"Rufus, I just don't understand..."
Gadwin Robards stared down at the teacup in his hand, and seemed to be very conflicted, but he still asked his doubts: "Why don't you immediately replace Cornelius Fudge as the new Minister of Magic?"
"Now, it's not the right time."
Scrimgeour looked up at Gadwin and sighed inwardly. He felt a little disappointed with his old friend's talents.
If Gadwin wasn't an old friend he trusted, Scrimgeour would never let him take over his position.
Well, even though I was probably not that smart before, but... ever since dealing with the clever Anderson, Scrimgeour felt that his brain worked better than before.
Gadwin looked at his old friend and did not continue asking questions, but fell into a brief silence.
"Gadwin, do you have any way to solve the current troubles of the Ministry of Magic?" Scrimgeour put down the cup and suddenly asked.
"How is that possible?" Gadwin shook his head vigorously: "Right now, the entire British wizarding world is simply a mess."
"Yes, it's a mess, especially after the death of Amelia Bones." Scrimgeour was quite helpless. "Originally, I was counting on Amelia Bones to handle the current chaotic situation."
"So, you want me to send Aurors to protect her?"
"I guess so. It's a pity that after Bones died, there was no one to clean up the mess left by Fudge." Scrimgeour did feel a little regretful. If Amelia Bones hadn't died, he would have more choices instead of being completely forced into a corner like he is now.
"I have no idea how to clean up the mess Fudge left behind. If I take over Fudge's position now and fail to come up with a solution that satisfies everyone, then all the pressure will fall on me."
"So, you are deliberately delaying and not taking over the position of Minister of Magic immediately?" Gadwin suddenly realized, but soon frowned again, "But, if the You-Know-Who again..."
"Don't worry." Scrimgeour shook his head. "If something like that happens once, it won't happen again in a short time."
"But… "
"If I really die like Amelia Bones, I'm afraid no one will dare to take over the position of Minister." Scrimgeour said this in a very calm tone. "Then I'm afraid Dumbledore will have to take over this mess. I believe that neither the You-Know-Who nor the Death Eaters want Dumbledore to become the new Minister of Magic."
Everyone hoped that Dumbledore could become the new minister and lead everyone through the current difficulties, but he himself was unable to solve the current problems.
"The key is to defeat You-Know-Who," Scrimgeour said self-deprecatingly, "but we have no idea about it and no way to do it, so we can only pin our hopes on that person."
Gadwin opened his mouth, but ultimately chose to remain silent.
"In fact, if we can catch You-Know-Who, we can try to throw him in through the stone door in the Department of Mysteries," Scrimgeour said suddenly. "Maybe we can completely eliminate You-Know-Who."
This is actually Albert's suggestion, the most likely way for the Ministry of Magic to kill the mysterious man.
As for whether the broken stone door existed, Scrimgeour had actually confirmed it. It was a very strange place, right below the courtroom.
"Is it really possible?"
"I threw a rat in there and it disappeared, and I thought it was dead," Scrimgeour recalled.
"It's not easy to catch the mysterious man." Gadwin said with a wry smile.
"At least there's hope," Scrimgeour reminded. "Don't forget, even Avada Kedavra can't completely kill You-Know-Who."
However, this matter really feels like a dream.
"What are your plans next?"
"Of course you need to hurry up and prepare to take over as Minister of Magic." Scrimgeour looked at his old friend. "You also need to hurry up and prepare."
Gadwin understood what his old friend meant. Even if Rufus became the Minister and appointed him as the new Head of the Auror Office, he might not be able to hold on to the position. In the Ministry of Magic's next battle against the Death Eaters led by the You-Know-Who, the power of the Aurors would be crucial and must be firmly in their hands.
"Are you making any big moves recently?" Gadwin suddenly asked.
In fact, anyone with a little bit of brains could guess that the Auror Office would make a big move next. Although it was claimed to be to deal with Voldemort's possible massacre of Muggles, Gadwin felt that might just be an excuse.
His old friend obviously had other plans and was planning a big operation.
