The Hearing (OP)

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Fudge questioning Harry about what happened the night of the Dementors's appearance.

The Hearing is the eighth chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Courtroom Ten

When Harry enters Courtroom Ten, he gasps, recognising the place as the dungeon he visited in Dumbledore's Pensieve (GF30). The walls are made of dark stone, with empty benches on all sides. Flickering torches dimly light the place, creating a heavy atmosphere. Directly in front of Harry, in the highest benches, sit about fifty shadowy figures. They wear plum-coloured robes with a silver 'W' on the left-hand side of the chest.

A cold male voice announces that he is late, and Harry apologises, taking his seat. He throws a look at the chains that he had seen wrap around the defendant; they do not mind him. All the Inquisitors stare down at Harry with severity, and some, with curiosity.

Cornelius Fudge, without his trademark green bowler hat, sits in the middle of the front row. A broad, square-jawed witch with short grey hair and thick eyebrows, wearing a monocle, was beside him. There is another witch on his right, but Harry cannot see her face.

The Minister for Magic announces that they will begin, and asks whether a wizard at the end of the row is ready; the answer is eager and affirmative. Percy is holding a quill, and ready to take notes. He does not show any sign of knowing the boy.

Fudge starts dictating: "Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley —"

Dumbledore

Right then, there is a new arrival, who interrupts Fudge, announcing,, "Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." The Headmaster, wearing blue robes, calmly enters. Several Wizengamot members were muttering; some seemed annoyed and others, frightened. Two witches in the back row waved.

Harry starts feeling hopeful. He is unable, however, to catch Dumbledore's eye. Fudge looks flustered that Albus arrived in time, and Dumbledore says he did not; due to a lucky mistake, however, he arrived three hours early. He conjures a chair beside the boy.

The charges are producing a Patronus Charm in plain view of a Muggle on August 2, 1995, having received a warning for a similar happening three years prior (CS2).

Fudge interrogates Harry, not giving him any opportunity to defend himself. Amelia Bones is impressed to hear that the fifteen-year-old has been able to produce a corporeal Patronus for a year now.

Harry blurts out that he only conjured the Patronus because of the Dementors in the alleyway. Fudge smirks mockingly, and says to his fellow Interrogators that Harry came up with that excuse simply because Muggles cannot see Dementors.

Dumbledore clears his throat, and announces that there was one witness other than Dudley Dursley there that night (OP1). Fudge seems impatient and unwilling to hear her, but Albus says that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights the accused has the right to present witnesses for the case. Amelia back up his statement.

Mrs. Figg

Fudge grudgingly instructs Percy to fetch the witness. In comes Arabella Doreen Figg, still wearing her carpet slippers. She testifies that she is a Squib living in Little Whinging. As such, she was able to see the Dementors that night when going out to buy cat food from the shop at the end of Wisteria Walk. She saw the big, hooded creatures run ("Dementors don't run, they glide," says Amelia) towards the boys.

Several wizards, including Harry, appear unconvinced by her unpersuasive statement. But then Mrs. Figg accurately describes the effect of a Dementor, her voice shaking; Amelia Bones seems to believe her from that moment on.

"Dementors wandering into a Muggle suburb and just hap¬pening to come across a wizard?" Fudge snorts. "The odds on that must be very, very long. Even Bagman wouldn't have bet —"

Dumbledore points out that he believes the Dementors were not there by chance. Umbridge shifts slightly on her chai (OP32), but no one else does. Albus continues, reminding Fudge that he has previously offered to the Minister his views regarding the possibility that the creatures may be taking orders from others (GF36). When Fudge denies this possibility, Dumbledore politely suggestion that someone within the Ministry must have ordered Dementors to go to Little Whinging.

Hearing this, Dolores leans forward, and Harry sees her toad-like complexion (squat, flabby face, little neck, wide mouth) for the first time. She has large, bulging eyes and short, curly hair, and speaks with in a girlish, high-pitched tone, doubting that she has heard the Headmaster correctly.

Dumbledore repeats that his previous statement is the logical conclusion that can be inferred from the facts, unless there are Dementors outside Ministry control. Fudge immediately denies the possibility, and Albus expresses his hope that the incident will be thoroughly investigated.

Fudge glaringly reminds the Interrogators that the Dementors' presence in the alleyway is of little relevance. Dumbledore corrects him, stressing that Harry used magic in a life-threatening situation—an express exception to the Decree, according to its seventh clause.

The Minister continues to doubt the presence of the Dementors in Little Whinging, pointing out that Harry always comes up with fantastic tales to justify his misbehaviour, including a house-elf's performing a Hover Charm (CS2). Dumbledore offers to bring Dobby to the Wizengamot, informing the court that the elf is currently employed at Hogwarts. Fudge also refers to the incident with Marjorie Dursley (PA2); Dumbledore reminds him that at the occasion the Minister himself agreed that even the best wizards sometimes cannot control their emotions.

Fudge angrily refers to the trouble Harry creates at school; Dumbledore firmly states that the boy's behaviour at Hogwarts is not subject to the present hearing. The Ministry does not have power to expel Hogwarts students, nor can it confiscate wands until charges have been proven; Albus had to remind Fudge of this on the night the Dementors attacked Harry.

The Minister is clearly incensed by Dumbledore's plain statement that Fudge's actions are against the law; he retorts that laws can be changed, and Albus notes that that much is evident: indeed, in the few weeks since he was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has become practice to call for a full criminal trial to judge a matter of underage magic!

Some Inquisitors react to this with awkwardness. Fudge continues to glower, and Umbridge remains impassive.

Dumbledore then says Harry has been charged with a specific conduct and has presented his defence. Both boy and Headmaster now can do nothing but wait for the verdict.

The verdict

Once more, Harry tries to catch Dumbledore's gaze, to no avail; the elder wizard does not remove his sight from the witches and wizards in the high bench, who have now begun discussing the matter in hurried whispers.

The Headmaster's rushing the Wizengamot decision didn't seem to be a wise decision in Harry's point of view. He is nervous, and wishes he could have explained himself better.

Suddenly, the whispering stops. Amelia asks for those who are in favour of clearing the boy of all charges to raise their hands (several, but Harry had no time to count); then she asks a show of hands of those who wish him to be convicted (about seven, including the heavily-moustached wizard, the frizzy-haired witch, Fudge and Umbridge).

The verdict is thus established: cleared of all charges. Satisfied, Dumbledore briskly says goodbye and leaves, without a single glance at Harry.

Trivia

• Harry violates Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery (1875) and also Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.
• Clause Seven of the aforementioned Decree states that magic may be used before Muggles in excep¬tional circumstances, one example of which is a situation that threatens the life of the wizard or witch or any witches, wizards or Muggles present at the time.