Chapter 10
Thank God It's Friday, Part 1
The next morning (Friday, 8 September, 7 a.m)
In the Great Hall
When Harry and Hermione came to breakfast, Hermione pointed out that at the High Table, the chairs for Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout were empty.
Harry knew perfectly well why Dumbledore's golden throne was empty, but he was curious what McGonagall would say.
Many students, and not only the Gryffindors, asked Harry, "Where were you yesterday?" After five minutes of Harry telling his story, almost all of those students expressed a wish to imprison Dumbledore without a wand in a doorless room.
Harry smiled big, and did not mention that the goblins already had granted the spirit of this wish.
Right then, three of the four absent professors entered the Great Hall.
McGonagall walked up behind the High Table, but she did not sit down in the Deputy's chair. Instead, it was Pomona Sprout who sat down in the Deputy's chair. McGonagall transfigured Dumbledore's golden throne into a duplicate of the Deputy's chair, except that the transfigured chair had a white H at the top of the chair-back.
Snape watched warily as McGonagall transfigured Dumbledore's chair.
With the transfiguration done, McGonagall stepped over to stand in front of the headmaster's chair, but she did not sit down.
Meanwhile, Flitwick had sat down in his usual seat.
McGonagall Sonorus-said, "Please give me your attention. Yesterday Albus Dumbledore imprisoned Mr Potter and threatened him with death by hunger or thirst, unless Mr Potter signed with a Blood Quill, a parchment that granted Albus Dumbledore one million galleons from Mr Potter's sale of the basilisk carcass."
Gasps were heard from all parts of the Great Hall.
McGonagall continued, "Last night, Mr Potter signed the parchment with his own blood, and Albus Dumbledore presented the parchment at Gringotts. Somehow Gringotts realised that the signature was given under duress. Last night, Albus Dumbledore was tried in a goblin court and was sentenced to hard labour in a goblin mine. At the moment that Albus Dumbledore was sentenced, I became headmistress."
Everyone nearby was looking at Harry. Harry explained, "I pranked Dumbledore, and it worked."
McGonagall continued, "This morning I chose Professor Sprout, your Herbology Professor, to be Deputy Headmistress. However, for reasons I don't wish to tell, six days from now, Professor Sprout and I shall change places—I shall go back to being the Deputy Headmistress, and Professor Sprout shall become Headmistress of Hogwarts."
All the Gryffindor fifth-years, as well as Fred, George and Ginny, looked hard at Harry.
He put his hands up. "I swear it wasn't my doing."
Snape stood up and said, "Headmistress McGonagall, I quit!"
Snape hurried from the Great Hall, his robes billowing, to the sound of cheers.
Harry raised his goblet of pumpkin juice and toasted Snape's empty chair. "Umbridge is gone, Dumbledore is gone and now Snape is gone. Today is a good day."
A dreamy voice from the Ravenclaw table said, "Your day will get even better, Harry Potter."
A few minutes later, in Malfoy Manor
The Dark Lord blinked in surprise. "Severus, why are you here now? Why aren't you preparing to teach class?"
Snape answered, "The bearded meddler no longer is headmaster of Hogwarts; Minerva is. I quit Hogwarts before Bones thought to send Aurors to arrest me."
The Dark Lord asked, "Why is Dumbledore gone? Did he resign for health?"
"No, the goblins have him." Then Snape told the Dark Lord what he knew, which was not much.
The Dark Lord laughed. "Ninety-nine years? Such a sentence means that those underground creatures are seriously offended by what the old man tried to do. Yet even so, I'm sure he still has his defenders."
Snape nodded. "I'm sure the redheaded harridan blood-traitor's opinion of Dumbledore will not shift even a hair's width when she hears the news."
The Dark Lord then said, "Give me your arm, Severus."
Snape, not understanding, said, "My Lord?"
The Dark Lord was smiling cruelly. "Think, Severus! With Dumbledore gone, who stops us from the conquest of Wizarding Britain? Only a grey-haired woman with a monocle and a schoolboy wearing glasses! More to the point, with Fudge arrested, I see no more reason to hide or to delay. I shall summon the Death Eaters so that we can plan together the conquest of Wizarding Britain!"
The Dark Lord put the tip of his wand against Severus's Dark Mark; Severus, despite his resolve not to, screamed from the pain.
When the Dark Lord finally lifted his wand from Severus's arm, the noseless wizard said, "After I have conquered the wand-waving sheep of the British Isles, I shall see the dead body of the boy hanging in Diagon Alley for the birds to ravage."
