"... What on earth does Blake want to do?"
There were noises of smashing things and cursing coming from the Minister of Magic's office. Everyone knew that Fudge was furious, so they consciously avoided the minister's office. Even if they really wanted to find Fudge for something, they would quietly postpone it. No one wanted to offend the Minister.
Ever since Sirius Black dropped several bombshell news in the Three Broomsticks, Minister of Magic Fudge has been in big trouble. In particular, the news that Fudge took half of Peter's family's wealth before allowing Mrs. Peter to visit Peter in Azkaban Prison immediately caused controversy in the wizarding world. Even worse was Mrs. Peter's subsequent outrageous actions, where she actually used a compound potion to rescue Peter from Azkaban, causing many people to think of conspiracy. They even believed that Fudge actually knew about it and tacitly agreed that Mrs. Peter rescued Peter from Azkaban Prison, and that half of Peter's family's property was the bargaining chip for the transaction between the two parties.
Conspiracy theories are really popular when the situation is unclear.
Many people expressed doubts about this and asked the Ministry of Magic to investigate the whereabouts of the wealth.
Although these fortunes were processed and most of them were donated to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries as charity, they still caused Fudge a lot of trouble.
However, things took a turn for the worse when Sirius Black revealed that Peter Pettigrew was trying to resurrect Voldemort and seemed to be successful.
If Voldemort had not been resurrected, even if someone knew about the deal between Fudge and Mrs. Peter, it would not be a big deal.
After all, even if someone checked, they would find that Fudge did not handle the money at all, and he donated all the wealth directly to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
As for how much the Minister of Magic embezzled, no one knew, and no one investigated further.
After the news of Voldemort's resurrection spread throughout the wizarding world, even though they were not sure whether Voldemort had been resurrected or not, they all knew that it was the Minister of Magic who took half of Peter's family's property, which led to Peter Pettigrew's successful escape from prison.
The blame must be put on Fudge.
Moreover, regardless of whether this is true or not, Peter Pettigrew used the Imperius Curse to control Barty Crouch, the Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, and finally killed him at the risk of being caught by Dumbledore. The crime has been proven to be irrefutable, and even Cornelius Fudge cannot cover it up, and part of the account will be attributed to Fudge.
Therefore, Fudge would never admit the fact that Voldemort was resurrected no matter what. Not to mention that he had never witnessed it with his own eyes, there was no evidence to prove it. Fudge would never risk his future political career.
Fortunately, Dumbledore agreed to keep the news secret for the time being to avoid causing panic in the wizarding community, thus giving the Ministry of Magic time to hunt down Peter Pettigrew and prevent him from resurrecting Voldemort, thus nipping all dangers and problems in the bud.
Although Fudge never admitted that Voldemort was still alive, he knew very well that he had to make up for the mistake he had made unintentionally. As long as the problem was solved smoothly, even if people knew about it afterwards, the matter would have passed and no one would delve into it.
However, Sirius Black forcibly opened the scar, exposed the wound to everyone, and sprinkled salt on the wound.
There is no doubt that this was like punching Fudge in the nose directly, followed by two more slaps on the face, which stunned Fudge.
What's worse, there are already voices in the British wizarding community calling for him to resign.
Once it was confirmed that Peter Pettigrew helped Voldemort return, and he failed to stop it.
No matter what the reason was that led to Peter Pettigrew's successful escape from prison, Fudge would probably have to leave his position as Minister of Magic.
This was a result he absolutely could not accept.
Fudge even suspected that this was a conspiracy of Dumbledore, who wanted to remove him from the position of Minister of Magic and replace him with an obedient minister, or become the Minister of Magic himself.
As for whether the mysterious man is still alive, Fudge expressed his doubts. He would never admit that the mysterious man is still alive before seeing him with his own eyes.
After hesitating for a moment, Fudge picked up the quill and wrote a letter to Dumbledore. He felt that he really needed to talk to him.
If it wasn't necessary, Fudge really didn't want to have an unnecessary conflict with Dumbledore. Dumbledore's reputation was too great, and his words were sometimes even more effective than his own as the Minister of Magic. Fudge knew very well that as long as Dumbledore was willing, many people would be willing to push him to the position of Minister of Magic, which made Fudge very wary.
Putting down the quill, Fudge glanced at the Daily Prophet and decided to write a letter to the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, Barnabas Guffey, saying that those damn false reports must stop.
...
Barnabas Guffey, editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, also encountered some troubles.
Sirius Black's words stung some people deeply, causing them to doubt whether the Daily Prophet could tell the truth.
However, Barnabas Cuffe's situation was not as bad as Fudge's, and the Daily Prophet's sales were still good. Although it had received a lot of criticism, Rita Skeeter's recent report on Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Ministry of Magic's Department of Sports and Games, successfully diverted everyone's attention.
By the way, the reports for several days shifted everyone's attention to the Ministry of Magic. After all, Barty Crouch Jr. was still alive and hiding, preparing to cause trouble.
The blame will undoubtedly be put on Barty Crouch. Even if Barty Crouch is dead, the blame will also be put on the Ministry of Magic. After all, Barty Crouch is the Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation.
This is a senior official of the Ministry of Magic, there is no way he can cheat.
What's more, there is the scandal of Ludo Bagman, Director of the Ministry's Department of Sports and Sports, owing money and refusing to pay, and Barty Crouch, two big scandals, which are enough to divert everyone's attention.
Oh, and the Minister of Magic.
Although the Daily Prophet did not report Fudge's deeds, it still pointed the finger at the Ministry of Magic, as if there were problems everywhere in the Ministry of Magic and it was not the Daily Prophet's problem.
Rita Skeeter is still quite powerful and can easily divert everyone's attention, which has also caused Fudge to encounter more troubles recently.
