CHAPTER FIVE:

Setting: Hogwarts School

Dramatis Personae:

Dolores Umbridge

Gilderoy Lockhart

Minerva McGonagall

Regulus Black

Rita Skeeter

Edward Creevey

Regulus Black was on a mission. His plan to eliminate Lockhart had backfired miserably, and he knew that there was one person left to help him. He walked down the Ravenclaw table, and at the end, he saw who he wanted to see.

There sat a 7th year with mousy brown hair and a hurt look, a prefect's badge shining on her chest.

"Are you Dolores Umbridge?" Reg inquired.

"Who wants to know?"

"I am Regulus Black. I recently had a run-in with Gilderoy Lockhart."

Umbridge looked up. "Really? Well why do I care?! My badge is on the line after my last run-in with the Skeeter girl. I can't deal with those two anymore!"

"But together, we stand a chance against them. They may be popular, but I am in Rita's house and you're a prefect."

"You have a point, Black," Umbridge said excitedly. "But there are only 5 weeks left in the term. How can we pull it off?"

"I have a plan," Reg came back slyly…

"Morning, Ed," Rita Skeeter said as she entered the newspaper office.

"Good morning, Miss Skeeter!" said Edward quickly. "What will our headline be."

"Guess what, Ed? Gilderoy got me a new quill!" Rita exclaimed.

"Some headline that will be!" Ed said sarcastically. "Lockhart Gives Rita Gift of LOOOOOVVVE!"

Rita reached over and pinched him with her bright pink fingernails.

"Sorry, Miss Skeeter," said Ed quickly.

"That's more like it!" Rita growled.

Rita started looking through her notes to find a story.

"Of course," she suddenly thought.

"What?" asked Ed.

"The story on Filch! He's a Squib you know. I got so caught up in my revenge on Umbridge that I forgot all about Filch."

"You realize that you could be expelled for exposing a staff member?" Ed warned.

"Ed, you Gryffindors wouldn't get it," Rita said impatiently. "The student body deserves to know the truth."

"OK, Miss Skeeter."

Gilderoy Lockhart went to Transfiguration that afternoon. Regulus Black tripped him in the hallway.

"That's for Hogsmeade!" Reg shouted.

"That will be quite enough, you two!" came McGonagall's severe voice.

Throughout the class period, Regulus smirked over at Lockhart. Lockhart initially thought this to be annoyance for McGonagall's reprimand. His gut, however, was telling him that there was more behind the smirk.

Rita and Gilderoy met for lunch in the Great Hall.

"I think it's time to use the story on Filch. Umbridge is going to hate when we show that we have no regard for her prefect position. Wouldn't you agree, love?" Rita asked.

Gilderoy turned bright red when she called him "love." "Umm... I think we need to investigate Regulus Black. I think he's up to something."

Rita frowned. "You think so, do you?"

"I do."

"Well, let's try to forget all about Regulus. We need to publish the Filch article.

Dolores Umbridge was just getting back to Ravenclaw Tower, when her owl, Gitmo, came over to her with a letter. Dolores opened the letter.

Umbridge-

the Lockhart boy is on to us. They are planning on publishing the story about Filch. Now would be a good time to put our master plan into motion. I already printed the items we discussed, and I want you to go see him tomorrow.

-R.A.B.

Umbridge smiled. At last, Rita Skeeter would feel the pain that she caused her.

Suspenseful or what? Please review. I will tell you it's about to get bloody.