"Oh yes," continued Harry "It was all hushed up, obviously, but this thing apparently got into the castle and got down into the dungeons where it was seen by the Defence Professor who, rather than take the thing down like any competent Defence Professor would, ran up to the Great Hall to announce it to the whole school. By the time the beast was found again, it was destroying the girls' bathroom up on the first floor. A girl in there was nearly killed, and others would have been had they not been in the Halloween Feast."
Fudge was gaping at him "Why I – Well – I mean," he stammered "Well there were rumours of course, but nothing more was ever said on the matter…"
Harry nodded and said "Of course nothing was ever said of it. Dumbledore couldn't have that getting out now, could he? Then people would know of his mistake."
"What mistake?" asked Fudge.
Harry didn't like to say this next bit, as it meant that he had to be seen as thinking of the welfare of Slytherin students, but none-the-less it had to be said.
"Once the Defence Professor had informed the school of the Troll's presence, the great and wise Albus Dumbledore ordered everyone return to their House Common Rooms. But here's the thing, at that time the Troll was last known to be in the dungeons, and the location of the Slytherin Common Room is-"
"In the dungeons," Fudge finished for him, shocked "But surely they had a few teachers providing an escort, just in case?"
Harry shook his head "No, sir, they did not. The students were left in the care of the prefects."
"Dear Merlin," muttered Fudge, sitting back in his seat "Imagine if the thing hadn't moved off elsewhere…"
"The Slytherins could have walked right into it," said Harry.
Fudge shook his head before asking "Any other examples?"
"Where to begin?" said Harry "In my second year, how long did those attacks on Muggleborns go on for before the perpetrator was finally stopped?"
Fudge nodded "I heard more on that matter than I did of the Troll. Wasn't it Arthur Weasley's daughter acting under the influence of a dark object?"
"It was," replied Harry "Looking past the obvious question of how no one noticed that she was being possessed, the more serious question is how did such a dark object get into the school in the first place? I mean, I'm no expert, and I do not pretend to be, but surely there must be ways of detecting objects so evil that they can possess the mind of the one holding it?"
"There are a few spells that can be used to detect if an object is dark," replied Fudge "I don't know how to cast them myself, but they are used by Aurors who raid the homes of Dark Wizards."
"And yet those same spells are not used to keep Hogwarts students safe," said Harry "I know that it is highly unlikely for students to bring dark objects to Hogwarts, but Healers in the Muggle world have a saying which is "prevention is half the cure." I'm sure you can see how such a thought can be applied here."
Fudge was nodding with understanding "Yes, I can see what you mean. Stop the thing from even getting into the castle, and you've solved the problem before it can become one. But how would such a feat be accomplished?"
"Well for one," said Harry "when students get off of the express train at Hogsmeade station, they leave their trunks and things on the train, and those things are taken up to the school by, well I presume by the House Elves. How much trouble could it possibly be to have a couple of people spend half an hour walking the length of the train, firing off the detection spell at every trunk in every compartment, just to be safe?"
"Well, I cannot see that being too much of a problem at all," replied the Minister "What's half an hour of a few Aurors' time so that we can all have a little piece of mind?"
"Exactly," said Harry "A small change, but a significant one. It is likely that they will turn up nothing each and every time, but it is far better to be safe than to be sorry."
The Minister was nodding eagerly as he took a golden eagle feather quill, dipped it in some ink and wrote down of a piece of parchment before him Discuss with Amelia about having two Aurors scan the luggage on the Hogwarts Express.
.....
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