Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 225 The Man Who Tasted Gamp's Aged Society Wine
Turns out Kingsley is from Grindelwald.
In this way, it makes sense—why the coffin in Azkaban disappeared inexplicably. At that time, there were not many living people who could move freely on the island, and the original guards were all on the edge of the island, far away from the prison. Yes, unwilling to deal with dementors, lest they be used as food.

This is why the Ministry of Magic puts so much emphasis on dementors, they make the number of guards required to guard the prison greatly reduced.If we hadn't done this, the number of Aurors who came to "escort" the people under trial today would not have been so many, at least half of them would have gone.

Therefore, the person who stole the coffin could only be Auror Kingsley.

But could this be a coincidence?

Kingsley appeared in front of him swaggeringly, the timing was just right, just when he was taking the elevator, and then he deliberately revealed the location of the Department of Mysteries, the "ninth floor".

After arriving at the tenth floor of the Ministry of Magic, the Aurors were almost blatantly guarding against Toby, and there were people in front of and behind him staring at him.

They came to the bottom of the stairs and ran down a corridor that resembled the underground corridors of Hogwarts: rough stone walls, with torches on brackets.The doors passed were heavy wooden doors with iron latches and keyholes.

At last they stopped before a gloomy black door with a large iron lock, and everyone except Toby was waiting there.

Under the watchful eyes of a large group of Aurors, Dumbledore calmly gave his final instructions to the Weasley family: "There is no need to hide anything, you just need to tell the truth about Scabbers' background, trust me, soon It will be over."

"Aren't you going in with us?" Mrs. Weasley asked in a panic.

"I should be the second batch of people to be tried." Dumbledore looked at Scrimgeour, indicating that he had finished speaking.

Scrimgeour gave several people a look. One Auror unscrewed the heavy iron handle on the door and pushed the wooden door open. Two other Aurors escorted them into the courtroom.

Angela glanced through the opened door. It was a hall made of black stones. Under the light of the torches, there were many dark and gloomy figures, some whispering softly, and more extremely Solemn.

"The Wizengamot," said Dumbledore.

"What?" Angela turned her head curiously: "Wei—what?"

"This is an organization that originated from the predecessor of the Ministry of Magic, and it can also be said to be a very special department in the Ministry of Magic." Dumbledore began to describe the history of the Wizengamot in detail, as if he was really serving a Guests from afar are making introductions.

What is strange is that Scrimgeour, who was staring at this scene carefully, did not interrupt, nor did he speak to stop, but allowed Dumbledore to continue talking.

"Before the Ministry of Magic was officially established, it was called the Wizarding Council. After the passage of the "International Federation of Wizards' Secrecy Act" in 1692, the wizarding world urgently needed a more organized and complex management system to support wizards' secrecy work As a result, the functions of the Wizarding Council were replaced by the newly established Ministry of Magic in 1707, and the first minister of the Ministry of Magic, Ulrich Gamp, served as the chief wizard of the Wizengamot in the Wizarding Council.”

"The Wizengamot now occupies a variety of responsibilities, such as supervising court proceedings, just like today's court hearings, and occasionally deciding whether to award honors to some wizards, such as the Order of Merlin - only to the wizarding world. Only wizards who have made great contributions can receive this honor."

"Oh, that sounds really interesting." Angela could come up with such a description. She looked at Toby as if asking for help, but Toby didn't have the slightest eye contact with her, and was leaning against the wall with his head down. His long hair fell down to his eyes, and he didn't know whether his eyes were open or closed.

"The chief magician?" She could only ask: "Who is the current chief magician? Is he also the Minister of Magic of the United Kingdom?"

"Not anymore." Scrimgeour said abruptly; "The person standing in front of you is today's chief magician, and not only that, he is also the current president of the International Federation of Wizards. Barnabus Finkley Award for Excellent Spellcasting Technique, Wizengamot British Youth Representative, Cairo International Alchemy Conference Pioneering Contribution Gold Award."

Scrimgeour knew so much about Dumbledore's past that he told it all at once.

Angela looked at Dumbledore in surprise. She only knew that Dumbledore was very powerful, but she didn't expect it to be so powerful.

"Wait a minute." She blinked her bright silver eyes and said, "Since you are the chief wizard of the Wizengamot, are you standing in the wrong position? You should not be judged, but stand in the room to judge us." Right?"

Dumbledore laughed cordially, he didn't seem to be nervous about the upcoming identity change at all, but the Aurors around became vigilant.

"A funny story came to my mind," he said. "It was around 1544, if I remember correctly—there was no Ministry of Magic at that time, only the Wizarding Council. There was a wizard at that time, and his name was Gallus. Hobart, who is also the inventor of the Levitation Charm."

"One day, on a whim, this man invited the chief wizard of the Wizengamot at the time to observe his demonstration of the Levitation spell. But it failed because he tried to use the Levitation spell to fly, but the Levitation spell is not a flying spell."

