17: 1st September, Part 2
Friday, 1st September, 7:38 p.m
20 days, 12 hours after the start of Harry's trial The Great Hall, Hogwarts
Professor McGonagall said, "...Mr Potter and Miss Granger both have transferred to Manchester Magical Academy. Quietus."
At the Slytherin table, Daphne Greengrass said in a loud, clear voice, "I don't blame those two a bit. This place is a joke."
Everyone at the Green Table who heard Daphne's words, stared at her in shock.
****
Minerva now was standing up at the High Table as she said, "...Mr Potter and Miss Granger both have transferred to Manchester Magical Academy. Quietus."
"GOOD RIDDANCE TO POTTER!" yelled Ronald Weasley from the Gryffindor table. "BUT HERMY SHOULD BE HERE—WITH ME!"
"Those two did WHAT?" Albus yelled, when Mr Weasley finally shut up. Minerva primly sat down and asked, "Is there a problem, Albus?"
" 'Is there a problem?' " Albus asked loudly. "You know you need my approval for anything related to Harry!"
Minerva replied coolly, "Not since Mr Potter became emancipated, thanks to your Triwizard Tournament, then he claimed three Head of House rings and became Lord Potter-Malfoy- Nott."
"The boy is not ready for such responsibilities."
Filius leant over and said, "Yet the 'boy' has slain You-Know-Who, and killed dozens of Death Eaters. He's earnt the right to choose what school he attends."
"And Miss Granger?" Albus asked. "Really, Minerva," Albus said, in his I'm so disappointed in you tone of voice. "You are her magical guardian; it would have been easy to refuse the transfer."
"Not when I'm presented with a transfer-notification signed by Miss Granger, and by both her parents, and by Sirius Black—who, according to an official Hall of Records parchment, now is Miss Granger's magical guardian."
Filius said, "Besides, I understand that a parchment saying that 'Student X is transferring to School Y' is a notification, not a request. The parents aren't asking for your permission, and you may not refuse permission."
Albus ignored Filius's remarks and demanded, "Why was I not notified of this when the transfers were presented to you?"
Minerva snapped, "Because you were busy in Switzerland, hiding reports behind filing cabinets!"
"And afterwards? The ICW conference ended nine days ago, Minerva!"
"Albus my boy," Minerva said, imitating Albus's most pompous manner of speaking, "I chose not to share with you information that you could do nothing about and that would only upset you. Eventually you will realise I withheld the information for your own good."
Before Albus could speak a suitable reply, the doors to the Entrance Hall opened—BANG!— and a man in his fifties strode in. He was wearing a Muggle suit, the front of which was mostly hidden behind a purple sash. On the purple sash was a white-silhouette of a crown; and below the crown, a white glowing wand.
"Oh, shit! Look out!" blurted a fifth-year Hufflepuff boy.
****
Colm Maguire, the Royal Wizard, had never in his life been on the Hogwarts grounds till ten minutes ago. Reluctantly he had to admit that the castle impressed him, and the Great Hall impressed him.
But now, in front of Colm, was a man with half-moon glasses, ridiculously long white hair, a ridiculously long white beard, and ridiculous lavender-and-green robes, who was sitting on a solid-gold throne—this wizard did not impress the Royal Wizard even slightly.
The aforementioned Merlin-wannabee said jovially, "Good evening, sir. May I help you?"
Colm walked up to the dais, stepped up onto it, and walked forwards to the table in front of Dumbledore. Not needing a Sonorus, but instead using the actor's trick of speaking loudly
from his diaphragm, Colm said—
"I am Colm Maguire, the Royal Wizard. Albus Dumbledore, I bring you the commands of Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith."
"Commands? The Muggle queen commands me?"
"She does. But before I tell you her commands, let me remind you of something. I'm sure you've read at least once, the Treaty of Separation of Magical Britain from Nonmagical Britain, which was proclaimed in 1642. But do you remember Paragraph 11 of the Treaty?"
Behind Colm, a boy's voice said from the far-right student table, "Hermione would know that."
Colm eyed Dumbledore and continued, "In that paragraph is a sentence that, if spoken aloud by one of four certain people, to any British witch or wizard, costs that British magical person his or her magic. The sentence is, 'Harken, O (name), I am convinced you have betrayed your sovereign, or you have harmed your nonmagical countrymen, or you have acted greatly unworthy of your magic, so your magic is forfeit.' Who are the four people in 1995 who can speak this sentence and cost anyone in Wizarding Britain his or her magic? Elizabeth the Second, the Queen; myself, the Royal Wizard; John Major, the Prime Minister; and Ian O'Toole, President of the Republic of Ireland."
