My School Life At Hogwarts Chapter 992: Harry's Realization - Novel Cool

Chapter 992: Harry's Realization

Chapter 992: Harry's Realization

The trial was over, and Harry had successfully navigated his way through the immediate crisis.

However, his mood hadn't improved despite the earlier outburst. His intuition told him that Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, would continue to make trouble for him until he was removed from office.

As for staying quiet and pretending he didn't know that Fudge had sent the Dementors after him, forcing him to undergo a trial at the Ministry and using despicable means to frame him? Even if Harry wanted to swallow his grievances, Fudge didn't plan to let him off the hook.

Constantly backing down would only make things worse and give the impression of weakness.

It was better to fight back. Even if he lost, it wouldn't be too disastrous because the other party would also be hurt and afraid. Even Voldemort feared death, let alone anyone else.

"How did it go?"

Mr. Weasley anxiously looked at Harry and asked.

"It's been cleared up. None of the charges hold," Harry said with a smile, looking at the worried Mr. Weasley.

"To be honest, I heard that they were going to hold a formal trial for you..." Arthur trailed off, only to be interrupted by Harry.

"Don't worry, I already knew. Sirius told me about it last night and made all the necessary arrangements," Harry reassured him.

The previous night, Sirius had informed Harry that even if he lost the trial, he could take refuge at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters and settle the score with Fudge after he stepped down. Besides, he was confident he wouldn't lose.

"You knew?" Mr. Weasley was surprised.

"Yes, I did," Harry replied calmly. "Shall we head back now?"

"I'll take you back myself," Mr. Weasley said, looking at Harry seriously. "You can share the good news with everyone."

"That's great. Being here makes me feel uncomfortable," Harry said, not hiding his disdain for the Ministry. He could feel the effects of the Felix Felicis fading.

As the two walked towards the elevator, Harry suddenly stopped and looked in a particular direction.

Lucius Malfoy had appeared from somewhere, his eyes fixed on Harry. "Well, well, the Boy-Who-Lived, your luck never ceases to amaze. You've managed to escape punishment yet again."

"Send my regards to Voldemort," Harry said, not engaging with Lucius' taunt. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and smiled maliciously. "I heard he was chased out of Spain in a hurry."

"Tell Voldemort that next time we duel, he should remember to wear pants," Harry added.

"You..." Lucius Malfoy was stunned by Harry's bold statement.

Suggesting that Voldemort wear pants? Are you insane?

"The last time he crawled out of his cauldron, he was in such a rush that he only threw on a cloak before dueling me," Harry added, seeing the dumbfounded look on Lucius' face.

Not only Malfoy but even Mr. Weasley beside Harry was shocked.

"Let's go," Harry said.

"Harry..." Mr. Weasley looked uneasy.

"It's fine," Harry said calmly. "Even if I treat Voldemort with courtesy, it won't change his mind about wanting to kill me. So there's no point in being polite. Besides, we're already mortal enemies, and whatever I say won't make a difference. Moreover, it's the truth." Harry's tone was even, indicating that he didn't take these matters to heart.

Noticing Mr. Weasley's unease, he changed the subject. "I feel like Malfoy's presence here has something to do with another matter."

"Probably some financial deal with Fudge," Mr. Weasley sneered. "Malfoy has been quite generous with his donations and has received plenty of favors in return. That man has a lot of influence and connections."

"No, my intuition tells me it's something else. I think he's up to something," Harry said, then added, "You should inform Dumbledore about this."

"A plot?"

"I don't know," Harry shook his head.

After that, Harry remained silent until they left the Ministry.

...

"I knew it!"

In the corridor of 12 Grimmauld Place, Ron threw his arms around Harry's neck, excitedly pumping his fists. "I knew they wouldn't convict you."

"They had no reason to find you guilty. None at all!" Hermione exclaimed, her entire body trembling as she spoke.

"Things didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. I almost missed the trial because of Fudge changing the time," Harry said. "Where's Sirius? He really helped me out."

"Sirius and Lupin had to leave for something," Ginny said as she came down the stairs. "Harry, how did the trial go?"

