[Chapter Nine: The Woes of Mrs. Weasley.]
“Those in favor of clearing the witnesses of all charges?” said Madam Bones’s booming voice.
My head jerked upwards. There were hands in the air, many of them… more than half! Breathing very fast, I tried to count, but before I could finish, Madam Bones had said, “And those in favor of conviction?”
Fudge raised his hand; so did half a dozen others, including the witch on his right and the heavily-mustached wizard and the frizzy-haired witch in the second row.
Fudge glanced around at them all, looking as though there was something large stuck in his throat, then lowered his own hand. He took two deep breaths and said, in a voice distorted by suppressed rage, “Very well, very well… cleared… of all charges.”
“Excellent,” said Dumbledore briskly, springing to his feet, pulling out his wand and causing the two chintz armchairs to vanish. “Well, I must be getting along. Good-day to you all.”
And without looking once at Harry or me, he swept from the dungeon.
Dumbledore's abrupt departure took me completely by surprise. I remained sitting where I was in the chained chair, struggling with my feelings of shock and relief. The Wizengamot were all getting to their feet, talking, gathering up their papers and packing them away. Harry and I both stood up. Nobody seemed to be paying us the slightest bit of attention, except the toadlike witch on Fudge's right, who was now gazing down at me instead of at Dumbledore. Ignoring her, I tried to catch Fudge's eye, or Madam Bones's, wanting to ask whether we was free to go or not, but Fudge seemed quite determined not to notice either of us, and Madam Bones was busy with her briefcase. I took a few tentative steps towards the exit.
"Ash— What are you doing?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.
"Come on." I urged, stepping forward and grabbing his arm. I took a few more cautious steps, and when nobody called us back, broke into a very fast walk, dragging Harry along with me.
We took the last few steps at a run, wrenched open the door and I almost collided with Mr. Weasley, who was standing right outside, looking pale and apprehensive.
"Dumbledore didn't say—"
"Cleared," Harry said, pulling the door closed behind us, "Of all charges!"
Beaming, Mr. Weasley scooped Harry and me up in a big hug.
"That's wonderful! Well, of course, they couldn't have found you two guilty, not on the evidence, but even so, I can't pretend I wasn't the least—"
But Mr. Weasley broke off, because the courtroom door had just opened again. The Wizengamot were filing out.
"Merlin's beard!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley wonderingly, pulling us aside to let them all pass. "You two were tried by the full court?"
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Girl Who Survived: Book Two {Harry Potter: Order of Phoenix}
Fanfiction[BOOK TWO] Acacia Ivory. What do you think of when you hear that name? For many wizards, they think of a very famous, very powerful witch, who attends Hogwarts. For one dark wizard in particular, it strikes fear into his very core. Why? Because, she...
