HP: Azkaban's Outstanding Graduate

Scrimgeour's jaw tightened, a barely perceptible glint of disdain and contempt flashing across his eyes before he stiffly nodded: "...Yes, Minister."

Barnabas Goughfe then found an opportunity, rubbing his hands together and forcing a fawning yet fearful smile: "Minister, rest assured, regarding the reporting on the Hogwarts incident, we will absolutely follow your previous instructions to handle it 'low-key and downplay,' focusing on highlighting the crisis's resolution..."

"'Keep a low profile'? 'To downplay'?" Fudge suddenly sprang to his feet, grabbing Guffey's collar with his new arm, spitting almost onto the editor-in-chief's face: "I don't want a low profile, I want him to disappear completely! My arm! Your employee! The Hogwarts dead school board member! Not a single word of him is allowed in your lousy newspaper! And you're not allowed to mention that name! Do you understand?!"

Gu Fei stammered in fright, "But...but the readers need the truth..."

"The truth?" Fudge suddenly pulled the other person closer, almost shouting in exasperation:

"The last Rita Skeeter who chased after the truth is dead and gone without a trace. Why don't you give it a try?"

Then he suddenly released the other person, straightened his collar, and put on a "tragic" expression.

"Listen, Gu Fei, I'll give you the truth!"

He straightened his back and slammed his good hand heavily on his chest. "The truth is—I, Cornelius Fudge, bravely fought against a ferocious, unknown dark magical creature to protect the innocent students of Hogwarts! This scar is my medal for protecting the future of the wizarding world!"

He deliberately brandished his prosthetic leg, his tone commanding and unquestionable: "I've already thought of next week's front-page headline: 'Cornelly Fudge: The Dauntless Shield Guarding Hogwarts!'"

Fudge added to himself, "I'm going to take up the whole page! The picture will be a... um... a thoughtful, determined solo shot of me! If you dare to misspell a single word... hmph, you won't want to misspell it!"

Gu Fei stared in disbelief at Fudge's face, which seamlessly switched between "hero" and "tyrant," as if he were being entangled by an invisible giant python. He could only nod stiffly, unable to utter a sound.

After everyone left, Fudge walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window and, facing his blurry reflection in the glass, began repeatedly practicing his "sad speech" pose, his prosthetic leg raised high:

"The magical world needs sacrifices... and I regard my scars as medals!"

"The monster was only ten feet away from the students! I stepped in front of it without hesitation—"

At this point, Fudge suddenly stopped, because he remembered that he had actually been screaming and running away at the time.

Damn it!

A surge of shame and rage welled up inside him, and in a fit of frustration, he grabbed the water glass on the table and smashed it on the floor, shards and water splashing everywhere.

He stared at the prosthetic limb and cursed under his breath, his teeth grinding together: "Sagres...you hellish bastard! One day...one day I'll make you kneel on the ground and take this damn thing back for me!"

But the next second, a crow happened to fly by outside the window, letting out a hoarse "caw".

Fudge was startled and staggered backward, staring in horror in the direction the crow had disappeared, as if it were a spy for Sagrais.

……

In a corner of the corridor, two young Aurors who had experienced the secret room witnessed the sporadic roars that came from the opening and closing of the minister's office door, as well as the final, clear impact.

One of them could no longer contain himself and let out a sarcastic sneer: "'The Shield of Invincibility'? Ha! I bet ten Galleons that his wet trousers are still being washed by a house-elf! They're practically peeing on Dumbledore's shoes!"

Another looked around and whispered, "It's good that we signed the silence pact... at least we won't be pushed out by this 'Shield of the Fearless' minister to be that monster's appetizer anymore. To be honest, I'd rather face ten dark wizards than get any closer to that thing."

……

……

Chapter 103 An Unexpected Discovery

After returning to Hogwarts, Sagres went straight to the headmaster's office on the eighth floor of the castle.

Without much small talk, he got straight to the point and told Dumbledore about Voldemort's Horcruxes.

The old headmaster listened quietly, without asking for details or showing any obvious shock, his gaze becoming complex and heavy. Finally, he nodded slowly, almost imperceptibly.

Sagres could almost see a pie chart in the other man's eyes, a mixture of scrutiny, worry, a faint trace of gratitude, and a deeper wariness of the unknown.

"Oh, right, about the Duel Club..."

“You’ll be in charge!” the old headmaster said calmly, “if you’re willing.”

Sagles nodded calmly—this was exactly the reaction he expected. Or rather, it was a tacit agreement that needed no further explanation, as anticipated.

Finally, he nodded to the old principal, said nothing more, turned and left the principal's office, leaving behind that meaningful gaze and heavy thoughts.

……

An eerie calm ensued in the British magical world.

The Daily Prophet glosses over the Chamber of Secrets attack that occurred earlier at Hogwarts, instead focusing on Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge's arm, which he lost in the line of duty, and the ensuing series of "heroic deeds" and "recovery reports."

Dumbledore no longer insisted on waiting for Professor Sprout's mandrake to mature, but instead bought a batch of resurrection potions directly from Diagon Alley to restore the petrified young wizards to their original state.

The school's official announcement to all students was equally brief and vague: the killer was a serpentine monster lurking in the school's ancient pipe system.

