NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12: Chapter 012
If he kept it up, Hogwarts might well have to close its doors for the foreseeable future.
That he had decided to use a situation where he had both a large audience and no one could lift a finger to stop him or risk their magic, she thought, was astounding.
She quietly muttered, "The boy is more Slytherin than any Slytherin I know."
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"Anyways," continued Memory-Harry, "I was being told Sirius Black, the Azkaban escapee, was loose and looking to find me to kill me. After reading he was both my godfather and had taken the Godfather's Oath, I knew the second part of that wasn't true.
"I also knew that, while he had escaped Azkaban, he was not a convicted felon. As such, and according to law, all he did was escape from illegal incarceration. And that, I assure you, is not an illegal act. Check your own laws and records for proof of what I'm telling you."
After a pause to allow that to sink in, he continued, "After my three weeks of freedom in Diagon Alley, I was now better informed of just what was going on. And it was also time to return to Hogwarts.
"On the first of September we, of course, boarded the Express back to Hogwarts. We had our usual visit from Malfunction Malfoy and his two human bookends looking to make trouble before we even left the metropolitan area of Greater London. Then we settled back to relax for the rest of the journey.
"Of course, as most of you know, we were boarded by dementors. I had no idea why they had such an interest in me, but one of them entered our compartment; where it proceeded to suck all the happiness out of us.
"Luckily, Professor Remus Lupin was also in the compartment, and he drove it off before it could suck my soul out, which it was looking to do.
"Kind of ironic, isn't it? The dementors were supposed to be there to protect us, especially me; and yet, at its first opportunity, one of them immediately attacked me. The dementors are supposed to be under the direct control of the Ministry. Therefore, as the living embodiment of the Ministry, I hold Minister Cornelius Fudge solely and completely responsible for that.
"And that was only the first of three times the dementors tried to snack on my soul that school year."
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It was Cornelius Fudge's turn to groan and slump forward a bit. He'd worked hard to make sure news of the attacks by the dementors had been hushed-up in the media. If it got out that one of the dementors attacked the 'Hero of the Wizarding World', Harry Potter, and that they did it due to something he caused to happen, he knew his career would be over.
Now that Potter had made it very public, it wouldn't be long before it also became public he'd hushed-up the attacks immediately after they had happened.
His career was over; and he knew it.
Madam Bones, from where she sat, looked across to Fudge and saw him slump forward in defeat. She smirked. She, too, knew the man's career as Minister was over.
The words of a muggle song of a muggle singing group, of which she was a secret fan, echoed through her mind. 'Another one bites the dust'.
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Meanwhile, Memory-Harry had continued. "For the most part, my third year - last year - was a great deal less life-threatening than the first two. However, there were a few notable exceptions to that through the year.
"The second attempt by the dementors to suck on my soul came in early November, when the dementors used the cover of low clouds to come onto the grounds of Hogwarts and over the Quidditch pitch. That time, it was about a half-dozen that attacked me. Their attack rendered me unconscious and I fell from my broom from a height of about three hundred feet.
"I was saved by an Arrest Momentum charm from serious injury, if not death, from the fall.
"In mid-December I'm finally 'informed' - if you can call it that - that Sirius Black is supposed to have double-crossed my parents and led Voldemort to our hiding place in Godric's Hollow. I had to pretend it was the first time I learned of that, so as not to alert Dumbledore I already knew of that particular lie.
"The reason I did not want Dumbledore to know I knew of that will become apparent later in this presentation.
"And, yes, it was a lie. I know people believe it to be true. However, it is not. My parents, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew pulled a fast one over everyone. They made it look like Sirius was the Fidelius charm Secret Keeper, but it was actually Peter Pettigrew. And Dumbledore, being the one who cast the Fidelius, knew it was Pettigrew and not Sirius.
"And that means Albus Dumbledore knew damned well - or at least had direct knowledge of - the fact Sirius Black is innocent of the crimes to which he was unjustly dumped into Azkaban... and hasn't said one bloody word of it to anyone, let alone someone who could have done something about it. Hell, as Chief Warlock, he is well positioned to do something about it, himself - and hasn't.
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Mightily frowning in barely concealed fury, Madam Bones leaned forward to whisper-snarl in Dumbledore's ear. "At the end of Mister Potter's little presentation, as Director of the DMLE, I'm formally suspending you as both Chief Warlock and as Britain's representative on the ICW - which means your position as Supreme Mugwump is also suspended - and banning you from sitting on the Wizengamot until such time as my investigations into Mister Potter's... allegations... are concluded.
"You can, of course, appeal my decision. However, Cornelius Fudge will also be suspended from his position as Minister of Magic; so, he will be unable to aid you. Your only option will be to take the matter to the full Wizengamot; and I doubt they'll want to aid you when all this hits the Daily Prophet and the WWN by this evening at the latest.
"If I can manage it, I'll also be standing you down as Headmaster. I believe I might have enough already with what he's already told us. But, more won't hurt. And I don't think he's done yet - not by a long shot."