin. It looked pretty out of place on her unimposing face. "Well…"

She spent the next hour telling Ron all about the different things they had in store for the Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Live-Much-Longer. Hermione thought it was a funny name.

It wasn't.

--

Across the castle, in the Transfiguration classroom, Harry was sitting at a desk trying to recover some energy. It was the first time he had used his ability to that scale, and was surprised at how draining it was. The book wasn't joking when it said to use it sparingly. He needed to start using the exercises in the book more often to help deal with the strain. This couldn't take away from the pure glee he was feeling at the idea that the bitch was out of the way, at the same time eliminating the eyes and ears that the Minister had in Hogwarts.

Harry couldn't stand the Minister. Ever since the Triwizard Tournament, Cornelius Fudge had been actively giving statements to the Daily Prophet claiming Harry Potter to be a good child, but most definitely misguided, troubled, and possibly psychotic. His statements didn't have much impact at Hogwarts because the students could see Harry up close and personal, and make their own decisions, but out in the world, the parents of said students were likely following Fudge's word out of fear and denial.

After all, who would ever want to admit that their greatest enemy and the source of their worst fear had risen from the dead?

--

In the Great Hall the next morning, Harry entered to find that the atmosphere was not tense or saddened or even overly excited. It was exactly as it was on every other normal day. There was one reason for that. Other than the Professors, Harry was the only living thing in the castle to know what had happened. Unfortunately for the Professors, who were trying to keep it quiet until after breakfast was finished, a certain Poltergeist who just so happened to be very much not alive, came flying in at that time.

"Oh, joyous news, magnificent occasion, she is dead! The evil, wicked sorceress would dare threaten to have me exercised from the school has done us all a great favor!" The Headmaster, knowing the direction this was going, tried to silence the Poltergeist.

"Peeves!" he shouted. "Don't say anymore. It's not your place. Go back to the storage halls. Find some amusement there, and leave this to us." Dumbledore was annoyed with dead specter since he had been trying to prevent any wild rumors.

"Oh no, not this time Dumbledore, this is just too good to be true. The toad lady ate too many flies for her own good and you know what happened?" He gave a dramatic pause. "She CROAKED! HEE heeheeeheeeee…." Peeves zoomed out of the Great Hall at lightning speed.

The body of students was quiet for a moment, before someone finally figured out what he had meant. "Oh my god, Umbridge is dead?" Harry wasn't sure who said it since they didn't say it very loud, but everyone heard it and immediately there was chaos in the Hall. People instantly started talking about what could have happened, how she could have died. Some said heart attack, others said that someone might have killed her. These weren't the only theories though. There were some more radical ideas. A few people took what Peeves had said a little too seriously and started thinking that she had actually eaten too many flies. Despite its utter silliness, more people began to adopt that story. It was almost as if people knew that it wasn't true, but wanted that to be the truth.

Harry was confounded. He could see the denial in people's eyes. To have yet another death in the school, especially with certain important members of society claiming Voldemort was back, was not something they wanted to face. The idea that evil forces could penetrate the castle was a scary thought, but it was starting to work its way into the back of peoples' minds. And despite the woman's substantial size, medical magic made death by heart attack exceedingly rare.

What was most interesting, and perhaps most hilarious for Harry was that the two ideas that were slowly being disregarded were in fact closest to the truth.

Heart attack and murder.

Thankfully, for Harry, only two people in the entire Hall had any idea of what could have really happened, and the one that hadn't actually been a part of it wouldn't be opening his mouth anytime soon.

Draco Malfoy glared at Harry from across the Great Hall. He knew that Potter was responsible, but couldn't say anything. His whole plan depended on Potter's continued leniency. He wouldn't risk screwing everything up over some low level Ministry nobody.

Harry saw Draco's look and just gave him a smug grin and a wink before going back to his breakfast. He was enjoying it until he heard a voice he didn't want to hear.

