Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 213 Stubbornness (Part 1)

"Hermione Granger? I know her." Upon hearing this name, Fudge's mind conjured up a young face.

He certainly knew Hermione; there weren't many students applying for the Time-Turner, and each one required Fudge's signature before being released to the Department of Mysteries.

In recent years, only two students have been approved: one succumbed to depravity, and the other was Hermione.

"It seems like she and that Ike who's turned to the dark side..." Fudge muttered. Percy, who was standing nearby, quickly leaned over and whispered in Fudge's ear, "They're a couple, Minister."

"I see..." Fudge nodded and said, "Dolores, could you please call Miss Granger over? Casting such a vicious curse on a classmate shouldn't be allowed... What do you think, Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore didn't reply, remaining calm and collected, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Umbridge left, and in that brief moment, Professor McGonagall pulled Marietta aside, gave her a pain-relieving potion, and lifted the curse from her. It was troublesome; even she had to put in quite a bit of effort.

Before long, Umbridge returned, with Hermione following behind her, showing no sign of panic.

"Alright, we've already wasted some time. I think we can put Miss Granger's matter aside for now," Fudge said, giving Umbridge a wink. Umbridge, in her sickeningly sweet voice, immediately replied, "Yes, Minister, Mr. Potter's matter is far more serious than Miss Granger's."

"That's right, then Dolores, could you please tell everyone what you know?"

“Of course,” Umbridge said. “You may recall that I reported to you back in October that Potter had been partying with many of his classmates at the Hog’s Head…”

"Do you have any evidence?" Professor McGonagall suddenly asked.

“We have the testimony of Willie Widsing, who was in the bar at the time and heard everything Potter said,” Umbridge replied.

"I see. That's why he wasn't prosecuted for the sewage backflow he caused," Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Our justice system is truly amazing!"

Upon hearing this, Harry suddenly remembered who Weasley was. He had heard Mr. Weasley mention his name before; he was a habitual prankster who used magic to play tricks on Muggles with their strange quirks.

Umbridge seemed oblivious to Professor McGonagall's sarcasm, and continued, "Potter is meeting with these students to try and persuade them to join an illegal organization in order to learn spells that the Ministry of Magic deems unsuitable for students..."

“You’ve got some things wrong, Dolores,” Dumbledore interrupted abruptly. “You’re wrong to accuse such a group of being illegal at the time. If you haven’t forgotten, the Education Order No. 24 was issued after that.”

“Yes, Headmaster, you’re right,” Umbridge laughed, “but all the gatherings after that were illegal.”

"But how do you know they had a gathering afterward? What proof do you have?"

Umbridge's smile widened, and she let out a shrill laugh, pointing at Marietta beside her. "Headmistress, she's the witness! Didn't you hear that?"

"Oh? The curse on you is off? That's wonderful!" Umbridge was overjoyed. She pulled Marietta back from Professor McGonagall, patted her on the shoulder, and encouraged her, "Come on, tell me everything you know. How many parties has Potter hosted in the last six months?"

Harry's heart sank; this time it was truly over. For some reason, he felt a pang of resentment towards Professor McGonagall. He shouldn't have touched upon Marietta's curse; then she wouldn't have revealed it.

"I don't know exactly how many times..." Marietta's voice was soft, but loud enough for everyone to hear, "but it was definitely very frequent."

"Fantastic, boy!" Umbridge urged. "What else? Keep going, keep going."

"I..." Marietta's face suddenly turned ashen, and the lines of text reappeared. This time, however, the ugly bumps were gone, because her face split open, revealing several horrifying cracks from which blood gushed.

"Oh my god!" Umbridge was startled and let out a piercing scream, her ever-present pink coat now stained with quite a bit of it.

Fudge, who had been sitting still, was also startled. His face turned extremely pale, and he yelled at Hermione, "Release it! Release it! How dare you? Release it!"

Hermione appeared calm. She took out her wand and pointed it at Marietta. A flash of white light appeared, and Marietta's face returned to normal. But clearly, the experience had terrified her; her body trembled uncontrollably.

"You wicked..." Umbridge was furious at the sight of the bloodstains on her clothes. She angrily pulled out her wand and pointed it at Hermione, but before she could cast a spell, she was struck by a red light, and the wand flew out of her hand and landed directly in Dumbledore's hand.

Dumbledore's sudden attack startled Fudge, who jumped up from his chair and quickly dodged to the side.

"What are you doing, Dumbledore!" he shouted.

"It's nothing, Cornelius." Dumbledore placed Umbridge's wand on the table. "In my school, no one can harm my students, no matter what they do."

"You…" Fudge was furious. He snorted and sat back down in his chair, shouting at Umbridge, "Continue, Dolores, continue! Evidence!"

"Yes...yes, Minister..." Umbridge replied tremblingly, glancing at the expressionless Dumbledore, then took a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to Fudge. "Minister, this is the guest list for Potter's gathering, which is nailed to their secret base."

When Harry saw the parchment, he knew he was doomed. He really didn't expect Marietta to steal it.

Sure enough, Fudge was overjoyed when he saw the words on the parchment.

"Look at the name they've given themselves? Dumbledore's Army?" Fudge stared intently at Dumbledore. "I originally thought..."

"Thought you could get rid of Potter, but you found someone better?" Dumbledore pushed up his glasses and laughed. "Yes, this is my army, the one I organized."

"You can arrest me now."

"Weasley!" Fudge shouted, looking extremely pleased. "Did you write it all down? His testimony, his confession, his own admission of building an army to overthrow me!"

"Yes, I've noted it all down, sir," Percy replied solicitously, a large amount of writing already on the parchment in his hand.

"I never expected this, I really never expected this, Dolores, did you expect this? I never expected this!" Fudge glanced at the contents of Percy's parchment, his face beaming with a bright smile, and then said to Dumbledore, "You will be taken to the Ministry of Magic for trial, and then I will send you to Azkaban."

"I think you've got one thing wrong, Cornelius." Dumbledore's eyes were fixed on Fudge, his tone unhurried. "You don't really think Azkaban can hold me, do you?"

"And what makes you think I would surrender without resistance?"

(End of this chapter)