At this moment, not only was Fudge's mind in a mess, but everyone else also looked incredulous.
Is Peter Pettigrew still alive
How is this possible!
Didn't Peter die twelve years ago
How is it possible to still be alive
Everyone stared at the cage in Dumbledore's hand. If the mouse in the cage was really Peter Pettigrew, then Sirius Black was innocent from the beginning
What the hell is going on!
"No, this is impossible, Peter Pettigrew is dead, I was there... How could he still be alive!" Fudge was very emotional. Once it was confirmed that Peter Pettigrew was still alive, the Ministry of Magic would become a complete laughing stock.
Look at what the Ministry of Magic has been doing in the past year
Hunting for Sirius Black.
As long as Peter Pettigrew is still alive, it basically means that Black is innocent. Even if it requires so-called repeated investigations, the truth is always the truth.
Several Aurors around were also startled by Fudge's words. Their eyes involuntarily fell on the metal cage in Dumbledore's hand, and then secretly glanced at Albert who was standing nearby waiting.
Scrimgeour had actually realized a long time ago that tonight, the guy named Albert Anderson had directly trampled on the face of the Ministry of Magic.
What made them most depressed was that Fudge actually took the initiative to move his face closer to the other party. After being hit on the face until it was swollen, they even wanted to thank him, thanking him for helping the Ministry of Magic catch Black and thanking him for helping the Ministry of Magic uncover the truth of that year.
However, it really didn't matter to the Ministry of Magic who betrayed the Potters back then, and they had no intention of overturning the verdict. Because if Sirius Black was innocent, Scrimgeour could even guess how much pressure the Ministry of Magic would be under. They would rather use Black's death to bury the truth. As for whether Black was innocent or not, it really didn't matter.
Dumbledore took the mouse out of the metal cage, placed it on the grass in front of him, and tapped the mouse lightly with his wand. A blue-white light instantly enveloped Scabbers' body.
The next moment, Banban's body slowly floated up and hovered in the air. Its small body twisted wildly, as if something was trying to get out of it.
Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief and she hid behind Albert, looking uneasily at the mouse floating in the air.
After a dazzling flash, a head suddenly appeared from the ground, and limbs stretched out. A middle-aged wizard fell to the place where Banban was just now.
Peter Pettigrew appeared in front of everyone out of nowhere.
Not only Fudge, but even the two Aurors behind Fudge were staring in amazement at the middle-aged wizard who suddenly appeared.
"Peter Pettigrew is still alive." Fudge stared at the middle-aged wizard on the ground in amazement. He knew that everything was over.
Those four Aurors were simply useless. Fudge asked them to take the Dementors and investigate the situation first to give them time to deal with the matter. However, they messed things up and made the Ministry of Magic a laughing stock.
"It seems that Mr. Anderson did not lie." Dumbledore looked at the unconscious Peter and said to Fudge with a smile.
"No, it was Professor Lupin who discovered that Peter Pettigrew was still alive." Albert corrected, shaking his head.
"In any case, Peter Pettigrew is still alive. I'm afraid that the incident back then has to be re-investigated. I remember that Black was thrown into Azkaban prison without trial." Dumbledore ignored Fudge's ugly face and said to himself, "Black's matter is probably wrong. He should not be in collusion with Voldemort."
"Don't mention that name," Fudge growled.
"It's him, it's this bastard who killed James and Lily." Hagrid was trembling all over, as if he wanted to rush up and beat Peter up to avenge the Potter family.
"Calm down, Hagrid. Once the news that Peter is still alive gets out, his fate will be worse than you think." Albert comforted.
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Albert, as if waiting for him to continue.
"I think Peter has been hiding in the Weasley family disguised as a mouse for the past twelve years. He was not hiding from Black's pursuit, but from the supporters of the mysterious man." Albert glanced at the unconscious Peter and said softly, "The mysterious man went to the Potter family according to Peter's intelligence, but failed there. Most of his supporters were sent to Azkaban, but there are still many who escaped and are hiding and waiting for the opportunity. If they knew that Peter Pettigrew was still alive, what do you think they would do?"
"Those guys will never let Peter go easily." Hagrid's mood suddenly improved a lot, because Albert had already portrayed the tragic end that Peter was about to face, but he would not sympathize with this bastard.
"Wake him up. I think Professor Snape must have a truth serum. If we feed Peter some, we will know the truth."
"Let's go back to the castle first." Dumbledore said, "Harry and the others need to be taken care of. Severus, take your strong truth serum to the headmaster's office. Mr. Anderson, you go with us. As for the others, go back and rest!"
