Harry Potter: I started checking in from Diagon Alley

This made it impossible for him not to be nervous.

How could a little kid know where Blake was hiding?

If Eric hadn't been standing there motionless, he would have almost called the two Aurors at the door to come in and subdue Eric immediately.

The two Aurors, having heard Fudge's reply, exchanged glances and dared not utter another sound, continuing to stand guard at the door.

Fortunately, there were no other guests at the Leaky Cauldron bar besides Eric at that time.

Otherwise, that commotion just now would inevitably have made headlines again.

"What do you mean? Explain yourself."

Inside the room, Fudge stared at Eric with a suspicious look and asked.

Eric laughed and said, "Wasn't I clear enough, Mr. Minister?"

“I said, I know where Blake is.”

Upon hearing this, Fudge trembled again and almost immediately retorted, "That's impossible!"

"After Black disappeared, so many Aurors, and even the Ministry of Magic's trackers, couldn't find him..."

Fudge could not possibly believe Eric immediately.

“Indeed.” Eric acknowledged Fudge’s statement. “So many Aurors, skilled trackers, Dementors… none of them could find Black’s whereabouts.”

"Then how do I know?"

"There is only one reason, Mr. Minister: you have not thought about it, or rather, you are incapable of thinking about it."

Eric finished speaking with a smile, then slowly sat down and reached out to take out his wand.

When Fudge saw Eric take out his wand, he was startled and almost reflexively prepared to take out his own wand, but then he realized that Eric's target was not him.

Eric tapped his wand lightly and whispered a spell. The table that Fudge had knocked over floated up and then slowly returned to its original position, without any misalignment.

"For your age, that's a very impressive levitation spell." Even Fudge couldn't help but murmur his admiration upon seeing this.

Eric's Levitation Spell, in terms of both casting speed and other aspects, was performed very well.

Of course, Eric himself was very satisfied.

He was already quite satisfied with the effect of the levitation spell at the beginner level; it hadn't been a waste of his hard work over the past few days.

Eric, who had just shown off his magic to Fudge, did not continue using it. Instead, he extended his hand and politely invited Fudge to sit down again.

“Minister, we don’t need to test each other like that.” Eric said softly, looking at the complicated expression on Fudge’s face. “Because you don’t understand me, but I understand you very well.”

“I know what you want, so I’m ready to make a deal with you.”

“You heard me right, I do know where Sirius Black is.”

"And I'm willing to tell you this information."

Chapter 24 Fudge's Achilles' Heel

Fudge swallowed hard. Even if he was stupid, he now understood that Eric had come prepared tonight and was specifically targeting him, Fudge.

Fudge couldn't possibly be a fool to have risen to the position of Minister of Magic.

If possible, Fudge would never want to engage with Eric, but the chip Eric offered was so important that Fudge would take the gamble even if there was only a slight chance.

There's only one reason why Fudge is so enthusiastic: Sirius Black is truly exceptional.

In terms of status, Sirius Black was a key figure in the Order of the Phoenix during the war, and after his defection, he was almost universally recognized as one of Voldemort's right-hand men.

At that time, the other dark wizards in Voldemort's camp were either dead or had fled. Those who were more senior than Black were not as good as him, and those who were better than Black were all dead.

In other words, Black is practically the second most important Death Eater in the public eye today.

The only person of equal status to him is Snape, who is now the Potions Professor at Hogwarts.

But Snape was someone Dumbledore personally protected, a spy who endured humiliation to infiltrate the Death Eaters, and he's not the same as a traitor like Black.

On the other hand, Blake is also powerful enough that a single spell can destroy an entire street.

This wasn't some minor incident like Eric's; it was a literal, real destruction of a street using magic, along with the killing of a dozen or so people.

Such a vicious Death Eater, the kind that poses a huge threat to society, would bring immense fame to whoever captures him.

For officials in the Ministry of Magic, this was also a golden opportunity to reshuffle the power structure.

In reality, Fudge did not have much control over the Ministry of Magic.

His appointment as minister was partly due to the election, but more importantly, it was due to Dumbledore's support.

Of the several ministerial candidates that year, only he was wholeheartedly devoted to Dumbledore, demonstrating an exceptionally high level of sycophancy.

Not to mention, his smooth political career was inextricably linked to Dumbledore from the very beginning.

This is why Fudge doesn't have many people he can trust in the Ministry of Magic, and most of the people he can use are related to Dumbledore.

