Chapter 1100: Out of Time
Chapter 1100: Out of Time
"So, according to the prophecy, Harry and Voldemort will eventually fight to the death, and only one can survive?"
After learning the contents of the prophecy, Sirius stared at Dumbledore in disbelief, his eyes wide as he asked excitedly, "How is Harry supposed to defeat Voldemort? How is that even possible?"
"You should have faith in Harry, Sirius," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Of course, I believe in Harry, but... this is just..." Sirius took a deep breath, trying to calm his agitated and complex emotions. He asked, "Does Harry know about this?"
"I've already told Harry, and he's braver than you think," Dumbledore said reassuringly.
"Harry has always been brave, just like James!" Sirius muttered. "Lately, Harry has also become more level-headed, but... surely there's something we can do?"
"Don't worry, Sirius. Harry still has a good chance of defeating Voldemort," Dumbledore consoled. "I'll do my best to help him, teach him, but some of this must remain confidential."
"But I'm Harry's godfather; I can help too," Sirius said, his voice filled with determination. "I can't just..."
"Some things must be kept secret, and this is crucial," Dumbledore said, looking directly into Sirius' eyes. "Just as I'm trusting you with the contents of the prophecy, I hope you can keep this confidential and ensure that Voldemort never learns of it."
"I will," Sirius promised.
"Good..."
Just then, both Dumbledore and Sirius turned their heads toward the fireplace as green flames erupted from it.
"Dumbledore, the Death Eaters have escaped," a voice called out from the fireplace.
Tonks stepped out, her expression anxious.
"The Death Eaters have escaped?"
Upon hearing this unwelcome news, Sirius frowned and asked, "How is that possible? In less than an hour, the Ministry let those Death Eaters slip through their fingers. Are they all incompetent?"
Tonks felt embarrassed because, as an Auror for the Ministry, those captured Death Eaters had escaped right under their noses.
"How did the Death Eaters escape?" Dumbledore asked, as this development seemed highly irregular.
"There was a large-scale rebellion among the Dementors of Azkaban," Tonks explained angrily. "They no longer wish to work for the Ministry. The Ministry is in complete disarray, and we could only hastily imprison the Death Eaters. Before long, they slipped away right under the noses of the wizards guarding the prison."
"The Dementors set the Death Eaters free?" Sirius doubted that there were any Animagi among the Death Eaters who could have transformed into animals and escaped.
"No one knows how they did it," Tonks said helplessly. "The Ministry is organizing Aurors to search for the Death Eaters, but so far, there have been no leads."
"It seems they were well-prepared," Dumbledore mused.
He had a vague idea of how the Death Eaters might have escaped from Azkaban.
"Cornelius Fudge wants to discuss this matter with you," Tonks said, explaining her reason for contacting Dumbledore. "As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, he asked me to deliver this message."
"Perhaps I should go to the Ministry first," Dumbledore said calmly.
However, even with Fudge seeking his help, Dumbledore currently had no good solutions to offer.
After Dumbledore left for the Ministry via the Floo Network, Sirius also hurriedly departed Hogwarts to contact Albert through their usual means, hoping to receive his assistance.
At the same time, when Dumbledore arrived at the Ministry via the Floo Network, he found the place in complete chaos.
In front of the golden fountain, journalists surrounded Fudge, bombarding him with question after question, relentless in their pursuit of a scoop.
Leading the pack was Rita Skeeter, who took great pleasure in exposing Fudge's mistakes and presenting his bloody wounds for all to see, leaving him shaking with rage.
When the journalists spotted Dumbledore appearing from the flames, they immediately pushed their microphones toward him, hoping to interview the elderly wizard who had been misunderstood by the entire magical community.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I believe I have more important matters to attend to," Dumbledore said with a smile as he gently pushed aside the microphones and made his way toward Fudge.
"Minister, have you finally decided to believe Dumbledore?"
Rita Skeeter asked sharply, "What made you change your mind? Is it true that the Dark Lord has returned?"
"Yes, he's back. The Dark Lord has returned," Fudge admitted, looking exhausted under Dumbledore's gaze. "The situation is dire, and I need to act quickly..."
