A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 344 Please place a bouquet of lilies at my grave.

Rita can be described as the Yu Zecheng of the intelligence world and the Varys of the magic world.

But she doesn't need a little bird, because she is a "little bird" herself.

But she didn't get a single word about Blake's prison break, which was such a big deal.

The reason is actually quite simple: the Dementors informed the Ministry of Magic, but the message only reached Fudge and the Director of the Department of Execution before being completely blocked.

So much so that even the officials and Aurors below were unaware. And Azkaban was far away in the North Sea, so no one noticed anything amiss.

William's information came from Clegane. The French Auror had detected the Dementors' activity and had probed William, trying to extract information from him.

William, a master of getting something for nothing, played a game of cryptic conversation with him for a long time, but managed to obtain a lot of information about the Dementors.

William then told Dumbledore, who used his intelligence network to investigate and discovered that Sirius Black had been out of prison for some time.

"That's really valuable intelligence," Rita said excitedly. "It seems my trip to France is coming to an end, and I need to go back to England."

Rita will once again wield her pen like a sword, using her powerful pen to expose the darkness deliberately concealed by the British Ministry of Magic!

What? Lack of details about the prison break? What details do you need? Rely on your imagination, fill in the gaps with your brain, make it up!

In a sense, there isn't much difference between being a journalist and a novelist; both rely on imagination.

So in this short time, Rita even came up with a name for her long report: Rita's Diary!

Rita left in a hurry, while William and Hermione continued to enjoy their coffee.

"William, why is Fudge trying to keep the news under wraps? Is he afraid that news of Black's escape will leak out and cause widespread panic?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"No, you overestimate the British Ministry of Magic," William shook his head. "Fudge is just habitually inactive."

When many unexpected events occur, governments choose to suppress information to avoid causing widespread panic.

But this absolutely does not include Fudge.

"Hermione, if you take a closer look at our minister's performance over the past few years, you'll find that his standard crisis response measures tend to be a four-step process."

Hermione sat next to William, listening attentively, just like a good student.

"In the first stage, we preach that nothing has happened; in the second stage, something may have happened, but we should not take action; in the third stage, we may have to take action, but we can't do anything; in the fourth stage, we should have done something, but it's too late."

We're currently in the first stage, where nothing has 'yet' happened.

Hermione thought about it and realized... William made a lot of sense.

"When Fudge encounters problems, he habitually procrastinates, and then the situation deteriorates completely and becomes uncontrollable."

When things get really out of hand, he'll shift the blame to someone else or find a trending topic to divert public attention.

Hermione nodded thoughtfully, then asked:

"Will the Dementors be able to capture Black?"

"It's difficult, otherwise Black wouldn't have escaped from Azkaban."

"What about the Ministry of Magic?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "Don't they send wizards to hunt them down?"

"Not to mention that Fudge is currently unwilling to let the news leak out, even if Rita exposes the matter, the Ministry of Magic does not have the extra resources to arrest Black."

Why?

"Because the news should be read in a continuous stream," William laughed.

He pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet and pointed to a certain passage, reading aloud:

"To prepare for next year's Quidditch World Cup, the Ministry of Magic's five hundred staff members will be busy for a whole year. They will be casting Muggle-repelling charms on every inch of the premises..."

"The Ministry of Magic staff are all busy with next year's World Cup, they don't have time to capture Black."

Fudge could only get the Dementors to do a charade.

"With a prison break like this, how can the World Cup still be held next year?" Hermione asked in astonishment.

"Fudge certainly won't stop the World Cup and withdraw the staff... after all, they're all glittering Galleons!" William shrugged.

If the World Cup is successfully hosted next year, both ticket sales and the boost to local tourism will generate substantial revenue.

Compared to making money, Blake escaping from prison is nothing!

Let them run away, it's no big deal.

As Crigane said, "The people have the right to be ignorant. If they don't know what you're doing, they won't know what you're doing wrong."

……

……

Hogwarts

Principal's Office.

Dumbledore was standing at the window, holding a pair of scissors, trimming a pot of flowers.

The oak door was kicked open roughly, and Professor Snape stormed in without knocking, his face grim.

"Black escaped?!" Snape asked in a low voice.

"Yes, William told me that Dementors have appeared in France," Dumbledore said softly without turning around.

"I investigated and found that their unusual behavior was because Sirius Black had escaped from prison."

"It's good that Stark, busy saving the world in Paris, still has time to notice something like this!"

Snape repeated in a soft, almost neurotic voice, "Great, his information has been a huge help... Revenge... I want revenge..."

"Severus!" Dumbledore shouted, "The Dementors are already hunting Black..."

"So, I'm pressed for time right now," Snape roared.

"Dumbledore, I can't let the Dementors find Black first, understand?!"

"That would mean he'd be sent back to Azkaban, which would be too easy for him!"

I'm going to torture him myself, take him to Lily's house, and there, slowly...kill him!

"Severus, don't forget our agreement," Dumbledore said.

"Don't go after Black. I'm telling you this because I need you to protect Harry."

Blake will likely go to him... There aren't enough people right now, and Mrs. Figg is the only one near Privet Drive.

I need you to stay there for the entire summer vacation…

"I refuse!" Snape said curtly.

"I'm not in the mood to be Potter's babysitter right now. If he dies at Black's hands, that's his bad luck!"

His father trusted the wrong person; Potter was atoning for his father's arrogance... As for me, I only want revenge for Lily!

"Harry is also Lily's son," Dumbledore reminded him.

"I don't need you to remind me!" Snape roared. "Where did you get those flowers?"

"Anne sent it to me from France..." Dumbledore said after a moment of silence.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? But no matter how beautiful it is, no matter how much it looks like a lily, it's not a lily!"

It's just French iris!

A glint of madness flashed in Snape's eyes, and he shrieked, "Even if Potter's eyes resemble Lily's, they're just a substitute. I don't... care about them at all!"

"Severus, don't let hatred blind you, okay?" Dumbledore pleaded.

"Hatred?" Snape laughed maniacally. "That's why I'm still alive!"

Dumbledore, my heart has been dead for the past twelve years, in my mental stagnation, in my failures, in my shame and complacency!

Now, I finally have a chance for revenge, and you're telling me... 'No,' to stay by Potter's side?

Snape's face contorted in pain as he drew his wand and brandished it almost in a fit of rage.

The table with its long, thin legs was instantly split in two.

The principals cried out in surprise and anger, and they all left the office in fear.

After venting his anger, Snape turned away, his eyes filled with tears.

He said in a hoarse voice:

"Dumbledore, I will kill Black... If I accidentally die, just place a bouquet of lilies on my grave every year."

Snape rushed out of the headmaster's office.

A sigh came from the office.

……

……

(P.S. 1 Thanks to "Deep Sea Turtle" and "Blue White Bowl BWB" for their generous donations.)

In the PS2 film *The Goblet of Fire*, there's a line that reads, "It can hold 100,000 spectators." Mr. Weasley saw the astonished look on Harry's face. "Five hundred staff members at the Ministry of Magic worked on this for a whole year."

Consider this passage from *The Half-Blood Prince*: "Yeah...hey, we thought the anti-curse hat was just a joke. Turns out the Ministry of Magic bought five hundred for all their staff!"

Now you understand why the Ministry of Magic couldn't capture Sirius Black in *Azkaban*, right? Capturing Sirius Black was only possible because of the Dementors; the Ministry of Magic was busy building the Quidditch World Cup stadium. (doge emoji)

(End of this chapter)