The Toad Lady and Her Disgrace... Disposition of Umbridge

[corinthum]

No: HPFGUIDX 90072

Steve asked:

> Question in two parts, what do you think will happen to Umbridge as a
> result of her actions before and at Hogwarts, and what do you hope
> will happen to her?
> 
> Some Possibilities-
> - She will fade away never to be heard from again.
> - Everything will be swept under the rug, and nothing will be
> mentioned or done. She keeps her job, but stays in the story while
> wisely maintains a low profile and stays out of everyone's way.
> - She will be thoroughly disgraced, and in essence pushed into a
> self-imposed exile; too ashamed to show her face.
> - She will be sent to prison for instigating an attack on Harry that
> would have left him and his cousin worse than dead. 
> - Disgraced and exiled from the Ministry and the mainstream, she will
> go underground and join Voldemort's forces. She will blame Harry for
> everything that happened to her, and hope that joining the DE's will
> help her get revenge on Harry as well as bring her back to power and
> prominence when Voldemort takes over.
> -other


Other.

I certainly don't see her joining with the DEs.  Sure, she hates
Harry, and I don't doubt she will blame him for her utter disgrace. 
However, her hatred of the DEs was also genuine (in my opinion).  She
is not completely stupid (okay, I know we don't really have much
evidence for this, but she managed to fool a lot of intelligent
wizards and witches,  in addition to the stupid ones).  Her ultimate
motivation has always been personal fame, and I think she realizes
that Voldemort and the Death Eaters can never give her this.

So what do I think will happen with her?  Well, this is the first time
I've really thought about it, so I'll need a little time to come up
with a legitimate theory.  But I think she is going to end up helping
Dumbledore.  Not very willingly, of course.  However, she has suddenly
gained knowledge about a topic to which few have been ever been
exposed.  About a group that could potentially be very helpful to
Dubledore's fight: the centaurs.

Dumbledore has seemingly had very little success on this front.  He
has gained the friendship of only Firenze, as far as we know, and in
turn gained the severe dislike of the others.  And he has been unable
to persuade them to take sides in the upcoming battle.  

I think Umbridge, in her stay with the centaurs (several hours, at the
least), may have picked up some crucial tidbit of information.  I
think, in the end, she is going to have to learn to overcome her
severe prejudices against part-humans, as well as her hatred of
Dumbledore and his followers, and offer this information.

I'll have to think about this some more.

-Corinth