"I am not worried about any punishment," Dumbledore said. "I have been arrested a few times in my life, due to misunderstandings, but I have never spent a day in Azkaban."
Colm's smile was cruel. "I'm well aware that, when the Wizengamot is involved, being acquitted can mean you're innocent; but much more often, it means you called in enough favours or you handed out enough money. The key words in Paragraph 11 are 'I am convinced'—myself and the other three people I named, we're not judges, so we're not bound by the rules of law, by the rules of evidence or by jury verdicts. Any of us four merely has to believe in his mind that you used your magic to commit an evil act in Britain. Do you understand? You can blarney your way into a Wizengamot acquittal—but still can lose your magic if I choose to take it. Walk wary, Albus Dumbledore."
Amazingly, Dumbledore had nothing more to say (at the moment). Colm reached into a pocket of his trousers, pulled out a folded paper, and broke the folded paper's purple-wax seal (with two attached red ribbons). Colm said, "Now that I have your attention, Albus Dumbledore, I shall read to you what your Queen commands—
" 'Sir Harry James Potter has destroyed the terrorist wizard who called himself the Dark Lord Voldemort, and Sir Harry has destroyed Voldemort's organisation. Sir Harry has earnt the right to a peaceful life at his new school, and has earnt a peaceful life after his schooling ends. Albus Dumbledore, We command you: Leave Sir Harry James Potter and his betrothed, Miss Hermione Jean Granger, in peace. Do not bother Our knighted warrior, else We shall declare you unworthy of your magic.' "
Then Colm walked sideways, to the right end of the High Table, then to the left end of the High Table, then back to Dumbledore, as Colm spoke to all the professors at the High Table: "Dumbledore is known to use cat's-paws, he's known to use minions, to do his dirty work for him. How easy is it for this scheming headmaster to arm-twist a minion to do something, so that Dumbledore's hands never get dirty, then if the minion is caught committing the evil deed, for Dumbledore to say, 'Oh, I never told him to do this, he did this all on his own!' Listen to me, professors: the Queen's command to Dumbledore to leave Sir Harry and Miss Granger alone, is also Her Majesty's command to each of you. Each of you shall leave them alone or you shall lose your magic, I promise you. So what if Dumbledore threatens to send you down if you fail to obey him—better to be sacked than to lose your magic, right?"
Dumbledore smirked as he said, "I have complete confidence in the miracle-workers at Saint Mungo's, if someone here loses his or her magic."
Colm smirked back. "But I wouldn't be cursing you; because curses can be partly undone. No, Albus Dumbledore, by speaking that sentence, I would be declaring that you broke a binding magical contract. The contract requiring, ever since 1642, to not attack your country's Muggle government or its sovereign, to not harm Muggle citizens of your country, and to not otherwise abuse your magic that your country's Muggle government gives you freedom to use. And if I speak that sentence and it takes your magic? Saint Mungo's will tell you that whenever you break an oath or a contract, and lose your magic from this, nobody and nothing can give you your magic back."
Colm saw an older woman at the High Table, who was dressed like a Mediwitch, nod.
Colm noticed that Dumbledore still was smiling, and his eyes were twinkling. He looked unworried, but the old witch sitting next to Dumbledore looked sick with worry.
"Leave Sir Harry and Miss Granger alone," Colm repeated. Then he apparated away.
****
Amongst the Gryffindors
"Oi!" said Neville. "The Royal Wizard just apparated out of the Great Hall!"
Parvati said, "But I thought only the headmaster could apparate from within Hogwarts. That's what it says in—"
Parvati, Neville, Lavender, Dean, Fred and George said in unison, "Hogwarts: A History."
Neville sighed. "Harry and Hermione have been gone for less than an hour, and already I miss them fiercely."
****
In the Great Hall
Whilst first-year students asked questions, whilst older students told stories about their summer hols that might or might not be true, their headmaster plotted.
****
A bit over three hours later: 10:45 p.m In the headmaster's office, HSOW&W
Albus was a man on a mission. Ten or so years ago, he had read in one of his books, a spell that would reveal one side of a Fidelius'd place or object.