An hour and fifteen minutes later (8:15 a.m)
In the Great Hall, Hogwarts
What with this morning's news of Dumbledore yesterday imprisoning Harry Potter, Dumbledore being sentenced to a goblin mine, Hogwarts getting both a new headmistress and a new deputy headmistress, and the self-sacking of Severus Snape, the arrival of post-owls barely was noticed.
Amongst the post-owls arriving were four Gringotts owls. Argus Filch at the High Table, as well as students Colin Creevey, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hermione Granger, each received a Gringotts bank draft, paid for by Harry Potter.
Hermione overheard Colin Creevey say, "This is fifty thousand pounds. I should become petrified more often!"
Fifteen minutes later (8:30 a.m)
In the Entry Hall, Hogwarts
Harry was standing in the Entry Hall in gold-thread robes that featured the Potter crest, in white, on the left breast, surrounded by three thin white circles. The robes had belonged to James Potter; Greyclay had resized the robes, and had altered the crest, to fit Harry. Hermione was keeping Harry company whilst he waited for Madam Amelia Bones—
—who opened the outer doors and walked in. "Ah, Miss Granger, it's good that you're here. I apologise that this is last-minute, but I want for you also to testify at the trial of Sirius Black. Can you do that?"
Hermione replied in her "thinking" voice, "I don't have any robes suitable for court. I'll have to go in these"—gesturing at her Gryffindor robes. "I'll need to ask Neville Longbottom and Su Li to take notes for me, and I'll need to tell the headmistress I'm leaving."
Madam Bones blinked. "Headmistress? What happened to Dumbledore?"
Harry chortled. "He thought he was so clever..."
A minute later, Harry finished his tale: "...So instead of being a million galleons richer, this morning he's swinging a pick in a goblin mine, and he'll be doing this for the next ninety-nine years."
Madam Bones said, "Except that prisoner-miners are lucky to live six years. Back when he thought he could nobble Gringotts, wasn't he worried about me arresting him and putting him on trial in front of the Wizengamot?"
Harry shrugged. "He said lots of people there owed him favours. In any case, when you tell Headmistress McGonagall you're kidnapping Hermione this morning, you should know that McGonagall is in an awful mood."
"Why? Isn't this what she's always wanted, to become headmistress? I would think she'd be dancing."
Hermione said, "She's headmistress for only six days, whilst Professor Sprout is Deputy. Then, for reasons we aren't being told, Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout will change places. Sprout will be the headmistress."
Harry said, "That's half of the reason McGonagall is a sourpuss this morning. The other half is, within a minute of her announcing that Dumbledore no longer was headmaster, Snape stood up, said 'I quit' and walked out. So now McGonagall, who's headmistress for only six days before she'll be back where she was, must spend part of those six days looking for a new Potions professor and Head of House Slytherin."
Madam Bones said, "I might have a way to fix this." Madam Bones entered the Great Hall, then walked up to stand on the other side of the High Table from where McGonagall and Sprout were sitting.
Minerva McGonagall asked, "Is there something I can help you with, Amelia?" Amelia noticed that the new headmistress was tense—perhaps she was worrying about being arrested?
Amelia replied, "Besides taking Mr Potter this morning to testify at two trials, I'm also taking Miss Granger to testify at one of the trials. They'll both be leaving in the next five minutes, and I'll return them sometime before lunch."
"Fine," McGonagall snapped. "Anything else?"
"Congratulations on being elevated to Headmistress, Professor McGonagall."
In return for her congratulations, Amelia accepted McGonagall's insincere thanks.
Then Amelia looked at both McGonagall and Professor Sprout. "I understand you've a staffing problem? Susan would benefit from being taught Potions by Healer Andromeda Tonks, the mother of Nymphadora. I recall that Andromeda Tonks was in Slytherin."
Professor Sprout smiled in her motherly way. "Thank you for the suggestion. It would actually solve two of our problems if we could talk Healer Tonks into it."
For some reason, McGonagall looked annoyed. Maybe because the suggestion had not come from her?
Meanwhile, Hermione had talked to her yearmates, making arrangements to get notes later for the classes she would miss.
At 9:00 a.m, in the Ministry's Courtroom Ten
Promptly at 9:00, Madam Bones pounded the gavel twice and yelled, "Seal the doors!" Chains formed, connecting eyelets in the double doors' left-side doorframe to eyelets in the right-side doorframe. Now nobody could enter or leave the courtroom, even if the doors were removed. The magic of the courtroom itself made these chains as indestructible as possible.
Right after this, Madam Bones called this session of the Wizengamot to order. It was she who was obligated to open the session, because the Minister for Magic had been arrested by the ICW Aurors and the Chief Warlock had been sentenced to a goblin mine. Once Madam Bones opened the session, the Wizengamot solved their immediate problem by electing Cyrus Greengrass, of the Grey faction, to be the new Chief Warlock.
