Before Fudge could completely sort out his thoughts, he found himself in new trouble.
All newspapers except the Daily Prophet reported the incident, and even published a photo that Fudge had received earlier. Although it was not the same photo, it was obviously the same style, and Peeves could be seen throwing something on the Aurors in the photo.
In addition, the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic fainted near the gate of Hogwarts. In short, the Ministry of Magic has once again become the laughing stock of the entire British wizarding world. Many wizards are questioning the level of the Aurors, and even believe that it is because of the poor level of the Aurors that they were unable to catch the escaped Death Eaters.
Fudge's political enemies took the opportunity to add insult to injury, mocking Fudge's incompetence and even hinting that Fudge's position as minister was about to end.
Fudge had to convene a high-level meeting of the Ministry of Magic to discuss how to solve the current problem.
"I'm sure that this was definitely the work of those people at Hogwarts." Fudge slammed several newspapers on the table and roared angrily, "Some guys with bad intentions are trying to discredit the Ministry of Magic and reduce its credibility. This is a serious violation of..." Fudge seemed to have forgotten something halfway through his words and turned to look at Percy.
"Disturbing the peace!" Percy added.
"Yes, the crime of disturbing public order." Fudge waved his fist angrily.
Everyone fell into a brief silence and lowered their heads and stopped looking at Fudge. This so-called "crime of disturbing social order" was only added to the Ministry of Magic laws a while ago.
Today's Ministry of Magic, under the leadership of Fudge, is becoming more and more absurd.
"I understand your feelings, Minister, but we don't have much energy to waste on Hogwarts right now." Rufus Scrimgeour, head of the Auror Office, spoke first.
As soon as he opened his mouth, he attracted the attention of other people, and those eyes seemed to say: What can you understand? You understand nothing.
Scrimgeour ignored everyone else's gazes and said expressionlessly, "We are seriously understaffed. According to the Aurors' reports, it is not difficult to see that the Ministry of Magic has a very bad reputation in Hogwarts. It is very..."
"That was Dumbledore deliberately trying to sow discord," Fudge said excitedly, "He tried to set up Dumbledore's Army to overthrow ..."
"According to the information provided by the Aurors, Dumbledore's Army has never existed from the beginning. The so-called DA refers to the Defense Association." Amelia Bones had to interrupt Fudge, otherwise God knows where Fudge would lead the topic.
"Dumbledore himself admitted it," Fudge growled. "I have clear records here. Weiss was present at the time."
"Yes, Dumbledore did admit it," Percy agreed.
"Maybe, there are other reasons."
“That’s not important. They also formed a ridiculous ‘Toad Alliance’.” Scrimgeour frowned and interrupted, “What I mean is that no matter how you look at it, the students of Hogwarts are very resistant to the Ministry of Magic interfering in Hogwarts. We don’t know whether what happened to Mrs. Umbridge is related to this, but… if those so-called ‘Toad Alliance’ or ‘Anti-Toad Alliance’ students take other measures to fight against the Ministry of Magic, then it would be meaningless to send more people to Hogwarts. Unless we replace all the professors there and use the strictest management methods to control the place, we will get into big trouble sooner or later.”
"And then there is the information revealed by Harry Potter and provided by Mrs. Umbridge." Rufus Scrimgeour continued: To be honest, I doubt the authenticity of those words. I don't mean that Harry Potter is lying, but he doesn't know at all. Potter's information comes from his godfather Sirius Black, and Black is undoubtedly a cunning wizard, so how many lies are contained in Potter's words, we don't know.
Rufus Scrimgeour did not want the Aurors to go deep into the Forbidden Forest to search for the so-called secret base of Dumbledore. God knows whether this is true or not, and he also does not want his subordinates to take risks in the Forbidden Forest.
Even if they really wanted to search the entire Forbidden Forest, it was not something that could be accomplished by just a few Aurors. If all the Aurors went, what would they do with the rest
"I think there must be some secrets hidden in the Forbidden Forest. Regardless of whether Mr. Potter knows something or Sirius Black deliberately led him to believe, those words have some meaning. At least we can assume that certain conditions are met and speculate on the meaning of Dumbledore's actions." Pius Thicknesse said. They all acknowledged the fact that Umbridge used Veritaserum on Harry Potter, so they did not doubt what Potter said.
