Fudge came with great interest and returned disappointed.
Inside Hagrid's hut, Lucius was still waiting for Professor Dumbledore's answer.
"If the board of governors wishes me to leave," Dumbledore said calmly, "then of course I will." He took the suspension order and walked toward Lucius. Harry and Ron, still hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, had to scramble out of his way. "However," he added, his blue eyes looking past Lucius's shoulder at the two boys hiding behind him, "as long as someone at Hogwarts is loyal to me, they will definitely receive help."
Lucius, frightened by his words, looked around nervously, searching the shadows. Seeing no ambush from the Order of the Phoenix, he regained his confidence. "That's very touching," he sneered. "Please." And with that, Lucius walked out.
Two Aurors walked in through the open door, preparing to take Hagrid away. Before leaving, Hagrid shouted, "If anyone needs to find something, all they have to do is follow the spiders!"
After saying that, he was led away by the Aurors.
"Oh, Aiden," Hagrid suddenly turned around, the force of his movement throwing the two Aurors holding him to the ground. "Remember to help me feed Fang!"
The adults all left, leaving only three people in the hut. Harry and Ron took off the Invisibility Cloak.
"Oh, Aiden, what should we do?" Ron asked anxiously. "Dumbledore has left! There will be attacks every day now."
"Don't worry," Aiden said, lazily sitting back down on the sofa and stroking Fang's head. "The headmaster has worked at Hogwarts for many years. He must have made full preparations before leaving." He turned to the other two. "You guys will have to take care of this little guy for a while."
"What?" Ron exclaimed. "Didn't Hagrid just give him to you?"
"I can't," Aiden said, a gleam of light flashing in his heterochromatic eyes. "I need to prepare evidence to exonerate Hagrid. And I also need to personally guide public opinion to encircle and suppress the Ministry of Magic." Ron, who knew him well, recognized this as Aiden's expression of genuine anger.
After that, Aiden left Hagrid's hut.
The next day, Aiden woke up, picked up Lada, and said, "Help me watch Harry Potter." The cat gave him a look of human-like understanding. Then, he went to Professor Flitwick's office.
But interestingly, Dumbledore was already waiting for him there.
"Albus, is this really alright?" Professor Flitwick was saying, his voice full of hesitation.
"Aiden, you're here," Dumbledore smiled when he saw him.
"Hmph," Aiden replied. "You still have the leisure to chat here? Aren't you afraid that your beloved school will turn into a snake pit?"
"Isn't Minerva still guarding it?" Dumbledore winked at Aiden. "Nothing will happen. And you came here to ask Filius for a leave of absence, did you not?"
"Aiden," Professor Flitwick said, looking from side to side nervously. "Do you really want to leave school at a time like this? That's an adult's business, why bother..." He clearly knew what Aiden was planning.
"Professor," Aiden said, pointing to the school badge on his robes, "the enemy has already come to tear down our door. We can't just stand by and watch. We have to let them know that we are not so easily trifled with."
Professor Flitwick understood. He waved his hand and approved Aiden's leave application.
Dumbledore left the school with Aiden.
"So, where are we going first?" Aiden asked.
"Well," Dumbledore said, feigning innocence, "let's visit an old friend."
Fawkes appeared, and in a flash of fire, the two of them were transported outside the Lestrange family manor.
"Lestrange?" Aiden raised an eyebrow. "You're really good at using your connections."
"There's no other way," Dumbledore replied, his old face completely shameless. "It's quite lucky that my students have such useful connections."
They walked into the manor, and Edmund's father, the current head of the Lestrange family, Overis Lestrange, came out to greet them. "Aiden, long time no see!" he welcomed them warmly. "Oh, and Professor Dumbledore. Are you here for a home visit?"
"Alright, Uncle," Aiden said, cutting straight to the chase. "With the relationship between our two families, there's no need to be so roundabout. What is going on with the suspension order?"
"Alas," Overis sighed, "it was Lucius. He came to my door and forced us. He said that if we didn't agree to sign the headmaster's suspension order, he would curse our entire family. We were all afraid that he still possessed... that person's things."
"Hmm? He threatened you, and you believed him?" Aiden felt a little strange.
"After all, he is a Death Eater. What if... and besides..." Overis's words were interrupted by Aiden.
"Besides, Dumbledore is a good person, and he won't do anything to you, right?" Aiden's words were hurtful, but they revealed the truth. "Should good people be held at wandpoint?"
"Wandpoint?" Overis was a little curious.
"A Muggle term," Dumbledore explained.
"Oh, a very vivid one," Overis said, lowering his head in shame. "I'm also very sorry, Aiden. For the sake of my family, we couldn't afford to gamble."
"Uncle, it's useless to say this now," Aiden said, staring at him, his heterochromatic dragon pupils very oppressive. "What if I can prove that Malfoy's threats are all bluffs?"
"Then we will immediately withdraw the suspension order," Overis said, his curiosity piqued. "But how will you prove it?"
Aiden took out his short wand, held it to his temple, and slowly extracted a trace of silvery-white memory. "High-level Legilimens have our own ways of proving the truth, do we not?" He placed the memory into a small bottle and handed it to Overis. Then, Dumbledore, cooperating perfectly, waved his hand, and a Pensieve appeared on the table.
"Please, Uncle," Aiden gestured.
Overis poured the memory into the Pensieve and was instantly transported to Borgin and Burkes. Through Aiden's perspective, he witnessed Lucius selling all his Dark Arts items. After a flash of white light, he returned to the Lestrange family's reception room.
"Okay," Overis said immediately. "I will withdraw your suspension order. I am very sorry, Professor Dumbledore."
"It's alright," Dumbledore said, standing up. "Then we won't bother you any longer."
Fawkes flew in through the window, and in another flash of fire, the two of them disappeared. Then, Dumbledore took Aiden to visit all the other governors of Hogwarts one by one. With Dumbledore's appearance and Aiden's memory as evidence, the remaining nine governors also withdrew their suspension orders.
When Dumbledore brought Aiden back to Hogwarts, he had ten letters of withdrawal in his hand.
"So," Aiden said, looking at Dumbledore, "you can now go back to being the headmaster. Do you have any remarks?"
"Well," Dumbledore winked, "it feels really good to be a headmaster again."
"Then are you going back to take charge?" Aiden asked, taking out his wand and preparing to Apparate to attend to his own business.
Before he could, Dumbledore's voice came through the elongated space. "No. I'm going to hand it over to... Harry."
[Chapter Complete]
***
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