Chapter 25: When the bullet leaves the gun

It had taken a lot of planning on Jareth's part to get this meeting set up. He was not sure even now if he had enough to get a conviction, but he damn sure was going to try before any more damage was done. The meeting was a who's who of nightmares:

Tom Marvolo Riddle- child abandonment, child abuse, child neglect…

Lucius Malfoy- Interference of a Veela soul bond, Imperious, attempted murder of soul mate

Arthur Weasley- Attempted rape and murder of soul mate,

Kingsley Shakelbolt et al… misrepresentation of organization for personal gain

Harry James Potter- child abandonment, child abuse, child neglect, attempted murder, interference of a Veela soul bond and various other crimes as mentioned.

Victor Vector- use of an unforgiveable, abuse of trust, attempted implication of conspiracy to commit murder

Sarah Williams aka Queen Sarah of the Goblins was also present as the representative voice for squibs and muggleborns.

They had managed to meet some two hours prior to having the goblins summon Dumbledore to the Gringotts. He had no idea he was being led before the enclave to discuss his intentions. Victor Vector had been apprehended as usual and debriefed, only this time he was not sent on his merry way. They kept track of whom all Dumbledore sent him to neutralize. It was time to act on the information.

To keep from alerting Dumbledore that something important was going on, Jareth had a teller show him into the briefing room where he was drugged with veritiserum tea and manually restrained before the others entered. He did not act too terribly surprised to see the adults, but he did look twice at Harry who was back in human form during the day.

"Harry, lad, it is good to see you back in human form. When did this happen? I had not heard about it."

Harry shrugged. "Not really sure. I was sleeping when I changed back. I had a bit of a headache so I went to have a lie down and when I woke up I was back in human form and the sun was shining through the window."

"Splendid! We shall have to get together and have a chat about your experiences when we get back to Hogwarts. I should like to know what your task set by magic was."

Harry just shrugged and settled in the seat beside his grandmother.

Sarah leaned forward, "Excuse me, Dumbledore, but the reason you were asked to come to Gringotts was to answer a few questions."

Albus smiled benevolently at her, eyes twinkling merrily. "Regarding?"

She smiled just as sweetly. "We can start with discussing what you intended to accomplish when you left a fifteen-months-old baby on a door step on a cold night with only a thin blanket, no warming charms, no animal repelling charms, no notice me not charms, and the child did not have a sleeping charm or a proximity ward on him."

"I assume you are referring to young Harry here? Everything turned out fine."

She maintained, "I beg to differ. Any number of accidents could have befallen Harry. Why did you just not knock on the door and inform the family of their terrible loss in person." You left a stupid letter tucked into the side of the basket and then you left."

"I beg your pardon! I did not just leave. I erected blood wards to protect young Harry and his family."

Sarah refused to let it go. "The blood wards did not set because you threw sevearl charms into the mix. Because of your hatred charms Petunia and Vernon Dursley despised Harry and treated him badly up to the time they both had the spell work on them shattered. You and that idiot Abraxis Malfoy almost killed Petunia and Dudley before they were removed from the house and brought to the Gringotts infirmary to be treated for life threatening issues.

Jareth glared at Dumbledore. "Why have you been doing such evil all these years? You have been killing off entire families and stealing their money, but it isn't doing you any good."

"I am saving the old pureblood families from the mudbloods."

Sarah looked at him, "You have not been doing anything of the sort. You are only making a bad situation worse by killing everyone in an even more random fashion than Tom did."

"How so?" Dumbledore figured he would play the educated part and make her feel stupid.

Jareth snickered. "Magic, Dumbledore, does not like to be told what to do. When you go through and kill an old family Magic just goes though and revives squib lines or picks a new family. The only problem is there really are rituals which can only be performed by those who have an ancestor considered Old Blood because blood markers develop over several generations."

Dumbledore had not known that. He had not seen it written in any of the books he read and wondered how King Jareth knew. "I do not believe I have ever encountered that bit of knowledge before." He considered the idea while searching his pockets for lemon drops. "I do not believe I am familiar with how Magic picks the new family either?"

Jareth glared at him. "If you are asking is there a way to track them so that you can terminate them before they are of Hogwarts age let me assure you that your killing days are done. As for Magic, there are several reasons that a family with little or no magic will suddenly find themselves with a magical child. What they should be made to understand is that the child does not belong to them. Magic only lets a child be born to non-magical parents if the parents had accidentally lost their child already and did not know it."

