Chapter 984: Fudge's Frustration
Chapter 984: Fudge's Frustration
The article in the Prophet regarding the International Wizard Duelling Competition held in Spain casually mentioned Albert Anderson's victory in a single sentence, downplaying the significance of the event.
However, for those who witnessed the final duel, it was a profound and unforgettable battle.
At this moment, in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius Black was vividly recounting the events that had taken place at the recent International Wizard Duelling Competition in Spain.
Ever since he had previously narrated the tale of Death Eaters attempting to assassinate Albert, only to be foiled, mealtimes had become the most enjoyable part of the day, as Sirius would take the opportunity to continue his storytelling.
Although it sounded incredulous, these were all true occurrences and not fabrications of Sirius' imagination.
"In any case, it was a spectacular and memorable duel," Sirius continued, ignoring the reproachful glance sent his way by Mrs. Weasley. He cleared his throat and said, "At the time, it seemed that Voldemort had used a complex potion to disguise himself as a dark wizard named Avaje. This individual had already killed two of his opponents with dark magic and hospitalized others; he was a cruel and ruthless opponent. I suspect Voldemort intended to use Avaje's identity as a cover to assassinate Albert."
"After all, by masquerading as the dark wizard Avaje, it wouldn't have been unusual for him to kill other competitors in the subsequent rounds," Sirius said with a slight upward curl of his lips. "However, Voldemort's scheme was seen through by Albert at a glance."
"He saw through it at a glance?" Bill asked, astonished.
"Yes, according to Dumbledore, Albert recognized him as soon as he entered the contestant's lounge," Sirius nodded.
"How did he do it?" Lupin asked, raising an eyebrow. "Even Dumbledore didn't see through it. We might be able to use his method in the future."
"I don't know," Sirius shook his head. "You'll have to ask him yourself."
Fred and George, sitting across from each other, exchanged glances, evidently having guessed the reason, but neither of them intended to voice it.
"I still can't believe that such a competition would allow contestants to kill each other," Hermione said, setting down her spoon. It was hard to imagine that the International Duelling Competition would permit the killing of opponents.
"While the organizers don't explicitly permit killing, accidents do happen during duels, leaving a loophole that can be exploited," Sirius said, his expression turning peculiar. "Moreover, the Spanish organizers profit from these incidents. Without exciting duels, how could they justify their high-priced tickets? The participation of dark wizards is actually a highlight of the competition. People love to see someone defeat or even kill these villains, thinking they deserve it anyway. Of course, most of the time, the judges will intervene to stop meaningless murders."
"By the way, I recall that you bet on Mr. Anderson to win," Lupin asked, his expression complex.
"It should be close to two thousand galleons!" Sirius noted the looks he was getting and cleared his throat. "Don't look at me like that. A portion of that belongs to Anderson, and I recall suggesting that you place bets as well, but you chose not to."
"Two thousand galleons!"
Ron was stunned upon hearing the figure Sirius had revealed.
"It always feels like that guy earns money as easily as drinking water."
Fred and George exchanged a look, unable to hold back bitter smiles as they guessed the trick behind it all.
It was all too familiar.
"Wouldn't that be considered cheating?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Definitely not," Sirius declared with delight. "Only a handful of people would dare to do this, because who can be certain of winning the championship? I plan to take out a few thousand galleons from this windfall to fund the Order's activities."
Ever since killing Pettigrew and visiting James and Lily's grave, Sirius had a newfound vigor. His life goals had shifted; he was determined to kill Voldemort, fulfill his duty as a godfather, and watch Harry grow up, get married, and have children.
Everyone was astounded by Sirius' generosity; a few thousand galleons was no small sum.
To think that the Order had never had any activity funds before! "By the way, Remus, in the next issue of the Defensive Guide, we should publish these reports," Sirius said after a moment's thought. "The public has a right to know the truth."
"If you publish the truth, Fudge will definitely be unhappy about it," Mr. Weasley warned.
"So, we'll need to come up with a new name for the magazine."
"Change the name?"
Everyone looked at Sirius with confusion.
"The new magazine will be an imitation of the Defensive Guide. What does it have to do with us?" Sirius said matter-of-factly. "Even if Fudge sees it and goes crazy, he can't do anything about it because there's no evidence that the magazine is connected to us."
"I think Fudge won't need any evidence," Lupin said, his expression odd as he was surprised by Sirius' clever idea.
"Alright, kids, it's time for you to head to your rooms," Mrs. Weasley said after dinner. It was time to discuss matters that were not suitable for younger ears.
