Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 205 Fudge's Rhetoric

What happens when a person doesn't get feedback?

A: My hands were shaking.

The Aoruo remained silent, watching helplessly as the tall, thin young wizard opposite the golden magic circle conjured three ships with a wave of his hand, then sailed away on the waves. None of them had the courage to cast even a single spell. Only after the group had disappeared did they realize they were almost completely soaked in cold sweat.

"What should we do, Director Scrimgeour?" one of the Aoros asked as the golden magic circle disappeared, unaware that his voice was trembling.

"What the hell! Damn it! Get back!" Scrimgeour, his anger rising, unleashed a torrent of curses before ordering everyone to leave. Before departing, he glanced at the group of Dementors gathering in the distance, and felt another wave of irritation wash over him.

Such a major event in Azkaban could not be kept secret, and Scrimgeour knew this very well. But he would not take responsibility for it; he had followed procedures flawlessly, only failing to anticipate the enemy's ferocity and power.

Back at the Ministry of Magic, Scrimgeour dismissed the Aurors and went straight to Fudge's office, telling him everything that had happened in Azkaban. Upon hearing this, Fudge was furious. He slammed his fist on the table, muttering something unintelligible, but it certainly wasn't anything pleasant.

"What should we do, Minister?" Percy, who was the Minister's assistant, seemed even more flustered than Fudge. He asked as soon as Scrinker finished speaking.

"What do you mean? You're asking me what to do?" Fudge grabbed a book from the table and threw it at Percy. Percy reacted quickly, dodging it with a tilt of his head. The book hit the wall and collided with a lamp as it fell.

After smashing things, Fudge's anger subsided a little. He slumped into a chair, propped himself up on the table, ran his fingers through his hair, and his mind raced.

“We can’t hide the past, but we choose how to tell the public.” Fudge had made up his mind. He waved to Percy and said, “Percy, contact the reporters and tell them I’m going to hold a press conference… Also, find the photos of those escaped guys and show them to those bloodsuckers…”

"The list of escapees should be ready by now, Scrimgeour?"

"It already is," Scrimgeour nodded in reply.

"Great!" Fudge clapped his hands and pointed at Percy, saying, "Find those people's photos and give them to the reporters after the press conference."

He paused, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "You just said that the leader was a Hogwarts student who defected during the Triwizard Tournament, named Aiton? Amy?"

"Ike, Minister," Percy reminded him from the side.

"Yes, Ike, that's him! Tell the reporters to put his picture in the most prominent place!" Fudge suddenly seemed excited. He stood up, paced around the office, and said as he walked, "A genius wizard who chose to fall into darkness because of Hogwarts' terrible teaching..."

"He was very ambitious...yes, extremely ambitious, so in order to achieve his nefarious and sinister goals, he led dark wizards and evil werewolves to attack Azkaban and rescue the imprisoned Death Eaters..."

"Then... let me think..."

"The valiant Aurors of the Ministry of Magic arrived at the scene immediately and prevented the situation from escalating further?" Fudge suddenly applauded himself. "That's it! Absolutely!"

After saying that, he looked at Scrimgeour, his eyes sharpening: "Is this how it is, Scrimgeour?"

"That's right, just as the minister said." Scrimgeour nodded solemnly with a serious expression.

"That's all right!" Fudge's mood improved, and he called out to Percy, "What are you still doing here? Go and get those reporters, I have a press conference to hold..."

The next morning, when the owl delivered the latest issue of the Daily Prophet to subscribers, the entire wizarding world was in an uproar. It's no exaggeration to say that compared to this event, Sirius Black's escape last year was nothing.

"My God! Is this real?!"

"Did he really do that?"

The long tables of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin were filled with commotion, everyone talking loudly. In contrast, the long table of Ravenclaw was deathly silent. Some freshmen who had only been in school for a few months were still confused and were about to speak when they were stopped by the upperclassmen.

"That person... is taboo now, understand? Let's talk about it back in the common room."

The young wizards nodded blankly, but even they, being so naive, could tell that their seniors looked very unhappy.

Breakfast was destined to be a disappointment; before long, the Ravenclaw table was empty as the hawks simply left. This scene went unnoticed by the other houses, or perhaps they noticed but chose not to pay attention.

Those who are reasonable feel that now is a time when others are suffering, so we shouldn't make things worse; those who want to cause trouble feel that it's a waste to do something so fun now, since there will be plenty of time and opportunities in the future. But overall, the vast majority of people are simply looking at the facts.

For example, Harry and Ron.

Harry, who had already learned Occlumency from Snape, was still in the early stages. Snape could still freely invade his mind and peer into his unpleasant memories. But at the same time, he could still occasionally see through the snake's perspective, just like last night when he saw Voldemort laughing heartily and patting Ike on the shoulder.

Harry didn't know why this was happening at first, but after reading the newspaper, he did. And clearly, what the newspaper said was not true.

Harry had no intention of revealing the truth; he knew very well that no one would believe him. Before the Ike incident, the newspapers had mostly written about him and Dumbledore, portraying him as a habitual liar seeking attention, and Dumbledore as simply a senile old man.

"The Ministry of Magic is clearly going to great lengths to hide the truth. What new Dark Lord? Voldemort is still alive!" Ron muttered.

"Nobody believes what we say. They all think I'm a liar," Harry replied, glancing casually at Hermione sitting opposite him, and then froze.

He nudged Ron, who was still muttering, and gestured towards Hermione with his lips. The two stopped, both feeling a little strange. From the beginning of summer vacation until now, they had tried their best to avoid mentioning Ike's name in front of Hermione. On the few occasions they had accidentally mentioned it, Hermione was clearly struggling to control her emotions.

But now, even they, who were usually slow to notice, could see that Hermione's reaction was very abnormal.

She was so calm!

His eyes were vacant, as if his soul had vanished. That feeling inexplicably felt familiar to Harry, and it took him a long time to realize what it was.

Hermione's current state is almost exactly the same as Snape's!

(End of this chapter)