As for whether Voldemort is alive, Thicknesse remains on the sidelines, and many wizards actually share the same attitude.
"We don't have enough Aurors. Maybe you don't know, but there haven't been any new Aurors joining the Auror Office for three years." Scrimgeour reminded with a frown.
There were not many Aurors in the Auror Office, and no one had been hired in the past three years. Now there was a serious shortage of staff, and there was no way to recruit more Aurors, unless the standards were lowered, or... In short, these were not good options in Scrimgeour's opinion.
"I'm more concerned about what Potter calls 'weapons'." Amelia Bones tapped the table with her fingers, attracting the attention of everyone present.
"That's just a ridiculous fantasy." Fudge glared at Amelia Bones in annoyance.
"I have to remind you that a lot of things have happened in the Department of Mysteries recently." Amelia Bones ignored Fudge's annoyed expression and said to herself, "At the end of August, Sturgis Podmore was arrested for trying to break into the Department of Mysteries. Before the Christmas holiday, Arthur Weiss was bitten by a poisonous snake. Broderick Bode was hospitalized for some reason, and his death was also very suspicious. I originally thought that Roderick Bode's death was an accident, but now their common point is: the Department of Mysteries. Is there something in the Department of Mysteries that is attracting him or her?"
"That's just speculation on your part, Bones," said Fudge irritably, "and the Department of Mysteries is safe."
"We should now select some wizards to join the emergency team and find out the situation of Dumbledore's secret base." Fudge made up his mind and continued, "As for Hogwarts, leave it alone for now. After Umbridge recovers, she will continue to be in charge of Hogwarts' affairs."
Everyone felt that Fudge was ridiculous and didn't understand what he was trying to do.
"Wes, have you found out who is causing trouble at Hogwarts?" Fudge asked, changing the subject.
"We should first find out who attacked John Dawlish and his gang at the school gate. There was only one person on the other side, but he easily knocked down ten elite Aurors..." Scrimgeour felt that Fudge was just trying to shirk responsibility.
"There aren't many wizards who have the ability and the courage to do this." Fudge interrupted impatiently, "It's either Dumbledore or Albert Anderson. Given Dumbledore's character, the possibility is not high, and..."
"Cough cough..." Percy Weiss suddenly started to cough violently.
"… Albert Anderson is more likely. As a dueling champion, it is not impossible for him to knock down ten well-trained elite Aurors by surprise." Fudge looked at his assistant and found Percy winking at him. He frowned and asked, "Do you have anything to add, Weiss?"
"No minister."
Percy sighed silently in his heart and planned to report to Fudge later.
"Just tell me if you have something to say." Scrimgeour looked at Fudge's assistant. He felt that this guy wanted to say something just now. As the person in charge sent by Fudge to investigate the whole thing, he must have discovered some secrets.
"I think you know the details better than anyone else. Now give me your investigation report," Bones said.
"If you have any clues, it's best to report them as soon as possible."
Not only Scrimgeour, everyone else looked at Percy. They were scared by Fudge's outrageous actions and didn't want to fall into the same trap again.
Pierce Thicknesse even stood up and reached out to Percy for the report in his hand.
Percy hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Fudge.
Fudge didn't seem to understand why Percy was looking at him, but he said anyway, "Give it to him."
Percy gave the report to Pius Thicknesse.
He took the report, flipped through the contents of the parchment, looked up at Fudge, and fell into a brief silence.
Pius Thicknesse's reaction seemed to indicate that there was something wrong with the report and that it was related to Fudge, so Percy Weiss did not speak.
The others took it and flipped through it, then all fell silent. Finally, the report was placed in front of Fudge. After flipping through the report, the Minister of Magic finally understood why everyone had such a reaction.
Albert Anderson was taking the Transfiguration class at the time, and the entire class could vouch for him, so Fudge's suspicions about Albert could not possibly be justified.
Fudge glared at Percy, very dissatisfied with his assistant's behavior.
