Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 431 The Ministry of Magic Emphasizes Privacy

After hearing Mr. Weasley's words, everyone's expressions became just as strange as his.

The Ministry of Magic believes that Legilimency and Truth Potion would involve a wizard's privacy, so it refuses to use them during interrogations.
It's like a Dementor thinking that eating someone else's happiness is impolite, so it refuses to eat.

That's ridiculous. It sounds like a lame joke that was popular among trolls in the last century.

“The Ministry of Magic just doesn’t want to release him,” Bill sneered. “They definitely know they’ve arrested the wrong person. Once Percy accepts Legilimency, it will prove that he did nothing wrong and had no idea that Barty Crouch would betray them.”

“The Ministry of Magic doesn’t want Percy to leave; they need someone to draw people’s anger away. That way, most of the howling letters won’t end up in their offices.”

“That’s not right!” Hermione said with a frown. “I’ve read the Wizarding Law and the Wizengamor Interrogation Procedure and Guidelines. They clearly state that if the person being interrogated requests to use a special spell to prove their innocence, the Ministry of Magic must agree. This is crucial evidence.”

“That’s true,” Bill sighed. “But Fudge believes Percy’s memories may have been altered, and the Aurors must rule that out first.”

“And it’s a very complicated process,” Charlie said. “If the Ministry of Magic intends to delay, it could take several months to complete.”

“What if we had Dumbledore’s help?” Harry asked. “Dumbledore must know a lot of useful magic, right?”

“But Dumbledore can’t stay at the Ministry of Magic forever,” Mr. Weasley said. “Barty betrayed us…”

He paused abruptly. To be honest, even now, he still didn't believe Buddy Crouch would join the Death Eaters. But on the other hand, this matter involved Percy, so he had to believe it.

This has been a source of great anxiety for him.

After a moment of silence, Mr. Weasley continued, "Barty betrayed the Ministry of Magic, three Death Eaters escaped... Dumbledore has too much to do. He was at the Ministry of Magic for only half an hour yesterday before receiving a message and leaving in a hurry."

"What about Percy? Are we just going to keep waiting like this?" Mrs. Weasley was in a state of utter confusion.

“Actually, if we look at it from another angle, we don’t really need to worry too much,” Bill said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.

“He cannot leave the Ministry of Magic while we are determining whether Percy’s memories have been tampered with, which means he cannot be sent to Azkaban. The environment at the Ministry of Magic isn’t great either, but it’s better than Azkaban.”

“That’s right.” Charlie nodded. “And he’s being held by the Aurors, so even if someone sends him a shouting message, he won’t receive it.”

“This is much better than being at home,” Fred said in an exaggerated voice. “Think about it, Mom. Percy is back, and people who don’t know the truth or don’t want to believe it are sending us shouting letters every day.”

“We’ll be driven crazy by this,” George yelled.

“Actually, this is for the best,” Fred said. “At least it will teach Percy a lesson, and perhaps he will realize that the Ministry of Magic is not as wonderful as he thought.”

……

Like Bill and Charlie, they were deliberately downplaying the fact that Percy wouldn't be coming back for the time being, making it easier for Mrs. Weasley to accept the outcome.

By the afternoon, Mrs. Weasley was persuaded and gradually accepted the outcome.

She was actually worried that Percy would be imprisoned in Azkaban; it wouldn't be so bad if he were just in the Ministry of Magic.

Although it wasn't a perfect solution, thankfully Mr. Weasley is alright.

To celebrate, Mrs. Weasley prepared a much more lavish meal in the evening than lunch.

Because there were so many people and the house was too crowded, they moved the table to the garden outside.

As Harry ate his grilled fish, he suddenly felt that this scene was somewhat familiar... Oh right, it was just like this when they were preparing to watch the Quidditch World Cup. Everyone gathered at the Burrow, and because there were too many people, they could only have dinner in the garden outside.

It feels like we've gone back to that time.

……

After dinner, before it got completely dark, Sirius and Harry prepared to leave. Hermione noticed that Ginny was in low spirits, so she decided to stay for a while.

Harry had been thinking that if Mrs. Weasley invited him, he could stay and live with Ron for a while.

Mrs. Weasley did have this idea, but before she could say it, Mr. Weasley interrupted her.

“I might be staying at the Ministry of Magic quite often from now on,” Mr. Weasley said. “I remember there was an old tent at home; where is it?”

“Arthur, that tent only has one very small room.”

"enough."

……

Mrs. Weasley went to find something and didn't return for quite a while, so Harry had no choice but to go back to the Leaky Cauldron with Sheron.

“We’ll come find you later.” Standing at the fireplace door, Fred hugged Celen again.

“Remember?” George said, “we haven’t given you the money from those panoramic telescopes yet.”

During the Quidditch World Cup, Siron spent a lot of money to buy a batch of panoramic telescopes and then brought them to Hogwarts.

Before the third event of the Triwizard Tournament began, he commissioned Fred and George to sell all the telescopes at double the price, making a fortune.

Fred and George originally planned to give the money to Celen after the game, but Percy was suddenly arrested, and a series of events made them forget about it until now.

However, at that time they sold more than just panoramic telescopes. All the money they received was mixed together, and they needed to carefully calculate the exact amount.

“No problem,” Xiren said. “I’ll give you another gift when you arrive.”

“We’re so excited,” Fred said with a smile.

Afterwards, Siron and Harry returned to the Leaky Cauldron using Floo Powder.

No matter the time, the Leaky Cauldron is always packed with people.

Harry, on a whim, went up to Tom and asked if he had any spare rooms, as he wanted to stay there until the start of Hogwarts.

"I'm sorry, someone took the key to the last room five minutes ago." Old Tom grinned, revealing an awkward smile. "You should have come earlier."

Harry walked back looking disappointed.

“What did I tell you?” Siren raised an eyebrow. “Go wait for the Knight Bus?”

“There’s no other way, is there?” Harry sighed, walked out of the Leaky Cauldron, and stretched out his wand in the dark alley outside.

A moment later, two dim yellow headlights appeared eerily at the end of the alley, stopping in front of Harry in the blink of an eye.

"Knight Bus, this is Stan Sampak, the ticket seller..."

“I wish I had already learned Apparition,” Harry said, walking heavily over.

“That won’t help.” Siren stood on the stone steps at the bar entrance. “You’re not an adult yet, you can’t use magic.”

……

(End of this chapter)