Trying to sound like she was innocent of any wrongdoing, Umbridge told them, "The Minister instructed me to make sure all participants were notified in a timely manner. He also stressed how disastrous it would be if Mr. Potter and Dumbledore failed to make it to the hearing in time because then the Wizengamot would have no choice but to rule on the facts they had which was that he had indeed done magic in a muggle area."
"And how did you interpret that rather peculiar emphasis that Fudge had placed on Lord Potter and Albus Dumbledore possibly missing the hearing?" Lord Longrim inquired.
Umbridge paused for several moments as if in thought then replied, "I took it to mean that their letters shouldn't be sent out until the last possible minute, so that we could claim they had been sent in time. I had someone on the security desk notify me the minute Mr. Potter arrived at the Ministry and then arranged for the post owls to be sent out to them both."
"So you took it upon yourself to delay the letters to Lord Potter and Headmaster Dumbledore?" Bones wanted confirmation.
"I did as I was instructed by the Minister." Umbridge countered loftily. "He wanted them delayed so they couldn't make it in time and Mr. Potter was dealt with once and for all, so I did as he instructed me."
"But Fudge never told you to delay the letters, now did he?" Bones continued with the persistence of a terrier after a rat.
"He couldn't," Umbridge countered. "There were several other people in the office when he gave me the letter to have copied and sent out. I knew what he wanted to happen by the emphasis he placed on their names and the fact he mentioned how bad it would be for Mr. Potter if they failed to make it to the hearing."
"But yet someone else would take those instructions as meaning send these letters out fast as possible" Bones pointed out.
"They might have," Umbridge conceded, "If they hadn't known how determined the Minister was to find some way to have Mr. Potter expelled from Hogwarts so that he would be unable to practice magic again and would be consigned to the muggle world forever."
"And how did you know Fudge wanted Potter expelled from Hogwarts? Did he say he wanted that at any time?" Bones couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was the truth. The spells on the High Council chambers insured that.
Trying to sound as if she had been in the Minister's personal confidence, Umbridge stated, "We had had many discussions over the summer about trying to find a way to deal with the Potter situation and his claims that the Dark Lord was back. The Minister wanted him dealt with so he wouldn't destabilise the magical world with what at the time we thought were phoney claims of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return. Those conversations did include trying to find some way to remove him… without killing him."
"But did at any time did Fudge say that he wanted Harry Potter expelled?" Bones persisted.
"He said he wanted him removed from Hogwarts." Umbridge repeated. "And short of Mr. Potter voluntarily removing himself and going to another magic school, the only other way was expulsion, given the Minister didn't want a hero of the wizarding world killed, because he was currently a misguided tool of Albus Dumbledore's."
"So Fudge wanted Potter removed from Hogwarts perhaps for his own protection considering the dangers the school seem to have recently been experiencing. Or perhaps Fudge wished to place the young Lord somewhere far away from what he viewed as the Headmaster's dangerous… influence." Bones knew she was reaching now.
Umbridge shook her head. "He never said anything like that. He just kept repeating Potter needed to be dealt with."
"And that was why you sent Dementors after him wasn't it?" Bones reminded her. "Interpreting the Minister's comments as orders again."
"But it was what he wanted," Umbridge countered. "The Minister wanted Potter dealt with but not dead. Someone who is Kissed is still alive."
Bones stared at the woman stunned into disbelief at her reasoning. There was nothing she could say. Clearly the woman was deluded. The question was would her delusions be an enough of an extenuating circumstance to get the charge of abuse of power slightly reduced.
"Miss Umbridge, did Minister Fudge tell you why he suddenly decided to change the time of the hearing?" Dantes asked. "From what I understand a hearing time is set up several weeks beforehand and usually if it has to be changed all the main participants are consulted to set up the new hearing time. Once that is done then the remaining participants are notified as well. That means everyone should have been notified at least several days before, not less than twenty-fur hours before. Didn't it strike you as rather unusual to change a hearing time at what is essentially the last minute like that?"
"It has been known to happen before." Umbridge then explained, "That a hearing time was changed at the last minute, I mean. All the Minister told me regarding the sudden change was that a sudden emergency had come up and he didn't want to have to rush Mr. Potter's hearing."
"I believe we have heard all that we need to on this charge," Longrim announced.
When none of the other Councillors disagreed, the silencing ward again went up but this time the discussion didn't take so long.
"Fudge, we find you guilty on the charge of failing to notify all the participants of Lord Potter's underaged magic trial in a timely manner." Dantes announced.
Before Fudge could protest that he had, Perrivor held up his hand silencing the protest. "While you stated that you had given the notification letters to Undersecretary Umbridge, it was your duty to make sure all the letters had been sent out and received, given you sent them on such short notice. Less than twenty-four hours is not adequate notice, Minister. I received my notice at six in the morning, not the day before and as a result, I failed to make it to the hearing as well. You changed the time without due thought therefore you and you alone have the responsibility to make sure everyone gets there on time."
"It is now time to move on to the most serious charges, those of aiding the Dark Lord intentionally or not; on his second rise to power, by denying his return, slandering Lord Potter and Headmaster Dumbledore who knew the truth, abusing your power once the truth was out because of Lord Potter to insure he didn't get a fair trial and was condemned to Azkaban." The expression on Dantes' face was very grim.
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