Angela was gradually fascinated by what she heard, and the Aurors behaved similarly. One of them cast an unabashedly curious look, and almost urged Dumbledore to continue speaking quickly.

Dumbledore didn't keep them waiting long.

"After this failure, Hobart learned the hard way and finally discovered the true principle of the levitation spell, so he arranged for a second demonstration. This time he finally succeeded, using the levitation spell to make the head magician's hat hang. The result— —He accidentally took off the wig of the chief magician. It was a big secret at the time, and it would not be long before it spread throughout the wizarding world."

"The Chief Sorcerer angrily engaged in a duel with Hobart - a common occurrence at the time, and Hobart was no match for him - but he managed to keep the Chief Sorcerer's robes up and out of his way with a Levitation Charm. Head, this is the chance to escape."

The story was finally finished, Angela held her mouth and couldn't help laughing, but no matter how stupid she was, she knew that she shouldn't laugh at the other's seniors in front of a chief magician, let alone such an Auror staring at her.

Eh?But why did Dumbledore choose such a time to tell the story?
"Puchi." The laughter came from nowhere.

"Who is it?!" Scrimgeour looked over angrily, and found that the person who was laughing was the lady who had been guarding Angela all this time—her hair had turned silver now, but unfortunately it was a bit short, and it didn't look so elegant. to the back of the neck.

"Sorry." Tonks said straight away, his stomach still shaking.

Scrimgeour stared at Tonks with cannibalistic eyes, and then looked at Dumbledore all at once, with undisguised hostility in his eyes.

He seemed to dislike Dumbledore very much. He could only say that Dumbledore's character was the strangest, and he still had the leisure to tell jokes at such a time.

This was unacceptable for an Auror Chief of Staff who had to deal with extremely serious matters on a daily basis.

Scrimgeour didn't get the reaction he wanted from Dumbledore - who was now telling Angela more Ministry jokes.

"By the way, there is Gump, the first chief wizard I mentioned, and the first minister of the Ministry of Magic. After the implementation of the "International Federation of Wizards' Secrecy Act", he realized that the wizarding world entered a period of time. In extremely difficult times, wizards longed for a psychological need to vent, and also needed a safe haven. Therefore, he not only licensed the Leaky Cauldron to continue operating, but also allowed the bar owner to let people enter Diagon Alley from the backyard of the bar.”

"It seemed an extremely risky move at the time, and despite the insistence on the use of many powerful hidden spells and the requirement of decent behavior from all patrons who came to the bar, it was no less risky."

"Out of gratitude, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron at the time created a new brand of beer, the Gamp Old Society Brew. But it was so bad that no one could drink it even if they were rewarded with 100 Galleons. Next pint."

"I haven't been to the Leaky Cauldron yet." Angela seemed eager to try it.

"So there's still this kind of wine," Tonks muttered under his breath, earning another glare from Scrimgeour.

Scrimgeour walked up to Toby with his lame leg, and stared at him intently, as if to say - look, this is the Dumbledore you have decided to serve.

Suddenly, Toby finally spoke.

He said softly: "You know what, I made a very difficult decision when I was just out of school. I gave myself an extra chance, and I would give anything as long as I could drink a pint of Gamp's Vintage Club Wine." No matter, I will only willingly give up all my ideals, and other things, and stay in the UK without hesitation."

"This is not an easy decision. You have also experienced that period. It was the time when the mysterious man was powerful, and no one could do anything to him, and no one could catch him. It is very difficult for a Muggle-born like me. Dangerous, maybe one day they will be taken away by those lunatics. Then the next day, the newspaper will publish that the body of a fresh graduate student was found in a trash can. Some people may feel sorry, or ridiculed It's all possible."

Scrimgeour stared at Toby with a weird look, as if even he didn't expect Toby to tell such a story at this time, but he couldn't help but want to continue listening——Tang Ke on the side Si walked over quietly, raised his ears and eavesdropped.

"As you can see," Toby went on, "if you know what happened to me later, you should know that I failed and failed to drink that pint of Gamp's old society wine. The worst thing I've ever drank, whether it's my own black devil wine or magma sparkling wine, it's not that exciting."

"I think this is what Gamp meant—he was the first minister of the Ministry of Magic. Any decision could bring disaster to the magic world. He needs something that can make up his mind."

"Sometimes, I can't help guessing that Gump himself invented this wine. Whenever he hesitates, he will go to have a drink alone, and then make the choice he has prepared- —It is not so easy to make up your mind."

"Have you ever tasted that wine?" Toby asked suddenly.

Scrimgeour's eyes shone with an inexplicable light, but Tonks, who was eavesdropping, subconsciously shook his head.

"You should go for a drink."

Toby said: "If I were Minister for Magic, there would be a rule that any wizard, whoever, on their first day of adulthood, should taste Gamp's Old Court Wine for themselves, without too much delay. Much. A pint will suffice."

Scrimgeour heard something different in these words.

"So your prepared decision is to leave England? To become an archaeologist?" He asked meaningfully: "You never thought about staying in England—did Dumbledore force you to leave? I Heard some rumors, very interesting rumors."

