Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 214 Stubbornness (Part Two)

Dumbledore remained calm, holding a wand that resembled a finger bone, his hands casually folded in front of him, appearing harmless, but Fudge inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine.

Only then did he remember that the white-bearded old man in front of him had personally defeated the first Dark Lord Grindelwald fifty years ago and was the greatest white wizard of this century.

Fudge looked at Kingsley and the man with short, gray hair; they were the Aoro he had brought, and now was the time for them to step forward.

"Don't be foolish, Dexterity," Dumbledore said, looking at the man with short, gray hair. "I believe you are an excellent Auror, but if you try to arrest me, I won't be so lenient."

"Are you planning to arrest me, Dumbledore?" Fudge sneered. "You think you can take on Shackleton, Drax, Weasley, me, and Dolores all by yourself?"

"Of course he's not alone!" Professor McGonagall drew her wand and stood in front of Dumbledore. Harry and Hermione followed, while Marietta quietly slipped to the side.

"Enough, Minerva, Hogwarts needs you," Dumbledore said. "Get out of the way!"

"Attack!" Fudge shouted, drawing his wand and swinging it sharply. "Petrify them all!"

"boom!"

A loud bang was followed by a blinding flash of white light. Harry involuntarily squinted, and it took him a while to recover. Interspersed among the thuds were the sounds of heavy objects falling to the ground and a couple of screams. When his vision returned, he saw Fudge and the others lying motionless on the ground.

"He's passed out," Dumbledore said. "Are you all alright?"

"It's nothing." Professor McGonagall's eyes were red; the blinding white light had clearly affected her as well.

"Sorry, I went a little too far, but that was the only way in that situation." Dumbledore smiled. "It's been a while since I've used my skills, so I'm a bit rusty."

"What should we do next, Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"It's obvious that I'll be leaving for a while."

"Where are you going? Grimmauld Place?"

"No, I won't go that far," Dumbledore said. "I need to be prepared to come back and clean up Fudge's mess."

As if joking, Dumbledore winked at Professor McGonagall, then looked at Harry and Hermione, his expression immediately turning serious.

"Listen, Harry, you must do everything in your power to learn Occlumency, learn it as soon as possible, it's very important." Dumbledore's tone was somewhat urgent, "Do exactly what Professor Snape said, give it your all, so that you can protect your brain before you go to sleep and stop having nightmares."

"Professor, you knew all along?" Harry asked, somewhat ashamed.

"Yes, I know..." Dumbledore patted Harry on the shoulder, then turned to Hermione, his tone becoming much more serious. "Miss Granger, do you know the consequences of what you did? Using that level of curse on a student, and having it seen by the Ministry of Magic."

"I understand, Professor." Hermione remained calm after a long silence, meeting Dumbledore's scrutinizing gaze directly.

"Are you really sure? Your position is very dangerous."

"I'm ready, Professor."

"Wait, what consequences? What dangers?" Harry was completely confused. His intuition told him that Hermione was about to do something extremely dangerous. "Hermione, what are you doing?"

Hermione didn't speak, but Dumbledore gripped Harry's arm tightly. "Alright, time is running out, they'll wake up soon..."

"You must remember my words: you must learn Occlumency, as soon as possible!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Fudge and the others groaned and struggled to get up. But then they saw Dumbledore raise his hands, and a red figure appeared in his palms. After the blinding red light faded, Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen in the room.

"Where is he? Where did he go?" The red light made Fudge's eyes blur again. He shouted and waved his hands, trying to grab something.

"I don't know..." Kingsley seemed to be badly injured. He sat on the ground, shook his head, and then collapsed again.

"The stairs! I'll go check!" Delix was also dizzy, but he still tried to run out, but he fell down after only a couple of steps.

"Alright, that's enough! Weasley, help me up!" Fudge shouted angrily, sitting back in his chair with Percy's help, rubbing his head and gritting his teeth, "Phoenix! Humph! He Apparated!"

"Minister..." Umbridge, having recovered slightly, stood beside Fudge, her face pale. She was immediately interrupted by Fudge: "Alright, Dolores... this isn't over, Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore is finished!"

"Perhaps," Professor McGonagall said coldly, shielding Harry and Hermione behind her.

Fudge snorted coldly, glanced at the calm-faced little witch, and said, "Granger, I now believe that the assessment of you as an excellent student is completely wrong. What you have done is utterly outrageous!"

"You've been stripped of your right to use the Time-Turner, forever!"

"It's not something a Minister for Magic should do to vent your anger on a student, Cornelius." Even the portraits of past headmasters on the wall couldn't stand Fudge's behavior and directly mocked him.

"Shut up!" Fudge's face turned pale. He stood up abruptly, glaring at the portrait that had spoken, then turned to Professor McGonagall and said, "You think it's over just because he ran away?"

"In fact, he left on his own," Professor McGonagall replied calmly. "You didn't catch him."

"Hmph!" Fudge was furious. He flung his robe and turned to leave. After a few steps, he turned back and stared intently at Professor McGonagall, but said nothing more before turning away again.

After Fudge and the others left, Professor McGonagall finally dropped her serious and cold demeanor, let out a long sigh, and looked somewhat tired.

"Alright, go back and get some rest, Potter and Granger. We have too much to do tonight."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall."

Hearing this, Harry wanted to ask something more, but seeing Professor McGonagall wave her hand, he had no choice but to give up. He and Hermione left the headmaster's office and headed towards the Gryffindor common room.

On the way, Hermione remained calm, while Harry seemed hesitant and conflicted.

"Ask whatever you want, Harry," Hermione said.

"Just now..." Harry was still conflicted. "What did Dumbledore mean when he told you? What were you going to do?"

"It's nothing, just the things we've always done. Aren't they dangerous?" Hermione turned to Harry, a slight smile playing on her lips. "The Order of the Phoenix, Vader's plans, your nightmares—what we've done hasn't been dangerous?"

"Really...no!" Harry exclaimed, grabbing Hermione's arm. "Are you going...to find him?"

"Who?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "Who are you looking for?"

"Looking for Ai..." Harry stopped mid-sentence, several thoughts flashing through his mind, before the words came out. "No... nothing."

"Let's go back."

(End of this chapter)