The Ministry of Magic is rotten to the core.
"Lia, let's go..." Hermione turned around, wanting to take hold of that familiar hand.
But her words froze stiffly in her throat.
Lia stood tall, and instead of snuggling close as usual, she took half a step back.
She looked at her with a cold gaze that Hermione had never seen before. In those sky-blue eyes that should have been as pure as gemstones, there was no longer any dependence, no longer any affection.
There was only scrutiny, contempt, and a bottomless disgust.
"Hermione," Lia spoke, her tone completely changed, every syllable trailing with an aristocratic, aria-like drawl.
Hermione's breath hitched. Her chest tightened.
This wasn't Lia; it was Tom Riddle speaking through her eyes.
"Look at her." Lia's gaze swept over the shivering Marietta in the corner, her tone one of disdain and impatience. "Cowardly, stupid, betraying for a pittance of benefit. What value does such an existence have, other than to be crushed?"
"Lia, shut up!" Hermione's voice was sharp. The chill emanating from her made Hermione shiver.
"Shut up?" Lia let out a soft laugh, an arrogant sound that looked down upon all living things. "Are you... commanding me?"
She took a step forward, her petite shadow lengthening and casting over Hermione, bringing with it a sense of oppression.
Those dark green vertical pupils, tainted by an eerie green halo, stared at Hermione as she spat out the most vicious word in the world, one syllable at a time, in an elegant tone.
"Who do you think you are? A filthy, lowly... mudblood."
As that word left her mouth, the surroundings fell silent. The color drained from Hermione's face.
She looked at Lia, her body swaying slightly.
However, the expression of the Lia who had spoken those words also suddenly distorted.
That word seemed to be a Killing Curse aimed at herself; before the sound had even faded, intense pain and boundless panic swept across her face.
Lia suddenly covered her mouth, and large tears surged like a broken dam from those fractured pupils.
Deep within her eyes, the eerie green halo and the pure sky-blue were locked in a tragic war.
"No... Hermione... I didn't... I didn't mean to..."
She let out a sob, her body shaking as if she were enduring torture.
This was her soul punishing itself, cutting away the 'it' that had spoken the forbidden word.
She was fighting to seize control of her body at any cost, resisting the demon named Tom Riddle.
The luster in her eyes vanished, turning into a dull gray. Her body went limp, and she collapsed backward.
Hermione rushed forward, catching her slumped body. Lia lost consciousness in her arms... The news of Umbridge being seriously injured and unconscious spread through Hogwarts even faster than the incident with Malfoy.
The next morning, when the students discovered that the pink figure and all the Educational Decrees she had issued had completely vanished from the Castle, the school erupted in the most deafening cheers since its founding.
The corridors, the Great Hall, and even the usually quiet library were filled with irrepressible joy.
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