Hogwarts: Undercover Death Eater Replaces the Dark Lord

The sun in the sky rose higher and higher, and became brighter and brighter, but it could not cover up the dazzling green light at all.

It shone brightly in a cloud of green smoke, like an eternal constellation in the indigo sky...

When Dumbledore and Snape arrived at Hogsmeade, it was in complete chaos.

In the only purely wizarding village in Britain, screams of fear were heard from time to time. The doors of all houses and shops were tightly closed, for they were afraid that one or a group of Death Eaters would suddenly appear and stir up the horrifying incident of more than ten years ago.

This is completely understandable.

After all, most of the residents here are adult wizards. All of them have truly experienced the brutal wizard war and witnessed the horror of the Death Eaters driving the Inferi across the land...

The fact that such a thing happened in the wizarding world, which had been peaceful for more than ten years, would undoubtedly give the current Minister of Magic a splitting headache.

"You're telling me you lost Black?!" Fudge stamped his foot in frustration and yelled at Scrimgeour, "How am I supposed to explain this to the parents of those students when it happened so close to Hogwarts?"

Scrimgeour frowned his grey brows and looked straight at Fudge without changing his expression.

"But I doubt that the Dark Mark was cast by Sirius Black this time," Scrimgeour said slowly. "He has no motive... but there's a good chance he has a Death Eater accomplice who is using this to attract our attention and cover Black's retreat."

"I don't care if it was Black or one of Black's accomplices who cast the Dark Mark. I need the person you capture! Anyone will do!" Fudge said impatiently. "I need to give an explanation to all the wizards in the British wizarding world."

As he said this, he stamped his foot fiercely again, "Don't you understand, Rufus? It doesn't matter who cast the spell... What's important is that everyone sees the Ministry of Magic's executive power. We must find someone to take this responsibility immediately!"

"I cannot agree with you," Scrimgeour said stiffly. "Any Death Eater is a potential danger to the British wizarding community. We cannot just let it go."

"I didn't say to just leave it alone..." Fudge's face flushed red, and he looked increasingly exasperated. "What I meant was that we can slowly catch the Death Eaters working behind the scenes, but we must hand over the person responsible right away..."

At this moment, there was a flash of fire, and the figures of Dumbledore and Snape appeared beside the group of Ministry of Magic members.

"Albus, you're finally here."

Professor McGonagall, who had been watching Fudge and Scrimgeour quarreling in the crowd with her lips pursed, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Dumbledore. She hurried over and asked, "Sirius...what's going on with this Dark Mark?"

Given the large number of people around her, Professor McGonagall did not ask all the questions.

In fact, what she wanted to ask was, "Isn't Sirius misunderstood? How is he now? And what about this Dark Mark?"

Dumbledore naturally understood what she meant.

He gave Professor McGonagall a reassuring look, then sauntered over to Fudge and Scrimgeour.

"Good morning, Cornelius, and Rufus!" Dumbledore greeted with a smile.

"Albus, you've come just in time." Fudge shook his sleeves and shifted his gaze from Scrimgeour.

He pointed at the skull in the sky and asked, "Didn't you vouch for Sirius Black before? Then tell me, what's going on with the Dark Mark in the sky?"

"Your judgment is a bit hasty, Cornelius." Dumbledore remained calm. "There is no evidence to prove that Sirius cast the Dark Mark."

"Tell me what evidence do we need?" Fudge roared. "The Aurors finally found Black's whereabouts and were preparing to make the final arrest today, but then this mark appeared in the sky!"

Dumbledore didn't respond, but just smiled and shook his head.

The old headmaster actually knew very well that Lecos was not in Hogwarts Castle at the moment, so his goal was obviously not just to rescue Sirius... Lecos must have other purposes, and he was acting towards them at the moment.

In that case, just drag Fudge here.

……

Chapter 226 Making a Big News

Fudge was talking so hard that his mouth was dry, but Dumbledore just stood there with a smile and responded perfunctorily.

Gradually, Fudge also realized that something was wrong.

Dumbledore is dragging his feet and not paying any attention. Isn't his perfunctory attitude too obvious?

"I see, you must have hidden Black!" Fudge suddenly became angry and embarrassed, "Otherwise how could he escape from the Auror's encirclement? Could he just disappear into thin air?"

"You're defaming me, Cornelius." Dumbledore smiled faintly. "I just returned to Hogwarts after finishing my official duties. I rushed over as soon as I saw what was happening here. How could I have had the time to cover up for someone?"

"Why do you need to go and rescue Black yourself?" Fudge snorted coldly, saying sarcastically, "You have so many 'elites' in the Order of the Phoenix, wouldn't it be possible to get away with just sending one?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Fudge!"

Before Dumbledore could say anything, Professor McGonagall, who always hated evil, could no longer bear it.

"Not to mention that you haven't figured out whether Sirius has been misunderstood or not, but you guys have already arrested him without authorization..." Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, her tone much harsher than when she criticized students. "Without any evidence, you point the finger at Hogwarts. This is hopelessly absurd!"

The fat on Fudge's face twitched subconsciously.

Although many years have passed, he also graduated from Hogwarts and was once a student of Professor McGonagall... Professor McGonagall's stern expression at this moment, with her lips pursed and brows furrowed, awakened his memories from many years ago.

"Um... Professor McGonagall, I don't mean to slander the professors of Hogwarts." Fudge wiped the sweat from his forehead, "It's just that Black is indeed very crucial in this matter... We have to treat it with caution."

"How cautious do you want to be?" Professor McGonagall snorted. "Sending Aurors to search Hogwarts? Since you can even send Dementors to guard the castle entrances and exits, searching the school shouldn't be a problem."

