Chapter 295: Exposure and Departure
The D.A.'s training sessions had evolved into a well-oiled machine, each meeting flowing with the practised efficiency of a seasoned military unit. Aiden had even extended special invitations to several former Mind's Edge Duelling Club members, their experienced voices adding depth and authority to the instruction.
These veteran duellers taught the newer D.A. members Aiden's more advanced spells while assisting Harry in the delicate art of conjuring Patronuses, their silvery forms dancing through the dreamscape like captured starlight.
After weeks of intensive practice, most D.A. members could execute basic defensive magic with confidence that would have made their professors proud. Several core members had achieved the remarkable feat of summoning their own corporeal Patronuses, each one unique and deeply personal.
"Expecto Patronum," Ginny commanded with growing authority, her wand cutting through the air in a perfect arc. A magnificent silver-white horse burst from her wand tip, galloping through the ethereal clouds with wild grace.
Ron's Patronus materialised as an energetic terrier, tail wagging with infectious enthusiasm. Hermione's took the form of a sleek otter, diving and playing through the dreamscape's misty depths. Luna's appeared as a gentle hare, its nose twitching with curious intelligence as it explored its surroundings.
But on Friday, disaster struck Hogwarts like lightning splitting an ancient oak.
Due to Marietta Edgecombe's devastating betrayal, her conscience apparently overcome by fear for her mother's Ministry position, Umbridge led her newly formed Inquisitorial Squad in a coordinated assault. They captured Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the twins, and Harry with the ruthless efficiency of a perfectly executed trap.
Under the illegal administration of Veritaserum, that terrible truth serum that stripped away all pretence and protection, Umbridge extracted every precious secret about the dreamscape training from their helplessly honest lips.
Simultaneously, Umbridge had gathered a formidable force of Aurors to storm Hogwarts itself, their official mission to arrest the dangerous criminal Aiden Prewett. The castle's ancient stones seemed to tremble under the weight of their collective magical presence.
More than a dozen Aurors held their wands at the ready, their faces grim with professional determination, as Percy escorted a shackled Aiden through the corridors toward the headmaster's office. The sound of their footsteps echoed ominously through the usually cheerful passages.
"Cornelius, I told you I was right from the very beginning," Umbridge chattered beside Minister Fudge with the triumphant energy of someone savouring their moment of vindication. "Look at these so-called Dream Chasers. They're organising an illegal army, just like the Death Eaters we're supposedly fighting."
She pressed a thick stack of coerced testimonies into Fudge's trembling hands while the surrounding Aurors maintained their state of high alert, their magical senses attuned to any sign of resistance or escape attempts.
"We've finally seen through your elaborate plot to seize power from the rightful Ministry," Umbridge continued, her voice rising with each word. At this moment, with more than a dozen highly trained Aurors positioned behind her like an impenetrable wall, she overflowed with confidence, her behaviour resembling nothing so much as a small dog yapping at a chained wolf.
"No, Professor, I was the one who organised everything." Harry protested desperately, his voice thick with crushing guilt. If it weren't for his leadership, his friend wouldn't have fallen into this terrible situation.
"These restraints are getting rather uncomfortable. How about loosening them just a bit?" Aiden asked with casual cheerfulness, raising his shackled hands as if requesting assistance with a minor inconvenience.
"Be quiet and stay still," Percy replied with forced coldness, though Aiden's enhanced perception could detect the genuine worry flickering behind his brother's stern facade. "Didn't I warn you repeatedly to stay away from him? Now look what's happened because of your stubbornness."
'Not completely hopeless after all,' Aiden thought with a slight smile curving the corner of his mouth.
"Harry, you are indeed brave, but as the evidence clearly shows..." Dumbledore prepared to shoulder the responsibility for everything that had transpired.
But suddenly he discovered that Aiden's presence had become impossibly prominent, radiating an aura of power and authority that made it absolutely impossible for anyone in the room to ignore him, regardless of their intentions or desires.
"Yes, precisely as the evidence they confessed under illegal Veritaserum administration demonstrates, everything was planned and instigated entirely by me," Aiden declared with calm certainty.
The dragon sat casually on the office sofa, wearing heavy shackles and having more than a dozen wands pointed directly at his heart. He appeared to be in a state of complete surrender, yet somehow no one present dared to dismiss or overlook his commanding presence.
"So then," Aiden continued, his heterochromatic eyes beginning to shine with an inner light that resembled twin suns, "what exactly do you plan to do about it?"
No one in the room could meet his piercing gaze directly, their eyes sliding away as if his very presence burnt to look upon.
"That's quite enough of your dramatics!" Fudge finally mustered the courage to shout, though his voice cracked slightly with nervous tension.
"Dawlish, Shacklebolt," he commanded the senior Aurors, "escort this dangerous criminal to Azkaban immediately. He'll await trial for conspiracy, rebellion, and undermining the Ministry's authority."
Fudge carefully folded the precious testimony papers and tucked them securely against his chest like a protective charm.
"Dumbledore, do you have anything else to contribute to these proceedings?" Umbridge asked sweetly, waiting expectantly for the headmaster to wade deeper into these treacherous political waters.
Although Dumbledore couldn't fathom exactly what Aiden was planning, years of subtle cooperation and mutual understanding made him instinctively sense that his young ally wanted him to remain completely silent for the moment.
"And you, Prewett," Umbridge focused her predatory gaze directly on Aiden with the intensity of a hawk spotting wounded prey, "are you absolutely certain that everything was your personal intention, with no outside instigation or manipulation whatsoever?"
She withdrew a small crystal vial from her robes, its contents glowing with an ominous inner light. Without her needing to explain, everyone present immediately recognised the terrible truth serum within.
