In the makeshift tent, Ron sat with his feet up on a chair and exhaled a long breath, "It's been a long night."
"Yeaah...." Hermione replied absent-mindedly.
"Do you have anything to eat?" Ron asked.
Hermione looked back at him.
"Hermione, I didn't even eat much for dinner." Ron spread his hands and said accusingly, "If I don't eat something, I'm going to starve to death before Madam Pomfrey comes over."
"Eat, eat, eat, just eat."
Hermione furiously rummaged through the beaded pouch and took out some snacks from it and threw them at Ron, and only after doing so did she realize that she had just inexplicably lost her temper.
"Don't worry, Hermione, the professor has come back from the dead, and will be a lot healthier soon," Ron did understand her thoughts, and after reassuring her twice, he surveyed the package in his hand and asked, "What's this?"
"Chips and chocolate," Hermione answered.
"How come I've never seen ..." Ron muttered in a small voice, he ripped open the bag, picked up a piece of chips to examine for a while, and brought it into his mouth, after which his eyes lit up.
"It's a muggle snack." Hermione explained.
"It tastes really good," Ron sighed contentedly, "Is this what you ate when you were a kid? I'll try some chocolate ... Huh, it's good too, although I still think the chocolate frog tastes better."
It didn't take long for him to finish eating.
"Any more, Hermione?" Ron couldn't restrain himself from asking.
Hermione carefully rummaged through, "The rest are compressed cookies, nothing tastes--"
"Never mind!"
For the next while, the only sound left in the tent is Ron's eating.
"Crack, crack, crack."
"How long do you think the professor is going to keep this up?" Hermione asked worriedly, at the moment Felix looked like a glowing statue.
"Well ... don't know, Dumbledore will be here in a moment, you can ask him ... chuck crack crack crack..."
At that moment, a rapid sound of footsteps came from outside the tent.
"Someone's coming." Hermione said.
"Great." Ron said.
"I'll take a look." Hermione looked a little worried as she stood up and walked towards the curtain of the tent.
...
After an unknown amount of time, Felix opened his eyes and slowly glanced around.
The tent is empty.
He barely suppressed the magical powers boiling in his body to keep them from getting too active.
He had experienced ... no, even now all kinds of magical changes continued to occur, first of all, the magic power boiling like water, his state became extremely unstable, so far it exceeded every magic riot he had ever experienced, even now, the magic power flowed like a gurgling stream; secondly, the body, the magic power flowing through every corner of his body and prompted his flesh and blood, skin and bones to undergo a mutation.
This mutation seemed to touch the essence of life, the essence of magic. Felix thought that his body itself is a huge treasure waiting for him to explore.
Only just now, his heart completely relaxed.
Felix calmly mused, even if he didn't want to admit it, he was a shade weaker when fighting Voldemort, in fact, the two should be evenly matched, but Voldemort's Killing Curse was surprisingly powerful, and every time he faced the green light of the curse directly, it gave him a creepy feeling.
Never get hit, that's what his survival instincts told him. But then he had to do it, there was no other choice. Golem, thinking room created illusion can't fool a wizard as skilled as Voldemort.
He had to die for real.
He needed that nudge to complete his transformation process.
Unless he wants to see others die ...
"Everyone has a choice. I made my choice, Ms. Jane, goodbye." Felix said softly.
There came a low clamour heard from outside the tent, and he heard the messy footsteps of hundreds of people, but Felix paid no attention to it at all, his full attention drawn by the change in himself, and he raised his left hand, a crystalline brightness flowing through every line between his palms.
Under his gaze, the Book of Rune appeared out of thin air, with "clattering" pages flipped, a magic shadow appeared, and Felix's heart moved, he had a feeling that as long as he wanted, countless runes would gush out of his body, no need for him to actively combine them, as in a flash, ancient magic could be formed.
"So the Book of Runes is supposed to be used in harmony with the transformed body." Felix pondered, he could try it later when he found an opportunity. He took the Book of Runes in his left palm and integrated it into his body - the previous trouble of having nowhere to put the Book of Runes is resolved automatically.
