The Hearing
Arthur held back a gasp as he entered a horribly familiar cavernous courtroom. He visited this place in Dumbledore's Pensieve, seeing three different trials, the last of them where the Lestranges were sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban.
The walls were made of dark stone, dimly lit by torches. Empty benches rose on either side of him, but ahead, up in the highest benches were many shadowy figures. They all talked in low voices until the heavy door swung closed behind Arthur, making an ominous silence fall.
A cold male voice rang from across the courtroom, sounding a bit disappointed.
"You arrived on time, I see."
"I have." Arthur said respectfully as he walked to the chair in the centre of the room, its arms being covered in chains. He saw them spring to life and bind whoever sat between them. His footsteps echoed loudly when he walked across the stone floor.
Upon sitting gingerly on the edge of the chair, Arthur felt glad to see that the chains only clinked threateningly, not binding him.
Now feeling sick, he looked up at the people who sat on the bench above.
There were fifty people, all wearing plum coloured robes with an elaborately worked silver 'W' on the left hand side of the chest and all stared down their noses at him, some with very austere expressions, others with frank curiosity.
In the very middle of the front row sat Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic. He was a portly man who normally sported a lime green bowler hat, though he now dispensed with it, as well as the indulgent smile he once wore when speaking to Arthur. A broad, square jawed witch with very short grey hair sat on Fudge's left, wearing a monocle and looked very foreboding. On Fudge's right was another witch who sat so far back on the bench that her face was in shadow.
"Very well." Fudge said. "The accused being present, let us begin. Are you ready?" He called down the row.
"Yes, sir." An eager voice said. Arthur looked and saw a young man with ginger hair wearing horn rimmed glasses, fixed on his parchment with a quill posed in his hand.
"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August…" Fudge said in a ringing voice, the young man taking notes at once. "...into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Arthur Richard Pendergast, resident at Number Four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Alan Octavius Clarke -"
"Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." A quiet voice said behind Arthur, who turned his head to look.
Dumbledore strode in serenely across the room wearing long midnight blue robes and a perfectly calm expression. His long silver beard and hair gleamed in the torchlight as he drew level with Arthur, looking up at Fudge through his half moon spectacles that were halfway down his very crooked nose.
The members of the Wizengamot were all muttering. All eyes were now on Dumbledore. Some looked annoyed, others slightly frightened; two elderly witches in the back row, though, raised their hands and waved in welcome.
Arthur now felt true hope with Dumbledore being here, despite feeling resentful towards him.
"Ah." Fudge said, looking very disconcerted. "Dumbledore. Yes. You - er - got our - er - message that the time and - er - place of the hearing had been changed, then?"
"I must have missed it." Dumbledore said 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 - I - Clarke, could you -?"
"Not to worry, not to worry." Dumbledore said pleasantly, taking out his wand and giving it a little flick, making a squashy chintz armchair appear out of nowhere next to Arthur. Dumbledore then sat down, putting the tips of his long fingers together and looking at Fudge over them with an expression of polite interest.
The Wizengamot all still muttered and fidgeted restlessly; only when Fudge spoke that they settled down.
"Yes." He said, 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 out "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 are, in the presence of a Muggle, on the second of August at twenty three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy. You are Arthur Richard Pendergast of Number Four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?" Fudge then said, glaring at Arthur over the top of his parchment.
"I am." Arthur replied.
"You received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?"
"I did, but -"
"And yet you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?" Fudge cut him off.
"I did, but -"
"Knowing that you are not allowed to use magic outside school while you are under the age of seventeen?"
"I did, but -" Arthur was now getting pissed off from Fudge constantly cutting him off before he could explain himself. He's truly being unfair.
"Knowing that you were in an area full of Muggles?"
"Yes, but -"
"Fully aware that you were in close proximity to a Muggle at the time?"
"He was my cousin." Arthur said angrily. "And I only used it because we were -"
Amelia Bones now cut across him in a booming voice.
"You produced a fully fledged Patronus?"
"I did, because -"
"A corporeal Patronus?"
"Yes, a lion." Arthur said, now impatient and desperate. "It's always been a lion."
"Always?" Amelia Bones boomed out. "You have produced a Patronus before now?"
"I have ever since my third year at Hogwarts."
"And you are fifteen years old?"
"Yes, and -"
"You learned this at school?"
"By Professor Lupin, because -"
"Impressive…" Amelia Bones said, staring down at him. "...a true Patronus at his age… very impressive indeed."
Some of the witches and wizards around her were muttering again, some nodded, others frowned and shook their heads.
"It's not a question of how impressive the magic was…" Fudge said 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 voice of a Muggle!"
Those that frowned all murmured in agreement, which irked Arthur to speak.
"I did it because Dementors attacked me and my cousin!" He said loudly before he could be interrupted again.