"It's fine now," Harry replied without hesitation.

"That's a relief," Ginny said, her hand over her chest.

"Tell us what happened during the trial," Fred and George suddenly appeared out of thin air, their faces beaming with smiles. "I bet there are some interesting stories to tell."

"Quite a few things happened on the way to the trial," Harry said as he walked into the kitchen and poured himself a Butterbeer. He then proceeded to recount the events that took place during his journey to the Ministry.

"They actually held a formal trial for you?" Hermione was astonished.

"I think so," Harry said softly.

"I bet that thing came in handy," George suddenly said.

"What thing? What are you talking about?" Ron and Hermione turned to the twins, realizing they had been keeping secrets.

"The golden pill?" Harry asked, confused.

"The Felix Felicis," George reminded him. "Sirius got it from us."

"A Felix Felicis?" Hermione wondered if she had heard correctly.

"What's Felix Felicis? It sounds familiar," Ron frowned, trying to recall where he had heard the name before. Ginny, standing beside him, also seemed curious about this magical potion.

"It's a potion that brings good luck," Hermione explained.

"Yes, that's right. Felix Felicis brings good fortune and makes everything go smoothly," Fred nodded in agreement.

"A potion that brings good luck!"

Ron looked shocked, clearly longing for a bit of good fortune himself.

George added, "You can't take too much Felix Felicis within a year, or you'll get poisoned. Sometimes a small dose is enough for a bit of luck, and you don't need to take too much."

"It does feel amazing, like you can do anything," Harry admitted, nodding. "Do you have any more? I'd like to buy some."

"No, Felix Felicis is extremely rare and hard to come by. It's not something you can just buy," Fred shook his head. "You'd have to ask Albert; he might have some special connections to get his hands on it."

Harry felt a bit disappointed, sensing that he could use more of the potion.

At the twins' urging, Harry proceeded to tell everyone about the events that took place during his trip to the Ministry for the trial.

When he mentioned how Fudge had changed the time, almost causing him to miss the trial, Hermione's voice rose in disbelief. It was hard for her to imagine that Fudge would resort to such tactics.

"To be honest, I was surprised by Fudge's actions as well," Harry said to the group. "I never thought he would change so much; it's like he's become a different person."

"I remember when I ran away from home in third grade and met Fudge at the Leaky Cauldron. He was a gentle person back then. He waived my punishment and even consoled me, but look at what he's doing now..."

"Why would Fudge do that?" Ron asked, perplexed.

"He's probably not under the Imperius Curse," Harry shook his head. He had suspected that Fudge might be controlled by the curse, targeting him specifically, but that speculation was quickly dismissed.

"Why not? Look at what happened with Crouch," Ron argued, bringing up a relevant example.

"Dumbledore has always been a target of Fudge's actions. If he were under the Imperius Curse, Dumbledore would have noticed something amiss," Harry pointed out.

"But no one noticed anything strange about Crouch either," Ron persisted in his suspicion that Fudge might be under the influence of the Imperius Curse.

"Voldemort wouldn't do something so foolish. It would incite backlash from the entire Ministry of Magic unless he could completely control the British wizarding community, and Dumbledore certainly wouldn't let that happen," Harry explained.

"Don't be ridiculous," George interrupted Ron's impractical speculation. "Fudge is doing this because he wants Harry expelled. He used to be nice to you, Harry, because you were valuable to him, like a Galleon. Now that you're on his bad side, he's going to try to get rid of you."

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Ginny was taken aback by the twins' harsh assessment of Fudge's motives.

"Not at all," Harry agreed with the Weasley brothers. "Fudge is like a rabid dog right now, and he wants me expelled."

"But you weren't expelled," Hermione pointed out.

"That's because I took the Felix Felicis," Harry said, recounting the events of the previous night when Sirius had given him the parchment and the lucky pill.

The parchment contained instructions on how to handle the trial, while the calming potion and Felix Felicis helped him stay composed during the proceedings.

"Believe me, without those, I would have been so flustered that I wouldn't have been able to speak properly," Harry said with conviction.