"Minister, do you intend to take responsibility and resign?"
"The Ministry must take swift action."
Fudge ignored the question about resigning. He waved away the pesky journalists like flies and, along with Dumbledore, made his way toward the Minister's office.
"Undoubtedly, our Minister seems unaware of his mistakes and has no intention of taking responsibility by resigning," Rita Skeeter said into her microphone. "Now, there are concerns about whether Fudge can fulfill his duties as Minister of Magic at this critical juncture instead of denying, evading, and suppressing the truth. As we know, Lucius Malfoy, one of the Death Eaters involved in tonight's incident, happens to be Fudge's close associate, and we can't help but suspect..."
With that, Rita Skeeter successfully diverted the journalists' attention.
She knew full well that Cornelius Fudge would no longer be able to continue as the Minister of Magic.
"What is the meaning of this?"
As soon as Fudge closed the door to his office, he asked, sounding flustered.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, Fudge knew that the person most likely to help him clean up this mess and retain his position as Minister was Dumbledore.
At this moment, Fudge seemed to have completely forgotten about his actions over the past year, still shamelessly seeking Dumbledore's assistance.
In fact, during the early days of his tenure as Minister, he had done this on more than one occasion, and the results had been quite satisfactory.
"Undoubtedly, Voldemort has returned, and you've wasted an entire year," Dumbledore said bluntly.
"You're blaming me..." Fudge's body trembled as he heard the name 'Voldemort,' and he whispered angrily, "Can't you refrain from mentioning that name?"
Dumbledore, knowing why Fudge had sought him out, said coldly, "It's too late. As far as I know, Voldemort has already gained the support of the werewolves and giants, and the Dementors have joined him, just as I predicted."
Fudge's mouth hung open, as if he wanted to say something.
However, Dumbledore merely glanced at the flustered Fudge and continued, "Once the news of Voldemort's resurrection spreads, many wizards in Knockturn Alley will be willing to follow him."
"Oh Merlin!" Fudge couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen next.
Just then, there was a knock on the Minister's office door.
Scrimgeour pushed open the door and entered. He glanced at Dumbledore before addressing Fudge, "Minister, we've figured out how those Death Eaters escaped."
"How did they do it?" Fudge asked hastily.
"The door keys. It's surprising, but they indeed used door keys," Scrimgeour shared the latest findings from the Aurors. "The Aurors are on their trail, but there's no doubt they haven't found the group of escaped Death Eaters."
"Oh, I see." Dumbledore suddenly spoke up.
"You know what happened?" Scrimgeour asked, raising an eyebrow. Allowing the Death Eaters to slip away right from under their noses was a huge embarrassment, and he had even forgotten how many times the Aurors had become a laughingstock in the wizarding world because of this.
"Last summer, Harry escaped from under Voldemort and the Death Eaters' noses using a door key. I suspect the Death Eaters had prepared their keys in advance," Dumbledore explained. To be honest, he wasn't surprised that the Death Eaters had escaped; even if they hadn't, Voldemort would have likely freed them anyway.
"The Aurors are on their way to their homes to apprehend them, but the chances are slim," Scrimgeour said, glancing at Dumbledore. "If you want to find the hideout of those Death Eaters, I suggest asking for Albert Anderson's help."
"Albert Anderson?" Fudge asked, perplexed. "What for?"
"It is said that Albert Anderson is the most powerful Diviner in all of Britain. He should be able to easily help us locate the Death Eaters' whereabouts," Scrimgeour explained.
"I'm afraid that would be difficult," Dumbledore suddenly spoke up.
"What?" Scrimgeour and Fudge turned to look at Dumbledore.
"Mr. Anderson is not at Hogwarts. After the last incident, no one knows where he went," Dumbledore reminded them. "If he doesn't want to be found, it will be harder to find him than to find Voldemort. And I don't think you can convince him to help you with your Divination, and even if he's willing to help, he'll probably ask for a price you can't accept."
"How much?" Scrimgeour frowned and asked.
