A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 368 The Foreign Policy of the Great Ying Empire!

Back in Gringotts Hall, William saw an unexpected person—Secretary Fudge.

He was sitting on the sofa in the hall, chatting with Hermione and Anne.

William frowned. What was he doing here?

It couldn't possibly be a coincidence; William deliberately chose to come to Gringotts during mealtime to avoid large crowds.

Moreover, there were several Aurors following at the entrance; the minister had clearly come specifically to intercept them.

Has the kidnapping of the Dementors been exposed?

Hermione caught a glimpse of William from afar and gave him a reassuring look; the girl had probably just managed to get some information out of him.

As William approached, Fudge stood up and, in a concerned tone like an elder, scolded, "William, you didn't even tell me you were going back to England?"

"It's nothing serious, Minister," William said with a smile.

"Of course it's a big deal. You guys did something amazing in France... I just chatted with Hermione about it, and wow... it was really interesting." Fudge smiled broadly.

"Let's go, let's find a more comfortable place. Gringotts isn't a good place to talk," Fudge whispered, blinking. "Those damn misers won't like us!"

The group walked through Diagon Alley and arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

The bar owner, Tom, appeared immediately. He hunched over, raised his wrinkled, toothless face, and gave a fawning smile.

William now realized that it was a medical miracle that Tom had survived until now! Having the same name as the Dark Lord—wasn't that just asking for death?

Could it be that old Tom is also a great wizard of Dumbledore's caliber, just keeping a low profile and hiding his abilities?

The wizards around them buzzed with excitement when they saw William and Hermione. Some even rushed up to shake hands.

The Aurors immediately stopped the group of clueless wizards, striking a pose like bodyguards. They would have looked even more like them if they had worn suits and sunglasses.

As everyone knows, the Aurors' duty is not to arrest criminals, but to act as their bodyguards!

"I need a private room, Tom. The kind where no one will bother us," Fudge said bluntly.

"Yes, Minister!" Tom said. "What would you like to drink? Beer? Brandy?"

"I'd like some small potion tea," Fudge said. "It's brewed by eight Potions Masters; I've recently become obsessed with it."

Tom led the group along the narrow passage, then they entered a small private room. Tom snapped his fingers, and a fire was lit in the fireplace; he bowed and left.

Several Aurors stood guard at the entrance.

"Sit down, you three little ones," Fudge said, pointing to three chairs by the fireplace.

Fudge took off his pinstripe robe, tossed it aside, and then sat down opposite the three men.

The bar owner, Tom, reappeared, carrying a tray with a small, exquisite can of tea and grilled gluten.

He placed the tray on the table, left the private room, and closed the door behind him.

"Come on, have a taste. Have you had dinner yet?" Fudge said, pouring out the tea.

The three nodded, but none of them touched the charred gluten.

"I've been so busy I haven't even eaten yet. I'm not afraid you'll know, but the Ministry of Magic is in complete chaos lately."

Fudge sighed, spread butter on his grilled gluten, added ketchup, and then topped it with a hamburger. It looked a bit like Old Eight's secret-recipe mini hamburger.

William felt nauseous at the sight and regretted eating so much for dinner.

"Black's escape from prison, the construction of the Quidditch World Cup venue, the disappearance of the Dementors... Oh, it's a disaster!"

"This year is definitely the most difficult year in history." Fudge took a bite of his hamburger.

"Fortunately, that crazy woman Arya didn't attack London; she chose Paris instead," the minister said gleefully.

William listened and waited for Fudge to get to the point.

"Tell me about Paris, William?" Fudge didn't beat around the bush.

"Mr. Scamander was arrested, and Clegane subsequently issued a nationwide arrest warrant for you... Dumbledore came to me and asked me to negotiate with the French Ministry of Magic."

"Impossible...it can't be just as Clegane said, that you and he work together seamlessly..." Fudge said astutely.

"I wonder if there's something more to this?"

"Minister, what do you mean... I don't understand?" William feigned confusion.

"Children, the French Ministry of Magic is using you," Fudge said angrily.

