Chapter 1070: The Problem Solver
Before Fudge could completely sort out his thoughts, he found that he was in new trouble.
Other newspapers besides the Daily Prophet reported on the incident, even publishing a photo that Fudge had received earlier. Although it's not the same photo, you can tell it's the same style, and you can also see Peeves throwing things on the Aurors in the photo.
Also, the Aurors from the Ministry of Magic actually fainted collectively near the gate of Hogwarts. In short, today's Ministry of Magic has once again become the laughing stock of the entire British magical community. Many wizards are questioning the level of Aurors, and even think that it is because of the poor level of Aurors that they cannot catch the escaped Death Eaters.
Fudge's political opponents took the opportunity to add insult to injury, ridiculing Fudge's incompetence, and even hinted that Fudge's ministerial position was about to end.
Fudge had to convene a high-level meeting of the Ministry of Magic to discuss how to solve the current problem.
"I'm sure that this thing is definitely a good thing done by the people at Hogwarts." Fudge slammed several newspapers on the table and roared angrily, "Some guys with evil intentions are doing this." Trying to discredit the Ministry of Magic and reduce its credibility is a serious violation..." Fudge seemed to have forgotten something mid-sentence and turned to look at Percy.
“Disturbing the peace!” Percy added.
“Yes, disturbing public order.” Fudge waved his fist angrily.
Everyone fell into a brief silence, lowering their heads and no longer looking at Fudge. This so-called "crime of disturbing public peace" was only added to the Ministry of Magic's laws a while ago.
The Ministry of Magic today, under the leadership of Fudge, has become increasingly absurd.
“I can understand your feelings, Minister, but we don’t have much energy to waste on Hogwarts at the moment.” Rufus Scrimgeour, Director of the Auror Office, spoke first.
As soon as he opened his mouth, he attracted the eyes of others. Those eyes seemed to say: What can you understand? You understand nothing.
Scrimgeour ignored the gazes of others and said expressionlessly: "We are seriously short of manpower. According to the information reported by the Aurors, it is not difficult to see that the reputation of the Ministry of Magic in Hogwarts is quite bad, very..."
“That was Dumbledore deliberately sowing discord.” Fudge said excitedly, “He was trying to set up Dumbledore’s Army to overthrow...”
"According to the information provided by the Aurors, Dumbledore's Army never existed from the beginning. The so-called DA refers to the Defense Association." Amelia Bones had to interrupt Fudge, otherwise God knows the topic would be discussed. Where did Fudge take the lead?
"Dumbledore admitted it himself," Fudge growled. "I have clear records here. Weasley was also present at the time."
“Yes, Dumbledore did admit it,” echoed Percy.
“Perhaps, there are other reasons.”
"Those are not important. They also established a ridiculous 'Toad Alliance'." Scrimgeour frowned and interrupted: "I mean, no matter from which aspect, the students at Hogwarts are very Resisting the Ministry of Magic's interference in Hogwarts, we don't know whether Mrs. Umbridge's experience is related to this matter, but...if those students of the so-called 'Toad Alliance' or 'Anti-Toad Alliance' adopt other methods to fight against the Ministry of Magic, There is probably no point in sending more people to Hogwarts. Unless we change all the professors there and use the strictest management methods to control it, we will cause big trouble sooner or later."
"There is also the information revealed by Harry Potter provided by Mrs. Umbridge." Rufus Scrimgeour continued: To be honest, I doubt the authenticity of those words. I didn't mean haha. Leigh Potter was lying, but he didn't know at all that Potter's information came from his godfather Sirius Black, and Black was undoubtedly a cunning wizard, so how many lies were contained in what Potter said? We don't know this.
Rufus Scrimgeour didn't want the Aurors to go deep into the Forbidden Forest to search for the so-called Dumbledore's secret base. God knows whether this was true, and he didn't want his subordinates to go into the Forbidden Forest. adventure.
Even if you really want to search the entire Forbidden Forest, it is not something that just a few Aurors can accomplish. If all the Aurors go, what will happen to the rest?
