"Buried… what does that mean?" For a moment, Lucius Malfoy felt as though his understanding of English wasn't quite sufficient.
"Literally, Lucius. On their way to invade Hogwarts, they were buried underground."
Lucius's cane struck the floor with a loud crack. He simply could not believe his ears. And why, during his seven years at the school, had he never heard of such a defensive spell? Hogwarts actually had such a function?
Smashing one's cane against the host's floor during a visit was certainly not polite behavior, but none of the important figures present had the inclination to nitpick over such details—they were even more shocked than Lucius Malfoy himself.
"If they were buried in the earth, couldn't they just dig their way out?" Old Crabbe asked dully.
The wizards present all fell into silence for a moment, until Mr. Jamison quickly broke the awkward pause.
"They were buried very deep. Because the pit was so close to the Black Lake, it triggered further collapse, and now the pit has become part of the lake. I believe they will never be able to come out again." Jamison shared the information he had received from Lord Slytherin with the gathered wizards.
To be honest, when he had first heard this news, he had also been shaken.
An ordinary wizard driving away hundreds of Dementors with a single Patronus Charm would have been enough to land him on a Chocolate Frog Card. But what Lord Slytherin had done was even more outrageous—he had buried them directly underground. Truly, worthy of being the legendary wizard who had founded Hogwarts.
"Good, serves those creatures right!" Old Flint declared, saying that the moment those Dementors stepped onto Hogwarts grounds, they should have been prepared to pay the price.
"What exactly did you call us here for, Jamison? The children weren't harmed, and Dementors… well, if they're dead, then they're dead." A Ministry official laughed as he spoke. "If you just wanted to say that Hogwarts has defensive magic we didn't know about, you could've mentioned it in the letter."
Jamison shot him a glance. Once he realized this man was one of Fudge's appointees, he gave a cold snort.
The rest of the parents in the hall exchanged subtle looks when they heard this. Fudge's lackey had tried to steer the discussion, but instead it backfired.
"But the Dementors still did invade Hogwarts, didn't they? Phoebiny, you of all people should understand those creatures' nature better than I. If they had stormed into the Quidditch pitch—" Jamison cut himself off and simply fixed Phoebiny with a cold stare.
The other parents also turned to glare at him.
So many eyes on him made sweat bead on Phoebiny's forehead. He felt he had to say something, and then the thought of Dumbledore came to him.
Like a drowning man clutching at a straw, he hurriedly said: "With Dumbledore there, even if Dementors had entered the pitch, he would have driven them away."
Bang!
Before he could finish, Jamison slammed his fist down on the table beside him. "And what makes you so certain Dumbledore would have been at the match? What if he hadn't gone that day? You studied at Hogwarts too—you should know the distance between the castle and the pitch!"
The wizards present grew increasingly uneasy. They were finally coming out of the shock they'd first felt upon hearing that "Hogwarts's defensive magic buried the Dementors."
They may have been eliminated, but the Dementors still invaded Hogwarts! Even setting aside their feelings for their alma mater, their children were still attending Hogwarts!
"When a Dementor sucks out a soul, it doesn't care whether the student is pure-blood, half-blood, or Muggle-born. It doesn't care whose son or whose daughter they are. Phoebiny, I have two daughters at Hogwarts—two!"
At first Jamison had only intended to follow Lord Slytherin's instructions and gather a circle of wizards opposed to Fudge, but by the end, his emotions spiraled out of control, because he truly realized just how dangerous yesterday had been.
Phoebiny was completely silenced, and the faces of the other parents darkened at once.
No matter their political leanings, Jamison's words were true: when Dementors devour souls, they are truly equal to everyone!
Lucius Malfoy's face turned stormy. He narrowed his eyes, fingers stroking the head of his cane repeatedly.
After a pause, he said coldly: "Phoebiny, if your work has kept you so busy that you've lost your wits, we wouldn't mind transferring you to a quieter post."
Phoebiny was drenched in sweat. Among everyone in this room, he was nearly at the bottom of the food chain—he couldn't afford to provoke anyone. He already regretted ever speaking up for Minister Fudge.
"This isn't the first time Dementors have been in close contact with students. They already searched the Hogwarts Express earlier, but at least that was under Ministry orders. This time, to put it more seriously, it can even be described as rebellion!"
Jamison's words made everyone in the room shiver.
Rebellion? That word seemed a bit too heavy…
"Not that far, not that far," someone immediately tried to smooth things over. "Jamison, isn't that word a little too harsh?"
Jamison was silent for two seconds, but before he could reply, Lucius spoke.
"How can it be called rebellion? The Ministry didn't even send anyone to supervise the Dementors! The Ministry really does trust these creatures, doesn't it?"
The sarcasm in his tone was impossible to miss.
He was now thoroughly dissatisfied with Fudge's arrangements, because he suddenly realized something: Why were Dementors stationed around Hogwarts? To catch the fugitive Sirius Black.
And why go to such lengths for Sirius? Because he wanted revenge on that Harry Potter boy!
From Lucius's perspective, what did it matter if that boy got hurt? Let the guilty bear their own burdens!
If there was risk of collateral harm, that was something those Gryffindors in the tower should worry about, not him and not his son!
Stationing Dementors at Hogwarts brought nothing but harm to him and his son. Why should his child be sacrificed for Potter's sake? With that thought, he immediately became one of the strongest voices against deploying Dementors around Hogwarts.
"Cornelius's actions were reckless. Bringing the Dementors over was simply not a good idea," Marcus's father, old Flint, spoke up to state his position.
Lucius Malfoy followed up right away, also voicing his discontent with Fudge.
Once someone took the lead, the rest stopped hesitating, and in astonishing speed, they unified their view: the Dementors must be withdrawn from Hogwarts.
Of course, in truth, those words were meaningless.
Whether Fudge agreed with the proposal or not, the Dementors that invaded Hogwarts that day would never leave that land again.
_______
Read 12 Chapters ahead:
Patreon: HornyFBI