"Dumbledore, we shouldn't have made Black's escape public! The Auror in charge was quite clear: he ate yesterday's dinner-at the very earliest, he only escaped last night."
Cornelius Fudge probably wanted to roar, but there were simply too many people in the Tenth Courtroom. Most of the Wizengamot Knights were present, forcing him to devote some of his attention to keeping his voice down to a whisper and looking as dignified as possible.
"Azkaban is surrounded by sea. He has nowhere to run. The Aurors conducting the search only need two hours-no, one hour-to find Black! Perhaps he's merely hiding in some corner of Azkaban that we haven't found!"
"Fudge, whether this becomes public isn't for either of us to decide. When that hardworking employee rushed into the courtroom shouting, 'Black has escaped,' everyone present heard him. There is absolutely no way to cover this up."
Dumbledore spoke calmly.
"Although we still don't know why Black escaped, we do at least know that he wasn't responsible for that grave and devastating crime ten years ago. Even if he hadn't chosen to leave without permission, we ought to have unlocked his door.
"The Aurors' primary task now is not to take Black back to Azkaban, but to bring him safely to the Ministry of Magic for a fair and impartial discussion. I believe Scrimgeour has already made that quite clear."
After he called the emergency meeting last night, the doors of the Tenth Courtroom had opened. Ministry officials and members of the Wizengamot Knights arrived promptly after receiving letters by owl. The magically modified lights
had burned from last night right through to this morning.
With the help of Veritaserum, Peter Pettigrew had given a complete account of what happened back then, and, with assistance from the Head of the Improper