Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 276 Public Opinion
After the deal with Fudge was completed, Mike was released from the cell by Fudge.

At Fudge's enthusiastic invitation, he did not go home directly, but visited some places in the Ministry of Magic that ordinary people could not see with Fudge.

For example, the death chamber.

It was a rather strange place. There were only a few chairs and a tattered curtain hanging on a wooden rack in the entire spacious room.

According to Fudge, this is the veil of the other side. Any living being that passes through this veil will die and their soul will reach the other side.

This is the exclusive treasure of the British Ministry of Magic. Although the Ministries of Magic in other countries also have similar things used to execute criminals, none of them can compare to the Veil of the Other Side in terms of preciousness.

Just like the execution stand of the U.S. Ministry of Magic is a bottomless pool of mercury-like liquid. Anything submerged in this pool of water will be melted instantly.

Doesn’t this thing sound much better than the Veil of the Other Side?
But in fact, in terms of quality, the Other Shore Veil Medicine is far superior to it.

After all, what the pool of water destroys is the body, while what the veil on the other side destroys is the pure soul.

Mike knew why Fudge took him to visit this place. He just wanted to warn him and let him know what the consequences would be if he went against the Ministry of Magic.

This trick of Fudge might work on ordinary people, but for a monster like Mike whose mental age is much older than his physical age, it is really no big deal.

Just death.

I have seen a lot.

Not only that, Mike even wanted to laugh.

Others who want to regain control of others always use the strategy of giving a slap in the face and then giving a sweet date, but in Fudge's hands, it's the opposite.

Perhaps because he saw that Mike was not as frightened as he expected, Fudge left after taking Mike to visit the execution chamber, leaving only the gentleman with a mustache to take Mike to the guest room of the Ministry of Magic.

The gentleman with the mustache didn't dare to look down on Mike now. He was really scared by what Mike said in the cell just now. Although Mike said later that he was joking, based on the gentleman with the mustache's many years of experience in interrogating prisoners, Mike's expression at that time did not mean he was joking at all.

He really wants his own life!

Thinking of this, the gentleman with a mustache quickened his pace. After bringing Mike to the guest room, he left quickly.

The next morning, Mike was awakened by two witches in Ministry of Magic uniforms. These two witches were not very old and were probably interns who had just graduated from Hogwarts. Mike even felt that one of them looked familiar, as if he had seen her in Hogwarts.

Seeing Mike wake up, the two witches came up to him with red faces and without saying a word, holding wet towels and other toiletries and a brand new wizard robe in their hands.

The meaning couldn't be more obvious.

Mike didn't know what Fudge was up to, but he still enjoyed the wake-up treatment of a noble lord with an expressionless face, and was then taken to a corridor next to the hall of the Ministry of Magic.

Here, Fudge and some other officials were already waiting.

"You should have memorized the manuscript given to you, right?"

"What manuscript?"

Mike looked at Fudge with a puzzled look.

Seeing this, Fudge slapped his forehead, suppressed his anger, and whispered in Mike's ear:

"We have signed a contract! The reporters are waiting outside now. If you mess it up, you know the consequences."

"You've never given me any manuscripts." Mike raised his eyebrows and said, "Also, please remember! I'm not one of those idiots under your command. We are partners, Mr. Minister!"

Fudge was furious when he heard this. Just as he was about to say something, a young official opened the door and said breathlessly:

"Minister, the time is up."

Fudge's face froze and he snorted coldly, quickly suppressing the anger on his face, replacing it with his usual kind smile, and together with Mike, he pushed open the golden door in the room.

This is the lobby of the Ministry of Magic. Mike had been here once with Abbott during his last holiday.

Just like last time, there were people coming and going, a busy scene.

But the only difference is that the people here now are not employees of the Ministry of Magic, but reporters from various newspapers.