"I bet Sirius asked Albert for help," Fred and George said simultaneously, patting Harry on the shoulder. "Don't forget to thank him when you get the chance."

"Oh, by the way, I saw him over there," Harry suddenly recalled. "Anderson was in the courtroom, blending in with the crowd of elders."

"That's not surprising. Albert was supposed to be a substitute for Wizengamot a long time ago. Later, Fudge messed up his chance at some title or another, and he almost lost his position as a substitute as well," Fred and George explained, turning to Hermione. "The current Ministry of Magic is a mess. If you go in there, you have to get used to the crap they throw at you. Only a fool like Percy would eagerly climb that ladder."

"Your mother doesn't understand the Ministry at all. She always thought that we would do well there," the twins added, their voices trailing off as they sensed something and stiffly turned their heads. Mrs. Weasley was standing there with her hands on her hips, glaring at them.

"We're just speaking the truth," Fred and George said in unison.

"Fudge really wanted me expelled, wanting to strip me of my wizarding credentials," Harry said, noticing Mrs. Weasley's expression and quickly changing the subject. "You weren't there to see how ridiculously furious he was, desperately trying to convict me. It was actually quite amusing..."

Harry continued to explain how he had resolved the issues with the Levitation Charm in his second year and the Inflating Charm in his third year, proactively averting the crisis of expulsion.

"Oh, and about the photos," Harry suddenly remembered. "Someone sent Mrs. Figg a few photos of me being attacked. I didn't see the photos myself, but I think they were real because even the judges believed they were. Something's fishy about this. When I was being attacked by the Dementors, someone was hiding and taking pictures without me noticing?"

"Harry, you really said that?" Hermione, unfazed by the photo incident, was still stunned by Harry's provocative actions towards Fudge in the courtroom.

"There's no turning back now," Harry shook his head. "Cornelius Fudge wants me gone, and I'm sure he's behind the Dementor incident. Either he orchestrated it himself or had someone else do it. Fudge definitely tried to cover up the truth."

This was, in fact, the main reason Harry had chosen to confront Fudge head-on. He knew the Minister of Magic harbored ill intentions towards him.

"But... you shouldn't have..." Hermione felt that Harry shouldn't have acted the way he did.

"Anderson said Fudge will be out of office next year," Harry said expressionlessly. "Maybe when he steps down, it will be time for him to go to Azkaban. Yeah, Sirius seems to have gathered quite a bit of information on that front. I might even do an interview about it myself."

"Hermione, I can't believe how naive you are, being Albert's friend," Fred and George gave her peculiar looks.

"Naive?"

"If Harry had been late and missed the trial, do you know what would have happened to him?" Fred glanced at Hermione and continued, "His wand would have been snapped, and he would have lost his wizarding credentials for good. And this isn't over yet. Fudge will definitely use this opportunity to smear Harry's name all over the place, just like he did with Dumbledore. Harry's reputation will be as putrid as a sewer, and Fudge won't stop there. That guy will probably create an opportunity to send Harry to Azkaban, ruining his life completely. Meanwhile, you'll still be at Hogwarts, attending classes and sighing over Harry's misfortune, feeling sorry for him because there's nothing you can do."

"I..." Hermione was left speechless by Fred's depiction of the potential future.

"Do you understand now how ridiculous you're being?" George shook his head. "Just like Percy, the idiot, betraying us all to side with Fudge. We know why he did it. Your dad doesn't have a good reputation in the Ministry, and Percy, burdened by that reputation, had to latch onto a powerful figure.

"Percy is probably getting favored by Fudge now," Harry said with a strange expression. "I think he got what he wanted."

"That's just how cruel reality is," Fred and George shrugged at Hermione. "Next, Fudge will send his people to Hogwarts to teach and try to get rid of Dumbledore, taking over the position of headmaster."

As they spoke, the twins turned to Harry, adding, "Harry, there are definitely more troubles ahead for you."

"Are you sure?" Ron, looking at the dumbfounded Hermione, turned to the twins for confirmation.

"Just wait and see," the twins said with mischievous smiles. "This semester at Hogwarts is going to be especially interesting."

(End of Chapter)

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