Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 254 I told you long ago that Dementors are not to be trusted.

"Professor Dumbledore means to await trial!"

Professor McGonagall said angrily, her face flushed with rage and she trembled.
“This case needs to be reopened—look at Peter over there—he’s still alive, and it’s been proven that he’s the traitor!”

“Thank goodness Peter’s still alive, isn’t he?” Fudge said. “One witness is enough; maybe they’re actually in cahoots—”

“You know this is impossible!” Professor McGonagall looked at Fudge with extreme disappointment.

"He just suddenly jumped up; it's clearly about to attack," Fudge said aggressively. "The Dementors are protecting us—don't forget Sirius Black blew up an entire street—"

“If he could attack, he would have attacked Professor Dumbledore while we were explaining things to him!” Professor McGonagall said angrily. “How could you—”

"As Minister for Magic, I have the right to decide whether or not to bring bodyguards when meeting a dangerous prison escapee!" Fudge shouted, his voice lacking confidence. "Especially after the Christmas attack on Barty Crouch Jr., who attempted to kill his own father."

“In any case, now that he’s dead, I’m going to take Peter Pettigrew back to the Ministry of Magic and then wait for the Wizengamot trial next week…” Fudge’s voice trailed off, finally uttering his final decision in an almost inaudible volume.

"Why is there arguing here?" Dumbledore appeared in the doorway and strode into his office. "As you requested, Cornelius, I have submitted all the necessary paperwork to Wizengamor, and if there are no problems, the hearing will be scheduled for next weekend."

“There’s hardly any need for a trial anymore, Dumbledore.” Professor McGonagall’s chest heaved with anger. “He insisted on bringing two Dementors into the castle! And he even let one of them attack Sirius!”

"The trial can still be held..." Fudge became visibly more nervous under Dumbledore's scrutinizing gaze. "Peter Pettigrew is still alive, isn't he? We can interrogate him and see if the previous minister made a mistake or if Peter was just hiding out of fear..."

“Without the use of Truth Potion, I find it hard to imagine someone giving up their Order of Merlin Second Class and martyrdom in exchange for a life sentence in Azkaban,” Dumbledore said calmly. “Cornelly, may I interpret this as the Ministry of Magic taking extremely dangerous measures against Sirius Black?”

"He's a murderer! And he escaped from prison!" Fudge argued. "The same thing would have happened if we'd caught him sooner!"

“Cornell, may I take this to mean that the Ministry of Magic has taken extremely dangerous measures against Sirius?” Dumbledore repeated.

“Dumbledore… what are you talking about? He’s already dead—” Fudge looked at Sirius’s body with concern.

“Well, that’s it then,” Dumbledore said. “After all, the occurrence of lethal acts is already an extremely dangerous measure.”

“So what if I did?” Fudge said indignantly. “I caught and executed the fugitive, and I really don’t understand why you—”

"Is that really so, Cornelius?" Dumbledore said coldly. "If he were dead, there would be no more evidence to provide, and Peter Pettigrew would not be able to provide credible and truthful evidence without the intervention of the Truth Potion. As far as I know, the Ministry of Magic has strict regulations on the use of the Truth Potion in trials. Only if one of the plaintiff or the defendant voluntarily requests and drinks the Truth Potion will the other party be required to use it in their defense."

“There’s no point in dwelling on this, Dumbledore. The Dementors have killed him—” Fudge said. “That’s it. The case proceeds as planned. Peter will be in court. If there is any miscarriage of justice, we will inform Sirius Black’s family. It won’t be long…”

“You know the Black family is extinct!” Professor McGonagall said sharply.

“That’s the rule, regardless of whether he has any family members…” Fudge said, “The subsequent arrangements are up to the estate distribution committee to decide…”

"But the good news is that I think Sirius doesn't seem to be dead," Dumbledore said.

All three eyes were fixed on Sirius Black, as he was acting according to the follow-up plan that Cohen had mentally instructed him on—

"What happened—" Sirius shuddered. "I..."

Sirius looked at Fudge, and now it was Fudge's turn to stare wide-eyed and stammer.

"No, no, how could this be..." Fudge's mouth gaped open, completely unable to believe what he was seeing.

