Chapter 666: Fudge's decision and the war begins
Chapter 666 Fudge’s decision, the war begins
Harry learned Occlumency, which seemed to make everyone happy, except Snape and Umbridge, and everyone ended the first-term dinner in a rather happy atmosphere.
But the happy atmosphere was broken the next morning.
While eating breakfast, Cedric opened the "Daily Prophet" he ordered as usual, ready to see what news was on the front page.
But the next second, he suddenly stood up and exclaimed.
Not just Cedric, more and more students also began to scream, as if they had seen something terrible.
“What happened?” Connor asked.
Cedric spread the newspaper on the table and pointed at the ten photos on the front page, speechless.
There are nine wizards and one witch in the photo. Some are laughing loudly, and some are raising their heads arrogantly. Under each photo are their names and crimes.
【Antonin Dolokhov, brutally murdered the brothers Gideon and Fabian Prewett】
【Augustus Rookwood, leaked Ministry of Magic secrets to a mysterious man】
【Bellatrix Lestrange...】As the only witch in the photo, this photo is probably the most eye-catching, and she is also the most proud of them all.
Her eyes were full of disgust, and her thin lips were filled with contempt and disdain, as if she were some disgusting insect in front of her.
Her crime was to brutally torture the Longbottoms.
Kyle is naturally no stranger to Bella. In order to exchange for the key to the Lestrange family's vault, he even asked a dementor to bring her a small gift.
Some candies and chocolates are all things that can make her feel happy again... although Kyle doesn't know if she still has such a thing as happiness.
Looking up the photo, is there a line of bold and eye-catching titles?
【Many people escape from prison in Azkaband, the Ministry of Magic issues a warning, and the mysterious man returns again! 】
Several notorious Death Eaters escaped from prison, and the mysterious man made a comeback... No wonder Cedric screamed after seeing such news.
In fact, the current auditorium has long been reduced to a mess, and some of the less courageous students were even frightened to tears.
Even those students who had always believed in Dumbledore, such as Cedric, Mikel, Justin and others, were sitting there breathing heavily.
Believe it is one thing, but when the Ministry of Magic announced this in the most authoritative newspaper, they still found it difficult to accept it.
“Kyle, you really did it.”
In the chaotic auditorium, only Kangna whispered: "Fudge stopped pretending that nothing happened. He admitted that the mysterious man was back."
“Yeah.” Kyle murmured, looking at the newspaper.
Everything he had done before, including creating the illusion that Dumbledore wanted to compete for the minister, or keeping Malfoy away from Fudge, was all to create a sense of crisis in him.
When Fudge felt that he had no chance of winning, but did not want to give up his position as Minister of Magic, he had only one way to go...declaring a state of war for the wizarding world.
Because at this time, the Ministry of Magic will not change the minister easily.
His plan was successful. Fudge had already panicked when he was called to the Ministry of Magic during the Christmas vacation. As long as Nicoléme's owl came to Hogwarts in front of Umbridge, Fudge would definitely No more hesitation.
Of course, this was Kyle's original plan, but he didn't expect that Death Eaters would escape from prison during the process.
“Why is it at this time?”
Although his plan was considered successful, Kyle frowned and was not happy at all.
If they delay taking action for a few more days, even if it's just a pretense, Fudge will definitely strengthen Azkaban's defense force, and by then...
“Forget it!” Kyle suddenly sighed.
If this prison break was planned by Voldemort himself, then no matter how much the Ministry of Magic strengthens the guards, it will be useless, and it will cause unnecessary sacrifices.
After all, the only person who can resist Voldemort is Dumbledore. It is impossible for him to leave the school and guard Azkaban... This is unrealistic.
Kyle shook his head and didn't think about it anymore.
At this time, fear and uneasiness began to spread in the auditorium. Fortunately, the professors seemed to have anticipated this situation. Sprout, who was in the auditorium, stood up in time to calm everyone's emotions.
"Don't panic, everyone. Hogwarts is safe enough. You won't be harmed here?"
Her words had some effect, and the buzzing discussion in the auditorium gradually became quieter.
Then, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Snape also came, and finally Dumbledore.
When the principal appeared here, the last sound in the auditorium disappeared.
However, Dumbledore didn't say anything. He just sat on the teacher's bench as usual and made himself a sandwich, as if he really came to have breakfast.
At this time, Kyle also read the rest of the newspaper.
“The Ministry of Magic announced a large-scale prison break in Azkaban last night. Minister Cornelius Fudge confirmed in an interview in his office that ten felons escaped last night.”
"This is an oversight by the Ministry of Magic. Although we have improved our defenses with the help of Sirius Black, we have forgotten the external factors."
Fudge said last night, "Last night we found a surviving guard and learned from him that someone had forcibly broken through Azkaban's defenses and rescued the Death Eaters amid the siege of dementors.