As soon as the Welcoming Feast had finished, roughly at eight o'clock, Albus had rushed up to his office and had begun ransacking his books.
Now, in a book that Albus had "indefinitely borrowed" from the Potter Library, he found what he was looking for: the Fideliusil sprairm rektangoobek spell, which would reveal a part of where a Fidelius Charm was.
Albus read up about the spell, practised the wand movements, then—pop—apparated to Grimmauld Place.
****
Sirius still was acting childish and immature, and still had not obeyed Albus when the headmaster had demanded, quite reasonably, to be handed the written text of the Secret of where Sirius lived. Neither had Sirius shown Albus the text of the Secret, nor had Sirius told Albus the Secret. So strictly speaking, Albus did not know where Sirius lived.
But that fact was not hard to deduce. Now standing in the street on Grimmauld Place, Albus sensed magic nearby; but since the source of that magic was under Fidelius, Albus could not point to the source. The townhouses on Grimmauld Place were numbered, from 1 to 15— except the numbering skipped 12 and went from 11 to 13. Each of the townhouses that Albus could see was sixty feet wide, with a door that was in the middle of the street side, after someone had climbed three steps to reach that door. Whilst Albus no longer could remember climbing up three steps, then knocking on a door, logic dictated that this was what he had done from the time he had cast the Fidelius on Sirius's home until the time that the Fidelius Charm had been cast again.
But whilst Albus could clearly imagine what the front door of Sirius's house had to look like, he could not see that door! It was frustrating.
Albus made the correct wand-movements as he incanted "Fideliusil sprairm rektangoobek." A glowing-blue twelve-foot-by-ten-foot rectangle appeared. Interestingly, when Albus looked at Number 11 Grimmauld Place, Albus saw in his peripheral vision that the glowing-blue rectangular laid on the front of Number 13, as if the glowing-blue rectangle were sticking- charmed to the building; but when Albus looked at Number 13, the glowing-blue rectangle shifted sideways to cover a twelve-foot-by-ten-foot rectangle of Number 11's front wall, which Albus saw only with peripheral vision.
The spell was of little use. Albus deduced that the street side of Sirius's Fidelius on his house was sixty feet wide and, since the other townhouses were four stories tall, the height of the street side of Sirius's Fidelius had to be forty-eight feet tall (plus the height of the roof). But
the spell that Albus had just cast told him only Here is where a part, which measures twelve feet by ten feet, is of one side of the Fidelius.
Albus cancelled the spell (nyamib), and cast Fideliusil sprairm rektangoobek again. Albus got identical results the second time, right down to where the glowing-blue rectangle appeared on Number 11 or Number 13 Grimmauld Place.
Albus cancelled the spell again and cast it again. He did this a total of five times. Albus learnt nothing more, the third through fifth times, than he had learnt the first time.
Next, Albus cast the spell on Number 14 Grimmauld Place, which Albus was certain had no Fidelius Charm on any part of the house. This time, when Albus cast Fideliusil sprairm rektangoobek, nothing happened; no glowing-blue rectangle showed.
Now Albus apparated to an alley behind the townhouses. He walked to the eastern end of the back of the townhouses, then turned west, counting doors: Number 15, Number 14, Number 13...
When Albus was standing between the rear of Number 13 and the rear of Number 11, he cast
Fideliusil sprairm rektangoobek again. This time, nothing happened.
No blue rectangle appeared. Nothing appeared in Albus's peripheral vision. Albus stayed behind the townhouses for another fifteen minutes, trying everything he could think of, and learnt absolutely nothing more than the first time he had cast the Fidelius-reveal spell.
Albus's conclusion: the Fideliusil sprairm rektangoobek spell could verify that a Fidelius was in place, but the spell told almost no useful information about the boundaries of the Fidelius.
Still, it is better than nothing, Albus thought.
Albus apparated from London to Manchester and, whilst Disillusioned, began a grid-pattern search for a place in Manchester that had the feel of Fidelius magic on it.
Albus was determined to find Manchester Magical Academy. Albus had plans for this school, once he discovered where it was.
****
About twenty minutes later: 11:23 p.m Somewhere in Manchester City
Albus found the wand shop first. Stiubhairt's Startling Sticks was hidden behind a Merchant's Fidelius Charm—which acted to Muggles like a Fidelius Charm, but to magicals acted like a Fidelius Charm to which each magical already had been told the Secret.