"I believe this magical substance will help refresh your memory most effectively," Umbridge said, bringing the crystal vial dangerously close to Aiden's face.
"I think I failed to make something perfectly clear before allowing you to place these rather uncomfortable shackles on my wrists," Aiden said with a laugh that seemed to echo with hidden depths. "We never had any intention whatsoever of surrendering peacefully, and naturally, I have absolutely no desire to visit the charming accommodations of Azkaban prison."
He shook his head with obvious amusement, using his supposedly restrained hands to scratch his cheek with casual indifference.
"After all, I'd rather not meet any future students and have to introduce myself by saying, 'Welcome to Azkaban, everyone! I'm your senior classmate, Aiden Prewett.'"
"Hold him down immediately!" Umbridge barked her command with rising panic.
Percy and another Auror stepped forward with obvious reluctance to physically restrain Aiden, their movements betraying their uncertainty about this entire situation.
"You brought this unfortunate situation entirely upon yourself, Brother Percy," the dragon said, flashing him a brilliantly warm smile that somehow managed to convey both affection and warning.
Then, with a sharp metallic clang that rang through the office like a bell, Aiden used pure brute strength to tear apart the supposedly unbreakable shackles restraining his hands.
"Those restraints were forged from genuine mithril!" Percy exclaimed, his eyes widening to impossible proportions with shock and disbelief.
But his amazement was cut short as Aiden's fist connected solidly with his face, the impact sending him flying backward through the air like a ragdoll. Percy crashed violently into an ornate cabinet in the headmaster's office, but since the antique furniture was protected by powerful defensive magic, he bounced off its surface with bone-jarring force and collapsed to the floor in an unconscious heap.
The surrounding Aurors stood frozen in stunned disbelief for several precious seconds, their minds struggling to process what they had just witnessed, before quickly raising their wands in unison to restrain this impossibly dangerous prisoner.
"Hoo," Aiden released a gentle breath, but his mental exhalation transformed into a supernatural storm that swept through the entire office with the force of a winter gale.
A layer of crystalline frost immediately formed on every glass surface, while more than a dozen highly trained Aurors collapsed into unconsciousness as if they had been struck by invisible lightning bolts.
Moving with fluid grace, Aiden approached the now-terrified Umbridge and grabbed her by the collar, lifting her small form effortlessly into the air.
"I suggest you grit your teeth tightly," he advised with mock courtesy. "This time I won't be healing your injuries afterwards."
Aiden's fist struck with devastating force against Umbridge's toad-like face, and the sudden lifting of his long-maintained hypnotic influence allowed her to recall every detail of their previous violent encounter.
The raw power of a Sequence 3 magical being made Umbridge feel as if she had been struck by a charging Erumpent.
Aiden's punch carried such tremendous force that it broke completely through the office floor, sending Umbridge plummeting down to the level below in a shower of stone fragments and dust. She fell straight through the newly created hole, her unconscious form eventually caught by the castle's revolving staircases, though no one could determine which floor she finally landed on.
"Phew, that was wonderfully refreshing," Aiden said with obvious satisfaction, having finally vented all the accumulated frustration and anger that had been building in his mind for days.
"So then, what do you plan to do now?" Dumbledore asked casually, flicking his finger to cast a subtle Memory Charm on the dazed Minister Fudge.
"You're quite deviously clever yourself," Aiden observed with amusement.
"We can't always allow them to bully us without consequence. Now, what about your immediate plans?" Dumbledore replied, paying no attention whatsoever to the confused Minister.
Professor McGonagall burst into the office at that moment, took one look at the unconscious Aurors scattered across the floor like fallen leaves, and immediately positioned herself protectively in front of Harry and the trembling Marietta.
"What in Merlin's name has happened here?" the stern Deputy Headmistress demanded, looking with obvious anger at both the dragon and the old bee standing amid the destruction.
The two powerful wizards exchanged knowing smiles that spoke of shared secrets and long-standing partnerships.
"Professor McGonagall, as you can clearly observe, I attacked these Ministry Aurors without provocation," Aiden explained with theatrical half-seriousness. "It was also I who instructed Harry Potter to form an illegal army specifically designed to oppose the Ministry's authority."
"No, it absolutely cannot be like this," Professor McGonagall immediately protested, her voice rising with genuine panic.
"Come quickly, we need to find a secure place to hide you immediately, then we'll work out how to..." She began making rapid mental arrangements for damage control.
"Minerva, there's no need for panic," Dumbledore said soothingly, placing a calming hand on her shoulder.
"No need for panic?" Professor McGonagall's voice rose to near-shouting levels. "Look at what they've done to our school! If this madness continues, Hogwarts will be completely destroyed under our watch!"
She turned her fury directly on Dumbledore, her usually composed demeanour cracking under the enormous stress.
"Professor McGonagall, thank you very much for your genuine concern and loyalty," Aiden said with sincere gratitude. "I do need to disappear into hiding for a while. As for the matter of restoring my reputation and clearing up this mess, I'll leave that complex task entirely to Professor Dumbledore's capable hands."
Aiden smiled warmly at the Deputy Headmistress, then transformed into a wisp of silvery smoke that dissipated and vanished completely from the office.
"Well then, it appears I need to pay some visits to old friends and allies," Dumbledore said with a meaningful glance at Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, please protect our students with everything you have."
Before she could respond or protest, Dumbledore disappeared in a magnificent chorus of phoenix song, golden flames briefly illuminating the destroyed office.
"Albus, wait!" Professor McGonagall called out desperately, reaching toward the space where he had been standing.
But both her most troublesome colleagues had vanished into the gathering storm, leaving her alone to face whatever consequences would follow this catastrophic confrontation.