Hogwarts: What are the four great masters doing?

"Oh."

After hearing this, Lucius Malfoy whispered.

"I've seen him, a rude little fellow... It seems that he is not only rude to noble pure-blood wizards, but also lacks respect for the Ministry of Magic - which is normal, after all, Dumbledore stands behind him."

These words made Fudge's expression even gloomier.

"Yeah... yeah... I can't do anything about them, can I?"

he whispered.

"Powerful wizards might be able to tell if there's something wrong with Dolores's memory—but as far as I know, they're all friends of Albus."

"And Ryan Elias... the Hufflepuff heir who has recently gained fame and created the 'Miracle of St. Mungo's'."

"He cast a spell on a vicious dark wizard prisoner in Azkaban. I bet no one would find fault with him. Instead, everyone would praise his bravery, right?"

Cornelius Fudge was a suspicious man, and he certainly wouldn't completely trust Umbridge's memory.

Or to be more precise - even if he believed it, his suspicion and uneasiness would make him instinctively think in the direction of conspiracy.

Just like Dumbledore said.

He was completely possessed, obsessed only with his own power and self-esteem.

He didn't care what actually happened - he only knew that after Dumbledore left for Azkaban, one of the Dementors escaped, and Bella Lestrange was cursed.

"This is a provocation to the dignity of the Ministry of Magic... He finally couldn't bear it anymore and showed his true colors!"

Fudge said angrily.

But then, a feeling of powerlessness welled up in his heart again.

Because he knew very well that he had no way to deal with Dumbledore.

Fame, prestige, strength - the latter completely crushed him, and perhaps even only a word could make him lose his position as Minister of Magic.

so...

"You invited us here."

Amycus Carrow said softly.

"We also feel that you clearly deserve greater power to fulfill your ambitions. I mean... why don't we deepen our cooperation, Minister?"

After hearing this, Fudge's expression was somewhat struggling.

Of course he knew that pure-blood families were not good people, and most of them were accomplices of the Dark Lord when he was active.

So although he has been secretly cooperating with the pure-blood families and accepting some of the benefits they offer, he has never truly embraced them in full.

But now...

"..."

Fudge looked at the desk in front of him - the one that symbolized the position of Minister of Magic.

And at the same time...

Dumbledore and Lion were constantly Apparating using Fawkes the Phoenix.

The continuous flickering of fire and Fox's somewhat tired cry were enough to show that the destination they were heading to this time was very far away.

"Meow?"

Friday yelled over Ryan's shoulder, seemingly cheering Fox on—or perhaps taunting him, "Can you do this?"

The surrounding scenery kept changing in the flames, and Ryan asked Dumbledore beside him in this gap.

"You have no opinion?"

"Feel sorry?"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"I'm talking about what happened today."

Ryan said softly.

"Minister Fudge won't easily believe that this was all an accident... He'll probably become completely wary of you and even take action against you."

He had obviously realized this.

What happened in Azkaban today will certainly not spread on a large scale, but the impact is far-reaching.

First of all, there was Bella Lestrange - not many people cared about the lives of the prisoners in Azkaban, and torturing them was the norm.

In fact, having Dementors guarding them was the greatest torture in itself.

But even so, Ryan's spell on Bella would still inevitably be interpreted by Fudge as an encroachment on the Ministry of Magic.

Likewise, Fudge would not trust removing the Dementors and modifying Umbridge's memory.

If we add to this the possibility of Sirius Black escaping from prison, then Ryan can be sure that based on the character of Cornelius Fudge described by Dumbledore, he will definitely be furious.

Of course he wouldn't think of Ryan, he would only think that Dumbledore planned everything.

But Dumbledore seemed to not care about this.

"To be precise, Cornelius won't just be targeting me—he'll use you as evidence against me as well."

Speaking of this, he even smiled, as if he was pleased that he had caused trouble for Ryan.

"..."

Ryan looked at him speechlessly: "Aren't you worried at all?"

"Oh, nothing to worry about, Ryan."

Dumbledore said casually, "Cornelly no longer trusts me. If a fight is bound to come sooner or later, then I think it might be a good idea to come sooner rather than later."

He said this in a very Gryffindor way.

But Ryan frowned - he still felt something was strange.

As far as he knew, it had been nearly two years since Fudge took the position of Minister of Magic.

And he had reason to believe that the relationship between Dumbledore and Fudge had remained the same for the past two years.

Fudge always wanted to trip up Dumbledore, but the latter always remained restrained.

But it was precisely this time that Dumbledore chose an almost fierce statement - although he was still hiding in the open, it was threatening enough in Fudge's eyes.

Ryan had no doubt that after what happened today, Fudge would definitely regard Dumbledore as a great enemy.

This change in attitude from relaxed to impatient was what Ryan found strange.

"Is it because I need Dementors for research, so I just go along with it? Or is it because of Sirius's wrongful conviction? Or... is Dumbledore himself tired of this situation?"

Ryan wasn't sure.

But at this moment, he couldn't help but think of the message he received through the Resurrection Stone not long ago.

"You have at most three years..."

"I look forward to fighting alongside you again, my disciple."

Three years - although Ryan was not sure what this time symbolized, there was no doubt...something big would happen in three years.

A war may come, and the sides of the war are still undecided.

so...

"If Fudge really chooses to take the initiative against Dumbledore, then perhaps it wouldn't be a bad thing."

"He's very likely to completely cooperate with the Pureblood Family, which would make it very convenient to eliminate two troubles at the same time before the three-year deadline..."

Thinking of this, Ryan didn't think about it anymore.

And it was at this time...

"Wow!"

Following Fox's clear cry, the surrounding scenery stopped changing.

The phoenix landed weakly on Dumbledore's shoulder, crying out in dissatisfaction - too heavy, you are too heavy!

"Oh, thank you for your hard work, Fox."

Dumbledore first comforted his phoenix.

Then, he smiled at Ryan and said, "Looks like we're here."

Then Ryan looked up and looked around.

What comes into view are vast hills and plains, with a river in the distance.

"Where is this place?"

Ryan asked softly.

"Pontoise, France."

"France?"

So Ryan was stunned.

No wonder they had to Apparate so many times—they actually left England directly this time!

"Nicholas Flamel?"

So he immediately realized that Nicolas Flamel was French, and Dumbledore had indeed told him that he would meet this legendary alchemist today.

"Yes... Nico has safe houses in many places around the world. He used to live in Paris most of the time, and in Devon when he was in the UK."

Dumbledore said softly.

"But in the past two years, he has preferred to return to his hometown - he said that the sound of the flowing Oise River can bring back some precious memories."

As he spoke, he took out a card from his wizard robe.

He pointed his finger at the middle of the card.

The next moment, the card disappeared into thin air.

Then, invisible magical patterns began to spread in the void.

Alchemical patterns were constructed in front of Ryan, and then... everything around him began to change.