Chapter 809 Hearing (5)

"The house elf that caused the problem is now a servant of Verlin Elle and an employee of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Dumbledore said. "I can summon it immediately to testify if you wish. "

"I-no-I don't have time to listen to those house elves' nonsense! Anyway, this is not the first time - I swear to God, he actually beat his aunt to fly away!" Fudge slapped hard. The court bench and knocking over a bottle of ink.

Harry was a little angry. If Hermione were here, she would tear Fudge's mouth to shreds. There seemed to be nothing wrong with vomiting... uh... House Elf Rights Association.

"I admit that that time you were very kind and refused to pursue it, and said that even the best wizards could not control their emotions forever." Dumbledore said calmly when Fudge was hurriedly packing up the documents. "And I didn't mention how to punish him at that time."

"However, I think you should be clear, Connelly, the Ministry of Magic does not have the power to punish students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for misbehavior on campus. Harry's behavior that time has nothing to do with this hearing," Dun Liduo was even more polite than before, but there was a cold hint behind his words.

"Oh!" Fudge said, "That means that whatever he does in school is none of our business, huh? Is that what you think?"

"As I reminded you on the night of August, the Ministry of Magic has no power to expel students from Hogwarts, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, "whether or not the Ministry of Magic has the power to confiscate his wand until the investigation is fully concluded. Until then; I would like to remind you again, as I did on the night of August, that your wonderful delays show that you have ignored some important legal provisions. Of course, I believe you did not mean it. "

"Laws can be changed," Fudge said savagely.

"Of course it can be changed," said Dumbledore, nodding. "And you will certainly make many changes, Cornelius. Why deal with such a simple minor in the few short weeks I have left the jury?" The question of performing magic requires the use of a criminal process so heavily armed that it summons most of the Wizengamot?"

Some of the wizards on the jury squirmed uncomfortably in their seats. Fudge's face, which had already turned dark brown, now looked a little darker.

However, the toad-like witch sitting on Fudge's right just glared at Dumbledore, her face expressionless.

"As I realized," Dumbledore continued, "there is no law in this place anymore, and the whole purpose of this court is to punish Harry for every bit of magic he has ever performed. He is also responsible for one particular offense. responsibility as he defends himself. All Harry and I can do now is await your verdict."

Dumbledore crossed his fingers again and said nothing.

Fudge stared at Dumbledore, clearly irritated.

Harry looked at Dumbledore sitting next to him and felt relieved; Fanlin was right, Dumbledore could not give up on him, so Dumbledore appeared here, and now he not only fully believed that Dumbledore had just told him What the jury said was absolutely correct, and it was time to make a decision.

But once again, Dumbledore seemed to be trying to ignore Harry's attempts to watch his eyes. He continued to look up at the row of benches above, where all members of the jury were conducting emergency consultations in low voices. Harry looked down at his feet.

His heart seemed to have swelled to an unusual size and was pounding loudly beneath his ribs. He had expected the hearing to be a little longer than it was. He had absolutely no confidence that he had made a good impression on the jury.

He didn't say much. He should have explained the Dementor problem more fully, such as how he fell and how he and Dudley almost suffered the Dementor's kiss of death...

Twice Harry looked at Fudge and wanted to speak, but his swollen heart restricted the flow of air, and each time he could only manage to take a deep breath, and then looked down at his shoes.

Then the whispering stopped. Harry wanted to look up at the jury, but he found it easier to look down at the shoelaces than up.

"Any juror who agrees to drop all charges against the defendant, please raise your hands?" Mrs. Bowness said quickly.

Harry's head shot up.

There are many hands raised in the air...more than half!

Harry's breathing quickened, and he tried to count as hard as he could, but before he could finish counting, Mrs. Bowness had already said: "Would any of the jurors below who found the defendant guilty raise their hands?"

Fudge raised his hand; he was followed by about a dozen members of the jury, including the toad-like witch to his right, the short, fat judge with a disproportionately large beard, and the curly-haired man sitting in the second row. Witch. Fudge looked around, as if something was stuck in his throat, and then dropped his hand.

He took two deep breaths and said in a voice distorted by trying to contain his anger: "Very good, very well...all charges dropped."

"Excellent," Dumbledore said happily. He drew his wand and made the two chintz armchairs disappear.

"Okay, I'm leaving. Goodbye, everyone." Then, without looking at Harry again, he disappeared from the dungeon.