"I have suggested to Fudge that we use tough measures to deal with You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters." Scrimgeour's voice was a little cold. "Allow the Aurors to use dark magic against the enemy, and when there are Death Eaters who resist, kill them on the spot."
"you… "
"You also think it's too cruel? My dear Gadwin, I have no way out." Scrimgeour drank the tea in the cup and sneered, "Unless I admit that I am a coward and voluntarily give up my current position, it is only a matter of time before I confront You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. Since they are my enemies, I should not show mercy. Can I still expect them to let me go? The example of Amelia Bones is enough."
Gadwin was silent for a moment, then reminded, "They are not as reliable as you think."
"I know, but I have no choice, and neither do they, unless they give up being Aurors." Scrimgeour said grimly, "I will send my family away soon. Either I die on the job, or I solve the problem of You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters once and for all."
Gadwin stared at his old friend in amazement, not expecting Scrimgeour to say such a thing. He felt strange about his old friend's transformation, as if he was ready to fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters with all his strength!
Perhaps Scrimgeour had already realized it.
And what about himself
Gadwin was ashamed of himself. He just wanted to be promoted to the head of the Auror Office and didn't think too much about it.
"When I become the Minister of Magic, I will announce a protection treaty for the Auror's family to prevent those despicable Death Eaters from threatening us with our families." Scrimgeour continued his subsequent arrangements. "The Auror Office is very important. Once we lose it, we will be finished. So you must control him."
If he hadn't known Albert, Scrimgeour wouldn't have thought of such an extreme approach, but Albert told him that he would most likely die in office.
No one wants to die.
Scrimgeour was no exception, and Albert was lying.
Before he met Albert, Scrimgeour would certainly have thought so. Even if the other party was a famous prophet, he would not believe such nonsense and would have been dismissive of the so-called prophet.
However, seeing it with your own eyes and understanding it for yourself is different.
Scrimgeour is well aware of Anderson's true abilities and no longer doubts the accuracy of his predictions because he saw his own death.
Scrimgeour simply gave up all his delusions.
He didn't want to be Bones.
Either give up all positions and hide away being branded a coward, or fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters head-on. Even if he dies, it won't be too disgraceful. He thinks that if Bones really becomes the Minister of Magic, he will probably do the same.
After all, the hatred between the two sides is deep.
As for Fudge, he suppressed Dumbledore in the first place, most likely for his own safety, and given his moral integrity, he might really have done that.
Even though Fudge is being badly criticized by everyone now, he managed to get away with it unscathed and left a huge mess to his successor.
His successor, Bones, died tragically at home just as he was about to take office.
This directly led to the fact that after Scrimgeour became the Minister of Magic, the first thing he did was not to crack down on the Death Eaters, but to clean up Fudge's mess. He needed to restore the credibility of the Ministry of Magic and make everyone believe that he could lead everyone to defeat the darkness.
There was nothing Scrimgeour could do about it.
He used to be very confident in himself, but with Albert's reminder, he realized what he was about to take over.
Scrimgeour even regretted not strengthening the protection of Bones. If Bones had not died, he might not have been forced into a desperate situation.
However, Bones' death seemed inevitable.
"When she didn't choose to hide, she was dead."
These are Albert's exact words.
Bones died shortly afterwards.
"When you become the Minister, you will inevitably become an obstacle for the You-Know-Who to control the Ministry of Magic and the object of his authority."
Later, when Albert used the prophecy to show him his own death under the Avada Kedavra curse, Scrimgeour knew he had no choice but to be tough.
Therefore, he accepted the solution provided by Albert, because it was the best way to break the deadlock at the moment, to use the Death Eaters to establish his authority.
As long as he could use the wedding to capture or kill a group of Death Eaters, and then use this incident to gain power, I believed he would be able to gain everyone's recognition in a short period of time and gain a firm position in the Ministry of Magic.
As for the consequences, it seems that even if he didn't do that, his results would not be much better.
Since he doesn't want to be a puppet, nor does he want to die, he can only fight to get a glimmer of hope for himself.
As for Fudge's proposal, to hell with it!