A Noseless Monster Feels Unjustly Accused
Cornelius Fudge was in an awful mood.
To tell the truth, he hadn't felt this way ever since he had been surprisingly appointed Minister for Magic last year.
After all, Voldemort had been brought down several years ago and seemed to have completely vanished into the annals of history. Meanwhile, his only competitor in the Ministry, Barty Crouch, had lost favor because his son had been accused of being a Death Eater, thus making him pose no more threat to Fudge's career. Coupled with the fact that the strongest White Wizard of all, Albus Dumbledore, was protecting the British Magic World, Fudge believed himself to be the luckiest Minister for Magic in history.
That was all until he received an announcement from the goblins of Gringotts right before he got off work, with the actual details to be announced to the entire Magic World tomorrow morning: One of the holy lands of human magic, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and been offered as collateral to the goblins of Gringotts.
Almost the moment he received the news, he had called the pure-blood members of the Hogwarts Board of Governors. Both sides used their own channels to verify this news, and then they rushed off without hesitation to Hogwarts to understand what was going on.
"Hogwarts has been put up as collateral?"
"That's the Minister for Magic! Has he gone crazy? How could that be possible?"
As those intruders entered the Great Hall, everyone quickly recognized their leader, whose face appeared on the front page of the Daily Prophet with incredible frequency. It was none other than Cornelius Fudge, the current British Minister for Magic.
Given what he had said just now, the students could easily determine why Fudge had barged into Hogwarts with all these people from the Ministry of Magic. There was no question that this was a matter of utmost importance for the British Ministry of Magic.
The Great Hall seemed to explode as everyone began to chatter, some of them staring at Fudge in disbelief, like the being that had forced their way was not the Minister for Magic but some ten-foot monster. Others subconsciously glanced at the old man seated at the center of the faculty table.
"Dumbledore, this..."
Professor McGonagall was one of these people. The witch quickly turned behind her to Dumbledore with a questioning gaze.
Standing right behind Professor McGonagall, Alina had a strange feeling of her own. The expression on Professor McGonagall's face seemed different from those of the majority. Rather than surprise and anxiety, she seemed more caught off guard and at a loss for how to proceed.
Dingdingding~
Dumbledore took a soup spoon and tapped it against a goblet.
"Quiet."
The old man stood up, his azure eyes looking over his half-moon spectacles at the Great Hall. His eyes seemed to possess a mysterious power, as wherever he looked, the students shut their mouths and quietly sat down.
"Thank you."
Dumbledore faintly smiled and gave a warm nod. Turning to Fudge and his entourage, he frowned in confusion.
"My apologies, Minister, I don't quite understand what you mean." Dumbledore looked around and waved his hand. "As you can see, Hogwarts is currently conducting its annual Sorting Ceremony. I think..."
"Dumbledore, don't try to change the subject."
A middle-aged man in a dark gray cloak walked out from behind Fudge and rudely cut Dumbledore off. His hard leather boots tapped against the stone slabs of the Great Hall, plainly conveying his fury.
"Lucius Malfoy met you a month ago in Diagon Alley. On the same day, many other wizards have testified that they saw you coming out of Gringotts. Are you going to say that you had just gone out for a stroll?"
"Ah, my dear Greengrass, if you investigated further, you would immediately discover that I was bringing along a new student to buy school materials at Diagon Alley. You know that there must always be someone to guide young wizards born into the Non-Magic World through our world. This has always been one of Hogwarts' traditions."
The old wizard shrugged his shoulders and walked down from the table and past Professor McGonagall, stopping in front of Fudge. "In truth, I realized much to my dismay that it has been far too long since I have gone shopping. I wasn't even sure about the exchange rate for Galleons. After all, other than buying Christmas gifts, I have far too few places to spend money."
With Dumbledore so close, the faces of Fudge and Mister Greengrass both became somewhat more awkward. Those in positions like theirs keenly understand just how much magic was contained in this white-haired elder's body.
"Now, gentlemen, can you tell what is going on? Relax; speak slowly."
Dumbledore's face turned serious as he sternly and calmly spoke.
"Mm...Dumbledore, where you were really just taking a student to buy school materials that day?"
Greengrass somewhat hesitantly asked. However, Dumbledore's statement had already dispelled more than half of his doubts.
They simply needed to look out at the records of the various stores and compare the times to easily verify the truth. He trusted that a mighty wizard like Dumbledore would not lie about such a trifling matter.
"But this only makes the problem more serious. I will let Minister Fudge explain the situation."
The man seemed to think of something and stroked his chin. He waved a hand behind him and called over a young wizard. He softly whispered into the young wizard's ears, upon which the wizard solemnly nodded and strode out of the Great Hall.
