Chapter 6
Harry awoke suddenly at 5am the next morning, as abruptly as if someone had called his name. He lay in bed for a moment, feeling dread and fear completely take over every particle of his brain. When he felt like the fear would suffocate him, he decided that he should just get out of bed. He pulled on his freshly laundered clothes and padded down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen. Not expecting anyone to be in there, he was surprised when he saw Sirius sitting at the table alone, sipping a cup of tea.
"Morning Harry," Sirius smiled gently at him and pulled out the seat next to him for Harry to sit at. He sat down next to his godfather and sighed. Sirius gave him a sympathetic look.
"How are you feeling? Or is that a stupid question?" Sirius asked him with a small smile.
"Er…," Harry began, not sure what to say, but in the end he managed to sum it up with one word. "Terrified."
Sirius looked at him with a troubled expression. Harry tried to tell him that he was fine, really, but he couldn't seem to get the words out.
"I wish you could come with me, Snuffles," he managed to say, feeling his voice break a little. Sirius looked conflicted.
"I wish I could too, Harry, but even I can see that it would be stupid of me to walk right into the Ministry of Magic," Sirius replied softly.
Sirius shuffled his chair closer to Harry's and gently pulled him into a hug. The simple act of comfort and affection was enough to overwhelm Harry, and for a horrifying moment he felt like he was going to start crying.
"You're going to be fine, Harry, I promise," Sirius murmured in his ear softly. "And even if they find some way to expel you, I'll make it my personal mission to make sure you get to stay here with me. There's no way I'm ever letting you go back to those muggles," Sirius continued, running a hand soothingly through Harry's hair as he hugged him closely. Harry felt safe, and for the first time since last night he didn't feel quite so panicky about the hearing. He pulled away slightly so that he could look into Sirius' face, and blinked away the wetness that had formed in his eyes.
Their moment was interrupted by the arrival in the kitchen of Molly, Arthur, Remus and Tonks. Harry pulled away from Sirius, giving him a sad smile as the fear immediately rushed back over him in waves. Sirius ruffled his hair affectionately, his worried gaze lingering on Harry as he turned back to his tea.
"Harry, dear, you should have some breakfast," Molly said gently. "What do you want to eat?"
"Er, I'll just have some toast, thanks Mrs Weasley," Harry said quietly, his voice sounding hoarse in his ears. She hastened to make it for him and a minute later plonked down a plate of toast and marmalade in front of him. He tried to eat some, but it felt like chewing cardboard, and he had no appetite at all. After a minute or two of watching Harry attempt to chew the same bite of toast, Arthur took pity on him and stood up, stretching.
"We should get going, Harry. You'll be early but I think it'll be better than just hanging around here," Mr Weasley said briskly. Harry dropped his toast at once, and felt as if his stomach had dropped too. He stood and watched absently as Arthur readied himself for work, not sure what to do with himself. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and his palms were sweating. Sirius stood abruptly and walked over to him, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Good luck, Harry," he said gruffly, and before Harry could formulate a response he was following Arthur out of the door and down the road towards the tube station.
His breath misted in front of him as they walked through the early morning chill. Eventually they reached the underground, and Harry was at least slightly distracted from thoughts of the hearing as he amusedly watched Mr Weasley react to all the muggle contraptions around them. Arthur was enthralled by the ticket barrier that swallowed his ticket and allowed them access to the platform, and he was bouncing in his seat excitedly as they sat on the tube, surrounded by bored looking business men and women.
After too short a journey they reached the correct tube station and began walking again, their surroundings becoming more and more dilapidated and run-down as they went along. It seemed an odd place for the Ministry of Magic, but then he supposed it was the last place anyone would think to look. After a short walk they came across an old red telephone box, and Arthur opened the door, gesturing for Harry to go inside. He entered the telephone box apprehensively and was followed in by Arthur, who picked up the receiver and typed in the number 62442.
A pleasant voice welcomed them to the Ministry of Magic and asked for their details, and a moment later they were headed down underground into the mysterious visitor's entrance to the Ministry. A minute or two later the telephone box lift arrived in a massive open area and Harry looked around in awe.
They were standing at one end of a very long and spectacular hall with a polished, dark wood floor. The peacock-blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that were continually moving and changing like some enormous heavenly notice board. The walls on each side were panelled in shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them, with wizards and witches frequently appearing and disappearing into them.
Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the middle of a circular pool. Tallest of them all was a noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight up in the air. Grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. The last three were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard. Glittering jets of water were flying from the ends of the two wands, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat, and each of the house-elf's ears.
Harry presented his wand to be checked by the bored looking security wizard, and then proceeded to the large golden lift that would take them to Arthur's office. They stepped in and waited, Harry looking sideways at a man holding what appeared to be a fire-breathing chicken. Paper aeroplanes zoomed around the top of the lift, and Arthur explained to him that they were interdepartmental memos. Harry was only half listening, he was mostly trying and failing to stamp down the nerves that were threatening to overtake him.
The lift arrived at floor two and they departed, heading to Mr Weasley's office on the other side of the floor. They arrived in the office, and Harry had hardly been sitting down for more than a minute when the door banged open and an elderly man rushed in, clearly out of breath.
"Arthur, thank goodness I found you! The boy's hearing, the time has been changed. It's at 8am now, in courtroom ten!" The old man wheezed out, looking curiously at Harry. Mr Weasley stood up quickly, a look of outrage and panic on his face.
"What? They can't do that, can they? Good lord, look at the time, we should have been there five minutes ago!" He yelped, looking at his watch. "Come on Harry, we'll have to run!"