At this point, the noise outside grew louder, and he heard Hermione's sharp voice, Harry's irritated shout, Dumbledore's calm retort, and Fudge's exasperated yelling accompanied by an uneasy commotion that made everything seem chaotic.
"Fudge ..."
Felix's eyes flickered, he expected this scene, it will happen sooner or later - either today, or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, as long as Fudge does not acknowledge the existence of Voldemort, he will certainly trouble Dumbledore and him; And in order to avoid the continuation of such days, Felix made some preparations in advance.
"Dobby." He said softly.
A very loud burst of noise is bound in the small space, the sound echoed in the makeshift tent, without being able to spread out. Felix withdrew his hand and looked calmly at the sudden appearance of the house-elf.
Dobby is still dressed the same way, except for a large bag on his back.
"So, Voldemort and Death Eaters have left?"
"Yes, indeed, Mr. Hap! You guessed it right!" Dobby cringed and shivered at the name, then his big eyes sparkled, and he couldn't stop looking at him with adoration in his eyes, "I never thought that Dobby could be a part of something so great, Dobby, Dobby is so honored."
"But, but ..." he gave Felix a careful look and opened the bag on his back, " few of them were unfortunately damaged."
"It's not your fault, I was prepared for this." Felix said.
In the bag, there are some little handheld cameras and their fragments, well, muggle products, no trace of magic, the 'Future World' company purchased a batch in bulk for research and received a discount because of the high volume.
While Harry endured the Cruciatus Curse, Felix set up some around the graveyard from afar. Because of the great damage to the environment caused by the battle at the graveyard, the loss of some is completely understandable.
"Dobby gathered all the pieces he could find, maybe it can be fixed." Dobby said with a puffed-up chest.
"... You've done well, Dobby." Felix glanced at the thoroughly shattered tapes in the bag and wondered if he could still fix them with magic.
He leaned over and picked up an intact camera, fiddled with the buttons a few times, and looked down to find that the quality of the footage is quite bad, but he is still satisfied, "Voldemort's bald head is quite conspicuous ... Dobby, hide them and reveal them to no one."
"As ordered, Mr. Hap!" Dobby said cheerfully, pleased to have gained Felix's trust, he picked up the big bag again, "Sir, if Mr. Lupin or Mr. Harry Potter asks about it--"
"They don't know about it." Felix said with an expressionless face.
"Oh ... well." Dobby snapped his fingers and disappeared from the tent.
Felix gazed deep into the place where Dobby had disappeared.
He should have called Dumbledore. That would have been safer, but he finally vetoed it. Nothing personal - he and Dumbledore always got along well, but he wanted to minimize the variables and bring the pace of things under his control. So he preferred to use Dobby, instead of revealing it to Dumbledore.
"People's hearts are unpredictable ...," he muttered.
Felix's purpose for going to such lengths is to accomplish three things, to complete the time loop, to solve Hermione's time backlash, and to bring back the Trio safely. As for things beyond that, they were not on his mind.
All along, he and Dumbledore's tacit understanding stems from their common interest - to destroy Voldemort. But this time, Felix's "interest" has changed, and killing Voldemort became optional, so he was not sure what judgment Dumbledore would make.
A worry was born logically.
Whether his three goals are more important, or the opportunity to destroy Voldemort's flesh and early elimination of war are more important?
The uncontrollable factors should be excluded from the plan. This is the true notion of Felix's objective.
"Then next, go out and face Fudge." Felix said to himself, he guessed Fudge will definitely fabricate some plausible evidence in order to divert public attention, and place the spotlight on him, can't help it, he was really suspicious.
Fudge is likely to link "trespassing at the Ministry of Magic" to what happened tonight.
If Fudge can also think of using Azkaban's dementors to get rid of him as a threat, then Felix will definitely applaud.
When the decisive evidence comes out, Fudge will not be able to escape.