"Probably ten thousand galleons, maybe a little more." Dumbledore guessed.
"How much?" Fudge exclaimed, his eyes widening.
"Ten thousand galleons," Scrimgeour repeated. "We can offer it as a reward for information. If we can catch those escaped Death Eaters, this price is very cheap."
"Don't be ridiculous. A thousand galleons might be possible, but ten thousand? The Ministry can't afford that reward," Fudge shook his head. "Especially with so many wanted posters for Death Eaters; you should know that the Ministry can't afford such a huge reward."
Scrimgeour fell silent.
"Maybe..."
"The Ministry has defaulted on Black's reward," Dumbledore interrupted. Although he knew that Fudge had used a Time-Turner to undo that reward, Fudge had undoubtedly forgotten about it completely.
Dumbledore brought this up to discourage them from pursuing this idea, as he was well aware of the consequences if the Ministry tried to coerce Anderson with a sense of "duty."
Although Albert had a good temper, a good temper didn't mean he wouldn't get angry.
When people who rarely got angry finally lost their temper, the results could be terrifying, and they might not even give you a chance to explain.
The Aurors and Umbridge had only received a minor warning.
Realizing that he wouldn't get the result he wanted, Scrimgeour soon left, as he had many other things to deal with. After the Dementors left Azkaban, the ancient wizard prison fell into complete chaos. If they didn't take control of the situation, the prisoners would undoubtedly escape, and the entire wizarding world would descend into chaos.
"Why was Harry Potter here tonight?" Fudge asked again, his curiosity getting the better of him. "What happened in the Hall of Prophecy? What were you all doing in there?"
"Oh, Voldemort sent his Death Eaters to break into the Department of Mysteries to steal a prophecy about Harry and himself. It's the same prophecy from over a decade ago," Dumbledore didn't intend to hide the existence of the prophecy.
It was probably impossible to keep this a secret anyway, so he might as well give Fudge an explanation.
"What does the Dark Lord want with that prophecy?" Fudge asked, his eyes wide, unable to understand Voldemort's motives.
"Perhaps Voldemort wants to find a way to kill Harry from the prophecy," Dumbledore said softly. "In fact, Voldemort has been plotting for nearly half a year. If you've been paying attention, you'll notice many related signs. The incident with Sturgis Podmore, Arthur Weasley being bitten by a snake, and the death of Broderick Bode was not an accident but a premeditated murder. I suspect Voldemort found the correct approach to breaking into the Department of Mysteries with the help of Augustus Rookwood."
"Did he succeed?" Fudge blurted out.
"No, he failed. After Harry retrieved the prophecy, he realized that Voldemort's target was the prophecy, so he destroyed it," Dumbledore said reassuringly. "Harry has once again thwarted Voldemort's plot."
"So, he really is the savior." Fudge asked incredulously. He didn't believe in the so-called savior from beginning to end.
"I don't think Harry would like that title."
"Can he really defeat the Dark Lord?" Fudge felt this was too absurd, but at the same time, he realized that Harry Potter might indeed be the savior mentioned in the legend.
Of course, it didn't matter if Harry wasn't the savior; as long as everyone believed he was, that would be enough.
In Harry, Fudge saw a possible way to keep his position.
"I hope he can."
"Dumbledore, can you arrange for me to meet with Harry?" Fudge asked, his face full of anticipation. "I intend to..."
"That's impossible, Cornelius," Dumbledore shook his head. "After what you did last year, Harry won't stand up for you."
"If you had listened carefully earlier, you would have realized how much Harry hates the Ministry. He even plans to throw Dolores Umbridge into Azkaban for the rest of her life," Dumbledore added.
"My goodness, this..." Fudge stammered, stunned by this news. "But, this..."
"I've advised you before, but it's too late now," Dumbledore stood up from his chair. "By the way, you have to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts and stop the Aurors from investigating my Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Let him return to work."
"Is there really no other way?" Fudge asked reluctantly.
"When you do something wrong, you have to take responsibility," Dumbledore reminded him before leaving. "Don't try to evade it; it will only bring you bigger trouble."
(End of Chapter)
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