I don't know when, the entire corridor became silent, the laughter disappeared, and the voice of storytelling also disappeared.

Toby was silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a sneer.

"If I'd left willingly, I wouldn't be drinking Gamp. It's really hard to drink, but it's easy to leave no room for a dilemma."

Just when the atmosphere gradually became tense, Toby suddenly said: "But, you are wrong, Scrimgeour. Albus Dumbledore has never been my enemy, the mysterious man is—yes , I can tell you this right now, you are wrong, you must clearly distinguish the difference between an enemy and a friend, "

Scrimgeour withdrew his staring gaze. He saw Toby's determination, and finally gave up his plan to invite him to join the Aurors.

"I also have a story." He said briefly: "Fudge didn't plan to open the court with such a big fanfare at the beginning, he didn't even want to invite members of the Wizengamot, but had a good chat with you in the conference room. However , it's you, Dumbledore—"

He turned his head and said, "It was you who negated this decision and, as the chief magician of the Wizengamot, forced all members to participate in this trial."

This is different from what many people imagined.

After all, Fudge was the first to show weakness. If Dumbledore followed suit and agreed to his opinion, then there would be more room for this "communication".In fact, many people present could have imagined that since Fudge put forward this opinion, he had agreed to part of Dumbledore's request in disguise.

"But it's far from enough." Dumbledore replied calmly: "The problem will always have to be solved one day. Toby's words are right, you should all try Gamp's old social wine, so You will understand that delay solves nothing."

Angela looked over curiously, and the questions she wanted to say were all written on her face.

Dumbledore smiled cordially: "I also tasted it once, and it was really bad, very bad."

Many people wondered what difficult problem Dumbledore encountered that made him willing to taste that terrible wine.

Only Scrimgeour, who seemed to really know something, said meaningfully: "You will regret this decision, Albus Dumbledore."

As soon as the words were finished, before they could continue talking, the heavy wooden door was suddenly pushed open.The Weasley family followed behind the accompanying Aurors, and they came out in a trance, looking very dazed.

"I don't know, Dumbledore." Mr. Weasley was puzzled. He glanced back at the hall. There were whispers coming from inside, but the atmosphere was more solemn than before.

"They didn't ask any hard questions, it was all about Scabbers, it was just a rat from a pet store I don't understand"

"You guys did a good job." Dumbledore nodded, and Toby stepped forward, blocking the Aurors who wanted to push their family, protecting Ron and Percy, and Angela stood up. by his side.

"Take them away, they have nothing to do here." Scrimgeour ordered, not choosing to get angry over such a trivial matter.

"Go in." He said again, and the Aurors in the corridor also started to move, as if they planned to keep an eye on these people from the beginning to the end.

Dumbledore led the way, and Toby and Angela followed him from left to right. Scrimgeour carried Scrimgeour's cage, followed by more Aurors. A group of people walked through the wooden door in a mighty manner.

The surrounding walls were made of black stone, and the light from the torches was dim and gloomy.On both sides of them are rows of gradually rising empty benches, and in front of them, on the highest benches, many dark figures loom large.

The heavy door closed slowly behind several people, and there were four chairs standing in the center of the room, with iron chains on the left and right on the armrests of the chairs.

Dumbledore sat calmly on a chair in the middle, Scrimgeour put the cage on another chair in the middle, Toby sat on the other side of the mouse cage, and Angela, wearing hard gloves, sat The relatively safest position is next to Dumbledore.

The chains tinkled menacingly, but did not bind them.This not only didn't stop the whispering, but made it even more noisy - many wizards in purple robes sitting on the bench, they all stood up and protested loudly, feeling aggrieved by Dumbledore's treatment.

"Crazy! All crazy!"

Toby saw an old man with hair like a dandelion and shouted: "What on earth are you thinking, do you regard Dumbledore as the defendant? Albus Dumbledore?"

Fudge sat in the middle of the front row of benches, his face was troubled, and he had been staring at him since Dumbledore entered the courtroom.

The Aurors looked at Scrimgeour for a while, then at Fudge for a while, and finally Dumbledore stood up and calmed down the excited members.

"It won't be long before we know the answer," he said.

Anyone could see that he was more convincing than Fudge.

"Very well," said Fudge through gritted teeth, "the remaining defendants are here at last—"

"A witness!" protested a member of the Wizengamot.

"No!" Fudge was determined to fight against these people, and he roared, "You don't understand at all, and you don't understand Albus Dumbledore at all!"

Toby frowned at Fudge.

For a moment, not only the members of the Wizengamot present, but even Toby himself was in a daze because of Fudge's next words——

"September [-] trial," Fudge shouted above all the voices, "the trial of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore for violating the International The Secrecy Act case, and his suspicion of manslaughter."

"Let me ask you," he said, staring straight at Dumbledore, "do you have a sister named Arianna Dumbledore? When did she die? And who killed her?!"

"Is that you?! Albus Dumbledore!"

(End of this chapter)