Snape's expression was very ugly. He realized that Black had escaped, but he could not change the result. He could only watch Black get away with the crime with his help. This was even more painful than killing him.
"It is illegal to use truth serum..." Fudge said with a blushing face.
"I think everyone is eager to know the truth," said Dumbledore.
"It's best to tie up Professor Lupin. I'm not sure whether the Humanization Charm can restore Professor Lupin's humanity." Albert waved his wand and conjured a rope to tie up Professor Lupin tightly, even blocking his mouth to prevent him from biting people.
Then Albert brought a stretcher and asked Hagrid to put the people on it.
The two Aurors beside Fudge looked at Albert again. His magic level was not at all what a fifth-year student should have.
They returned to the castle. Harry, Ron and Lupin were sent to the school hospital by George, while Black and Peter were carried into the principal's office by Hagrid. When they appeared, the portraits on the wall all closed their eyes and eavesdropped on their conversation.
When Phineas saw Blake being carried into the principal's office by Hagrid, his heart tightened, but he soon saw Peter being carried in as well, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He cast a complicated look at Albert who walked into the principal's office last.
Phineas never thought that Albert could really catch Peter and clear Blake's name.
But the other party really did it.
There was a knock on the door soon. Snape handed a potion bottle to Dumbledore and said, "Three drops will be enough."
Dumbledore opened Peter's mouth, poured three drops of truth serum, pointed his wand at Peter's chest and said, "Resurrect quickly!"
Peter Pettigrew's eyelids trembled slightly, but he did not open his eyes immediately.
It’s useless
Dumbledore was a little surprised and looked sideways at Albert.
"Feed this stuff to him and he will wake up." Albert took out a bottle of medicine from his pocket, poured out a pill from it and handed it to Dumbledore.
"What is this?" Dumbledore asked, looking at the pill in his hand.
"My own special powerful recovery potion can directly wake up a comatose wizard and cheer him up. It is harmless and can be taken by normal people. After taking it, you will feel energetic, uplifted, and refreshed. As long as you don't take too much at one time, there will be no side effects."
"What happens if you eat too much?" Snape suddenly asked.
“You have so much energy that you don’t have a way to release it, and you feel really exhausted afterwards,” Albert explained.
Dumbledore put the pill into Peter's mouth, poured some water into his mouth, pointed his wand at his throat and whispered, "Ankexiao."
Peter woke up quickly after swallowing the potion, but his eyes were dull and his cheeks were loose, as if he had been hypnotized.
"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
"I can hear you," Peter whispered.
"I want you to tell us whether you have anything to do with the death of James' family," Dumbledore said calmly.
"I was the one who tipped off the Dark Lord," said Peter.
"It seems the truth has been revealed." Dumbledore said happily, but the Minister of Magic Fudge next to him looked unhappy.
"Did you also blow up the Muggles on that street?" Albert continued to ask, not caring about other people's looks at all.
"Yes. I needed to fake my death and escape to avoid revenge from the Dark Lord's supporters. When Black blocked me, it happened to be the best opportunity." Peter said.
"What is your purpose in hiding in the Weasley's house disguised as a rat?"
"Get information."
"What is your purpose in approaching Harry?"
"I'm waiting for the opportunity. If the Dark Lord really makes a comeback, I will hand over the last member of the Potter family to him. As long as I hand Harry over to them, no one will dare to say that I have ever betrayed the Dark Lord." Peter had just finished speaking when he was punched in the face and fell to the ground.
"How dare you? James and Lily are your good friends. How dare you treat their son like this?" Hagrid roared angrily. If the Auror hadn't held him back, he would have rushed up and beaten Peter to death.
"They never regarded me as a real friend," Peter said. "I was just a follower, who came when they were called and left when they were dismissed!"
"Why did you betray them?" Albert stopped Hagrid's violence and continued to ask.
"The Dark Lord threatened me with my mother, and I had no choice." Peter said, "I didn't want to join the Order of the Phoenix. I said I still have a mother..."
"Enough, take him away. I think Azkaban prison will be the best destination for him." Fudge stared at Albert with gritted teeth. If he didn't realize that he had been fooled by now, then he was really a fool.
Fudge was sure that this fellow named Anderson knew from the beginning that Peter Pettigrew was still alive. He had arranged everything that was happening now, and he had actually fallen into his trap and was acting like a puppet according to his wishes. Moreover, he had already promised to give him the reward for Black.
