The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 350 Minister's Office

London is lit up with bright lights everywhere at night, and the streets are bustling with cars and people.

Near the bustling city center, there is a dreary, deserted side street with only a few shabby-looking offices, a pub and a dump truck that is almost overflowing.

There were only two pedestrians on the desolate street, one was an old man with a white beard, and the other was a blonde girl. The girl was holding a metal cage in her hand, and there was a lifeless mouse in the cage.

The old man and the young were Dumbledore and Ada who had just left Twilight Cottage. They came here because of an old case from twelve years ago.

Ada looked around. Compared with the French Ministry of Magic built in Furstenberg Square, the entrance of the British Ministry of Magic was too inconspicuous, just as inconspicuous as the Leaky Cauldron.

"We're here," Dumbledore said, pointing to a shabby red telephone booth. "This is the entrance to the Ministry of Magic."

The red phone booth was really shabby, with several glass panels missing and a wall covered in graffiti. The entrance was awful and completely outshined.

"Professor, why don't we just go in?" Ada said, "This telephone booth really lowers the impression of the Ministry of Magic."

"Don't you think that there should be different attempts in life?" Dumbledore asked in return, "The guest entrance of the Ministry of Magic is a different attempt." As he said that, Dumbledore walked in first and waved to Ada.

With no other options, Ada had to squeeze in. Fortunately, both of them were very thin, so they didn't feel particularly crowded.

Of course, the essential equipment in the telephone booth is the telephone equipment. The phone was hanging crookedly from the wall, as if a vandal had tried to tear it off with force.

Dumbledore picked up the phone and dialed the number 62442. If it was the nine-key input method on later mobile phones, this string of numbers would type out the word magic.

As the dial whirred back to its original position, a woman's cold voice rang out in the phone booth. The voice did not come from the microphone, but it was loud and clear, as if an invisible woman was standing next to them.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and your business."

"Albus Dumbledore, Esmeralda Drizzt, to meet with Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic," said Dumbledore.

"Thank you," the woman said in a cold voice, "Guest, please pick up the badge and pin it in front of your clothes."

Dinglingling, clattering, two square silver badges slid out of the metal chute for returning coins. Dumbledore picked up the badges and handed Ada's badge to her.

"Guests of the Ministry of Magic, you are required to be checked and register your wand at the security desk. The security desk is located at the end of the main hall."

The floor of the telephone booth suddenly trembled, and they slowly sank into the ground, with only a monotonous, harsh friction sound in their ears. After a while, a thin golden light appeared, and then the golden light gradually widened.

"The Ministry hopes you have a good day," said the woman's voice. The door of the phone booth flew open and Ada stepped out first.

It was night, so there weren't many people in the magnificent hall, which seemed a bit deserted. Unlike the starry sky ceiling of the French Ministry of Magic, the ceiling of the British Ministry of Magic was peacock blue, inlaid with glittering golden symbols.

Walking on the shiny dark wooden floor, Ada, under the guidance of Dumbledore, passed the fountain and the ironic gold statue in the entrance hall and went straight to the elevator.

Dumbledore entered the Ministry of Magic in an ordinary way. That was just his experience of life. It didn't mean that he really had to undergo a wand test. Didn't you see that the headmaster was too lazy to even bring his badge?

In front of the elevator, some wizards who were working overtime or on duty recognized Dumbledore and greeted the headmaster, and Dumbledore responded one by one.

After saying hello, Dumbledore took Ada into one of the elevators, and no one else followed.

The gate slammed shut, the elevator slowly rose, the chain clattered, and the cold female voice in the phone booth appeared again.

It was not until the first floor that Dumbledore took Ada out of the elevator. This was where the minister's office and logistics department were located. The floor was covered with thick carpets and the walls were covered with cold, black tiles, which looked solemn and dignified.

On each wooden door on this floor was a small plaque with the name and position. Ada also saw a familiar name: Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic

Dumbledore and Ada stopped in front of the largest door. They had arrived at the Minister's office. Without knocking or speaking, the door opened automatically, and Fudge's voice could be heard from inside.

"Ah, Albus, you said you were coming over, did you bring any good news?" Fudge said loudly, "Let me guess, is there any news about Black, or has he been caught?"

In the spacious and luxurious office, there was another person besides Fudge. Umbridge, still dressed in an unappetizing girlish pink, with a stack of parchment in her arms.

"Almost, Cornelius, I brought a very good gift." Dumbledore said. Fudge stood behind a large desk, and he asked Dumbledore and Ada to sit down quickly. The minister looked very enthusiastic, and he didn't seem to be unhappy about the previous Hogsmeade incident, as if he had never had any estrangement with Dumbledore.

