Capítulo 33: Fullmetal Wizard | Chapter 33
The members of the Wizengamot were muttering. All eyes were now on Dumbledore, Some looked annoyed, others slightly frightened. As he watched, two elderly witches in the back waved a hello.
A powerful feeling gripped Harry at the sight of Dumbledore. It fortified him with hope. He wanted to catch Dumbledore's eye, but Dumbledore was not looking his way. Instead, he was looking up at the obviously flustered Fudge.
"Ah. Dumbledore. Yes. You, er, got our, er, message that the time and , er, place of the hearing had been changed, then?" Fudge said.
"I must have missed it." Said Dumbledore cheerfully. "However, due to a lucky mistake I arrived at the Ministry three hours early, so no harm done."
"Yes, well. I suppose we'll need another chair.."
"Not to worry, not to worry." Said Dumbledore pleasantly; he took out his wand, gave it a little flick, and a squashy shintzy armchair appeared out of nowhere next to Harry. Dumbledore sat down, put the tips of his long fingers together, and looked at Fudge over them with an expression of polite interest. The Wizengamot was still muttering and fidgeting restlessly; only when Fudge spoke again did they settle down.
"Yes, " said Fudge again, shuffling his notes. "Well, then So. The charges. Yes."
He extracted a piece of parchment from the pile before him , took a deep breath, and read, "The charges against the accused are as follows: The he did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of two Muggles, on August the second at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offense under paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under section thirteen of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy.
"You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey? " Fudge said, glaring at Harry over the top of his parchment.
"Yes." said Harry.
"You received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years agao, did you not?"
"Yes, but.."
"And yet you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?" said Fudge.
"Yes, but.."
"Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic outside school while you are under the age of seventeen?"
"Yes, but.."
"Fully aware the your were in an area full of Muggles."
"Yes, but.."
"Knowing you were in close proximity to two Muggles at the time?"
"Yes," Said Harry angrily, "but I only used it because we were--"
The witch with the monocle on Fudge's left cut across him in a booming voice.
"You produced a fully fledged Patronus?"
"Yes, because.."
"A corporeal Patronus?"
"A--what?"
"Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more that vapor or smoke?"
"Yes" said Harry, "its a stag. it's always a stag."
"Always?" boomed Madam Bones."You have produced a Patronus before now?"
"Yes" Harry said. " I have been doing it for over a year."
"And you are fifteen years old?" "Yes, and.."
"You learned that in school?"
"Yes, Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, because of the .."
"Impressive" said Madam Bones, staring down at him. "a true Patronus at his age..very impressive indeed."
Some of the wizards and witches arounder were muttering again; a few nodded, but others were frowning and shaking their heads.
"It's not a question of how impressive the magic was," said Fudge in a testy voice. "in fact, the more impressive the worse it is, I would have thought, given that the boy did it in plain view of two Muggles!"
Those who had been frowning now murmured in agreement, but it was the sight of Percy's sanctimonious little nod the goaded Harry into speech.
"I did it because of the dementors!" He said loudly, before anyone could interrupt him again. The room rung with silence.
"Dementors?" Madam Bones said after a moment, raising her thick eyebrows, "What do you mean, boy?"
"I mean there were two dementors down that alleyway and they went for me, a friend of mine, and my cousin!"
"Ah." Said Fudge again, smirking unpleasantly as he looked around at the Wizengamot, as though inviting them to share the joke."Yes. Yes. I thought we'd be hearing something like this."
"Dementors in Little Whinging?" Madam Bones said in tones of great surprise. "I don't understand."
"Don't you, Amelia?" Said Fudge, still smirking. "Let me explain. He's been thinking it through and decided dementors would make a very nice little cover story, very nice indeed. Muggles can't see dementors, can they boy? Highly convenient, highly convenient...so it's just your word and no witnesses..."
"I'm not lying..!' Harry loudly, over another outbreak of muttering from the court. "There were two of them, coming from opposite ends of the alley, everything went dark adn cold and my cousin felt them and ran for it..!"
"Enough, enough!" Said Fudge with a very supercilious look on his face. "I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure would have been a very well-rehearsed story--"
Dumbledore cleared his throat. The Wizengamot fell silent again.
"We do, in fact, have witnesses to the presence of dementors in the alleyway," he said. "Other than Dudly Dursley, I mean."
Fudge's plump face seemed to slacken, as though somebody had let air out of it. He stared down at Dumbledore for a moment or two, then , with the appearance of a man pulling himself back together, said "We haven't go time to listen to more taradiddle, I'm afraid, Dumbledore. I want this dealt with quickly--"
"I may be wrong, " Said Dumbledore pleasantly, " but I am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right ot present witnesses for his or her case? Isn't that the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Bones?" he continued, addressing the witch in the monocle.
"True" said Madam Bones. "Perfectly true."
"Oh, very well, very well," snapped Fudge. "Where are these persons?"
"They're just outside the door. Should I..?"
"No.--Weasley, you go," Fudge barked at Percy, who got up at once, hurried down the stone steps from the judge's balcony, and hastened past Dumbledore and Harry without glancing at them. A moment later, Percy returned, followed by Mrs. Figg, who had a shorter person following close behind her elbow, with what looked like a black bag over his or her head. Mrs. Figg looked terrified, and even more batty than ever. She even managed to wear her pink fluffy slippers to court. Dumbledore stood up and gave Mrs. Figg his chair, and conjured up two more. Mrs. Figg then lead the bagheaded person to the chair next to her. Dumbledore sat in the third.
Harry saw that mystery person was wearing a long sleeved sweater and gloves when he or she patted the seat before sitting down. At that point, he was pretty certain who it was, and grew very concerned.
"I take it the bagged one is a Muggle?" Madam Bones said.
"Yes. All his life I believe. We will present him to the court soon enough. As tradition dictates, he is blindfolded, and has the muffliato charm cast on his hearing. There will be no need to obliviate him later, for he has seen and heard nothing of the wizarding world." Dumbledore said.
The muttering began once more.
:::
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