The children left the kitchen reluctantly, and Mrs. Weasley cast a noise-blocking spell at the entrance to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.
"The Gaols have all been released without charge. I heard that Malfoy has been running around and even donated a large sum of money to St Mungo's," Mr. Weasley said, his face grim as he lowered his voice. "Fudge claims they were kidnapped by a Dark wizard during their trip to the International Wizard Duelling Competition and had nothing to do with the Death Eaters."
"Has Fudge gone mad? The evidence is clear, how dare he..." Bill exclaimed, his eyes wide as he struggled to imagine Fudge doing such a thing.
"He has indeed gone mad." Arthur sighed. "Many people think he's lost his mind. Not long ago, they tried to oust Dumbledore from the Wizengamot, and I also heard that due to Fudge, Dumbledore lost his position as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards."
"I heard they're even planning to revoke his Order of Merlin, First Class," Arthur sighed again. "If there's any news, it should be announced in the next few days."
"Fudge must have taken bribes." Sirius tapped his fingers on the table and turned to Lupin. "We can list all his misdeeds one by one. You know, once the truth is exposed... people will be astonished to find out what their Minister of Magic has been up to."
"Fudge can't possibly be a Death Eater," Lupin interrupted.
"I didn't say he was a Death Eater, I just want to expose his wrongdoings one by one, so that everyone can see for themselves what their Minister of Magic has done," Sirius said softly, his voice cold. "I think people are smart enough to judge for themselves whether Fudge is innocent or not."
This strategy was indeed ruthless.
Perhaps, when taken individually, each incident might not seem significant, but once someone deliberately connected them and exposed them to the public, along with the worsening environment in the Ministry, it would be hard for people not to make associations.
"Did you come up with this yourself?" Lupin felt that Sirius had changed a lot.
"Sort of!"
"If we do this, I think the prediction that Fudge will step down might..." Bill chose his words carefully, "...come true."
"Have we done something wrong?" Sirius suddenly asked. "Should we have let certain beasts off the hook?"
"I thought that once the Death Eater identities of Goyle, Crabbe, Selwyn, and Avery were exposed, they would receive their due punishment. But what happened? Aside from Peter, whom I killed, the others all got away with it," Sirius said.
"Do you think we should have killed them?" Lupin frowned, as this was undoubtedly an unpleasant topic.
"No, I don't think it matters whether we kill them or not. What's important is to ensure they can't become our enemies again. We need to neutralize them." Sirius shook his head and added, "Lock them up or do whatever it takes to make sure they can't threaten us anymore. Otherwise, if Goyle, Crabbe, Selwyn, and Avery kill one of our allies one day, can we say that they died because of our inaction?"
Everyone furrowed their brows, as Sirius was pointing out a highly possible scenario.
However, once they started a killing spree, there was a risk that the situation would spiral out of control.
"Are you going to bring this up at the next Phoenix Society meeting?" Mr. Weasley asked Sirius.
"No, I plan to discuss this with Dumbledore privately, and please don't tell Snape. That guy is unreliable," Sirius advised.
"Come on, Sirius, Snape has provided us with a lot of valuable information," Lupin said, choosing to trust Dumbledore.
"Snot-nose has also given information about us to Voldemort. With a double agent like him, who knows which side he truly belongs to?" Sirius interrupted. "Since we don't know and can't be sure, it's better not to trust him at all."
...
Fudge had been in a good mood for the past few days. They had not only succeeded in removing Dumbledore from the International Confederation of Wizards and the Wizengamot, but they were also about to strip him of his Order of Merlin, First Class. Fudge believed that soon, no one would dare to believe a word Dumbledore said.
The masses were easily led, rarely bothering to think critically. This made it relatively easy to mislead them, and with a constant barrage of biased newspaper articles, unsuspecting wizards would be influenced to believe that Dumbledore was indeed losing his wits.
"Now, we need to figure out how to deal with Harry Potter. We must silence him and ruin his credibility... make people think he's a delusional fool," Fudge said.
He knew that soon, no one would want to believe anything they said, nor would they believe in Voldemort's return, because even he himself didn't want to accept it.
"Dolores, I need you to keep a close eye on Harry Potter. If he uses magic outside of school, inform me immediately," Fudge instructed Umbridge, giving her a subtle hint. After serving as the Minister for Magic for several years, he certainly had his ways.
"I will," Umbridge replied.
"Good. If that boy uses magic outside of school, I'll make sure Dumbledore expels him.
"Minister, what about my assignment to Hogwarts? Has Dumbledore agreed to it?" Umbridge suddenly asked.