Harry followed him at a sprint, feeling the panic suddenly rise up and take over him. They rushed into the lift, Arthur pushing the button agitatedly until the doors closed and it took them down to the deepest level of the Ministry. They rushed down the final flight of stairs, then ran down the dark, gloomy corridor. Arthur took him to the door that said 'Courtroom Ten' in official letters on the door.
"Here you go Harry, get inside. No, I can't come with you," he said apologetically, and Harry put a trembling hand on the doorknob. With a deep feeling of trepidation, he pushed open the door and walked inside.
His first emotion when he walked into the room was horrified shock. Recognition washed over him and he realised it was this room that he had seen in Dumbledore's Pensieve, he had seen Barty Crouch Jr and Bellatrix Lestrange tried in this room. Gulping, he walked slowly forwards and sat down on the large foreboding chair with chains down the arms. They clanked threateningly but didn't chain him down.
"You're late." Harry looked up and saw the disapproving gaze of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, looking down his nose at Harry. There was a strict looking woman wearing a monocle sitting to his left, and on his right was a short stout woman whom he could only describe as looking like an overweight toad. Feeling that his supposed good first impression was currently flying out of the window, Harry felt extremely apprehensive and cleared his throat which was suddenly very dry.
"Er…I didn't know the time had been changed, sorry," Harry managed weakly. The look Fudge gave him told him that he wasn't helping matters.
"That was not the Wizengamot's fault, you were notified in plenty of time. Now that the accused is finally present, we may begin."
Harry didn't like his tone, and he felt that his chances of getting through this with a positive outcome were getting slimmer by the minute. The tall thin room with its dark stone walls and gloomy lighting was making Harry feel rather claustrophobic, and he wished they would just get on with it.
"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August," said Fudge in a ringing voice, and Harry noticed Percy Weasley beginning to take notes in the corner, "into offenses committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.
"Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley. Witness for the defence…well, that would appear to be no one," said Fudge nastily. "It seems your good pal Dumbledore couldn't even be bothered to turn up to the hearing."
Harry's insides turned numb. Dumbledore was supposed to be his defence, but he wasn't here? If he'd thought that he couldn't feel any worse about this, he was very wrong. It was one thing to ignore Harry all summer, even on the eve of his hearing, but to not turn up at all and practically ensure that Harry was expelled? His stomach twisted painfully and he felt sick. Fudge looked down at him smugly, as if he knew exactly what inner turmoil he had just caused Harry.
Fudge extricated a piece of paper, unfurled it and read, "The charges against the accused are as follows: That 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 a Muggle, 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," Harry said.
"And you conjured a Patronus on the second of August?"
"Yes, but—"
"In full view of a muggle?"
"Yes, but—"
"Knowing that you are not to use magic outside of school until you are seventeen?"
"Yes. But it was—"
"Knowing that you were in the presence of a muggle, in a muggle inhabited area?"
"Yes," Harry said angrily, "but I only did it because of the dementors!" He hadn't meant to just shout it out like that, but they were infuriating him by not letting him get a word in edgeways. How was he expected to defend himself if he couldn't talk?
"The dementors? What on earth do you mean, boy?" Asked Madam Bones in shock. She raised her eyebrows so high that her monocle fell out.
"Ah, I knew he'd try something like this," Fudge laughed nastily. "Yes, he always does like to use ridiculous excuses that couldn't possibly be true to get himself out of all the tight spots he's found himself in. It's really quite astounding, the amount of trouble he gets into at school. Not the Golden Boy everyone seems to think you are, eh?" Fudge shot at him, and Harry wanted to sink through the cold stone floor of this room. Surely this wasn't fair?
"There was that time he came up with some cock and bull story about Time Turners and Peter Pettigrew being alive, now that was astounding to hear. Sirius Black, innocent? You'd think the boy was confunded or something but I'm starting to think he's just a really horrible, ill-disciplined boy." Fudge was staring at him directly now, his face a mask of cruel excitement.
Harry's heart had stopped racing now, his nerves were being taken over by pure anger. Fudge had no right to treat him this way, and bringing Sirius into it had just tipped him over the edge. He sat and fumed silently, wishing he could just stride up there and punch Fudge in his stupid pompous face.
"Well, seeing as he doesn't have any witnesses to his defence, and there's clearly no reason to believe a word he says…" Fudge trailed off, looking to either side of him to see if Madam Bones or Umbridge had anything to say. Umbridge smiled in what she probably imagined was a sweet, girly way, but which actually made her look even more grotesque.
"I think you'd covered it all impeccably well, Minister," she said in a high pitched girly voice that made Harry want to retch. "I really can't see any reason to believe what this boy has said."
"Amelia?" Fudge asked the woman on his left. She scrutinised Harry briefly, and almost looked as though she wanted to ask more questions, but it was obvious that Fudge had asked it in a rhetorical way and she merely shook her head.
"Very well. Wizengamot, you may deliberate." Fudge spoke to the group of fifty or so witches and wizards that were seated in the stands, and they all started whispering to each other in hushed voices. Harry looked at his feet, not wanting to know what was happening and yet wanting to know so badly that it hurt.
"Those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?" Madam Bones called in her loud, authoritative voice. Harry looked up quickly, and wished he hadn't. Not a single hand was raised in the air, and the look on Fudge's face was maliciously victorious.
"Those in favour of expelling the accused from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" She called, and every hand in the room was raised towards the sky. Harry felt numb, his insides churning so much that he was scared he was going to be sick. A cold sweat had broken out on his forehead, he felt clammy and cold and his heart began to race again. This was it. Fudge banged his gavel down on the desk and shouted out Harry's verdict with a sick grin on his face.
"The accused, Mr Harry James Potter, is hereby expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, effective immediately!"
Boy do I hate Fudge right now! Hope you liked that chapter, stay tuned for everyone ganging up on Dumbledore next chapter :) please please leave a review! x