How It All Goes Down
The Muggle-Born Registration Commission
- Umbridge immediately addresses Hermione/Mafalda and drags her along to the Muggle-born Registration hearing she's going to. Harry gets out of the elevator, still disguised as Runcorn, and has a chat with the new Minister of Magic (who's under Voldemort's control), the unfortunately-named Pius Thicknesse.
- Harry and the Minister part ways, and he begins his search for Umbridge's office. He gets distracted by some anti-Muggle propaganda pamphlets, which claim that Mudbloods (Muggle-born wizards) do damage to wizarding society. Soon enough, though, he finds Umbridge's office; he's enraged to see that she's stuck Mad-Eye Moody's magical, all-seeing eye on her door. So that's why they couldn't find Moody's body.
- Umbridge has gotten herself pretty high up in the Ministry – she's senior undersecretary to the Minister and also, unsurprisingly, head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. We can recall her anti-Muggle sentiment from Book 5, Order of the Phoenix.
- Harry distracts the wizards and witches in the area, and sneaks into Umbridge's office, which looks just like her old office at Hogwarts – it's covered with doilies and ornamental plates with pictures of sickeningly cute, prancing kittens.
- He can't find the locket anywhere, but he does find some items of interest – a file on Mr. Weasley, saying that he's a probable connection to "Undesirable No. 1" (Harry himself), and that he's being tracked by the Ministry.
- Harry's about to leave, but gets distracted by a copy of Rita Skeeter's book, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore; inside, he sees a picture of a teenage Dumbledore and a wild-looking, unknown other boy, apparently a friend of his.
- Before Harry can leave, Thicknesse shows up (Harry manages to hide himself beneath the Invisibility Cloak before the Minister notices him). Thicknesse writes a note to Umbridge, while Harry sneaks out.
- In the elevator, Harry runs into disguised Ron. Before they can touch base, though, Mr. Weasley enters the elevator.
- Mr. Weasley strikes up a conversation with Ron/Cattermole about Yaxley's raining office; Ron runs out at the next floor. He's replaced by another Weasley, the estranged Percy, who sees his father and immediately gets out at the next stop too.
- Now it's just Harry/Runcorn and Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley coldly tells the man he thinks is Runcorn (who's apparently a really bad guy who has betrayed a wizard who tried to fake his family tree) that he'll have to face the consequences of his actions.
- In turn, Harry tries to warn Mr. Weasley that he's being tracked, without dropping his cover. We're not sure if it works or not.
- Harry heads down into the courtroom where the Muggle-born trials are being held. There are dementors everywhere, and Umbridge and a tribunal of other wizards are coldly sentencing people to imprisonment. The next prisoner is Mary Cattermole, the wife of Reg Cattermole, who Ron is impersonating. Hermione/Mafalda is also there, keeping records.
- Harry, wearing the Invisibility Cloak, creeps up behind Hermione. They observe as Umbridge and Yaxley question poor Mrs. Cattermole.
- Hermione notices Umbridge wearing the Horcrux locket – she asks about it, and the loathsome former professor claims that it's a family heirloom. Liar!
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- Harry can't take it anymore. He Stuns Umbridge and Yaxley, and throws off the Cloak; he sends his Patronus to get rid of the dementors, and saves all of the Muggle-born prisoners. Ron stumbles down, and the three friends smuggle all of the prisoners out of the Ministry, telling them to go into hiding.
- Yaxley awakes and figures out what's going on. Hermione, Harry, and Ron manage to Disapparate before they get caught.