{Great Hall, Hogwarts}
{10th Sep 1991}
{3rd Person POV}
*Bang*
"Attention!" Albus shouted. The blast from his wand was carefully controlled so that every eye automatically turned to him. He let the moment settle before he began speaking, "I know many of you are confused about what happened, but it was prudent to gather everyone in one place for security precautions."
Albus looked around all the students and then proceeded to give a vague explanation, just enough to fuel the rumors with countless possibilities, "Someone had infiltrated the Castle, and our security has been breached. To account for all possibilities, the castle would be put on lockdown for the night and searched while the teachers would patrol the great hall."
A string of gasps filled the hall at his explanation. Since none of the students had encountered Black, he didn't have to name him especially. The rumor mill would do its work and stretch the story far from the truth, making this night easily forgotten.
"Before your imaginations run wild, a good night of sleep would help, considering your classes would continue like normal-" A series of groans filled the room, so Albus raised his voice and continued, "- no one is permitted to leave the Great Hall for the night."
Albus then lifted his wand and waved it in a gentle arc. It was one of the most neutral wand movements that he was comfortable with, and only his tight grip over his mana made the next step possible. Conjuration was one of the most difficult magics. It was a branch of transfiguration where you transfigured air itself into whatever you wanted.
Even Conjuration is divided into two magical branches. The first is like-for-like conjuration, which is taught at Hogwarts. In this, when you conjure an object, you take the same amount of air molecules into account. It doesn't cause much when done in small quantities, but in enclosed areas where there is a shortage of air itself, conjuration could be dangerous.
The spell he used was the second type of Conjuration. He took just one air molecule per object, used his mana to duplicate the air molecule, and then transfigured the 'conjured' air into bedrolls. The whole process was complicated in reality, but to the students, it looked like the objects just popped out of nowhere, and now they had a place to sleep.
Normally, Albus would not have wasted this much mana on conjuring these beds. A word to the house elves, and they would arrange this same structure. His main objective was to calm everyone down. Although most of the student population were adults now, the fear of the unknown could be quite perilous. With his showcase of high-level magic, and the ridiculous explanations that the Hogwarts rumor mill would come up with, this whole tense situation would dissolve into bedtime gossip by tomorrow.
"Severus, can you follow me for a bit?" Albus canceled the soft Sonorus~ Charm that he was using and turned to instruct Severus. He then turned to Minerva and continued, "Minerva, discreetly check on both Rigel Black and Harry Potter. I don't think they know that it was Sirius who broke into the castle, so it shouldn't be too bad."
Seeing Minerva nod, he addressed the head of four houses, "Make sure no one leaves the Great Hall. If what I'm afraid comes to pass, we will need to be careful in the upcoming days. I'll go ahead and initiate the lockdown right after this..." Albus instructed, and he paid little attention to Minerva and her follow-up response, as a warning from the Hogwarts wards was already ringing in his mind.
'They came here faster than I expected...' Albus mused. He was banking on Cornelius's slow approach, but it seems that Lucius Malfoy has a hand in this.
"Come along, Severus," Albus said, and then he glided across the hall. Students were already claiming their spots. He quickly walked through the hall's gates, and after Severus followed him, he pointed his wand at the door and started waving it in an intricate arc.
...
Hogwarts was a castle designed for war, and although the wards didn't have the capabilities to kill the dementors, he could activate the revulsion wards to keep them from coming close to the castle. Cornelius would not be happy about being rejected straight away, but then again, this wasn't something he could butt in. He had already met the minister 3 times in the last week and knew the kind of pressure he was under and how to manipulate the situation.
*Clang Bang* *Clang Bang* *Clang Bang**Clang Bang* *Clang Bang* *Clang Bang*
The door to the Castle was locked as Albus activated the lockdown procedure. He wanted to check the hidden passageways through which Sirius could have sneaked in, but that could only be pushed away for later.
"Make sure no one enters the Great Hall, Severus, even if the Aurors demand entry," Albus spoke before he started walking up the grand staircase.
"Professor Dumbledore-"
"-Headmaster-"
"-it true-"
"-Is Black back-"
...
The hundreds of paintings that adorned the Hogwarts walls kept asking questions that Albus had no intention of answering. He swiftly made it back to his office. Since there was no point in following Sirius's trail, he had to deal with the problem that had already arrived through his floo.
He walked through his office door and came face to face with Cornelius Fudge's head peeking through his fireplace. The Minister of Magic was a portly man. He wore a circular hat on top of his head to hide his receding hairline. His face was set in a frown, and as soon as Cornelius noticed Albus's arrival, he immediately began demanding an audience.
"Let me through, Dumbledore. This is not a situation that could be swept under the rug. By tomorrow, this whole situation will be blown up in the Daily Prophet, and I need answers," Cornelius demanded. His face went a little red as he blew through the statement he had prepared.
"Certainly, Cornelius," Albus relented. He waved his wand, allowing the wards to change, and the Minister of Magic walked through the fire. As he expected, another man with long hair and a scowl permanently etched on his face walked right on after him.
Albus could have blocked Lucius from walking in, but right now, he wanted to deal with both of them at the same time before he had to close the one passageway that he knew Sirius could have used.
"Why are my Aurors telling me that the Dementors are not able to cross the Hogwarts wards? We already talked about it Dumbledore, and the Governers already approved the deployment—" Cornelius started, but he was cut off by a simple wave of Albus's wand. The wand that had won against the terror of Gellert Grindelwald glinted, and Cornelius's mouth snapped shut.
"I already told you, Cornelius, no dementor would step foot inside the Hogwarts wards..."
...
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AN - Voldemort POV next!
P.S- 43+ Chapters on P.atreon!