Albus stroked his beard with trembling hands. "How are these children formed?" He had a sinking feeling that he knew that answer. Years ago, just before the devastation caused by World War ll, Gellert told him about a dream he had had. A dream that they had created a child and magic told Gellert to perform the soul-search bond to find their child and bring it into the magical community because it's surrogate needed their help.

Sarah watched the old man and read his thoughts as easily as she read children's books to the babies living in the Labyrinth. "What you refer to as your original muggle-born child is no such thing. The magically adept child is created when two magic wielders of the same sex combine their magic to create new life. They do not carry the child, but they do have nine months to find the child and bring it into the magic family circle."

His hand clenched in an effort to still the shaking. "Nine months? How do you figure that? I have heard women speak of not knowing of the child until they miss their cycle?"

It was time to rearrange the old goat's sandbox. "Take Ms. Granger here, she is the daughter of John and Joan Granger in the muggle world. Here in the magical world she is the daughter of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Had Black and Lupin been trained in magic properly they would have known that when they mated according to the werewolf laws, they created a child whom they were supposed to go forth and find. But, they did not know to look. It was only providence that the Muggles accepted the child."

"Tell me about some of the others."

Jareth was blunt, "Why? So you can kill them?"

"No. I need to understand."

Sarah spoke. "I could identify one other without the aid of paternity potions. He is a 6th Year Gryffindor whose name is Dean Thomas. One of his fathers is Auror Kingsley Shakelbolt."

Harry was quite irritated to learn that fact. He wanted to scream in anger actually. That piece of knowledge just invalidated the whole hypothesis for Blaise, Dean, and Seamus' work regarding the ability of a female to sense a magical male's blood status strength and catalogue it as an attractive physical attribute.

Sarah must have felt his emotions because she turned to face him and shook her head lightly.

Harry was not happy with the situation, but he honored his grandmother's request to hold his silence. As he thought though he reasoned that the whole theory was invalid because of the information just given. There was no such thing as a mudblood.

Albus' eyes flashed. "Kingsley is married to a witch. They have a child."

Sarah glared right back. "And everyone knows that it does not matter how many people you have sex, the only person you can impregnate is your wife."

Albus flinched.

Jareth had stopped trying to be nice to Albus some time ago. "How freaking stupid do you think we are?" He mimicked the other's tone perfectly. "Kingsley is married to a witch. They have a child."

"Yes, that was rather a silly argument to make."

Jareth's smile could not be construed as benevolent under any conditions. "You said it."

Sarah rose from her position at the table. "It has been a very thought provoking conversation, gentlemen. I shall retire to my rooms and consider the facts as I understand them." She bowed first to Jareth then nodded to Dumbledore. "Mr. Potter, would you care to escort me back to Gringotts? I do believe I am feeling a bit faint."

Harry quickly moved around the chairs that he and Jareth had scooted out and abandoned when the Queen rose. He presented his arm to her and after bidding the others good day left with her.

Jareth looked around the room at the men standing and then back to the old man still sitting comfortably in his chair. "You were a Knight of the Realm at one point were you not, Mr. Dumbledore?" he asked.

Albus nodded an affirmative before adding. "I still am."

Lucius took up the line of questioning. "At what age is a knight allowed to stop following the Laws of Chivalry? As you know my father passed away from Dragon Pox some years ago. He was a Knight of the Realm who upheld his duties until the end." Then he added, "With the exception of helping you to almost kill me and my soul mate."

Albus lazily conjured himself a cup of tea and some biscuits and proceeded to have a light snack. "I still follow the Code."

"You deliberately disrespected my Queen by not standing in her presence when she stood?" Jareth's voice was completely devoid of emotion. "is there any particular reason why?"

"It's very simple really. I have known Sarah Williams all her life. She is descended from the Potter line. She might be the intellectual equal of the likes of Lily Marie Evans and Hermione Jane Granger, but the fact remains that none of the three are from Ancient or Noble houses and they do not deserve to be served by a royal knight."

Arthur Weasley blinked a few times. "I thought we had already covered this topic. "The Evans sisters were recognized as magical offspring of House Prewitt. The blood ritual was performed last week at Gringotts where Ms. Petunia and her son, Dudley were taken for emergency medical treatment." He watched the old man's eyes flicker from him to Jareth and back.

