章節 59: Chapter 59
Thankfully, Harry didn't have to worry too much about Dumbledore attacking him on his last night of school since there had been extra Aurors called in to dismantle the illegal traps set up at Hogwarts. They had also stayed throughout the night to secure evidence and make sure Dumbledore didn't return to the castle to intervene in their investigation into him.
He had been quite firmly asked to vacate Hogwarts by Madame Bones while her team investigated his involvement, as well as that of the school staff, for allowing a simple locking spell to stand between students and a man-eating guard dog with three heads! In her words, it was criminally negligent.
Her ire only intensified when she spoke to her niece about it and was regaled with gossip about the many attempts of students to investigate where they were explicitly told not to go unless they wanted to die a terrible death!
Still, Harry had taken extra precautions as a cornered animal was usually more dangerous, and Dumbles was entering into unknown territory concerning his behaviour. But with his elf guard and magical precautions, he had slept easier. Of course, since he was leaving today, he had dismantled all of his defence systems against Dumbledore and ambient mana. No need to leave behind evidence of his advanced knowledge.
Although Harry had wanted to preserve the timeline as much as possible so he had a rough idea of what would happen, he wasn't going to risk his life over it! Not to mention that the important thing about knowing the future was to milk it for benefits, not just watch it happen from a safe distance.
As everyone was eating breakfast in the Great Hall before they would catch the train back to London, a flurry of owls once again made an entrance, carrying the newest edition of the Daily Prophet. Lilith, his pure white snowy owl, was no exception and was rewarded for her hard work with tasty bacon.
"Dumbledore Risks Curious Children Over Artifact!"
"Philosopher's Stone Stolen by Unidentified Thieves!"
"Headmaster Gambles With Lives, Literally Loses Robes Off His Back!"
"Does Dumbledore Have Too Many Jobs?"
"Future Generation Not A Priority For Dumbledore!"
"Hogwarts Professor Under Compulsions, Who Is Too Blame?"
Harry was impressed with page after page of articles and headlines criticising Dumbledore's ability to perform his Headmaster duties competently. Even McGonagall's excessive workload and failures were used against the man.
The many duties foisted onto her by Albus hindered McGonagall from adequately performing her responsibilities as the Head of Gryffindor. The typical tasks she had to take care of as Deputy Headmaster, like day to day running of Hogwarts, were mostly within the job description of the Headmaster!
Albus Dumbledore liked to always use his heavy workload as an excuse to run away from discussions demanding answers to difficult questions. But it soon came to light that he had actually delegated most of his Headmaster responsibilities to McGonagall.
When pressed for what he actually did all day in his office, he couldn't even supply a direct answer, merely using his usual method of deflection! In fact, after Madame Bones saw the bullsh*t involved with the Philosopher's Stone, she had ordered a full audit of the school to add other misdemeanours and charges to the smug bastard that constantly tied the hands of the Auror Department!
Soon, everything from Neville's broom nearly killing him, to Professor Sybill Trelawney being drunk on the job and continuously telling students they were going to die, was listed in an official report.
Snape escaped by the skin of his teeth for his previous lousy teaching, thanks to turning over a new leaf, but was still on the hook for creating a deadly potion quiz for Dumbledore.
Of course, Amelia was more than happy to give the teachers involved in creating the traps guarding the Stone a break if they testified that the Headmaster ordered them to do it. She wanted to strike a blow at Dumbledore in revenge for not just Blintley, but for the ridiculous laws he had passed that the Aurors had to enforce.
Not to mention that the self-proclaimed pacifist was mainly responsible for Fudge defunding their department and appropriating the funds for undisclosed reasons. Honestly, who fights a war with stunners against terrorists using lethal spells?
She didn't have enough to send the man to jail since his many supporters and hugely protective reputation would sway a vote, but she could at least take away his position as Headmaster! The school board was ultimately under the purview of the Ministry, after all.
When Rita came to gain permission to print her numerous articles to go out with the morning paper, Amelia had added a few of her own thoughts on the matter. Skeeter was only too happy to comply as it gave her a 'credible source in the Aurors' to quote and didn't care about taking the heat from the old bast*rd's followers.
Rita had wanted to add in the story about the Sorting Hat, but her employer ordered her to hold off. Harry was worried that it might make everyone more paranoid and make it harder to take advantage of, not that he told his reasons to Rita.