"He hasn't agreed yet, but if Dumbledore can't provide a suitable candidate, I'll use Ministry legislation to appoint you as a professor at Hogwarts," Fudge replied without hesitation. "You should prepare yourself to head to Hogwarts at any moment."
"What if he finds someone?" Umbridge asked, feeling that Fudge was not very reliable.
"He won't find anyone suitable!" Fudge asserted.
"Alright," Umbridge said.
Just then, there was a knock on the door of the Minister's office.
"Come in," Fudge said to the door.
"Minister, bad news!" Percy Weasley burst into the office, breathless.
"What is it, Weasley?" Fudge frowned, as he disliked Weasley's rash manner.
"The 'Defensive Guide,' Sirius Black has published the latest issue," Percy placed the magazine in front of Fudge and quickly flipped to a particular page.
"Damn them, how dare they!"
Fudge's expression darkened as he took the magazine, his fists clenched tightly on the table as he stood up. He glared at the magazine, as if he wanted to tear it to shreds.
This issue of the magazine featured articles about the International Wizard Duelling Competition in Spain and contrasted it with the Ministry's stance on the matter.
It was as if they were putting Fudge on the grill.
"Immediately put Sirius Black and Remus Lupin on the wanted list for disturbing social order!" Fudge roared at Percy, with spittle flying onto Percy's face.
"I'm afraid that won't work," Percy said with a bitter face, cautiously reminding him, "Although this magazine looks like the 'Defensive Guide,' it's actually a counterfeit."
Percy pointed to the name of the magazine, which was not the 'Defensive Guide,' but the 'Defensive Bulletin.' "We don't have any evidence to prove that this magazine was printed by Sirius Black's publishing house, and even if we capture Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, they won't admit that it has anything to do with them," Percy explained.
"Do you have any good ideas then?" Fudge glared at Percy, "Tell me, what are your suggestions?"
"We can only try to make this magazine into a joke," Percy suggested.
"Can't we just ban it?" Fudge was displeased with Percy's proposal.
"The more you ban it, the more likely it is to backfire. People will be curious about what messages are in the magazine that the Ministry wants to hide. Why would they want to ban it?" Percy reminded him.
"Enough, I don't want to hear any more of this!" Fudge said irritably, "I give you permission to use whatever means necessary to minimize the impact of this incident."
"I will," Percy said seriously.
"As long as you can demonstrate your ability to get things done, I will consider promoting you accordingly," Fudge casually threw out a carrot.
There was no other choice. The Spanish Ministry of Magic had already labeled the Gaol group as Death Eaters, but Fudge believed they were just kidnapped and declared them innocent.
These things didn't really matter. People tended to be forgetful, and as long as no one brought them up, the issues could be covered up and forgotten.
However, the 'Defensive Bulletin' cruelly ripped open the scars and exposed the bloody wounds to the public.
The four individuals who were believed to be innocent had once been suspected of being Death Eaters. What was even worse was that there were photos included.
The photos were taken right after they were supposedly "rescued."
They didn't look like they had been "rescued" at all.
It was as if the magazine was telling everyone that those four guys were indeed Death Eaters and that Minister Fudge was connected to them.
This was absolutely unacceptable, even though Fudge himself suspected them.
"We will lodge a diplomatic protest with the Spanish Ministry of Magic," Fudge suddenly said.
"What about taking action against Albert Anderson?" Percy asked tentatively.
"Not for now," Fudge frowned, "That guy has just won the championship for the British wizarding world, and... we'll put this matter aside for now."
After the previous incident, Fudge realized that the guy had a group of supporters behind him. By attacking Dumbledore, he had already pushed many wizards to the opposing side. His political enemies were also shamelessly mocking him, and Fudge felt that continuing to provoke another group and pushing the neutrals to his opposition was not a wise choice.
"Alright, I'll go handle it!" Percy nodded slightly towards Umbridge and hurriedly left.
"Minister, I'll take my leave!"
Umbridge watched Fudge's annoyed expression and left with her own thoughts.
She actually felt contempt for those who only knew how to grumble but dared not take any action.
"Someone must take action." Umbridge felt that this was a good opportunity.
Fudge's words had given Umbridge an idea. Potter had violated the 'International Confederation of Wizards Statute of Secrecy' more than once in the past.
If he continued to violate the statute, the Ministry would have a reason to expel him.
It wouldn't be difficult to force Harry Potter to use magic.
Umbridge believed that as long as it was done in a way that saved face and didn't give anyone a handle to grasp, Fudge would definitely not mind why the Dementors were chasing Harry Potter. Instead, he would be glad to have the opportunity to expel him.
(End of Chapter)
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