"I think there should be some secret hidden in the Forbidden Forest. No matter whether Mr. Potter knows it or not, or Sirius Black deliberately guided it, those words have some meaning. At least we can assume that certain conditions are true and speculate. The meaning of Dumbledore's doing this." Piers Thicknesse said. They all accepted the fact that Umbridge used Veritaserum on Harry Potter, so they did not doubt what Potter said.
As for whether Voldemort is alive, Thicknesse remains on the sidelines. Many wizards also have this attitude.
"We don't have enough Aurors. Maybe you don't know that the Auror Office has not had a new Auror for three years." Scrimgeour frowned and reminded.
There are not many Aurors in the Auror Office, and no one has been hired in the past three years. Now there is a serious shortage of manpower. Even if you want to expand the number of Aurors, there is no way, unless you lower the standards, or... In short, these are in Sk Lin Jie doesn't seem to be a good choice.
“I care more about the ‘weapon’ that Potter said.” Amelia Bones tapped her finger on the table, attracting the attention of everyone present.
"That's just a ridiculous fantasy." Fudge glared at Amelia Bones angrily.
"I have to remind you that a lot of things have happened in the Department of Mysteries recently." Amelia Bones ignored Fudge's annoyed expression and said to herself: "At the end of August, Stourge Podmore attempted to Arrested for breaking into the Department of Mysteries, Arthur Weasley was bitten by a venomous snake before the Christmas holidays, and Broderick Bird was hospitalized for some reason, and his death was also suspicious. I originally thought Rodri C. Bird's death was an accident, but now they all have one thing in common: the Department of Mysteries. Was there something about the Department of Mysteries that attracted him or her?"
"That's just speculation on your part, Bones," said Fudge angrily, "and the Department of Mysteries is safe."
"We should now dispatch some wizards to join the emergency team to find out what is going on in Dumbledore's secret base first." Fudge finalized his decision and continued, "As for Hogwarts, leave it alone for the time being until Umbridge recovers. , she will continue to be responsible for Hogwarts affairs."
Everyone felt that Fudge was ridiculous and didn't understand what he was trying to do.
“Weasley, have you found out who is causing trouble at Hogwarts?” Fudge asked, changing the subject.
"We should first find out who attacked John Delis and his group at the school gate. There was only one person on the other side, and he easily knocked down ten elite Aurors..." Scrimgeour felt that Fudge just wanted to shirk responsibility.
“There are not many wizards who have this ability and dare to do this.” Fudge interrupted impatiently: “It’s either Dumbledore or Albert Anderson. With Dumbledore’s character, the possibility is not high, but...”
"Ahem..." Percy Weasley suddenly coughed violently.
"...Albert Anderson is more likely. As a duel champion, it is not impossible to knock down ten well-trained elite Aurors in a sneak attack." Fudge looked at his assistant and found that Percy was heading towards him. Blinking, he couldn't help but frown and asked, "Do you have anything to add, Weasley."
“There is no minister.”
Percy sighed silently in his mind and planned to report to Fudge later.
"Just tell me if you have anything to say." Scrimgeour looked at Fudge's assistant. He felt that this guy had something to say just now. As the person in charge sent by Fudge to investigate the whole matter, he must have discovered some secrets.
"I think you must know the specific situation better than anyone else. Now give me your investigation report." Bones said.
“If you have any clues, it’s best to report them as soon as possible.”
Pierce Thicknesse stood up directly and reached out to Percy for the report in his hand.
Percy hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Fudge.
Fudge didn't seem to understand why Percy was looking at him, but he still said, "Give it to him."
Percy handed the report to Piers Thicknesse.
He took the report, flipped through the contents on the parchment, looked up at Fudge again, and fell into a brief silence.
Piers Thicknesse's reaction seemed to indicate that there was something wrong with the report, and it was related to Fudge, so Percy Weasley didn't speak.
The others took it and turned it over, and they all fell silent. Finally, the report was placed in front of Fudge. After flipping through the report, the Minister of Magic finally understood why everyone had such reactions.
Albert Anderson was in a Transfiguration class at the time, and as the entire class could attest, Fudge's suspicions about Albert were impossible.
Fudge glared at Percy fiercely, very dissatisfied with his assistant's behavior.
