Chapter - 88 : Breach of Trust part - 2

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"Oh, very well, you silly girl, I'll tell him." Umbridge seemed to be reaching the end of her patience, but she still managed to plaster her sickly smile back on to her face when she turned to Fudge. "Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement and spoke the password "Fudge up" I would find something to my advantage. I questioned her a little further and she admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting there. Unfortunately, at that point this hex," she waved impatiently at Marietta's concealed face, "came into operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror the girl became too distressed to tell me anymore."

Fudge smiled kindly at Marietta, and attempted to reassure her before grilling her for answers, trying to find out the purpose of the meeting, who was present and other suck trivialities. Marietta didn't say a word through it all.

When efforts to get the Ravenclaw to talk proved fruitless, Umbridge continued on with her story, explaining how she'd been informed of the formation of the illegal group by a man named Willy Widdershins, the man who'd been heavily wrapped in bandages that day in the Hog's Head, and had formed an Educational Decree as a result. But when Dumbledore easily proved her accusations of their first meeting in the Hog's Head were perfectly legal as the first Educational Decree had yet to be made, they turned right back to Marietta. They obviously hadn't learned their lesson from the first go round.

"Miss Edgecombe," Umbridge said, "tell us how long these meetings have been going on, dear. You can simply nod or shake your head, I'm sure that won't make the spots worse. Have they been happening regularly over the last six months?"

Harry watched with narrowed eyes as Marietta hesitated, then slowly shook her head.

"I don't think you understood the question, did you, dear?" Umbridge said, glancing worriedly at the Minister. "I'm asking whether you've been going to these meetings for the past six months? You have, haven't you?"

Again, Marietta shook her head.

"What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?" said Umbridge in a testy voice.

"I would have thought her meaning was quite clear," Professor McGonagall sneered, "there have been no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?"

Marietta nodded.

"But there was a meeting tonight!" shouted "There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, you told me about it, in the Room of Requirement! And Potter was the leader, was he not, Potter organized it, Potter - why are you shaking your head, girl?"

"Well, usually when a person shakes their head," said McGonagall coldly, "they mean 'no'. So unless Miss Edgecombe is using a form of sign-language as yet unknown to humans -"

Professor Umbridge seized grabbed Marietta and violently shook her by the shoulders. Immediately, Dumbledore was on his feet, his wand raised, Kingsley moved forwards but Umbridge leapt away from Marietta.

"I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, Dolores." Dumbledore said coldly.

"You want to calm yourself, Madam Umbridge." said Kingsley, in his deep, slow voice. "You don't want to get yourself into trouble, now."

"No." said Umbridge breathlessly, glancing up at the towering figure of Kingsley. "I mean, yes -

you're right, Shacklebolt - I - I forgot myself."

"Dolores," Fudge said, "the meeting tonight, the one we know definitely happened, didn't you tell me you have proof of it?"

"Yes," said Umbridge, pulling herself together, "yes… well, Miss Edgecombe tipped me off and I proceeded at once to the seventh floor, accompanied by certain trustworthy students, so as to catch those in the meeting red-handed. It appears that they were forewarned of my arrival, however, because when we reached the seventh floor they were running in every direction. It does not matter, however. I have all their names here, Mister Pucey ran into the Room of Requirement for me to see if they had left anything behind. We needed evidence and the room provided."

Umbridge pulled a roll of parchment from her lurid pink purse, it took Harry all of one second to recognize it as the parchment Hermione had had every member of the T.A. sign during their very first meeting. It took only another second for him to set in on fire with a single blink and a sharp pulse of magic.

Umbridge shrieked, dropped the list on the ground, and began stomping on it in an attempt to put the flames out, but by the time they'd been doused little of the original list had been left behind. All that remained where the singed words that only barely read:'-'s Anarchy'and a few of the members soot smeared last names.

"Potter!" Umbridge shrieked, angrily rounding on him. But Fudge silenced her with a look, then bent to pick up the smoldering parchment.

"What does this heading say?" Fudge asked, squinting at the smudged words. "Anarchy?" he glared fearfully at Dumbledore. "Whose anarchy? And anarchy against what?"

Dumbledore placidly shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea."

"Is that so?" Fudge said, slowly advancing on Dumbledore with narrowed eyes. "It's a coincidence, isn't it, that even as rumors of you plotting to usurp my positon as Minister of Magic I find proof of some form of anarchical organization in your school? Secret meetings in hidden rooms, drafting lists, anarchy," Fudge shook the burnt parchment in Dumbledore's direction "this can all be viewed as treason which is punishable by a minimum of fifty years in Azkaban?"

"This is preposterous!" McGonagall shouted. "Treason? You cannot be serious."

"Oh, but I am, dear lady," Fudge said, all but bouncing in excitement. "Any form of treason, or even suspected treason, is dealt with swiftly and harshly by the Ministry. I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me, Dumbledore. Aurors."

The aurors Kingsley and Dawlish exchanged unsure looks, Dawlish took a hesitant step forward but froze when Dumbledore turned his mild stare on him.

"Kingsley, Dawlish," Fudge snapped.

"I think there is a reason your aurors are somewhat hesitant to try their hand at detaining me," the headmaster said.

"And why is that?" Fudge snarled.

"Because they know that I will not come quietly."

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.

Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!

http//patreon.com/Kun_kanshi

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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