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Chapter 622: Dumbledore's Panic
Chapter 622: Dumbledore's Panic
Fudge's actions were swifter than expected.
The first change was in the Prophet.
Previously, every issue had featured someone criticizing Dumbledore, invariably ending with a firm statement that the mysterious man could not have returned, that it was all an outright lie.
But ever since Fudge left the Leaky Cauldron, there had been no mention of the mysterious man in the newspaper for an entire week.
Those who had been so righteous and indignant seemed to have disappeared overnight, and the whole newspaper could be said to be harmonious... at least for everyone else.
"Kyle, can you explain what's going on here?"
On the eighth floor, in the headmaster's office, Dumbledore, who rarely returned from his outside adventures, sat with a frown on his face. In front of him on the table lay a spread-out newspaper.
[Dumbledore's Ambition for the Minister of Magic: Premeditated or Impulsive?]
"Special correspondent for the Prophet, Rita Skeeter, reports that Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has been frequently in contact with high-level staff of the Ministry of Magic in recent days. Sources say that he seems dissatisfied with Minister Cornelius Fudge's slander against him and intends to run for the new minister to restore his rapidly deteriorating reputation and honor..."
The article was long, though not on the front page, but it took up an entire page.
It was filled with so-called insider revelations, Dumbledore's recent itinerary, and even a large photo in the middle of the article.
In the photo, Dumbledore was chatting amiably with Umbridge, and they even shook hands.
"Dolores Umbridge, Senior Deputy Minister of Magic, who took on the position of Professor of Dark Arts Defense at Hogwarts in mid-September.
"Previously, it was said that she took on this job to monitor Dumbledore's every move for Fudge, but now it seems that the truth may not be so.
"Insiders revealed that the two were often seen chatting and laughing in the corridors of Hogwarts, with a very close relationship.
"We have reason to suspect that this Deputy Minister Dolores Umbridge is actually a double agent, appearing to work for Fudge but having long since defected to Dumbledore..."
"Ha..." Kyle couldn't help but laugh at this point, "This is quite interesting. I dare say Umbridge would be furious if she saw this."
"I have no doubt about that," Dumbledore sighed.
Kyle looked at the newspaper. "By the way, Professor, when did Umbridge become one of us?"
"Wasn't this your doing?" Dumbledore countered, his blue eyes fixed on Kyle.
"Of course not." Kyle remained calm and replied without hesitation, "If I really had such abilities, I wouldn't have waited until now to get Umbridge on our side."
"I'm not talking about that," Dumbledore said with a complex expression. "Umbridge has always been a loyal follower of Cornelius, and I've never doubted that."
He pointed to the photo above. "In fact, this photo was taken after Sirius was taken away. At the time, she wanted to take on the position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I welcomed her.
"Also, the location in the photo is not Hogwarts, but the Ministry of Magic."
"Oh, I see..." Kyle exclaimed, "I should've realized that Rita Skeeter just likes to make things up."
"So, you have nothing to do with this article?" Dumbledore asked.
"Of course not." Kyle shook his head repeatedly. "As you said, the photo was taken at the Ministry of Magic. After Sirius was taken away, I stayed at the school, so how could I possibly go to the Ministry to take a photo?"
"You probably don't know this, but in just a few short hours, I've received this many letters."
Dumbledore turned to the side, revealing a stack of thick letters behind him, piled up to a height of several feet.
"And this is only a portion of them..."
As Dumbledore spoke, another owl flew into the room from the window, dropping a letter onto the table.
"As you can see," he continued, "people seem to be taking this article seriously, believing that I truly want to become the Minister of Magic... They're even offering their support and strategies, which is quite terrifying.
"To be honest, I'm starting to fear the sight of owls."
Dumbledore, afraid of owls?
Kyle couldn't help but think that if this statement got out, it would surely make the front-page headline.
"Professor, this may not be a bad thing," Kyle said softly. "The more people who believe it, the less likely Fudge will be to doubt it."
Dumbledore's expression changed. "This wasn't what we agreed upon."
He clearly remembered Kyle's exact words—to create a false impression and let Fudge suspect something was amiss.
And that was precisely what he had done—exchanging a few words with Amelia Bones and greeting Barty Crouch... These actions were merely a bit more enthusiastic than the usual courtesies, nothing more.
How had the situation escalated to this point?
Starting from this morning, people had been writing in to inquire about the news in the Prophet, and some had even expressed their support for him in their letters. There were several members of the Wizengamot, and even...
Dumbledore glanced at the table.
There was a special letter from the French Ministry of Magic, sent by the Director of International Magical Cooperation.
Although it appeared to be a regular greeting letter, he had never before received correspondence from this individual, nor did he even know the name of the Director of International Magical Cooperation.
For someone with whom he had little interaction to send a greeting letter at this particular time, Dumbledore couldn't help but understand the underlying message.
Even the magical governments of other countries were showing their support. If this continued, Dumbledore felt he might truly be pushed into the position of Minister.
This was not what he desired; he merely wanted to be an ordinary headmaster.
"Well... I'm helpless in this situation, too," Kyle said. "It all depends on what Fudge does next.
"If he wants to keep his position as Minister, he'll definitely find a way to stop you. When that happens, we just need to do nothing and let him win."
"Really?" Dumbledore looked at Kyle with suspicion.
His intuition told him that Kyle was somehow involved in this article, but he couldn't find any evidence... not even with special means.
He knew that Kyle had learned the Occlumency technique and had achieved a high level of proficiency, to the extent that even Snape couldn't see through his thoughts... or rather, what he saw was definitely not genuine.
To be able to hide one's true thoughts while simultaneously creating false impressions to confuse others—such a level of mastery of Occlumency would be extremely difficult even for an adult wizard.
Dumbledore sighed once more... If he had known things would turn out this way, he wouldn't have agreed to Kyle's suggestion to create a false impression.
Now, he could only hope that Fudge would handle the situation competently.
(End of Chapter)
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