The crisis was averted—Professor Greengrass used powerful fire magic to completely incinerate it, leaving only a charred shell.

As for Gilderoy Lockhart?

Oh, he was “unfortunately seriously injured” in the attack and is currently receiving “long and meticulous treatment” at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Injuries.

Those horrifying blood-written words on the wall?

The school dismissed it lightly as "a silly prank by some bored student," and that was all.

The young wizards were naturally skeptical of this explanation, and their whispers never ceased in the corridors.

However, young people's attention is ultimately easily distracted.

A deliberately maintained period of calm is enough to make all fears fade away; if you add a stressful exam to that, then even the most bizarre mysteries will be temporarily forgotten and squeezed out of sight by the heavy workload.

So, a few days before Christmas, the heads of Hogwarts, on the advice of a professor, organized a midterm exam, ostensibly to "test the students' learning progress."

Upon hearing the news, the young wizards, who had been so enthusiastic about all sorts of rumors, immediately fell silent and settled down, burying themselves in their books to study and prepare to do everything in their power to cope with this unexpected exam.

Only three courses at Hogwarts escaped the clutches of midterm exams: Sagrais's Advanced Charms Theory and Practice, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Binns's History of Magic.

Sagrais felt that the young wizards' workload was already heavy enough. After all, he had been a student himself and should put himself in their shoes.

The students were naturally very grateful for his "good deed" and gave him a thumbs up in their hearts—of course, this was because they did not know that it was this "kind" professor who gave their deans the "brilliant" idea of ​​a midterm exam.

……

During this time, the Department of Mysteries sent two old wizards in uniforms who, through a series of strange and unusual treatments, successfully restored Myrtle from her petrification to her original state.

Sagres observed the whole thing and thought these old men were quite capable. Even in such an extremely obscure field, they had a set of effective solutions.

This sparked his even greater interest in the research conducted within the Bureau of Mysteries, and he began to plot when he could sneak in and conduct an on-site investigation.

……

Hogwarts returned to peace. With the Christmas holidays approaching, Sagles had few classes and used his free time to restore the mirrored corners, glass chandeliers, and other installations that had been placed throughout the castle to their original state.

He also put away the magic mirror at the entrance of the auditorium.

Most of these arrangements were ineffective, with only the mirrored corners proving slightly useful during the basilisk's attack.

Just as he was restoring the Mirror of Erised to its original state, he happened to run into Harry and his two friends who were coming out of the library carrying books and homework.

Good morning, Professor Greengrass!

"Good morning, everyone..."

"Professor, isn't this the Mirror of Erised?"

Harry caught a glimpse of him turning the mirrored corridor back into the familiar mirror and couldn't help but ask.

“That’s right, I borrowed it from Dumbledore, but in the end it was never used.”

“But it’s not…” Ron interjected.

“Yes, Mr. Weasley,” Sagrais nodded, “but I’ve made a small alteration to it, so it won’t reflect human desires for the time being.”

Upon hearing this, the three people immediately gathered around the mirror out of curiosity.

"It looks just like an ordinary mirror?" Harry looked at himself in the mirror.

"Yes, if you're a normal person, it really is no different from an ordinary mirror."

"Uh... what if it's not normal?" Hermione asked curiously.

“That depends on what kind of abnormality it is.” Sagres smiled. “If it’s like Quirrell, with Voldemort’s soul hidden in the back of his head, then it will let out a shriek when he passes by this mirror.”

At this point, Sagres's smile suddenly froze. He realized that if Voldemort created Horcruxes by splitting his soul, then his own soul would no longer be complete.

Can soul tracing detect soul fragments?

With a serious expression, he cast several detection spells on the mirror again.

This time, as he stared at the four figures reflected in the mirror, he suddenly heard a very faint shriek, as if it came from the void, and the mirror surface rippled slightly.

Sagrass suddenly narrowed his eyes, slowly turned around to look at the three young wizards, his eyes filled with a strange scrutiny.

"What's wrong, Professor?" Harry and his two friends keenly noticed Sagrais's sudden silence and unsettling gaze.

“It’s nothing…” Sagres’s voice was calm and undisturbed. “Miss Granger, could you please return this book to the library for me?”

Hermione paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement, took the thick book from Sagrais, and turned to walk quickly toward the library.

Sagres stared at the little witch's departing figure, the faint shriek still lingering in his ears, so he turned his gaze to Ron.

"Mr. Weasley, could you please fetch those four crystal balls from the Great Hall for me?"

“Of course, Professor!” Ron didn’t hesitate and immediately turned and ran into the auditorium.

Sagres listened to the still-present shriek in his ears, his face calm and undisturbed.

“Mr. Potter,” he turned to Harry, speaking casually, “go help Mr. Weasley; he might have a hard time carrying four crystal balls by himself.”

"Okay, Professor."

Harry, without a second thought, immediately followed him into the Great Hall.

The moment Harry disappeared through the door, the shriek that had been lingering in the air abruptly ceased.

A deathly silence suddenly descended.

Chapter 104 Conversation in the Principal's Office

Sagress's gaze was fixed on the direction of the Great Hall doors. He watched Harry's retreating figure, a flurry of thoughts flashing through his mind:

"He's been controlled by Voldemort?"

—No, he can absolutely rule that out.