A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 610 Caught

"I'm here to submit a self-criticism! What do you want?!"

Harry didn't dwell too much on the incident of using the Patronus Charm to repel the Dementors that day. Although Hermione nagged a bit, repeatedly emphasizing the consequences of violating the "Law on Reasonable Restraint of Underage Wizards," seeing that the Ministry of Magic hadn't taken any action—neither a warning letter nor a summons—they gradually put the matter out of their minds, even somewhat relieved that it might just pass by quietly.

Until yesterday morning, Charles came to St. Mungo's Hospital and told Lupin that the Ministry of Magic had found out that Harry had used the Patronus Charm in front of Muggles, and that the Ministry of Magic could not find Harry, and asked him to notify the relevant personnel immediately.

Lupin immediately contacted Arthur Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic. Arthur immediately dropped what he was doing and rushed to the relevant department of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to inquire about the situation.

At this point, the news Arthur brought back left everyone at Number 12 Grimmauld Place stunned: there were only two days left until the deadline.

Today, as Harry nervously arrived at the Ministry of Magic with his hastily written apology—a letter even longer than Charles's wand—prepared to submit it to the relevant department, an unexpected event occurred.

As soon as he arrived in the hall, he was immediately grabbed by the shoulders and taken away by several Aurors who had been waiting nearby.

The whole process was rough and swift, and Harry's astonished questioning echoed through the hall.

Black, Harry's godfather and guardian, had come with him today. Upon seeing this, his pupils contracted, and he instinctively wanted to rush forward to stop him, his wand already in his hand.

But just as he took a step, Frank Longbottom, who was standing not far away, gave him a timely and extremely subtle wink.

"what happened?"

Blake chose to trust his fellow members of the Order of the Phoenix, suppressing the urge to act immediately. He quickly lowered his voice and strode over to Frank, asking the question.

Currently, among the members of the Order of the Phoenix, the Longbottoms and their Aurors do not usually contact headquarters, only notifying us when they discover traces of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. The Weasleys and their children belong to the logistics team.

Black's voice was tense, his heart instantly filled with immense confusion and vigilance, his sharp gaze sweeping across the direction in which the Aurors who had taken Harry had disappeared.

Frank didn't explain much, but simply said in the same deep voice, "Come with me."

His expression was serious, clearly indicating that he knew some inside information.

Although Black was full of doubts, feeling like he was stuffed into a tangled mess, he took a deep breath, suppressed his anxiety, and chose to trust his old comrade-in-arms who had been through the war. He silently followed Frank through the busy crowds and corridors to the centaur liaison office, which was located in an extremely secluded corner of the Ministry of Magic.

The position of director of this office has been vacant for many years, and the actual daily work is handled by the deputy director, Eleanor.

The office door sign looked somewhat old, and compared to the surrounding environment, it exuded a low-key atmosphere.

Black had heard of Eleanor Satterello, firstly because of the gossip, both true and false, circulating within the Ministry about her relationship with Charles, and secondly because of the department she managed—ostensibly responsible for communication and coordination with the centaur tribes, seemingly a peripheral institution far removed from the core of power, but in reality providing the Ministry with considerable financial support through various clandestine trade and resource agreements, making it a force to be reckoned with.

This made him even more puzzled about the purpose of being brought here at this moment.

"Tea or coffee?"

Eleanor’s tone was crisp and direct, without any pleasantries, gesturing for Blake to sit on the comfortable but not luxurious sofa in the reception area.

She stood by the desk, calmly watching Blake.

"Tea, thank you."

Black answered, his eyes fixed on Eleanor, trying to glean the answer to Harry's sudden arrest from the businesslike expression on her face.

With a light, fluid wave of her wand, Eleanor's movements were precise and efficient. A set of exquisite porcelain teaware on the low cabinet beside her automatically began to brew a steaming cup of rich, dark black tea for Black, which then floated steadily onto the tea table in front of him.

She then sat down on the sofa opposite Blake, her legs together, her posture upright, her black business suit impeccable, exuding the competence and efficiency of a professional woman.

“I’m sorry about Mr. Potter,” Eleanor said bluntly, her tone carrying a perfectly measured, formulaic apology, but with a hint of helplessness in her eyes. “Charles and I both tried to intervene, hoping to suppress the matter and handle it with the minimum penalty through standard procedures, but…”

She paused slightly and said, "We were still a step too slow."

Blake picked up his teacup, took a sip of the warm black tea, then put it down and immediately asked, "What exactly happened?"

"Although Harry violated the Act on Reasonable Restraint of Underage Wizards, he had a reason for it: to save someone from the Dementors."

"Based on numerous existing cases in the Ministry of Magic, this situation usually only requires a detailed written explanation and the application of a forgetting charm to the witnessing Muggle, and is far from needing to deploy Aurors to make a public arrest!"

His tone carried a clear sense of bewilderment and a hint of anger and rigidity.

He knew all too well the rules of the Ministry of Magic, where personal relationships and family influence often outweighed the cold, hard legal codes.

