Meanwhile, in the outside world, owls flapped into homes as usual, dropping rolled-up copies of the Daily Prophet onto breakfast tables.
At a newsstand in Diagon Alley, the crowd was so dense it nearly overturned the stall.
"Give me a copy! Hurry, give me one!"
"Stop pushing! You're going to tear my robes!"
The newsvendor had to hold a stack of newspapers over his head and shout just to barely maintain order.
The crowd quieted for a few seconds, but as soon as people got their newspapers, the streets erupted again.
"Merlin's beard... Dumbledore is really going to take Veritaserum?"
An elderly wizard in dark green robes held the newspaper up to his nose, squinting as he checked it again.
"And a public inquiry? In the Ministry Atrium? In front of everyone?"
"It's right there in black and white," the witch beside him chimed in, excitement in her voice.
"They say he proposed it himself. He said it in person in the Hogwarts Great Hall last night!"
"Answering questions in front of the entire Wizarding World... that's no joke."
"Exactly. Once you've drunk Veritaserum, you can't lie."
The crowd around the newsstand soon split into two camps.
The elderly wizards on the left exchanged glances, and one shook his head. "Dumbledore has been backed into a corner."
"That article of Skeeter's really was vicious. Claiming he used Potter as a pawn-who could stand having an accusation like that pinned on them?"
"Exactly. How much has Dumbledore done for the Wizarding World all these years? And they're going to nail him to the pillory over one book and one article?"
On the right stood a group of young people. A young man with a thick beard scoffed. "Backed into a corner? Come on, he's Dumbledore. If his conscience really is clear, what's wrong with drinking Veritaserum?"
"Exactly! If he didn't use Potter, why didn't he come forward and clear things up sooner? Why wait until the newspapers had stirred up such a fuss?"
"He's only making himself look guiltier!" another young witch agreed loudly.
The discussion grew louder and louder, with neither side giving ground.
Inside the Leaky Cauldron, several regulars gathered around the bar.
"Honestly, I feel a bit sorry for Dumbledore." An elderly wizard with a deeply wrinkled face set his glass on the bar and wiped the foam from his beard.
"At his age, being dragged out for a public interrogation. What sort of thing is that?"
Tom interjected as he polished a glass. "He proposed it himself. Nobody forced him."
"I know he proposed it himself." The old wizard waved a hand. "But think about it. What would it take to make someone volunteer to drink Veritaserum to prove his innocence? Doesn't that mean he's at the end of his rope?"
A somewhat younger wizard beside him nodded in agreement. "And have you thought about how many people he must have offended in all those years as headmaster?"
"At this public inquiry, what if someone takes the opportunity to tamper with things..."
"Tamper with what? Can Veritaserum be faked?"
"The Veritaserum itself won't be fake, but who knows whether the questioners will set traps?"
"Some people deliberately dig pits with their questions. They ask, 'Do you deny having done such-and-such?' If you answer, 'I don't deny it,' isn't that the same as admitting it?"
Tom paused with the glass in his hand and frowned thoughtfully.
"You have a point... even if Dumbledore hasn't done anything wrong, he'll have a hard time if the questioners deliberately make things difficult."
"That's why I said I feel sorry for him." The old wizard raised his glass and took a long drink. "He could have ignored the whole thing, yet he had to step forward and put himself through this."
Just then, a wizard in a round hat who had remained silent in a corner of the pub spoke calmly. "You needn't worry about him like that."
"Who is Dumbledore? He's lived all these years and dealt with Grindelwald himself. If he dared propose Veritaserum, he must have his own plans."
"Besides, if this inquiry really can clear up all those ridiculous rumors, it'll be a good thing for the entire Wizarding World."
"Then we can find out whether You-Know-Who is still alive, and what exactly happened with Quirrell..."
His voice dropped noticeably when he said "You-Know-Who," and the people around him instinctively hunched their shoulders.
"All right, all right, let's wait and see." The old wizard waved a hand. "The inquiry is only two days away, anyway. We'll know then."
The discussions in Hogsmeade were no less lively.