Umbridge trotted along to prepare drinks for the two visitors, and then the pink toad stood very servilely behind Fudge, and when Fudge looked at her, she showed a disgusting and flattering smile.

"That's great. I'm sure your gift will be very encouraging." Fudge said, "You know, people are very worried because of Blake. I was just discussing this with Dolores."

How to discuss? What to discuss? Send more Dementors? It would be better to wait for Sirius to surrender to the Ministry of Magic than to wait for the Dementors to catch him. Ada complained silently in her heart and leaned back, the farther away from Umbridge the better.

Ada, who never judged people by their appearance, learned how to judge people by their appearance after meeting Umbridge.

"That's what I came here for, Cornelius," said Dumbledore. "We have caught the man who betrayed the Potters and the man who blew up half a street."

"Where is he? Where is Black?" Fudge asked excitedly. The Black incident caused the minister's public image to plummet rapidly. The wizarding world was very dissatisfied with the performance of the Ministry of Magic, and some people even shouted slogans for Fudge to step down.

Unlike Fudge, who was under great pressure and very excited, Dumbledore said slowly: "No, Cornelius, the criminal is not Sirius Black, the real criminal is someone else..."

"Are you saying that Black was wrongly accused?" Fudge interrupted Dumbledore rudely with a wave of his hand. "Impossible! How is this possible! Black is the Potters' secret keeper. Only he has the opportunity to betray the Potters! Albus, you are joking, right?"

Fudge became even more excited, as if Dumbledore was talking about something unbelievable. Umbridge behind Fudge looked very disdainful, and was very disdainful of what Dumbledore said, but in order to cooperate with the Minister, she still giggled.

Ada was afraid that if Umbridge continued laughing like this, more eggs would appear behind her.

"This is not a joke. April Fool's Day is still a few days away." Dumbledore said, "Sirius Black is indeed innocent. The one who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort was Peter, Peter Pettigrew."

Fudge laughed even louder, as if he had heard the funniest joke of his life.

After laughing for a long time, Fudge said, "Albus, we all know that Peter is dead. The poor kid only has one finger left. In recognition of his bravery, he was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class!"

"I know it sounds incredible, but it's true. I met Peter today," said Dumbledore.

Then the headmaster told the story of the Potters' secret keeper, how Peter framed Sirius, and how Peter was caught today.

After hearing all this, Fudge acted even more stupid than Ron. He didn't believe what Dumbledore said at all, or he didn't want to believe it in his heart.

Believing Dumbledore's words and believing that Sirius Black was innocent proved that the Ministry of Magic was wrong. The Ministry of Magic did not want to take the blame for imprisoning an innocent person in the horrible Azkaban for twelve years.

"This is impossible, absolutely impossible." Fudge said slowly, "Since Black was innocent, why didn't he say that he was innocent when he was arrested? Why has he never cried out for justice in the past twelve years? This can't be true!"

Fudge's performance was also within Dumbledore's expectations. Since he was going to see Fudge, Dumbledore was naturally fully prepared. The headmaster looked at Ada and signaled that it was Ada's turn to perform, so that an old man like me could take a short break.

Bringing me along just to do this, Ada certainly understood what Dumbledore meant, so she simply placed the cage in her hand on the large desk.

Looking at the metal cage on the desk and the dull mouse in the cage, Fudge and Umbridge frowned. When Ada took out her wand, Umbridge stood in front of Fudge in an exaggerated manner and pulled out her short wand.

Bah! You are just a flatterer, a lackey of Fudge.

Ada was very disdainful of Umbridge's performance. She curled her lips and ignored the pink toad who was acting as if it were facing a great enemy. She knocked on the cage with her wand and the metal cage disappeared immediately.

Ada tapped the mouse on the table with her wand again, a blue light lit up at the tip of the yew wand, and Peter Pettigrew "miraculously" appeared on the desk in the Minister of Magic's office.

The appearance of the middle-aged man with a Mediterranean look made Minister Fudge fall into his chair. Fudge muttered absentmindedly: "Impossible, how could this be possible, how could this be possible..."

Peter did not frame his good brother Sirius again. He just lay on the desk in a daze, not saying a word.

"Cornelly, now that you've seen it, you should believe that Sirius is innocent, right?" Dumbledore said, "We have many ways to verify it, such as Legilimency, Veritaserum, etc."

And Ada really cooperated with Dumbledore. She took out another small bottle from her pocket. The colorless liquid in the bottle was the truth serum. Only two or three drops were needed to make a person tell everything he knew.

(End of this chapter)