"France arrested the wrong person, and you mercifully saved Paris. They even turned around and used you to maintain the reputation of the Ministry of Magic. I have never seen such shameless people!"

“You should stand up and bravely expose them,” Fudge urged.

William sighed slightly; this was typical of someone who loved watching the drama unfold.

Using William as a tool, having him lead the charge and expose the filth of the French Ministry of Magic, will definitely divert everyone's attention away from Black.

And then take the opportunity to stir up another wave of nationalist sentiment... Fudge is like old Trump.

"But! I don't think what happened in France is important," Hermione couldn't help but say. "That's all in the past. Catching Black is the most important thing right now."

Fudge squinted at Hermione. "Are you accusing the Ministry of Magic, child?"

Hermione grasped William's hand, feeling the warmth of his palm. After a moment, her hand stopped trembling. She mustered her courage, looked directly at the Minister of Magic, and said loudly:

"Yes, I am indeed criticizing the Ministry of Magic's inaction. You shouldn't be wasting your time investigating the truth about Paris or reporting on my relationship with William!"

William immediately nodded in agreement, making his stance clear. If he had said it in words, it would have been something like, "Me too!"

"You two are still young and don't understand, but of course this matter is important."

Fudge didn't care about Hermione's rudeness; he was asking for a favor, so he had no right to get angry.

"We've lost a Dementor in France...did you know?"

"Yes, of course we know! The Dementors attacked us!" Hermione said bluntly.

"Oh, what, this is terrible..." Fudge panicked. "I don't know... The Dementors didn't say... They only said they were driven away by the French Aurors..."

Fudge seemed genuinely unaware, and a look of panic crossed his face.

After a moment, he loosened his collar and said with difficulty, "I will inquire about this matter."

But this only confirms my suspicions.

To be honest, Dementors are as docile as puppies and never attack wizards unless provoked.

William nodded slightly; he could attest to that. Dementors were indeed docile, as docile as Anne's big black dog.

Fudge smiled with satisfaction as he saw William nod: "So what a coincidence that the Dementors attacked you? It must have been deliberately orchestrated by the French Ministry of Magic."

They seized the opportunity to capture the Dementors, then leaked the information to that damned Rita... How cunning!

Hermione gripped William's hand tightly, and William coughed lightly, trying not to show any unusual behavior.

In fact, it was William who leaked the information to Rita, and it was also he who captured the Dementors.

Fudge stubbornly insisted it was France, so what could William say? Could he tell Fudge that he was the one who did it?

William, of course, wasn't that stupid, so he could only agree with "uh-huh" and "yeah".

Fudge seemed to get angrier and angrier as he spoke, squeezing the hamburger in his hand so that butter splattered all over him.

Why did Black choose France instead of fleeing to other countries? The French Ministry of Magic is offering Black political asylum!

The entire affair was orchestrated by the French Ministry of Magic!

Fudge continued, "I've been keeping an eye on things in Paris because I want to expose the dark side of the French Ministry of Magic and put pressure on them so they'll compromise and hand over Black!"

It's that simple!

"..."

This person's ability to fill in the blanks is truly astounding. If William hadn't experienced the whole thing, he probably would have been completely fooled by Fudge's explanation.

"Why would the French Ministry of Magic do this?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"Why? We're hosting the Quidditch World Cup next year. We're investing heavily, going all in, betting our national future."

"The French Ministry of Magic wants to sabotage us; they'd better cancel Quidditch!" Fudge said angrily.

"Aren't we friendly countries with France?" Anne asked, puzzled.

"The Muggle government signed the Treaty on European Union two years ago, and the EU will take effect this November..."

"Yeah, yeah... the Muggle government has joined the EU." Fudge chuckled dismissively. "Because we're in there, we can make a mess of it."

Let me put it this way, my child: whether it's the Muggle government or the Ministry of Magic, our foreign policy for the past five hundred years has had the same goal—to create a divided Europe!

We instigate conflict between Germans and French, between French and Italians, and between Italians and Dutch.

We engage in rampant regional discrimination, bashing France, attacking Germans, and spewing Soviet propaganda... cough cough, in short, there isn't a single good wizard in France!

"..."

……

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(End of this chapter)