Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 144 143. Shaman's Exposure and Fudge's Thoughts

When he thought of the name, Fudge secretly gritted his teeth - what he couldn't stand the most was Dumbledore's attitude, and now look, this child's reaction was almost the same as that of the old man standing next to him!
The same self-confidence, the same arrogance, as if nothing others do can stop them from achieving their goals, so arrogant.

Fudge had tolerated Dumbledore for a long time, and at this moment he also felt the same disgust for the child standing below, Harry Potter, who looked exactly like Dumbledore.

But Harry didn't know what Fudge was thinking at the moment, but he could feel the hostility coming from Fudge.

"It's okay, Boot." Harry didn't pay attention to the noisy discussions in the stands. Instead, he comforted the child who was brought to him by the batter. "Don't be nervous."

Only after taking a look at Harry when he pushed the door open just now, Bute never dared to look in Harry's direction again, and avoided Harry's sight. Even without using the astral perspective to observe Bute's spirit, Harry could easily detect the panic, guilt and fear in his emotions.

"I'm sorry, mentor." Boot's tears began to flow again when he heard Harry's voice. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't been accidentally--"

"Quiet!" The striker standing nearby glared at them, "No noise allowed in the courtroom."

So Boot didn't even dare to speak. He just lowered his head again, avoiding Harry's sight, and kept wiping his tears.

For an ordinary child like him, everything that happened to him during this period of time seemed like a dream, especially the serious and pressing situation he experienced today, which was a very terrifying nightmare even in a dream.

Although Terry Boot only said a few words, but considering Fudge's previous question and the fact that a child like Boot, who was born in a Muggle family, was involved... Harry thought about it and was afraid that the only possible answer was those shamanic spells.

But shamanic magic is not the magic of wizards, it should not be detectable by traces. What did this child do during the holidays?
On the other side, Fudge, who was sitting at the highest point, continued to explain why he suddenly brought such a child in.

"…As I said just now, this kid named Terry Boot openly showed up in front of Muggles holding a magical creature made up of several floating stones, and he also publicly declared himself to be a shaman. When our memory cancellation team arrived in that area, similar rumors and gossip about the strange magical creature had spread to several nearby Muggle neighborhoods."

"I have to say that it took a lot of effort for the memory cancellation team to erase the memories of those Muggles. Those poor people were busy for at least two nights without rest. Finally, they contained this bad situation before the matter spread completely."

Fudge said this in a tone of lingering fear.

"Wait a moment, Minister," Bones asked, "You mean to say that a strange magical creature appeared? And this child calls himself a shaman?"

After carefully searching the knowledge he had learned, Bones was sure that he had never heard of any magical creature whose body was made up of several floating stones.

"Yes, that's right." Fudge nodded and continued, "In fact, I can understand your confusion at the moment. After all, before I saw it with my own eyes, it was hard for me to believe that such a strange creature really existed in this world."

As he said this, Fudge turned sideways and said loudly, "Bring it in!"

So the door of the fourth courtroom was opened again, and this time only a striker walked in, but that was not the point - the point was a glass jar held in the striker's hand.

The people in the stands sat up straight, and some even stood up and looked out, trying to see clearly what was in the jar.

It was exactly as Fudge said. A stone about the size of a palm formed the body of the creature, while four smaller stones formed its arms. There was no lower body, only a mass of constantly rotating stone fragments.

The most important thing is that this strange-looking thing can actually move. After seeing Terry Butt, this strange-looking stone raised its arms and smashed the glass in front of it. After realizing that it could not break it, it waved its arms towards Butt, as if to say hello.

His actions undoubtedly caused exclamations from the wizards in the stands.

"Earth Elemental," Fudge's voice echoed throughout the courtroom, "This is the name of this strange creature. There is no doubt that it is a new kind of magical creature and should also be subject to the Statute of Secrecy. It should not appear in the eyes of Muggles - Terry Boot!"

Fudge suddenly shouted Boot's name.

"Do you admit that you are the master of this earth element?"

"No," Bute shook his head instinctively.

"No?" Fudge's eyebrows frowned suddenly, and he said anxiously: "This is different from what you said before-"

"Please calm down, Mr. Minister," Dumbledore interrupted Fudge's words. He walked to Terry Boot, patted the boy's shoulder gently and said, "He is only going to be in the second grade this year. You will scare him."

