Once they were sitting, Dumbledore growled out, "Mister Potter, we have discussed this! I am beyond angry that this..." he jabbed his finger at the front page of the Daily Prophet sitting folded on his desk before him, "... has become public knowledge.
"You have now placed the lives of your aunt, uncle and cousin in peril! It will not take long for their location to be discovered, if it hasn't already. I'm going to have to take steps to see they're protected even further. That's time I do not have to waste."
"First, Headmaster," replied Harry. "Why would you need to, as you put it, take steps to protect them? The so-called wards you placed on the property should be enough. Otherwise, I either should not have been dumped there, or they were sufficient in all the time I was there.
"In other words, Sir, if you need to 'take steps', as you put it, why were those steps not taken while I was still living there? And, second, I really couldn't care any less whether my so-called relatives are protected or not than I do right now. As far as I'm concerned they can reap what they sowed. If the wizarding world comes down on them like a ton of bricks, I wish I could be there to cheer them on!
"If I thought I could have removed my relatives from the equation that keeps you insisting I get sent back to their abuse just by speaking with the Prophet, I'd have done this in my first year. So, Sir, I really don't care. Actually, I'm right pleased!"
Dumbledore collapsed into his chair and looked back at Harry with a pained expression. "Do you really care that little about the safety of your relatives, Harry?"
"I care a great deal, Sir. I care that much I utterly despise them; and, I care that much I keep thinking up ways to make their life almost as much of a living Hell as they made mine. I don't think they could have survived what I went through, though. I don't think I truly did, either."
With Harry's words in Headmaster dismissed them.
his
ears,
the
Just as Harry opened the door to usher his ladies through, the Headmaster called to him. "How many more of these articles can we expect, Mister Potter?" He was clearly dreading the answer. And he was right to do so.
With a shrug, Harry called back. "As many as it takes, Sir. As many as it takes for the wizarding world to know and understand the truth; the whole truth." Without waiting for a response, he left.
The next morning, Harry received a summons to appear before an emergency session of the Wizengamot to be held the next afternoon to provide evidence regarding his living conditions based off the latest Daily Prophet article.
He immediately approached Professor Flitwick and, showing him the summons, advised the Professor he'd be taking Hermione and Daphne with him. "Why?" asked the Professor. He wasn't being reluctant or suspicious, he was just being curious.
"Because the girls are the ones who actually wrote most of the article that the Wizengamot want to question me about. As such, they're central to the enquiry."
The Professor nodded and said, "Will you be safe enough to make your own way there?"
"Yes, Sir," replied Harry. "However, we'll ask for Daphne's folks to come and collect us. Just in case someone decides it would be unsafe for us to travel on our own." He had no need to clarify whom he meant.
Daphne immediately sent a letter off to her parents, while Harry sent off a letter to Stewart Ackerman, his solicitor. After morning classes the next day, the three returned to their apartment to change into something a little more formal. Just like last time, Harry was just planning on wearing plain robes over muggle clothing. However, Dobby put a stop to that by pulling out a set of wizarding under robe wear and a set of his finest robes with the Potter family crest on the breast.
"Yous must make an impression, Master Harry," the little elf firmly said. "Yous must dress the part. Dobby's bad old master made sure Dobby knew this."
After getting dressed and waiting for the girls - who both dressed in fashionable, well-presentable witches' wizarding robes the three made their way down to the Entrance Hall. They were expecting Matthias to soon arrive and take them to the Ministry. As expected, though, the Headmaster turned up and attempted to stop him from going.
"I'll explain to the members it was unsafe for you to venture out of the school, Harry; given the amount of recent press coverage you've endured," the old man tried. "They'll understand."
"And I understand, Sir, that a summonse is not to be so carelessly ignored," retorted Harry. "As for my safety, that is being taken care of."
"I'm afraid I must insist you stay in the school, Mister Potter," the Headmaster firmly stated. "I do not give you permission to skip your afternoon classes."
"And I'm afraid I must insist you not interfere, Headmaster," retorted Harry. "I have already cleared this with the person who makes the determination under the school charter, our Head of House, Professor Flitwick."
The argument continued walked in the main doors.
until
Matthias
"What's going on?" he asked, a little angrily, having caught the last moments of the argument.
The Headmaster turned to him and stated almost imperiously, "I cannot grant Mister Potter's request for him to leave the school. Given the recent articles in the Daily Prophet it is unsafe for Mister Potter to be outside the safety of the castle's wards."
"Too bad," Matthias shot back. "Mister Potter has been summonsed and he will attend; as will my daughter and Miss Granger as his witnesses as to the statements made in the Prophet."
Before the Headmaster could respond, Matthias continued. "If you further attempt to hinder him in his required responsibility to the Wizengamot, I will state before that body how you deliberately blocked him from attending. I will also allude it was because you are attempting to hide your crimes relating to this matter from them; and demand an immediate investigation into the offices of both the Chief Warlock and the Headmaster of Hogwarts."
He stepped in closer and firmly threatened, "Don't attempt to block this any further, Albus. I can, and will, make your continued tenure in both or either position extremely difficult for you to maintain."
While both men then glared at each other, Harry gestured to the two girls to follow him outside. The three then waited for Matthias to join them; which he did, a few moments later.
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