Arthur continued, "Lord Potter also requested the blood test to make sure there were no other anomalies with the Dursley family. His mother, Lily was a full blood sister to Petunia. His father, James is a son of House Potter, and can trace his lineage back to Hecate, the first magic user. He has the same blood markers as Sarah Williams. She is a Potter."

Albus just shrugged and bit into a lemon crème biscuit. "Whatever."

Tom Riddle had to ask, "So you are also discounting the Queen's claim that Miss Hermione Jane Granger is the daughter of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin according to the Laws of Magic?"

"I heard the claim made that Ms. Granger is a 'Child of Magic' in addition to being a magical child. I just doubt the veracity of the claim and until further proof is provided Ms. Granger will not be treated as a lady by me."

Jareth stood and slapped both of his hands down flat on the table, "I find you an insufferable bore, sir and refuse to sit at the same table as you ever again. I further state that you are a thief, a liar, a rapist, and a murderer." He took another breath and added, "In addition to being an Oath Breaker. You, Sir, are the scum of the earth.

The old man's eyes flashed with anger. The twinkle long since gone. "You go too far, Goblin King. Just because you walk among humans and have a human wife, it does not give you the right to scorn your betters."

The Goblin King threw back his head and laughed. "My betters? There are those at the table who are my equal. However, Magic does not discriminate, or dictate which species is better. Only a few humans make that mistake."

Albus shifted and huffed before sitting back in his seat. "If you are the Court of Peers requested by Magic to judge me, get on with it."

Tom Marvolo Riddle stood and spoke the ritual words that Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore hoped never to hear. "Magic, as the Supreme Being from whom all creatures receive the gift of life, some more blessed than others, we request that you grant us petition as A Court of Peers to establish justice and demand restitution on behalf of any victims who were wronged by the magical being, Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, while refusing to acknowledge or fulfill his obligations to Church and State after taking the Holy Vows of Knighthood."

An ancient house elf appeared in the room, carrying a book and an ink well. The elf stood and gazed solemnly around the table before moving to the chair Kingsley stood and pulled out for him. "You have summoned a representative of Magic to hear and assist in judgment. Do you agree to abide by the terms Magic sets?"

One at a time, each man agreed. Each was required to raise their wand hand and state their name before repeating, "I , name, agree to forfeit my magic if I do not uphold the honor of Magic after summoning her presence to judge and render retribution."

Albus was fairly caught in his own web. He had not expected anyone to know the ritual words for summoning Magical justice. He figured that if he kept his mouth shut from this point on, he might be able to get out to the quandary he found himself in.

The elf spoke to Jareth first. "You have a grievance with this wizard. Please state your case."

Jareth chose to go through the Code of Chivalry one point at a time. "As we know from studying History, the Code of Chivalry came into being over a thousand years ago and was fine tuned until we recognize all the salient points. For the most part we no longer send our sons off to the Manor at the age of seven where he is given the rank of Page and begins training as a knight on how to use weapons and have manners beaten into him. He no longer attains the rank of Squire at fifteen and is given the duties of assisting the knight and practicing weapons with him. Nor does the boy eventually give up the title of Squire to become a Knight who has the Code of Chivalry so ingrained in his being that it is impossible to separate man from duty by the time he swears allegiance to his lord."

He took a sip of water from a glass that magically appeared and continued. "Advances in technology have eased the strain of living here in the British Isles and some three hundred years ago the governing educational body at Hogwarts deemed it possible for a child to stay at home with their parents until they reached the age of eleven since eleven is when the magical core starts to stabilize. We kept the magically significant number fifteen and deemed it a good place to seriously sort the children according to their talents and so we established O.W.L.s, or the Ordinary Wizarding Levels. We then established that two years later would be a very good time to further distinguish what the children should concentrate on and created the NEWTs, or the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests."

He took a moment to pause and gather his thoughts before continuing. "We adjusted the system to fit the changing of the times. However, we did not abolish the system. We actually improved it by including the females of the population. Whereas in Feudal times females were strictly for breeding purposes and farm labor, modern wizards recognize the female of the species as academically equal although they are physically inferior more often than not."

