A Change of Heart

Chapter Forty Two

The next morning brought Harry the biggest surprise of his life. They found the Great Hall in an uproar when they went down for breakfast. But what Harry saw first was Dumbledore, sitting calmly at the Staff table. Umbridge was not to be seen anywhere and sitting next to Dumbledore was-
"Sirius!" He exclaimed.

Sirius seemed to be in some animated conversation with Dumbledore, but Harry wondered if he was dreaming. How could Sirius be sitting here, so openly? How and when did Dumbledore come back? And where was Umbridge?

The reason became self-evident as soon as they sat down for breakfast and Hermione opened her Daily Prophet.

"He- Who- Must- Not -Be- Named Back!"  Screamed the headline.

"Failed Coup at Ministry: You-know-who and his supporters escaped" Read the sub-heading.

There was a detailed account of how Tom and a handful of his supporters tried to overthrow the ministry of magic, but was foiled by the timely intervention of Albus Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix.

"Here's an article about you," said Hermione sourly. "About how you stuck to the truth in spite of persecution." She sounded angry.

"And here's one about Sirius," said Ron. "It says a dozen eye-witnesses saw Pettigrew fighting alongside You-know-who and the ministry has issued a full pardon to Sirius."

"And Dumbledore has been reinstated as Head Master and into the Wizengamot. All Umbridge's decrees had been repealed and she's under suspension pending enquiry for using an illegal Black Quill for punishments during her term in Hogwarts." Read Harry.

They were all silent for a while, Harry finally taking in the fact that Sirius was free. He no longer had to hide. Everyone knew Tom was back now, that Harry had not been lying. Everything was fine, except-

"How did they know it was him?" Asked Harry as he pulled the paper towards him, to read the details of the failed coup. "He did not look like Voldemort."

But there weren't enough details in the newspaper. It said details were coming in and only the bare minimum of facts were available. A demand for Fudge to be sacked had also been raised and it seemed Fudge would need to step down from his post.

From the account, it seemed, Tom and some of his Death-Eaters had suddenly entered the ministry and had stunned the ministry officials in the atrium. Aurors had been called, but the Dementors had attacked them, and the Death-Eaters had successfully penetrated into the other levels when Dumbledore arrived alongwith a few of the Order members. There had been a pitched battle with no casualties, but you-know-who's followers were losing and then suddenly, the Death-Eaters all disapparated. 

Harry frowned as he read the account. The account seemed to miss a lot by way of details. He wondered if he would get a chance to speak to Dumbledore when the Head Master rose.

The Hall fell silent as they waited for him to speak.

"I know you have all seen the newspaper today." He began. "We have troubled times ahead of us. And I would urge you to stay calm, to stay united and to help each other, whenever you can."

He sat down and Harry turned back to the newspaper, scowling.