Chapter 13
Harry and Hermione were sat in their common room on the Thursday morning everything had to go according to plan.
"Dobby" Hermione called. The little elf appeared instantly
"How can Dobby help you Mistress hermy?"
Hermione held out Harry's cloak to Dobby
"Could you give this to professor McGonagall please? She will be expecting you and tell her that everything is ready to go"
Dobby nodded and vanished from the room.
Defence against the Dark Arts was up until the start of 5th year Harry's favourite topic now it didn't hold any type of leverage. Walking in with Hermione they both ignored the death glares being sent at them by Ron and sat in front of Neville and Seamus who both greeted them warmly. All were silent by the arrival of Snape however
"Let us hope that certain members of this class will be able to control their mouths" He sneered towards Harry
"What is the most effective way of protecting yourselves from mental attack?" He asked
All the Gryffindor students hands went up into the air even surprisingly Ron's.
"Occlumency" Snape replied bitterly not even bothering to ask for an answer
He began to write stuff on a chalk board and all began to copy it out robotically taking hints from having him teach them all potions.
"Now with regards to less serious spells you are more likely to be hurt more via a Stupefy rather than any other type of curse" He said not bothering to look at the students
Hermione looked up
"That's not entirely true Professor" She said
Snape turned around in disgust "And what makes you think that Granger?" He spat venomously
"Well a stupefy will only stun the opponent where as other charms such as reducto or Impedimenta will cause more significant damage making the opponent more vulnerable to other attacks" she replied confidently
Snape walked over to her and stood over her
"Miss Granger, I know that you have taken it upon yourself to make yourself an insufferable know it all but remember one thing when I want your opinion I will give it to you. Until then keep that infernal trap of yours shut!" He yelled. Harry wasn't having that
"How can you yell at her when all she was doing was showing that your explanation was wrong?" He yelled
"Potter! Your opinion is neither wanted nor needed!" He spat
"Well maybe if you would admit that you were wrong in your statement I wouldn't have to give it to you would I!"
"50 points from Gryffindor!" Snape yelled
Harry still wasn't backing down
"Face it you were wrong and Hermione was right but instead of accepting it and moving on your ego is trying to compensate for it!"
"How dare you..."
"No! How dare you! You are supposed to be teaching us how to defend ourselves against a very real threat but instead all your showing is how bias and bitter you have become over the years. It is your duty as a professor to teach us not to attempt to belittle us! Snivellus" Harry roared
Snape reaction was as quick as lightning his wand was raised but someone else disarmed him before Harry got the chance
"Who dares take my wand?" He questioned
Professor McGonagall took Harry's cloak off revealing herself. Wand still raised
"That would be me Severus" She replied with disgust
"Minerva, your little Gryffindor hero needs to be thrown out of this school after what he has just done"
She smiled
"Really from what I saw Mr. Potter was simply demonstrating the loyalty to other students and stating school policy. A policy which you are required to abide by"
Snape opened his mouth but Minerva wasn't done
"I saw everything Severus the abuse of power the treatment of certain students and the complete and utter disrespect shown to the students. But to raise your wand against a student, disgusting. You are going to be thrown out of this school Severus if it is the last thing I do!"
The Gryffindor all smiled whilst the Slytherin looked on in horror. Snape stormed out of the classroom after collecting his wand. Professor McGonagall walked to the front of the class
"There will be a new professor teaching this course and rest assured the favouritism of houses ends here now"
She walked over to Harry and Hermione
"Firstly to fix what needs to be fixed 10 points to Miss Granger for adaption of spell uses. 50 points to Mr. Potter for showing the chivalry isn't dead"
The class was dismissed after this. Harry and Hermione walked back to their common room hand in hand. First mission was a success.
On the way back towards Gryffindor tower they were approached by Hagrid.
"Hello you two any chance of yah popping down for a cup tea soon? It been ages since yeh came and saw me and fang!" he said happily. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and smiled
"We'd love to Hagrid but we've got some things to do but we will come and see you Wednesday evening. Promise!" Hermione said smiling
Hagrid agreed and walked off.
The next few days say any classes with Snape cancelled. No one was complaining however they all found it to be a relief.