"How can you just sit there, Potter?" Ron had come in right as Peeves had delivered the message, and it just so happened to have been Hermione who had made the initial comment that sparked the wildfire of discussion. "A member of the Ministry is dead, and you're sitting there like nothing is wrong!"

Many of the people in the Hall were watching this discussion with interest, having heard some of the information coming out of the Gryffindor common room.

Harry chewed his mouthful of scrambled eggs before he said, without looking up, in a very unconvincing voice, "Oh yes. Very sad. I shall spend the evening praying for her soul and weeping over her death. Now, if you wouldn't mind leaving me in peace to eat my food, I'm trying to keep my appetite, but your presence is ruining it."

Ron was about to respond, but McGonagall had come along and shooed the redhead away toward his seat. The Transfiguration Professor spent some time going up and down the table making sure all of the students weren't too adversely affected. As she passed Harry, she leaned over and whispered, "The Headmaster would like to speak to you in his office after breakfast, Mr. Potter."

Harry just nodded and she moved on. He wondered if Dumbledore had caught on to what had happened, but doubted it. He had not been made aware of Harry's newly acquired skill, so should have no reason to believe that Harry was in any way involved. Still, Harry would need to be careful what he said, and would need to make sure he stuck to the story he had come up with.

When most people seemed to be finished with their food, Dumbledore stood and said, "If there are any students that need some help dealing with this tragedy, your Heads of House will be more than willing to sit and speak with you about this. Now, you all have 15 minutes until class starts, and I will see you all at lunch. Have a good day, children." With that, the sound of scraping chairs was heard throughout the Hall and people began heading to class.

The professors all got up and headed to their classes, but it was undeniable, that despite the fact that school was continuing as if nothing had happened, there was a tense atmosphere hanging over the place. Death never did anything to lighten the mood. Except in the case of Voldemort kicking the bucket.

-HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP-

Harry had reached the Gargoyle protecting the Headmasters office only to find it open, in anticipation of the meeting. When he reached the top of the rotating staircase, he knocked once and Dumbledore bayed him enter.

"Ah, Harry, it's good to see you, my boy. We haven't had much of a chance to speak lately. How was your summer?"

"It was good Headmaster. Sirius had me working on all the different types of magic that I've been learning over the years, and then he also had me start learning Runes and Arithmancy since they are more useful than Divination and Muggle Studies. I grew up with muggles, granted they are the scum of the earth, but they were muggles none-the-less." After he said this, he looked at the old man's face, and could see sincere regret on his face.

"I really must apologize for all of those years you had to spend there. I realize that they may not have ever abused you physically, but sometimes emotional abuse can be far worse than beatings. Bruises fade, but the mind retains what is given to it, especially the negative. I am so very sorry."

Harry held no grudge against the Headmaster. He didn't agree with everything the man did of course, but Harry believed strongly in the idea that everything happened for a reason. All of the bad things that had happened in his past had gotten him to this point. Living with Sirius, exposing betrayal before he could be further taken advantage of, and being trained to be a powerful force to be reckoned with in the magical world were all things that had been a positive side-effect of his life. If given the chance to go back and change it, he wouldn't.

"Don't worry about it, Headmaster. It's in the past now and it's important not to let the past consume the future before we have a chance to experience it."

The headmaster had tears in his eyes, thankful at being forgiven so easily, and said, "Well said, Harry. Thank you for your forgiveness, it means a lot to an old man. Now, what else did you do this summer?"

Harry spent some time telling him about the Potter manors he had visited and how they had set up camp at the traditional Potter home in the Scottish Highlands. It was fairly far from the school, but still near enough to be able to fly there in about ten minutes by broomstick. He hinted at the fact that he had been making some plans for things out of the country, but wanted to keep them secret right now. Dumbledore nodded his understanding.

Harry made sure not to mention his acquiring of the Beaufoy fortune and Head of House status. While he trusted Dumbledore, if the man knew he had that kind of power, he would be watched much more closely by all sides.