Sirius's surprise trial, when it finally happened at 9:10, was almost uneventful. Madam Bones held up Sirius's wand, and read out the last spells that had been cast with that wand—
A Cleaning spell, eight Point-Me spells, and a Shield spell. None of the spells were offensive or harmful in nature.
Then Harry testified, and Madam Bones showed Harry's memory of quite-alive Pettigrew's confession to Harry, Hermione, Sirius and Remus—before Snape barged in, and Pettigrew shifted into his rat form and escaped.
After Harry testified, Hermione testified, and Madam Bones showed Hermione's memory of Pettigrew's confession.
After all this, Sirius, quite voluntarily, took Veritaserum and was questioned. After Sirius was given the Veritaserum antidote, Madam Bones showed Sirius's memories of the night that James and Lily were killed, and showed Sirius's memories of his November 1981 clash with Pettigrew. These memories proved, to any unbiased observer, that Sirius was innocent.
The only exciting part of the trial of "notorious mass-murderer Sirius Black" came during Hermione's testimony. Lucius Malfoy interrupted in a bored voice: "Regent Bones, why is the girl wasting our time with her testimony? She is saying the same things the boy has said; and she is, after all, only a mu—Muggle-born."
Harry quickly spoke up: "Chief Warlock Greengrass, Regent Bones, I ask permission to answer the question asked by esteemed Lord Lucius Malfoy."
Chief Warlock Greengrass said, "Go ahead, Heir Potter, but I might direct Regent Bones to give her own answer after you have given yours."
Harry said, loudly enough for his voice to carry, "Hermione Granger's parents both are nonmagical. Big deal—so were my mother's parents. Everyone remembers my mother, right? A prodigy at Charms, a genius at Ancient Runes and the person who rightfully deserves the credit for my surviving the Killing Curse."
The entire courtroom, except for Lucius, looked gobsmacked at Harry's last statement.
Harry continued, "Hermione is like my mother in two ways. She's Muggle-born, as the esteemed Lord Malfoy already has told you; but Hermione, like my mum, is a genius. For four years, Hermione has scored the highest marks of anyone in our year. She's scored higher than I, higher than every Slytherin in our year, and higher than every Pureblood in our year."
Then Harry smirked at Lucius. "Including your son, Lord Malfoy. All that tripe about 'Purebloods are smarter than half-bloods, who are smarter than muuu-Muggleborns'? Hermione proves this codswallop to be wrong in every class. Which is a long-winded way of explaining that smart Hermione makes a better witness to prove Sirius Black's innocence than I do."
Hermione said, "I wish to add that the most magically powerful student in our year is not any of the Slytherins or any of the Purebloods. The most magically powerful student in our year is a Gryffindor half-blood." Hermione pointed at Harry. "Harry, just as much as I, rips the Pureblood propaganda to bits."
Chief Warlock Greengrass said, "Lord Malfoy, your question has been answered by these two Hogwarts students, and I see no need to ask Regent Bones to add her own words."
When the time came to vote on Sirius's guilt or innocence, the only seat-holders to vote Sirius guilty had the Dark Mark on their forearm. To Harry's delight, and Lucius Malfoy's clear frustration, the Death Eater seat-holders in the Wizengamot could not persuade their friends and allies to vote with them.
Sirius was found guilty of only one charge: of being an unregistered animagus. He was sentenced to a fifty-galleon fine, and to time already served in Azkaban. On the other hand, Sirius would receive compensation (to be determined later) for twelve years' wrongful imprisonment.
When Sirius was released from the chains-chair, he was grinning at Harry and at Hermione.
Meanwhile, Madam Bones opened the evidence bag that contained Sirius's wand, removed the wand and handed the wand to Sirius.
Madam Bones was smiling warmly as she handed the wand to Sirius.
Sirius was smiling warmly as he accepted the wand from Madam Bones.
For Harry, the trial of Dolores Umbridge was jaw-dropping.
Chief Warlock Greengrass, ignoring the letter of the courtroom rules about who may sit where, let Hermione and Sirius remain sitting with Harry in the trial-witnesses box, instead of those two magicals being banished to the public gallery. Which was good for Harry, because after some of the testimony that Harry would hear during Umbridge's trial, he would need Hermione's and Sirius's caring and support.
Dolores Umbridge did not help her case when she was frog-marched into the courtroom and was pushed into a chains-chair. She kept yelling "I'm the Senior Undersecretary!" and threatening to sack everyone in the room, to throw them in Azkaban, or to do both.
Once Umbridge's trial began, Madam Bones showed to the court, Harry's memory of Umbridge's first DADA class, in which Umbridge invented the world's flimsiest excuse to assign Harry a detention; and Madam Bones showed to the court, Harry's memory of the detention itself.