Within the ministry, the heads of various departments often clashed with him, especially Scrinker, the head of the Auror's office, who was widely regarded as the next minister after Fudge's departure.

If Fudge wants to run for re-election, then Scrinker will be his direct competitor.

The reason Fudge later chose Umbridge as his confidant and sent him to Hogwarts as a professor was less because Umbridge was trying to please him, and more because Fudge simply had no one else to rely on.

Does Fudge not know what kind of person Umbridge is? He can only choose the best among the worst.

He could trust even less than Umbridge among other people.

Capturing Black would be a huge boost for Fudge, greatly improving his current situation where few people listen to him at the Ministry of Magic.

At the same time, Fudge also realized that Eric wouldn't be so eager to curry favor for no reason. The fact that Eric was giving him such a huge credit for no reason could only mean that Eric wanted more.

But what if?

What if Eric really is the lucky guy who fell from the sky?

And judging from Eric's nonchalant expression, he was actually serious.

Fudge tried to hide his disgust for Eric's attitude, sat down again, looked at Eric, and asked, "How can you prove that what you're saying is true?"

Eric chuckled and said, "Minister, please don't treat me like a child."

“By proving the source of my information to you, I am essentially revealing everything I know. There is so much magic that can do that, and you can easily find Blake by following the clues I have given you.”

"This kind of thing cannot be revealed in advance, not even a little bit. You only have the choice to accept my conditions or refuse."

"Of course, I'm willing to give you time to consider, or rather, this waiting process is the proof I can provide."

"What do you mean?" Fudge didn't understand. He stared intently at Eric's face, trying to find out which organization he belonged to or the traces of Polyjuice Potion disguise, but he failed every time.

Eric said calmly, "You won't be able to catch Blake before Halloween."

Fudge's eyes widened, and he said, "Do you know what you're saying?"

Halloween? You're dreaming.

"You mean if I want to get news about Blake from you, I have to wait patiently for months?"

“Yes,” Eric said with a smile.

"Ha!" Fudge laughed in exasperation. "You're absolutely insane."

“I’m telling you, Blake may have managed to escape from Azkaban, but he could never survive outside.”

“Starting tomorrow, everyone will see news of Black’s escape in the newspapers. No one will be able to help him, and he has no wand.”

"The treatment he received was unprecedented. We will send out all the Aurors, issue a warrant, and even inform the Muggles of Black's appearance."

“We might even send out Dementors, who hate Blake to the core and would love to give him a thousand kisses.”

"Forget Halloween, I'm afraid Blake will be back in Azkaban in two weeks."

Eric simply smiled at Fudge's words, without intending to refute them.

Hearing Eric's astonishing conclusion, Fudge regained his composure. He looked at Eric with great interest and continued, "I'm curious, where does your confidence come from?"

“I must admit that you are different from other young wizards, but you’ve got one thing wrong. You think you know me very well, right? Well, you’re very wrong.”

"You think you can scare me by mentioning Blake's name? Then tell me, what will I get in return for accepting this so-called deal with you, besides Blake?"

Why should I waste my time here?

In the end, perhaps to vent his pent-up emotions, Fudge became increasingly agitated.

However, he then saw Eric open his mouth and silently utter a word, and he immediately felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, and a chill ran through his entire body.

Although he didn't make a sound, Fudge understood perfectly what Eric was trying to say.

Eric's lips moved, forming the word "Dumbledore".

Fudge froze instantly, remaining motionless in his seat.

Chapter 25 Grindelwald's Mark

"……What's the meaning?"

After a long silence, Fudge asked again.

Eric's voice seemed to have a magical quality; he spoke lightly, but to Fudge, it was like thunder.

"Black's matter is related to Dumbledore."

"If you are willing to accept my conditions, then you may become the real Minister of Magic..."

No one understood the emotions hidden deep within his heart better than Fudge himself.

It was a very complex feeling, a combination of respect, fear, humiliation, and helplessness, which ultimately evolved into Fudge's deep fear of Dumbledore.

At this moment, Eric directly exposed Fudge's mentality, leaving him no room for decency.

Fudge couldn’t possibly believe Eric’s words until Eric mentioned Dumbledore’s name.

Let alone Fudge, the Minister of Magic, even anyone else would not be easily persuaded by Eric.

This is also a matter of course.

Who would believe a complete stranger's child?

Although Eric claimed to have leads on Blake, those leads hadn't been presented to Fudge yet, had they?