#460 - Chapter 460: Fudge loses the first battle

At six o'clock in the morning, driven by his biological clock, Harry abruptly woke up from his dream. Lately, his special training had him waking up around this time every day, so he didn't feel any discomfort from getting up early.

He lay in bed, motionless, staring at the ceiling, and slowly, the thought of being tried at the Ministry of Magic began to fill his entire mind.

Although he had been pretending to be indifferent in front of his friends, not taking the trial to heart, when the day actually arrived, Harry found that he really couldn't achieve a state of perfect serenity.

It wasn't exactly panic, but an indescribable pressure made it difficult for him to calm down.

He closed his eyes and quickly reviewed the preparations he had made in the past few days: defense strategies, legal provisions, possible questions, Hermione and others' suggestions, and so on, until he was sure nothing was missing. Then, he reached for his glasses, put them on, and got out of bed.

After washing up, he勉强ate some breakfast, although his stomach felt blocked, he knew he had to keep his energy up.

His friends had also gotten up early. They surrounded Harry, Ron tried to ease the atmosphere with jokes, Hermione, as always, nagged about some precautions. Ginny solemnly offered her blessings, and Neville clenched his fist to cheer him on.

Finally, Mia smiled and hugged Harry: "Harry, relax. With Sebastian there, nothing will happen to you. Today's trial is just a formality. Don't pay too much attention to Fudge's attitude."

"I know, Aunt Mia." Harry smiled and waved, then followed Sebastian through the fireplace to the Ministry of Magic.

The Ministry of Magic was at its busiest time of the morning. Green flames flickered constantly in the fireplaces, and wizards in robes emerged one after another. They hurried along, some whispering to their companions, others holding documents in one hand and drinking coffee in the other, looking busy but orderly.

Following the crowd into the atrium, a fountain with golden statues came into view. The fountain splashed, making a soft rustling sound. The ceiling of the atrium soared high, shimmering with what looked like flowing runes, making it both magnificent and mysterious.

Harry looked around, overwhelmed. Everything here was new and shocking to him. For a moment, he even forgot that he was here for a trial.

Sebastian patted him on the shoulder: "Let's go. I'll take you to register. Originally, the first time you come to the Ministry of Magic, you should go through the telephone booth above the Ministry and register before coming in. But it doesn't matter, it's the same to go to manual registration now."

As they walked, he tapped his clothes with his wand, changing them into the Wizengamot's purplish-red formal robes, and then took out a delicate "W" badge and pinned it to his chest.

The employee at the registration desk, after seeing Sebastian and his attire, quickly completed all the procedures for Harry. Even the wand check was only symbolic, and the whole process took no more than 20 seconds.

Taking the elevator down, they soon arrived on the second floor of the Ministry of Magic.

With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and Sebastian's old friend Amelia Bones walked in.

"Sebastian, you're here quite early. Fudge just changed Mr. Potter's trial time and location. It will start promptly at eight o'clock in Courtroom Ten. I was wondering if I should contact you with a magical phone."

The time was moved up an hour?

Even the location was changed?

He hadn't heard any news at all.

Was Fudge so unscrupulous that he would use such petty tricks?

Harry stared in disbelief, gaining a clearer understanding of Fudge's bottom line.

"What would happen if I missed this trial?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Fudge would definitely take this opportunity to make it an ironclad case, leaving you no chance to turn things around," Amelia nodded to Harry. "Even if others guessed that someone was playing tricks behind the scenes, deliberately targeting you, as long as you didn't show up, Fudge would have ten thousand reasons to throw all the dirt on you."

He wanted to completely destroy him!

"Interesting," Harry said, his anger burning, gritting his teeth. "I'm looking forward to today's trial."

Sebastian shrugged at Amelia: "I knew Fudge and the others wouldn't be so law-abiding, so I brought Harry over right after seven o'clock. See, isn't this a coincidence? Let's go to Courtroom Ten together. Hopefully, Fudge's face won't be too ugly."

The elevator reached the bottom floor. The three of them got out and walked along the corridor for a while, arriving at a dark black door.

"It's ridiculous that Fudge is using a courtroom for a minor wizard casting spells outside of school. It would have been enough to ask a few questions in my office," Amelia muttered softly, very dissatisfied with Fudge's abuse of power.

"He wants to show off the Minister's power through this method," Sebastian said, pushing open the door and looking at the chair in the center of the room. "Actually, I think Fudge would rather have Dumbledore sitting there being tried."

"Harry, go sit in that chair. If you're really nervous, a little tranquilizer would be a great help."

Tranquilizer?

Completely unnecessary!

Today, he would definitely show Fudge that he was not some easy pushover.

Harry lowered his head, his gaze falling on the lone chair in the center of the room. The armrests of the chair were covered with heavy iron chains, hanging there coldly, like venomous snakes ready to strike. He had no doubt that if necessary, these chains would immediately spring up and lock anyone sitting on it.

However, there was not a trace of fear on his face. He just raised his foot and walked firmly to the chair, sitting down without hesitation.

Looking around, Harry's gaze swept over the gradually rising, empty spectator seats, and he leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes to rest, like a warrior waiting for the arena to open.

Gradually, there were more and more people in the courtroom, and Fudge also appeared, but when he saw Harry so calm, his face was terribly gloomy.

Obviously, he didn't expect Harry Potter to be here, and he learned from the surrounding people's discussions that Harry had arrived earlier than everyone else.

Damn it!

What was Umbridge doing? Didn't she tell the owl delivering the letter to fly around in the sky a few more times and deliver the letter later?

It would have been great if the Savior and Sebastian had been late today, so not only would the Savior's case have been without suspense, but even Sebastian would have left everyone with the impression of being unpunctual.

Fudge glanced at the courtroom and found that Dumbledore was not there, which made him feel much better.

Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't appear. He was the Savior's defender. As long as he didn't appear, the Savior would be like dough, and he could knead him however he wanted.

At eight o'clock, Dumbledore still hadn't appeared. Fudge suppressed the smugness in his heart and stood on the judge's seat, saying with a serious expression.

"Very well, everyone is here. Let us begin today's trial."

"Examiners: Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge..."

Before he could finish speaking, the door of the courtroom opened, interrupting Fudge's words.

Dumbledore strode in, his sharp eyes looking at Fudge through his half-moon spectacles, his long beard shining in the light.

"Defendant's Advocate: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."