Chapter 437: Fudge is a Good Minister
Chapter 437: Fudge is a Good Minister
Kyle hesitated, turning back to look at Dumbledore as he was about to leave.
But Dumbledore just stood there calmly until Harry and the others had left. Then he said, "Don't worry, Black. There are no Dementors here, and you don't need to maintain your Animagus form."
"Sorry, Headmaster," said Black, who had changed back into his human form. He stood there like a student who had done something wrong and mumbled, "I just didn't know how to face you."
Seeing his ragged appearance and hollow eyes, Dumbledore felt a pang of sorrow.
But in the end, he said nothing and just waved his hand.
A table suddenly appeared in front of Black, laden with steak, bread, and roasted potatoes.
"I think you need this more right now... Don't be shy, help yourself," said Dumbledore.
Black's throat moved, and he reached for a piece of bread.
He seemed to want to maintain some dignity, but whether it was because he was too hungry or hadn't eaten proper food in a long time, he soon began to devour the food.
Dumbledore didn't mind and even added some more bread and pumpkin juice. Then he walked over to the cage where Peter was and bent down to examine him carefully.
Peter had woken up and was curled up in the cage, shivering.
"Another Animagus disguised as a pet," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "It looks like we need to inspect the students' pets... I'm curious, Kyle. What do you think his intention was?"
"I guess he wanted to keep up with the goings-on in the wizarding world," Kyle said after a moment's thought. "By staying with a wizarding family, he could get first-hand news about Tom."
"It's been a while since I last heard that name. I almost thought you were referring to the owner of the Leaky Cauldron," Dumbledore said with a smile.
Then he continued, "But I suppose Peter didn't expect someone to brew a pet tonic with Mandrake leaves... To be honest, even I was surprised by your generosity when I heard about it."
"For a friend... it's nothing," Kyle said. "A few Mandrake leaves are affordable for me."
"Don't worry... I'll reimburse you..." Black mumbled through his mouthful of food. "I'll pay for all those potions."
Black seemed determined about this.
He might not have much, but he had plenty of gold. A few Mandrake leaves were nothing to him; he could even afford to eat them for every meal if he wanted.
Kyle raised an eyebrow. It was good to have someone else paying, but now wasn't the time to discuss that.
He looked at Dumbledore and asked, "Professor, what are you going to do?"
"There's no hurry. Before that, I must confirm something," Dumbledore replied, his eyes never leaving Peter. After a moment's thought, he took out his wand.
As the old wand emitted a blue light that fell on Peter, his rat form visibly enlarged... but only for a moment before he shrunk back to his original size.
Seeing that even Dumbledore couldn't turn him back, Peter lay listlessly in his cage, seemingly having given up all hope.
"Oh!" Dumbledore exclaimed, sounding a little surprised, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he turned his wand and prodded the tip against Peter's head, lifting something out.
A strand of silver was pulled out by the wand.
Dumbledore walked quickly to a stone basin in the corner of the room and dropped the memory into it.
The silver strand glowed in the basin, and Dumbledore placed his finger on it, narrowing his eyes slightly.
It didn't take long for Dumbledore's initially calm expression to turn grim.
At the same time, the atmosphere in the room became increasingly oppressive. Sirius felt like there were hundreds of Dementors around him, and he unconsciously put down the bone he had been gnawing on, too afraid to breathe.
Fox jumped onto Kyle's shoulder and gave a soft call.
Time ticked by slowly.
After about ten minutes, Dumbledore, who had finished viewing the memories, reopened his eyes.
He glanced expressionlessly at the cage, and Peter immediately let out a sharp squeal, repeatedly bashing his head against the bars as if trying to escape.
He continued bashing his head until he knocked himself unconscious, but the cage remained intact... This was certain because to prevent Peter from escaping, Kyle had transfigured it into an iron cage, simply wrapped in a layer of wood on the outside.
Dumbledore took a deep breath and said softly, "I saw it all... including how he informed on you and framed you... You've waited a long time for this day, haven't you..."
Sirius tightly clenched his fists, his chest heaving. He rubbed his red eyes and began to sob quietly... His sobs grew louder, until he could no longer hold back and started wailing.
However, even with such loud crying, the portraits in the Headmaster's office didn't stir, their eyes closed as if asleep.
But do portraits need to sleep?
Kyle stared at them and soon noticed that one of the portraits, that of Phineas Black, the least popular Headmaster in history, had quietly opened his eyes.
Upon noticing Kyle's gaze, he decided not to pretend anymore and opened his eyes wide, shouting, "I said it before, that the Black family would never do such despicable things!"
"Nonsense!" A wizard with a big beard didn't give him any face and immediately exposed him. "You clearly always saw Sirius as a disgrace to the family, and even said you wanted to strike him off the family tree!"
"I, I never said that!" Phineas stiffly retorted. "You're slandering me!"
"Oh, I testify that you indeed said such things." A chubby wizard who enjoyed the show chimed in. "You also said that the Black family would never have a place for him..."
"I can testify to that as well..."
"I heard it too, tsk tsk..."
As his black history was revealed one by one, Phineas became flustered and shouted, "Rubbish, you're all talking rubbish, I never said those things."
However, facing so many headmasters, his refutation sounded rather weak.
"Damn that shorty Peter, that despicable, shameless guy..."
Finally, Phineas simply changed the topic and looked at Dumbledore, saying, "Albus, you can't just stand by and watch. You must find a way to clear Sirius' name! If you don't, I'll make so much noise that you won't be able to work!"
"Phineas, when did I ever say I would stand by and do nothing?" Dumbledore's face regained its smile.
Sirius also looked up, "You're really willing to help me?"
"Of course I will help you, there's no doubt about that." Dumbledore said, "But the problem is how we should proceed."
He tapped his fingers on the table, "Although it's not nice to say this, but the mistake in your case was due to the Ministry's negligence at the time, and Peter has been a recipient of the Merlin First Class Medal for twelve years. If it's suddenly discovered that they got it wrong, the Ministry will lose face.
They will likely be very reluctant to accept this."
The excitement on Sirius' face gradually faded.
He had only thought that exposing Peter would reveal the truth, but he hadn't expected the involvement of the Ministry.
Indeed, those people valued their faces the most. Would they really care about whether he was innocent or not?
Sirius' heart began to fill with anxiety...
"Professor, I think you're overthinking this."
At this moment, Kyle suddenly smiled and said, "The current Minister of Magic, Mr. Fudge, is competent and fair. I believe he will be willing to clear Sirius' name."
...
(End of Chapter)
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