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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
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"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 308: Changes in the Ministry and the Teaching Staff
"A very rare type of magic…" Dumbledore added.
"What else can you do with it?"
The robes began to shrink until they disappeared completely.
"Come on, I didn't come here to perform tricks for you, Professor." The truth was that he couldn't really do anything more at the moment. But this was the result of just one night of practice, so it wasn't too shabby.
The Headmaster returned to his usual calm demeanor.
"Right… but we still have some time before the Portkey becomes active." He pulled a piece of paper from one of the drawers.
"There is something I want you to see first."
"A teacher's list?" Harry read the headline out loud.
"Yes, they are the selected teachers for this upcoming school year. I think you'll find some of the names… interesting," Dumbledore told him.
Harry's face went pale when he saw the name.
"Wait… Dolores Umbridge as the Defense teacher? Please, tell me this is a joke list or something."
"No… I'm afraid that is the final list. It has already been approved by the school board," Dumbledore said with a solemn tone.
"You are aware of what type of person she is… because I told you about it," Harry stated.
"Even if you didn't, I would still know very well what kind of person she is."
"So I take it you didn't personally choose her for the position. What happened then?" Harry asked.
"That choice was forced upon me by a new law that allows the Ministry of Magic to influence some decisions for all magical schools located within Britain. The school board also put as much pressure as possible to get the choices they wanted…"
"You are the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot...how can that happen?"
Dumbledore's expression became more somber.
"I no longer hold that position. It was decided by a majority vote to remove me from it and choose someone else instead."
"What?!" Harry expected some things to change, but this was moving very quickly.
"I believe… Alecto Carrow has now been given that honor. My influence in the Ministry is very minimal at the moment. I have no doubt that I will also lose my title of Supreme Mugwump of the I.C.W. very soon, as my contacts there have been warning me. It is already fortunate that I managed to hold onto my place as Headmaster. They will no doubt try to take that away as soon as possible."
"I wasn't aware that things were that dire already. Looks like you took a political beating this summer."
"Many things have happened, yes… the Minister has changed the most. He is now much more aggressive and imposing with his moves. His policies are also much more extreme and openly anti-Muggle. I guess I underestimated what Lord Parkinson was capable of."
"You don't really think this is just him making these decisions," Harry stated.
"No, of course not. These things happening shortly after Voldemort's return cannot be a coincidence. He must be the one behind many of the changes. No one has seen it yet, but I can feel his influence in the Ministry."
Harry glanced back at the list.
"So we are going to have that woman as a teacher… you have no idea how insufferable she is going to be."
He was beginning to contemplate the pros and cons of killing her in the first week of school.
"Indeed… they even forced me to retire Professor Binns."
"The ghost? You know, that is not a terrible idea anyway. Who is the replacement?" He went down the list until he found the name of the new History professor.
"This can't be right!"
"I know what you are going to say. That man is a known follower of the Dark Lord, but he was cleared of all charges after leaving Azkaban."
"No, this man is more than a Death Eater… he is a dead Death Eater." Harry looked at the name again, in case he made a mistake.
"What are you—?"
"I'm saying that Augustus Rookwood is dead. He cannot conceivably be a teacher, unless you are planning on replacing one ghost with another."
"Dead? No… that's not possible. I have personally seen him speak before the school board last week," Dumbledore said with absolute certainty.
Harry informed him about the night he went into his castle.
"But you never found his body… he could have escaped from whoever attacked his house."
"I summoned his soul," Harry revealed.
Dumbledore's expression changed.
"You did?" Harry had already told him about his ability to control the Deathly Hallows' powers, so he was not too surprised to hear this.
Dumbledore was even a firsthand witness to these abilities when Harry tried to bring the soul of his sister Ariana back. It only lasted for a few minutes, but he would never forget it for as long as he lived.
According to what Harry said, he could only maintain the connection for a short period of time because she had been dead for too long, and her spirit was now too disconnected from the mortal realm, making the process more difficult and consuming.
"So, what did his spirit have to say?" Dumbledore asked with curiosity.
"Nothing… I could not talk to him at all. His soul had been damaged beyond repair and disappeared shortly after," Harry explained.
"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Dumbledore asked.
"A person dies, their soul is either damaged or destroyed, and then that same person is walking around like nothing had happened…" Harry looked at Dumbledore directly.
"Can you think of any magic that can accomplish that feat?"
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