Jareth drank some more water. "It is that issue which is the crux of our disagreement today. The Code of Chivalry emphasized several points. 1. Bravery in battle, 2. Defend the Church, 3. Fight fairly, 4. Treat women of noble birth in a courteous manner, 5. Keep promises. We cannot determine intent with what little we know about Mr. Dumbledore, but we do charge him with breaking all five of these tenets willfully and knowingly while in the pursuit of what he describes as 'the Greater Good'. Let it also be stated for the record that at no time has Mr. Dumbledore ever explained thoroughly, concisely, or even vaguely, what that greater good is for which he tirelessly strives."

Albus simply could not remain quiet. "I disagree. The Greater Good is simply the big picture of what is in the best interests of the Wizarding world."

Kingsley raised his hand in request of recognition. After receiving a nod from the elf he spoke, "I have been a member of the Order of the Phoenix for several years. Our mission statement was to identify and neutralize those who would subvert the will of others for their own gain. I joined because I was frustrated with the way the British Magical Law Enforcement Department refused to uphold the laws of our government. Over the course of the years I have heard Albus explain that certain actions were for the Greater Good. At no point did he ever explain what the greater good was. With every new fact I have been learning over the last several weeks I have come to the conclusion that the reason Albus will not give a definitive answer of what the greater good is is because he does not want to admit his real definition of 'greater good' is what is best for Albus Dumbledore."

He glanced around the room and smiled rather sadly before adding, "I feel like a complete fool. I wasted my time and energy to help a self-serving old fool. And when I go home tonight I am going to have to explain to Mrs. Shakelbolt that it is possible that I am the even bigger fool for following him."

Then his head went down on the table and his big shoulders shook as he sobbed out his grief. "How am I going to explain to a young man who is already sixteen years old that because I was ignorant I did not know about him?" He raised his head and stared at Dumbledore, grief etched clearly for everyone to see. "How can you sleep at night after all the atrocities you have visited on people who respected and trusted you?"

Albus began, "My dear boy."

Kingsley grimaced as he tried to fight back a feral growl. "Don't call me your dear boy ever again. I no longer name you as friend. You lost that right years ago, I just did not realize it." He turned to the elf and said, "I vote to give him the maximum sentence authorized for the crimes he committed. He has caused immeasurable damage to our world by manipulating information and using people for personal gain."

Albus smirked. "What damage have I done? I have sat here and listened to everyone accuse me of manipulation, withholding information, and destroying families." He pulled his glasses off and glared at the men gathered at the table with glowing eyes. "Prove I did what you are accusing me of, or stand down and let me walk out of here."

Jareth calmly produced a stack of papers a foot tall. "Let the record show that Albus blah blah Dumbledore has requested the Court of Peers provide evidence that he intended harm to the Wizarding world. These documents do just that. For the last five years I have had surveillance on Dumbledore twenty-four hours a day because Lord Potter and Lord Longbottom recognized the threat he posed for what it was and the Goblins began taking steps to neutralize him. Along with neutralizing him as best we could for the last five years, we also compiled lists of grievences against him and verified them."

Everyone at the table turned surprised eyes to him and blinked. The old elf broke the silence by asking, "Please explain. You just informed the council that two eleven-years-old boys sussed out Dumbledore's plan and set you on the path to correcting his wrong-doing.

"Harry and Neville spoke to each other the first night they spent at Hogwarts as First years and staggered upon the conclusion that Dumbledore's real aim was to destroy all the Old Bloods. Once we adults verified that assumption we could do no less than our best to stop him. Dumbledore's whole life had been compiled in this document as completely as we could make it. There are probably other sins which could be laid at his door, but we do not know where to look for them or who to ask."

The elf waved its hand over the documents and muttered a few words in house elf language. It watched the paper it had carried into the room as it filled with writing. Everyone held their breath as the elf's demeanor changed from calm to disgusted, and finally to angry enough to kill.

He snapped his fingers and several copies of both Jareth's document and the Magic document appeared at the table. The elf stood and glared at Dumbledore as he spoke. "Each magical race who wants a copy of Albus Dumbledore's activities shall come forth and have one. Albus Dumbledore's complete life history shall be printed in at least one British newspaper and one international paper in increments until the whole story has been told. For the damage done to the Potter Family, King Jareth shall set retribution, for damages to the world at large the Wizengamot shall set damages."

He stood and the others rose with him. Everyone exchanged bows and then the elf was gone, leaving only Dumbledore sitting there with a look of resignation on his face.

He finally stood and held out his arms. "Would you like to bind my magic so that I do not attempt escape?"

