Evan suddenly realized that the one who was paying Greyback and his companion was none other than Lucius Malfoy.
As a former Death Eater, Lucius surely knew those guys, and only he had enough money to summon them.
The question now is, what does he want to do?
Evan couldn't see how this could ever be good for the Malfoy family. If it was ever discovered that he was the puppeteer behind the scenes, Lucius would be in great trouble.
"There's something wrong, there must be something I don't know about."
He hurriedly looked at Dumbledore beside him, who looked calm. Evan couldn't figure out what he was thinking.
"Those things really happened, but what does this have to do with you?" Dumbledore's blue eyes kept staring at Lucius.
"It has nothing to do with me, but it has a lot to do with this unpleasant news that I'm bringing." Malfoy said with a plummy accent. "It's so terrible. You may not have realized what happened."
"What happened?" Fudge asked subconsciously. He twisted his body and felt a little uneasy.
"A werewolf riot!" Lucius said slowly, and his tone was too calm for the words he was saying. "While Hogsmeade was being attacked by that werewolf, there were many other attacks in Muggle cities. On this unfortunate full-moon night, the werewolves spontaneously gathered and attacked the Muggles. Accurate numbers of casualties were yet to be determined, but before I came, it was said that over thirty people had been bitten. The injured Muggles had been rushed to the St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."
"What?!" Fudge's eyes widened and his face turned pale. "You are kidding, Lucius, how could there be werewolf attacks? No one has told me of this thing until now!" "
"These are my personal sources of intelligence, Minister!" Lucius said with a wink and continued, "My sources are very reliable. I don't think it will take long before the Ministry reports details to you."
"This is not possible. All werewolves are under the control of the Werewolf Registry. They cannot be…"
Fudge stopped suddenly. Just an hour ago, under his nose, a werewolf attack had occurred.
When Evan and Hermione mentioned this matter, he thought that it was just the rambling of two children, and was instinctively unwilling to believe that this would ever happen.
But now that Lucius Malfoy had also reported this to him, what Evan and Hermione were talking about was no longer just a conspiracy, the attack actually happened!
And it wasn't just one or two isolated attacks, it was a full out riot!
Fudge wished that someone would pop up telling him that this is just April Fools. He looked back at Lucius just to make sure that he was not kidding, but that fantasy of him was instantly shattered.
Whether he wants to believe it or not! There has been a massive werewolf attack indeed!
The ward was quiet and the mood was terrible. No one spoke. They were shocked with terrible news brought by Lucius Malfoy.
Evan was lying in bed with thoughts running through his head.
He analysed the whole situation with what information he had. Lucius Malfoy has summoned these werewolves to launch a large-scale attack on Muggles. How does this benefit him?
Obviously, Lucius' biggest goal is to drive Dumbledore away from Hogwarts. How would triggering a werewolf riot help him with that?
Hold on one second! Werewolves? Hogwarts? Professor Lupin is a werewolf!
He then thought that Lucius shouldn't know about Professor Lupin's secret.
However, Evan can never know that for sure. After all, there were many who knew that Professor Lupin was a werewolf. When employing him, Dumbledore told the other professors about the matter, and also told Cornelius Fudge, in order to get the consent of the Ministry of Magic.
Even if they did not trust Lupin, he did not take part in the attacks on Muggles.
In fact, he did not harm anyone. He was safe. This makes Lucius's action completely meaningless.
If he was to reveal the identity of Professor Lupin to the masses after such attacks, the most that he would be able to get with that was driving him away from the school. This wouldn't imply Dumbledore in anyway.
Unless! If he can find a way to prove that Professor Lupin also participated in this riot, he would…
Evan looked at Lucius. He had a smug smile on his face. Yet, Snape's face beside him was gloomy.
Just as Evan was about to say something, a large grey owl suddenly flew in through the window. It was a messenger of the Ministry of Magic. It went straight to Fudge.
He hurriedly took the letter out from the owl's mouth. He took the envelope apart and read it carefully. His face showed well just how bad it was.
"Dear Lucius, what you said has been verified. There really was a massive werewolf riot." Fudge's voice was not loud, but it rang through the quiet room. He turned and looked at Dumbledore, saying in panic "I'm sorry, Albus! I must get back to the Ministry as soon as possible to deal with this unexpected incident. If you can, I hope you would…"
He hadn't finished his words when he was interrupted.
The ward's door was opened again. And this time, it was Percy who went through it. He hurried in looking scared.
"Professor! Professor!" Percy gasped and looked anxiously at Dumbledore. He was so agitated that his voice trembled. "You have to see this Professor! A Werewolf has appeared in the castle. It is attacking students!"
Hearing his words, everyone held their breath as they looked at Percy in astonishment. The mood in the ward went extremely heavy.
Evan noticed that Lucius's face had an expression of triumph just for a second.
Snape, who was standing aside, actually looked a little surprised. But then his face went back to its disturbing state again.
.......................... ............….
One hour before these events, Harry was sitting alone in the Great Hall.
He didn't know where Ron went, and they hadn't seen each other in the afternoon. As for Evan and Hermione, he heard Fred and George say they went to Hogsmeade. He didn't know what went wrong to make them be so late.
Before that, Colin and Ginny came in to invite him to sit along with them, but he refused.
He just wanted to be alone, he was so confused. All he wanted to think about was what Professor Lupin told him in the morning about his parents. He couldn't even remember how he got from Lupin's office to the Gryffindor Common room, and how he then reached the Great Hall.
He only knew that he was out of tune with the cheerful atmosphere around him. Besides him, everyone around were happily discussing the arrangements for Christmas holidays.
Harry was indifferent to all of that. Even when the news reached him from Hufflepuff's table that Evan and Hermione were dating, it didn't faze him at all.
He stared blankly at the plate in front of him, and all he thought of was his parents and Sirius Black.