"Well, Harry, all of this is very interesting, but I have called you here today for four reasons. The first, if you don't mind, is to get your side of the story about what happened last night." They had let him go back to the common room because of the traumatic situation, but now they needed a story.

"At 6:45, I left the common room to head for my detention. I was about two halls away from her classroom when a young Gryffindor girl, fourth year I would say, rushed past me holding her hand. I think there was blood on it. I wanted to ask her if she was okay, but she was running so fast that she was gone before I had the chance." Dumbledore nodded in understanding and motioned for him to continue.

"So, when I got to the classroom at about ten minutes to seven, I knocked on the door. Like I told Professor McGonagall, the door just opened as if it hadn't been closed all the way. When I went in, I found her on the floor holding her throat and I rushed over to see if she was okay. I noticed some sort of bright red quill on the ground next to her. I've never seen a quill that color, which is why I mention it, but it must have been a custom made quill. " Harry explained in a saddened voice. To be indifferent would be out of place. "When I touched her hand though, she was ice cold. That's when I ran from the room as fast as I could, heading for Professor McGonagall's room. I didn't realize it at the time, but the Charms classroom was closer. I should have gone there first; she might have had a chance." His voice cracked in fake anguish at his own failure.

"Do not worry Harry you did the best you could be expected to in such a situation. It is difficult to think straight at a time like that." Harry just nodded, accepting the man's words.

Albus Dumbledore had not been surprised when Harry had mentioned the quill, because they had found it last night at the scene. However, combining that with the story about the fleeing girl, gave them a possible suspect. Someone had reacted quite negatively to the effects of the Blood Quill.

Harry was replaying what had really happened in his head. He had gotten there, and was told to write lines. When he started, the quill had begun to dig into his hand and make him bleed. The bitch then went on to rub it in his face that he couldn't do anything about it, because no one would believe a psychotic little attention seeking liar. This had put Harry over the edge. Her blatant disregard for his wellbeing plus her previous actions had cemented her fate. He moved quickly, pinning her against the wall and placing his hand on her chest, just below her breasts. She had immediately started gasping and trying to pull his hand off, but the training had made him strong physically as well. He looked her right in the eyes, and as her life faded from her eyes, the last sight she saw was the glowing emerald gems that were Harry's eyes. "Rot in Hell, bitch!" had been the last words she ever heard. Overall, it was not a happy death.

Harry felt the energy being sucked from him, and by the time it stopped he was exhausted. The book wasn't lying. That was difficult. He moved her from her slouched position by the wall over to the ground near her desk. Then, he placed her hands at her throat to draw attention away from her heart, at least initially. He took a moment to collect himself, before sprinting the whole way to the class. He had to run so that if he ran into teacher, he would look properly concerned, and he would be out of breath once he got to the classroom. It was almost too much and he really did almost collapse when he arrived.

Harry was also happy that he had thought to mention the part about the girl with the bleeding hand. Earlier in the morning, before breakfast, he had seen Ginny Weasley with a bandaged hand. She had claimed it was from a burn when he had asked her, but it would still look suspicious, and a burn was too easy of an excuse. It was perfect.

"Thank you, Harry. Now, the next two things are both related to the training you received over the summer. Sirius said you have become skilled in Occlumency and Legillimency. Is this true?" If it was, Harry had made his job infinitely easier.

"Yes, it is. I even had some help from Professor Snape who has been kind enough to put his problems with my father behind him for good. He said he realizes that with the 'Dark Lord' back, we will need to work together. And so we worked together." Harry had offered Snape some things in order to obtain his cooperation, but everything comes with a price.

Dumbledore was impressed and decided that Severus' guidance in the Mind Arts was enough to not need to test Harry. "Sirius tells me that you are aware of the fact that a Prophecy exists. If you are ready which I believe you are, I will tell it to you now."

Harry nodded, excited to finally know what the ever elusive Prophecy said. He had wanted to know over the summer, but Sirius thought it was better to let Dumbledore explain.

