Dark Lord Dumbledore

"What do I know of prophecies? I know they are extremely unreliable because of how vague they are, and end up being self-fulfiling in nearly every case. Not to mention that they usually only 'make sense' after the fact since events can be cherry-picked to fit the prophecy."

Chad, clearly annoyed at Dumbledore's effort to force him into his last resort to save his schemes, was making his stance on Divination clear.

He didn't buy into them.

"Ha! The boy is smarter than you, Amelia. I can't believe you are actually taking this seriously. Dumbledore is wanted for criminal activities as well as harbouring other wanted criminal suspects; he is just deflecting attention away from his actions so he can remain free and commit more atrocities!" Crowed Fudge in triumph after Chad's scathing opinion on the integrity of prophecy.

"We checked the Hall of Prophecy, and there was clearly an orb there, just like Dumbledore said. The least we can do is check it for evidence, and Dumbledore will still need to prove his innocence." Amelia Bones replied calmly, only a slight twitching of her left eye revealing her annoyance at Fudge's remarks.

"Wait just a minute. Are you saying my name is on one of your prophecies and Dumbledore knew about it? Why did he reveal it only now, and why do you need me?" Chad asked, knowing full well the answers.

"We need you because the orbs are magically protected so that the only the subject or subjects of the individual prophecy can lift them off their stand. Dumbledore no doubt only told us to save his skin, he hoards information like goblins hoard gold." Amelia informed him.

"And my name is on this orb that can only be removed by those named?"

"Well, not exactly..."

"What happens if someone picks up the orb and is not part of the prophecy contained in the orb?" Chad kept rapid-firing questions at the woman that seemingly had no qualms about involving him to prove Dumbledore's innocence.

Either she was a stickler for justice, which was most likely, or something more nefarious was afoot. But the Head of the DMLE that he heard rumours of would not exclude Sirius Black from this conversation since he was Harry Potter's guardian, secrecy be damned.

"Anyone else who attempts to inspect the orb with their hands would be afflicted with instant madness," Added Fudge, taking delight in watching Chad put Bones on the back foot. "But that's a risk Amelia is quite willing to take on the orders of a man she should have arrested by now!"

Chad couldn't believe it. Fudge had said something helpful for once! As annoying and stupid as the man was, Chad was starting to see why Lucius Malfoy kept him around, he was the perfect mouthpiece when directed correctly.

Chad made a show of pulling out his wand. Even though he kept it pointed at the ground, the meaning was clear. The a.d.u.l.ts in the room couldn't help but become defensive at the move and placed their hands on their own wands.

They still had enough intelligence not to draw them on a child, though.

"Let me get this straight so that when my godfather brings you up on charges in front of the Wizengamot, Madame Bones, they will be accurate. You come to my school, isolate me from everyone, and then demand that I retrieve a prophecy orb that doesn't have my name on it?

"An orb, that if not about me, will turn me insane? All on the orders of a man heavily suspected of kidnapping me as a child, illegally imprisoning my godfather, and breaking Death Eaters out of Azkaban? Is that everything, or have I missed something?"

"You forgot that Dumbledore is also harbouring Hagrid and Crouch!" Fudge helpfully supplied, even if it had nothing to do with charges that could be brought against Amelia Bones.

Amelia Bones was not under any compulsions, nor was she on team Dumbledore. But she had let her blind pursuit of justice seriously cloud her judgement. She clenched her jaw in anger, and her eyes took on a dangerous glint.

Chad was suddenly worried for a second, his earlier concerns of her being under a compulsion being the main reason he took out his wand. Thankfully, the anger seemed to directed at herself for blindly charging forward, looking for clues.

"My apologies, Mr Potter, I had overlooked the danger our investigation may have put you in. Rest assured that you do not have to do anything that you don't want to, and we can contact Sirius Black if you wish him to be present." Amelia apologised sincerely, not even trying to make excuses for her mistakes.

Chad was glad his earlier impressions of the woman had proven correct, the woman had just had a sudden bout of wizard stupidity. It happens to the best of wizards, and even Chad had caught a case of it when he entered Hogwarts for the first time.

Putting his wand away to show his acknowledgement of her words, Chad couldn't help but use the situation as a chance to take another dig at Dumbledore.

"I also apologise for my harsh words; the circ.u.mstances had put me on edge. Anything with Dumbledore's involvement needs to be faced with a wand in hand. The scope of the man's manipulations have only been slightly uncovered by Ms Skeeter, and are decades in their construction."

