"He's got Padfoot." In Umbridge's office, Harry Potter called out to Severus Snape, who was about to leave. "He's got Padfoot, in the place where he hides things."
"Padfoot? What Padfoot?" Umbridge's eager gaze darted between Snape and Harry. "Snape, what does he mean?"
Snape looked at Harry with a baffled expression.
"I don't know," Severus said coldly. Then he reached out, opened the door to Umbridge's office, and slammed it shut behind him.
"Just from what I said, could you guess what that little Troll was trying to say?" Severus asked her after they had escaped those damned monstrous birds and reached safety.
Pomona was gasping for breath from the run, too exhausted to speak.
"I thought about it for ages and still couldn't figure out what he meant. Then I ran into Draco and learned Lucius wasn't at home."
"What?" Pomona asked in confusion.
"The day before the Battle of the Ministry was Father's Day. Draco sent Lucius a gift, but Lucius never wrote back to him," Severus explained.
"What did you say?" She still did not understand.
"Honestly." He was losing patience. "The Battle of the Ministry was on June 17. Father's Day in 1996 was June 16. Ever since Dumbledore left the school, they had written to each other every day, reporting on what was happening at school. But Draco never received a letter on June 17, so I knew Lucius was busy with something else."
"And you knew Lucius intended to steal something from the Department of Mysteries, so you knew he had gone to the Ministry of Magic?"
"You finally got it!" Severus flicked her forehead.
"Lucius and Mulciber let Harry and the others enter the Ministry of Magic easily, then carried out their plan. But Lucius botched it. You knew where Lucius was,