With Sirius Black's status and influence as the head of the Black family, coupled with Arthur Weasley's connections within the ministry, he should have been able to easily get through this matter with Harry. He originally thought that accompanying Harry today was just a formality, that Harry would give a profound self-criticism, receive a few official reprimands, and then both sides would laugh it off, and the matter would be over.

Unexpectedly, the Ministry of Magic took such a strong measure, which is completely illogical and must be suspicious.

Eleanor nodded, understanding his confusion, and began to explain: "The night before last, Charles learned a crucial piece of information from Percy Weasley: the Ministry of Magic's tracking system did indeed detect that Mr. Potter used an extremely powerful Patronus Charm in the Muggle neighborhood, but the warning owl sent by the Ministry was unable to pinpoint his exact location for some reason, resulting in the letter failing to be delivered."

“Within the ministry, this would be seen as deliberate defiance.”

“Charles contacted me immediately,” Eleanor continued, speaking steadily and clearly. “He knows I have some connections within the department and wanted me to communicate with the relevant departments of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as soon as I got to work yesterday, to downplay the matter as much as possible, to emphasize the urgent and risk-avoidance nature of the incident, and to guarantee that it would be resolved within the specified timeframe.”

"Charles was responsible for finding Lupin to inform Porter, and at the same time preparing explanatory materials."

Blake nodded; this part matched what he had learned from Lupin and Arthur the day before.

Charles did indeed go to Lupin, and they urgently summoned Hermione and the others, working through the night to produce that detailed, or rather, lengthy, self-criticism.

The problem does not appear to stem from our own inadequate response, but rather from interference within the Ministry of Magic.

Eleanor continued, "However, plans can change."

“Yesterday morning, as soon as I arrived at the ministry, before I even entered my office, I was summoned directly to the minister’s office.”

"Minister Scringer and several other senior officials personally assigned me several urgent tasks, requiring me to handle them immediately. These tasks are very time-consuming and cannot be delayed."

"It wasn't until almost the end of the workday that I was able to escape from the minister's office and those tedious tasks."

She sighed slightly and immediately said, "I'll head straight to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to inform them that Mr. Potter's detailed explanation and letter of apology will be delivered tomorrow, and this matter can be handled according to the usual procedure without escalation."

“But I was still too late.” Eleanor’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, revealing her frustration and a sense of helplessness. “By the time I arrived, Senior Deputy Minister Dolores Umbridge was already there.”

"She was sitting in the Execution Department's office, personally reviewing all the recent case reports on underage wizards' illegal use of magic, her attitude unusually serious."

“Unfortunately,” Eleanor looked into Black’s eyes, her tone heavy, “Mr. Potter’s report, which was particularly suspicious because it involved powerful magic and Muggle witnesses, and because it could not be delivered due to location failure, happened to be seen by her.”

"She immediately stated that this was a particularly egregious case, a blatant disregard for the Ministry of Magic's regulations, and that it must be dealt with seriously as a warning to others. She then directly ordered the Auror Office to invite Mr. Potter to assist with the investigation this morning."

Upon hearing this, Blake keenly sensed something extremely amiss, and his suspicions deepened.

He immediately pressed further: "Umbridge? Wasn't she about to step down as Senior Deputy Minister?"

"As far as I know, Minister Scringer's new team is being formed. A veteran bureaucrat like her from the Fudge era should be on the verge of a power transition. How could she suddenly have the leisure to personally intervene in such specific cases that are usually handled by lower-level staff? This is illogical!"

He was almost certain that Umbridge's move was deliberate.

Eleanor leaned forward slightly, lowered her voice, and said with an air of mystery, as if sharing inside information: "There are indeed rumors in the department recently that Ms. Umbridge is very likely to be assigned to a very important teaching position at Hogwarts after stepping down as Senior Undersecretary."

"My personal speculation is that her sudden intervention and high-profile handling of Mr. Potter's case may be related to this."

Upon hearing this, Blake's heart sank, and he fell silent instantly, his fingers unconsciously tapping his knees with an anxious rhythm.

Yes, that makes sense.

The transfer of power between Fudge and Scrimgeour was relatively peaceful, and the men Fudge left behind needed to be properly settled.

Placing a powerful and tough senior official like Umbridge in a key position at Hogwarts sounds like a respectable and reasonable move that would appease Fudge's old guard.

In an instant, he recalled that Dumbledore had always had a furrowed brow and seemed particularly heavy-hearted when he saw him at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters in the past two days. Now he completely understood why the headmaster was troubled.

Umbridge's arrival at Hogwarts was far more than just the arrival of an ordinary professor.

A thought popped into Blake's mind, leaving him speechless.

Umbridge suddenly seized on Harry's issues and made a big fuss about it. Was she trying to use the "savior" Harry Potter as a tough nut to crack and establish her authority?

By publicly and harshly dealing with the young heroes of the wizarding world, she could quickly establish a tough, unapproachable, and unchallengeable image of authority at Hogwarts, where she was about to take up her post, so as to better gain a foothold there.
If that's the case, Harry has become a victim in her political game!

Black thought this was very likely the case, and he couldn't help but feel furious. Why were they bullying my Harry? If they were so capable, they should bully Charles instead.

(End of this chapter)