As for the Minister of Magic's protest against the false reports in the Daily Prophet, Barnabas Guffey did not care much about it. The Daily Prophet was not run by the Ministry of Magic, and he would never allow the Daily Prophet to have the image in the minds of wizards that a newspaper often accepted hush money and kept silent on certain matters.
What's more, it was too late. When Sirius Black dropped this bombshell news, it could no longer be concealed. Even if the Daily Prophet kept silent, Sirius Black had his own magazine. When the two were compared with each other, the status of the Daily Prophet would plummet and it would be known as the mouthpiece of the Ministry of Magic.
As for the Minister of Magic's anger, Barnabas Guffey naturally had a way to deal with it. He wrote a letter to the other party, hinting that he could not cover up the matter at all, and pointed the finger at Sirius Black who broke the bombshell, and reminded Fudge that even if he kept silent, Sirius' magazine would still publish related news, which would be meaningless.
As for how Fudge plans to deal with this matter, that is not Barnabas Guffey's concern. Anyway, he has already passed the blame on.
After reading Barnabas Cuffe's letter, Fudge was very angry, but he also knew that Barnabas Cuffe was right and that this matter was indeed Sirius's problem.
Sirius was Dumbledore's man, and he wanted to hear how Dumbledore was going to explain this matter later.
...
Late at night, Fudge finally waited for the old guy he hated in his office, and angrily accused him of deliberately leaking the news to cause panic in the wizarding world.
"I think I know why."
Dumbledore completely ignored the angry Fudge and said calmly: "Sirius wanted to kill Peter. You should know their grudge. His friend died because of Peter's betrayal, and he himself was imprisoned in Azkaban for more than ten years. Their hatred is irreconcilable and it is not a problem that can be solved by a few words from someone."
"Before, Sirius Black finally made up his mind to send Peter Pettigrew to Azkaban prison because of Harry's persuasion, but Peter Pettigrew actually escaped from prison in the end. This was obviously something that Sirius Black could not tolerate."
"So, that's why he did that." Fudge felt puzzled.
"Yes." Dumbledore looked at Fudge calmly and said, "In Sirius's eyes, this matter has something to do with you. I think he did that to force you and the Ministry of Magic to find and kill Peter Pettigrew as soon as possible."
"We want to do that too. The Aurors are looking for Peter all the time and they're doing their best," said Fudge angrily.
"Don't say these things to a person who is blinded by hatred. It's meaningless." Dumbledore shook his head. "I heard that he has been looking for fortune tellers recently, trying to find out the location of Peter Pettigrew through divination."
"Fortune teller." Fudge felt this was ridiculous.
"Yes, he found a prophet who lives in seclusion in the UK. We don't know whether he got the answer, but there is no doubt that what Black said should be true. He will not give up the pursuit of Peter Pettigrew. I recently heard that he tried to incite... Anyway, I would not be surprised if a person who is obsessed with revenge did anything for revenge." Dumbledore said calmly, "As for why Black wants to target you, I think you should know it very well."
"It was just an accident, how could I know..." Fudge was quite angry.
"This matter is indeed worthy of our vigilance. It would be best if we could capture Peter alive and use the truth serum to make him tell us where Barty Crouch Jr. is." Dumbledore stared at Fudge and reminded him, "If you don't want Voldemort to be resurrected, suppressing his helpers is the best option. If you stand idly by for some reason, then everyone will suffer together."
"This is ridiculous Dumbledore, You-Know-Who is dead." said Fudge angrily.
"No matter how much you deny it, you can't fool others." Dumbledore did not argue with Fudge on this point. He knew it was meaningless.
"I have received many bad prophecies. Someone once told me that once is a coincidence, twice is a coincidence, what about three or more?" Dumbledore ignored Fudge and spoke to himself. "There are not so many coincidences in this world."
"What prophecy? Who made it?"
"I don't know. Sirius didn't say. He said the other party wouldn't let him." Dumbledore said gently, "In the next few years, the wizarding world will become a mess, worse year by year, with people dying everywhere, and prisoners in Azkaban will escape on a large scale. In the end, the Ministry of Magic will collapse, so he plans to leave Britain and seek refuge elsewhere."
"That's nonsense," Fudge shouted, blushing.
"Actually, I don't really believe in the prophecy. There are too many things involved." Dumbledore ignored the angry Fudge and said calmly, "Of course, fortunately, it won't take long for us to expose each other's lies."
Dumbledore didn't wait for Fudge to speak, and continued, "Oh, I almost forgot. I originally came to discuss with you the refereeing issue of the Triwizard Tournament. Both of the two persons in charge at the Ministry of Magic have problems. Who do you plan to put in charge?"
"Then suspend the Triwizard Tournament. This matter itself is very suspicious, and didn't you say that Potter becoming a warrior was a conspiracy?" Fudge said impatiently.
"Unfortunately, once the Triwizard Tournament begins, we can't stop, because the champions have signed a contract with the Goblet of Fire, and violating the contract will cost a lot." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "I thought you knew."
"There are too many worries lately." Fudge said gloomily, "There is a lack of referees for the Triwizard Tournament, right? I'll be the referee. As for the other person, let Amelia Bones act as the referee. I think she won't mind taking a few hours to watch an exciting game."
Fudge had no choice. The Ministry of Magic was in a mess. Ever since Rita Skeeter exposed the Ludo Bagman affair, more and more victims spoke out, and finally a debt collection group emerged. As a result, no one knew where Ludo Bagman was now, and his position was temporarily vacant, and no suitable successor had been found yet.
After Barty Crouch's death, the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation was also in a mess. They began to re-examine the orders Crouch had given to Percy Weasley before his death. And they also hadn't chosen the next Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation. Many people were eyeing that position, so they couldn't be careless at all, and even Fudge couldn't appoint someone at will.