Either way, Dumbledore would need to do some incredibly fancy footwork to escape the Purebloods suing him for endangering their scions let alone keeping his other positions and titles. Especially since Pettigrew's trial was today and Sirius Black would be making an appearance to be officially exonerated.
While Harry would be riding the train home, Magical Britain would be exploding with the news that Hagrid had been the one to carry off baby Harry Potter and deliver him to the magic hating muggles. Dumbledore was buggered, and not in the way he enjoyed like when Gellert Grindelwald was involved!
Harry smiled as the Dining Hall was rife with loud arguments and cries of disbelief at the Headmaster's predicament. It was hard for them to reconcile the image of their hero with the incompetent man portrayed in the newspaper. They had never even thought about the chance of dying when they investigated the third floor.
Just as breakfast was nearly finished, a second wave of owls flew in, heading to their respective targets. These were from concerned parents questioning why their children had not informed them of the third-floor corridor that promised a grisly death or the burglary that had taken place yesterday.
There were even a few howlers from oblivious parents that liked to air their dirty laundry in public, the Weasleys being a prime example of this. This caused many children to suddenly want to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas!
Harry was unsure if Dumbledore was behind the information blackout of Hogwarts, as there had never been mention of the many disasters unfolding at the school in canon. Had it been like the calming aura he used at the Sorting? Or something much more sinister?
A giant thousand-year-old Basilisk petrifying students should have dominated headlines! Not to mention Unicorns dying, giant spiders on school grounds and Dementors nearly sucking out children's souls.
In a way, Dumbledore owed Harry immensely for getting rid of Quirrell. Imagine if the troll incident had taken place or Voldemort was still running around under the turban of a teacher! Not to mention that Quirrell would have inevitably been killed by a student under Dumbledore's care.
You would think that as the only person trying to convince the Ministry that Voldemort was back, he would have a lot of prime material to be used as evidence for his case instead of just throwing Potter under the bus. At the very least, he would be able to prove that there was an organisation working towards bringing Voldemort back!
For a man hailed as this generation's most powerful wizard, he never actually did anything! No matter if you thought he was a Dark Lord or not, there was not one case where he accomplished anything by himself! He always worked through proxies like children or vigilante groups, and they constantly suffered for it.
Hagrid being just one example of a minion that dedicated himself to Dumbledore but was shafted at every turn. With all of Albus Many-names' political power, he couldn't even stop Hagrid from getting thrown in Azkaban with no evidence? Couldn't get him his wand back when the Chamber of Secrets was solved?
At least this time, Hagrid would never have to face the threat of prison for receiving a Dragon egg from Quirrell. Though Hagrid was still going to be in the sh*t for his role in kidnapping a Noble Heir. That was not going to go well for the Half-Giant in a court of racist Purebloods...
Eventually, the turmoil in the Great Hall had settled down, and everyone was shepherded onto the Hogwarts Express. Harry had obtained a compartment with Hermione and Neville, though they were visited continuously by others during the trip.
Even Draco came to ask about his plans for the Christmas holidays and invite him over. Though they were not exactly friends, Harry and Draco had a cordial relationship that the ambitious little Slytherin regularly used to tempt him into an alliance.
It was funny to watch as the eleven-year-old Pureblood with slicked back blonde hair tried to mimic his father's association with his own acquaintances. But the boy had nothing to offer, or really any goal to work towards, other than talking Quidditch and hating Ron Weasley.
Harry was quite happy to give Draco ideas on the latter, and it had seen the red-headed gimp suffer quite a few embarrassing defeats and gain Draco a reputation boost amongst the Snakes. This had raised Harry's 'stock' with Draco immensely, and a respectful working relationship was formed between them.
While Draco gave him tips on how to walk and talk like a Pureblood Heir, Harry, in turn, gave advice to the mini-villain on how to not alienate himself from the majority of the students by calling people mudbloods.
It took a bit to explain it to the stubborn boy, but pointing out how Harry had publically destroyed Ronald 'the twit' Weasley by associating him with blood superiority doctrine, and how the students had avoided the boy, it quickly had him come around. No one wanted to be a social leper.
All in all, it had been a peaceful train ride back to London, and the hardest part of the trip was dodging invitations to visit peoples homes over the break. Thankfully, he had the perfect excuse to give out to any who offered.
"Sorry, but with all of the drama going on with my Godfather, I'm not sure what my schedule will be. I will be sure to write though, so send me a letter, and I will let you know what happens. Maybe next holiday!"
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