Stay With Me | Draco Malfoy [2]

Chapter 5 - Ministry of Magic

No one's POV

"I don't understand. What does the Ministry of Magic have against me?" Katianne asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Show her. She'll find out soon enough." The raspy voice of Mad-eye Moody declared, looking gloomy as usual. From beside Harry, Kingsley got out a newspaper, handing it to the Potter boy, who brought it closer to his sister so they both could see it.

On it, it wrote 'The Girl Who Lies', showing a moving picture of her during the Triwizard Tournament. "He's been attacking Dumbledore as well." Sirius mentioned, attempting to help make the blonde feel better. "Fudge is using all his power, including his influence to the Daily Prophet to smear anyone the Dark Lord has returned." Sirius continued saying.

"Why?" The raven haired boy quizzed, looking as confused as ever. "He thinks Dumbledore's after his job." Remus explained to him. "But that's insane! No one in their right mind could believe that Dumbledore's-" Harry was cut off by Remus. "Exactly the point. Fudge isn't in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear."

Silence filled the room for a second before Lupin started talking again. "Now fear makes people do terrible things. The last time Voldemort gained power, he almost destroyed everything we hold most dear. Now he's returned, and I'm afraid the minister will do almost anything to avoid facing the terrifying truth."

"We think Voldemort wants to build up his army again." The twin's godfather stated. "Fourteen years ago, he had huge numbers at his command. And not just witches and wizards, but all manner of dark creatures. He's been recruiting heavily, and we've been attempting to do the same. But gathering followers isn't the only thing he's interested in."

"We believe-" Sirius started saying again, "Voldemort may be after something-" Moody cut him off by saying, "Sirius." in a warning tone, though that didn't stop their godfather from continuing the topic. "Two things to be exact. Two things he didn't have last time." Sirius finished saying. "Y- you mean like weapons." Harry stammered out quizzically.

"No! That's enough. They are just kids!" Molly exclaimed, strutting over to where the Potter twins sat, snatching the newspaper from the table and folding it up. "You say much more and you might as well induct them into the Order straight away!" This time, Katianne was the one to speak up. "Good! I- We want to join! If Voldemort's raising an army, then we want to fight!"

She looked over to her twin brother for clarification, who nodded in agreement. Sirius clapped, sitting back in his chair in victory, smiling from winning the argument. He then winked at the Potter twins when everyone else wasn't looking.

Time skip

"Remember, during the hearing, speak only when you're spoken to." Arthur Weasley told the Potter girl. They were in a dark hall at the ministry of magic. "Keep calm, you've done nothing wrong." The redhead continued saying as they stood side by side. "As the muggles say, 'truth will out'. Yes?" Mr. Weasley turned to look at the blonde, to which she only responded with a simple nod, as nervous as ever.

"I'm not allowed in, I'm afraid. Good luck, Katianne." And with that, the Potter girl walked in.

Katianne's POV

I sat in the middle of the courtroom. My heart was thumping extremely fast as I tried my best to not bounce my leg from anxiety. Even though I knew I did nothing wrong, I still felt ridiculously nervous.

"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August-" Fudge started saying loudly, while everyone else stayed silent as ever. "-Into offences committed by Katianne Lily Potter, resident at number four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Mag-" The man was cut off by the familiar, powerful voice of none other than Albus Dumbledore.

"Witness for defence." He had said. I turned my head to look at him, the feeling of relief immediately washing over me. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." He walked out from behind, going in front of me. "Y- you got our message that the time and place of the hearing had been changed, did you?" Fudge questioned.

"I must have missed it. But by a happy mistake, I arrived at the Ministry three hours early. The charges?" Dumbledore declared. "The charges against the accused are as follows: 'That she did knowingly and in full awareness of the illegality of her actions, produce a Patronus Charm in the presence of a muggle.' Do you deny producing said Patronus?"

"No, but-" I started saying, but got cut off by Fudge. "And you were aware that you were forbidden to use magic outside school while under the age of seventeen?" I spoke up again, "Yes, I was, but-" and once more, got cut off. "Witch and wizard of the Wizengamot-" At this point, I was completely fed up and started talking without thinking. "I was only doing it because of the dementors!"

Gasps were heard all around from my statement, people starting to whisper to each other like shocked teenagers after something dramatic had happened. "Dementors? In little Whinging?" A woman asked. "Yes, that's quite clever." Fudge uttered out, pointing to the woman. "Muggles can't see dementors, can they? Highly convenient."

"I'm not lying." I shrieked as calmly as I could. "There were three of them, and if I hadn't-" Once again, I was cut off. "Enough. I'm sorry to interrupt but what I'm sure would have been a very well-rehearsed story, but since you can produce no witnesses of the event-" Before Fudge could continue talking, Dumbledore began saying, "Pardon me, minister, but as it happens, we can."

Time skip

Now, Mrs. Figg sat in the middle while I was at the side. "Please, describe the attack. What did they look like?" The same woman from before requested. "Well, one of them was very large and the other two rather skinny." Mrs. Figg stated. "Not the kids, the dementors." Fudge then declared, looking rather annoyed.

"Oh, right, right." She started saying, nodding slightly. "Well, big. Cloaked. Then... everything went cold. As though all the happiness has gone from the world." Mrs. Figg declared while Fudge chuckled. "Now, look here. Dementors don't just wander into a muggle suburb and happen across a wizard. The odds are astronomical." A fake smile was plastered onto his face while his loud, projecting voice echoed in the silent room.

"I don't think anyone would believe the dementors were there by coincidence, minister." Dumbledore announced. Then, a woman with extremely short, brunette hair with an obnoxiously high pitched voice started talking, saying, "I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor. Dementor's are, after all, under the control of the ministry of magic. And it's so silly of me, but it sounded for a moment as though you were suggesting that the ministry had ordered the attack on the twins."

"Well that would be disturbing, indeed, madam undersecretary, which is why I'm sure the ministry will be mounting on a full-scale inquiry into why the two dementors were so very far from Azkaban, and why they mounted on an attack without authorization. Of course, there is someone... who might be behind the attack." Dumbledore strided forwards after he spoke.

"Cornelius, I implore you to see reason. The evidence that the Dark Lord has returned is incontrovertible." The headmaster almost begged, though that did nothing to change Fudge's thoughts, while this man we, unfortunately, call the minister of magic, did not abide, leading to him uttering, "He is not back."

Silence filled the room, though it didn't last long, since Dumbledore started speaking again. "In the matter of Katianne Potter, the law clearly states that magic may be used before muggles in life-threatening situations." Fudge, who now looked angrier than ever, exclaimed, "Laws can be changed if necessary, Dumbledore."

"Clearly, has it become practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic?" The white haired Professor quizzed as the room fell quiet. People started muttering among themselves at this newly asked question, Dumbledore holding out his arms, waiting for an answer.

"Those in favour of conviction." The woman from before said as I nervously looked around, seeing a handful of people's hands go up, including the woman with the annoyingly high-pitched voice. "Those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges." She then spoke while the people earlier set their arms down. A lot of the hands went up, as well as the woman who spoke.

Fudge sighed, annoyance masking his face. "Cleared of all charges." I smiled, taking a breath of relief. I saw the headmaster strutting out. "Professor-" I called out, jumping up from my seat, though he ignored me, leaving without another word, my smile slowly fading away.

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