Chapter 472: Before the Start of School
Chapter 472: Before the Start of School
It wasn't until the next evening that Kyle learned why Chris had rushed back to the Ministry of Magic in the middle of the night.
In simple terms, there was a severe shortage of manpower within the department, and the small team at the International Magic Cooperation Department simply wasn't enough. Anyone who could breathe was called back to help.
This included Mr. Weasley.
For a solid week, they left before dawn and didn't return until late at night.
As a result, Kyle had his meals at the Weasley household during this time, and each visit was accompanied by Fred and George's sarcastic remarks.
Ever since the camp incident, the twins had been like this because Kyle and Cedric had stuffed them into the trunk.
Cedric, who lived farther away in their muggle dwelling, had managed to escape this fate.
Finally, Kyle couldn't take their nagging anymore and agreed to take them for a spin in the trunk after the start of school, which finally bought him a few days of peace.
During this time, another incident occurred—Percy and Mr. Weasley had a big fight.
The reason was another article by Rita Skeeter, who had somehow gotten hold of information claiming that Mr. Weasley, in an attempt to curry favor with the Headmaster of Beauxbatons, only cared about a few French students and turned a blind eye as over a dozen wizards were killed.
Of course, anyone with a brain could see that this was a fabricated story, but unfortunately, Percy fell for it. During a breakfast, he complained about Mr. Weasley's lack of wisdom in handling the situation and dragged Bill and Charlie into it.
Mrs. Weasley was furious and had a huge argument with him, and Charlie even demonstrated what it meant to be a dragon keeper.
Percy left the meal unfinished, sporting a pair of black eyes, and fled to the Ministry.
"Don't mind him," Bill said to Harry and the others beside him. "Rita Skeeter never writes anything good about anyone. She's best at twisting the truth, but unfortunately, a lot of brainless people buy into her nonsense."
In the blink of an eye, it was the last day of the holidays, and Sirius and Lupin still hadn't sent any letters.
In the morning, Kyle went to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, but the place was empty, and the house-elf wasn't there either.
Additionally, there was no news from the Ministry.
It was clear that Sirius' retrial had been put on hold.
The events at the Quidditch World Cup hadn't been fully resolved, and it seemed Fudge didn't want to deal with Crouch at the moment.
However, this was understandable. The Ministry was already in chaos, with a large number of howlers being sent to the office of the International Magic Cooperation Department almost daily.
If it weren't for Crouch drawing the anger of the people, those letters complaining about the security issues at the World Cup and demanding compensation for their losses would probably have been sent to Fudge's office.
Fudge certainly didn't want to spend most of his day dealing with howlers.
By the time Kyle returned to St. Kachibor Village, it was almost noon.
Chris had returned briefly and then left in a hurry with Charlie. He had received a mission to go to Romania immediately, and Charlie decided to tag along by using the Ministry's door key, as it was the last day of his vacation as well, and it would save him a lot of travel time.
Mr. Weasley, on the other hand, returned very late, dragging his tired body home. He looked utterly exhausted.
"Things are getting out of hand," he said, slumping into an armchair by the fireplace and listlessly poking at the wrinkled cauliflowers on his plate.
“I wish,” Mr. Weasley sighed. “He insisted during the trial that it was a momentary lapse of judgment due to his team losing, and he never intended for things to get so out of hand.”
“Lapse of judgment?” Bill exclaimed indignantly. “They used the Cruciatus Curse!”
“I know,” Mr. Weasley acknowledged, “but no one can testify to that. Remember, their curse didn't take effect, so we can't prove it with a Priori Incantatem.”
“And quite a few of the jury members chose to believe Malfoy,” Mrs. Weasley added. “They think the mastermind behind this incident was a Death Eater who escaped. Whether it was controlling Bagman to try and kill Harry or being the first to cast the Killing Curse and conjure the Dark Mark, they blame this Death Eater.
Coincidentally, the Dark Mark appeared after Malfoy was arrested, indicating he had nothing to do with that Death Eater.”
“What nonsense…” Bill interjected, “What about Headmistress Maxime? Does she agree with this?”
“The Ministry is still negotiating with her,” Mr. Weasley explained. “That's also why the Malfoys haven't been released yet.
Even though Lucius has donated a large sum of gold and volunteered to compensate for all the losses and damages, Headmistress Maxime has sought out the French Minister of Magic and insists on a proper explanation, or she will withdraw...”
Mr. Weasley paused before continuing, “In any case, both Headmistress Maxime and the French Minister of Magic are standing firm, and Fudge is having a headache over this matter.”
“I understand,” Kyle nodded. “He doesn't want his international reputation tarnished, nor is he willing to give up Malfoy's gold...”
“You could say that,” Mr. Weasley poured himself a small glass of whiskey. “But regardless, the Malfoys are suffering the consequences this time... I've heard that the amount of gold Lucius promised to compensate is no small sum.
“On top of that, they have to provide an explanation to Beauxbatons... There are rumors that the Malfoy family is already selling their shop in Diagon Alley.”
“He should be sent to Azkaban!” Ron exclaimed angrily. “I'd like to see how arrogant Draco Malfoy acts then.”
Mr. Weasley remained silent.
If the Cruciatus Curse had taken effect, there would have been no escape for Lucius. But now... it seemed that Lucius' networking over the years had paid off. By throwing around galleons, he finally reaped the benefits when it mattered most.
As long as he didn't make any major mistakes, there would always be people speaking up for him.
Additionally, the timing of the Dark Mark's appearance was too convenient, providing him with a perfect excuse to escape punishment.
“I think you should all go upstairs and check if your luggage is packed,” Mrs. Weasley interrupted their conversation. “Go on now, stop talking about the Malfoys and let your father rest.”
“Alright...” Everyone gathered their belongings and headed upstairs.
Kyle had wanted to ask if there was any news about Sirius, but seeing the exhausted look on Mr. Weasley's face, he decided not to bring it up.
...
(End of Chapter)
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