Umbridge was the worst DADA teacher to ever walk in the halls Hogwarts, atleast that's what Edmund thought.
The first class with her, Edmund was done imagining thousands of ways to kill her by the time class ended. Fudge, in his ever so increasing paranoia of thinking that Dumbledore was trying to take his seat as minister, had unleashed this wretched and hateful woman upon impulsive teens.
The only thing that helped Edmund keep his calm was his training sessions with Iris.
The day they came back to Hogwarts, Dumbledore had summoned Edmund to his office.
He already knew what the old coot wanted to talk about.
In his usual annoying grandfatherly tone, the old coot said, "Mr. Vulpis, I hope your summer was good."
Edmund just stared at him, then inclined his head sideways and scowled, showing his displeasure at being called what he was not.
Being the cunning old shit he was, Dumbledore understood that Edmund wasn't there for small talk so he went straight to the point.
"Mr. Vulpis.."
"It's 'Lord Whielpool', Headmaster Dumbledore, and you better address me as such."
Dumbledore looked in his eyes, the twinkle in his eyes gone and his grandfatherly persona faltered before he regained it.
"Please forgive an old man for his poor memory, Lord Whirlpool. It seems age is getting to me. I would like you to recind your recent, and I must say uncalled for, drastic action against the Weasley family."
Edmund quickly interrupted, "Uncalled for? They were using a mind altering potion on Ms. Potter and were trying to turn her against me. They even insinuated that I take orders from Voldemort and was trying to harm Ms. Potter. My action against them was throughly justified. Molly Weasley should be rotting in azkaban for trying to do such a henious thing against an heiress of a Noble and Ancient house. Her youngest children and Ms. Granger should be expelled from Hogwarts for being part of this dastardly and unforgivalbe plot. I took pity on Arthur Weasley and gave him a chance to save whatever face is left of his family name."
Dumbledore was slightly taken aback. He was not expecting Edmund to come back at him this aggressively in their conversation. He was confident that he could convince the young lord to reconsider. Should he use a memory charm? No, it was too risky. Using mind magic against a lord had severe repercussions. Though it had intrigued Dumbledore when Edmund used the name Voldemort so openly without a hint of fear.
Over the past year, Edmund had been a wrench in his well laid out plans. Iris was well on her way to become the perfect sacrifice against the forces of evil. Leaving her in Petunia's 'care' had been the best decision he had made. Iris had entered the wizarding world as a submissive and malleable little girl. So starved for love, she would have immediately accepted Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley when they would have apologized.
Initially Dumbledore wanted her two friends to stay with her when the rest of the school alienated her. That way he could easily control what she learnt and who she interacted with. Since her friends would have been there in her time of need, it would have made her more protective of them, so much so that she would lay down her life for theirs.
But he underestimated Mr. Weasley's jealously and Ms. Granger's insecurity. The former was a selfish and a petulant child who craved fame and money while the latter feared being shunned by the rest of the school if she remained associated with Iris. The two were wild cards and he shouldn't have depended on them to bring Iris deeper into his hold.
The situation was still controllable, but the appearance of Edmund had changed things. Iris had somehow fallen in love with him and the two spent the majority of their time hidden somewhere in the castle.
Even the house elves couldn't point out where they were hidden, or as Dumbledore suspected, didn't want to tell him. He was the Headmaster and the elves shouldn't have been able to hide things form him, but they did and he couldn't understand how.
The night after selection of champions, Iris had returned as a completely changed girl. She had quite aggressively stated that she did not enter her name for the tournament in any way. Her chatacter was completely changed that what it usually was. She was crass, uncouth and unforgiving in voicing her opinions.
Dumbledore tried numerous times to talk to her and when he finally got the chance, he was mercilessly shot down from even carrying out a conversation.
Then the Yule Ball happened. Dumbledore didn't even want to think about it. The night had been insulting for a man of his position among the wizarding world. There was no way for Edmund to have tricked him, but somehow he was tricked, masterfully so.
Edmund was a dangerous person for his plans and Dumbledore wanted him out if the picture as soon as possible. So he suggested Molly to try and dose Iris with a potion to make her push Edmund away. He had even convinced Hermione to help in brewing the potion as Severus was unavailible.
Though reluctant at first, Hermione had agreed upon being promised to let her keep the time turner and a month long access to the restricted section. He had assured her that it was for the best to separate Iris from Edmund.
But the boy had once again ruined a perfectly concocted plot.
Clearing his throat, Dumbledore said, "My boy, you must learn that forgiveness is a man's salvation. Men make mistakes and one must forgive them. Everyone deserves a chance to come back to the right path from which they have strayed. It is for the greater good. Resentment bodes ill will and darkness."
Edmund's eye twitched with annoyance.
'Forgiveness is salvation? I call bullshit! Should I just forgive those assholes for trying to take away the only person who matters to me? No, I should have turned them into mashed dog food for trying that. Should I have forgiven all the evil the Vulpises had committed? Merlin's bloody ass not! This old man is deranged. Forgiveness can only exist in an ideal and a perfect world, and this world is far from being one.'
"Headmaster Dumbledore, I'm afraid we don't see eye to eye and I won't just forgive them. As I have warned Arthur, if there's no action against them then I have no choice but to take a more drastic action. It was nice talking to you Headmaster, good day."
With that said, he rushed out of Dumbledore's office as the old coot sat silently, scowling at his door.