However, he would never realize that it was entirely Fudge's own fault that the report was not handed over to Fudge in the first place.
"What do you think is the probability that Albert Anderson is the mysterious wizard that Dawlish mentioned? You should know him!" Scrimgeour ignored Fudge with a gloomy face. He was more interested in Albert Anderson.
Percy glanced at Fudge, and seeing that he didn't object, he cleared his throat and said, "If we go by strength alone, I think the probability of it being Anderson is not low."
"Is he very powerful?" Pierce Thicknesse asked curiously.
"The World Dueling Champion," Scrimgeour reminded.
"I think that's the level he showed to the outside world," Percy recalled. "In fact, Albert Anderson has been refreshing my understanding of genius. You know he has won many world championships, but no one knows where his limit is."
"Although Mr. Anderson has had some unpleasant experiences with the Ministry of Magic, the probability of him causing trouble to the Ministry of Magic is not high."
"Why?"
"From what I know about Anderson, he will more likely ignore the Ministry of Magic."
"Go on," said Scrimgeour.
"Once the Ministry of Magic takes the initiative to clash with him, given his character, he will definitely fight back. It won't be as simple as being knocked down by a Stunning Spell."
The three people who had been disarmed fell silent.
"continue."
"Although Mr. Anderson has a good relationship with Hagrid, he actually gets along well with most wizards. He even set up a wizard card club and invited students from four colleges to participate."
"So, Anderson has good relationships with students from all four houses. He can even find friends in Slytherin, which has the worst relationship with Gryffindor." Percy looked around at everyone and continued, "So, even if Albert doesn't like the Ministry of Magic, at most he won't work in the Ministry after graduation. Especially since he has the testimony of the entire class, the probability that he is the mysterious wizard is very low."
"I remember Potter once mentioned that Anderson can predict the future?" Rufus Scrimgeour was actually more concerned about this matter. "Since he has the ability to help Blake find Peter Pettigrew, can we use him to find those escaped Death Eaters?"
Others around began to whisper.
"This... the probability is probably not high." Percy felt that this group of people were just daydreaming. Given Albert's personality, he would most likely ignore them.
"Because Mr. Anderson had some unpleasant experiences with the Ministry of Magic?" Scrimgeour asked with a frown. "Tell me, Weiss, I think you should know!"
"It seems..." Percy glanced at Fudge secretly.
"What is it? Tell me clearly, don't hesitate."
"At first, the Ministry of Magic did not give the reward for capturing Blake and Peter to Mr. Anderson. Later..." Percy glanced at the people present and whispered, "Wizengamot British Youth..."
"If we want to use Anderson's predictive ability for our own benefit, what should we do?" Scrimgeour asked. If Anderson was really that powerful, many problems could be easily solved.
"It's difficult. Unless the Ministry of Magic is willing to pay a large sum of Galleons as the divination fee, perhaps he will agree to help with the divination."
"Is it possible?"
"From what I know about Anderson, it probably depends... on his mood." Percy didn't think they could succeed.
"Even if we give him a large sum of Galleons, it still depends on his mood?" Everyone frowned.
“Anderson himself was rich, very rich,” Percy recalled.
"Is there any other way to get him to work for the Ministry of Magic? Now is a critical time to use people. I..."
"My advice is not to completely annoy him. That's irrational. Once someone who rarely loses his temper gets angry, no one knows what will happen, especially since Anderson is at a level close to Dumbledore's."
"Do you think he's on Dumbledore's level?" Amelia Bones asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Maybe not now, but he will definitely be able to achieve it in the future. Unlike Dumbledore, Anderson is almost an all-rounder. He is among the top in every aspect. Maybe he can do everything except having children."
"I suggest that we contact him. If Anderson is willing to provide us with information, we can pay him the Galleon reward for clues on the wanted list." Rufus Scrimgeour looked up and said to everyone, "Whether it is to capture the escaped Death Eaters, or... No, as long as he can help us catch the escaped Death Eaters, it will be enough."
Scrimgeour suspected that the person who had reminded him earlier was that guy. He planned to find time to contact the other party. At least it should be mutually beneficial.