"Dumbledore, then, the students..."
Fudge took off his hat, and impatiently rubbed his hands as he looked around at all the curious students. He spoke in a hesitant tone, gradually beginning to realize that he might be facing an extremely troublesome problem.
"It's fine. They are all members of Hogwarts and have a right to know what has happened or what might happen to this school," Dumbledore shook his head and replied.
"Fine, if you insist, though, I don't think this is something children should be hearing. But given that the Daily Prophet will publish it tomorrow, it hardly matters."
Cornelius Fudge impatiently waved his hand and then sternly said to Dumbledore, "Just now, the goblins of Gringotts gathered together the major news companies of the Magic World and held a press conference. During the conference, they displayed a property deed for Hogwarts Castle and announced that they had obtained it through a major mortgage contract."
"So, the goblins did not reveal who signed the contract or its details?"
Dumbledore pensively tapped the joints of his fingers as he asked.
"No," the Minister for Magic solemnly shook his head and frowned. "They only revealed that the contract was worth about eight hundred million Galleons, but strangely, the loan was made out in a Muggle currency called the ruble. If it wasn't you, who could have won the trust of the goblins?"
As the Minister for Magic, Fudge was well aware of how troublesome the Gringotts goblins were. Unless they were absolutely confident or stood to gain immense profit, those stingy magical creatures would never so generously take out so much money.
"That's not the only strange thing about this."
Mister Greengrass next to Fudge suddenly added, "From what I know, the Board of Governors has never heard of anything like a property deed for Hogwarts Castle. We would like to know whether or not it is a forgery from you, Headmaster Dumbledore."
"I understand, but if that deed really has Salazar's mark, then it is probably not a forgery."
Dumbledore solemnly nodded. "The school records state that before Hogwarts was established, this castle belonged to Salazar Slytherin, one of the Four Founders."
"But that was a matter from ages ago...wait! In other words, there can be another executor of the contract, Slytherin's descendant?!"
Cornelius Fudge grimaced, and he hastily turned to the muscular wizard who had pushed aside Filch and called out, "Dawlish, hurry and investigates what the Gaunt family has been up to lately."
"There's no need to investigate."
Greengrass suddenly said. Glancing at Fudge, he jeered, "Didn't you already throw the last heir of the Gaunt family into Azkaban? And if I recall, he's already dead. You should already have clear records of his property and who he interacted with before his death, no?"
Fudge's face turned as red as a branding iron, and even his stocky neck turned red.
"You're saying that the person who went to the Gringotts goblins with the deed for Hogwarts was a member of our Ministry of Magic?!"
"I said nothing of the sort...but now that I think about it, who besides the Ministry of Magic would need so much Muggle money?"
Greengrass said in disgust as he looked past Fudge to the members of the Ministry of Magic behind him.
"Slander! This is a meritless accusation! Nothing of this sort could ever happen in my Ministry of Magic!"
Cornelius Fudge angrily roared.
"In my view, if there really did exist a property deed, how could the Hogwarts Board of Governors be unaware of it for so long? And would the Gaunt family have fallen into that state? I heard that many of your families have begun to face a decline in your businesses. Don't think I don't know that you've been secretly wanting to trade with the Non-Magic World all this time. My informants..."
"Minister, can I consider this as an attempt to humiliate the pure-blood families? How could we possibly work with those foolish Muggles!?"
Greengrass squinted as he resentfully said.
"Ahem!"
Just when these two factions were about to start a major war of words, Dumbledore coughed several times. Recalling the parchments covered in words and diagrams he had in his robes, he blinked his eyes and began to speak.
"Gentlemen, in truth, besides the Gaunt family, there is one other man who possesses the blood of Slytherin."
"Impossible! The ancient Gaunt family were the sole remaining descendants of Salazar Slytherin. There is no one else besides them."
Greengrass shook his head and firmly denied.
"No, there really is." The red-eared Fudge suddenly paled, and with a slight hint of panic, he turned to Dumbledore. "You're not talking about that man, are you? Didn't he disappear some time ago?"
"But, clearly, some people don't think so," Greengrass lightly harrumphed. "It seems that there are still some rats hiding in the shadows. If I recall, the son of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"And it seems like someone saw a mysterious dark figure in Albania, as I told you before..." Dumbledore glanced at Fudge and grimly said.
"So, this is a scheme aimed at the entire Magic World?"
Fudge had a nasty expression, like a piece of pig liver that had been left out too long. Pretending to not hear Dumbledore, he waved at one of his assistants.
"Dawlish, go to the archives and investigate that man's background. You know who I'm talking about! I don't want to have a second time. And mobilize everyone in the Auror Office. In half a month, I want all those delusional Death Eaters seized and thrown into Azkaban!!"