“The Striker saw the man’s appearance, and when the Aurors rushed over after receiving the news, they also saw the Dark Mark in the sky... Yes, I have to regret to tell you that the mysterious man is back.
“I think I need to apologize on behalf of the Ministry of Magic to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, who was the first to discover that his nemesis was back, but we at the Ministry did not take it seriously.
“I will go to Hogwarts in person soon to express my apology to Principal Dumbledore and discuss together how we should deal with the terrible Dark Lord.
The Ministry of Magic will do its best to protect everyone's safety, but the public is also asked to remain vigilant and be sure to carry your wand with you. The war has begun! "
…
"Hey, Fudge is smart." Cedric sneered after he came to his senses, "The Ministry of Magic didn't pay attention to it. How could he have the nerve to say such a thing? He spent six months telling everyone Dumbledore is an old madman, isn't he?"
"That's true, but I know he won't admit it." Connor continued to flip through the newspaper, "The entire wizarding world is in chaos, Kyle, do you think Professor Dumbledore knows about this? "
"You should know." Kyle looked up at Dumbledore on the teacher's bench.
Just then, Dumbledore also looked over, his blue eyes flashing behind his lenses.
After breakfast, Professor McGonagall came to the Hufflepuff table.
"Please wait a moment." She called Kyle, "The principal has asked for leave for you. You don't have to go to the first Transfiguration class. You can just go to the principal's office directly. The password is the same as before."
“Okay.” Kyle agreed.
After Professor McGonagall left, Connor couldn't help but ask: "Does the principal want to see you for anything?"
“I think it has something to do with today’s Daily Prophet,” Kyle said.
"Then what are we going to do next?" Connor looked a little confused. "The wizarding world is suddenly declared to be at war. Can we still stay in Hogwarts?"
“Don’t worry, at this time, Hogwarts will not be closed down.”
Kyle said with a smile, "And you don't have to pay too much attention. Voldemort won't jump out of the darkness just because of a report, he just goes to class.
But what we have to learn next may not be as simple as before. "
“It doesn’t matter, as long as Hogwarts doesn’t close.” Connor smiled and waved her hand, running towards the Transfiguration classroom. Kyle also went straight to the eighth floor.
When he arrived at the principal's office through the spiral staircase, he found Fox standing on the branch before him, and he didn't know when he left the box.
And Dumbledore is already waiting here.
“I’m curious.” He looked at Kyle with curiosity. “What on earth did you do to make Fudge admit that he was back without seeing Tom in person?”
"It's okay. Didn't we discuss it before?" Kyle said, "Create some pressure on him so that he has to do this in order to keep his position."
"I know, but I'm curious about what you did." Dumbledore said. "I know Fudge. He never does anything unnecessary and only believes what he sees.
"I have approached Fudge many times before and put almost all the evidence in front of him, but he just refused to believe it... He would not do anything that could threaten his ministerial position, no matter how unlikely it was. of."
Dumbledore glanced at the Daily Prophet spread out on the table, especially the last sentence on the front page.
"The war has begun..." he said softly: "In Fudge's view, this decision is equivalent to drinking the blood of a unicorn to survive. If it is not a last resort, you will never do it. What on earth have you done? "
“Just wrote a few letters.” Kyle shrugged and briefly recounted what he had done in the past few days.
When he heard that Kyle asked Fawkes to deliver the letter to St. Mungo's without any disguise, the corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched sharply.
And hearing what Kyle asked Malfoy to do and what he did to deliver the letter to himself later made others even more stupid.
He was only out for a few days, why did Kyle do so many things... No wonder Fudge did so many unreasonable things out of character.
In fact, it's not Fudge's fault. If this happened in Hogwarts...for example, if the owl from the school director flew into Professor McGonagall's office every day, he might also doubt whether Professor McGonagall wanted to be the principal. .
"But I think what finally made Fudge make up his mind was this prison break." Kyle said, "Ten people escaped from prison. This is not something that can be fooled by just making an excuse."
"No, you underestimate Fudge too much." Dumbledore said. "If it weren't for your actions that made him feel unprecedented pressure, maybe he could really find an excuse... The little Barty Crouch who escaped was one Not a bad excuse.”
"But there is one more thing I'm curious about." Dumbledore asked with interest: "Are you so sure that Fudge will use this method to keep his position?"
"Actually, I can't guarantee 100% success." Kyle said, "So I actually sent letters to Nicolas Flamel, Newt, Mr. McPhail, Ms. Maxim, and Dean Sacia. .
“And three of them have already replied to me. They readily agreed that if Fudge has not announced that the mysterious man has returned on the 20th, they will cooperate with me in another plan..."
Kyle glanced at Dumbledore and didn't continue, because he probably didn't want to hear what he said next.
