He extricated a piece of parchment from the pile before him, took a deep breath, and read out,

...

The charges against the accused are as follows:

That he did knowingly, deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle, on the second of August at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks’ Statute of Secrecy.

“You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?” Fudge said, glaring at Harry over the top of his parchment.

“Yes,” Harry said.

“You received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?”

“Yes, but—”

“And yet you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?” said Fudge.

“Yes,” said Harry, “but—”

“Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic outside school while you are under the age of seventeen?”

“Yes, but—”

“Knowing that you were in an area full of Muggles?”

“Yes, but—”

“Fully aware that you were in close proximity to a Muggle at the time?”

“Yes,” said Harry angrily, “but I only used it because we were—”

The witch with the monocle cut across him in a booming voice.

“You produced a fully-fledged Patronus?”

“Yes,” said Harry, “because—”

“A corporeal Patronus?”

“A—what?” said Harry.

“Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than vapour or smoke?”

“Yes,” said Harry, feeling both impatient and slightly desperate, “it’s a stag, it’s always a stag.”

“Always?” boomed Madam Bones. “You have produced a Patronus before now?”

“Yes,” said Harry, “I’ve been doing it for over a year.”

“And you are fifteen years old?”

“Yes, and—”

“You learned this at school?”

“Yes, Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, because of the—”

“Impressive,” said Madam Bones, staring down at him, “a true Patronus at his age… very impressive indeed.”

Some of the wizards and witches around her were muttering again; a few nodded, but others were frowning and shaking their heads.

“It’s not a question of how impressive the magic was,” said Fudge in a testy voice, “in fact, the more impressive the worse it is, I would have thought, given that the boy did it in plain view of a Muggle!”

Those who had been frowning now murmured in agreement, but it was the sight of Percy’s sanctimonious little nod that goaded Harry into speech.

“I did it because of the Dementors!” he said loudly, before anyone could interrupt him again.

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A cold male voice rang across the courtroom.	\|	He had expected more muttering, but the silence that fell seemed to be somehow denser than before.

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