Fall from Power, Exoneration, News Made Public!

With the study plan established, Dumbledore quickly slipped into the role and began teaching.

The lessons covered every aspect of spellcasting: spell theory, pronunciation, wand movements, casting intent, and more. Starting with the fundamentals, he gradually delved deeper, supplementing the lectures with practical exercises. He taught with great care.

Dumbledore was quite accomplished when it came to teaching magic.

After all, before becoming headmaster, he had spent many years as Hogwarts' Transfiguration professor.

This greatly reduced the difficulty of learning for the five students. Everyone listened attentively, driven by their dreams and their desire to grow stronger.

Teaching at the Dursley household was an ongoing process. During that time, Dumbledore also had to coordinate his schedule and handle many major matters according to Dudley's plans.

August 5.

Minister Fudge, who was under house arrest over corruption charges, attempted to rally his confidants and stir up trouble in an effort to reclaim his power.

The Aurors led by Kingsley deliberately let him go, then followed him all the way, traced his connections, and rounded them all up in one sweep.

Minister Fudge's cause was lost. The pure-blood families supporting him abandoned him.

The trial proceedings accelerated considerably.

August 6.

Dumbledore personally placed numerous protective spells on the Dursley household and cast the Fidelius Charm on the master bedroom where Vernon and Petunia rested, with Dudley designated as the Secret-Keeper.

When necessary, the Fidelius Charm's protection could extend to the entire Dursley household.

Furthermore, Dumbledore specifically arranged for a special Teleportation Fireplace to be installed in the master bedroom protected by the Fidelius Charm.

The fireplace used a fixed, confidential passage. By stepping in and tossing in a handful of Floo Powder, one could travel directly to a hidden guest room at the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade without even stating a destination.

Dumbledore had already spoken to his younger brother, Aberforth Dumbledore, the owner of the Hog's Head.

Although the relationship between the brothers had become strained because of their sister's accidental death, they could still maintain friendly communication when it came to major matters of right and wrong and helping others.

August 8.

The Wizengamot formally opened proceedings on Minister Fudge's corruption case, with Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, personally presiding over the trial.

Faced with detailed and irrefutable evidence, Cornelius Fudge could not deny it and could only plead guilty and accept punishment.

He was stripped of his position as Minister for Magic in court and permanently barred from employment.

After the verdict was announced, Cornelius Fudge suffered an emotional breakdown and angrily denounced Dumbledore, the presiding judge, in court.

With the defeated cry, "Dumbledore, so you really do want to take my power!" Fudge stepped down in utter unwillingness.

Fudge's trusted subordinates were also demoted or dismissed according to their involvement.

Dolores Umbridge, the short, plump witch who loved pink clothes and was equally obsessed with power, was stripped of every position she held and reduced to the Ministry of Magic's lowest-ranking clerk, responsible for registering the wand information of visitors entering and leaving the Ministry.

After the day's trial ended, Dumbledore proposed that Kingsley Shacklebolt, a senior Auror at the Ministry of Magic, succeed Fudge as the next Minister for Magic.

Of the upper-class wizards of the Wizarding World who attended as jurors, forty percent immediately voiced their approval, thirty percent gave no immediate opinion, and the remaining thirty percent said several candidates should be discussed before a vote was held.

August 9.

Dumbledore convened another Wizengamot meeting. Its purpose was to retry a wrongful school case from forty-nine years ago and announce the explosive news that Voldemort had not died and had returned to commit crimes once more.

Under Dumbledore's powerful call, upper-class wizards from across the British Wizarding World gathered together to witness it.

Hagrid drew a silvery-white Memory Thread from his mind on the spot and placed it into a large Pensieve.

Through the recreated scenes within the Pensieve, the attending wizards experienced firsthand the horrifying scene that had occurred in the Gringotts Underground Vaults on July 31:

Voldemort slowly approached Hagrid and Harry, then confessed to Hagrid that he had framed him all those years ago.

Nearly ten years later, seeing that terrifying face again—even though it was growing from the back of someone else's head—left the wizards present terrified and holding their breath.

Seizing the opportunity, Dumbledore used Voldemort's own confession from that memory, along with testimony from the victim that Myrtle's ghost had recently filmed and recorded at Hogwarts: before her death, Myrtle had seen a pair of terrifying bright-yellow vertical pupils, not the eight eyes of an Acromantula.

This completely cleared Hagrid of the false charges and restored his innocence.

Hagrid would receive compensation provided by the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot, and his right to use a wand and magic would be restored.

Next, Dumbledore displayed the memory of himself striking Voldemort's Main Soul with Finite Incantatem, after which the injured Voldemort's Main Soul escaped using a Portkey made from Quirrell's turban.

Using this, he announced one piece of good news and one piece of bad news to the Wizarding World.

The bad news was that Voldemort had returned, and wizards needed to remain on guard.

The good news was that Voldemort was currently very weak and needed to inhabit the bodies of other living creatures to survive.

If any wizard discovered Voldemort's whereabouts, they were to immediately notify the Ministry of Magic's Aurors and Dumbledore.

At the meeting, Dumbledore also specifically warned those members of pure-blood families who had once been Death Eaters not to attempt to aid Voldemort, or they would face consequences they simply could not bear.

These fence-sitters, who followed whoever was strongest, naturally would not jump out to court death while Dumbledore held the upper hand. One after another, they gave verbal assurances.

But what these people truly thought and what little schemes they planned to carry out in secret remained unknown.

Dumbledore was not a natural Legilimency master. He could not openly use Legilimency to read minds in front of more than a hundred wizards; he could not afford that humiliation.

But Dumbledore did not need to read their thoughts to guess their intentions.

He already had a perfect plan of action. No matter what malicious ideas these people had, they would behave themselves in a few days.

August 10.

The Daily Prophet published the contents of yesterday's meeting. The entire British Wizarding World fell into shock and mild panic.

The International Wizarding World was also stirred.

At the same time, the students in the Dursley household's little magic classroom achieved some preliminary learning results.

Vernon and Petunia each learned two simple spells.

In addition, Dumbledore obtained two precious Spellproof Garments from his friend Nicolas Flamel, the Alchemy master who had lived for more than six hundred years, and gave them to Vernon and Petunia.

The system rated both Spellproof Garments at Grade B. They possessed extremely strong resistance against ordinary offensive spells, though naturally they could not block the Killing Curse.

This provided another layer of protection for Vernon and Petunia's personal safety.

To recharge the Mother's Love Protection on Harry, Vernon and Petunia could not relocate abroad. They needed to preserve the concept of a home at Number Four, Privet Drive. Clearly, if only Dudley and Harry remained, it could not be called a "home."

Therefore, to protect his parents as much as possible, Dudley made several requests of Dumbledore, in addition to the Fidelius Charm protection and close-fitting Spellproof Garments that were already in place.

He also wanted Dumbledore to arrange for two House-Elves at the Dursley household, so that if Vernon and Petunia encountered an accident while outside, they could swiftly return to Number Four, Privet Drive.