then, would you like to change your plea to Guilty then?”
“No, Sir.”
Caramelly Fudge rapped his gavel and stood up. He was infuriated. “What are you saying Harry Putter? That you are Not Guilty after you have already admitted in front of all of us that you are!”
“No, Sir.”
“‘No, Sir?’”
“The law states, ‘The use of all methods of magical incantation, enchantment, and summoning by any 1st through 6 th year students outside of Hogwashes School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is strictly forbidden and most definitely not allowed,’” quoted Harry. “However, this rule doesn’t apply to me.”
“No one is above the law, Harry Putter!” Fudge raised his voice. “I am very disappointed in you, boy. Just because you are a celebrity of sorts, does not mean you will be treated differently in the eyes of this court! Justice is blind!”
“That’s not what I mean, Sir.”
“No? But you say this rule doesn’t apply to you? How so?”
“The law applies to students from their 1 st year through their 6 th year. After six years of school, any student is old enough to use magic at home. In fact, most students, after six years, are encouraged to begin to use magic to help out around the house, doing dishes, cooking, straightening up.”
“But the school records show that you will be entering your sixth year this autumn, Harry. You just took your G.O.A.T. tests, did you not?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“See then, you have only completed five years of school! I’m sorry Harry, this law does apply to you, and ignorance is no excuse!”
“Not so, Sir, I have completed six years of school, if you count preschool, which of course, I always do.”
At this comment, the eight judges began to whisper to each other excitedly. Fudge rapped his gavel for silence.
“Silly boy. Preschool doesn’t count!”
“Yes, it does.”
“Preschool is a farce, Harry, you only go to preschool when your parents don’t want you around, which explains why YOU attended preschool, doesn’t it.”
“Sir, my parents were dead, it’s my aunt and uncle who didn’t want me around.”
“That’s beside the point, no one counts preschool. Preschool doesn’t count!”
“Sir, if you check the law, nowhere does it say that preschool doesn’t count. Furthermore, I can prove that it does count.”
“You can?”
“Yes.”
And even though, the Ministry tried very hard to not count preschool, it didn’t take much to legally prove that preschool does, in fact, count. Harry was able to prove that the most important lessons in life are in fact taught in preschool, such as: if it’s anything good, the answer is “No;” adding water balloons to any given situation is generally a bad idea; girls under 12 are icky and have cooties; pants are generally not considered optional; and that the world would be a better place if we all took a nap in the afternoon.
Furthermore, Hogwashes records, that were conveniently in the building as Grumblesnore was attempting to answer the Auditor’s inquisition, clearly showed that the school charged the exact same rate for preschool as it did any other year of school.
Harry proved that preschool counted from a learning perspective, it counted from a business perspective, and it was not legally different from any other year of school. The Ministry of Magic had no recourse but to let