Inside The Three Broomsticks, the landlady, Rosmerta, read the newspaper with it practically pressed against her face.
"Dumbledore really isn't leaving himself a way out."
"He never has." A wizard with a gray-white beard sitting by the window picked up the conversation.
"Do you remember when he faced Grindelwald? He was just as decisive then."
"That was different. That was a fight. This time he's being tried."
"He chose that himself, too." The gray-bearded wizard set down his glass and looked around at the others.
"But I am curious. If Veritaserum really makes him tell everything... will we finally get a definite answer about You-Know-Who?"
The expressions of those around him shifted subtly.
"Whether You-Know-Who is dead or not," a witch said quietly, "if he really is still alive..."
"If he's still alive, knowing beforehand is better than getting a nasty shock when the time comes," the gray-bearded wizard said. "That's why I say this might not be a bad thing."
Inside Honeydukes, several young witches crowded around a small round table covered with several newspapers.
"My dad says that if Dumbledore really dares to drink Veritaserum, it means his conscience is clear," said a green-eyed witch with a ponytail. "The ones who won't drink it are the ones hiding something."
"But my mum says that with Dumbledore doing this, what if what he says is too frightening..."
"Wouldn't that be even better?" the brown-haired witch opposite her cut in. "We should know the truth in the first place."
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was so detailed. Is everyone supposed to pretend they haven't seen it?"
"But the book is a novel, after all..."
"Could a novel describe Professor Quirrell that accurately?" the brown-haired witch countered. "Even the Daily Prophet admitted that the book's contents were 'highly likely to be true.'"
The green-eyed witch thought for a moment and nodded. "You have a point... anyway, I'm really looking forward to this inquiry."
"I'm going to ask my dad to take me to the Ministry Atrium that day so I can see it for myself."
"Will you be able to get in?"
"My dad works in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. He says there'll be lots of foreign guests and reporters that day, and people should be able to watch from outside the hall, too. They're bound to have everything properly arranged."
Meanwhile, information from inside the Ministry of Magic began spreading to the outside world.
The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was the first to release any news.
Its head, Amelia, Madam Bones, sent a brief statement to the Daily Prophet through her assistant:
"The Ministry of Magic has received formal notification from Hogwarts regarding the public inquiry."
"As one of the highest judicial bodies in the Wizarding World, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will oversee the entire inquiry to ensure its legality and compliance with regulations."
Immediately afterward, even more significant news emerged from the International Confederation of Wizards.
A spokesperson for the Confederation's European branch publicly stated, "Given that the matters involved in this inquiry may affect the stability of the Wizarding World in Great Britain and even throughout Europe."
"The International Confederation of Wizards will dispatch a special observer to attend the inquiry that day to ensure that proceedings are fair and transparent."
Once this news broke, public interest throughout the Wizarding World rose another notch.
"Even the International Confederation of Wizards is sending someone? This has really become a big deal."
"Exactly. It means the Confederation is keeping an eye on us, too."
"If Dumbledore really reveals something damaging to the Great Britain Ministry of Magic during the inquiry, the Confederation probably won't just stand by."
"But look at it another way. With someone from the Confederation there, at least the inquiry will be fairer. We can't have Fudge's people investigating themselves, can we?"
The Wizengamot could no longer sit still either. That afternoon, it released an open letter by official owl.
The letter stated that the Wizengamot would send three senior members as an observer delegation to attend the entire inquiry and independently assess the fairness of the proceedings.
In Diagon Alley, wizards discussed the latest newspaper supplement.
"The Wizengamot is coming, and so is the International Confederation of Wizards... isn't this an even bigger affair than You-Know-Who's trial?"
"Exactly. The Death Eaters were only tried before the Wizengamot. The International Confederation of Wizards wasn't even involved."
"So Dumbledore really doesn't intend to leave himself a way out this time."
"Then what's he after?"
"Some peace and quiet, perhaps. At least if anyone makes an issue of these things again, he won't have to explain himself to each of them."