Mike discovered that there was no difference between the wizard reporters who could perform magic and those Muggle reporters when faced with big news. When he and Fudge and others appeared in the hall, the group of reporters who were originally chattering suddenly pounced on them like piranhas smelling blood.

"Minister, may I ask what you think of the riot that occurred at the Quidditch World Cup?"

"Mr. Minister, many of the victims are planning to sue the Ministry of Magic. What do you think about this?"

"Mr. Townley, were you tortured while in the custody of the Ministry of Magic? Did the Ministry of Magic want to force a confession out of you?"

……

Wands with recording spells cast on them were held out in front of Fudge and Mike, and more people were holding up magic cameras to take pictures.

Mike, who was seeing this kind of scene for the first time, swallowed his saliva and was about to answer the question when he was interrupted by Fudge.

"Everyone, please maintain order and trust the Ministry of Magic. I will give everyone a satisfactory answer."

As soon as these words were spoken, the originally noisy hall immediately became quiet, and the reporters who were indignant at the beginning also shut up.

This was not surprising, as what appeared before Mike was clearly a press conference to resolve the subsequent public opinion storm.

At this level of press conference, those reporters who are truly dissatisfied with the Ministry of Magic will not be allowed in.

In other words, all the reporters present today, no matter what attitude they expressed, were actually invited by the Ministry of Magic to help whitewash the Ministry of Magic.

"First of all, I am extremely indignant about the terrorist attack at the Quidditch World Cup. Although there is no news about the thugs yet, I swear, we will definitely... (10,000 words omitted here)."

An hour later, Mike, who was almost bald from waiting, finally got the chance to speak.

The reporters who had been somewhat drowsy after being tortured by Fudge's long speech also perked up.

You know, although they were hired by the Ministry of Magic to clean up the mess, they also yearned for big news.

Compared to the cunning Fudge, Mike, the underage wizard, is obviously more likely to speak without restraint and reveal some shocking news.

So, under the gaze of expectant eyes, Mike raised the wand and put it to his throat.

"Uh, I'm fine."

After saying that, Mike dissipated the loud voice spell and stood beside Fudge with an expressionless face.

Reporters:…

Fudge:…

officers:……

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

At this time, Fudge was the first to react and began to applaud.

"Clap clap clap!"

The crisp applause was like a start button, instantly making everyone present react and start applauding.

There were even some shameless people in the crowd cheering.

Cold sweat ran down Mike's face.

He was also desperate. What could he do without memorizing the script?

On the other side, Fudge was smiling happily.

He knew very well that talking too much would lead to mistakes, so when he found out that Mike did not memorize the script, he felt desperate, because Mike's speech might be used as a handle to attack the Ministry of Magic.

Now it seems that even though the scene was a bit awkward, this kid Mike is still very understanding!

Since you are afraid of saying the wrong thing, just try to speak less! Thinking of this, Fudge's smile became even brighter.

……

Two hours later, Mike was lying on the sofa in his villa in Godric's Hollow in Ge You's posture.

The press conference just now really exhausted him.

Although he only said four words from beginning to end.

But it's very tiring.

Tired.

Especially having to deal with this large group of people in front of him.

Mike raised his head with difficulty and glanced at the people in front of him.

Harry Ron, the Weasley brothers, all the Freemasons, Professor Flitwick...

Alas, my heart is even more tired.

"Mike! I'm so glad you're okay!" This is Harry.

"I've told you before, Mike will be fine. You're just worrying for no reason." These are George and Fred.

"Now you're a hero." Of course, the one who was sour was Ron.

Mike waved his hand as a reply.

At this time, Penelope came to Mike with a large stack of newspapers and sat down.

"Look, the entire wizarding world is going crazy because of this incident."

Hearing this, Mike forced himself to cheer up, took the newspaper and started flipping through it.

《Shock! A terrorist attack occurred at the Quidditch World Cup, and a 14-year-old boy stepped forward and defeated the thugs! 》

"It's embarrassing abroad! The views of the Ministers of Magic of France, the United States and other countries on this terrorist attack, their words are sarcastic!"