Dumbledore's sudden departure surprised Harry.

Still sitting in the shackled chair, he struggled with his shock and tried to relax.

The members of the jury all left their seats, talked among themselves, put their papers into their bags and took them away.

Harry stood up. Except for the toad-like witch sitting on Fudge's right, no one seemed to pay him the slightest attention. This witch had now shifted her gaze from Dumbledore to Harry.

Harry deliberately ignored her. He tried his best to find Fudge or Mrs. Bowness to ask if he was okay and could go now, but Fudge seemed determined to ignore Harry, while Mrs. Bowness was still there. Busy with packing her briefcase, he took a few tentative steps toward the door, and then left quickly when he was sure no one would call him back.

His last few steps were to rush out, flinging the door open and almost knocking him into Mr. Weasley.

Mr. Weasley was standing outside, looking pale. "Dumbledore didn't say—"

"Undo," Harry said, closing the door behind him.

"All charges!" Mr. Weasley beamed, grabbing Harry's shoulders. "Harry, that's great! Well, of course, they can't convict you without evidence, but even so, I can't hide that it's not—"

But Mr. Weasley did not continue, because the door of the Inquisition opened again. The members of the jury filed out.

"Excellent!" declared Mr. Weasley in surprise, pulling Harry aside to let the jury pass. "Have you passed the shackle chair test?"

"I think so," Harry said quietly. One or two of the wizards nodded at Harry as they passed him, while others, including Mrs. Bowness, said good morning to Mr. Weasley, but most looked away.

Cornelius Fudge and the toad-like witch were almost the last to leave the Inquisition. Fudge acted as if he regarded Harry and Mr. Weasley as part of the wall, but once again, the witch looked at Harry almost appraisingly as she passed him.

The last to go of all people was Percy. Like Fudge, he completely ignored his father and Harry; he walked forward, clutching a large roll of parchment and a large extra quill, chest puffed out and defiant. Mr. Weasley's mouth was set into a tight line, but he gave no other indication that he had seen his third son.

"I'll send you straight back so you can tell the others the good news," Mr. Weasley pushed Harry forward as Percy's heels disappeared up the ninth flight of stairs. "I'm going to check out the bathroom at Bisnell Green and take you back on the way. Come on..."

"So, what are you going to do with this bathroom?" Harry asked with a smile. Everything seemed five times more interesting than usual now that people were learning that he was innocent and that he was going back to Hogwarts.

"Oh, that'll just take a simple Curse Reverse Charm," said Mr. Weasley as they went upstairs. "But repairing this kind of damage is not a complicated matter. What is more important is the attitude behind this act of vandalism, Harry. Bullying Muggles may be a funny thing to some wizards, but this It expresses something deeper and dirtier, and I do it for a—"

Mr. Weasley was interrupted mid-sentence. They had reached the elevator on the ninth floor, and Cornelius Fudge was standing a few feet away from them, talking quietly to a tall man.

The man had sleek blond hair and a pale face with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks. The latter heard their footsteps and turned around. He also stopped talking midway, his cold gray eyes narrowing and fixed on Harry's face.

"Very good, very good, very good James Potter," Lucius Malfoy said coldly.

Harry felt breathless, as if the air around him had frozen. The last time he'd seen those cold, gray eyes was through the crack in the Death Eater's hood, and the last time he'd heard the voice was in a dark tomb, where he was being tortured by Voldemort and Malfoy taunting him.

Harry didn't believe that Mr. Malfoy dared to look at his face; he didn't believe that he was here, at the Ministry of Magic, and he didn't believe that Fudge was talking to him, as Harry had told Fudge only a few weeks before. , said that Mr. Malfoy was a Death Eater.

"The Minister of Magic was just telling me about your lucky escape," Mr. Malfoy said lazily. "It's very surprising. In fact, you escape through small holes every time, just like a snake."

Mr. Weasley grabbed Harry's shoulders tightly in warning.

"Yes," said Harry, "yes, I'm good at escaping."

Mr. Malfoy raised his eyes to look at Mr. Weasley's face. "And Arthur Weasley too! What are you doing now, Arthur?"

"I work here," Mr. Weasley said simply.

"You don't work here, I'm sure of that," Mr. Malfoy frowned, looking over Mr. Weasley's shoulder at the door. "I presume you work on the second floor above and you're not doing something involving Muggle prohibited items again and continuing to be obsessed with them?"