A middle-aged wizard in old robes stroked his chin thoughtfully amid the crowd. "Speaking of which, have any of you considered something..."
"What?"
"Who's going to brew the Veritaserum for this inquiry? Who's going to verify it? Surely Dumbledore can't just bring a bottle of potion himself and drink it. Wouldn't that be a joke?"
At this, the people around him exchanged looks. Clearly, none of them had considered that before.
"True. With something like Veritaserum, if just anyone brews it, who knows whether they've mixed something else into it?"
"Even without adding anything, different formulas have different effects."
"What if someone deliberately brews a weaker batch, and Dumbledore doesn't say everything he should after drinking it? Wouldn't that defeat the whole point?"
"And there's the testing. Even after someone brews it, an authority has to confirm that it really is Veritaserum at the standard dosage and hasn't been tampered with."
As everyone discussed this, the newsvendor suddenly pulled a freshly delivered newspaper supplement from beneath the counter and waved it. "Stop guessing! The Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers has already issued a statement!"
The crowd surged around him.
Printed prominently across the supplement's front page was the headline: "Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers: three senior Potions Masters to take full responsibility for brewing and testing Veritaserum."
The statement read as follows:
"Given that the forthcoming public inquiry in the Ministry Atrium involves significant public interests."
"To ensure the scientific rigor and fairness of the inquiry, the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers has decided, following emergency deliberations, to dispatch three senior Potions Masters to form a special working group."
"Their specific responsibilities are as follows: first, to jointly brew the Veritaserum used in this inquiry, strictly adhering to the standard formula and procedures;"
"Second, to cross-check the completed Veritaserum to ensure its purity, potency, and safety meet medicinal standards;"
"Third, to oversee the use of Veritaserum throughout the inquiry, ensuring that the potion is neither switched nor contaminated."
"The three Potions Masters are: Mr. Damocles Belby, Mr. Horace Slughorn, and Chilli, Madam Plunkett."
Silence fell briefly in front of the newsstand, followed by an even livelier burst of discussion.
"Damocles Belby? The Belby who invented the Wolfsbane Potion?"
"Yes, yes! That's him! He's a top Potions Master, one of the best in all of Europe!"
"Mr. Slughorn... that name sounds familiar."
"A former Hogwarts professor! He headed Potions Class for over twenty years! They say his potion-making ranks among the very best in Great Britain."
"And Madam Plunkett, have you forgotten? She wrote that paper on 'Moonstone powder and the suppression of werewolf transformations'! St. Mungo's still uses it as a teaching model!"
"Good grief. With those three together, no one could adulterate the Veritaserum even if they wanted to."
"Exactly. With three top Potions Masters cross-checking each other, who would dare tamper with the potion? Wouldn't that be asking for death?"
Inside the Leaky Cauldron, Tom pinned the newspaper supplement to the wooden beam above the bar so all the customers could see it simply by looking up.
"Now I'm truly impressed with Dumbledore." An old regular looked up at the statement, rare admiration in his voice.
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. Anyone else faced with something like this would first try to suppress public opinion, or get a few well-connected friends to say something nice and gloss it over."
"But Dumbledore? He directly requested a public inquiry and volunteered to drink Veritaserum. Now even the Potions Masters have been sent by the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers."
"I don't know whether those three have any personal ties to him, but at least on the surface, all three are impartial toward everyone."
"What does that tell you? That Dumbledore isn't afraid of being investigated at all. The less afraid he is, the more I feel he's innocent."
A young wizard nearby frowned. "But what if he's worked out that those three won't make things difficult for him?"
The regular set down his glass and glanced at him. "Young man, are you taking Dumbledore for some sort of schemer?"
"That's not what I meant..."
"What sort of man is Damocles Belby? He's famously stubborn."
"When he published his paper on the Wolfsbane Potion, he offended a whole lot of people."
"If Dumbledore is counting on someone like that to 'go easy on him,' he might as well count on a Dementor singing him a birthday song."
Laughter rose around them. The young wizard scratched his head and gave an embarrassed laugh as well.