After lunch, Amelia woke Dumbledore and continued her questioning.
"You said Snape, Quirrell, and McGonagall trust you. Why?" Amelia grilled Dumbledore.
"McGonagall trusts my reputation blindly, " revealed Dumbledore, "She has no idea what I'm really up to, so she thinks I'm the white champion of the light. She isn't hugely important to my plans, but her status as a passive woman has been invaluable to me at Hogwarts."
"Passive woman?" repeated Amelia, not quite understanding.
"She keeps her nose out of things, " explained Dumbledore, "I made her head of Gryffindor because I know that if any Gryffindor students report suspicious behavior to her, she will just tell them to mind their own business and keep their noses out of things that don't concern them. I also know that she won't stick up for them against the Slytherins, or anyone. That means my Slytherins don't have to worry about getting in trouble. They can do what they want to the Gryffindors and McGonagall won't interfere. McGonagall is mostly a do nothing woman and it benefits me to have a do nothing woman as head of Gryffindor. "
"What about the Slytherins own of head of house, Snape?" grilled Amelia.
"They know that Snape won't stop them from bullying or being mean to students in the other houses, " spilled Dumbledore, "He actually tells all the first year Slytherins in their common room every September 1st that they can do what they want and he won't punish them. Draco Malfoy in particular has enjoyed bully privileges both because Snape isn't going reprimand Slytherins for their actions and McGonagall isn't going to fight on Gryffindor's behalf. Snape has mysteriously disappeared from Hogwarts though. I suspect he has traveled abroad to learn more variations of Dark Arts. Snape will actually secretly teach some Slytherins, especially those fourteen and older, some Dark Arts. It's best if Voldemort's future supporters graduate already knowing some Dark Arts. I know that I'd lose my job as headmaster in a nanosecond if the Ministry found out that a Dark Arts course was offered at Hogwarts, so I have Snape do it for the Slytherins in secret instead. I also try to preach forgiveness to non-Slytherins. The Gryffindors are often too scared to stick up for themselves, especially since many of them realize that Minerva doesn't have their back."
"You are wrong, " retorted Amelia, allowing herself at grin at Dumbledore's expense, "Severus Snape was retried as a Death Eater and sent through the Death Veil."
Dumbledore screamed as a shocked look came upon his face. Amelia could tell the loss of Snape was a big blow.
"We know exactly what took place in Snape's class- " began Amelia.
But at that precise nanosecond, the immobility cords binding Dumbledore began to break. In fact, they were disintegrating as though being eaten away by acid.
Once they wore gone, there was a long loud POP and there was no Dumbledore.
"HE GOT AWAY!" screamed Amelia!
Back at Abbott Manor, Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah all wore long downcast looks. They had felt as though this was the one chance to get Dumbledore dealt with and now that seemed lost.
"He Disapparated, " said Heather calmly, "Even if there were Anti Disapparation wards on the courtroom, Dumbledore has powerful enough to cancel them."
"But how-" began Harry.
"SHH!" said Heather urgently.
"But, " a bewildered Patrick Patil was saying, "The cords?" Why did the cords just vanish like that."?
"They didn't just vanish, " corrected Patricia Patil, "They disintegrated. it looked as though acid was eating away at them."
"We do not know how Dumbledore managed that, " said Amelia bitterly, "He's clever and cunning enough to outsmart us. He must have done something to the cords that we would have no way of finding out about. And the timing seems intentional too."
As an eerie silence filled the room, Amelia told them, "I do have ways of tracking where he went though. "
"He'll just escape again, " said Augusta Longbottom bitterly.
"We can't let him go free, " said Amelia in a crystal clear voice, "If we are able to track and capture him, he may be greatly weakened by then. He never got an antidote to the Veritasiurium. One of the side effects of Veritasiurium is that if it is left on too long, it greatly weakens a witch's or wizard's magic. This only takes a few days to become severe. Bear in mind that Veritasiurium also weakens the bodies of both muggles and wizards if left on too long. My plan now is to track him but wait a few days before going to recapture him. This short wait will both make him easier to recapture and remove his ability to escape again. Bear in mind that he doesn't know he's under the influence of Veritasiurium. That aspect of Veritasiurium is unovercomeable even for wizards like Grindewald, Voldemort, and Dumbledore. It is literally impossible to resist Veritasiurium once it has been administered."
"Everything Amelia just told the Wizengamot is true, " Heather informed Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah, "Despite the escape, we have Dumbledore right where we want him. In fact, the escape is going to work to our advantage."
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah just looked at each other and Heather unsure of what to say or think.