Chapter 37: 36 - Draco Dethroned
Nearly two months had now passed since the wedding. It didn't seem that long, and yet — to Harry, at least — it felt like a lot longer. In that time they had managed to get Snape convicted and sentenced to Azkaban; received Orders of Merlin over the incident he caused in the aftermath; lost Ron as a friend; Harry transferred to Beauxbatons to thwart Dumbledore's control; and got Lucius Malfoy arrested for attempted murder.
It was a lot for only two months, but that seemed to be the story of Harry's life.
Things in the castle went on mostly unchanged, with the exception being that Harry and Hermione no longer took all of their classes with their year mates. Theydid take McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout up on their offers, though; all three were excellent teachers. They weren't too fussed about any of the other classes, though, and simply did self-study there.
Dumbledore could be seen staring at them at almost every meal, but they generally ignored him.
One thing Harry was still waiting for was an announcement of a trial for his godfather. The Minister had seemed sincere in his agreement to arrange it, but it had yet to happen. He combed through the paper every day, but so far there was nothing.
Today, however, something else was afoot, as was soon made apparent by the sudden murmurs spreading in the Great Hall:
Goblins Eject Dumbledore From Gringott's!
by Daphne Love
In a bizarre scene on Tuesday afternoon, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, was physically thrown from Gringott's Bank in Diagon Alley by a pack of security goblins. Bystanders reported that Dumbledore was yelling at the goblins in their native language during the incident, but nobody was available to translate. The goblins then closed the doors and refused to readmit him.
While they would not share specific reasons, a spokesgoblin for Gringotts had this to say: "Mr. Dumbledore has deeply offended the Goblin Nation. He is no longer welcome on any goblin lands, including Gringott's Wizard Bank. This decision will stand until such time as our ruler sees fit to revoke it."
So what does this mean for Dumbledore? Nothing was said about his accounts, so we can only assume that he will be able to access them by proxy. But what did he do to anger the Goblins? While they are known for reacting harshly when offended, it is not easy to offend a goblin.
Questions are piling up surrounding Albus Dumbledore. Is he suffering from some form of mental breakdown? With his recent impassioned defense of convicted child abuser and Death Eater Severus Snape, and now his ejection from Gringott's, one can only wonder.
Perhaps we should borrow from the words of Fleur Potter, who recently verbally accosted him in the Great Hall at Hogwarts: if he cannot remember her proper name, and does not know what goes on in his own school, then what else is he forgetting, and how much is he missing?
Harry just stared at the article. It was one thing for the Goblins to throw Dumbledore out — it was inevitable really once they knew the nature of his transgressions against Harry — but for Dumbledore to make a scene in the Alley for all to see? It seemed that the man was well and truly losing his touch.
"An amateur mistake," opined Fleur from next to him. "Nevair let zem see you sweat, I believe is ze phrase."
"I have to agree with you there," frowned Neville from across the table. "Gran would skin me alive if I made that kind of scene in public. It's just not done."
"I don't think he's used to losing," Hermione guessed. "It's putting him off his game, but don't underestimate him. If he adapts, he could still be very dangerous."
Nobody disagreed with that sentiment.
Everyone in the Hall was so focused on the issue with Dumbledore and the Goblins, however, that they almost missed an even more momentous occasion, described by a long article buried on page three:
Lucius Malfoy Sentenced To Life In Azkaban
by L. McDonald
After a trial that lasted for nearly a week, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, 40, was sentenced late last night to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban Prison. While the trial itself was the result of events that took place at the awarding of the Order of Merlin to Harry and Fleur Potter, the final list of charges stems largely — though not entirely — from the previous war.
Before the ceremony, Malfoy was heard to insult Fleur Potter. This led to her father, Sebastian Delacour, challenging the validity of Malfoy's famous claim of being under the Imperius Curse when serving He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry Potter even offered to pay for Veritaserum to ensure that the truth was known, ostensibly to protect Malfoy's reputation.
It was shortly thereafter that Malfoy attempted to kill Potter with the Killing Curse right there in the Ministry atrium. He failed; both Potters stunned him before he could complete the casting.
While he was convicted of that and one other charge of attempted murder against Potter, it was his crimes in the last war that took so long to adjudicate. It was conclusively proven under Veritaserum that Lucius Malfoy was not, in fact, under Imperius; he willingly took his Dark Lord's mark.