"If I can't cure the terrorists, I can't cure you either? The young hero who saved tens of thousands of people was detained by the Ministry of Magic!"

"It's a commonplace, should the dark arts be banned? Should the spells control the wizards, or should the wizards control the spells?"

……

Mike threw the thick stack of newspapers on the coffee table with an indifferent expression.

The reports above are not very informative.

He could even guess the content just by looking at the title.

He was just pretending to be deeply indignant and criticizing the Ministry of Magic as if he had a deep hatred for the Ministry.

But if you want to say that these reporters who write the articles really hate the Ministry of Magic, that's not the case.

All they want is newspaper sales.

In other words, they write what readers like to read.

It can also be seen from this that the prestige of the Ministry of Magic is almost gone after this incident.

After all, this incident happened at the Quidditch World Cup, an international event.

This is equivalent to the Muggle world's Olympics, where a bearded guy hijacked a plane and crashed into the venue.

This will not only make other countries laugh at the country, but will also make the country's citizens lose their sense of security.

Many people had already fled the country during Voldemort's time. Over the past decade or so, the Ministry of Magic has been trying to change people's inherent impression of the country, in order to make the country feel safe and to bring back those who had fled to other countries.

They have done a great job over the past decade.

But now, it's all ruined.

Just because a bunch of idle nobles got drunk.

"The British magic world is rotten to the core."

Mike pulled up a nice smile, stretched and continued to lie on the sofa.

None of this has anything to do with him.

"Mike, don't blame Hermione. She's doing this for your own good." Harry came closer and said with some embarrassment, "Hermione has explained to us about the Dark Arts. We all hope that you will not use the Dark Arts again in the future."

Mike suddenly raised his head and looked straight at Harry.

Harry seemed to be frightened. He shrank his neck and stopped talking, but his eyes kept drifting towards Penelope.

"Hey, Mike. It's better not to use black magic in the future. After all, it's not a good thing. The reason why black magic is banned is that it can change the user's mind and make people gradually go crazy."

Penelope said gently upon seeing this.

Harry nodded frantically like a chicken pecking at rice.

The three Weasley brothers nearby also looked at him with concern.

Mike's eyes darted back and forth between the three of them.

He could give many reasons to refute their theory.

For example, if one's mental strength is very strong and one has a high level of attainment in Occlumency, using some black magic will not cause any serious consequences as long as the frequency of use is not too high.

But after thinking for a while, he gave up the idea of ​​arguing with them.

He said with a smile:

"Okay."

Hearing this, the originally serious atmosphere in the villa eased.

Everyone was laughing, except Professor Flitwick, whose eyebrows were still furrowed.

He felt that he was beginning to not be able to see through Mike. This student whom he valued the most, the student whom he had raised as if he were his own son, now seemed to have undergone some bad changes.

You know, that is the most difficult fire spell to control!
Moreover, the Fiery Curse has always been recorded together with other dark magic such as the three unforgivable curses.

If Michael can use the Fiery Fire Curse so well, then black magic like the Killing Curse would be a piece of cake for him, right?
Thinking of this, Flitwick had the urge to strangle Black to death.

Why did this guy give Mike some books instead of just books? He actually gave him black magic!? Isn't this clearly a way to lead his good student astray?

No! I will never allow Mike to become a dark wizard!

Professor Flitwick sighed deeply, raised his head and looked at Mike seriously, and said:
"Mike, even though you used black magic this time to save innocent people, you still violated the ban on using magic outside of school. Therefore, you will be put in detention after school starts."

"Is there...is there such a school rule?" Mike was a little at a loss.

"some!"

Flitwick looked serious.

He felt that the reason why Mike went astray was because he had paid too little attention to him during this period.

So now, he decided that he must spend more time with Mike!

Go and teach Mike personally the principles of life!
(End of this chapter)