Fudge became increasingly helpless.

In fact, he really wanted to arrange for Aurors to search Hogwarts, because everyone knew that these Hogwarts professors were all closely related to the Order of the Phoenix... Most of them had close ties with Sirius Black.

Besides, who else could be around Hogsmeade who had the ability and motivation to rescue Sirius Black?

Could it be that some Death Eaters have really returned?

Come on, Fudge is the first one who doesn't believe that there are still Death Eaters active in society today! The reason they want to capture Sirius is just to save the Ministry of Magic's reputation.

But the question now is, how could Hogwarts be so easy to search?

There are endless secret rooms and secret passages, and countless defensive spells throughout the castle... Not to mention whether the Aurors can find Sirius Black in the castle by finding a needle in a haystack, maybe an Auror will trigger some mechanism during the search and then fall into Hogwarts Castle?

What's more, the sudden appearance of the Dark Mark in the sky almost plunged the surrounding magical residents into complete panic, and with the rapid spread of information, the entire magical world would know that the Death Eaters had made a comeback.

As a result, the current situation has reached a stalemate.

Fudge and Dumbledore faced each other in silence, while Scrimgeour and Professor McGonagall both looked as if they wanted to say something but were unable to think of what to say.

Gradually, the sun rose above everyone's heads.

The originally glaring green color of the Dark Mark was dimmed and slowly dissipated.

"Phew! Fortunately, I caught up!"

The stagnant atmosphere in the air was suddenly broken, and a witch with her golden hair styled into delicate, stiff, and strange curls appeared out of nowhere.

The witch wore jeweled glasses. Her fingers were thick and plump, with nails about two inches long and painted red, like claws. She also drew her eyebrows very thickly, and her three gold teeth were faintly visible when she spoke.

"Luckily, the wizarding world has been so bored lately that I believed the anonymous letter I received earlier..." She muttered as she rummaged through her crocodile leather handbag, "The kind person who sent the letter was right. There really is big news in Hogsmeade!"

The witch rummaged for a long time before finally pulling out a small and exquisite camera from her handbag.

Then she raised it with her thick fingers and took a series of pictures of the Dark Mark in the air, which had not yet completely dissipated. Immediately, film came out of the camera.

"Rita Skeeter!"

Fudge saw this scene and no longer had the heart to stare at Dumbledore. He immediately strode towards the weird witch who was taking pictures and shouted angrily:

"Photography is not allowed here, and the Daily Prophet will not allow today's incident to be published in the newspaper!"

"What kind of joke are you talking about?"

The witch named Rita Skeeter raised her heavy eyebrows and glanced at Fudge, without any intention of stopping her hands.

"This is big news, big news that's bound to attract the attention of most of the wizarding world!" she said. "The sales of the Daily Prophet have been slow recently, and I'm planning to use this big news to boost sales!"

"What does the sales of the Daily Prophet have to do with me?" Fudge said angrily. "You are not a newcomer, how can you be so ignorant? This kind of news that will affect the stability of the wizarding world must not be published in the newspaper!"

"If the Daily Prophet can't publish it, I can at least post it in The Quibbler, right?" Rita Skeeter scoffed. "If I miss out on this kind of big news, I'll regret it forever."

As she said this, she took out a long, dazzling green shorthand quill from her crocodile leather handbag -

"Shocked! The Dark Mark has appeared in Hogwarts. Is this a sign of moral decay or a distortion of human nature..."

Rita Skeeter's shorthand quill trembled rapidly as she wrote on a piece of parchment that was suspended nearby.

"Don't go too far, Rita Skeeter—"

Just when Fudge couldn't stand it anymore and wanted the Aurors to temporarily arrest this dangerous witch, another unexpected member of the Ministry of Magic came to Hogsmeade.

"Minister Fudge, I want to report Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation!"

Bertha Jorkins stood in front of Fudge, holding her head high and speaking with a righteous look on her face.

Seeing this scene, Rita Skeeter stopped her movements suddenly.

Merlin, is there even bigger news here?!

……

Chapter 227 Reporting Barty Crouch

Bertha Jorkins had been a member of the Ministry of Magic for many years, after all, and many of the Aurors present knew her.

However, this old employee, who although had a big mouth but had not made many mistakes in his work over the years, actually wanted to report his immediate superior, Director Barty Crouch, who had great prestige in the Ministry of Magic?

"Jorkins, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Fudge was stunned.

He felt that today's events were completely beyond his control. Unexpected things happened one after another, as if he had drunk a bottle of spoiled Felixir.

Unbelievably unlucky!

"Minister Fudge, although Mr. Crouch is my boss, I have always been a selfless employee!" Bertha Jorkins didn't care what Fudge thought, but just said righteously, "So I must tell you this -"

"Barty Crouch's son is not dead! He is now imprisoned in Crouch Manor. I saw it when I delivered the documents today!"

The woods were completely still except for the muffled shouting of Bertha Jorkins.

After a long time, Scrimgeour was the first to recover.

"There's something wrong with Jorkins's brain. Let her calm down first." He waved to the Auror beside him.

The Auror nodded and immediately raised his wand, ready to use a stunning spell to force the employee of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation to "calm down".

However, there was one person present who clearly disagreed with this approach.

Rita Skeeter immediately stepped in front of the Auror, blocking his movement to cast the spell.

"Whatever your pressing matter, you should at least let this lady explain it clearly, right?" she said, her face full of interest, a look of excitement and no regard for the big deal. "Barty Crouch's son is not dead... This is huge news!"

"This has nothing to do with you." Fudge glared at Rita Skeeter and said through gritted teeth.

"Stop messing around here!" Scrimgeour frowned and shouted coldly.