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"Shocking business... shocking... miracle none of them died... never heard the like... by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape..."
"Thank you, Minister."
"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"
"Thank you very much indeed, Minister."
"Nasty cut you've got there... Black's work, I suppose?"
"As a matter of fact, it was Miss Winters, Minister..."
"No!"
"Black had bewitched her – bewitched all of them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by their behavior. They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape... They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single-handed. They've got away with a great deal before now... I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves... and of course, Potter and Winters has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of license by the headmaster —"
"Ah, well, Snape... Harry Potter, you know... we've all got a bit of a blind spot where he's concerned," he continued. "And Matilda Winters, she has the highest markings here at Hogwarts... we can't just expel her."
"And yet — is it good for them to be given so much special treatment? Personally, I try and treat them like any other student. And any other student would be suspended — at the very least — for leading their friends into such danger. Consider, Minister — against all school rules — after all the precautions put in place for Potter's protection — out-of-bounds, at night, consorting with a werewolf and a murderer — and I have reason to believe he has been visiting Hogsmeade illegally too —"
"Well, well... we shall see, Snape, we shall see... The boy and his friends have undoubtedly been foolish..."
Matilda lay listening with her eyes shut. She was still asleep but slowly coming to. The words she was hearing seemed to be traveling very slowly from her ears to her brain so that it was difficult to understand... Her brain felt scattered; her eyelids too heavy to lift. It felt as though she'd been sleeping forever.
"What amazes me most is the behavior of the Dementors... you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?"
"No, Minister... by the time I had come 'round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances..."
"Extraordinary. And yet Black, and Harry, and the girl —"
"All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight back to the castle."