No matter what, Kyle cannot let the Ministry of Magic become a stumbling block in their fight against Voldemort. If it is really necessary, Dumbledore will have to work part-time as the Minister of Magic.
After all, one of the people who replied to him was Nicolas Flamel. He seemed to be quite interested in Dumbledore becoming a minister, and even offered to come to Hogwarts.
With Nico's help, this matter is basically more than half successful.
As for the headmaster of Hogwarts...if Dumbledore is not up to his task, Kyle thinks Professor McGonagall is quite suitable.
Of course, this was just the previous plan, and it is no longer needed now.
Dumbledore on the other hand felt cold all over. He felt that he had guessed Kyle's thoughts, but he would rather he had not guessed.
"Kyle..." he said after careful consideration: "I think the next time you make a decision, it would be better to ask for my consent first, what do you think?"
"This is all to deal with Voldemort, Professor." Kyle said with a smile, "Sometimes you need to use some special means. Besides, I remember you said when you were in the Pig Head Bar that you can give up as long as you can defeat him. everything."
“Did I say that?” Dumbledore pretended to think.
"I'm pretty sure, Professor," Kyle said, "and many people have heard it, including the owner of the Pig's Head Bar. If you don't believe it, we can ask."
"Okay, I did say it." Dumbledore sighed and admitted, but when he said this at the time, he was trying to express his determination, and he did not expect that the so-called "anything" category would be so So wide.
"I have to admit, Kyle..." Dumbledore couldn't help but said: "You can always come up with plans that I would never have thought of."
"It's nothing." Kyle shook his head modestly, "You don't need to add 200 points to me, or give me a special contribution award to the school, I really don't need it."
Dumbledore didn't want to talk to him anymore. After a moment of silence, he said, "Okay, then I won't."
This time it was Kyle's turn to be silent, and he was polite. Why did Dumbledore take it seriously?
But he didn’t pay too much attention to this matter, and instead asked: “Professor, is this why you came to me this time?”
"That's right. Also, you helped Harry learn Occlumency. Professor Snape told me about it. He said you taught Harry."
"It's nothing." Kyle didn't want to talk about this topic. He looked at the newspaper on the table, "Professor, will the dementors also turn to Voldemort?"
"I'm glad we thought of the same thing." Dumbledore said with a smile, then changed to a serious expression. "But that's what I want to know too."
“After receiving the news last night, I went to the island where Azkaban is located, and the number of dementors there was much smaller.”
“How much?” Kyle asked.
"About half." Dumbledore said. "We need to know now whether these disappeared dementors were killed or whether they took refuge with Tom."
"Wait a minute..." Kyle said, "Professor, isn't it true that only the Patronus Charm can kill dementors? Neither Death Eaters nor Voldemort can use this spell."
The Patronus Charm is a very special kind of magic. Only a wizard with a righteous mind can transform the happy emotions in his heart into a Patronus. If a dark wizard with an evil heart tries to use it, not only will he not be able to summon the Patronus, but it will cause the wand to backfire. The wand summons bugs to devour the user.
"Most Death Eaters are certainly unusable, but Tom...he thinks happy things are a little different from us." Dumbledore tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
“Furthermore, the Patronus Charm is not the only way to kill Dementors. This spell is more about driving them away. In fact, the Death Curse is also effective against Dementors.”
"Okay." Kyle said, "Professor, what do you want me to do."
"Fudge will come to Hogwarts in the afternoon, and he will bring two dementors, who were the guards last night." Dumbledore said.
"I need to know whether those disappeared dementors have defected to Voldemort. This is related to whether we need to make changes to the existing defense plan."
“No problem,” Kyle said.
"There's another thing..." Dumbledore's expression softened a lot, "That's Fudge already siding with us to fight against the Death Eaters. Would you like to write another letter to Doug and the others to explain the current situation? situation... lest they do something unnecessary without knowing anything.”
"It's not necessary." Kyle thought for a while, "They should read the Daily Prophet. It's all written clearly in it."
"It's better to err on the side of caution," Dumbledore insisted, his blue eyes fixed on Kyle unblinkingly.
“Okay, I’ll go back and write a letter now,” Kyle said.
"No, just stay here." Dumbledore waved his hand, and several pieces of parchment and quills were immediately placed on the table.
"After you finish writing, I will ask Fox to help deliver the letter. After all, the owl can't deliver the letter to Nico, can it?"
At this point, he glanced at Fox who was sleeping on a perch, and secretly decided that no matter what Kyle said, he would never lend him the Phoenix again.
Kyle actually wanted to tell Dumbledore that he had other ways to contact Nico, and it didn't necessarily have to be using Fawkes, but after thinking about it, he still didn't say anything...
In case it comes in handy later, it’s better to hide it.
So Kyle sat silently at the table and wrote the letter in front of Dumbledore.
…
(End of this chapter)