This made a silence fall once more, now much more dense.
"Dementors?" Amelia Bones said after a moment, her thick eyebrows rising until her monocle looked like it would fall off. "What do you mean, boy?"
"A couple of Dementors came to the alleyway me and my cousin were at! One of them nearly performed the Kiss on my cousin!"
"Ah." Fudge said, now smirking unpleasantly as he looked around at the Wizengamot, like he invited them to share the joke. "Yes. Yes. I thought we'd be hearing something like this."
"Dementors in Little Whinging?" Amelia Bones said in great surprise. "I don't understand -"
"Don't you, Amelia?" Fudge smirked. "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…."
"But I'm not lying!" Arthur said loudly over another outbreak of muttering from the court. "If I didn't use the Patronus, me and my cousin would've lost our souls!"
"Enough, enough!" Fudge siad, now with a supercilious look on his face."I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure would have been a very will rehearsed story -"
Dumbledore cleared his throat. The whole Wizengamot fell silent once more.
"We do, in fact, have a witness to the presence of Dementors in that alleyway…" He said. "...other than Deacon Dentley, I mean."
Fudge's plump face now seemed to slacken, like someone let the 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, he said "We haven't got time to listen to more tarradiddles, I'm afraid, Dumbledore. I want this dealt with quickly -"
"I may be wrong…" Dumbledore cut him off pleasantly. "...but I am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right to 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 with the monocle.
"True. She replied. "Perfectly true."
"Oh, very well, very well." Fudge snapped. "Where is this person?"
"I brought her with me." Dumbledore told him. "She's just outside the door. Should I -?"
"No, Clarke, you go." Fudge barked at the young man, who got up at once, ran down the stone steps from the judge's balcony and hurried past Dumbledore and Arthur without glancing at them.
A moment later, he returned with Mrs Figg, who looked scared and more batty than ever. Arthur would've thought she'd change out of her carpet slippers.
Dumbledore stood and gave her his chair, summoning a second one for himself.
"Full name?" Fudge said loudly when Mrs Figg perched herself nervously on the very edge of her seat.
"Arabella Doreen Figg." She said in her quavery voice.
"And who exactly are you?" Fudge asked, sounding bored and lofty.
"I'm a resident of Little Whinging, close to where Arthur Pendergast lives." Mrs Figg replied.
"We have no record of any witch or wizards living in Little Whinging other than Arthur Pendergast." Amelia Bones said. "That situation has always been closely monitored, given… given past events."
"I'm a Squib." Mrs Figg told her. "So you wouldn't have me registered, would you?"
"A Squib, eh?" Fudge said, eyeing her suspiciously. "We'll be checking that. You'll leave details of your parentage with my assistant Clarke. Incidentally, can Squibs see Dementors?" He added, looking left and right along the bench.
"Yes, we can!" Mrs Figg said indignantly.
Fudge looked back down at her, his eyebrows raised. "Very well." He said aloofly. "What is your story?"
"I had gone out to buy cat food from the corner shop at the end of Wisteria Walk, around about nine o'clock, on the evening of the second of August…" She said at once, like she had learned what she was saying by heart. "...when I heard a disturbance down the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. On approaching the mouth of the alleyway I saw Dementors running -"
"Running?" Amelia Bones said sharply. "Dementors don't run, they glide."
"That's what I meant to say." Mrs Figg said quickly, patches of pink now appearing in her withered cheeks. "Gliding along the alley towards what looked like two boys."
"What did they look like?" Amelia Bones asked, narrowing her eyes that the edge of her monocle disappeared into her flesh.
"Well, one was taller than the other -"
"No, no." Amelia Bones said impatiently. "The Dementors… describe them…."
"Oh." Mrs Figg said, the pink flush now creeping up her neck. "They were big. Big and wearing cloaks."
Arthur now felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Whatever she might say, it sounded to him like the most she saw of the Dementors was a picture of them, which could never convey the truth of these beings and how eerie they moved, hovering inches from the ground, or how rotten they smelled, or that terrible rattling noise they made when they sucked on the surrounding air.
In the second row, a dumpy wizard with a large black moustache leaned close to whisper in the ear of a frizzy haired witch, who smirked and nodded
"Big and weaning cloaks." Amelia Bones repeated coolly as Fudge snorted derisively.
"I see. Anything else?"
"Yes." Mrs Figg said. "I felt them. Everything went cold, and this was a very warm summer's night, mark you. And I felt… as though all happiness had gone from the world… and I remembered… dreadful things…." Her voice shook and died.
Amelia Bones' eyes widened slightly, allowing Arthur to see that there were red marks under her eyebrow from where the monocle dug into it.
"What did the Dementors do?" She then asked, making Arthur feel a rush of hope."