However, he could never realize that the reason why the report was not handed over to Fudge at the first time was entirely due to Fudge himself.
"How high do you think it is that Albert Anderson is the mysterious wizard that Delis said? You should know him!" Scrimgeour ignored the gloomy Fudge, who was more interested in Albert Anderson. interest.
Percy glanced at Fudge, and seeing that he had no objection, he cleared his throat and said, "If you rely solely on strength, I think the probability of it being Anderson is not low."
“Is he very powerful?” Piers Thicknesse asked curiously.
“World dueling champion.” Scrimgeour reminded him.
"I think that was the level of his outward appearance." Percy recalled. "Actually, Albert Anderson has been refreshing my understanding of genius. You also know that he has won many world championships, but still No one knows where his limits are."
“Although Mr. Anderson has had some unpleasant things happen to the Ministry of Magic, the probability of causing trouble to the Ministry of Magic is not high.”
"Why?"
“Based on what I know about Anderson, that guy is more likely to simply ignore the Ministry of Magic.”
“Go on,” said Scrimgeour.
“Once the Ministry of Magic takes the initiative to conflict with him, his character will definitely fight back violently, and it will not be as simple as being knocked down by a coma spell.”
The three people who had been disarmed fell silent.
"continue."
“Although Mr. Anderson has a good relationship with Hagrid, he is actually good with most wizards. He even established a wizard card club and invited students from four houses to participate.”
"So, Anderson has a good relationship with the students in the four houses. Even in Slytherin, which has the worst relationship with Gryffindor House, he can still find friends." Percy looked around at the crowd and continued: "So, even if Albert He really dislikes the Ministry of Magic, and at most he will not work in the Ministry of Magic after graduation, especially when he has the entire class of students to testify, the probability of him being the mysterious wizard is very low."
"I remember Potter once mentioned that Anderson can predict the future?" Rufus Scrimgeour was actually more concerned about this matter. "Since he has the ability to help Black find Peter Pettigrew, can we use him to find those who escaped?" Where are the Death Eaters?"
Other people around him began to whisper.
"This... probability is probably not high." Percy felt that these people were just trying to get away with it. With Albert's character, he would probably ignore them.
"Because Mr. Anderson had some unpleasant things happen with the Ministry of Magic?" Scrimgeour frowned and asked, "Tell me, Weasley, I think you should know it!"
“It seems...” Percy glanced at Fudge furtively.
“What is it? Tell it clearly and don’t hesitate?”
"At first, the Ministry of Magic did not give the reward for catching Black and Peter to Mr. Anderson. Later..." Percy glanced at the people present and whispered: "The British teenagers from Wizengamot..."
“What should we do if we want to use Anderson’s prophetic ability to our advantage?” Scrimgeour asked. If Anderson was really that powerful, many problems would be solved.
"It's difficult, unless the Ministry of Magic is willing to pay a large sum of galleons for the divination fee, maybe he might agree to help with the divination."
"possible?"
"Based on what I know about Anderson, it probably depends on his mood." Percy didn't think they could succeed.
“Even if I give him a large sum of galleons, it still depends on his mood?” Everyone frowned.
“Anderson himself was very rich, very rich,” Percy recalled.
“Is there any other way for him to work for the Ministry of Magic? Now is a critical moment for hiring people. I...”
"My advice is not to annoy him completely. That's very irrational. Once a person who rarely loses his temper gets angry, no one knows what will happen, especially since Anderson has a level close to Dumbledore's."
“Do you think he is on Dumbledore’s level?” Amelia Bones asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Maybe not now, but it will definitely be possible in the future. Unlike Dumbledore, Anderson is almost all-rounder. He is among the best in every aspect. Maybe he can do everything except being unable to have children. "
"I suggest getting in touch with him. If Anderson is willing to provide us with information, we can pay him according to the Galleons rewarded for clues on the wanted list." Rufus Scrimgeour raised his head and said to everyone, "Whether it is Catch the escaped Death Eaters, or... no, as long as he can help us catch the escaped Death Eaters, that's enough."
Scrimgeour suspected that it was the guy who reminded him earlier. He planned to take the time to contact the other party, which should at least be mutually beneficial.
(End of this chapter)