Saturday arrived quicker than Harry and Hermione would have liked. They had prepared down to the letter but it was still a case of last minute nerves.
Sure enough Lupin arrived as planned and after a short discussion with Professor McGonagall took Harry and Hermione to the ministry.
When Harry arrived in the atrium he felt a pain in his heart. He hadn't been here since Sirius. Hermione knew he would be in pain emotionally so took his hand
"You'll make him proud Harry. More so than what he is now" She whispered. This filled Harry with a new sense of purpose and so with Hermione and Lupin in tow they walked to the wizengamot to present their case.
"Wizengamot now in session acting head of the wizengamot Amelia Bones head of the department of magical law enforcement. Here today see the case of one Rebeus Hagrid brought before us. Presenters are one Harry James Potter and Hermione Jean Granger"
Harry and Hermione stepped forward and placed the folder onto the desk they were allocated.
"We come here today before your esteemed selves to put right a miscarriage of Justice. Rebeus Hagrid with charged with opening the Chamber of Secrets and subsequently causing the death of a Hogwarts student. We are here today to reverse this charge and prove that it was not Hagrid that opened the chamber but in fact Thomas Marvolo Riddle" Harry stated confidently. There were a few murmurs before order was restored
"Order. Order! Very well proceed with your case" Director Bones instructed
Hermione stood up.
"It is common knowledge that Hogwarts was founded by 4 wizards and witches. The legends of the chamber of secrets were well known. It was rumoured that a chamber had been built which only the heir of Slytherin could enter. This raises our first point we asked the Goblins of Gringotts to run a check on Hagrid's family lineage to check to see if he was the heir of any of the founders. No such lineage was shown"
Hermione presented the document to the wizengamot. Harry then raised their second point
"The heir of Slytherin was as most people would expect to be sorted into the house of their ascendants. We have consulted with numerous professors which all confirmed that Rebeus Hagrid was in Hufflepuff house. House of the loyal. It is also said the heir of Slytherin was able to talk to snakes as the beat which was placed in the chamber was a snake. A basilisk no less. The heir must have been a parsletongue otherwise he would have not been able to control the beast. Rebeus Hagrid is not a parsletongue"
There were continued murmurs throughout.
"In order to gain access to the chamber of secrets one must have the ability to communicate in the language of the snakes. Furthermore they must be relatively agile as access is restricted to a small ladder. Even if Rebeus Hagrid was able to gain access to the chamber of secrets there is no way he would have been able to get through the chamber door"
Harry and Hermione presented all of their findings until they were finished. Some were convinced others had questions.
"Mr. Potter you stated that only someone who could communicate in parsletongue could gain access to the chamber of secrets. How were you able to gain access?"
Harry stood "Quite simple sir until a few months ago I was able to communicate with snakes. This led to people believing I was the heir of Slytherin. It was not until I was able to summon the sword of Godric Gryffindor that it was shown that I was not"
A rather stout and pompous looking man was not convinced.
"Say for example that Rebeus Hagrid was able to get past all of these devices. It is not unknown of a wizard being able to perform such feats and being able to do what is considered otherwise impossible. How can we be 100% sure that Hagrid is not responsible" he asked with a rather venomous tone.
"Quite simple. Hagrid was taken to Azkaban on the same night Lucius Malfoy drove Dumbledore out of the school. A few days later a first year was kidnapped and taken into the chamber itself. As you well the protective enchantments in Azkaban put a 95% damper on all magical ability. It is completely impossible for that person to be able to kidnap a person from Hogwarts whilst hundreds of miles away in a magic restricting prison" Harry replied with a rather smug tone directed at the pompous member of the wizengamot .
"Why is the head of the wizengamot not in this session?" Director Bones asked.
"We have not requested Dumbledore's presence for reasons which shall be made public next week. However we can tell you that Dumbledore has been aware of this knowledge for 4 years now and still has made no effort on his part to rectify this situation" Hermione responded
Director Bones nodded. "Very well let us vote"
Harry and Hermione both held their breath.
Authors Note:
Hey guys sorry it's been a while since I updated I haven't been well for the last few days.
So what do you think? I'm reasonably happy with this chapter.
Rate and Review!