"They went for the boys." Mrs Figg said, her voice now stronger and more confident, the pink flush ebbing away from her face. "One of them had fallen. The other was backing away, repelling the Dementor. That was Arthur. He produced a Patronus instantly, which charged down the first Dementor and then, with his encouragement, chased the second one away from his cousin. And that… that is what happened." She then finished, somewhat lamely.
Amelia Bones looked down at Mrs Figg in silence. Fudge didn't even look at her, fidgeting with his papers. He finally raised his eyes, saying, rather aggressively "That's what you saw, is it?"
"That is what happened?" Mrs Figg repeated.
"Very well." Fudge said. "You may go."
Mrs Figg cast a frightened look from Fudge to Dumbledore before getting up and shuffling off towards the door. Arthur heard it thud shut behind her.
"Not a very convincing witness." Fudge said loftily, making Arthur hold back a growl.
"Oh, I don't know." Amelia Bones said with her booming voice. "She certainly described the effects of a Dementor attack very accurately. And I can't imagine why she would say they were there if they weren't."
"But Dementors wandering into a Muggle suburb and just happening to come across a wizard?" Fudge snorted. "The odds on that must be very, very long. Even Bagman wouldn't have bet -"
"Oh, I don't think any of us believe the Dementors were there by coincidence." Dumbledore said lightly.
The witch that sat on Fudge's right, with her face still in shadow, moved slightly while everyone else was quite still and silent. Arthur frowned subtly at that, he was now suspecting she might have something to do with the Dementors.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Fudge asked icily.
"It means that I think they were ordered there." Dumbledore said.
"I think we might have a record of it if someone had ordered a pair of Dementors to go strolling through Little Whinging!" Fudge barked.
Arthur now considered that maybe that witch in the shadows made sure to not keep a record of it, just to avoid suspicion.
"Not if the Dementors are taking orders from someone other than the Ministry of Magic these days." Dumbledore said calmly. "I have already given you my views on this matter, Cornelius."
"Yes, you have…" Fudge said forcefully. "...and I have no reason to believe that your views are anything other than bilge, Dumbledore. Dementors remain in place in Azkaban and are doing everything we ask them to."
"Then…" Dumbledore said quietly yet clearly. "...we must ask ourselves why somebody within the Ministry ordered a pair of Dementors into that alleyway on the second of August."
In the absolute silence that greeted his words, the witch to the right of Fudge leaned forwards, allowing her face to be shown.
Arthur thought she looked like a large pale toad. She was squat with a broad and flabby face with very little neck being present with a very wide, slack mouth. Her eyes were also large and round, slightly bulging. Even the little black velvet bow perched on top of her short curly hair made Arthur think of a large fly that she was about to catch on a long sticky tongue.
And his gut instinct told him that she was nothing but evil and hiding her true self. This further made him think that she was the one who ordered the Dementors to go after him.
"The Chair recognises Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister." Fudge said.
The witch spoke in a fluttery, girlish, high pitched voice that was such a contrast to her appearance, Arthur even expecting a croak from her.
"I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor Dumbledore." She said with a simper that left her big, round eyes as cold as ever. "So silly of me. But it sounded for a teensy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered an attack on this boy!"
She then gave a silvery laugh that made Arthur's hair on the back of his neck stand up, acting like the final nail in the coffin that she had to be the one who ordered those Dementors with her words. A few other members of the Wizengamot laughed with her, though it was clear none of them were amused.
"If it is true that the Dementors are taking orders only from the Ministry of Magic, and it is also true that two Dementors attacked Arthur and his cousin a week ago, then it follows logically that somebody at the Ministry might have ordered the attacks." Dumbledore said politely. "Of course, these particular Dementors may have been outside Ministry control -"
"There are no Dementors outside Ministry control!" Fudge snapped, now looking brick red.
Dumbledore inclined his head in a little bow.
"Then undoubtedly the Ministry will be making a full inquiry into why two Dementors were so very far from Azkaban and why they attacked without authorisation."
"It is not for you to decide what the Ministry of Magic does or does not do, Dumbledore!" Fudge snapped, now a shade of magenta.
"Of course it isn't." Dumbledore said mildly. "I was merely expressing my confidence that this matter will not go uninvestigated."
He glanced over to Amelia Bones, who readjusted her monocle and stared back at him with a slight frown.
"I would remind everybody that the behaviour of these Dementors, if indeed they are not figments of this boy's imagination, is not the subject of this hearing!" Fudge said. "We are here to examine Arthur Pendergast's offences under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery!"