Once Albus found Stiubhairt's Startling Sticks, he found Gandalf's Great Reads three shops away—which also was hidden by a Merchant's Fidelius Charm.
From the wand shop and the magical bookshop, Albus walked an outwards spiral. Albus figured that Manchester Magical Academy was no more than two blocks away, but no magic
spell would tell him the direction, so Albus had to find MMA the hard way.
****
Minutes later
Albus sensed a magical place directly ahead. He walked faster. He ignored the boarded-up yellow building that was to his left.
****
Under the roof of that boarded-up yellow building—a building that had been a petrol station years ago—a full-colour video camera was protected from the rain. When a human unknowingly walked in front of the camera, runes that were carved on the outside of the camera activated.
Now the video camera began transmitting images of a long-haired, long-bearded human who was wearing lavender-and-green robes and some sort of glasses, and who was walking from right to left.
In MMA, a VHS video-recorder began recording the camera's images, along with a date- and time-stamp.
As the human continued to walk to the left—
Wreee.
—the camera turned to the left, so to always keep the human in frame. Less than a minute later, the human stopped at the chain-link fence, and stood there, calmly looking about—
—which was something that nonmagical humans never did. Instead, nonmagical humans ran away from the chain-link fence, screaming about ghosts.
Wreee.
Because the human at the chain-link fence was not running away, now different runes activated and the camera zoomed in. The light by the chain-link fence was dim; still, it was clear enough that the bearded human was waving his right arm about. If the bearded human was holding something in his right hand, his body hid his hand from the camera (and hid whatever his hand might be holding). Nor could the petrol-station camera see the bearded human's lips move.
****
What Albus saw, when he walked up to a rusting chain-link fence, was an old brick building on the other side of the fence. His magical glasses told him that the brick building was not real, that it was a glamour, but his magical glasses could not penetrate the glamour. Albus suspected that he had found Manchester Magical Academy.
As Albus made the proper wand-movements, he incanted, "Fideliusil sprairm rektangoobek."
A glowing-blue twelve-foot-by-ten-foot rectangle appeared on the brick wall, directly in front of Albus. I've found you, MMA, Albus thought.
****
The video camera recorded the bearded human who was standing by the chain-link fence and who was waving his right arm and was (soundlessly) speaking; the camera also recorded the glowing-blue rectangle that appeared on the brick wall.
****
Albus, having learnt his lesson at Grimmauld Place about the limitations of the Fidelius- detection spell, did not bother with walking to the right and left along the chain-link fence, in order to try to take a second or third fix on this side of the Fidelius. No, Albus took only one reading with his Fidelius-detection spell.
Also, by now it was late, and Albus yearned to go back to the castle to sleep. Thus he did not bother walking round the chain-link fence that surrounded the enormous brick building. The net result: Albus had no guess about where the other sides of MMA's Fidelius might be.
Albus, who was still standing directly in front of the glowing-blue rectangle, ended the spell, then cast a new spell to show his current location's Apparation coordinates. He used his Occlumency-enhanced memory to memorise those Apparation coordinates.
Then Albus, the one-time Gryffindor, decided to test MMA's defences. He used Diffindo to cut an upside-down L, in order to make a "door" in the fence. He pulled the "door" open and stepped through the fence, walking towards the brick wall.
Two steps inside the fence, he felt an unpleasant electric shock. Albus took the electric shock to be a warning ward; if he continued to walk forwards, he would run into a fatal ward before he touched the brick wall.
Albus had nothing more to learn, and had no more wish to do research. So he backed away from the brick wall and backed through the "door" in the fence. Albus used Reparo to repair the upside-down L that had been cut in the fence; now the fence looked the same as it had looked five minutes earlier.
Or so Albus thought.
****
Dumbledore did not notice, because it was so dark where he was standing, but when his Reparo repaired the fence, he removed the rust from the ends of the cuts before he welded the cut fence-wires together. The light of day would reveal that now the chain-link fence had two lines of shininess, one line horizontal and one line vertical, that together described an upside- down L.
****
After Albus repaired the fence, he apparated away, back to Hogwarts.
**** The petrol-station video camera recorded it all.
****
When Albus took to his bed, he was smiling. He had a plan to recapture Harry and to eliminate Miss Granger's influences on Harry. Tomorrow morning, after everyone received the Daily Prophet, Albus would work the next part of his plan.
Today was Friday, 1st September. By Friday, 15th September, Harry would be back at Hogwarts—never to leave till Albus said he could leave.