Once that was known, his actions during the war were deeply questioned. This revealed a sordid history of torture, rape, and murder going back more than twenty years. Lucius Malfoy, who always portrayed himself as a pillar of our society, has now been revealed as the lowest of the low.
Minister Fudge was appalled by the crimes of his long time benefactor. "I had no idea," he told this reporter. "If I had, I would have had him arrested a long time ago. It's absolutely disgusting. If the last administration had simply not let these people go without proper questioning, then this would have been dealt with long ago."
Fudge was, of course, referring to former Minister Bagnold and Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore, who worked together to arrange amnesty for the supposedly Imperiused Death Eaters, without any form of surety such as Veritaserum.
The final nail in the proverbial coffin, however, was much more recent. It was proven that, two years ago, Malfoy unleashed on the innocent students of Hogwarts a dangerous artifact that once belonged to his Dark Lord. A half dozen students were petrified, and it was nothing short of a miracle that no children were killed.
The culprit? A sixty foot long, thousand year old basilisk, that in the end was killed not by Albus Dumbledore, but instead by Harry Potter, who was only twelve years old at the time. It is our view at the Daily Prophet that Mr. Potter deserves another Order of Merlin for that alone!
The creation and release of a basilisk is considered one of the most heinous crimes a wizard can commit. While Malfoy may not have created the creature, his actions saw it released. His actual sentence was ten lifetimes for that alone — a symbolic gesture by the Wizengamot indicating that his crimes are well beyond forgiveness.
Other sanctions include a hefty fine against the Malfoy estate that will reduce their coffers to a mere shadow of what they once were. More than nine tenths of the value of the estate will be split amongst the Ministry, the victims of the basilisk, and Potter, who saved our children by slaying the beast.
Only time will tell how the rest of the Malfoy family will weather this devastating blow, brought upon them by their own Head of House committing countless atrocities that no right-minded witch or wizard would ever even contemplate.
Given the nature of the mentions of his name in the article, Harry was relieved that it was buried. He didn't need any more attention. Of course, that lasted right up until Draco Malfoy found it only moments later, at which point the fact that it was buried lost all relevance.
"POTTER!" he roared from the Slytherin table. Then he surged up from his seat. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU'RE DEAD, POTTER!"
Harry quickly got to his feet, along with his friends. Unlike with the boy's father, he had no need to hide that he was ready to fight, and drew his wand without hesitation. He was dimly aware of his wife and friends readying themselves as well.
It was only seconds later that the first curse was cast from halfway across the hall, even as Malfoy rushed toward him, his face a rictus of hatred.
"DIFFINDO!" the boy roared.
Screams erupted from the other students, and they dove under the House tables. Flitwick and McGonagall — two of the four adults at the head table, the other two being Vector and Dumbledore — rose and started hurrying their way. Dumbledore just sat there, and Vector wasn't a fighter.
For his part, Harry batted the spell into a wall, where it obliterated a chunk of stone and sprayed everyone nearby with the resulting dust and grit.
"Lucius was responsible for his own crimes, Malfoy," he said clearly. "If you want to join him in Azkaban, then by all means continue and I'll put you down and turn you over to the Aurors. Otherwise, go sit down. Now!"
But Malfoy wasn't capable of listening, not that he ever had been. He was nearly at point blank range now, and his wand came up again. "AVADA-" he began—
— only to be put down by no less than seven stunners before he could finish: Two from Harry and Fleur, two from Neville and Hermione, two from the Weasley Twins, and one from Ginny, who was sitting at the next table over at the time. She was one of the few others not to dive under the tables.
A stark silence fell as Malfoy collapsed, and McGonagall and Flitwick finally arrived.
"What is ze saying?" mused Fleur after a moment. "Like Fazzer like Son?"
Harry snorted, but otherwise ignored her for the moment, no matter how accurate the comment was. "Neville?" he called. "Please go call Madam Bones and tell her we need Aurors here."
"I've got it, Harry!" called Susan from elsewhere in the Hall.
"That won't be necessary, Miss Bones," said Dumbledore, finally standing up from his throne. "There's no need to involve the Aurors."
If they thought it had been silent before, the silence now was positively deafening. The entire student body — plus a couple of dozen students from two foreign schools — had clearly heard the boy start the incantation for the Killing Curse. And now Dumbledore was going to try to excuse it?