In fact, Felix now has evidence of a possible reversal, but he always felt that it is not the correct time, the public evaluation of Fudge has always been "weak" and "mediocre", so this evaluation needs to change into "a person who tried to accuse the hero who had fought against the Dark Lord" The former is still tolerable, but the latter will make people angry.
And that anger will lead to Fudge's downfall, whether he likes it or not.
Felix waved his hand to cancel the sound ward he had placed in the tent just now, and the noise and clamour from outside poured in just in time for him to hear Fudge's frantic roar -
"Do you want to fight against the Ministry of Magic?"
Felix's expression was stunned, and his hand on the curtain retracted.
A few minutes ago-
Fudge was walking around the clearing with a large stomach. Less than a hundred feet away from him, two makeshift tents are erected, one being used as a makeshift hospital; the other, where the target of his trip is present, but it is guarded.
He stared at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who stood guarding the doorway, in an irritable mood.
He had a strong urge to order Aurors to force their way in and bring the people out, but he felt a little scared, Dumbledore is not far away ... not to mention that even if he succeeded and took that person away with great fanfare, how would he explain to the public when the investigation finally showed that he had taken the wrong person?
The public's spit will drown him.
" Control them!" Fudge turned his head to the side and looked at Dumbledore, "They are openly fighting against the Ministry of Magic, against me - as I said, I will only request Felix Hap to cooperate with the investigation, it is not a conviction, it is only a precautionary measure."
"Cornelius," Dumbledore said quietly, "I'm not rejecting your request, it's just - as Miss Granger said, you need to wait for a while, Felix has just been through a harsh battle, and he needs time to deal with his injuries."
"I've been waiting outside for an hour, an hour! After you made your concessions ... how much longer do you want me to wait?" Fudge yelled, "Am I going to mistreat him? Surely a healer from St. Mungo's will be called-"
"The professor is the best healer," Hermione said, shivering from the cold night, her voice sounding shrill, "Besides, are you really sure that St. Mungo's healer can handle the injuries left by Vo-, Voldemort?" She said the name with difficulty, and an intake of breath resounded around her.
Fudge glared at Hermione and yelled down, "Don't mention that name! It's not certain yet that the Dark-"
"Mr. Minister," Harry gestured at his shirt, "I can assure you that Voldemort is really back."
"You may have fallen under the Confundus Charm, Crouch Sr. was saying for a while that his son was innocent." Fudge said impatiently, "You don't know anything."
"You could have someone examine it," Harry said sincerely, "I've been hit by a couple of Cruciatus curses that should have left a mark, no?"
"Standard lie," Fudge waved his hand, "there's no way a student can take the pain of a Cruciatus Curse, let alone several of them!"
"You dolt!" Professor McGonagall shouted, "I can feel the storm from what I read in the papers! Think about Crouch, think about the Goblet of Fire's tamper, think about everything Harry said!"
Fudge's face turned purple, "It was all - an accident! Minerva. My information tells me that the boy," he pointed at Harry, "has nightmares all the time, and by God, he can talk to snakes! And now he claims to have survived a several Cruciatus Curse-"
"Uh, Mr. Minister," Ron held up his hand, "I hate to interrupt you, but I actually suffered a Cruciatus Curse too, and it was really hard, and I hated that I couldn't die right away," he grimaced and chuckled, "but now I feel quite clear-headed ..."
A loud sob came from the crowd.
"Oh, poor little Ronnie! Poor Harry! What on earth have you endured?" Mrs. Weasley said sobbing as Bill and Mr. Weasley hugged her left and right.
Fudge still stubbornly stared at them as he looked over at Hermione, "You aren't going to claim that you've endured a Cruciatus Curse too, are you?"
" Well, I am not," Hermione said calmly, "But that person named Yaxley hurt me, a guard sent from the Ministry of Magic, who was ordered to protect us, that's why I refused to let you in, what if there are Voldemort's undercovers among you?"
"Ridiculous! Ridiculous!" Fudge exclaimed, under his breath, "I repeat, the truth has yet to be found out, you cannot tell your speculations as if they are facts." He looked at Dumbledore and said in a pleading tone, "Dumbledore, you think about me, I have to do something."