After the two memories were shown, Harry testified, "My most vivid memory of the detention, besides the agony in my hand, was Professor Umbridge smiling the entire time. When Voldemort Crucioed me, he looked angry, but Umbridge was enjoying making me suffer."
Harry's "detention from Hell" was only a tiny part of Umbridge's trial. Fudge had abused his office twice, at Umbridge's urgings: he had obtained two Dementors (and control over the same), and had forced the Department of Records to reveal Harry Potter's home address. Umbridge had taken both Dementor-control medallions, to give Fudge plausible deniability. The result of Fudge's and Umbridge's crimes?
On the night of 2 August, when Harry had been fighting for his life in the park against two Dementors, Dolores Umbridge, whilst Disillusioned, had stood twenty feet away and had watched the whole thing.
(In Courtroom Ten, Madam Bones ended Umbridge's memory of Harry's Patronus-battle with the Dementors on a heroic note, before that memory showed a Ministry owl arriving with a You're about to be expelled and your wand snapped message for Harry.)
When Dolores Umbridge's memory of Harry's and Dudley's encounter with the Dementors was played in the courtroom, Harry was applauded. Umbridge, who still was immobilised by the chains-chair, scowled.
(Harry murmured to Hermione and Sirius, "I'll bet she wanted to scream when I not only conjured a corporeal Patronus, but my Patronus drove off both Dementors without Dudley or me being harmed.")
What sealed Dolores Umbridge's fate at trial was not she torturing Harry Potter with a Blood Quill, or even she plotting with the Minister for Magic to murder Harry Potter. No, under Veritaserum, Umbridge testified to also murdering two Purebloods and murdering two half-bloods, and injuring a half-blood without provocation—for no greater purpose than to guarantee that she be promoted within the Ministry.
And oh, by the by, Dolores was not a Pureblood, despite doing everything she could to give this impression. Dolores Umbridge in fact was a half-blood, with a Muggle-born father.
Dolores Umbridge had no friends, which explained the sentence she received. Theoretically she could have been sentenced to Azkaban for life, but this was not what happened. The dislikable person who sent two Dementors to Kiss Harry Potter in a Little Whinging park, wound up herself being Kissed, right there in Courtroom Ten.
Right after Dolores Umbridge's mindless body was removed from the chains-chair, Regent Augusta Longbottom made a motion: "Minister Cornelius Fudge has not yet been tried in an ICW court, but does anyone doubt that he will be convicted? I move for a no-confidence motion against Minister Fudge in absentia."
Amos Diggory seconded the motion. During the brief debate, Lucius Malfoy opposed the motion (no surprise).
The motion carried, so the next step was to elect an interim Minister for Magic. The nominees standing for Interim Minister for Magic were Amelia Bones (Light), Basil Bulstrode (Grey) and Lucius Malfoy (Dark).
During the debate prior to the vote, seat-holders praised or criticised one of the three candidates. Tiberius Ogden, after he was recognised, said, "Harry Potter is in the room, and he has an outsider viewpoint. What does he think of the three candidates?"
When Chief Warlock Greengrass called on Harry to speak, Harry replied, "I've never met Basil Bulstrode. I don't know Millicent Bulstrode well, except that she isn't one of the Slytherins whom I've problems with, so she's one of four Slytherin students I invited to see the carcass of the basilisk I killed. I have nothing good to say about Lucius Malfoy, his son, or his noseless friend. I can't guess how Amelia Bones would be as Minister, but as Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she does a perfect job; I've no complaints about her."
Harry believed that his endorsement of Madam Bones changed nothing; Sirius and Hermione disagreed.
In any case, Amelia Bones was elected Interim Minister for Magic. The Minister for Magic's badge of office suddenly appeared round the witch's neck: the two ends of a gold chain were attached to the two eyelets on the sides of a gold medallion that had the Ministry of Magic emblem on it.
With great dignity, and with only a small smile, Amelia Bones walked from the Wizengamot seat held by Lord/Lady/Regent Bones, to the elevated chair for the Minister for Magic, where Fudge had sat during Harry Potter's trial in August.
The nationwide election for the permanent Minister for Magic was set a month hence: Sunday, 8 October.
Now Chief Warlock Greengrass chuckled. "I think it's safe to say that the politics of the Wizengamot must be completely recalculated after today. So unless anyone objects, I shall end the session now, giving us all a week to think and to plan."
Nobody objected. Greengrass pounded the gavel twice, then called out, "Unseal the doors!"
As soon as the chains disappeared from the doors, the doors were pushed open, and a mob of blue-robed men and women rushed into the courtroom.
Sirius blurted out, "What are ICW Aurors doing here?"
