Chapter Text
One morning, Ron came to him with a pale face, “Link!” He looked around and over his shoulder, evening using ‘Homenum Revelio’ to check before saying, “Someone broke the rule. Umbridge’s unto us. I saw some of the Inquisitors dragging our member to see her,”
Link sighed, “Well…at least we could just say that it’s a fight club,”
Ron nodded, “Good thing we didn’t go with DA,”
The Sheikah had grown even more restless but he told them to practice moving their body more whenever they have their free time. He advised them to use different training methods so that Umbridge won’t catch up so easily. It was easy to find the one that blew the horn on them. Marietta Edgecombe’s face was covered with acnes that spelled SNEAK, basically blowing the horn on her. She told the names of the Sheikah members, selling even her best friend Cho Chang and turning herself into a social pariah for her actions. The only ones amicable with her was the smattering of Slytherin who sneered her way. They liked that she told on the Sheikah but they won’t have her anywhere near.
Once a traitor, always a traitor.
When Link was dragged over, he saw Snape looking over him with a complicated look in his eyes. A flick of his dark orbs and Link knew that something’s in the tea served. Umbridge looked on as she forced him to drink, “Now…give me your name,”
Glitch.
“Link….Sir Link, Engineer Link, Captain Link, Major Link…His Majesty Your Highness King Consort Link….Beloved of Her Grace…”
Umbridge frowned, “Enough! What was that all about?!” She looked at the empty vial of Veritaserum in her hand, “I know this worked fine…” She tried again, “What is the Sheikah?”
Glitch.
“Protector of the Kingdom…Shadow warriors loyal to Her Majesty and guardian of Her Grace’s will…Guide of the Hero…”
Umbridge drew back, “What nonsense it this!” She looked around the room, at the openly shocked faces of the students that was part of this mysterious club that she forced to stay and watch as she demean their ‘leader’, “Why are you the only one saying such strange things?!”
Before she could say anything further, Albus Dumbledore burst into the room with a furious look. He had not looked that furious ever since Umbridge tried to throw out Trelawney. He looked at all the children collected in the room, “What is the meaning of this?”
Umbridge smiled, “Nothing to fret, just a simple interrogation,”
Albus stepped forward and looked into Link’s slightly off eyes, “By drugging my students?!” He rounded on her, “You may be here under order of the Ministry but I won’t have such a dangerous element in my school! You are fired!”
Umbridge was horrified, “You can’t do that!”
He scoffed, “I am still Headmaster of Hogwarts and when I say I want you out, I mean OUT!” His voice echoed with magic and Umbridge was banished out of the school. He looked at the students gathered, “Forgive me for not being here,”
Ron fretted, “Headmaster! Something is wrong with Link!”
Severus quickly checked on Link. His pupils were blown wide open that only a ring of blue remained. His face was pale and his lips turning purple. Severus picked the boy up, grunting slightly at the weight and rushed out to the Hospital Wing. Something had gone wrong. Veritaserum did not normally poison someone, only forcing the truth out by suppressing the frontal lobe’s ability to function in the manner that it would normally function when lying, stripping the user of any ability to form ‘stories’ and only leaving them with only the absolute truth of their being.
However…how would that work on someone whose very identity was fractured?
The answers that Link had given…those were all him. The history that Severus had witnessed…those were his truth. All of his truth. But it was too much. Even as a spectator, for Severus alone, it was too much. Too many things to recall. Too long a history to be compressed into a singular identity. Worse of all, the current Link wasn’t as long living as the others in his suppressed memory. The chances of one of the longest living identity to take over him was a far too real consequence of meddling with his brain…
If that happened, then…what about this Link?
Lily’s Link?
He laid the boy down and checked on him without magic’s aid.
Unresponsive.
Albus joined and lifted his wand but Severus glared at him, shaking his head furiously, “We don’t know how he will react with more magic!”
Albus pursed his lips, putting away his wand and turned to Poppy. The mediwitch did the same time Severus did to check on Link and decided, “We will have to wait for the Veritaserum to finish its cycle until his body naturally flush it out. Until then, it is better not to aggravate him,” She charmed the area of his bed, “I will isolate him from any stimulant. In the meantime, deal with the coming mess. That witch will bring more annoyances over,”
Albus hummed, “I will have to stand my ground. This has to stop,”
Severus snorted, “Finally…call the mutt over. We could use some paternal pressure to back off Fudge and his addle brained fools,”
Needless to say, Sirius was far from happy upon his arrival. He was going to blow this out of the water and force both Fudge and Umbridge out of office. After all, it should be illegal to use Veritaserum on a student, a minor, the Boy-Who-Lived or not.
For once, the presence of Rita Skeeter was a welcome sight. He warned her not to write anything other than the ‘tragedy of unsanctioned interrogation on students using drugs’ while keeping Link out of her narrative. He had her interview the other students that had been forced to take the potion, slowly building a case that cannot be ignored. Cornelius Fudge might be the Minister but his power came from the people.
And Sirius was adamant to turn that same power that elevated the man to tear him down into disgrace. The worse Minister of Magic in their history.
He might scorned the way of his family but if it was to protect his godson, Sirius can be as mad as the rest of his relatives.
Fudge turned pale the moment his eyes found Rita with her Quick Quote Quill in hand, already writing a damning narrative with his appearance. He turned to Albus, “S-surely this is a bit too much, Headmaster? I mean…it is just a misunderstanding-,”
But Albus wasn’t there as a disgraced politician or a senile old man. He was there as the Headmaster with his charge poisoned by the witch that Fudge had forced onto him, “Misunderstanding, Cornelius? One of my own had an adverse reaction to the potion he was tricked into drinking is not a misunderstanding. I will not have you sweep this under the rug. This end here, Cornelius,”
Fudge looked at Umbridge and said, “I did not order that. I did not tell her to use Veritaserum on minors, Headmaster! It is all her!”
But Albus will not have it, “Yes…and she had done it in your name. As her Master, for lack of better description, her sin is also yours to bear,”
Fudge knew he was done for. An attack on a minor was no small matter. Not with Rita clearly out for his blood. Once this matter came out to the world, his career was over. He had done a lot of things that had been rubbing the people wrong. There had been voices of discontent in and around the Ministry. People had started to question his sanity as he kept trying to bring Albus Dumbledore down for telling others that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had returned only for Albus to not mention it ever again.
With this damning case, it was over for him…