To be precise, he was frightened, as if he had finally found a savior. Boot grabbed Dumbledore's robe with both hands, and Dumbledore did not stop him, but just touched Boot's head kindly.

"Oh, of course, of course." Fudge smiled. "You know, Dumbledore, I certainly don't want to hurt the child. It's just that there are some issues that he needs to clarify."

"Yes, I'm glad we all agree on this." Dumbledore nodded and said to Boot, "Don't be afraid, kid, no one here can hurt you, you just need to tell us everything you know."

"Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore." After wiping away his tears, Boot took a deep breath and said, "I am indeed not Dai Dai's master. Uh, Dai Dai is his name... In short, we are friends. We are equals. No one is the master of anyone. This is also the creed of us shamans."

His answers were halting at first, but Butt became more and more fluent as he spoke, especially the last sentence, which was very firm.

And after he finished speaking, Boot couldn't help but turn his head slightly to look at Harry - Harry just smiled and nodded at him and gave him a thumbs up.

Such a response did make Butt feel more at ease and calm.

"So where did you make this...friend?" Bones asked.

"Hogwarts, ma'am," Boot continued, "I summoned him, and he is willing to be my friend."

Boot's words caused the discussion in the Fourth Courtroom to suddenly grow louder. After all, everyone present had graduated from Hogwarts, and everyone had their own fond memories of the castle - but they didn't remember that this kind of thing was taught in Hogwarts.

Summoned, this statement also means that this is a kind of magic.

Everyone shared the same curiosity about the magical creature in the jar.

"In this regard, I am afraid I have one more very important thing to add," Fudge said suddenly, "and this is why I would say that this matter is related to the case being heard in Courtroom 4 today."

"Terry Boot, do you admit that you are a shaman?"

"Yes, I admit it."

"Then do you admit that you have mastered some of the magic that you call shamans? For example, your magic of summoning earthen elements?"

"...Yes, I admit it." "Very good." Fudge nodded with satisfaction. He looked around and said loudly: "After our memory cancellation team dealt with the accident that may have caused the leakage of magic, we found the child who caused the accident. Of course, we will definitely not blame such a young child, but some things must be made clear."

"I can tell you responsibly that after careful and detailed inspection and testing, we were very surprised to find that the magic called shamanism cast by this child could not touch him at all."

An unnatural blush appeared on his face. Fudge enjoyed this feeling very much. He was the center of everyone, and some important things and words were being said by his mouth. He felt that he was valued by others.

And the development of the matter did not go beyond his expectations. When Fudge finished speaking, this time, the entire Fourth Courtroom really exploded - even those self-righteous wizards of the Wizengamot could not help but argue loudly with each other.

Because if everything Fudge said was true, then it meant that there was a kind of magic that allowed minors to cast spells at will outside of school. This was a situation that was very likely to lead to the violation of the Statute of Secrecy, the existence of wizards being discovered by Muggles, and it was also very likely to cause many magical accidents.

There were discussions, arguments, and doubts, and Fudge did not stop the wizards present from expressing their own ideas until the enthusiasm finally cooled down a little.

"And, there is one last question," Fudge said cheerfully, "Terry Boot? Please answer my next question honestly - how did you master this magic? Or, who taught you this magic that allows you to be outside the law?"

Without answering immediately, Boot instinctively looked at Harry, and his action made many uninformed wizards in the stands cover their mouths in surprise - but Harry just smiled and nodded.

"Yes - it's Harry Potter!" After receiving Harry's hint, Boot turned around, took a deep breath and said loudly: "My mentor is Harry Potter! He is very great. It was he who invented the shamanic spell, and it was he who selflessly taught this magic to us apprentices!"

"This is impossible!!!"

The moment Booth finished speaking, some of the Ministry of Magic employees on the stands near the door behind Harry started shouting subconsciously.

If what Boot said was true, it meant that Harry Potter, a twelve-year-old child who grew up in a Muggle family and had just entered the magical world last year when he first came into contact with magic, had invented a kind of magic himself.

The most important thing is that this kind of magic can break through the traces that wizards have long used to monitor whether underage wizards cast magic outside of school. To be honest, this is even more difficult to accept.

Because some gifted wizards can indeed invent some toy spells when they are young, but those spells are always within the framework of wizard magic.

But Harry's spell was different—he broke through the Thread.

Even for many famous wizards, it is extremely difficult to do this, let alone a small wizard like Harry.