"Of course we are…" Dumbledore said. "...but the presence of Dementors in the alleyway is highly relevant. Clause Seven of the Decree states that magic may be used before Muggles in exceptional circumstances, and as those exceptional circumstances include situations which threaten the life of the wizard or witch him-or herself, or any witches, wizards or Muggles present at the time of the -"
"We are familiar with Clause Seven, thank you very much!" Fudge snarled.
"Of course you are." Dumbledore said courteously. "Then we are in agreement that Arthur's use of the Patronus Charm in these circumstances falls precisely into the category of exceptional circumstances the clause describes?"
"If there were Dementors, which I doubt."
"You have heard it from an eyewitness." Dumbledore interrupted. "If you still doubt her truthfulness, call her back, question her again. I am sure she would not object."
"I - that - not -" Fudge blustered, fiddling with the papers before him. "It's - I want this over with today, Dumbledore!"
"But naturally, you would not care how many times you heard from a witness, if the alternative was a serious miscarriage of justice." Dumbledore said.
"Serious miscarriage, my hat!" Fudge said at the top of his voice. "Have you ever bothered to tot up the number of cock and bull stores this boy has come up with, Dumbledore, while trying to cover up his flagrant misuse of magic out of school? I suppose you've forgotten the Hover Charm he used three years ago -"
"That was a house elf named Dobby!" Arthur corrected him angrily.
"YOU SEE?" Fudge roared, gesturing flamboyantly in Arthur's direction. "A house elf! In a Muggle house! I ask you."
"The house elf in question is currently in the employ of Hogwarts School." Dumbledore said. "I can summon him here in an instant to give evidence if you wish."
"I - not - I haven't got time to listen to house elves! Anyway, that's not the only - he blew up his aunt, for God's sake!" Fudge shouted, banging his fist on the judge's bench, making a bottle of ink spill.
"And you very kindly did not press charges on that occasion, accepting, I presume, that even the best wizards cannot always control their emotions." Dumbledore said calmly as Fudge attempted to scrub the ink off his notes.
Arthur was just disgusted by Fudge's behaviour, he's acting like a spoiled brat who doesn't get his way.
"And I haven't even started on what he gets up to at school."
"But, as the Ministry has no authority to punish Hogwarts students for misdemeanours at school, Arthur's behaviour there is not relevant to this hearing." Dumbledore said, still politely, but now with a suggestion of coolness behind his words.
"Oho!" Fudge said. "Not our business what he does at school, eh? You think so?"
"The Ministry does not have the power to expel Hogwarts students, Cornelius, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August." Dumbledore said. "Nor does it have the right to confiscate wands until charges have been successfully proven; again, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August. In your admirable haste to ensure that the law is upheld, you appear, inadvertently, I am sure, to have overlooked a few laws yourself."
"Laws can be changed." Fudge said savagely.
"Of course they can." Dumbledore said, inclining his head. "And you certainly seem to be making many changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic?"
A few of the wizards above them started shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Fudge now turned a slightly deeper shade of puce. Umbridge, the toad-like witch on his right, though, gazed at Dumbledore, her face expressionless. Arthur knew that she was holding back from snapping at him.
"As far as I am aware…" Dumbledore continued. "...there is no law yet in place that says this court's job is to punish Arthur for every bit of magic he has ever performed. He has been charged with a specific offence and he has presented his defence. All he and I can do now is to await your verdict."
Dumbledore now put his fingertips together again and said nothing else.
Fudge glared at him, very incensed. Arthur glanced sideways at Dumbledore, hoping that he did what was needed to make the Wizengamot see the truth and do what was right. He then looked up at the benches where the Wizengamot fell into urgent whispered conversations.
Arthur looked down at his feet as his heart now felt like it swelled to an unnatural size, thumping loudly.
He looked up at Fudge twice before he looked back down to his feet, not wanting to say anything.
Eventually, the whispering stopped and Arthur just kept looking down, not trusting himself to keep calm if he looked at the Wizengamot.
"Those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?" Amelia Bones' booming voice said.
This made Arthur instantly jerk his head upwards, seeing that there were hands in the air, and much to his delight, there were more than half.
"And those in favour of conviction?" She then said.
Fudge, and half a dozen others, including Umbridge and the heavily moustached wizard and the frizzy haired witch in the second row, all raised their hands.
Fudge glanced around, looking like something large was stuck in his throat as he didn't get the results he clearly desired. He lowered his hand and took two deep breaths before saying in a voice that was distorted by suppressed rage "Very well, very well… cleared of all charges."
"Excellent." Dumbledore said briskly, springing to his feet, pulling out his wand and causing the two chintz armchairs to vanish. "Well, I must be getting along. Good day to you all."
Then without even looking at Arthur, he swept out of the courtroom.
Fudge truly tried to twist things to get Arthur expelled. And he pretty much showed off his true colours here. And of course, we've met Umbridge. I thought she was bad enough in the films, but the books... WOW!