Until now, Black's bounty is still valid, and the reward has been fulfilled. Even if the Ministry of Magic wants to regret it, it is too late.
Fudge didn't dare to do that. If he did that, God knew what would happen.
"That's it for Blake."
Fudge absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair, then walked over to the fireplace and said to Dumbledore, "The Ministry of Magic may summon Black at any time to cooperate with further investigations."
After saying that, the Aurors took Peter Pettigrew into the rising green flames and disappeared directly into the principal's office.
"Mr. Anderson, you have successfully saved an innocent life." Dumbledore said gently.
"You're welcome. This is just a deal. We take money to get things done. That's all." Albert looked up at Phineas's portrait and said, "When Black wakes up, remember to ask him to transfer 5,000 Galleons to my vault in Gringotts."
"What's going on with five thousand Galleons?" Hagrid looked at Albert in amazement.
"Mr. Phineas paid me five thousand Galleons to capture Peter Pettigrew and clear Blake's name," Albert explained.
"I'll convince him." Phineas' expression was very complicated.
"No one can owe me Galleons." Albert said calmly.
"When did you start to doubt Peter's identity?" Dumbledore asked curiously, as if he had not heard the conversation between Albert and Phineas.
"A long time ago, I suspected the mouse named Scabbers. It used to be Percy's pet and was said to have lived for a long time. Later, it became Ron's pet. It is very unusual for a mouse to live for more than five or six years. Later, I accidentally saw the name of Peter Pettigrew on a map through the Human Footprints Charm." Albert shrugged and continued, "Later, Hermione's cat chased Ron's Scabbers, and I began to suspect whether he was Peter Pettigrew. Well, don't look at me like that. If I didn't suspect that Peter was still alive, I would have captured Black and exchanged him for Galleons."
"However, you have offended the Ministry of Magic now. I bet they will not give you Black's bounty," Phineas reminded him gloatingly. "Fudge looks like he wants to tear you to pieces."
"It doesn't matter. Fudge will be driven out of office soon." Albert said nonchalantly, "The other one is a short-lived ghost. He will die in a few years."
"As for the bounty, it wasn't paid by Fudge. The Ministry of Magic will have to pay it back sooner or later," Albert said indifferently. "No one can default on my Galleons, not even the Ministry of Magic. By the way, Hagrid, send Black to the school hospital first and give this to him while you're at it."
After Hagrid carried Black to the school hospital, Albert said to Dumbledore, "Can you help me deliver this letter to Fudge?"
"About the bounty?" Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"No." Albert smiled, "It's a fair deal. He didn't suffer any loss."
"What's the matter with stepping down?" Dumbledore asked as he took the letter handed over by Albert.
"I'm not sure. Fudge will be driven out of office in a few years, and his successor will be Scrimgeour. However, that guy is short-lived and died soon after taking over." Albert thought for a moment and added, "If Scrimgeour wants to know how he died, he can come to me. It only costs one thousand Galleons, and I can help him make a prediction."
"You will definitely become an excellent businessman." Dumbledore said with emotion.
"No, this is just a deal. I help him predict the future, and he pays me in Galleons." Albert shrugged and said, "It's like I tell you the result of the prediction, and you help me deliver a letter."
"That makes sense." Dumbledore nodded and walked towards the fireplace, disappearing into the roaring flames.
Ministry of Magic, Office of the Minister.
Fudge looked at Dumbledore who walked into his office, suppressed his anger and asked, "What's the matter?"
"This is a letter from Mr. Anderson. He said he was ready to make a deal with you." Dumbledore placed Albert's letter in front of Fudge.
"letter?"
Hearing Dumbledore mention Albert, Fudge's expression became even uglier, but he still opened the letter and quickly glanced at the contents with a dull expression. He had just returned from Hogwarts, and Fudge was sure that guy didn't have time to write this letter.
In other words, the letter had been written from the beginning, and the other party had already expected that the Ministry of Magic had no intention of giving 10,000 Galleons.
"He, I mean, is that guy really a prophet?" Fudge looked at the letter paper with an uncertain expression as it began to burn and eventually turned into a pile of ashes.
"It is said that Mr. Anderson can peek into the future through a crystal ball, so it was easy for him to catch Black," said Dumbledore.
"I agree."
After Fudge squeezed out a few words, he seemed to lose all his strength and slumped in the armchair. After reading the letter, Fudge felt like a fool, being played around by the other party, but Fudge knew that he had no choice and could not refuse Albert's proposal.
It was just that the frustration in his heart made him want to hit someone.