It even makes all the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Magic seem stupid... and perhaps the adult wizards like them seem stupid as well.

Looking at the messy and noisy scene in the Fourth Courtroom, Fudge leaned back on the bench with satisfaction. This was what he wanted to see.

He had no intention of falling out with Dumbledore, nor did he intend to send a signal to the outside world that the Minister of Magic and Dumbledore were not on good terms. Fudge knew what he was doing, and in this matter, he was just a Minister of Magic who enforced the law impartially and told the truth, without any exaggeration or taking advantage of others' misfortune - he was even prepared to speak well of Harry Potter and try to please Dumbledore, the man hiding behind the scenes, again.

Emotional reluctance and hostility could not influence Fudge's actions at all. He did not report the matter of Terry Booth, who claimed to be a shaman, to the Daily Prophet, but kept it secret until today... He even took good care of Booth during this period.

With the help of his assistant, Fudge now only wanted to prove that the Ministry of Magic was not too wrong in this matter, or to prove another truth, that is, even Dumbledore and his golden boy would make mistakes.

Fudge was waiting for Dumbledore's explanation. No matter how he explained, the fact was that the boy had violated the laws that minors should abide by outside of school, and it would be better if Dumbledore could forcibly save Harry.

Rita Skeeter, the reporter for the Daily Prophet, would definitely be happy to exaggerate such news and publish it in the newspaper, and in this way, the golden image surrounding Dumbledore would be broken.

Many wizards will realize that Dumbledore is not perfect either. He is also a human being. He lies and makes mistakes... and the boy who survived who has been in the spotlight recently is just an ordinary child.

Therefore, Fudge did not expect to achieve anything with this.

After so many years in politics, no one knows the wizards in the British wizarding world better than Fudge. The vast majority of them are very stupid and believe everything that is said in the newspapers.

If the newspaper says something or someone is good today, they will celebrate and praise that person or thing. But if the newspaper says that thing is bad or has problems tomorrow, they will angrily send owls or howlers, forgetting everything they said yesterday.

Even dumber than a Muggle.

Squinting his eyes and staring at the center of the courtroom, Fudge was waiting for his chance to strike - he had to do a good job in front of Dumbledore.

Then they entered a stage of free discussion, especially among the wizards of the Wizengamot. They exchanged opinions with each other. Some nodded, some shook their heads, some laughed, and some looked unhappy.

"Mr. Potter," finally, an old witch who looked very old, with dry wrinkles on her face and exposed hands, looked at Harry and asked, "Can you answer some of my questions?"

It was obvious that this old witch was quite respected even in the Wizengamot. When they noticed that she started to ask questions, the discussion among the others gradually stopped and became quiet.

"Of course," Harry nodded, "This——"

He looked at Dumbledore, who immediately answered.

"Ms. Griselda Marchbank," Dumbledore said with a smile, "She is the director of the Wizarding Examinations Administration. Your OWL and NEWT exams will be presided over by her in the future. She is also a senior member of the Wizengamot."

"Ah, I remember it very clearly, Albus. I was the invigilator for your Transfiguration and Charms exams back then." Marchbank also smiled and said, "The tricks you performed with your wand were very novel."

"Thank you for the compliment," Dumbledore said humorously, "But today is probably not the time to reminisce about the past. Please feel free to ask any questions, Griselda, and Harry will answer them carefully."

Well, Harry could understand that Dumbledore's words were not meant for the elderly wizard opposite him, but rather for him... implying that he should give a good answer.

So this Griselda Marchbank was at least a nice person - but had she ever been an invigilator for Dumbledore?
If Harry remembered correctly, Dumbledore should be exactly 110 years old this year, so this Ms. Marchbank should be at least 110 years old. Taking into account that it takes time for her to grow up and work, this old wizard must be at least over 130 years old.

Wizards do have a long lifespan.

Even if there is only one wizard like Nicolas Flamel who has lived for centuries, many of those powerful wizards can live to be close to 200 years old as long as they do not seek death, even without the elixir of immortality.

Of course, physical aging is inevitable.

"Thank you too, Albus." Marchbank smiled before looking at Harry. She looked very serious when it came to serious matters, worthy of being the official in charge of student examinations. "Then Mr. Potter, if what Mr. Booth said is correct, then was it you who taught him the elemental magic that he mastered?"

(End of this chapter)