“‘When an informant takes extremely dangerous measures against the accused before the end of the trial, the accused’s defense counsel has the right to end the Ministry of Magic’s provisional detention, release the accused, and vouch for him to ensure his normal attendance at the trial,’” Dumbledore said. “It seems we cannot confidently hand him over to the Ministry of Magic, as the Ministry of Magic has clearly posed a serious threat to his life, which will be a crucial factor in determining whether he can attend the trial normally.”

“But the Dementors are already…” Fudge still couldn’t understand why someone could retain their soul and consciousness after being kissed by a Dementor.

He stared intently at Cohen, but couldn't find anything wrong with him—this was definitely a Dementor… “I warned you at the beginning of the school year, Cornelius,” Dumbledore said. “The Dementors of Azkaban are not trustworthy, nor are they suitable as prison guards or police officers for wizards. They are far too unpredictable.”

“So…then…” Fudge winked at the other Dementor, trying to get it to attack again.

Unfortunately, the Dementor was chatting with Cohen and had no time to pay attention to Fudge.

[What do you think is your significance as a Dementor?] Cohen is discussing philosophical questions with it.

"I'm full," it replied.

What I mean is, if you didn't have to stay in that old place anymore, and no wizards would use Patronus Charms on you, what would you want to do?

"To eat more?" it asked.

"This isn't your only need," Cohen tried to rouse the Dementors' ambition. "You all need some goals, right? Like conquering the world, domesticating humans, splitting into a bunch of Dementors and raising them as your sons... If you could roam the world freely, and the whole world was open to you, what would you most want to do?"

[Would you eat your fill "all over the world"?] It didn't know what Cohen was asking.

"Alright, that's all for now." Cohen said helplessly, letting it try again and again to bypass Fudge's guardian spirit and attack Fudge.
-
"It's absolutely disgusting."

After Fudge slunk away with the Dementors, Professor McGonagall said with disgust,
“He wasn’t like this when he was in school—Albus, I even remember him as a polite and well-behaved student.”

“Politics can completely change a person, Minerva,” Dumbledore said. “That’s why I’ve always been hesitant to go there; desire and power can always make a person unlike themselves.”

“Or perhaps it’s the most authentic version of myself.” Professor McGonagall shook her head. “But I did see the Dementor…”

“That’s Cohen,” Dumbledore said. “I arranged for him to help out in a play, and it seemed to be a success.”

“Cohen?!” Professor McGonagall’s eyes widened. “I thought—I thought he just inherited some Dementor abilities…”

“That’s what I thought at first too,” Dumbledore said, “but it seems Cohen is more complete than we expected…”

"Won't exposing this child to these things too early affect his education?" Professor McGonagall said worriedly. "Cohen is a good boy, although he likes to play pranks like the Weasley brothers... I'm worried that if he's exposed to the disappointing side of the wizarding world..."

“I don’t think he’ll be disappointed…” Sirius’s lips twitched. “He seemed pretty happy today—except when he kissed my forehead.”

“If he’d be happy to kiss your forehead, then you should be even more worried,” Professor McGonagall said dryly. “Blake, twelve years in prison…why have you never defended yourself all these years? I even thought you were the traitor, not Peter.”

"Because I thought Peter was dead, dead in that sudden explosion..." Sirius said regretfully, "And I was wrong—I shouldn't have had that sudden idea with James to try and trick Voldemort... to replace the Secretkeeper with Peter... I was so stupid..."

“Being betrayed by a friend isn’t your fault,” Professor McGonagall patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. “None of us would have guessed he was the mole…”

“You can stay at Hogwarts for now,” Dumbledore said, “but since you haven’t been exonerated, it’s best to avoid being in the students’ sight to prevent disrupting normal teaching activities…”

“Of course, of course,” Sirius quickly agreed. “I’m perfectly fine being a dog too…”

“No,” Dumbledore said. “Illegal Animagus is also a crime punishable by imprisonment, and you cannot reveal anything about it in court.”

“Professor Dumbledore is right, Black,” Professor McGonagall said to Sirius. “An unregistered Animagus continuing to engage in shapeshifting activities will be locked up in Azkaban for at least ten years, especially considering this activity was used for a ‘prison break’…”

“I have to temporarily alter your memory,” Dumbledore said, “because you need to drink Truth Potion during your trial so that Peter Pettigrew will tell you everything—and because of Fudge’s problem, he should be hostile towards you.”

(End of this chapter)