"No," growled Mr. Weasley. His fingers were pinching Harry's shoulders painfully now.

"Anyway, what are you doing here now?" Harry asked Mr. Malfoy.

"I don't think my personal matters with the Minister of Magic have any place for your concern, Potter," Mr. Malfoy said, smoothing the front of his robes.

Harry clearly heard a gentle jingle coming from his pocket, which was obviously filled with gold coins.

"Indeed, because you are Dumbledore's favored student, but don't expect us people to indulge you in the same way. So, shall we go to your office, Your Excellency, Minister of Magic?"

"Of course," Fudge said, turning his back to Harry and Mr. Weasley, "This way, Lucius."

They strode away together, still talking quietly as they walked. Mr. Weasley didn't let go of Harry's shoulder until they disappeared into the elevator.

"If they had business to discuss, then why didn't Malfoy wait outside Fudge's office?" Harry shouted angrily. "What is he doing down here?"

"If you ask me, I think he was trying to sneak up on the Inquisition," said Mr. Weasley, looking extremely uneasy, looking around as if to make sure they were out of earshot. "He is trying to find out whether you have been expelled. When I send you back, I will leave a note for Dumbledore. He should be informed that Mr. Malfoy is talking to Fudge again."

"Anyway, what kind of personal thing are they together for?"

"I think it's money," said Mr. Weasley angrily. "Mr. Malfoy has been generous with bribes of all kinds for many years, providing them to the right people. He can then claim the benefits to delay laws he doesn't want to be passed. Oh, Lucius Malfoy, he has a wide network of connections."

The elevator arrived; it was empty except for an internal email hovering above Mr. Weasley's head. Mr. Weasley pressed the button in the atrium and the elevator doors closed. The elevator quickly took them away from here.

"Mr. Weasley," Harry said slowly, "if Fudge is meeting with Death Eaters like Mr. Malfoy, and if he meets them alone, how do we know they didn't cast the Imperius Curse on Fudge?" Woolen cloth?"

"Don't think that this kind of thing can't happen to us, Harry," Mr. Weasley said calmly, "but Dumbledore thinks that Fudge is acting on his own will at the moment - when Dumbledore is talking about this He's not very comfortable with it. It's best to stop talking about it right now, Harry."

The elevator doors opened and they stepped into the now almost empty atrium. The wizard guard Eric was now buried behind his copy of the Daily Prophet.

When Harry remembered, they had walked directly past the golden fountain.

"Wait a minute," Harry called to Mr. Weasley, who took his wallet out of his pocket and turned back to the fountain. Harry looked up at the handsome wizard's face, but up close he looked weak and stupid. The wizard had a dull smile on his face, like a pretty candidate, and as far as Harry knew of elves and other magical creatures, most of them didn't want to be stared at and described like this by humans.

Only the way the house elf nodded and bowed was believable. Harry grinned as he thought about what Hermione would say if she saw the elf statue.

Harry turned the wallet over and emptied it. There were more than ten gold galleons in it, but Harry didn't care and threw them all into the pool.

"I knew it!" Ron pointed his hand into the air and shouted. "You always come back with a full load!"

"They have to clear your name," Hermione looked almost fainting from nervousness as Harry entered the kitchen, and she now had a trembling hand over her eyes.

"There's no evidence against you, absolutely nothing."

"Oh, of course, that's the case." Harry said happily.

"Everyone seems very reassured and I think you all know I'm going to make it," Harry said with a smile.

Mrs. Weasley was wiping her face with her apron while Fred, George and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance and singing a hymn: "He did it, he did it, he did it"

"Enough! Be quiet!" Mr. Weasley shouted, even though he was laughing.

"By the way, have Sirius and Fanlin left?" Harry asked, "I saw something at the Ministry of Magic, I think..."

"They left an hour ago." Hermione said, "But they will solve it as soon as possible."

"I believe in them as much as they believe in me," Harry said.

"But what is that?" Hermione asked.

"About Malfoy and Fudge." Harry said, "When I left, I saw the two of them chatting together. You know, Malfoy is a Death Eater. I'm not sure..."

"Dumbledore? Does Dumbledore know about this?" Hermione asked.

"I was going to tell him, but..." Harry thought of Dumbledore's eagerness to leave. It seemed that between him and Dumbledore... (To be continued)