Malfoy broke the news to him. "No, that isn't necessary. Salazar and Fawkes had a long talk the other day after which it seems Sal and Harry spent quite a bit of energy helping him overcome some enchantments that had been placed on him."

Albus cocked his head inquiringly, "Do tell?

Lucius Malfoy smiled beatifically at him. "What I was alluding to was the fact that the bond you forced on Fawkes has been nullified and he is back to serving and protecting Hogwarts instead of a diabolical, barmy old coot."

With the Elder wand destroyed and Fawkes out of his sphere of influence, Albus Dumbledore admitted he was in a tight corner. He figured that he would be able to get out of the mess if he held on long enough though. That was one thing about having lived so long- there was always the chance he knew something that would see his way clear of the whole mess.

Albus Dumbledore was escorted to the Ministry of Magic by Tom Riddle, Lucius Malfoy, Kingsley Shakelbolt, Arthur Weasley, and King Jareth. It was a pity that no one realized that it was not a sanctioned visit by the Wizengamot. Especially since he spent almost a week there in the brain tank as the collection of brains analyzed everything he had ever said and done.

At the end of the week he was taken to the room where the Veil was. Jareth and Arthur smirked at each other as Albus walked fearlessly into it. Malfoy and Shakelbolt did not understand what the others were laughing about so they decided to ask.

Lucius arched a perfect brow and said, "Please let us in on why you are so amused."

Jareth showed pointy teeth as he smirked. "Sarah has been visiting London with Lady Slytherin-Potter and some others. They stopped at a muggle bookstore and had a quick stop in the romance section. After reading a novel by an author named Jude Deveraux , Sarah redid one of the oubliettes. Dumbledore will find himself stuck in a time loop where he will be forced to watch television while eating candy, or if he ever wants to leave there he will have to accomplish ten tasks." He grinned and added, "In no particular order. But, all ten will have to be completed before he can escape the oubliette."

Arthur smiled. "They are wonderful tasks, too!"

Shack bit. "Please list the tasks for me."

Jareth sniffed delicately before posturing. "Task number one is to completely eat at least one sample of every edible item in the Weasley Wizarding Weezes snack case on whatever day he decides to begin his redemption training."

Arthur grinned. "I thought of that one. We also have monitoring charms that let the boys know to restock the display before he arrives at the shop."

"What is number two?" The big black auror was trying to contain his mirth.

Arthur blurted out, "Molly thought of number two."

"Task number two is to drive cross country across Australia with three teenage sons and a crack-whore while wearing a magic inhibitor. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle want the honors and are currently in negotiations with William, Charles, and Percy Weasley for the honors of sons. Several of the ladies of the Wizengamot want the female part…so far Dolores is the early favorite."

Lucius blinked. "Number three please?"

Kingsley grinned. "Four weeks boot camp with troubled teens. We de-age him, put the magic inhibitor on and send him along."

Lucius got the drift of it. "Number four: how about we let him go shopping with Narcissa?" Then he noticed the look on Jareth's face and amended, "Or, we could send him out with Queen Sarah so she can help him shop for his new children."

Arthur politely inquired, "How is Bellatrix doing since she returned? With Molly just now being able to leave the Underground we have not been keeping up with what is happening."

Surprisingly, it was Tom who interrupted. "I had tea with her yesterday. She is doing extremely well. She and Rudolphus are discussing the blessed event with the idea in mind that once the children are here he will do a filial blood adoption on them and raise them according to the tenets of House of LeStrange."

Kingsley flinched. "I am not overly comfortable with that idea. The House of LeStrange is known for their instability and dark tendencies."

Tom grinned. "Kingsley, you are behind the times, mate. You need to go on up to Hogwarts and ask that pretty witch who teaches Astronomy to take you down to the Chamber of Secrets and walk you through the purifying rituals. Those boys really have done some wonderful things already for the Wizarding world, but the ritual they brought forward to clean black magic residue off a person's soul is incredibly liberating."

Kingsley nodded. "I heard something about that in Auror Briefing this morning. I haven't seen Amelia that excited since she accidentally on purpose kicked Minister Fudge down a flight of stairs. I think I'd like to know a bit more about the procedures involved before I go up to Scotland though."

Lucius huffed. "If we care to stay focused!"

Once he had everyone's attention again he stated, "we are on number five." No one made mention of the fact that the reason he was being slightly annoyed was because it was he who broke Fudge's fall and saved the man from serious injury. (Amelia still had not forgiven Lucius for that).