"Well…

-HPHPHPHP-

'So, The Touch is power he knows not? That's good. At least it gives me an advantage.' Harry thought. He knew he was powerful, but he wasn't foolish enough to think that Voldemort was going to be a pushover. 'I'm glad he didn't choose Neville. I don't know if the poor kid could have handled it.'

After Dumbledore had told him the Prophecy and explained it, he had a couple more things to address.

"Okay now, Harry, unfortunately for us, the Ministry is not going to give me enough time to find a suitable replacement for the DADA position, so they are going to continue to teach the students nothing." Dumbledore had spent a lot of time thinking this over, but he knew he could trust Harry. "What I will need from you, Harry, is to take all of the students you can trust, and start a club. I am giving you permission to start this club, but it must be kept secret from the Ministry. You would be the leader and you would teach the students Defense Against the Dark Arts. You are the best student in the school in that subject and I wouldn't trust anyone else to carry this out. Will you do it?"

Harry was surprised by this request, but didn't have an immediate answer. It sounded like a good idea, but he needed to think about it first to see how it would fit into his plans.

"I can't say yes or no right this second, but I promise to get back to you by next Wednesday. Is that alright?" Harry asked.

"Yes, my boy, that's fine. Just remember, you aren't required to do this, but it would help out many of the other students who shouldn't be caught in the political backlash." Harry nodded showing that he got the point.

"Okay, the final thing I need to ask is yet another favor. I would be immensely grateful if you could keep an ear out for anything suspicious going on in connection to what happened, or even anything else you think I should know about. You have already helped me greatly today with your story, but I get the feeling that I will be wrapped up in dealing with the ministry and will need all the help I can get. Can you do that?"

Harry nodded. Of course he could do that. Not only would it put him in a position to gain blackmail material, it would help him set up information networks in the school. This was the chance he had been looking for. "Absolutely, Headmaster. I'll do the best I can."

"Thank you, my boy. Here is a note for Professor Flitwick explaining why you missed class. It is too late to show up now, since the bell is about to ring." Harry took the note and left, thinking about how to go about setting up his network.

He had left the Headmaster's office and was walking down the hall when he heard footsteps approaching. Then, from around the corner came the Minister and an entourage of Aurors, including Madam Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Minister gave Harry a nasty look, which Harry promptly ignored, acting as if the Minister wasn't there, before saying, "Good day, Madam Bones."

She in kind responded, "Hello, Mr. Potter." The Minister didn't seem to like this, because he started grumbling about demented teenagers and whatnot. Harry continued walking as if the man hadn't said anything. The bell rang then, and Harry headed for the common room to get his books for Transfiguration.

He was almost to the common room, when he heard familiar voices. As he rounded the corner, standing there were Ron, Hermione, and a surprise visitor. Harry paused for a moment.

It was Percy. He was saying, "So if you have any information, just come to me with it and I will send it- Oh, hello Harry!" His voice went unusually high pitched, indicating his fear at the fact that they had been caught. Harry started walking again intent on passing them by without acknowledgment.

Hermione tried to make Harry look like a fool and said, "Well, do you make a habit of eavesdropping on private conversations? Or do you just do that to us?"

Harry glared at her. "It's not a very private conversation if you're going to have it right out in the middle of a hallway that's busy most of the time, now is it?" Hermione turned red, but couldn't come up with a response.

As he passed Percy he said in a low tone so that only the pompous prick could hear him, "Be careful who you cross," and walked away.

Percy blanched, but, when asked about it, wouldn't give an answer. If he was honest, Harry had always been someone that he knew would be powerful, but now that he had seen the confident stride and been spoken to in the self-assured voice, it scared him.

Down the corridor, Harry was entering the common room calmly with his mind working. 'I see now what you are doing. What will you do, though, when the person you report to is neutralized? Or what if they want nothing to do with you? Go ahead you fools, run to the Minister. That won't save you from your fate. Nothing will!'

A/N: There's the fourth chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. If I did something weird or if you have questions, don't hesitate to tell me or ask. Well, I'll see you soon!