Champions

Draco dethroned

Nearly two months had now passed since the wedding. It didn't seem that long, and yet — to Harry, at least — it felt like a lot longer. In that time they had managed to get Snape convicted and sentenced to Azkaban; received Orders of Merlin over the incident he caused in the aftermath; lost Ron as a friend; Harry transferred to Beauxbatons to thwart Dumbledore's control; and got Lucius Malfoy arrested for attempted murder.

It was a lot for only two months, but that seemed to be the story of Harry's life.

Things in the castle went on mostly unchanged, with the exception being that Harry and Hermione no longer took all of their classes with their year mates. Theydid take McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout up on their offers, though; all three were excellent teachers. They weren't too fussed about any of the other classes, though, and simply did self-study there.

Dumbledore could be seen staring at them at almost every meal, but they generally ignored him.

One thing Harry was still waiting for was an announcement of a trial for his godfather. The Minister had seemed sincere in his agreement to arrange it, but it had yet to happen. He combed through the paper every day, but so far there was nothing.

Today, however, something else was afoot, as was soon made apparent by the sudden murmurs spreading in the Great Hall:

Goblins Eject Dumbledore From Gringott's!

by Daphne Love

In a bizarre scene on Tuesday afternoon, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, was physically thrown from Gringott's Bank in Diagon Alley by a pack of security goblins. Bystanders reported that Dumbledore was yelling at the goblins in their native language during the incident, but nobody was available to translate. The goblins then closed the doors and refused to readmit him.

While they would not share specific reasons, a spokesgoblin for Gringotts had this to say: "Mr. Dumbledore has deeply offended the Goblin Nation. He is no longer welcome on any goblin lands, including Gringott's Wizard Bank. This decision will stand until such time as our ruler sees fit to revoke it."

So what does this mean for Dumbledore? Nothing was said about his accounts, so we can only assume that he will be able to access them by proxy. But what did he do to anger the Goblins? While they are known for reacting harshly when offended, it is not easy to offend a goblin.

Questions are piling up surrounding Albus Dumbledore. Is he suffering from some form of mental breakdown? With his recent impassioned defense of convicted child abuser and Death Eater Severus Snape, and now his ejection from Gringott's, one can only wonder.

Perhaps we should borrow from the words of Fleur Potter, who recently verbally accosted him in the Great Hall at Hogwarts: if he cannot remember her proper name, and does not know what goes on in his own school, then what else is he forgetting, and how much is he missing?

Harry just stared at the article. It was one thing for the Goblins to throw Dumbledore out — it was inevitable really once they knew the nature of his transgressions against Harry — but for Dumbledore to make a scene in the Alley for all to see? It seemed that the man was well and truly losing his touch.

"An amateur mistake," opined Fleur from next to him. "Nevair let zem see you sweat, I believe is ze phrase."

"I have to agree with you there," frowned Neville from across the table. "Gran would skin me alive if I made that kind of scene in public. It's just not done."

"I don't think he's used to losing," Hermione guessed. "It's putting him off his game, but don't underestimate him. If he adapts, he could still be very dangerous."

Nobody disagreed with that sentiment.

Everyone in the Hall was so focused on the issue with Dumbledore and the Goblins, however, that they almost missed an even more momentous occasion, described by a long article buried on page three: