Chapter 250
Chapter 250
In the Room of Requirement, a sheet of parchment lay spread across a table. Suer sat quietly before it, waiting for the appointed moment.
According to the plan, Black was to stage a night-time attack on Gryffindor just as the party from the Ministry of Magic arrived at Hogwarts.
Peter Pettigrew’s memory had been wiped. From beginning to end, he would remember only that he had been asleep in the Gryffindor common room.
Dumbledore himself had cast the Memory Charm. With the old bee handling it, no one would find the slightest trace.
Black would cause a great disturbance in Gryffindor. When Suer raised the alarm, Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin would appear and engage Black in a fierce battle.
Then, when Suer arrived in the Gryffindor common room with the Ministry delegation and Headmaster Dumbledore, Black would strike Peter Pettigrew with the Homorphus Charm. Before all those witnesses, Pettigrew would change from a rat into a man.
A secret buried for twelve years would be exposed that night.
That was the complete script. Suer had conceived the plot and the old bee had filled in its details. Now all they had to do was wait for the actors to take their places.
Through the Marauder’s Map, Suer had already seen Hermione and Black reach the Gryffindor common room. Professor Lupin and Professor McGonagall had also stopped at their assigned positions nearby.
The Ministry’s great leader, the Minister himself, and its number two, Amelia, were in place as well.
It was time for Suer to make his entrance.
In the headmaster’s office on the eighth floor, the formally dressed Minister Cornelius Fudge was speaking with Dumbledore. Dumbledore could have found any number of reasons to summon him. Discovering Black’s whereabouts, for instance.
Black’s escape from Azkaban had delivered a resounding slap to the Ministry’s face and left it utterly humiliated. Without exaggeration, Fudge had spent this entire period dreaming of sending Black back to Azkaban and letting those damned Dementors give him a very thorough kiss.
And now Dumbledore had suddenly written to say that Black’s trail had been found. How could Fudge, desperate to add a gleaming triumph to his ministerial record, do anything but hurry over?
Fudge had arrived at Hogwarts with a crowd of subordinates and Amelia, the uninvited Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. After the customary pleasantries, he immediately stated the purpose of his visit.
“Sir, where is Black?”
“There is no need for haste, Minister,” Dumbledore replied calmly. “Black will not escape. Before we take him back to Azkaban for trial, however, perhaps we should reconsider whether what we saw all those years ago was truly the whole truth.”
Dumbledore’s meaningful words stopped Fudge short. No fool could climb as high as the office of Minister. Dumbledore was plainly suggesting something extraordinary.
“You mean…”
“Oh, here he is.” Dumbledore interrupted Fudge with a smile, rose from behind his desk and looked towards the door. He had already heard footsteps outside.
Bang!
The office door was flung open, and Suer made his entrance.
“Headmaster! Black — he’s appeared!”
Panting hard, his face urgent and flustered, Suer met the eyes of Headmaster Dumbledore, who was perfectly composed and even wore the hint of a smile.
Er… had he overdone his acting?
At that moment, the Gryffindor common room was in chaos. Sir Cadogan’s portrait was off to one side, clamouring for a charge.
The young wizards, panic on their faces, had formed a tight circle with their wands raised. As the party reached the entrance to the common room, they heard a boy shouting at the top of his lungs.
“I saw Black! He had a knife! He tried to kill Harry — I saw him!”
“Someone fetch Professor McGonagall! Fetch Dumbledore!”
As expected of you, Ron Weasley…
As though the whole thing had been rehearsed, Hermione ran out of the common room and collided with Suer’s party at the door.
“Miss Granger,” Dumbledore called.
“Oh, Headmaster!” Hermione’s performance was exactly like that of a child caught by a parent while secretly playing with a mobile phone.
“What are you doing here?” There was nervousness in her voice, along with just a tiny bit of fear.
“Oh, right — Black! Headmaster, Black broke into the Gryffindor common room just now. Professor McGonagall went after him.”
Hidden behind the crowd, Suer gave Hermione a small thumbs-up. Was acting simply an inborn gift for women?
“Do not worry. Where did he go?”
“I don’t know, Headmaster. Professor McGonagall arrived just after Black broke in, and they fought in the common room. The whole place is a wreck now, and then Black ran away.” Hermione continued her performance.
“Was anyone hurt?” Dumbledore followed his next line precisely.
“No, Professor. We were all asleep. The explosions in the common room and Ron’s shouting woke us,” Hermione replied.
At that very moment, a deafening explosion came from the corridor below.
Dumbledore immediately strode towards the sound. Suer noticed Minister Fudge exchange a glance with his attendants before following downstairs. His steps were no longer as urgent as they had been when he arrived at the castle.
As expected, he was no fool. At the very least, he had probably guessed that Dumbledore had deliberately arranged for him to witness this.
When the group reached the scene, Professor Lupin and Professor McGonagall were blocking the corridor from opposite ends. Black stood with his back to the wall, wand raised and a rat clutched in his other hand.
“Black!” Fudge stopped dead at the sight of Sirius, and the Aurors he had brought drew their wands.
The outcome held no surprises. Faced with a crowd of Ministry combatants and two professors, to say nothing of Dumbledore himself, Black naturally surrendered at once.
If he had somehow managed to duel the whole group back and forth for a while, that would have been truly strange.
The scene shifted once more to the headmaster’s office.
One of Fudge’s men held each of Black’s arms while the Minister prepared to take his leave of Dumbledore.
No one had noticed the rat in Black’s hand.
“Sir, thanks to your assistance, we have finally brought Black to justice. I shall hand him over to the Dementors at once. Those stationed outside the castle will also leave after tonight.”
Fudge glanced at Black, who stood with his head bowed in silence. Then he chuckled and looked back at Dumbledore.
“The Daily Prophet will describe your contribution in detail.”
His meaning was obvious. Minister Fudge believed that Dumbledore had staged this entire drama for him…
To enhance Dumbledore’s own reputation in the wizarding world.
That was perfectly natural. No wizard would refuse such a thing.
Even Dumbledore, laden with honours, renowned across the world and generally acknowledged as the greatest white wizard alive, would be no exception.
“Naturally, the professors of this castle will receive appropriate commendations from the Ministry as well, in recognition of their assistance in capturing a fugitive from Azkaban.”
“Hmm… I imagine an Order of Merlin, Third Class, should not be too difficult to arrange.”
“Once again, my thanks.” Fudge gave Dumbledore a perfunctory bow. “I believe many people will breathe much more easily now. After all, even a vicious criminal such as Black cannot escape the justice of the Ministry.”
“I am sure the public will place still greater trust in us.”