'Well, usually when a person shakes their head,' said McGonagall coldly, 'they mean "no". So unless Miss Edgecombe is using a form of sign-language as yet unknown to humans — '
Professor Umbridge seized Marietta, pulled her round to face her and began shaking her very hard. A split second later Dumbledore was on his feet, his wand raised; Kingsley started forwards and Umbridge leapt back from Marietta, waving her hands in the air as though they had been burned.
'I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, Dolores,' said Dumbledore and, for the first time, he looked angry.
'You want to calm yourself, Madam Umbridge,' said Kingsley, in his deep, slow voice. 'You don't want to get yourself into trouble, now.'
'No,' said Umbridge breathlessly, glancing up at the towering figure of Kingsley. 'I mean, yes — you're right, Shacklebolt — I — I forgot myself.'
Marietta was standing exactly where Umbridge had released her. She seemed neither perturbed by Umbridge's sudden attack, nor relieved by her release; she was still clutching her robe up to her oddly blank eyes and staring straight ahead of her.
A sudden suspicion, connected to Kingsley's whisper and the thing he had felt shoot past him, sprang into Harry's mind.
'Dolores,' said Fudge, with the air of trying to settle something once and for all, 'the meeting tonight — the one we know definitely happened — '
'Yes,' said Umbridge, pulling herself together, 'yes . . . well, Miss Edgecombe tipped me off and I proceeded at once to the seventh floor, accompanied by certain
And to Harry's horror, she withdrew from her pocket the list of names that had been pinned upon the Room of Requirement's wall and handed it to Fudge.
'The moment I saw Potter's name on the list, I knew what we were dealing with,' she said softly.
'Excellent,' said Fudge, a smile spreading across his face, 'excellent, Dolores. And . . . by thunder . . .'
He looked up at Dumbledore, who was still standing beside Marietta, his wand held loosely in his hand.
'See what they've named themselves?' said Fudge quietly. '
'Well, the game is up,' he said simply. 'Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius — or will a statement before these witnesses suffice?'
Harry saw McGonagall and Kingsley look at each other. There was fear in both faces. He did not understand what was going on, and nor, apparently, did Fudge.
'Statement?' said Fudge slowly. 'What — I don't — ?'
'Dumbledore's Army, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore, still smiling as he waved the list of names before Fudge's face. 'Not Potter's Army.
'You?' he whispered, stamping again on his smouldering cloak.
'That's right,' said Dumbledore pleasantly.
'You organised this?'
'I did,' said Dumbledore.
'You recruited these students for — for your army?'
'Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting,' said Dumbledore, nodding. 'Merely to see whether they would be interested in joining me. I see now that it was a mistake to invite Miss Edgecombe, of course.'
Marietta nodded. Fudge looked from her to Dumbledore, his chest swelling.
'Then you
'That's right,' said Dumbledore cheerfully.
'NO!' shouted Harry.
Kingsley flashed a look of warning at him, McGonagall widened her eyes threateningly, but it had suddenly dawned on Harry what Dumbledore was about to do, and he could not let it happen.
'No — Professor Dumbledore — !'
'Be quiet, Harry, or I am afraid you will have to leave my office,' said Dumbledore calmly.
'Yes, shut up, Potter!' barked Fudge, who was still ogling Dumbledore with a kind of horrified delight. 'Well, well, well — I came here tonight expecting to expel Potter and instead — '
'Instead you get to arrest me,' said Dumbledore, smiling. 'It's like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, isn't it?'
'Weasley!' cried Fudge, now positively quivering with delight, 'Weasley, have you written it all down, everything he's said, his confession, have you got it?'
'Yes, sir, I think so, sir!' said Percy eagerly, whose nose was splattered with ink from the speed of his note-taking.
'The bit about how he's been trying to build up an army against the Ministry, how he's been working to destabilise me?'
'Yes, sir, I've got it, yes!' said Percy, scanning his notes joyfully.
'Very well, then,' said Fudge, now radiant with glee, 'duplicate your notes, Weasley, and send a copy to the
at once. If we send a fast owl we should make the morning edition!' Percy dashed from the room, slamming the door behind him, and Fudge turned back to Dumbledore. 'You will now be escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be formally charged, then sent to Azkaban to await trial!'
'Ah,' said Dumbledore gently, 'yes. Yes, I thought we might hit that little snag.'
'Snag?' said Fudge, his voice still vibrating with joy. 'I see no snag, Dumbledore!'
Well,' said Dumbledore apologetically, 'I'm afraid I do.'
'Oh, really?'
Well — it's just that you seem to be labouring under the delusion that I am going to — what is the phrase? —
'Don't be silly, Dawlish,' said Dumbledore kindly. 'I'm sure you are an excellent Auror — I seem to remember that you achieved "Outstanding" in all your NEWTs — but if you attempt to — er —
'So,' sneered Fudge, recovering himself, 'you intend to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores and myself single-handed, do you, Dumbledore?'
'Merlin's beard, no,' said Dumbledore, smiling, 'not unless you are foolish enough to force me to.'
'He will not be single-handed!' said Professor McGonagall loudly, plunging her hand inside her robes.
'Oh yes he will, Minerva!' said Dumbledore sharply. 'Hogwarts needs you!'
'Enough of this rubbish!' said Fudge, pulling out his own wand. 'Dawlish! Shacklebolt!
Harry struggled around to see who was half-strangling him and saw Professor McGonagall crouched beside him; she had forced both him and Marietta out of harm's way. Dust was still floating gently down through the air on to them. Panting slightly, Harry saw a very tall figure moving towards them.
'Are you all right?' Dumbledore asked.
'Yes!' said Professor McGonagall, getting up and dragging Harry and Marietta with her.
The dust was clearing. The wreckage of the office loomed into view: Dumbledore's desk had been overturned, all of the spindly tables had been knocked to the floor, their silver instruments in pieces. Fudge, Umbridge, Kingsley and Dawlish lay motionless on the floor. Fawkes the phoenix soared in wide circles above them, singing softly.
'Unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley too, or it would have looked very suspicious,' said Dumbledore in a low voice. 'He was remarkably quick on the uptake, modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory like that while everyone was looking the other way — thank him, for me, won't you, Minerva?
'Now, they will all awake very soon and it will be best if they do not know that we had time to communicate — you must act as though no time has passed, as though they were merely knocked to the ground, they will not remember — '
'Where will you go, Dumbledore?' whispered Professor McGonagall. 'Grimmauld Place?'
'Oh no,' said Dumbledore, with a grim smile, 'I am not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you.'
'Professor Dumbledore . . .' Harry began.
He did not know what to say first: how sorry he was that he had started the DA in the first place and caused all this trouble, or how terrible he felt that Dumbledore was leaving to save him from expulsion? But Dumbledore cut him off before he could say another word.
'Listen to me, Harry,' he said urgently. 'You must study Occlumency as hard as you can, do you understand me? Do everything Professor Snape tells you and practise it particularly every night before sleeping so that you can close your mind to bad dreams — you will understand why soon enough, but you must promise me — '
The man called Dawlish was stirring. Dumbledore seized Harry's wrist.
'Remember — close your mind — '
But as Dumbledore's fingers closed over Harry's skin, a pain shot through the scar on his forehead and he felt again that terrible, snakelike longing to strike Dumbledore, to bite him, to hurt him —