"Fudge, Fudge," Dumbledore said sternly: "Your biggest problem is that you have done too little before, and now you want to do too much, going further and further down the wrong path. What you need most now is to calm down and remove the Aurors and I promise you, that you will get the whole truth first thing in the morning."
Fudge's face turned pale as he looked at Dumbledore with trepidation. "Tomorrow ...? The truth about what? The truth that you want?" As soon as the words came out, he regretted it.
His words stirred a hornet's nest, Professor McGonagall shouted a rebuke, Hagrid and Moody's rough voices echoed in the night sky, and the students stared, what had they heard, Fudge was slandering their Headmaster?
Fudge's body cringed and shook, "Dumbledore, as you can see, the testimony of three students or a reputable gentleman, which should I believe? Not to mention that Yaxley is dead ...," his heart clouded with gloom.
Yes, Yaxley is dead, who is the power behind him in the end? Could it be ... impossible!
At this time, the sound of large footsteps approaching from a distance, the crowd gave way to them, and the Auror reinforcement from the Ministry of Magic rushed over.
"Minister, all the Ministry's Aurors and Hit-wizards available have arrived, but ..." Derris said as he cautiously glanced around.
"Very well," said Fudge, "Very well!" He said it again aloud as if countless courage added from thin air.
He stared into space, not looking into Dumbledore's eyes, and barked orders at Aurors: "Arrest Felix Hap, any obstruction ... is considered obstruction against law enforcement and can be arrested together."
"Listen to me, Fudge! Think about what you are doing!" Dumbledore took a step forward, surrounded by unspeakable power.
Fudge could not help but take a half step back, but he still stubbornly did not look at him, "You should also think about what you are doing, Dumbledore!" He choked back, waving his hand as the black mass of Aurors and Hit-wizards raised their wands and advanced one step at a time.
"Sorry, can't let you guys take away Professor like this." Hermione winced and raised her wand.
"Mr. Minister, I used to respect you quite a bit, I didn't think--" Harry shook his head and took a step forward as Ron stood next to him.
Fudge finally lost his head as he shouted in a loud growl, "Do you want to fight against the Ministry of Magic?"
"That depends on how you define 'Fight against the Ministry of Magic' or 'Against Tyranny'." A voice in the crowd said quietly. Fred and George stepped forward and drew their wands and pointed at Fudge.
Fudge's eyes widened.
Then another student stepped forward.
"My grandmother said to stick to what's right. What you're doing is not right." Neville said, trembling all over while raising his wand. His words drew a crowd of Gryffindor students to follow.
"Mr. Minister, we hope you will consider this carefully." Cedric said as he, Collins, and Roger stepped in front of Harry. Some of the students from the other three houses came out, led by the three champions, and they stood in front of Harry and the others, pointing their wands at Fudge and a group of Aurors.
"We'll head over there too." Draco Malfoy's eyes twinkled, looking at the converging crowd, as he said to his two followers.
The members of the Magic Rune Club stepped forward.
Some of the students who had taken the dueling class walked forward.
A number of students who had taken ancient rune classes also stepped forward.
And students who had, on more than one occasion, received casual instruction from Felix stepped forward.
Red sparks burst from the tip of the wands, shining brighter than the starry night sky.
When only one or two people came forward, the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic was able to calmly advance forward; when the number of people pointing at them reached a one-third, they stopped in their tracks; when more people were infected by the sad and solemn atmosphere, driven by their peers to silently raise their wands and look at them with eyes full of anger, as the number exceeded half the crowd, the Aurors just wanted to flee the place immediately.
"You, you guys--"
Fudge looked blankly at the wands pointing at him from all sides, as the courage gathered by the group of Aurors burst like a soap bubble in the sun, and he became dizzy with only one thought in his mind -
He is doomed.
------------
#Tyler A, #Lorenz Mehlo, and #elisha mcneil, Thanks for all your love and support.
There are 568+ chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!