"Now wait just a moment! Dumbledore is innocent, and it is unfair to attack him without any evidence, let alone use that vicious woman's lies as proof! He is trying to keep You-Know-Who from returning and save the wizarding world once again. I thought the Boy-Who-Lived would want to help defeat the man that killed his parents, not try and put him in jail!" Interjected the man in the room that had remained silent until now.

Chad glanced over at Dedalus Diggle, a member of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's current errand boy.

"What has he done so far?"

"What?" the man responded, confused.

"I asked what Dumbledore has done so far to prevent the return of a man everyone thought dead for the last ten years." Chad reiterated.

"He defeated You-Know-Who in the first place!" Diggle cried out in complaint.

"I thought that was me? Or at least that is what everyone keeps telling me."

"Well, yes, but Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix had battled the Dark Lord since he first appeared! Your parents were also members."

"Yes, Sirius told me a bit about that. Didn't Dumbledore order that any spells that had a chance to be lethal were never to be used, even in self-defence? Wasn't that why so many of the members of his group died? It's almost like he wanted to lose the war." Chad remarked, happily throwing more shade at Dumbles even if his face only showed confusion and naiveté.

As the man failed to come up with anything other than "Greatest Wizard" or "Leader of Light", Chad added another question that would not put Dumbledore in the best standing.

"When did Dumbledore say this prophecy was made, who heard it, and by whom was it spoken?"

To say Fudge was having the time of his life watching Dumbledore's reputation being destroyed by a child many had thought his protege, would be an understatement. And when he heard the latest question, he couldn't help but gleefully arm the boy with more information.

"Dumbledore didn't say, spouting nonsense about protecting their identity, but the initials S.P.T were on the prophecy orb."

"He had no problem giving my name though, what a steadfast defender of the innocent! S.P.T, surely there can't be that many people tied to Divination with those initials... Wait a minute! The divination teacher here at Hogwarts is named Sybill Trelawney, whats a bet her middle name starts with a 'P'?" Chad pretended to figure out.

Both Bones and Fudge's eyes lit up at the obvious answer. Now that it was in front of them, they couldn't believe they had not thought of it earlier! Where else would Dumbledore hide his prophet other than right under his crooked nose?

"Excellent work, my boy! Amelia, if you wouldn't mind, would you please go and see if the woman knows anything? I will keep Harry company while we wait. As for you, Dedalus, I think that you have confirmed we are taking this seriously and justice will be done? There is no longer any need for you to be here." Declared Fudge, once again showing uncharacteristic qualities of a leader.

Amelia gave a stiff nod of acceptance, marched a babbling Mr Diggle to the Floo, and then went to track down the drunken Divination Professor once the protesting man left in a flash of flame.

Fudge waved his wand around and cast a few more privacy spells than what had already been put up by Amelia when they first arrived. Due to the supposed s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e topic, the Headmaster portraits in the office had already been put to sleep.

"Now Harry, after what Ms Skeeter has told me, and what I just witnessed, I'm sure I can count on you to help against Dumbledore's madness. The man has to be stopped, but I'm afraid his popularity is quite ingrained in our community. Your endors.e.m.e.nt would go a long way to seeing him brought to justice!"

"Of course, Minister, Rita and Sirius have already explained to me just how much that old goat has ruined all our lives. Just send a letter to my godfather, and he will be happy to set up something public."

"I'm glad to hear it, Dumbledore needs to be stopped and if it wasn't for Rita Skeeter, who knows if he would have even been exposed! Remarkable woman, Rita, if only I were many years younger and not married. I might have fought your godfather for her hand!"

Chad had been expecting Fudge to get him on board so he could use his fame as a weapon against Dumbledore's own, especially if this prophecy bullsh*t kicked off. But while he had him alone, Chad may as well arm Fudge with a few talking points that would prohibit the need for Chad to get personally involved.

"Mr Fudge, my question from earlier was never answered by that Diggle character. If Dumbledore knew about the prophecy involving the Dark Lord's return for years and is now using it as evidence of his innocence, couldn't we use it as evidence of his guilt? Surely it is a crime to sit on vital information and not tell the proper authorities, or use it for his own gain while holding government positions?"

Cornelius Fudge's beady little eyes nearly popped out of his head at that revelation, and Chad couldn't help but want to see his reaction for when he innocently asked why the Keeper of the Hall of Prophecy had not just revealed the contents of the prophecy orb.

After all, it didn't just appear on the shelf by itself. Someone needed to label the orb with the names of those involved after reviewing its contents.

Of course, this would all be revealed with innocent questions from a curious Ravenclaw student while they waited for Madam Bones.