Everyone was stunned!
"Susan, Neville, both of you go now," growled Harry suddenly. "Stay together, and don't let anyone interfere."
They went.
"That's not necessary, Harry," said Dumbledore in a placating tone of voice as the rest of the school started climbing out form under the tables. "He is simply overwrought. I'm sure he didn't mean it."
That the feathers barely stopped sprouting at the base of Fleur's neck was a testament to her struggle to contain her anger. "'E just tried to murder my 'usband wiz ze Killing Curse right in front of you," she growled with slow deliberation, "and you say 'e did not mean it? You are— you are— insensée!"
"And that's to say nothing of the other students he endangered in the process," agreed Harry. "I don't care if he was overwrought, as you say. He just tried to kill me, Headmaster, and I will see him charged for that."
"I'm sure–" started Dumbledore.
"Nothing can ever excuse the use of an Unforgivable Curse, Albus!" Flitwick suddenly rode over the top of him. "That's why they're called Unforgivable in the first place. But even had he not tried to use that curse, using any potentially lethal curse in an offensive manner, as he did with the cutting curse he cast, is grounds for immediate and unconditional expulsion!"
"Now, Filius–"
"STOP!" roared Flitwick. "This is not a discussion, Albus! If you try to quash this you will be looking for a new staff before the end of the day, and that's assuming you're not in a Ministry holding cell yourself. And we will be advising every parent to pull their children out because the Headmaster cares more for the happiness and well-being of a would-be murderer than for the safety of their innocent children!"
Harry could see the majority of heads nodding in agreement with the sentiment, and Dumbledore looked completely flummoxed by the resistance. Silence reigned for almost a full minute as Flitwick and Dumbledore stared each other down. And just when Dumbledore looked like he was going to speak again–
"Don't even think about it, Albus," McGonagall warned flatly. "I agree with Filius, as I think does everyone else in this room bar you."
Dumbledore huffed. "This is my school, Minerva," he complained.
"No, it's damn well not!" came a stern voice from the entrance hall.
Harry turned in time to see Madam Bones striding briskly into the room with a number of Aurors in tow, including Auror Tonks, who winked at him when she saw him looking. He couldn't help but smile back a little. She seemed like a nice lady, even if her hair was an odd shade of purple today.
"Hogwarts belongs to Britain," Bones continued, "and its policies and procedures are set by the Board of Governors. You don't get to reinterpret the rules as you see fit, Dumbledore, you may only enforce them as written. A Headmaster is an administrator, not a bloody dictator."
Dumbledore looked like he'd sucked on a lemon at that statement — probably because he knew it to be true. Not that he wouldn't go back to doing things his own way the moment Madam Bones was out the door. It was his way after all.
After examining the scene — including determining the last spells cast by the various wands involved — Bones turned to Harry. "What happened?" she asked simply.
"He saw the article in the Daily Prophet about his Dad going to prison and decided to take it out on me," sighed Harry. "He cast a cutting curse at me, and tried to cast the Killing Curse, and I want him charged with both. If he could do that in public without a care, I shudder to think what he will eventually get up to when nobody is looking."
"Shacklebolt!" called Bones. "Cuff him and put him in a holding cell!"
"Yes, ma'am," responded the same Auror that had arrested Lucius, and then he was moving.
"Is this really necessary, Amelia?" protested Dumbledore.
"Yes," said Bones flatly. "This is a criminal matter, Dumbledore. He broke one of our highest laws, and you should have been the one reporting it, not the one trying to sweep it under the rug. Hogwarts is a school. It is not the DMLE or the courts!"
"But he's just a young boy!" protested Dumbledore, "and he had quite the shock this morning! I'm sure he wouldn't have done this under normal circumstances."
"I don't care, Dumbledore," ground out Bones. "I. Don't. Care. Anyone who can cast a Killing Curse without thought, can cast it with malice aforethought. We don't need that kind of person running loose in our society."
That statement brought a massive round of applause from almost every student in the Hall, to Dumbledore's obvious horror — including many of the Slytherins, Harry noted with interest.
"Sucks to be Malfoy," noted a twin under cover of the din.
"Yup," agreed the other. "Looks like the Dementors will be taking delivery of a pet ferret."
"They even have a cage all ready for him," agreed the first.
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