Chapter 378

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"What do you think?" I turned to Hermione, nodding at the paper.

"It's a little too loud. What do you think the wizards' reaction will be?"

"Hmm..." I thought for a moment. "Given that outwardly the Ministry is trying to pursue a policy of supporting muggle-borns, an incident like this should either be seen as «no one is to blame, everyone is bad», or in our favor. However, I found out here that they will be considered a little differently because of a countersuit from the parents of these... people. In general, the incident will be considered in such a way as to understand the guilt of each one specifically, and not all together."

"So what of it?"

"Given that some people's relatives are members of the Wizengamot, reviewing the case individually for each will only eliminate one of the radicals from the vote, not the entire group. That's a disadvantage. On the other hand, it doesn't matter if Mr. Guber and I get the information right."

"Will it affect the laws?"

"This is the Wizengamot, and the crux of the matter is not so ordinary. Yes, many things will not be considered as evidence so as not to create a precedent. Still, they will be considered as the material that influences the solution and clarifies the essence of the problem - easily."

"What's the point?"

"Discrediting. The Dark Lord will surely reveal himself soon and with him these families. If you correct our situation even a little bit, society will think: «The poor pure-bloods are being beaten by a Muggle-born witch, and they, by virtue of their upbringing, didn't raise their hand against the girl. But the girl tortured them so much that they themselves easily fell into the clutches of the Dark Lord's deception.» But if they are initially guilty, such a maneuver will not work. Of course, we don't have to live in a magical world. It's not for nothing that we get an ordinary education. But it is desirable that everything be normal."

After such an informative dialogue, we went to class, where at the very first lesson, McGonagall told us to come to the headmaster's office at four-thirty today.

The whole day was spent waiting and watching the students speculate about what had happened and which Muggle-born had beaten up a large group of Slytherins. However, there weren't many options, so sometimes they looked at Hermione with interest, but somehow they already knew who exactly had visited the hospital wing from Slytherin. At four o'clock, Hermione and I returned to the common room and our rooms in order to change our school uniforms into decent everyday ones.

My status doesn't allow me to dress too simply now, just like Hermione, but I didn't tell her that — she's smart, she'll figure it out. But, on the other hand, my casual black suit with a rare stripe is not cheap at all, very high-quality, and looks more than decent, so I just put on silver accessories with tiny but noticeable ruby inserts. The meeting of the Wizengamot requires a certain dress code, but only if you are directly among the judges, and if you yourself are on the case, then any business clothes are enough, and therefore a cloak and a cane.

When I walked back down to what I thought would be an empty common room, since the students were still in class, I found Hermione in a black dress, boots, and a black robe on top of it. Her hair was pretty bouffant, but it wasn't messy, though it might have looked that way. Part of the hair on the left was tightly pressed to the head with a thin silver barrette, and the rest, it would seem, was in "free flight."

"Ready?" the girl immediately asked me as soon as I showed up in the aisle to the men's side.

"Absolutely. Let's go."

We quickly left the common room and, strictly at the specified time, reached the headmaster's office, the passage to which was open.

There was no one in the office beside the headmaster himself.

"Mr. Knight, Miss Granger," he nodded, getting up from his desk. "It's time to go to the Ministry hearing. Mr. Guber is already waiting for us there."

"And the others?" asked Hermione as the headmaster approached the fireplace in his office.

"You mean the students from Slytherin?" he turned around, flashing his half-frame glasses. "They are led by Professor Snape through the fireplace in his office. I think you know how to use a fireplace, don't you?"

"Of course," we nodded simultaneously.

"Great," the headmaster smiled, taking a handful of Floo Powder from a special stand beside the fireplace. "We are going to the Ministry of Magic, Atrium. Remember?"

We nodded again, and the headmaster threw Floo Powder into the fireplace, turning the fire in it green.

"You go in first, and I, in case you make a mistake, will go after you."

"You are not coming with us? Aren't you the chairman of the Wizengamot?"

"Not anymore," the headmaster shook his head. "Not long ago, not without the help of Minister Fudge, I was removed from that position. However, I am indeed coming with you but as a listener and witness. So is Madam Pomfrey."

Nodding, I took some floo powder, stepped into the fireplace, and said:

"Ministry of Magic, Atrium."

I immediately threw Floo powder under my feet, and I was sucked into a whirlwind of movement, quite quickly taking me to the fireplace in the long, spacious, and high hall I had already seen with a dark parquet floor and black tiles around the edges. There were relatively few people here now, but everyone was moving somewhere and pretending to be extremely busy people, although perhaps it was so.

Hermione followed me out of the fireplace, and a few seconds later, the headmaster emerged from the green flames, heading in the direction he knew best, and so we followed.