Kingsley grinned. "Sorry. How about we chain him to one of the poles at the Bloody Rose and force him to dance for the hags?"

Lucius and Tom smirked at each other before adding, "How about we glamour him to look like a fourteen year old boy while leaving him in his 150 plus-years-old body to evade their gropes and pinches for the whole weekend."

Tom was the one who finally asked the all important question. "What happens to Dumbledore once he is released from your oubliette? Is he finished with paying for his crimes against humanity and magic?"

Jareth bared his pointy teeth in a smirk that had Little Malfoy doing the shrinking thingy. "Oh, no! The oubliette is only my justice for engineering the death of my son and his wife, endangering my grandson, insulting my Queen, insulting my grandson's bond-mates, and all the other slights and perceived endangerments with his asinine games. I fully intend to bring him before the Wizengamot and recommend Azkaban when he gets finished with my 'training sessions'. I might even ask that that they put him in a sterile white room with only a viewing screen and projection crystals that features various broom closets around Hogwarts where students go to dance the vertical tango."

Lucius flinched. "That is almost enough to make me feel bad for him. Malfoys do not 'feel bad' for others though." Then he snickered as he said, "though it would be funny to put him in a cell with Molly, Petunia, and Bellatrix and then turn on the Wizarding Broadcast System. It sure would be fun to watch the ladies work through some of their issues with him."

No one laughed at that remark. Kingsley stated with absolute certainty though, "Dumbledore will face the Wizengamot for violating the code of Chivalry regarding Bella. He will also face trial regarding Molly. He can argue that Molly is not noble and therefore he does not owe her anything, but some of the books that Salazar and Harry have pulled out of his secret stash and compared to the ones stored in their vault beg to differ."

Salazar intends to file a motion citing Dumbledore for suppressing knowledge that he should have been imparting to the general Wizarding public. Once that trial opens Harry and Salazar intend to charge him with every other crime they can think of. If they cannot get him convicted to Azkaban for the damage he has done already, they plan to build a case against him for attempting to destroy magical Britain by eliminating all the purebloods." Jareth stated.

Kingsley knew a fair bit about the law, being the lead auror demanded such knowledge. "What evidence do you have to make such a confident statement?"

"I thought you knew everything," Jareth stated. "Did you forget about the old elf making copies of the charges levied by the Goblin Nation against Dumbledore? If you forgot, here's the short version. When Harry and Neville started school back in September of 1991 they had a conversation that aroused my curiosity. Harry asked the rhetorical statement, 'Is he trying to destroy all the purebloods?' The question intrigued me to the point where I have had Dumbledore monitored ever since. I have had my goblins research him, compile his life history, and neutralize him at every turn the opportunity presented itself."

"Is it possible for Amelia, myself, and a select few others to gain access to the documents you have compiled?"

Lucius glared at Kingsley. "I had better be one of those select few."

Tom shook his head at their antics. "Enough silliness, boys! All you have to do to acquire a copy of the manuscript is go to Gringotts and tap the manuscript on display using the usual copying charm."

He then turned to Jareth and asked, "Your Majesty, what else can we expect from the goblin nation?"

"As part of the case, if we do not get a good response to people requesting the manuscript and reading it, we intend to leak information regarding Dumbledore's systematic suppression and decimation of the Laws of Magic as set forth at the Beginning. We have in our possession texts that state the Laws of Chivalry. The texts are clear on how they are to be applied to the various magical and mundane species."

Arthur asked, "How is proving he violated the Laws of Chivalry going to help anyone?"

Jareth rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Arthur, you have lived in the Underground for the last two months. Did you do anything besides work all day at the Ministry and chase Molly around the house most of the night?"

"NO. Was I supposed to?"

The absolute lack of shame in Arthur's demeanor set everyone off laughing. Jareth finally stopped snickering long enough to attempt explaining, " Molly qualifies as a minor noble in her own right because she gave birth to seven children who all possessed magical gifts. For a body to become a Knight of the Realm, which Dumbledore has, they had to swear their allegiance to the Crown and to uphold the codes of conduct."

Arthur blinked. "OK. So, Dumbledore not only did not uphold the Laws of Chivalry, he also violated his oath as Headmaster of Hogwarts to uphold the educational standards by neglecting to teach necessary information."

A/N: I have one more chapter to add here. If anyone has questions regarding the story now is the time to ask.